L. J. Smith owns the characters, of course. Please review after you read.

Chapter One ~ A New Acquaintance

It was raining outside when two figures wearing black approached the Circle Daybreak safe house on a normal afternoon. Nobody seemed alarmed as the stealthily walked up to the door. One of the figures knocked three times, a special code used by the Daybreakers. The door was opened and the two figures stepped in and put down their hoods.

"Wow it's raining hard," Rashel remarked as she accepted a warm towel from Thea. "Thanks."

"Oh anytime," Thea replied with a smile. She was always offering something to somebody.

"Find out anything new?" Quinn asked when he stepped in the room, clearly hearing the voice of his soulmate.

"Nope," Rashel replied. She walked over to where Quinn was standing and gave him a quick kiss. "No signs of another wild power yet."

The second figure in black slowly drew back her hood. She was a nice looking girl, about 17. She was thin and fairly tall. Her long strawberry blond hair was drawn up in a pony tail and her bright blue eyes looked over the room.

"Who's your friend Rashel?" Thea asked.

"Oh sorry! This is Raven. She was a vampire hunter with me a few years back." The two girls exchanged a knowing look. "She was very good too. I tracked her down a couple weeks ago and found out she had given up hunter after she hurt her knee. I talked to her and convinced her to come back here and join Circle Daybreak."

Raven smiled at her friend. "You make me sound like the good guy," she laughed. "It took her a lot of convincing to get me back here. Old habits die hard I guess."

"You'll get used to it," Rashel laughed. She looked up at Quinn. "It's not that bad."

Everyone in the room chuckled. They had all heard Quinn and Rashel's story. Rashel, the cat, a well-known vampire hunter and Quinn a dangerous human killer. But they made a perfect match.

"Well, we're glad to have you," Thea said with a smile. "Especially a good fighter."

"Thanks," Raven replied.

xXx

The news of Rashel's return and Raven's arrival spread quickly through the house. By dinner time, Raven had met everyone except Delos and Maggie since they were out practicing with Delos's powers. Everyone was sitting around the table, with the exception of Ash and Quinn who had guard duty, and Maggie and Delos who hadn't yet returned. Aradia, the maiden of all the witches was their guest tonight.

"So what have you guys learnt?" Aradia asked.

"Well nothing new really," Rashel answered. "The fourth Wild Power is no where's that we can find."

"I was expecting as much, but you'll find it," Aradia said confidently.

"Do you have any news Aradia?" Thea asked.

"Well the lamia still isn't happy, of course. They're still threatening a war but they haven't acted on anything yet."

"Good," Galen said. "One less war, the better."

Keller rolled her eyes. "As long as I can fight, I'm good. But a war right now wouldn't be helpful."

At this remark Galen gave Keller a dirty look.

"As long as you can fight?" he asked.

"Well I'm not just going to sit here am I?"

"That's exactly what you're going to do."

Aradia chuckled and made her way to the sitting room. The rest followed, except Galen and Keller, who continued to argue. Everyone knew it wouldn't last long though. After watching the news, couples began to drift away doing their own things. Maggie and Delos returned but went straight to bed. Aradia, Thea and Jez all went upstairs first. Followed shortly by Eric, Galen, Keller, James and Poppy. Morgead and Rashel took guard duty once Ash and Quinn came in. Quinn and Ash stayed up talking for a bit, but finally Quinn went to bed. The only two left in the sitting room was Ash and Raven.

"Hi, I'm Ash," he said as he slid into the seat next to Raven.

"Raven," she replied.

"You're human," Ash stated simply.

"I'm an old friend of Rashel's."

Ash sat for a moment and deliberated. "You don't have to lie to me you know. I won't give away your secret."

Raven was shocked. Rashel said nobody knew…

"What are you talking about," she stammered.

"Oh come on. You can't expect us not to notice."

"Notice what? We're old friends. That's it. End of story."

"Ok, first of all, you barely talk. She didn't even sit next to you all night. Secondly, Rashel wouldn't have gone on duty, she would have stayed here to talk. Thirdly, the others might not have noticed, but even though you don't look alike, you both act the same."

Raven couldn't believe it. How had their plan failed so quickly?

"So you're cousins right?" he prompted.

"Sisters."

"Sisters?" For a minute Ash looked shocked. "So how did that work out? I thought Rashel had no family?"

Raven took a deep breath and began. "We're half sisters actually. Rashel never knew what happened to her father. He left her mother just before she was born. Then he met my mother and they had me. Satisfied?"

Raven's face was cold. She didn't like this topic. Her dad was a jerk. Once her mom was pregnant he left her to fend for herself.

"So then what happened? How come you only met now?"

Raven sighed. "We met a couple months ago. She tracked me down after she ran into her father. He accidentally let it slip that he had another daughter. She managed to find my gang of vampire hunters and we talked. She tried to convince me to go with her and join Circle Daybreak, but all I wanted was to kill more vampires. They killed my mother just like they killed Rashel's. We kept meeting secretly and she finally convinced me to come with her. So here I am."

She got up and walked across the room. The window was open and it was still raining so she shut it. Something moved in the corner of her eye. Standing under s tree was Rashel, her sister. It was hard to believe she had a sister after growing up all alone. Rashel's head turned slightly. She saw Raven standing in the window and smiled shyly. It was obvious she was thinking the same thing. Raven turned away to look at Ash. His look was thoughtful and not at all proud like it was when he first sat down.

He looked up at her. "Why keep it a secret? Why didn't you just tell the truth?"

"Because Rashel and I weren't ready to tell anyone just yet. It's still settling in."

Ash got up off the couch and stood in front of Raven. He took her hands in his. "It doesn't matter to me, but your secret is safe. I won't tell." With that he turned around and began to walk away. At the last minute her turned around and said, "I'm happy for you both." He gave a quick smile and continued up the stairs.

xXx

Please, please, please review! I don't care if you hate it, just do it! :D Though positve feedback is welcomed too. Let me know what you guys think. I know I should finish my other stories, but I have to be in the right mood. And I just happened to be in the mood for a new story. :)