A young Leah once believed that being a member of the Edenwood family was all she'd ever need; it meant she would always have safety and love to support her. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think it would have left her where she stood then. Who could predict being the cause of a mother's demise, or being a lone wolf treading through life in fear of nearly everything that came along? How could she had seen the torture heading her way? It was impossible to have had premonitions regarding it all. If only it were impossible for it all to even be happening.

In her old childhood home she stood, facing a father she'd missed for years and facing the horrors that had become the odd norm. Adamo blinked, sniffing through wide nostrils and still aching from the inside out. He scratched his chin searching for words, "I just don't understand how this is a possibility. We'd all come to the agreement that it was an accident."

"People lie," a true statement passed from between Leah's lips. Everything she'd been raised on melted away when living around family members became uncomfortable. It singed when the torment had begun. When she realized who was behind it all, everything exploded into unrecognizable matter. So much for blood running forever.

"Derek is behind this. I've seen him in my dreams, and I'm not the only one," she remembered a particular guardian probably waiting anxiously outside of the house. "Do you remember when Grandpa used to teach us about crafting?"

One nod was all it took to firm an understanding of a memory surrounding an incredible man. Oscar Edenwood lived to see his family thrive another day. He took pride in being a provider, a protector and a teacher. Anyone who had the privilege to know him was lucky. Losing his father couldn't have been easy. Adamo sighed, "Yes. I do."

"And remember when he used to tell us that there are special people that use special things in sacred crafts?" Leah didn't wait for her father to respond, she wet her lips thinking of the best way to introduce one of her saviors into the equation. "Well I came across someone who has the ability, and the tools to see certain things that happen to people. His name is Simon, and he's a guardian."

"A guardian?"

"Yes. Bracelets and all. He found my troubles in a soul map and ever since then he's really saved me from the worst. I practically owe him my life," she shrugged, "Well, some of it." Gazing at pools of cocoa that had a particular sparkle even time couldn't erase, she pushed herself to be brave. It was a little too late to be anything but. "He's going to help me end this."

"How?"

"I told you, whatever it takes."

Adamo pressed his lips together, tipping his head to the side. Watching his tiny pet gnaw away at his paws, he dripped in deep thoughts. A giant breath came though his chest moving his flannel. "But-"

"Dad," Leah whimpered beneath her own skin. She hadn't expected convincing him to hop on board to be easy, but she needed to have some sort of approval from her father. Her boots dug into the ground, steadying her stance. "I know he's your son but trust me, if he's doing all of this there's a huge possibility that he isn't the Derek you remember."

"What do you mean?" A father huffed, confused and frustrated.

Remembering some exerpts from the Tamanaka book she'd flipped through one unsettling night, her face lifted allowing her hair to fall behind shoulders. She had to be exact but she also had to make sure her dad truly understood the urgency of concluding her terrors. "If you play with dark craft, you have to be cautious. It's not a one sided thing because it can, and I think it's obvious that it has, take over the person doing it." She paused allowing an instinct to overpass, "Its like pushing someone into the mud, only to be pulled in yourself."

Adamo blinked with a cracked expression as if he had heard something that grasped his attention and dragged it through the woods. His eyebrows hit their highest point while he shook his head. A new overwhelming point had scratched the surface of his exterior. "Your grandpa used to say that."

"I know," Leah replied. Being back in Elk Village had brought more baggage than she realized. Baggage. The book. The truck. The guys! "And I have proof." She pivoted on heels quick enough to strike fire on the rug beneath and strut to the door. Her heart began to flicker back to its pace of anticipation, hand reaching for the long classic doorknob with bronze vines bordering it's mechanism. The smooth surface kissed her palm and without a second to waste, she pulled it towards her.

Sunlight came in stunning her firstly, a memory of how she spent her late afternoons sunbathing with the neighbor's cat. Sparkling flecks of light shone down like a beam specifically for her. Once her jade eyes adjusted, pupils shrinking to small dots, a sudden body on the front porch startled her. Simon stood just beneath a shadow of an elongated branch holding the sought out book out towards her, "We thought you might need this."

Leah gasped in delight, "Yes! Thank you! Perfect timing as always." She took the book from him feeling the grimy cover against her skin before turning halfway back towards the open doorway. In the corner of her eye she watched her father creep behind her with crossed arms. Her shoulder warmed from the gaze he was putting off. It was like a controlled fire only funneling in a certain direction, that direction not being towards Simon.

No, as she rotated more towards her puffy father, she realized he was glaring- no he was completely aiming for the handyman ambling up the walkway. Her cheek pinched just a tad, one because of the fact that after the years Adamo still had certain 'fatherly' senses, and two because she couldn't take her eyes off Daniel in the peak of the dashing sun. Flushed in the face from both, Leah cleared her throat to snatch her dad's attention. "Uh dad, this is the man I was telling you about, Simon," she pointed from one man to the other, "Simon this is my father, Adamo."

"Pleased to meet you," a long arm reached out as Simon came forth to shake hands. His teeth bared as he curled up a smile despite the troubles. Respectfully, her father matched his gesture, "Likewise." Flecking his eyes back towards the front of the porch, he nodded his head and slit his eyes at his daughter. "And who is this?"

Holding responsibility, Leah wrapped her arms around the book like a school girl, praying her cheeks weren't redder than a raddish. She caught eyes with Daniel as he gazed out, curious to her response. His scruffy chin pointed low as his brownie eyes waited like a pup. A very good pup, a hot pup, a pup she had to introduce to her father. A pup she suddenly forgot had a name. Her chest flexed tightly. No not now you stupid hormones.

"Daniel Moss, sir." Yes, that's right! She watched with wide frames as he steadily moved forwards and offered a handshake, calmly and collectively.

Adamo puffed his chest out, scanning the man from toe to head before sticking his hand out, gripping the gesture tightly. "Nice to meet you." He held on just one too many seconds long before retracting his arm and turning to his daughter once more.

She avoided his glare, peeking down at the book pressing against her. "Um, this is the book."

"Yes," Simon stepped up closer with urgency, "Respectfully sir, we have a lot to talk about. And time is running out." He reached his arms to either side, resting hands on Leah and Daniel's shoulders. His bracelets in plain view, Adamo nodded with trust and began to back into the house. Simon allowed the two to enter first, pausing over his own shoulder. Ear twitching, he narrowed his eyes before entering the house and closing the door behind him, leaving the dark figure standing beneath the tree outside alone.

-----

Reconnecting with the illustration of a woman tortured by the dark craft, Leah held her arms tightly against her body listening to Simon's voice as it narrated her experiences almost written in the book word for word. Each time the paragraphs struck the nail on the head, she cringed in the hopes that she'd wake from a terrible dream. For now the dark figure with painting on their face had an identity. Derek Edenwood was the culprit, fueled by revenge and the things black magic injected into his soul. He was no longer a brother or a son. Was he a human anymore, or had he evolved into a monster?

She switched views from the pages to her father as he sat between her and Simon, extremely blown away. It wasn't a shock of what the book involved; crafting was something he'd known about since he was a child himself. It was something of the norm for a knowledgeable Tamanaka man. What was so unnerving about the said book was how it seemed to be one of the most dangerous things he'd ever had the chance to notice.

Crafting in itself wasn't what the world around them imagined it to be. It was a beautiful connection between nature and spirits around, opening doors for talented people to maneuver energy. Nobody was a 'witch' and nothing was 'evil', but sometimes things were manipulated and darkness slipped through the cracks. What happened after they did was always a mystery and something many attempted to avoid. Now to Adamo's knowledge, that malicious event had advanced to more than he could ever imagine.

And it was victimizing his daughter, eating his own son from the inside out.

"Leah," he mumbled, slowly picking his eyes from the pages. His mouth opened to continue, but no words were spoken. Everything he planned on saying crawled from his brown eyes into her pools right before glazing over. His large hands wiped at his face, "I'm so sorry."

She sat straight and swallowed, "Don't apologize for something you didn't do, Dad. None of this is your fault."

"It's not yours either," he chimed, "What happened with your mother wasn't your intent, I know it. You loved your mother, maybe more than she loved you." He leaned against the weaved back of his chair, "I know had that moment taken a turn the other way around..." His voice trailed off. Just thinking about what might have been caused his chest to tickle with sadness, but still managed to bring a grateful tug to his heart. "But it didn't. You're here, and you need help before I wind up losing two people."

Simon cleared his throat. Even the hairs on the back of his neck had stood from such an intense moment brewing between father and daughter. He could appreciate the goodness in the air; it brought a silver lining to the black cloud among them. Yet he knew there was much more to face. "Now that we have the information we need, we must finish this."

From his corner seat that oversaw everything, Daniel gleamed over at Leah, "You have the person, the place, and now you have the solution."

Leah nodded, reaching onto the table and closing the book with a heavy thud, "I'm going to kill someone, on purpose this time." Her head floated up forming an ultimate dream. This time she wasn't the victim, tied to a chair while tortured. She stood proudly in a beam on light circled by shadows that held sharp whispers. Beneath her feet, the cold ground was reflective in a layer of crimson, a pond of sticky mess pooling around the soles of her shoes. She breathed slowly, no fear clutching onto her. As the blood continued to move, forming a lake now, her eyes peeked to stare at her own reflection. A famous heart shaped face looked back with angular eyebrows of anger. The corner of her lips pointed into a cheek perfectly sneering. Slowly the expression was satisfied, and her hand rose up gripping something heavy. The puddle awaited as the moment came. In a splat, the heavy object, a head- fell into a pool of the victim's blood. Leah glanced from her own reflection to the head. Dark eyes of her brother looked up lifeless. She smirked once again, "Who's the victim now?"

"You can't kill me! You're already dead in my book, slave!"

Snatched from her daydream of serving revenge, Leah was pulled up by an invisible force. She dangled above her chair, bottoms of her boots grazing the top of her seat. With wide eyes of a sickly green, she watched in horror as the very table she sat at grew further from her reach. Thrown through the air her body was flung, quickly and effortlessly as if she were a rag doll until the wall caught her, crumbling at their connection. The loud break flooded her ears, chunks of drywall falling over her shoulders as she collapsed to the floor. With dark locks covering her face and the pain spreading throughout her body, Leah peeked out to see a man running towards her.

Disappointment lurched in her stomach, but stirred a plentiful batch of reasons why she couldn't stand to waste another minute. A head throbbed atop her shoulders, brain still rattled. Her teeth nibbled at a trembling lower lip as hands dug into her sides, lifting her from the floor. Brushing her hair back, Leah paused when glorious eyes watched over her. Daniel held tight, "Are you okay?"

"I can't let this bastard keep doing this to me," she limped trying to adjust her weight, but fell further into his arms. Her forehead leaned into a firm chest, "Everything hurts, inside and out."

Adamo cleared his throat from the other end of the dining room, unable to move from the trepidation pressing down on him. His eyes still bulging, he pointed to the hole in the wall before dropping fists at his sides. Defeat weighed in on him; worry pounced down his throat. "Not for long," he flared his nostrils, "End this heinous curse, Leah. End it so you can heal from everything once and for all."

She sniffed, still holding on to Daniel for dear life, "Everything?"

"Everything," he assured. Turning towards Simon, he gave him a trusting expression with a puffed up chest, "You make sure she's in good hands."

Simon nodded, eyeing the two still caught in front of a broken wall, "You have my word."

-----

So this wasn't much of an action chapter, but I hope it had some insight of crafting and Leah's bloodline. Let me know what you thought about it, and how you think Leah and Daniel's relationship is! - A