CHAPTER 2

It was just Elle's alarm clock. "What a weird dream!" she muttered turning her alarm off and getting up from bed. It was nearing the end of August and she would be starting her second year of school at Gatorstooth. She had been having dreams all summer about going back to school and getting back together with her other house friends.

Most of everything from her dream was quite true except for the fact about her hating Alexa. She missed her best friend Alexa and hoped her dream would never come true and they would always be friends.

The only thing she didn't miss about going back would be Eric and Crinch. How she hated them so much. With Eric always bullying her and Crinch taking her stuff, this would be a long year. And yet again, she liked going to school and learning about the wizarding world and hanging out with her other school friends. Her mother and father told her many stories from when they went to school there and what they learned while they were there.

Elle lived in a medium sized cottage located inVirginia. She lived in the outskirts of town where there weren't many people. Only a few other magical families lived in this area and most of them did not have kids. If they did they were not old enough for school yet. Most of the people that lived in Virginia were mugglesand found owls flying through the windows very odd.

Elle had her own owl. His name was Albert but she just called him Albie. He was an eagle bred owl and very smart at that. He was a snowy white color and he blend in with the winter very well. Elle had gotten him for her birthday last year. Ever since then she would send mail to her friends at least once a week.

Since it was the beginning of the week, Elle decided to sit down at her desk and write a letter to one of her friends.

"What to write —," she thought out loud, "— and who to write to? Maybe I'll write to Alexa." And she began to write.

Dear Alexa,

I just thought I would write my weekly letter. I can't wait until we go back to school. What now? One week left before we go? I haven't got my letter yet. I am starting to wonder if they forgot to send it to me or maybe the recent storm washed away their owl. Oh, well. Either way, Trumblegrife will know that I haven't received my letter. She is the smartest and most powerful witch in our country pretty much so, I can always depend on her. If I don't get it by tomorrow, I will send an owl to her. Write me a letter back soon!

Elle

(P.S. My sister is coming to school this year too. You know, Katie, my twin sister who lived with my dad in London, the one I talked about all the time. I'll tell you what happened when we go to shop for our new books!)

Then Elle read over her letter twice to make sure that it would be fine to send and then folded it neatly. She tied a piece of lace around it and put the letter in Albert's beak. "Albie, you know where to send this!" The owl hooted and nodded and then took flight out the open window. "Don't eat too many bugs while you're out!" Elle yelled through the window.

After Elle got dressed, she walked down the steps to her kitchen. Nobody else was awake yet so she decided to get some breakfast and then take her broom for a ride. It had been a long time since she last flew her broom. She owned a Firebolt, one of the best flying brooms in the world. In fact, most of the Quidditch players on real teams didn't have a good of broom as this.

Elle played Quidditch at school. She was the best on the team. And she was seeker.

After she finished eating she went into the cupboard, and got out her broomstick, then she open the front door as quietly as she could and ran outside into her backyard. She looked around for muggles real quick and then put her other leg around her broom. She kicked off from the ground and rose ten feet into the air. The wind blew through her hair and she rose a few more feet and swirled around. About and hour later she heard a muggle open a door to let out their dog. She flew into a nearby tree and then climbed down.

She walked back across her yard and into her house through the back door. Her mother was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee.

"Where have you been? Flying your broom again? Why, do you know what could have happened if one of those stupid muggles saw you flying out there? Why can't you be a perfect little girl like Pansy Parkinson, you other step- sister? She wouldn't have been half as dimwitted as to do something as stupid as that!" her mother screamed.

Her mother had bleach- blonde hair that was kinky and all ways pulled back with the same sliver and gold striped clip. Her maiden name was Agnes Mulciber (sister of a death eater). She was a very tall woman and she was in her late forty's. She had remarried at least three times in her life. Her first husband was Antonin Dolohov. He was a death eater for Lord Voldemort and that is why he left her. She had married him and was left by him many years before she had any children right after Lord Voldemort had risen. He was also the murderer of the Prewetts (who were very brave aurors and relatives of a woman named Molly Prewett; later married and called, Molly Weasly).

Her second husband's name was Andrew Bell. He was the only decent husband she ever had. They had four children; Katie, Elle, Michael, and Cedric. Andrew Bell lived in London with Katie and Cedric.

Cedric already graduated from Gatorstooth. He was probably the snobbiest thing Elle had ever met. The good thing was she didn't have to see him ever because he worked for the Magical Ministry of America for the Salem Witch Trials. All they really did there was write letters to witches and wizards who offered to work for the ministry but failed to even get through their seven years of wizarding school and then sit through boring trials for bad wizards and take notes for the minister.

Michael though, was the only friend Elle had at home though because Katie lived with her father while Elle had to stay with her wicked mother. Only God knows why she was the one who had to be given this punishment. Michael would be in his third year at school. He was fourteen and had blond hair like his mother. It was pretty messy though. Katie and Elle were twins, like said before. Both had wavy brownish-gold hair and sky-blue eyes. They were born on December the thirteenth, Friday the thirteenth to be exact. But they didn't care. Anyone would laugh at them and oh, they would be sorry for it.

Once at school Eric was making fun of her and she punched him. He was sent to the hospital wing in a matchbox. That was the only time Madam Clarkspoon was upset with Elle. It was quite funny though at the time. Elle was talking to Alexa about her birthday and Eric just starting making fun of her. All of a sudden, SMACK!

You might have thought Elle was a perfect sweet heart, but oh, she did have a dark side. If you were to put her in a category and your choices were prep, poser, or punk, she would definitely fit in the punk category. She didn't go around beating up little kids who were smaller than her but when she got angry it showed.

And that is exactly where the rage of a vampire comes in. When ever she gets angry she ends up in a huge rage. It takes hours to cool her down. That is why no one wants to get on her dark side. Of course some people don't know that and will find themselves hanging from a fifty foot muggle telephone pole. That is just Elle though, she is half vampire. When she was little, a friend of hers wanted to become blood sisters. Elle didn't know that her friend was a vampire though, and at the time, neither did her friend. Her friend was a full vampire. If she had been a half vampire, Elle probably would have turned crazy. The way it had happened was a disaster but isn't that important. All you need to know is that, she is half vampire, which means she can still live outside in daylight, but she needs human and animal blood to live or she will die.

The last husband (and present husband) of Elle's mother was George Parkinson, who was also a death eater. Her mother was pretty evil. She married many evil men and was once one of Voldemort's followers herself. Anyway, George had a daughter named Pansy who was really mean to Elle and only two years younger.

"Mom, I assure you, I couldn't have been out there longer than an hour! And a second thing, Pansy is the ugliest, most vicious looking, dimwitted, air-headed, beast on the planet!"

"Don't talk about my daughter like that. You know very well she is a bright girl," Elle rolled her eyes and snorted, "and that her father is a very important and great man."

"Mom, he was a death eater for Voldemort!"

"Don't repeat that name under this roof. We refer to him as you- know- who! And Jacobin Parkinson has changed, in fact, he's working for the minister of England right now! If he gets another raise, we'll be moving there too!"

"Joy!" Elle murmured under her breath.

"What did you say? And don't be rolling your eyes at me young lady!"

"Nothing mother. Yes mother. Understood mother," Elle said in a mocking voice.

"Now, be a good girl and go to your room. I don't know, right a letter to your friends or something," she took a sip of coffee.

"Um, mother can I ask you one more question? Have you seen my letter from Gatorstooth yet? I haven't received it yet. And term starts in a week. We still need to get this year's books from Quarish and Trlotts'!" She looked down at her mother. She kind of felt pity on her mother. Her mother didn't have such a great childhood and most of the time Elle thought her mother deserved what she got because she had the nerve to treat her own daughter the same.

"No, I haven't seen it. Go get your brother for me would you? And while up stairs, bring me down my bathrobe?"

"Yes mother, I'll be right back." Elle turned around and walked up the stairs to her brother's bedroom. His bedroom was right next to hers. She knocked on his door, no answer.

"Michael, where are you? Mom is looking for you!" Still, no answer came from Michael's room. Elle turned the knob but didn't push the door open. She heard something. Someone was crying but it wasn't coming from her brother's room. She let her hand slip from the cold door knob. She stepped back from her brother's door staring at it for a minute. Again, she stepped back from the door. Something was going to happen, but what? She closed her eyes for a minute focusing on the noise she heard seconds before, the crying she had heard seconds before. Her palms sweating, she turned her head to the right down to her mother's bedroom door. She opened her eyes. There was blood on the door.

She closed her eyes silently as she had done the first time. A tear dripped from her sky- blue eyes. Another and then another tear trickled down her smooth cheek.

"Michael!" she screamed, "Michael! Where are you? Come out Michael!" Elle started to run to her mother's door. "Please be alive!" she added hopefully. "Please! This isn't funny!"

She ran to the door faster then she had run in her life. She slammed against the door. It was locked. Her face against the door, she started crying, silent, silver tears dripping from her eyes like a water fall.

Then, to the right, in the guest room, she heard the same person crying again. The noise she had heard was coming from this room instead of from her mother's room. The door slightly cracked open, she put her hand against the side of the door, only a few inches away from the door knob.

"Michael? Is that you?" she opened the door a little wider. She could at least see someone's foot. It was heavily bandaged, in a blood stained cloth, the cloth that would soon change her life forever.