Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume (9 page)

I consider that I might be sending you to an even
worse fate. Might it be more merciful to simply snuff you out right
now, as you lay sleeping beside me? But I refuse to let my child
die! Call me selfish, oh great Aradia, patron goddess of my coven
and namesake to my only daughter, but I will protect her at any
cost. I hope that wherever you go, my dear Aradia, that you will
find happiness, and most of all that you may one day know and
understand how much I love you.

Aradia burst into tears upon reading the last line.
It was horrible enough to find out what had really happened to her
people, to confirm Mr. Dayton’s claim, but this book and this place
made it real. Was Cassandra Fauna’s body one of the ones in the
next chamber? Was it hanged from a rafter, or buried underneath a
pile of her loved ones?

Aradia felt like she had been stabbed a thousand
times with thick, burning knives.

Overcome with grief and sobbing, Aradia raced out of
the sacred building turned morgue. In spite of the worry in her
parents' voices as she raced past them, Aradia did not stop. She
kept running and running until finally she found a clearing
overlooking the scenery of Salem Woods. Now exhausted both
physically and mentally, Aradia collapsed into a heap and buried
her face in her arms.

She realized she’d left behind the book. Quickly, she
made a motion to get up and retrieve it, but her strength left her.
“What is the point?” she asked the forest. “The book just repeated
everything everyone has already told me. Why should I go back for
it?”

She sighed to herself in response.

"It really is true," she muttered tearfully. "I
really am the last. I really am all alone."

Chapter Three

Next time you feel like getting all emotional and
running off
, Aradia chastised herself,
don’t
.

Her parents had tried to chase her, but for a human,
following Aradia through the woods would be like following Superman
up into space. It just wasn’t going to happen. She found them, just
as twilight had definitively shifted into early night, in front of
the sacred structure turned crypt.

“Aradia!” her mom cried upon her daughter’s sudden
return.

“We need to leave!” Aradia whispered. “Now!”

It took no more urging than that. Aradia did note,
with some relief, that her mother was holding the chronicle, the
record of her people.

Again she ran, more slowly this time so that her
parents might keep up. She appreciated the fact that both of them
kept themselves in sound physical condition; it made running from
murderous vampires much easier.

Even as they ran, Aradia extended her senses out into
the woods and the dead village. She felt all sorts of life: birds,
porcupines, trees, grass, mosquitoes. And peppered amongst those
living things she felt death. This was not the kind of death she’d
felt in the temple; this was different, and it was coming.

“Mom, Dad,” she pleaded, “run faster!”

Soon they were back at the stone wall where they’d
started their adventure.
I hope this works both ways,
she
thought as she reached out and swiped her hand against the stone,
as she’d done before.

And as before, the wall shimmered and melted. The
transition seemed to be an inexorably slow one. Finally it took on
the consistency of thick, thick mist, and she knew it was safe. She
pushed her parents through, then followed behind them.

Immediately they were back in that dark, dank cave.
Though Aradia was too preoccupied to notice, the sun was in the
same place in the sky in which the Prestons had left it; though
they’d experienced hours, seemingly no time had passed.

Behind them, the cave wall still shimmered.

“No,” Aradia breathed, but the fog did not solidify.
Her senses still extended through the void, and she could feel the
danger approaching. They were vampires, she was sure of it, and she
suspected they were not the friendly kind.

“What is it, honey?” Ross asked.

“They’ll come through,” Aradia replied, “if this
portal doesn’t close.”

Not sure what she was doing, operating on instinct,
she held up her right hand. “Close,” she said, scrunching her nose
and focusing hard. “Close,” she repeated, squinting shut her eyes.
“Close!” she screamed.

Still, the portal remained open.

She held her breath and focused. Suddenly a powerful
chill overcame Ross and Liza. A low, dense fog rolled into the
cave, coming up to their knees. Frost formed, stretching delicate
spider webs of ice across the cave walls.

Once more, Aradia screamed, and her voice roared like
thunder, “Close!”

The wall was solid once more.

Aradia opened her eyes. The fog was gone, the spider
webs melted, and the Prestons immediately warmed up.

“Well,” Aradia mumbled, stumbling a bit, “that
wasn’t… that wasn’t so hard.”

Then she passed out.

Liza rushed to check her vitals, turned to her
husband, and said, “I think she’s overtaxed her powers again.”

Ross nodded, and picked up Aradia’s limp body. “You
know, last time she and I were here, it was easier to carry her
out.”

"Hey firecracker, " Ross said as he opened the screen
door. "How you holding up?"

Aradia didn't say anything. She just kept her head
down and buried in her arms. Ross sighed as he stared at her. The
sun as it was setting in the background shimmered onto Aradia's
hair making it shine like polished brass. The blend of purples and
reds in the sky blended well with Aradia's maroon sweater even her
brown corduroy pants seemed to melt into the scenery. The way she
kept so still made it seem like she was so emotionally detached
from the human world that she could just blend in with the nature
surrounding her. Blend in and be forgotten.

So if I want to reach her
, Ross realized,
I
better do it quick.

It had been several weeks since that horrible
incident at the cave, but Aradia still hadn't recuperated. The
images of her people dangling lifelessly haunted her, so did the
knowledge that she was the absolute last of her kind. When she was
a child, she had always thought about one day growing up and
finding out the truth out about her powers. The least she had been
hoping for was to find out that her powers were like some sort of
X-men genetic thing. She had also hoped that somehow, someway she
would find someone like her. She could deal with being bullied, she
could deal with being humiliated, but being alone...What had kept
her going all these years was the secret hope that one day she
would find someone like her but now that she had found out the
truth what else was there.

Ross sighed again as he sat down on the steps right
next to Aradia. Slowly, he turned to his daughter. After one long
huge sigh, he reached from behind him and pulled out what he been
carrying from the kitchen.

"Beer?"

Aradia's ears perked up curiously. She hadn't been
sleeping but she had been tuning out the world that still hadn't
prevented her from hearing things around her. "What?"

"You heard me," Ross said, "do you want a beer?"

Now Aradia was officially intrigued and lifted her
head. Indeed, she saw her father holding out two bottles of cold
beer. She waited and stared at him, expecting a last minute
joke.

Ross, however, shrugged and pulled out the bottle
opener from his key chain. On the weekdays, Aradia hardly saw him
without a suit but on the weekends her father always dressed as
casually as they came. Today, he wore a white Def Leppard concert
t-shirt, black jeans, and brown loafers. Also on the weekends he
always allowed himself one beer.

After popping the top off, and setting it aside, Ross
took a swig.

Sighing, he turned again to look at Aradia.
"What?"

Aradia just stared. "Were you really willing to let
me drink a beer?"

Ross nodded.

Aradia was dumbfounded and sputtered, "but I am
underage..."

Ross shrugged. "True but it looks like you needed
it."

That struck a cord, and Aradia turned away.

Ross, however, put his right arm around Aradia's
shoulders. "I wish I could say I know how you feel Rai but I don't.
What I do know is you have been through a lot this week. Hell, you
have been through a lot since we moved here. A part of me wishes
that your mother and I had never taken you here. However, for the
first time we actually saw you out and having friends. Needless to
say that was a wonderful feeling, seeing you happy for the first
time at least around other people. But once we found out about the
other things happening here. It was all I could do from packing us
all up and getting the hell out of Salem."

"You didn't though," Aradia pointed out.

Ross nodded again. "Because...I know this is going to
sound crazy but ever since we came here I have felt that we were
meant to be here. Finding out the truth about your past wasn't just
something you were concerned about Aradia your mother and I wanted
to know too."

Aradia's mouth dropped open. "Why?"

He shrugged. "At first, we were against you finding
out because we thought it might make us lose you. However, seeing
how determined you were to find out the truth made your mother and
I decide something. All we want to do is make you happy and if
finding out your past made you happy then we would help you as best
as we could."

A thought suddenly occurred to Aradia. "Dad, was
finding out about my past one of the reasons why we moved
here?"

Her father sighed. "Yes. Yes it was Aradia."

She was stunned. Finally she managed to stammer, "but
why?"

"After you...well after what happened to Jona Lee,"
her father explains with his head hanging low. "Your mother and I
realized how big a role your past played in your life. We had been
researching for months where to move and we finally realized that
maybe there was a reason we found you near Salem. Maybe that was
indeed where you really came from and so after what happened with
that boy your mother and I decided we had to find out. Finding
those jobs and this house available in Salem was almost like a sign
that we were suppose to come here. It was almost as if..."

Aradia's father trailed off and raised his head.
"Almost as if it were meant to be."

Aradia's mouth just kept opening and closing. "Why
didn't you tell me this before?"

Ross shrugged, regretfully. "You had so much on your
plate already firecracker we didn't want to burden you..."

"Why are you telling me this now?" She snapped.

Her father finally turned and threw his arms around
Aradia. "Because you deserve to know the truth. Furthermore, you
have to understand that no matter what happens in the past your
mother and I still love you. We will always love you Aradia. I know
your people are gone but you are not alone. You are never alone. We
are your family Rai and we will always be with you."

"Damn straight," Liza said as she suddenly appeared
in the doorway. Without a moments hesitation, she knelt and took
both her husband and her daughter in her arms. All the sadness, all
the emptiness Aradia had felt seemed to melt away as her parents
warmly embraced her. Tears of happiness began to appear from behind
her eyes as she clung to their shoulders. It was like this for
several minutes until they heard a loud buzzing coming inside the
house.

"Casserole is done," Liza announced as she ran back
inside.

Her father lingered after and shook his head softly.
He then turned to look back at Aradia. "I hope you feel better
Rai," was all he said before getting up.

"Dad," Aradia said as he opened the screen door.

He hesitated as she struggled to find the right
words. When she finally did she said, "do you really think it
matters? Finding out about my past? Finding out about everything?
In the end, do you really think it matters?"

Ross sighed heavily but without looking at her. "No
and I will tell you why because everybody has choices. Everybody
has the choice to be defined by their past. You are not any
different. Yes, you maybe the last witch but you are also Aradia
Preston. You can chose to be defined by your past or chose your own
future."

With that he went inside to help his wife set the
table. Aradia hung outside for a while and looked out onto the
horizon with a thousand things going through her mind. She didn't
want to forget her people but on the other hand she didn't want to
constantly be reminded that she was the last. She didn't want to be
held back by her past. She wanted to look towards her future. Dax's
face appeared in her mind as she thought about the word future. In
spite of him helping her it did not change the fact that he had
still lied to her. He had lied about his feelings and why he wanted
to be near her.

She sighed heavily as she stood up to go back in the
house. "If I am truly concerned about my future then I guess I
better do something about it."

Aradia was her usual self when she went to
school the following Monday. She joked as usual, laughed as usual,
and sat with her friends as usual.

However, besides learning more about her origins,
another issue was plaguing her. Over lunch, she mentioned to Rhonda
that she was looking for Dax. She was very careful
not
to
tell her that the conversation was private. So far as Aradia knew,
Rhonda had never betrayed her confidence when the privacy
disclaimer was made. Without stating a conversation was between
them, though, she knew that Rhonda’s lips were loose enough to
sink, not just a ship, but a whole battalion.

Aradia spent the last fifteen minutes of her lunch
break in the greenhouse. She wasn’t part of the Botany Club, nor
was she there for class, so technically she wasn’t supposed to be
there, but the rule was not strictly enforced.