I feel someone touching my hair and brushed it backwards. I tried to open my eyes but all I see is just darkness. It's like someone glued my eyes shut. Then I heard a voice,
"How long has she's been like this?" This voice is kinda familliar but I don't know who's the owner is.
"Two days." That's Jake's voice. He sounds so tired.
"And you just call me now?" That same voice again but he sounds more annoyed.
"I don't want to if I'm not desperate. Look. Can you help me or not?" Jake replied.
"Yes, I can."
"Well? What's wrong with her?"
Someone sighed. I can feel someone touching my face again. I want to move out of the way but I can't, I want to say 'stop touching me' but weirdly my mouth doesn't obey me. Then I feel someone just grab me and yanked me out of my slumber. I immediately sat on the bed and gasped for air.
I'm back at the guestroom in Jake's home and I see Jake and Ethan looking at me with worry. But when I turned I immediately flinched as I my gaze dropped to Alexander's face. So that's the one Jake's been talking too.
He let go of my shoulders and took a few steps back from the bed. Jake immediately inched closer and hug me. I can hear he let out a huge breath on my neck and his heartbeat is very fast.
"Don't ever do that again." He whispered.
"What happened?"
"An angel is what happened to you," Alexander chirped from the foot of the bed.
"A what now?" Ethan asked on my side.
"An angel." Alexander shrugged a non-existent dust from his arm. "They do that sometimes. You need to be properly trained."
"I'm sorry, can we take a few steps back please. What is happening? What angel have to do with any of this? Are they even real?"
Alexander looked at him like he's stupid and he turned to look at me and Jake. "Which one visited you?"
He aimed that question at me and I don't even know if I want to believe him right now. But it seems like he's the one with all the answers. I tried to remember what that man look like, "Pale face, bright blue eyes,"
"Of course it's him,"
"You know him?"
"Yes," He looked at Jake, who clearly looked confused, and Ethan, who was trying to make sense of it all in silence. "It's in your best interest that you follow me right now. I'll explain everything later."
Jake stiffened immediately.
"No," he said flatly.
The word landed heavy in the room, cutting through the lingering haze in my head. I could feel it then. The way the air shifted, like pressure changing before a storm. Alexander didn't look surprised. If anything, he looked… entertained.
"No?" Alexander repeated mildly.
"No," Jake said again, more firmly this time. He straightened, placing himself just slightly in front of me without even realizing he was doing it. "You don't just show up, tell us angels are real, and then expect us to follow you somewhere like an obedient little kid."
Ethan glanced between them, jaw tight but silent.
Alexander tilted his head. "You're emotional."
Jake let out a sharp laugh. "You did something to my sister. Is that it?"
"I helped her wake up, and it's not me who's in the coffee shop that day. I will never hurt both of you,"
"Yeah, okay." Jake said sarcastically.
I tightened my grip on Jake's shirt, fingers curling into the fabric like it was the only solid thing left in the world. My heart was still racing, my head still buzzing but now there was something else creeping in beneath the fear.
Curiosity.
An ugly, traitorous kind.
Because despite everything, despite the supposed 'angel', despite the lost time, despite the way my body still felt like it didn't entirely belong to me, I wanted answers. I wanted them badly enough that it scared me. I should be able to shrug it all and focus on my job but I can't.
Alexander clasped his hands behind his back. "You can argue with me all you like, Jake. I understand the instinct. You've been surviving on instinct for years."
Jake's eyes narrowed. "You don't know anything about me."
Alexander's gaze flicked to him, sharp for the first time. "I know you learned to control something you didn't understand because no one was there to teach you. I know you were handed power in the middle of blood and snow and told to make it work or die." He paused. "I know Damien helped you clean up the mess afterward."
Silence crashed down.
Ethan went very still.
Jake's jaw clenched so hard I thought his teeth might crack. "You've been spying on me."
Alexander shrugged. "I observed. There's a difference."
I swallowed and finally found my voice. "Jake."
He didn't look at me. "No. I'm not doing this. We're not going anywhere with him."
"Jake," I said again, softer. My head still hurt, but my thoughts were clearer now, too clear. "I think… I think he's right about one thing."
That finally got his attention.
He turned to me, eyes wide with something like panic. "Emily, no. We don't know this guy."
"I know," I admitted. "That's the problem."
Alexander's lips curved faintly, like he'd been waiting for this.
"I don't understand what's happening to me," I continued, my voice trembling despite my effort to steady it. My throat tightened. "I don't feel like myself anymore."
Jake reached for my hands. "We'll figure it out. Together. We don't need him."
"But what if you can't?" I asked quietly. "What if this is bigger than us?"
That was the moment his resistance wavered, not because he trusted Alexander, but because he trusted me.
Alexander seized it.
"It won't be the last time he shows up," he said calmly. "The same thing can happened again."
Ethan finally spoke. "And where exactly are you taking us?"
Alexander turned to him, appraising. "Somewhere shielded. Somewhere designed for people like her." His gaze flicked briefly to Jake. "And like us."
Jake bristled. "I said no."
Alexander met his stare evenly. "I wasn't asking."
The room seemed to tighten around that sentence.
My stomach dropped. "Jake—"
"If you don't come," Alexander continued, unfazed, "she will not be able to fully control her power."
A chill slid down my spine.
Jake ran a hand through his hair, pacing once like a caged animal. "You think threatening us is going to help?"
"I'm stating facts," Alexander said. "Her powers is vastly different from yours. I doubt you can show her the right rope when you can barely figure out your own. You can come willingly, under my protection. Or you can stay and wait for someone who won't bother explaining."
Jake stopped pacing. For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Jake exhaled sharply. "Fine."
My head snapped up. "Jake—"
"But," he added immediately, turning back to Alexander with fire in his eyes, "we don't go anywhere unless Ethan comes with us."
Alexander raised a brow. "He's human."
"So?" Jake shot back. "So was Damien when he started helping me. So am I, last time I checked."
"You are many things," Alexander said carefully. "Human is… debatable."
"I don't care what you thought about me."
Ethan opened his mouth. "Jake, I—"
"You're coming," Jake said, leaving no room for argument. "I don't trust him. I trust you."
Something warm and painful bloomed in my chest at that.
Alexander studied Ethan for a long moment, as if weighing something invisible. Finally, he sighed. "Very well. He comes."
Relief hit Jake's face like a physical blow, quickly masked by suspicion. "Don't make me regret this."
"I won't," Alexander said lightly.
Alexander's gaze softened when it landed on me. Not kindly. Not cruelly. Just… intent. "I'm sorry I put you through this," he said.
"I didn't think it was your fault," I muttered.
"In some ways it is,"
That unsettled me more than anything else he'd said.
Jake squeezed my hand. "We'll do this together," he said under his breath.
I nodded, even though something deep inside me whispered that there's this huge gap between us. And somehow, I had the awful, creeping sense that I wanted to go alone.
Alexander nodded then he reached out his hand and the room shifted. There's that weird air again and suddenly a weird light appear in a straight line before it shifted into a somewhat circular and there's another room that I can see that looked completely different from my bedroom.
"Don't worry. It's safe." Suddenly I'm regretting my decision.
He walked through it first and there's that little weird hum that follows. I need to stop noticing little things or I will send myself into a panic. Jake kissed me on the forehead then he stood up to kiss Ethan on the lips. "I'll see you on the other side okay? I'll keep you safe, I promise,"
Ethan just nodded and watched as Jake followed Alexander to that weird portal thing before helping me to my feet. One thing I know for sure is that teleportation is a real thing. "Good to know teleportation exists right? I wish I had it so I don't have to drive everywhere." I said to lighten the mood.
Ethan chuckled at that. "Me too, that way I can get my favorite bread in Paris every morning."
"For the record, thank you. For putting up with all of this." I said as we walked closer to the portal.
"Well, it's the price for having a family I guess," he held me tighter before stepping in first.
I took a long breath and put my feet first before pushing my whole body through it. I can feel a slight push of air before my nostrils are assaulted by the scent of bergamot and sandalwood.
The room is well lit with a few led lights and candle light. There are a few papers and folders on the desk, neatly arranged as well as a laptop that was half open. What surprised me is the huge, floor to ceiling collection of books that not everything is even an English language. I think I even saw a Russian alphabet and what could probably be a Chinese one in my line of sight.
"You can sit right there." Alexander pointed to the line of sofa behind me.
I choose to sit on one of the singles while Jake and Ethan sat together in the big sofa. Alexander took a book out of the shelf and put it in the coffee table, it has a leather bind with 'Aeternum Order' engraved on it. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions but this will mostly cover all the bases."
Jake slowly reached out and opened it. I scoot closer to see what's inside. The pages were thick, almost parchment-like, the edges worn soft as if they'd been turned by countless hands over centuries. The text inside wasn't uniform, some pages were handwritten, others printed, others… something in between, the ink shimmering faintly when I tilted my head.
At the very first page, there was a symbol etched in gold. The same one Alexander wore on his pin. A heart crowned by a circle of interlocking lines, elegant and ancient.
Jake frowned. "This looks… old."
"It is," Alexander said simply. He took a seat across from us, folding his hands together. "Older than any modern nation. Older than any recorded human history."
Ethan leaned forward. "You're saying this order existed before… what. Before civilization?"
"Before humans," Alexander corrected.
The words landed quietly. Too quietly.
I felt my stomach twist. "That's not possible."
Alexander's gaze slid to me. "There are a lot more possibilities in this world," he said.
Jake flipped the page.
There were illustrations this time—figures drawn in careful detail. Some looked human enough, others didn't. Too tall. Too sharp. Too… wrong. Beings with wings that weren't angelic, shadows shaped like men, creatures crowned in antlers and flame and bone.
"What am I looking at?" Jake asked.
"The inhabitants of this world," Alexander replied. "Not all of them. Just the ones who left records."
I swallowed. "You mean… monsters?"
Alexander smiled faintly. "That's a human term. A terrible one at that."
He stood and walked toward the bookshelf, trailing his fingers along the spines. "Earth was never meant for one species alone. Long before humans ever stepped foot, this realm already had caretakers."
"Caretakers," Ethan repeated slowly.
"Yes," Alexander said. "Beings designed, created to interface with the forces that shape reality itself."
My breath hitched.
Jake's hand tightened around the edge of the book. "You're talking about witches."
"And wizards," Alexander added. "And others. Different cultures gave them different names. But at their core, they were built for one purpose."
"Magic," I whispered.
Alexander inclined his head. "To wield it fully. Safely. Sustainably."
I felt something in my chest hum, like a distant echo answering a call I didn't remember hearing.
"The Aeternum Order," Alexander continued, "was established long before the human arrived. Usually our work is to keep the peace, since the humans came our duty is also to mantain the balance between the seen and the unseen too."
Jake flipped another page. This one showed diagrams circles intersecting, symbols layered over what looked like… star charts?
"Why keep the balance?" Jake asked.
Alexander turned back to us. "The balance is what keeps this world intact. Magic is not chaos, despite what your stories say. It is structure. Hence it requires regulation."
"And humans?" I asked. "Where do they fit into all of this?"
Alexander's eyes softened just a fraction. "Humans came later. They are fragile. But brilliant in their own way." He paused. "They were never meant to carry magic in large amounts. It harms them. Corrupts them. Burns them out."
"So witches and wizards," Ethan said slowly, grounding the conversation back into something tangible, "they're not myths. They're… a species."
"Yes," Alexander said. "There are many lineages. One that predates humanity and chose, over time, to live among them."
"To hide," Jake muttered.
"To survive," Alexander corrected. "And to watch."
I leaned back into the sofa, my head spinning. "So this order, your order has been running the world from the shadows?"
Alexander arched a brow. "Maintaining it," he said. "There's a difference."
I frowned. "You said humans weren't meant to carry magic."
"They aren't," Alexander agreed.
"Then explain us," Jake snapped.
Alexander didn't hesitate this time.
"You were never human."
The words hit me wrong. Not loud. Not dramatic. Just… incorrect. Like someone insisting the sky had always been green.
"That's not funny," I said.
"I'm not joking," Alexander replied gently.
Jake let out a sharp breath. "You're saying we're not—"
"You lived as humans," Alexander interrupted. "You were raised as humans. You believed you were human."
"But biologically?" Ethan asked quietly.
Alexander nodded. "You are one of us."
My stomach twisted. The room felt smaller. I hugged my arms around myself. "That doesn't make sense. I didn't feel anything before. No—"
"Because you were dormant," Alexander said.
Jake shook his head. "Dormant how?"
Alexander's eyes flicked to the book, then away again. "By design."
Silence stretched.
"Whose design?" Jake asked.
Alexander didn't answer. Instead, he said, "Dormancy is like a sleep. Then over time the body forgets what it is capable of. The mind builds a life around the absence."
Something cold slid down my spine.
"So all those years," I whispered, "what, I just pretend to be humans—"
"Your magic wasn't missing," Alexander said softly. "It was supressed."
Ethan shifted closer to Jake, grounding him. "If they were dormant… what triggered it?"
Alexander looked directly at me.
"Trauma," he said. "Fear. Survival."
My throat closed.
"That's why it was violent," he continued. "Uncontrolled awakenings always are. The seal breaks unevenly."
Jake's hands curled into fists. "So this was inevitable?"
"Unfortunately yes," Alexander said.