A week later Stele and Jimena sat at Jimena´s kitchen table with an empty pizza box between them. Jimena had invited two other friends over, twins by the name of Mhairi and Meara.
'I know this sounds unbelievable, but here it goes,' Jimena began. 'These amulets are only given to girls who are Daughters of the Moon. We are sort of spiritual daughters of the moon goddess, Selene, basically sent to planet earth to protect people from the evil power of the Atrox. The Atrox is basically a hope stealing force.'
Jimena launched into the story of Pandora´s box for Stele´s benefit. Afterwards, Stele really didn´t know what to say.
'Yeah, it´s a lot to take in at first,' Meara affirmed.
'So you two are daughters as well?' Stele asked.
The twins nodded.
'We met Jimena when we were in 7th grade. Jimena was a junior or senior in high school, I can´t remember which. We met her through the big brothers/big sisters program,' Mhairi said.
'How did you get the nickname Stele anyway?' Meara asked.
'My friend David. My grandpa taught me all about sled dogs, and for the last 2 years I´ve entered the Junior Iditarod sled race. My friend David sometimes teased me that I needed to be made of Steel for the race, and so I´ve been Stele ever since,' Stele replied. 'I was hoping to race more, but then my dad got a job here.'
'Dads have a way of getting jobs here,' Jimena said. 'Especially when their daughters are Daughters of the Moon.'
'Yeah, we lived in Galway, Ireland until our dad got a job here between our 6th and 7th grade years of school,' Mhairi said.
'I noticed the accent,' Stele said.

'Are there any other daughters out there besides us?' Stele asked.
imena nodded. 'There are 4 in Maine, but one of them don´t have long before they make their choice. Only five months. The other 3 have about a year.'
'How come they´re not here?'
'Some strange quirk left a former daughter with her memories, albeit no power and she now teaches English at the school these girls are at. So she can act as their mentor, ' Jimena replied. 'Magaly, one of the four, has a gymnastics competition in Anaheim this summer, and so the four will be coming out here, and I can teach you guys all about the secret scroll. The Maine girls are making progress deciphering the thing, figuring out exactly what we need to do to destroy the Atrox, all the proper words and so forth. I wish we were born able to read Latin as well as speak it - that´s what is slowing us down, it is taking a while to read the old Latin.'

For the next month, the girls met as often as they coul.d Jimena did what she could to help their powers grow while still controlable. Mhairi and Meara alerady had some training, having known Jimena for almost 2 years, but Stele soon caught up. Jimena sometimes took them to Planet Bang, a local club and hangout, frequented by a significant chunk of the La Brea population. The first time though, it took Stele a week to recover from the culture shock.
'Yeah, it gets a little weird sometimes,'' Jimena said understandingly.
'We hated it the first time,''Mhairi said. ''We still don´t go there often.'
'High risk of unpleasant encounters with Followers,'' Meara added.
Stele nodded. She had been warned about followers, though she had yet to run into any.
The World Championships in august approached rapidly, and Followers somehow seemed aware of the Daughters´ reunion. tHe girls were in Planet Bang one night, just dancing with some acquaintances when a college aged guy came up to Stele, pulling her aside.
'I know who you are kid,' he said.
'Oh, good for you. You learned someone´s name,' Stele retorted. 'Now if you will excuse me, I was dancing.'
'No, Daughter,' he muttered. 'I know what you are, and I know what is happening in Anaheim this summer.'
'Yeah, all the normal summer things,' Stele replied.
The guy leaned closer, and whispered in her ear, 'Stay away from that Jimena girl, or I will make you regret it.''
'Bug off,' Stele said, pushing him away.
'No Daughter,'' the guy said. ''You stay out of Jimena´s life. We are more powerful than you think.''
Stele lashed out at him mentally, knocking him over a table. She looked around for the quickest escape route. She rushed for the door, pulling Jimena along with her. Mhairi and Meara were not far behind them.
'Every follower in the city seems to know about Anaheim,'' Meara exclaimed, once they were in a quiet side street.
'Calm, calm,' Jimena said.
She could not get further, as the door to Planet Bang burst open, and the guy who had harrassed Stele ran out, followed by his friends.
'Run,' Jimena said.
They wound down back alleyways, following Jimena, who had learned all these places in her gang days. Stele made sure to look around her, noting the small details, so she could find her way back if separated. It wasn´t long until they were in a very sketchy looking neighbourhood. Jimena paused for a minute, to listen. The girls tried to quiet their loud breathing, hoping that if anyone was nearby, they wouldn´t hear.
'I think we lost them,' Jimena said.
'Hey,' a voice called.
The girls turned. A slightly younger girl was standing at the end of a dark alleyway nearby. The girl seemed to be glowing faintly, and her face looked vaguely as if one face had been superimposed on another.
'In the past lies what is to come,' the girl whispered, yet they heard every word clearly.
Then, the illusion was gone. A girl of maybe 12 stood looking at them, a gun in hand, and ready to shoot.