Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume 3 (10 page)

"But Marietta," Melina
argued, "It is true I swear!"

Marietta just kept laughing,
stood up, and walked out of their room.

"Call me once you are off
the drugs," Marietta called out to her as she descended the
staircase earning a look from Liza who met her at the bottom of the
stairs.

Regardless of no one
believing her, Aradia was still concerned with Melina knowing about
them. It was stressful enough with the consort deadline nearing,
and the care and keeping of the club. However, with Brenna's
abusive ex-husband now showing up intending to reclaim her by any
means necessary in addition to Melina's finding out the truth,
Aradia was at loss at how she could handle it all. Nevertheless,
she carried on by going to school, doing her schoolwork, and trying
not to fail. She continued hanging with her friends, maintaining
the club, and keeping the peace in the hidden community.

However, her problems were
never far from her mind. One night Aradia was dining at a lounge
owned by Lamont's father. However, Lamont had insisted that he
would pay for everything so all Aradia had to do was show up for
the date looking good. Ironically, that had been a trial what with
Melina avoiding her and things between her and Rhonda still tense
after her outburst.

In the end, Aradia had
succeeded by picking out a dark red halter dress, with a jagged
bottom that stopped diagonally at her knees and dripped down
towards her left ankle. She wore black boots, a gold rhinestone
decorated ring watch, and three wooden bracelets all painted with a
fancy gold design. Her hair was parted once again like a runway
models, and her face was made up with dark red lipstick, light pink
blush, and sparkly golden brown eye shadow.

The two of them sat in the
back booth watching the dance floor, eating their dinner, and
talking. Lamont looked like a million dollars, wearing dark mirror
glasses, a light brown leather jacket, black leather pants, and
white shirt. From the moment he picked her up in his flashy black
sports car, Aradia had been having the time of her life. Aradia and
Lamont had danced to their favorite songs, and talked about
everything from politics in the hidden world to even the situation
with Melina.

"You can hardly blame her
for being freaked you know?" Lamont pointed out, "I mean how would
you like it if you found out that the creatures you had been told
your entire life were make-believe turned out to be
real?"

"It's not that I blame her,"
Aradia acknowledged, "It just pisses me off how weird she has been
acting around me lately. Always staring at me like I am about to
sprout two heads."

Lamont laughed.

"The worst part is," Aradia
continued, "She told Marietta the truth, but she didn't believe
her..."

"Naturally," Lamont
muttered.

"So now she thinks we have
turned her own sister against her! She has stopped going to classes
just as her grades were beginning to get better. She's smoking more
pot, and staying away from home a lot more," said Aradia sounding
depressed.

To this, Lamont said
nothing.

"The only plus side is she
hasn't been hanging with Bane's crew lately. But then again, she
has not been hanging with anyone anymore! She has completely
withdrawn from everyone because she doesn't who is human or
not."

"But what's worse," Aradia
added wrapping up her complaints about Melina's behavior. "Roy is
completely heartbroken about this whole thing. He really did care
about Melina you know and now..."

She trailed off, and heaved
a huge sigh.

Lamont sighed as well, but
then turned Aradia's chin to face him.

"Rai," he began, "You have
to give her time. She'll come to accept this and maybe Roy as
well."

"But what if she doesn't?"
Aradia pressed.

For the next few minutes or
so, the two of them said nothing.

Suddenly, a human girl
showed up and threw her arms around Lamont's shoulders.

"Hey," She greeted him.
"Long time no see!"

Lamont turned to smile at
her. "Hey Francesca!"

Aradia just watched in
silence.

Suddenly, Francesca noticed
her, and asked, "Who is she?"

Lamont laughed nervously.
"Oh? This is my...new friend Aradia."

Aradia smile was brittle as
she held out her hand to shake Francesca's.

Francesca, however, just
ignored her and her hand and said, "C'mon Lamont, let's go dance!
We haven't done so in such a long time."

Lamont smiled, but then
turned to look apologetically at Aradia.

"Rai," he started, "Do you
mind if..." He trailed off looking extremely nervous.

Aradia shrugged her
shoulders. "Sure. Go ahead."

Lamont than enthusiastically
shot up from his seat, grabbed Francesca's hand, and went towards
the dance floor.

"Is that your girlfriend?"
Francesca whispered into Lamont's ear.

Aradia did not hear Lamont's
reply. He was already at the dance floor with his arms around
Francesca. As usual when Lamont danced people turned to watch him,
and the girl he was dancing with.

No doubt, people are envying
her, Aradia thought, just like when Lamont dances with
me.

A bit of bitterness found
its way into Aradia's subconscious. She had to admit she enjoyed
going on dates with Lamont. However, there were down sides to it as
well. The attention she got and the glamour were enjoyable but when
it really came down to it, Aradia felt like a celebrity girlfriend:
a woman caught up in the lifestyle rather than the relationship.
Another down side was the insecurity that came with being a
celebrity girlfriend. Most of all, there was always that feeling
that Aradia got whenever she and Lamont went out somewhere in
public. The feeling that being Lamont's girl was a very short-lived
and temporary position. That can't be true, Aradia argued with
herself, Lamont is a sweet guy, and very nice to me. Besides, I am
the last witch! Who on earth could top that? Still, Aradia thought,
there would always be that worry in the back of my mind, and that
would definitely be one more stressful worry I would not
need.

As she watched Lamont and
Francesca dance, Aradia began to remember Brenna's advice: that she
if had an opportunity to be with someone for love she should take
it. Considering what Brenna had been through, Aradia could trust
her in the fact that she knew what she was talking
about.

Aradia's thoughts continued
to wander, but it as she was turning her head to look around when
she spotted someone. At first, she thought with his blonde hair the
vampire reminded her of Dax, but as Aradia thought about it, she
realized that that was not it. Suddenly, like a lightning bolt
hitting a tree and setting it on fire, Aradia remembered where she
had seen him. It was at the head of all the vampire clans in
Pennsylvania's house! He had been there when Henry had captured
her!

Aradia sprung to her feet,
squeezed out of the booth, and ran towards the vampire whose nose
and head began to twitch like an animal sensing a predator. He
turned his head, and saw Aradia making her way towards him. His
eyes grew wide with fear, and spun around to race out of the
lounge.

"Oh no you don't!" Aradia
shouted reaching out a hand to grab him. It was too late, Saul had
moved swiftly through the crowds and out the back door. Aradia
followed him, and after getting over the shock of the cold wind
against her hot skin, she looked up and down the alleyway to see
where he had gone. Alas it was no use he had completely vanished,
and Aradia stomped her foot in frustration.

Lamont had run after her,
and asked what was wrong. Aradia did not answer him, and after
taking one last look around she hooked her arm through Lamont's and
lead him back inside.

Saul stood on the roof of
the building next door, and had watched as Aradia lead Lamont back
inside. A part of him wanted to run after her, and warn her that
Keon was up to something but he could not risk it. Besides, unlike
last time Keon had not gotten him involved in his plot so Saul
really knew nothing of his plans. A shiver of fear swept through
him because he did not know if Keon knew of his betrayal last year.
The fact that he was now doing everything on his own, however, gave
Saul some indication.

The next day Aradia found
Roy at school sitting alone on a picnic table, looking extremely
depressed. Heaving a heavy sigh, Aradia decided to go comfort her
friend.

"Hey Roy-boy," She said
softly sitting right next to him.

He turned slowly to see her,
and acknowledged her presence with a soft nod. After doing so, he
turned back to his depressed looking position and stared at
everything ahead of him blankly.

Aradia heaved another sigh
and asked, "How are you holding up?"

"It shouldn't surprise me,"
Roy muttered.

"Huh?" Aradia
asked.

"Her finding out that I am a
monster and then hating me. It shouldn't surprise me," Roy said
hanging his head.

Aradia said nothing while
Roy muttered, "I mean it's not like I blame her for being scared of
me considering I almost attacked her. I mean I could have killed
her that night! Or worse turned her."

"But you didn't," Aradia
argued reassuringly.

"But I could have! I could
have and not been able to stop myself," He paused and buried his
face in his hands.

After a few tense and deeply
mournful moments of silence, Roy spoke again, "Seriously, her
reaction really shouldn't surprise me. After all, my mother left my
father so..."

"But that was years into
your parents marriage!" Aradia protested, "Surely by then she would
have known your secret or your father would have told
her."

To this, Roy said nothing at
least for a few seconds. "The thing of it is though I bet she was
human when my father married her. He probably turned her after they
were married so either way being a werewolf did make her abandon
us."

"Has your father told you
this?" Aradia asked.

Reluctantly, Roy shook his
head.

But he then added, "Either
way, it doesn't matter. My mother still left us so it should not
surprise me that Melina would be no different."

Aradia did not
respond.

Roy, however, sighed again
heavily and sadly. "The worst part is I never asked to be this way.
For all my strength and special abilities, I would do anything to
be normal. I hate being a monster. I hate being a
freak!"

One again, Roy buried his
face in his hands.

Aradia sighed, and took
Roy's face in to her own hands.

"Roy," she began, "None of
this is your fault, and blaming yourself will not change anything.
I know you hate being what you are, and to be perfectly honest I
hate being what I am too. So what if I am the most powerful hidden
on earth? I am also the last of my kind! When I die, God only knows
when, my people and my legacy die with me! No one will remember me!
The witches will be extinct as the dinosaurs and just like the
dinosaurs, they will be something to be studied, missed, and
pitied. At least, there are other werewolves like yourself and your
kind wasn't killed off like mine centuries ago."

Aradia paused, and sighed,
before she continued. "Can you imagine what it's like when people
find out who I am? The looks I get? First, there is astonishment
that I even survived the slaughter of my people, admiration that I
did, and then pity that I am all alone. No matter how powerful I am
or get Roy one thing will always remain the same: I will always be
alone. At least, you never will be whether it is with Melina or
someone else you will never be alone."

Roy was stunned silent after
Aradia's explanation, but slowly he lowered his head to rest in her
lap. Aradia was embarrassed at first when he did this, but after a
while, she began to pet his hair soothingly. Aradia would always be
the first one to admit her feelings for Dax. However, whenever she
was with Roy especially at times when he was acting vulnerable and
dependent on her, Aradia had to admit she could not help but feel
attracted to him. However, she never could have guessed that a mere
foot away, and standing behind a column was Melina.

Holden was frustrated as he
sat on the hood of his parked car on a hill overlooking the city of
Salem. He was drinking a beer, smoking a cigarette, and trying to
figure out what he should do about Brenna. He had expected
difficulties when he had shown up in Salem intending to reclaim
her. However, what he had not expected was dozens of not only her
cousins protecting her but other members of the hidden race as
well. At first, he had suspected it was because Brenna had slept
with all of them but then he learned it was because of the last
witch. It should not have surprised him that someone so young could
wield such power over people, but what did amaze him was the fact
that she did not force anyone to do anything. Instead of punishing
those who disagreed with her or refused to help, Aradia just let it
go. She was never mean to anyone, and never took advantage of
anyone either.