Aries

~2~

"Isa? Isa! Wake up! You left the cauldron over the fire!" I smelled the odor of over-cooked Willow tree bark and instantly called for my Aunt. I tossed my spell book to the side and ran out of my room, into the hallway. She tended to fall asleep while brewing long recipes.

I was anxiously standing above the flight of stairs that led directly into the kitchen, clutching the wall and hoping the house doesn't catch on fire like last time.

"Wha- Oh! Ah, dammit to hell! I've ruined it again. Candor, can you please help me clean this up? It boiled over."

Ah, There it is. A nickname given to me by my Aunt; I've always said the truth no matter who got offended. I still do. I tried to explain to her that it was most likely a spell cast onto me by the evil girls in my school, but she always brushed me off and laughed. Saying it was just my personality and it was okay to sometimes be loudmouthed. Different.

"Are you just gonna stand there like an idiot? What are you doing? " Aunt Isa's voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"I was thinking about how I- Never mind that! Do you need any towels from the supply room?"

××××××

After watering the fire and wiping down the cauldron, I took to the floors. I soaked up as much of the dirty water off the floor with a sponge as I could. I grabbed a bit of the detergent Isa makes and poured it into a bucket with water.

I dunked a worn brush into the solution and brought it to the hardwood floor.

"Remember to brush in the direction of the wood!" Isa called from her workroom.

I nodded, sure that she could see me and commenced my scrubbing.

"Not too hard! My grandfather set those boards in, you know!" Isa scolded and I immediately softened my strokes.

How could she see me if she was in the attic and I was on the first floor? She has Ophelia, her all-seeing mirror.

If you haven't put two and two together yet, you're an idiot, and we're witches. Not the long nosed, wart wearing, green skinned, broom riding kind. We look quite normal I think. We just make our own remedies and dabble a teeny bit into light magic.

Aunt Isa and I live alone in a big lodge-like cabin in the mountainous terrain of Vancouver. The site was dozen times bigger than what we actually needed, but it was maintained nicely by the both of us and you couldn't find a speck of dust anywhere on the three floors of the building.

I used to see this place packed with people back when I was just a Tweedledee, barely two years young in the arms of my mother, my father meandering and grinning benevolently at everyone, who flashed beauteous features back.

Suddenly it was just my aunt and I, and it has been that way ever since and I never asked why, afraid of the answer.

"You've been scrubbing the same spot for ten minutes, what's on your mind dear?" Isa ran her fingers through my long, straight black ponytail lovingly.

My hands came into focus once again and I looked at the area I covered, almost nothing. Of course, my candor traits kicked in and spilled the beans.

"I remember this place being full of people all the time, it was so lively and pretty! Now it's empty and dead... What happened?" I pouted and willed my eyes to water, successfully making her raise her eyebrows and sit down on the wet floor. She was getting her nice pear of jeans wet but she didn't seem to care at the moment.

"What exactly do you remember?" She game me a curious expression while leaning in a bit, her red curls bouncing around.

"A woman with brown, wavy hair and green eyes was carrying me in one arm. A man with black hair styled back and violet eyes was holding her other and guided us through some crowded room. Everyone looked at us and grinned and said hello. Stuff is blurry but I see the couples faces clear as day in my head." When I looked up, Isa's eyes were full of tears and she kept trying to blink them back.

"They were your parents..." Her bottom lip wobbled.

"Well I kinda figured that out already." I slapped a hand over my mouth. She gave me a watery smile and tried a laugh.

"You're just like him, Alpha Derek was a great leader... Everyone loved him. You got his hair and eyes that every woman drooled over but only one owned. You're an exact replica of him!" She laughed, a real laugh, remembering her brother, my dad.

"You have his image but Luna Nessa's personality. She was a quaint little girl, with a fiery temper and loud mouth, like you. She was the dominant one in the relationship while Derek just agreed with her to avoid conflict. They were perfect." She sighed.

"Why haven't you told me about them before?" I couldn't but help ask. "Why were there so many people in the house?" I pelted her with questions. "Why did you call them Alpha and Luna? They're not Greek! At least I don't think so.... Where were they from? Do I still have grandparents alive? WAIT. They weren't vampires were they?! Vampires live in packs right?" I stopped to take a breath.

"I don't read books about vampires or other supernatural creatures because they quite scare me." I finished in a small voice.

She just sat there with an undecided look on her face. What was she waiting for? I have questions to be answered!

"I-" I started.

"You will be spending the next week in the library, reading up on the supernatural." Her tone hinted at stubbornness, she was completely set on the idea.

"Nooooo! Alexandru is waiting for meeeee!" I clutched my worn paperback copy of one of my favorite stories to my chest. It went everywhere with me.

"You need to learn of your heritage, Candor!" My eyes were wide. I'm a supernatural creature?!

Okay. Witches are supposed to have some kind of supernatural connection but Isa and I don't actually dabble in dark magic! We just make special teas and ointments and stuff!

Right?

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I huffed and stomped upstairs childishly. Its not that I don't like reading- I love it really! I just don't like the blood-sucking, bone-crushing, mind-controlling, devil-compelling books that make up the majority of Isa's library, thus my refusal to read.

I sat at the oak desk in the center of the large library. The whole room could be mistaken for a hidden archive or something from a really old cathedral, with high ceilings and rows upon rows of bookshelves. There were small lights, dim and overhanging every few feet or so. In the center of the library was a long table, like ones used for conferences between a large amount of people.

On the desk were two big stacks of books along with a family size bag of M&M's and a fluffy navy blue blanket.

She really does want me to read it all... ugh.

I curled up on the comfortable office chair and tucked the blanket around me from the waist down. I placed the bag of M&M's in my lap and hauled one of the books into my hands.

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