Tales of Aradia: The Last Witch

by Magnum Opus

  Ross smiled and now filled with a sudden urge to make the kid laugh he said, "hey firecracker if you think you're so special why don't you fix my pickup for me?" he gestured towards the engine with his thumb. "Ross that's not funny," Liza said with a barely concealed smile. Ross, on the other hand, laughed out loud and turned to look back at the pickup. His mouth than dropped open in complete shock. "Ross? What is it?" Liza asked suddenly worried about her husband's sudden change in his expression. Ross didn't say anything he just gestured at the car. Liza peered at the engine and said, "It looks fine to me." "Yeah it does," Ross said slowly. "But I thought you said it was broken?" Liza asked confused. "It was broken..." said Ross again in a slow shocked tone. Liza shook her head. "I don't understand Ross." "Me neither. I mean maybe I was wrong but I could have sworn...," Ross said in disbelief. He rubbed his hand over his face sighed and said, "Oh well its fixed now so I supposed we should get going." Liza nodded in agreement. "Let me just double check everything and we'll be on our....owwww!" Ross suddenly leaped away from the pickup. "Ross! Ross! What is it?" Liza asked frantically. "It's my hand I cut it on one of the gears..." Ross explained. "Oh well that's easily fixable," said Liza with a sigh of relief, "I'll get the first aid kit and..." "Uh Liza..." Ross interrupted. "What?" asked Liza. She suddenly glanced down in the same direction Ross was looking at only to see the little girl reaching towards Ross's injured hand. However, while Ross's hand seemed to be bleeding the little girl's was glowing with bright white light. She slowly reached towards Ross, grabbed his hand and right before their eyes Ross and Liza watched his cut disappear so quickly and so cleanly that it seemed as if it had never been there in the first place. The both of them glanced down at her in sudden shock while she gazed up at them beaming like sunshine. Ross glanced down at his hand which was now completely healed and then at the girl whose own hand had stopped glowing and was now resting its thumb in the infant's mouth.

  "It has begun," Morgan gasped out loud as she meditated in the throne room. Quickly, she summoned a crow to perch upon her finger. After whispering into it's ear, the crow flew off. A few tense seconds later, the master burst into the room. "What?" he snapped, "what is it?" Morgan inhaled deeply before speaking, "I have sensed that the child: the one who escaped the persecution of her people has appeared!"

  The master scoffed, "the last witch? You mean to tell me the last witch lives?" Inhaling deeply again, Morgan said, "yes master I am afraid so." Now it was the master's turn to inhale deeply, "unbelievable. Over three hundred years go by without her appearing only to now..." He trailed off sighing, "well nothing to be done now. Morgan scry for the identity of the last witch so that I may arranged for her to be dealt with." Morgan merely gulped in response. "What's wrong?" The master demanded. "Master...I...as you know...I am not a witch merely a demon born with the sight therefore I cannot..."Morgan began while trembling. "What?" the master said his voice dangerously soft. "I cannot tell you who she is because I honestly don't know..."continued Morgan. The master sped towards her and gripped Morgan by the throat. Morgan gasped, her feet dangling in their air. "Please master," she pleaded weakly. He dug his nails into her throat making her whimper as she gasped. After a few minutes of this though, the master slowly let her go. He grumbled in frustration but after running his fingers through his blonde hair, he let out an exasperated breath. "Isn't there any way to locate her?" he finally asked. Morgan nodded weakly still clutching her neck. "How?" the master snapped. In a croaking weak voice, Morgan said, "should this girl ever use her powers in extremity then it will be easy to locate her..." "So if she uses her powers we can find her?" the master said in a sneering cheerfully voice. Reluctantly, Morgan said, "no master only if she uses her powers at her fullest extent we will be able to..." The master moved towards her again and Morgan cowered in fear. Inches away from her, the master stopped, sighed and said, "well until that time I guess I will have to post spies amongst all the clans in the world to keep an eye on the hidden population." "All around..."Morgan began. "Well since you don't know who she is then you obviously do not know where she is do you?" the master snapped at her. Morgan hung her head nodding. The master snorted and said, "so I have to make sure every place is covered. There's no telling where she will turn up. No telling at all."

  Chapter Two

  "Well now everything seems to be in order," the social services worker said with a flourish of papers. Ross and Liza were both grinning from ear to ear. Ross was holding Liza's hand while in the crook of her arm slept the little girl they had found in the woods and in the past few months had helped convince them that this was the little girl that they wanted to call theirs. If anyone who knew their secret would ask them Ross and Liza would reluctantly admit that not only what the girl had done with both the car and Ross's hand had not only shocked them but also made them a little scared of her. Especially after it was later revealed to them that the girl seemed to display other exceptional abilities as well such as making dead flowers grow in a vase, and charming every single one of the pets in the neighborhood including the nasty Doberman that was ironically named "Sweetie" by its owners while everyone else called it, "the dog from hell!"

  However, after spending time with the little girl and showing her what and when was a good time and place to use her powers. Such as lighting a fire in the fireplace and not the front yard during the annual neighborhood summer block party. Speaking to her in a calm voice whenever she got upset and made the house shake furiously. By basically treating her like a normal infant Ross and Liza had discovered that the girl was not only a real sweetheart that made their hearts melt when she smiled but also just like any other child in need of some good guidance and unconditional love.

  Unfortunately, children with supernatural abilities weren't exactly in high demand for adoption agencies and Ross and Liza were afraid that if they should give her up whomever took her in would take advantage of her. Most especially the couple realized that in spite of her tendency to make ice sculptures while she was in the bathtub the little girl really was just like any other kid whom just needed good parents. Just like Ross and Liza were two people who really wanted children. So with a phone call and three long months of legal and medical procedures concerning the little girl Ross and Liza had almost completed the process of making her theirs forever. At least until the social worker suddenly glanced up and said, "All we need is a name." "A name?" Ross and Liza both said at the same time. "Why, yes a name?" the social worker looked at them smiling, "don't tell me you haven't thought of a name for her?" "Oh sure we have plenty of names thought out," Ross furiously protested. That is if sweetheart', 'angel face', and 'princess' can actually be considered real names, he thought to himself. "Well since you've given it so much thought how about telling me so I can seal the deal?" the social worker remarked chuckling to herself as if adopting was rather a bargain sale than a life changing situation. Ross scowled and thought about exactly what he'd like to tell this woman when Liza suddenly interrupted and said, "Her name is Aradia." "What?" Ross and the social worker both exclaimed at the same time and then glared at each other. "Yes, her name is Aradia," Liza stated firmly. Ross leaned in towards his wife as the social worker wrote the name down and asked, "Where did you get that name Liza?" "What?" Liza asked.

  "That name" Ross asked once again, "Aradia, where did you get it? Is it from a book or something?" "It's her name," Liza repeated. "Yes, yes, I know all that but my question is how do you know?" Ross asked looking at her with large curious eyes.

  Liza shrugged uncomfortable under her husband’s scrutiny and said, "I don't know how, I just do." She than glanced down at the little girl smiling up at and repeated, "I just know that this girl's name is Aradia." Ross chuckled and said, "Just like you know that there is something special about her right?" Liza grinned looking up at her husband and said, "Yeah."

  Chapter Three

  "Rai!!!!! WAKE UP RAI!!!!!" the shrill voice of her mother pierced Aradia's (Rai) dreams like a hot knife through butter. It jolt
ed her out of her slumber and made her think for the hundredth time how much she was looking forward to going to college in another state where her mother (especially her mother's voice) would be a thousand miles away and therefore unable to reach her. But for now she was still in her bed, in her new home in Salem, Massachusetts about to go to her new high school and fighting back the urge to say "to hell with it all" and stay in bed all day. Alas, it was not to be for as Aradia started to drift back to sleep her mother threw open her room door and said, "C’mon Aradia get up or you're going to miss the bus!" "No, I am not," Aradia grumbled. "Oh? and why not?" her mother asked with her hands on her hips, an eyebrow raised, and the puppy bathrobe she wore every morning looking as ridiculous as ever. "Because Dad's driving me," Aradia replied smirking.

  Her mother's mouth clamped shut. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence passed, her mother turned on her heel and said, "ah well than I guess the big breakfast I made for you Belgian waffles, cheddar cheese omelets, orange juice, and homemade blueberry muffins will just have to go to your father then, who I may add has been known to clean his plate in addition to the table, while you get some more sleep."

  Aradia shot up straight in her bed and said, "you fight dirty. You know that don't you?" "I prefer to think of it as being your mother," Aradia's mother replied with a smirk. Aradia gave her mother a mocked scowl. Her mother in return just smiled at her and slammed the door on her way back to the kitchen. Aradia then proceeded to go to her dresser to pick out her clothes. Technically, put on her clothes seeing as she already laid them out for the first day of school weeks ago. It might have sounded pathetic to most people but most people did not have to start their freshman year in a brand new school in a brand new state thousands away from their old home in Nebraska! And of all the places to move to it had to be "Witch Central". The very state where the Salem witch trials had occurred but ironically had hung and imprisoned no real witches at all. In spite of this or perhaps because of this Salem was the center of much tourism and mysticism.

  But that did not matter to Aradia now; all that did matter to her was making a good first impression at her new school. Aradia examined her reflection, taking one last look at herself in the mirror, which was almost always the same. A plump but curvy, pale-skinned, freckled and round-faced teenage girl with long wavy red hair in addition to green eyes that her father swore could see right through people's souls.

  At first, Aradia was pleased with what she saw but her smile promptly melted into a shocked look of horror after seeing a huge whitehead zit on her forehead. Her first thought was to shriek in terror and lock her bedroom door to prevent her parents from dragging her to school with the evil looking blemish on her face. In addition, to looking gross the zit could do something much worse: ruin her intended first impression at her brand new school! A school she was doomed to stay at for four long years with the same closed clique people teasing her and god knows what else they would do if they saw her looking like this. But then her mood suddenly lifted remembering the latest concoction she had made just yesterday from the herbs in the garden. One that she had created with the intent of clearing one's skin. However, once again her smile faded realizing she did not know where it was. But once again that smile of hers came back into view remembering her sure-fire strategy to find anything that was lost.

  She held out her palm, closed her eyes, envisioned the small bottle she had put the potion in, and all of sudden a bright white light started to emerge from her outstretched hand like steam from a kettle. Aradia then promptly opened her eyes and with one last blinding flash of the white light the very bottle filled with the very potion she needed appeared in her hand. "Rai! Come on hurry up! I can't keep protecting your breakfast from your father forever you know!" her mother's loud voice disrupted the climactic moment Aradia had experienced when she 'summoned' the bottle into her hand. "I am coming Mama! And I appreciate the effort into trying to save my breakfast from the Daddy Disposal!"Aradia shouted back.

  "I heard that!" this time a strong male voice responded to Aradia's instead of a soft female one, "and don't shout in the house!"

  "Okay Daddy!"

  "What did I just tell you?!"

  Aradia smirked and turned to her mirror and began to smear the pale pink paste from inside the bottle on her chin. Suddenly realizing how long it would take for the zit to go away on its own even with the paste Aradia decided one more 'summoning' wouldn't hurt. Pressing her fingers hard onto the spot on where she just smeared the paste the white light was seen once again but only for a little bit as both the paste and zit quickly disappeared. "Okay, Okay! I am here no need to call the patrol captain of the Salem Police Department!" Aradia announced as she skipped down the stairs into the kitchen where her family was having breakfast. "Too late," her father murmured. "Oh yeah that's right," Aradia said in a voice that dripped with mocked innocence, "my Daddy IS the patrol captain of the S.P.D or at least the newest one of Salem." "Don't remind me," he grumbled, swigging down a huge gulp of orange juice. "What's your problem?" Aradia demanded angrily which is what she usually did when people didn't laugh at her attempts at humor. "Oh ignore him honey," her mother said as she laid down a huge plate of the pre-described breakfast she had promised Aradia. "Your father is just upset about being the newest cop on the block."Aradia's father (otherwise known as Ross Preston) scowled at his wife who just looked at him and said, "Well you are!" "Look Liza you can't really blame me for being grouchy about this whole situation. It’s bad enough that the last captain they had was dismissed from the department under a cloud of scandal ("and cocaine,"Aradia interjected and automatically receiving a warning look from her father) furthermore since we moved from Nebraska the other cops I will be working with are going think that I am just some glorified backwater cowboy whose only value will be making them look good!" "Which of course," Aradia replied, "is a lot of BS." Ross smiled in spite of himself.

  Chapter Four

  Besides Aradia's father predecessor being forced to retire after getting his hand caught in the cookie jar (otherwise known as the cocaine evidence bag) there was another reason why the Preston's had decided to leave their old home. Although her parents denied it Aradia knew that she was that very reason. She had unintentionally made the atmosphere in Nebraska so uncomfortable that leaving it seemed to be the only choice they had. When she was adopted she had lived in Ohio but upon Ross getting a new job offer in Nebraska they had decided to move. However, once they moved there and Aradia started first grade is when the trouble first started. It wasn't just her powers that made Aradia stand out (although they did play a big part in it) it was also the fact that she was smarter, stronger than all the kids in her old middle school combined, never got sick once in all the years she had lived there not even with a common cold, and somehow she knew what exactly what people were thinking before they even said anything. Almost as if she could read their minds. Needless to say, because of all this making friends had been hard for Aradia. She had been shunned, insulted by both her peers and their parents but worst of all she had been bullied. While most people (especially the teachers at her old school) had accepted this as a part of life Aradia could not. It was not like she really cared what the people who bullied her thought about her, but it was because of her powers that she was worried that one day she might lose her temper and strike out at someone. This would result with terrible consequences, which unfortunately is just what happened.

  It had happened with a boy whom Aradia had hated ever since she moved to Nebraska. Since the day he first met her he had taken to calling her names and spreading horrible rumors about her as well. But it was on the day that he had decided to take a picture of her mother who was an art teacher at the school, photoshop her mother's head onto that of a playboy model's naked body and proceeded to pass thousands of copies out in the halls that Aradia finally lost it. In a fit of rage she had tackled the boy right in front of a window! However, she had underestimated her strength and forgot that they were on the fourth
floor, and by doing so Aradia had managed to plunge both her and the boy straight through it! The two of them ended up falling on to the hard concrete parking lot. Aradia with her healing powers had been unhurt and so was the boy (who had fallen on top of Aradia) but after that episode her parents whom from the very start had suspected that leaving the school and state was in Aradia's best interest decided enough was enough. So after convincing the boy’s parents not to press charges, ironically with help from the boy himself who did not want everyone to know that he had gotten thrown out the window by a girl! The Preston’s accepted the first jobs that came their way, packed their things and never looked back. Aradia was not sorry to leave, but she was scared to start the whole process of social isolation all over again. But oh well, thought Aradia as she climbed into her father's patrol car, nothing to do about it now except move on and besides you never know I might find what I am looking for here. I might find the one thing I have wanted most in the world since day one here in Salem. I might find friends.

  "Are you sure you're okay with my driving you to school in my patrol car?" Ross asked Aradia as they drove to her brand new school. "Of course it is Dad, I mean who wouldn't want to show up at their first day of school being dropped off by a cop car?" Aradia teased her father. His face fell, "so you aren't ok with this?" "I am joking, Daddy seriously lighten up," Aradia said and gave him a soft punch on the arm. "Sorry. I guess I am kind of nervous about this whole situation," Ross sighed. "Hey c'mon Daddy you'll be great I know you will." "Is this your desire-to-motivate-me or your unique all-knowing-self talking?" asked Ross his daughter cocking his head to the side with a nervous grin. Aradia frowned and said, "You know Daddy just because I am able to do the whole 'Medium' thing does not mean I can predict everything about the future." "I know honey, I am just teasing you" Ross said smiling. Aradia smiled in spite of herself and said, "The fact is Dad there are some things in life you need proof of but other things you can just tell without psychic flashes." "And us all being happy in our new home is one of those things?" asked Ross. Aradia grinned and said, "Damn right."