Young Writers Society

Crazy magic user ruled his guess on it being Ri, but there was nothing to say that those theories were right. Still, it was a start - he just had to find the location of said crazy magic user, and then he could pay the guy a visit.

Juniper was going to tag along. He could already see it when she looked at him like she was - with that glint to her eyes that she always got when things like this came up. But she'd ruin the dynamic. Juniper Quinn couldn't act menancing and ominous to save her life. She could fight. She could improvise. She could do everything someone would need to do given what she now was, but the one thing she couldn't do was act like that.

"Do the articles say anything else?" Juniper asked.

Levi shot her a look.

In response, she shot him a look that clearly said she was going.

Ray's eyebrow rose as he watched Juniper turn to Donnie. Now he was curious about the answer as well since he hadn't been on his phone for a while. He tilted his head and leaned on the bar, a yawn stretching across his face.

"I think everyone's had some kinda change - and the local news are getting all sorts of calls from people freaking out. The only mention about the cause of the thingy is like this one random spotting of a dude that was wandering the streets." Donnie shrugged after the last sentence. "I don't really know what to believe though."

Ray hummed, pondering over what that could mean. He wasn't too well-versed in fantastical stories though.

Well, that wasn't helpful. Juniper glanced over at her brother again; he seemed just as thrilled as she did about the news. The lack of details made it seem like nothing more than a rumor, and rumors weren't going to help them out.

Then again, she wasn't really sure she wanted to be helped out. Levi couldn't stand being stuck as a deer, but she loved the idea of being able to turn into a wolf. It was something that was all hers, and would be awesome when they finally saw their other friends again. She couldn't wait to show Lorcan what she could do - he'd probably get so startled that he'd fly into a tree or trip over his own two feet and fall over.

Despite his apparent older age, Donnie used to be fascinated by old tales, told by his mother over a lit fireplace. He never once thought he'd be involved with his own story, of magically turning into animals and creatures no normal human should be able to.

The teenagers did seem to know more or at least have a clue about who could be doing this, but he didn't really mind them not saying much currently. Of course, if something really important came up, he could only hope Juniper or Levi would tell him and Ray as a warning.

To each their own, he thought, shrugging to himself.

Nich and Ciaran calmly drank their drinks and watched the others in the bar. Ciaran, especially, was keeping an eye on his son as he bounded around in circles.

"How long do you think he'll stay like that for?" he wondered, casting Nich a glance. His son's boyfriend was scowling into his glass. "Nich?"

"Don't know," Nich muttered and downed the drink before signalling for another. "Don't care."

Ciaran snorted. "You should care," he said, lowering his voice. "What are you going to do when you can't be intimate anymore?"

The look Nich sent him was scathing. "Seriously?"

Ciaran raised an eyebrow. "What? It's a legitimate question."

"No, it's not, and you know it." Nich's gaze narrowed. "You're prying."

"I am not."

"Yes," the younger vampire hissed, angry now. "You are."

"Nich--"

Listening to the bickering nearby - bickering that didn't give the slightest hint at why the trio felt so wrong to Levi - was making him grow all the more frustrated with this situation. He muttered underneath his breath, "I hate today."

"I love today," Juniper declared, not nearly as quiet as he had been. He shot her a stink eye, and she, in response, gave him a very childish sticking out of her tongue. He might have done the same right back at her, if he wasn't supposed to be the more mature one. "I can turn into a wolf. Do you think I should show Lorcan the transformation from human to animal, or animal to human? I was originally thinking the first, but his reaction might be funnier if I walk in as a wolf."

Her cheerfulness was still rubbing him the wrong way, but he couldn't miss the opportunity to mess with one of Charlotte's friends. "Playing it by the moment is best, but if I had to pick..." He thought over the options. "I would go with wolf first."

Ray tried to quietly pour himself a glass of water, grateful that the bar's tap was a-okay when it came to flavor and safety. He never really liked having ice cubes in his cup, or even having cold water in fair weather days, preferring only to have anything cold when it was really hot outside.

And of course, he fell into another inner monologue as basically everyone was speaking to someone. Oh well. This is how he got through high school, talking mentally to himself or even out loud to ward off any potential people he didn't want to have awkward conversations with.

Next, he whistled a short little tune, mimicking the little tree birds that fluttered around his house. As well as the reason why he woke up on time every day, so he did feel grateful in a way for the sounds, but it was still a little annoying on days he hadn't gotten much sleep.

"It's not like there's much else I can do. Everyone's got their drinks and foods," he muttered.

"Oh, really?" Donnie appeared by his side. "Maybe you can go clean some of our customer's lovely dirty dishes."

Ugh. He shouldn't have said anything. Ray shuffled off to the back part of the kitchen anyway. Donnie better tell him if anything came up.

Ethan danced around the two children, yipping excitedly. He didn't know what happened and he didn't really care. He loved the animal form he somehow had. He was a wolf! A freaking wolf! It was awesome!

Nich and his dad were bickering, and he slowed to a stop as he heard it. Was his dad seriously asking about intimacy? Ethan growled and trotted over to where his dad and Nich were leaning against the bar. And proceeded to nip at his dad's ankles, cutting the old vamp off.

His boyfriend started laughing. "I don't think he appreciates the prying, either."

Ethan offered Nich a wolfy smirk and darted away, followed quickly by his dad, who was yelling at him to get back here and change back to normal. Ethan just led him on a quick chase around the bar before he darted around the two kids and back over to Nich. He hopped up into Nich arms and stuck his head into his boyfriend's armpit, whimpering.

"Brat," Nich said fondly and gave him a scratch between the ears. "Stop testing your dad's patience like that."

He just whimpered again, and dug in further as he heard his dad join them. Ethan wiggled a little bit, tail thumping against Nich's arm as he got comfortable.

"I swear," his dad muttered, sounding more amused than annoyed, "he'll be the death on me one day."

Nich snorted. "Yeah, when they figure out how to kill something as old as you are."

The last comment made any doubts that Levi might have had about the three be dispelled. Older people were supposed to be easier to kill, and that didn't even include how young the man in question looked. Either he was dealing with someone like him, or he was dealing with something they hadn't run into before.

He glanced over at Juniper. Had she heard? It was hard to tell - she was getting better at keeping a straight face. He should have felt guilty about that, but she was the one who had begged to join him in everything.

"Do you think Lorcan will be back soon?" Juniper asked. "I don't know how long this is going to last, and I'd hate if it stopped right before he came back."

"I don't know," he replied. Yup, she had heard that too - it wasn't like they were all that far away. "They had business they needed to do, remember? It might take some time."

Lost to the sounds of conversation and the sights of an extremely hyper dog-wolf-boy apparently, Donnie decided to check his phone once more in case any more stories discussed the transformations. Lo and behold, his wait had finally paid off.

Twelve, twenty, no thirty more like reporters had taken over news sites, stockpiling the web with all sorts of eye accounts. He scrolled through a few, recognizing the apparent surprise and fear every single of them felt when they first turned into another creature. There was actually a story about whoever could have caused this - someone labeled “Magician.”

And there was actually an address in Chicago, only a couple of hours away from their current city of Auburn, Illinois. Who knew? Maybe him, Ray, and one of the adults could drive out there, and then be able to deliver the kids some news. On second though, maybe he should leave Ray cause he doesn’t want the overgrown kid to get hurt.

“Alright,” he announced, walking back to the front of the bar. “I’ve actually got an address on our magical being user. He’s in Chicago of all places - a few witnesses all agreed at the same place they spotted him around. Anyone want to come with?”

He knew that he had a role that he needed to play. It was one that he had grown used to a long time ago. Levi Quinn wasn't supposed to be a risky person, and was supposed to do what most teenagers did. In this case, he was supposed to stick around this town until their relatives get back, and try to act like a big brother towards Juniper.

But he couldn't focus on that role now that they were starting to figure this out, and the response he wanted to give was the one that came out.

"I want to come," he said. He got up to his feet, feeling all too small and human as he looked at the adults in the bar - almost daring them to say no. He knew they were bound to, but he would do everything to persuade them otherwise.

And, if all else failed, he could always teleport there.

"I want to go, too," Juniper said, getting up to her feet.

He glanced over at her. "You're not coming."

"I am," she protested, crossing her arms.

He mirrored her posture. "No, you're not."

She stared at him, and he stared right back.

"I know how to be careful," she said.

"You're fourteen," he said. "You're not ready for things like this."

She raised an eyebrow. "You're sixteen. If you're ready, then I'm ready."

He gave a look that was very clearly a glare from behind his glasses.