Gold And Shadow - The Books Of Beginning

1. Counterclockwise

"Why do you have to walk so damn SLOW!?"

Emma's voice filled the frigid January air. The target of her irritation, was of course, her brother Michael, who was indeed walking slower than her, but only because he was carrying a heavy bag in each hand.

"If you'd carry one of these, maybe I'd move faster," Michael snipped back.

Emma rolled her eyes, "but they aren't my bags. I'm not the one who bought all those books earlier."

"Only one of them has my books, the other has mom and dad's anniversary presents, which, of you recall, are from all of us, not just me," Michael argued.

The children's elder sister, Kate, sighed heavily, her breath clouding in the air. No matter how many adventures they went on, or how much their lives changed, some things never changed. Michael and Emma's squabbling was one of those things. As ridiculous as it was, sometimes the best thing to do was just let it play out.

A soft laugh came from beside her, and Kate turned to smile at the boy who was currently hand in hand with her as they strode down the sidewalk. Rafe grinned right back, "you think they'll stop arguing once we find your parents?"

"Knowing them, they'll probably just find something else to argue about," Kate chuckled. 

The glow of the streetlights shone down upon them, bathing them in soft electric light. Their boots padded softly against the sidewalk, and they could see the faint glimmer of frost forming on the dirt beside them. On the other side of them was the parking lot to this shopping center, and behind them were the stores they had spent all afternoon exploring.

Ever since the events of last November, with Rafe returning to life and the Wibberly family being forced to rethink their plans for their new lives, things had been hectic. They had been put in a temporary rental for the time being, but hopefully, with the help of some friends from the magical world, would be able to move in to a home of their own sometime in February. That was actually why they were here in the first place, so Richard and Clare could meet with a housing company to discuss the move. They had given the four children the chance to stay home, but they had been feeling restless and wanted to explore the shops.

It made for a fun but peaceful afternoon, and that had been just what they all needed, Kate thought. Michael had new books to read, Emma had a new hoodie to wear, and they had even found a nice set of picture frames for Richard and Clare's anniversary gift. All in all, it was successful, and after all the chaos, a normal outing where nothing went wrong was bliss.

"It's getting colder," Rafe commented, drawing Kate out of her thoughts, "maybe that means we'll get some snow soon."

"That'd be nice," Kate agreed, "it's been a while since it snowed. Although, I can already imagine the snowball fights my siblings are going to have."

Rafe snorted, "I can almost feel myself being pelted now."

Kate giggled, feeling the kind of giddiness she always got when she saw her family and the boy she loved getting along. It had been very hard for all of them at first, but now they seemed to be coming together and finding their way. Or at least, Emma and Michael were coming to consider Rafe their friend. Richard and Clare were still wary, but things were slowly getting better there too. 

"I find it hard to believe you're not used to it," Kate teased, "having raised the savages after all."

"Abigail was vicious when it came to snowball fights," Rafe admitted jokingly, "but Jake and Beetles could never sneak up on me. No stealth at all, those two."

"It's not like my siblings are paragons of stealth either though," Kate said.

Rafe gave in, "you got me there."

They fell into comfortable silence, Kate's eyes wandering up to the sky. It was only seven, but being midwinter, they were curtained in darkness and faint silver stars. She shivered slightly as the wind hit her back, chilling her even with the layers she had put on when she had heard they were going out.

At least, she assumed it was the cold. A part of her couldn't help but feel like every chill up her spine was a warning that something was coming, that something would happen. But she was trying to not feel so paranoid all the time, not with the Dire Magnus gone. So she told herself it was the winter chill.

"Alright, there's the insurance offices," Michael announced, "we're supposed to meet mom and dad in the lobby."

"Yes Michael, we know," Emma snapped.

"I was just making sure you remembered," Michael protested.

Emma sighed sharply, "you're less than a year older, don't try and patronize me."

"I'm not trying to-"

"You were right," Rafe whispered in Kate's ear, "they did find something else to argue about."

"They always do," Kate said with the fond exasperation she always had towards her younger siblings.  

They came to a halt, watching with amusement as Emma chased Michael towards the building, shouting something at him that got lost in the air. Michael, for his part, had given up his dignity as he tried to heft the bags while running, his glasses askew on his face. He nearly crashed into the glass door, but managed to stop just in time. Emma skidded next to him, bumping his side, and Kate beamed, heart filling with light as she watched the two of them act childish and silly and innocent. It was what they deserved, after everything.

Finally, the two siblings pushed the door open and practically shoved each other inside. Kate could imagine them tripping into the clean and neat lobby area, she could picture the shopping bags nearly being spilled, and her parents sighing despite not being mad at all. It was a nice visual, and it would be better to see in person.

Rafe pulled ahead of her, his hand slipping out of hers as he went to hold the door open for her. He was always trying to be thoughtful like that, to show her he cared as much as possible. Kate loved him all the more for it.

Alas, today his gesture was not meant to be. There was a bout of cursing from inside, the kind that suggested Emma had knocked something over, and Rafe reflexively went to help. The door swung shut behind him as Kate picked up her pace slightly, trying to get to the building and make sure her sister hadn't broken anything or hurt herself.

The wind whistled in her ears and she slowed down a bit, feeling another shiver that she associated more with fear and anticipation then with the cold. It occurred to her at that moment that she was alone in the parking lot, with only the streetlights. She made to hurry inside faster, out of habit, she told herself.

Then, a feeling that could only be described as terror set in. Kate took a deep breath, "you're being paranoid. There's no reason to freeze like this."

And yet, she couldn't help but feel that terror, that tension, and turn around. Just to assure herself that everything was fine, that she was fine, that a bit of static in the air was nothing to worry about. Her enemies had been defeated, her family was safe, and there was no reason to-

She took a single step forward, back the same way she came, and felt a jolt shoot up her spine. The magic inside her responded in turn, filling her with sparks of fire, and warmth like sunlight. This was most definitely not natural, she realized in one split, horrifying second. 

She opened her mouth to scream, for her parents, her siblings, for Rafe. But before any sound could come out the ground disappeared beneath her feet, and the world went dark. And then there was only the lonely warm glow of the streetlights.

Kate was gone.

A/N: We're starting this chapter with fluff and ending it with a bang! Welcome, everyone, to Gold And Shadow, my weird, deep, time travel story that I'm writing because I really like the idea and have no impulse control! I hope you enjoy it!