• Chapter one


    She rubbed her eyes, trying to push away the sleep that had caught up to her somehow. She felt comfortable, something she hadn't felt in a long time.
    And then it caught up with her and she opened her eyes, carefully looking around.
    The first thing she saw was the woman sitting beside her, with a soft smile on her face. The room was dimly lit, thanks to the dark blinds on the window. The paint was a light blue on the walls, and the floor was a dark red. The bed had golden comforters, and the bedside table had her scarf and gloves there, as well as weapons. She looked back to the woman in fright.
    "Don't be afraid." She said, her voice gentle and soft. She placed something on Aradia's lap; a tray full of food.
    "But I-" Her dark eyes were clouded, and sad as everything she'd done in two years came rushing back. She hid her face.
    "It's alright." The blonde woman soothed her, stroking the top of her head. She took the tray from her lap and put it on the bedside table.
    And it was too much for Aradia. She clung to the stranger and cried. All those crysaline tears that she kept bottled up for half her life since her parents died of that homicide came flooding out. The woman held her, whispering soothing words into her ear.
    Once she was done she wiped the embarassing tears from her cheeks, sniffling. The woman gave her a box of Kleenex, and looked the young girl in her dark, brown and green eye. The eye of the devil.
    She noticed her other eye was blue and green, the eye of the angel. Her hair was as dark as the devils', but long and smooth as the angels'.
    "Aradia, it's okay. We forgive you. Now, you need to eat; you have been unconcious for two days." She put the tray on her lap again.
    The food looked really delicious. It was scrambled eggs, potatoes, and a buttered toast. She gave in and ate.
    "Do you have anywhere you can go?" The woman asked.
    A flash of the small house her boss had let her have flashed in her mind, dark and lonely. She shook her head. "My parents are dead; I don't want to go back where I came from." She knew that if she would, she would suffer deeply. But if she stayed here, she might put these nice people at risk.
    Yet she knew she could protect them if she wished.
    "Well then, I'd be more than happy to have you here." She smiled, patting her hand. She finished the food, and smiled softly.
    "Thank... thank you." She muttered, looking down. "What is your name, by the way?" She looked up to the woman with blue eyes, rimmed with brown and green.
    "I'm Samantha. Lyndexter is downstairs; he's my husband." She put the tray on the bedside table. "Will you let us take care of you?"
    She nodded, unable to speak for the moment.
    "Have you gone to school?"
    She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I dropped out after grade ten."
    Samantha smiled, patting her hand. Aradia's eyes had gone from a startling aqua to aqua and brown in seconds.
    "Well, we can fix that." Samantha smiled, getting to her feet. "I'll go put the tray away now, there are some clothes I think will fit you in the dresser."
    Aradia got a faraway look in her eyes for a moment, and then she blinked.
    "Don't open the door when the doorbell rings." She told Samantha.
    Samantha turned.
    "Why is that?" She asked the teenager.
    "It's going to be disastrous." She couldn't tell this woman why she thought that; she'd think she was crazy. "If you do, I cannot be seen. He's coming."
    "Who is?" She asked, kneeling by the bed, the tray held in her hands.
    "My boss."
    "How do you know this?" She asked, looking the girl in the witches' eyes. Looking in them, you wouldn't have trouble believing in the paranormal.
    "I see the future." She looked away from Samantha in shame. "I hear them better than see them, I can feel emotions twice as intense as you can. And I know there's someone - out there - who can help me with them.
    "And," She took a deep breath. "The reason I was efficient like that last night is simple." She reached out for a dagger, keeping it pointed away form Samantha. She pressed her palm on the thin blade.
    And then it shot with fire. The fire licked at the air, neither growing, nor catching onto anything around it.
    "I control the five elements."