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The last thing I remember was driving home in my jeep. I was about to turn onto the road that led to the head of the island, up the bluff. It was dark outside, but the moonlight shown enough that I would’ve been able to see even without my brights on. But I saw it nonetheless. The strip of spikes in the road appeared faster than I could swerve around them. Not only did I hear all four tires pop, but I felt them. The pressure exploding bounced me in my seat, and I hit my head on the roof. Finally, I was able to apply all my weight on the brakes, and the jeep squeeled to a stop. I didn’t have much time to look around. A hand was already over my mouth, and another pair of hands were holding my arms so I couldn’t move them. I wouldn’t have been able to use them, anyway. The black dots in front of my eyes were getting bigger, enveloping my entire range of vision. When I was conscious again, I was in the trunk of a car. I could feel every rut that they drove over, every turn that they made. And my head hurt. Really bad. I could feel the migraine coming on, but that was the least of my worries. The car came to a hault and shut off. Some conversation from inside, arguing, it sounded like, then they got out. I heard them shut the car doors, all four of them. So there were at least four people, four men. All the voices I had heard were the deep voices belonging to men. Nervous and excited men. A cold rush of air brushed by me as they opened the trunk. I pretended to still be passed out, so one of the men lifted me up, his strong, muscley hands holding on to me quite loosely. I was afraid he would let me drop, but he didn’t. He set me down on the road, the dirt road. I opened my eyes for a quick second, but it was long enough to see that we were in the woods, probably down by the old abandoned school. And that there were seven guys, not just four. They were all standing by the car, which was about four feet away from me, all arguing about something. About me. “What are we going to do with her?” one of them asked. I couldn’t see which one. “What we have to do with her,” another one said. “And what’s that?” said another. “What do you think? If we let her go, she’ll be able to tell the others, and then we’ll be dead,” he said. “And besides,” he added, “you all agreed this needed to be done.” “Yeah, but we didn’t say to kill her,” a new voice said. “Shut up and help me get her.” This was my chance. Probably my only chance. I made a mental check of myself: my hands were tied behind me, I could still feel my legs, and they were free, my head wasn’t so dizzy, so I’d be able to stand up without a problem, and my mouth wasn’t covered. All of this only took a second, and after that second I was on my feet, facing them, all seven of them. There were shouts from the group, and I heard one say, “But her hands are tied. We should be safe.” But I didn’t need my hands. It had started to rain, and I could feel it running down my skin, soaking my hair so that it stuck to my face. I smiled, and saw the fear in their eyes; or at least the ones I could see. Some of them had circled around behind me, ready to catch me if I decided to run. But I wasn’t going to run. Looking up, I spoke. “Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West, powers of the sea, come to my aid, so mote it be.” Shouts. Cussing. They were running away. The shards of glass that were once rain were falling mostly on them, slicing through the skin, drawing the deep red blood, but some had fallen on me as well, on my cheeks and bare arms. I fell to my knees, splashing in a puddle of water that had collected on the dirt road. It had taken so much energy to cast the spell that I could hardly keep my eyes open. Vaguely, I noticed that my bonds had been cut, and my hands partially caught my fall as I fell forward on the dirt. The wheels of the car spun as the men sped away. The rain was just rain now, mingling with the little trickles of blood on my skin. I didn’t care, though. I just wanted to close my eyes and give in to the glorious sleep that called to me. The flash of light and the sound of rubber on rock didn’t allow me to sleep long. I was half conscious as I heard a car door open and someone speaking. I couldn’t make out what they had said, but it sounded like a man’s voice. Smooth and cool, almost like caramel. The long, cool fingers slid under my head, holding it up off of the wet surface of the ground. He was saying something, but I was unable to open my eyes. “…police,” he was saying. “…cell phone…” Suddenly, at hearing those words, my arm moved as of its own accord. My fingers wrapped around the slightly damp collar, clenching it with all my might, making him listen. My eyes opened wide, flashing silvery gray, as I stared at him hard. “No police,” I whispered. He shook his head signaling that he had not heard me. I repeated myself, adding, “Promise me.” This time, he heard. He nodded, confused. “I promise.” ‘Good,’ I thought. ‘Now it’s safe to…’ But I couldn’t finish my thought before darkness enveloped me. He was leaning over me when I opened my eyes. When he noticed I was awake, he turned away, towards the fireplace. For the first time I was aware of my surroundings. I was lying on a soft and comfortable leather couch, covered in a light quilt and wearing nothing more than a t-shirt and my underwear. I looked at him. “You’re awake,” he said with little emotion. “Your clothes were soaked, so I dried them for you.” He gestured towards the table next to the couch, where my clothes had been neatly folded. He was still looking into the fire as he sat down in an overstuffed chair beside it. “Thank you,” I managed to whisper. Though my head still hurt, I was feeling better. The scratches on my arms had been treated and were healing nicely. I could only assume the same for the ones on my face. I probably looked not too beautiful at that moment as well. The man shrugged nonchalantly, as though saying it didn’t matter to him whether I was lying in the road bleeding or not. His ash blonde hair hung down around his ears and his eyes; those eyes, like the color of charcoal, with green around the pupils. He had somewhat feminine features, with his slender, pink mouth, and straight nose, but the way those eyes looked at you, you had no doubt that he was strong and powerful, even under those long, lean muscles. “I should ask you,” he started, looking at me now, cold and calculating, “what you were doing lying in the road.” I couldn’t look away from those eyes. They held me, as if searching through me. “Some guys, they dragged me out here.” “Some guys?” He didn’t look interested, only amused. “Yes. You could say they were enemies of my family.” He nodded insignificantly. I was slightly annoyed with him, but I wondered where I would be now if he hadn’t picked me up and brought me here. Someone else might not have seen me, and I would’ve been run over. So I was grateful to him, even with his attitude. Remembering my lack of clothing, I reached for my jeans, now dry, from the table and pulled them on under the quilt. I tried not to notice him staring at me with those cold eyes. “Thank you,” I said again, this time louder. “I should probably get heading back.” I stood up, only vaguely remembering I was wearing a t-shirt that didn’t belong to me. But I wasn’t going to change in front of him, no matter how grateful I was. “Where are you going to go?” he asked, turning to me and looking at me straight on. He was still sitting down in the chair, but the feeling of power and intimidation flowed out of him like smoke. “Home,” I choked out. “How?” “I-,” and then I saw my jeep, with the busted tires, sitting on the side of the road by my street. But it didn’t matter, I would call a cab, and I told him so. “Fine,” he said, “but there’s no phone in this house.” “No phone?” “No. I don’t particularly like them much. So I don’t have one. But you’re welcome to find a pay phone somewhere down the street. Or you could wake up one of my neighbors. It’s only 3 o’clock in the morning.” He wasn’t smiling. I glanced at the mantle clock. It really was three. How long have I been here? I thought. I wasn’t able to wonder long. The front door flung open and there was a shuffle of feet. The man stood up, looking slightly annoyed, but still calm. I was relieved to see Soren as he came and stood protectively in front of me. Some of the others were there, too. Varick was standing behind the leather couch, his muscles tense, Lorelei was standing by the door, and Nixie was standing behind me, ready for a fight. “Who are you?” Soren asked angrily. “It doesn’t matter,” the man said. Soren wasn’t satisfied. The man sighed. “Gabriel. Welcome to my home.” “What do you want with Iylee?” “If you mean her,” he gestured lazily with his hand, “then absolutely nothing.” He didn’t say anything about saving me, or about what had happened to me. He wasn’t trying to justify himself. “Let’s just go,” I whispered to Soren, and he visibly relaxed and looked at me. His eyes were stormy, but there was tenderness mixed in. He was glad I was alright. “This is all lovely,” the man said, looking up at the ceiling, “but I don’t feel like entertaining guests. Just take the girl and go.” He turned and started walking towards the hallway, and that’s when the cage of air whirled around him. He growled as he turned around, fangs extended. Fangs. We were all as shocked as he was. “A vampire,” Soren stated. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it. But he was there, inside the force field of air that Soren had created, in all his blood sucking glory. He banged against the invisible wall a few times, getting angrier. His eyes narrowed as he looked at me. Straight at me. “Witch,” he growled. His pupils were so wide that you couldn’t see the green anymore. My legs were telling me to run. “Let’s go,” I said to Soren again, this time lightly pulling at his arm. “Alright,” he said, taking my hand inside his. We backed away, turning at the door. Varick, Nixie and Lorelei followed up, shutting the door behind us. Soren had let down the cage, because as we got into his car, I could see him, Gabriel, at the window looking at us. He didn’t look angry anymore, only calm and collective and uncaring, like before. But there was something in his eyes, but I was too far away to tell what it was. Soren squeezed my hand tightly in his as we drove down the dirt road. Relief was on his face. He was grinning, shaking his head, his eyes still on the road ahead. “I was so afraid,” he said in a voice so low I could hardly hear him. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if,” he let his sentence trail off. I glanced into the back seat. Normally Varick and Nixie would have made fun of him for saying such a thing, but just now they could see that it was no joke, that it was a deep and powerful feeling. They wouldn’t touch it. “It wasn’t him,” I said, equally returning the pressure on Soren’s hand, almost believing he wasn’t really there. “It wasn’t Gabriel.” He nodded, waiting for me to continue. “It was the Lone Wolfe’s. Seven of them. I don’t know what they look like, but I know it was them.” “Damn Hunters,” Nixie put in from the back. “And they even had a vampire they could’ve been wasting their time on.” “He saved me,” I said before I could stop myself. It came out more defensive than I would’ve liked. Soren gave me a sideward glance, before turning back to the road. “He picked me up from the middle of the road after the Wolfe’s left,” I finished quickly. “How did you get away?” Varick asked in a purely scientific voice. “I turned the rain into glass,” I said simply. It had stopped raining now, but the roads were still glistening. I could only imagine how awful my hair looked. “That explains the cuts,” Soren said, but I knew what he was really thinking. He was thinking that he would make them pay for it, even if I had done the magic. “But what about your head?” he finished. “My jeep,” I said, remembering. “They busted my tires.” I let out a sigh. My poor jeep. I loved my jeep. “I hit my head on the roof.” Soren nodded, signaling he would get them for that, too. “How did you guys find me?” I said, changing the subject. “Soren told us you were in trouble.” Lorelei spoke for the first time. “He felt the way here.” I looked to Soren for confirmation, but he only smiled shyly. I hadn’t even called to him, but he could still feel I was in trouble. His dark hair looked black in the dim light, but his silvery blue eyes were bright and commanding, and somehow he looked even more handsome than the last time I had seen him. “Iylee,” he said, taking his eyes momentarily off the road to look into mine. But he needn’t say anything more. I could see the love and desperation in the sea of blue. “First thing,” he said, his attention back on the road, “we do when we get back is try to find out why the Wolfe’s would risk coming after you. We’ll have to wake the others and have an emergency meeting.” “They only came after me because I was alone.” “Right. Then no one is to go out by themselves.” There was a groan from the backseat. Soren looked into the rearview mirror. “Even you, Varick.” Varick sighed. “Whatever,” he mumbled, taking out a cigarette from the pack. “Smoking is bad for you,” Lorelei said, looking away in disgust. Varick shrugged. “I know.” The others were waiting in my driveway when we pulled up. They had brought my jeep home, though the tires were still hopelessly useless. “Iylee,” Emberlynn said as I got out of the car, embracing me. Her blonde hair looked tousled. She must have been sleeping before she came out here. Of course she was sleeping. It’s past three. I hugged her back, taking in the smell of lavender that was in her hair. When she pulled back I could see her eyes were filled with tears. She blinked them back quickly with a small smile. “I knew you were in trouble, so I got the ones that Soren didn’t take and we were going to follow, but then we saw your car, so we figured Soren would find you.” I smiled back at her gratefully, the sight of her crying made my heart hurt. “Thank you,” I said, and then turned to the others so they knew I meant them as well. Emory was leaning against my jeep, and he smiled in acknowledgment. Hamilton stood beside him and nodded seriously. Lyneth, the last of us, who was seated cross-legged on the driveway, smiled sadly at me. When there was nothing left to say, Soren stepped to the middle of the group, taking command. His eyes were dark as he spoke. “The Lone Wolf’s kidnapped Iylee.” He flashed me a glance before he continued. “They kidnapped her because she was alone. Otherwise they wouldn’t have dared. From now on no one is to go out alone. None of you.” He cast a hard eye around the group, lingering on Varick, Emory, and Lyneth. I listened to his words in a haze, shifting my weight from one foot to another. I hadn’t noticed I was severely tired because of all of the commotion. But now it called to me and held onto my eyelids. My entire body ached and wanted the sweet softness of my bed. Oddly, Varick was the one to notice, and he caught Soren’s eye and gave a nod in my direction. Soren was by me in seconds, holding my body to him with his strong, lean arms. “That’s enough for tonight,” he said, in a less authoritative voice. “We’ll meet tomorrow at the usual spot. Noon.” Everyone nodded and began to disperse to their own houses. Emberlynn stayed behind, helping Soren bring me into my house. We were quiet, making sure not to wake up my parents, who wouldn’t be too happy to see me coming in looking like I had just gotten into a fight, with a boy in my room. Emberlynn ran a bath for me in my private bathroom, putting a mixture of vanilla and lavender into the steaming water to help me sleep. She sent Soren out while she helped me undress and put me in the tub. It felt wonderful. I sank in deeper and felt the water soothe my sore limbs and relax my muscles. Emberlynn gingerly washed my hair with fragrant shampoo and gently cleaned around the cuts on my face and arms. When I was out of the tub she wrapped a towel around me and dried me off, then put me in a clean, soft robe. Soren was sitting on the bed when we emerged. His face was sullen, his eyes bright. He smiled when he saw me like it had been years since the last time he laid eyes on me. Pulling back the covers, they helped me into bed. Emberlynn brushed the slightly damp hair from my forehead before kissing me on the cheek. “I’ll come by tomorrow to see if you feel better. And if you are, we’ll go to the meeting together. Okay?” I nodded, and she squeezed my hand before getting off the bed. She gave a nod to Soren before leaving my room and shutting the door behind her. The sigh that came from his chest was massive. “Iylee,” he said in a whisper. But he didn’t say anything else. He could see that I was tired, and could barely keep my eyes open. I looked at him apologetically, but he just smiled again and nodded, kissing my forehead as he stood up. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams.” When he shut the door, I was able to relax into dreams, but they were anything but sweet. Emberlynn woke me up ten minutes before the meeting started. I had had a decent night’s sleep and was feeling rested, so I was able to get dressed without any trouble. The grass under the trees was brilliantly green and soft but still a little damp from the rain, so everyone had brought thick blankets to lay on. Me and Emberlynn were the lasts ones there, and everyone took their seats around the large, round stump where our meetings usually took place. Soren was to my left, and Emberlynn to my right. Soren spoke first. “The Wolfe’s are getting bolder. We need to do something about this.” He looked around the circle. “Any suggestions?” “I’ve got one,” Nixie said from the opposite side of the circle. “Let’s get rid of them. We can kick their asses until they get out of town, or until they die. Either way would solve the problem.” “We can’t kill them,” I said, my voice loud and stern. Soren nodded in agreement. “Us killing them would be just like them killing us.” “Yeah, except we would be the dead ones.” “Enough,” Soren said. Nixie rolled her eyes. “Any suggestions that don’t involve killing?” Head shaking. “Well we have to do something,” put in Emberlynn helplessly. “They’re starting to get dangerous.” “She’s right.” Soren sighed, looking at everyone’s faces. “I guess we’ll just sleep on it. We’ll try and think of something by tomorrow.” Nods from the circle. “Alright then. Next.” Soren looked around, making sure he had everyone’s attention. “There’s a vampire in town.” Gasps. Everyone looked at everyone else, shocked. “What?” asked Emberlynn. She looked concerned, and a little curious too. “A vampire.” Soren cleared his throat before speaking again. “He saved Iylee after the Lone Wolfe’s left.” “He saved her? A vampire?” It was Lyneth who spoke. She couldn’t believe it. She looked to Varick, who nodded, and to Lorelei, who gave a resounding ‘yep’. “What this means,” Soren said loudly, getting everyone’s attention again, “is that we can’t retaliate against him. But we can’t trust him either. So just be on your guard if you’re out at night.” Nods. Soren rubbed his hands on his jeans, as if rubbing the matter away. He smiled, eyes shining. “Now for some exciting news.” Everyone perked up, ready for something to get them out of the dumps. “Tomorrow, as you all know, is Lithia Eve, or Midsummer’s Eve. We’re going to meet here after dark to celebrate and meet the sun when it arrives.” “I’m so excited,” Lorelei said. “I made some amulets out of amethyst. We can put them over the fire to gain the energy.” “Great,” Sorin said. “We’ll meet tomorrow night at eleven. Iylee, Emberlynn, Lorelei and I will bring the decorations and stuff. The rest of you bring the food.” He looked around the circle for confirmation. “Alright. That’s it then. You can go home, but remember, don’t go anywhere alone. I’ll see you all tomorrow night.” Everyone else headed east, towards their street, but Soren led me west, towards the old cemetery that bordered the woods. He held my hand tightly in his as we walked silently along the grass and trees, beneath the patches of sunlight showing through the branches. It smelled of honeysuckle and lilac, and I breathed in deeply for a few seconds. “Midsummer is the time to finalize relationships,” Soren began, still walking. He was looking off into the distance. I could just see the gates of the cemetery coming into view beyond the trees. I nodded and he continued. “Some of the circle is going away to college, and we’re starting here in the fall, and we might not get to see each other as much as we want, and,” he stopped, trying to form his words. I was starting to panic. I thought he was going to tell me that we were breaking up, that with Lithia coming, he realized that we wouldn’t be together forever. “That’s not what I’m saying,” he said, turning to me, looking into my eyes. “I’m saying that I want to take our relationship to the next level. I want us to bind ourselves together in one soul, one body.” He looked at me hopefully, his eyes bright and burning. I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks, and he rescued me by pulling me to him and resting his face in my hair. “When we passed your jeep, and you weren’t in it, I was so afraid. I want to be with you,” he took a deep breath, “forever.” I held onto him, trying to slow my heart from beating so hard so it would stop shaking my body. “Yes,” I finally said when I regained my voice. He pulled back from me, held me out at arms length. “What?” he asked in a whisper. “Yes,” I said again, louder. “Yes. Tomorrow night we shall be one.” I nodded in confirmation. “Oh, Iylee. I-“ He kissed me then, hard yet soft at the same time; all encompassing, yet so small I yearned for more. When he lifted his lips from mine we were both out of breath, and we both smiled, embarrassed. I arrived at Emberlynn’s house at eleven the next morning. I hadn’t meant to sleep so late, but I was so excited about the celebration that it took me hours to finally fall asleep. Soren had walked me home after we talked, and I left him at the front door with a light kiss to the cheek. I assume he beamed all the way home. “Good morning, Iylee.” “Good morning Mr. Diedrick.” I wasn’t sure how long he’d been there, standing with the door open while I thought about Soren. “Emberlynn is in the kitchen waiting for you.” “Thanks.” Emberlynn was walking around the kitchen table, busily putting various types of flowers into vases, and weaving some into garlands. She looked up when I walked in and smiled, but didn’t come over to hug me. This was a sign that she was behind. I sat down at the table and began to help. “Thanks,” she said. “No problem. Late night?” She blushed and smiled sheepishly. “No. Hamilton wanted me to go to the grocery store to help him pick out food for the celebration tonight, since we’re supposed to have specific food for the season.” Her hands still continued working with the flowers. “We ran a little late because he wasn’t sure what to get, so I had to help him out. And we put the food up in his house and just talked.” She sighed, relishing in the memory. I didn’t say anything, just listened to her. She was thinking about how funny Hamilton was, his dry, cynical humor oddly appealing to her. She was thinking about how the dark, thick frames of his glasses only enhanced the brightness of his soft blue eyes, and how soft and blonde his hair looked in the light. She caught me ‘listening’ and shot out her tongue playfully. “What?” I shrugged, laughing. “You were the one broadcasting. I didn’t even have to try.” “Uh-huh.” She continued to weave the long stemmed flowers, her lips still curved in a smile. “You know,” I said in a light voice, “I used to have a crush on Hamilton.” Her mouth flew open. “You did? When?” “When we were younger. It didn’t really go away until high school, even though I still think he’s really cute and wonderful.” “That’s right. Because that’s when Soren started to see you as a girl.” I nodded. She smiled at my words. She knew what I was really telling her. I was telling her that she should go for it, that I approved, so to speak. She deserved to be with someone like him. The pile of flowers went down quickly, and soon everything was done. The doorbell rang as we were putting all of the flowers in a basket. Emberlynn went to go get it before her dad complained. He wasn’t having a very good day. Lorelei walked into the kitchen, holding some sage, lavender, and sunflower incense, and a basket full of a few seashells and the amethyst amulets she had made. She set them down on the table and smiled at me. She had a strange look in her eye, like she knew a secret. “What?” “Nothing,” she said, standing next to me to help put the rest of the flowers in the basket. By the time we were done, I knew she was dying to tell me. She walked around the kitchen for a moment, idly looking around as if she hadn’t been in it before, then she turned to me, and her smile was broader. “Rumor has it,” she began in a low voice, “that you and Soren,” she flashed her eyes at Emberlynn to make sure she was listening. She was. “That you and Soren,” she repeated, “are going to finally take the next step!” She stood up straight, relieved to have gotten it off her chest. “What?” I asked, pretending to be dumbfounded. “Who told you that?” She only smiled sweeter. “It’s about time,” Emberlynn said from beside me. I shot her a look. “What? You’ve only been going out for ever, and you guys are old enough. I mean, what took you so long?” I bit my lip to keep from smiling, but it didn’t work. “There were a few times where we almost did, but they were spur of the moment, and we were afraid that we would regret it afterwards.” “You almost did?” Lorelei said. She was giggling like a school girl. “My, my, my.” “My, my, my what?” We all turned to see Lyneth standing in the doorway with a curious look on her face. Lorelei couldn’t let the opportunity pass. “Iylee and Soren are going to…” She let the sentence hang in the air, and soon understanding came across her face. Before she could say any remark I turned to Lorelei. “Who told you, Lorelei?” She immediately stopped smiling and started to look guilty. “I am not at liberty to say.” “Who told you, Lorelei?” I wasn’t mad, I just wanted to know who Soren had told. “Well, I heard it from Emory, who heard it from Hamilton, who heard it from Nixie, who heard it from Varick, who-“ She cut herself short. She had been on a roll until she started to say something she shouldn’t have. “Varick read his mind, didn’t he?” Lorelei nodded. “But it wasn’t his fault. He said that it was all Soren was thinking about last night, and Varick had all he could do to block out the pictures forming in Soren’s mind.” I smiled. “Really?” She nodded again. I stood there, smiling for a few moments, silent. Emberlynn finally broke the fog. “We should probably get all this stuff together and put it by the door so it easily reached.” We all nodded, and helped bring the decorations to the main hall. It wasn’t until we were all about to go to Nixie’s house to change that I remembered. “I forgot my part of the decorations,” I burst out. Everyone looked around, finally noticing. “I’ll just go back to my house and get them and bring them back here. I’ll meet you guys over there.” “But we’re not supposed to go anywhere by ourselves,” Emberlynn said. “It’s day time, and I’ll be visible from Nixie’s house. And besides, I can take care of myself.” Clipped on my belt was a dagger that my dad had bought me, but my shirt almost fully covered it, so no one could see it. Emberlynn let me go with some reluctance, and I waved to them as I started in the other direction. The sun was bright and warm on my skin as I walked across the yards to my own. The door was unlocked, and went straight up to my room to get my supplies. The walls were red, and the gold of the curtains caught the light and shimmered it onto the walls like a crystal. The candles, herbs, and fruit were right where I left them on the bed. But there was something else there, too. My heart started to pound in my chest as I realized what they were. The shirt and bra that I had been wearing that night when I was taken from my jeep were now lying, neatly folded, on my bed beside the candles. There was a note on top of them, and my hand shook as I reached out to touch it. ‘My dearest Iylee,’ it said, ‘I thought that I could be gentlemanly enough to return to you the clothes that you left in your haste. I took the liberty of washing them for you, so they are quite clean. You have a nice room. It’s so dark, and,’ here there was a long space, ‘warm. I’m sorry I missed you and had to leave this note. Until next time. P.S. Feel free to keep my shirt. It looks better on you anyway. And no hard feelings aobut you being a...witch. Gabriel.’ I didn’t know whether to be grateful, or to throw away the note and be sick. He had touched my clothes. My bra to be more specific. The sickness was beginning to win. He had been in my house. While I wasn’t there. After a few moments of labored breathing, I finally calmed down. There must be some other explanation, he could’ve sent the clothes by mail, and my parents just put them up here. Yes, that was it. Now that I had lied to myself, my mind pushing back the images that would disprove my theory, I picked up the blue, green, and yellow candles and the herbs and fruit that I had come for. As I left the house, I made sure to lock the front door, since both of my parents were out. |