She scrunched up her nose and stuck out her tongue, straining with the effort and struggle of her reach.

"Damn these short arms." She cursed as she edged herself closer, slowly and cautiously moving her feet that much closer to the edge. She was so close, the book would soon be in her reach, she could almost feel her success now, the proud warm feeling rushing through her as she held onto her book and gratefully flipped through the seemingly endless pages to prove herself right.

She hated being wrong, despised it in fact, a quality her father says she inherited from her mother although now, after having lived a full sixteen years of life, Contessa believed that both her parents contributed rightly to her pride.

"You're going to fall." The wise words of Aidan, her eldest brother floated through the rafters as he watched his little sister. He was always so wise or so she thought, she often looked up to him as a child.

"Let her fall, it's the only way she'll learned her lesson." Her other brother Alexander waved off any concern as he went about his task. Alexander was only eighteen, not too much older than Contessa making it hard for her to really take him seriously as an authority figure often leading them to have many fights all broken up by either their parents or much older brother.

It was because of Alexander she was up in the first place.

"I've almost got it - " she strand one last time before her foot slipped and she came tumbling down - her hands reaching out to grab the first thing they could.

With a loud thud, Contessa landed in heap pile on the floor only to soon be joined by the loud sounds of everything falling around her.

She had grabbed the large curtains on the way down which led to the breaking on a window as the metal curtain rode feel awkwardly into the thick glass while the other end of the stick hit the ladder sending it backwards and into the bookshelf, now beginning to fall and free itself of the hundreds of books on its large shelf.

Aidan and Alexander watched on in horror as the large library became a war zone in only one swift and un unwise movement by their little sister.

"She never stops to think." Aidan sighed as he watched the last object to break - their mothers favourite and most beloved glass vase.

"Mum is going to kill us." Alexander nodded with the realization. "And not just metaphorically, no, she is going to full on murder us!" His panic began to rise with the very thought of igniting his mother's wrath. Too many times grounded as a small child can do that to a young man.

"Someone. Help. Please." Contessa groaned as she struggled to get up having fell a good distance.

Her two brothers quickly rushed to her aid, pushing through some books to rescue her once again.

"Tess, how many times do I have to tell you to be careful."

Contessa rolled her eyes and let the boys pull her to her feet and dust her off before she held up her hand in triumph. She may have caused more damage then its worth, but she had the book like she promised and was ready and waiting to give Alexander her winning proof.

It was a dusty old book that the children hadn't reached for in years. It was part of a 'private collection' their father kept on the top shelf. Their mother had often told them not to touch them and that they nothing important but the children couldn't resist the urge to read them - not even Aidan, the wisest of them all.

Contessa and Alexander didn't understand why they were private and why they were off limits to them. The books talked about a place in the Bermuda triangle, another realm of sorts where all things that went bump in the night hid from the world. The two loved the tails and often debated about the stories in the books and searched through each book for proof to prove the other wrong - just like now.

Aidan, much unlike his sister and brother, knew a lot more about the books. Like his siblings, he had been curious about the books and was often caught by his mother reading them in his small cubby house back when his siblings were only babies in their cribs.

It took another ten years for him to figure out the truth when he fell into a small hole in the abandoned train station he had followed his father to one day. The secrets his parents had kept for them since birth were all soon exposed, as was the true meaning to the interesting black birthmark he inherited just under his shoulder blade - the crescent moon of wisdom.

He kept his opinions to himself now when his siblings debated, but he still watched them closely, waiting silently for that one moment they stumble onto something unexplainable by their human teachings, then, he would step forward.

"See, the last page. Warlocks were permanently marked on their faces so that they were easily recognizable." Contess smirked devilishly as she read from the book and proved herself right.

"We're too old for these games Tessa." Alexander waved off his sister and looked around the room. "I'm more concerned with our death that is no doubt on her way home."

"Mum and Dad went to breakfast, knowing them two they won't be home till lunch at least." Contessa waved off the concern.

A slight frown formed on Aidan's brow. He knew his parents weren't going out to breakfast anywhere close, their main breakfast spot was a long way underground and was run by an interesting family of werewolves, but, they wouldn't be very far by now.

The sound of the doorbell ringing through the entire house silencing all three children. Each one filled with a slight panic.

"This is bad." Contessa nodded as she looked around the room.

"Bad?" Alexander's voice rose. "This is all your fault and now, we are about to be buried six feet under and you just stand there and say it's bad?!"

"Well I'm sorry but do you want me to grow wings and do a bloody magic trick?" She screamed back at him.

Aidan took a deep breath and left his siblings to argue as he went to get the door.

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"You think we should tell them?" Britney gawked at her husband as she interrupted his words. "Are you sick? Dying of a plague or something?"

Logan rolled his eyes at her dramatic response. "Yes, I do."

Britney couldn't believe her ears. She had thought for a moment he had asked her to a romantic breakfast to make up for his forgetting their anniversary yesterday, but apparently she was wrong. "I'm not listening to this."

Logan watched as she stood up from her chair and started walking through the market place towards the portal to the train station to which they had came. He wanted nothing more than to explain to his children his origins and tell them exactly what their birthmarks had destined them for.

They were lucky parents. Their children were mostly good and even when they were bad they often had the best intentions or were just covering for one another - something he remembered doing with his own brother some time ago.

They were old enough, he thought, Contessa, their youngest was sixteen and mature enough to take it, Alexander was... well, he was Alexander. And Aidan, their oldest, already knew of the world they were hiding from him.

Logan always knew he would have to hide the truth from his children, but never did he think it would be for so long. They were lucky in truth; all children were born without the marking of their wings on their backs like every other Volcuris child. They had all however inherited every prominent birthmarks. Aidan carried Britney's crescent moon, meant to symbolize wisdom. Alexander inherited Logan's father's sword, meant to symbolize bravery. And lastly, their little girl who inherited the birthmark Logan never wanted to see again. The Crown. He still remembers walking into the room when she was born, the black crown on the back of his daughters neck was the very first thing he saw.

Logan feared for his daughter and has since he laid eyes on the mark. He knew what it meant. If Marco was to die before he had a child that carried the mark, they would call on her to rule over the Volcuris people. Logan never wanted that for his children.

He wished normal lives for them. He wanted them to know about what went on below the surface, but, he never wished for them to ever step foot below ground.

"Britney, Babe, wait up." He called after her.

"You know," she turned around with a slight furry in her eyes. "You forgot our anniversary and now you tell me you want to tell my children that I have been lying to them their entire lives?!"

He paused. Forgot their anniversary?

"Do you know how stubborn they are? Especially Contessa! She will hold a grudge for weeks!"

He smiled slightly. Just like her mother. "She will get over it. Better now than after they find out on their own like Aidan did. It took him almost an entire three months to forgive us for that, remember."

How could she ever forget. The anger and sadness in her little boys eyes as he begged her for the truth.

It hurt her to lie to her children. She told herself it was for the best, so much so, that now, even she was starting to believe it.

"Oh, and it wasn't our anniversary, that's in May." Logan defended himself as he mentally assessed the date.

Britney rolled her eyes. Men only remember their wedding anniversary, never the day they first met - or they he kidnapped her she should say.

"It's for the best Britney." Logan reached out to her and wrapped his arms around her, cradling her against his chest and placing a small kiss on her forehead hoping to provide some sort of comfort.

"I know." She sighed and relaxed into the embrace.

"I love you."

She smiled hearing the three words that have made up every day of her life for the past twenty-five years. "I love you too."

The two broke apart and decided to head home early, ready to spend some quality time with their children before breaking the news to them about their heritage. They quickly made it back into the abandoned subway in New York city and retraced their steps back home. They had renovated and re built the old building that they had spent time in all those years ago. The same building the small band of friends took refuge in, the building they spent their first night sleeping together on the floor by the fire, where she had drooled all over his shirt and the same building she had found him in after awaking from her coma.

So many memories in such an old building.

They turned the corner into their front garden and walked up the steps to their front door.

Logan reached out to open it only to find it locked. "Well at least they locked the door." He nodded in approval. They had finally learned something.

Reaching out, he pressed the door bell and waited, grabbing his wife's hand and gently running his finger over her knuckles to calm her anxiety. "It will be fine." He tried to sooth her.

She turned back to him and gave him a small smile just as the door opened revealing Aidan standing a little cautiously at the door.

Britney looked over her son, reading his hesitation and uncertainty. "What did you do?" She asked almost straight away. She knew her children well enough to know when they were hiding something.

"I love you Mum." Aidan responded with a small smile.

Britney's face fell as she stepped into the house and urgently started looking for her younger children.

They were older, they were mature, they were sensible, they would be fine on their own for a couple of hours. She had thought when she had left them this morning. Twenty-four, Eighteen and Sixteen, you would think they wouldn't cause much trouble.

Turning the corner into the library Britney's breath left her as she was welcomed with the sight of destruction and her two youngest children fighting in the midst of it.

"I told you," Logan said as he crept up behind her. "They take after you."

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Different style of writing right! I wanted to try something different. Challenge myself. How did it go?

I know it has been a long time coming. sorry for that. Hope you enjoyed the epilogue. I decided to do it this way as I am not sure if I will come back to this story and follow Contessa so I left it open for myself. Thank you all again for your support! Please do tell me what you thought of my story.

Xoxo