Danny slowly pushed open the door of the mansion and peered in. Everything looked the same. It seemed calm and quiet. No danger. Merritt shoved past him and simply strode into the mansion.
"What the hell are you guys afraid off? There's no one he-mmph!" Merritt was cut off suddenly. The remaining Horsemen glanced at each other with worried expressions and quickly ran through the door. It was silent. No one was there.
"Hello?" Danny called out. Jack reached into one of his many hidden pockets and pulled out his card deck, sliding two cards in between his fingers where they were ready to throw. Henley and Danny merely looked around cautiously; they had a few tricks up their sleeves.
No one was expecting Henley's scream. The second Jack and Danny turned around, she was gone. The two remaining Horsemen glanced at each other. What the hell is going on? Jack thought.
The girl walked across the rafters of the roof. She had left Henley in the back garden, Merritt in the Library. Her illusion would last until Dylan removed it and hopefully not before.
The girl looked down from the rafters. She could see J. Daniel Atlas and Jack Wilder standing below, talking quietly. For people who's friends had just mysteriously disappeared, they were rather calm. She crouched down low, and hung her legs over the side of the rafter. Reaching down she threw a puff of smoke at Jack Wilder's face, catching him by surprise. Her oddly colored hair slid out from underneath the leather jacket she wore and hung upside down. Jack smirked and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her down from the rafter.
Danny pinned the girl onto the ground and Jack held out his cards, ready to throw them and surprise her. The girl appeared unfazed, her expression impassive. She didn't even try to fight Danny, she merely looked at him with a bored expression.
"Who are you?" Danny asked, glaring down at his captive. She blinked slowly and rolled her eyes. Behind them, Jack stifled a laugh, most women would kill to be in Mystery Girl's position and Mystery Girl didn't even bat an eyelash.
In a flash, Mystery Girl had Danny pinned to the ground with a scarf around his wrists and a cloud of smoke in Jack's face. Damn, Jack thought as he blindly tried to find the girl, this girl knew her magic.
"Aria, you can let him go. I pulled the illusion you placed. Nice one, hard to pull. I like how you put Henley in London and Merritt in Australia. Hello Danny, Jack. Henley and Merritt are fine, just a bit dazed. Aria, your bag is in the spare room. Horsemen, gather in the parlor The Eye would like me to pass along this message." and that ladies and gentlemen, was Dylan Rhodes.
An hour of explanations and apologies later, Dylan had explained that Mystery Girl's name was Ariadne Delphinia Aspen, that she was nineteen (like Jack), and that she was going to be a part of the Four Horsemen. Apparently, The Eye had heard rumors of another group of magicians called, The Raven Keepers and were concerned about their top magicians safety. Supposedly The Raven Keepers hated magic in all it's forms and would do anything to get rid of it. Supposedly, they wouldn't stop until all magic was dead and gone. The Eye had sent Ariadne to watch the Four Horsemen, take part in their shows as the 'lovely assistant', and keep them safe from harm.
Naturally Dylan wasn't going to explain everything and declared that if they had questions, they should ask Ariadne. "She knows as much about magic as I do," he'd said, "she's a real joy to be around. If you have questions, ask her." and with a flash, he was gone.
Danny glanced at Ariadne, who was sitting next to Jack on the sofa in the parlor. She was looking out the window and playing with the necklace she wore. Her leather jacket was still zipped up all the way and somewhat resembled Jack's in color and style. Her hair was a rather odd tealish pink color that must have been dyed, and her eyes were a striking clear purple. She had rather pale skin and pink lips, long legs and feet clad in high heeled boots that resembled Henley's. She was wearing gloves and dark black jeans, and seemed unaware that all Four Horsemen were studying her appearance. She turned her head slightly and all four pairs of eyes were averted.
"So where are you from New Girl?" Merritt asked. Ariadne moved her purple eyes and locked them on Merritt.
"I'm from Brooklyn, well not really. I lived on the streets of Brooklyn." She said. Henley gasped lightly and covered her mouth in surprise. "That's why I can fight so well Danny, I had to if I wanted to survive."
"Well Jack is from Brooklyn too," Henley said, smiling, "you too could swap stories and whatnot." Henley had regained her composure rather quickly.
"Hey Hen, you should've seen what she did to Danny. She had him pinned down and tied up in a second. You should've seen his face." Jack cut in, ignoring Danny's glare.
"Really?" Henley exclaimed, "I love you Aria, you're my new best friend!"
Ariadne simply gave Henley an odd look, and tilted her head slightly. "Dan and Hen have this love-hate relationship thing going on and it's gotten to the point when no one knows what the hell is going on." Merritt explained, looking bored as he did. "By the way, New Girl, Jack likes you too."
Ariadne's purple eyes darkened slightly but she merely turned her head to look at the window again. "I think I'm going to go and find my bag. Dylan said it was in a spare room." she said. A light blush tinged her cheeks.
"Oh, I'll show you." Danny said, moving from his spot by a potted plant. Ariadne stood up as well and followed him out of the room, the tips of her hair changing from pink to orange.
"Sorry about, attacking you and your friends." Ariadne said softly as she followed Danny up the stairs.
"Why are you apologizing? I thought you did that downstairs." came the cold reply.
"I can tell you don't believe me and Dylan said that everyone needs to trust me. I think he told me to attack you just to make it harder for you to trust me. But I think the others like me, it's only you."
Danny was a bit taken aback by this reply. He was hard to read and yet this girl had read him like a book. He walked down the hall and stopped in front of the spare room door. "Here's the room," Danny said, "there's a connecting door that leads to Jack's room so if you need anything ask him. I'm going to let you get situated. Enjoy." and the arrogant bastard was gone.
Ariadne opened the door and saw a simple room arrangement. A bed underneath a window, small nightstand, a little closet, adjourning bathroom, and another door, presumably the one that led into Jack's room. Her bag was sitting on top of the bed and a small note was lying next to it.
The note read: Ariadne, don't get too attached.
A/N Does it seem a bit too rushed? Thank you for the fantastic feedback. I love to see what my readers think of this story.