Chapter 1: Magic and Murder
Let us startwith: the ghost, the psychotic stalker, and Phoenix the demon queen, shall we?
It all began on a crisp September night. The stars covered the mischievous evil of the night like a woven quilt. Each star twinkled, and glistened in whimsical manner. Suddenly, they loomed over the streets like hyenas of the outback, which is to say, is an unlikely reaction. They formed the silhouette of a Greek warrior; Heracles, to be precise.
The alignment then faded like the sparkling sands of the Sahara. The barrier of eeriness was interrupted by two teenage girls laughing gleefully. They walked across the pavement like they were infinitely in sync. As if they were two sisters.
The Fates loves to construct their own stories, though. They tamper with Time, and sets its fiery ashes to flames. And it had to start its Satanism, by meddling with the lives of these two young girls; Cindy Valdez, and Phoenix Black.
Cindy was a young and mischievous girl of fifteen. She lived in a rutty orphanage, and was raised by the rocks of hope. Which is to say, the tormenting of other superior children taught this girl strength and wits. Cindy had elegant locks of dark chocolate. They fell in graceful waves, and caressed the tan hues of her skin. Her eyes, were like sparkling vessels of an amber-y ecru, and always twinkled with life.
That was until Phoenix, a girl with gelled midnight black hair, and lifeless blue eyes, did something deceitful that night.
The two girls, who had been friends for all their lives, chuckled merrily. They laughed as if nothing had happened. The two had showered their friend, Erik, in silly string. Apparently though, the silly string had slid into his pants. With his little potty dance, he would've made America's Best Dance Crew auditions with his Cha-Cha Slide impersonation.
"I think we should convince Erik next time that there's a legit spider in his pants," Phoenix uttered, stifling another fake laugh. Cindy nodded in agreement, and bursted into a fit of giggles. "That would be a messy accident, like Julian Smith and that Mr. Tymn dude." Cindy deepened her voice. "Remember kiddies, every old man is a pedophile!" They voiced their opinions of the YouTube sensation in unison, and grinned.
It was quite a pleasant evening, if you could say that. But Cindy Valdez was about to learn that she had to fear everything, including fear itself.
When they reached the crook of the street, things changed drastically. The silver lights, that absorbed any living flashes of the street's florescence, started flickering. The winds howled, and churned briskly. They splashed Cindy's cheeks with a deep scarlet blush, and suddenly caused her to feel scared of the night.
"Phoenix?" she shouted, but her friend had vanished. "PHOENIX!" Silence. Cindy started retreating backwards, when she heard someone, or something, inhale the air.
Okay, Cindy told herself. If I don't get out of here, one: I will die, or two: I won't get to eat FOOD. This simply cannot happen!
So, Cindy turned on her heel and ran like the wind.
Perspiration licked Cindy's clear skin in all the right places. Her face had paled, as if she'd seen a ghost. Funny, she thought she did.
The ghost of the man was rather devious, the man she saw. His arms and legs were abnormally skinny, and his drab skin seemed to cling to his ribcage, which caused the flesh to overexpose itself. His nose resembled that of a hawk, and his heavy lidded orbs had more of a charcoal color, than pristine. He looked truly demonic.
Each strand of his ebony hair was slicked back with a strong olive-oil. This made Cindy assume he substituted it for actual gel. This ghost was bound together with seven satiny pink strips of ribbon. And to be honest, smelt worse than Axe, which was saying something.
Cindy continued to run at a steady pace. Her breath quickened, and the scarlet plasma inside of her made her heartbeat speed up. Evil scheming hung in the air like wisps of smoke.
A pewter-streaked mist started to intensify, and strands of the water hit her face. Cindy darted away from the fiend.
Yet something told her that she wouldn't remain in Tallahassee, Florida, after this night.
The dark green rose thorns flowed through the wind, and the blood-red roses increased Cindy's paranoia. She trudged through the garden in silence, listening to the bottoms of her dingy boots hit the floor. Cindy gripped the hems and cuffs of her coal-dyed jacket, and watched her breath become clumps of snowy-whiteness.
Suddenly, something shuffled in the background. Cindy quaked madly. "Phoenix, this isn't funny!" she roared defiantely.
"STOP IT!"
The shadowy being, Phoenix, then revealed herself to Cindy. Phoenix began advancing towards Cindy slowly and steadily, a maniac smile coating her normally happy demeanor. "What?" Cindy questioned shakily. Tears of rage and annoyance streamed down her face. "What, Phoenix? What's going on? What is it? Could we just walk home? I'm scared."
Phoenix constricted her fingers around Cindy's throat, and tightened her grip on the poor girl's throat. "Setne!" Phoenix bellowed. "I've got her! I've got her!" Phoenix's azure orbs dilated and grew smaller, and she began cackling madly. Cindy grazed her white teeth against the skin of Phoenix's hollow arm, and bit down harshly. She kicked and thrashed, but none of it made a difference.
Phoenix was just too abnormally strong. Cindy began sobbing. "Let me go! I thought we were friends!"
Blustery winds then started whipping around the females harshly. The chains of the air locked themselves around Cindy's petite form. Cindy knew it then. She was being consumed by this Setne character.
She was falling into the hands of madness. The night continued peacefully as Cindy fell into the depths of Gaea's tendrils. Then, in the blink of an eye, the girl's existence ceased to occur. She was gone, and no one would know how or why.
Phoenix grinned wickedly, when something plunged into her spinal cord, and punctured a few organs and her stomach in-general. The blade was swiftly removed from the villainess' body. Phoenix's titian scarlet kissed the metal of the knife gingerly.
Phoenix's murderess threw the dagger to the emerald grass, and kicked Phoenix's carcass harshly. The crackling of the bones echoed in this murderess' ears, but all she could do was scowl from the satisfaction.
"I'm too late!" she cursed, throwing her hands in the air, and kicking Phoenix's motionless body more. "I'm too damn late!" But before she could flee from the area, and go to Starbucks to drown her grief in hot cocoa, two metal cuffs pressed her wrists. Her arms were then forced behind her back, and the meaty police officer squeezed her wrists harshly.
"Zineb Rashid, you are under arrest for the homicide of Phoenix Raven Black. You have a remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be used against in the court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. You have the right to not answer questions at any time and request an attorney be present before any questioning continues. Do you understand these rights?"
Zineb nodded, yelling unpleasant cuss words at the air. "Why am I being arrested, Officer...McGee?," she started, hesitantly, still containing her hidden rage. "And more importantly, how exactly did you find out about this scene?"
Officer McGee, a hook-nosed, bald-man, flashed an evil smile. "Confessin', are we?" he interrogated. "This girl someone knew you were gonna kill her, tonight, Miss Rashid. She called 911 and then hung up cryin' and screamin'." It took all Zineb's self control to not murder this man as well.
Clever girl, this Black girl now. But before Officer McGee was about to shove her into the sapphire police car, Zineb yelled these words:
"Well then, but let me remind you of this. Phoenix Black has committed the murder of her darling friend, Cindy Valdez. And you can trial me all you want! But justice must be served!" She inhaled deeply.
"Leo Valdez's sister has vanished, Officer. And I doubt he will be pleased to discover this."
Yes, Leo Valdez would not be pleased to find out this information underneath calming circumstances. Although Gaea has been vanquished, as well as Apophis, black magic was always in the air. As for the world of the Gods, which contained demigods and magicians, they were about to experience the true wrath of the dead.