Chapter Two

Godric rose two hours before sunset as he consistently did every evening. He had first noticed this ability presenting itself around the age of seven hundred, and over the centuries he had steadily rose earlier and earlier as he aged. This development definitely had its advantages, though it could almost be intolerable on those nights he was forced to bury himself in soil and wait under the dirt for the sun to set.

 

Eric had also started rising early, around the same age. He shook his head as he thought about just how old Eric was. “I have a 1200 year old child,” he chuckled fondly. He mentally checked on the open bond with his Viking and smiled to himself when he sensed he was still in his day rest. He would not be rising for another hour. It was a comfort to sense Eric’s vivacious energy pulsing across the bond again, even if it was only a faint undertone while he slumbered and the feel of his ancient child gave him solace.

 

Still lying on his back, he couldn’t help but take a few moments to revel in the feel of the silk sheets that caressed his skin. They were so soft they felt like cool water against his body. He rubbed his bare chest as the maker call buzzed in his heart and through his blood, reminding him of the captivating events that unfolded the night before. Closing his eyes and sitting up on the bed, he dangled his legs off the side. He tried to calm himself and focus on the cool hardwood floor below his naked feet. He took a long unnecessary breath which always seemed to calm him in the past. If he could not settle his instincts quickly he was liable to rush out in the sunlight towards the park in search for her. The pull was a ravenous desire and he longed to run to her, seize her, and fly away into the night with her.

 

A vision of her face appeared in his mind as he pictured her slowly facing him when she stood in front of the lake. Her eyes glinted in the darkness almost like a cat as her pupils tried to soak in the starlight. He reached for the sunglasses he had found the night before, which were sitting on his night stand. Carefully inspecting them he realized she must have been watching him from the shadows, wearing those very glasses to hide her eyes. Despite her lack of scent and the measures she had taken to hide herself, he should have sensed her presence. Such a neglectful oversight on his part could result in tragedy. He was grateful that he had survived the last century, regardless of the morose disposition he had experienced during that time.

 

He smiled. His future child was already a stealthy predator if she could fool him, even in his formerly crestfallen state. She would make a spectacular vampire and he knew from rumors that other supernaturals that were given the gift of immortality did not lose their magical gifts. He recalled a vampire he knew of that managed to weave his way into human lore with his ability to shape shift to a bat, despite being an insufferable buffoon who was barely a century old when he met his true death. The long dead vampire was a known shifter to his kind, retaining his abilities after his turning.

 

He cared not what abilities his future child had. She could be an ordinary human, it mattered not. His devotion to her had already weaseled its way into his hungry heart and he had passionate ambitions to deliver her to her destiny by his side.

 

Twirling the sunglasses in his hand, he brought them to his nose to try and catch a hint of the elusive scent that he yearned to know. He sighed in frustration. There was nothing.

 

He knew that she must feel the pull as he felt it. It was two-sided in every aspect and he imagined her sitting on the bench in front of the lake, staring out over it that very moment thinking of him, wondering about him, and probably confused at what it all meant. He wanted to be the one to ease her fears as he drew her in his arms and caressed her hair, whispering to her that he would take care of her, protect her, and guide her.

 

Godric knew that when he did find her he must tread lightly. If indeed she was of the Fae then she would be wary and suspicious of him. He tilted his head and looked to the wall in thought. It puzzled him why she was not with her kin in the Fae realm. The Fairies had retreated when he was still a young vampire and very little had been heard of them since. Only Niall, the old Sky Fairy who ruled, had been sighted on rare occasions to conduct business in the supernatural community, though it had also been rumored that he sometimes sent others in his stead.

 

What ever the reason for her solitary nature, he was sure that fate had brought them together and he was desperate to locate her soon, because the call of the maker not only meant that she was destine to be his progeny, but also that her death was impending.

 

Stretching towards the nightstand, he sat the sunglasses back down and stood up. For his own sanity, he needed to pass the time while he waited for the sun to set. He wanted to be ready to take his leave at first dark. He had a few tasks that would keep his mind occupied.

 

After showering, he padded across the tile floor of the bathroom over to the sink. He readjusted the white towel around his waist and retrieved his tooth brush. The invention of the tooth brush and tooth paste had definitely been one of mankind’s greatest achievements. Though he could never get cavities, it freshened his breath and there was a chance he may be talking to a certain young beauty tonight. He scrubbed for a few moments before dropping fang and polishing his razor-sharp ivories. Curling his lip up and growling experimentally in the mirror, he smiled coyly and subtly waggled his head with cocky swagger. “Hmm,” he mused in satisfaction, raising one eyebrow suavely. “I still got it.”

 

He headed out of the bathroom to the sleeping chamber door that led to the rest of the subterranean level of his compound. Running one hand through his messy damp hair to expel the water drops, he reached up with the other and entered in the forty-seven digit alpha-numeric code at vampiric speed into the security pad by the door. It was the last layer of defense that protected him while he slumbered for the day.

 

Stepping into the hallway, he immediately perked up at the sound of growling, panting, and scratchy racket sprinting across the compound in his direction. Turning his head to look over, he raised his brow as a small two-legged creature turned the corner at a speed it couldn’t control and slid across the hardwood floors, crashing against the wall. It scrambled excitedly to its feet, this time on all fours, and ran in place for a second before managing to take off towards him.

 

“Twitch,” he greeted. “I take it all is quiet in the compound.”

 

Twitch skidded to a stop and lifted his banded tail proudly to show Godric he had not needed to hurl it at any invaders today. The poison dart that grew on the tip of his tail had enough venom in it to drop a 500 year old vampire for two days. Twitch was yet another layer of his security system, but over the last two centuries he had become a cherished pet. Similar to a raccoon in build, size, and fur markings, the animal was anything but ordinary. He had received it as a gift from a family of demons during an assignment in his previous job. A job he held before he became Sheriff of Dallas. Like supernatural sentient beings, there were also supernatural animals that remained hidden from the human eye, though many had gone extinct due to the spread and encroachment of human civilization into wild territories. Twitch’s species was commonly mistaken for a raccoon; the most noticeable physical difference was the dart on his tail and his purple eyes.

 

He noticed Twitch had his tiny fist clenched tightly around something and he bent down. “What do you have?”

 

Twitch’s eyes became wide and he looked up with guilt. He slowly tried to stroll away casually and chittered with feigned ignorance.

 

“Twitch?” Godric growled walking after him, following him as he headed to the living room.

 

The animal quickly threw down a popcorn kernel and took off to dash under the couch.

 

He sighed and shook his head as he walked into the living room to see popcorn all over the place and a spilled juice box on the coffee table, the remote control to the TV sticky in the spillage. “I see you have been very busy guarding the compound today,” he grumbled bending down and picking up a few stray pieces of popcorn.

 

He walked over to the coffee table and pulled the towel from his waist. Bending down and wiping up the juice, he growled slightly. Twitch was always getting into trouble. Though he usually cleaned up his romping messes before Godric rose, sometimes he still slipped.

 

Godric felt a piece of popcorn bounce off his bottom. He looked over his shoulder at the dark crevice under the couch and could hear the animal sniggering in the shadows.

 

“I hear Chihuahuas make excellent guards.”

 

He heard a gasp followed by a furry arm darting out from under the couch and picking up several nearby pieces of popcorn. As he walked towards the kitchen, he heard a crunching noise.

 

After preparing a Tru-Blood and taking a drink, he grimaced and held the bottle up to look at it, an expression of disgust on his face. He wondered how he had managed to persist off the vile liquid since the Great Revelation. One of his first orders of business would be to acquire some bagged blood to await him when he rises, for those nights he was too busy to go hunting. Despite it being the weaker synthetic stuff, he still felt slightly energized. It had been at least a week since he fed. He had practically been starving himself for years. Confused about his past behavior, he took another sip and opened one of the junk drawers in the counter.

 

He rummaged around for a moment before retrieving what he was looking for. It was a picture of him and his child Eric. The photograph was old, black and white with brown tones, taken shortly after cameras were first invented. He chuckled at the curly white wigs that he and Eric were wearing and the layers and layers of clothing that the Europeans tended to adorn themselves with during that era. The photograph was encased in a glass sheath but time had already taken its toll on the treasure, cracking the edges. He ran his thumb over the image and could not imagine why he had felt such a strong need to meet the true death and leave his child.

 

He took another sip of the Tru-Blood while he stared at the photo in his hand.

 

The anguish he had felt seemed almost alien, as if it was not his emotion. The picture had been taken before those feelings presented themselves, and he was smiling in the image, laughing at Eric’s complaint about his itchy wig. Life had been so fulfilling back then, before everything went dark. Last night the darkness had been lifted from him as if he had just tossed a blanket aside. He was not sure if the call of the maker had extinguished those feelings or if his future child had done something to him. He suspected she had indeed somehow lifted the darkness with her mere touch, a touch he was sure danced with a secret magic. He had been so close to the true death and she had given him a magnificent gift. She had made him whole once again. He did not yet understand it, but he owed her a debt he could never repay.

 

After rinsing out the empty Tru-Blood bottle in the sink, he tossed it in the recycle bin. Immortality had a way of causing one to care about the future of the Earth. He strode back in the living room, still holding the photograph of him and Eric and saw Twitch dragging the dirty towel in the opposite direction as he waddled towards the laundry room. His mess would keep him busy for awhile then he would probably go up to the top level and bristle his fur and rattle his dart at squirrels and birds as he watched through the window. Turning back down the hall, Godric headed to his office. He had some important matters that he needed to attend to as soon as possible.

 

He checked the security monitor in his office as he walked in. The upper level of the compound was silent, no one was allowed inside during the daytime hours. Outside he caught a glimpse of a guard patrolling the parameter and another reading a magazine inside the station at the gate. His compound was small, but well fortified and he lived there alone. He rarely slept at the Sheriff nest where he conducted area business, instead preferring to seek out a solitary existence on the outskirts of Dallas at the secret location that only a few of his most trusted friends and blood kin knew about.

 

Godric had been taking on less and less responsibility as the Dallas Sheriff, training Isabel to take his place since he had planned to meet the sun. If truth be told, the position as Sheriff was a dreary and unfulfilling job that he found little joy in. Unlike his child Eric, who was born a Viking prince, he had little desire to rule over a Sheriffdom.

 

It would seem that there would soon be many changes in his life. There was his hope of a new progeny, but he also yearned to reconnect with his child Eric. He would not however deny Eric his position, but instead found himself desiring to move to Shreveport and live in a nest with Eric again. He did not know his grand progeny Pamela as well as he would like since Eric turned her shortly after Godric had descended into darkness. A move would allow him the opportunity to finally connect with her on a deeper level. Something he should have done long ago.

 

After sitting the photograph of him and Eric on his desk, he sat down and picked up the phone to leave Isabel a message that he would not be at the Sheriff nest tonight and to not disturb him unless it was an emergency. He had complete faith that she was competent enough to handle area business on her own.

 

He reached in the file drawer of his desk and retrieved a manila folder. Inside it was the resignation papers that he had asked the King’s clerk to fax over last week. He had planned to put his affairs in order before presenting himself to the Fellowship of the Sun, but now he had completely different reasons for wanting to leave his position. It wasn’t just the maker call, or his eventual move to Shreveport, but also he yearned to return to his old position. The one he held before he became Sheriff.

 

He had quit the job nearly a hundred years ago, when he found that he could no longer fulfill his duties. He had been the Chief Enforcer for Section Black, a highly feared and secretive group answerable to no one, not even High Chancellors within the Global Authority. He had held the position for centuries, and he had quickly rose to one of the highest level positions attainable where he oversaw the entire European dynasty. His reputation and power was both feared and revered throughout the supernatural world, earning him the nickname “Death” and even the most vicious creatures whispered his name in morbid awe.

 

His job was simply to protect the sanctity of the species, to ensure that the sacred and ancient institutions of honor, tradition, and obligation were upheld by vampires as a whole. If the race went off course, it was his job to correct any untraditional infractions. When he retired at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the American vampires had soon descended into utter chaos as Section Black consolidated in the Old World and abandoned hope of stretching their influence across the oceans. Now humans are given immortality without thought, makers abandon their progenies, drainers are allowed to run ramped, Kings and Queens act like dogs fighting for scraps, and to top everything off the North American Authority flip-flop their bureaucratic agendas and decrees from one extreme to the other.

 

There was a code that had been followed, even when mankind still huddled in caves around fire pits. That ancient code had once been revered. As Chief Enforcer for Section Black Godric was judge, jury, and executioner for any blatant violators of the code. Any whisper of Section Black struck fear to the very cord in every vampire. It was Godric’s design to retake his role as Chief Enforcer and straighten out the mess that the American vampire society now wallowed in.

 

 

Sierra splashed her feet in the cool water of the lake as she watched the ducks glide across the water. Today she was not feeling herself. She was exhausted and had grown more tired as the day pressed on. Her stomach was cramping occasionally as well and she wondered if something had gone wrong when she healed the vampire of his affliction.

 

It was true; her magical power had increased extensively since she had been cast out of the Fae realm. The Earth Fae were meant to live on Earth after all, not a never-ending sun realm that the ruling Sky Fae had chosen for her race long before her birth. Despite her ever increasing power, it wasn’t limitless and she feared she had overestimated her strength when she decided to rid the vampire of his curse.

 

Her exhaustion wasn’t too bad, but it was a nuisance and she had spent most of the day lounging about in the shade. She thought about him, the vampire she had healed. Ever since she had touched him she had felt a delightful feeling in her chest that she could not quite explain. She found herself yearning more than ever to see him again, but knew she would have to wait another six nights before he came back to the park, which he never failed to do. It was the reason she hadn’t used up her depleted energy to mask her scent today. She usually only bothered for the two days every week preceding his visits anyway. The only reason it had been masked the first time she spotted him was because she was new to the park and being cautious, hiding her scent everyday until she knew it was safe. His weekly visits were like clockwork and she was never disappointed when he came into sight.

 

She was surprised he had not tried to immediately bite her last night; instead he seemed eager to enjoy her company. This development surprised her and she had watched him in confusion from a distance as he searched for her, unsure if he wanted to feed upon her or simply talk to her as he repeatedly claimed with his calls. It took every ounce of her will power to remain hidden. Some invisible force seemed to scream to her to go to him, and her heart tried to convince her that she would find comfort in his arms. Everything about him beckoned her, invited her in, and called to her with a vigorous power that she barely managed to keep at bay.

 

“Hello, Dear.”

 

Sierra quickly looked over her shoulder and smiled at Pearl, an elderly lady who often walked her little dog in the park. She had befriended her when she first made this park her home and the little old lady would bring her books to read and vegetables from her garden. She was one of the few humans that Sierra ever interacted with. She still found it extremely strange that humans had no glowing aura like everybody else. She looked at the old lady who always had a smile but not one iota of glow to her skin.

 

“Hello, Pearl!” She beamed as she watched her settle herself on the vampire’s bench for a rest. The old lady sighed heavily as she sat down and kicked one shoe off. Mickey, a disheveled miniature schnauzer who hadn’t been groomed in years, bounded up to her and wagged his tail happily. She giggled and petted his head. Pearl chuckled as she twirled her toes in the soft soil by the bench.

 

The old lady sniffed the air and looked around suspiciously before shrugging her shoulders. “Oh,” she picked up her tote bag and started digging in it. “I almost forgot. I brought you some strawberries from my garden and that book you asked to borrow.”

 

“Thanks!” Sierra splashed her foot in the water again as Mickey wondered a few feet away his leash dragging behind him, an insect had gotten his attention. “I have your other books in my den. I finished reading them a few days ago. And I have a surprise for you too!”

 

Pearl’s serene eyes lit up and the wrinkles on her face deepened as she smiled. “A surprise? What sort of surprise?” she said as she leaned forward and handed her a book titled Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Vampires and More.

 

“I can’t tell you till I give it to you! That’s why it’s called a surprise,” she laughed taking the book. “This is about true vampires, right? Not the false sparkling ones in the book series you brought me a few months ago.”

 

“Oh those are the real ones all right. This book should help you avoid them better. A girl like you, Sierra… well you could be in real trouble if you ever came across one of those creatures.”

 

“It’s not to avoid them. I want to know more about their true nature. People go around them every night and are unmolested.”

 

Pearl’s brow creased in concern. “That’s different, honey.”

 

Sierra looked over at Mickey who was lapping up water from the lake. He had lost interest in the insect. “Why is it different? Just because I’m a maiden?”

 

“Well,” the old lady began but paused. “Well what does an old bag of bones like me know anyway,” she chuckled. “You can take care of yourself. That’s for sure.”

 

Sierra smiled at the protective human. If only the old lady knew what she was really capable of she would know exactly how much she truly could take care of herself.

 

Pearl and Mickey were Sierra’s only friends and she had never even told them that she was half Earth Fae who had only lived out of the realm for seven months. Instead making up a story about how she was banished from her village in Mongolia and migrated to Dallas on the first airplane she had come across. Despite being forced to live in the wild lands since the age of twelve, she still remembers her life in the village and the small morsels she learned about humans from the special school the Fairies had made for her to accommodate her slow childhood growth rate. She knew enough to know that humans were oblivious to the existence of Fairies. She still had a lot to learn about Earth, humans, and the way people lived, but she was a fast learner and the books Pearl brought her, especially the college textbooks, and the stories she told were helping. She wondered if all humans were like Pearl. If they were, then she decided she really liked humans much better than the Fairies who had rejected her.

 

Sierra nibbled on a strawberry. “Delicious!”  When she tossed the leafy stem in the dirt Mickey leaped over to it and sniffed. “Okay come on,” she said standing up. “Time to go get your surprise.”

 

She started trotting towards the other side of the park where the brick building with the bathrooms were. She was still tired but Pearl’s visit had given her a sudden surge of energy and excitement. She had been working on her gift for weeks and she couldn’t wait to give it to her.

 

“Wait up, Sierra!” Pearl called hobbling behind. “I’m old.”

 

“I venture to wager you have yet reached your hundredth year,” she called over her shoulder with a loud laugh. Mickey was barking happily and jumping in circles around her as she jogged to the structure up ahead.

 

“Might as well be with the way I move!” Pearl hollered across the lawn, carrying her shoes in one hand and her tote bag in the other.

 

Sierra burst into the women’s bathroom and Mickey rushed to the third stall and sniffed the ground. “Move, Mickey, so I can open the door,” she giggled.

 

Reaching to the floor, she lifted the two by two square tile that opened up into the Earthen stairwell that led down to her den.

 

As she made her way to the bottom of the steps, she looked around. She could hear Pearl at the top grumbling as she came into the bathrooms. Mickey leaped over to the far side of the domed den and started sniffing the leafy vines hanging down the wall.

 

She had revealed her den to Pearl and Mickey some months ago but it had taken a long time for her to trust them with her secret. She had explained to the old lady that the den was actually a basement the park engineers must have dug out under the bathrooms but never finished. She hated telling falsehoods to them but at the same time she didn’t want to scare them. Pearl was human, she knew nothing of Fae magic. She couldn’t bare the thought of losing Pearl and Mickey as friends. And even more crucial was the need to protect herself from the danger of humans finding out about her.

 

“Goodness gracious, it’s dark in here,” Pearl said coming down the steps.

 

Sierra looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath. The dim sparkles on the ceiling lit up brightly until the room was bathed as if it basked in the most starlit heaven ever created and the star flowers she had planted on the ground opened up to soak in the light. The lights and flowers would stay that way now all through the evening and night until dawn. Sierra immediately clapped her hands and said, “CLAP ON!” really loudly. Another lie she had told Pearl, claiming that she had found a broken light clapper that a park visitor had thrown away and she managed to repair it. In truth, she had simply found a magazine in the trash with an advertisement for the Clap On, Clap Off gadget.

 

“That’s better,” Pearl said, walking over to the crickedy old wooden table on the other side of the room where she always sat. “Now I’m not blind as a bat.”

 

Mickey tried to jump up in Sierra’s hammock bed but it spun and flipped upside down and he toppled to the ground on his face. He quickly stood up and walked away as if he had meant to do that.

 

Pearl pointed up at the ceiling and gasped, her wrinkly old face full of wonder. “You added the Orion constellation. That one is my favorite.”

 

Sierra laughed and walked over to the cupboard to put the strawberries Pearl had given her beside some pomegranates she had picked from a wild tree yesterday along one of the parks hiking trails. She had spotted a pecan tree far off the trail as well and planned to go back after Pearl and Mickey left and harvest some before nightfall. After arranging her bounty in the cupboard, she walked to the hammock and sat the book on the stand beside it. “Okay, close your eyes.”

 

Pearl squealed and scrunched her shoulders. She closed one eyelid and Mickey barked but it came out like a scruffy gurgle.

 

“Both of them! No peeking!”

 

Pearl huffed, pretending to be annoyed and trying not to smile. She closed both eyes, her eyebrows raised high so Sierra could tell her eyes were completely shut.

 

Tiptoeing over to the wooden chest beside the table, she opened it up and retrieved a potted tree that had already grown a foot high. The two tiny jewels hanging off the stems dangled and reflected the light from the ceiling.

 

“Okay, open your eyes!” She chattered with delight.

 

Pearl opened her eyes and gasped, putting her hands over her mouth. “Is that…”

 

“A Gemstone Tree!” Sierra said proudly. “I found the seed myself and grew it for you. As it gets bigger it will blossom emeralds, rubies, sapphires…” Sierra thought a second. “Oh yeah, and pearls of course! See,” she pointed at a tiny white pearl hanging off the tree. “One already bloomed. And this one is a ruby.”

 

“Oh my lord, honey! How did you manage to find something so magical?” Pearl gasped in wonderment.

 

Sierra stiffened up. The tree was full of magic but Pearl had never questioned the strange things she had around her den before. She mentally scolded herself for again failing to realize the nuances of human behavior. The truth was, Sierra forged the gems from the roots of the Earth and imbued their essence into a dogwood sapling but she didn’t dare tell Pearl that.

 

Her eyes shifted to the pile of books Pearl had brought her several months ago. Among them were several college textbooks that she had asked for in an attempt to learn more about Earth civilization and the way humans learn and think. Science was a big part of their culture it seemed.  Among the textbooks on her stand were Geology, Horticulture, and A History of Modern Scientific Achievements. Her mind worked quickly through her memory. Although it wasn’t eidetic from birth like most fairies, it had become more powerful ever since she left the realm. She could remember almost anything she read but had difficulty with the complexities of human interaction. Many things she said were not quite in line with something a human would say, instead coming out slightly odd or offbeat and she knew it from the expressions Pearl made. She quickly looked back to Pearl.

 

“It’s a genetically modified botanical organism.” She shrugged trying to seem casual. “It’s the vanguard of biotechnology.” Sierra scratched her nose as she stared at Pearl, a tinge of guilt in her eyes at having to fib about her gift. “I wouldn’t show anyone though or they may try to pillage it. You can’t find these in village markets yet and you’d be hard pressed to find a barter merchant who has one in his wares.”

 

“Of course. Makes perfect sense. Scientists and their GMO’s,” Pearl said with a mischievous wink. “I love jewels as much as I love plants! This is my two favorite things in one.”

 

Sierra laughed happily. “Me too. My native homeland… Um, far away in Mongolia. My kin love jewels, too.”

 

Pearl was grinning, her teeth showing as she reached out and gingerly took the plant.

 

“Also, the jewels will grow bigger if you wait to harvest them, but it’s hard not to.”

 

“I’ve never had such a wonderful gift! Thank you, Sierra! You are such a good girl,” she said patting her hand.

 

Sierra smiled proudly, glad that Pearl loved her special gift so much.

 

“I wish I had been born with a fraction of your talent! Those foolish Mongolians have no idea what they lost when they banished you,” Pearl said slyly as she fingered a baby jewel on her new tree. Mickey came over to sniff the plant and Pearl shooed him away.

 

Later that evening after Pearl had stopped rambling on about how Sierra should install some sort of real door on her den to make it a real home that vampires couldn’t enter, she and Mickey had finally made their leave. Pearl made promises of visiting again soon when the tomato’s ripened so she could bring some for her young friend to enjoy. Pearl loved working in her garden and Sierra imagined it was probably the biggest garden in Dallas.

 

It didn’t take her long to make her way down the trail to the pecan tree. She forwent teleportation since she knew she was much too tired to attempt any serious magic right then.

 

Gathering the pecans in the skirt of her dress from the wild pecan tree, she looked up at the evening sky. There was still more than an hour of sunlight left. She loved to stay up at night and stargaze. She had never seen the stars and moon before coming here, and it was the most beautiful sights she had ever beheld, but she was sleepy. She had been all day and had already taken one afternoon nap. She rubbed her belly and grimaced as another cramp racked her body. She couldn’t help but wonder if she had been afflicted with one of the many human illnesses or if she was just drained from removing the vampire’s curse.

 

She yawned and sat down at the base of the pecan tree. After popping the shells off of a few pecans and eating the nuts inside, she leaned back and sighed heavily. She looked around at the tall grass surrounding her. Any humans hiking through the park would not be able to see her from the trail. She could just close her eyes for a few minutes and rest, and when she woke, she would be re-energized and would teleport back to her den under the park bathrooms to curl up in her hammock. Her eyes slowly closed as she drifted to sleep under the low hanging evening sun.

5,759 Words

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter because it was like the 47th draft! What do you think of Sierra so far? And what do you think of the new and improved badass Godric and Section Black? Did you like the new OC’s introduced: tenacious Twitch and peculiar Pearl? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Special Thank You: Thank you to Suzymeinen who worked on this chapter with her beta magic! And thank you to Navidasti and Royal Ember who talked about it with me for days and days while we picked it apart.