From the Hamptons to Chi-Town

“It was,“ Vincent chuckled. “You work down at the precinct, right? I sworn I seen you before.“

“Yeah.” She nodded and took another sip, trying to buy time to remember his name. “Are you a detective?”

“You can,” Ryan’s decoy asked while Ryan took a second to text Audo and inform him of what happened. “Jia is my mentor. I think I told you he was my boss before.“ Putting his phone down, Ryan returned his full attention to Kate, wondering how he could be so lucky that she was understanding and open minded. “No you’re not. I’m happy you aren’t freaking out. I don’t know how I would have taken this happening any other way.“

“No. My dad has the ability to speak to animals,“ Ryan said, and left it at that. Not really knowing how she would react to the full description of his powers. “Some things are hereditary but most aren’t.“ With a wave of his hand the decoy was gone. “Do that. I think he’ll enjoy telling you and probably do a better job than me.“

“I can.” She caught him texting out of the corner of her eye, but didn’t say anything. “It seems like you’re pretty close with your dad, how come he is mentoring you? Or is that like taboo?”

“You’re such a nerd and I love it.“ Both of them laughed. The decoy Ryan grabbed her hand and held it in his own. “I guess so. Before he was basically a smoke screen but now that I have more control, I can separate him from himself for a short period. You can feel his body heat, see him and hear him but he’s not really there. He won’t feel pain or bleed,“ actual Ryan explained. “I’m having trouble retaining their memories. So I don’t use them for anything more than cooking me breakfast while I’m showering because I’m running late or helping me out with chores. Jia said decoys weren’t meant to be extensions of ourselves, so it probably will never happen.” Ryan paused and shifted nervously. “Hey, let me know if any of this is too much information. I’m just excited that you finally know and I might be unloading on you too quickly.“

“We’ve had people trying to prove the science behind it but many have failed. Its magic. I’m not pulling particles out of the air or reflecting light or anything in that nature,” he chuckled. “I think my dad would love to sit down with you and you both can speak about the possible science behind all this.“

Kate smiled and looked away, awkwardly unsure where to look when there were two of them. She was surprised at how warm his hand felt, how life like this clone really was. “Somehow I can imagine the the trouble you could get up to when there are two of you.” Kate turned and looked at the real Ryan again. “Who is Jia? Is he like you?” She smiled at the fidget and too in a deep breath. “It is a lot.” It still hadn’t fully sunk in, but she was caught up in everything. Magic was real, there was a whole secret world around her and then geek in her was overriding the scientist. “I hope I’m not asking too many questions. I think I’m going to be running through all of this in my head for a while after.”

Smiling Ryan flawlessly created a second illusion of himself. The illusion sat down on the edge of the coffee table a smiled at Kate before greeting her, “Hey Kate.”

“We each have skills and different things that we specialize in. I’m an illusionist. He’s what some would call a decoy but we prefer the word replica.“ They said the last part in unison. 

Kate’s breath stalled as she watched the 2nd Ryan come out of thin air. As he sat down she couldn’t help but reach out to see if he was physically there. “Can he think on his own? Is it like Emma Frost?” The only thing she could think to compare it to was X-Men. 

“Usually we don’t get too attached with humans for us to have a solid story. You’re one of the first.“ Ryan had a water in front of him but pushed it aside. “Jia is my mentor and he’s also Garrett’s long term boyfriend. I think you might have met him briefly at one of the parties Patch dragged you to.”

Kate smiled into her glass at that. When he mentioned the party she had to try and picture his face. “I think I remember him. He had the massive apartment?”

“Oh no. No. Not dangerous at all. Garrett is the dangerous one. He rather teleport and bring the Queens jewels home to Jia rather then teleport straight home after one to many drinks.“

Kate nodded taking another sip of her beer. “And Jia is your mentor? Or boss? Or is your dad your boss. That lie was always a little confusing to be honest. I’d tighten up that story for the future.”

Anonymous’s St. Patrick’s Night

“I’m just waiting on my great uncle. Kaylor doesn’t want him teleporting if he’s drunk.“  Ryan tilted his head in the direction where Garrett was taking shots with with everyone that walking in and out of Anon as an entrance and exit fee. 

Kate frowned and furrowed her brows as she followed his nod. The man looked to be in his early 40s. But she supposed immortality explained nearly everything away.  “So teleporting is dangerous then?”

“When it comes to ridiculousness the supernatural community has an abundance of it.“ He smiled, moving closer to Kate now he was sure she wouldn’t run. “Do I need to demonstrate?“

Kate registered him moving closer, and nodded. “What are you going to do?”

“Right. Not if we don’t want to.“ Ryan smiled. He felt himself getting lighter and lighter as they spoke. “Fairies are fairytales and the idea of a mermaid is laughable. On the other end, we do have vampires, animal shifters and human shifters. Patch and Churchill may fit into one of those categories but I’ll let them tell you.“

“Are you taking this as well on the inside as you are on the outside?“

“You realize the ridiculousness of saying something is laughable while confirming the existence of vampires, right?”

“No. Ronan, my granddad is older than my dad by a few centuries but he’s middle age for the most part. We’re immortal. And Skylar is new at all this.“

“No. My family are warlocks. Jev and Church are something else entirely.“

Kate looked at him, taking another sip of her water. “Immortal... Gotcha, so do you not age?”

“He’ll take that as an insult. I think he’s going for the ragged late 20s or early 30 year old.“ Ryan sighed, looking at over to Kate. “I’m pretty young. I’m turning 180 years old this year and my dad is a whopping 762… Ish…“

“Yeah! Like witches and warlocks. Expect warlocks aren’t all bad or all male.“ Ryan nodded. “None of those compare or come close.“

“His hair is a little too on the light side for late 20s.” It was more of an absent comment than anything else. Something to occupy the space while Kate’s mind was whirling. “Young? So is your dad considered old?”

“Okay.“ Ryan said slowly. He never had to tell their secret before. “Right. The word human…” Ryan started but shook his head. “Judson isn’t my cousin…. He’s my dad.“

“We’re magic users.“

“I’m guessing I know the etymology of human, Ryan.” She stared at him bug eyed for a moment. “He’s like 35. Wait, how old is he? How old are you?”

“And I’m guessing that you wouldn’t believe me if I said that you didn’t in reality see anything and you imagined it all?“ Ryan tried hopefully but he already knew the answer. “Kate, it’s complicated.“

“I’d think you were gaslighting me and figure it out another way.” She shook her head while taking a sip of water. She nearly choked when she had a thought. “Jev isn’t human, is he? Neither is your cousin. Probably none of your friends, right?”

“Of course,“ Ryan stumbled into his kitchen and grabbed her a bottle of water. Walking back into his living room, he sat besides her and handed her the bottle. “I have no idea where to start. I didn’t think I would be making this speech so soon.“

“Skylar was rambling so quickly I could only catch a few things. What happened?“

She squeezed the water bottle, letting it crinkle and relax as she thought. “I was waiting at the bus stop and then the water seemed to flow backwards out of my water bottle. When I got up and followed it, it lead to I guess Skylar. Then it collapsed before she ran inside.” Kate whipped her head around. “So soon? What do you mean?”

@ Kate

“Come on in and take a seat,“ Ryan said while holding the door open for Kate. “I thought you would be visiting my place under different circumstances.“

“Can I get you something to drink?“

“Yeah... Me too.” Kate’s head was still spinning from the girl and the unexplained water. Then seeing her run to Ryan, and the flood of all the not totally explained things about him rushed to her mind. She sat down on the couch and leaned back a little stunned. 

Skylar watched with wide eyes as the stranger walked up to the water and tested it, like it was going to reach back up and attack her. Shit. She probably should think of such things while she was in distress. There was a click behind her, Skylar knew it was the sound of Judson’s door unlocking and bolted towards the door. She pushed whoever was behind the door back in before they could fully stepped out and slammed the door behind her. “Holy shit I fucked up,” Skylar managed to get out to Ryan before the door opened again reveling the lady from before. 

Kate was walking towards the girl, when she bolted to the left and pushed her way inside of a shop door. Realizing this was probably a stupid choice, Kate followed her. She had seen just too many things to let this go: a dingo, at least according to the reverse image search, walking around her rental, bizarre injuries and attacks that never seemed to go to court, and last week she could have sworn that she saw someone they had in the morgue walking around the Drive-In. Too many things to let this opportunity get away from her. When she pulled open the door she came face to face with someone she did not expect to see. “Ryan?” Her eyes trailed across him, over to girl who was practically shaking.