Kat

I really wanted to punch someone.  Burn something.  Maybe I was developing anger issues, but Ezra was possibly developing OCD, so maybe it was only fair that we both had mental issues as a result of this disastrous situation.

A part of me wanted to talk him into running away.  Honestly, I was tempted almost every day.  It wasn’t like we needed to stay, really, just…things were complicated while we were technically minors, not to mention I had trouble with getting ID since I didn’t have my own birth certificate and stuff like that.  I’d heard rumors about getting IDs via supernatural support companies, who’d help create IDs for people like us, and right now that was my hope for maybe giving Ezra an option other than staying with this dumb, selfish, bratty family.

I stepped confidently across the room, knowing that confidence was key.  If you looked like you knew where you were going, people didn’t question you.  I could make myself up to look older than I was, so they didn’t question me as I marched right into the nightclub.

Ezra would die of embarrassment if he was awake.  Thankfully when we switched, we could basically go dormant to rest while the other one was active, so he wasn’t entirely aware that I sometimes wandered out to explore the, uh, darker side of town.

This was a supernatural nightclub, and I was meeting someone here.  Not for anything too risky, actually, just to talk about how to get IDs.  I was hoping they could give me the info I needed and then maybe I could rescue Ezra from this nightmare.  And maybe something else, too.

I spotted them across the room and weaved through the crowd to talk to them.  The man didn’t even look up at me, entirely focused on his drink, but the woman glanced up and gave me a smile.

“You must be Kat.  You’re just like you were described.”

I accepted her kiss-on-each-cheek greeting and then sat down with them, well aware I had drawn some eyes in my walk across the room.  Maybe I should have opted for a dress that wasn’t vibrant red, but this was my color, so…whatever.

I got straight to the point.  “Did you get the info I asked for?”

The woman smirked a bit.  “What, no hellos?  Oh don’t worry, I get it – people in need of what you need don’t usually have time for pleasantries.”

I raised an eyebrow.  “Good evening, Andrea.  Horton.  It’s nice to meet you.  I do hope everything is well with you?”

She laughed loudly.  “That’s almost more amusing, seeing you play the niceties.  Well, whatever.  Might as well get it done with.”  She grew serious in an instant.  “We do have someone who can get you ID here in Durmond.  Problem is, they suck.  Their stuff often can be made as fake even by inexperienced people, so they’re mostly popular with teens trying to buy alcohol – and don’t know any better – or really desperate people who don’t really have any other options.”

I frowned.  Was I that desperate?  I wanted to get out of here, but if we were caught and someone tried to send us back, or send us to foster care or something…I wasn’t sure that was better.  I needed something better quality than that.

“There aren’t any other options?  Ones that cost more, maybe?”  I wasn’t opposed to sniping some funds from the jerk family.  Ezra would die at the suggestion, but as far as I was concerned, he was working for them full-time and then some, so they owed him money.

“Well, if you’re willing to travel, there’s a better option,” she allowed.  “The best service I know if is this guy in Avenglade, named Henry.  His firm is really good at getting documents – real ones sometimes, so they can’t be clocked – and they don’t charge.  But that’s not going to be a day trip or anything.”

I sat back in my chair.  On the one hand, trying to convince Ezra to take an overnight trip wasn’t going to be easy, but on the other…there was an option.  Something good, even.  That was a goal then.

“Okay,” I stated, thinking through the possibilities.  “You have his information?”

She gave me the name, number, and address of the place, so that was one thing done.

“And my other request?”  I asked.  “About information?”

Horton finally stirred from his stupor, though he still didn’t look up from his drink.  “Vague question, that, just wondering where to get info on rare supernaturals.  Without knowing exactly what you’re looking for, I can’t answer specifically, except to tell you that you can probably find whatever you want at Rosen Library.”

A library?  I hadn’t heard of this place, and Ezra had looked up local libraries soon after we’d moved, because that used to be where he spent his time when skipping classes.  I doubted it was local, but before I could ask, he went on.

“Rosen Library’s a supernatural library, deep in the mountains, most of a day’s flight from here.  And it does take a plane to get there, so you’re talking a bit more money than just hopping on a bus to Avenglade.  However, it’s been around for a couple millennia and then some, so any info that exists on supernaturals is likely there.  In the library.  If you can’t make it yourself, you can maybe get a researcher to look into it for you.”  He pulled a torn piece of notebook paper out of his pocket and slid it across the table to me, with what appeared to be a phone number written out in in scrawling handwriting.  “They’ll do that sometimes.  Don’t know what the criteria is for a researcher to help, but if they know you can’t come in person, maybe they’ll lend a hand.  And destroy that number after you use it – make sure it can’t fall into anyone else’s hands.  They don’t go sharing their number with anyone who’s not a supernatural.  I’m only giving it to you because I can tell you are one, but be careful with it.”

A supernatural library?  I’d never heard of such, but it would have to have more information on what we were.  We didn’t even technically know what we were called, let alone why we were what we were, or whether we were the only one.  It would be nice to have some information.  Some real information.

This trip had turned out to be even more helpful than I’d hoped.  Okay, achieving what I wanted would still be complicated, especially if the library wouldn’t give me the info I needed over the phone, but at least I knew where to go to get what we needed now.

In fact, I was so fixated on my goal that as soon as I left the club, I found a private corner on a rooftop and decided to call the library now.  Might as well get this ball rolling.

“Rosen Library, Research Center,” a bored voice answered.  “Whatcha need?”

“I need information,” I stated, my fingers tightening a bit on Ezra’s cellphone.  What if we finally got answers?  Apparently my interest was enough to stir Ezra, because I could feel him waking up.  “On a rare type of supernatural.”

“Okay, hang on, lemme go get her.”  For a moment I just heard muffled sounds, then the bored voice came back.  “She’s gonna pick up the other line.  Enjoy.”

I heard a click and nearly panicked for a second that the bored person had hung up on me, but then another – and very chipper – voice came on the line.

“Hi, I’m Margot, I specialize in rare supernatural research!  What can I do for you?”

I took a deep breath.  Maybe this was it.  Maybe we could start to get answers.  “I need information on a type of rare supernatural.”  Or, uh, what we assumed was rare, because when I’d tried to subtly prod Gemma on the issue, it had become clear that she wasn’t familiar with anything like us.  “It’s a supernatural with two, um, forms.  But not an animal form, it’s two people.  And, uh, they’re separate, but not.”  Oh man, I was explaining this terribly.  I was normally great at making friends and things, but when trying to describe things technically, that wasn’t my expertise.  I needed Ezra.  He was actually awake now, but being very quiet, apparently putting things together and practically holding his breath just as much as I was about what this meant to us.

“Oh!  You’re talking about a chimera,” the researcher immediately responded.  “One human, one supernatural, right?  Chimera are super rare.  Probably the rarest type of supernatural, actually.  It’s not quite clear what causes one to exist, because they’re so rare we don’t have many examples to compare, you know?  But the basics are – let’s see.  Basics are two separate souls, but they’re kind of the same person at the same time.  They have the same essence, meaning only one can be physically present at any time, but they can alternate between them instantly and at will.  I’m not sure if one can forcibly take over, because there’s not a lot of info about how things work between them other than that they can communicate telepathically constantly.  Let’s see, let’s see, what else.  Oh!  The supernatural side has fire magic, and it’s tough.  It can melt almost anything.  Mostly hot fire, but they can use cold fire with practice.  Chimera hearth magic is something everyone avoids, and I do mean everyone – demons and dragons will even leave it alone, it’s like lava, almost?  That’s what chimera magic is kind of like.  Like a volcano exploding.  Anyway, the human side is undetectable by almost anyone as being a supernatural, except Vist, since they see people’s true forms.  Vist are pretty much extinct, though,” she added before I could ask.  “Sad, really, because they were a gentle people.  Anyway, chimera can slide under the radar more easily than many supernaturals, thanks to the human side, since they do read human.  I mean, they are human, but they’re not.  They’re actually still supernatural, due to being half of a chimera.  They live as long as their supernatural side, which is like 700 years.  Uh…,” she paused, “anything else?”

I was reeling from the onslaught of information, and I could feel Ezra was, too.  But we knew what we were, now.  A chimera.  And everything she was describing matched with what we knew, except of course we hadn’t known about our lifespan.

“So…are they basically twins?  That, uh, fused?”  I wasn’t sure how to put it, exactly.

“No, I wouldn’t put it that way.”  The chipper researcher turned thoughtful.  “It’s the same person, really, just…different iterations of them?  An extension of their existence, in a way.  Maybe you could argue it’s like an identical twin, like a soul was splitting but didn’t finish fully splitting so the souls are connected.  I’m not a scientist, but it’s obviously not that, because chimera halves don’t have to be the same gender.  I do hear some people describe it as a twin, but personally, I think of it more like different versions of the same person.  They do seem to both have genes related to their bio parents, which is the argument I see for them being twins, but still…I don’t think that’s the most accurate description.  All of my research and the couple of times I’ve gotten a chance to talk to a chimera personally makes me think it’s something more than just a sibling.  Like, they view each other as a part of them.  Obviously, they are, because they exist within the same essence, but the point is, I don’t think most chimera truly feel like the other half is a sibling so much as part of themselves.  It’s more of a connection than even identical twins.  I’d call it closer to being a soulmate, only…more?  Like I said, I think it’s like two sides of the same coin.  They’re one, even if they’re two souls.  Actually, I think the closer analogy may be that of multiple personality disorder, just the second persona also has a body.”

That actually made sense to me, even if she was kind of rambling.  I had never thought of Ezra as a brother any more than he had thought of me as a sister.  We were definitely more than that, though we had separate thoughts and personalities.  We were, well…one.  One chimera, with two sides.

But she was still chattering on, and I tuned back in to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

“Some people have tried to figure out how chimera are made, because they think it would be super handy if they could also appear human, but I don’t think it works that way.  That’s an entirely different species, you know, not just adding a human appearance on top of whatever you happen to be.  I don’t think some people get that.”

“If I were to say I knew one,” I picked my words very carefully, “and one of their parents was a shifter and one, at the time they were conceived, was,” I took a deep breath, “a Hunter, would that impact your theories at all?”

“A shifter and a Hunter?”  She had to think for a bit.  “That almost makes sense!  Like – Hunters have this whole other side, but they’re human, and then a shifter, yeah, I could see it, but that would be the first chimera I’d have an official record of what their parents are.  Well, maybe.  I should check back in the census and see if we have any information about the other ones on record.”  She started mumbling stuff to herself that sounded like an awful lot of work to try to see if any other known chimeras had the same parental makeup as Ezra and I did.

“Did their parents know?”  She demanded suddenly.  “From what I can tell, most chimera are born in their human form, and sometimes the supernatural one…lurks, I guess?  Sometimes the parents have no idea that there’s another soul in there.”

I didn’t trust her – or anyone other than Ezra – enough to share too much.  How much should we say?

Ezra seemed as reluctant as I was.  I don’t know.  She doesn’t seem likely to harm us, and she did give us some useful info, so maybe it’s only fair to give her some in return?  Without letting her know it’s us.

“No,” I stated out loud.  “They both assumed the person was just human.  They don’t – didn’t – know about the other side.”

“Huh.”  She mused.  “I mean, I can see not telling the Hunter parent, seems self-explanatory, but why not tell the shifter?”  Thankfully this seemed to be a rhetorical question, because she continued without waiting for an answer.