Power of the Witch

Chapter 1

I do not own this story. All the credits go to the amazing writer L.J. Smith <3

Sorry if there are any misspeled words.

I might be changing the title ^^

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello, my name is Rachel and this is my story how I met my soulmate and a powerfull witch.

The mall was so peacefull. There was no hint of the terrible thing that was about to happen. It looked like anynother shopping mall in Kansas on a Sunday afternoon in December. Modern and brightly decorated. Crowded with customers who knew there was only ten shopping days left until Christmas. Warm, despite the chilly grey skies outside. Safe. Not the kind of place where monsters would appear. She walked past a display of "Santa Claus Through the Ages" with all her senses alert and open, and that means a lot of senses. The glimps she caught of herself in the darkend store windows show a high-school-aged girl in a sleek black jumpsuit with weavy brown hair that falls past her chest and beautiful green eyes. But she knows that anybody who watched her closely was likely to see something else - a sort of prowling grace in the way she walked and an inner glow when the green eyes focussed on anything. Rachel Black didn't look quite human, which was hardly surprising because she wasn't. She was a shapeshifter, and if people lookimg at her got the impression of a half-tamed pantherwolf on the loose, they were getting it exactly right.

"Okay everybody." Rachel touched the brooch on her collar, then pressed a finger to the near, invisible receiver in her ear, trying to tune out the Christmas music that filled the mall. "Report in." "Meg here." The voice that spoke through the receiver was light, almost lilting, but professional. "I'm over by sears. Haven't seen anything yet. Maybe she's not here." "Maybe." Rachel said shortly into the brooch - which wasn't a brooch at all but an extremely expensice transmission device. "But she's supposed to love shopping, and her parents said she was headed this way. It's the best lead we've got. Keep looking." "Ruby here." This voice was cooler and softer, emotionless. "I'm in the parking lot, driving by the Bingham Street entrance. Nothing to report - wait!" A pause, then the gostly voice came back with a new tension: "Rachel, we've got trouble. A black limo just pulled up outside Brody's. They know she's here." Rachel's stomach tightend, but she kept her voice level. "You're sure it's them?" "I'm sure, They're getting out - a couple of vampires and..... something else. A young guy, just a boy really. Maybe a shapeshifter. I don't know for sure; he isn't like anything I've seen before." The voice was troubled, and that troubled Rachel. Ruby Jackson was a vampire with a brain like the Library of Congress. Something she didn't recognize? "Should I park and come help you?" Ruby asked. "No." Rachel said sharply. "Stay with the car; we're going to need it for a fast get away. Meg and I will take care of it. Right, Meg?" "Oh, right, Boss. In fact, I can take 'em all on myself; you just watch."

"You watch your mouth, girl." But Rachel had to fight the grimm smile that was tugging at her lips. Megara Arline was Ruby's opposite - a witch and inclined to be emotional. Her odd sense of humor had lightend some black moments. "Both of you stay alert." Rachel said, completely serious now. "You know what's at stake." "Right, Boss." This time both voiced were subdued. They did know. The world. The girl they were looking for could save the world - or distroy it. Not that she knew that.... yet. Her name was Rebecka Hartman, and she had grown up as a human child. She didn't realize that she had the blood of witches in her and that she was one of the four Wild Powers destined to fight against the time of darkness that was coming. She's about to get quite a surprise when we tell her, Rachel thought. That was assuming that Rachel's team got to her before the bad guys did. But they would. They had to. There was a reason they'd been chosen to come here, when every agent of Circl Daybreak in North America would have been glad to do this job. They were the best, it was that simple. They were an odd team - witch, vampire and shapeshifter - but they were unbeatable. And Rachel was only seventeen, but she already had a reputation for never losing. And I'm not about to blow that now, she thought. "This is it, kiddies." She said. "No more talking until we ID the girl. Good luck." Their transmissions were scrambled, of course, but there was no point in taking chances. The bad guys were extremely well organized. Doesn't matter, we'll still win, Rachel thought, as she paused in her walking long enough really to expand her senses.

It was like stepping into a different world. There were senses that a human couldn't even imagine. Infrared, she saw body heat. Smell, humans didn't have any sense of smell, not really. Rachel could distinguish Coke from Pepsi from across the room or follow sents for miles. Touch, as a pantherwolf, Rachel had exquisitely sensitive hairs all over her body, especially on her face. Even in human form, she could feel things with ten times the intensity of a real human. She could feel her way in total darkness by air pressure on her skin. Hearing, she could hear both higher and lower pitches than a human and she could pinpoint an individual cough in a crowd. Sight, she had night vision like - well, like a cat, with the sharpness of a wolf. Not to mention more than five hundred muscles that she could move voluntarily. And just now, all her resources were attquned to finding one teenage girl in this swarming mall. Her eyes roved over faces; her ears pricked at the sound of every young voice; her nose sorted through thousands of smells for the one that would match the T-shirt she'd taken from Rebecka's room. Then, just as she froze, catching a whiff of something familiar, the receiver in her ear came to life. "Rachel! I spotted her! Halmark, second floor. But they're here, too." They'd found her first. Rachel cursed soundlessly. Aloud, she said, "Ruby, bring the car around to the west side of the mall. Meg, don't do anything. I'm coming." The nearest escalator was at the end of the mall. But from the map in her hand, she could see that Hallmark was directly above her on the upper level. And she couldn't waste time.