Phil

Wednesday, January 1

8:33 AM

I woke up on new years morning to the smell of bacon, which was a good sign. The sun was brightening my clean little room and I had no where to be.

Except the kitchen. I sat bolt upright. Eric and David would be smelling the same tantalizing smells as I was, not to mention their greedy little Soulmates. If I wanted any bacon at all. I would have to hurry.

I hurried to kitchen and shoved the greedy bastards away from my breakfast. "Happy New years, everyone!" I said, munching.

"It is going to be a great day!" Maggie said, skipping into the room and stealing a piece of bacon from my plate. "Aradia is coming today!"

that was right. Maggie had made a friend when she was trapped in Delos' kingdom. Aradia had turned out to be the Maiden of the Witches and had agreed to come live with us to teach the other witches more about Circle Daybreak.

I remembered what it was like to move into this madhouse.

That day had started out normally too.

I woke up in my bed like usual. Got up, got dressed and made my way downstairs for breakfast. Just like I did everyday, I avoided looking at the Poppy- shrine my mother had erected in what used to be the living room.

After a light breakfast, I pulled on my sneakers and grabbed my headphones to go on a run. I used to hate running, but now it was the only thing that suppressed the tension headaches I developed with my refusal to "accept my legacy as a Lost Witch'. At least, that's what my partially dead twin sister told me.

I stepped out into the California sunshine and was greeted by a familiar car with blackout windows parked in my driveway.

I cursed internally and decided to ignore my sisters mostly dead boyfriend. I ran past his car like I didn't see it. It followed me.

I gave up the pretense when I hit the corner. I turned and stared at the vehicle, waiting for James to roll down the window. I wont pretend that knowing the sun was making him uncomfortable didn't make me a little happy.

The window finally glided down. "Get in, Phil." James' voice said.

"If I say no?"

James sighed. "Then I have to get out and get you. Are you really going to be that petty?"

I thought about it, seriously considered watching him burn just a little. But I got in the car.

James sat in the drivers seat, sunglasses covering his eyes, frown on his face. "You didn't let Poppy out in this sun, did you?" I demanded, checking the back seat for her petite frown.

James rolled up the window and glared at me, pulling away from the curb. "She's in the trunk."

"Well thank God then," I muttered. "Where are we going? What are you doing here?"

"We are going to Las Vegas, you are moving there, tonight."

I reached for the door to jump out. James stomped on the accelerator, "Please don't do that." He said. "Poppy has arranged everything, you have clothing and personal items waiting for you at the mansion."

"This wouldn't happen to be the same mansion that your cousin took Poppy to in order to expose her, would it?"

James glanced at me from the corner of his eye, or I think he did, I couldn't really tell with his dark glasses. "You'll have plenty of time to fight with me when we get there." He said.

I sat back in my seat and crossed my arms mulishly. "I'd better."

The drive was quiet. I stared out the window and waited for the afternoon when we could wake Poppy and I could see her. And get some real answers. At around three thirty we heard knocks coming from behind the seats. I turned to watch as one of them was pushed forward and my petite sister crawled from the hole, hair mussed with sleep.

"Hey Phil," she said with a smile, wrapping her arms around James' chest and kissing his throat lightly. I saw a flash of her fangs and felt the car jerk as her teeth pierced his neck. I averted my eyes and tried to think about things that weren't the strangely erotic feeding patterns of my sister and her boyfriend.

When the panting and sucking stopped, Poppy leaned over and gave me a hug. "I missed you, Phil." She whispered in my ear.

"I missed you too," I said, closing my eyes. When I reopened them I was all business. "Why are you kidnapping me?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it kidnapping per se…" Poppy said, tapping her finger to her jaw, and I know you have a million questions, but you are just going to have to save them for Theirry."

I tried, but I couldn't get either of them to say anything until we arrived at the mansion. It felt weird to be back at the place where my sister was almost exposed. It was weirder that this big white house was to be my new home.

"This way!" Poppy said excitedly as she danced towards the house. "You have your own room and everything!" she led me through a maze of rooms of all sizes and uses. As we past a television room I saw a girl with red hair and a boy with black hair fighting loudly- and violently- for the remote while a tiny blond child threw popcorn at them.

In another room I saw two girls, one with light brown hair and kind eyes and the other with black hair and a dangerous smile earnestly discussing something in a book.

In a third room, which looked like a dojo, I saw a black haired boy and girl kissing next to abandoned wooden swords.

And then Poppy was opening a door and shoving me inside. "Tadaa!" she announced, throwing her arms wide like a game show host. "I decorated it just for you!"

It was nice, the bedspread and walls a matching warm brown and the areas clean and uncluttered. A new laptop sat on the desk, and I would bet that the discreet closet was full of clothes.

"Come to the kitchen when you're ready, everyone is dying to meet you!" Poppy sang. "Text me if you get lost!" and then she was gone, leaving me to get settled in by myself.

And then the questions had started, who he was, why he was here, his species, what he thought the end of the world was going to be like. There were a million new people to meet, and names to learn. It was hard, and uncomfortable and I didn't like it one bit.

Gravel crunched outside, Maggie's friend was here.

Maggie quickly went to the door with Delos and Miles, while the witches followed more slowly. Aradia was the Maiden of witches, a position of great honor and power in all Circles, including Daybreak.

She stepped out into the courtyard and the world fell away.

All I could see was her, we were cocooned in warm mists. "What's going on?" I gasped.

She didn't reply, all she did was stare at me. "I- I- I can see you!" she blurted out, approaching me.

Something in my chest thrummed and I looked down to find a thin blue cord connecting my heart to hers. I had heard of this, my sister had told me about it months ago when she wanted me to understand why she had let James change her. I hadn't understood, I still didn't.

The girl, Aradia, was looking down too. She stroked her side of the string gently and I jolted, feeling her soft fingers deep in my soul. "Fuck." She muttered, "This is bad," her pale eyes met mine. "Why did you have to find me now?"

I rubbed my hand over my mouth in consternation, trying to focus on her words instead of the way her mouth moved to shape them. I didn't particularly want this either, whatever it was, but I certainly didn't want to be a disappointment for her.

I blinked, and suddenly she was in front of me, her soft hand caressed my cheek and wove her fingers with mine. "Don't get me wrong, you are- wonderful- but there are things – I have responsibilities…" I brought our conjoined hands to my mouth, swirled my tongue around each of her knuckles. She trailed off, seeming to lose her train of thought. Her eyes slid shut and she leaned in. My mouth crept from her fingers to her eyelids, then down to her lips.

My mouth brushed hers. Once, twice, before my tongue sought access to her mouth. She opened to me with a faint moan and our tongues entwined, danced to the rhythm of our heartbeats. My hands slid to her waist as hers tugged on my hair.

She suddenly wrenched away from me with a loud "NO!"

I blinked, and we were back in the snow, surrounded by our confused friends. A heartbeat had past, but everything had changed. I had met the only girl I had a future with, and she had rejected me.