Ch. 1 A Stranger In the Night

"She's so beautiful!" Charles exclaimed as his wife held out the baby girl to her excited husband. She had bright blue eyes that glowed from a pale face, with ruby red lips that rested peacefully beneath a petite nose.

"And she is all ours." Charles wife, Annabeth, said with a smile. Her own eyes were bright blue also, and her cheeks had a healthy red sheen from the exertion of childbirth. Her deep red hair was tied in a messy bun with a blue headband holding it back from her face, and she barely had enough strength to hold herself in an upright position. However, she smiled and said "What should we name her?"

"Something beautiful, like her eyes. They come from your side of the family Anna." Charles whispered as he planted an affectionate kiss on his wife's forehead. Contrast to his wife's light skin and pink lips, Charles had a darker, olive sheen of skin with bright green eyes that stood out from his face. His hair was dark and cut short, as it was no longer than his ears.

"What about Ella, after my grandmother?" Annabeth asked, her eyes shining as she carefully placed the baby into to her eager husband's arms. With Charles muscular build and hefty biceps, Ella looked even smaller than she actually was. Annabeth's heart almost burst with love as she gazed at her husband's loving reaction toward their new baby daughter.

"Perfect! What a splendid name for our splendid little girl!" Charles exclaimed as he held his daughter for the first time. He knew he would never forget this night, and as he looked into his daughter's face, he felt his heart lift in happiness.

Ella woke with a start as she heard the screams echoing down the hall. A wall of fear engulfed her as she threw off her covers and crept toward her bedroom door, shuddering as the screams got louder as more intense. She could soon make out the words the voice was screaming: Please stop! It hurts! I can't take it, I'm sorry! I will do anything to make this stop!

She timidly opened the door to the hall, and took a shaky step out of her room. She slowly slid along the wall, stopping every few feet to try and calm her racing heart. Goosebumps rose on her arms and legs, and she could not tell if it was because of her sheer nightdress and its lack of warmth or because of the screams echoing through the house. She soon came to the opening to the family living room, and the sight that greeted her almost tore the scream from her throat.

Her mother lay in the middle of the room, blood pooling around her as she screamed in immense pain. Her mother's night gown was in shreds surrounding her, and her legs lay at odd angles as she was completely exposed in the most inappropriate manner. Her deep red hair splaying around her head and her face held the marks of undergoing unbearable pain. A man in a dark hooded cloak stood over her, holding a black wand in his long spindly skeleton hands. His eyes were glowing with malice as he laughed a merciless laugh. His head lowered to her mother's and Ella could just make out his disgusting mouth as he bit his mother's neck. Her mother's cheeks were covered in blood and tears as she tried to raise her hands to push him away, but she had lost all of her strength to fit back. Ella could just barely see the light in her mother's eyes, and she could tell her will to fight was slowing draining.

"You always did like pitiful men, didn't you Annabeth? Well, now you have come to a pitiful end. I guess you regret your choice of choosing that filthy squib over me, now don't you?" The man said in the most evil voice Ella had ever heard. What was a squib? She thought her father just was a muggle, someone who was not blessed with magic. And what was this about her mother choosing someone over this evil man? Was that the reason why he had shamed and harmed her so?

"I will never regret choosing Charles over you. You are an evil man who was never worth my time." Ella's mother choked out, just as the horrid man stood, raising his black wand.

He shouted words that Ella did not understand, and green light filled the room as Ella heard her mother's scream for the last time. When the light faded Ella saw her mother moved no more, and she gasped in grief. Realizing she had made a sound that gave her existence away, she quickly clapped a hand over her mouth, but she was too late.

The man looked up sharply at the sudden noise and spotted the little girl. His eyes narrowed. This must be the child Annabeth sired with the filthy squib, the man thought to himself. He walked slowly towards her, and as he got closer he could see her visible shaking out of fear. She had long, dark red hair just like her mother, with bright blue eyes and pale skin also. Let's hope she also inherited Annabeth's gifts with magic. He laughed despite himself, and that caused the timid child to speak.

"Please don't hurt me mister. You have done enough to rip out my heart as you killed my mother." Ella said, hoping to sound stronger than she felt. In all honesty she wished she could punch the guy in the face, however it would not bring her mother back, so she decided not to.

The man laughed again. "I'm not going to hurt you girl. I only hurt people who wrong me, and your mother did just that. She hurt my heart, and I had to pay her back for that."

"My mother did not hurt your heart mister, I know that much. When someone truly hurts your heart you will be sad, but you will not have the cruelty to kill them because of it. If you truly loved my mother you would have let her go. But instead you took her life. She must have hurt your pride, and that is why you killed her." Ella stated, her eyes never leaving the man's waxy face as she watched her words sink into his thoughts.

"You are just as smart as your mother was," the man sighed. I hope she got her kindness and compassion, too. It would break my heart to see her turn out like her father. "And you have her beautiful eyes, and her fighting spirit. You will pry break many hearts little girl, but do not mess around with the wrong sort like your mother did. She believed that everyone has good in them, when they do not. Take me for example. She trusted me, and I killed her. Be careful of men like me child, and pray you don't end up like your mother over there." If only he could tell her the real reason he sent Annabeth to the next life, but it would be much too complicated for a six-year old, even if she is smart. And with that, he cast a long glance back at the dead body in the middle of the room. Ella could have sworn she saw a tear slide down the man's cheek just before his disappeared with a crack.