Midnight Run

Uncover the Past, Look to the Future

Kit felt ecstatic as they made their way north towards Columbia, but she also felt extremely wary as she regarded her mom. She had asked almost every day for the past year to seek refuge with their family, but her mom had always been against it. Kit looked over at Skye who seemed to be lost in thought as she drove through the night. Skye glanced at Kit out of the corner of her eye before reaching into the backseat to grab her duffel bag. The car swerved a little bit as Skye tried multitasking and Kit reached into the backseat to grab the bag for her.

"There should be an old, tattered book in there." Skye sighed as she returned both hands to the wheel. Kit rummaged through the bag and found a green tattered-looking book with pages and pictures sticking out. It was bound together by brown thread and Kit quickly unwound the thread. She looked over at her mom for confirmation and Skye nodded her head. Kit eagerly opened the book and regarded the first picture with curiosity. She picked the picture up to examine it further and gasped. Standing in front of an unfinished building were four teenagers. They looked to be around Kit's age, but the thing that caught Kit's attention was the girl standing in the middle. It looked exactly like Kit, only there was something mischievous hidden in the girl's smile. There was a teenaged boy who had one arm slung over the girl's shoulder protectively while holding up the peace sign with his other hand, a wide smile spread over his face. Kit looked over at her mom with wide eyes.

"Is this you?" Kit gasped, though she already knew the answer. The young girl in the picture was an exact replica of Kit, or rather Kit was an exact replica of her, and Kit had her dad's kind smile. Skye nodded her head as her eyes continued to focus on the road. Kit looked back at the picture. "And this is dad." She added, staring at the tall, dark-skinned boy with twists in his hair; it was not a question. Skye took a deep breath as though preparing herself for a seemingly long and difficult conversation.

"That's your dad and me standing in front of what would become city hall in Raven's Nest." Skye informed her daughter. Kit knew that Raven’s Nest was the town that her mom and dad had left a long time ago. The town built for a select group of supernaturals, protected by supernaturals. Kit continued to stare at her mom, waiting patiently for her to continue. "My parents made a pact with three other factions to form a town where they could be free and safe from the outside world. Where they could all live harmoniously," She finished with a humorless laugh. She shook her head in disgust as she glanced in the rearview mirror. "That picture was taken the first month of us arriving in the town." Skye continued, trying her best to educate Kit on what to expect and what had happened before her and her dad had to flee. "Javious was 16 already, but he was a wizard, not a werewolf like me, so he didn't feel the mate bond the way I would eventually feel the mate bond after I came of age." Skye chuckled a little as she reminisced about the old days. "He called it puppy love for the longest time as a way to deny the feelings that we felt for each other, but once I came of age and the mate bond took full effect..." Skye trailed off as her voice grew thick with emotion. Kit looked back down at the picture; she knew that no one in the supernatural world dated outside of their own faction. It had been f*******n since the beginning of time because a person born from two different factions created creatures that nobody understood. Hybrids. And a hybrid was dangerous as far as the supernatural world was concerned because a hybrid possessed a power greater than any being ever created and that much power was something that no being should be allowed to possess. Ever since Kit was little her parents warned her about what she was and how people would perceive her. As far as Kit knew, she was the only living hybrid in existence, which was why her mom and her were on the run now. Kit didn't know much about the mate bond except that it was something that most supernaturals felt, but it was only triggered when both parties came of age, which for werewolves and dragons meant age 16. That rule didn't apply to vampires and witches, but they felt the pull towards their mate all the same.

"Who are these other girls in the picture?" Kit asked as she continued examining the picture. There was a tall girl standing next to Skye with two afro puffs and the same rich chocolate skin as Kit, and another girl sitting in front of the group with long braids and an extremely warm smile. Skye didn't even look at the picture as she answered her daughter.

"The girl that I have my arm around is your aunt, my sister, Monique." Skye spoke softly, dangerously. Kit looked up at her in shock. Kit knew that she had an aunt on her father's side, but Skye had never mentioned having a sibling before. "The other girl, sitting in front of us is your aunt Charisma, your dad's kid sister." Skye had a gentler tone when speaking about Charisma and Kit wondered what the hostility was between her mom and Monique. She didn't want to pry too much just yet; this was the first time her mom was allowing Kit into her past and she didn't want to risk ruining it. Kit stared at the picture for a minute longer before gently setting it to the side and flipping through some of the pages of the book. It seemed to be a journal written by Kit's dad as she recognized his handwriting from some of his old letters that he had written to Kit when she was little. Several pages were dated in the top left-hand corner and there were several pictures sandwiched between the pages as well. Kit stopped on a page that looked like a map. She turned it around so that she could see it properly and Skye glanced over at the book.

"Those are directions on how to get to Raven's Nest." Skye explained, shaking her head. "I told your dad that he shouldn't have kept that in case it fell into the wrong hands, but..." She scoffed. "Looks like he kept it anyway."

"The town is in Banner Elk?" Kit inquired. Skye nodded as she continued racing through the country. "How will we get there from here?" They would need to fly or take a boat to get to the United States and in order to do that, they would risk their identities being discovered.

"The man I was talking to at that gas station," Skye began. Kit nodded her head silently as a way to show her mom that she was listening. "He's a fisherman and he has a relative that owns a fishing boat. We’re meeting him at the Columbian border, and he will be taking us to Mexico." Kit smiled; her mom had worked the whole thing out. Then, something dawned on Kit as she frowned, looking over at her mom.

"You were planning on taking me back to the pack before I asked you about it, weren't you?" She asked, surprise evident in her voice. Skye smiled her mischievous smile before winking at Kit.

"Hopefully the town is in a forgiving mood when we arrive," Skye joked. Kit took a deep breath; the town had to help them. Werewolves were all about family and honor; there was no way Alpha Melik and Luna Gwen would leave their daughter and granddaughter to die.

"Why now?" Kit questioned her mom as she absentmindedly twirled the necklace between her fingers. Skye sighed as she glanced in the rearview mirror again. Skye had become very paranoid over the past year and Kit felt as though they were always looking over their shoulders.

"Kitina," Skye said, addressing Kit by her full name. "You’re going to come of age this year, which means you will be fully tapped into your witching powers as well as come in touch with your werewolf." Skye explained, and Kit sensed the urgency in her mom's voice. "You will officially be the most powerful and dangerous being in the world and there are many beings: werewolves, dragons, witches, vampires and even humans who will stop at nothing to make sure that doesn't happen." Skye finished looking over at Kit. Kit looked worried; she didn't even know how to harness her witching powers. It was unfair that people assumed her to be some kind of monster just because of what she was born as. Skye's face changed to one of determination. "I will not let anything happen to you." She vowed, and Kit knew that as long as her mom was alive, she would do everything in her power to ensure her safety, even if that meant going back to the town that had shunned her 16 years ago.