Chapter 60

April 16, 2002 – 14:30

Molly Hudson sat next to her sister. Lizzy insisted she comes, as there was something she wanted to show her. She stared at a blank sheet of paper and flipped it from one side to the other.

"There is absolutely nothing on it," said Molly.

"That's the thing. Now look," said Lizzy.

She handed the blank paper to Audrey, who sat on a single seater next to her mother. Blank ink appeared. Audrey got up and sat on the armrest next to her aunt so that she could read the letter.

Dear Audrey Hudson,

It is with great pride that we are confirming your admission to the prestigious Winisk Elemental School.

In exactly three months, you shall receive the list of books and supplies that you will need.

If you have questions, you may send us a fire bird and we will promptly respond to you.

"What's this place? And words only appear when you touch the letter?" said Molly, looking at her niece.

"Yes. If I stop touching it," said Audrey while depositing it on the coffee table in front of them, "the ink disappears."

"Frank's girlfriend, isn't she working the strange stuff? Could she look at it? It's probably nothing, but I have a bad feeling about this."

"I'll call Frank. Stephanie's boyfriend might also know something, they work in the same field."

Lizzy handed her the cordless phone and Molly dialed Frank's number.

"Is Coralis with you?"

"No, why? I can try to reach out to her if you need."

"I'm at Lizzy's. I really don't know how to explain this, because it makes no sense. Audrey received a letter where the ink only appears when she touches it and I'd like Coralis to look at it. She works the strange stuff, right?"

"Hmm yeah, I'll reach out to her. She is in town, so she probably will be able to pass by Lizzy's after work."

"Would Sebastian know? Maybe it'd be quicker to call him?"

"Wouldn't make a difference, they're working together today," said Frank, knowing they were at their flyball practice.

They hung up and Frank dialled Sebastian's phone number right after sending a ping to Coralis' pager. He got no response, but Sebastian called him back 2 minutes later.

"I take that you need to talk to Blue right now?"

"Yes please, it's important."

Sebastian and Coralis stood next to each other on the ground, listening to their coach.

"I'm surprised you didn't get one of those cellphones yet," said Sebastian as he handed her his phone.

"It's on my to-do list for after I move in with him," said Coralis as she grabbed the phone. "Hey!"

"Can you meet me at my aunt Lizzy's after work? I'll send you the address."

"Sure, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure, my mom said that Audrey received a strange letter, with words only appearing when she touched the letter, something like that. Isn't it right up your aisle?"

Coralis held her breath for a moment and looked at Sebastian.

"Yes, send me your aunt's address. I have a game tonight, but I'll be able to leave after practice and stop by her place before the game starts. She's in Montreal, right?"

"She's in Laval. Maybe I can pick you up somewhere?"

"I'll get there quicker by air"

They hung up. Frank texted the address on Sebastian's phone, grabbed his car keys and headed to his aunt. Coralis told Sebastian about the situation as she handed him back his phone.

"I'll go with you. If it is what I think it is… it means that our partners' family are about to find out about us."

"Agreed. That can't be good."

As soon as practice time was over, they took off. They quickly found a shaded park near the address and landed there. They voided their invisibility glamour before walking away from the shadows, after making sure they had no elemental paraphernalia on them.

Lizzy lived on the first floor of a duplex. Coralis rang the bell and Molly answered immediately.

"Come in! I'm so glad you two could come in on such short notice."

Frank gave Coralis the letter as soon as Molly closed the door behind them. Words appeared and Coralis read what was said, and so was Sebastian from behind her shoulder.

"How did the letters appear when you touched it? So far, it only appeared when Audrey touched it," said Molly.

Coralis pinched her nose bridge.

"This is bad, I don't even know where to start," she said as she looked at Lizzy, her hand back to her side. "When did you receive this and how did it get to you? I need all single details, no matter how strange."

Lizzy looked at her daughter, biting her bottom lips.

"It is going to sound strange, but I swear that it is the truth and I do trust my daughter."

"I'm listening."

"It was yesterday morning. I was alone here when we received it. Mom was at work. I heard the sound of a bird poking on the kitchen window. I went to check it up, but there was no bird. I opened the window and the letter landed in my hands," said Audrey.

"I didn't know what to think of it. I couldn't understand why the ink disappeared when Audrey wasn't holding it, or when I was touching it, so I wanted to show it to my sister."

Coralis looked at Sebastian, they both had a solemn look.

"I don't mean to pray, but I need to ask about it. Who is Audrey's father and what do you know about him?" said Coralis, looking at Lizzy.

"You think it comes from him?"

"I'll explain after. We don't have much time, but Frank was correct when I spoke with him, that kind of stuff is right up my aisle, disturbingly, if I can put it that way. I'll try to explain as much as I can about this situation before we have to leave."

"Is it what I think it is?" said Frank.

"Yes," said Sebastian.

"Audrey's father left before she was born. I don't know much about him, he was very secretive and his family was very controlling, always in our business. One night, when I was 5 months pregnant, he called me and said he'll meet me here after work, that he had something extremely important to tell me, but he never came and I never saw him again, hence why Audrey has my family name."

"I need to make a phone call," said Coralis.

She went to the kitchen at the end of the hallway, followed by Sebastian and Frank. Once there, she created an invisible door and Sebastian activated a mute-ball.

"Good thing we always have them on us," said Sebastian.

"Does that mean that Audrey is also an elemental… and so was her father?"

"Yes. I didn't want to take my eyeglasses off to get a read on her aura, but I read enough on the letter and their stories confirmed it. If I'm to take a wild guess, I'd say she's either mage or fay. What gets me," said Coralis as she pulled her hologram out, "is that she received a letter meant for people who already know about our world, when clearly, it isn't the case, unless your aunt isn't telling the full story."

"If she knew what Audrey's father was, she'd have known. She wouldn't have shown it to her sister and got us involved. She saw how the letter reacted to you, so at that point, she would have realized that you're one too and wouldn't have any reason to omit that information."

"Agreed. Hence why I want to reach out to the CMMA Department of Family Affairs to ask them to look into it. This is also an exposure breach, and it is forcing us to reveal ourselves to two humans. They sent the letter to unknowing people. Even if Audrey is one of us, she had no idea, and neither did her mother. This is bad."

"So this is not how she was supposed to find out the truth? I understand that you guys have procedures and protocols to follow to keep your secrets from us, but if she didn't know, how should she have found out?"

"This is the type of letter I received before I started school, but both my parents are elemental, I'm full-blooded. With mixed families, each situation is different and it ultimately depends on whether the elemental parent is still with the human one and if the revelation has already happened. Our community discourages elementals from dating humans, but it's not forbidden. We just need to reveal ourselves to our partner when it gets serious," said Sebastian while Coralis was talking to a CMMA representative.

"Like she did with me."

"Yes. Audrey's father never was in the landscape, he left before she was born without revealing himself to your aunt, so she should never have received that letter. In this type of situation, the CMMA Department of Family Affairs would have sent two agents to explain the truth to Audrey and her mother. Plus, the way it is written leads me to believe that her father recently enrolled her."

Coralis interrupted the call and slid her hologram back into her coat, in a keychain format.

"In 4 days, two agents will meet with them. Before we get into trouble, I warned them that explaining the situation to Lizzy and Audrey meant that you and I would have to reveal ourselves in the process."