Byzantium

Stage 6

"This isn't fair," Elise muttered to the headrest in front of her. Ivy had made Elise get up and get ready so they could go do whatever business Ivy had to do. Then that Judah man had arrived at Ivy's house and when they all were getting in Ivy's car, Ivy had made Elise sit in the backseat, like a child. Elise didn't enjoy that.

Ivy looked at the little Elise in her rearview mirror. "He's bigger than you, he needs more leg room."

Elise kicked the back of Ivy's seat and glared at the back of Judah's head. Ivy rolled her eyes and kept on driving. Judah remained silent, his huge hands fisted on his knees. Sniffing the air in the car, Elise's eyes narrowed. That Judah man and his weird scent was stifling. He smelled of fear and... wrongness. Elise hated that she couldn't find a better word than 'wrong'. She scooted to the middle seat then leaned over to stick her face right between Ivy and Judah's seats. There was only one way to figure out why that Judah man smelled so weird. Ask.

"Are you enhanced?" Elise asked curiously. She looked to Ivy. "Is he enhanced?" It wasn't all that uncommon that humans enhanced themselves using potions and spells and whatever backdoor magic they could get their hands on. They always had a certain scent, still human, but with a little oomph. Elise had smelled enhanced humans before, and Judah didn't smell like any of them, but maybe he was using some new magic concoction.

Ivy parked the car, then turned around in her seat. "Why?"

"He smells funny."

"No, he's not enhanced."

Elise looked Judah up and down in his seat, then she turned away and got out of the car. That Judah man was a mystery but Elise didn't deem it necessary to figure him out. Whatever he put in or on his body behind closed doors was his business.

Pushing that Judah man out of her mind, Elise waited for him and Ivy to get out of the car. Ivy led them all to a subway entrance, one that Elise knew was frequently used as an entrance to various Pre clubs, shops, and places like the Underground Forest. Ivy clasped Elise's hand, and Elise let her. Elise knew that the magical entrance was dangerous and it was her job to protect Ivy. Judah could protect himself, Elise thought. She didn't want to hold his hand. And anyway, Judah had the scent of an enhanced, or something similar, and he was huge. A Pre would think on it for a while if they wanted to mess with him or not. Elise thought that was a good enough reason for her not to have to keep contact with him, and Ivy didn't say anything about having to.

As they descended the steps into the subway station, the world went dark. Inky blackness surrounded the trio, then suddenly there was light. Small and far away at first, but it quickly rushed towards the three and engulfed them in a bleak ray. Ivy tightened her hold on Elise's hand. Slowly, the world became clear and the three could see again. They were surrounded by hundreds, thousands of people. Elise blinked to fully clear her vision and pulled Ivy closer, not wanting the human to get caught in the rush of people. The subway entrance did lead to numerous different places but the Hub, as Pre's liked to call it, was the first place everyone came to. It was like a hallway that you had to navigate in order to find the door that leads to the place that you wished to go. The Hub had little kiosks and stands and, over the years, those small businesses turned the Hub into an infinitely expanding marketplace.

"Do you know where you want to go?" Elise asked, leaning over, close to Ivy, so that the woman could hear. Elise looked around to make sure that Judah was still close by, and he was. There was a thin bubble of nothingness around him. People deliberately avoided him, as if they knew of his wrongness too. A few occasionally bumped into him but Judah was essentially free to roam wherever he pleased and he wouldn't be stopped.