Chapter 1

Living on an island, there are many docks, especially since we're divided into different sections. Starting from the North, we have the only human section. This section is for full humans, not humans with species features. Those humans live East of the human-only area. They are more lenient to 'dark' and 'light' species, while the South is all the 'dark' species or those in a gray area. The last area is the West, where all the 'light' species those people think they can do no wrong. The best place on the entire island is the center; that area is the shopping district! The shops have the right to decline any species- I know this firsthand because I am what you consider a Solivagant, someone who knows nothing about their family or has no family.

I've been in the foster system since I could remember; I used to be homed with the Vincents, but I got emancipated sometime at the beginning of my junior year of high school after finding a vampire angel hybrid malnourished and abused.

"Mama, the Vincents sent a letter," my daughter, Jessica, yells.

"Can you put it on the coffee table?" I ask nonchalantly as I finish packing her things.

I then head towards the living room and see her grab the letter as she's watching cartoons and playing with her gorgeous lilac hair and baby blue bangs-

"Mama," she cried out, straightening up her hair.

Finally, I wander towards the kitchen and read the letter.

*Raina, you need to pick up the following things from their places, and you MUST bring them before sundown TODAY!

Six packages of blood from Pure Blood

Molly's supplies for college from Miss Sullivan's Magic Books

Three anti-nausea potions and a pet cat from Mr. Sapping's Powerful Potions and Magical Creatures

Inks from Karmay's Inks and Quills

Remember BEFORE SUNDOWN!*

"Jessy, do you want to come with me or stay with Mr. Sapping?" I call out.

"I'll come with you," she says, walking into the kitchen.

"Mhm, get your shoes. I'll be right there," I tell her before heading to my bedroom to grab my skateboard and wallet.

I then quickly head back to the kitchen area to discover Jessy listening to her music, so I nudge her to grab her attention. We stroll downstairs, hoping Mr. Sapping is not there; I eventually put my skateboard down. Jessy energetically jumps and rides off on the skateboard with soft laughter. I briefly jog to catch up with her. Not a minute passes before she rushes in line at the Slender's Sweet Stand. I suddenly creep up to her and softly yell,

"Boo!"

"Ahhhh!" she frantically yells until she eventually turns around and notices me.

"Mama, not funny," she says while pouting.

"Awe, did I spook you?" I ask with a smile.

She mumbles, "Yes."

I kiss her temple and continue to wait in line with her. There's shockingly only three people ahead of us; it's amazing considering this is where everyone comes for snacks and sweets. The line continues to move, and someone comes up behind us. From a young age, I learned that if you're not supernatural, it's wise not to look others in their eyes unless given permission. I glance towards Jessy and see her glance behind us every few minutes until we are first in line.

"How are my two favorite customers doing?" Mr. Slender asks.

"We're doing amazing; Mama has errands to run for the Vincents," Jessica tells him.

"Well then, I won't take too much of your time. What can I get you two?"

"I'll have the cinnamon twists, please," she answers.

"My usual, thanks," I tell him while handing him the money.

We grabbed our food as he opened his mouth, but I quickly glared and told him to keep it. He shakes his head as he opens his bag of milk chocolate snowflakes covered in powdered sugar. I abruptly wave bye to him and overhear the person behind us rudely exclaim,

"Why did you serve them? One is human."

"And?" Mr. Slender questions.

Their voices fade as we move further from the stand, but they're loud enough for Jests to hear. A look of guilt and shame fills Jessy's face. I hate to see her upset, so I try to cheer her up with another kiss to her temple. Moments later, we reach our center's darkest and blacked-out building. A building is so dark that even the sunlight can't help remove the opaque darkness surrounding it. We cautiously walk upstairs, and out of nowhere, a dreadful gust of wind violently rushes behind us. Jessy immediately huddles closer to me as I tumble fiercely from the draft. Once we reached the top, pushing through the heavy doors, they closed behind us with a loud SLAM that echoed throughout the building as everyone pivoted their heads towards the loud sound.

Soon after, I rushed to the front desk and called, "I'm here to pick up Hazel's order and two blood packages as well."

The guy at the front desk gradually hands me a medium-sized black box, then walks out of his office. There is a tug on my shirt, looking down to discover Jessica tugging it; her eyes are vast, and her shoulders tense out of horror as she slowly looks away. I follow her eyes and see a male vampire licking his lips- with a quick maneuver I have in front of me as he locks his eyes on my face. His eyes hardened and shifted uncomfortably, and footsteps could be heard. I turned around to see the guy at the front desk handing me another package. I reach out to give him twenty dollars; he shakes his head, and we exit the building. We take a deep breath and try to relax before walking to the ink store opposite the building we just came out of.

The further away we walked from that building, the more relaxed we seemed to get; eventually, we saw an elderly Ljósálfar woman (Miss Sullivan) with light gray hair carrying a stack of books that towered over her face.

"Good afternoon, Jessica and Raina. Have you received your letter from SIG?" the woman asks.

"No, Molly did," I tell her as Jessy enters her store.

She passes her with laughter, then hands me the order as Miss Karmay comes out.

"She ran into the store next door, I tell her as she hands me a bag.

In a rush, I yell out to Jessy. They smile at me as she comes running out with the board and a book. I laugh and hand Miss Sullivan some money as we head back home. We're heading towards the 'dark' section, but still in the center of the building, we call home, and I call out, "Mr. Sapping?"

"In the back, dear," he yells.

As we walk towards the back, we see many new creatures, such as a Firerosy boa, Tigerwolf, Oear, Feaxer, Rouse, and Salynx; as we pass the magical creatures, Jessy looks at the Salynx in confusion.

"A Salynx is a mix between a Sable and a Lynx. Sometimes it's more Lynx than Sable, but rarely," I explain.

We continue walking until we see Mr. Sapping's deep gray arm. Mr. Sapping is a darker gray Dökkálfar. There are three different elves: Dökkálfar, Ljósálfar, and Svartálfar. Svartálfar and Dökkálfar are often mistaken for each other, as Svartálfar are Black Elves while Dökkálfar is Dark Elves, which also causes people to be wary of them. In contrast, Ljósálfar is the complete opposite of the Dark and Black Elves, as they are Light Elves. Mr. Sapping is the only one who sells potions on this island, so they can't afford to avoid him.

"Good afternoon; I'm here to pick up Mrs. Vincents' order," I tell him.

"Three potions of anti-nausea and a pet cat," he says.

I nod, just as Jessy asks, "Mr. Sapping, where did you find a Salynx?"

"They didn't want to leave each other even though one was injured, so I took them both in. Sadly, I haven't been able to get them to eat," he explains.

"If I'm not mistaken, Salynx eat mice, squirrels, rats, chipmunks, birds, eggs, fish, rabbits, and hares. Though it depends on what they are more of," I state.

His eyes widen before he runs off; Jessy stares at me in shock, and her mouth hangs open. He returns with a bird and a mouse; we follow him to the animal pen, where Mr. Sapping unexpectedly takes the books out of my hand and hands me the two animals. With a raised eyebrow, he nudges me to collect them so recently and, carefully placing the animals within a few inches of the Salynx's mouth, immediately stepping back and waiting. The bigger one of the two comfortably nibbles the bird before devouring the rest. After that, the small one slowly eats the mouse; I found the Salynxs endearing and couldn't help but smile at them. Shortly after, Mr. Sapping hands me the books. Jessy comes and hugs me, and he teleports us outside, just a few feet away from the front door of the Vincents.

We unexpectedly see Hazel ahead; I immediately push Jessy behind so she's out of sight.

"Stay here. I'll come back once I put everything down," I whisper to her.

I quietly walked closer to Hazel with my eyes down, then gently put the pet down along with everything else that was Molly's. When I didn't feel her eyes on me anymore, I spun around and saw Mrs. Vincents near Jessy; with an uncomfortable Jessy, I softly growled while I made my way to them. Once I'm fully in front of my daughter, Mrs. Vincents fires a tch sound at me, then bluntly asks.

"Why do you have that disgusting child?"

"She's not disgusting," I snapped back.

Mrs. Vincents raises an eyebrow at me before growling out her response, "Did you just snap at me?"

"And if I did, what then?" I ask.

"You'll have hell to pay!" she yells.

Rolling my eyes before turning and walking away with Jessy.

"Don't you dare walk away from me!" she shouts.

We continue walking when we hear some thumping and flipping, so we turn to the sound to see Mr. Owl, and yes, that's his last name.

"It's a wonderful surprise to see you," I tell him.

"Who's he, mama?" Jessy asks, looking between us.

"Mr. Owl is the one who delivers our mail," I explain.

She nods her head as Mr. Owl hands me a letter; shocked, I gently grab it, open it, and read it out loud-

*Dear Miss Phoenix,

We have accepted you and your daughter at Silverleaf Grove Institute. Will you teach Magical Creatures? Mr. Sapping did not want to teach due to his store; thus, you must be at Wolfden's International Airport. Wildfowl will depart at midnight; you can visit your home during the winter and slumber breaks. We look forward to receiving you and your daughter here at SIG.

List of everything you'll need is under this:

Blood cursed Gregoire of Eternal Sorrow by Scarlet Pluto Engatron

Phantom Dreamthron by King Seth

History of Broken Families by Suellen Saneye

Moonshadow, Oath of Dark Magic by Reuben Moonshadow

Moonshadow, Oath, and Care of Magical Creatures by Denise Moonshadow

Conqueror's Handbook

Protective gloves

A cauldron

Yours sincerely,

Headmistress Silvia Angel*

Once done, I looked at Jessy to see her with a beaming grin; I'd told her about SGI and a few things about her world. I already explained to her how rare it is for humans to get into that college and that we must wait a month before the semester begins; they know I'm a Solivagant. The school is in the West Siberian Taiga, Russia, and I can work towards my goal of everyone being united.

"I'm glad I didn't adopt you," screams Mrs. Vincents.

With an eye roll, I rest my hand on Jessy's necklace, covered with teleportation magic from Mr. Sapping, and think about our home as we get teleported. As soon as we land, Jessy runs off, following right behind as she reaches her room- the light blue walls contrast with the dark blue bed sheets she has in the middle of the room, along with her colorful stuffed animals lined up on it. I approach her, gently sitting down, and she rushes into my arms.