Young Writers Society

Wilson slowly straightened up when Blake began talking to her, attempting to look as attentive as she really was. She didn't look him in the eye but she stole glances, trying to figure out what was going on in the boy's head, apart from what he said out loud.

She had to admit. It was a pretty heavy situation. The kid was an orphan - in the future - and just found out his parents that he was so excited and nervous to meet, weren't what he expected at all. She could empathize with that. Couldn't relate though - since she never had parents.

"Hah. I figured you weren't normal," she said with a small grin, before looking out at the the street thoughtfully. "But uh, I'm sorry about your parents though. It's gotta be wild to figure out you've been believing a lie your whole life, only to discover it's wrong. And I know it's gotta be weird to not be... human. At least, not exactly like you thought you were. And I know like, demons have kind of negative connotations, and I hope it doesn't sound insensitive in me saying this but... I dunno, I guess I thought it was kind of cool that your dad's a demon? I mean, I saw him too. I dunno how to explain it uh - I can see stuff like that too though. I mean, I can hop through time too, so maybe that won't surprise you."

She laughed a little and shrugged. "I mean, don't get me wrong. It's a big thing to take in. But I guess - I dunno. Is it really a big deal if you're half demon and half human? You're still you, and just as much a person as before. And I mean, no one has to know, like... when you go back. Or at least, not the people that would be weird about it. Until you're ready to tell people or whatever. I dunno. Just... letting my mouth run away with me I guess. Sorry."

"It's okay," he quietly said. He took another deep breath. "It's just that...well, it's just that I've been told my entire life that demons are monsters that can't be trusted. They'll turn on you the first chance they get, and they're not even remotely human. Most people wearing lenses can't really tell that last part, but I've always been able to - even more than the other people who can do that."

Was that because of his demon heritage, and not because he was a special human? How much had he taken for granted that he couldn't truly count as his own?

"Hm," Wilson nodded, trying to think of a useful question. "Does not being totally human... scare you? Is it just because it's so different?"

He leaned down and held his head in his hands.

"I don't know," he said, staring at the ground. "I guess I'm more scared of what people will think of me. They'd never let me be a magician if they knew my heritage, and my classmates would turn on me in an instant if they knew. And what if I get more than just the ability to see demons? What if the things that hurt them hurt me, too?"

Wilson was quiet for a moment as she thought through her answer.

"I mean... it would take some adjusting, sure. I hate the idea that your classmates would turn on you, but I wonder if... well, maybe this is the kind of eye-opener you need? And that everyone needs. If you're very much a person, and you don't consider yourself worthy of the betrayal you anticipate, maybe demons aren't so bad. I mean, your dad's one, and he seemed just fine. 'Course, I only got to exchange a few words, but, you're pretty chill."

She leaned forward with her arms on her knees. "And I mean, I know people say this kind of stuff about like, people wearing glasses or having braces and nothing this heavy but, honestly... what other people think, while it does matter, and it can hurt, it shouldn't force you to deny a part of yourself just to conform to the person they think you ought to be - or what they think a person is supposed to be like. I know you just discovered this about yourself, but it is who you are. And you're uniquely you. And I think that's beautiful."

"But I'm a demon," he said, his voice quiet and his protest weak. "I-I'm a monster. I've seen what they look like, Wilson. They're not human in the slightest. They've got tentacles, and they've got all sorts of eyes and teeth and everything that can make something look terrifying."

He hesitantly raised his head and looked into her eyes. "When I first-When I first discovered I could do that, I was petrified. They're the things that go bump in the night, and the monsters under your bed, only a hundred times worse." His hands were shaking as he folded them in his lap, his voice beginning to tremble as well. "And some of the first-some of the first demons they summoned, to show us what they were like? They were absolutely terrifying. They said horrible, nasty things, and one of the teachers messed up so badly during the demonstration that the demon tried to eat her. And this was this one demon who didn't do anything, but just the way he looked at all of us made a chill run up my spine - it was this really, really hardened glare, and something about the look on its face made it look like it was trying to figure out how it could kill all of us there."

Wilson was quiet again as he spoke, and did her best to return his look with one of understanding.

"Do you ever wonder... if maybe they're mad 'cause they're being summoned and don't want to? I mean - don't get me wrong, but if I was suddenly ripped from my home and the environment I was comfortable with, and brought to a classroom and asked to serve and do things to entertain against my own free will, I'd be at least a little miffed, and I'm pretty laid back," she said, shrugging slightly.

"I mean... I get that. They're scary to people because they're the things people have made out to be monsters. But I mean... I dunno. Your dad back there seemed like a pretty normal person to me. Just doesn't look like the ones you're used to. I don't think you're any less of a person just cause you might look different. I mean, don't get me wrong. I know everyone else doesn't feel that way, and it'll never be that easy with everyone else. I know that's still gonna be a real struggle. But I just... I mean, you shouldn't have to feel ashamed for who or what you are. I know that just saying that won't change it right away. But just... know that."

He listened carefully to everything that she said. He had to admit that he had never thought of it in that light before, and the realization that he might have been dealing with demons all wrong was one that was hard to grasp. He had made a mistake. He had believed that demons were bad, when what Wilson said made an incredible amount of sense. Of course they would be upset. Of course they would be terrifying and angry and intimidating. They just wanted to get back to their homes. Wouldn't he have wanted to do that, too?

He stared down at his hands. A magician and a demon. That was his identity now. Would he be too magician for demons, and too demon for magicians? If the last one was true, he would be in an incredible amount of trouble. They'd hate him, and then they'd try to exploit any weaknesses he might share with his demon kin. He bit his lip. This wasn't good at all. It would have to be a closely guarded secret; he could never admit this to his classmates.

"Wait," he said, looking up and over at Wilson. "Why did they tell me that my parents were normal? Any magician or demon that took one look at them would know that wasn't the case. And why did they even start to hate demons in the first place?"

Wilson looked at him with a blank face, opening her mouth, but no words came out for a solid five seconds.

She didn't have the answers to those questions. Or at least, not yet. She could peer into his future or past, but at the moment, she didn't know the reason, and Blake didn't know she could do that. Which was... probably for the best. It usually was.

"I'm not sure," Wilson replied honestly. "Why they lied about your parents that is. I wonder though, if answers might be found with your parents...?"

"But how am I ever supposed to ask them that?" Blake hopelessly questioned, resting his head in his hands again. "I can't just waltz up there and be like 'Hey, Mom! Dad! Guess what! I'm your son from the future. Also, I've been lied to for the past fifteen years of my life and only just now realized that.' They'd think I was crazy. If they didn't, then they'd start asking why I never asked their present selves."

"Uh," Wilson lifted up a finger to protest but was at a loss. She stared at him.

"Fair point, fair point," she muttered, eyes falling down to the sidewalk.

As he was sitting there on the bench, a thought suddenly occurred to him. He should have thought of it far earlier, but he had been too distracted by everything else to think about it. Why was Wilson helping him with this in the first place? He might have had demon blood coursing through his veins, but he was a magician first and foremost. He should have questioned her actions the moment she approached him in the park.

He tried to put himself in her shoes. She could time travel. She could go to wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted and could apparently take others along for the ride. She had to be incredibly careful, or else it would mess up the flow of time. And, for the most part, she did seem to be that way. But if he was in her shoes, wouldn't he have gone back to this moment and tried to change it? As a theoretical situation? He wasn't going to do that now. The past was long and gone.

But why was Wilson taking other people back in time for free when she had one of most powerful abilities in the world, an ability that countless people would surely die for?

And why him? Why did she chose to help him out, out of all the people she could have approached? Something wasn't adding up here.

So he decided to do the one thing he should have done the moment he laid his eyes on her: he glanced over at her and look at her through the lenses of the different planes. The first plane was the one he was already looking at it. It showed nothing. The second and third planes, too. When he got to the fourth plane, he finally found something worthy of his suspicions - Wilson's body looked like it was being viewed through some strange filter on a camera. The fifth and sixth planes furthered this effect.

And by the time he got to the seventh, there was no one sitting beside him on the bench.

He let out a startled cry and promptly fell off said bench, his vision resetting to looking at the first plane the moment he hit the ground. He had expected to see something different lurking on one of the higher planes, but had never expected to see nothing. That was just impossible!

Wilson stared back at Blake as he looked at her. She wasn't sure what he was doing at first, but he was looking less and less chill, until he straight up fell off the bench. Wilson jumped.

"Woah! Woah! Uh!" She reached a hand down to help him up. "Shoot, dude, are you okay?"

He stared at her extended hand for a good few seconds before he slowly looked up at her face, eyes growing increasingly wider as he tried to explain what he had just seen. They had just gotten past him being afraid and wary of demons, but Wilson straight out defied the rules of the world as he knew it. Time travel was admittedly a bit of a stretch. But it still had made sense. If he tried hard enough, he could fit in with his knowledge of the world.

This didn't. He couldn't explain how someone ceased to exist on the higher planes. Those were the planes that were supposed to reveal someone's true self. Wilson's true self just couldn't be nothing! It had to be something, so why was he looking at nothing when he checked the planes again?

Not quite sure what was going on, Blake scooted back from where Wilson was.

Okay. She was going to need a little more to go off of than just a look of terror on Blake's face. She let out a sigh and focused on Blake for a second - reaching into his memories in her mind and looking through his eyes, just for the past few seconds.

Limit it. Limit it.

He was looking at different planes. He was looking at her. And... he couldn't see anything.

She closed her eyes and stopped, drawing her mind back to the present. Okay. So he knew she wasn't normal. Not that she looked it in the first place, being a time-traveller in his perspective, but now he knew she was more than just a human with time technology or magic. She sighed again.

"Okay. So... you've figured out I'm not normal either," she said with a smile. "Uh... surprise?"