A Leap of Faith

I closed the textbook. I was sitting at my desk, so lost in thought that I realized I hadn’t turned the page in a while. Instead of paying attention and studying for this exam, my brain was replaying the time I was kidnapped by hunters and traffickers, wondering what else I could’ve done to prevent it from happening. My knee started to bounce up and down. I needed to move around, so I paced throughout my apartment and put on some music to help me chill out. Ever since I got back and returned to society, I haven’t been able to sit still for long. Even worse, whenever I shifted to coyote form, she didn’t feel comfortable being out, and I’d immediately shift back to human form. The effects of not being able to properly shift were beginning to wear me down, causing me to feel uncomfortable in either form. I knew I needed a therapist, but I didn’t know how to go about finding a therapist or counselor who was a supernatural like me.

Before I was born, my parents lived among other supernaturals, but something happened, and they lost trust in them. They moved to Detroit, made a life among humans, and had me. I was always told to keep my status a secret. I knew about the supernatural world from old books and photos that my parents tried to keep hidden, but I hadn’t met anyone else who was a supernatural being and who wasn’t my parents. Throughout my life, I asked and tried to get them to open up and tell me what happened, but they were masters at quickly shifting the topic to something else. I even thought about using my nose to smell out other people who smelled “different”, but how would I know if that different smell was supernatural in origin? What would I say to them?

After pacing and bopping along to music for an hour, I decided to go out to the gym for a change of scenery. The gym I belonged to always played music I enjoyed, so I kept my headphones off. It felt good to move around and expend the excess energy.

“Hey,” someone behind me shouted. I turned around to see a young woman around my age approaching me. She wore a bright red headwrap like a crown that matched her outfit and a friendly smile.

“Girl, you’ve been on that treadmill running for a while now. Are you an athlete or training for a race or something?”

I looked at the time and realized that I had been running at the same pace for almost two hours.

“No, I just like to run. I also have a lot of energy today.”

“Well, you’ve inspired me. I tried running for a little while today, but I got tired after a few minutes. How did you start?”

We talked about workout routines, fitness goals, and hair. She was friendly and had a vibe about her that calmed me. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at the time to see that we had been talking and laughing for a while. It felt like a couple of minutes, though.

“I’m Octavia,” she held out her hand.

“Danielle,” I replied.

“Ooo, that’s a pretty name. Hey, uh, I know this is a little forward, but could we work out together or chat again sometime? I’m here on a temporary assignment for work for a few months, and you seem pretty chill.”

After what I went through, a request like that would’ve made me nervous, but there was something about this woman that told me that she was being genuine. I erred on the side of caution and agreed to work out together in a few days. I gave her my backup number, just in case my intuition was wrong.

The days leading up to our workout session, we casually messaged each other, making our meetup go smoother than I anticipated. Very quickly, it felt as if we were old friends catching up. We also realized that we would be able to help each other in the gym. I might have excelled in cardio, but Octavia knew her way around the weights section.

“Danielle, you know that you’re stronger than you think you are and stronger than you look. Go up a little,” she pointed at the stack of weights for the chest press.

I increased the weight by ten pounds, then pretended to get tired during the last couple of reps. A quizzical look quickly flashed across Octavia’s face. Sure, my being a shifter meant that I was stronger than most humans, but I was always taught to keep that part of me under wraps. It was to the point where I didn’t do much with weight training, nor did I know how much I could lift.

There was a moment when a guy kept trying to hit on me. I told him no and then asked him back up off me. When he ignored me, Octavia loudly stepped in on the defense and sent him on his way.

“Damn, that was intense,” I said, blowing out a breath.

“He should’ve taken the hint the first time you said no,” she huffed angrily. “Are you good?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Are you good? You got a little intense back there.”

She waved me off, “Sorry, that’s just who I am. I’mma chill out.”

At the end of our workout, I felt comfortable enough asking if she wanted to hang out again. She happily agreed and said that she knew of a place to chill and talk. A couple of days later, we met up outside The Gold Griffin, a bar that was tucked away from the main roads.

“Wow, this place must be hot if it has a bouncer. How’d you come across this place? I’ve lived here all my life and didn’t know it existed.” I asked.

“Oh. I, uh, got a tip off from a work acquaintance.” The way she responded, it made me wonder if she was hiding something. Worry and anxiety stemming from that night flooded back, and I began to feel stupid for agreeing to this.

How do you know this woman isn’t trying to gain your trust and sell you off to the hunters and traffickers? I thought. My heart began to race, and I felt an intense desire to run away, but I couldn’t do anything because I felt stuck.

“Danielle. Hello?” Octavia tapped my shoulder.

I blinked rapidly, bringing myself back to reality, “Sorry, did you say something?”

“Are you okay? If you don’t want to do this, it’s fine. We can go somewhere else.”

I couldn’t keep living in fear. I knew that. I needed to live my life. I reassured her that I was fine and we could go in. The bouncer checked our IDs. When he got to me, he looked back and forth between me and my ID. I knew that I looked young, but I couldn’t have looked younger than 21. I smiled at him nervously. He took a glance at my pointed canines and nodded for us to go in. I inwardly kicked myself for showing my teeth.

The place was busy, but that wasn’t what made me stop dead in my tracks. The scents coming off of people were different. Way different than anything I’ve smelled before. Except for a couple of people tucked away at the far end of the bar, it wasn’t bad. Some people were huge, a few others looked pale, many had pointed teeth like mine, a few others had pointed ears, and some appeared human. Bass lightly thumped in the background, and the lights were warm and dimmed. Everyone here moved so confidently, as if they were at home here. This had to be a supernatural establishment. And if it was indeed that, then Octavia had to be what I feared.

“Hey, why are you looking so shocked?” Octavia asked as she sat down at the bar and waved down a bartender.

“Octavia… girl… what is this place?”

She frowned, “What are you talking about? You know this is a supernatural-only bar… right?”

My heart started to race again. “How do you know about supernaturals?”

“Um… because I am one. And I can tell you are too,” she said cautiously.

My heart dropped, and my body felt cold. She had to be a hunter or a trafficker, and I just walked into her trap. Why was she so casual about it was beyond me. I started to stand up, but she grabbed my arm,

“Danielle, wait. What’s wrong?”

“Girl, what the hell are you talking about? You know what? Nah. I was captured once, and I’ll be damned if it happens again.” I tried to sound confident and in control, but my voice wavered.

“Wait, please let me explain. Please.” Her eyes softened, and there was a tone of sincerity in her voice. All of this was a lot for me, but still, there was an annoying little voice in the back of my mind that suggested I hear her out.

“You have one minute.”

“I’m a Protector. I just wanted to be friends with some Black supernatural people around here rather than outsider humans. Ever since that big kidnapping ring happened, extra measures have been taken to make sure that hunters and traffickers can’t find this place. The bouncer at the door is just another safety precaution to make sure that only the right people get in.” She sped through her words, probably sensing that I was still ready to book it.

I was quiet and shifted in my stance for a few minutes. I didn’t know what to say or what to do. A few people had glanced over at us, and the bartender waited patiently for one of us to give him our drink order. A supernatural establishment.

“What the hell is a Protector?” I asked, sounding a little angrier than was necessary.

Octavia blinked, “Oh… it means that I’m a human who can see and sense when something or someone is supernatural. We also have an innate desire to protect everyone and everything supernatural from outsiders... especially the hunters and traffickers. Why do I get the feeling that this is all new to you?” She paused, then spoke her realization. “Wait, is this your first time being around other supernaturals?”

I nodded. I felt a little sheepish. I finally came across a place where I could be around good people who were just like me, be in a world that I knew existed, but had known how to access it, and the first thing that came to mind when I got there was my trauma. I didn’t know if I should leave or stay.

“That’s why you seemed so wary of me.”

“Outside of my parents, I was raised around humans. I hadn’t gotten the opportunity to be around other people like me, and I didn’t know how to find them.”

“So, you know absolutely nothing about your own people? Nada?”

I shook my head, “Wait, is that why you went all mama bear on that guy at the gym?”

“That’s part of the reason. I mainly didn’t like how he was ignoring the fact that you weren’t interested. That shit just pissed me off. He was an outsider, though.”

At that point, I realized that if she were a hunter or trafficker, she wouldn’t have protected me like that. Octavia turned to the bartender, ordered two Cokes, then gave one to me.

“How about this? If you stay, I’ll answer all of your questions, tell you what I know, people-watch, or sit in silence… anything you want. If you’re still skeptical, you can leave, and I won’t bother you again. All I’m asking is that you give it a chance.”

So, I did, mostly because I was curious. I also realized that, from what she told me so far, the only thing she was guilty of was wanting to be my friend. She assumed that I already knew about the supernatural world, but she wasn’t to blame for that; my parents were. When we sat down at a table, she apologized for scaring me, and I apologized for going off on her.

“Can I ask you a question?”

I nodded.

“How is it that you’ve never been around us before now?”

“My parents never encouraged it and never taught me how to find them. The little that I learned in secret came from old books and photos. Technically, my first encounter was with the traffickers and hunters.”

Her eyes widened, “Hold on, were you one of the victims?”

I responded with a simple yes and took a sip of my Coke.

“Shit. I am so sorry. I didn’t know. Our authorities and news outlets never released the names of the victims. They just said that everything was still under investigation. What did your family say?”

“I’d rather not talk about that right now. You told me when we first met that you’re from Chicago, right? Are there others like us there?”

“Yeah, there’s a huge presence there. Mostly a lot of Protectors, Magical Folk, Empaths, and Vampires. Not as many shifters. There’s not enough green space for them.”

Octavia talked about Chicago and her job. I forgot what she said her job was because I overheard people nearby utter two words that I never thought I’d hear again, ‘Silverlake Junction’.

“Most of the victims were from Silverlake Junction. It’s hard to believe that something big like this would happen to them.”

“Oh, definitely. I visited there a couple of times, but I was only passing through, and it was such a peaceful little town. Why there, though. Did someone living there piss them off or something?”

The mention of victims caught my ear, but I was more intrigued by the town: Silverlake Junction. It was one of the places the officials talked about when we were found. It was the place that the mountain lion shifter, the one who comforted me when I was scared and stuck in animal form, said that he was from when he talked to the authorities.

“Octavia, do you know anything about a place called Silverlake Junction?”

“Yeah, it’s one of the oldest supernatural-only towns established by Black people. It sits hidden at the same place the humans call Three State Corners. Why?”

“Oh, nothing. It was just something I overheard a couple of times. I hadn’t heard of a place with that name before. Have you been there?”

“No, but I wouldn’t mind visiting. I hear it’s really picturesque.”

“How exactly do you find out about places like that, like this? I’ve tried doing my own online searches, but I couldn’t find anything. I’m still trying to figure out how I never saw this place before.”

She explained that supernatural establishments that mixed in with outsiders were often tucked away or intentionally made hard to find. Finding and navigating through supernatural cities, towns, and locating establishments also required a special configuration process for your phone, tablet, or computer. Finding someone who knew how to do that could only be discovered by word of mouth. Thankfully, she knew of just the right place.

“I’ll hook you up, girl. Does this mean that you’ll give us a chance?”

“Yeah, it does,” I gave a small grin. I was taking a leap of faith, and I hoped that I landed safely.

“Well then, welcome home.”