𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏

𝙏𝙤 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣

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╰┈˚ · ° . THERE WAS A COLD BREEZE, TYPICAL OF THE BEGINNING OF JANUARY. It blew throughout the forest, shaking the trees and ruffling the fallen leaves. I could feel it brushing against my skin, my hair slightly disheveled by it. The dirt was humid underneath my knees, surely scratching them as I kneeled on the ground in the center of the triskele that I carved. The smell of nature filled my nostril joined by the profume of the oils, herbs and flowers that were spread in front of me. My eyes were closed even if tears continued to stream down my face. My voice quivered as I continued to chant in Latin. It wasn't a spell, but a ritual of grief and remembrance.

Six years had passed since that night, the day my entire life changed completely, leaving me with a hole in my heart and soul, and a few burn scars across my body. They will never heal.

The fire took from me my family, my pack. Eleven people died, killed by the scorching flames. I survived even if not unscathed, but at least I wasn't in a coma like my uncle Peter.

I opened my eyes and the first thing that I saw was the house, now barely standing. My heart stuttered as I felt a new wave of grief pass through me. My jaw clenched hard enough to hurt, I took the triskelion in my hand, a circular metal disk with a carved triskele, a tool used by the Hale for centuries to help the young werewolves how to control their shifts, and placed it in front of the photo, one where all the members of the family were in it. Then I opened the glass jar where a single flower of wolfsbane was stored. My fingers didn't burn as the petals made contact with my skin, but still, my eyes flashed gold. I planted the flower in the ground, closing my eyes once again as I positioned my hands on top of it.

"Crescere." The spell was simple and I quickly felt nature answer to my call filling my veins with pure energy. The small flower bloomed, creating a small plant of the height of something like fifteen-inches.

Another tear fell from my eye. They were gone.

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╰┈˚ · ° . "Do you think I should wear thigh high socks or black tights underneath the skirt?" Lydia asked me through the computer as we facetimed. The winter break came to an end, with tomorrow the start of the spring semester.

I raised my eyes from my sketch enough to look at the option that my best friend was showing me. "You know that I love the thigh high socks, Lyds" I grinned

"Right, why am I even asking?" She playfull rolled eyes with a scoff "Are you excited for tomorrow?" I raised an eyebrow at her, an enough answer. "Well, I am." she said with wide grin "I miss my best friend"

"You mean, 'I miss gossipping about everyone with my best friend' or 'I miss dragging my best friend around and making out with my boyfriend in front of her to torture her' "

"You are always so dramatic." Lydia groaned, throwing herself on her bed "But you are right, I miss gossiping with my best friend" she said cheekily earning a laugh from me "Anyway I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Flora" Her nickname for me slipped easily through her lips. It was inspired by our childhood obsession. The Winx Club cartoon. "And please try to drink at least one of your energy drinks before school. Love you!" She added quickly before hanging up without waiting for a reply.

I rolled my eyes with fake annoyance even if a small smile formed on my lips. The moon was already high in the night sky, the stars shining next to it when I finally fell asleep.

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╰┈˚ · ° .  The alarm blared through my bedroom waking me up instantaneously. With a flick of my wrist the loud noise ceased. I hid my head under my pillow groaning at the lack of sleep. Nightmares, like all the nights. I painfully did my morning routine, my makeup, which consisted in a winged eyeliner and mascara. I dressed in a graphic tee, fishnets, leather jacket and boots. I could already smell the breakfast that my grandmother was cooking as I rushed down the stairs.

"Morning"

"Good morning!" My grandma said cheerfully. Rosalie Warren, my mother's mother. After the fire, it was her that took me in. Obsessed with herbal teas, crystals and handmade projects that she knitted herself. And a witch, like my mother, like myself or at least half of myself. She is a joyful woman, alway energetic, even early in the morning, just make sure not to cross her or anger her. The wrath of a Warren witch is not something to underestimate. We easily curse. "Eat something child, you will need it for today!"

I cringed at her loud tone but nonetheless, I still sat down at the table to eat the just made bacon still hot from the stove and syrup covered pancakes. Purple mist appeared from around my right arm. Slithering out from the tattoo on my forearm a scaled black body started to coil around my arm.

"Mine" Her forked tongue hissed at me as her glowing amethyst eyes bored into the piece of bacon on my fork.

"Good morning, Hex." I chuckled, slipping an entire piece for my familiar to eat.

Familiars are companions. Their job is to help witches, guide them, balance their powers, sometimes even siphoning it from them, though that process could kill them. They live in their domus, the tattoo of their form that is somewhere on their witch's skin. Familiars come in the form of animals, dogs, cats, birds... For more powerful witches their familiar is a hybrid between two species, a frog and a bee, a mouse and a frog or as my grandmother's familiar, Citrine, a hummingbird and butterfly. Rarely the animals mix with mythological creatures, but it's possible. Hex's snake part is paired with a dragon. Her elongated body was covered in black scales, bigger ones of the typical black mambas. They belonged to the dragon side. The head with two small horns too, was dragon, but the mouth was all snake with the characteristic fangs and neurotoxic venom.

"Hey!" The chirping Citrine sounded over the sizzling sound of the pan

"Hello to you too, Citrine. How are you this morning?" I asked amused

"Good! Thank you for asking" The familiar answered in her normal cheerful tone

The sound of an approaching car took my focus from the food that I was eating. Hex immediately slithered back on my forearm disappearing in a cloud of purple mist in her domus.

"Lydia is here, I gotta go" I kissed Grams on the cheek before I rushed to the fridge to quickly steal an energy drink. I will need it more than food, that is for sure.

"Elizabeth Talia Hale!" My grandmother's shout followed me as I ran out of the door. Energy drink for breakfast was not something that she condoned, or actually energy drinks in general.

A cup of tea will make you feel a lot better than that crap of chemicals– She always says

Sure my body would prefer the tea, my lack of sleep on the other hand much preferred those 'crap of chemicals'

"I love that woman" Lydia said once I was seated in the passenger seat "I inspire to be like Grams when I'll be older"

"Then you should start practicing knitting," I said before widening my eyes as a thought struck me. "Actually please, don't. You will make awful shawls that I will have to wear because you will pull out the best friend card and those horrible, horrible, puppy eyes."

With an eye roll and cheeky smile, Lydia started the car. "You know, maybe I should actually start knitting"

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╰┈˚ · ° .  We walked in front of the school, Lydia already starting the gossip.

"Hey Lydia" A boy in a buzzcut said being completely ignored by the girl but it was something that I catched from the other guy next to him. A scent lingered on him somewhat familiar and I could feel the wind breezing past me emitting energies and connecting to my witch side. I looked at the brown eyed teen frowning slightly, earning a confused expression from him, but Lydia continued to drag me inside the school and soon the boy was out of my sight.

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╰┈˚ · ° .  The last bell finally rang and I could have been happier. I met with Lydia near our lockers, who coincidentally were just a couple a way from each other.

"There is a new girl, have you already met her?" She asked while looking at the mirror hanging on her locker

"Not yet. Well at least I don't think so"

"Rumor has it that this isn't the first school that she changed. Or the second." She replied looking down the hallway "That should be her!"

The new girl was at her locker, her wavy brown locks cascaded on her shoulders slightly messily. A blue scarf was draped around her neck.

"She seems sweet" I commented as I watched her smile sincerely at one of the boys from this morning

"Yes, she does" Lydia said softly "And I absolutely love her style" She added again returning to her normal slightly bitchy tone

"Want to go and meet her?" I said looking at my best friend. It is usually just the both of us. Always had been. Other girls tried to befriend her but her cold attitude towards everyone made her seem unreachable. And I definitely wasn't the postcard of approachable and friendly.

A look of uncertainty passed across her eyes. Lydia Martin was the queen bee of Beacon Hills High school but underneath all the popularity there was an insecure girl who hid her intelligence and sweet and caring nature.

"Let's go" steeling her nerves she said with a nod. Our arms intertwined as we walked down the hall towards the new girl. "That jacket is absolutely killer. Where'd you get it?"

"My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco." The brunette answered

Smiling slyly, Lydia introduced herself "I'm Lydia" she said offering her hard to shake

"Allison"

"Elizabeth." I said, shaking her hand too. I could feel it, in the air, from the nature that called at me. The rightness of the encounter. "You can call me Elle."

Lydia turned towards me startled. Just she and my Grandmother called me Elle, for everyone else I was Elizabeth or Lizzie. "Should I ask her, Bloom? " An even more surprised look came to her before she offered me a nod and a soft smile that turned into a serious face.

"So..." Lydia started

"What is your favorite Winx?" I finished.

Allison looked more than confused. Her brows furrowing and her smile twisted to an amused one "Musa, I guess"

Our serious faces faded into wild grins "And you are our new best friend!" Lydia concluded. Our conversation was stopped by Jackson Whittemore. His arms sneaked around his girlfriend before turning her around for a kiss.

I rolled my eyes at them, fake gagging. Allison giggled, making me send a wink towards her.

"Hello Jack-ass." I said in sarcastic tone

"Hello Bitch-beth. It's good to see you." He too said sarcastically

"Wish I could say the same." I said even if I knew he was sarcastic

"So, this weekend, there's a party." Lydia interrupted me and his boyfriend

"A party?"Allison asked

"Yeah. Friday night. You should come."

"Uh, I can't. It's family night this Friday. Thanks for asking."

As they talked, my focus shifted as my senses called to me. With a confused frown I looked around just for my eyes to land and the shaggy-haired boy from this morning. His eyes were locked on Allison as a look of pure adoration was plastered on his face. I titled my head slightly, I used my sense of smell and when that wasn't enough, my magic came to my aid. A thought nudged my mind. It was impossible though. There were no alphas in Beacon Hills anymore, he couldn't— A hand latched on my wrist making me lose my concentration. I regained focus and noticed Lydia draggin both me and Allison with her.

"I need to take my coat from my locker before the practice. C'mon girls"

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╰┈˚ · ° .  As the three of us walked towards the lacrosse field Lydia took it as her job to shoot as many questions as possible to the new girl. It was actually really funny to see Allison trying to answer. She was shy, especially in the beginning, but instead of cowering away from Lydia's strong personality and my not so friendly scowl, which was permanently etched on my face, like everybody else, Allison answered them all with a sweet smile that I started to see as normal for her character.

"What about you two?" The brunette asked as we sat down, "How did you meet?"

"Our grandmothers were best friends. We had met a couple of times before but we were never friends. It was in first grade during recess that everything started. I wanted to play pretend I was a Winx. Specifically Bloom, you know red hair and all, but all the other girls wanted to be her too. So I continued my search for someone else. Elle was alone, drawing as always" She said the last sentence with a pointed look at the sketch book that I was already opening. "I went to stand in front of her, she looked at me with the most serious scowl that I had ever seen and said 'You are standing in the light' " She deepened her voice and exaggerated a scowl on her features as she imitated my six-years old self badly.

"You know what she said after that?" I rhetorically asked as I started drawing

"What is your favorite Winx?" Lydya chuckled, recalling the day in her mind "Fortunately, it was Flora."

"And you've been friends since that day?" Allison asked switching her sight between the strawberry blonde girl and myself

"Best friends." Lydia corrected "since first grade and best friends for the rest of our lives" a soft smile replaced the scowl on my face as I looked at her "Bloom and Flora" she said "Well and now Musa!" She added with a wink

"Yeah." Allison softly said with a shy smile. I went back to my drawing as the girls focused on the practice. "Who is that?" She asked

"Him? I'm not sure who he is. Why?"

"He's in my English class."

I looked up and noticed who the two girls were talking about. The referee used his whistle. I wince slightly as I didn't expect it but the boy who was playing in the goal groaned in pain, his hands on top of his helmet trying to suppress the noise.

What—

In his distraction a ball flew towards him, hitting the boy square on his facemask sending him down onto the grass "Hey, way to catch with your face, McCall!" Someone shouted

But the boy quickly stood back up catching the ball another player threw. And the next, and another, and another one.

"He seems like he's pretty good." Allison conmented

"Yeah, very good."

Yes, very good— I thought with confusion

Jackson surpassed the next player and prepared himself for the throw. He ran forward, jumping in the air and launching the ball. The goalie easily caught it.

A boy with the buzzcut sat upright from the bleachers with a happy shout, his arms raised into the air "That is my friend!" Lydia soon followed before sending a cocky glance towards her seething boyfriend.

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╰┈˚ · ° .  The days passed and I could feel nature becoming more and more restless, but it wasn't until the day of the lacrosse try-outs that the feeling of dread didn't finally sink in. Because now I knew, Scott McCall was a werewolf, a newly turned werewolf. And from the look of it, he didn't even know he was one. Worst thing, the full moon was quickly approaching in just hours.

I helped Lydia prepare her house for the party but as soon people started to show up, I excused myself from the crowd. The moon was rising and I could already feel its power crawling inside my veins. I closed my eyes, visualizing the tattoo on the lower part of my sternum, the triskele that was just above the triquetra, repeating in my mind the Hale's mantra as I focused on the three spirals.

"Alpha, beta, omega" I whispered for the last time as the control quickly came back into my hands. I opened my eyes and the first thing that I noticed was the residue of a scent. A familiar one. But Scott McCall shoved past me in that moment, pained groans passed his lips as sweet coated his olive skin. I ran behind him noticing when he got into his car and drove away.

My phone rang in my pockets. "Grams" I said, answering the call "I'm fine, I swear."

"Come back home" She started "Please, Ellie." Her voice quivered slightly as she spoke my childhood nickname. One that I hated as it reminded my defunded family. And that it was how serious my grandmother was as she never called me that.

"What happened?!" I said, my panic was evident and I didn't waste another second to walk to my car "Grams!" I yelled when she didn't answer. Thoughts clouded my mind, hypothesis for her behaviors. One worse than the other, but nothing could have prepared me for her next words. For the pain that flooded my entire being, stabbing at my heart, at the familiar anger that raised once again.

"They are back. The Argent are back."

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter.

I want to say a couple of things, this will not be much of a slow burn, probably it's mid burn kind of story (?) I don't really know lmao. Anyway let me know what you thought of this chapter!! I'm really excited for you all to read this story. Personally, I really love it!

See you all on Thursday!!

˚ · ° .𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 . ° · ˚

𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲

────────────────────

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾