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Two hours later, Scarlet stared down at the still form of Charlotte. She lay in a bed surrounded by things salvaged from her home. It had taken a while for the crow, or as he liked to be called Go, to assure her that her grandmother was not dead. On closer inspection, Scarlet could see that she was not. Her chest rose and fell with each breath and her skin was warm to the touch. Two qualities that the dead did not have. The relief she felt at hearing her heartbeat had brought her to tears, at which point the crow had given her time alone with her grandma.


Scarlet stretched out beside her and just watched her breath. That had been too close, and now they were waiting for her to wake up. The crow did not know why she was asleep, or what had caused it, but she was in some type of in-between. Which, with her power, was a regular thing for her.

After she had moved again, they had moved to a large office, where Go had patiently answered all of her questions. He said they had already been on the way to them anyway because they were coming to get them. The Hall of Cows was not an easy place to find. When they had arrived, they had found both Charlotte, and herself passed out. The evidence of the bodies and lives she had taken had been nowhere to be found. The small cottage had been on fire. They had put it out and salvaged what they could. All that remained was now in the room, where her grandmother slept.

She had told Go everything from the issues with her friends to the training with her grandmother. He had laughed when she told him about Grandma's ninja moves. He had told her about bloodlust. It was a thing. A blood witch at the height of any emotion can lose control. It would have to be a strong emotion, but it could have ended badly. Some blood witches had wiped out entire towns when caught up in blood lust. The interesting part was that no witch had done it in a long time.

That made her rare. Most of the supernatural living now didn't even know about it. It was no longer taught because of how dangerous it was and it was forbidden to use it. Scarlet had explained that it had been instinctual and not on purpose. All of this was still new to her. He had understood and promised to put her with a trainer to help with her control and to find her a guardian.

The guardian was much much-needed instrument for a witch. A guardian and a witch had a bond no one could quite put into words. They were destined and would find each other, no matter the circumstances. They boosted a witch's power and helped to store energy. They were a walking, breathing vessel. The most surprising thing she had learned was that they were usually a sole mate and would die protecting their witch.

The thought of a sole mate went right over her head, especially when she was still pretty sure she was in love with her boyfriend. She missed Mario and Sophia. She had known them most of her life and they had grown close. It felt like years since they had all been in the same room. Even now, when it had only been a week, it was hard to recall their faces. It was like a distant memory. What she was sure of was that she loved Mario. He was her heart. Plus, with everything going on in her life, she didn't have time for much socializing.

The grimoire and the ruby had survived the fire. It was amazing, not a smudge on them. Scarlet was glad for that. It had been the last thing Charlotte had given her. Scarlet got up and moved to the small table that held the book and the stone. Over the table, there was a window that looked out over a forest. It was a beautiful place, and the sun was shining brightly. Below, her children played to her right, and to her left it looked as if men were training. The forest stretched, thick and strong as far as the eye could see. Her explorer side was itching to explore. However, Scarlet thought looking back at Charlotte, this is where she would be for a while. Until Charlotte woke up and until they found out exactly who was after her and why. Charlotte had a theory, but Scarlet wanted facts.

Deciding to go back to the bed, Scarlet turned but stopped as the jewel twinkled. Palming it, She was immediately warmed by the vibration and the stone began to glow. That penetrating feeling was once again pulsing through her head. As if she were being controlled, she turned towards them. As she faced the bed, an intense shiver went through her body and Scarlet could tell by the orange glow on the wall that her witch had arrived, but why?

Glancing at the bed, she could see the outline of her grandmother standing above her body. Scarlet gasped and would have dropped the gem, except it just hovered there in the middle of the room. The outline of Charlotte turned to her, growing fainter by the moment.

"I'm not dead child," She said, "but I am fading. You have to wake me up."

Then she was gone, and the stone dropped, and so did Scarlett.

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