Chapter 1
Sara downed another beer. She looked around the bar through blood shot eyes. It was stuffy and smelled like cigarette smoke. Most of the yokels were staying away from her. But then again, anyone would be suspicious of a cop who was still in uniform getting drunk.
Sara closed her eyes. The memories of what happened earlier that day was still fresh in her mind. If only she could forget. Earlier Sara and her partner had a domestic call. When she heard where the location was at, she knew it wasn't going to be good.
The place was where Sara grew up. It was a set of apartments on the outskirts of Denver. Shitsville is what everyone called it when Sara was growing up.
The domestic dispute was between Rick and Vickie. Not surprising that Rick was in it. Sara grew up with Rick and she knew that that boy was trouble. He was sent to juvey so many times that everyone lost count. He also had a strong dislike for Sara ever since she went to the police academy. Rick always thought that the cops were evil people that were against him all the time.
Everything was going well until Rick pulled a shotgun on Sara and her partner, Kris. Sara tried to rationalize with Rick but it was like trying to talk to a lunatic. Rick opened fire on Kris and Sara shot Rick in the chest. That day Sara watched her partner and a childhood friend die in front of her eyes.
Sara opened her eyes and looked around the bar. Some song was playing, but she could hardly hear it because the bar got loud again. The drunks, it seemed like, had gotten used to the cop amongst them. She locked eyes on a particular interesting looking person. It was a woman that was wearing a long, blue skirt and a whit, baggy shirt on. But that wasn't what caught her eye or turn on her warning signals in her mind. It was the fact that the woman seemed familiar to Sara. She had brown eyes and blond locks that looked almost golden. She knew she seen the woman before. But where? Then it clicked.
Sara's mother had a family journal. One that dated back to the medieval times in Scotland. Although everything was written in Gaelic, there were drawings. And this woman was drawn on one of the pages. Sara was certain of it.
The woman came and sat by Sara. She gave her a big smile and ordered Irish Rum. But her eyes never left her. In Sara's drunken stupor she couldn't figure out if she was real or not.
"Who are you?" Sara asked the woman.
"I could ask the same of you lass." The woman shot back. She had an accent that sounded like a mixture between Irish and Scottish. "And also why me sister picked you out of all the McConnell's." At this Sara laughed.
"Look lady, I don't know who you are but I am not a McConnell. "
"Oh really?" The woman raised an arched eyebrow. "Then who are you if ye're not a McConnell?"
"Sara Brown, thank you." Sara snapped. This time it was the woman who laughed.
"Tis not your name." The woman stated. "Although you father gave you his name, ye are a McConnell. Tis from your mother's side, Sara McConnell." She went quiet for a moment while Sara ingested what she said.
"What the hell do you mean?" Sara asked.
"I mean dear child, you are of McConnell decent." The woman sighed.
"And why do you care?" Sara snapped. The question seemed to make the woman smile.
"Have you ever heard of the pact your family gave to the Three Fates?"
"Of course." Sara rolled her eyes. "My mother told it to me ever since I was a child."
"Then tell me of it." The ordered. At first Sara wasn't going to but something in the woman's voice made her think twice.
"Long ago when England was fighting with Scotland, England started doing the witch burnings. A certain clan, the McConnell's, was reputed to be physic. But only through the women. A woman, Maggie McConnell, sought out Avalon and the Three Fates. She begged them to protect the women in the clan. The Fates agreed only because Maggie carried a fey in her belly. Because the child would be only half fey, it could not live in Avalon. So the unborn child's family and the clan was protected. But the fates asked a price for their deed."
"The price was that when Avalon needed help one of the McConnell's would come and do what was necessary to help Avalon." The woman finished.
"So answer me this." Sara mumbled. When she didn't answer Sara took it as a sign to ask the question. "How do you know of my family's myth, and does it matter to you?"
"You haven't guessed it yet?" The woman sighed.
"Guessed what? That you're on crack?" Before Sara could go any further, everything stopped. More precisely, everyone stopped as if frozen.
Before Sara's eyes the woman changed. Gone were her skirt and baggy shirt. In their place was a long white gown cut low and embroided with blue sequined beads. The woman's hair was still blond but she had what appeared to be three different shades of blond highlights that made her hair seem to glow. Her brown eyes seemed unearthly and actually reflected the light much like a cat.
"Avalon needs you." The woman stated flatly. Then Sara had the unmistaken feeling of falling. She closed her eyes to try and ward it off, but it only got worse.