Blue and red flashing lights. Pulled into the driveway. Alongside a four -wheeled drive and her parents' car.

So, dad got my text message and called the cops, after I chase the intruder away by myself.

Selina burst the house, frantic with worry. And pulled Destiny into a secure hug. "Did he get away? How on earth could he be walking after a fail like that?" She cried holding Destiny closer. After a few moments too long for Destiny's liking she let go and led her outside.

Destiny's father, spoke with the detectives while uniformed officers spread out across the forest, though she suspected they would not locate the intruder. He would be long gone by now. She stayed in the hallway, observing the police officers.
The lead detective went to inspect the study. Destiny followed him upstairs. Standing in the study doorway, she cleared her throat to get his attention.

"He cut his leg. There are bloodstains on the grass," she said.

The detective peered out of the window and nodded. He radioed through to the uniformed officers, and they swabbed for samples while he continued checking the study, taking meticulous notes on his notepad. "I'm Detective Willows. It's very nice to meet you, Miss Morgan. 'This isn't the first break-in by this chap, however, it is difficult to be sure, as the other victims could not give us a description. Hopefully, we will retrieve DNA from the blood samples. I know it's been a long night for you, but I need to take your statement.' he explained gently.

Although his clean-shaven face suggested he was no older than twenty-five. His grey eyes seemed kind. When he had finished looking around the study, he came over, flipping to a new page on his notepad.

Destiny chewed her lip nervously but felt relieved when her father joined them in the study. "I woke up during the storm because of a nightmare and went down to the kitchen to make a hot mocha."

"I was too awake to go back to bed, so I sat at the kitchen table and started sketching when a brick collided with the back door, smashing the glass." I didn't see anyone."

"And then I heard movement upstairs, so I grabbed the baseball bat. I went to Dad's study and got his journal, but the intruder found me, and he got away with the journal,"

Alaric patted his pockets, feeling for his golden key. "But I locked the door. How could they possibly get inside?" he asked, baffled.
"Dad, they opened the door from the inside. I don't even know how they got in," she admitted.

'Did you get a glimpse of his appearance?' Detective Willows asked.

"Only that he wore dark clothing and had aqua blue eyes. And I know he injured his right leg."

"What about the journal, would it have any markings, we could use to identify it?" The lead detective asked.
"There is a gold phoenix on the leather cover," her father said.
The detective finished taking her statement and handed over his card.
'If you remember anything else, no matter how small, contact me.'
They made their way back downstairs. "Sir, what did the journal contain?" the detective asked.
"The journal contains a record of all the paranormal cases I have investigated for my job."

"Alaric, your daughter, has been extremely helpful, but in cases like these it's unlikely to be turned in or found, but we will keep our eyes peeled." He smiled at Destiny with an impressed stare. Destiny and her dad followed the detectives outside as they returned to their cruiser. They watched the car pull away before heading back into the house.

Selina had cleaned up the glass shards and hung a garbage bag over the ruined glass door. The vacuum sat in the corner. While Destiny had given her statement to the deceives, Selina tided up the pots and pans.
Her parents sat at the kitchen table. Selina rubbed her forehead and sighed. "All this excitement has given me a migraine."

Destiny filled the kettle and switched it on, then got three cups from the cupboard to prepare the tea. Selina read the paper, determined to keep calm. Destiny was relieved - her stepmother's temper would make volcanos stay dormant. Destiny closed her eyes and listened to the downpour, trying to make sense of tonight's events. Alaric Morgan remained quiet, his shoulders slumped and his grey eyes weary.

The kettle boiled and Destiny poured the water onto the tea bags, adding three spoonsful of sugar to her father's cup. She placed the steaming mugs on the table. At the same moment, the possum reappeared, jumping up onto the table to investigate the interesting fresh smells. Destiny giggled as the possum stole a strawberry from the fruit bowl.
"Destiny, get rid of that animal now!" Selina ordered, frozen to the spot.

"Calm down Selina. He is just hungry and taking shelter from the storm." Destiny grabbed a handful of strawberries and clicked her fingers to get the creature's attention. She led the possum outside. It gently took the strawberries Destiny offered before heading back into the forest.

Destiny returned to the kitchen and drank her tea in silence, sensing the tension between her parents. Selina Morgan had never approved of her husband's job. His research meant he often needed to take long trips away from his family, something Selina had always resented.

Destiny was puzzled by Selina's outbursts about her dad's job. Something always seemed off about her words. They never rang true. Sometimes Destiny thought Selina was concealing things.

Destiny watched as a change washed over Selina's features. She brushed her hair over her shoulder with a flick of her wrist, her other hand tightening around her mug, her lips thinning as she sipped her tea. They were all familiar signs that Selina was about to voice her disapproval. Alaric tried to soothe his wife. "I understand your distress, Selina. This night has been eventful for everyone."

"Damn right!" Selina replied, her seething tone laced with accusations. Taking this as the signal to leave, Destiny grabbed her tea and took refuge on the staircase, close enough to the kitchen to overhear her parent's argument. Destiny retreated into herself. "Selina is always like this."

"I never approved of you working for the paranormal agents, Alaric, and now look - years of research stolen from under your nose. I told you time and time again to make sure it was hidden. But my words fall on deaf ears."

'It is only the journal, Selina. It is useless without the field guide, and that is quite safe. Although losing the journal is unfortunate. It almost certainly means that I shall have to return to Andriel.' Alaric replied. He sounded wounded, but not defeated.

'Andreal again? Last time it was three weeks before you could pry yourself out of Celestial cites magical libraries, or a month before the willow 'o' wisps allowed you to leave Wolfvain forest.
'Has Rayan Lothbrooke had his royal pain in the as summoned you? To negotiate with the vampires again?' Selina asked in her usual mocking tone.

She heard Selina moving around the kitchen, an impatient shuffling of feet, followed by the sound of the faucet running. Alaric rolled his eyes. 'Yes, while you may distrust Rayan, I believe between the two of us we can foster peace,' he said.

'Will you please stop going on about Andriel? Can you try to focus on what matters for one moment? Veil Agency is going to be furious.'

Destiny was puzzled. Selina hardly seemed concerned that their house had been broken into or that her father's research had been lost–all she seemed to care about was what these Veil agents would think.

'Enough is enough,' Selina continued, 'we are moving to Violet Springs. Which means you will have to quit the Veil Agency. End of discussion.'

The kitchen became quiet. She heard her father sigh, but she sensed it was in agreement. Where were his usual comebacks? He never usually agreed to anything so quickly. He moved to the beat of his own drum.

'Perhaps it's for the best. I know how much Destiny would love to investigate paranormal events, but in her condition, it will never happen.'

Destiny's teacup slipped through her fingers, spilling fiery liquid all over her clothes and smashing her favourite cup against the wooden stairs. 'Destiny, are you okay? Need some help?' Her parents called out. Her shoulders slumped and stomped up the stairs. 'No, thank you I'm fine.' She spoke. Slamming her bedroom door. Her frustration grew with their constant hovering.
I am seventeen now. They always treat me like this. It's not like when I was eight, when my legs gave out and I needed stitches from falling down the stairs. Or twelve when the tire swing broke in the backyard,' Destiny muttered, pacing around her room.
'He never gives me a chance,' she thought, her eyes blurred with resentful tears.

Destiny's room was her haven, a peaceful place where she could escape the shouting and troubles of family life. She inhaled the distinct aromas of sage, lavender, and rosemary from her small window box, and ran her fingers along the comforting solidity of the sturdy bookcase, filled with her collection of books about Wicca, Magick, and supernatural beings. Hidden behind the books was her secret stash of old paranormal cases that she studied, to practice becoming a researcher like her dad.

They artfully arranged her oak desk with school textbooks, stationery, and her favourite CDs. They painted the walls a deep blood red, and hung with fantasy art, from dragons to a burning phoenix. Destiny picked out jeans and a black top from a pile of clothes sitting crumpled in the corner. She changed, then slumped into her worn leather chair, opened her laptop and her journal, and selected a black pen from her penholder.

She typed 'What are Veil agents?' into her browser, but nothing came up. She had not really expected it to. She knew the group her father worked for was highly secretive and covered their tracks well. She had only met the leader once, and could barely remember them, as she had only been three years old. That one encounter had set Destiny on her path.

She deleted the term and tried 'Andriel' instead. Out of a list of results, one article caught her attention. The title was 'Portal in the Mists', and according to the article, beings travelled within the rolling mists of the forests, and people had glimpsed a strange world beyond the mist. The article came with an image at the bottom of the website.
An old photograph taken from a local hiker's camera.

Destiny enlarged the image. Ripples of unknown energy flowed from the mists. She could always see 'unseen' things, even in photographs. This ability frightened her more than anything. In the centre of the mists, a circle glowed. 'The source of the energy?' Destiny whispered. She sketched a drawing of the circle. Could it be a symbol? No, a symbol would not create energy.
Maybe a gateway? Possibly, but where would it lead? She scrolled down the page. The location caused her blood to run cold. Violet Springs.

'Violet Springs has always been a hotspot for strange events. The Portals in The Mist are just the latest in a series of mysterious occurrences,' Destiny read out loud. She clicked 'print' and placed the folded article in her journal. She bookmarked the occult website. The sound of silence filled the house.

There was a light tapping on her door, and Destiny quickly hid her journal before calling out, 'Come in'.

Selina opened the door, the rage which had filled her eyes was now just a distant glimmer. 'It's past midnight, Destiny. It's time to go to sleep.' She glanced at Destiny's computer screen and the fire came back into her eyes as she saw the article about Andriel. Shaking her head in bitter disappointment, she closed the door.

Selina was a woman of few words, but her disapproval cut Destiny's heart. Her chosen path had placed a strain on her relationship with Selina and with her dad. Why couldn't they understand? She shared her father's passion, but they did not approve. They just wanted her to live a quiet, boring life, free of danger, so that she could comfortably manage her disability. A caged life.

Destiny longed to experience something which would change her dull lifestyle. She shut her laptop, wondering what the locked safe within her father's study contained. Could it be notes on his investigations? Destiny had witnessed real something tonight, and her heart filled with a childish excitement, knowing that she had discovered more than she had ever dreamed of. The images of the night's events filled her head as she drifted into sleep.

Destiny awoke to blinding sunlight, which stung her tired eyes. Selina's humming filled her ears - a strange, hypnotic sound - as her stepmother bustled around the room, collecting Destiny's washing. Destiny did not sense the anger from last night, but she was grateful for the silence when Selina left the room.

Destiny sat in the window seat. The rolling mists flowed down from the forest, clouding the house in a blanket of thick fog. She smiled as the glass grew ice cold, numbing her fingertips. Winter arrived in June. The thick fog always concealed things - an old saying which Destiny thought was accurate.

A figure walked through the fog, entering the forest. Destiny thought nothing of it. Hunters were a common sight, in pursuit of the deer that roamed the hills. She headed downstairs, the sounds of fresh eggs popping in the frying pan. As she walked into the kitchen, she noticed her favourite teacup sitting on the worktop.
Hadn't she smashed the cup on the stairs last night?

Destiny knew her stepmother was a practicing witch, selling ingredients for spells and candles in her online store, but that was not the same thing as being able to cast real magic, like mending broken cups. Selina poured a freshly brewed mocha into the cup. Destiny put the thought out of her head and took her place in her usual spot at the table, sipping the hot, sweet drink, allowing herself to wake up, trying to figure out a more rational explanation for how the cup had become whole again.

Destiny sensed something was off. Her father remained unusually quiet, focused on cooking the eggs. Destiny's stomach growled. The toaster popped, and she got up to butter the golden pieces. Her father's eyes were completely vacant as he served the hot eggs. It was not until he sat down at the table that he finally noticed Destiny.

'Good morning, sleepyhead.' His voice lacked his usual spirit. Destiny stabbed her food, trying to name the different spices on the eggs. Selina made a disgusted face and ate the hot buttered toast, leaving her eggs, because she disliked the spices. Alaric Morgan's phone buzzed, and he jumped up to answer the call.

'Hello? Alaric speaking...' He left the kitchen. Anger crossed Selina's features before she sighed in resignation. He cleared his throat and announced, 'We are having a family meeting in the den.' He clenched the phone in his hand. Destiny wondered why he seemed so worried.

She followed her parents to the den. Could this be about the move Selina had suggested? The burning oil lamps provided dim lighting. The room always contained a dark smoky aura, which floated around the shadows of the room.
Destiny could never locate the source.

Her father paced up, and down with a vacant expression, lost in his own thoughts. He was normally an outspoken, straightforward man, but today his words seemed to weigh heavily on his mind.

'Alaric, I know I suggested the move, but moving takes weeks!' Selina said.
'Lucy has reassigned me to Violet Springs for my next case, working with local law enforcement. 'Alaric explained. 'The veil society is organising a permeant residence for us in violet Springs. So, I will not need to move around for work as much. Perhaps you are right about a fresh start being good for us.' Alaric said.

Selina smiled. 'I thought about opening an actual shop instead of selling my products online.' Her parent's discussed when they would be able move.

Destiny returned to her sketch of the forest from the evening before. A figure is looking out beyond the trees. She flipped the page, sketching the lake nearby her house. She drew her younger self sitting on the glass with a young boy, whose face she could not recall. Her clouded memories distorted the image within her mind until they disappeared completely. Destiny rubbed her temples, trying to keep hold of the vivid images. She always had difficulty remembering what life was like before the age of seven.
Selina peered over Destiny's shoulder. 'What a lovely scene. Who is the young boy?'
Destiny Shrugged her shoulders, mystified. "I do not know, but he seems familiar.'
Selina stroked her hair. 'Well, whoever he is, you never forget someone important,' She spoke.