He waited for an hour for her to show… nothing, no hint, no sign of her, just him, feeling stupid and alone on this deserted street corner. Why had she asked him to come, anyway? And why here? There was graffiti everywhere, and from the state of the buildings around him, he knew that this was definitely the worst end of the city. The streets were completely deserted, though, which made him wonder if anyone lived here at all, and with the shabby windows being mostly covered by boards, he couldn’t exactly tell if anyone was inside or not… He could just see enough to tell that no one had cleaned them in years, though, and maybe that was his answer, but it still didn’t explain her erratic behavior or her frantic whispers to him in the hall, to meet her there at 5 pm.

Getting here on time hadn’t been easy, he worked until 4:30 most days, unless he could sneak out early, but more often than not his boss wanted to talk to him about the others he worked with, cause he knew that Markus couldn’t lie, even if he wanted to. Mark wanted to chalk it up to the fact that he was a bad liar, but he knew it was more than that… though he never told anyone, but they all figured it out… all you had to do was spend half a day with him to see it. He figured it must have been in his eyes. He was just lucky he had learned how to evade the truth.

He looked around, getting more and more nervous by the second. Where was she? Had something happened? Had this all been some kind of sick joke…? He had caught her checking him out once as he had passed her in the hall carrying a load of laundry to the basement, but she had scurried inside so quickly he never had gotten a chance to talk to her.

Then two days later she rushed up to him, almost to the point of tears, begging him to come here at 5 pm the next day.

He looked at his watch. It was almost 5:30 now, and he was starting to think that maybe he should just go home and see if he could find her… but then again, if she showed up right after he left, he’d never forgive himself for making her walk home in the dark…

He shook his head. That was nuts. There was a bus stop two blocks from here, and he couldn’t imagine her waiting around forever, especially with it already being as late as it was…

He heard running footsteps then, and turned in time to see her running full tilt around the corner, only to grab his arm and pull him along a little. He got the idea quickly and sped along with her.

“What’s wrong?” He asked her, noticing she was in a short, strapless red dress and matching high heels. It fit her perfectly, showing off all of her curves and a little bit of her cleavage too, but he quickly looked up, hopefully before she caught him staring.

He needn’t have worried, her ice blue eyes were fixed ahead as they ran. She ran amazingly well in her heels, especially with as tall as they were. They were almost the same height now, so he figured that they had to be at least four inches tall.

“They’re… after… me…” She panted, and picked up the pace, her waist length hair streaming out behind her. “I’m… sorry… I… thought… they… wouldn’t… find… me… here…”

“Who’s they?” He asked, finding himself already a little winded as they sprinted on. The curse of having a desk job and not enough time to work out properly…

“They.” She said, though the way she said it then, it sounded like a pronoun.

“Who’s that?”

“If…we…don’t… hurry ...you’ll… find… out. …...The… wrong… way.”

Markus didn’t like the sound of that, so he quickened his pace as much as he could… somehow… and she caught up, almost as if she had only been going that pace because she thought he couldn’t run any faster.

They kept running like that for a while… how long, Markus don’t know, but amazingly besides getting a little winded, he wasn’t nearly as tired as he figured he should be, and had no idea why… she seemed tired, but like him, didn’t look like she was on the verge of collapse, which they should have by then.

That’s when he realized it.

“My car is parked up ahead.”

“Really?!” She asked, ears perking up as they ran a little faster. “I hope it doesn’t have trouble starting.”

“It’s only a year old.” He smiled slightly as he stopped at his red Rabbit, quickly unlocking it as they both jumped inside and sped off, the stitch in his side quickly catching up to him.

She breathed a huge sigh of relief, and with it her whole body relaxed into a puddle-like state, like her whole body had given it off, not just her voice.

“Thank you… I don’t think I’d be alive if you hadn’t been there.”

He took a quick glance at her as he turned a corner. He had no idea where he was going, he was just driving on autopilot, and hoping that whoever was chasing them didn’t have a car… or at least hadn’t stolen one and was now following…

She was looking at him in all sincerity, ice blue eyes piercing right through him. “And now I owe you an explanation… a lot of them, actually. But what do you want to know first?”

“Who’s chasing us?” Markus asked.

She chuckled. “I’m not entirely sure… I have my guesses, but I’m not entirely sure. There are… a lot of… things.. that would love to get their hands on me for a variety of reasons.”

“How come? What did you do?”

“I was born.” She looked out the side passenger window.

He blinked, quickly turning his attention back to the road. “So… are you special… or just famous…?”

“More of the former than the later, though I guess I’m famous in certain circles, none you’ve probably heard of, though. Maybe I should start at the beginning, but I fear that you won’t believe me until you see it… It seems that Mother was right, though, there’s only one place that I will be safe, and now that I’ve drug you into this, well, you won’t be safe anywhere else, either. They’ll catch your scent on the pavement and they’ll come for you even if I’m not with you. I’m sorry, I never should have involved you, but I smelled The Old Blood in you, and I was hoping you could help…”

“Help keep you safe?”

“Well, that too.”

Markus was really confused now… she seemed willing enough to tell him things, but not enough to spit it out… a dangerous combination in his book, and it made him wonder if maybe she was schizophrenic… she didn’t really seem like the type, but with all this talk to Old Blood, whatever that was, and seemingly invisible things chasing them…

But then again, he had felt it too… felt some dark presence haunting his footsteps, though the feeling had gone the moment they had sped off in his car, but neither of them had tired, somehow, not before getting in the car, at least, and he knew they had to have been running for some time…

He looked at the clock. It was 8 now, so they had, indeed, been running for… what… over two hours? He mentally shook his head. That wasn’t possible… it just wasn’t… not in the state he was in.

She looked at him again. “I’m sorry. I was selfish when I asked you to come, but it seems I need to ask you a favor… I’d tell you everything now, but likely you already think me crazy, and my story won’t do much to help that right now, so…”

“What do you want me to do?” He asked. He couldn’t very well leave her anywhere, and he’d feel guilty, more than guilty, if she turned up in the obituaries, or worse, splashed all across the front page.

“Really, just like that?”

He shrugged. “I felt them, too.”

“Oh… well… looks like I wasn’t wrong about you having The Old Blood in you, then. You wouldn’t have felt them if you weren’t… actually… I don’t think you would have survived.”

“Is that why I’m not that tired, even though we’ve been running for hours?”

“Yeah… it kicks in when stuff like that happens. But I have to ask, how do you know where we’re going?”

“No idea.” He admitted. “I just do… somehow…”

She smiled. “You must have a lot of it in you, then. What are your parents like?”

He shrugged. “No idea, I was raised by Saul, he said he knew my parents, but he never talked about them at all, and never said why they weren’t around. I don’t even know if they’re alive or not. Though he really got a sour look on his face whenever I mentioned it, so I’m thinking it must not have been very good.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. We’re almost there, aren’t we?”

She nodded. “Your directions running out on you?”

“Yeah…” He smiled slightly. “So where…?”

“Turn right.”

“Next street?”

“No, now.”

“Into a building?”

She nodded. “And quickly.”

He shook his head, but did as she asked… for some reason it didn’t seem wrong to do what she said, just crazy.

Only thing is, as he braced himself for impact, he saw a flash of red and yellow light, and suddenly they were inside a small parking lot, so he found a space to park, which wasn’t hard seeing as the only thing there was an old city bus, and the two got out.

He looked around, seeing the walls of sky scrapers rise all around them. “How--?”

“They can’t see us, they just think this is a building… but it’s not.”

“But the space… there’s less room here than the outside.”

She smiled. “That’s because there is.” She walked over to the wall they had come through, and motioned him over with her left hand as she put her right on the wall.

He walked over, quickly, wondering if she’d accidentally leave him behind if he didn’t hurry, and just as he stopped next to her, the wall started to fall apart around her hand, crumbling into bits as more and more of it started to fall, until there was a hole big enough for them to go through.

“You first.” She said.

He shook his head, carefully walking around the debris, and turning to find her already standing next to him, and the wall reforming behind them.

“It’s a safeguard, in case the wrong people find this place. They can get into the parking lot if they know what to look for, but they’ll have a heck of a time finding the right door.”

“Right... so…?”

“Look behind you.”

Markus didn’t argue as he turned around, only to see us standing in a huge building, the walls, ceiling and floor were all made of this odd white stone that didn’t look like marble or anything he’d ever seen. It was as tall as a cathedral, but was completely round, except the floor was flat, making the place look like a squished bubble.

And that’s when he saw the people, hurrying back and forth across the weird floor carrying all manner of folders and documents, some were pulling children along or were busily walking to and fro, going one place or other, in and out of the many doors that lined the bubble’s walls, none of them paying them any mind at all.

“Wow.” Was all he could find to say.

She chuckled. “I know, isn’t it amazing? But come on, you’ll want to meet my father.”

“Your father?”

“Yes, he runs the place, and wasn’t too happy when I went to live with the rest of the world, I might say. He’ll be annoyed but happy to see me; will probably try to lecture me, but I’m a grown woman, you know?”

I nodded. Saul had acted similarly when Markus had gone off to college. They hadn’t spoken much since, only enough to know the other was still alive… and most of that was done by e-mail or mail. He knew that Saul was still disappointed in him, though he had no idea why… he had a good job, one with decent hours and a pretty good pay, and it wasn’t like he was living on the street, or… But then again, Saul had never told Markus what he wanted for him, he just sort of figured that he knew, though Markus didn’t understand how he would have figured it out without his guardian telling him what it was…

She was standing just ahead of him now. “Come on, Mark, what are you waiting for? I don’t want to keep him waiting.”

He nodded and quickly followed her, the two of them heading for the only door on the wall that had gold detailing on it, and a plaque that read Mr. Dean Windsworth, and nothing else, no title, nothing, like everyone should know exactly who Mr. Windsworth is.

She breathed in deep, opened the door, and exhaled into her greeting. “Hello.” She smiled, almost fakely.

The man at the desk, who was fairly thickset and had lots of wild white hair, looked up over his glasses at her, giving her a stern look for a moment before he broke out into a grin, got up, rounded his fancy wooden desk, and engulfed her in a hug.

She seemed shocked, to say the least, as she hugged him back.

Markus just stood there, not knowing what to do as he released her, and she him, moments later. He decided it was best if he didn’t say anything for now.

“Maggie, I was so worried! They didn’t catch you--?”

She narrowed her eyes slightly for a moment. “How did you know--?”

“I’ve been keeping track of you, for your own safety, but I couldn’t keep people close or you would have noticed…”

“You had a tracker spell on me?!”

“A limited one… if I could have had a bigger one on you, I could have gotten you help in time, but it seems you’re more resourceful than I gave you credit for. I’m sorry.”

She folded her arms. “I thought we agreed this was my life.”

“It is, but you are my heir, and thusly in need of protection…”

“She gestured to me with her head, but didn’t look back at me.” Markus saved me, so you don’t have to worry. He had a car.

“Ah, that would explain it.” He smiled and shifted his focus to me. “Well Markus, it seems I owe you a debt of gratitude, name your price and I will give it to you.”

“Price?”

“For finding and helping my daughter.”

“Oh, I don’t need anything for that. All we did was run…”

“Oh, please, I insist, name your price.”

I shrugged. “All I want are answers, really.”

He looked from me to his daughter, shocked. “Maggie… you didn’t--”

“You can feel The Old Blood in him too! He’s not--”

“But he’s a naïve, he was exempt!”

She sighed. “I had a weak moment, alright? And from what he’s told me about his past, I think he might be one of our lost.”

His eyes went wide as he looked at me. “How old are you?”

“Thirty, or I will be two weeks from tomorrow.”

He blinked again. “April… sixteenth?”

I nodded.

He sighed and sat down again. “Maggie… do you know what this means?”

She paled. “No… we didn’t… he can’t… I mean--”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

They both looked at me.

He sighed. “You are the missing heir, I don’t know how I missed it; you look impeccably like your mother. Who raised you?”

“Family friend by the name of Saul Peters.”

He sighed. “Well… so now we know… did he ever tell you… anything?”

Mark shook his head. “What happened to my parents?”

“They were nearly killed when the castle was attacked, they must have sent you with Saul to keep you safe… and this is the only place they could have sent you to keep you safe. They were locked in crystals to help them regenerate what power and strength they had lost… but I fear it may be another millennia before they wake again… and by then anarchy will have completely taken over… you are the only one who can calm the civil war.

“I know this must be awfully confusing for you, but our world has been crumbling apart since your disappearance, and you are the only one who can save it. There are more and more refugees coming to this world through our portals here, trying to escape it, but this world can not hold us all, and I fear if something is not done, our world and our people will be destroyed forever. Markus, you have to come with us.”

Mark stared at the man. “I know nothing about ruling… and what about my life here? I’m just supposed to disappear without a trace, making everyone worry about me and where I’ve gone, and I’m supposed to go off to another world I don’t know anything about and don’t remember, just like--?!”

“But you do remember.” Maggie whispered. “Or you never would have found this place like you did. Tell me, do you have any friends?”

He stared at her.

“I know that’s a little blunt, but I’ve never seen anyone at your apartment… you feel alone, don’t you? You feel… different, yes? It’s common for us, those of us who don’t know who we are… Markus, you’re special. You have gifts, talents, abilities, that you know nothing about.”

“Magic?”

She nodded. “That too.”

He looked down at his arms. “This isn’t my true form, is it?”

She shook her head. “No, it isn’t.”

“Somehow… I always knew that.”

She gave me a slight smile. “Do you remember?”

He shook his head. “No, but my body does.” And then, suddenly, and without warning he threw his head back and his skin started to slide off of him, like a jumpsuit, revealing blue-pink flesh covered in little scaly bumps. Then his back erupted as he fell forward, hands covering his face as he held back a scream, blue-pink feathery wings exploding outwards in a mass of shimmering, feathery softness. He dropped his hands, hanging his head and standing on all fours, waiting for the transformation to end as he felt his hair fall out and drop to the floor, only to have that same feathery softness appear where his hair used to be. He felt his hands elongate, his feet too, and his finger and toe nails change into almost claws.

He was still breathing hard when the changes completed, and in some ways he was waiting for the rest to happen, though he knew he was finished. He looked up at Maggie, silver eyes punctuating blue ones.

She smiled slightly. “You look a lot like your mother.”

He almost wanted to throw up as he started to stand, the weird movement of his joints feeling almost sickening as he stood, somehow, noticing he had to be at least six feet now.

“I’m not the only one, am I?”

She shook her head. “You’re just one of the last.”

“Half breed.” He muttered, remembering now, somehow. His mother had been more feathery and less human, his father had been human with a little bit of feathers, but his had been green, and together they had created him, a half breed, almost completely half and half…

His vision started to change then, started to sharpen and focus, the colors started to change and diminish until he was looking at the world almost through night vision goggles, but these made the daylight images more pure and distinct… like he could see things no one else could even imagine…

And then he closed his eyes and willed it back… and opened his eyes to see his vision normal.

“You have the sight.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Guess I do.”

“That will help, a lot, in proving who you are when you go after your crown.”

He nodded, folding his wings against his back. “I know.”