CHAPTER TWO

It was nearly seven in the morning when Jade awoke to the kitten licking her face. She gently pushed her away.

"Sorry, but I'm not a morning person, Kitty," she said. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, stretched, and yawned. Her body was sore now that she'd finally stopped to rest. She had a feeling the pain would remain for a while.

She changed into fresh clothes, deciding to dress a bit more casually so she would go unnoticed. Jade hadn't packed many clothes, but the black jeans and black t-shirt featuring a weeping faerie with dark blue hair and wings were comfortable and didn't stand out as much as her gothic dresses did. She kept her boots on because she hadn't bothered packing any other shoes. Her short black hair fell just beneath her chin and sharpened her features. She was still wearing her large silver pentagram necklace. She'd had the necklace since before she could remember, and she never took it off.

"I guess I need to get us something to eat for breakfast, right?" Jade asked her new friend. She stood up and opened her bag as wide as it would go. "Hop in, Kitty. You've been running after me for days now. You deserve to be carried for a while."

The kitten seemed quite content to curl up on Jade's sweater, which sat at the top of her bag. Jade left the old house and looked around. Now that it was light out, she could tell that she was in Salem. Everywhere she looked, there were new age stores, witches on broomsticks, and pirates. She had to admit there was something charming about the area.

Jade was stunned when cars waited for her to cross the street, and when strangers said "good morning" to her. Having lived in New York City for her entire life, she'd never encountered people quite this friendly, unless they were tourists.

"Hi! Are you lost?" A girl asked.

Jade hadn't realized the girl had come up behind her. "Sorry," the girl added with a giggle as Jade jumped in surprise.

Jade disliked girls who giggled. She found that they were rarely trustworthy, but even if they were decent people, they were usually too perky for her liking. This particular giggling girl had long, straight blonde hair and blue eyes, and she was wearing a pink dress.

The visual contrast between them was strong. The girl practically radiated with light, while Jade radiated darkness. Jade wasn't sure why the pretty pink princess had dared to approach her. Girls who giggled never spoke to Jade, but they talked about her behind her back in a sea of whispers with their other giggling friends.

"Are you?" The girl asked.

"Am I what?" Jade snapped at her.

"Are you lost?" The girl did not seem to notice Jade's irritation.

"No."

"You just look really overwhelmed."

"I'm not overwhelmed. I'm just... I'm not from around here."

"Oh, are you a tourist?" The girl asked curiously.

"Sort of," Jade replied, not sure why she was still talking to the shiny, happy person in front of her.

"Where are you from?"

"New York."

"Gosh, that's exciting!"

Jade shrugged. "I guess so."

She seriously just used "gosh" in a sentence. Who the hell says "gosh?" Jade wondered. She's like a cartoon character or someone who fell out of a 1950s sitcom or something.

"I've lived here my whole life," the girl continued obliviously. "My family goes on vacation every year, but I've never been anywhere as exciting as New York. Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"Not really," Jade replied. Go away. Leave me alone, Jade thought, trying to project the words into the girl's subconscious to make her walk away.

"I know where all the museums and shops are around here. I'm a Christian, but this place is covered in witchy stores. You are a witch, right? I mean, I see you're wearing a pentagram and all..."

"Yeah, I am." Jade was surprised that a Christian knew she was a witch and was still talking to her. She hoped that the next words out of her mouth would not have something to do with saving her soul. She might have to smite the girl if she tried.

"We have a lot of witches in Salem. They're Wiccans and Pagans, you know? They like it here. This is sort of like their capital. It feels like Christians are in the minority here sometimes."

"Look, no offense, but I don't generally talk to strangers."

"But everyone in Salem is a stranger to you, right?" The girl pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"I'm Bethany Ashford. Most people call me Beth." She smiled at Jade encouragingly, clearly waiting for her to introduce herself, too.

"Jade," she replied reluctantly.

"That's an awesome name! It's so pretty!" Beth said excitedly. "Anyway, we're not strangers anymore. We've officially moved up to acquaintances!"

Jade had no idea how to respond to that. Finally, she said, "Listen, Beth, I'm sure you're a really nice girl, but..."

"What hotel are you staying at?" Beth interrupted her.

"I'm not."

"Oh, so you're just here for the day?" Beth looked slightly disappointed.

"I don't know yet," Jade replied cautiously.

Beth looked at Jade for a moment before asking, "Are you a runaway?"

Jade could not understand why Beth would not take the hint and go away. "I don't know what I am anymore," Jade said. "A criminal, I guess."

"A criminal?" Beth seemed nervous, but she was apparently not going to let that prevent her from talking to Jade. "What did you do?"

"I murdered my parents," Jade replied bluntly. Maybe honesty would make the girl go away?

"You're not serious, right?" Beth's eyes were wide with a mix of curiosity and caution.

"I'm always serious, Beth," Jade replied.

"But... I mean... Why?" Beth asked softly.

"They had it coming," Jade said firmly.

"Were they abusive? Because if you were being abused, it was self-defense, and there are people who can help you."

"Look, Beth, I don't really do the whole after school special thing, okay? No one can help me now."

"Well, maybe I can," Beth said with determination.

"Doubtful."

Beth took out her wallet. "Have you eaten yet?" She asked.

"No," Jade admitted. There was no point in lying as her stomach growled.

"Let me buy you breakfast," Beth offered.

"Why the hell are you being so nice to me?" Jade demanded. "I just told you I'm a killer."

"I don't think you're a bad person," Beth replied calmly. "I'm really good at reading people, and I think you had a good reason, or you wouldn't have done it. So, how about breakfast?"

"Fine." Jade figured there was no harm in accepting breakfast, since she needed to eat anyway, and she suspected that Beth would not go away even if she declined the offer.

"Great! Follow me." Beth led the way to a quaint café on the waterfront.

They sat down at a table near a window. Jade stared at the water and felt calm for the first time in days. Water always soothed her.

As if reading her thoughts, Beth said, "Salem is a nice place to settle down, Jade. Maybe you should stop running for a while."

The thing that surprised Jade was that she found herself seriously considering it.

~*~

Arnie Gelman awoke with the realization that he had absolutely no idea where he was or what he had done the previous night. He also realized that a very attractive redhead was curled up on him, fast asleep.

This is why drugs are bad for you, Arnie thought to himself. What the hell did I smoke last night?

He didn't typically get high. In fact, he almost never did, but his emotions had gotten the better of him the night before, and he had needed to escape from his own thoughts. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now, he was kicking himself.

Deenie's going to kill me, he thought. Or worse, she'll tell Benny and Clarissa, and they'll kill me... Or she'll tell Cassandra, who'll kill me and then make Deenie resurrect me so I can get back to my slayer duties.

His head was throbbing. Arnie groaned and tried to focus. Where am I? He wondered again.

The gorgeous redhead yawned, opened her bright green eyes, and smiled at Arnie. "Morning..." She said pleasantly. Then, rather suddenly, she panicked and sat up in the bed. "Oh crap, morning? What time is it?"

Arnie consulted his watch. "Seven-thirty-two," he replied.

"Oh man, oh man, my aunt and uncle are gonna kill me if I'm late for school again!" She stood up. "I'm doomed."

"No problem," Arnie said. "I'll drive you."

"You have a car?"

"Not exactly, but I can have one in sixty seconds or less." He looked at her with his most charming smile. It was true. He was excellent at hot-wiring cars. It came in handy sometimes.

"You're into Grand Theft Auto?" She asked in surprise.

"It's not stealing; it's borrowing. I always return the car to its original owner."

"Whatever. I'm too desperate to be picky. You got a shower in this place?"

"I don't know," Arnie replied in confusion. "I thought it was your house."

"No way. If I brought a boy to my house overnight, my aunt and uncle would flip. So, where are we? I mean, I remember seeing you by the waterfront and thinking you were cute-" Arnie smirked at that- "and flirting pretty shamelessly. I remember taking a few hits from your joint, and then... Then, I woke up here. I assumed we just got wasted, but how did we end up in some stranger's house?"

Arnie considered the question for a moment. The house had a familiar feeling to it, but he didn't recognize the bedroom. "I don't know," he said. "I mean, I thought we, you know..." He let the sentence trail off, assuming she understood his meaning.

"Well, if we did, it wasn't very memorable, was it?" She laughed as Arnie blushed. He really liked her laugh.

"I'm kidding," she said. "But, seriously, what did happen?"

The bedroom door opened and a tall man with long, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes stood before them.

Crap, Arnie thought as he realized where they were.

The man answered the girl's question by saying, "You got ambushed by warlocks. You were making out when they attacked. I had to save you guys because you were both too stoned to stop laughing at them long enough to fight back."

"Well, you should talk, Alex," Arnie said to Alex Paxton, a local slayer and the guardian to a very special group that Arnie was a member of. "You're always stoned."

"First of all, I'm not always stoned." Alex sighed and looked like he was summoning all of his patience to deal with Arnie in that moment. "Look, smoking pot opens me up psychically and helps me with my abilities sometimes. I only smoke the pure herb, and I'm careful about it. You two bought junk off the street and were reduced to the state of a couple of giggling morons. You should have known better, Arnie. Besides, you're still kids. I'm an adult."

"Barely," Arnie replied. Alex shot him a threatening look. "Sorry," he added quickly.

"Hi," the redhead said, walking over to Alex and shaking his hand firmly. "I'm Melissa." If she felt awkward about waking up in a strange man's house, she didn't show it.

"Nice to meet you, Melissa. I'm Alex," Alex replied calmly.

"He's like everyone's surrogate daddy," Arnie explained. "He's only twenty-one, but he looks out for me and a bunch of my friends."

"You got a shower, Alex?" Melissa asked. "I have less than an hour to get to school."

"Yeah, first door on the left," Alex replied. Melissa offered him a dazzling smile and walked away. Once they were alone, Alex turned toward Arnie. "Alright... Explain yourself, kid."

"I was upset," Arnie replied with a shrug.

"That's not an excuse. You could have been killed, Arnie!"

"So?" Arnie replied, genuinely not caring.

"Arnold!" Alex snapped.

Arnie winced at the use of his proper name. "Dude, don't call me that!"

Alex sighed. "Look, Arnie, I know that September is a rough month for you, but you can't do stupid things like this."

"Rough? I watched my parents burn to death in a fire, Alex! Rough doesn't really cover it." Arnie shook his head as tears welled up in his eyes. "I can't keep feeling like this, Alex. I'm breaking... I'm shattering."

Alex softened significantly, still visibly furious at Arnie for being so irresponsible, but now also feeling the need to comfort him. "I know, kid," Alex said. "I'm here for you, okay? Next time, call me. Or go see Aideen." He pulled Arnie into a tight hug.

"I was nine, man. They were good people. It's not fair," Arnie said as too many emotions hit him at once.

"I know, Arnie," Alex replied patiently. "Which family did you skip out on?"

"Number Four, the Berlins."

"I thought you liked them."

"They're nice and all, but there was a Red Sox game on, and you know I love the Yankees despite my Massachusetts blood. I hate having to listen to the Berlins go on about the wonderful Red Sox."

"So you decided to get stoned over a difference of opinion about baseball?" Alex asked skeptically.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time?" Arnie caved under Alex's stern gaze. "Okay, I messed up. I'm sorry. It won't happen again. Can I drive Melissa to school?"

"Will you go to class for once in your life?"

"Why bother? I can hack into my records and change them later."

"How did you become such a little criminal?"

"Years of practice, Alex. Years of practice," he replied with a smirk. "So, can I?"

"You don't even have a permit yet, Arnie."

"I do, too-"

"A legitimate permit," Alex clarified.

"Paperwork proves you exist, and slayers should have as little of it as possible."

"Arnie-"

"Come on, Alex. You know I'm an excellent driver."

"Fine," Alex conceded. "Don't get arrested."

"I'll modify their memories if I do, and hack into the records to delete my file." Arnie grinned at Alex until Alex shook his head and laughed. Arnie was very good at getting Alex to back off about most things. He was a hard guy to stay mad at.

Melissa reappeared, her hair now green and her eyes blue. Her Catholic school uniform was not wrinkled even though she'd slept in it.

"How did you dye your hair so fast?" Arnie asked in confusion. "And did you even have hair dye here?"

Melissa smiled at him mysteriously and said, "It's a secret talent of mine."

Alex studied her for a moment before asking, "Melissa, is your last name Morgan?"

"Yeah..." Melissa said, wondering how he'd known that.

"It figures you'd stumble across her, Arnie," Alex said. "Meet Melissa Morgan, age fifteen, born on August tenth. Her parents were killed in a car crash when she was two, and she was raised by her aunt Mary Anne and uncle Joseph. She's four foot ten inches tall. She identifies as a bisexual Pagan punk. She's very fond of practical jokes and can change her appearance at will."

Melissa's jaw dropped. "What are you, a stalker?" She demanded.

"Not quite," Alex replied calmly.

"Then how the hell do you know so much about me?"

Alex ignored her question and asked, "Where's your athame?" Melissa hesitated to reply, so Alex went on. "It's silver, with flames etched onto the blade. You never go anywhere without it."

"You're right," Melissa admitted. She took the double-edged knife out of the sheath that was strapped to her hip and handed it to Alex, still very confused as to how he knew so much about her.

Alex studied the athame as he said, "You were given this by a stranger at birth." He handed it back to her.

As Melissa put the athame back in the sheath, she once again asked, "How do you know all of this?"

Alex put his hands out and a silver scroll suddenly appeared in them. "I was given this scroll at birth, and whatever I need to know to help people appears on it as I need to know it. Well, hints do, at least. It's rare that it gives me a straight answer. You have no idea how much I hate riddles because of this thing," Alex explained. "Anyway, it's silver, just like your athame, and just like the dagger that Arnie was given when he was born. You are part of a special group of people, Melissa. We call ourselves the Silver Society, and it is our job to keep the world safe for mortals. We incarnate all over the world. This incarnation centers in Salem."

Like most of the members that Alex had found so far, Melissa was not surprised by his words. "I knew I wasn't a mortal!" She exclaimed in excitement. "So, what am I?"

"You're a deity, Melissa," Alex replied. "You are a second generation Goddess, the daughter of the Norse God, Loki. That's where your shapeshifting power comes from."

"I'm Hecate's son," Arnie chimed in. "The Greek Goddess of the Crossroads."

"I'm Vishnu's son," Alex added. "He's a Hindu God. Vishnu is the Ultimate Light. He balances the Ultimate Darkness."

"Loki's the Fool, right?" Melissa asked. "That explains my love of practical jokes."

"Yeah, he's not the bad guy mythology portrays him as," Arnie replied. "He never killed Baldur. He was framed! Framed I tell you!" He smirked at Melissa and added, "Loki is one of my favorite deities, in case you couldn't tell."

"How many of us are there?" Melissa asked.

"With you, it's currently ten. In total, there are twelve. I'm pretty sure that the other two will pop up soon," Alex said. "I have been finding people for three years now. It was Arnie and Aideen first, then Spencer, then Cassandra, then Cierra, then Randy, then Dylan, and most recently before you, I found Jesse. It's my job to find, train, and protect everyone."

"This is all so cool!"

"We're having a meeting here tonight. Can you make it?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the apocalypse!"

Arnie cringed. "Don't joke. We just stopped one last week," he said.

Melissa looked at him and asked, "Wait, are you serious?"

Alex interrupted them. "Arnie, get her to school and go to class yourself, okay? See you later." With that, he dismissed them.

Outside, as Arnie hot-wired a blue corvette, he said, "Man, I'm lucky. The cute girl I made out with is part of the Silver Society, and so are my two best friends."

Melissa grinned at the compliment. "Which ones are your best friends?" She asked, getting into the car.

"Aideen and Spencer. I've known them forever. We're all pretty close, though. Saving the world together bonds people. The only one who keeps her distance is Cassandra. She's not exactly a people person. She finds most of us to be too immature. She's the best slayer in town, though, so she's good to have around. The problem is that she's sometimes more machine than human."

"She sounds dull," Melissa decided.

"She has her moments, but I'd never call any of us dull. Anyway, welcome to the family, Melissa."

"Thanks," she replied with a dazzling smile. "I think this is the start of something great."

As Arnie dropped Melissa off, she turned around and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Later, Hotness," she said before running toward the school.

Arnie was filled with a sense of giddiness and fought the urge to chase after her so that he could kiss her again.