Legend of the Black Rider (Preternatural - book #1)

5: Just One Drink

The day finally came.

For the first time in forever, Celine enlisted a babysitter for the night: she left Graham with Daniel so she could do what she needed to.

She had driven her car out into town and had her eyes out for any sign of Ronin. The sky was completely black with the few clouds wandering the sky and looking a dirty brown due to the streetlights shining brightly. The street was busy with people who were taking a night out or employees who had just clocked out.

With the cold breeze picking up and blowing her hair, Celine had to close her eyes and rethink her decision to give Ronin the wand. It would be safer with him, but was Graham right about not giving it to someone like him? Ronin had changed after the years, but who's to say he wouldn't use the wand himself? Celine hadn't been with him long enough to witness his true change from the hard criminal he used to be.

Her insecurities took over and she suddenly wasn't in the mood for meeting up with him. But Ronin could only come out Au/Ra for so long because he was traceable when near Earthlings. Chances of him meeting her again were slim, so she had to meet him tonight. If not tonight, they would trace the wand to her and maybe find Daniel as well. Besides, there was no one more equipped she could trust than Ronin.

Ronin was good at making things ... disappear.

Celine opened her eyes, felt the wind blow at her through her window which she had rolled down. As she drove down the streets, she listened to the honks of car horns and voices of people all talking at once as they passed her car. Making a final decision to give the wand to Ronin, Celine drove with full confidence and let the safety of her son fuel her.

∆

"Alright, kid, time for dinner." Graham called to Daniel from the kitchen. He was busy making pancakes because Daniel asked for it. Graham wanted to make something delicious, but Daniel begged him to make pancakes because his mother would never allow him pancakes for dinner.

Graham poured a little bit of syrup all over his pancakes while Daniel poured so much syrup on that the mouth-watering, sugary liquid almost fell off the plate.

"Yes!" Daniel cheered happily, hurrying to the living room where he sat down on the couch and began eating. "When is my mom coming back?" he asked Graham, swallowing a mouthful of pancakes. Syrup covered his lips, so he licked it off as soon as he finished swallowing.

"She said she'd be back in a few hours." answered Graham, skipping past a few channels to find one worth watching.

"Where did she go, anyway?" Daniel asked between chews.

"She went to meet a colleague." Graham answered without thinking about it.

"This late? And since when do teachers hang out outside of school?" Daniel asked Graham.

Graham laughed and found a channel where they were conducting serious surgeries. He liked watching shows like that, especially when it involved disturbing scenes. Graham wasn't the one to get nauseous so easily, and he was glad to know Daniel was the same.

When Celine asked Graham to babysit Daniel while she was out, he gladly accepted because he hadn't seen Daniel in years. The first time was when Celine invited him to her home; this was after she deemed him trustworthy.

"You are one of the only people I've seen in my whole life." Daniel confessed. "Can you please tell me why my mom doesn't want me to leave our house?"

Graham didn't know how to answer that because Celine strictly told him not to answer any questions Daniel asked involving the outside world and her included. "There are flowers in the woods and far from your house with a rare type of pollen that you're allergic to." said Graham quickly, still focused on the TV screen. "If you sniff it, you'll die."