The first thing I saw when I woke up was a flickering candle on the side table. The warmth of it tickled my face and the strawberry scent emanating from it comforted me.
My throat felt parched and my body was burning hot with sweat. But I wasn't sure it was because of the huge dark brown blanket that covered my body.
I remembered the "dream" and sighed. When Julian was yelling I felt terrified. It felt like he still had a huge grip on me even though we were miles away. I was afraid of the next time I fell asleep. Would he be there, yelling at me and spitting threats?
I got up slowly, and almost broke out into a cry. My body was extremely sore with cramps in my legs and a headache started in my head. Just great.
A knock sounded on the door and my mother barged in. Seeing my clammy skin she rushed to my side. "Why are you sweating so much?" She asked.
"I had one of those dreams I told you about..."
She frowned and cursed. My mother helped me sit on the bed, since I couldn't do it myself. How did my limbs become so sore overnight? I knew I was running the day before but they really shouldn't be this bad.
"What happened in it?" She asked calmly, though I could see she was frustrated. She didn't want me to suffer.
"I was in Celia's castle or whatever it's called. It's my second time going there in a dream. Julian and Celia were fighting, Celia was basically telling Julian to g-get me back," I said, my eyes watering. It hurt to think that he was going to attempt to capture me once more. "They figured out I was eavesdropping. I think - I think because Celia's a witch, she can sense me. And... and when she left the room Julian started y-yelling at m-me..."
I was shaking in fear. Shudders crept up my spine and a single tear fell down my cheek. My mother hugged me tightly while whispering soothing things in my ear.
"We'll learn how to control these dreams as soon as possible. Don't worry, you won't have to see him again. Don't worry Raven, we'll help you," She spoke, running a hand through my hair. I sobbed into her neck, letting all my fear out.
I came out of her embrace and she wiped my tears off with her soft hands. "Let's eat breakfast first, then we'll talk with your father about bringing some witches to the pack house so they can help you control the dreams,"
"Okay," I nodded. "That's fine,"
Except it wasn't fine. Celia was part witch.
We walked down the long stairs and into the kitchen were my father was drinking black coffee. The empty plate in front of him filled with egg residue indicated that he was done eating breakfast.
He looked up from his coffee with a smile, but it wiped off as soon as he saw the state I was in. "What happened?" He said, getting up from his seat and rushing to my aid.
"I had one of those dreams. It scared me a little," Lie. It scared me a lot.
He frowned. "We need to figure out a way to control them,"
"That's what I was saying. Witches perhaps? They know how to," My mother pitched in.
"We'll have to ask them to come here. Raven, do you want them to come today?" My father asked.
"The sooner the better," I replied, then walked to the kitchen table. I was starving, and in need of black coffee of my own. Drinking black coffee might seem a bit too disgusting to people, but it's really not if you add enough sugar to get rid of the sour taste. My dad and I always drank black coffee together in the mornings, it was kind of our thing.
My mom brought me a steaming cup with tons of sugar added in it. I smiled and and took a sip. The rich taste woke me up in no time.
For a minute, everything seemed normal. It was picture perfect, my dad and I drinking coffee while my mother made pancakes. I felt like nothing was wrong with me, and that there wasn't a vicious man out in the world who was planning to capture me for the second time.
I felt free in the house, like nothing could get me.
But then I looked to the glass door that led to the backyard. Julian could come soaring in anytime he wanted... right?
"Dad," I said, still staring at the window.
"Yes Raven?" He replied.
"Please tell me you have this house guarded, so nobody can come in,"
"Of course honey. I have perimeter guarding around the house, and most parts of the street. If Julian or Celia comes, we'll know,"
"That's... good," I sighed with relief. "Speaking about the pack, where are they?" Nobody was downstairs and I haven't seen a single soul other then my parents. Pack houses had maids and servants too, right? So where were they?
"They're all out of the house. I asked them to give us some privacy. And Raven, we also need to discuss what we're going to tell the pack about what happened when you were with Julian. I know they're going to be curious," He explained.
Mom set a plate of pancakes in front of me. I dug in. As I chewed my pancakes I thought about what to tell the pack. In a minute or so I came up with the conclusion.
"Nobody gets to know that I was abused. Nobody. I don't want anyone to know," I ordered. This was going to stay a secret that I'd take to the grave with me.
My mother frowned. "Why not?"
"Because. It's going to be like a pity party," I told her. Whenever somebody spoke to me, I didn't want to see the pity in their eyes or hear it in their words. I wanted to be treated normally, I didn't want anybody to know my personnel secrets. Sure, it would give proof that Julian's a sadistic man, but I still didn't want to tell.
"I understand. It's your choice," My mother squeezed my hands and my father gave me a warm smile. I was glad they were on board with everything.
"I'm going to go make a phone call, to the witches," My father said, and left the kitchen.
"Do you want to take a shower?" My mother asked. I nodded my head. "I'll show you my room and you can use the bathroom in it, and I'll leave you some clothes on the bed,"
We both got up and headed upstairs. My mother lead me into her room. I hardly acknowledged how beautiful the bedroom was, instead I eagerly got inside the bathroom and locked my self in and took off my clothes.
The warm water felt nice. I stayed under the hot water for 5 minutes before I actually started cleaning my body. It was just so calming.
After I was out of the shower I grabbed the clothes and tried them on. My mother had gotten me black tights to wear under the short dress. I thanked her silently, because I knew I didn't want to show skin. It reminded me too much of how Julian made me dress up in skimpy clothing.
The dress had a bright red rose pattern on it, and it fit perfectly, hugging my waist gently. I brushed my hair and let it fall down my back. Julian had rarely let me get a haircut, which is why my hair nearly went down to my hips.
I inspected myself in the ceiling to floor mirror and smiled. I didn't look so broken.
Remembering the way to the kitchen, I went there to find my parents talking about the witches. From what I could make out they were coming in one and a half hours.
"Hey," I awkwardly whispered. I didn't know what to say.
My parents eyeballed each other. I was pretty sure they were talking in the mate link. "I think we should sit down for this," My father agreed and we went to the living room and sat on the brown couches.
"What is it?" I said, fear inching up my spine. What happened? Did something bad occur? Why were they acting like this? Millions of questions swarmed in my mind and I grew nervous by the second.
"Remember when we told you the Ayrle Phoenix's job is to restore goodness to the world?" Of course, I remembered. How could I forget.
"Yes. What about it," I whispered.
"And you know that Celia is the one you will have to... take down?" I nodded.
"The only way you could defeat Celia is if you knew how to control your powers and the Ayrle Phoenix inside you. The witches, they want to help you do this as soon as possible. It takes a long time to discover everything an Ayrle Phoenix has, and how to control these things, and the witches want to start helping you as soon as possible. They want Celia gone, Raven,"
So soon? I just got my life back and I wanted everything to be normal, and now I have to start working on controlling my Ayrle Phoenix? I have to fight Celia, I have to put myself in dangers way? I knew I would have to one day, but I just got back! I wanted to relax. I wanted to have some alone time. I wanted to fix myself, mentally and emotionally.
But as my parent's mentioned, Celia was a dangerous dictator and she was killing people. Was I being selfish by not wanting to start now? If I have a chance to bring her down, to save lives, shouldn't I do it as quickly as possible? If I start now I could be saving so much people, both human and werewolf.
"I- Okay. I'll do it," I answered, biting my lip.
My mother put a hand on my back. "I know you don't want to honey, but it's for the greater good. You understand that right?"
"Yes,"
"Good,"
"But dad," I started. "Celia is half witch. Wouldn't she be in - I don't know - cahoots with the other witches?"
"No, thankfully. I've made sure the witches aren't conspiring with Celia. The ones that are coming here hate her like the rest of the supernatural world, so you don't need to worry about them. They are only coming to help you,"
"Okay. That's good then," I sighed.
"The witches are going to be staying in the pack house, we'll find rooms for them to stay in. They want to train you every day. You also won't have to go to school then, which I think is a plus for you," My father said, chuckling.
I laughed. I have always hated school, but if going there meant I wouldn't have to train with the witches, then I'd much rather go to school.
"When do we start?" I asked, preparing for my father to say today.
"Tomorrow. Today they just want to meet you and get settled in," He explained. Okay, that was good. I was curious as to what they would say.
"Oh and dad," I said, just as he started to leave.
"Yes?"
"You can tell the pack that they can come back inside if they want. I don't want to keep them away from the pack house any longer," I told him.
He smiled. "Sure thing," He started walking again, but paused. Turning around, he said "You've always cared about other people's feelings,"
"Yeah,"
It was true, I thought to myself. I recalled back to a few days when I cared about Griffin's feelings toward me. Which, weren't good. He thought I was disgusting, I just knew it.
Mom and I were sitting in silence when she spoke, "What do you want to do for the remaining hour till they come? Your father and I unfortunately cannot accompany you. Something came up with the pack. You know, pack business. We feel terrible for leaving you for two hours, especially when it's your second day back. But it's really important. So I thought of inviting Athea over, so you won't have to be alone. She's your friend right?"
Friend... not really. She was nice and guided me throughout everything, so I did like her. "Sure," I replied.
"Great. I'll call her over in 10 minutes when I'll have to leave," She said, kissing my forehead. "I'm going to go upstairs and get ready," I nodded.
I laid down on the couch and waited. Just as I was unintentionally about to fall asleep, the doorbell rang. I didn't want to open it, I mean what if it was Julian. I rolled my eyes, of course it couldn't be him. The guards wouldn't let him get on the property, and I don't think Julian was stupid enough to ring the freaking doorbell. I was just being paranoid.
I got up and went over to the huge doors that I first came through when I was being escorted to my parents. "Who's there?" I asked.
"It's Athea," I heard from the other side. I opened the door and let her in.
She was wearing a short silk emerald green top, blue jeans that stuck to her like second skin, and black high heels. She looked completely different.
"Come in," I said, giving a slight smile. Without words we walked into the living room to get to the stairs. We met my mother in the way. She said hello to Athea and kissed me on the cheek before leaving the pack house.
"So, what do you want to do?" She asked me.
"I don't know,"
"I have an Idea... but you might not like it,"
"What is it?"
"How bout I paint your nails and do your makeup? I know, sounds so girly. But it could be fun... and I know you haven't been pampered in a long time," She said.
It sounded good to me.
"Sure, I'd love to do that. It's refreshing, I guess," I told her. She grinned and led me to a room I was unfamiliar with.
"This is my room. I stay in the pack house, it's my home. Griffin does too, and he'll be coming in soon since we're aloud back in," She explained, while rummaging through her drawers to find nail polish.
As she was busy, I checked out her room. It looked like a winter wonderland. Her walls were painted a very light blue. And on one of the walls was a professionally painted mountain which was covered in snow. Her bedsheets were white, and the pillows too. Her carpet was soft, fuzzy and white. Hanging from the ceiling were tons of glittering snowflakes. The various furniture in the room was white, adding to the whole wintry feel.
"I love your room," I told her, and I totally meant it. It was so beautiful, and I wished it was my own.
"Thanks, I come from Northern Canada so I decided to decorate my room this way so it'd remind me of Canada's winter time," She explained, while setting numerous things on the bed.
"It's awesome. Why'd you move here if you lived in Canada?" I asked.
"The company my dad was working for was downsizing employees. Meaning, they were letting hundreds of people go. It's not firing, but it's pretty damn close to it. My dad was looking for a job in Canada, but he just couldn't find one. So he started looking for one in America, and he found one in this state. Not long after we moved here," She told me. She had a far away look in her eyes when she talked about it. I guess she missed it a lot.
"Do you like it here? I mean, with the pack and all," I asked.
"I didn't for a few months, but eventually I started like it here. There's tons of great people in the pack, and I think you'd like them too,"
"We'll see," I whispered.
"Alright, I've got everything!" She exclaimed, wearing a happy expression.
First, she worked on the nails on my fingers. The back round was a dark shade of blue. It resembled how the sky looked at night time. On both thumbs she painted a gray and white wolf howling to the moon. And that surprised me. The wolf looked so real, and she drew it perfectly with nail polish.
"You're really good at this," I commented.
"Thanks. I once took a class on nail art out of boredom in the summer. I can practically draw anything on your nail,"
"That's pretty cool,"
On the rest of my nails she painted a white floral design. My nails looked prefect when she was done. I felt pretty inside and out.
Next she worked on the makeup. For my eyes she put on a silver base, and black at the end so give a smoky eye effect. For my lips she added bright red lipstick, with a lip gloss coating.
I stood in front of the mirror. Staring back at me was not Raven. I didn't look like myself. I looked, unbroken. I looked like I had so much life and energy to me. I didn't look weak or vulnerable. I felt powerful. I looked and felt like a woman who could take anything down if it hurt her.
Including Julian and Celia.
"I like the look," I said gently, still eying myself in the mirror.
"You should wear it more often, it would totally swoon the guys," She laughed.
I frowned inwardly. I didn't want to attract any guys, I was well off without them. Every guy was like Julian. Controlling and a straight up bastard.
I couldn't trust any men other then my father.
The doorbell rang, and I knew who it was. The witches, they were here.
"I can go if you want..." Athea said, hesitantly.
"No, I want you to stay. My mother isn't coming back for about an hour and I'd feel more safe if you were with me," I honestly said to her. Who knew if these witches wouldn't attack me. I mean, they didn't have any reason to, but still.
When I got to the door I said, "Who's there?"
An old voice came from the other side. "Linda, from the Dahlia Tribe. The Alpha has requested us for the Ayrle Phoenix,"
I gave Athea one last look as if to say, if anything goes wrong, you have to strike. She nodded once. I opened the door and a tall woman stood there, followed by 4 others.
"Come in," I spoke, opening the door wider. They started walking in.
The woman - Linda - spoke. "And who might you be?" She asked.
"I'm Raven," And as soon as I said that, all of them gasped and whispered to one another. I didn't get it, why were they doing this?
At first when their head tipped under I had no clue what they were doing. But when I found out that they were bowing down, I freaked out.
"No! Please, you really don't have to do that. Stop," I said, uneasy. Why in the world were they doing that? Cause I was the Ayrle Phoenix? I didn't want them to bow down to me.
I'll admit, it made me feel powerful when they bowed down. I felt in control, and that really scared me. But it was too weird, and I wouldn't allow it.
They all apologized... one by one.
"No need for that," I said, my face red. It felt so out of routine because people were apologizing to me.
Julian never said sorry when he slapped me.
I analyzed the group and saw that two of them were twins. They both had pale white skin and brown hair with matching brown eyes. They looked to be about 25 years old. Linda had dark skin and pin straight hair that came right below her shoulders. Her eyes were a soft brown and her mouth had aging wrinkles around it.
My gaze landed on the shortest witch there and I almost raised a brow. She couldn't be even 11 years old. How could she help me, when she didn't have much experience? The girls eyes were a striking bright blue and her lips were pulled into a toothy grin, her two front teeth were missing. She had long blonde hair and a skinny figure. She looked adorable.
The last one had blonde hair with deep blue highlights. She was giving me a beaming smile. Her soft features complemented her green eyes. She was also tall, like the rest of them, minus the little girl.
"Hi, It's nice to meet you," I said. Linda grabbed my hand and shook it. I instantly felt nervous and got the urge to rip my hand away from hers. It was so hard for me to even have a damn handshake!
Linda noticed my stress and sent me an apologetic look.
"It's an honour to be meeting you. You don't know how excited I am to meet thee Ayrle Phoenix," The girl with the blue highlights spoke.
"I..."
"It's alright, you don't have to say anything. Must be weird having people tell you that they're excited to meet you, eh?" She laughed.
"Yeah," I smiled. I liked her.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. I froze.
When I looked down, I saw the little girl hugging me tightly. She looked up and said "I've always wanted to meet you! I'm so glad you're alive! Momma said you'd be! She said the Ayrle Phoenix would never abandon us in a time like this!"
I was speechless.
Suddenly she was pulled back. "Sorry about that, Emily is just really excited to meet you," Linda explained.
"It's okay. I don't mind,"
And it was weird that I didn't. Shouldn't I be scared of somebody's touch like I was with adults? But she was a little girl, she wouldn't hurt me, and maybe that's why I didn't mind it.
"Maybe we should sit down for this?" Athea suggested. I almost forgot she was there.
"That would be good. We have much to talk about, Miss Raven," Linda said.
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