After school on Thursday, I was sitting in my room when Ella burst through the door. "Frank is calling back!" She exclaimed, holding up her phone. I raced over to her and she answered. "Hello, this is Officer Hoffman. I listened to the voicemail you sent on Monday, and yes, I can," Frank said. I grinned. "Thank you so much," Ella said, smiling. "When can you bring it? Friday would be preferable, but it's okay if you can't." I nodded, even though he obviously couldn't see me through the screen. "Actually, I can. I'll bring it tomorrow." My sister smiled even more. "Perfect. I'll send you a picture of the map my sister drew to get there. We'll be there around 7," she explained. "Okay. I have to get back to work now, but I'll see you tomorrow," Frank started, but Ella suddenly went pale, stiffened, and said, "Wait." She looked at me nervously. "Won't the rest of the police force begin to get suspicious of you for just giving a Magic Locator away?" He chuckled. "Oh, no. Many people call asking for them. Obviously, the officers have to check to make sure they're trustworthy, but nobody else will know about this one. And I'm a trusted police officer, so if anyone asks, they'll believe me," he assured us. Ella sighed with relief. "So," she whispered. "See you tomorrow." Frank paused, then responded, "Yeah. See you tomorrow." Then he hung up. I basically tackled my sister into a hug. "I can't believe it! We might actually make a change in the world! I know we've been talking about it a lot, but now we're taking action!" I exclaimed. Ella chuckled. "Hybrid Freedom Advocates. We've already come up with a name, and we're about to become official," she whispered, her voice filled with awe once she finished. "I can't believe it." I grinned. "I'm texting the HFA group chat." I pulled out my phone and immediately started typing up a storm to Amelia and Lilly. They responded moments later.
YES!!! I'm so excited!
Lilly texted, and Amelia replied only a second later.
Me too! I can't wait for tomorrow's meeting.
I smiled brightly. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to focus through my homework, but I had to finish it. I went back to college work, trying my best to push away the thoughts of the HFA and finally making a change in the world.
~~~
When Friday evening came, Ella and I basically sprinted all the way to the waterfall. Amelia and Lilly were already there. I stopped a moment before interrupting them, though. They seemed to be having a deep conversation, I realized. Ella and I shared a look. Amelia was clearly blushing, and they were sitting very close together. I don't know if we should interrupt their moment, I spoke in Ella's mind. I don't want to, but we might have to. Only a moment after that, I heard a voice greeting us from behind me and jumped. I spun around to face Frank, and I relaxed. "Oh. Hi," I responded. "Come with us." Ella and I walked out from behind the trees. Amelia and Lilly stopped talking and looked up at us. They stood up quickly. "You must be Frank Hoffman," Lilly said, looking at him with a bright smile, per usual. "My name is Lilly Jones, and this is Amelia Larken. We also are magical." Frank nodded. "It's good to meet you two." Ella bended the water and all of us went into the cave behind it. Once the water had spilled back over and blocked us from view, Frank pulled something out from his pocket. It was very small and square. "Here," He said, handing it to Ella carefully. "This is the Magic Locator. The default setting causes it to project a line that's only visible to the person holding it, of course, to the nearest magic it detects. It will show how far away the source is as well." She nodded, then Frank took something else out of his pocket- a small charm. "You might be wondering how it doesn't detect me. It's because of this. It's a magical object that makes it harder for the Hybrid Hunters, or anyone else looking for hybrids, for that matter, to find me. Not many Hybrids can get a hold of these things, unfortunately, but my mother passed one down to me. It's why I chose to become a police officer. It's so rare to have one, I knew I had to make a difference instead of just hiding away." He smiled. "You four remind me of myself." He paused as his expression got serious. "That reminds me. You need to be very, very careful. The invention may be powerful, but the Hybrid Hunters have created something... else, that they have been hiding because of its power. It's like an upgraded version of this- the Rastreador. It can track anyone whose name they say in a split second. If they find out your names, or find out any information about you at all, they can easily find you. In fact, let me tell you this. After my mother gave me the charm, she was killed. She knew she would be killed, because the Hybrid Hunters discovered her name. She gave me the same warning I am giving you four now." I paled, and I knew my friends had the same reaction. But I pushed that aside and smiled weakly. "We'll be careful. Don't worry." He gave us a swift nod. "I'm going to have to trust you on this." He paused, looking out at the waterfall. "I hope we can stay in touch. I can help you with some of these things, you know." Ella nodded. "We'll keep that in mind," she promised, then split the waterfall. "But right now, we should go back."
YOU ARE READING
The Magic Within: Shadows of Two Worlds
Fantasy{ ~ "Dragons learn fastly" ~ } Jamie and Ella Glynn are two young adults who have been accepted into Yale University along with their best friend, Jake Grey. But the sisters have a secret. They are Hybrids, who are hated by the rest of the world, to...
