September 3, 2003 – 21:00“I told them I didn’t have it. It wasn’t technically a lie, as I didn’t have it with me.”“Make sure they don’t see you going to any of your storage units,” said Erik.Coralis sat on the living room couch and was on a holographic call with Erik and Henry. They couldn’t prove that the EBEE elders had been talking to her mother’s relatives and the EBEE French elders didn’t know anything about it.“I want to move it, but it’s too risky. It is in the one I rented when I decided to relocate what was in my cousin’s unit to another one elsewhere… specifically for that kind of reason. I didn’t know if my relatives on my mother’s side knew about her storage unit.”The base of her hologram, which sat in the middle of her living room table, turned blue and she decided to ignore it, thinking that whoever was trying to call her could wait. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Frank getting ready to go shower.“It’s better if it stays there, think about it. They tried to b
September 3, 2003 – 21:45“Repeat that, please?” said Frank, quickly turning his attention to him.“The US posted a list of 50 witches that are to be killed on sight, and another one called Other Ones of Interest that are to be arrested for questioning. Me and my brother aren’t on them, neither are Sebastian and Gus, but Blue is,” said Henry.“We knew that I’d be a target if a war were to break out, can’t say I’m surprised, but 19th out of 50 names?”Frank passed his arm around her shoulders. She was leaning her elbows on her knees.“Most of the names listed aren’t even witches. Some of them should be on that list, yes, but most of those posted on their lists are elementals that stood against radicals,” said Erik.Henry pushed the lists into the hologram so that Coralis, Frank and their guests could see it.“Holy gods from above! Andrew is 26th and Sonylla is 48th. Eva and Veronica are listed on their other list,” said Coralis.“Why are you ranked higher than your mentor?” said Sebast
September 4, 2003 – 7:30“The corpses with the fake sigil tattoo? Hold on, I’ll put you on speakerphone. I’ve got a crowd over here who’ll want to hear about this.”“Yes. Oddly enough, there is no picture of them in any papers. Is Eva with you?”“No, but Sebastian is.”“Hello Veronica,” said Sebastian, holding a cup of coffee.“Oh good! Hi Sebastian! You are going to want to hear about this. I’m sure you remember the gory night against Lucas’ vampire last year?”“You’re talking about the night when a djinn tried to kill your brother and Blue stepped in, right?”“Yes, that night. Turned out that the vampires we killed, at least some of them, had the same tattoos on their left arm, right below the armpit. Papers are showing pictures of two of them, their left arm above their head, so their tattoos are clearly seen in the pictures.”“We burned them all, did we miss some corpses?”“No, we didn’t miss any, I’d set myself on fire on that.”“In which papers? I wanna see,” asked Gus.“Jorgie,
September 10, 2003 – 21:30“An unlikely ally?” said Coralis.Frank and the four mages stood in the kitchen around the kitchen island, deeply invested in Veronica’s story.“Very unlikely. A few days later, the citizens’ relentless plea fell into the ears of a sympathetic CIA agent. Intrigued, the middle-aged agent decided to visit them to find out more. He had met the one called Blue Thunder once before, and he remembered seeing a camera surveillance footage showing her and a young male seemingly deactivating a nuclear weapon on an isolated island. He knew she was no evil.”“Fart in the Sea. He saw me and Blue,” said Henry, looking at Coralis. “Erik and Gus were standing guard. We were all wearing an invisible cloak then, but it fell. When we got home, Gus managed to hack into their surveillance system to scrub the footage clean, but he couldn’t find it… that agent must have intercepted it before Gus got to it.”“A CIA agent? What’s his name? I mean, how do we know for sure he won’t do
September 10, 2003 – 22:20“No, probably not, but who knows. Are you still calling it like that?” said Coralis as she pressed buttons on the microwave.“Perfect name for it, doesn’t it?” said Veronica while the others couldn’t contain their laughter.“If you say so. Henry came up with the idea to create a cursed replica of it and plant it in a location associated with my mother’s family because I found it at the same place as the Rawindra Sword and I had to kill two de Lima’s family members for it.”“That way you could find out who’s after it and possibly kill some middlemen in between. That’s a genius plan, I must say. You got no issues with possibly killing more relatives?” said Veronica.“That’s the idea, yeah, and no, I’ve got no issues. They’re no family of mine,” said Coralis as Frank rubbed her back. “Better I go after them before they find me and come for me. The original is believed to work only when an elf wears it, but I will make this one work on any elemental, except for
October 9, 2003 – 22:00Coralis was on her way home from her flyball game. Her team had a solid victory against Morocco. As she was about to enter the Laval skyline, she sensed she was being followed. Not wanting to lead her stalker to where she lives, she decided to circle the city anti-clockwise. She didn’t want to be seen entering the Montreal skyline.The uneasy feeling of being followed persisted and grew stronger. Suddenly, she saw someone floating still ahead of her, so she took a sharp turn west toward Rigaud. She was about to make a U-turn before passing the provincial border, but three people suddenly appeared right in front of her, and two on either side of her, forcing her to take another sharp turn going down.They were trying to capture her.She stabilized her altitude before reaching the top of the trees below her and paused. She was thankful that she wasn’t flying above a town. Looking up, she saw more people appearing from all directions, trying to trap her.Meanwhile
October 10, 2003 – 1:30“How do you think he is going to react? He loves you, madly. You know he is going to be upset and worried sick about you. However, I honestly understand why you may not want him to know where you are. We can’t lie. I mean, we may manipulate some wordings, when necessary, but if he directly asks me where you are… best if I don’t know, you’re right… but I don’t like it.”“Neither do I. I’d much rather be in bed with Frank right now, but before I come back home to him, I need to find out who sent them. These guys weren’t amateur, but whoever paid them forgot that I’m a damn professional flyball player.”“One of the bests at that. That was a dumb move on their part to try to get you while you’re flying.”“Dumb or not, they still tried. When you talk to Frank, can you please remain vague in your answers? I know he will worry and be mad at me. Our apartment is heavily warded, but I don’t know what my enemies are capable of. I need to find out who came after me tonigh
October 10, 2003 – 11:30“High Mage Rollio?” said Sonylla.“I almost got captured last night on my way back from the flyball field. I didn’t even sleep at home, to make sure that whoever came after me wouldn’t find out about my human boyfriend and use him as leverage against me.”They all looked at her.“You too?” said Emery.“Yes, High Mage Rollio,” said High Mage Finnas, briefly looking at Sonylla before turning his attention to Coralis. “Almost got captured? How did you escape? Agent Gaspart Yoz managed to escape those who came after him but lost consciousness in the back of an alley. He woke up earlier this morning, but will need to remain at our clinic for a few days.”“No offence Finnas, but the answer to that question is pretty obvious if they tried to catch her while she was flying home. Blue doesn’t use portals. They would have needed at least an entire team of professional flyball players better than ours to successfully capture her,” said Emery.“This is fortunate for us, b
December 24, 2003 – 06:00Coralis was making coffee when Samantha woke up.“Good morning, Samantha! You’re up early.”“I couldn’t sleep. Are you sure it’s fine if I come with you guys tonight?”“Yeah, if they told us you’re welcome to come, then you are welcome. They’re very nice people, and they know about us. Well, they know about me and Sebastian, Stephanie knows about you, they won’t mind what you are.”“If they know I’m not human and still want me to come, I think that’s already more than I can hope for.”“Think about it, I rank 11th on the global list of witches to kill on sight and they still want me to marry into their family. What does that tell you?”“All I need to know.”Twenty minutes later, while the girls were making breakfast, Frank woke up. It had only been 5 days since Coralis returned home after a long absence and to him, it still felt like it was the day before.“Considering the time it was when you got home last night, shouldn’t you still be sleeping?”Coralis jump
December 23, 2003 – 22:15“LIEUTENANT YOUMIS?” said Sebastian, looking at him. “Wasn’t he supposed to replace High Fay Zaaro?”“Yes. These abominations reek of his essence.”A few minutes later, Coralis got back on her feet and stepped out of the circle.“Lieutenant Youmis is exhausted. I don’t think he will regain control anytime soon,” said Coralis.“And you said vampire essence was in the mix?” said Eva.“The second time was already worse than the first time. And now this? Why here? Why our pack?” said Emma, as Emery walked back through the portal, followed by High Fay Ellya.“I don’t know why, but we will find out. That’s also why I didn’t want to kill the wolves. We know we can reverse it. Once the connection to their human counterpart is restored, we can question them,” said Coralis, looking at the time on her phone. “I should call my mate before he gets home and worries if I’m not there.”“Ellya, we need to send a unit to capture Lieutenant Youmis. Blue Thunder said he was exha
December 23, 2003 – 21:00 The Northerners were playing at home that night. When the game was over and she and Sebastian were about to take off to go home, Coralis received a call from Emma. She signalled Sebastian to wait and put the call on speakerphone. Emma was in a panic.“BLUE, can you come RIGHT NOW?”Sebastian suddenly got worried.“Where? What’s going on?”“Is Stephanie okay?”“Here at Red Crescent pack. Yes, Stephanie is fine. She left Healing Moon at 9 to go home. She’s not here.”Sebastian was relieved to hear that and swore that if Stephanie still wanted it, he’d complete their bond when he got home, even if he knew Coralis was probably right: the mark was a seal.“I’ll be on my way. I’m close by,” said Coralis, ending the call, and took off, Sebastian following her.“What do you think happens this time?” said Sebastian, as he was trying to keep up with her.“I don’t know, but I’m guessing she couldn’t reach out to anyone at the CMMA. Remember the last time they got a hol
December 20, 2003 – 00:15 (Scotland Time)Coralis closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wanted to rip their eyes out and strangle them, but she knew these girls were humans, most likely heading to the same destination as she. She believed Frank when he said nothing ever happened with that actress, but she didn’t like these girls talking that way about her man.She was thankful to have her wrist binds so she wouldn’t break storefront windows by accident. Her eyeglasses only prevented her from using her eyes to direct her elemental energy and to camouflage their elemental colour but without her wrist binds, her elemental energy still leaked through her pores and she could still use her hands to direct it. She walked away and headed to the bar before she did anything to these girls and ended up in jail.Her flight landed in Montreal early morning. She had a game in Mexico in the evening but decided to skip practice time just so she could spend more time with Frank before she had to
December 19, 2003 – noon“There is still a hold on your name, right?” said Erik.“In Scotland? Why not in London?” said Henry.“Yes, but considering Blue Thunder is technically a citizen of England, she doesn’t have jurisdiction over me. I could still be walking into a trap, however, so I still made sure of that. Not sure why she wants to meet there, but I think it’s better there than in London. Even with a hold on my name, I’m not too keen on walking around the SIS headquarters. Taking my flight from Scotland instead sounds like a better idea anyway.”She tried to call Frank on her way to Scotland but got no response. She hoped he was still asleep and tried not to overthink it, but she was worried. As she was hovering above the meeting spot, Frank called her back.“That was you trying to call, right?” said Frank as soon as she answered.“Yeah, everything okay?”“Yes. I was in the shower. Wanted to take my phone in the bathroom just in case you’d call, but my scattered brain forgot it
December 19, 2003 – 09:00Coralis and Andrew entered the meeting room, dragging a restrained Xanita with them.“What is this?” said Alfredino.“Xanita Aza is the one who killed Minister Luke Massina and we sent a copy of our evidence to British authorities,” said Andrew as he played the video timeline assembled by Erik and Henry. “Do you want to handle her yourself, or shall I hand her to the authorities?”“It seems we owe you an apology, Blue Thunder,” said Rolland, watching the video.“The warehouse we searched never had any cursed weapons. It was merely a ruse Xanita used to get Blue and me away from the hotel. Want to tell me again how in gods worlds Massina’s murder got pinned on my apprentice when we were nowhere near the vicinity of his hotel?”Phraton tried to say something but Alfredino quieted him, using magic to shut him up.“JORGIE! Jorgie Fluk gave me that tip about that warehouse!” said Xanita, panicked.“Oh, we know about that, don’t you worry. Unlike you, he’s been mak
December 11, 2003“WHAT?”“I still need to find evidence to prove it or force her to confess, but I was right. Blum was protecting someone. Xanita never received a tip about that damn warehouse.”“That explains why Gus could never find anything relevant or suspicious about it, besides someone tampering with their security cameras.”“Basic human material wasn’t difficult to tamper with. We probably were the only two elementals to have ever set foot in there. Do you know if Sebastian is available tomorrow?”“I don’t know. We don’t have a game tomorrow, but lately, I talk to him only when I’m in my London flat. Only place I can talk safely.”“I’ll check with him then. Remember when Xanita said she had a call to take and came back with that so-called tip?”“Yeah, and thinking of it, she was also the one who sent us to that warehouse.”“She had been talking to Jorgie. Erik and Henry are on their way back to where you guys live, they’ve been a great help.”“Jorgie? The same Jorgie who’s bee
December 9, 2003Early in the morning, while Frank was busy preparing coffee, the doorbell rang. He stopped what he was doing and frowned, wondering who could it be.The bell rang again and again. Coralis came to his mind and he dropped the spoon of coffee grind that he was holding to rush to the buzzer. He pressed to unlock the door below and opened his entry door to find out who it was. Down the stairs, he saw Samantha, panting. She looked up toward him.“Hey, M. Blue! Sorry to show up at this time; I didn’t know where else to go.”“Uh, it’s fine. Come in,” he said as he let her in. “What happened?”“My mom just found out about me. She wasn’t supposed to be home, or I would have gone to Tom’s aunt probably, I don’t know. During the full moon, I can’t control my shift, but I can usually shift back just before dawn.”Samantha paused. She stood, her legs slightly apart and leaning over, her hand resting on her knees.“Your mother came back while you were still in panther form?” said Fr
November 23, 2003“If you must know,” she said, forcing herself to speak sweetly, “he does not reside in London. He is busy with work and I am obviously occupied away from him.”Behind her calm demeanour, she was raging. She knew that Rolland had something up his sleeves by letting her stay at her London flat instead of locking her up in a cell. She wanted to kill the guard and fly to Frank, but she knew doing that would make it worse for them. She had to let them think she was playing their hand, no matter how hard it was. She missed him.He let go of her cloak and she jumped down on her back porch. Once back inside, she activated a custom mute-ball before calling Frank. Her pager went off as soon as she put her hand on her phone. It was her contact from MI6.“Blue Thunder on the line.”“It’s been a while since we talked, you and I.”“Given the recent events, can’t say I missed you, no offence.”“Can’t say I blame you. A report recently came to us from Clear Valley, which contradicts