Stella

"I convinced myself that my father was dead because I didn't remember him. But now that he's here, I've got all these emotions. Mostly anger and confusion. Why would he leave in the first place? Did he think about how that was going to affect us?"

"I think a conversation with him will clear things up," Ella told me.

"How are you okay with this?" I asked.

I mean, he left her too; she must be somewhat angry.

"I forgave him the second he walked through that door."

I scoffed.

Wow. Couldn't be me. I rolled my eyes.

"Even though you already forgave him. Wouldn't you still like to know the reason?"

"Yes, I would."

"That's what I thought."

"You gonna be alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Alright, I'm going to go to my room. See you later." Ella left my room.

Stella and I sat down with Micheal. Mom went for a ride. So it was just the three of us in the house.

"I do owe you an explanation as to why I left."

"So spill it," I said curtly as I crossed my arms.

"I left you, girls when you were three months old. Nicki and I were arguing every day, and I felt pressured. She was always yelling at me for doing things wrong. It made me feel like she didn't need me. So I left; as soon as I did, I regretted it." He explained.

Stella rolled her eyes. "If you regret leaving us, then why didn't you come back sooner?"

"I didn't think you all needed me. Nicki seemed to have it."

"She did, but it would've been nice if you stuck around. Or at least come back sooner."

"He's here now, Stella; that's all that matters," Ella told me.

"Bullshit," I simply said.

"Hey, watch your mouth!" Mom said.

What? I didn't even hear the door open. When did she get back?

I mumbled a sorry and looked down.

"I can make lunch, and then we can head to the castle and show you around," Mom told Micheal.

Ella and I helped her, Micheal sat at the table. After we ate, we headed to the castle. We gave him a tour and introduced Micheal to the Queen, King, and Prince.

"It's so nice to meet you, Micheal." Queen Dawn said. "We Love Stella and Ella; we threw them a nice sweet Sixteenth birthday party yesterday."

"It was a great party; thank you, Queen Dawn," Ella said.

"You've both been a big help around the castle, so the party was a thank you." Queen Dawn said.

"Wait, if my Stella's element is Water, Mom's is Wind, mines is Fire, then that would make yours, Earth." I realized.

Micheal nodded. "It is."

"That's so cool," Ella said.

"We'll have to have dinner with the four of you." Queen Dawn said.

"We'd like that, Queen Dawn," Nicki said.

"Stella and Ella make such great babysitters; I hired them to watch my son from time to time," Dawn explained.

"Yes, we trust them to watch our son. Stella and Ella are so responsible." Toby boasted. "Even the maids are happy to see them helping out with Edward."

It was good to hear the king and Queen brag about us.

We talked for a couple of hours, then went home for dinner.

Toby

Something awoke me from my sleep. I looked to see if Dawn was still in bed; she wasn't weird. Maybe she's in the nursery. I should check. I headed to the nursery.

"Dawn, you in here?" I called as I approached the nursery. The door was open.

I entered the nursery.

"Toby, No!" Dawn cried.

I saw a blonde-haired girl with blue eyes had a knife to Dawn's neck. Then I saw Witch Sasha holding Prince Edward.

I felt a knife at my neck.

"Hello." A guy with brown curly hair and green eyes said.

I gritted my teeth.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked Sasha angrily.

"Shhh, you'll wake him." Was her reply.

"Leave my family alone. This is between you and I." I bargained with Sasha.

I couldn't help but feel that this was my fault. I couldn't even have my men capture her when she quit. If I did, none of this would be happening right now. I failed my family.

"Bargaining. Funny. Ha! I knew your Father, Toby. He didn't like me very much, so he banished me to the woods. You want to know what's also funny; I noticed that you burned down my cottage. How nice." She said flatly. Her lips were in a thin line.

"Because you stole someone's power! That's a crime here!" I argued, referring to my father banishing her to the woods.

"Don't raise your voice at me. Remember the situation here. I have you and your family held hostage. Don't make me mad now. The thing about witches is that their power isn't guaranteed to stay around forever."

She continued. "Eventually, it gets weaker and weaker, so long story short; I had to steal someone else's. You see if I was born with the power of a Chinese zodiac like my two good friends Sky and Tristan, here. Then I wouldn't need to do this every ten years."

So the guy holding a knife to my neck is named Tristan, the girl holding the knife to Dawn's neck is called Sky, I concluded.

"Sky has the power of the snake; Manipulation, mind reading, and teleportation. She knows a lot about potions. Tristan here has the power of a Wolf; good hearing, good sense of smell, night vision, he as fast as a dog, and he's powerful."

"Wait, you're only doing this because you never got your powers back when you tried to take Stella's and Ella's," I mentioned.

"Actually, no, I got my powers back. Surprise!" She laughed sinisterly.

Shit.

"I'm here for revenge. Revenge on you. Because you and all of the workers treated me like shit, so let's see how they treat me when I take over the castle."

I can't let her do that.

"So, you have one of two choices here, Toby. You can either give up your power, or Dawn and little Edward here can give up theirs." Sasha smiled. "So, what will it be?"

~Dominique