- Nine: History -

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- Nine: History -

I had been unusually tired since I had woken that same morning, but the opportunity to sleep hadn't presented itself yet. For hours Dom was in the same small apartment that I woke up in and he was explaining things at a rate that I couldn't comprehend.

"Every night when the sun goes down, everyone here, well almost everyone, shifts into black panthers until the sun rises." He said as he probed the fridge in the kitchen.

"Why aren't you a panther right now?" I asked. It had to have been night by that time. It felt like we had been talking for hours.

In reply, Dom simply held up the mug in his hand. I gagged, remembering the human blood concept from the night before. He laughed saying, "Even though your change is complete, you still carry some human blood in your tissues. It'll fade very soon though."

The idea grossed me out, so I changed the subject, "Black panthers don't even live in the United States, let alone the Blue Ridge Mountains. How do you stay hidden?"

"The shack aboveground is enchanted. If a human comes across it, all they will find is the empty house. The entrance to the Compound is invisible in their eyes. As for a thousand panthers slinking around the woods at night, it's just a matter of being carful." He explained, coming back over and plopping down on the couch with an armful of food.

"Do all... Werecats... Eat this much?" I asked, the new word feeling odd in my mouth.

Dom laughed with his mouth full, "Yes."

"You said the entrance is enchanted. Does that mean you can do magic?"

"Only one Werecat per leap is a sorcerer. Ours is named Wondla and she has an affinity for fire."

"Affinity?" I asked, probing for a definition.

"Almost all Werecats have an affinity for this or that. It's becoming a dying recessive trait to be born without, or changed without. And it means that you can control whatever you have an affinity for. David has an affinity for technology, so he can make gadgets out of broken computer parts with the wave of his hand." Dom replied.

"What's your affinity?" I asked curiously.

Dom's facial expression changed then and I wondered if I had crossed some kind of line. I couldn't see how. "I don't have one." He said curtly.

I dropped that subject. An awkward silence fell over us until finally I spoke, "How old is all of this?"

"The Compound? Old, but it gets updated frequently." He said after a moment.

"No, I mean the whole society you've been talking about for hours." I laughed.

Dom smiled and for a second I saw something else there, but before I could place it it was gone. "Come on," he said, "I'll show you."

I got up and followed Dom out and down the hallway. The hallways here were long I had learned, and a few minutes later we were still walking in silence. "Where are we going?"

"You asked how old the society is." He replied.

"Yes, walking down a hallway doesn't answer my question though." I challenged.

We twisted and turned down so many different hallways that I was beginning to think this place was nothing more than a labyrinth.

Finally we came upon a door marked 'History' in gold lettering.

"Open it." Dom said, gesturing to the doorknob.

I did as I was told and as the door opened I was hit with blast of scents and fresh air. The air smelled crisp and of flowers. I walked into the room and a gasp caught in my throat.

The room was enormous, with a giant garden enclosed in glass in the center and purl white floors with gold squares in between the tiles. The glass that contained the garden ascended to the roof to form a skylight that drenched the room in the moon's silver light. Around all four walls of the room were small bubbles that glowed different colors. Some bubbles were connected by either a dotted or solid glowing white thread. The bubbles closer to the bottom were interchanging constantly.

"Over here." Dom said, shaking me out of my trance of awe. He led me by the elbow to a place at about eye level on the left wall.

There was a small circle with nothing connecting it to the rest of the tree. Inside the circle was 'Riley Elizabeth Brun'. The bubble only glowed white.

"That's me." I said in wonderment.

"Yes, you're a part of this now, Riley." Dom said. He pointed at a bubble close to mine that read 'Dominique Tracy Norte'.

"Tracy?" I giggled.

"I swear if there was anything I could change..." He bowed his head and his black curls fell in his face as he laughed. I began to laugh too.

I glanced back up at the tree to see two darkened bubbles above Dom.

"Who are they?" I asked.

"My parents."

"Why are the bubbles black?" I asked as I realized the answer. Dom's face fell and it only confirmed my thoughts. "I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

"It's alright. They died for a cause."

We were silence then until a flash caught my attention. I turned to see a white thread was behind carved into the wall by itself connecting two names.

"Mates." Dom explained before I asked.

I studied the names and bubbles. One was red and the other was blue. What could the colors mean?

"They represent affinities." Dom said suddenly. I studied my own bubble and wondered why it was white like the threads. Dom's bubble was gray, but I decided not to ask about that again.

I was about to ask more when a yawn broke through my words.

Dom chuckled and said, "Come on, it's getting late and you're probably exhausted."

I didn't argue as Dom led me out of the History Room and back through the labyrinth.

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