☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☽

❝ Some children are simply born
with tragedy in their blood ❞

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☽

JUNE 3rd, 2003

"Are you guys excited...? Finishing middle school, fourth and third grade." Richard broke the silence in the car. The Salvatores and the Martins were making their way to the kids' school, celebrating their last day.

"You have no idea how much." Isa said with a relieved smile on her face.

"Yeah, sure..." Ara said quietly, leaving everyone in the car a bit confused.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Megara asked, turning around to look at her daughter.

"I'm fine... I just didn't sleep very well..." the redhead admitted. Truthfully, she never slept very well, but, in the previous night, she couldn't sleep at all, strange sensations and mixed emotions invading her mind and keeping her up almost the entire night. Nothing unusual, though...

Megara looked concerned, as if she was expecting her to say that, but she didn't say anything, returning her gaze on the road and trying not to look afraid.

"Well, you should be thrilled..." Jessica's 'bitchy fake-sweet' tone caught everyone's attention. "You finally managed to survive a year without getting expelled." she smiled sarcastically at the redhead, but Ara was too tired to fight back, so she just rolled her eyes and ignored the demon sitting a little too close to her for the girl's liking.

"Okay, we're here!" Richard spoke excitedly in his 'let's change the subject to something that doesn't lead to bloodshed' tone, which he used most of the time around both his sister and the girls.

Thankfully, they did arrive at the school. It was a pretty popular school in Los Angeles, even if it wasn't located in the center, like the rest of the educational institutions. That was the school Isabella and Regulus attended all their lives, unlike Ara, who in her three years of going to school she got kicked out two times. But neither time was her fault, or, at least, that was what she chose to believe.

The six got out of the car (it was a really big vehicle, so Jessica obviously insisted on coming with her rich brother, also having the opportunity to annoy Megara and her daughters, which seemed like one of her hobbies) and headed to the courtyard where the graduation festivity took place. It was mostly for the students who had just finished eighth grade, Isa being one of them, but most of the kids from both primary school and middle school were present, which only made the area extremely crowded.

That would be the last place on earth Ara wished to be, because her anxiety and lack of social abilities would always lead to unpleasant circumstances. But not that day... she was determined not to get herself into trouble on her last day of school.

Megara, Richard and Jessica said goodbye to their kids and went to sit in the parents' area, leaving the three to find their seats next to their classmates.

Since Isa was graduating, her class was seated in the front row, followed by the younger classes, in descending order. Which meant Regulus was on the fifth row and, right behind him, Ara. A real nightmare, trust me...

Just as she took a seat, Ara felt hand covering her eyes, which could only mean one thing...

"Cass!" she instinctively said, not even waiting for her to ask 'guess who'.

The blonde friend took her hands from her eyes and came in front of her. "How did you know it was me?"

"Because it's you," she raised her eyebrows sarcastically. "This is your signature hello, Cass."

The girl laughed before taking a seat next to her. "True... You know me too well."

"How can I not, I can never get rid of you." she joked in her usual ironic tone.

"Ouch... but I like to think it's a talent." Cassie said, and, for the first time that day, Ara actually smiled.

Cassandra Jones, or Cass, as Ara called her, was the definition of a best friend. The two girls met at the beginning of the year, and, to the redhead's surprise, they became close really fast. Cassie was the first person who came up to Ara, despite all the comments she heard about the 'freak' of the school. She was sweet and kind, always full of life, like the brightest star which was never tired of shining, and not even once did she leave her best friend's side. She always said 'That's what bffs are for, Ari.' (Don't ask me when Ara turned into Ari, I've tried to stop Cass from calling me that, but she's harder than a rock sometimes...)

The two girls were all they both needed, not like they had many friends opportunities. Despite her sweet and warm aura, Cassie was also marginalized by kids, mostly because of her sensitive personality and lack of standing up for herself. Not that she couldn't, she chose not to. She would even keep Ara from doing it for her, saying it was not worth drawing attention to them, even if those mean kids deserved a taste of their own medicine more than anything.

So, in a world full of bullies, they were more than relieved to have found each other. That was all they needed.

"Are you alright, Ari?" the blonde girl asked, noticing her friend's tiredness.

"Yup... so excited to be free from this shithole." she mumbled in response. She didn't want to mention her nightmares, but Cassie seemed to read her mind.

"You're having trouble sleeping again, aren't you?"

"I could never get rid of it..." she confessed, "but it's starting to get more and more overwhelming."

Cass narrowed her eyes, "Have you told your mom about them? The dreams."

The redhead shook her head, "No, I don't wanna burden her with my unimportant delusions..."

"You got that right." they heard a laugh from the row in front of them. Ara didn't even have to look to know the ones spitting crap from their mouths were Regulus and his insufferable friends.

"Guys, don't pick on her..." Regulus intervened, making Ara frown upon hearing him say something so unlike him. "She'll cause a scene and then my uncle will have to clean her mess... again."

Yeah, that was more like the Regulus she knew. And, Ara being her usual impulsive self, she stood up, but before she got the chance to see what her nerves were gonna do to his face, Cassie pulled her down.

"Not worth it, remember?" the girl locked eyes with Ara.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Reggie smirked, trying very hard to look even more stupid than usual.

"Let me translate it for you." she turned back to her 'cousin'. "You. Can. Kiss. My. Ass." she spoke slowly, as if she was talking to a slow kindergartner.

"Uhh, you--" Regulus began expressing his fury, but Ara interrupted him, resigning her eyebrows.

"Is this the part where you run and complain to your mommy?"

Before chaos was gonna go down, Cass knew to pull her friend away before Reggie and his friend would call a teacher, probably Mrs. Bull, who was known for being the first one to give kids detention, and get Ara into trouble, as always. For some reason, the math teacher never even bothered to hear the girl's side of the story before jumping to the conclusion, so there was no point in waiting to get punished for nothing.

"Can you believe his guts?" Ara asked ironically, rolling her eyes once the girls put some distance between them and the group of imbecile boys. "Acting like he's not a complete bone-head..."

Suddenly, the redhead's gaze landed on something unusual. Three old ladies sitting further away, at the edge of the crowd. All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses. They were sitting on a bench, knitting the biggest pair of socks ever. That made Ara wonder what kind of grandson they had, but she didn't say a word. She tried to ignore the three women who seemed a little too dedicated to knitting that huge... whatever that was.

But the more she glanced at them, the more Ara had the impression they were staring right at her. And they wouldn't move their eyes for a second, despite working on the sock at the same time.

That kind of freaked out the redhead, but she chose to look away, thinking it was just her imagination playing games with her once again. What a weird mind, I've got...

But, as she tried to look anywhere else but at the three old ladies, her eyes landed on Cassandra, who looked even more freaked out than Ara. She glanced at the redhead and back at the three women over and over again. Her nose was twitching and her face seemed paler with every second that passed.

"Cass? Are you okay...?"

The blonde locked eyes with her, fear visible from a mile away. "Please tell me they're not looking at you... Like, right at you."

"I think so." Ara raised her shoulders, even if she knew for a fact they were looking straight into her soul. "I know this school has a lot of weird specimens, but this is a new one... Do you think they wanna kidnap me using that huge thing?" she tried to change the weird tension around them.

"Ara, this is no joke!" Cassandra almost shouted at her.

Her reaction took Ara by surprise, for she knew Cassie as an extremely calm person. "Sorry..." she said before unintentionally glancing back at the grannies.

The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of long-bladed, golden and silver scissors and placed it over the red strand. That was when Cassie pulled her friend by the hand, making her turn her back on the women.

"We have to go!" Cassandra said desperately.

"What... why?" Ara furrowed her brows upon seeing her best friend so scared by those ladies. "Where?"

The blonde looked around, her eyes scanning the entire area. "Anywhere..."

She then started making her way through the crowd, still holding onto Ara's hand. As they got further away the girl glazed back one more time at the three women. Even though there were many people walking between them, the old ladies were still watching Ara's every step.

The middle lady had cut the yarn, probably when Cass made her look away. They were really creepy, no doubt there, but they were just some bored fossils trying to scare kids... or so Ara thought at that moment.

Just as they made their way outside the crowd, the redhead stopped. "Cass, what's wrong? Why do you look like you've just seen a ghost?" she asked, wanting to know what the big deal was.

The blonde sighed, giving her friend the impression she actually wanted to agree with her, but she pursed her lips and then said, "Look, it's very complicated... and this is not the right place." Cass looked around. "Where are your mom and sister?"

Just before Ara got the chance to answer, a silhouette approached from behind her, making Cassie look up worried.

"Ms. Salvatore," Mrs. Bull's voice made the redhead turn around to face her least favorite teacher. "May I have a word with you?"

Her eyes were gazing at her just as intensely as the three ladies. "Mrs. Bull... umm, did I do anything wrong?" Ara asked. The teacher usually looked at her like that when she got in trouble with other students, but this time she didn't do anything. But who knew what Reggie and his dumbass friends invented this time...

Mrs. Bull put on what looked like the fakest smile ever, "No, dear, it's just wanna talk to you about your... interesting place in this world, and how your future shall go as." she explained. "Your sister will also be joining the conversation..."

It all sounded so weird. Firstly, Mrs. Bull never spoke to any student about their school activity or their paths, probably cause she didn't care enough, and, secondly, if she did, she spoke to a parent, not two kids. Ara looked confused, but she knew better than to reject that crazy woman.

"We actually should get going, we don't want to be late..." Cassandra suddenly jumped into the conversation, coming next to the redhead and grabbing her hand. When her confused gaze met the blonde's, Ara could swear she saw fear in Cassie's eyes, even if she did a pretty good job at hiding it.

"Ms. Jones, it will only take a moment." the woman slightly smirked, "I finish my jobs quickly..."

Ara took a moment to try to figure out why Cass seemed so worried, but the teacher turned to the side and pointed the way, gesturing for the girl to be the first one walking. Because she didn't want to get in trouble with her, since she was the type of person who held a grudge for all eternity, Ara started walking.

"It's fine, Cass, I'm not in trouble..." she assured her best friend, whose eyes screamed 'stranger danger'. Cass always seemed uncomfortable around Mrs. Bull, but no student actually liked her, so the redhead never gave much thought to it. Back then, Ara had no idea how serious it really was...

The nine year-old made her way into the school and followed the teacher into an empty classroom.

It was a sunny day, and yet, the redhead felt as if the sun was slowly fading away, its light getting blocked by huge grayish clouds. Every single thing around Ara seemed off, and she was starting to feel as if the right thing to do at that moment was to run the opposite way. But she didn't do that.

That was her first mistake...

"You are a very interesting case, Miss Salvatore," the woman began to say in her usual cold tone. "But I think I'm starting to get you."

Ara furrowed her eyebrows as she asked "What is that supposed to mean?". She couldn't even understand herself, so the thought of that creepy wrinkled teacher 'getting her' was unbelievable.

Then Mrs. Bull did something Ara never expected, she smiled. This time, it seemed genuine. "It took me so long, but I finally did it..." she turned her gaze at the sky, "I finally succeeded, I've completed my task, my destiny."

The redhead started to get the impression she wasn't actually talking to her, but even the walls couldn't understand what she was mumbling.

"Mrs. Bull, are you okay...?" Ara asked, getting concerned. Truthfully, she didn't care about the teacher, but she wanted her to snap out of that creepy trance that sent shivers down the little girl's spine.

"Oh, dear, you have no idea." her smile started to shift into a colder one, "I've been waiting for this moment for so long, but, now, he will not be able to deny me my rights anymore."

Ara was officially freaked out. The way she spoke sounded like madness, her eyes seemed so fixed on the sky it actually made her think Mrs. Bull was hallucinating, and, worse of all, she sounded pleased, as if she fulfilled her life's goal.

Suddenly, the door opened and Isabella walked in, catching the two's attention. "I'm sorry if I'm late..." she looked down, like she was begging forgiveness from a royal. But that was just how everyone had to act around Mrs. Bull, nothing new.

Ara looked back at the teacher to see her usual fake smile, which used to annoy the shit out of her, but, at that moment, she preferred anything other than the cold and scary look the woman had a few seconds ago.

"You're right on time, my dear." Mrs. Bull assured her. She looked out the window once more, and then started approaching the redhead, who was a few feet closer to the teacher than Isa.

"I've always found your family interesting... You and your sister seem very close, despite your... differences with other kids."

"We like to think it's us against the world." Isa spoke from behind, keeping a little distance from the woman, who seemed to have her gaze fixed on something.

"I see you both have one of these beautiful rings..." she spoke firmly, not taking her eyes off Ara's finger. She then reached out for her hand and held it in her palm.

"Excuse me?" Ara tried to take her hand away, but she was quickly stopped by a stronger grip.

"Don't panic, my dear child. I'm only proving a theory..." an evil smile appeared on her face before she finally made the move that changed Ara's life forever.

She snatched the ring off her finger.

"Hey!" Ara shouted, but immediately stopped when a loud thunder was heard. Without any plausible explanation, the hot and sunny summer day turned into a cold and dark night, raindrops starting to pour from the sky.

Mrs. Bull chuckled. "You see, father! I did it! I found them!" she said before turning to Isabella, whose wide eyes stared at her with fear.

The teacher advanced toward the brunette, making her step the opposite way. The most terrifying thing about it all was the huge change in Mrs. Bull's expression. Yes, she was always scary, but not like that. Not like pure evil...

"Get away from her!" Ara yelled, coming in front of her sister, but, in less than a second, the woman's huge hand tossed her aside, leaving her to fall on the floor.

"Don't fight it, half-blood. You stand no chance." she said, and with that, she took hold of Isa's black stone ring, holding them both in her hands like souvenirs.

In a matter of seconds, the sky shot a powerful thunder, followed by a strong storm. Well, that wasn't on today's TV weather channel...

"It's my time now!" Mrs. Bull continued, looking up as if her neck was broken. "It's time you accept me back, mighty Lord!"

As the two girls watched the mad woman shout at the ceiling, they knew it was time to go. They got up and started to slowly walk to the door, but, at the last minute, Mrs. Bull's gaze dropped on them and something unbelievable happened.

A desk moved right in front of the sisters, blocking the exit.

"Not so fast, my dears. We are not done yet."

That was it, that was when both sisters thought the world turned upside down. Sudden storms, eyes as black as the night and, now, moving objects... It was too much. The two were sure they'd lost their minds.

"What do you want?!" Isa shouted.

"I don't want anything from you. But father seems to have a bit of a difficulty finding you two. I guess he never expected the maiden of death to be so clever with those," she lifted the two rings and looked at them closer. "enchanted rings... I see Hecate's power is finally good for something."

The sister had heard enough to know Mrs. Bill was crazy. But, since the door was blocked, they had to try the other one at the other end of the classroom. The only problem was, they had to get closer to the madwoman. The teacher took a look at the frightened girls before her eyes started to get darker, staring into their souls.

"You are not going anywhere, filthy half-bloods! Zeus has other plans for you two. And we don't want to upset Zeus, don't we...?"

Ara's heart was pounding like crazy, but she got the courage to yell, "What are you talking about?"

"Ahh, clueless ones, how lovely... I must admit, your mother did a great job at hiding all these things from you. But no matter, now it's time to pay for what you did. Zeus will finally get his way, and, because I'm the one who caught you, he'll never be able to banish me from the skies again."

"You filthy half-bloods will get what you deserve and our detested, outcast of a father will finally pay the price for allowing such abominations to walk on this earth." the sharp tone seemed to echo in their minds louder and louder.

As if her words didn't scare Isa and Ara enough, Mrs. Bull started to... change.

Yes, she had always been hideous, but, at that moment, the creature standing in front of them was beyond any word they could think of.

A mist of dark fog surrounded the woman and, as the smoke disappeared, the two girls were left facing the scariest thing imaginable. Not only did she look like a demon with her black hair and empty eyes, she radiated evil. The unbelievable part was that, despite her scary appearance, she somehow looked... alluring.

Mrs. Bull started approaching them, her enchantment not allowing either one of the girls to move. It was like a predator hypnotized its prey into waiting to be struck down.

"And now, you two will finally meet the true fate of a mistake," her evil voice sent shivers through Ara's entire body, "being erased."

Just before the creature got the chance to grab the Salvatore sisters, a noise caught her attention, making her turn around. Then, in a matter of seconds, the woman let out a shocked and pained gasp.

"Look away!" Ara recognized her mother's voice without even seeing her.

With no doubt, Isa and Ara looked away just before a blinding light came from inside the ex-teacher, leaving the girls with only the memory of her scary appearance.

Once the light disappeared, Ara got the courage to look up and, to her relief, she saw her mother rushing towards them with Cassie right behind her. Hang on, Cassie and mom...?

"Girls, are you alright? Are you hurt?" Megara asked, worried. She scanned her daughters with her gaze as quickly as she could as both girls were trying to find the right words to explain their current state.

"Mrs. Salvatore..." Cassie's eyes were fixed on the sky and the powerful storm from beyond the windows.

The mother took a deep breath. Confusion and worry seemed to fill her whole body just before connecting the dots.

"Where are your rings?!" she questioned desperately after she looked at both their fingers and did not notice the extremely important item that was not supposed to come off. Never.

So many questions were going through Ara's mind, and her ring was definitely at the bottom of the list. "I don't know..." she got herself to answer, seeing her mother so concerned about what she considered a detail.

"What do you mean you don't know?!" the mother almost shouted, but she quickly realized she shouldn't have snapped at the two girls, so she took a breath. "Think."

"Mrs. Bull," Isabella closed her eyes before continuing "she took them from us."

Megara immediately started scanning the room, but because of the sudden darkness that swallowed their surroundings, she couldn't spot them. "We need to find them!" a thunder shot from the sky, making the woman look more and more uneasy, "Right now!"

Cassandra and Meg began running around the room, which only confused the redhead. After what they've just witnessed, their main concern were two rings...? Too many things didn't make sense, and that only made Ara feel like she had lost her mind completely.

"Mom, what is going on?!" the young girl yelled, her voice shaking from the shock. "Why are those stupid rings your concern right now? Did you not see--"

"Ara, trust me, I saw." her mother cut her off, but she didn't even meet her gaze for a second. "I'll explain everything, but, right now, we must find your rings!"

"Why are you so focused on something so unimportant?!" Ara protested. "Mrs. Bull tried to kill us before you killed her!"

"She's not dead, and if we do not hurry, she'll be back." Cassandra said. "And she won't be alone."

"Why? What does she want?" Isa's tone made Ara think she was about to burst into tears.

"She isn't the one that actually wants you..."

"Yeah, Zeus is," Ara mocked the former teacher, "she mentioned that. But what does that mean? Who is this Zeus?!"

"Ara, you know who Zeus is!" Cassandra stopped and faced the two girls, who had not moved from the floor. "The Zeus!"

For a second, the girl couldn't not mutter a word, but she then shook her head and spoke up, "Okay, now I know you've lost it!"

"Ara, think! Have you never seen or done anything you logically can't explain?!" Cassandra intervened, sending the redhead into an internal conflict.

If she were to think, deep down, she knew Cass was right. The countless dreams that felt so real, the unusual creatures she would spot near people who didn't even seem to notice them, the time when a bully girl claimed Ara made her skin burn after she made the redhead so mad she actually felt like she was capable of lighting the whole school on fire.

And, the strangest memory of hers was from a year ago, which, to that day, her mind couldn't fully forget. The known reason she got expelled from her last school was burning its grounds. But that was not the truth, and she knew it.

The redhead had faced what seemed to be one of the mythological creatures Megara would tell the girls stories about for fun. Now she was starting to think they weren't just random myths.

"The monster... from last year." she finally let out, quietly.

"Exactly." Cassie said. Ara wondered how she knew about it, since she wasn't there when it happened, but, after everything she seemed to know, it didn't surprise the redhead.

"The three old grannies from earlier... were they monsters, too?"

Cass sighed, "That's... a little more complicated." she turned back to search for the rings. "And we don't have the time right now..."

"Oh, yes we do!" Ara shouted. "I don't care about my jewelry after witnessing..." she wanted to find the words for the unexplainable thing Mrs. Bull turned into, but her mind was filled with too many thoughts. "that thing Mrs. Bull turned into..."

"That wasn't a real teacher, Ara!"

"Thanks, I've figured that out myself." she sarcastically interrupted Cassie. "Real teachers don't transform into demons who mutter nonsense and try to kill you!"

"Ara!" the mother suddenly snapped and turned to her daughter. "I've told you this before, you two are not like other kids, you're special."

The girl furrowed her eyebrows, "I really don't feel special now..."

"You're what we call demigods, or half-bloods. You inherit your power from your godly side of the family, and, unfortunately, both of you have a lot more than any other demigod, so the gods and monsters can sense you a lot easier." Cassandra explained, confusing both sisters. "And, right now, you're like a beacon."

"What do you mean, godly side?!" Isabella jumped into the conversation.

"Your dad. He is a god. That's why the monsters are coming after you." the blonde said as Megara couldn't help but sigh. She didn't want her daughters to find out the truth like this, but there was no going back from it.

Ara laughed nervously. "This is just some sick joke."

Megara closed her eyes, "Ara, please..."

"No, this is madness! I am not special in any way! If anything, I'm a mistake!"

Ara had to take a breath before continuing to release the overwhelming terror which had been building up inside of her for as long as she could remember. "Mrs. Bull said I shouldn't be alive, and now you're trying to tell me she was right?! I don't need you to feed me with more delusions, I'm enough of a freak as I am." Ara couldn't stop sounding like she was breaking down. "So, please, stop this, cause, right now, I am the one who feels like I'm truly losing it."

Despite the hurry everyone was in, her mother and friend tried to find the world to calm Ara down, but, in a blink of an eye, a powerful thunder caught their attention once again.

"We're wasting time," Cass spoke up, "and with the more strong emotions she's feeling, the more her power grows. And they feel it."

Ara closed her eyes, feeling too overwhelmed. She wanted so badly for someone to tell her it was just a sick joke or to suddenly wake up in her bed, but nothing seemed to change...

Megara took a deep breath before speaking up, "Ara, listen to me! Everything's gonna be fine! You'll be fine! Trust me on this." she sounded so determined. "But, right now, I need you to pull yourself together and calm down. I know I should've told you something sooner, but I thought I was keeping you safe..."

Ara watched her mother try to find the right words. "I was wrong." she sighed. "But I will not fail again."

She glanced at the sky before she finally locked eyes with Ara. "And for that, I need you to work with me, sweetie. Please."

The look on her face hit Ara like nothing else ever. She knew her mother very well, and yet, she had never seen her like that, so desperate. Her eyes radiated fear, and her tone screamed regret. At that moment, the girl realized Megara was fully aware of the danger, and yet, she was focused on the rings as if their lives depended on them. So maybe they did...

The Salvatore sisters got up and, just like their mom and Cassie, they've started looking for Isa's black-gem ring and Ara's red-gem one. After what felt like forever, Cassie managed to find Isa's ring in a dark corner and, not far away, the redhead spotted hers.

Because of Megara's request, the girls didn't waste a second and put them back on. "So? What did we accomplish with this?" Ara asked, looking straight at her mom.

But the woman looked just as uneasy as before. She then sighed as she accepted the terrible reality.

She looked down as if she'd failed completing her life's mission. "It's too late..."

"Late for what?" Isa questioned, scared.

"To stop your fate..." Cassandra spoke up. "Zeus has already sensed the two of you." she took her eyes off the sky and turned to the mother. "It has started."

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☽

(5,175 words)

DEDICATIONS

avaawritesz avgustluvs blacksired02 dinastolenchair everm0res grimeslvr_ grimesstories aishawritess_ BerxshiresWp ginaherron Br3adb0tter temptr3ss Elliewillamsfilms
(if anyone else wants to be added, let me know;))

___

AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hi, baes!!!
Ahh, i've finally finished the second part of the prologue (this took the longest!)
The next part is already out, so get ready for angst<3.
Tysm for reading, ily all and don't forget to vote and comment, I love reading all your opinions;)

~elenaswanwp