Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume 3 (2 page)

He then sighed, and held her
face in his both his hands. "Don't let him do that to you love. I
know he is dead, but do not let him keep that power. Don't let him
play God with your life, but most of all don't give him the
satisfaction," said Dax.

Before Aradia could even say
anything in response, he wrapped his arms about her, and held
her.

"You can do this sweet heart
but at your own pace. You can move on but only when you are ready.
Until that time..." He sighed and looked at her again.

"Until that time I will wait
for you," he said smiling. "Because God knows you are worth
it."

"I can't believe it!" Keon
shouted at the top of his lungs as he clawed at a nearby painting
like a wild animal even going so far as to rip it right off the
wall.

He shredded it to ribbons
while muttering, "Can't believe it. I just cannot believe it. I
just can't believe it!"

"What?" Saul asked as he
stepped into the lair, and marveled at the damage.

Everything that belonged to
Keon that even had the fraction of a possibility of being broken
lay smashed on the floor.

Saul took a deep breath and
asked again, "What's the matter?"

Keon rose from the painting
he was currently destroying to look at Saul with narrowed angry
eyes. It was all Saul could do from leaping back in
fright.

"What's wrong?" Keon finally
growled as he rubbed his hand over his face. "What's wrong? I will
tell you what is wrong! After all the trouble, I go to planning an
effective way to capture the last witch those worthless McAlester
brothers bungle it! Now not only does she walk free, but also she
has achieved more political power in the hidden world than ever
before! If that is not bad enough she is persisting in her
promoting tolerance theories and 'gatherings' and people have
started to follow her views!"

He howled as he slammed his
fist against the wall, and made a huge chunk of the stone crack and
fall! Keon's breathing became heavy with anger as he straightened
up. Saul chose this time to ask what had happened. He was then told
that the McAlester brothers were dead in addition to the head of
all the vampire clans in Pennsylvania and his clan. Most surprising
of all, hatred was common in the hidden world especially between
the races, and yet a handful of hiddens had been able to put aside
their differences just to save Aradia. Saul did not know whether to
be shocked, intimidated, or impressed. Keon, however, was neither.
He was tired, angry, and frustrated that not only had the McAlester
brothers failed in a plan that he himself had brilliantly devised
but that that this scrawny little child was turning out to be a
bigger bother then he thought! He hated being wrong, but now he was
beginning to hate Aradia even more!

When he had been told to
observe her, Keon had felt nothing but resentment. The changes she
had done such as the club, and promoting tolerance had only helped
to build the resentment.

He and Saul, who was his
second in command of the clan, personally led the Night Shadow
Vampire clan and had been faithful servants of the Sovereign since
the day they helped him take the throne. In return for their
loyalty, they had been rewarded riches, and more power than Keon
had thought imaginable. However, in spite of the support he had
given the Sovereign in the coup he was still considered a subject
so when he was given an order he had to follow it. So when he was
told personally by the Sovereign to move his entire clan from
Transylvania to the United States, Keon had obeyed without any
hesitation.

In the beginning, he had had
no complaints. In fact, Keon had grown quite comfortable in Salem,
and had fallen in love with the fact that since he was one of the
Sovereign's followers he was virtually untouchable. He could cause
all the damage, and chaos he wanted with no fear of punishment. He
could even blatantly walk right up to another vampire, or a
werewolf, fae, or shape-shifter, and brutally murder them in front
of their friends, family, and still walk away just as confident as
before. Why? Because he firmly believed that with the Sovereign's
protection, he was invincible.

Aradia, however, had changed
all that. She was now more feared than anyone else was in the
hidden world even more than the Sovereign was. This meant that no
longer could Keon do any damn thing he wanted. Now he was forced to
keep a low profile as he observed Aradia, and this in itself really
pissed him off.

"Oh you are going to regret
not letting them kill you when they had the chance you stupid
little witch." Keon muttered and clenching his fist. "You are going
to regret it enormously! I swear to freaking God!"

"We're taking in two foster
girls," Ross Preston announced at the dinner table on
Sunday.

Aradia stopped as soon as
she heard this, with her spoon filled with soup halfway to her
mouth. She blinked a couple of times before looking up at her
parents.

"What?" she whispered
softly.

Ross grunted, Liza took the
hint, and explained to Aradia, "We're taking in two foster girls.
Their names are Melina, and Marietta. They are from Brooklyn, NY.
Marietta is nine and Melina is your age so we expect you to help
her out at school."

Aradia still sat completely
stunned. Until finally she gathered her broken wits, and cried out,
"Mom, Dad are you nuts? You can't take in two foster
girls!"

"Why not?" Ross asked
her.

"Why?" Aradia sputtered,
"Because...because now with me being forced to chose a consort. Me
still running my nightclub to promote tolerance and... How do you
expect to hide my powers from them because most likely these girls
are going to be human?"

Ross sighed. "Believe me
Aradia, we know that this is tough and we realize how much pressure
you are under."

"The thing is," Liza added
to her husband's statement. "These girls have nowhere else to go.
The social services only just seized them from their parents in
Brooklyn after a drug bust."

"They even have recordings
of the father offering his daughters to the dealers to pay off his
debts," Ross grumbled and clenched his fists.

Liza continued while
ignoring her husband's comment. "The sad truth is Aradia; these
girls have had a hard time. They need stability but most of all
they need a good home and we can provide that."

"But what if they take
advantage of us?" Aradia asked.

"Then they go it is simple
as that," Ross stated.

He then rose from the table,
put his dishes in the dishwasher, and turned to look back at
them.

"They will be arriving in
one week so we need you to help fix up the house in preparation,"
said Ross.

"And as for your powers,"
Liza added, "All we ask is for you to keep a low profile but only
at home. Outside and anywhere else, you can use your powers okay?
Just not at home."

Aradia was stunned into
silence. She could not believe her parents were doing this. They
were taking in two children while Aradia was dealing with managing
the club to promote tolerance, which was currently still an
unfavorable issue. In addition to being forced to choose a consort,
and trying to prevent a war? She could not believe it! She opened
her mouth fully intending to protest against such actions, but then
she took a second look at her parents' faces. They looked very
serious about this, and Aradia got the feeling no matter what she
said they would not change their minds. It made Aradia wonder what
had happened to those poor girls to make even her parents so
desperate to take them in?

In one week Aradia and her
folks cleaned, painted, and organized the entire house from top to
bottom. Upstairs there was a master bedroom where Ross and Liza
slept, Aradia's room, and two extra rooms that were meant for the
girls. They repainted the two extra rooms white, installed brand
new furniture from beds to desks, but decided to leave the
decorating to them. The entire time she was cleaning Aradia was
thinking about Melina and Marietta. What were they like? Were they
nice? More importantly, would they get along?

On Saturday is when they
finally came, and Liza was dressed up in a blue skirt with a white
blouse. Aradia was not dressed up in a fancy way, but at least she
was wearing clean clothes. Her outfit consisted of blue jeans, a
red and pink shirt that said, "Love is the answer," and black
slip-on sneakers. As the minutes began to tick away, Liza and
Aradia waited anxiously. Finally, the door opened and in walked
Ross in his usual black business suit with Melina and Marietta in
tow. As soon as Aradia saw them, she tensed up in
anxiety.

Marietta was an average
looking nine year old with long braided hair, round Bambi-like
light brown eyes, a button nose, and a slightly pudgy body. She
wore baggy clothes, a backwards baseball cap, sneakers that looked
to be two sizes too big for her, and was ferociously chewing on a
piece of gum.

Melina, however, was much
more intimidating looking.

She was extremely tall with
a rectangular face, pointy nose, round brown eyes that almost
looked oriental, huge light brown lips, and her hair was pulled up
in a high black braided ponytail. She wore a black denim rhinestone
decorated mini skirt, steel toed punk rocker black boots, and a hot
pink shirt peeked out from under her brown satin puffed up jacket.
She also had several piercings in her ears, a belly button ring,
and the meanest look on her face.

However, what was most
awkward of all was the fact that both Melina and Marietta were
African American.
What were my parents
thinking?
Aradia thought to
herself,
inviting black people to live
in a white person's house
.
We will look so weird to the
neighbors
! Almost immediately
afterwards, Aradia scolded herself for such thoughts.

Brushing it aside, Aradia
smiled and walked towards them holding out her hand. "Hey I am
Aradia, but you can call me Rai if you want?"

"Okay, but what if I don't
call you at all or just ignore you completely?" Melina asked with a
mean snicker.

The room grew silent until
Liza nervously asked, "Who wants cookies?"

Melina scoffed while
Marietta's eyes lit up.

"What kind of cookies?" she
asked.

"Well," Liza admitted, "I
didn't know which you liked so I made a little of each. Sugar
cookies, peanut butter, chocolate chip, and snicker
doodles!"

"Cool! Where's the kitchen?"
Marietta shouted.

Liza laughed, took
Marietta's hand, and led her past Ross into the kitchen. Melina
stiffened as she was led away. At least she is protective of her
little sister, Aradia thought, as she watched Melina follow them.
As Melina did so, Ross shrugged awkwardly, and took their stuff
upstairs. Aradia exhaled deeply before deciding to go into the
kitchen as well.

She was pleased with the
sight that greeted her. Marietta was happily stuffing herself with
every single of cookie laid out on a plate while Liza laughed.
Melina, however, stood away from the table watching the scene
unfold, but with folded arms and her eyes warning. Liza pretended
not to notice, and got a glass of milk for Marietta.

However, it was not until
they discussed where the girls were going to sleep when trouble
first arose.

"I am not sleeping
upstairs!" Melina screeched at Ross.

Ross did not yell
back.

He just looked at her calmly
and said, "I am sorry Melina, but that's the way it has be. All
family members sleep upstairs with the rest of us. Tell you what
though, once we start trusting each other you can move to the
basement."

Melina scoffed, rolled her
eyes, and said, "Tell you what why don't you just go..."

"Hey!" Aradia interrupted
angrily as she stomped up the stairs. "Don't talk to my father like
that!"

Melina chuckled scornfully,
and then turned to face Aradia but even before she could even say
anything Ross interrupted and said, "There are brand new locks on
the doors."

Melina looked over to him
and said, "Huh?"

"The doors to every bedroom
in the whole house have brand new locks on the doors that lock from
the inside. See for yourself," Ross said stepping aside, and
throwing open the door so Melina could inspect it.

Cautiously and without
taking her eyes off Ross as if she were facing down a dangerous
animal, Melina crept past him and inspected the
doorknob.

"Can I sleep in Melina's
room?" Marietta asked suddenly from downstairs.

Melina looked up from
inspecting the doorknob to her sister, and then back to Ross who
just nodded and said, "Sure."

Melina looked at Ross in
total shock, but none more so than Aradia who thought it was weird
that a nine-year-old still wanted to share a room with her
sister.