Serena Killingsworth jolted awake from a disturbing dream. Her face
was beaded with sweat, and her hands were hot and clammy. Her heart pounded
as if she had run a 20 mile marathon. She glanced at the digital clock that
sat atop her dresser: 3:00am. Serena tried to remember the dream, but the
harder she thought, the more it began to fade. All she could remember was a
girl who looked about fourteen, handing the heads of The Daughters of The
Moon to The Atrox. And even worse, the girl seemed to have a smirk of pure
joy upon her face, as if she had wanted the daughters dead. The most vivid
description of the dream was the pendants that hung around the girl's neck:
one a sun, and one a moon. But there was something hauntingly familiar
about the girl, something that Serena was trying to hide from the other
daughters. Serena had been having constant dreams of this girl, dreams that
the girl was a daughter, but betrayed them, and the betrayal often resulted
in death of the daughters. Serena knew that she should tell a daughter, but
what if, she thought, that this fictional character in her head was just
her subconscious playing tricks with her mind? Serena took a deep breath
and tried to fall back asleep, but the mysterious girl kept appearing in
her head. Finally, the whistling wind and the silky moonlight slowly lulled
Serena asleep.
At exactly 3:00am in the morning, Vanessa Cleveland awoke from a very interesting dream. The same girl Vanessa had seen last night and the night before had again visited her in her dreams. This dream, of all the dreams Vanessa had had, was the clearest and most vivid in her mind. Vanessa remembered seeing a girl with black-as-night hair and piercing green eyes. Vanessa had seen the girl fly across the star speckled sky, watching over the daughters on a dark moon. In the dream, the girl was a daughter, and had forewarned them of The Atrox's evil plan to destroy the universe. Vanessa considered sharing her dreams with the other daughters, but then she dismissed it as some wacky dream. Vanessa glanced over at Catty, who was sleeping soundly. She loved the way everything in Catty's house was so calm. Vanessa drifted away in a comforting slumber, the girl disappearing from her mind with the scent of Kendra's rose petal incense in the night air.
Jimena arrived at Serena's house an hour earlier than usual. Serena was sitting in her leopard printed pajamas eating a bowl of Lucky Charms while watching "Bewitched" when Jimena bursted through the front door. "Aiy Dios mio Serena! I've lost it! I've lost my gift!!!" Jimena yelled at the top of her lungs. Serena spat her cereal and milk all over the television set, and Wally nearly jumped out of his skin. "What are you talking about?" Serena demanded as she wiped a chunk of cereal off the television screen. Jimena was hyper ventilating, and couldn't stop shaking. "Jimena," Serena said soothingly. "Sit down and tell me what is wrong." "Aiy, Serena. I haven't had any premonitions in the last year! I meant to tell you, but I didn't want to believe that my gift was gone. You don't understand, I tried to tell you...but I." Jimena's words trailed off as she started to cry. Wait a minute. Serena thought. Jimena never cries. The only time she did cry was when she lost Veto. Serena put a comforting arm around Jimena. "It's ok, I'm sure this is all very natural. You'll have your gift back in no time." Serena said, but wasn't so sure this was true. What if Jimena really did lose her gift? Serena gently pushed into her mind, but then she stopped. She wasn't able to enter mind.
Serena feebly tried again, but it was no use. She couldn't even sense an emotion. The hairs on Serena's back stood up straight. Jimena could sense her worry and asked, "Serena, are you ok?" Serena stared at her blankly, and said nothing. Serena was about to explain when Vanessa and Catty entered the house with worrisome looks on their faces.
"Something freaky is going on!" Catty screamed, still dressed in PJs. "Calm down Catty, I'm sure Maggie knows what's going on.." Vanessa's words trailed off as if she wasn't so sure. Vanessa's face, usually so flawless, was dotted with little red dots all over her forehead. She too, was still in her PJs, her hair in a matted, tangled mess. "We woke up this morning and our powers were like, gone! Zap! Zero! Kaput! Nothing!!!!!!" Catty began ranting on and on about how the world would come to an end because The Daughters of The Moon woke up one day and their powers were gone. "I'm sure there's a very logical explanation for this, maybe our powers are just developing." Vanessa said trying to ease Catty's worry. "No, chicas, this must be the work of the devil and The Atrox. Los Diablos!" Jimena said, not helping Catty's panic attack. "Stop it! Just stop it! Now there's no need to worry, Maggie will explain everything to us, I'm sure." Vanessa said, voice shaky. "Hey, it was a suggestion, chica, you don't have to hyper- ventilate." Jimena shot back. "Enough!" Serena shouted. Vanessa was getting ready to slap the smirk off Jimena's face, when Serena's shout startled her. "Listen, all of you! I am not going to stand around here arguing about our future! It's the present we should all be worrying about. Now, I don't know about you guys, but you can stay here and argue all you want, but I'm going to Maggie to get to the bottom of this." Serena said, her words clear as crystal. Serena was about to head for the door when Jimena stopped her and said, "Wait a minute. How do we know there's something you're not telling us?" Jimena asked questioningly. Serena shifted her feet nervously, and the strange dreams of the girl popped in her head. "You're crazy; all this fighting has got to your head. There's nothing I'm hiding." Serena said, trying to conceal the worrisome look on her face. Jimena seemed to be convinced. "So you're sure there's nothing, nothing at all that we should know?" Vanessa asked calmly. "Yes, I'm sure." Serena replied.
At exactly 3:00am in the morning, Vanessa Cleveland awoke from a very interesting dream. The same girl Vanessa had seen last night and the night before had again visited her in her dreams. This dream, of all the dreams Vanessa had had, was the clearest and most vivid in her mind. Vanessa remembered seeing a girl with black-as-night hair and piercing green eyes. Vanessa had seen the girl fly across the star speckled sky, watching over the daughters on a dark moon. In the dream, the girl was a daughter, and had forewarned them of The Atrox's evil plan to destroy the universe. Vanessa considered sharing her dreams with the other daughters, but then she dismissed it as some wacky dream. Vanessa glanced over at Catty, who was sleeping soundly. She loved the way everything in Catty's house was so calm. Vanessa drifted away in a comforting slumber, the girl disappearing from her mind with the scent of Kendra's rose petal incense in the night air.
Jimena arrived at Serena's house an hour earlier than usual. Serena was sitting in her leopard printed pajamas eating a bowl of Lucky Charms while watching "Bewitched" when Jimena bursted through the front door. "Aiy Dios mio Serena! I've lost it! I've lost my gift!!!" Jimena yelled at the top of her lungs. Serena spat her cereal and milk all over the television set, and Wally nearly jumped out of his skin. "What are you talking about?" Serena demanded as she wiped a chunk of cereal off the television screen. Jimena was hyper ventilating, and couldn't stop shaking. "Jimena," Serena said soothingly. "Sit down and tell me what is wrong." "Aiy, Serena. I haven't had any premonitions in the last year! I meant to tell you, but I didn't want to believe that my gift was gone. You don't understand, I tried to tell you...but I." Jimena's words trailed off as she started to cry. Wait a minute. Serena thought. Jimena never cries. The only time she did cry was when she lost Veto. Serena put a comforting arm around Jimena. "It's ok, I'm sure this is all very natural. You'll have your gift back in no time." Serena said, but wasn't so sure this was true. What if Jimena really did lose her gift? Serena gently pushed into her mind, but then she stopped. She wasn't able to enter mind.
Serena feebly tried again, but it was no use. She couldn't even sense an emotion. The hairs on Serena's back stood up straight. Jimena could sense her worry and asked, "Serena, are you ok?" Serena stared at her blankly, and said nothing. Serena was about to explain when Vanessa and Catty entered the house with worrisome looks on their faces.
"Something freaky is going on!" Catty screamed, still dressed in PJs. "Calm down Catty, I'm sure Maggie knows what's going on.." Vanessa's words trailed off as if she wasn't so sure. Vanessa's face, usually so flawless, was dotted with little red dots all over her forehead. She too, was still in her PJs, her hair in a matted, tangled mess. "We woke up this morning and our powers were like, gone! Zap! Zero! Kaput! Nothing!!!!!!" Catty began ranting on and on about how the world would come to an end because The Daughters of The Moon woke up one day and their powers were gone. "I'm sure there's a very logical explanation for this, maybe our powers are just developing." Vanessa said trying to ease Catty's worry. "No, chicas, this must be the work of the devil and The Atrox. Los Diablos!" Jimena said, not helping Catty's panic attack. "Stop it! Just stop it! Now there's no need to worry, Maggie will explain everything to us, I'm sure." Vanessa said, voice shaky. "Hey, it was a suggestion, chica, you don't have to hyper- ventilate." Jimena shot back. "Enough!" Serena shouted. Vanessa was getting ready to slap the smirk off Jimena's face, when Serena's shout startled her. "Listen, all of you! I am not going to stand around here arguing about our future! It's the present we should all be worrying about. Now, I don't know about you guys, but you can stay here and argue all you want, but I'm going to Maggie to get to the bottom of this." Serena said, her words clear as crystal. Serena was about to head for the door when Jimena stopped her and said, "Wait a minute. How do we know there's something you're not telling us?" Jimena asked questioningly. Serena shifted her feet nervously, and the strange dreams of the girl popped in her head. "You're crazy; all this fighting has got to your head. There's nothing I'm hiding." Serena said, trying to conceal the worrisome look on her face. Jimena seemed to be convinced. "So you're sure there's nothing, nothing at all that we should know?" Vanessa asked calmly. "Yes, I'm sure." Serena replied.