The Melissa Curae Chronicles: A Magical Aspect

1. Keeping Dangerous Demons in Glass Jars... Seems Legit

She had just finished searching through a tide pool for any interesting creatures that might have been hiding in them, when she saw a chain bolted between two rock fissures up the beach. Dangling on the chain was a sign that read, "No one beyond this point. Camp members only."

That's funny, she thought. That's never been there before.

She turned to go back, when a fan-like shape caught her eye. Turning back, she looked more closely. She squealed with delight. What she saw just beyond the chain was a fully intact rose nautilus shell. The shell had several white petal-like parts extending from the pink center spiral. Melissa had a large collection of shells, but never dreamed of possessing this particular one. The nautilus— which looked like it belonged in the Paleozoic era—were an endangered species. To have a shell that rare . . . She glanced back to her family on the beach. No one was watching. She ran over and ducked under the chain.

Picking up the shell, she carefully dusted off the sand and put it
in her bag. As she turned to go back, she noticed a trail winding
around the rocks. Hoping that perhaps it would yield more unique
shells, she decided to follow the path that led beyond the sign. A
looming cave towered over her. That definitely had not been there
the year before. At the mouth of the cave, stood two men, one on
each side, standing at attention, like guards.

The man on the right was muscular with a nose ring, the kind a bull might wear. He had the build and confident demeanor that brings order and quiet to a large crowd just by walking into the room. The second man was tall with a jagged scar running across his nose. The lines above his brows were deep and permanently furrowed in a glare. However, he had a sort of grace in how he held himself, like a ballerina. A tall, warrior ballerina.

There was something odd about the two, but Melissa could not decide what. When Melissa looked closer, she realized it was their shadows. Shadows normally looked like a silhouette of the person, or a blob. These shadows were not quite a silhouette or a blob. They were more defined than blobs, but they did not look like people.

She quietly inched closer, trying to get a better look without drawing any attention to herself. Just one more look and she'd go back to her family. Stepping down, her foot hit a small pile of rocks. The rocks slipped under her feet. Falling hard on her face, she yelped loud enough to be heard over the waves.

Frantically, she searched for a place to hide. Close to her was a rock large enough to hide her entire body, but she was not fast enough.

"Hey!" Shouted the man with the nose ring, "What do you think
you're doing?"

"I–" she tried, but was interrupted by the second man.

"Didn't you read the sign?"

Before she could answer, a woman's voice shouted, "Melissa!"

Her mother came into view, slightly out of breath. "Melissa! There you are!"

Catherine quickly switched from scolding her for straying so far to fawning over her, trying to see if she was okay.

"Catherine?"

Catherine's head snapped up, mid-interrogation, her gaze falling on the man with the nose ring. Her grip on Melissa's shoulders tightened until it hurt.

"Joshua."

"It's been a long time."

"I wish it could've been longer." Her mother replied.

Catherine's chest heaved slightly, and her eyes narrowed.

"Melissa," her mother said, still not loosening her grip on her shoulder, "We're leaving."