Prologue

"Of course I'm crazy, but that doesn't mean that I'm wrong." – Robert Anton Wilson

At five years old, Jazmine was a little too perceptive for her age, not to say that she wasn't gullible or easy to trick. That was relatively easy for them to do with her. It was just strangely hard to keep her unaware of what was going on around her sometimes.

"Mommy?" They could hear the young girl's voice as she bounced up to them from the floor, "Daddy?"

Especially now, the couple thought as they frowned. Jazmine always knew when they lied to her. She always seemed to sense when they were sad or angry. She even knew stuff about them that they hadn't even told her. And when they asked her about it, she shrugged, saying that a friend told her. Even more strange things than that happened with the little girl too. Things flew around the air when she got angry, and when she had demanded a cookie at age three, the whole pack of them had flown towards her high chair after Sarah had refused. And at age two, the young child had pointed to the doll and watched it fly towards her with a smile on her face. To say that the girl was strange seemed to be an understatement.

"Yes?" Sarah answered her with a smile on her face.

"Why are your eyes blue and mine are green?" Jazmine pondered aloud as she scratched her chin with a motion much too mature for a five year old girl.

That threw Sarah off guard. She stood there agape as she sat there for a moment as Jazmine simply sat on the couch next to her as she swung her pink Mary Janes quietly. Luckily, Tom decided to come to her rescue.

"Well, Jazmine," Tom looked down at the girl, squatting down to her height to look her in the eyes, "That's because my eyes and mommy's eyes came together to give you very special beautiful eyes."

"Oh," Jazmine's face lit up then fell, as if she realized something that Tom said. She frowned and looked up at her father again, "No, you're lying. I can just feel it."

Her father laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his own neck, tensing at the small girl's heavy words, "And how would you know that, sweetheart?"

"Because I know," Jazmine sighed, frustrated.

"Sure you do," Tom laughed as he rubbed the little girl's hair before grabbing his briefcase and walking away from Jazmine and Sarah.

"Wait!" Jazmine called out as she snapped her fingers and smirked at her father, "Why is my hair orange?"

Sarah thought that she might be sick. Tom looked paler than normal, but Jazmine? Jazmine was surprisingly calm as she played with the buttons on her corduroy overalls, waiting patiently for an answer.

"It's more of a copper, red color?" Tom stuttered as Jazmine shook her head, folding her arms across her chest.

"Honey, that's just how you were born," Sarah buried her face into her hands, "okay?"

"You're lying," Jazmine nodded again, her eyes closed, "And you don't need to protect me. I'm fine."

That statement made both Tom and Sarah snap their heads up at her in awe. They sat there frozen for a moment and exchanged glances over Jazmine's head. What did she just say?

"From what?" Sarah whispered, her own blue eyes wide.

"From them," Jazmine looked up at Sarah, "You know who they are."

"Jazmine, now that's enough playing around," Tom told her in a stern voice, "Stop it."

"But, Daddy," Jazmine pleaded, "I'm not kidding. They're coming. My friends, they told me that they were coming!"

"Jazmine!" Tom was taken aback by Jazmine's behavior as he folded his arms around his chest and looked at his watch. Great, his daughter had decided to pull this now and make him late for work, again.

"But they did!" Jazmine was turning red and everything, hollering at the top of her small lungs, "And they won't leave, Daddy."

"Jazmine, that's enough!" Her father barked at Jazmine, making her blink in surprise then lower her head in disappointment, "Now, I know you're imagination has led you to believe some things."

"It's not my imagination, Daddy," Jazmine's wide eyes were glassy now, "They're coming, for me."

"And who is they?" Tom questioned the little girl as though she would back down. He smiled at her, knowing that she couldn't answer.

"I don't know exactly who they are," Jazmine admitted as she looked back down at the small couch she sat on, "But I do know that they aren't very nice. And they don't like me here at all. They want me to go away."

"Well, honey that's ridiculous," Sarah patted her on the back, "Anybody would love to be your friend."

"No!" Jazmine stood up as she stomped her feet, "You're not listening to me. I don't need a friend. I have those!"

Just as Tom was about to object, a stone came through the window of their house, then, more came through. Tom and Sarah looked over them only to see many people with pitchforks and torches, as if this were the days of the Salem Witch Trials all over again. Too bad they actually were in Salem, Oregon. The couple gulped. Nobody even noticed Jazmine murmuring to herself with her eyes closed, chanting words that she shouldn't even know, not at five years old.

"What do you want?" Tom cried out over the roar of the crowd, "Stop attacking my family!"

"We want the girl," The crowd chanted, "We want the girl!"

It was scary and eerie, the night sky. The people stood there swaying, not to be moved. They looked at him instead, unfazed by his yelling.

"What girl?" Sarah asked them, playing dumb.

"Jazmine!" A man cried out, "That girl is a menace! A menace to society!"

"A menace to society," The crowd murmured in unison.

Still, nobody noticed that Jazmine's chants were getting louder, an unheard of language being spoken, "Amina, Shallam, Torstriam ababaa"

"She's only a little girl," Tom sighed, "Go away and leave us alone!"

The crowd grew angrier, more hostile, "We want the girl! We want the girl!"

"No!" Sarah said as she reached for Jazmine before looking at the girl's eyes and backing away from her. They were glowing like the streetlights, bright and illuminating. Even the crowd had ceased to look at the small girl.

"Go away!" The girl's voice sounded older, much older than a small girl.

"Katherine!" An elderly man from the crowd called out, "Katherine, is that you?"

"Old fool," Jazmine threw her head back and laughed, "You don't even want me to come out here. Why would you even think that she would?"

"Then, who are you?" A woman shrank back as Jazmine turned to face her, "Are y-y-you really Lelani?"

"That is none of your concern," Jazmine told them, even though they all knew that it wasn't her, "Leave this little one alone. She is none of your concern, but if you cross her path again, she will be. She is destined for great things, powerful things that even she isn't fully aware of."

"Nonsense!" A shrill voice from the crowd demanded, "It is Katherine again! She has come to play with your minds! Don't forget the horrible past and mistakes of our ancestors! Get the girl! You must get the girl!"

"I am warning you," The wise tone from Jazmine made everybody in the room tremble, even her own parents, "Back away from this young one. She is of no threat to you."

"Don't believe her," The woman in the crowd had pushed her way to the front, "She's trying to come back here again and wreak her havoc!"

"No!" Jazmine yelled, "Stop it! Stop it! I have had enough! Now, I will say it again. Leave this area before you are made to do so by force."

"Ohh!" One of the men in the crowd yelled at Jazmine or rather, the person within her, "I'm so afraid. A little girl is really going to get me!"

Jazmine nodded, her hair waving on top of her head like snakes rather than naps, "You should be afraid, but you are not. You are stupid and foolish, as were your ancestors. But that is fine. You too shall learn the hard way."

And then Jazmine laughed as the moon was covered by dark clouds and the wind blew. And a green light came around them from her eyes as the crowd gasped in pain. And Jazmine continued to laugh like a witch as she floated from the couch, levitating as the people around her screamed in horror from the surge of pain rushing through their bodies. And then, she looked at the crowd and gave them a wink before taking a breath and blowing, watching as a huge tornado came and swept them all away within the blink of an eye.

"I told you fools," Jazmine cackled as the tornado spun for a moment, teetering and tottering, "You idiots! You never learn! But maybe this small child will have more mercy on mankind than we ever did!"

And with that, Jazmine teetered back to the couch from the air. Her body was slowly lowered as she lay back down, her two eyes closed with an angelic smile on her face. Thinking it was safe, Tom walked back up to the small girl only to be horrified when she woke back up.

"Listen to me and listen to me well, Tom," Jazmine shot him such an intense look that he had to rub his eyes to let it absorb that this was his daughter, and he couldn't grab his shotgun, "You will move from Salem, and you will keep this event a secret from this little girl. You will not call her a liar anymore, either, because frankly, I am sick of hearing her whine about it. She may not be your real daughter, but you better treat her like the little angel she is, or I will return."

Tom nodded, not believing this was happening to him.

"You too," Jazmine stared at Sarah as she cocked her head to the side before giving her a rather warm smile, "But you know a little about this yourself, don't you? Maybe not? It doesn't matter. You will. It's only a matter of time."

"I don't," Sarah shook her head, "I don't understand what you mean."

"In due time," Jazmine shook her head, "You will learn everything."

Tom and Sarah said nothing. They only nodded their heads vigorously, shocked.

"I will see you soon," She smiled as she folded her tiny hands, "In about ten years as a matter of fact."

"But her birthday is," Sarah gave up, defeated, "When is it?"

"Honestly," Jazmine gave them a look far too nonchalant for a small child, "It's today. She knows if you're wondering."

"March the twenty third? An Aries?" Tom chuckled, "Well, I'll say."

"Tom, not you with that horoscope stuff," Sarah shook her head.

"I must say they are highly inaccurate, " Jazmine shook her own head, "Especially for the little one here."

"Why us?" Tom asked, "Why her?"

"I am sorry," Jazmine looked down at the couch, similar to the way she had when Tom yelled at her a little while ago, "If there was any other way I could keep the little one out of this, I would. You know that, Sarah."

"But she's just so," Sarah looked at her with pleading eyes, "Will she be strong enough to handle it?"

Jazmine smirked then, "Ah, she will be highly prepared. I already know a young man who will test that very soon. Don't worry about it too much, fate has things under control."

"Lelani," Sarah rubbed her hand, "Why does that sound familiar?"

"In due time," Jazmine was leaning back against the couch as the lightning struck outside, reminding them that it was still storming, "See you soon, Sarah."

"Wait!" Tom snapped his own two fingers together, "Are you her friends?"

"Yes," Jazmine sighed, "One of many or rather, few."

And before either parent could ask more or less, for that matter the storm abruptly stopped, and Jazmine came to. Both parents rushed to her side, holding them in her arms. Neither noticed that the house was just as it was.

"It's my birthday!" She smiled at them, clearly not knowing what had just happened, "yay!"

"Yes it is!" Tom smiled as he gave her a big hug, "And I'm one step closer to losing you already!"

"Tom!" Sarah shouted.

"Well it's true." He argued.

And they went on like this all night long.

They would move to Woodcrest the next morning.

So why is she doing so many of these? Simple, I'm the author. Get over it! :)

This has been in my head all day! I was happy when I realized it was second place! May not get updated as much until Hi, My Name is Trouble is done, but it'll get done. I hope so anyway! So review! Deal?