Coven Of Destiny

Chapter One

At the point of the excellent guitar riff, Stella's eyes finally popped open. Nothing better as an alarm than a song that reminds you to keep going. Smiling, Stella threw off her covers, walked to her closet to grab her black slippers, then walked to the kitchen to fix a pot of coffee.

As she looked out the window, she thought about what her plans were for the day. She and her friends were going to North Beach. In her twenty-six years, she had never seen a better beach in Louisiana.

After drinking her coffee, Stella went to her bathroom to take a shower. She pulled her long black hair out of a ponytail. It was naturally light brown, but it had been dyed recently. She looked at her reflection in the mirror above her sink. Her bright, cerulean eyes stared back at her. She assumed she must have inherited them from one or both of her birth parents. Stella was adopted at a very young age and had never met the people responsible for creating her. She worked as a waitress in a tiny diner that only attracted crowds and big tips during tourist times. She didn't even have enough money it took to fix her car when things kept breaking down if she looked at them too hard, much less to spend the amount of money it took to do a full background check on her DNA. Stella stepped into the shower and began washing her hair.

There was another less conspicuous reason Stella had been occupied over the subject of her genetics. She had begun to notice that since she turned twenty, and had realized her "abilities" one day when she accidentally cut her finger trying to get a piece of cake. Stella had hurriedly wrapped it and stopped the bleeding. An hour later, she unwrapped her finger to reveal the cut had healed entirely. Not even a scar. Since then, she knew that no matter what accidents she had, the bruises or cuts would heal quickly. It was an excellent ability to have, considering her extreme clumsiness.

It did, of course, prompt her to wonder. She presumed every adopted child felt the same way. Stella had finally saved enough money to request a DNA search for her birth records. She'd had to put off fixing her car again, but this was worth it. It was the one thing Stella craved now, knowing who she was and putting the puzzle pieces of her life together to create the full picture of who Stella Tempest indeed was. She'd been having some rough luck lately. Her ex had decided that running off with a so-called friend of hers who had just recently turned legal was a better life choice. She wasn't bitter about it. At least someone else was supporting his jobless bum ass.

Stella finished her shower, admiring her tattoos in the mirror as she dressed. The one down the middle of her back was the symbols of her three favorite fandom series. The other one was something that occurred to her one day soon after her abilities manifested. It was the symbol of her zodiac sign, Virgo. She couldn't explain it, but she decided on a whim one day to take some of her tips on a great day to treat herself to her first tattoo on her right arm. It was something she rarely did with the obligation of bills and other adult things breathing down her neck.

Stella got dressed, put her wet hair up in a bun, and walked out her front door to check the mailbox. She sorted through the contents. Light bill was due, some junk mail, a magazine subscription Stella thought she had canceled, and...her breath caught in her throat. The letter she was waiting on was here, in her hand. Stella rushed inside, set down the other mail, quickly opening the only one that mattered to her. Hands shaking, she read:

"DNA results for Tempest, Stella:

Mother: Gillian Scarlotte

Father: Unknown."

She finally had an answer to her life, and a journey that may be the way to her destiny, a solution to who she was. Stella was going to start packing soon. She had a couple of phone calls to make first. She needed to talk to her best friends.