Short A/N before we get started on this, what will hopefully be a wonderful, journey. Welcome to my first official Supernatural fanfic, I'm fairly excited about it. It's going to be a long and bumpy ride, so hold tight! This story is already written in full, however it is only the first part of a series. I will post one chapter a week, all at least 2,000 words, some much longer. If I'm able to finish the second story to this series quickly enough I may up it to two chapters a week, we will just have to see if my muse is going to behave herself. Alright, enough from me, you have a story to read!
Chapter I
The dark huddled figured darted across the empty neighborhood street, glancing about to make sure it wasn't followed. The wind whipped around the lone figure and a long, black leather coat was pulled tighter as it slapped against dark jean clad thighs.
The old gate creaked in protest as it was pushed open, admitting the figure into the barren expanse that was once a cared for lawn. The shadow of the two story house seemed to welcome the intruder, blocking them from sight. A groan was heard as the heavy front door was pushed open, a dim light shining through before it was quickly shut again.
Across the street corner the thin silhouette of a man was seen as he stepped forward into the street light's soft glow. A step back took him out of sight again, and satisfied with what he had seen, he turned back the way he had come. He didn't see the bright hazel eyes gazing on him from the second story of the abandoned home.
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"Hailey! Don't forget your lunch!" the small woman called from the warm, bright kitchen into the other room. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck.
A teenager huffed as she entered the room, "I won't."
She pulled her dark brown hair up into sloppy ponytail, then looked around. "Have you seen my book?"
"Which one?" the middle aged woman asked as she sliced strawberries on a cutting board.
"Ancient Witchcraft in a Modern World." she replied, popping a slice of whole grain bread into the toaster on the opposite counter.
This time her mother huffed, " I don't know why you read such nonsense."
The teen rolled her eyes, "It's not any more nonsense than your Metaphysical Meditation."
"But witchcraft! Really?"
Hailey was already in the livingroom, the open curtains spilling morning light into the otherwise dark room, "Never mind! I found it."
She entered the kitchen again with her book bag strapped over one shoulder, and quickly buttered her bread before grabbing her lunch.
"That's just empty calories you know." her mom said.
Another eye roll, "So what's for lunch?"
"Quinoa salad and grilled chicken."
"I think I'll be okay."
"You're never going to lose weight with all your snacking."
Hailey didn't say anything, just glanced down at her body. She was naturally bigger than her petite mother, with size D breasts and wide hips, but it was her stubborn belly roll that was the problem. At one week shy of eighteen she was wearing a size fifteen and nothing she did helped her lose any weight.
With a heavy sigh she hefted the bag further up her shoulder, "Don't forget, I'm going to book club after school."
"Okay sweetie. Love you." Her mother wiped her hands on her apron before giving Hailey a hug, at 5'5 the teen topped her mother by 4 inches, and looked down into matching green eyes.
"Love you too."
00000
The reedy young man sat by the window, alone in the booth, phone to his ear and eyes casually observing the diner patrons.
He glanced out the window, " I don't know what else to tell ya Bobby. It seemed like a pretty open and shut werewolf case, but… I dunno. It's a little weird, the families of the recently deceased are all private and stuff. Real secretive ya know. So just for the hell of it I thought I'd watch their houses."
Her paused listening to the other line, "Yeah yeah. The same person went to each of their houses and they all welcomed him in when I just got treated like a pariah."
He watched new customers walk through the door. A couple, young teenagers by the look of them, sat in the booth across from him. "Well, ask some hunters in the area and see if they've heard anything and let me know."
A young woman in a skirt and pigtails passed by, flashing him a tiny smile and he nodded amicably, "Yeah… okay… uh huh… bye Bobby. Garth out."
The hunter turned as a waitress, a 40 something woman with bleached blonde hair, sat a stack of pancakes in front of him, "You all good hun?"
Garth tapped him mug, "Can I get some more coffee ma'am?"
"Sure thing." She was back in a moment, after dropping a milkshake off to the young couple.
"Looks like you made a friend." she chatted as the coffee poured.
Garth looked up, confused and mouth full of syrupy pancakes, "Huh? Whaddya me-ah."
The blonde tilted her head to the bar top and winked. Garth craned his neck around to look. The young woman in pigtails sat on a stool facing his direction, her colorful skirt hanging around her shins as she sipped a cola that she held in her hands. Sure enough her eyes were on him, but when she saw him look she blushed and turned away.
Garth's chest puffed out in manly pride that she was so obviously checking him out. But his awkwardness overcame him and even though he knew himself to be chatty and friendly, there was no way he would be able to just walk over and flirt with the stranger.
Quickly he tried to finish his pancakes so he could get back to work. A couple minutes later there was a shuffle across from him and he looked up to see the lady sliding into his booth, pigtails swaying past her shoulders as she sat down.
She smiled shyly at him, "Hi. You must be new in town."
Garth felt dumbfounded and he knew there was an odd expression on his face. The new occupant of his booth blushed heavily, her hands coming up to hide part of her face.
"Oh my goodness. That sounded like a terrible pick up line. I can't believe I just said that. I've never done anything like this before, I must seem like a crazy person. Oh my goodness, now even I think I sound crazy. I should just go." she grabbed her drink and made to get up, " This is me, going."
She looked up to see Garth grinning like a madman at her, "Oh no please stay. You just made my breakfast a lot more interesting."
The brunette sunk back into the seat, still looking like a flighty bird, "Oh okay." then she giggled, "Please forgive my outburst. I can be so awkward sometimes."
Garth just kept smiling, and held his hand out over the pancakes, "Garth."
She smiled sweetly back, and met his hand with her own, "Amanda."
00000
Hailey let the strap to her bookbag slip down her arm as she sat it on the table. Pulling it towards her, and opening it she removed a hand carved oak box. She fingered the delicate engravings for a moment before setting it to the side as well. There was a shuffle behind her before thin arms wrapped around her waist.
"Hal!" Hailey turned with a small smile before berating the younger girl that snuck up on her.
"Sophie," she groaned to the tiny dark haired freshman, "I asked you not to call me that. It makes me sound like a dude."
The freshman didn't seemed fazed as she grinned up as her. "Is the priestess here yet?"
Hailey rolled her eyes, but couldn't find it in herself to actual be mad at the girl who was literally bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Not that I've seen."
They each took a place at the long table set in the back of the high school library. It had been a struggle to get the wiccan "club" approved, and Hailey had fought for the right to meet on school grounds for most of her sophomore year of school. Once it had been approved it was under the stipulation that, like all other clubs and organizations, it had to be headed by a faculty member who would preside over the group. At which point Hailey had almost given up hope after being repeatedly denied by all faculty members. That is until, like a blessing, in Hailey's junior year, the new librarian turned out to not only to be willing, but a witch herself.
Over the course of the next few minutes a handful of students trickled in, ten students interested in the craft didn't seem like many, but it was just over triple what they had last year. After they all had taken seats and were chattering quietly to one another, the librarian came over. Hailey absolutely adored the thirty year old woman who always had a smile on her face and a skirt swishing about her calves.
"Hello everyone."
"Hello Lady Amaranth." Amaranth was her coven name, her legal name was Amanda Tribune, but all the students in the coven called her by her coven name, even outside of the meeting times.
Hailey couldn't help but smile like she always did through most of the hour and a half that they met. Today Lady Amaranth was discussing the waning moon and what magic worked best during this time of the month, which was typically banishing or reversal spells. It had taken the high schooler so long to get to this point, even though she knew all of this information already she was happily jotting down notes, asking questions on some more obscure details, and sharing experiences when it was needed.
The time rushed by too fast, as it always seemed to, and soon the class was over. Lady Amaranth ended as she always did, "Okay guys, I'll see you next week. And remember-"
The group joined in, intoning "An it harm none, do what ye will."
"Blessed Be." The woman grinned as the students began grabbing their things and packing them away. As Hailey stood she was stopped, "Oh, Hailey, do you mind talking with me for a minute."
The others left as Hailey hovered near her bag. Sophie shot a glance back at her upperclassmen who sent a little wave in her direction.
Lady Amaranth was digging through her own back of assorted magical paraphernalia, "There's something I wanted you to have…where?... Ah, here it is." She pulled out a book with a triumphant grin.
Extending it to Hailey she told her, "All the women in my family has had a copy of this, and since I don't have any children of my own I wanted you to help keep my family legacy alive, so to speak."
With reverence Hailey grasped the homebound book carefully, gazing upon it before looking up to the woman who had become her mentor, "A-are you sure?"
The older witch smiled and propped a hip against the table next to the young woman, "Honestly, I would be honored if you accept it. I've always wanted to pass my craft on with someone, and I had almost given up hope until I met you."
Tears came to Hailey's eyes, "Thank you…" she took a breath, trying not to break down crying from how touch she was, "This means so much to me. I-I will do everything I can to prove myself worthy!"
Lady Amaranth smiled softly and pulled her into a hug, "Oh honey, you're already worthy!" She pulled back and looked her squarely in the eyes, "You have so much power in you that one day you'll put me to shame, and that's what I'm hoping for!"
As the woman dropped her arms, her voice was serious, "Be careful though. My family has had mostly good witches, but there's been some dark ones too. Every generation adds their own spells, and we never leave any out. I just want to warn you that there's some dark magic in there, so be careful of what you cast. Remember your Rule of Three."
Hailey nodded enthusiastically, her ponytail bobbing with her, strands slipping loose. "Okay, then. Go home and study."
"Definitely!" The girl giggled.
00000
Garth fingered the slip of paper in his coat pocket, leaning forward to watch as the woman closed the hatch of her SUV and made her way inside, arms laden with groceries. He was sitting in his beat up Ford Ranchero, watching the latest victim's house. The brother of the woman had been found in his room, head cracked open like an egg and gutted. There were chunks taken out of his flesh, heart and liver both missing. At first he thought it was a werewolf, but they only ate hearts. A ghoul, perhaps, but they never ate the flesh of the living, at least not that he knew.
He saw the living room blinds flicker open for just a second and wondered if he had been spotted, but nothing else happened so he just sat back and fingered the slip of paper again.
The hunter was flattered that Amanda, the cute lady from the diner, had given him her phone number. He wouldn't call her though. Garth wasn't one for one night stands and anything longer would be asking for trouble. His sigh was resigned as his hand left his pocket and he slumped lower in his seat. Maybe a Rugaru? But it wasn't just hearts that were missing (eaten).
It was dusk, almost night, and the neighborhood was cloaked in grey. One by one Garth watched as the streetlights turned on, casting a yellow illumination on the streets and the hood of his Ford. He didn't know what he would gain from this venture, except to learn more about the hooded figure that he had followed the night before. None of the families of the victims would speak with him, they were hiding something that his fake US Marshal badge wouldn't buy him.
His right ear twinged and he reached up to scratch it. As he was lowering his hand a figure darted by his car, the same one he had tracked! It paused on the doorstep of the home, a few moments later the owner whisked it inside.
Garth was completely alert now, scratching his ear again, distracted. They were inside no more than five minutes before once again leaving, this time heading the opposite direction down the street.
Making as little noise as possible, Garth slid out of his car, trying to muffle the sound of the door shutting before taking off after the person. His hand slipped down to finger the gun in his holster, staying far enough back to hopefully not be noticed, hugging the hedges lining the street for cover.
Whatever it was that he was hunting was local, all the killings had taken place in this neighborhood and he felt certain that the ambiguous figure he was following had something to do with it. Maybe it was a cult?
His shoes scraped against some loose rocks, painfully loud to him. Garth winced, but the figure ahead of him didn't seem to notice as it kept the same brisk pace. They neared the corner, a shadow following a shadow, and turned right at the corner home where a large brick fence trailing ivy stood.
The corner was sharp and Garth only lost sight of the stranger for eight seconds by his count, but by the time he turned the corner it was gone. He stood dumbfounded for a minute, gazing down the sidewalk lined with old red brick that topped him by at least three feet. The leaves of ivy shone against the street light. If they had crossed the street he would have seen, and there was nowhere here to duck off the road.
"Ooh man!" His hand ran down his face, "You've got to be kidding me!"
Frustrated he kicked at the concrete, sending a few pebbles skittering away. With a huff Garth turned back the way he came.
Cli-click
The lanky man froze. He knew the sound of a gun being cocked even before it had finished.
"Looking for me?"
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A/N if anyone can give me some tips on how to do a page break, I would be grateful. Also please comment on the story! If I get a high volume of feedback I may be tempted to post an extra chapter as a treat! Also, I am currently accepting applications for Betas if anyone is interested.
