I watched as Jerry moved the coffee table and rug aside, revealing a secret trapdoor in the hardwood. He grabbed a key from the inside of a nearby vase, and used it to unlatch the door, exposing a set of stairs leading to a lower level of the house that I never knew existed.

Kate descended to the lower level, motioning for me to follow. I hesitated, a dozen questions floating in my mind, But instead of asking them, I followed Kate blindly down the staircase, trusting her lead in the pitch-black room.

Terrified that I was going to fall, I felt my way down the steps until my feet found solid ground at the bottom. A light flickered on above us, illuminating the room and leaving me temporarily blinded by the brightness.

When my eyes finally adjusted to the intense glow, I noticed that we were in a hidden basement. Several cabinets lined the walls of the underground room from floor to the ceiling. Curious, I opened one of the doors and found countless containers lined up along on the shelves. 

I lifted one of the jars containing a flower-like substance, and found it labeled "Root of Valerian". I picked up the next vial, but put it carefully back on the shelf when I saw that it was labeled "Bat's Blood". Hundreds of jars and bottles were assembled on the shelves, ranging from everyday substances like cinnamon sticks, to rarities like chinchilla fur. I couldn't help but wonder what Jerry and Kate could possibly need with all of this.

On the wall, beside the massive cabinets, I saw a large map of the United States, identical to the one that Abigail left in my bag. A key to the right explained the various colors more thoroughly.

Green:             Trustworthy

Yellow:           Tentative

Red:                 Known Traitors

Black:              Deceased

It realized that this map was a list of the members of their "coven". Although many of the dots were now black, there were still several colored dots showing. I found it worrisome that the yellow dots more than tripled the green, and was even more alarmed to see that there were as many red dots, as green and yellow combined. 

If what what Kate and Jerry had said was true, it seemed that there were far more people who would be willing to betray me than help, if it came down to it.

What really caught my eye, however, was a large, star-shaped symbol covering part of Southern California. It looked very similar to the North Star necklace I was wearing around my neck, and I couldn't help but wonder how the two things were related.

I turned to ask Jerry and Kate about this, but noticed them standing on the opposite side of the room with their arms wrapped consolingly around one another, as they stared at a wall full of candles. Most of the candle wicks were bare, but there were a few that still had small flames burning sporadically.

As I approached them, I could see the solemn look on their faces. This was the expression of people who had suffered a great deal, who were haunted by things beyond my comprehension. I wanted to hold them and tell them that everything would be fine, but I had no way of knowing that because I wasn't even sure what was wrong yet. 

"What's wrong?" I asked, as Kate let out a sob.

"This room was a place where many members of the Aurea Lux would come to practice the craft. Each of these candles represents one of our members," Jerry explained, his voice nearly inaudible. 

I stepped forward to look more closely at the candles, and saw names etched in small writing in the wax. 

"These candles are lit using magic from a wellness ceremony, which sends peace and prosperity to the object of the ritual. The candles were magically manipulated so that they can burn for eternity. As long as their flame is burning, it means that that person is alive and well," Jerry continued.

"But there aren't very many of them with a flame. What about the candles that have burned out?" I asked curiously.

Jerry paused for a moment, staring longingly at the wall. The silence in the room was deafening.

"Those candles represent the members who are no longer with us. When someone has passed into the beyond, the flame recedes because that person no longer needs the magical blessings." 

My eyes wandered back to the wall where there were at least four dozen candles. At that moment, there had to be less than twenty of them that were still aflame.

"Are you saying that all of these people are dead?" I asked in a hushed whisper. The idea made my stomach sink.

Jeremiah gave a small nod. "Some of them were lost many years ago, in the battles against Samuel and Brianne. But, over the years, more and more have been killed."

"Killed? But if my biological parents were defeated, why are people still being murdered?" I asked incredibly. 

"There have been, and always will be, people who choose to use their magic for evil. Now is no different. For a while, after Samuel and Brianne passed, there was a period of peace. We finally started to hold out hope that the dark times were beyond us. But we were wrong," he said, his voice forlorn. "During the last several years, darkness has been on the rise. There's talk that another has taken your parents' place in ruling the darkness, and that he may be the strongest force of evil in the history of the magical community."

"You think that one person is doing all of this?" I asked in disbelief.

It was mind-blowing that someone could be hurting all of these people. From what I had learned about my biological parents, they were a force to be reckoned with, and not in a good way. If this new ruler was more powerful than they were, the world might really be in trouble. 

"There is one person at the head, but he has many followers. Some were still loyal to the darkness from when your parents reigned, but a vast majority of them have been recruited recently. They form a group called the Malin, and they serve as the new ruler's henchmen. They do whatever he tells them to do, whenever he tells them to do it."

"But, what is he hoping to gain by killing all of these people?" I couldn't get my mind around what seemed to be unnecessary violence. 

"When a witch is killed, their magic releases from their mortal body. It is forbidden to harness this magic; we are supposed to let it dissolve into the heavens so a new witch may be born. But Samuel and Brianne didn't abide by these rules. They mastered the art of gathering released magic, and transferring it to their own bodies. It is part of what made them so powerful," Jeremiah said. 

"The new ruler seems to be following in their footsteps. He hopes to harness the magic of those killed to keep for himself, making him more powerful than those before him. Whoever this person is, they've done as much destruction in a matter of months as what Samuel and Brianne did in years."

"You don't even know who the person is doing all of this damage?" I asked, shocked. 

Jerry shook his head. "He likes to hide in the shadows of his castle while the Malin do the dirty work for him. He's still a mystery. All we really know is that he goes by the name 'King Casimir' and that he's extremely cruel, even to his own henchmen."

I shivered. The idea of anyone murdering others for their magic was terrifying, but it was even more alarming that this person was hiding. He could be anywhere, at any time, and no one would ever now. 

My heart ached for all of the lost members of the Aurea Lux who I had never met, but felt a connection to. Their candles were dull, never to shine bright again. The idea brought a tear to my eye. 

I moved closer to the center of the wall to get a better look. As I leaned forward,  two lit candles caught my eye. They shined brightly in the middle row, standing out among the darkness. On the side of the candles, the names "Jeremiah and Katherine" were etched into the wax. 

I smiled at sight of their bright flames. I didn't know of two people more deserving of peace and prosperity than Jerry and Kate. I turned to smile at them, but their solemn faces did not reflect my cheerfulness. Instead, they looked past me, their eyes staring passively at the candles with a lifeless expression.

That's when I noticed the five candles to the left of Jeremiah's and Katherine's. The one in the center was also burning brightly; I was taken aback to see my own name etched into the wax. To the right of my candle, I saw two others engraved with the names Abigail and Christopher. It made my heart drop to see that their wicks are dark.

Jerry caught me staring at the lifeless candles.

"As you can see, Chris and Abby's wicks are extinguished," he whispered, giving distraught Katherine a tight squeeze. .

"But that could be for any reason," I argued, trying to find a rational explanation. "Maybe a breeze blew out the flame."

"No, Lexi," Jerry said, his eyes to the ground. "These aren't ordinary candles. These candles only extinguish if the person has passed on. I'm sorry, but Christopher and Abigail are gone."

"That's not possible," I whispered, my voice lifeless and dull. I looked into Jerry and Kate's eyes, overflowing with tears. "I think I'm going to be sick." 

I leaned against my knees, trying to calm myself. I had witnessed the attack myself, so I shouldn't be surprised. But I'd still been holding out hope that, somehow, they could have survived.

I shook my head, unable to accept Jerry's words. I grabbed a book of matches lying on the nearby shelf, determined that the candles shine bright again. I struck a match and lowered the flame to the wick labeled "Abigail", but the candle remained dark. I tried again, holding the match there for a solid minute until the match had withered away, but, still, nothing happens. I grit my teeth in determination and lit another match, this time touching it to Christopher's candle. But, again, to no avail.

I dropped the matches to the ground in exasperation. Could these candles actually be connected to people's lives, able to accurately determine their longevity? As unfeasible as it seemed, I could see no other reasoning for why the wicks wouldn't light.

With a sigh, I reached down to pick up the matches. Before I could grab hold of them, my eye was drawn to a tiny flicker in a midst of the darkness. It was so small, it could be easily missed if you weren't directly in front of the candle. I bent to get a closer look, and saw that the name on the candle was "Samuel." 

I let out an audible gasp, taking a step back, as though being too close to the wax might set me ablaze. 

Does that mean Samuel might still be alive?, I wondered to myself. 

The idea made me anxious, yet excited, at the thought of being able to meet my biological father, at the thought that maybe one of my four parents might have made it through alive. I knew that my father was considered notoriously evil and had been condemned to death for committing unspeakable crimes, but at that moment, I didn't care. What I wouldn't give to be able to meet one of the people who gave me life, to be able to get a sense of who I truly was inside.

"Did you see that?" I asked Jerry and Kate, my eyes never leaving the candle. 

"What?" they asked in unison, following my gaze to Samuel's candle. 

But the wick was no longer illuminated. It was as dark as the shades of nightfall, blending in with the dozens of disconsolate candles surrounding it.

"Nothing," I murmured, my shoulders slumping. 

Embarrassed by my naïve hopefulness, I felt a twinge of disappointment. I must have been trying so hard to see something in the candles, that my imagination was playing tricks on me. I had tried to light the candles myself and nothing happened, so why would I have held hope that Samuel's wick could have reignited on its own accord?

I didn't want Jerry or Kate to know I'd been dwelling on my lost father. It would only make them worry, and they had enough on their plate right now. So instead, I kept the speculation to myself, longing for a way that the hallucination could have been real. 

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© Dawn Norwell