Chapter 1

"P please don't, can't I just go. I promise I won't say anything." A young fifteen year old girl was quivering on the disgusting, damp floor. She was in a dowdy, filthy alley way. Her long blonde hair feathered out on the floor. Her aqua blue eyes wide with fear reflected the weather. Rain pelted down onto the young girls face mingling with her tears. Thunder cracked with a loud boom. Lightning lit up the dark sky. The young girls' sobbing was drowned out by another crash of thunder.

"Stop your wailing. You're not going anywhere. If we let you go you'll probably go tell the teachers at Alfea. Hope yeah your name suits you right. Hope is al you can do now." A dark figure towered over hope, shaking with rage. Hope cowered back further into the musty, dirt splattered wall, of an abandoned building. A family of spiders were clustered above her, Hope cringed away from them. Rats nibbled on the old decaying food in the corner.

Then without warning the guy started shooting balls of magic! Hope curled in on herself, trying to avoid it hurting her stomach.

"Hey leave her alone!" A cry came from the mouth of the alley. Hope looked up her eyes wide. No one in their right mind had ever stood up against her carers before.

Two men and an old woman stood shooting daggers.

"Up to your old tricks are you James?" The old woman questioned.

The two men started to fight with James. Slowly the old woman started to approach Hope.

"Its ok, I wont hurt you. My names Miss Faragonda- im headmistress at Alfea college! Are you ok?"

"Hi... im Hope, im fine I think" Hope answered, as Miss Faragonda bent down beside her. Her voice was just above a whisper. Hope looked at Miss Faragonda properly. She saw her face in Faragonda's!

"Mum?" Hope whispered. Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought that she could find her mother. She was four at the time that her father took her away from her mum. He started to hurt Hope in every way imaginable.

"Hope? Is that really you?" Miss Faragonda caressed her cheek gently. Hope nodded and flung herself at her mother. They embraced, Hope started sobbing.

All of a sudden James was flung back into an old rusting metal dustbin! The two men rushed to where Miss Faragonda and Hope were.

"Hope this is Professor Palladium and Avalon. This is Hope... My daughter." Miss Faragonda explained. The two teachers gasped. Hope looked up from beneath her eye lashes at Palladium and Avalon, smiling gently. They smiled back genteelly at the young girl.

"Are you hurt hope?" Miss Faragonda asked, pulling back at of the embrace and looking at her daughter. Hope shook her head vigorously. All three teachers stared at her sternly. Hope sighed slowly lifting her top up.

They all gasped. Hope looked down, tears starting to stream down her face again. She wiped them away clumsily, nearly poking herself in the eye. Bruises lined her stomach. Cuts covered it. She had a bandage around the middle of her torso. Miss Faragonda lifted her daughters face up to look her in the eye.

"Hope it is not your fault. You've done nothing wrong. It's all going to be ok now, I promise. You can come and stay at Alfea." Hope nodded. Miss Faragonda enclosed her in a hug again. Palladium and Avalon patted Hopes shoulder sympathetically.

"Thank-you... mum." The three teachers smiled at the young girl. They tried to help Hope up, but found her legs to weak to take the pressure. They collapsed underneath her!

"Oh Hope..." Miss Faragonda spoke sympathetically. Hope gave a weak smile.

"Would you mind if I carried you Hope?" Palladium asked.

"No. Im sorry to be so much trouble." Hope answered as Palladium lifted her up, into her arms.

"Your not any trouble Hope." Miss Faragonda replied ad Avalon helped her up.

"Thank-you... Mum where's Alfea?"

"In a different realm don't worry. Well show you." Miss Faragonda smiled at her daughter fondly. She had missed Hope for a long time. She had had her daughter taken off of her when she was four. Then she came to Alfea after joining Saladin and Griffin in the power of three. She had been semi depressed for a long while, but tried not to show it. Now she had her daughter back and she was so happy.

As the three teachers and Hope approached Alfea they were bombarded by eight teachers, who stopped in their trackes when they saw the young girl.
"I'll explain, but just let us get her inside please. She isn't very well!" Miss Faragonda spoke calmly. All of the other teachers nodded and followed Miss Faragonda, Palladium and Avalon inside. On the outside, the Alfea School for fairies was lilac, with towers and many windows. On the inside was more lilac.
Stepping into Miss Faragonda's office was no different thought Hope. Carefully Palladium lowered her down onto a small pink couch. If anyone else laid on it they would have dangled off, but Hope was just small enough to fit on properly. Miss Faragonda sat on the edge stroking Hope's cheek gently.
"Everyone this is my daughter Hope." Faragonda told the astonished teacher's looking up. "Hope this is Grizelda, Wizgiz, and Du Four they work at Alfea. These are Griffin, Elditrude and Zarathustra. They work at cloud tower- they're witches. Finally, this is Saladin and Kotatorta who work at red fountain for heroics and bravery."

Hope nodded slowly. Everyone was staring at her- she felt so scared- like a little child experiencing there worse fears. Her heart froze as a tall man with long black hair stepped out of the shadows. His eyes held a promise of violence. Sneering James said menacingly
"What about me. Won't you introduce me Faragonda? After all you include her!"
Faragonda stood up, blocking James's way to Hope. Like lightning the teacher's heads whipped around. Hope curled up into the sofa, her face pale.
"Your right, I'm sorry. That was very rude of me. Everyone this is James. He's Hope's father, and he has been hurting Hope ever since he took her away from me. Did I mention that I don't want him near her in any way." Faragonda spoke icily; the teachers looked at her in shock, Faragonda's teeth were barred. Hope looked at her mother in fright; Faragonda reached behind her back and took one of Hope's hands.
"Well that's not fair she is my daughter after all."
"You're not my dad. I don't want to see you!" Hope looked around in shock, before coming to realization that it was her who had spoken, the teachers gave a small laugh. James stepped closer, anger flaring menacingly in his eyes. All of the teachers stood in front of Hope and Faragonda.
"You heard her. She doesn't want anything to do with you. So you should leave." Griffin snarled defensively. James sneered looking smug.
"Fine have her. It doesn't make any difference to me. She's useless, why you would even want to keep her around is beyond me." Hope started to cry as James left, disappearing into thin air.
Faragonda comforted the young sobbing girl. None of the others really knew what to say.
"Don't worry everything'll be ok now. You're safe." Hope smiled wearily.

Lightning cracked, thunder boomed; Hope flew under Faragonda's desk. It was only the two of them. Hope had told everyone what had happened. That James had abused her, and used her. Miss Faragonda peered under the table; she was shocked to find Hope curled up into a small ball shivering. Miss Faragonda Picked Hope up murmuring words of comfort. Soon enough the young girl fell asleep.

Miss Faragonda went outside of her office carrying hope. Palladium was stood waiting. He smiled slightly at the sight, leading the way to Hopes newly prepared room. They left her to sleep peacefully agreeing on a shopping trip the next day. After a while of talking the two teacher split up heading towards their dorms