A month earlier

Lola’s pov,

Lola slammed the door of her foster parent’s house and walked into the street. They could never just leave her alone. She had only been with them for 3 months and they thought they could tell her what to do. They thought bible study would be an effective way for her to get in line. Lola knew that they would give up on her eventually anyway, they always did. Luckily, it was not much longer now because in a week she would finally turn twenty-one. Which meant she could finally decide for herself what she wanted to do.

Not that she knew what she was going to do. She had no education or skills because she always had a problem with following rules. For as long as she could remember she tried to fight regimes. At least she was talented at bringing out the worst in people. She drove many workers at the orphanage, foster families, and teachers nuts. But whatever happened at least she would be free. She would rather be homeless than live by other people’s rules. Besides, she could always crash with one of her old hookups. She kept walking until she reached the park which was completely abandoned at this hour. She sat down on a bench and closed her eyes for a second to enjoy the quiet and fresh air.

When she opened them again, she jumped up because a man was suddenly sitting next to her. Which was strange because she had not heard him at all. The man took off his hat and looked at her, “Good evening, Lola.”

“How do you know my name?”

He smiled at her, “We have been studying you for a while to see if you would be the right fit.”

A chill went through her spine when he said they had been studying her, “The right fit for what?”

“For a social experiment with a reward of 1 million dollars for participants.”

He handed her a card with an address, “If you are interested come to this address in a week on your birthday.”

Lola looked at the card and wanted to ask him what kind of experiment but when she looked up the man was gone. She looked left and right but there was no trace of the man. “Mm strange,” she thought.

She stuck the card in her pocket and decided to walk home. There was no way she was going to go there next week. “We have been watching you?” Hell nah, that was just way too creepy.”

The rest of the week Lola tried to focus on her plans for after her birthday but for some reason, she couldn’t get the million dollars reward out of her head. If she did that experiment, she would never have to worry again. She could be free and live her life the way she wanted to. She googled the address and that led her to a science building about an hour away. “It seems that he was not lying about it being a social experiment. Oh, what the hell I should just go. I can at least listen to what the experiment is about and if I don’t like it I will just leave.”

A week later Lola stepped out of the bus in front of the science building. The doors were locked but at the entrance hung a camera. After a few minutes, the doors automatically opened for her. She walked into some kind of waiting room where 3 other people were already waiting. A tall guy with blond hair and the most symmetrical face she had ever seen. A woman with chocolate-colored skin and fascinating enough bright blue eyes. And a man with dark hair and dark eyes. The blonde guy smiled at her, while the woman seemed shy and looked away quickly.

The man with dark eyes gave her a charming smolder and walked towards her. “They said we were waiting for one more person, but I have to say you are definitely worth waiting for.”

His eyes went over her body with approval, and he kissed her hand, “My name is Dante. Nice to meet you.”

Lola looked at him amused; he was her usual type. Charming, mysterious, and full of red flags. “I am Lola.”

The blond man also stood up and shook her hand, “I am Elias. Don’t be too impressed by Dante he used the same flirting technique on me.”

Lola laughed and Elias pointed at the other woman, “This is Idalia.”

“Hi,” she said with a shy smile.

Lola sat down and looked at the others, “So anyone know a bit more about this experiment?”

Dante shook his head, “Nope just here for the million-dollar reward. Don’t really care about the experiment.”

Elias looked at the door, “I just hope they don’t let us wait much longer because I want to go celebrate my birthday.”

Lola stared at him, “It is also my birthday.”

“Mine too!“ Dante and Idalia said at the same time.

They all stared at each other because that did not seem like it was a coincidence. No one said anything until an attractive woman in a tight suit walked in. She had beautiful long red hair and full lips. The suit showed off her curvy body and Lola saw both men staring at her with desire. The woman smiled and said, “Hi everyone, my name is Feline. We are ready for you now so if you would please follow me?”

She walked towards one of the doors her hips swaying with every step. Lola quickly walked after her and the rest followed. They went into a room with some chairs and a beamer. They all sat down, and Feline turned off the lights and put the beamer on. On the screen, Lola saw images of wolves, blood, trees, and a witch symbol of a star. She really started to wonder what kind of weird experiment this was going to be.

Feline scraped her throat, “So I am guessing you are all wondering what this experiment is all about. For you to understand I have to tell you some history first. Thousands of years ago humans were not the only species that lived on earth. There were also werewolves, vampires, fae, and witches. These creatures believed themselves to be superior to the human race and wanted to enslave them. Humans learned of their plans and war broke out. Thanks to science the human race was able to survive while the other species went extinct.”

Dante interrupted her, “Sorry but what is this? You want us to know the history of a potential fairytale story or something?”

Feline looked at him dead serious, “No this happened in real life, Dante. Those creatures existed.”

“Why have I never heard of it then if you say it’s only been a few thousand years ago?” Lola asked.

“Because the generation that survived decided it would be better if humankind forgot they ever existed. Humans have always been attracted to any kind of superiority or magic, so it is better if we do not know there is something greater possible than ourselves.”

Lola looked at Dante and she saw in his eyes that he shared the same thoughts as her. That woman belonged in a psychiatric hospital because she was clearly delusional.

Elias put his hand on Lola her shoulder, “Just let her continue. Can’t be any harm in that.”

Feline gave him a grateful look, “Thank you, Elias. I know it all sounds crazy. Anyway, recently there have been a lot of incidents that make us suspect that those species still exist somewhere. What we need from you is to find out if they do. You will look for them for a year and whether you find them or not after that year each of you will receive a million dollars.”

“And how exactly should four people find those magical creatures? You seem to have a lot of money and science at your disposal why do you need us?” Lola asked.

Feline smiled at her again, but Lola saw she saw also balling her fists so that smile was not sincere, “Good question Lola. All four of you have been carefully selected because of your DNA. After the war, we made sure to collect DNA from the creatures we just talked about. Each of you is a perfect match with one of the species. We will insert this DNA into you so that it will be easier for you to find these creatures if they exist.”

Feline walked to the door and opened it, “I will give you some time to think. I will be back in 10 minutes and then I expect an answer.”

She closed the door behind her, and Lola looked at the other 3 in shock.