Chapter 46

February 16, 2002 – 22:45

As soon as she was back up in the sky, she called on Sebastian's hologram.

"I was literally about to call yours, assuming you also had to take off to Chicago. Want me to drop Stephanie off at Frank's with a mute-ball? How did it go?"

"Pager went off right after I got to the point of telling him that I was a mage and so was Vic, but couldn't elaborate on the non-human aspect of myself. Hell, I totally forgot to mute his room. I honestly don't know what he's thinking right now, he looked like he was in disbelief, but I think he was about to freak out."

"All right, I'll take Stephanie to his place. I will not repeat to anyone that you didn't mute his paper-thin walls before getting started and will thank the gods that I never had to be in your shoes."

"Don't worry about my brother freaking out, he'll get around, I'm sure. If not, I'll make sure to remind him for the rest of his life what he's missing out on."

"Please don't. I mean, thanks for talking to him, but if he can't handle it… it will hurt but I need to respect that. Just let me know if you think he poses a risk to expose us all. I'm about to land to pick up Eva, will talk to you later. Thanks for doing this, it means a lot to me."

Frank was pacing his apartment. He didn't know what to make of what Coralis revealed to him. He was mad at Coralis for not telling him about this sooner, upset at his friend Victoria for not telling him when he started seeing Coralis and even more upset at his sister for hiding all this from him when she knew it all. She was supposed to be family. He didn't want to talk to Victoria, because he didn't know if he could trust her now that he knew she wasn't human and figured she'd protect Coralis.

However, he was glad to finally be able to fill the blanks on what she was doing when she wasn't with him. Vampires? Werewolves? What else is real? She mentioned witches, but said she was an elemental, or mage, what was the difference? He wanted to know more, and even more about what she was exactly.

He wanted to believe that she was indeed out there hunting down those like her who were dangerous to the population, thinking that Coralis would never have been telling him any of it as a condition for moving in with him if she had ill will against him. He was pulling his phone out of his back pocket to call his sister when his dorm room buzzer went off.

"Who is it?" he said as he pressed the intercom button.

"It's me," said Stephanie.

He let her in and went to wait for her by the elevators. She saw her brother as soon as she walked out of the elevator and brought her index finger to her lips before he could say anything, warning him to stay silent. As soon as she closed his dorm room door behind them, she pulled out the mute-ball that Sebastian gave her. He gave her a model that was meant to be used by humans, so she didn't need to chant anything to activate it.

"What is this? Did Coralis send you?"

She put her finger back to her lips. Once the mute-ball evaporated, she threw herself at her brother to hug him.

"I'm so so so happy to finally be able to talk about all of this with you," she said, and parted from him. "That was a mute-ball, it's meant to soundproof this room so no one else can overhear us. Coralis was so nervous that she forgot to mute your room before getting started with the revelations."

"I guess I can't stay mad at you now. So, she did send you? Wait, Sebastian works with her; is he also like her and Vic?"

"Sebastian is like them, yes, and before you get mad that I knew about him before you found out about her, in all fairness, he never had to reveal himself to me, because I knew about their world when I met him. Coralis warned me that she was going to tell you about her tonight and asked if I minded answering your questions, in case she had to leave for Chicago in the middle of it. I think she suspected that you wouldn't want to talk to Vic? Anyway, Sebastian also got called to go to Chicago, so he dropped me off here with a mute-ball before heading there."

Frank sat down and covered his face with his hands for a moment.

"I'm still having a hard time believing what I heard. It feels like a prank, but somehow, I know it's not. I'm not gonna lie, at the moment I'm mad at everyone who knew and didn't tell me that my girlfriend wasn't human. I should be repulsed, but at the same point, why would she be telling me all of this, insisting on it as a condition for her to move in with me if she would be dangerous to me? A part of me doesn't wanna hear anything about her, but another part wants to know more… and that part is winning."

"I understand you're mad at me and everyone else, but you're family. I've told you that I've seen Coralis at work a few times. That's how I found out about what she is. Well, I suspected she wasn't human when I heard about what she did to save Mom, but at the time, I thought she was a werewolf and I couldn't just ask her. If she would have been dangerous to you, I would have told you to dump her."

"Wait? You thought she was a werewolf when you met her? How? And how exactly did you find out about her and Sebastian? And what is she exactly? She said something about elemental and mage, but isn't it the same as a witch? And how do we know for sure that they aren't against us?"

"I've known about werewolves for a few years. Some of my childhood friends are werewolves and I happened to witness shit I shouldn't have."

"Clarissa?" interrupted Frank.

"Uh yes, but she's not evil. And no, a witch and a mage aren't quite the same thing. My workplace deals with a lot of werewolf attacks, although they very rarely involve humans. When we get patients that uh, exhibit abnormal behaviour, or we're dealing with a crime that has an odd supernatural element in it, we can't exactly call the police, so uh, that's where Coralis comes in. I've seen enough at work to know that she is one of those making sure that the evil ones don't win."

"She said that she had to leave to break off a vampire war. Last night, you and Sebastian implied that she could get killed where she was sent, was that true? I'm sorry if I'm asking questions quicker than you can answer them, my brain is in a million places right now."

"Yes, we weren't lying about that, and don't worry, I know this must be overwhelming for you. Eva is also a supernatural, but uh, it's not my place to throw her under the bus and tell you what she is. The situation is very complex, Coralis can tell you more, but yes, she should never have been sent there and is most likely fighting off a horde of rogue vampires and goblins as we speak. Sebastian is there to make sure the vampire conflict doesn't spill in human towns nearby, but he isn't on the battlefield."

"And that's the job she's technically an intern?"

"Yes, and oooooh I need to tell you all about flyball. You need to come to watch a game, you would really love it."

Stephanie proceeded to explain to her brother what flyball was. She was on her feet, mimicking gameplays and knocked the empty bottle of wine down the table by accident. She picked it back up while continuing on the subject, and set it back on the table as if nothing happened.

"I think I want to go see that. They're playing at home this week, right?"

"You should tell that to Coralis, that you want to go to a flyball game. I think she'll be happy to hear that. Yes, they are playing home, think they got three home games this week."

"Yeah, I'll page her, but I don't know if she'll call me back tonight. This is overwhelming and I'm still upset… but I want to know more about all of this."

"I can reach out to Sebastian," she said while putting her hands in her pockets, "but uh, I forgot my phone. Mind if I use yours?"

Frank handed her his phone. She dialled Sebastian's number and put it on speakerphone.

"How come you can talk to Sebastian on the phone and I can't?"

"Sebastian got a cellphone and she did not."

"Hey Frank! So uh, how is it going?" said Sebastian when he picked up the call.

"Overwhelmed."

"Is Coralis with you? Frank wants to go to a flyball game and, well, he wants her to call him back when she has a minute."

"She isn't with me at the moment. She is in the warzone fighting against Lucas' associates."