Polly's smirk creeps the hell out of me as she comes closer to me. She's definitely not human if she can change her hair and eye colour like that. She also sounds like an entirely different person.

"There's something about you that stopped me from coming out back then," she purrs with an arched eyebrow. 

"Who... what are you?" I ask. The croak of my voice shows my fear of her. 

"I would ask you the same thing." Her voice echoes through my mind. "My host can resist me whenever she's around you, so I wonder... you're obviously special to her. Hmm... what are you, Melinda Caesar?"

"You're one of Venus's worshippers," I say calmly. They're the only ones who I know can communicate telepathically. 

She cocks her head to one side as she glides in front of me. She's about to touch me with flames in her right hand when her head jerks back as if someone is pulling her hair back. 

"You can't stop me, human," she hisses. Her saliva is sprouting out and eyes glaze over like she's having an internal conversation. "This friend of yours is stopping me from gaining full control. I swear I'll kill everyone you love until I gain control of this body!"

While she's distracted with some sort of mental argument, I clench my fist into a tight fist and punch Polly in the face. Pain starts to blossom and a loud crack is heard. Polly instantly drops to the ground unconscious, a bruise forming on her left cheek. 

I hope I haven't broken any bones.

"Shit," I curse, looking at my surrounding. What am I going to do now? Call the HQ Agents? Call dad? I have absolutely no clue on what to do. She intends to kill me and her own family. She's probably one of the wanted creatures by the government. That's why she didn't appear on Identification Test day.

The way Polly talked too; it's as if there are two people in the same body. Polly said she's no longer human.

"Not the time to think while the murderer is knocked out in front of me," I scold myself. "What to do?"

Polly's - or whoever it is - body stills, hair changing back to the familiar red. I can only make a smart guess that Polly the Human is back in control. I can't drag her to a safe place without raising suspicions. 

The only thing I can do is leave.

Just before I do, I look back to see her still knocked out. I remember all the times she appeared for our 'tutoring' sessions. I remember the bubbly and optimistic girl who is taken over by this bitter revengeful person. Her human self feels she can gain better control of her murderous alter ego by being near me, for whatever reason.

Polly is clearly in need of help. No one would be able to understand her situation. The HQ Agents would have killed her.

After a few more minutes of thinking, I leave a Post-It Note on her forehead and then head to the cafe where I told dad to pick me up from.

To ensure dad doesn't suspect what I've been doing, I kept my bruised right hand in my pocket and bought myself a cup of cappuccino. Dad doesn't seem to notice when he collected me.

"So how was school today?" he asks me conversely. 

I shrug. "We got our Identification Tattoo, Valerie is taken to Gurney City, Miss Lisbeth appeared like she's going to slaughter the principal with a sword."

Dad stares at me in surprise for a moment before he shakes his head in disapproval at Miss Lisbeth's reaction. 

"I warned her this will happen," he mumbles under his breath.

"Why did the HQ Agents took her? What is Val?" I ask.

"From what I've suspect, she's a demigoddess. Her golden blood is very diluted, which probably peaks the interest of the government," he answers truthfully, stopping the truck at a red light. "Don't worry though, the government can't keep her forever unless they want a Goddess's fury upon them. I doubt Athena will be happy that they've taken hostage of her granddaughter..."

"Demigoddess?" I repeat in surprise. All this time, Val was disappointed at the prospect of being an ordinary human her whole life. Not many people can be categorised as a demigod when one of your grandparents is a god. The blood is too diluted. 

Dad nods. "Valerie will be fine. They'll be fine. What about you? May I see your tattoo?"

In compliance, I show him my arm with the fancy letter 'H' and some latin words on the sides. He nods in approval. 

"Uncle Seb, Aunt Beth and you also got the human tattoo?" 

Dad shakes his head. "They did, but not me. I'm a shifter and I already have a tattoo to confirm it." 

His dragon tattoo glows at the mention of it.

Oh. It makes sense. He was an ex-HQ Agent after all. Why does he need another tattoo when he already have one that shows that he's a shifter? I wonder what's a demigod's tattoo would look like.

Speaking of that, Val is going to have a lot of fun explaining to Elise about being a demigoddess. I doubt Elise thinks Val is anything other than a human. That's the reason why Elise offered protection to Val and I in the first place. 

We finally reach home. Uncle Seb's car is not at its usual spot, but another unfamiliar vehicle is. A scrambler is parked right in front of the house with a scary-looking woman leaning against it. 

Dad growls under his breath at the sight of her. "Stay here," he orders me before I can protest, he meets the woman.

The short brown haired lady casts me curious looks as they engage in a conversation. They seem to be familiar with each other, but dad's clearly not happy with her presence. 

The truck is starting to get warmer and I feel cooped in. I ignore dad's order and get myself out, which instantly attracted unwanted attention from the woman.

"Interesting," the lady says. I stand still, away from the two of them. I can see a shifter's tattoo on her arms: a Phoenix.

"You need to leave, Emily," dad snarls in threat.

"Chill, Gus. I'm simply curious about all these odd requests you asked from me after all these years. You better be careful; you might slip up one day," the lady warns dad with a knowing smirk.

Dad grabs her shoulders.

"Damn it, Em."

"Hush now. I promise I'll keep your secret. Do you know how curious I was when I found out you have a daughter? And how is it possible that she's not human if she's related to you? Hmm, I wonder. Shame on you, I thought we were friends after all those years..."

Dad casts a look at me, remembering that I'm frozen. "Go inside, Linda."

Not wanting to get into a bigger mess, I do as he says.