Chapter 4

"I'll have to check if we have this specific type of tire in stock and then I'll just give you a call and tell you when you can come pick your car up." The man who knocked on my car window states, explaining everything to Lydia.

"Okay. That sounds good. What about payment? Do I have to pay now, or can I just pay you when I come and pick my car up?" Lydia asks, filling out the papers that the mechanic had handed her.

"When you come pick it up is fine." The mechanic returns, taking the clipboard when Lydia hands it to him. "Well alright. I'll get her hooked up, anything else I can do for you all?"

Getting a no from the both of us, the mechanic starts doing his thing while Lydia and I get back into my car.

"Well, Ms. Martin. Where to now?" I ask, before giving my own suggestion right after. "I left some burgers out to defrost for dinner tonight and I've certainly enjoyed your company, so, unless I've bored you too much or you already have plans that I need to get you to, care to join me?"

Looking at her phone that she hadn't touched for the entirety of the time we had been talking, Lydia bites her bottom lip in contemplation.

Her rumination only lasts a couple seconds, before she looks back at me with a bright smile, nodding her head in confirmation. "The plans I had are easily cancelable. I've had more fun the past 45mins waiting for a tow truck then I probably would have had going over there anyways."

"Hahahah, I don't know if that's a compliment to me or a diss at whoever your plans were with, but I'll take it." I jubilantly reply, since I have yet to get used to having a house all to myself.

We continue our conversation on the way to my house, sharing stories about our family and friends.

In Lydia's case she was also a single child just like I was. From what I could gather from her stories, she was closer to her mother and grandmother than she was with her father. Her parents seemed to be having marital problems, the dad progressively staying at work late or going on business trips more and more.

I didn't comment on the obvious conclusions that could be made from this, but just listened to her stories, giving my own anecdotes when our experiences matched.

Her grandmother had also had to be put into a mental institution. When she let that slip it almost seemed like the words came out of her mouth without permission. I didn't have a reaction one way or the other, and from the look on her face when she measured how I took the news, it was clear that the information she gave me was one only few knew.

One thing was made abundantly clear as we became comfortable in one another's presence during the drive to my home. Lydia was wicked smart. I didn't know exactly how smart she was but as I coaxed her to tell me more about her day-to-day life, I pleasantly found we had quite a bit in common.

She had top marks in all her classes, even with the fact that the classes she was taking were college level courses. For all intents and purposes, she was the 'It' girl at school, and her aspirations ranged from fashion designer to engineer.

To put the enigmatic girl in a box like I originally had upon first seeing her, was to do the girl a huge disservice.

But the even more interesting bit, was that none of these worlds ever seemed to crisscross with each other. Every hobby she had she would do alone, unless it strictly required companions and even then it was things like shopping or manicures and pedicures.

"I 100% believe in extraterrestrial life." I voice out my opinion to one of the many rabbit holes our discussion had taken, pulling in through the gates of my home. "Let me put it this way. For every star that we see in our night sky, there are a countless number of planets that we don't see orbiting those stars just like we do to our own sun. So the idea of us being alone in the infinite cosmos, is so much more scary to me than the comforting fact that we're not alone."

"Holy shit. This is your house?!" Lydia exclaims, nodding along to my response but still getting awestruck with the beautiful sight of my home. "When you said you lived alone, I thought it was going to be an apartment or something."

"Hahaha, I had the same reaction. My mom doesn't like doing things halfway and since I'll be living here at least until I graduate, she pulled out all the stops." I explain, parking the car in the circular driveway of the house.

"I'll say. You're definitely a momma's boy." Lydia teases, gathering her things while I grab the trash from our snacks, exiting the car and walking over to her side, opening the car door for her.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." I roll my eyes at the lame taunt since I see nothing wrong with being a momma's boy.

"I didn't say it was. She taught you manners, that's for sure but with how much you've told me, she definitely spoiled you growing up, it's a wonder you didn't turn into a stuck-up rich boy." Lydia comments, getting out of the car with a smile and following me up the steps of the house and through the front door.

"Those manners came with certain habits as well. So, shoes off please." I say, slipping out of my Wotherspoon's and putting them on the shoe rack at the entrance of the house.

"You weren't kidding when you said your mom doesn't do things halfway. This place is absolutely gorgeous. Definitely better than a bachelor pad." The pretty teen red head compliments, crouching down to untie her white high top Chucks before slipping them off of her dainty white sock covered feet. "Does anyone else live here or is it just you?"

"Just me. Mom almost hired a group of maids for the house, but my dad talked her out of it. I'm used to the maids back home, shit they helped raise me, but having strangers looking after me would have been… well strange." I add, leading the teen to the living room where she drops her stuff off before I give her a brief tour of the place with our destination being the kitchen.

"Yea, we're definitely in different tax brackets." Lydia mumbles in jest, deadpanning at how nonchalant I talk about the wealth I grew up in.

"Hahaha, with how soft your hands are and the brand of your clothes, I doubt you've ever worked a day in your life?" I jest back, grabbing all the necessities for a proper burger meal.

"I'll have you know mister richie rich, looking this good is hard work in and of itself. I don't just wake up looking like this you know." Lydia banters back, grabbing the fries from the freezer like I asked her too, and going into the pantry for some drinks.

"Well, let's see just how hard of a worker you are then. You've ever made burgers?" I ask, leading her out to the back patio that overlooks the pool and the well-manicured back yard.

"Hahaha, if by make, you mean order from In-N-Out, then yes. If you're implying that I help you grill, then no. That is unless you want hockey pucks instead of patties on your burger." The bubbly young woman offers in protest, only to be met by my deaf ears.

"Alright, so first we have to season the burgers…"

We spent the rest of the evening cooking alongside one another. Lydia had been adamant against the step that would have required her to get her hands dirty and knead the ground beef with all the spices by hand, but with some light teasing, she finally relented.

"Mmmmmm, Holy crap. We made this?" Lydia moans out in food orgasmic bliss. Her pink tongue brushing against her plump lips, swiping away the juices from the delicious meat.

Her taste buds dancing inside her mouth from the salty, sweet, and gamey flavors.

"We sure did. So, what do you think? Better than In-N-Out?" I ask, relishing the flavors of my own burger, while watching the girl eat what could probably be the first meal made by her own hands.

"No comparison. I didn't know cooking could be this fun and the best part, we get to eat what we made once we're done." The red head adds on, munching away at her fries.

"Well, you're welcome over any time. As much as I like having my own place, I'm sure it'll get lonely, so the company is much appreciated." I return with a smile, taking a moment to look at the gorgeous sunset reflecting off of the blue pool water. "Besides eating is always better with company."

"Ooo, that reminds me. Give me your phone number, I'll definitely take you up on that offer if you keep on showing me how to make food this good." The young woman claps, reaching for my phone that's sitting on the table and handing it to me, for me to unlock.

"Yeesh, how bold. *Gasp* Wait, is this what my mother warned me about? Oh no, does that mean you want to do Lewd things like… hold my hand? How indecent." I dramatically question. Putting on my best rendition of an anime maiden being confessed to.

"Hilarious, all you needed to do was call me a Hentai or Baka and the performance would have been believable." Lydia deadpans, taking my unlocked phone from my hand and snapping a selfie of her doing the legendary victory pose then adding the picture as the avi on the contact info she typed in.

"Hmmm, a woman of culture, I see, I see." I turn faux serious, stroking the nonexistent white beard on my face and nodding in a sage manner.

The act sends us both into a fit of laughter, that's unfortunately interrupted by a ringing coming from inside the house. This is the third time I had heard the ringing but since Lydia didn't have the abilities that I did, it would have been rude to have kept on ignoring it.

*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*

"Did you leave your phone inside? I think you're getting a call." I ask as my laughter dies down, causing Lydia to perk up and try to listen for the familiar jingle of an incoming call on an iPhone.

"I thinks so, I didn't even notice I didn't have it on me." The young woman shrugs her shoulders in an uncaring manner. "Are you sure though? I don't hear anything."

"Well help me get these dirty dishes inside and you can check. It might be the mechanic or something." I offer, picking up my plate and some of the plates we used for the ingredients, Lydia doing the same.

"Ooof. Although I've never cooked, my mom's made me do the dishes plenty of times." Lydia grumbles, turning on the kitchen sink and rinsing off the plate she ate out of.

"Amen. But don't worry about the dishes, I can handle them while you go check on your phone." I take over, shooing the girl away. I liked doing dishes right away because if I didn't, they would end up sitting in the sink for days.

Besides I would only ever rinse them before putting them into the dish washer. So, from start to finish the chore usually only took 5 minutes at most.

"Jackson. You're the one that didn't come pick me up. You expected me to keep our plans even after you told me to walk home because you were too 'busy' running drills with Danny to come get me?" I overhear Lydia snap at what I assume is the same Jackson guy she had called at the gas station.

"I don't understand why you're freaking out, you got home didn't you? Stop being so dramatic and hurry up, I've been knocking on your door and calling you for the past 15mins. I'm starving." I hear the voice of a male come through Lydia's phone as I round the corner of the living room, leaning against the arched entry way and observing the teen drama.

"Well for you information I'm not home and I don't know what time I'll get back so if you really want to, then why don't you invite Danny to dinner since he's obviously more important than your stranded girlfriend." Lydia huffs, angrily whispering into her phone before hanging up on the guy.

"Boy troubles?" I ask after a couple of seconds of watching Lydia just stare at the black screen of her phone in the middle of the living room.

*Eeeep*

My question startles the young woman, causing her to let out an adorable sound of surprise, whipping around to look at me while blushing and holding a hand against her chest.

"Jesus Darrian, you scared me. How long were you standing there?" The startled girl cries out, staring at me accusingly but only getting a shrug and an amused look in return. "Huff… to answer your question, that was my… well boyfriend. His names Jackson. I called him back at the gas station, but he said he was too busy to come pick me up and now he has the audacity to act like it was no big deal."

"Sounds like a real stand-up guy." I sarcastically comment earning me a giggle in return. "What do you wanna to do then? You need me to take you home, Red?" I ask, looking at the time and only now realizing that it's 8pm.

"Booo, that's a lame nickname, but yea. It's getting late anyways." Lydia agrees albeit reluctantly, gathering her things while I get the keys to my car before meeting her at the front door.

Luckily, the red head teen only lived about 10mins away from my house, but unluckily she spent those 10mins arguing with her boyfriend over text. Hearing her talk about him, it almost sounded like a toxic relationship, but then again who was I to judge.

"Ughhh, he actually stayed. I am so not in the mood for this. I shouldn't have told him I was on my way home." Lydia grumbles to herself while I pull into her driveway, measuring up the guy glaring at my car while leaning against a shitty silver Carrera with a license plate in the front that reads JCKSN37.

"Come on Red, that's the guy you're ditching me for? He definitely wears Axe body spray as cologne." I joke, hoping to lighten her mood and curb some of the anger she's starting to show.

"Hehehe" She giggles at my joke, sending me a grateful look before rolling her eyes. "I'm not ditching you. You're the one that offered to take me back home. If anything, this is your fault."

"Want me to stick around? I can kick his ass if you want me to. Guy that has his own name on his license plate definitely deserves a punch in the mouth." I continue, keeping an eye on the guy that's growing more impatient by the way he's brooding, while Lydia feigns thinking about my proposition.

"Right now, I would honestly pay good money to see that, but his dad's a lawyer. Oh, and I guess him being my boyfriend probably means I shouldn't be okay with that." Lydia sighs out in exasperation, making sure she has everything before facing me. "Thanks for everything! Although the night could have ended better, I still had fun hanging out."

"Don't mention it Red. Next time we'll do an anime marathon or something. We'll see if you actually have some taste or if you're just a poser." I offer as she starts reaching for the handle on the door of the car.

"It's a date then." She says a bit too loudly, causing me to roll my eyes at her blatant act of stirring the guy who definitely heard her statement, since she opened the door before saying it. "I mean it. That sound like fun." She adds on, at least having the decency to blush when she catches on to the fact that I wasn't ignorant to what she had just done.

"Haha, See ya around Red." I let out a low chuckle, waving her off and watching her walk to her front door without even looking at the guy calling her name and instead walking into her house, promptly shutting the door in the guy's face.

"Ouch." I let out, putting my car in reverse, and driving back home.

-:][:-

"Alright, let's get to work."

Pulling out the bag of "groceries" that was still in the trunk of my car, I walk around the house and towards one of the building's I had explored yesterday. The building itself fits the whole aesthetic of the estate on the outside, but on the inside it's a craftsman's wet dream.

"Although it's only half, hopefully the old man didn't skimp out on quality." I mumble to myself, deactivating the enchantment I had put on the container earlier today, the bag turning back into a silver briefcase.

Placing the metal case on top of a solid wooden work bench, I move over to one of the red tool cabinets helpfully labeled 'Rune Carving' and take out the supplies needed for my intended purpose. Although natural magic came easy to those of my bloodline, it's not the only form of mage craft in existence.

Runic enchantment, which is what I was about to perform, is an ancient form of the arcane arts that predates even the Norse Legends that made the practice famous. The art form involved imbuing ones intentions into writing, binding them into a physical form that would then allow you to act on said intentions.

The stronger the physical form and the more ancient the language, the stronger the runic magic would be.

My original thought was to turn various jewels into ward stones that I could then spread out across the town to serve different purposes. Since I don't have enough jewels for the whole town right now, I'm instead going to focus on putting defensive and offensive wards around my immediate territory.

Materializing a magic circle in my hand and with a flick of the wrist, I send it towards my right eye. Before the magic circle can impact my eye though, it stops an inch away and instead hovers in place, the effect looking almost like a monocle. Focusing my magic in the circle, the vision in my right eyes starts magnifying everything around me until even the dust particles in the air are in high definition.

Satisfied that the magic took effect, I pull out the nearest jewel, which happens to be a very large diamond, and start carving various symbols into the jewel with a high-powered plasma engraver.

By the time midnight rolls around I only get to half of the jewels done, but for now, the ones I finished would at least allow me to erect a defensive ward around my home. Since I would rather have the barrier put up sooner rather than later, I look at the iPad that was sitting beside my workspace and check the notification, that came in around 10pm, one more time.

Sup, newbie. Plans a go, We'll be meeting at the guild hall at 0700hrs and rolling out at 0730hrs. Make sure get plenty of rest, this ones shaping out to be a wild one!

- B

Closing the app, I clean up a bit around the workshop before heading back inside my home and down into the basement. Going to the room that my mother already chose as the best spot to put the Primary Ward stone in, I draw a runic array with my own blood before placing the 250-carat diamond in my hand down in the center.

Closing my eyes and placing my hands in a praying motion, I channel my inner magic. Focusing the power until I feel it bubbling in anticipation, my pale blue eyes shoot open, as magic itself whirls inside them and two golden circles appear in the palm of my now outstretched hands.

Feeling the magic potential reach its apex, I slam my hands on the runic array, the golden magic circles funneling my power into the diamond through my blood.

The diamond itself begins to thrum with power, shining in a brilliant display of colors, some not even being a part of the human visible spectrum. Moment's pass, until the diamond itself start to spin in place and a nebula of power starts encompassing it and spreading out until it covers my home.

"Huff… huff… huff… Mom was right. This shits no joke. I couldn't imagine how much power it took dad to cover the entirety of Barcelona in one of these." I complain, as my body slumps onto the cold marble beneath me.

The ward I just placed around my house would serve as a repellent against any magical creature that I had not given permission to enter as well as an alarm of sorts that would tell me when someone had Ill intentions towards me or was not who they said they were. The rest of the jewels that I would be placing across a larger area would all connect to this one and would serve different purposes.

For my immediate surroundings they would do basic things like pest repellents to make living more comfortable but when I moved to expand into town, they would keep me updated when a new magical entity entered my territory.

My preemptive measures would hopefully help me keep an eye on the supernatural within my town, but for now I was happy with at least being able to sleep in my home without having to keep one eye open. So, getting up from the floor, I head to my bedroom where I strip from my dirty clothes.

I then take a quick shower before I tuck in for the night.

My last thought before sleep takes me, revolving around what is sure to be an exciting next day.