.

He stepped out of the circle, so I was alone, and everyone started chanting in an ancient language I didn’t know. It was beautiful, though, and it rolled off their tongues like they were born to say the words and those words only.

      I felt a sense of peace and calm sweep through my body and closed my eyes at the pleasure of it, and as soon as my eyes snapped shut, it felt like I was floating high in the sky, and as soon as the sky came, it was gone, taken by the devil himself. I felt a scorching pain go from the back of my neck to my tailbone; it felt like tiny needles poking me all at once. I was on fire, and it just got hotter and hotter until I became the sun, then it stopped, and I was cold and freezing—an ice cube. The coldness slowed, and the heat stopped, and I felt peace once again. Through my closed eyes, I saw a beautiful blue sunset that was pink and purple and orange. It was breathtaking. I sat alone, watching the sunset, and I continued watching as the sun slowly went down and the moon came out. Out of the moon came a white leopard; she jumped and played with the stars. She didn’t see me at first. She just continued to jump and play. Just watching her be happy made me happy.

      She is like an angel, I thought as she played with the stars and the moon. She could touch the sky and bring peace, it was like nothing I had ever seen. She stopped her playing and turned to me, her purple eyes looked just like mine, and I knew right then, this was her—my trinity, my second half, my guardian angel and my savior, my familiar.

      She took a step toward me, and I took one toward her, and then, she took one, then me, and we met in the middle. She dove into my arms, and I went down onto my knees, giving her a friendly hug. She purred into my arms, and I smiled as I petted her head. She was beautiful, and I had no idea what I did to deserve her. “Trinity,” I murmured, “do you like that name?” I asked her, knowing she should have a choice. The leopard nodded her head, and I smiled. “Trinity.” She rubbed her face against my arm and then put her nose on my back as I guided my hand down her spine and her tail. She pushed her nose against my back, and I felt a sense of calm stop all at once, and I gasped for my next breath. I was running out of oxygen, but I was not going to die, not yet. I fell back, and Trinity was gone somewhere. She is safe, I thought. Where she is, is a better place than where I am and better than where I would be going, she will be safe. I closed my eyes.

      As I gasped for breath, my eyes slowly opened to the light, and I saw a man with wings. He had beautiful floppy blond hair and eyes so blue they could have been part of the sky. He had white skin like mine, almost albino, and he wore a pair of white jeans. Next to him was a woman who was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had long platinum hair and albino skin, and her eyes were green like the grass. She, too, had huge wings that looked like dove wings, and she wore a loose white tank top and white shorts. The two people both wore crosses and had their hands clasped together. They were angels, I realized. They both looked at me and smiled sweetly, and the girl was crying a little. The man gathered her up in a hug as she wept into his chest, and she kept repeating one word over and over; she was saying my name—Bella. The man’s eyes met mine, and he whispered the words, but I could hear them clearly. “You are coming home soon, don’t worry, Bella, you will be home soon,” he whispered, and I felt a ripple of shock go through me.

      “What do you mean?” I asked. “I am home, at the coven,” I explained.

      “No,” the man said sadly. “That is no home to you, not with the demons,” he said.

      “We have to get her back!” the woman cried.

      The man soothed her and muttered something I could not hear in her ear, and they both looked at me.

      “Who are you?” I asked, but they didn’t answer, they were fading away like a lost memory. “Hey!” I called out. “Who are you!” I asked again, feeling lost.

      “Don’t trust Keeper,” the man uttered before they were both gone, and darkness consumed my sight.

      I shot up and opened my eyes. I was back at the coven, and I felt different. It was hard to describe. Happy would not quite put it into words; complete, that’s how I felt, complete. But there was also a little bit of confusion. I also felt her. Trinity was there on my back, my second half. I smiled and looked up, half expecting to see the stars and the moon or maybe the sun and the beautiful sky or the angels again, but all I saw were twelve black eyes and one hateful pair of all red, and a voice rang through my head like bells. Don’t trust Keeper, it said, and I quickly turned my attention to him.

      “So?” said Lacy, startling me. “What did you get?” she asked.

      “A cat?” said one of the witches.

      “A toad, I bet,” said another.

      “It has to be a crow!” shouted another, and a round of words were thrown around the room.

      “Silence!” The Keepers voice boomed. “Tell us.” He looked at me with strict eyes. “Now!”

      I flinched, and I felt Trinity’s tail flick on my side. “A… It’s a…” I stuttered. I didn’t want to tell them, it felt like I was breaking some sort of rule if I told them. Might as well let out all of my secrets like how I cuss or tell them to get hit by a car in Latin, and they don’t even know, or how I would give anything to go out and see the world or how much I hated Keeper, and I was terrified of all of them for no reason. I could not tell them about Trinity, ever.

      I got off the floor and watched Keeper with a hateful glare. I took a deep breath and got ready to put on my big girl pants. I glanced around the room looking for some sort of safe exit and saw one, right behind Lacy. It was an exit for the backyard. “Accidenti,” I whispered.

      Keeper cleared his throat. “Well, are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to beat it out of you?” He sighed, exasperated.

      “No, it’s a c-cat!” I told him.

      “Really?” He smiled. “Are you being honest?” he asked, and he studied my reaction. “Because I know when people lie, and that, Bella, was a lie.” He smirked. “Now, tell me, what was it, really?”

      “No, I-I’m not going to tell you.” I shook my head. I could not believe I was doing this. Keeper gave me an order, and I did not obey.

      “Not going to tell me?” He raised his brow.

      I shook my head again.

      “Why?” He threw his arms in the air, and heat flared in his eyes. “Why not?”

      “She is mine! I’m protecting her from you and all of them! Just like I promised.” I sighed, satisfied with myself.

      “Protecting her from us? We have given you no problem to protect her from.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

      “You’re a problem.” I shrugged and shocked myself by my boldness. “I don’t feel safe around you, and that means something,” I continued, not sure where I was going with this. He has never actually harmed me, but he is evil, and sometimes, when I focus really hard, I can see his aura, and all I see is coal-blacks and blood-reds, and that’s what I told him. “You’re pure evil, I can see it in your aura!” I saw his eyes widen.

      “You see auras?” he said. “What else have you not told us?” he asked, and I could feel the anger pouring off him, and I saw in his eyes; they were turning from their normal blood-red to black.

      “Nothing, I can’t do anything! I have no powers, and now, I have a freaking familiar, and you can’t touch her! None of you can!” I yelled. “Iasciaci soli!” I yelled again.

      “Why are you being like this?” said Serena, one of the witches. “We have given you no problem to worry about,” she said calmly.

      The truth was I had no idea why I was acting out like this. I was pissed, and I felt very protective right now, and then, it hit me. Trinity was scared, and I was feeling her emotions. I was on my guard because she couldn’t be.

      I looked at Serena. “She is scared. Terrified, honestly, and you are the cause of it, all of you are, and I might not know why, but I trust her.” I looked at them all. “You ask