by Jones, L. A.
Such actions had put her in the line of fire from the other hidden leaders who were starting to view as her as a possible usurper. In order to put such fears to rest Aradia had been given a choice to choose a consort from a hidden race and make her alliances known or risk a war being waged between all of the hidden races in Salem. Needless to say, normal worries like getting her driver's license had taken a back seat. In fact, it was surprising to Aradia how she had even made it this far alive. However, she did not know for how long that would be so. She may have finally chosen her consort, but she didn't really know if the hidden community would take it that well.
"I don't know Daddy really." Aradia returned to eating her cereal.
Ross and Liza look far from comforted.
Marietta, Aradia's ten year old African American foster sister, took pity on both of them and suggested, "How about a pet?"
Ross and Liza's eyes lit up while Aradia raised her head a little, finally intrigued.
"That is a great idea Mattie!" Liza exclaimed. "What do you think Ross?"
He just nodded his consent.
"So Aradia, what kind of pet would you like?" Liza asked.
Aradia shrugged.
It was then when Melina chuckled. "Well since she is a witch, why not get her a black cat?"
Ross and Liza smiled while Aradia threw her a glare of sarcasm. Melina, however, just grinned.
Suddenly there was a ringing from someone's phone, Aradia dive bombed towards hers and cried out enthusiastically, "It's Dax!"
She eagerly flipped the phone open, and after responding casually for a few moments Aradia closed her phone. She then told her parents that Dax was picking her up in fifteen minutes, and she had to get ready.
"What about your breakfast?" Liza asked.
Aradia glanced down at her bowl. She then waved her hand, and made it levitate to the sink. Another flip of her hand made it tip out it's contents, open the dishwasher, and load the bowl in. Finally by merely snapping her fingers the dishwasher shut itself closed.
For a few moments, her family just stared at the dishwasher stunned silent until Melina chuckled softly and said, "damn girl it's a good thing Siegfried and Roy no longer perform or else you would seriously put them out of a job."
Aradia dashed around her room, searching for clothes to wear on her date. She eagerly picked up a light blue blouse, and held it up to the mirror.
"Unless you want him to think about sex don't wear anything with buttons," said a voice from behind her.
Aradia turned to see Melina leaning against the door frame. Melina may have just moved into their house last year, but Aradia and her parents now considered her and her little sister Marietta as part of their family. It had been hard though Aradia had to admit, and not just with Melina's behavior. Melina and Marietta were both African American and Ross, Liza, and Aradia were white, which in itself raised a few eyebrows and unfortunately caused tension. Another issue had been that during the time Aradia had tried to chose a consort, one of her suitors had been a young werewolf named Roy whom Melina had ended up flirting with. Most of all, Melina and Marietta like Ross and Liza were human but unlike Ross and Liza they had had no idea about Aradia or the hidden race.
Amazingly, things had turned out alright but what had really cemented the bond between all of them was last year when Aradia had sacrificed herself to help Melina escape. This had not only earned Aradia Melina's respect and admiration, but her devotion as well.
Even after finding out that Roy was a werewolf had not changed anything, Melina had still professed her undying love for him and the two of them were considered the cutest (if not most controversial) couple in all of Salem. Now Melina and Aradia who had once considered themselves enemies were now friends. Aradia hoped that as the years went by Melina would end up looking towards her as a sister. But for now Aradia was content with being Melina's friend, and appreciative of her fashion advice.
"Thanks Lina," said Aradia as she went for a glittering short sleeve black shirt.
"I hope you are not offended by the black cat joke Rai," Melina joked as she plopped down on to the beanbag chair.
Aradia snorted. "I have heard worst ones aimed directly at me."
As funny as the joke was, it made the mood between them awkwardly silent.
Melina sighed. "So how are things going since you have become the Witch Queen?"
Aradia laughed softly. "I go to meetings almost every single week. I make new laws and then have to make sure people follow them through non-violent means. I hate it! I hate having to do so much. It was bad enough just being the last of my kind. But now..."
Aradia sighed, and clasped her hand to her face. "I know I can't turn my back on it though. I have to do something or else nothing will change. I am the only one who can and the only one who will."
She sighed again deeply.
Melina said nothing at least for a few seconds until finally she stood up, and wrapped her arms around Aradia. "I know its hard sugar but...If anyone can do anything I know you can. You can make a difference honey, I just know it."
"How can you be so sure?" asked Aradia.
"Because," Melina said shrugging. "In the last year, you managed to resist the temptation to kill me in my sleep. If that doesn't prove how you tough you are, I don't know what will."
Aradia laughed as her phone went off again.
Glancing down at the text message, Aradia smiled.
Melina noticed her smile and giggled. "So what do you think you and Dax are going to do today?"
Aradia smiled before racing down the stairs. "He'll think of something."
"Cowabunga!" Dax shouted as he jumped off the cliff.
Raising his arms above his heads, he smiled as he crashed into the pool of water below. After a few seconds, he emerged again, and threw his slicked blonde hair back.
"Bloody hell! That hit the spot!" He shouted as he turned and motioned for Aradia to follow.
She hesitated.
"What's the matter?" He asked.
"It's just," She paused, "I am afraid of heights!"
Dax stared, and then burst out laughing.
"It's not funny!" Aradia snapped.
"Aradia, the all mighty Witch Queen afraid of heights? Brilliant!" He said, snickering.
"Shut up!"
"Make me!" He challenged while raising an eyebrow.
Aradia stared down at him and then without any more hesitation she jumped and crashed into the water.
"God, its freezing!" She cried as soon as she surfaced.
"Oh did I forget to mention that?" Dax joked.
"Why you!" Aradia shouted.
"But if you are really that cold then allow me to warm you up."
"Dax, no!"
She was too late; Dax seized her in his arms and held her close. His arms may have been just as cold as the water around them, but Aradia felt a warm, soothing, feeling flow over her body nonetheless. Dax started to caress her with his hands as if a sculptor would mold clay into a beautiful statue. He then pressed his mouth onto her's and began the same caressing motion with his lips. Aradia melted in to his touch as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Dax," she softly moaned, "Dax."
"Aradia," Dax said as he broke the kiss and started whispering in her ear. "My beautiful Aradia. My Rai of sunshine and rainbow light. My queen. My love."
They had ended up on the beach still kissing and caressing with Aradia weaving her fingers into his hair as Dax seductively wrapped a finger around one of the strings on her black bikini.
"It was so nice of your sister to let me borrow her swimsuit," Aradia murmured in between their kisses.
"It would be," Dax moaned as well, "If she knew it was missing."
Aradia chuckled softly.
As their kiss deepened, Dax drew Aradia closer to him.
Suddenly, he jerked back while Aradia said, "What?"
Dax opened his mouth to say something; only to clamp it shut a few seconds later.
&nbs
p; "Aradia," he began after a while, "Are you sure you are ready?"
Aradia eyes grew wide in confusion, but then narrowed as soon as his words sunk in.
"I don't know Dax," Aradia muttered, "I really don't know."
The conversation between them now silent and awkward, Dax turned his face away from her's as she clutched her knees to her chest.
For a while, it was like this until Aradia said, "You know my birthday is coming up."
Dax smiled at her. "Really? How old will you be?"
"Eighteen," Aradia responded.
"Whoa," Dax exclaimed, "That's old."
"This I get from a vampire?" Aradia joked.
Dax snickered, but then his thoughts grew darker as he remembered something. At the time of the junior prom where they had made their relationship official Dax had promised himself he would tell Aradia the truth. The truth about how old he really was, and what he really knew about her people. However, he had kept putting it off for fear of Aradia's reaction. Now it had been over two months and he knew he couldn't avoid telling her for that much longer. However, he was so afraid of how she might react. Most of all, he was afraid that if he should tell her the truth he would lose her.
"Dax, what is it?" Aradia asked.
He turned his head to look back at her.
"Nothing," He said while forcing another one of his sexy distracting grins. "Nothing, my sweet."
Aradia opened her mouth to protest, but Dax silenced her with a kiss. She then closed her eyes as she quickly lost herself in it while Dax's remained open and fearful.
"So what do you want to do? For your birthday that is?" Dax asked as they drove in his car.
Aradia shrugged as she stared out the window.
Not having anything else to say, Dax turned to look out his own. For a while, they were both awkwardly silent until he saw something dart between the trees. He then slammed on the brakes as hard as he could.
"Dax! What the hell!" Aradia cried as she jerked forward.
Dax didn't even look at her as he jumped out of the car, his head turned quickly from the right to the left like a predator sensing an enemy. Closing his eyes, he sniffed the air as the wind blew past him.
"Dax, what is it?" Aradia as she too got of the car.
He turned to look at her, and then back to the woods, and then back to her.
"It's nothing Aradia love," Dax said, "Nothing."
Aradia tried to question his actions further, but Dax ignored her and got back into the car. He waited for Aradia to do the same. Slowly, she did so but not without giving him one last inquisitive look. Dax seemed to notice nothing as he started the car up and drove off.
However, only a few feet away from where the two of them had driven off, a lighter clicked open behind a tall dark tree. A small flicker of flame could be seen as it was brought up to someone's lips to light up a cigarette.
It was after one puff of smoke escaped into the air that a voice was finally heard in the darkness. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again mate, but life's just full of surprises isn't it?"
"Are you sure you don't want to tell me what's wrong?" Aradia asked Dax as he pulled into her driveway.
Dax didn't answer.
From the time, he had stopped suddenly in the road Dax had just stared ahead as if he was seeing something that she clearly could not. Aradia sighed as she undid her seat belt, and waited to see if he noticed this. He didn't and giving him one last peck on the cheek, Aradia exited the car. By the time she turned to say goodbye, Dax was already driving off down the road. Aradia tried to disguise the hurt she felt as she walked into the house.
However, as hard as she tried she couldn't bring herself to lie to her mother as she asked, "How was your date dear?"
Chapter Four
"I think we should plan something special for her," Melina said the next day at the SilverMoon diner.
She was sitting with her sister Marietta, and Roy and his own siblings. Tristan and his girlfriend/fiancé Titania were there as well.
"Such as?" Roy asked as he propped his chin onto his hand.
Melina shrugged.
While everyone stayed in awkward silence, Tristan chuckled. This was when everyone turned to look at him, begrudgingly.
Al sighed deeply before asking him, "What is it Tristan?"
"I am just thinking that maybe we should throw her a party?" Tristan suggested.
Everyone looked at him, extremely shocked. They hadn't expected him to suggest such a good idea.
Melina's eyebrows, however, still rose in suspicion.
"Do you know if Aradia would like a party?" She asked.
Tristan shrugged. "How should I know? I have never asked her."
Melina opened her mouth, but Titania cut her off. "I think we should throw her a surprise party."
Now everyone's interest was definitely piqued.
"Do you mean we could throw her a surprise party at the club?" Marietta suggested as she slugged down her soda.
Tristan quickly vetoed that idea with a shake of his head. "No, we couldn't hold it there. She'd figured it out in a second. After all, every Friday and Saturday night she throws parties there so if we were to ask if we could use the club out of the blue it would be bound to make her suspicious."
"So then where smart-ass?" Marietta snapped.
The people at the table all turned to look at the ten year old in shock. Her sister, however, was not shocked by her language.
She merely just sipped her cola through her straw as she asked, "Yeah where else could we have it?"
Tristan smiled. "I think I know."
Aradia was shocked at how the news of her birthday was spreading all around Salem. She had always parted crowds before. This time, however, many hiddens instead of gawking at her would actually approach her and ask her what would she like as a gift. At first, Aradia was flattered by all the attention she was receiving but after a while, she had to tell people to slow it down because the humans were starting to take notice. Aradia may have been trying to change the ways of the hidden, but letting the humans learn of their existence was not something she was willing to tackle just yet.
"Do you think I ever will?" Aradia asked Dax as they lay on the hood of his car staring up into the night sky.
They were on another date and had driven to a grassy meadow where they had been stargazing for over an hour.
"It depends," Dax replied, "You have to keep in mind that many of us like remaining hidden and besides if people were to find out that monsters like us actually exist...well let's just say out of all our laws there is a reason for why everyone follows that one."
Aradia turned on her side to stare at him. "Do you really think you are a monster Dax?"
He didn't even hesitate with his answer. "I saw what a vampire is truly capable of with my own two eyes Rai. I saw one kill my mother and now I am one. I of all people know that we are not 'misunderstood creatures' like the media portrays us to be. We are all monsters that are damned to hell and deserve to be."
"But Dax, you are not really like that..." Aradia started.
Dax cut her off by asking, "Do you know how many people I have killed over the years?"
Aradia's face grew solemn.
Dax, however, just raised an eyebrow. "Ah I guess you thought I had never killed anyone before eh? Well I hate to break it to you love, but I have killed people many, many, times. I wasn't always like this Aradia. I wasn't always such a nice guy."
Aradia didn't reply.
Instead, she just drew herself closer and cuddled up to him.
"But you are now," She said in a soft whispery tone. "The past doesn't matter anymore Dax."
"How can you be so sure?" Dax asked.
Aradia, ignoring his tone, went on to say, "Believe me Dax, I of all people know that the past doesn't matter because if it did..."
She trailed off, but only for a second. "Because if it did then I would have mourned my people a lot longer."
At the mention of her peopl
e, Dax grew depressingly silent.
Luckily, Aradia didn't notice. "I realized that even though I hate being the absolute last of my kind, it doesn't matter because I cannot undo such a thing. I can't go back in time and change anything so all I can really do is move forward. The past is unimportant Dax, and it always will be."
"The past is what makes who you are you know?" Dax pointed out.
Aradia shook her head. "No, it's who you chose to be that truly makes you who you are. In my opinion, the past are like ropes that prevent you from going forward. The only way you can go forward is if you break free of them. "
Dax didn't answer; he just wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
After tilting her face upwards to look at him, Dax said, "If only there were more people like you Rai, then maybe the world wouldn't be so messed up."
Aradia smiled as she kissed him.
"Are you sure that's her?" The vampire asked his companion who merely nodded as he withdrew another cigarette from his pocket.
The one who had spoken had long light brown hair that flowed past his shoulders, a blue bandana tied around his head, and a long deep scar that ran right across his face. His companion was another vampire who had shorter, scruffier looking brown hair with a freckled pale face, and was flicking out a lighter to make a small flame appear.
"I told you before mate. I am sure that's her, I am sure that that is the last witch or Witch Queen or whatever." He exhaled the smoke from out of his nose and mouth.
"Who's the guy?"
The smoker paused before taking another drag. "That's her consort Dax."
"Consort?"
"Boyfriend," the smoker translated.
The one with the long hair and scar sighed. "Kolton's not going to like this. He's never been one for competition."
The smoker laughed in a rasping voice. "Not much competition if you ask me."