Maddison woke up early the next morning and wandered around the house of her childhood, gathering up anything she may have missed and remembering the good times with her family.

  Soon Greg and Chase joined her. She told them that Kalie had to cancel, but she was ready to go anyhow. They loaded up her father's SUV with the first batch of boxes. Greg would return for the few that didn't fit the first trip once they unloaded these.

  They stopped at a Tim Hortons drive-thru on the way to Alburn circle and got muffins and coffees. To her father's amusement Maddison bought a black coffee for Reece as well, getting creams and sugars on the side.

  "This is a nice neighborhood..." Greg commented as they pulled up into the drive where an expensive, and clearly new, blue Ford Mustang already sat soaking in the autumn morning sun.

  She hadn't noticed that the last time she was here. How distracted had she been? Kalie would have laughed. She hoped her friend was alright.

  "Wow!" gasped Chase, rushing over to the Mustang.

  "Whoa. Careful Chase! Don't scratch the paint job!" exclaimed Greg, lifting the back of the SUV open and getting a box.

  "You never said the other person living here had a cool car! This thing must have cost, like, a million dollars!"

  "Not even close." Chuckled a low voice that sent the hairs on Maddison's arms up at attention.

  She spun around, and there he was, leaning in the open doorway. Well, at least he was dressed this time. Reece's hair was as disheveled as it had been the last time she saw him, and his eyes just as captivating. Today he wore a pair of faded jeans and a t-shirt with a picture of a dragon on it, of all things.

  "I'd still appreciate no scratches on the paint job though." He said, giving Chase a wide smile that was very inviting. "I'd hate to explain to my boss why the new company car needed a new paint job just a week after getting it."

  "This is a company car?!" exclaimed Chase, walking around the vehicle in question. "Do you work at the Ford head-office or something!"

  Reece laughed and walked up to Chase examining the car himself. "Nope. I am a police officer"

  Chase gave him a withering look. "Cops don't get flashy sports cars."

  "Chase!" Maddison chastised. She didn't need her little brother calling her landlord a liar right out of the gate.

  Reece just laughed. "No, the tax payers would have a fit if the RCMP showed up in cars like this. You're right. But I'm with the OWPD. We have to have expensive cars, or people like the fairy or vampires wouldn't listen to us. They can be pretty superficial that way..."

  In an instant Maddison could see Chase's opinion of Reece go from him being a potential drug dealer, to one of utter wonder and hero-worship. As a fantasy buff, Chase's greatest wish was to become one of the OWPD.

  The OWPD were the Other-Worlder Police Department. They were the people who the government left all Other business to. If a crime was committed by an Other, then it was the OWPD that delt with it. They handled everything from immigration, to petty crime, to terrorism. It was notoriously difficult to get a job with them, and Maddison had heard that you actually had to get a recommendation to get in.

  So Reece was OWPD? Well that was completely unexpected. It also opened up another issue that hadn't even crossed her mind before now: was Reece human or Other? At least half of the OWPD were Other-Worlders. After all, who would better handle their varying politics but one of their own?

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  Maddison didn't particularly care if Reece was Other. People were just people. But it did make her curious. She found herself sizing him up, and wondering what he would be if he were an Other?

  "No way!" gasped Chase, gravitating toward his new-found hero. Stephanie had to suppress a laugh. "Have you, like, arrested Vampires? What about ghosts? Are they really real?"

  "Chase! Leave him alone." Maddison said, using her 'big sister' voice. Greg just laughed. He would be no help unless Chase did something really rude. Greg was all for inquisitive minds.

  "Its fine." Reece assured her, turning that amazing smile her way. And God, if her knees didn't feel a little weak! "But just so you know -Chase was it?- there are things I can't tell you. Top secret you know?" He winked at Maddison, his eyes twinkling in amusement, as Chase gushed. "Here, let me take that." He said taking the heavy box of pots and pans out of Maddison's hands.

  He hoisted the box up onto one of his massive shoulders and held out a hand to Greg. "Reece Masters." He said as way of greeting.

  Maddison watched her father balance the box he was carrying in a knee and take Reece's hand, shaking it firmly. "Gregory Nixon. Nice to meet you."

  They released one another's hands and she saw that Reece looked surprised.

  "Not the Gregory Nixon?" he asked with another smile. "The author of the Robo-Nation books?"

  "That's him." Said Chase, diving into the back of the SUV for one of the smaller bags there.

  "No way! I'm a big fan sir. Got every one of your books." Said Reece.

  Maddison was floored. He did not look like a Robo-Nation fan. Sure, her father's books were popular, but most of his fans were unassuming mothers and nerdy looking younger men. She'd even seen a few nuts who thought the books were pretty spot on as to where people were headed in the future, and took to living like cavemen to out run the robot take over. Body building cops never once crossed her mind as being a potential fan.

  "Would you mind signing them for me?"

  Greg beamed with pride and agreed readily. Well score for Reece, he was probably her family's number one favorite stranger now. Laughing to herself, Maddison snatched up the coffee and muffins and followed the boys into the house.

  It only took a few minutes for them to hoist the boxes up the stairs and put them in a neat pyramid in the kitchen. Maddison handed out muffins when the work was done, and gave Reece his coffee, witch he accepted with surprised gratitude.

  Greg scarfed down his muffin and took his coffee to go so that he could make the finale run back to the house to grab the last of Maddison's things.

  "Sorry for having you help us Reece." She said taking a sip of her mocha. "and thank you."

  "Its no sweat. I cant believe Gregory Nixon is your father." He laughed.

  "Well, unfortunately Chase and I aren't the avid readers of science-fiction that he is, so I'm sure he loves the attention."

  "Hey, have you met any witches?" Chase interrupted from the other side of the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room.

  "Seriously?" Maddison asked, rolling her eyes at her persistent brother.

  "Yup. A few. They are more common than you would think. Though most don't have much power." Said Reece, induging her little brother. "What you have to watch out for are the dragons."

  Chase's eyes grew impossibly round and he stared at the green, winged serpent on Reece's shirt. "Really?" he breathed.

  Reece chuckled. "No. Not really. There are no more dragons. They died off during the dark ages."

  "Awe, no fair!"

  "Trust me kid, you would not like dragons flying around. They were not-people friendly from what I understand." He let Chase grumble into his French vanilla and turned to Maddison. "Don't you have any furniture?"

  "Yes, its being delivered-" she looked at the time on her phone "in about an hour."

  He nodded "I can help with that too if you like. I don't have work today so I'm free."

  "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose... plus the furniture store has people that help with that."

  "Its no problem. The more hands, the faster it will get done."

  "Alright. Thank you."

  "Hey, when is Kalie getting here?" Chase asked, draining his red paper cup.

  "She isn't, remember? She's on a date with Wayne."

  "I don't like that guy." He said with a wrinkled nose. "I'm in the same class as his brother, and they are both bullies."

  Maddison sighed. "Yes, well, its Kalie's choice who she dates not ours..."

  "Kalie is your sister?" Asked Reece, curiously.

  Maddison shook her head. "No, she is the friend I mentioned the other day. The rowdy one."

  Chase snorted at the description and Maddison gave him a look to witch he stuck out his tongue. Brat.

  "She had a fight with her boyfriend and so they are on a make-up picnic. Wayne doesn't seem like the picnic type though, so I can't imagine it'll be a very pleasant one..."

  "Awfully cold for a picnic." Reece commented.

  "Yes, well, Kalie has always had a thick skin for the cold. Even in a blizzard she is fine with a thin jacket." Maddison said, worry for her friend returning to her once again.