• Prologue

    I never knew how fast a person’s life can change in mere seconds, due to mistakes or just plain bad luck. Still…I can’t decide which one happened to me. My name is Ellias Harlem, or just Elle for short. I was born to Charity Harlem and a father I really never knew…or really cared to know. One thing you need to first understand is that my family branch line that traces from my mother to me and my older sister Elise, are all of the ethnicity Wicca. My mother was a great Wiccan, or witch, and a captivated experimenter, but when my father left our diminutive family…the damage really got to her head.
    She became obsessed with the practice of love potions and romance alchemy, and became a bit insane over the subject. All the money that was supposed to be for Christmas or birthday gifts were all used for my mother’s experiment materials and such. My sister Elise began taking care of me as if I were her own, and used any of our left over money to buy food from our neighbor’s small grocery market. On the day of Valentines Day, I came home the afternoon after school seeing our apartment surrounded by police and smoke arising from the windows. Since I was only six and a half the police felt they had no reason to lie and came out telling me the pure truth. My mother, who had been consuming a lot of alcohol, was dangerously experimenting and struck a bad reaction, creating a large explosion and ending her life…
    Since my mom had barely any family they thought there was no need for a funeral service and immediately put my sister and me into the care of my aunt Beatrice, who was the sister of my mother. My aunt Beatrice had always despised my mother, and was tremendously against the race and practice of Wicca, even though it ran through her veins just like mine and my sister’s. She took the same hatred she had upon my mother and cast it upon us as well. Aunt Beatrice explained to us that Wicca was nothing but a total death wish and a cowardly escape to a fantasy world that we needn’t have anything to do with. My appeal of my kind slowly diminished…just as my powers, as Aunt Beatrice said. It seemed bad enough that destiny had already placed me in the care of my over obsessive mother, but put me in the household of my vile auntie…
    But nope that wasn’t the end of it. A few months after my mother’s death an event began called the Autumn Huntings, which was when humans raged against wiccans/witches and they went at war. By the end of the season, almost 71% of my kind had been wiped out, eliminated, extinct. Presently a lot of people have just forgotten about us, others remember but don’t remember well.
    One thing I’ve learned that you should remember through the story is that, wanting something can be good or bad, the way you achieve it can result in a superior way or treacherous…Can you guess which one belongs in my lifeline? I bet you can…


    Chapter 1: Tradition

    Okay I was already put into an atrocious place did I really have to be put into another?
    “Hurry up you lazy boy, or you’ll be late for schooling!!!”
    Aunt Beatrice pulled away my unfinished bowl of oatmeal dumping it in the sink. I tossed the spoon aside and turned around walking up the narrow stairs.
    I had just turned 15 at the beginning of June, today was the first day of sophomore year and we had just gotten back from our yearly trip to Aunt Beatrice’s summer home in England. Sounds fun right? Summerhouse, a few weeks, England? Well guess what? It’s no picnic. During our trip we stay inside all day while Aunt Beatrice gives us additional schooling on manners and education. I got to spend my birthday in June there every single year. I was almost glad to be back in the narrow overly fancy traditional house of hers.
    I looked over myself in the bathroom mirror. My hair was long, straight, and choppy. My eyes were a dull dark brown as my hair was with additional small hints of auburn streaking through it. For my first comeback to school I was wearing dark blue skinny jeans with a black baseball tee sweatshirt and dark brown moccasins. Mmm…it was a little boring but not to flashy. I grabbed my books and walked down the stairs into the kitchen again, where Aunt Beatrice was drinking a small cup of tea.
    “So you’re finally ready? Goodness took long enough” she said as I stumbled down the stairs.
    “Hurry up now, you and your sister are already late” she muttered angrily as she stood up and cupped her hands. “ELISE! Get your happy butt down here and out the door!”
    This woman crochets, drinks tea, has city hall meetings, and watches General Hospital. Yet she’s as insane as ever. It’s kind of funny actually. My sister came downstairs grumpily.
    “Elise if you are ever going to learn to be a young lady the first thing you must learn is to not be tardy and to be truant!
    She rolled her light brown eyes at her. I hated my aunt as much as she did, but there was a difference: Elise SHOWED it, all the time. I sort of looked up to her for that since I wasn’t brave enough to do it too.
    “Elle, you heard the angry woman, lets go to school we don’t want to stress some more dinosaur years onto her” she muttered walking out the screen door. Aunt Beatrice stood stunned.
    “You ungrateful little brats, I’ve always taken care of you and taught you well and this is all I ever-” she continued yelling but I was already out to the drive in.
    Elise was already starting her classic bug when I had gotten to it.
    “Elise I know she’s crazy but you shouldn’t always talk to her like that” I said getting into the passenger’s seat.
    “Come on that lady drives me nuts, don’t act like she doesn’t for you too” she replied reversing out of the drive way.
    “I know but well…whatever it doesn’t matter I guess.”
    Elise glanced over to me in a plotting manner. “But what does matter is that you’re now fifteen correct..?” she said looking at me righteously.
    I sighed.
    “Elle the season has already passed you should have started and been back by now!” she exclaimed.
    “And you really think Aunt Beatrice would of let me just go off?” I replied solemnly.
    “Of course not” she said getting a grin. “Which would make it even more exciting.”
    I rolled my eyes.
    You probably have no clue what we’re talking about here. Basically when a member of my clan reaches the age of 15 they travel from home and settle into a new place where they train their abilities for one single season. Like I said in the beginning of the story, I’m turned 15 in June…
    We stopped at Starbucks (since Aunt Beatrice didn’t allow “junk coffee”) and went to school. The bug made a rumbling sound as it parked into the Student Parking Lot. Elise got out first, most of the boys in the parking lot looking up at her. She had a very light skin tone with black scene hair with colored streaks. Once I got out we made our way through the Front Gates together.
    “Cya later Elle” Elisa said as she walked off to get her schedule.
    I waved back and headed towards Homeroom already with my schedule. Waiting at the door were a few of my friends, Cena, Jean, and Danny.
    They all turned with smiles as I approached the door. Cena jumped up and down looking like she was going to pee her pants.
    “So how was it, how was it?! Was it exciting, where did you settle? Oh I want to hear ALL about it tell me tell me tell me oh how exciting ah tell me!” she said happily.
    “Well I-” I started.
    “No wait did you get an awesome job? Oh like fortune telling! Did you see anyone famous or others like you ah and-!”
    “Cena I didn’t go” I said.
    Her massive smile that I loved to see hastily went down to a disappointed frown.
    “You-didn’t-GO?!” she shouted. I sighed nodding. Yes, these were the only people at school that knew about me being a Wiccan.
    “This is unbelievable! Jean! Sass talk him!” she said.
    Jean looked at Cena confused then glanced back to me. “Hi Elle” she smiled.
    “Hello” I replied hugging her.
    Danny, who was Cena’s brother, leaned against the wall shaking his head.
    “Dude, I can’t believe you didn’t go, what did you wimp out?”
    “Danny shut up and go away” Cena said slanting her eyebrows. Adam simply walked away.
    “Okay I don’t mean to be like Danny but seriously why did you not go?! It’s tradition Elle” Cena said. No neither Cena or any of the others were Wiccan but Cena was very much into the subject, and knew almost more about it than I did.
    “Cena have you met my Auntie Beatrice?” I asked.
    “Yes I have and I hate her very much but that doesn’t matter!” she replied.
    “Yes it does! I’m already limited while I live there I don’t want to be locked in my room for the rest of my life, which no joke she would do” I said back.
    “Okay really how would he be able to sneak off for a whole season to complete the tradition?” Jean put in.
    “Yeah and I don’t even know how to fly nor have a broom” I said seconding her.
    Cena crossed her arms.
    Our debate was cut short when our teacher Mr. Harris approached the door half asleep.
    Cena shot a hard glance at me as we walked into the classroom. Which in other words meant: this talk will continue.