12

twelve

Aimee~Capricorn

Daniel shook his head, confused. "I don't know, Aimee. I just turned into an animal."

I was lying on the floor of the library, staring up at the stars. Daniel sat next to me, worrying about Spencer. He had left for his trip with his friends, but Daniel still felt bad for injuring him that badly.

"What kind of animal?"

"I don't remember. Something big, that's all I know."

I pursed my lips. There was a slight pause. "That's pretty hot, though."

"What, me turning into a beast?"

I chuckled a little bit. "Can you do it now?"

Daniel shrugged. He fell back onto his back, staring up at the ceiling with me. "I don't know. When you got your power, could you conjure fire on command straight away?"

I shook my head. "Not until I really understood how to conjure it."

"Are you supposed to feel a certain way?" he asked. He turned his head to look at me.

I looked back at him. "You'll be fine, okay? I'm still learning about the fire power, and you will soon find out the best and worst parts about your power. Trust me"

Daniel shot me a look before gazing back at the stars again. His eyes began to droop, and I could tell he was about to fall asleep. For some reason, Daniel loved sleeping. Maybe it was something for his sign?

"Hey," I told him, shaking him a little bit. "We are in the library. We can study up on this now."

He rolled his eyes at me. "You're the one who likes studying. Why don't you do it? I want to sleep right now." He rolled over onto his stomach and let his head rest on his arm. His eyes closed and his breathing fell into deep, even motions.

"How the hell can you fall asleep that quickly?" I whispered.

I kissed his cheek before standing up. What was I going to look up first?

I went over to a laptop-like machine across the room and typed in the search engine "Fire Powers." The search itself had a few hits, but books I had already checked out. Rolling my eyes, I typed in again "Supernatural Powers." This came up with more hits, most of them I had never seen before.

I began my hunt, searching for the best books for both me and Daniel. By the time I finished, I had ten thick books stacked in my arms, my hands down by my waist and the top of the books being held together under my chin. I took them over to Daniel, and I took a seat next to him and began to read.

~

By the time Daniel woke up, I had made my way through four books. None of them really helped on my end, but helped a bit for Daniel's needs. He looked at me with his sleepy eyes, and I pushed the four books I finished in front of him.

"I know you hate researching, but this can really help you."

Daniel took the first book off of the stack and flipped through it. His eyebrows rose. "How did you find all of this?" he asked.

"Clearly, you have never been in a library," I interjected, flipping a page in my book. It was a list of the supernatural powers ever recorded. Apparently, fire powers like mine were actually a generational thing. It was a mutation on a chromosome, and it only could show up when a child is selected for the 12.

Daniel jumped around in the book, looking for where he could find his powers. Watching him made me feel sick. He didn't know how to use a nonfiction book, and I cringed when he didn't go for the table of contents or the index first.

"Ugh, Daniel, you clearly have never picked up a book, have you?" I groaned, reaching for the book. "Have you ever heard of an index or a table of content?"

Daniel shook his head.

"Sweet mother of God."

I shoved my book off of my lap and pulled his book closer. He leaned over as I flipped the book to the table of contents. "Daniel, this is the table of contents. It tells you where topics are going to be found in the book. It's so you don't have to read the entire book to find out where your topic is." Daniel frowned at me. "And this, this is the index. You can look up phrases or words and you can trace it back to a specific page." I handed the book back to him. "Jesus Christ."

"Sorry, I'm not someone who researches information with books. There is something called the internet." He shot me a grin. "You are so smart, though."

I rolled my eyes. "Get to work."

~

Daniel had to help me put all of the books back in the end. Our research was a complete bust; I had learnt nothing about my powers but the history behind it, and Daniel only got to learn the basics of what happens, not how to conjure it when needed.

"Hey, Aimee?" I heard him shout from across the library. "Sweetie, your mother came here several years ago, right?"

I peeked my head around the bookshelf. "Yes, why?"

"Come look at this," he told me. I could see that he held a book in his hand, and he was flipping through it.

When I neared, he held the book out to me. I took it gingerly in my hands and I flipped it to the cover. But I almost dropped it when I saw her name.

"My mother wrote a book?" I screamed, ripping the book open. I turned to the back to find the author's page, and sure enough, my mother's bio was right there. "Where did you find this?" I asked Daniel.

He pointed to a spot on the bookshelf. "I was putting away a book and I saw your last name, and I was wondering who it was. Sure enough, it was your mother."

My jaw fell open and I shut the book. I reread the cover page over and over again in awe. My own mother wrote a book.

"What is it about?" he asked.

"The history of Triplicity," I muttered under my breath. I held the book up. "She wrote this about the history of Triplicity, and she must talk about what she went through as a teenager here."

"Then read it. Look it up."

I placed the book on a table and started looking for her name somewhere in the book. Sure enough, towards the back, was a list of prodigies throughout the years. Her name was scribed last.

"What does that mean?" I asked Daniel. "She was a prodigy? For what?"

He shrugged. "Wait, go back. I think I saw something about attacks on Triplicity."

I nodded and slid him the book. He flipped to a certain page, which read, "The Thirteenth Sign." He looked at me worryingly and started to read it.

"It says that a lone 12 member fought against the thirteenth sign," he told me. "It doesn't say who, but all it says is how he or she had slain him."

"When was this?" I asked.

"Dunno. Probably around twenty years ago."

I nodded my head slowly. "My mother must've been there or something. She had me early, so it should be around sixteen to twenty years ago."

"Do you think your mother was related with these attacks?" he asked.

"I don't know," I told him softly. "I really don't know."  

~~~

A/N:Sorry for no update last Thursday, some computer problems came up. Thank you guys for being patient! 

Also, I was thinking of possibly making a companion book to 12. A kind of Ultimate Guide to 12, the world and it's characters. The book might also have some news about a possible sequel? (*hint hint nudge nudge*)

 It also would be accessible to all of you, instead of a social media account. 

Let me know what you guys think in the comments!