The Dangerfields

Chapter One

"Willow!" My mother exclaims as she walks to the door that I just came in through. "How was school?" She asks, as I drop my backpack on the stairs.

"The same as every other day," I reply, shaking my head. "I forgot my homework at Livia's house last night, so I summoned it with a spell. You would've thought I had grown three extra heads by the way everyone looked at me," I laugh.

"Did I hear my favourite granddaughter walk through that door?" Grandpa asks, grinning wide and walking into the front room with his arms spread out for a hug. I grin back, and hug him.

It may seem strange, but my grandpa is my best friend, besides Livia. I tell him almost everything, because he is one of the only people I know that fully understands and accepts me, along with Ryder and my mother.

My mom tells me she was fragile before Dad left, and she cried a lot. When dad left, she had to become stronger, in order to adapt to this new life by herself. I haven't seen her cry since her mother died.

My grandparents were always just two houses down from us, and they were at our house all the time. When my grandma died, Grandpa couldn't handle the quiet house, so he moved in with us. I had only been seven at the time. I'm almost fifteen now, so I'm used to him living with us.

You can definitely say that our family is different than most. To go along with all of the other quirks, everybody in our house knows how to use magic.

I have never met another magic-user before, and I wonder if I ever will. Livia never asked to learn magic, and I never offered. She would have asked if she wanted to learn.

I admit, I do find it strange that the people in my family are the only Temerarys, as they call us. I often wonder if there are more of us out there.

About an hour after I get home, Livia walks in the door without knocking or ringing the doorbell, the way only best friends can.

I give her a half-smile. "I was going to come over in a couple of minutes," I tell her.

"Well, I wanted to come to your house tonight. I haven't seen Grandpa for days," she says.

"You're not related to him you know," I remind her. Liv rolls her eyes. "I see him so much I might as well be." I can't argue with that logic.

"Did you finally understand the homework?" I ask her, pointing to the math sheet she has in her hands.

"I tried. I honestly did, but I just don't get it," she says, giving out a small, frustrated squeal. "Can I just copy off of you?"

"Even better. I'll help you so that you understand it," I say, poking her in the stomach.

"That could work well," Livia says with a small smile.

Half an hour later, Livia - who is still frustrated from having to deal with math - convinces me to come with her into the woods.

The country we live in, Leocia, has a lot of small forests and woods in it, and it is no surprise that there is a forest behind our neighborhood.

The woods is quiet and peaceful, and I often go there to clear my head, or just to be alone. Livia and I have explored all of it, and we built a treehouse in a maple tree. It's near the edge of the forest, but still far enough that if we talk or laugh loudly, as we often do, we won't be heard from the treeline. That is where we go, without even discussing it.

It is autumn, and the secluded world of the woods is filled with bright splashes of oranges, reds and yellows. This is the time of year when colours make the world come to life, yet it is paving the way for winter, the season when the plants disappear and the animals migrate, making the world seem asleep.

"It seems almost too good to be true, doesn't it?" I ask Livia. "I mean, our own private haven, that nobody knows about?"

She considers it. "Well, there are the 'No Trespassing' signs. That sometimes keeps people from coming here."

I snort with laughter. "Only wimps who are afraid of getting in trouble. We've been coming here for eleven years, and the government has never been here. I'm just thankful that we don't have to fight for the rights of our treehouse."

We walk in silence for a few minutes.

I look over at Liv, and see that she is squinting towards our treehouse, frowning.

"Uh oh, it looks like you may have spoken too soon," Livia points to our fort. "The rope has been untied from the tree, and the knot is too complicated for any animal to have undone it. We have company."