Divided We Fall

By Kallie Traylor

This story follows Cassiopeia on a three-year journey from her home to America. It encompasses depression, politics, and the hatred that seemingly only belongs to humans. Follow Cass, Tatiana, G., and Aster on this journey where, though she may feel alone, Cass discovers that she cannot allow herself to go on without help from friends, family, and a therapist; and that’s okay.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796041125

Kallie Traylor

Kallie Traylor is a young author from a small town in southern Virginia. Though she always had a love for writing, she never considered it as something she could publish. She began to challenge that when she started to post her poetry online. In a six month frenzy fueled by coffee and anxiety, our author finally produced her first book with great pride. This is the first of hopefully many.

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Kallie Traylor.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2019908080

ISBN:      Hardcover   978-1-7960-4114-9

                Softcover     978-1-7960-4113-2

                eBook          978-1-7960-4112-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 06/17/2019

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To Lexi and Rave, who

helped me with editing and grammar.

To Mrs. Stone and Mr. Wendelin, who told me I could do it.

To Avery and Lily, who was there when I thought I couldn’t.

I turned my coat up to the cold. The street was crowded, as it was always crowded in Inexplicitus. I watched a vampire try to sweet talk some human tourists before reeling back from the smell of stale blood laced in their perfume. A drunk tried to catcall a young werewolf before she bared her teeth and snarled. I almost wanted to laugh, but I hold my tongue. Humans are such strange creatures.

In Inexplicitus, things were simple. Supernatural creatures were forced to live here. Humans could come and go as needed. If it wasn’t for the fact that we needed human representation when we needed to redraw some country lines, then we might’ve banned them for good long ago, but their presence was welcome. As more and more creatures came out of hiding, or were forced out, the more crowded my home became. Jobs were hard to come by, but we lived in harmony for the most part.

I mean, sure, there were murders and robberies and the occasional kidnapping, but mostly the key to harmony was allowing each race to have their own court. A vampire kills a faerie? Two judges with the faerie judge having the final say. A werewolf alpha kills a beta for threatening the alpha’s mate? Werewolf court. Probably thirty hours of community service, if he’s unlucky. Everyone understood each other, and everyone could deal with their place.

My place? There was only so many places for a girl with a faerie for a father and a Gamayun for a mother.

A therapist.

Well, a therapist because Mama was a counselor and I was raised to help people.

School isn’t too easy, so I worked as a waitress, but I believed I would be a great therapist. My father was a businessman, dealing brilliantly with contracts, especially since he made sure there were no loopholes since he had plenty of experience with those, and my mother was a counselor, spreading prophecies that weren’t going to take place unless the patient worked towards it. Together, they made an amazing little creature with bright eyes and wings of gold. They always said I was a gift.

"Som doma! Mama?" I shed my coat at the door, relishing the heat from the bewitched candles a patient made for my mother. They required no oxygen, and put out the heat of a roaring fire, all while making the house smell of sea salted caramel. The flames were a radiant blue and danced around as if they were alive.

My mother called to me from her room, trying to groom her feathers. "My miláčik! How was the diner?" Her thick Slavic accent soothed my ears after the consistent ramble of the diner. I truly loved working there; I had Tatiana, I had tips, and I had free food. Sometimes I just needed a break from smelling like coffee and fried food.

I sat behind my mother on her bed and help straighten her feathers. They were a striking deep black, sometimes flashing blue, purple, or even green if the light hit it just right. Her feathers covered her body, making clothing difficult for Mama. She tended to wear flowy clothes. Mother was stunning with her hair matching her wings, but her most striking feature was certainly her smile. It lit up a room the way no spell could; it reached her brown eyes and makes them look like honey.

"Pleasant, Matka. Is Dad home yet?" She sighed deeply, never even hearing the question due to the fact that Daddy never straightened her feathers, though it feels amazing, like a massage that you need at least once a week to stand to be in your own skin. He never had the patience to sit still for so long. Before I could ask again or shout for him, I heard the door close.

Danica? Cassie? My father rarely came home late due to his work contract having strict hours and him having a strict love for my mother.

"In here, moja láska." Father practically ran into the room with his wings buzzing. His wings were charming and reminded me of a dragonfly. I told him this when I was younger, and he picked me up and made dragon noises while spinning me around. My father was focused on his job, but only to give his wife and daughter what he thought we deserved. You could see the effects in his face. His eyes were no longer the blue of the sky, more like the gray of the sea. His hair was no longer spun of gold, more like silver too. Nevertheless, Oliver was a fearless faerie.

Cassiopeia Chessa Novák! Immediately, I was off the bed and in my father’s arms. He may have aged, but his strength had not left him. I giggled as if I were a child once more, and I definitely was not disappointed when he put me down.

"What is the news, miláčik?" My mother stood and threw her long hair over her shoulder. The love in their eyes when they looked at each other was tangible. He looked at her like she was the moon, and she looked at him like he was the universe in which she was held.

I got a promotion! You’re now looking at Sheep’s Ale’s COO! Mama launched herself into Daddy’s arms, and he spun her around, ruffling her feathers.

That’s amazing Daddy, I’m so proud! My parents were plenty successful to put me through college, but I insisted on doing it myself. My mother was immortal, and my father had a lifespan of 600 years. My lifespan was bound to be long enough for me to get out of any debt I could find myself in.

Ollie, that’s fantastic! We should celebrate this weekend. Have a cookout maybe? Daddy looked pleased with the idea and threw a questioning look my way. I gathered my bag and headed towards the door.

That sounds great! I’ll go tell Tatiana and Max now. Can I stay with Max tonight? My father looked relieved to have the house to themselves, and I didn’t want to think about what kind of celebration they were going to throw when I was gone.

"Of course, sötnos. We will celebrate Saturday at four." I nodded and grab my coat, heading out once more into the frigid wind.

I found Tatiana coming out of the diner before I could call Max and asked Tatiana to join me. Tatiana was a gorgeous girl. She had hair of darkness and eyes of gold. She had a certain aesthetic: she was the friend that wasn’t dangerous because of any powers she had; she was dangerous because of her humanity. She was stubborn, fierce, and stunning. She smoked sticks of sickness just because she liked the way the smoke floats in the air. She put chemicals in her hair just because she wanted to have faerie hair to match my faerie friend! She put needles through her body to adorn it with metal. She put ink in her skin to tell a story. Humans are far more beautiful and terrifying than any other creature I’ve met.

Together, we walked towards Max’s apartment after we sent him a colorful text letting him know we were about ten minutes away.

I swear, why can’t you just fly us over, Hawkeye? Tatiana often gave me nicknames I didn’t understand, but she tried weekly to teach me more pop culture references.

I don’t- I don’t understand. I can’t see as well as a hawk. It’s hard to get enough wind under my wings between the buildings. Besides, your smoke gets in my eyes. Tatiana laughed, throwing her head back while simultaneously bending forward. Her laugh sounded like tinkling glass, so different from her demeanor.

Soon we arrived at the shabby apartment complex Max resided in. I knocked on the door and received no answer. I automatically pulled out the spare key he gave me and let us into the apartment. Max’s apartment wasn’t in the best shape, but it was still our weekend hangout. I often spent nights on the couch rather than going home or spending the night with Tatiana, as her parents didn’t know how to feel about their youngest daughter hanging out with a Dimidium.

Anything of mixed races was considered a Dimidium until the mixed creature had become popular enough to coin its own race. At the time, I knew of no other faerie-Gamayun mix. I think I would have called it Parva Avis. I was similar to a small bird. I had the wings of my mother, but I was a bit smaller as female faeries usually are. My father was huge to me, a whopping 6’7. But I was a mere 5’5. I’d heard that was normal for a human, but I was even short to my mother, who was seven inches taller than me. Most creatures were comically large or comically small, with Dimidiums gracing the middle.

Along with being small for both species, I had wings of a light brown, so light it appeared gold in the sun. The feathers tried to spread where wing meets back, but I tended to pluck them away. Nothing is more annoying than having your feathers ruffled, kind of like how a cat doesn’t like it when you rub its fur the wrong way. I had my mother’s brown eyes, but mine were darker, more like fertile soil than honey. I had my father’s hair, once upon a time, but it soon turned as dark as my eyes. Mama suspected I take after her more than anything.

Finally, Max entered with Chinese food from a local tourist stop. Tatiana was out of her seat relieving him of the food in a flash. Max was a werewolf, and often reminded me of it. He had dark blonde hair, and eyes as green as emeralds shone from his smiling face. Though he had presented as an Alpha, he wasn’t as obnoxious as one. He was sweet, and constantly trying to make others smile. When he smiled, you could see his prominent canines, and his hair was shaggy enough to hide his pointed ears. He wore no mating mark on his neck, but he often referred to us as his pack.

And to what do I owe this pleasure? Max busied himself with his coat before flopping down on the couch beside me. Tatiana began to pass out the food as she sees fit.

Daddy got a promotion. The celebration is Saturday at four. Both of you are invited. Tatiana let out a loud exclamatory sound before clapping me on the back as if I had achieved it personally. Max smiled before telling me to congratulate my dad for him. Also, I’m staying here tonight. Max didn’t look surprised at all.

What time do you work in the morning? He laid out the fortune cookies in the middle of the table as a game. Whoever finished first grabs a cookie, then the others race to grab one. Everyone got one, but it was always fun to make the loser do something weird. Once, Tatiana had to call her crush and tell him, in excruciating detail, about how she popped a pimple earlier that day.

Thursdays I go in at twelve. I get off at eight. Max nodded approvingly and began to slurp his noodles with gusto. I grabbed my orange chicken and began to eat, and eventually the room was filled with the sound of slurping and appreciative groans. Before long, I couldn’t stand it anymore, and turned on the television to listen to the news. Tatiana groaned before I could even set the remote down.

Seriously, Supergirl? Must you always know the evil that goes on in the world? I had a fascination with how we were represented in the media, especially with that night being a redraw night. We were hoping to get over a million new acres to expand so we weren’t so cramped. I thought this information was important and fun to know.

What? I like to know what happens here. Max didn’t bother arguing, since the only excuse either of them could come up with is it’s boring.

The reporter began his monotonous report before they get the results of the negotiation. Every acre we got was a fight. Many people didn’t forgive us for hiding and doing what was needed to survive. Regardless, every group of people has another group of people against them. Ours just happened to be most of the world.

This just in, the reporter suddenly looked more alive, his eyes bright with the unmistakable glow of a fresh-fed vampire. He looked hopeful, but, then, his face fell. What happened? Did it get cut to the thousands? Maybe we aren’t growing at all. Suddenly, his face was taken over with horror.

Our representative has fallen. I repeat, Representative Monroe has reportedly been killed by a crazed Arachne. Inexplicitus is in lockdown. Everyone return to your homes immediately and wait for further instruction.

Months after Representative Monroe was assassinated, things in my country changed. Arachne were practically hunted down in the streets, outed by friends and groups until they had their own sector of the country. The other races began to follow suit, until the heart of the country was for those with mixed marriages or those without a place. Racism was tearing apart my beloved country when the Decree was released.

We never replaced Monroe. The other world leaders decided our fate for us.

There were many discussions among them all. The stricter wanted to kill us all.