The Sister Hood

Prologue: Oak Ridge 1816

"Calista why did you drag us here, again?" Jenelle whined, tightening her coat around her young, frail body. The three girls had been part of the Sister Hood for over five years now, since they were nine. But the girls, Calista, Meridith and Jenelle, know that they will forever. You don't die once you are a sister, unless you betray the Sisterhood. 

Their leather boots smacked against the hard, frozen forest floor, making a loud smack sound. The Sister Hood meeting spot had been the clearing in this very forest since the dark ages, that will never change. Calista's jet black ringlets were tied together with a red bow, to match her Holiday dress. The other girls simply braided their blond locks. Calista was always the vain one. Jenelle and Meridith were excellent friends and they followed all the rules of being a sister. But she knew. Calista knew when the girls are fifty and it's time to choose a new Elder, Calista would get the honor.

Calista's mother is the elder, her grandmother before that. Calista had it in her blood.

Besides, Calista was the only one who lived as a sister. Jenelle and Meridith showed up to all the meetings on Friday's at midnight, they sold their souls to the Amulet and swore their lives to being a sister. But Jenelle and Meridith didn't practice their magic, think as a sister, present themselves as a sister or accomplish their tasks. As a sister you are to follow the tasks and rules in the book. The golden, ancient book Calista clutched in her hands.

A naked tree branch smacked the girls in the face.

"Oh My!" They shrieked in shock.

"Hurry up! We are almost there, do not dilly doddle." Calista warned. Calista always thought she was the best because her mother was the elder. Jenelle and Meridith would always be second to Calista and it was not fair.

They came to the tree wall, a block of tree's keeping out non-sisters. Calista waved her hand in a mystical fashion. She squeezed her eyes shut and let the cold air embrace her,

"Open." She whispered as light as summer rain. The tree's roared as they seperated and allowed the girls through. The clearing was sprinkled in a fresh layer of snow.

The sisters trotted in, laying down a tattered blanket. Meridith lit four candles. One for each sister and one for the elder.

The girls sat down and joined hands. Their lips flushed red, their cheeks pink. Their skin cleared of blemishes and their hair grew glossy and perfect.

Sisters together are sisters at best.

"I commit myself as a sister. I worship and look up to my elder. I will teach the next generation of sisters what it means to be a sister. I am a sister and a sister is I." The girls chanted. They all flashed open their lifeless eyes. 

"Alright, no beating around the bush. What's the problem Calista? Why did we meet? We only meet on Fridays." Meridith crossed her bony arms tightly over her chest. The forest was magical, even in winter. Snow danced in the air and sat on bare branches, the air felt whimsical and the tree's seemed doubled in size when they were bare. A vicious breeze whipped through the girls hair.

" I had a dream. I saw my Grand daughter, she is beautiful." Calista said, starring off into the distance.

"But she was fighting in the war."

"The  war? That isn't supposed to happen for another fifteen generations. Not one!" Jenelle said, her arms flying into the air.

" I know, we'll have to fight before we are ready!"  Calista let a lone tear slip down her cheek.

" It's okay, there are thousands of sisters. Ones from the beginning of time! We have a whole army." Meridith said, rubbing Calista's wool coat in a motherly way.

" There were thousands of dead girls behind her. She was alone and afraid! The Sister Hood is doomed!" Calista shouted.

As the words slipped from her mouth the gold, ancient book began to glow. It flipped pages and pages worth of legends, rules and information.

Then it stopped flipping.

It practically leaped off the page.

The girls eyes grew wide as they leaned back in disbelief.

The name, it was glowing too, it was a sign.

 The name was Isabelle Glisten.