8 The Taboos

Hearing what Siri said, Ley sighed at this hopeless woman's antics and muttered, "What were you up to again, Sera?"

Sera settled on the sofa once she got off the window while picking up some twigs and leaves stuck on her clothes when she climbed up with the help of the tree.

She looked up projecting innocence using her borrowed face, "What? I didn't do anything bad this time. I only used this face to get inside an exclusive club. I was just curious about what it's like inside."

"Uh-uh. Those words would have been more believable if those weren't the same words you used that time when you caused a scandal for the celebrity's face that you were using because you got drunk and went batshit crazy," Siri mercilessly shot back.

Sera had a habit of using illusions but unlike Ley, she does it for long periods of time. It has been years since she last saw Sera's real face that she's not even sure anymore if she still remembers it.

"Stop bringing the past. That was just one time and it's because that flirty bartender kept giving me drinks," she said while throwing her shoe at Siri.

She yelled at them to stop when they started throwing some random things at each other like little kids but they clearly had no intention of stopping. Ley threw her hands up in the air and gave up. She finished changing and started to rummage around her closet for a dress to wear for tomorrow's party.

After a while, there was finally silence at her back and she saw the two lunatics looking at her curiously.

"What are you looking for?" Sera asked when she didn't bother with them.

"She's looking at her never-been-used-before dresses for the party tomorrow," Siri commented smugly after observing.

"Why didn't you say so?! Let me choose your dress," Sera volunteered, more perked up than before.

Ley surrendered her closet when she got pushed away from it. She doesn't have a clue on what to wear anyway.

"What kind of party are you attending?" Sera inquired.

"It's for a black tie charity event," she replied dully. She doesn't really like attending those kinds of formal parties but duty calls she'll just have to bear with it.

"I've got an idea already but do you have a partner? Do you need to coordinate your clothes?" Sera looked at her questioningly.

Siri snickered out loud suddenly and Ley immediately knew what she's up to.

"She's coming with her hot boss," Siri butted in.

"That shifter guy?! Is this for that job you were talking about?" Sera's face glowed with interest at the smell of an incoming gossip.

"Ley got sent home by his shifter boss earlier in front of the cafe. Here's a picture I took," Siri pulled out her phone and Sera quickly checked it out.

"Oh my God, Ley! This guy is totally right up my alley. I can be his bodyguard. Can we switch? Pretty please?" Sera squealed

while pulling Ley's arm.

"What are you even saying? It's all exaggeration. Siri's just teasing you," she said which got her a pout of disappointment from Sera.

"No, I'm not," Siri shot back.

"Unless you're interested with him yourself?" Sera raised her eyebrows towards Ley in speculation.

"Don't be silly. You know that I'm just doing this for a job," she retorted smoothly while ignoring the twinge of doubt taking root.

"Yeah, right," Sera said in a disbelieving tone and went back to checking her dresses.

"Why did he sent you home then?" Siri probed.

"The death threats were definitely real. We almost got sniped at earlier in the office and he sent me home just to be on the safe side," she looked for a chair and started telling them what went down this afternoon.

The teasing atmosphere immediately vanished and serious expressions settled in their faces.

"I can't believe they're using humans to attack shifters. They're being ruthless. They're throwing humans to their death. If Landon decided to hunt them, they wouldn't stand a chance just looking at how fragile they are," Sera looked offended.

Ley looked pointedly at Siri, the only human in the room.

"I'm not talking about her. That girl is a freak," Sera snorted.

"Are shifter challenges always like this?" Siri curiously asked while stifling a yawn.

"No. Shifter challenges are a matter of pride. They leave it all up to their own strength. Using humans like this would be dishonorable and the others wouldn't tolerate if someone like that became the Beast King. Looks like something much bigger than the challenge is happening," she surmised.

"What do you plan to do now?" Siri asked.

"I'll monitor the situation and see where it goes. It looks like Landon has everything controlled anyway. I don't even understand why someone would post a job to protect him," Ley muttered in annoyance.

"Don't get mixed up on something beyond your help, Ley," Siri reminded her.

"You worry too much beside I've got enough on my plate already," she replied.

"You clearly don't know yourself very well," Sera spoke then made a 'tsk' sound.

Ley can already see an incoming lecture from the two so she decided to escape.

"Anyways, I'll just check on Anita real quick," she quickly said then went for the door.

"Hey! I'll leave your dress here and don't forget to wear the accessories! Wait, who is anita?" Ley heard the last bit of chatter from Sera across the hallway.

She headed up for the third floor guessing that they might be in the common lounge where everyone can just chill out without care.

She was about to open the door when her ears detected soft voices talking. Judging by the sound, it must be Merda and Anita.

"I don't understand, Merda. Why do we need to hide from the others? I just want to be with my mom," Anita's voice cracked at the end and whimpers soon followed.

"Don't cry, Anita. I don't know if it will do you any good but i'll tell you the origin why Taboos were hunted.

The whimpers stopped and Ley could imagine Anita was now paying attention to Magda. She released the door knob and leaned against the wall as her memories start to surface too.

"As shifters and magicks coexist peacefully thousands of years ago, it was natural for some of the species to mate with each other. Taboos like you were living freely during that time until a certain madman aimed to rule both species. He wasn't taken seriously as both the two species unitedly fought against him and continued to thwart him every time.

The ambition to rule permeated so deeply in his mind that he even trained his son to be a fighter. He was a taboo with powerful parents. He was gifted with both shifter and magick abilities. That's when the madman realized that mixed-species like his son were powerful. He started recruiting and training them in secret until he built himself a taboo army. Everything that stopped them got destroyed. It took the lives of each species strongest to defeat them and what was left was a tragic history no one can ever forget.

The tragedy didn't stop there. Many were killed and the livings were full of vengeance. They put all the blame to the remaining mixed-species. That's when the massacre of the taboo began. Standing by the reason of never letting history repeat itself, every taboo was killed and it became an iron-clad rule to not be involved with other species anymore or death awaits them," Merda finished retelling the terrible history on a heavy note.

"But Merda, we're different from those taboos. I'm different from them. Why can't we live freely when we're not the same?" Sobs rang out again from Anita as her young mind reject what she heard.

Ley clench her fist from hearing the anguished cry of a child who was barely 5 yrs. old but suffering from a pain beyond her years. She can feel her heart echoing Anita's sentiments. The tormented feelings that was long buried from the years of hiding her identity but never forgotten.