Forbidden Dragon Magic

Chp 1: Off To Camp

"Yo! Mia! Wake up, girl! We got to practice!"

I groaned as I threw a pillow at my roommate for waking me up. I was now a freshman in the Grad program at Atlanta University, Supernatural branch. I was still human, though, so I was one of the few that could attend both branches. Well, that is until I turned twenty-five. If I am still powerless by then, I will be deemed human and kicked out of the supernatural branch and community completely. Thankfully, I can still communicate with supernatural people, like my parents and sister.

"Mia, come on!" My roommate, a tiger shifter named Sasha, pounced on me. I was glad she pinned back her pretty black and blonde braids so they didn't hit me. "I'm up! I swear I am up! Let me wash up first." I giggled as I looked up at the golden-eyed, tan girl. She was the Disciplinary President of our sorority house, Alpha Delta Omega of the Supernatural branch. DP for ADO of SN, for short, of course.

"Okay, I'll give you five minutes, but that's it. If you are not ready by then, I will drag you down in whatever you're wearing to make sure you attend practice, and you know I will."

She grinned mischievously before jumping off the bed and leaving the room. I was glad she gave me five minutes since I couldn't use magic to be instantly ready to go. I just shook my head as I got up and went to the bathroom with a change of clothes.

I washed up and got changed, in ADO step team merch, black sweatpants, and a plain white shirt. I headed down the stairs, throwing my black curly hair with blue highlights into a bun. The step team was in the backyard waiting for me and cheered when I finally joined them. "New record! You made it here in three minutes." One of my sorority sisters said as the others cheered and laughed. "Now hurry up and come practice. Gotta make sure ya'll ready for next season. Be it with your ADO sisters on the SN or Human side." Sasha said as she pushed me to the line.

"Those humans better appreciate the talent we would be losing to them if you don't come into your powers this summer."

Her words stung, but my sisters all showed me some love and gave me hugs before we started the practice routine. I love the step team and the sisterhood down here in ATL. They didn't care that I was human, and no one bullied me. It was actually normal for some SN people to become simply human. They weren’t treated differently until they turned twenty-five.

After practice, we changed into our regular clothes with our ADO purple and gold trim bomber jackets. Then headed to our favorite soul food place, 'Virgil's Gullah Kitchen and Bar. The best soul food I had ever eaten in my life. It made me miss Mom's cooking every time, too. Resulting in me texting her and checking in instantly. Tonight was a special occasion since it was my last day before heading up north.

I appreciated the girls always making me feel like I wasn't the odd one. We danced for the staff and customers and stuffed our faces with good food. Sasha even joined me in shameless flirting with the boys from Alpha Kappa Delta. Their DP had a thing for Sasha, but she forever denied that they were anything. Something about how wolves and felines shouldn't mix, and yet here they were, mixing and mingling like no tomorrow.

The rest of the frat guys would give me the time of day, but their attention span would move one to one of the other girls. This frat group knew I was human and never singled me out but had no shame in showing I would never fully have their attention. After a while, they were all lost in their own little world. I took that as my cue to head back to the house.

I was heading towards the door when a beautiful fair-skinned woman with long pale purple hair stood before me. I locked eyes with those amazing dark burgundy eyes and felt the instant conversancy.

"Hazel!"

Everyone turned to see me throw myself into my best friend's arms as we squealed and cheered at our reunion. Hazel put me down before we could get dizzy and gave me her million-dollar fangy smile. Hazel's powers fully blossomed for her when she turned twenty-one. Since then, she has forever been offering to turn me so I could join the vampire community and leave the mage community far behind me. Even though there was only a 50/50 chance I would live from the bite.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as Hazel looked around as if expecting to find someone else. "Well, you see, there's this girl I came down here for, but I'm having trouble recognizing her since she is rocking her sorority gear like a boss." Hazel looked back at me with a smirk and snapped her fingers at the word' boss.' I just laughed as I hid my face in my bomber jacket.

"So this is the infamous Hazel I've heard so much able." Sasha came over to join us, earning a small sassy wave from Hazel. "Hazel, this is my sorority sister and rockstar of a roommate, Sasha." Hazel pretended to be shocked as she looked over at Sasha. "Mia, you never told me she was an Egyptian goddess."

Hazel's words left Sasha speechless and blushing. Hazel's British accent made every compliment she said ten times stronger, so I wasn't surprised the southern bell beside us was speechless. Sasha did snap out of it and shook me by my arm. "Why are we just meeting now, Mia? You should have invited her to the family weekend so I could have met this beautiful soul sooner."

"Oh, sweet love, Mia did invite me. I couldn't attend because I was at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. It would have been difficult to cross the pond during finals to attend family weekend here." I just gave a soft laugh before looking from Sasha to Hazel. Sasha was melting from Hazel's accent. I was curious to know if she even heard her.

Hazel and I just giggled as I gave Sasha a side hug. "Now. Now. Don't go using that new accent of yours against Sasha. You know you're from New York." Hazel laughed louder as Sasha looked at me in shock. "But the accent is so flawless." I just chuckled and patted Sasha's arm. "Yeah, she slips into it with family in London or on campus. She was actually born and raised in New York City, though."

Hazel winked at Sasha, making her giggle bashfully. "Oh Hazel, you're about to make this tiger switch teams." I covered my mouth and looked away, knowing Hazel was born male. I always told her that she could pull any gender, and Sasha just proved me right. "Love, don't stress. If you catch feelings, you're still playing for the heterosexual team."

I couldn't hide my laughter another moment while breaking free from Sasha to double over. Hazel laughed with me as Sasha looked confused. "Hazel is transexual, Sasha," I said as I stood up straight, trying to control my laughter. Sasha's jaw hung open while smiling at the new information.

"Hazel, you are a queen for being your true self." Sasha cheered Hazel's choice and clapped her hands. Sasha and I smirked at each other as we noticed the frat boys checking out Hazel behind us. We spent some time connecting before Sasha and Hazel brought me to the girls to say farewell. After saying goodbye, Hazel and I headed to my sorority house to get my luggage.

I looked back at the now half-empty room since I had to clear it in case I got deemed human. I would no longer be allowed to live in the SN sorority houses if labeled as a mere mortal. I walked out of the house with Hazel and gave her a weak smile." Don’t worry, Mia. You will get your powers, and if not. I will help you stay amongst the supernatural.”

She was always the light in the darkness for me, even though that sounded ironic since she was a vampire. We got in the car, and Hazel drove us to York, Maine, from Atlanta, GA. Hazel did most of the driving since she didn’t sleep, but I did my share. We only stopped when one of us needed to use the restroom. This way, Hazel got a break from time to time.

After all, it was an eighteen-hour drive. Hazel woke me from my nap once we arrived at the camp groups hidden in the forest of York, Maine. “Hello, hell on earth,” I mutter as Hazel gets out of the car. “The memories here aren’t that bad.” She said as she grabbed her main bags from the back seat. I did the same and left the rest in the trunk.

Hazel typically left me her car when she left the States, so I knew it was safe to leave my other stuff there. She locked the car before we headed up to the cafeteria. We met with the rest of the counselors, waiting for our head counselor to come in with their team. I looked around at the other councilors and smiled when I saw Ryan was amongst them. He noticed me as well and winked as he smirked.

Hazel teased me the second she caught the way Ryan winked at me. I just chuckled and lightly pushed her. My happiness was short-lived when someone slapped me hard on the back of the head. Hazel hissed as I heard two people laughing. “Still such an easy target.” I was about to say something when the Dean of the camp came in with the head counselor and two others. I looked up to see Zane and Amelia smirking.

“Welcome everyone to Element Camp of the Ancestors!”

The Dean Rizzo spoke as he greeted all of us. He was a very old Italian man that looked too happy to be in the room. “It is so wonderful to have alumni for counselors for all groups of teenagers and young adults. You can all help them in your unique ways. I can’t wait to see you all again at the end of the summer.” He said as I noticed him eyeing the girls in the room too much. He introduced the head counselor to us as she took his place, and he left the room.

The head counselor, Kelly O’Neill, was an Irish redhead beauty who appeared to be in her late forties. The team that came in with her gave us all envelopes. “Inside those envelopes are the groups you are assigned to watch over and the children’s names. The second card is the cabin you will be staying in. As well as a reminder of the rules on the back.” She said without smiling at any of us.

“Lights are out by nine at night for the daytime children. If not, eleven for the daytime counselors. Lights are out at sunrise for the nighttime children, and try to get some sleep nighttime counselors when possible.”

She waited for us to say we understood before dismissing us to get settled into our cabins. The kids we were to care for would be arriving tomorrow, so we had all day to ourselves. We all open the envelopes and learn that five people of the night counselors would share one cabin. So were the five in the Daytime counselors, except for me. They assigned me to the night counselor’s place.

“Yay! You are so stuck with me forever and always.”

Hazel saw my cards and was beyond happy I was in the same cabin, along with Demons, Canine/Feline Shifters, Hybrids, and nocturnal Imps counselors. The Day cabin was Fae, Day Canines, Dragons, diurnal Imps, and Mages counselors. Thank heavens I was being spared from the Mages.