Losing revenue and losing faith amongst the public for months, the committee sought outside help to deal with such a threat. Primarily, the mayor of New York had this radical idea. She decided on her proposition with the Dean of the Sycamore University.

In the Dean’s office, Mayor Michaela Bloom is going over her proposal. Bloom assumed her duties as the 108th Mayor of New York City on January 1, 2003. She won re-election in 2007. As mayor, Bloom struggled to gain high approval levels from the public; However, she subsequently developed and maintained high approval ratings.

Her re-election meant the Republicans had won the previous four mayoral elections (although Bloomberg's decision to leave the Republican Party and be declared an independent on June 19, 2011, resulted in the Republican Party's losing the mayor's seat before the expiration of her second term).

Bloom stated that she wanted public education reform to be the legacy of her first term and addressing poverty to be the legacy of her second. Per the National Assessment of Educational Performance, fourth-grade reading scores rose nationally by 11 points.

The newly minted Dean who was in charge of Sycamore University was the elderly Samantha Dixon. The Teamsters chose Samantha Dixon but by the Sycamore University committee. Rising the ranks, she fought well and hard for equal opportunity of education. However, this was something outside her scope. That is why she brought in the elderly veteran Jacob Wyatt, who is the new head of security after his predecessor was unceremoniously fired.

In Dean’s office at the heart of central campus, it was two days before they reopened the University. The mayor of New York was there along with Jacob Wyatt and Samantha Dixon.

Amongst the three, there was an acceptable amount of tension and dread in the room. A sudden thick atmosphere surrounding the University as they begrudgingly opened their doors to the public once again for this school year.

As always Mayor Bloom put on a charismatic swagger and her game face on as she worked her proverbial magic. “So how long has it been? Three or four months has they have shut this place down?”

“Roughly six months,” Samantha regrettably admitted.

“Okay, six months,” Michaela stood corrected. “Which means one or two things: This animal is gone or is some psycho in this school who is doing the killing.”

“Of course, someone is doing the killing. We just don’t know who,” Jacob boldly interjected. “That’s why I want tougher security. Firearms, better security cameras. Enough of this minimum-security bullshit.”

“That is why most of our students come here,” Samantha rebutted.

“And that is why 11 people are dead! Do you want to write another letter about why somebody’s son or daughter is not coming home? No., I don’t think so,” Jacob argued as he pointed his attention to the mayor. “And what is your proposal that everybody is clamoring about all over campus?”

“Well, I’m glad you asked,” the mayor readied. “Let’s just say, I know someone who knows a lot about monsters and how to kill them.”

This made Jacob cocked an eyebrow. “Really?”

“As what I was getting into, I know someone who knows a lot about these kinds of situations. Now you don’t have to pay anything. we greatly need your full cooperation in the matter.”

“There is always a cost, Mayor,” Jacob argued as someone gently knocked on the door and let herself in. Not even pardoning the interruption, the young woman walked across the room with confidence and elegance. She only stood under five feet tall, wearing a Gothic Lolita styled kimono. She had to be at least in her early teens. Yet her grace carried the same kind of maturity that commanded everyone’s attention. The little girl strolled around the room, examining the place. Glossing over the art pieces, rolling the oversized globe, even walking over to the table where the alcoholic beverages are.

Knowing it was alcohol, Jacob fell to instinct and admonish the little girl, “What are you doing over there, kid?! This is a matter between us grown-ups! If you want to meet with the Dean, come back tomorrow!”

Citing this error, Michaela laughed, “big mistake, Jake.”

“No mistake needed,” the little girl wavered as she took the glass from the counter. She put three ice cubes in her glass. She took the bottle of Tennessee honey whiskey and poured herself a drink. Swirling her glass to get the right temperature she walked over to one of the vacant chairs and sat down, crossing her legs.

The Dean was upset and dumbfounded at the same time by this little girl’s brazen attitude, “Um, who are you and what are you doing here?”

“This is the person I was referring to. And her team will help us find this monster,” the mayor announced.

Jacob had seen a lot of weird things in his life. Being a former police officer and a US Marine veteran, he thought he had seen it all and done it all. But this was pathetic and sad on the mayor’s part, buying into ‘specialists.’

“Oh, for Fox’s sake,” Jacob objected. “This girl is not even 100 pounds! We need more manpower than that!”

“You realize I’m here, right?” The little girl heckled as she took a sip of her drink. Seeing this behavior, Jacob went over to the little girl and tried to take the glass away from her. The little girl jerked her glass away from him and heeded a warning. “Touch me, and that hand will never touch anything again.”

Jacob scoffed as the mayor warned him as well. “I would take everything this ‘little girl’ what she says seriously.”

“You told me you brought people to help us. Who are they?” The Dean questioned as Mayor Bloom was losing her patience.

“Well, if the both of you would just shut the fuck up for a moment, then maybe… Perhaps, you might learn something. Even as we speak, the ‘little girl’s’ operatives are already here in this University. You will not know them, or you will not meet them in person. However, this girl here… Or should I tell her superior knows where they are, and they both report back to her.”

“And not us?! What are we going to do?!” Jacob protested as the mayor gave them a suspicious stare.

“You will do absolutely nothing. Unless you have your $10 flashlight and your electric golf cart can magically take down this monster by all means, you do that. Because if both of you compromise with their work, then I will personally make it my life’s work ruining both of yours.”

Jacob and Samantha both looked at each other. The fate of not only their jobs but their own lives is in the hands of a little girl. Naturally, Jacob was furious that he had to be kept in the dark. The mayor had no faith in him nor had no confidence in Samantha to handle the situation. To him, it was a slap in the face to a retired veteran like him.

Samantha tries to look at the brighter side of things. Trying to entertain this little girl, she works to be sincere, “do you have a name, little girl. I know for a fact, you don’t like to be called that.”

The little girl gave a coy smile, “as a matter of fact you can call me anything you want. Even you, Jakey.” She shot back, winking at Jacob. “they have called me by many names, I’ve lost count of how many I had. My real name is not even important. What you need to know is that my girls are not just professionals in what they do. I guess what you can call them godlike in what they do. That is all you need to know about them. And that is all you need to know about me.”

After the reassuring speech, the little girl finished her drink and rose from her chair, “thanks for the drink.” Leaving the room and shutting the door behind her, both Jacob and Samantha were at a loss.

Michaela went to the door and closed, locking it behind her. Knowing that Samantha and Jacob were still confused about what just happened, the mayor had to make herself perfectly clear. So, she did the only thing to make it right; she told the truth.

“I don’t want this getting out,” Michaela stressed as she rejoined Jacob and Samantha at the desk. “I know you and Omar had been close, Jacob. But he is not here to tell you otherwise.”

Jacob knew Omar when he was stationed back in the day in Kuwait. After they were honorably discharged, they always kept in touch and remained on good terms. Despite them going into similar career paths, Jacob had his reasons to take over the job of his old friend that Samantha gave him one month ago.

“Omar knew about this?” Jacob questioned.

“This has been a serious matter that we have been looking into for quite some time,” Michaela went to her leather briefcase lying on one of the chairs and pulled out her touch pad. She pulled up a few pictures of young men who were murdered last year. “Stephen Norton, Dominic Dar, Leslie Crawford. The coroner’s office linked these three bodies to the same signature as Omar Ross and Jeffrey Reed.”

Samantha took notice of the gruesome pictures. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from them, “how identical?”

“99.3%. That is unheard of,” Michaela answered. “The coroner himself stated that the same animal attacked these five victims. The claw marks and the saliva matched.”

Jacob didn’t want to see his close friend toward apart like that, he looked away.

Seeing this behavior, Michaela turned off her device, “I guess you’re not fond of magic and fairy tales, aren’t you?”

“When I was a little girl, yes?” Samantha leaned back in her chair. “You’re telling me she is this magical fairytale Princess?”

“We live in the real world, Samantha. Not pretend,” Michaela challenged. “Her team are well-equipped in situations like these. They have been chosen not by her but by someone even higher than her. And even they wanted her to represent them.”

“Crux Nexus,” Jacob guessed correctly, leaving Samantha a bit lost.

“Crotch next house?” Samantha giving her best try to pronounce the team.

“No, it’s Crux Nexus,” Michaela corrected. “At the end of the Silver age, there has been a separate group who wanted to restore the balance throughout the world hidden from the world. The Crux Nexus is a female only group he uses the power of the Heavens to deal with such corruption. With such responsibility, The Crux Nexus is the only group that police and relegate anyone he uses magic or who is associated with users who use magic for corrupted purposes. However, there are rules and traditions they must follow to appease the Seven Heavens, even though there is a leader who instructs The Crux Nexus called the Aethereal Queen, she too is bound by rules and regulations.”

Jacob shook his head in disbelief, “the Crux Nexus, as in females who are well adept into cosmic energy?

Michaela nodded, “It’s called many things, but they call it the Aether. And the little girl who was shooting her mouth just recently was the Aethereal Queen. The Crux Nexus’ primary purpose is to handle all kinds of supernatural threats and keep things out of the public eye as much as possible.”

“I heard stories about them… from Omar,” Jacob reminisced.

Michaela raised an eyebrow, “so you know your way around with vigorous and powerful females?”

Jacob nodded as he continued, “We were stationed in Iraq, he told me these inflated stories about these ‘smoking hot females’ with magical powers which help them in Kuwait. None of us believed him. We all thought he was too drunk and loaded. That was when the final days of Operation Desert Storm… We were pinned down by enemy fire in a small village. I had my eyes closed the entire time, but I knew what it was. I heard thunder. So loud it made the earth around me shake. And there was nothing… I peeked my head out to see the enemy, and they were all lying down. As the smoke cleared, a female was standing tall. She looked over to us, and she was unfazed by who we were. She was even bashful enough to wave at us… That was one hell of a site…” After recanting his story, Jacob walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink with no ice.

How overwhelming for Samantha. Not only that she had to deal with a sudden “monster” crisis, but it shouldn’t be too hard to digest coping with magical females. This was way too much for Samantha to take in, “what do you want us to do?”

“Rest assured, they are already halfway there,” the mayor encouraged. Afterward, Michaela left Dean’s office and walked down the hallway, only to meet up with the little girl who crashed at the meeting, the little girl was leaning back against the wall with her arms crossed.

The mayor approached the little girl and recognizing her rank, “do you always have to make a scene, your Majesty?”

The little girl mockingly thought about what the mayor said and gave a faux answer, “yeah, I had to. There’s a difference between being a businesswoman and being a Guardian Angel. You’re not selling stock options anymore to old ladies.”

This made the mayor sigh, “both of those guys back there are scared to death. Scared. But they don’t know the truth, or should I say the real threat that is going on around here. I had to ease them in a way where it all makes sense.”

The little girl shook her head and disapproval, “no. When you give a spoonful of sugar to the ignorant, they always want you to give them more and more and more until they end up losing all their teeth. Sometimes, you have to bite down on that lemon.”

“Yes, your Majesty,” the mayor reluctantly agreed.

The little girl knew that the situation the Dean and the ‘rental cop’ were in. She really didn’t need the entire Crux Nexus for this kind of job. She will only need five, and for her, they were the best of the best.