Summary: Hestia Warner has always felt like she didn't belong, between finding out she was adopted to the pure craziness that has surrounded her for years. When several new students transfer to her school in the sleepy town of Widowsvale halfway through her Senior year, she is intrigued by them and the mystery surrounding them. With the return of something she thought she had put behind her, she's about to find out that not everything is as it seems. Especially, concerning a mysterious boy that makes her feel things she thought herself incapable of feeling. But, seeking the truth behind all of it is a lot harder than it seems, especially when darkness is around every corner and she's not as safe as she thought she was. A rewriting of True Heritage.
I don't own Winx Club
Chapter 2
Her eyes shot open, mind tense and her entire body thrumming. She tried to move her fingers first, but the stubborn limbs remained perfectly still, tucked underneath her pillow with little prin-pricks making it feel like bugs were crawling all over her hand. Crawling closer and closer to her face. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to move her toes and feet, but the limbs did the same thing as her hand. Her nerves made everything feel dialed up, the cold breeze from the fan left a chill deep in her bones that was achingly familiar, and goosebumps covered her skin, even if she was tucked underneath a comforter.
Blinking a few times, she waited and waited and waited for the feeling to subside, for the commands her brain was sending to her muscles to do something. Anything. She wanted to turn on the light, eliminate the darkness that surrounded her. Choking and dangerous and poised to strike.
In her peripheral, something moved.
Hestia opened her mouth, but nothing came out, it felt like her throat was locked in a painful squeeze, not enough for her to not breath exactly, but enough so that any large breaths she took couldn't power her voice. Tears stung at the edges of her eyes and she laid there, unable to move, defenseless and alone. The shadows shifted, forming the outline of a large substance, a bony hand reaching towards her, fingers like claws, sharp enough to tear skin to strips.
The darkness moved slowly, almost corporeal and tangible, sliding over the fingers of her right hand resting innocently on the patterned comforter and holding it in place like it had the strength of iron. A clawed hand reached for her face, sharp ends almost brushing across her face before it disintegrated with a screech. Hestia jumped, suddenly able to control her fingers and shot straight up in bed. Her phone had lit up, which made light flash across the oily substance.
She placed a hand to her chest, feeling her heart race under her fingers. She grasped her phone off the charger and stared blearily at the notifications. Odd. Hestia could have sworn that she had turned on 'do not disturb' before she fell asleep. She shrugged it off, reaching over and switching on the lamp on her bedside table, her brain felt foggy and woozy and she felt herself slowly fall onto her pillows.
Exhaustion covered her brain. Sleep. Her thoughts whispered traitorously, her eyes fluttering shut. Sleep. She needed her pills, she needed her pills, they would help. Sleep. But her body wouldn't move, every nerve, every cell betraying her. Sleep.
When she woke up to her irritating alarm clock, her lamp was off. Hestia couldn't figure out why that was odd, she hadn't left it on, had she? She had fallen asleep after finishing some of her AP homework. Hestia groaned to herself, sitting up, her nerves tingled, and she rubbed the back of her neck, confused. "Shit." She cursed once her brain registered the time and she quickly gathered some clothes and banged on the bathroom door before letting herself in.
The steam from when Morgan had showered was already receding, and she quickly turned on the shower and finally glanced at herself in the mirror. Hestia examined the mark on her face in surprise, there was a faint line that went from just beneath her eye to her jaw. Red and irritated, she pressed a finger against it, maybe she had slept on something funny. But she didn't remember falling asleep on anything that would leave a scratch like that.
"Hurry up, Tia!" Morgan shouted from her room, the door separating her room from the bathroom shut. "We're going to be late if you don't get your slow ass moving." Hestia rolled her eyes, unlocking her phone and opening Pandora, she tapped her foot impatiently and waited for the music to load.
Hestia glanced towards her sister's door for a long moment. "I'll only be five minutes. Can you grab me a pop-tart when you get down there, though?" She asked, wanting her sister to leave her room quickly. She didn't own any make-up of her own, something she should probably amend, but her and Morgan were pretty similar in skin tone, so, theoretically, she could get away with it.
Morgan sighed loudly. "Fine. But, please, hurry."
"I will. I will." Hestia replied, eyes still on the scratch on her face, it wasn't disappearing, just lingering, a bright red mark that made it look like she fell asleep on her computer or one of her textbooks. She ran a lone finger along the mark, an image flashing in her mind's eye, but any semblance of what exactly had caused the scratch was gone. Frowning, she pressed an ear against her sister's door, waiting for the light footsteps to recede down the hallway before she inched the door open.
Morgan's room was a mirror version of her own room, the twin-sized bed against the window with a nightstand beside it, but Morgan's was stacked with pictures and books and old gifts her friends had gotten her last Christmas hung from her lamp. The desk that Hestia used for schoolwork was used for make-up in Morgan's room since Morgan tended to do her homework at the dining room table or on her bed. The other obvious difference was that Morgan's room was less clean.
The bed was unmade, comforter bunched against the wall. Clothes littered the floor along with a few pictures Morgan was most likely going to tape to her wall. Hestia hadn't been in here for a few months, when Morgan had basically dragged her into the room and did her make-up.
It had been an experience, to put it lightly, but it was one of the last sisterly moments they had before Alice and David had sat Hestia down and explained that they weren't her parents. That moment had been so painful, her parents – well they weren't hers, they never had been – had lied to her. Her entire life had been a lie. The difference between her appearance and the rest of her family's wasn't some distant relative, it was because they had no blood shared between them.
A part of her had broke that day and never returned.
Hestia swallowed, shaking away the memories before trekking lightly over to Morgan's make-up desk. She scanned the items, fondly noting how unorganized and scattered everything was, before picking up the foundation and holding the compact against her arm. Turning toward the bathroom light, she noted that they were slightly similar, her skin had a more yellowy tinge while her sister's skin tone was pinker. "Hurry up Tia!" Morgan hollered up the stairs, almost making Hestia drop the container.
Hestia quickly recovered, edging into the bathroom and shutting the door lightly behind her, before stripping quickly and stepping under the water after she put the foundation on her bathroom sink.
"Cutting it close, aren't we, Miss. Warner?" Mr. James remarked dryly, disapproval flashing in his eyes as he shut and locked the door, Hestia flushed slightly under the attention and the slight chuckles from some of her classmates. The teacher opened his laptop, cutting the staring contest down and Hestia exhaled slightly, pulling out the school-issued laptop and waiting for the computer to turn on. She drummed her fingers against the desk, Brandon – her new seating partner, apparently – hadn't said anything this morning, strangely quiet and absent-minded as he jotted some things down in his notebook.
Hestia was curious, if only slightly, it was odd to be taking notes with nothing to be displayed, but maybe he was doing work for another class. It wasn't completely unordinary to do so, but it was odd how he was discreetly covering it. She kept one eye on him, but proceeded to finish and submit her warm-up before pac-maning her computer and waiting for Mr. James to give any more assignments, but he was caught up in his computer, brow furrowed slightly to show his frustration.
"Good morning gorgeous." Brandon finally greeted, finally seeming to realize that she was seated beside him. For a second, he looked completely off-guard, but the look melted away to reveal his casual charismatic grin, and he rested his chin on his hand, gaze on her.
Hestia rolled her eyes, "It's Thursday and we're in school. Nothing about this morning is good." She pointed out, turning her gaze away from him as Mr. James finally seemed to realize that everyone had finished his warm-up and pulled up another, mind-numbing PowerPoint for them to copy notes from. It wouldn't be so boring if he actually tried to put some enthusiasm in it, but he didn't so it was just a bored teacher droning on about English to equally bored students.
After the fifth slide, Brandon poked her. Hestia swatted at his hand but missed since he seemed to move with lightning speed. Then, after the sixth, he poked her again and Hestia glowered at him, because clearly attempting to hit him was just going to end in a fail. Brandon innocently raised his hands in surrender, smirk contradicting the action. "What? I'm not doing anything wrong." He whispered.
"Sure, you aren't." Hestia whispered sarcastically, folding her arms across her chest. She would have said more, but Mr. James was looking in their general direction and she clamped her mouth shut, copying down more notes and waiting for the slide to turn. Poke. "Brandon." She hissed, finally managing to hit his hand. "Would you quit it?"
Brandon just grinned mischievously, showing that he had no intentions of stopping, "Chillax, gorgeous. I don't bite. Not unless you ask me to." He winked suggestively, and Hestia gagged.
"You're incorrigible." Hestia remarked flatly.
"Would you two like to share what is so important that you had to interrupt my lecture?" Mr. James inquired sharply, eyes narrowed, and mouth tugged into a disapproving line on his wrinkled face. Hestia slid down her seat, ducking away from the glances the rest of the class were throwing her. She did not need anyone assuming and spreading rumors about her and Brandon, especially if some preppy girl tried to play matchmaker or worse tell her to get away from the preppy girl's man.
It had happened before.
Brandon recovered easily. "Nothing, Mr. James. Hestia, here, was just explaining some stuff from the previous lecture to me. So sorry about our distraction." He smiled innocently, which made Mr. James turn up his nose disbelievingly, but he didn't comment and instead turned back to the board, muttering something under his breath.
Hestia sighed, grateful that Mr. James had allowed the excuse, before turning her gaze back to the window, hand on her foundation-covered cheek.
Setting her tray down at the table, Hestia shrugged her bookbag off and put it on a nearby seat. Ally was still in line, making a face as she scanned something on her phone, earlier she had sent Hestia a message saying that they needed to talk, and Jessica was typing up an essay on her laptop, meaning she was completely distracted. Hestia grabbed a stale chip from the nachos that cafeteria had served and ate it, wincing slightly. "Hestia, hey! Can we sit here?" Rory appeared at the table with a shorter girl.
The shorter girl was gorgeous, curves defined but not too defined and heart-shaped face blemish-free. She had lighter brown hair with golden blonde streaks and honey-colored eyes with flecks of darker brown. "Hey. I'm Leanna." She introduced herself, shyly playing with a strand of her hair. Her eyes sparked with recognition as she glanced at Hestia, "You're in my first block, right?"
Hestia shifted slightly, gesturing for them to sit down. "Yeah." She affirmed. "It's nice to finally meet you. We haven't talked much. How are you two adjusting to the school?" Hestia turned her attention to Rory to include her in the conversation.
Rory sighed dramatically. "It's just as boring as any other school." She pouted, "Although, my old school had a lot less homework than this place."
Hestia quirked a brow. "Wow. I thought it was a universal thing forcing students to do an unholy amount of homework." She made a mental note to look up some schools that had a lesser homework load. She was just curious about where they were from that was so different from here, and last night hadn't gotten her very far in searches.
Leanna gave Rory a look that Hestia couldn't decipher, before turning back to Hestia with a small smile. "It is. Rory just misses home a lot, so she's looking for any reason to hate it here." Leanna amended, before leaning forward slightly. "Sorry to change the subject so abruptly but is Mr. James always-" She paused to search for the right word to define it, "-so boring?"
"Yeah." Hestia laughed. "It wouldn't be so terrible if he had a little bit of enthusiasm about it, but he's so grayed over and robotic that it's like listening to the disembodied google voice." She responded, before tilting her head to the side momentarily. "Oh. Right, now I remember. You're Brandon's sister, right?" Hestia finally connected, remembering that they had been introduced together.
Leanna nodded slowly, a sympathetic smile on her face. "Yeah. Sorry about him. I think his default is to just be as annoying as possible." Leanna admitted.
"It's cool." Hestia shrugged, she supposed Leanna and Brandon were as different as night and day. "So, how'd you and Jason enjoy going about your day with proper school stuff?" She turned back to Rory, remembering the shopping trip they had made. It had its awkward moments for sure, but it had been nice to go out and about and be a teenager rather than cooped up in her room.
Rory smiled, "Speaking of which. Thanks for that. It's nice to get away from our roommates every now and then." She said, and Hestia gave her a confused look. "Right. I thought Jason kind of explained the situation with you." Rory shared another measuring look with Leanna before turning back to Hestia. "We live with a family friend together, so it's a lot of teenagers in a kind of small area with rooms that do not have enough closet space."
"Then I'm glad Jason and I kept you away from the clothes section." Hestia responded, brushing off the weirdness of their living situation. She had no idea what kind of parents allowed their kids to live with other kids their age with hormones and other emotional influences. It just seemed like a bad idea, but she tried to brush off the initial judgement.
Leanna smiled slightly. "Yeah. Otherwise, she would have needed an entire bus to haul her stuff back." She said teasingly, and Rory elbowed her slightly.
"Oh. Hello." Ally greeted awkwardly as she sat down, "I didn't know we were having so many people sit with us." Ally gave Hestia a long glance, looking uneasy, before the look disintegrated and she turned with a smile to greet Rory and Leanna. "Hi. I'm Ally, you girls must be the new girls that the school has been gossiping about." Ally seemed to be regarding them with a cold calculation that was unfamiliar on her.
Hestia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, glancing over at Jessie, who was usually the most perceptive of the group, to see if she had noticed the cold air that Ally seemed to emanate. Jessie was still steadfastly typing on her laptop, completely ignorant of the environment around her. "Yeah. I'm Rory and this is Leanna." Rory smiled, slinging an arm around Leanna's shoulder and either ignorant or completely ignoring Ally's icy stare.
Leanna seemed to be searching for something to say, before she found it and stood up. "It was nice talking to you Hestia. But we should be going, we promised we would meet up with a few of our friends in the library." She said, slinging her bag over her shoulder and tugging Rory up with her.
Rory sighed. "Right. I forgot about that. See you girls around." She waved before Leanna tugged her away. Hestia watched them hastily leave the cafeteria before turning her gaze on Ally, who was still staring at the space they had occupied with a strange look in her eyes.
"What was that all about?" Hestia inquired, folding her arms across her chest. Ally just gave her a confused look. "You acted like an icy bitch to them for no reason." Hestia explained, giving her best friend an odd look. "What's up with you, today, Ally?" Something nagged at her subconscious, but she couldn't remember what or why there was something present. Usually, she had seen Ally as being nice and overly polite to people, so the overall iciness was an odd look on her best friend.
"I just don't trust them. And I don't think you should trust them either, I mean, isn't it a little weird that they moved here halfway through the year and without their parents or anything." Ally pointed out. Hestia thought about it for a minute, the weirdness surrounding them moving was strange, but there was nothing else that rubbed her the wrong way. Well, not in the way that they were completely untrustworthy, they had secrets, like everyone else.
"Still though, you're usually polite to everyone, even people who are complete assholes." Hestia pointed out, softening her gaze as she reached for Ally, only for her best friend to pull away momentarily.
Ally frowned. "Well, I know who they are." She insisted, "These people just have so many things off about them, that I don't think that we should be around them." Her gaze turned to pleading, "Can you promise me that you'll try to stay away from them? There's just something about them that rubs me the wrong way." Ally looked close to getting on her knees and begging.
Hestia hesitated, which was odd, usually she trusted Ally on stuff like that, but the way Ally was acting seemed slightly ridiculous to her. "Brandon sits next to me in several of my classes. I'm not just going to ignore him if I end up having to work with him. I promise I'll be careful, but I can't just pretend they don't exist." Ally seemed about to pursue it more but decided against it.
"Alright fine." Ally smiled, although it seemed fake. "As long as you'll be careful."
Hestia kept one eye on her best friend as she finished eating, before remembering the text message Ally had sent her earlier. "Is that what you meant when you said you wanted to talk to me?" Ally lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug, eyes briefly flashing towards Jessie, who was too enamored with her assignment to actually be paying attention to anything going on around her. Hestia lifted an eyebrow in confusion, before letting it slide, clearly Ally was just having an off day.
There was no reason for her to feel uncomfortable.
"Oh right." Hestia felt one side of her mouth lift into a half-smile. She debated what to say next, leaning back in contemplation, she had never felt so awkward, so weirded out by the body language Ally had. Everything had just clicked when they first met, like they had known each other forever, she couldn't imagine a world without Ally, it was like she had never been in a world without her best friend.
Ally nodded towards the door leading to the bathroom, "Come on." She stood up and Hestia followed, worried and concerned, tossing one final glance towards Jessie, who was resolutely not looking at them.
They walked into the bathroom, only being stopped by one administrator that wanted to know where they were going before they entered. Hestia checked each stall thoroughly before turning back to Ally. Ally gave her an odd look, almost like she was measuring her, before her expression returned to her normal, concerned look. A few tears made her dark blue eyes crystalize, and she wiped furiously at her eyes. "Als, what's wrong? Who do I need to beat up?" Hestia attempted to crack a joke, but Ally only continued with the same almost heartbroken expression.
Ally sniffed, "I thought you trusted me!" She suddenly exploded, pointing an accusatory finger in Hestia's face. Hestia felt her mouth fall open, anger and indignation boiling inside her like a raging fire. She tried to formulate her words, but Ally only jabbed her finger against Hestia's chest, "How could you not come to me? How could you not trust me? I thought you would tell me when your hallucinations returned!" Ally spat the word, venom dripping from her voice.
Hestia recoiled, before she finally processed exactly what Ally had said. "What the hell are you talking about? They haven't returned!" Hestia responded defensively, before remembering. Technically, they had somewhat returned, but how the hell would Ally even know that?
"Yeah, right." Ally snorted, before moving into a pace. "I've always had to force it out of you. You've never actually told me anything! I thought you trusted me, but clearly you don't if you won't even tell me when your hallucinations have returned. Not only that, but you're still trying to say they haven't returned, which is a total lie!" Each of Ally's words served their purpose, or whatever point she was trying to make, and made Hestia feel small and like a screw-up.
"Maybe, I never tell you, because you treat me like I'm a psychopath. Like I'm diseased. You're always so quick to send me to a mental hospital and force pills down my throat, when we could just wait for them to play out and they'll eventually go away." Hestia retorted heatedly.
Ally laughed. "Do you even hear yourself?" Hestia felt her face heat, warmth radiating from her and her nails digging into her palms so hard, she would be surprised if it didn't draw blood. "Normal people don't have hallucinations."
"Wow. Thanks so much for pointing that out to me, Captain Obvious." Hestia sarcastically clapped her hands. "Thanks so much for making me feel like a freak and treating me like I'm a problem. Well, if you don't want to have me as a problem, then maybe you should stay the hell out of my life. Wouldn't want to effect you with my 'disease.'" She spat, before her final words started to settle in and she felt a piece of her heart crack and splinter before being lost in the darkness.
Ally recoiled sharply, her expression suddenly remorseful and she reached a hand out. Hestia stepped out of reach, realizing the severity of her words, was this it? Was this really the end of their friendship? Ally is – was – her best friend, losing her would be like losing a chunk of herself, she had never faced her hallucinations without Ally, but Ally would usually make her feel like there was nothing wrong with her. The feeling she got right now, was the exact opposite, the feeling of not belonging.
She didn't belong here.
She didn't belong to her family – they weren't even hers. And she didn't belong in a world where she saw things everyone else didn't.
Hestia dragged herself back down to earth, ordering herself to not cry, to not display the very human reaction she wanted to have. "I'm so out of here, let me know when you're ready to stop treating people who are different like shit." Hestia turned on her heel, ignoring Ally's murmured words, that sounded slightly panicked, and pushed open the bathroom door.
Nobody seemed to notice, or maybe they didn't care, that anything had happened, the hallway teachers were too caught up in their own conversation to actually notice her slid past them and into the cafeteria. Hestia kept her head down as she headed for her things, slinging her book bag silently over her shoulder. "Hestia?" Jessie. Of course, she was already packed up and waiting patiently for the bell to signal to them to head to fourth block. She peered behind Hestia, before returning her hazelnut eyes to Hestia's face. "Where's Ally?"
Hestia glanced over her shoulder, wincing. "I don't know." She shrugged, "Sorry, Jess, but she just said some things that pissed me off."
"That seems to happen a lot." Jessie replied after a minute, her eyes lowered and her hands drawing a meaningless swirl onto the table. Hestia wanted to ask her what that was supposed to mean, but she wasn't in the mood to fight, all of the wind had been taken out of her sails after that horrible conversation with her supposed best friend. Jessie was silent for a few, long minutes, before she finally glanced up at Hestia. "Did you finish your AP Lit assignment, yet? I've got a pretty good theme for the poem, but I just need to finish the reading questions for Pride and Prejudice."
Hestia nodded her head slightly. "Yeah. I'm crap at poetry, so mine basically sounds like trash." She grinned slightly, "If you need any help with the reading questions, I've already finished with them and I can send you a picture later."
"Yeah, that might be very helpful." Jessie smiled gratefully, and Hestia made a mental note to take some pictures of her questions and forward them to Jessie. The bell chimed a few times, signaling for them to leave and Hestia was grateful for the save from further awkward conversation. She hadn't been wrong, had she? Ally was just concerned and playing the part of a good friend and she had been completely stuck in the belief that everything would work itself out.
If that were the case, wouldn't she have stopped getting hallucinations period, rather than them making a sudden return.
The door of the house was open, which was odd. Usually, if the door was open, it was either because mom was poking her head out to check the front porch for mail or dad was trying to gather one last thing before he went to his car. Another odd thing, was that all of the lights were off, making the house look like a black hole surrounded by light. Hestia frowned, pushing open the door, which creaked uneasily, a loud groaning noise that echoed around the house and reverberated in Hestia's ears.
She stepped into the house, her feet weighing heavily on the welcome mat and peered around the house.
It was even more unusual inside the house, there was a musty odor that hung around her head like a fog and she coughed at the horrible smell. It smelled like something had died, which was weird and unusual. A sudden creaking sound drew her attention upstairs. "Hello?" Her voice echoed, reverberating in her ears. "Morgan? Is that you? What's going on?" The creaking sound grew louder, the wood groaning and the ceiling made a loud cracking sound like a whip. Hestia ran towards the stairs, tearing around the railing and thudding up the stairs, taking two at a time.
She saw Morgan's room first, it looked like it had just this morning, but the walls seemed to be dripping with liquid that was dark and made an almost black trail as it slid down. The outside light was muted, dark gray and making everything seem to disappear. Hestia scanned the room, gaze sliding over the furniture, the bed was empty, the floor empty, although a pile of liquid laid in a puddle at the center, weighing it down.
Hestia saw something drip on it and forced her neck to look at the ceiling. A bony, shadowy creature was on the ceiling, face trapped in a glower and rows and rows of teeth poised to devour her. She screamed, running away, a thud on the ground followed her and she was painstakingly aware of the thing chasing her down the hallway. Dead end. She spun on her heel, the creature was just past Morgan's door and screamed shrilly, launching itself even faster at her, knowing she was cornered.
Come. A voice whispered, and something seemed to pull her backwards, dragging her threw the wall and to the other side of it. She half-expected to look down and see the side yard stretched out beneath her. She expected to feel herself start to fall endlessly to the Earth, but the feeling never came and when she looked down, she was on a completely different carpet. It was a reddish-purple, lined with gold and warm torches cast a protective glow against the corridor.
Beautiful. Like something out of a fantasy. A voice called her, a hum ringing in her ears and a diamond-shape ball of light appeared suddenly, glowing blue and gold. Strands of gold interweaving with the blue strands like ribbons. It traced down the hallway, guiding her and Hestia followed it, drawn to it, but the shrill screaming interrupts her continued pursuit. She spun around, the top half of the creature's body was through the wall and it was screeching endlessly and clawing at the paint, leaving large claw marks.
Come my darling. The voice hummed again, words echoing down the hallway and Hestia turned back to the sphere of light, the voice seemed to be coming from the sphere. It suddenly took off, and she chased after it, following through endless halls and corridors. It seemed to go on forever and she wanted to pause and stop, but that creature was still following, and the protective torches were slowly flickering out with each step it took. She could see it in her peripheral, the torches diminishing to reveal cold blue sparks.
Hestia screamed and pumped her legs harder, running further and further from the shadows. Finally, the twisting corridors seemed to end, and the voice hummed again, hauntingly beautiful. The light suddenly stopped, before shooting to the right. Hestia almost fell on her face with her desperation to follow it, for it to keep her safe. At the end of the new corridor was a large door with one dragon engraved on each side, shooting fire over the doorway.
No one stood outside the room, but there had to be people inside the room. Orange light warmly lit the room and Hestia felt relief flood her and ran towards it.
Come my darling, homeward bound. The voice hummed, and Hestia reached the door, moving to open it, before everything rushed at her and she couldn't find herself able to move. Paralyzed with the screeching monster dragging closer and closer before it dragged her and pulled her down the hallway. She dug her nails so hard into the floor, that her fingers started bleeding.
She screamed as the creature descended, the haunting notes of the humming she heard playing loudly in her ears.
Hestia shot up in bed, comforter twisted around her like a snake strangling its prey, with a strangled scream. She lifted a trembling hand to her face and felt the tear tracks on her face, knowing that they left red, swollen trails in their wake. Another tear slid down her cheek, and she furiously wiped it away, her entire body still convulsing as she tried to temper and calm herself. The lullaby played in her ear again, and she shot out of bed, fighting the comforter away from herself.
She almost fell on the floor from that attempt, but she scrambled towards her dresser where she kept all of her notebooks. She pulled one drawer open, grabbed a pencil and tore through the pages, hundreds of entries of other nightmares were within the pages. Hestia had hated having to give this to the doctor and have them diagnose her after reading her innermost thoughts, but they hadn't cared for that. They only cared for the money. She chewed on the eraser of the pencil she had picked up before putting it to paper.
She fumbled slightly, trying to remember the exact notes. Hestia hummed them, closing her eyes and fighting away the fear, but it still remained, like a nagging voice in her head and it soiled the haunting voice. "Come my darling." She searched her brain for the rest of it, writing that part down next to the other lyrics of the lullaby. It seemed to be a complete song, and all she needed to do was do some research on it about its origins and it might lead her closer to her family.
Growing up, she had never heard it before. Well, not while she was with Alice and David, but they weren't her biological parents and maybe her biological mother had sung it to her before giving her up.
A hint of bitterness nipped at her heart, but she forced it down. "Come my darling." Hestia hummed again, trying to figure out the song. She closed her eyes, this time focusing on the room, maybe it was a memory. No, that's too optimistic. If my birth parents were that rich, why would they give me up? It didn't make sense, and the words she had originally thought of were slowly dissipating to the back of her mind, in a room she would never hold the key to.
Hestia frowned, reading over the lyrics. "Yes, she will sing to those who hear and, in her song, all magic flows." She hummed lowly, keeping the volume of her voice purposefully low. Mom and Dad would no doubt be hurt by her admission that she was singing a lullaby someone that was not them had sung to her. "But, can you brave what you most fear? Can you face, what the river knows?"
"I've never heard that one before." Morgan's voice made her jump and Hestia whirled around to face her younger sister. Morgan was in her pajamas, hair separated into two braids and a large, oversized sweatshirt covering her small frame.
Hestia stood up, closing the notebook and putting it back in the drawer. Morgan's gaze followed the action and slight bewilderment crossed her face. "How long have you been awake?" Hestia diverted the topic poorly, she didn't want Morgan to call her out on humming lyrics and holding the nightmare book, as Morgan had dubbed it.
Morgan shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck tiredly and plopping down on Hestia's bed, "Only like ten minutes. You woke me up with you falling on the floor." She wrinkled her nose slightly.
"I did not fall on the floor. I gracefully slid off the bed." Hestia defended, and Morgan gave her an amused look, before glancing around the room. Hestia followed her sister's gaze, there weren't many things in the room that made it homey, she mainly had textbooks and some other books. The only sign of the room belonging to her were the three framed pictures that were on the otherwise clear and clean nightstand. "So, what's your plan for the day?" Hestia checked her phone, browsing through the notifications before pressing the clear button.
Ally hadn't reached out. No phone calls. No messages. Nothing.
With a small sigh, Hestia put the phone back on the nightstand, leaving it on the charger and took a seat on the bed, settling an appropriate distance from Morgan without being too much in her space. For a minute, Hestia worried that maybe Alice and David had sent Morgan up for the calm before the storm, maybe Ally had told them about Hestia's small relapse and they were on the phone downstairs planning out the next year of her life. She tried to listen to any sounds downstairs, but there was only the faint sound of pans clattering and the fridge being opened and closed.
"I think I'm going to go hang out with Bree." Morgan answered, mentioning her best friend calmly, "She said something about catching a movie or going shopping. You're welcome to join us, if you want to." Morgan added the last sentence hesitantly.
Hestia shook her head, smiling. "No thanks. Besides, you know me, movies and shopping aren't really my thing. I'm probably just going to go for a drive. Are you going to need a ride to Bree's or is she coming to get you?" Hestia inquired, getting up and pulling open her top drawer and grabbing some of the money she had stashed away from her summer job, she had worked at the grocery store down the street for minimum wage. Which was working out great so far for her gas money and with a little bit of spending money. Thankfully, though, she was on her parent's insurance, otherwise she would have needed a job throughout the school year and her parents had firmly said no to that one.
Morgan eyed the money stash curiously, she, on the other hand, hadn't needed to get a job, so she had spent the time going between friend's houses. "No thanks." She answered, standing up and wiping off the imaginary dust from her pajama pants. "I get dibs on the shower first, by the way." Morgan jabbed her thumb towards the bathroom. She walked to the door, before hesitating in the doorway, turning to give Hestia one last long, searching look.
"Morgan?" Hestia asked.
Morgan eyed her for a minute longer, opening her mouth to say something before opting against it. "Nevermind. It's nothing. Tia. I'll see you later." She shut the door behind her, brown hair flying over her shoulder as she quickly turned her head away.
Hestia eyed the bathroom door for a few minutes, she knew what Morgan had wanted to ask, but opted not to. It was about the lullaby that she had been humming moments before Morgan had announced her presence. She deflated a little, she had avoided asking too many questions, even though she had wanted to, because she wasn't sure how she could bring it up without inducing tears or making her parents feel insignificant. Opening another drawer, she grabbed a fresh pair of pants and a random shirt from her closet before laying both out on the bed.
She mentally debated making the bed, before opting not to, and set her shoulders before going downstairs.
The small store was weathered and old, the parking lot needed to be repaved, white lines that were supposed to separate the cars barely visible, and the building itself was overtaken with vines with small little buds on them. In spring, the little flowers were probably beautiful against the rustic wood, but now, it seemed like nature was slowly claiming the building back. Candles, both real and fake, were in the store window, seated delicately on some smooth fabric with books and gems, among other Wiccan things.
Hestia mainly loved their books. She thoroughly enjoyed reading the stories each book presented, and the feeling each book had underneath her fingers. Engraved leather covers and crisp brown paper. Her parents weren't entirely keen on the subject, but even they could admit the store's appeal. Turning her car off, Hestia grabbed her satchel, with her wallet and a few of her textbooks since the store owner loved her and would let her sit on one of the chairs for hours doing homework, and stepped into the crisp, winter air.
Her breath escape in small white puffs and she watched it, enthralled momentarily before shaking her head at herself and climbing up the front walk. She pushed open the door, hearing the bell above it jingle and was immediately greeted with candle smells. The store had everything: old furniture, wooden shelves with intricate designs, books, candles, and even clothes. Hestia felt her muscles start to relax, instantly soothed by the warmth and she immediately peeled off her thin coat and stashed it in her satchel.
"Good afternoon Hestia." Madelyn greeted warmly, platinum hair pulled into a messy bun and overalls stained with paint. She had owned and operated the small antique store for years, and always wore overalls and was always doing something.
Hestia smiled, eyes wandering towards the books section, "Good afternoon Maddie." She returned the greeting with her own level of warmth, "Got any new shipments you need help with?" They both knew she was mainly asking for the books and journals. Hestia had been dying to get a new, private, journal for so long. One that was for her own use, whether it was new coding she was dying to try or just private thoughts she had throughout the day. Sharing with a therapist had taken out the actually therapeutic attributes of keeping a diary.
Madelyn laughed and gestured with her open hand, the other occupied by a few books she was probably putting away, towards the desk that had leather journals stacked on it. Hestia grinned appreciatively and made a dash for the books, scanning through them. One was made of rich leather with birds and owls engraved in it, another had dragons with gemstones for eyes in it, and the third one had a tree of life with glittering small gemstones as leaves. Madelyn had been buying leather journals for years and adding her own flair to them for almost as long.
Hestia glanced through a few more, before finding the one. It was a smooth, dark leather with a large topaz-colored gemstone in the center surrounded by engraved rose petals with red glittering stones dotting the point of the petals. Two dragons circled the center image, one had blue glittering gems for the eye color and the other had red. She pulled the small tab that kept it locked through the loop and opened it to peer at the pages. There were no lines on the crisp off-white paper that was thick between her fingers. "Beautiful." Hestia whispered, feeling the design underneath her finger.
"Thanks, sweetie." Maddie reappeared, sliding behind the counter. "If you want it, it's yours." She smiled easily. Hestia opened her mouth to protest, the journal was worth way more than just being given away for free, but Madelyn held a hand up, stopping her. "You've been a loyal costumer and helper for years, and besides, I designed it with you in mind, so therefore it's a gift and you can't really turn down a gift, can you?"
Hestia snorted. "Really backed me into a corner there, didn't you?" She softened her grin into a thankful smile. "Thank you so much. Maddie." Hestia ran her finger over the cover one more time before gently putting it in her bag, dropping down so that it was cushioned around her coat.
The bell above the door jingled again and Hestia turned to look at the newcomer, feeling Madelyn probably do the same behind her, before her stomach gave a little flop in response to the guy who just walked through the door. Brandon was trailed by his little sister and another girl that Hestia had seen around but never had the chance to meet. The girl had violet-pink colored hair with dark blue highlights, pale skin and violet eyes. Lyrica was taller than Leanna, but still shorter than Brandon.
Brandon spotted her, a corner of his mouth turning upwards into a half-smirk, and he sauntered into the store, leading the way for his sister and her friend. "Welcome to Antiques and Things, what can I help you with?" Madelyn greeted, emitting the same warmth and friendliness she normally did.
"Oh nothing." Lyrica said, nudging her friend forward. "We're new to town and we were just looking around." Lyrica eyed the store, gaze tracing the books and furniture and clothes. Her eyes lingered on a few of the books, but otherwise, she seemed entirely uninterested in the store.
Leanna was still looking around the store, eyeing the books like they were her favorite thing in the world, but she still lingered. Probably not wanting to be rude, Hestia mused to herself, waving towards Madelyn, and offering a small smile to the group, before walking towards the back of the store. The few bits of jewelry the store had were hanging gently on a wooden tree with large, interloping branches.
"Well, fancy seeing you here." Brandon greeted, sitting in the seat beside hers and Hestia lifted an eyebrow at him before returning to her textbooks. He wrinkled his nose. "Wow. I'm not even that surprised. You're here to do homework." He gave her a look, before toying with one of the necklaces hanging near his head. "I'm surprised you haven't moved yet; didn't your friend tell you we were dangerous." Brandon said the word, friend, mockingly.
Hestia furrowed her eyebrows, he knew about that conversation, how the hell did he know about that? "Who said I listened to everything Ally tells me?" She retorted, opening her textbook to the page assigned by using the yellow sticky note she had stuck in it the night prior. "I'm my own person and I can talk to whoever I want to." Hestia was still somewhat sore from that, the fact that Ally had tried to control her, was always trying to tell her what to do was getting on her nerves.
It might come from a good place, but the effort was disastrous. "Wow." He lifted an eyebrow, "I'm surprised, considering you practically forced my sister away from your table." Brandon leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees.
Hestia sighed, flicking her gaze up to him. "I'm sorry that it was like that. It's not like I can control what she does, is it?" She exhaled through her nose, before tilting her head to the side. "You're really protective of your sister, you know that?" Hestia could relate to that, she might not be as close to Morgan as she used to be, but she would always try to protect her and keep her safe.
Brandon shrugged, "It's my job." His gaze wandered to his sister, who was browsing through the books, pulling a few out and handing them to Lyrica, who muttered something indignantly. Hestia bit back a laugh, Leanna was a book shopaholic, she almost felt bad for Lyrica for getting roped into it, but the aforementioned girl didn't seem that upset over having to hold a bunch of books.
"I get it. It's the same for my sister and I." Hestia commented, causing Brandon to give her a look.
"You have a sister." He breathed, looking completely thrown off, but the look faded too fast for Hestia to be sure it even existed. "Is she as book-crazy as my sister?"
"I don't think anyone can be as book crazy as your sister." Hestia joked, and Brandon cracked a smile, which was better than the ever-present, challenging smirk. "Morgan is more make-up crazy or capture-the-moment crazy. I'm not entirely sure what type of crazy she is." Usually, the word crazy was her breaking-point and always pushed her over the edge, but somehow, she was able to use it and hear it without shutting down. "So, you're here because your sister dragged you here?"
Brandon nodded, before leaning back. "Do you see me as the type to be here, princess?" The smirk was back on his face, and Hestia felt her face heat up.
She wrinkled her nose at the nickname. She wasn't a princess, she didn't need to be saved or have any desire for riches and ball gowns and fancy palaces. "Yeah, don't call me that." Hestia tapped him lightly on the arm with her textbook.
"Why not? You're as beautiful as a princess."
Hestia rolled her eyes. "Wow, so charming and original." She deadpanned. "Besides, if you don't like the store, I'm sure your sister is safe enough with Lyrica around." Hestia commented.
"Oh. You saying that you want me to leave, princess." Brandon commented, lifting an eyebrow.
She wacked him with her textbook again at the nickname before resuming what she was doing and pulling out a school-related notebook. "Brandon, are you done harassing people?" Leanna sounded unamused as she walked over, carting a bag on each arm, each plastic bag filled with thick books.
Brandon pulled one off her arm, peering inside of it. "Wow, sis, did you buy the entire store?" She whacked him on the head. He rubbed the spot, pouting slightly. "You girls are so abusive towards me." He continued to hold onto the bag while Lyrica meandered over, holding a smaller bag with only one book inside of it. "You bought something, too? Never thought I'd live to see the day."
"You probably won't live to see the rest of the day." Hestia commented, noticing the practically murderous look that Lyrica gave him.
Lyrica nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, he definitely won't." She cracked her knuckles, the bag sliding onto the crease on the other side of her elbow.
Brandon gasped dramatically. "You wouldn't want to rid this world of one of its most beautiful creatures. What would Hestia do without me as her English partner? How would she survive whats-his-face's presentation?" He questioned, and Hestia rolled her eyes in response, she wasn't going to dignify that with an answer.
"I think she'll be fine." Lyrica said.
Leanna sighed, "Alright, you two. Hey, we're going to stop by a café, do you wanna join us?" She offered to Hestia. Hestia opened her mouth to say no, she needed to finish her homework, before she realized that, she probably wasn't going to be able to focus enough to do it. "Please. I could use a break from those two."
Hestia chuckled. "Ok, sure. Sounds fun." Leanna grinned in response, her entire face almost aglow.
The café was nice, homey with tall tables and stools along with a bar-like counter that ran the length of the windows – which provided a view of the trees outside and the street – and had outlets at each window trim. The scent of coffee beans and the goodies from the bakery section wafted in their direction the minute they stepped inside. Hestia felt her stomach grumble in approval to being around food and consistently saying 'feed-me.' Brandon tossed her a knowing look before selecting a square-shaped table towards the back.
Lyrica surveyed the area around them, gaze sharply tracing over every object and person as if she were searching for something, before she sat down, slightly turned in her seat to continue her scan. "This place's surprisingly nice, given the outside." She commented, the outside of the café was a little worse for wear, with peeling paint and red-faded brick along the lower half. A small overhang was above the front door, preventing the rain from hitting them. The fog from earlier had faded into a hint of mist before turning into full-on raindrops as they fled into the building.
"Yeah." Leanna hummed in agreement, "I told you we should give it a chance."
Lyrica rolled her eyes, setting her bag down by her seat and putting her foot next to it so she could make sure she remembered it. "Yeah, yeah. I know." She waved her off as a hostess wheeled over a cart of assorted coffee cups and a steaming pot of coffee. The hostess said nothing, dropping off the coffee, mugs, sugar, creamer, and milk.
"If you'd like anything from the bakery section, let me know." The hostess said, friendly smile still in place before she sauntered back to the bar in front of a swinging door that led to the kitchen, where Hestia was willing to bet a few more things for the desert section were still being made. The small seating room was only occupied by a few teenagers sitting at the window-bar, but Hestia liked the lack of chatter, it made the area quiet and her senses zoned in on the sweet aroma of bakery goods.
She folded her arms on the table. "So, where are you guys from?" Hestia swirled some milk and sugar into her coffee with the small spoon the hostess had left at the table, before taking an experimental sip.
They all shared a glance, while Hestia peered between them curiously, wandering why they always seemed to do that, but she held her tongue. "Oh, we're from Gardenia, California." Brandon responded, rolling his eyes at the look his sister gave him. "Our parents randomly decided to move us here, they said it would be beneficial for us to know how to handle schooling on our own for college, without them micromanaging everything." He shrugged, "It's nice, I guess, we don't have to worry about curfew or parents being majorly up our asses."
Hestia frowned, "But, we're both seniors, this is mainly the time of our lives when we're selecting what we have to do. Adding the pressure of picking out an apartment and getting groceries just seems like a lot." She sighed, rolling it over in her head. She could never see her parents' doing that, they would probably flip out if they saw her stay in an apartment with a guy, she was romantically interested in. "I guess your parents are a lot less strict than mine."
Leanna nodded, "They were very strict for the first part of our lives, but, recently, they decided it would be better to loosen the reigns." She shrugged, nudging Lyrica, suddenly. "Would you look at that? You're a junior, sitting at a table with seniors. Don't you feel oh so special?"
Brandon smirked, "Yeah, how does it feel, kiddo?"
"You are a horrible influence on her." Lyrica jabbed her finger at Brandon suddenly, shooting Leanna a fake betrayed look, before flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Besides, that just mean that you all are old folks. Guess, we'll be needing to look into nursery homes, soon." She teased.
Hestia quirked an eyebrow, "Aren't you supposed to respect your elders?" She asked, before raising her hands in surrender at Lyrica's playful glare.
Lyrica folded her arms across her chest, "Wow. Thank you all so much for ganging up on me." She said flatly.
"Well, of course, we would, Rick." Brandon retorted.
She clenched her jaw, eyes narrowed into a death glare. "I thought we agreed that no one would ever call me that again." Hestia observed her for any sign of joking or teasing, but only a chilly anger remained. She quirked an eyebrow, wondering why Lyrica reacted so strongly to the nickname, before shrugging it off. If Lyrica wanted her to know, she would elaborate on her anger, instead she continued to glower at Brandon.
"Wow. Look at all those cupcakes." Leanna hastily pointed out, trying to divert the subject. A baker had just exited through the back doors, which swung shut behind him, carrying a tray of neatly decorated cupcakes to the display case. He procured a key from the wide circle at his hip before unlocking the glass and using one hand to balance the cupcakes and the other to pull it open. "They look delicious. Hey, can you buy me one? Pretty, pretty, please?" She turned to Brandon.
Brandon rolled her eyes, but stood to his feet, pushing his chair out of the way. "Sure. But you owe me one. What flavor do you want?" He asked, fishing his wallet out of his pocket, and checking through some dollar bills. In the unorganized stack, Hestia briefly saw a fifty poke out, before it was disguised with the tens and fives and ones. She raised both eyebrows, surprised at him carrying around such a big wad of cash, when half of the people their age only saw that kind of money from parents or in, extremely rare cases, rich families.
She chalked it up to his parents' probably sending them money to survive alone. "Lemon, please." Leanna grinned contagiously, and Hestia couldn't fully smother her own grin.
Brandon nodded, before turning to her. "What about you gorgeous?" He smirked roguishly, and Hestia glanced at his sister, who just silently face palmed while Lyrica leaned back, looking amused.
"Will I have to owe you one?" She asked, resting her arms on the table. Her stomach really wanted those cupcakes, making little noises as she leaned against the table, so the edge dug into her middle to smother the annoying sounds.
"I'm sure there are many ways you can express your gratitude." Brandon winked. "So, what flavor do you want?" He inquired, resting his arms against the wire back of the chair he had been sitting on, his entire posture lazy and relaxed.
Hestia glanced over the display case, biting her lip as she contemplated what flavor to get. "Anything with chocolate works for me." Hestia finally answered and he nodded with one more wink before he sauntered up to the counter, immediately going to the girl behind the counter. Hestia watched as the girl stuttered over her words, flushing a bright red that was almost the same color as the red velvet cupcakes sitting in the display case, and rolled her eyes a little as Brandon flirted with her.
"So…" Leanna trailed off awkwardly, dragging Hestia's gaze back to her. Leanna's eyes were unreadable as they darted back and forth between Hestia and Brandon like a bouncy ball. "I've been wondering…are you on the school newspaper?" Leanna asked, "I've been meaning to see if I could get involved in that because I really love writing." She rambled on, her nerves writing across her face.
Lyrica subtly elbowed her to get her to cool down and Hestia bit her lip to stop herself from smiling a little at the interaction. "I'm the editor." Hestia admitted, "Our next meeting is on Wednesday after school, we're going to put up posters for it on Monday along with a signup sheet." She informed Leanna, "Do you have any experience with journalism?"
Leanna nodded, "A little bit. I've been writing stories since grade school, if that's any help. I can come in on Wednesday with some of my work, if you think that might be any help." She said as Brandon returned to the table with four cupcakes and handed them out. Hestia accepted her with a small smile, setting it on a white napkin. "I'm trying to see if I could get involved with the school newspaper." Leanna explained to Brandon who caught the tail end of the conversation.
"Oh." Brandon glanced between them, one eyebrow raised. "I didn't realize you were on the school newspaper, Hestia." He sounded a little surprised by that detail.
Hestia unwrapped the cupcake and took a bite, the chocolate was savory on her taste buds and she almost moaned in satisfaction. She had almost forgotten how good these cupcakes were and it had been such a long time since she had ordered them. "Probably because we've only known each other for less than a week." Hestia stated dryly. "So, what about you-" She turned to Lyrica before Brandon could respond, "-are you interested in the school newspaper?"
Lyrica quickly shook her head, "Hell no." She quickly dismissed, "Stay at school longer than required? No thanks." Lyrica made a face and Hestia felt a chuckle slip from her throat.
"I feel that." Hestia said, "The only reason I'm on it is because my best friend's cousin dragged us into it after she won a bet." She admitted. At first, that had been her main reason for being there and she had started to resent it, but then it grew on her and she started to befriend a few of the people who participated in it. It was where she had met Jessie, who had introduced them to Tracy. A small part of her felt a sense of loneliness threaten to take over at the thought of Tracy and what had caused her to change so much in the span of one summer.
Brandon chuckled, "A bet. You're just full of surprises, princess." He commented, leaning forward with cupcake crumbs around his mouth and amusement dancing in his eyes. "Would you be up for a bet with me?" Brandon asked.
Hestia felt the thrill of competition enter her bloodstream, but she stamped it down. Making a bet with Brandon would be a little weird, wouldn't it? She hardly knew him, and she couldn't truly know how trustworthy he was. Looks can be deceiving, after all. "Alright." She blurted out, her mouth making up her mind for her. "What are we betting on? And…what's the prize for the winner?" Hestia asked.
Leanna glanced between them. "Seriously, you two? I thought Brandon was the only one who thought bets were fun." She said, giving her brother the stink eye.
"Nope." Lyrica smirked, her lips curling slightly at the corners, "The only who doesn't like them is you, Lea." She corrected her best friend, earning a smack upside the head from Leanna.
"Ok. Ok." Brandon called the attention back to himself. "I bet that I can finish five macaroons before you." He said, and Hestia shrugged, it was an easy enough bet that wasn't too deep or personal. It kept things at skin-level, and she could appreciate that aspect of it. He stood up, walked to the counter, and returned with ten macaroons, giving her five and taking five for himself. "Ok. So, if I win…you have to go on a date with me." Brandon said with a self-assured smirk.
Hestia felt her heart flutter a little at that, she had been asked out before, but she had never thought that someone like Brandon would go for plain-little her. Well, she wasn't that short, she was taller than Leanna, Lyrica, and Aurora, but all were relatively short. She ignored the increase in her heart rate, she wasn't going to fall for that flirty act of his. "Fine. And…if I win…we get to give you a make-over." Hestia decided, picking the most cliché thing she could think of.
Then again, this entire thing was a little cliché.
Hestia smirked, offering him her hand so that they could shake on it. "Deal?"
"Deal." His warm, callused hand slid into hers, giving it a soft shake and he looked towards Leanna, who just groaned a little, before she began the starting thing and Hestia shoved a macaroon into her mouth, it tasted good, but then again all professional bake goods seemed to taste good. She focused her thoughts on winning, at war with herself. Half of her wanted to let him win because she did fell something there, but the other half didn't want to get attached to him, wanted to protect herself.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I've had this stored in my laptop for months, but I haven't published it or anything new because I already have so many incomplete stories but today I just kind of woke up and decided, 'oh, what the hell?' and went through the effort of publishing this. Thank you for reading and please give me some feedback on this, because I am curious as to what you think of the rewritten version of True Heritage. I did leave the first one up because I felt that, for those of you who do like to reread stories, you would like to have the option of being able to reread the original version of the story. I won't be finishing the Royal Life, however, and I am incredibly sorry for that.