by Jones, L. A.
"You are part of our family now and that is what families do," was the explanation they gave Melina when she asked why they were doing all this.
If that was not enough, when Christmas day rolled around Melina and Marietta had gotten fabulous gifts from Ross, Liza, and even Aradia. Not only were they not used to such a thing, but also it boggled their minds that anyone would go all through that trouble for either of them. However, when they asked this of the Prestons the previous explanation had been used once again. Things had been so good that by now, Marietta was calling the Preston couple, "Mom" and "Dad."
Melina, however, was still unsure about how this would all play out. She had long since gotten used to the ideas that the world was not fair and people could be cruel. However, so far Ross and Liza had been no such thing even Aradia...
Melina's eyes narrowed as she thought about Aradia. She knew that ever since she came here she had not made life easy for her, but it was still surprising how much Aradia had been willing to take. In spite of the bullying, the stealing of her stuff like her homework and jewelry, and dating one of the guys that she was obviously into Aradia still put up with Melina.
Melina wanted to believe it was because she was following her parent's instructions: to treat her and her sister like members of the family. However, Melina got the feeling that it was much more than that. She thought back to all the times she had seen Aradia huddled together with Dax, and the others whispering as if they shared some sort of a dangerous secret. She also noticed how whenever she passed, people stared at Aradia as if she was some sort of celebrity. Melina thought it was strange how Aradia seemed to order everyone about like a commander of a private army and no one ever seemed to complain. No matter what it was, whenever Aradia told someone to do something the person obeyed her without a moment's hesitation. Stranger still, the expression on his or her faces would be that of someone who had been granted the highest honor. Originally, Melina had thought it was because Aradia ran a secret club and threw illegal raves every Friday and Saturday night. However, Melina was beginning to doubt that that was the reason.
It was common knowledge that Aradia did not own the place where the club was located. Her parents may have been very well off especially with Ross's new promotion. However, with three children in the house even they could not afford to buy a club. If Aradia did not allow drugs or alcohol to be sold at the club, and did not charge for the drinks or even the food then Melina was at a loss how Aradia could afford anything. Most curious of all, at every one of those parties by the end of the night the place was always filthy. However, whenever Aradia told Melina that she was ready to go home the place would be clean as a whistle. It was as if she was able to clean the place with super speed, Melina thought and then chuckled at the unlikeness of this.
However, after a few moments of chuckling Melina's face grew serious once more. Come think of it, she thought to herself, I have noticed that Aradia seems to be a bit faster than anyone else is. She seems a lot stronger too and I have noticed that Aradia seems to be capable of doing things that seem almost supernatural.
Melina now remembered a particular incident where she had almost walked in on Aradia in the kitchen. Instead of popping her drink in the microwave, Aradia just held out her hand over her mug. While Melina hid behind the corner, she had seen Aradia close her eyes, and hold her out hand. In a matter of seconds, a strange white light glow appeared from her palm. The white light only lasted a few minutes, but as it faded away the mug became steaming hot.
Melina knew it sounded impossible, but she still could not help but suspect that Aradia was not human. However, Melina argued with herself, if she was not human then what was she?
Roy was nervous because tonight was a full moon night and his family was already at the safe house. He had been intending to go as well, but had lost track of the time while practicing his guitar at school. By the time he reached had his house, it was already getting dark and he knew he had to restrain himself quickly. He had been lucky the last time when he had bit Aradia, and she had not been turned but the next time...he just was not willing to take that chance. However, as he was getting ready to slap on his manacles, the doorbell rang. At first, he ignored it but the bell continued to ring. Soon he caught a whiff of the scent of the person who was ringing the doorbell, and realized it was Melina. Sweating and swearing profusely, Roy sprang to his feet and ran to the door.
"Hi Melina," he said smiling.
Melina smiled in return but only before she asked, "Can we talk?"
Roy fidgeted nervously. "Um do you mind if we do this some other time?"
But Melina had already pushed past him. Roy's breathing became heavy as soon as he closed the door, and Melina turned around.
"Look Roy, I know this is going to sound crazy, but the thing is I have noticed something is going on and I get the feeling a lot of it has to do with Aradia."
Roy clutched his chest as his heartbeat began to speed up, but Melina chose to ignore it. "I know I have no right to ask, but since I live in the same house with her I figure I should know the truth. I also figure since you are her friend, you are bound to know what is going on."
"Melina, can we please talk about this some other time?" Roy said as he tried to prevent himself from doubling over.
"No," Melina snapped. "We cannot. I need to know the truth Roy."
She sighed, still ignoring the beads of sweat on Roy's head, and him clutching his chest in pain.
"I know you feel like you would be violating her trust, but for God's sake I need to know. I know you have hardly any reason to trust me, but the fact is I care about you Roy. You have every reason to confide in me. After all, we do have feelings for each other right?"
She turned to the table, still talking. "At least, I know I do. I have genuine feelings for you Roy and you..."
Melina trailed off when she noticed the manacles on the table.
"You have chains and things," She continued nervously. "Why do you have chains and things?"
Roy was about to give her a feeble, but quick excuse when all of a sudden he looked up through the skylight and froze in terror. Staring down at him and shining brightly was the full moon. As soon as one of its rays landed on Roy's hand, he began to go into horrible convulsions.
Trying one last time to warn her, Roy summoned all the self-control he had left to gasp, "Melina run! Now!"
He then fell onto the floor behind the couch, the will to hold back the animal inside of him finally broken.
Melina spun around the moment she heard Roy's warning, and his grunts and groans of pain. Against her better judgment, Melina slowly edged towards the couch.
"Roy, Roy, are you ok?" She kept asking.
Suddenly, she heard the grunts and groans stop. It was just as Melina began to relax when an enormous wolf sprang up from behind the couch standing on its hind legs, with murder and hunger reflecting in its eyes. At first, Melina stood stunned unable to move or think, but then she noticed the torn clothing around the wolf's body. It was the very same as Roy's!
"Roy," Melina shrieked, "Is that you?"
He roared in reply.
Melina then turned on her heel, and raced out the back door.
Chapter Ten
Melina ran out into the dark woods, screaming for her life. Rocks on the ground, branches from the tree, and bushes kept grabbing at Melina as if trying to hold her back. The icy cold wind slapped at her face while the snowy, slippery, mud sucked at her boots. In spite of all this, Melina kept running and running. The cold, the stumbling, the scratches from the branches left visible marks on Melina, but she did not seem to even feel any of them. All Melina could feel was the fear and confusion coursing through her veins.
Werewolves are not supposed to exist! She thought frantically to herself. They are supposed to be creatures of fantasy for crying aloud! Most of all, I just can't believe that Roy is one. My sweet and gentle Roy! A monster! I can't believe it.
Melina turned her head to see if Roy
was following her and as soon as she did, so her heart sank. There, chasing after her on all fours, growling, drooling, and looking vicious was Roy in his werewolf form. He was running after her, and gaining! Melina turned her head back still intent on racing for her life. She was so focused on what was straight ahead of her that she did not notice the rock in her path at least not until she stumbled over it, and fell hard on to the icy cold muddy ground. She struggled to get up as quickly as she could, but Roy was getting closer. Melina tried to stand, but the muddy ground kept latching onto her boots and throwing her off balance.
Roy had almost reached her, and leapt forward with his mouth wide open. Melina held up her arms in an instinctive attempt to protect herself. She could almost feel Roy's hot breath as he came towards her when all of sudden a gust of wind threw Roy back several feet. As he soon as he stopped skidding, Roy quickly rose again onto his hind legs. Melina looked at her savior only to be shocked once she realized it was Aradia! She placed herself in front of Melina, ready to protect her. Roy once again ran towards them, but Aradia was ready. Using both her legs, she jumped up and kicked Roy in his chest causing him to fall down once again. However, it did not stop him for long. He leapt at Aradia once again, and they tumbled on to the ground. Aradia then grabbed a stick, and forced it into Roy's mouth trying to keep him from biting her. She used both her hands to hold the stick in place, so far back into his mouth that in spite of his snapping at her non-stop, his teeth could not chomp it to pieces.
Melina then saw something else moving so quick that it looked like a light blue colored whirlwind. It went straight for Roy and shoved him off Aradia. Melina's mouth dropped open upon seeing it was Dax. Only he looked very different as he grasped Aradia's hand, and hoisted her up. After one quick glance at his face, Melina was shocked to see he had fangs protruding from his mouth.
He is a vampire! Melina realized.
Although Aradia had gotten a glimpse of Melina's shocked face and understood her shock and fear, she could not stop to explain.
"Did you bring it?" Aradia asked turning back to Dax.
He nodded, and pointed to a rifle that lay near Melina.
"It has the animal tranquilizers in it, but I don't know if that will knock him out for long." Dax then turned to a growling Roy and readied himself to attack.
Aradia's face grew thoughtful, snapped her fingers, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small plastic bottle.
Dax stared at her, confused.
"Here's the plan," she explained. "You hold Roy off, I will get the gun, tranquilize him, and then we can force him to drink this potion."
"What good will that do?" Dax demanded as he and Roy started circling each other.
"Just trust me!" Aradia shouted back as she went towards the gun.
Roy noticed her moving and instead of racing towards Dax, he leapt at Aradia who in the nick of the time managed to flip onto her back, and kick him over! Aradia had barely any time to face him before Roy attacked her again. Dax rushed forward to help Aradia, but with one swift blow from his paw, Roy knocked him back. Dax struggled to get back on his feet as Roy began to dive towards Aradia's throat ready to tear it out.
Suddenly, there was a loud shot and Roy clutched his shoulder where a feathered needle was now poking out. Another shot rang out and Roy fell completely over, his erratic breathing beginning to slow down to a leisurely pace. Aradia and Dax looked towards the shot came from and there standing holding the rifle was a dirty, sweaty, Melina.
Looking blankly at the two of them, she slowly lowered the gun, sank to the ground, and breathed heavily while muttering in a shocked tone, "I shot Roy! I shot Roy!"
Gathering her wits, Aradia popped the top off the potion, and ran towards Roy. Quickly, she put Roy's head on her lap.
"Dax, help me get his mouth open," Aradia instructed
Dax nodded, quickly took hold of Roy's jaw, and pried it open. He then shuddered, and drew back but was careful not to remove his hands.
"My God!" He said in a disgusted voice. "Do these werewolves ever brush their bloody teeth?"
Aradia tried to restrain a chuckle as she poured the potion into Roy's mouth, and tilted his head so he would swallow it. A few tense seconds passed before Roy's whole being started to shake. His hairy paws then turned back into his hands, and his body began to shrink. Soon Roy was back to his human form sleeping soundly while Dax stared down at him in shock.
"What did you do to him?" Dax asked Aradia.
"It's a potion made out of wolfsbane," Aradia explained, "It's an herb that can be used as a common cure for Werewolves."
"So he is cured?" Dax asked, completely astounded.
Aradia shook her head. "No. Newly turned werewolves can be cured, but those who are born werewolves...well those conditions are unchangeable. However, what this potion can do is temporarily revert the werewolf back to his or her human form."
"How do you know this?" Dax asked.
Aradia smiled and said, "I am the last witch remember? I know all."
"And," she added with a shrug. "I also spent the last month doing some research on ancient potions so I thought..." She shrugged again.
"How did you know it would work?" Dax asked.
Aradia grinned slyly. "I went to random biker werewolf only bars, picked fights, and tested it on the ones I knocked out."
Dax's mouth dropped open in shock.
Aradia then shrugged sheepishly.
Melina was still holding the gun, her heart racing like the Daytona 500.
Maybe I am going crazy, she thought to herself.
Suddenly, Aradia and Dax noticed Melina and Aradia rubbed her hand across her face before turning to Dax. "Is it okay if we come over to your house?"
Chapter Eleven
Melina awoke with a start.
"Thank God it was just a dream," She muttered.
However, once she sat up she realized she was not in her bed at the Preston house. She was lying on a couch in front of a fireplace of what appeared to be a large manor with a black jacket covering her like a blanket.
She soon heard voices coming from the corridor. She then got up from the couch and began to creep towards them.
"Are you sure I didn't bite her? If I turned her I swear to God..."
"Roy relax, I checked her out she's safe."
"Are you sure Aradia?"
"Have I ever been wrong before?"'
"Well there was this one time..."
"Look! She is safe I am sure of it. If not...well at least we won't have to worry about her spilling her guts."
"If anything Roy, you should be thanking Aradia for saving you. Again!"
"Now, now Dax you helped too remember?"
"Yeah that surprised me a lot. Why did you help me Dax?"
"You mean pass up an opportunity to beat your ass down? No bloody way."
Melina's eyes grew wide as she listened. It was not a dream after all. Dax was a vampire, Aradia was a witch, and Roy was a werewolf.
"Yeah I am sorry Melina, but it is true," a voice said suddenly from around the corner.
Melina spun around to face Aradia who was looking at her sympathetically.
Aradia reached out, but Melina backed away.
"Don't touch me!" Melina shouted, "Stay away from me! You...you monster! You freak!"
"Hey!" Dax said as he rounded the corner as well. "Don't you talk to her like that!"
"Don't yell at her Dax!" Roy snapped, stepping out from behind him as well.
An awkward silence filled the room until Melina asked, "Just who or what the hell are you people?"
Aradia sighed. "I think it's pretty obvious at this point Lina, but I will still explain. Dax is a vampire, Roy is a werewolf, and I am witch."
"The last witch actually," Dax, corrected her under his breath.
Aradia shot him a warning look.
She then continued, "We are not the only ones though. There are other vampires, and werewolves in addition to fae's (fairies) and shape-shifters l
iving in Salem and all over the world. We are called the hidden race because the one law that we all follow is we must remain hidden from the human world. In other words no one in the human race is allowed to know about us."
Melina gulped. "Are you planning to kill me?"
Aradia looked shocked. "No. What makes you think that?"
"But you just said..." Melina began.
"What I mean is 'please don't tell anyone about us Melina we would really appreciate it'," Aradia said smiling.
Melina just stared at her.
A few silent moments passed until she started to shout, "You are all freaks! Weirdos! Monsters! You are all monsters!"
She then dashed towards the front door, yanked it open, and ran out.
The trio was now stunned silent until Dax sighed and said, "Well you know what she is going to do right?"
Roy shook his head.
Dax groaned and explained, "She is going to tell everyone. We will all be in danger!"
"Hardly," Aradia muttered.
The boys turned to look at her in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Dax asked.
Aradia chuckled sarcastically. "If she tells anyone, no will believe her. If anything they will probably throw her into the nut house."
"Why won't they believe her?" Roy asked.
"Well," said Aradia, "First of all, the whole concept of 'hidden race' is ridiculous at least to anyone who doesn't know otherwise. Second, let's just say there is something to be said for a criminal record."
They both stared at her, still confused.
Aradia sighed before clarifying. "Considering the amount of arrests Melina has gotten over the years. It sheds a real negative light on her creditability so needless to say anyone believing her after looking at her rap sheet would have to be the most delusional person in the world."