Jake soared above the city skyline, his keen ears primed to pick up any signs of trouble, his keen sight watching all of the citizens below – whether they were magical beings that were his to protect or ordinary humans, going about their day thinking he was nothing more than a bird. Even from up high, he could smell New York, from the hot dog vendors on the sidewalks to the underlying scent of urine that he had learnt to ignore. He watched the sun slowly start to sink, thinking that things might actually go his way tonight. Between his dragon job and his day job, he rarely got to go to attend the family get togethers that his mother always organized. Haley was busy too but she was always there – something that he wasn't ever allowed to forget.
The mid-summer breeze hit his face in full force, making Jake's spirits lift as it caught his wings. This was the best time of the year. Even though he had been out of school for a while, there was something rejuvenating about the uplift the city got when the kids were happy and free, even though it meant more work for him when the tourists started rolling in.
As he always did when he was doing his rounds on the city, Jake forced himself to go by the old Huntsclan building. It was slowly being taken over by vandals and squatters but the city hadn't yet reclaimed it for other projects. It had been empty for just over a year and Jake was sure it was going to happen, he just wasn't sure that he was looking forward to it happening. To see new life breathed into where the Huntsclan once practiced evil would be refreshing but, on the same token, Jake thought that who they were had permeated every ounce of the building and would take over whoever would be next. It was why he had tried to destroy it. He had tried to burn it to a crisp and destroy everyone in it. Jake would like to have said that it was youthful insanity but he'd been twenty-nine years old.
The insanity part, well, that was probably true.
His tail brushed the ruined roof and parts of it peeled off, crashing down to the pavement below. The smell of soot invaded his nostrils and he could feel the flame burning his mouth and then coming at him from all sides and he could hear the flurry of last words that had been a part of his waking nightmares since it had happened.
The wind brought him the sound of laughter on the streets and Jake took off again, flashing his wings and carrying himself far away from the sins of his past.
(-.-)
New York City was overwhelming. The sights, the sounds, the smells. She had felt like she should know it all but everything felt new. She fled, not sure if there would be anyone who was coming after her, because she was supposed to be the hunter and not the hunted. This time, she was supposed to be the hunter.
No one looked twice at her as she briskly walked down the sidewalk, pulling the brim of her ballcap down around her face. She wasn't supposed to be here. She wasn't supposed to even be alive. But she was and she was here, finally, to the place that had haunted her dreams.
She took a map from a tourist stall and pulled it open, tracing the streets with her eyes. Familiar names jumped out at her and she took them in hungrily. She pulled out the hand written instructions that she had memorized on her journey, crouching in a dirty corner so that she could study both. She was here and so much could go wrong, but so much could also go right. She felt a ticking time bomb in her chest as she thought of every tip and trick, of everything that she had ever learnt.
Trust yourself, you were told to trust yourself.
She was alone now. Alone with her mission and her gut.
And her gut was telling here where she was going to find Jacob Long.
The hunt was on.
This is just a prologue. I will post chapter one, the full chapter, tomorrow! I wrote quite a bit of this in advance because it feels like my life is in constant upheaval these days and I don't like to let long periods of time go between chapters.
Let me know what you thought of the chapter, stay safe out there and don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now!
~TLL~
