Alex watched his father's crystal ball, trying to stay unfazed and hide his confusion. His father had just murdered a non- magical being, an Innocent.

He cleared his throat.

"What was the point in that?" Alex meant for his question to sound more.. gentle, but Orvis seemed to take no offense.

"Of what, son?" he asked, looking away from the crystal ball.

"You murdered an Innocent. The Order has rules against that you know."

Orvis snorted at the sound of the Order's name. They were nothing but a bunch of naïve wizards who had unnecessary power. He looked deeply into his only son's bright, ocean blue eyes.

"She was an Innocent, but her children and husband are not." Those words rang out and around the basement. Alex folded his arms, but nodded, like that was the answer to life.

Orvis sighed, seeing the confusion on Alex's face.

"You do not fully understand."

Alex continued to fold his arms, but dropped the questioning look. He now glared at his father. He did fully understand. All he wanted to know was why his father had killed the Innocent.

He sat down on a well, worn leather couch, and grabbed a thick, old spell book, hoping his father would get the hint and leave.

Orvis, no doubt, did not miss the hate that emancipated from Alex's eyes. He glanced at his son, who was now oddly reading a book. He wanted to be left alone.

Wordlessly, Orvis snapped his fingers, and landed in the kitchen upstairs.

Alex waited several minutes before gently closing the book. He walked over to the crystal ball, and merely touched it, thinking about the car crash that he and his father had witnessed moments ago.

Again, he saw the Jaguar flying down the foggy, night ridden road. There was an obvious shimmer in the light, and Alex hoped that none of the passengers in the car saw it. That's what happened when you transported something. Seconds later, the deer emerged from the spot where the light shimmered slightly, and flew into the car. He saw the Innocent, who was no doubt the mom, swerve, and get hit by the deer as it came crashing in. The car flipped over, causing a man, probably the father, to be thrown out, and he hit the pavement with a loud thud.

Two children sat in the back, and they crawled out of their sideways car. A male, of about seventeen, climbed out first, followed closely by another person. They sat down on the pavement, obviously broken and injured. Alex could see now, that it was a brother and sister. The sister was crying into her brother's shoulder, her petite frame and long, wavy hair shook from the force of her sobs. He needed to find them. He wanted to know what was so special about them that his dad felt threatened enough to kill them. Alex knew that only he could save them from his father… The crystal ball slowly faded out.

Tabitha slowly opened her eyes. All she saw was white. White ceiling, white walls…

She sat up, and was surprised to find she was in a hospital bed. There was a T.V. turned on, in the top corner of the room, but it was muted. She threw back the covers, and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Tabitha eased herself off the bed.

A blinding pain shot through her legs, traveling all the way up in her body, causing her to crumple to the floor.

"Tabitha!" A man ran in through the open door, and scooped her up. It took her a second to remember: this was her father. Tabitha gripped his hand as he lay her back down.

"Dad?" her voice was very quiet. Tabitha was afraid of disturbing the silence around them.

Isaac smiled sadly. "Yes Sweetheart?"

Tabitha suddenly became aware of what had happened, and sat up quickly again.

"Honey—."

"Dad, where's James and Mom?" her voice broke. Isaac stiffened, but smiled at Tabitha and walked over to a starched white curtain that hung at the end of room, and pulled it back. She felt a surge of happiness race throughout her. James was sleeping in the bed, all his features were relaxed, and he was facing her. She wanted to walk over to him, wake him up, and hug the life out of him, but one thing stopped her.

Tabitha faced her father again.

"Why can't I walk?"

Isaac shifted uncomfortably, but looked carefully into Tabitha's eyes.

"It's a temporary spinal cord problem."

Her mind swam. Spinal cord? She didn't even remember hurting her back. Her dad was the one who got thrown out of the car and—

"Mom…"

Isaac's eyes closed for a moment, and sat down at the end of Tabitha's bed, holding her knee.

"She broke her neck, honey. There was nothing they could do."

Tabitha's eyes widened, and soon filled with tears. Isaac hugged her harder, trying to keep her from falling apart.

Isaac patted her hair.

"I know sweetie, I know." He was using his gentlest voice.

Tabitha pulled back from him a couple minutes later, wiping her eyes.

"Will I be able to walk?" Her voice poured with such sadness that Isaac had to blink rapidly to keep from crying. He hugged her, this time more quickly.

"Of course," he said, standing up. "This will just be for a couple of days." Isaac patted her head, and added, "Now, get some rest, honey." Before walking out, and gently closing the door. Tabitha nodded until her father was out of sight, and then rolled over, facing James's bed.

"James?" she whispered.

There was a slight rustling, and then James sat up.

"Yeah?" his voice sounded raspy, almost like he was going to lose it entirely.

"Did you hear everything?" James turned to face her, full on, his normally bright eyes slowly shutting down with sadness. He nodded.

"Can you walk?"

James nodded, then forced a grin. He was determined to make sure that Tabitha wasn't sad for long.

"Ever since I was a toddler." He laughed hoarsely, and slowly, Tabitha laughed along.

Jared walked out into the moonless night, away from his house. He wasn't afraid of the dark. That fear was taken out of him when he was very little. He went into the forest. It smelled of fresh rain, and soil. California always did to him, for some strange reason.. A small wind swept through the trees, and went straight through his short, strawberry hair. Finally, he came to a small clearing, where there was a couple of stumps, all surrounded by rings of leaves, mushrooms, and flowers. There, he sat, on the stump in the middle, crisscrossing his legs, breathing in and out loudly. He needed to concentrate and find his enemy, Alex Cordova.

Tabitha heard soft little giggling outside the door. She flipped over, and looked at James. He was fast asleep. She sat up, and leaned toward the door, straining her ears. Tabitha heard the giggling again. There were no windows in this blank, white room, so she couldn't tell if it was day or night. She squinted at the digital clock that hung next to the door. Did that say 1 or 11?

Suddenly, the door burst open, and a parade of people came in.

"Surprise!" her father shouted, followed by more people. Two teenagers wrestled to the front of the crowd, and Tabitha recognized them instantly: Chelsea Marks and Scarlet Brooks—her best and dearest friends.

They squealed together and ran into Tabitha's outstretched arms.

James bolted upright, his hair messy from sleeping. He rubbed his eyes and blinked, looking at the crowd and at Tabitha.

"What's goin' on?" he slurred, his voice still slightly raspy and sleepy.

"What does it look like, Jay?" a boy with shaggy sand-colored hair called from the small crowd. James looked at them, confused, and immediately he surrounded by all his guy friends.

The only people left in the crowd, was Tabitha's dad, and a couple of nurses holding balloons, all looking antsy or bored. Tabitha smiled, taking in the sight of her two best friends.

"Tabs!" Scarlet said excitedly. "You know they're letting you out tomorrow?"

"Yes!" Chelsea added, taking Tabitha's hand and examining it. "We should go shopping and get manicures!"

Tabitha tried desperately to soak up their excitement, but found she couldn't. The last few days, James had tried hard to help her cope with her sadness, but so far, it hadn't worked. She was still grieve-stricken, but she knew she would have to go on with her life. Tabitha simply couldn't sit in a heap, and cry for the rest of her life.

Maybe James did help me a little bit after all, she thought.

"Then we could go to the one place—."

"That would be great! We haven't been there in forever."

They were mainly talking to each other, but Tabitha tried to concentrate on what they were saying. She felt.. different all of the sudden…

Tabitha glanced around anxiously, suddenly aware of a feeling that somewhere, someone was watching her. The room spun, and slipped into the darkness.

Alex shrunk back from his father's crystal ball, slightly horrified. He had tried to enter the girl's mind from a distance. Obviously, looking at the unconscious girl now, it had not worked.

A strange feeling washed over him, he wasn't really sure what to call it. Shame? Disappointment that it hadn't worked? Alex wasn't very certain. Walking away from the crystal ball, Alex made his way upstairs, going towards his favorite spot outside, thinking about all the research he had done on the two children of the Innocent. He had come to find that their name was Ruth. They were from French descendants, and lived in a main mansion on the outer part of upper scale New York City. Their other, slightly smaller mansion, resided on the West Coast, not very far from here. Alex decided he would bring them to California. He quickly snapped his fingers, figuring it would be quicker to Transport, than walk. Seconds later, his father walked in the kitchen door, and smiled faintly at his son.

The nurse poked her head in and found everyone exactly as they were a couple of hours ago. The Ruths needed rest if she was going to let them leave in the morning.

"Everyone," she called, her voice friendly, but loud. "Visiting hours are over."

A sigh rippled through the crowd of boys, and one stepped forward.

"But the time –." started the boy. His dark curly hair reminded the nurse of mocha.

"Visiting hours are over." She stated again. The nurse looked over at the girl, Tabitha, who was now sleeping peacefully after she had gone unconscious for a few minutes. Her friends had long since left, and weren't giving her such a hard time.

"Yeah, It's not even nine—." Another boy started, pointing at the digital clock that hung next to the door.

"Visiting hours—."

"But.." a third boy started loudly.

"OUT!" The nurse yelled, pointing at the door. These guys had no respect for authority. They—thankfully—shuffled out quickly, leaving her and the children. She walked to the door, and gently flicked the light switch off.

James laughed to himself, closing his eyes. His friends were always like that… trying to make things more difficult for everyone. It made him laugh. He hoped they would come again tomorrow; they were really the only things that kept him sane in this mental place, plus, they reminded him that life wasn't over. Sure, his mother had died, and of course, he was sad, but he couldn't not go on with his life. If he didn't, then he might of as well died with his mother. He sat up again, not believing he would go to sleep; he was thinking too much. He actually yearned to leave, but at the same time, didn't want to go. His dad would be taking care of him.

A wave of pure nausea hit him hard, and for a second, it blocked out the sadness that James felt, but refused to embrace. His uptight, mean father whose dreams were crushed when James went to Berkeley, instead of Harvard. His father, who threatened James all the time, yet acted so innocent in front of Tabitha and his mom. It made him sick. James stopped thinking, and a marvelous idea popping into his head.

I'll run away, he thought. I know how to live on my own, and I can start brand new.

Without his father.

He had a crazy grin on his face. James knew exactly where to go.

Jared quietly slunk back into the forest, unnoticed by any of the trigger-happy hunters that patrolled the area constantly, day and night. He went back to the familiar spot where his stump was. Jared had never tried something like this at any other time except for night, when his magic was the strongest, but he figured it worked the same way. He let his mind drift, reaching out for anything…. anything that might help him locate Alex. Jared had heard he was on the loose again. An image of East Beach in California came into his mind, and shortly after another image came.

It was a mansion, right beside the beach, that looked unused. He opened his eyes, letting himself sync back with himself, but not before one more image sprang into his mind. It was of Alex, sitting on a railing at his home in East Beach. Jared stood up, and grabbed his cell phone. He called exactly nine people, and told them that they were going on a vacation.