by Jones, L. A.
"Dax!" Tristan shouted gleefully, "You just broke the heart of the last witch, what are you going to do next?"
Dax shrugged Tristan's grasp off his shoulders and continued to walk down the cobblestone path. Tristan hung back, smiling, and then spun on his heel to walk back towards the group. Melina, Roy, D, Rhonda, Al, Calvin, Everett, and Felix awaited him at Rita's custard palace. Melina sat in Roy's lap, Rhonda did the same with D, Calvin had his right leg propped up onto his left, Everett had concern practically written all over his face, while Felix had yet another comic book in his grasp.
"Well?" Everett asked Tristan as soon as he sat down who just shook his head. Melina seemed the only one who noticed Tristan's malicious little smirk. Obviously, he was enjoying the situation although Melina could not determine which one gave him more pleasure. The one where Aradia was in pain or Dax being so miserable.
"I feel so sorry for Aradia," Everett said as he slumped back in his chair. "I mean can you believe it? Having your boyfriend cheat on you? In front of everyone? It's terrible."
"Yeah it's almost as terrible as having your friends gossip about it," Calvin sneered.
Everett just scowled. Melina, however, stayed silent. She knew she had been spending a lot of time with Roy, but she had not meant to neglect Aradia. She had been hearing little bits of rumors about Aradia and Dax's relationship going sour but she had never taken them seriously. At least not until now.
"I actually think Aradia and Dax splitting up is a good thing," Calvin declared.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"Why?" Melina asked.
Calvin shrugged. "I know it's not my place to say but I always thought Aradia was too good for a guy like Dax. He's always acting so damn high and mighty, treating Aradia like some piece of arm candy when she is really far more intelligent than he gives her credit for."
"Besides," he leaned forward to whisper, "I don't know if any of you have noticed but I think Aradia is really special."
Melina, Roy, Rhonda, D, and Al and Tristan quickly averted their eyes.
"You know I have noticed that before," Rhonda said, "the way she seems to know things before anyone else does, how strong she is, and the potions she concocts on the side..."
"Jesus people this is Salem we are talking about here!" Felix snapped but not taking his eyes from his comic book, "every where you go you will find people conducting seances, making potions, reading tarot cards, and god knows what else. This is witch central we are living in you know. You should be used to seeing weird things. I sure as hell am and I don't think Aradia is anything special. She's just doing what everybody else in Salem has been doing for years."
Calvin, however, was still not finished with his opinion. "I just think that Aradia is better off without that guy. Although I have to say I doubt she will stay single for long."
This definitely got Melina's attention. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"
Calvin smiled slyly. "Well I didn't want to say anything before but seeing as Aradia and Dax are through I see no harm in it."
Everyone was practically on the edge of their seat as they stared at Calvin in anticipation who just sighed dramatically. "Last week," he began, "I saw Aradia at the club with another guy. A blonde wearing black who was obviously into Aradia. After a few words exchanged, he and Aradia danced and the next thing I know they were involved in a hot make out session."
Rhonda gasped. "No way!"
Calvin nodded.
Melina just raised an eyebrow. "Who was the guy?"
"Excuse me?" asked Calvin,
"Who was the guy?" Melina inquired. "I mean when one of your friends is kissing some guy one would think you would know his name."
Calvin shifted uncomfortably in his seat and then shrugged. "I didn't really catch his name."
"Yeah well," Tristan said as he stretched his arms above his head. "One thing for sure though, Aradia is going to be in the market for a new guy." He then titled his head back with a dreamy but sly look in his eye.
Try as she might, Aradia couldn't find the fleawort seeds for her potion anywhere else in the forest. She had to go back to that spot where she had Dax had broken up and get them before the winter. Her heart as heavy as the earth she stepped on, Aradia squatted around and began to pluck out the plants. Carefully, she brought out a pair of embroidery scissors and began snipping off the seed heads. In the back of her mind, she hoped Dax wouldn't show. Unfortunately, thinking of Dax triggered a whole slew of memories of the day they first met, their first kiss, and their first date. It didn't help that the moment Aradia had finished putting the seeds in a small paper bag she lifted her tear heavy eyes and saw the pool where they had almost made love. It was as if her own mind had turned against her because like a tidal wave it brought back a rush of memories. Aradia began to remember Dax's smile, his hair, even his laughter. The image of him throwing his head back and laughing seemed to dance before her very eyes like flames.
Aradia's fists clenched as finally all the emotions she had kept bottled up exploded. She threw the bag away. She then threw her head back and screamed a horrible blood curdling scream at the top of her lungs. She then pounded her fists into the ground. Raising her eyes up like an animal eager for the hunt, she ran forward and started kicking things around. She raised her left leg and kicked a tree so hard that it fell to the ground in an instant. This didn't seem faze to Aradia, she just went on releasing every bit of her anger. She threw fire balls at trees, burning them to a crisp. Conjuring orbs of lightning, shooting them too at trees and incinerating them like giant match sticks. Kicking hard into the ground make it shift and slamming her fists into rocks making them crack in two. All the way she did this, she was screaming curses at Dax, her family, her school, at being the last of her kind, at everything and at everyone. It went on for over an hour before Aradia's energy finally left her. Her knees buckled as she tried to steady herself, but then her foot tripped over a stone. Aradia then collapsed face first onto the cold dirt ground. Her first instinct was to get up but she was so tired. Her arms lay limply at her sides and she turned her head slightly. Her eyes began to droop and the next thing she knew Aradia was asleep.
When she awoke night had fallen and Aradia felt chilled to the bone. She was shivering so much that her teeth were chattering. Rubbing her arms, Aradia got up on onto her knees.
"I know I should go home," Aradia muttered to herself, "but I don't want to. The thing is though if I can't go home then where can I go."
A loud clapping suddenly erupted from behind her, Aradia spun around and saw Saul.
"You?!" She spat, "what do you want?"
He shrugged. "Oh nothing really except to congratulate you on such magnificent use of your powers."
"Huh?"
"C'mon," Saul stated, "tearing down a forest like this would usually take years but the way you used your powers today you could demolish it in one swift swoop."
Aradia's ears perked up at the mention of tearing down a forest. "What do you mean?"
Saul said nothing, he just tilted his head towards his right. Aradia looked and her jaw dropped. From the direction she had just come from, she saw nothing but charred remains of trees and foliage. In fact, the scene was so bad that it looked like a wildfire from hell had torn right through the Salem woods.
"Oh my God," Aradia whispered, "what the hell have I done?"
Saul just shrugged. He was amazingly calm while Aradia was overwrought with depression. She sank to her knees again and covered her face with her hands. Saul then noticed the quivering of her shoulders and rightfully assumed she was about to cry.
"Hey c'mon now," Saul crooned, "don't be sad. It's really no big deal..."
"No big deal?!" Aradia snapped. She quickly stood up and pointed to the remains of the forest. "Look! Look what I have done! How can you say it's no big deal?"
Saul turned his head casually, surveying the damages. "It really is no big deal because you can fix it."
"What?" Arad
ia asked, her eyes growing wide.
Saul smiled a little. "You don't really know that much about your powers do you?"
She shook her head slowly. "I mean I know I can do plenty of things but I don't..."
"Well," Saul interrupted, "the thing of it is witches of the hidden race can do all kinds of things. Most people don't know this but the real reason witches have covens is because their power is greater in groups. Their power was their energy after all and more energy means more power am I right?"
Aradia stared at him in disbelief, she knew some things about her people but not that much. "How do you know this?"
Saul shrugged. "I am a bit of a historian of sorts. I research races and their past, but my particular favorite are the witches."
"You do realize," Aradia sneered, "that the witches are all dead right?"
Saul nodded his head sadly. "Yes. I know about all that. It was such a terrible tragedy what happened to all of them. They had such history, such power..."
"You mean you know about them?" Aradia asked, finally intrigued.
"Of course I do!" Saul laughed, "I am after all a historian. I know all about their history, their powers, and..." he trailed off for a few seconds. "I know that they could easily make a forest re-grow itself in a matter of seconds."
"What?"
"By concentrating their energy and visualizing the result, witches were able to regrow or actually make entire forests bloom out nowhere in probably five seconds flat," Saul explained.
Aradia's expression was that of delight until her distrust of strangers kicked in. She then folded her arms and glared at Saul. "Why should I trust you hmm? Do you have any proof that what you say is true?"
Saul looked uneasy. "No."
Aradia then nodded with satisfaction at least until he said, "but I can show you how it is done."
"What?"
Saul then swooped in and took hold of Aradia's hands. Instinctively, she fought to break his grip but he held tight and spun her around towards the burnt remains of the forest. He then held up both her hands, palms forward.
"Now," he whispered in her ear, "don't focus on what remains of the forest. Focus on how the forest should look. Visualize in your mind the greenness of the trees, the rocks with no burn marks, and the dirt filled with life once again. Don't try to force all your power out though, that takes too much of your energy."
"Helping recreate this forest might drain me permanently," Aradia pointed out with her voice shaking.
"No," Saul whispered, "it won't and I will tell you why. What gave the witches power was their energy. People believed that once they were killed their energy would disappear. It didn't, because you lived their energy and their power came to you. You are the last witch, the only one capable of receiving their power. It came to you. It is inside of you."
"Why should I even believe you?" Aradia snapped.
"Let me show you how to heal this forest," Saul crooned, "and you will see."
Aradia sighed heavily, but her curiosity to know if Saul spoke the truth got the better of her.
"Do I have to close my eyes?" She asked.
He softly shook his head but still kept his cheek next to her's. "Just focus, visualize, and see what you can really do."
Aradia sighed once again. Closing her eyes, regardless of Saul's instructions, she visualized the forest before she had started her rampage. She imagined the thickness of the leaves and branches, the wet smell of the dirt, the gray color of the stones, even the small patches of moss growing at the foot of the trees.
"Take a deep cleansing breath," Saul instructed, "and try to steady your thoughts and heartbeat."
Aradia did as he said.
"Now hold on to the thought of making this forest beautiful again,"
"And then what?" Aradia inquired.
"You'll see," Saul said in an overconfident voice.
In spite of her eyes being closed, Aradia rolled them. Still she spread her fingers wide and did as Saul had instructed. Slowly, she began to feel her summoning power coursing through her veins. This sensation was nothing new except this time instead of feeling like it was forced the summoning of her power seemed to be flowing through her body like currents of water. Beads of sweat did not appear on her forehead, she had no loss of breath, but most of all she felt omnipotent. This was something she had never felt before, and strangely she found it thrilling.
"Open your eyes," Saul suddenly said.
"Why?"
"Just do it," he stated flatly.
Aradia exhaled through her nose. However, it was when she finally did open her eyes her breath seemed to leave her completely. It was just as Saul had said, the forest looked just as it had before. Nothing remained of the damage Aradia had inflicted on it either on the tree bark or on the ground. There wasn't even any smoke drifting in the air. The grass was just as green had been before, the stones had been moved back to their original spots. Aradia couldn't believe it! She rushed forward to verify what she was seeing and was shocked to feel the grass she was touching feel wet and alive.
"I did it," she said softly, "I really did it!"
"Of course you did," Saul stated while folding his arms. "It doesn't surprise me one bit."
Aradia turned to look at him. In a rush of gratitude, she ran forward and flung her arms around his neck.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" Aradia cried out enthusiastically.
Saul smiled and clung to her, happy for the close contact. Aradia didn't know if it was the spur of the moment or something else but suddenly she tilted her head back and kissed him. Almost as quickly, she jerked back and stared at him in shock.
"I am sorry," she stammered.
Saul, however, looked far from offended. "Don't be."
Aradia chuckled softly, not realizing that in spite of her apology her arms were still around him.
Chapter Seven
After thanking Saul for helping her, she had thought about going back home. However, she became less enthusiastic about it after checking her cell phone and hearing all the angry voice messages from her father.
Saul had noticed her hesitancy.
"You know, you can always come to my place," he suggested.
Aradia raised an eyebrow. At first her instinct was to shout one hell of a huge refusal but whether it was from desperation or just plain aggravation she didn't. She had merely nodded and let Saul take her by the hand. It had been a long walk but eventually they made it to the city. Using the back alleys, Saul had led her to a tall dark building that stood ominously near the pier. He then lead her inside. Aradia didn't know what she had been expecting but it hadn't been what she had seen the moment Saul flipped the switch. Thick lush red carpets lay from corner to corner on the floor, crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, with paintings of landscapes were on the red walls. The furniture consisted of vinyl black sofas and black chairs, four of them in front of a roaring fire, and several oak wood tables. Further back, a huge iron black winding staircase led to another floor where Aradia could easily see a huge red and black velvet bed. She blushed slightly once she noticed that.
"Here," Saul said as he tossed a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt to Aradia, "get out of those filthy clothes and put these on."
Aradia raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell would I want to do that?"
Saul grinned as his gaze swept her from head to toe. "I would have thought you would hate wearing dirt stained clothing but if that's what you want."
Aradia gazed down and realized what he was saying. Aradia's light blue blouse had blotches of dark brown dirt and light green grass stains all up her front. Her jeans were completely caked in mud along with her shoes. Much to Aradia's astonishment she had even tracked mud all the way into Saul's loft.
"There is a bathroom over there," Saul pointed out and extending his whole arm. "So you can change freely."
"Yeah right like you wouldn't peek," Aradia teased.
Saul smirked. "No. I wouldn't. I maybe a vampire but I am a st
ill a gentleman."
"Living in America? Now that would be a first," Aradia chuckled.
Saul chuckled as well and their gazes locked for one brief solid minute. However, seeing his blonde hair shimmer in the light made Aradia think of Dax and thoughts of Dax brought on a streak of bitterness. Aradia then broke the gaze, spun on her heel, and stalked towards to the bathroom. One would think that after hearing her slam the door, Saul would be upset. He wasn't, in fact, he shook his head softly chuckling. Just then his cell phone went off.
Saul flipped it open and said, "talk to me."
The voice on the other line spoke, "progress report please."
Sunlight slowly peeked in through the windows of Saul's loft and disturbed Aradia's slumber. The windows were all thickly boarded up with black painted wooden boards so it was only a slimmer of light. Still a slimmer was all it took for Aradia's eyes to drift open. Yawning and stretching her arms above her head, Aradia looked around. She gazed around, still drowsy, but nevertheless still surprised at the place she had slept at. She wasn't the kind of girl to spend the night at a strange man's house let alone sleep in his big red bed. Aradia stared down at the sheets, smirking slightly as she remembered the argument she had had last night with Saul.
It had been about the sleeping arrangements. Saul had insisted on her using his bed but Aradia had argued that she should sleep on the couch. Saul had then argued persuasively that since she was his guest she was entitled to the bed. He pointed out that by accepting that she would be confirming his belief that he was a gracious host. However, if she kept refusing he would feel bad about not being able to accommodate her.
"And you don't want me to feel bad now do you?" Saul had said, pouting his lip slightly.
Aradia had laughed softly, but in the end she had agreed to sleep in the bed. Saul had looked elated at winning the argument so much so that Aradia's pride was beginning to prick her. Until he had turned away and said in a loud enough voice, "besides its not like I need to sleep in the bed anyway being a vampire makes me more incline to sleep in my coffin. If I want to get a good day's sleep at all."