Chapter 2

*I do not own anything having to do with Disney, Sorcerer's Apprentice, or any of it characters. The only thing I take credit for is my characters.

Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home

Magic. The one thing she could count on. It was what made her unique; nothing ever came close to what it felt like to master a spell, to feel total control and power. Power. That was it, it is what she needed. What she felt in her mind, but not in her heart.

After regaining focus and looking down at the palm of her hand, she replaced a scorched piece of paper with a freshly balled up one. Closing her eyes and fist tightly, she cleared her mind, and then imagined the molecules of the paper vibrate. Opening her eyes and looking down, she slowly opened her fist and there is was.

Fire spells were her favorite to work with. Even though it was easy to conjure up, it was nearly impossible to fully control. Fire seemed to have a mind of its own, engulfing everything in its path not caring what it devoured. Alecto wanted to be like it, wild and reckless without a care, but she wouldn't and couldn't. She could not let her mother be right about her. Feeling the need to prove her wrong and feeling what was in her heart kept her at bay.

Hearing a bang come from the kitchen and deciding to finally end her little practice session. Alecto stood up and made her way across the tiny bedroom. Upon trying to open the door and not to her surprise it was locked. A simple spell could have easily opened it, but her mother would have known.

Elaine tried to keep her caged like an animal, thinking that Alecto would try to murder her when she slept and to prevent her from sneaking off in the middle of the night. Like locking the door would have kept her from it.

Feeling annoyed Alecto started banging on the door or what you could call a door. It was rectangular and made of wood, it did its job to some extent, it kept me in and her out, but it was in pitiful shape just like the rest of the house. Cracks spidered down from the ceiling making friends with the cracks on the walls and what Alecto could only guess as black mold was growing just above her closet.

After about a good 20 seconds of banging Elaine finally came to open it. As it opened Alecto was met with what she could only describe as a glaring face of death. And her mom thought she was evil.

Hugging the frame of the door and nudging past her mother, Alecto made her way into the kitchen. Opening up the pantry, she pulled out a box of cereal, threw it on the table and made her way to the fridge. Opening up the ancient icebox was a chore on its own. You basically had to wrestle the thing into submission to get it open. Once she finally got it open she had to resist the urge to close it immediately. The meager contents within the fridge could only be described as pure sadness. What was once a hamburger looked to be more or less like a green sponge and some left over Chinese was hiding in the back in an attempt to fight of the green invader creeping towards it. Sadly in the end it would fail.

After staring into the fridge with mouth agape she finally reached around the green sponge and grabbed the milk. Opening the lid to sniff the contents to make sure it was still edible. Shrugging with an approved look on her face. She turned to the table, emptying the contents of the cereal into a clean bowl (which was a rare find) and poured in some milk.

As Alecto sat down in came her mother. She was actually dressed half-way descent, "Must be going to a job interview", Alecto thought to herself.

With only a couple bites down her gullet, her mother reached across the table grabbing the bowl with its contents and threw it in the sink.

"How many times do I have to tell you, you eat when you have all of your chores completed" snarled Elaine looking at her daughter with disgust.

Holding the urge to punch her mother right in the face, Alecto stood up and made her way past Elaine to the kitchen sink. Grabbing some soap under the cupboard and running hot water Alecto began with the dishes.

After conquering the tower, Alecto made her way to the closet and pulled out the vacuum. There was no point in vacuuming, the once white carpet was now a desert tan in some areas, but it was one of her daily slave labors. Making her way around the house, Alecto just happened to look out the window. Across the street was a well dressed man, in his right hand her was carrying a cane, in the other he was holding a piece of paper. Seemingly to be reading it and oblivious to Alecto staring.

He couldn't be from around here; this was the great state of Kansas. No one around here dressed that way. If anything he looked more like an old school gangster from New York. Plus who carries a can anymore?

Still looking at the paper the man finally looked up gazing into the window right at Alecto, upon making eye contact Alecto dropped to the ground like she was in a mortar attack. "Crap" she said out loud, knowing that the man had seen her staring at him. It was one of those totally awkward moments that everyone has had at some point in their life.

Army crawling over to the window, she slowly raised her head up looking out. The man was gone.

Maxim Horvath had found her. After months of searching everything was now going as planned. The prophecy would be fulfilled; all he needed to do now was speak to her.

He had found the house she lived in and even managed to get a glimpse of her. Seeing her duck to the ground was one of the funniest things he had seen in awhile, she was Alpha's daughter after all.

Also under an anti-aging spell, Alpha and Maxim had known each other since the Victorian era fighting merlinians together. He was one of the only people Horvath had trusted since Balthazar. Over the years he had become Alpha's best mate and most trusted ally. Alpha had even trusted him enough to be Alecto's godfather.

After seeing her drop to the ground, he would have to wait a little while longer until they could finally meet. All he needed was the right moment.

With a smirk on his face and with a flick of his cane, Maxim Horvath was gone.

But not for long….