Prologue

"Of course I'm crazy, but that doesn't mean that I'm wrong."
– Robert Anton Wilson


November 23, 1992
Salem, Oregon

Dina Arceneaux clung tightly to her daughter at the fire station. She didn't want to let her go.

"Dina," Julian hissed gently. His own eyes filled with sorrow, "We've gotta go, now."

Dina nodded and leaned forward. She brushed her lips against the cooing child's head and whispered a sweet promise that she knew she couldn't fulfill.

"She'll be safe here, Dina," Julian tugged at the woman's hand, "But not if we stay here. We've got to go."

Dina nodded as she focused her gaze on the baby, she'd given birth to six months ago.

It wasn't fair. None of this was fair.

But she'd do it all over again if she were safe.

"Mommy and Daddy love you, Jazmine," Dina gave a weak sad smile to the happy baby before nodding to Julian and taking off, her hand in his, ignoring the way her child's cries grew louder and louder.

"Please let her be okay."


March 22, 1995
Salem, Oregon

Sarah and Tom loved their daughter. They would do anything for her. It had been that way since the moment they had laid eyes on her at the fire station, hearing the child's loud cries, while onlookers reported to the police that they had noticed an interracial couple, running off into the woods.

They'd looked for answers to her heritage for years now, but they were unable to find any clues about her parents outside of the green onesie covered in beautiful jasmine flowers.

In an attempt to provide the child with some sort of link with her parents, they decided to name the child, Jazmine, and after going through the long, agonizing process of adopting Jazmine before she turned one, the family found that their time together was always happy.

Jazmine was a bundle of pure, unadulterated joy, and they could hardly believe their luck in finding her.

At first.

It wasn't that they didn't love their daughter. It was just that there were times when she did things that no rational person would consider ordinary.

The day after Jazmine turned two, for instance, the toddler had pointed to a doll and watched it fly towards her without flinching. The baby had simply clapped and laughed. She didn't appear frightened at all.

Sarah and Tom had tried to write it off as a sweet, endearing moment with an angel or one of her potentially deceased parents, but things only escalated.

As time went on, they could hardly even take Jazmine out anywhere without objects flying around the air when she got angry, which was difficult to explain. On one occasion, she had demanded a meal for a three-year-old champion – a cookie. When her parents told her no, an entire pack of them had flown out of the tall cabinets, through the air, and towards her highchair.

They had considered reaching out to a specialist when suddenly, two see through people, ghosts, who introduced themselves as Katherine and Leilani, appeared in front of their sleeping toddler's crib.

After Sarah and Tom had gotten over their initial panic, Leilani explained that Jazmine had been selected by The Regime, the manifestation of a prophecy created after she herself had been murdered by a lover she'd believed she could trust. Jazmine would be the next in line to defend the delicate balance between good and evil after five centuries of evil's reign.

If she failed, the souls of billions were at stake.

"You seem so young," Sarah interrupted Leilani as she finally found words, "How old were you when you were, well…"

"I was sixteen." Leilani's eyes filled with a pain that seemed unimaginable, and then suddenly, as quickly as that vulnerability had appeared it was gone. Her voice suddenly filled with a chilling level of disgust. "You must be concerned that your precious daughter will face the same." She snorted before staring at the child snuggling into her stuffed pony. "She's already such a brat." She looked over to Katherine. "You shouldn't have interfered with the legal case to assign her to the state like I planned."

"Enough." Katherine stepped forward, her own green eyes filled with embarrassment. "You'll have to excuse my daughter." She looked to Sarah and then Tom. "It's just that she's had a tough time coming to terms with the reality of her own choices." Katherine watched as Leilani's head dropped slightly. "She doesn't agree with the decisions that I made." Katherine shook her head before continuing, her own eyes grim. "But make no mistake, Jazmine will be forced into emotionally trying times in order to prepare her for what is to come."

"A war," Tom glared at both of them as if they were out of their minds, "There are at least two of you have been up there for over 500 years, but you expect my child." He paused and glared at Leilani, growing tired of her obvious disdain for his child, "The one who this one cannot even stand might I add."

"THIS one had to show up because you all are setting her up to be shoved on her ass in life," Leilani snarled, her voice intensifying. "You have her in this little bubble where she never gets hurt, she never experiences pain, she never experiences sorrow." She shook her head at them, "But it's not realistic. It won't last." She looked back at Katherine, the resentment strong in her eyes, "And you'll pay for making her weak." Her whisper was somehow eerier than her yelling, "I learned from experience."

"Really." Tom rose an eyebrow, his voice dripping with sarcasm "Then explain to the class how you died, all knowing wise one."

Leilani blinked, unsure of what to say.

"This isn't helping." Sarah shook her head at the angry pair, "We need to focus on what's best for Jazmine. What's safe for her in all of this."

"We'll be guiding her." Katherine looked over at the girl's sleeping form, "Helping her to control her powers and to show her how to defend herself." She gestured towards a small letter on the dresser that Sarah picked up, "And a recipe to stop the dreaded telekinetic tantrums." She rolled her eyes upwards, ignoring a smirking Leilani, "I remember those days, and I do not miss them a bit."

"So how long do we have?" Tom glanced around warily before returning his wife's look, "What? We need to know when the forces of hell are going to try to wipe our daughter off the face of the planet."

"Not like you'll remember," Leilani let out an oddly pleasant chuckle, "We'll have wiped your memory by then." She ignored both parents gasps as she stared at the window, "It's the rules. And you'd only get in her way." She gave them a sheepish look, "The less you know, the harder it'll be for them to use you when the time comes."

Katherine nodded in agreement, "For now, all you need to do is keep her secret." She gazed at Tom, "And by the time she's sixteen, she'll be ready." She smiled at the child, "She's already far more powerful than Leilani ever was at that age."

"Maybe if we burn this place down with them in it," Leilani said in a bored tone, "They'd be even more powerful."

"Enough," Katherine shot her a look, "You'll need to move soon. In a few years' time, the Salem Witch Trials will begin."

Sarah blinked, "They already happened."

"They'll be happening again." Leilani rolled her eyes, "Her mother, Dina, already came to us and let us know that they're onto Jazmine's whereabouts."

"Her mother?!"

"She's dead?!"

She pressed her lips together, ignoring the shocked couple, "The people here are obsessed with witchcraft, and it doesn't help that she sticks out like a sore thumb." She shot Tom a look, "He seriously cannot be the only black person she sees every day'

Katherine lifted her hands, "I think what Leilani is trying to say-"She pressed her translucent palms together, "Is that we need your cooperation and trust in ensuring that Jazmine is safe." She looked at Sarah, "Mother to mother, I know that you would do anything to keep her safe, and I know that you feel you can trust me deep down." Katherine kept talking. "You are doing a good job of raising her." She shot Leilani a look. "I chose you for her for a reason. I know you'll do what's best when the time comes.

Sarah nodded, "We will."

"The hell we will!" Tom smacked his forehead in frustration. "Sarah how do we even know they aren't the bad guys?"

"I just do, Tom." Sarah shrugged, looking back towards where Leilani and Katherine had been standing.

But they were gone.

Tom held Sarah tightly, unsure of what to say, as reality sunk in.

The only thing left in their place was a photo of a home in Woodcrest, Illinois on Timid Deer Lane.

And as most do, when the worst happens, and all hope seems lost...

They let themselves cry.


Author's Note:

So I've been rereading some of my old stories that I very clearly got a lot of inspiration from my idol at the time, SwagSammich. (Girl come back and finish A Haunting, please!) and decided to bring this back in an updated form. You'll likely see a few nods towards those books as well. I have to pay homage to one of the best.

I thought the concept of the world I'd created was pretty dope, and I decided to bring it back in a reimagined format since my other story was a dud.

I've drawn inspiration from Charmed, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Locket/A Haunting by SwagSammich, and a few personal experiences of my own.

I'll be updating this weekly, maybe biweekly.

Until next week.

-MissAceThankYou