One week later...

Everything had gone so fast that Bethany had barely managed to keep track of it all. As soon as they had all gotten home, they immediately packed up all that they could and got the hell out of the city. Gwen was adamant that they would review the security footage and find Bethany too, meaning they would now be looking for her as well.

They took buses and trains and taxis till they found the city Blair insisted they could lay low in: Chicago. Blair was adamant he had “friends” that would help them keep a low profile, and after a few calls, Gwen seemed to be at ease with the decision and trusted her brother. These friends helped set up the apartment, which was surprisingly better than both Gwen, Blair and Beth thought it would be, and began to settle in to their new surroundings.

The apartment was far more spacious than Bethany’s previous, but it’s extra bedrooms were still being renovated by an unknown crew. Somehow they had taken this room before it was ready. Still, the young woman had argued the place was too nice and suspect, but both Gwen and Blair countered that was what made it so perfect; they were now hiding in plain sight.

The twins had gone out of their way to give them the false identity of posing Gwen and Bethany as finances moving in for the first time, of course without the input of their roommate and upon weird amount of insistence by Gwen.

However, during this whole time, Bethany did not have a single moment to ask what the hell was going on. Who were they? Why does Victor Ballz want them? Why the fuck was Gwen red now? Those questions he had pondered one-week prior were still unanswered, until today. As both Blair and Gwen came home from a “meeting,” Beth told them to sit down and explain what the hell was happening. As they did so, Blair just came right out and said it.

“I’m a Vampire.” Bethany stared at him dumbly. She worked her jaw for something to say but found nothing.

“And I am an Elf” Gwen explained, pointing to her ears. “But only half, like Blair is half-elf. I am also half demon; specifically a succubus.”

Bethany had to take a moment to compose herself before saying anything. The statement was so absurd, yet it made so much sense considering Blair’s pale skin and smallish frame. His sisters red skin also made a lot more sense too.

“So, monsters exist-“

“Yes. Before you ask, yes we used a magic spell to kill Victor. So magic is a thing as well.”

“… Okay.”

“I’m guessing your next question is how does no one know about magic?” Asked Gwendolyn. Beth nodded dumbly. “Alright, here’s the deal. There is a special order that works tirelessly to separate us from the human world. They’ve had many names, but these days were known as the Illuminati. There are many types of what you would consider fantasy creatures living in city streets and deeply in forests, and we like to keep to ourselves and our places in society.”

This was a lot to take in. Bethany turned his head away from his roommates and looked at a random spot on a bare wall. So much that she knew had changed. The whole world seemed different from what she once knew, and now here she was in a random apartment in a city she had never been to before, sharing it all with a man and woman she barely knew who were also mythical creatures.

“Wait a minute…” She muttered to herself before looking back at Blair and Gwen again. “So things like Goblins and Unicorns and Orcs exist, right? If those things live in streets, how does no one see them?”

“This is gonna come across as a cop out answer,” Blair said through a sigh. “But it’s essentially magic. I won't go into the details, mostly cause you wouldn’t understand it, but it’s a **** that emits a pheromone that makes people see as us as human. That is what it does in layman’s terms.”

“Then how the hell do I see your red skin now?”

“I see you’ve noticed my new look, or rather should I say old look?” She said with a small smile, possibly the first one Beth had witnessed from her. “Well when Victor experimented on me while I was asleep, I assume he removed the concoction too.” She motioned a hand down her body. “And the thing about this **** is once someone is aware of the magical world, it no longer affects them. It’s all in the mind you see. I’m using it now, but you have already seen this form, so now you’ll start noticing a lot more weird things strolling along this city.

“What about Blair? Why could I see his ears, teeth and pale skin from the start?” Bethany questioned. Blair reached up to his head and poked the tips of said ears.

“Ah, well I’m actually allergic to the ****. Since I look human anyways I don’t really need it. I only take a very mild dose to give me some complexion. People always assume I’m simply born with these or I’m just a weirdo anyway.” Beth was cut off from speaking again. “Again, magic, too hard to explain.”

Bethany let out a groan and looked around the room, trying to make sense of something, anything. It had dark red walls and stock photos hung up. Furniture was light, mostly because they could only bring a minimal number of things, but it was livable. The apartment complex was a square shape with a courtyard slap bang in the centre. There were three other apartments on his block he could see all their rooms from the window. One man clearly had eccentric taste with his asian style furniture and decor, another always looked dirty and grimy and the last was filled with artwork and expensive looking furniture.

“Are you okay?” Blair asked, placing a tender hand on Beth’s shoulder.

“I guess,” she replied, letting the hand linger. “So, here’s the big question. What did that lunatic want from you two?”

“He’s a maniacal CEO who found out magic existed. What do you think he wanted? He wanted to transform it into a weapon.”

“A weapon?”

“Arcane magic is very powerful,” Gwen explained. “He wanted to create a fusion of it, and nuclear energy, to create the ultimate bomb; a bomb that would be big enough to wipe out this entire state. You can’t just take that stuff either; you have to give it willingly. That’s why he needed us alive.”

“Could he have really done that?”

“I do not think so. Victor was always very intelligent, but also extremely arrogant. In my opinion he would never have been able to fully control arcane energy through science and likely would have cause a disaster so great it would have leveled the city. More likely he would’ve fucked up and levelled the whole city.” Gwen placed her hand on Beth’s thigh and smiled at her. “You saved a lot of lives that day. Thank you for saving us.”

“Forget about it. Was n-n-nother really,” she replied, nervousness, or was it excitement taking hold.

“No, it’s not excitement. Fuck off with that,” she mentally argued with the narrator.

“No, we mean it.” Blair stood up and put a hand on his chest. “You saved me and my sister from a pretty shit end. I swear on my honour and clans honour, that I will pledge my life to you. You will always have me by your side, no matter what comes.”

“And I too, pledge the same,” Gwen said quickly.

Beth simply nodded, unable to fully appreciate what was just said. She at least had answers, but she wasn’t entirely sure if that was a comfort at this stage.

“… How are you twins?”

“Were not,” Blair said. “Gwen is older, we just act like twins.”

“Right, so we have an issue.” Gwen said as she moved closer to Bethany.

“Wh-what issue?”

“With the rest of the rooms currently being renovated still, we have only one bedroom, it’s a double bed and we have a coach so two of us can take that bed and one can get the coach. Alternatively you could fit two on the coach but we’ll leave that to you?”

“To me?”

“You saved us, I think it’s only fair.” wen paused nervously and looked down at her feet. ‘So what do you think?”

“The way we see it you can either share with Gwen and I get the coach,” explained Blair. “Me and Gwen share and you get the coach, or if you really want you get the bed; you’ve earned it, and I’ve slept in cramper spaces.” Blair shook his head and chuckled. “And for reasons I am not allowed to explain, me and you sharing the bed is not an option. Although I must admit, if you reall-.” Gwen gave her brother a swift kick in the shin before he could say anything else.

Bethany blinked slowly and rubbed her eyes in exhaustion, wanting nothing more than a peaceful night.

“So there are your options. I share with Blair, you take the coach, or…” Gwen gripped Beth’s thigh tighter and swirled her little finger. “… We share the bed.”