Chapter 3.

Clarke opened her eyes. She felt pain as if someone has poured a handful of sand under the eyelids; the back ached of uncomfortable sleep. The girl sat awkwardly, moving the blanket down to the feet, and started massaging her neck. Just perfect, she fell to sleep fully dressed. There is a first time for everything.

"Mooom?" - She called, listening to the sounds in the house. Something should have woken her, but now she heard nothing but the silence.

Clarke put on her old slippers, left the bedroom and went downstairs. The silence was broken by sound of black vintage grandfather clock in the living room only. The arrows showed almost eight p.m. although Clarke could swear that she had slept for two hours not more. Passing the mirror, she looked at her reflection and winced. Her rather dishelved blonde locks were tangled and stuck out of a braid, a trace of a pillow imprinted on her right cheek, and the worst of all was her crumpled clothing.

"My eyes gonna bleed, really! You`re a mess, girl." - She ran a hand through her hair, trying to smooth tangled mop, but the reflection showed her the same horror-story girl with big grey eyes and a mournful look.

Clarke found a small bottle of some blue potion on the kitchen table, next to a glass of clean water, it was some of the Abby`s headache medicine for sure, and a note that said:

"Went to Founders meeting. Dinner is in the fridge. I'll be late. Kisses, Mom.

PS: Drink the potion. Kills headaches.

PPS: Wells promised to drop in by 10 to make sure everything is OK. "

That potion really helped. And a hot bath helped even more.

When Clarke left the bathroom, trying to soak wet hair with a towel, the clock showed nine, and dusk was falling rapidly.

The house was dipping into darkness, becoming rather creepy and frightening for her alone, so Clarke quickly went upstairs, almost ran into her room and shut the door, leaning against it from the inside.

She looked up and shivered. The door was located directly in front of the window that was open, and now there she could see a dark figure in the opposite window. Guy and that obviously was a guy, not very tall but square-built, with a mop of shaggy hair reaching the shoulders, stood staring at her. There was an utterly indescribable expression, a mixture of surprise and admiration and stun on his face.

"Oh well, just what I really needed now. The guy next door, just great. "- Clarke moaned and recalled that she had a towel covering the very strategically important parts of the body only.

She could try to use magic to draw the curtains if she could concentrate, but this very moment the concentration was absolutely no good, and therefore, holding a towel to her chest tight, to prevent from slipping down, she went to the window, quickly drew the curtains and exhaled with relief. Then turned round searching for any bathrobe in the wardrobe.

"This is the definitely the worst day of my life." - She whined because it came to her that the right bag with personal belongings, underwear in particular, was left in the car. Then a reflection of the open window flashed in the mirror next to the wardrobe. Heavy curtains hung on both sides of the frame, as if she hadn`t closed them a few seconds ago.

"Seriously?!" - Clarke turned, willing to punch this unknown guy`s head for such jokes, and the towel slipped down to her waist. Fortunately, that guy-in-the-window was no longer there, so girl picked up her towel and drew the curtains again, grabbing them as if they were to blame for this awkward situation.

She really didn`t want to stay in the house alone, without anybody it seemed empty and uninhabited. So at ten p.m. her hair was dried and more or less set in order, in old clothes, but at least clean, Clarke was sitting on the steps in front of the house with her sketchbook in hands and drawing something light-headedly. That was the best cure from an endless stream of sad thoughts. Immersed in the drawing, she couldn`t heard the steps, until Wells landed next to her with a loud sigh. He put his arm around her shoulders and handed a package with warm donuts.

"Such a powerful witch and afraid of ghosts? Do not tell me you just wanted to go out and draw in darkness. "- He winked and pulled a flashlight from his pocket, switched it on and turned the ray of light to his face at the same time making a boogie look.

Wells has always been the best of her friends. They knew each other from when… from childhood? Clarke remembered times they used to play in a sandbox, and Wells ate the soil she had brought him, mistaking for chocolate cake. They built huts made of branches, conjured rainbows and hid caught fireflies under the pillows. And he saved her once when Bellamy set fire to her clothes. They were four years old, and Bellamy twice older. Surely this damn pyromaniac still hadn`t learned to control his temper.

Only Wells all these years intercommunicated with her, distance could not spoil their friendship at all.

"You saved me from starving, honestly." - Clarke smiled and nibbled her donut. She had left the house without eating.

"Wait a minute!" - Wells got up the stairs, quickly ran into the house and returned some minutes later with two mugs of steaming coffee. "I am not so easily scared. So, you're back for good? "

"Yes, I wanted it, though Mom was against it." - Girl nodded, reaching for the coffee. "I had to change the college in the middle of the year, can you imagine? Thanks god, your father runs the show in Ark. I`d kill myself if I had to enchant the headmaster. "

"Well, yeah, I do remember how you tried to erase my memory, and I forgot how to pronounce my name for two weeks."

They both laughed. It was good to sit like this.

"Clarke," - the voice of Wells became serious. "We will find your father`s killers, I promise. The Circle won`t leave it just like that, and we are not afraid of them, too. "

"We - meaning your own Circle?"

"He's ours. It's yours, too. "

"I'm sorry, Wells, but me and the magic ..." - Clarke broke off, not knowing what to say. "It`s not that simple. I didn`t admire magic, like some. "

"Like Bellamy." – Wells corrected her.

"Like all of you. It is so simple for you, like an everyday stuff and I ... All this time I lived with normal people. "

"It`s true and you're almost convinced me, Clarke Griffin. But I really know that you've never been like that normal people. Especially since that incident with Bellamy. "

"Oh yes," - snorted girl - "Is he the same asshole?"

"Worse." - Wells stood up, stretching his stiffened legs and looked at the approaching car with Marcus Kane and Abby Griffin inside. "You have the biggest chance to see that with your own eyes tomorrow. Well, my watch is over, I`ll pass it to your mother. See you at lessons. "- He waved goodbye and left.

"Great, really. How could I think that today was the worst day of my life? Surely tomorrow will be worse. Much worse. "- Clarke also got to her feet, following Abby in the house.

According to the traditions Circle had its regular meetings in the basement of the City Hall, in town center.

However, none of the adults could really imagine that the same time another Circle takes place. This Circle consisted of their children and gathered in an old abandoned house on the outskirts of Ark.

Bellamy suggested this idea after one accident when they had nearly destroyed Monty`s house during one of the experiments. And now he was lounging in an old wooden chair, with his feet up on one armrest and felt the second one digs in his back, and gave his most gloomy look to Monty. Asian was cutting mandrake roots enthusiastically and humming something together with the music in his hefty orange headphones.

"Well, what`s up with your long face?" - Finn entered the room, took a bicycle helmet off and threw it on the sofa in the corner of the room, hitting the sleeping Jasper on the back. "Is it a funeral party?."

Jasper jumped on the couch:

"Hey, vent your spleen on Bellamy, please. Wait for a little bit - and he`ll definitely fall down in the depths of hell with his chair. "

Finn looked at the old house, with its rotten floorboards, boarded up windows and holes in the walls:

Oh really? It seems to me, he doesn`t even have to fall. "

"Fuck off, Collins!" Bellamy pulled out his old cigarette lighter and started opening and closing iron lid with loud clicks and looked at the window sullenly. The window was half boarded up, so he could see nothing but darkness there.

Jasper reached out and sat up:

"Well, we're still could not find anything, mainly because of your and Wells` absence. What can the three of us do, really? So tell me why do I have to hang around here, in the company of absolute dontgiveafucker stuck to his flowers, and the king of killing glances?

"Wells was with Clarke, when I was leaving," - Finn picked up a page from some spell book and started examining it. "They were drinking coffee."

"Oh really, how sweet it was of him!" – Bellamy`s glance was impenetrable, but the clicking became louder.

"And I had to stay in the bar. Today they were there. "

Finn meant the Circle. Another great place for meetings, as well as the basement of City Hall, was a boat belonged to Marcus Kane. Or his bar at the pier.

"Did you find something?"

"Are you kidding? They`ll kill me if I happen to stand near the boat and try to eavesdrop. But, in general, I`ve got something. They were talking about the magic traces. It can track the Hunter who killed Griffin, but not surely, and then they found me. These traces are revealed by a spell of the Book of Shadows. "

"So, we need the Book of Shadows." - Said Bellamy.

"Whoa, slow down, man, I'm sure and Wells will agree with me, that we should not get involved in it. Let our parents deal with it; they are older and stronger – to begin with. And secondly, we have not even bonded our Circle, all we can do is boogie the girls with slamming the doors and making the glasses burst in other`s hands. "

"In fact, Monty freezed water, and it came by accident that the glass broke," - wedged Jasper.

"You see, we cannot even control it, and you're going to follow the Hunters? And then what? Set their hair on fire? Okay, I wash my hands of this, do what you want and I'm going home. "- Finn raised his hands in surrender. "It's high time, if we don`t want to cause unnecessary suspicions."

"Yeah, my old man did three long as hell lectures of the use of magic for personal purposes only as a last resort, so spare me from another." - Jasper raised his backpack from the floor. "Does anybody need a lift?" His old Wrangler could take them all, even Finn with his bicycle. - "And somebody please kick Monty, he seems to be lost in another reality."

"I won`t give up," - Bellamy stood up, reaching for a black motorcycle helmet hanging on a hook. "With that Griffin or not. Let`s meet here tomorrow after college. I`ll bring the Book. "

"Bellamy .." - Finn began, but then shook his head, slammed Jasper and Monty on their shoulders ready to leave. "See you tomorrow, nerds. Hope you won`t fail economy test. "

Those two howled together as one. The economy was the most difficult subject of the course, and that damn charts frighten them even more than all the Hunters of the world.

Bellamy killed the engine and got off the bike, looking up. His mother`s room was lit, so he had to distract her to get that Book of Shadows. And Octavia could help with that.

Each of the Founder families kept their own Books of Shadows with the most difficult spells, family history and other important things. Aurora retained Blake`s family Book, and she would never give it to her son now. But she could not know that he used to read it in her absence and even copied some of the spells. That spells now were at boys` secret shelter, where Bellamy could practice them to become more powerful.

But even without this little book in the black cover Bellamy Blake was one of the strongest young witches in Ark. His magic was uncontrolled and spontaneous, because his Circle was not united, but even now he was not afraid. He could not be afraid. Fear has always led to defeat.

Therefore he raised his chin and wrinkled nose, like he always did when worried about something, and went to the back door. He would do everything for his family`s sake.

Clarke checked her clothes for the tenth time and sighed. It seems that tomorrow she had to go shopping.

She heard a loud noise on the street and went to the window and looked out from behind the curtains. That guy-in-the-window was climbing up the ivy branches to his room on the second floor. He wouldn`t notice her being rather busy not making any noises, so Clarke could continue examining him. The guy climbed slowly but skillfully, apparently, this method of entering was quite routine to him, and the most amazing thing was that sometimes he set his foot in the air, as if there were some invisible stairs. That was funny.

Clarke crossed her arms and could not resist but calling him:

"Hey, Spacewalker, got some problems with the doors?"

The guy spun around from the sound of her voice and smiled:

"Oh ... hi there ..." – at last his hand reached the still and he was about to climb inside, but then something unexpected happened.

Clarke narrowed eyes and suddenly wooden still covered with ice. Of course his fingers slipped, letting go the windowsill, and the guy fell down entangled in the ivy and hung above the ground.

The girl laughed loudly, she avenged for his pry at least.

This time when climbing up guy watched his every step, and finally sat with his feet on the still:

"Was that an assassination attempt? Nicely done, Princess. I`m Finn, by the way. I`m your neighbor and the guy next door, or should we say – next window. "

Princess? Hey, I'm not a princess. "- Clarke retorted indignantly, then broke off, watching him pointing out at her T-shirt. Big black letters said – Keep calm and be a princess. Moreover there was a small crown on top of the statement. Clarke hated herself for forgetting to get rid of that old T-shirt.- "Jeez, that`s ridiculous. Do not call me that, I`m Clarke. "

"Whatever you say, Princess." Finn grinned and winked, slipping from the still into the room. "And don`t you dare to enchant my window, Princess, or I avenge. "

The guy waved, and a light gust of wind came to Clarke and pulled her hair.

It was so funny that she could not even get angry.

Clarke has been living among ordinary people for about 10 years, forbidding herself even to think about magic. But it was always some part of her, same common as, for example, the sense of sight or smell. And now she could finally accept it. The fact that she was different, as Wells said. The fact that she has always been different. And that was fine.

Clarke turned off the light and went to bed, staring at the ceiling. Dozens of tiny sparkles were slowly falling down and disappearing in the darkness. They looked like enchanted stars. All of a sudden she remembered her father sitting near her and reading those fairytales when she was little.

"I miss you, Dad. I miss you so mush." – She closed her eyes, sliding into a quiet dream.