"The Dark Stranger" © VeGirl 2014

For about a week we bunk up together as best we can. We do have two houses and for all the weird reasons Aoleon and Nick keeps hitting it off while I stand back and let them. It feels a little too strange that the sister I had never known and my brother at heart has sparks flying all over.

Yes, I know that they aren't blood related at all, but it still creeps me out.

Beyond that, I have a vampire living in the basement; the most natural thing in the world, right?

We manage from one day to another as if we are participants in some show on tv.

When Esme is taking Kent along to make an order for supplies in the magic-shop, I tag along to make a quick stop at the bakery for something sweet.

My mother has decided to come and visit and since I am not interested in baking, I'll rather go to the bakery where my friends make delicious sweets. It feels somewhat wrong to walk in through the front door like everybody else, so I round the corner and sneak in through the staff door.

The kitchen is busy but soon Eddie walks around a corner. "Eddie!" I hurry forward to wrap my arms around my friend.

"Whoa!" Eddie put both hands up to stop me. "How about that stomach-flu?" Her expression is suspicious to say the least.

My smile widens. "What I've got isn't contagious."

She raises her brows expectantly for me to spill.

"I'm pregnant!" I flung my hands out and in no time she has me joyously wrapped in her arms.

"You're pregnant? Congratulations, baby!" She lets me go momentarily to look at me and then she wraps me hard in her arms again. "I'm so happy for you."

It feels so good to laugh with Eddie just like we used to do a year ago or more. "I've missed you."

"Yeah and when are you coming back now, with the baby and all...?"

I smile wide. "I think I'll play hooky for a little while longer..."

She smiles wickedly. "I totally understand, and have even taken some time off myself with Kevin tempting me."

I bark out laughing. "I'm glad everything is fine with you."

"Yeah, life is good."

"So... what can you offer a girl who is about to tell her mommy that she is pregnant?"

"Oh..." Eddie has a mischievous smile on her face. "Come with me sweetie..."

Minutes later Eddie has picked out several of today's delicacies and has wished me good luck. I promise to keep in touch before I walk out of there. With a smile on my face and a cakebox in hand I walk the short distance to the magic-shop to meet up with Esme and her number one fan.

The odd magic couple is standing by the computer behind the counter. "Hi there." Esme smiles at me.

"Hi, I managed to avoid the rush I see." I look around in the empty shop.

"Are you looking for something special?" Kent smiles mischievously. "Like a crystal wand?"

I give him a sardonic smile.  "I wouldn't know what to do with it." We all snicker together. The others return their attention to the computer while they keep mumbling things like; Aconite, Moondew or Neem oil. "Did you say Fox glove?"

They turned surprised up at me with faces telling me that was the most natural thing. "Yes?"

"Never mind." I raise my hands in defeat. With a mixture of fascinations and disgust I walk along the locked cupboard with various bottles of potions, reading the labels. "Nux Myristica?"

Esme gives me a pointed look. "It's nutmeg." Kent glares at her as if it was prohibited to reveal traded secrets.

"Never mind." I roll my eyes. "Do you have some water; I've got the worst hiccup." I flash Kent an apologetic smile.

"Sure, in the kitchen out back there are bottles of water." He refocuses on the orders in the computer while

I thank him and walk into his staff-quarters.

There is a little lunchroom next to an office. My curiosity draws me into the small office. A photo on the shelf catch my attention and my mouth falls open in surprise. "Liz?" Unexpected rage fills me instantly at the sight of the girl, the woman who for a reason I don't know, has despised me. I stomp back into the front room of the store and surprises Esme and Kent who is still caught up in the computer. "Why do you have a photo of Liz on your shelf?"

They look startled up at me as my sharp voice cut through the silence.

I slap the photo on the desk before them. "How do you know Liz?" I glare at him.

With his brows unsuspicious raise his eyes to look at me. "That's my sister." He speaks as if it is the most natural thing in the world. "Why do want to... Do you know Liz?"

I stand there trying to figure, out the puzzle while they look at me like I have lost my mind. "The guy I was... with earlier, Peter; Liz and Noel are Peter's friends." My gesturing is now flopping around as my mood has dropped several degrees. "Liz hates me!"

"Why would she do that?" Kent feels honest enough.

"Yes, why indeed..." I muse, totally unaware of how my eyes narrows and how my lips purse tight together. "Why indeed..."

* * *

My mother is already sitting on the back patio with Vincent and Damian when we come back. For a second, a bad joke flies through my mind; a joke that starts with 'A woman, a vampire and an angel...' before I come any further with the joke, my mother wraps her arms around me.

"There is my little angel..."

"Hi mom!" I hug her while rolling my eyes internally. What if she knew?

"It looks like Vincent's cooking is good..." She is trying to tease me.

I hold in the mocking remark. "That is not all he is good at..." I smile, however strained. "Mom, you're gonna be a grandmother."

Her eyes widen in confusion for a short while until she understands and her eyes flickers between my slightly rounded belly and my face. "You're pregnant?" Her eyes well up with tears.

"Surprise!" I raise my brows with a wide smile on my face.

Vincent comes up to us and retrieves a hug as well. "Congratulations!" Reba smiles. "I am so glad it is you my dear." She pats Vincent's cheek. "I never liked that Peter."

"You and me both." Vincent smiles conspiratorially and they both snicker.

"So that's why you never came visiting earlier?"

"He was a jerk!" She shrugs.

Vincent snickers with his arm around his mother in law's shoulders. "Come, let me serve you some treats."

"Hey! You didn't do them, stop taking credits!" I mutter sourly.

"I know sweetie, but I'll gladly serve you coffee." He kisses my cheek and pushes the chair in under me like the true gentleman he always is.

"You two are so sweet together."

I look at my mother who looks blissfully at me. "You are my mother and I love you, but stop sounding like that." I snicker and the others fall in.

We end up having a really nice time together and my mother beams at me several times while she keep talking about the baby.

Nick and Aoleon walks in and stops abrupt when Nick finds his mother there. "Mom?"

"Hi Nick, is this where you're hiding?" Reba smiles wide and hugs her son.

"Mom, I want you to meet a girl; Aoleon," Nick introduces my sister and I stand there watching as the angel I almost fell victim to, is getting welcome into my family.

* * *

I am glad to get yet another car-trip alone with Esme and Kent. I still have questions that have been mulling inside me for these last three weeks since I found out the link between Kent and Liz.

"What is the story with Liz?"

Kent flinches slightly before he muses for a while of whether to tell her story or not. "She started to hang out with a Wicca coven in Wickenburg and... she changed..."

"She's a witch?"

"A little disdainful tone here...?" Esme's tone of voice is airing her hurt feelings. "Mind the company you keep."

"Sorry, I didn't really think that one through, did I?" I try to joke it away with a wide smile. "I was just so surprised...I have never got any such vibes from her."

"Ever heard of cloaking spells?"

"Hmm... I might have..." I turn and watch Esme.

"There you go..."

We keep our path north towards our never-land where we are on our way to collect a few more ingredients for their concoctions. I'm not sure what they are making; it could have to do with the fact that when they start to speak witch I stop listening. Yeah, I know that is rude, but I don't have to know everything, right?

"What is that?"

I turn to my left to notice a bright light from a way into the forest. "What the...?"

Esme stops by the side of the road while keeping her gaze to what looks like a huge skytracker. "Something's wrong here." Before Kent or I have managed to connect the dots for what this might be, Esme has turned the car and steer into that wood on a narrow path.

The closer to the light we get the denser the air gets. I can feel my skin prickle as we stop the car and get out. I am just about to say something when Esme turns around and put a finger on her mouth.

'What's going on?'

'I'm not sure, let's step quiet.'

I start to worry and even keep the secret channel shut as we carefully step on the narrow path.

Between the trees we notice women in white walking around some kind of formation with rocks. I can hear a soft mumbling from the women and a humming that I realise is originating from the huge rock in the middle. The huge light is also coming from that rock as soon as one girl walk close and the light seem to devour her.

"What the...?"

Several of the girls turn toward us and we understand we have been spotted. There is not much to do that to step out and reveal ourselves.

"Liz?"

"Well, well..." Liz face shows all the disgust I have sensed from her all along, and so much more.

"What's going on Liz?" Kent want answers.

"Just a simple spring solstice-celebration..."

"This is not a..."

Esme holds a hand up to stop Kent's rambling. She narrows her eyes and walk slowly towards Liz. "Blessed be..."

"Blessed be..." Liz answers and somehow her suspicious face shows Esme respect.

"This is not a solstice celebration." Esme holds her head high. "You are trying to access heaven."

"Why would anyone...?"

"Hush!" I stop abruptly with a surprised expression with my eyes still on Esme who has this entire thing in total control. "You are trying to gain access to heaven?" Esme deduces. "Don't you understand what will happen when the Ophanim find you stumbling around without any clue?

"Ophanim?"

"Didn't you do your homework before you tried to sneak in upstairs?"

"Why would you wanna go there Liz?" I am astounded.

"You need to hush!" Esme has never spoken like this to me and I am fired up immediately.

"I will not hush!"

We have been bickering for quite a while when I realize we are speaking Enochian. Liz' eyes are wide and full of unspoken questions.

"You don't want to go there, why do you think angels are dropping everywhere?"

"Angels." She is actually snorting. "They are only trying to keep all of us away from the heavenly paradise." Liz' eyes are now small splits filled with despise. "I've learned everything I know to keep an angel trapped and we have one right now that will never get out."

A shill ran through me. Was she involved in Vincent's captivity?

'Damian!' I call out in my mind before I realise I didn't have a secret com-line to him. I start to panic and desperately need back-up.

To my astonishment I watch Esme and Kent slowly close in on the crazy witch and before my panic reaches full-blown attacks, they starts to murmur Latin chants that makes Liz freeze while her anger simply seeps out of her.

The other witches slowly walk forward almost in a hypnotic mode and gather around us.

"You didn't manage to launch anyone, did you?" Esme speaks patiently while Kent keeps chanting. "That's because you haven't found the right place."

"No..."

They look surprised. "This is not something you should be doing." By now she is right up in Liz' face and in a way that I have only seen Damian do. "This has never happened; you are here to thank the Goddess for the beauty of nature, the new growth and every newborn. It is Ostara!" One after the other, Esme is addressing every girl in the group and everybody are listening as she speak of renewal and growth. I watch amazed.

"Thank you for inviting us to this holiday." Esme smiles and carefully picks a flower from the ground that she places on the centre rock in the pagan circle. "Blessed bee."

"Thank you for coming," Liz says with a smile and gives us each a hug and the other white-clad girls do the same before they wish us a safe travel.

* * *

Esme and Damian stop by to say goodbye. "We're heading out to Damian's place."

"His place?"

"I do have a house," he smirks. "I'm just selective of who I invite," he teases, meaning that I had never been there. "Vince's been there."

"Well that's good. That means that you won't eat me, even if I have given my permission."

Damian smirks. "I don't eat pregnant ladies."

I exhale even if I wasn't aware that I had held my breath earlier.

"They tend to have a tang of... beast-milk..." he shudders teasingly and retrieves a glare from me and start to snicker. "Come on honey, where's your sense of humour?"

"Vampires have humour now?"

"Is it too advanced for your intelligence?"

I purse my lips in a grimace. "I would say bite me, but..."

Damian smirks. "See... there's that humour." He wraps me into his arms in a tight hug. "Try to keep safe now so I won't have to keep saving your ass."

"I prefer to have you far from my ass, gorgeous." I turn to hug my friend Esme instead. "Thank you for the witch-problem by the way."

"Yeah, Kent was ecstatic to get his sister back from those head-cases," she snickers. "It is really practical with a vampire-boyfriend."

"Thanks sexy." Damian slides an arm around her waist and smirks wide. "Let's head out of here."

"Sure, take care, and please don't get kidnapped for at least a couple of weeks."

We all snicker and promise to make an effort to stay grounded. The odd couple is snickering walking to Damian's weird car and soon they leave along our small street.

"So this is it, we'll be left alone now?"

He exhales and wraps his arms around me. "Yeah, it sounds too good to be true."

.