Ok, some of the credit for this chapter has to go to DerpOnTheRainbows, my new FanFic BFF- thank you! Major info revealed:

We stopped in a town to try a pay phone so Derek could attempt to call May (I was still having trouble thinking of her as his mom). He dialed the number without hesitation, clearly having implanted it in his mind long ago.

The four of us waited with baited breath, unable to hide the anticipation bare on our faces. After several tense moments he hung up the phone again without saying a word, face stoic.

"Well?" Simon pressed when he didn't offer an explanation.

"Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice messaging system," he quoted in a sing-song voice. "9087823564 is not available. Please leave a message after the tone."

"And you didn't leave a message because…?" Tori prompted.

He shot her a sharp glance. "And say what? 'Hi mom. It's your werewolf son who you probably don't even remember. I'm in mortal peril along with my gang of supernatural friends. Wanna help?' Yeah. I'd imagine that would go so well." He shook his head in self-mockery.

"Well, we'll try again tomorrow." Simon socked him in the arm. "For now, can we please head over to that Burger King? If I don't get some hot food in me now I might just die. Right here. On this gum splattered pavement. Left to rot…"

Tori rolled her eyes. "And you say I'm a drama queen?"

"You know you shouldn't eat too much of those kinds of foods…" Derek warned his brother.

"Too much? One burger won't kill me. Let's go."

We all followed him to the fast food place. As we walked across the street I laid a hand on Derek's arm. "Hey, just because she didn't pick up now doesn't mean she isn't still there."

"I know," he gave me a small sideways smile.

"We'll try again later, ok?"

"Sure."

The Burger King was small and dingy, the tiles cracked and ketchup stains coating ever table. There were only a handful of other people there. The only worker was a toothless, prune-like old lady who took our order without saying a word. And yet, the warm greasy burger was one of the best meals I'd ever had.

We were all inhaling our food, silent but for the sounds of chewing when Aliena sitting across from me suddenly stiffened.

"What's-"

"My Aunt Melissa." She ducked her head into her tray, letting her hair fall down and cover her face.

I peeked over my shoulder to see a tall, skinny brunette looking at us. When she met my gaze she swiftly turned away, taking a sip of coffee as she did so.

"Her?"

Aliena nodded.

"Are you sure?" Derek glanced back.

Another nod.

"Let's get out of here."

Deftly we stood up, regretfully depositing the last of our fries in the trash can. The four of us formed a moving blockade around Aliena, shielding her from view. As soon as we were out of the restaurant we took off in a sprint, dashing down the street and away from view.

At last we reached the outskirts of town, coming to a wheezing stop in an abandoned warehouse.

"My fries…" Simon moaned once he had regained his breath.

"Did she see you?" Derek demanded of Aliena.

She bit her lip. "I can't be sure…but I think she might have."

"And she would tell your parents…"

"Who would tell Mr. "Werewolf"." she concluded.

"Crap." Derek summed up.

"Chloe!" I jumped about a foot in the air as Liz suddenly appeared in front of me. "Listen! This is a matter of life and death-"

"Liz? What? How-" confusion muddled my words.

"Liz's here?" Tori perked up, raising her head like an eager puppy.

"Liz," Simon acknowledged with a dip of his head, turning to stare at the direction I was looking in. "Your timing is immaculate, as always."

"Did you find what you were-" I started but she cut me off with an impatient wave of her hand.

"No time. There's a girl- they're going to kill her!"

"What girl?" I asked, but there was a sinking feeling in my chest. I could guess.

Liz's eyes were wide with unconcealed fear. "She was an experiment just like you but she wasn't a success so they are trying to kill her and if you hurry you might be able to find her, I heard where her address was…"

I let my gaze drift pass Liz to Aliena who had the same mildly curious and confused expression on her face as the other three. There was just one difference: she was looking directly at Liz.

Simon, Tori, and Derek were all looking towards the center of the room where I was looking. Only Aliena was staring at her with eerie precision.

"What did they do to her?" I wrenched my gaze back to Liz. "You said they did experiments-" Out of the corner of my eye I saw Derek glance swiftly at Aliena, clearly reading between the lines.

Liz, following my gaze, glanced behind her. As she lay eyes on Aliena for the first time, she gasped. "That's her! I recognize her from the picture- but how did you find her?"

I opened my mouth to repeat my question but Aliena spoke, a haunted gleam in her eye. "What picture?"

"Well, that answers that question," I said to no one in particular. It seemed our new friend could talk to ghosts.

"The one on your…your file." Liz still looked torn between being spooked and being thrilled.

"Chloe," Derek was staring at Aliena, "what's going on? When did anyone say anything about a picture…?"

"Liz did." I told him grimly before turning to Aliena. "So. You're a necromancer, too?"

"I-" she chewed on her lip, realizing she had made a mistake. "I don't know about a necromancer…but I do see things, sometimes. People that no one else can see…"

"Ghosts." Simon corrected gently.

"Oh great. Another one." Tori rolled her eyes.

I felt a thrill of exhilaration. There was another necromancer here- someone I could maybe share tips and training with who hopefully wouldn't betray me. "So have you ever raised someone?"

"Raised?" horror replaced the confusion as she realized what I had asked. "Oh. Oh. No- definitely not." then something else seemed to occur to her because she looked at me with a new fear. "Have…have you?" After a moment's hesitation, I nodded. She paled.

"She's not a necromancer," Liz, over her original shock, was studying the girl intently.

"But she can see ghosts-" I protested.

"But she can't raise them or call them up at will, can she?" Liz turned to Aliena for confirmation and she nodded. "And she doesn't have a glow like other necromancers, at least not a noticeable one."

"So…she's not a necromancer?" my head spun.

"Not exactly…"

"Chloe?" Derek pressed. It was hard to remember that they would only be hearing my side of the conversation.

"Liz says she's not a necromancer."

"But I thought she could see Liz…" confusion and frustration (always coinciding emotions for Derek) were plain on his face.

"She's not fully necromancer." I relayed Liz's message to the others.

"What do you mean?" Tori demanded, eyes staring shamelessly at Aliena as if admiring something in the zoo. It was times like these that I really wished she had more tact.

"She has other supernatural blood in her-" I sucked in a startled breath.

"Chloe?" Derek repeated when I didn't immediately explain. I told them what Liz had said, the explanation met with an uproar as everyone started talking at once.

Aliena's voice rose above the rest. "Yes, ok? Yes! She's right…I can do weird stuff…"

"Like what?" Derek accused. If I hadn't known him so well I might have missed the fear hidden in the back of his eyes. There was nothing Derek hated more than the unknown.

"Like seeing the," she gulped, "ghosts. And sometimes weird things just happen around me…"

"Like what?" he repeated, shifting into a subtle defensive position.

"I read her file. She has necromancer, werewolf, witch, and even some Agito demon…" Liz told me. Again I repeated her words for the others.

Derek gave a low curse. "That would explain the weird smell."

"Is this true?" Simon turned to her with curiosity. "Are you all those things?"

"No! Yes. Maybe." she sighed. "All I know is things happen around me and I can't explain them."

"Sounds like Harry Potter," Tori observed snidely. "Ready for Hogwarts?"

Aliena glared at her. "You're a witch, aren't you? Why don't you shove your wand up your-"

"Ok!" I interrupted, shooting both of them reproving looks. "Are you sure, Liz?"

"Yeah. She's the girl they were talking about."

"How do we know your for real?" Derek dared her. "If you're so powerful, so supernatural, prove it."

"She can't." Liz said matter-of-factly. "That's why she was considered a failure. All those powers didn't make her more powerful…they made her less powerful."

"What's Liz saying?" Simon asked. I told them.

"Like spreading your butter too thin," Derek nodded slowly as if that made sense.

"Yeah." she agreed. "She has so many powers, she can't really do anything with any of them."

"Can you cast?" I turned to Aliena.

"Cast? Oh, you mean like a spell. Don't be ridiculous."

"Try," I urged.

"I told you, the weird things just happen. It's not like I do anything-"

"Try." I repeated.

"See if you can do this," Tori, grinning widely, shot a fireball through the wall just above Aliena, singing the top of her head. I'm sure it was a combination of revenge and show-offiness.

Aliena blinked, eyes wide and doe like as one hand deftly felt her crispy hair. With a small shake to regain her composure, she set her mouth in a firm line and held out her hands as she had seen Tori do, aiming at a blank wall.

Her eyes screwed up in concentration and a little furrow formed on her brow. We all waited, watching her intensely. After a moment an orange glow seemed to encase her two hands. She peeked one eye open and gasped as she saw them- wrenching the other eye open to gawk. The light instantly died.

"I was…I was…" she seemed at a loss for words.

"Try again." Simon encouraged.

"I- yeah, ok." she nodded and closed her eyes once again, resuming the stance. She flexed her knees a bit like an golfer preparing to swing. Her hands started glowing again. Without warning, an orange ball of fire identical to Tori's shot out…before fizzling out after only two feet.

I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath but I now let it out in big whoosh.

"Is that it?" Tori quirked an amused eyebrow.

"I don't know what I'm doing!" Aliena defended, bristling.

"And considering that, you did a good job," Simon soothed.

"Well, at least this proves Liz's right. At least about being part witch." Derek said.

Liz, who had been silent for the past few minutes, now nodded. "Yeah, 'course I was right. But what I still want to know is how you guys already found her?"

The whole story poured out, Aliena telling her portion and me telling the rest. When we were finished Liz rocked back on her heels with a soft release of breath. "Huh. Well, I guess it's good you guys found each other."

"Yeah…" Derek looked doubtful. But what could he really do? Now we had more incentive than ever to help the strange girl who had joined our escapade.

Ok, what do you think of Aliena? Can they trust her? What's up with her powers? And what about Derek's mom? Any questions, comments, predictions?

On another note, I have put a new quiz on my profile all about this book. Please, please, please, please take that one! I want to know what you think of my story!