Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. ^.^ I'm so happy now….

Disclaimers: I apologize for not writing this in the first chapter but…I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OTHER CHARACTERS FROM J K ROWLING'S BOOKS. (*CRY CRY* OTHERWISE I'D BE A MILLIONARE TOO…) *AHEM* I own Lapis Lazuli Azure Black, so if anyone wants to use her, please e-mail me first, okies??

Salem's Lot

Chapter 2: Meet Me At the Rock Show

Lazul rolled her head back and forth around her shoulders, hoping to ease some of the tension in her sore neck muscles before the show. There were already about forty or fifty people who'd shown up early sitting out in the stadium seats. As if there wasn't enough pressure on her performing in front of all the kids back home, now she was going to perform in front of complete and total strangers. Foreign strangers, at that. Foreign strangers with a weird sense of humor. She hadn't been practicing with this group for a week before she'd found every lame practical joke stuffed into her duffel. A whoopee cushion in the prop chair, a fake snake packet on her costume pile…frankly she was surprised no one dressed up as a clown with a squishy red nose.

The theater was amazing, though. She could feel the intensity of the lights, the sound reverberating off the walls, and the perfect atmosphere. This was where she longed to be. This was what she was born for. Not to be the target of wayward stones and jeering catcalls, which had been the common routine back home in Salem County Ohio. She would still be there if not for an unexpected turn of events.

Lazul had galloped back down the stairs from her bedroom, leaning over the railing as her mother sat a their small dining room table, wearing an expression of shock and worry. The rebellious teen swung a leg over and hopped down the last five steps, into the kitchen to see what all the fuss budgeting was about.

"Momma?" she straddled the back of the chair, ignoring how unladylike it was, and her mother's disapproving glance. It only lasted a moment before the worry and shock returned to her still unwrinkled face.

"Yeah, hon?" she was holding a pale sheet of parchment paper between her delicate hands, hands that had been raising Lazul for the past sixteen years, without help from man or friend, with the exception of an eccentric aunt with more cats than Lazul could count.

"What's that? Another bill?" the tension in her dancer's muscle tightened at the though of yet another payment her mother would have to make on their already slim account books.

"…No. It's about your daddy." She replied, biting her lower lip in thought. Lazul sat up straight, looking like a bobcat that'd just been dropped into a bucket of molasses. She'd never known her daddy…and from what Momma had told her, she didn't know him that well either. He'd come over from England on a family vacation over summer. Obviously, he'd been impressive if he'd gotten Momma pregnant with Lazul, right before he left for home. She never talked about him much more than that, and just from that, Lazul didn't like him. Not one letter after their affair, and not any response when her Momma had finally gotten the courage to write him, telling him about their daughter. Either he'd been too busy to worry about it, or he just didn't care. It didn't matter to Lazul, though. He was just a sperm donor in her eyes.

"What about him? Did he finally write ya?" she didn't bother hiding the contempt coated in her usually melodic voice. Talking about him made her moody, and when she was moody, it didn't really matter who she hurt or what got broken in the process.

"He's dead."

Lazul wasn't sure how to react to that. A man she'd never known, who was responsible for her existence was suddenly no longer there to hate. Of course, she'd contemplated him dead many, many times before, but this…

"So?" she croaked out. So what? Why did it matter? Why did she feel like the world had just come crashing in on her harder than before? Why did it hurt more than the stones thrown at her back when she wasn't watching?

"Well, this is a copy of his certificate of death…and the school that he was working at thought we should know." Her Momma looked like she was about ready to cry. Flat out, broken dishwasher crying now not hosed up sprinklers. "They already held the services. Since he had no other relatives, though…they want us to move into his estate." Lazul peered at her mother through her thick black bangs, depthless blue eyes meeting the tired gray in reservation.

"I don't want anything of his-" she began to retort.

"And the letter from that London cast came in. the only way you'd be able to go is if we moved in." he Momma leaned over the table, smiling tiredly, but in a knowing way that drove Lazul crazy. It didn't take them long to pack for the trip.

Now, Lazul was where she belonged. Among her own kind, in a world of constant drama, romance, adventure and pizzazz. This was where the kings ruled with dancing sticks and top hats, instead of crowns, where the leading lady didn't have to be a helpless princess. This was where the music cut through all the meaningless things in life and filled that hole with truth, love, and song and dance.

The prelude to the show was ready to start. Although not even half of the crowd was here yet, this was meant to be eye candy. To make the people stay for more, intoxicating each and every one with sound and lights. Tonight, Lazul was going to be their master of illusions.

She took her position, front center stage, in a half-crouch with her arms outstretched, holding the thick, silky cloak of fabric that was her costume like wings across her back. Pale skin turned bronze with the filtered lighting, and slick black locks became raven night. Her eyes, which hypnotized with their unending blue, were moonlit stars staring out patiently. Oh yes, it was magic…in a sense that none of these people would truly grasp or appreciate. But all the same, what Lazul burned for more than anything in this performance was to give them magic.

And she would do it…after all she was a witch.

The last Salem Witch.

There's Chapter 2 peeps. Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think…I think I made this one a little too vague but…*shrug* ^_^