~BOOK 5/PART ONE~ Paranormal: Too Close To Home (Multi-Bandom FanFic)

Chapter 1 - Link

"Why haven't you found anything yet?" Rachael's daughter whined as she kicked her legs in the air, lying on her back on my couch. I was standing on the opposite side of the room, my glasses sitting on the bridge of my nose and a book in my hands.

"I'm sorry, but I can't seem to find my 'How To Give Halsey Her Powers Back' book," I retorted sarcastically, rolling my eyes and returning my attention to the pagan words scribbled on the pages.

"But it's been days since I could get dressed with a snap of my fingers and it's been centuries since I had to slowly walk everywhere."

"Welcome to the world of hiding who you are," I sneered.

"It's not like I haven't been doing that for the past fifty years."

I shook my head and closed the book, slipping it back into its spot on the bookshelves that were built into the walls. "Why don't you just take after Rhett? He's a human and he doesn't complain."

"Because I'm fairly sure you did something to make him the brainless zombie he is now."

I extracted another book and opened it. "I had to," I justified myself, "It's near impossible for two different people from two different factions to live together peacefully. I did it for his own good. He would've lost his mind, otherwise."

"You should visit New Orleans then; maybe a good vacation will help you loosen up on your old-fashioned views."

"This is my vacation, hon. And besides, paranormals only go to New Orleans to die. That place is full of trouble."

"That place is my home." Halsey sat up on the couch. "All the people there aren't living to die, they're living to fight. It's not all our fault we're constantly in turmoil."

"You know, I advised your mother not to raise you there," I commented anecdotally, closing the book and putting it back, "But she didn't listen to me. I think it was your father's doing. He convinced her to stay there, despite what I had said."

"Why would she listen to a man who has so many regrets; who hides in the shadows? You're afraid to live" The hybrid stood and approached me. "My father wanted to leave, but my mother had to stay." Halsey crossed her arms. "It's hard to leave New Orleans, especially when we've made it our home."

"Your mother didn't have to stay when you were born, Ashley." I used her given name with ease, turning towards her and crossing my arms over my chest. "She had the choice to leave. She even had a house picked out. She was ready to leave that damn place and then she decided to stay. She never told me why, but I had a pretty good idea what - or should I say who - influenced her to make that decision."

"You wouldn't get it. New Orleans had a hold on her. Hell, it still does. That town has something that draws all of us there. That's probably where she went, why she left me here. New Orleans is a bittersweet place, but none of us can leave it."

"That's why you're not going back there," I told her sternly, standing my ground.

"Excuse me?"

"You're just like your mom, Halsey. You don't like to listen to me and you want to do things your way. But you're stuck here, whether you like it or not. So why don't you just get used to the swing of things here? It's not that bad. Rhett and I are very nice and this town's really nice too. It'll grow on you, I promise."

"My mom is going to come back for me and if she doesn't, there are other ways for me to get out of here," She protested, "This will never be my home. New Orleans is where I grew up, where I felt like I belonged, and I'm going to see it again."

"Yes, but after this war's done being fought, okay? Your mom asked me to watch you and I'm going to keep my word." I walked around her to the other side of the room, scanning a new shelf and plucking out another one of my several books. "Besides, sometimes it's good for people to be knocked off their pedestal for a little while."

A scoff slipped past her lips. "You know what? Fuck this," Halsey exclaimed while walking out, "I'm out of here."

"I'll see you at dinner!" I called out to her, receiving a door slam as my response.

"Well that went well!" Rhett screamed out from a different part of the house.

I sighed and threw the book I didn't even care to open over my shoulder, walking into the room that Rhett was sitting in and slipping my hands into my pockets. "Like you'd do any better. I know her, and she's just like her mom. I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, you totally know what you're doing." I didn't even have to see his face to know he was rolling his eyes. "She's just a kid, Link...give her some room. It's not hard to see she's not used to people caring about her, and she doesn't like it when people butt into her life."

"You don't get it, Rhett, you've never had to deal with paranormal kids. They're not like humans."

"She's still a child, and you and I both know she has issues. All she wants is someone to care, but to also trust her to be alright on her own."

I shook my head and walked up behind him, looking over his shoulder at the computer his eyes were always glued to, skimming for the newest updates in the paranormal world. "Speaking of people who care, how are her parents doing? Any news on them? Or that wolf Rachael befriended? What's her name...Kenya? Didn't you tell me that Halsey and her grew close at one point?"

"No news on Patrick or Rachael," He told me, a flatness to his voice as he spewed out the information I asked for, "Kenya's been staying in Archer City, hiding at Gunnulfsen's place. I think she's left, though. In regards to her connection to Halsey, the two of them bonded over the fact that they both were abandoned by their parents at one point. But I couldn't tell you whether they're still on good terms or not."

"How many connections does Halsey have anyways?" I thought aloud, ordering him to look her up. He heaved an annoyed sigh and began to type away at his computer, almost instantly pulling up a profile about her.

"She's known everywhere, mostly with contacts hidden from society. Everyone knows what she is and some people trust her, the ones that don't are the ones that hate Rachael and Patrick."

"And who are those people who trust her?" I interrogated, wanting to know more about the girl, "I need names."

"She has a friend named Brent. He was part of Rachael's coven but was kicked out. Do you remember him?" Rhett tilted his head back to glance up at me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "The name sounds familiar, but...I don't know. How close of friends are they?"

"From the way it looks, they're like family."

"Is he in New Orleans too?"

"Did you really have to ask me that?"

I chuckled in disbelief. "Why does everyone go there? Literally no good comes out of that place." I broke away from Rhett's side and walked over to the bar, where I poured myself a glass of water and pulled a bottle of beer out for my friend. "Catch," I said before tossing the drink towards him. He caught it in his hands and looked at it, biting his lip. "Well what are you waiting for? Drink up. We have a lot of work to do."

"You know, as useful as I am, you could have the answers you want if you just talked to Halsey. She knows the streets of New Orleans better than most people. I bet she knows more on Kenya too, more than I could find."

"Well she's not here at the moment, is she?" I snapped, growing agitated. Before he could respond, I answered my own question, "No, she's not, but you are. Now put your skills to use and get me all you can on Kenya and that mother of hers." He stared at me blankly. "Let's go, Rhett! We don't have all day, here!"