Prologue
1836
They did not mean to upset the witches, but they did.
There were seven boys, all of ages 16, who were on the witches’ property, and acting rather loud and obnoxious.
The witches simply told them to leave, but when the drunken boys refused, the witches were angered.
The threats that the witches put out simply made the boys laugh.
Eventually, the eldest simply froze them. They could hear, they just could not move.
“There is one witch missing. She died, but will be reborn sometime. You need to find her. Her eyes will change color, so that shall help some. Find her by the 22nd century lest you will be killed,” the eldest explained, meanwhile slowly unfreezing them.
“What if we refuse?” one boy questioned.
“Yes!” another shouted, slurring the word.
And in an instant, they were all wolves.
Chapter 1
April, 2012
“Hurry up Cylan!” my older sister scolds, and then starts muttering to herself; probably about how much torture this hike has been.
I pick up the pace and— fall flat on my face.
“Ugh,” I groan as I wipe the mud from my face with the only clean part of my jacket.
You know that thing where you hear a twig snap, but then you look up and don’t see anything?
Well, that happens right now.
I scan the surrounds that surround me, but find it only filled with tall, budding trees.
I stand, slowly, like I’m afraid I’ll scare a stupid tree or something.
A howl sounds, seemingly close.
Stepping backwards, I fall over a stray branch, and land in another large patch of mud.
I groan again. “Why me?”
When I stand once again, a pack of wolves are in front of me, creating a half-circle.
Frozen on my feet, I watch the wolves, as tall as I am, carefully.
One wolf howls.
Another howls back.
The biggest one joins in and I flinch, backing into a tree.
The seven of them approach and I attempt to shrink into the tree which, obviously, does not work.
Six of them stop, but one continues to inch towards me.
That’s when I run; scrambling away from the wolves, in my haste tripping over my own two feet.
One wolf picks me up by the collar of my jacket.
I scream.
The wolf starts to drag me along, and my jeans tear and get even muddier if possible, and my legs get all scraped up.
Slowly, the amount of trees lessens and the ground turns from braches and mud to a soft, thick grass.
The wolf drops me as soon as a large wooden house is in sight.
A woman with long black hair and eyes that change color, much like my own, appears a few feet away.
I stand and back into a lone tree.
The woman, about 50 or so, turns to the wolves. “Took you long enough! Is this the right one, though?”
One wolf howls, as if in reply, while more women appear behind the first.
Huh?
The first woman approaches, her round face kind. She grabs my chin gently, while peering into my eyes.
She smiles.
I jerk my head away, and in the process hit the back of my head on the tree.
The woman drops her hand to her side, frowning.
I’m confused here. What’s happening…?
I touch my head, while wincing, and my hand comes away all bloody.
“Let us help!” a woman calls out from behind the first.
“No,” my voice is shaky and low, so only the one in front of me can hear.
She turns away. “We do not know that this is her.”
I quietly mutter a string of words, a spell one could say, to heal my wound.
Too bad I didn’t know of a spell to get rid of the wolves.
A wolf howls, and the women all turn sharply.
The first woman’s eyes bore into mine. “Let me see your wound,” she requests.
Uh-oh…
I mutter another spell to make the wound again, but I’m horrible at magic and make it too big.
Blood gushes from my head, and I already am slightly dizzy.
The woman smiles. “Would you like to try that again?”
“Huh?” I ask, trying my best to act confused, though I am partially.
The woman’s smile widens and she says a quick spell.
My wound yet again disappears.
“Excellent job, wolves,” she turns to them.
Instantly, they are humans.
I blink.
The women are definitely witches.
Like Cain…
There are seven guys now, and they all look about 16 or so.
“Where should we go…?” one guy asks. “We ‘died’ in 1836.”
The women look thoughtful.
Finally, the one nearest to me says, “You can stay here. Help out around the property.”
“Sounds good,” they all nod their agreement.
“Now,” the woman turns back to me. “I am Cecilia. And you are…?”
“C-Cylan,” I stammer.
“Cylan,” she repeats, a smile on her lips. “So you know you are a witch.”
I nod, slowly.
“How much do you know about witches?”
“A lot,” I answer quietly. “My friend Cain told me all about…us. He’s a witch, too. He was teaching me magic, but left… I don’t really know why. One day he was there, and the next he wasn’t.”
Cecilia’s face is frozen in an expression of anger and shock.
Finally, she speaks. Growls is more like it. “Find him. Find Cain and bring him here.”
Chapter 2
I’m eating a bowl of stew when the door bursts open.
I look up.
Cain.
Standing.
Right in front of me.
The stew drops to my feet.
Two of the former wolves have firm grips on each of Cain’s arms.
Cain looks entirely livid, but his expression changes to shock and his eyes widen when he sees me. “Cylan?”
I nod.
Cecilia murmurs a quick spell and the stew disappears from the dark wooden floor.
“You’ve been gone for decades,” Cecilia says. “We thought we had found you but you disappeared. Where were you?”
“Looking for her,” he nods his head at me.
“And why didn’t you tell us you had found her?” she demands.
“May I talk to you in private?” he questions, but not before glancing quickly at me.
“Yes,” Cecilia motions for the two guys to let Cain go.
I watch carefully as they leave, and when they’re out of sight I say a quick spell so I can hear them.
Cecilia: “… Cain… Explain.”
Cain: “I think she’s her.” He speaks in a low, rushed tone.
Cecilia: “Care to elaborate…?”
Cain: “The witch that’s supposedly most powerful. I think it’s her.”
Cecilia: Pause. “She’s listening.”
I say another spell, but instead of making it so I can’t hear, the house bursts into flames.
I must of said a word or two, or ten, wrong…
Oops.
The house suddenly is again… not on fire, and Cecilia rushes out, looking flabbergasted. “You did that?”
I nod sheepishly. “Sorry.”
Cecilia shakes her head. “You shouldn’t be that powerful.”
I look at her, newly confused.
She continues to stare for a moment longer, and then hands me a bowl of stew. “Eat,” she directs.
I do, while glancing at Cain, who is also eating, and also glancing at me very frequently.
“A room is ready for you, Cylan,” Cenny, the youngest witch at 23, other than Cain and I, leads me to my room.
I don’t pay much attention to what the room looks like— I simply dive under the covers and sleep.
***
“Let’s go Cylan. Hurry,” someone whispers.
I open my heavy eyelids and answer groggily, “Why?”
“We need to go,” the voice urges.
I blink a few times and look at the person.
Cain.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” I stammer.
“I live here, remember?” he smiles slightly.
“But I mean… what are you doing in my room?”
“We have to go?”
“What do you mean?” I look at him, utterly and hopelessly confused.
“Let’s go. Cecilia’s evil.”
I laugh tiredly. “What is this? A fairy tale? She’s the evil guy and we’re the good guys?”
The only that comes from Cain is silence.
“Cain, go back to bed,” I turn on my side as I say this, done talking.
“She’s going to kill you,” he says simply.
“And how would you know this?” I mumble.
“There’s a spell that shows a person’s intentions. Hers is to kill you. She thinks you’re too powerful.”
I roll back over. “How do I know you’re not lying?”
“Why would I, Cy?”
I squint at him through the darkness. “Fine. I’ll go with you.”
And with that, we head out.
After, of course, Cain does a spell to pack some food and other necessities.
Chapter 3
“You got it! On your first try!” Cain exclaims.
He just has told me a spell that changes your appearance, though you don’t have any control on the outcome.
“What do I look like?” I ask eagerly.
Cain says a quick spell and a mirror appears before me, floating in the air.
I look into it. My hair is a strawberry-blond color, and my eyes an unusual purplish color.
“So they won’t be able to tell it’s us if they walk right by?” I look at Cain questionably.
“Yep,” he nods, then mutters a spell.
I watch as his hair grows a bit longer and changes to a sooty black color, which is long enough to hide his now-green eyes.
“So where are we going to stay for the night?” I squint up at him.
“There’s spells for that kind of thing,” he says.
“And is there a spell to get us to Asia or someplace far away from here?”
“Yeah,” he nods, then mutters a spell. “We are now high in the mountains of Colorado,” he announces.
“Can’t Cecilia find us simply by saying a spell to locate us?”
“There’s a spell that blocks out hers, but you have to be powerful enough. I wasn’t,” he sighs. “Cecilia thinks you’re already more powerful than she is, so maybe if we said it together?”
I nod. “Might as well try it.”
And so he tells me the words and we say it together.
For a moment afterwards, everything is quiet.
“How do we know if it worked?” I break the silence first.
“We don’t,” Cain says simply.
“Well that’s just great,” I sigh.
“If Cecilia’s right, then it did work. But I don’t know how powerful you are. If all the other witches say the spell to find us, well… they might.”
I nod.
“Let’s eat,” Cain suggests.
“I’m guessing there’s a spell for that?”
“Actually, no,” he frowns. “You might as well go outside and eat dirt, because while there is a spell to create food, it may fill you up, but it offers no nutritional value or any calories.”
“Well does it taste good?” I enquire.
“Like I said, it’d be like eating dirt,” he smiles slightly. “But there are spells that will kill animals instantly, or spells that can start fires or cook your food. You just have to some edible thing.”
“Okay. So there’s probably plenty animals out there. And plants.”
Cain grins. “I will prepare us breakfast then. But first—” with a quick spell a decent-sized house appears in front of us.
***
The next morning, I wake up and stretch, my bare feet skimming the cool wood floor in my bedroom. Sighing, I look around. The entire wall on my right consists of windows, and the sun is just starting to make its way up.
“Hey, Cy?” there’s a knock on the door.
“Yeah?” I respond.
“Ready for breakfast?”
“Give me ten or so minutes?”
“Okay,” I hear Cain’s footsteps as he walks down the hall, leaving me to get dressed and ready for the day.
As I’m running the brush through my hair, I hear some banging on the door.
Hurriedly, I run to the door.
Cain’s probably annoyed at me for taking so long or something like that.
But, no.
I’m wrong.
Who stands there is none other than my father.
My father?
How did he find me?
“I’m looking for my daughter,” he says, pulling out a picture and showing it to me. “Have you seen her?”
What?
Why doesn’t he—oh, right. The spell.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t,” I answer smoothly.
His shoulders sulk and I instantly feel guilty.
“Thanks anyway,” he sighs.
“I’m sorry!” my voice sounds strangled as he walks away.
I nod, numbly.
“You don’t look alright,” Cain says.
“Way to state the obvious,” I say in a flat tone.
“Sorry, sorry.” Out of the corner of my eye I see him put his hands up in surrender. “What’s wrong?”
“My dad was here.”
“Oh, so that was who you were talking too?”
I nod in reply.
“So… he left?”
Another nod from me.
“Good,” Cain nods.
“Good?” I look over at him, incredulous.
“Well…”
“He’s my dad. He was looking for me! And I said I didn’t know where I was…” I trail off, and then say, in a quieter voice, “I sound insane.”
“You’re not,” Cain assures, sitting next to me.
“How do you know?”
Cain laughs drily. “I just know.”
“Just because you’re a witch doesn’t mean you can automatically know if other people are insane are not,” I snap.
“Yes it does. There’s a spell for that.”
I sigh, my shoulders slumping in defeat.
“Sorry. Bad time to mention that?”
I shrug.
“Well, do you want to come eat breakfast or something?”
“Sure…”
I follow him out to the kitchen and we eat, both of us silent.
“They’re here!” a voice shouts. “I can feel it!”
I freeze, as does Cain.
Outside the window, I see Cecilia, a furious look permanently seared onto her face.
Chapter 4
I’m staring blankly at the floor when Cain barges in. “Hey, are you ready? I heard you talking to—” He stops when he sees me, sitting on the floor, refusing to look at him. “Hey, are you alright?”I nod, numbly.
“You don’t look alright,” Cain says.
“Way to state the obvious,” I say in a flat tone.
“Sorry, sorry.” Out of the corner of my eye I see him put his hands up in surrender. “What’s wrong?”
“My dad was here.”
“Oh, so that was who you were talking too?”
I nod in reply.
“So… he left?”
Another nod from me.
“Good,” Cain nods.
“Good?” I look over at him, incredulous.
“Well…”
“He’s my dad. He was looking for me! And I said I didn’t know where I was…” I trail off, and then say, in a quieter voice, “I sound insane.”
“You’re not,” Cain assures, sitting next to me.
“How do you know?”
Cain laughs drily. “I just know.”
“Just because you’re a witch doesn’t mean you can automatically know if other people are insane are not,” I snap.
“Yes it does. There’s a spell for that.”
I sigh, my shoulders slumping in defeat.
“Sorry. Bad time to mention that?”
I shrug.
“Well, do you want to come eat breakfast or something?”
“Sure…”
I follow him out to the kitchen and we eat, both of us silent.
“They’re here!” a voice shouts. “I can feel it!”
I freeze, as does Cain.
Outside the window, I see Cecilia, a furious look permanently seared onto her face.
