I need to work on this more because I miss young Popson :(

Chapter 5

       Everyone was called to the Op Centre because apparently, there were a lot of attacks happening right now so Dad had to give everyone their assignments for the night. Almost every Protector was going to have to go on patrol so we could stop more killings from happening.

       I wasn't one of the people to be sent out of the HQ to either patrol and surprisingly, neither was Grayson. He was definitely one of the stronger Protectors and was sent out on a mission most of the time. There were even times where he didn't need a partner when everyone else did.

       Although, I think that was because he refused to have a partner which, honestly, I would too if I was one of the strongest Protectors. Going with other Protectors, while definitely was a safer option, wasn't the best at times.

       Especially when something happens to one of the Protectors and the other gets all the blame.

       After all the Protectors left the centre, I was going to walk over to Dad to see if there was anything I could do around the HQ. I still wasn't ready to go back on missions since I froze last time, but I still wanted to make myself useful.

       "Dad?" I asked. "Is there anything I could do around the HQ to help out?"

       "Actually, yes," Dad said. "Since you and Grayson told me a sorcerer must have taken down the barrier around Miami to let the demons in, I want both you and Grayson to search through the records and see if there are any sorcerers who have a track record. It's more than likely whoever did it has some bad rep with the Protectors."

       "That's true," I said. "Okay, I'll head to the library."

       "Thank you," Dad said. "I'll send Grayson there as well." He looked around the Op Centre. "As soon as I find him. He didn't hesitate to leave."

       While Dad went to go look for Grayson, I headed to the library where all the records were of every supernatural living in Miami. It took a long time to get the records because believe it or not, there were actually plenty of supernaturals.

       I sat down at one of the computers, logging into the records and starting to search through all the sorcerers in Miami to see if there were any that could have taken down the barriers.

       But there weren't any that I could see of. So far, none of them had a track record.

       "You might want to expand your search to sorcerers outside of Miami," Grayson suddenly said from behind me, which of course made me jump.

       "You couldn't have knocked on the library door to let me know you're here?" I asked as he sat down in the seat beside me.

      "Let's be real, you probably would have gotten jumpy if I knocked on the door," Grayson said.

       "You don't know that," I said.

       "Sure I don't," Grayson said. "Anyway, like I was saying, you should expand the search to at least all of Florida."

       "That will take a lot more time," I said. "And why exactly should I expand the search?"

       "The sorcerer can be anywhere in Florida," Grayson said. "They're not necessarily from Miami. This is just the only place that a Protector Circle is in, which is why they would take down the barriers for the demon attacks."

       "That is true," I said, modifying the search in the records so it would show for all the sorcerers in Florida. This was going to take an even longer time to go through.

       There were a few sorcerers that had a track record, so we wrote them down on a piece of paper, even if they did something minor that I personally think shouldn't have given them a track record with the Protectors.

       Grayson and I weren't even half way through the list and we had been here for about an hour now. I sighed, leaning back into the chair to take a short break. "This is taking way too long," I said. "And I'm hungry."

       "You know, almost every time we're doing something together, you tell me how hungry you are," Grayson said.

       "Because I love food," I said. "And because I'm hungry. I'm going to get some snacks from the kitchen. Do you want anything?"

       "Depends," Grayson said. "Do you think you'll have the time to make bacon? I put a pack in there a few days ago."

       "Well, that depends," I said. "Will you be fine searching through the list on your own while I make it?"

       "If it means getting bacon, then yes," Grayson said.

       "Then I will head to the kitchen and be back in... I don't know how long," I said, getting up from the chair and leaving the library to head to the kitchen.

       Once I was there, I decided to get started on cooking the bacon first because knowing me, it was going to take me a long time to find something to eat for myself.

       Which it did.

       I finished cooking the bacon but I still didn't know what to eat so in the end, I just grabbed a bag of chips before heading back to the library where Grayson was scrolling through the list of sorcerers.

       I set down the plate of bacon in front of Grayson and he gave me a smile. "Thank you," he said. "I've been craving bacon for a long time but I haven't had the time to make it."

       "You're welcome," I said, sitting back down. "So any names that stood out?"

       "Just one," Grayson said. "And he actually does live in Miami. His name is Henry and he has broken a lot of rules the Protector made, some of which are banned spells that he keeps using."

       I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why would the Protectors make the decision to ban some spells? Wouldn't that be up to the Sorcerer Circle?"

       "Honestly, yeah, it should be up to the Sorcerer Circle," Grayson said. "The Protectors duty is to keep both the supernaturals and humans safe, but I don't see how banning spells should be up to them."

       "If Henry keeps using those spells anyway, he would be the perfect suspect," I said. "Wanting to turn to demons to take down Protectors because he feels like the Protectors are too controlling."

       "I'll put him on the top of the list," Grayson said. "But we should keep looking through the records just in case he really isn't the sorcerer but so far, we do have a lead."

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oof

i reeeeeeally do have to update this more because YOUNG POPSON IS SO CUTE AND I LOVE THEM AND MISS THEM AND I THINK THEY'RE BACK AT THE TOP OF THE OTP LIST. and by that i mean at second because they can never top jerlan ahahaha.

sorry not sorry