by Magnum Opus
Chapter Twenty-Five
Beau glanced at Aradia thinking to himself how is it when I think this girl cannot possible amaze me more she always does. He smirked a little but then remembered his purpose for hanging out with her. Well, what had been his original purpose because he had to admit that he once he got to know Aradia he found her absolutely fascinating. She was smart, cute, clever, witty, pretty, and strong (in more ways than the one as he had just seen) and so he was re-thinking about what exactly he thought he should do. His original purpose was to investigate her but he decided who she was or for that matter what she was not really important. All he did know was for all her amazing powers at least Aradia was a good person who used them as wisely as possible despite the maximum of their strength. Beau concluded that that was all that truly mattered. So he decided that from this night on he was going to tell Xan and his father to forget about investigating her and he was going to court her properly and maybe one day tell her the truth about his original intentions. He did not know if he was in love with Aradia but he knew he was infatuated and thought that maybe she was worth getting to know, not for her powers or anything else, but for who she is. After all, Beau thought to himself, all the experts said that's its not what a person does or can do but what's inside that truly counts and Beau had to say so far he had seen what was inside of Aradia so to speak and he had liked what he saw. Soon they reached Aradia's house and Beau got out first to open Aradia's door. She coldly brushed past him to get to her door but then hesitated. She realized at this point that if she wanted to know what was going on, it was now or never. "Aradia, is something wrong?" asked Beau. Aradia shook her head and then turned to look at him.
Beau stepped closer to her and stared down into her eyes. "Has anyone ever told you how absolutely beautiful your eyes are?" Boy! Is he pouring it on thick, Aradia thought bitterly. "I know I haven't been really good to you lately Aradia but from this point on that's going to change. I will start thinking about taking our relationship more seriously. I will protect you, care about you and always be there. From now on, Aradia I will do anything for you. Anything at all" "You don't have to do that Beau," Aradia said looking down at her feet, willing herself to have the strength she would need for what she was planning to do. "But I want to, love" whispered Beau using the pet name he had given her on their first couple of dates. Aradia said nothing, squeezed her eyes, and decided that if she was ever going to do it she had to do it now. "There is one thing you can do for me Beau," said Aradia still looking at the ground. "Anything you like," said Beau. "The thing that you can do for me Beau," said Aradia, bringing her face up to meet his, "is hold still!" and with that she threw her arms around his neck and captured his lips with hers.
At first, Beau's eyes grew wide with shock but then as the kiss went on he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer savoring every minute of it. Aradia, however, was getting a different experience from the kiss than Beau. By catching him off guard and establishing physical contact she could reach into his mind. She dug around in his memories carefully to make sure he did not become aware of it or feel any pain. She saw Beau seeing her for the first time (more accurately smelling her); she smelled the smell that he got from her: the smell of a spring wind filled with the scent of flowers as powerful and as intense as an ocean wave. She saw and felt Beau's raging jealously as he watched Roy and her dancing at Jayden’s party. She saw him hiding amongst the forest seeing her use her powers. All this leading to Xan purposing a strategy of how to get to know about who Aradia really was and that was all the proof Aradia needed. Angrily, she shoved Beau away who was a bit dazed from the kiss. At first he looked shock from her reaction but still, he smiled at her and moved closer intent on getting another kiss. But no sooner did he reach Aradia, when she slapped him hard across his face! Stunned, Beau's hand flew to his cheek as Aradia looked at him as deadly and as ruthless as a cobra ready to pounce on a mouse with a broken leg. "You know Beau I really did like you," she said sneering, "but I guess for some guys like you it's not enough!" Shaking with anger or perhaps sadness, Aradia then turned on her heel, stomped into her house, and slammed the door right in his face! For a while Beau just stood on her porch stunned until he started to think about Aradia's words. Awareness then began to dawn on his face. "Oh dear God," he lamented out loud, "She totally knows!"
Chapter Twenty-Six
The first thing Aradia did the moment she ran into the house (besides crying on her bed for an hour) was call Roy and tell him everything. She had not meant to and she knew by doing this, it was adding fuel to the fire but she had been used by a boy she liked so she thought she had every right to be angry! After finishing her conversation with Roy, who surprisingly had been quiet through most of it, Aradia had stomped about the house looking for her mother and father. As she got to the kitchen she saw a note that indicated her parents were out. After crumbling the note in frustration she decided to go to the basement to get ice cream from the freezer. At this point what she needed besides an opportunity to run down Brendan with his own BMW was comfort food and as far as she knew no comfort food was better than ice cream. She made her way towards the freezer too angry to sense her surroundings but most especially not being able to realize or see the two dark green eyes staring at her from behind the basement door.
But the moment she got to the freezer and started digging into the ice cream carton with only a table spoon, she started to feel something amiss. After swallowing a mouthful of the ice cream and pulling out the spoon she looked around her but saw nothing. However, as she turned back to her comfort food buffet she noticed a reflection in the back of the spoon! At first she thought it was only the reflection of the vacuum or something but then she started thinking: since when do vacuums move menacingly towards someone? Quickly she spun around to face whoever was in her house. She saw a tall clean shaven dark haired man wearing jeans and a polo shirt looking at her with either intense intrigue or intense hatred. "Derek I presume?" Aradia whispered. The man nodded angrily and cried out, "So it was you! You are the one who figured all out!" "No, you think?" Aradia asked sarcastically. "How?" Derek demanded. Aradia groped around her for a likely believable answer but found nothing. So instead she said, "Does it really matter now?" Surprisingly Derek shook his head and said, "You're right it doesn't." "What do you want?" Aradia demanded."To kill you," Derek said bluntly."Huh? Why?" asked Aradia. Derek gave a short barking laugh and said, "Because like your father you don't know when to keep your nose out of things." "No, I just don't like seeing murderers go free!" Derek gave Aradia a look of pure hatred, "what the hell do you know? I never wanted to kill him..." "Then why did you?" Aradia cried out. "Because he just didn't understand..," "Understand what?" asked Aradia. "He didn't understand that his store was worthless. He didn't understand that it's better to get what you can when you can by any means necessary!" "You mean it’s better to steal than make an honest living?" Aradia said sarcastically. "Call it what you will but the fact is I didn't want to kill him but he didn't realize that some things are better burned than kept around!" "You mean like his store the one that has been in his family for over five generations! The one you were trying to persuade him to burn down so you could get the insurance money. When he refused you then realized you could make more money by killing him, paying off his ex-wife and kid with his life insurance, and then burning the store once they were gone and keeping all off that money for yourself!" Aradia spat out in one huge breath. "My, my, my! Aren't you the clever little bitch?"Derek sneered at her. "I tried convincing him to help me burn it but he wouldn’t listen." "You knew he would never agree!" Aradia argued furiously,"you just used that to get inside of his apartment to kill him!" Derek smiled evilly after Aradia's statement. "You got me all figured out don't you baby?" "Don't call me baby!"Aradia snapped. "It doesn't matter what I call you because all you are now is dead meat!" He grinned wickedly flexing his hands which rapidly turned into hideous hairy paws. His teeth grew larger, his eyes darker, and (if such
a thing were possible) he got bigger! His face grew into a wolf's snout with fierce, intimidating, frightening teeth protruding from his mouth like knives . His eyes turned into piercing yellow ones glaring murderously at her. In five seconds at the very least Derek had transformed into a horrifying werewolf monster! Aradia stayed perfectly still either from fear or shock, she did not know. But Derek did not wait for her decision, she lunged right at her with his claws extended ready to tear her to shreds.
Aradia seized the ice cream carton she had been eating out of and slammed it against Derek's face. He sputtered as Aradia slid herself onto the counter and kicked him with both of her legs right into the old moth eaten couch in front of the spare TV. It slowed him down but only for a few seconds. Aradia knew her parents would be home soon and she couldn't put them in danger so using the opportunity she got when he fell back on the couch, Aradia dashed up the stairs and ran out the back door. Derek raced after her now in his full monstrous werewolf form. As she ran Aradia tried hard to figure out what she was supposed to do. She could not keep running but she didn't know if she could really take him on. She had never fought anyone before except Roy and all she had really done is subdue him! It was as she was thinking this that Derek lunged on top of her pinning her down. His werewolf snout mouth was open and he was growling and drooling down at her. His breath was so foul that it caused Aradia to call out, "if you were planning to eat me the least you could have done is brush your teeth!" "What do you mean 'were'?" Derek growled. She crouched down on both of her knees and extended them right into his chest. He flew several feet upwards from the sheer force of it. Aradia rolled on the ground away from him. He landed on his feet, stood on his back haunches, and the two of them circled each other facing off. After a few seconds of circling each other Derek lunged at Aradia sinking his teeth into her jacket. She quickly ripped it off and threw it on his face. Derek spat out the jacket and readied himself for another attack. All of sudden his ears perked up and he turned to look at something. After a few seconds he turned back to look at Aradia and growled, "Until another time baby!" and dashed off into the woods.
Aradia stood there feeling her arm bleed from where his teeth had scratched her. She cursed herself for not thinking of using her powers to beat him. Then she heard a noise rustling in the woods realizing that that must have been what scared Derek away Aradia willed herself to not only heal faster but to be ready for another attack. As Aradia readied herself to fight, out of the darkness stepped a shadowy figure."Aradia oh my god Aradia! Are you okay?" The voice that asked her this sounded so very familiar. Suddenly the figure stepped closer. As he got closer she could see him more clearly and tell that it was Beau. He stood shocked at the sight of her, and asked, "bloody hell! What happened to you?" Aradia said nothing but as she continued to stand there, clutching her bleeding arm her mind still in disarray after being attacked, she managed to croak out in a whispering voice, "Beau...help...me!" Her strength at that point completely gave away and she collapsed into Beau's arms. Beau scooped her up, ignoring the irresistible smell of her blood on her arm, and leaning her head against his shoulder ran straight to his car!
It took them ten minutes to get to Beau's manor. When Xan answered the door and saw Aradia bleeding and lying limply in Beau's arms he chuckled and said, "Wow Beau I didn't know you did home deliveries!" "Just get Dad!" Beau snapped as he shot past him and into the living room where he laid her on the couch. He then ran to the kitchen, got a bowl of water, and bandages and raced back to her bedside. He dipped a clean cloth into the bowl, held out her arm and proceeded to scrub the dried blood off of her. However, as he scrubbed he saw the teeth marks on her arm heal rapidly. No werewolf victim's wounds healed that quickly until after they were turned or for that matter no mere girl could hold off a werewolf at all. Once again he thought to himself how incredible! Truly when I think that this girl could not surprise me more...His thoughts trailed away as he reached out his hand to stroke Aradia's cheek softly careful not to wake her.
Dr. Dayton cleared his throat and motioned with his head to indicate to his son that he wanted him to leave. Beau hesitated but after one last glance to Aradia's sleeping form, and brushing some of her hair out of her eye, he slowly got up to leave. "She'll be alright won't she?" he asked his father who nodded and said, "probably." Beau then grinned and walked out of the room. It was as he walked to the front of the house that the doorbell rang. He then walked to the front door, opened it up and said, "You rang?" His humor quickly changed, however, once he saw who it was. Roy stood outside glaring at Beau ruthlessly, "where is she?" he demanded."Who?" asked Beau. "Don’t give me that! She's here! I know she is! I followed her smell. I smelled her blood in the woods and followed!" Not waiting for a reply Roy pushed Beau out of the way and stormed into the house. "Hey you can't come in here!" Beau shouted angrily. "Sure I can I am a werewolf remember? I don't need to be invited in!" Roy gloated. Beau held out his hand to pull Roy back but he shrugged it off. He stormed into the living room following her scent and saw Aradia sleeping on the couch. He rushed to her side kneeling like a prince from a fairy tale about to kiss his princess. Beau advanced to make sure no such thing occurred but his father spoke behind him, stopping him in his tracks, "she's already healed. Tired as hell but I am guessing after a short nap she'll be alright." "Good," said Beau. His father just nodded but Beau noticed his solemn looking face and although a part of him said he was better off not knowing he couldn't help but ask, "What’s up Dad?" His father exhaled a huge breath and said, "I got the test results back. I know what Aradia is." Beau smiled and said, “that’s wonderful!" "Yeah," his father said nodding still looking solemn, "there's just one little thing." "What?" asked Beau? "If she is who I think she is... well the fact is Beau then Aradia is already supposed to be have been dead for over three hundred years !" Aradia slowly opened her eyes and breathed in a familiar scent of a greasy spoon diner and a pine filled forest. She opened one eye and murmured, "hey Roy-Boy." Roy smiled and said, "Hey Rai-Rai how are you feeling?" "Like I have been attacked." She had meant it as a joke but soon realized her error once she saw Roy's face grow dark. He stood up ready for confrontation when Aradia grabbed his hand and said, "No Roy, Beau did not hurt me." "I know," said Roy. "You do?" asked Aradia."Yeah it was shown all over the seven clock news. Derek, Tad's father's lawyer, has been arrested for his murder." "Seriously?" Aradia asked trying to sound surprised."Yeah, someone gave the cops anonymous tip to investigate him and boy when they dug they really hit something solid about him!" Aradia smiled and said, "I am glad it's all been sorted out." "I'll bet," said Beau as he stood behind them.
They both spun around to see Beau and his father staring at her as intensely as ever. Roy stood up planting himself in between Beau and Aradia. "Its okay Roy-Boy," Aradia said tugging on his shirt to make him sit again which he did reluctantly. At first, none of them said anything until Beau's father blurted out, "we know what you are," "What? You do?" Aradia cried out hastily sitting up in her eagerness and then grunting in pain. Dr. Dayton nodded in response. Although, Roy was happy for Aradia he still glared at both of them, not trusting the look on Dr. Dayton's face. "Well?" Aradia demanded, "What am I?" "You mean besides impatient?" Beau muttered his breath and receiving a venomous look from Roy. Dr. Dayton cleared his throat and said, "Well the fact is Aradia we have not had anyone around here like you before." "Isn’t that obvious?" Roy pointed out sarcastically . Aradia, ignored him and stared at Dr. Dayton enraptured by the thought that she would finally have the answers she was looking for. "Yeah so?" she asked. "Well after comparing your blood we have definitely identified you as one of the hidden race not human. But comparing to other sample of the hidden races you have had no match to them either." "So you don't know what she is?" Roy spat venomously. Dr. Dayton shook his head and said "as a matter of fact I do." Roy raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Luckily," Dr Dayton continued, "from my long life as a hematologist I have gathered samples from other members of the hidden races." "But I thought you
said..," Roy started. "As it is, I have gathered samples from not just living members of the hidden race but also from those who have long since been dead and upon comparing your DNA to some of the others I found a match."
Aradia waited eagerly. Dr. Dayton breathed deeply and said, "according to the tests Aradia you are a witch." Roy's mouth dropped open and so did Beau's. Aradia on the other hand looked disappointed. "That's all? I am witch?" Aradia asked stunned, "so what? Everywhere in Salem there are witches." Roy shook his head and said, "no, Aradia those people are members of the human race so they are known as pagans or witches by the humans.""So hidden witches are different than human witches?" Aradia asked him. Roy nodded and said, "Very!" Aradia opened her mouth to say something but then she heard her cell phone. Not believing that she had kept it in her cell phone holder the entire time she had been attacked Aradia, nevertheless, dug her hand into the holder and flipped it out. "Hello?" Aradia answered."Hey baby what's up?" a voice said on the line. Aradia's face blanched realizing who it was. She glanced at the others quickly and without even bothering to give them an excuse she walked over to the bathroom next to kitchen, locked the door, and asked, "What do you want?" "Your head on a platter for starters," Derek said. "Yeah well besides that?" Aradia snapped. Derek chuckled and said, "You know the old abandoned manor in the woods near the top of Warlock Hill overlooking the old Salem village?" "Yeah why?" "Good, because in fifteen minutes you are going to meet me there alone and unarmed!"Aradia scoffed and asked him, "Now why in the hell would I want to do something as stupid as that?" "Because if I can't kill you, I will kill your parents instead." Aradia's mouth dropped open and after a few seconds of gasping for air she finally managed to sputter, "you're...you're bluffing!" "Am I? Keep in my mind I do know where you live and if I showed up at your house before I can show up again and even if you got there at lightening speed you'd be too late!" Derek chuckled again. Aradia's heart stopped, yet she was still able to find the strength to ask, "if I do this you will leave my parents alone?" "You have my word," he responded. "How do I know you won't break your word?" Aradia snapped. "Are you really willing to take that big of a chance?" he answered casually and hung up the phone. Aradia breathed heavily as she snapped her phone shut. She suspected that this was a trap but if her parents lives danger she knew she had no choice but to give herself up to him!
