Prt III: Destiny

Chapter I: Life with Jimena

Riley waved goodbye casually as Imy honked Art's horn and the two drove off. She smiled slightly at the frivolity of the pair. But it was soon replaced by a troubled frown. Things had happened tonight. Weird things.

She adjusted the gig bag strap around her shoulders and walked up to the door and pressed the number for the apartment building. She lived with Jimena now, while not anywhere near uncomfortable, she did occasionally miss her old house.

It hadn't been easy when she had first moved in. First, Jimena had to adjust to what she called, 'her weird eating habits'. Weird because Riley was a strict vegan, as her mother had been a nutritional nut.

She sighed, remembering the time her mother and her had gone grocery shopping. Cassandra had been tearing through the place, and yelled at innocent stock boys when they didn't supply her with oddities such as dairy free cheese.

She walked up the first four flights of stairs. She hadn't quite gotten used to living in an apartment building, and it was weird knowing that behind every wooden door there was a whole another living environment. It disturbed her a little.

She read the numbers on each of the doors and slowly pulled out her room key from her pocket. When she put it in the tumbler, her hand froze. She tentatively turned her head towards the window at the end of the hall, and then quickly down at her amulet. Had someone followed her home?

She stopped what she was doing and eased over to the end of the hallway. Her amulet was glowing with a barrage of colors, a Follower was near.

"O Mater Luna, adiuvo me nunc." She whispered, clutching the trinket like it was life support.

She opened the window and looked out.

She sighed, there was nothing. "Zalank, you're going insane." She mumbled to herself as she shut the window and made her way back to the apartment.

She quietly entered and was surprised to find that Jimena was still awake.

She was sitting at the kitchen table, her black hair tied up and her eyes fixated on a letter she held in her hand. She looked worn out, and she had reading glasses on. Her pink bathrobe was tied around her waist and her bunny slippered foot kept bobbing up and down.

When she heard Riley enter, she looked up and gave a wane smile, "How did your show go?" she asked.

Riley shrugged and plopped down on the fluffy couch that was in the living room. "Troubling."

Jimena rose an eyebrow, "How so?"

Riley sighed, "You know who Art King is, right?"

Jimena nodded, "Imy's boyfriend, correct?"

"He has a band called Round Table, and some of their lyrics tonight were..." She paused, trying to find the right wording, "Interesting. To say the least."

Jimena studied her, looking for clues or something. But Riley knew how to cover things up, part of her gift as a Daughter, "Interesting how?"

Riley slowly shook her head, "It seemed like they were about the Cold Fire Ceremony."

Jimena sighed and rubbed her temples, "Do you know who it was?" she asked inquisitively.

"Some guy at school." Riley replied, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. She decided to change the subject. "What's with the letter?" She asked calmly.

Jimena's face fell into a stretched smile, "It's a letter from my son." She replied.

Riley's eyes widened, "You didn't tell me you had a son."

Jimena shrugged, "He lives with his father in Hawaii."

Riley could feel some waves of sadness coming from Jimena, realizing she had brought up a sore subject, she bit her lip, "Sorry."

Jimena gave what seemed to be a genuine laugh, "It's nothing to be sorry about." She tucked the letter in the pocket of her bathrobe. "Anyways, I have to be getting to bed, working tomorrow."

Riley nodded and traced her thumb up and down her amulet, "Jimena, I have a question." She whispered.

"Que?" responded Jimena.

"My necklace, how'd you find it?" She asked carefully.

Jimena grinned, "I didn't. I assume that your mother took it away for," She sighed, "Obvious reasons."

"Then where'd you get this one?"

Jimena gave her a tiny smile, "It belonged to an old friend of mine, but she doesn't need it anymore."

Riley rose an eyebrow, "Why not?"

"Well, you see Riley, the former owner of that necklace was a Daughter who fell to the Atrox."

Riley stared at the pendant as she held it in the palm of her hand. She didn't like the sudden feeling of foreshadowing when she stared at it. At the moment, it was nothing more than a silver trinket, but still, it was beginning to feel awfully heavy. "Do you mind if I ask who it was?"

Jimena slowly shook her head, "Its better if you four know these things anyways, the Daughter was named Serena Killingsworth."

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That's all for right now, evil aren't I?

Next Up: Prt III: Destiny, Chapter II: Healing.

Reviewer:

CC: Thank you for reading! Yes, there are Four Daughters in this story, and so far only three have been introduced. The Fourth one will be appearing shortly, don't you worry. I hope this chap cleared up some of the questions you had about the necklace I think Vanessa does make sense as the Mater, and so does Jimena. Yet, I think that Lynne Ewing isn't going to use either of them for the Mater. Jimena, because she's too predictable, and because Vanessa is already established as a Daughter, one who is the least enthused about it out of the four. I honestly think she's going to use Tianna. The next book is called The Becoming, The Becoming of Mater? Ewing's favorite Daughter seems to be either Serena or Tianna, and since Serena is already the Key, I believe it will be Tianna. Also, maybe there's a connection between the names Tianna and Taemestra? (A long shot, yes, but it could happen) also, Tianna is the only one who wasn't born a Daughter. Lol, I'm sorry, I always end up writing a book when responding to your reviews lol! But I like questions, so please keep em coming!

Toodles

!nym!