Disclaimer: I do not own wowp

Warning: An OC dies. Nobody you know though. Nothing graphic :)

Chapter 1

She remembers that day too well, like it's a picture in a frame hanging right in front of her eyes. Who can ever forget a day that changed his/her life?

It was a dull Saturday afternoon. Summer was at its peak, with the sun directly overhead, and even the air conditioning did nothing to soothe their ache. The weather seemed to be hostile, trying to burn down everything. It was as if the weather was signaling that something bad was going to happen. Of course they didn't understand this back then...

It started out like any other day. It was a slow day- there were only about five customers in the sub-shop. The whole Russo bunch was working though. Well, everyone except Alex. She was busy chatting away with this customer named Chelsea, an eighteen year-old red-head. Chelsea had first come to the sub-shop two months ago, and during this time, she and Alex had become really good friends. Alex sat down beside her and kept complaining about how insensitive and unfair her parents were, how they were not allowing her to go to a concert in Brooklyn, how they didn't trust her at all or give her any freedom, blah blah blah. Justin dragged her behind the kitchen counter to give her the "don't rant to your customers" lecture that their father gave their mother. She rolled her eyes and kept mocking every word he said. This was the happy life.

And then it happened all too quickly. Two guys sitting down at a table suddenly got up, took out their guns from their pockets, shot Chelsea twelve times-the sound of each shot piercing through everyone's souls and making them shiver in terror- and ran away. It happened so fast that all they could do was blink and stare in shock, unable to do anything. Terror can render even the strongest wizards useless.

The only thing she distinctly remembers is Justin wrapping his arms around her protectively, shielding her from any possible harm. The rest is all blurry. There were screams and groans and blood on the floor and a look of pain on Chelsea's pale, almost lifeless face as her eyelids fluttered shut and the sound of a siren from an ambulance amidst the sound of her own heart pounding with insanity.

The next thing she knew was that they were all sitting at a Witsec inspector's office, wizards division.

"So…. We think it's better if we split your family into two." The inspector began speaking, sputtering out every word slowly. "That way you'd be harder to locate."

"No!" Theresa protested, shaking her head violently. "You can't tear us apart!"

"We have to", the inspector said sadly, but with conviction in her eyes, her eyes pleading them all to understand the danger of the situation, "This is a huge gang. They don't even care about their own lives. They can shoot you down and kill themselves right after that. Now how hard do you think it will be for them to locate a family with a middle aged Spanish speaking mother, an Italian father, and three kids- one female and two male?"

Theresa didn't speak, just kept shaking her head. Jerry kept sighing and blinking back his tears.

She knew they were going to be split away. And she knew she had to be the resistance. She let out a dry, humorless laugh. "Are you kidding me? Your stupid program can't protect us all? Isn't that what you're supposed to do? Why did we join it then? Why did we agree to be witnesses?"

"Because you said you cared about Chelsea and wanted her murderers to be punished", the inspector reminded her. "And because we want to do what's safest for all of you. So please, think about it, Mr. and Mrs. Russo."

And it was so unfair that the decision was left to their parents! They were going to do what they thought was best for their children!

She just sat down and sniffled. She knew it very well what their parents were going to do. She knew it was all over.

And they did it within less than a week's time. She and Max went with their mother, Justin went with their father. She wished she knew where they were being relocated to! But everyone refused to tell her. All she could do was obey every word they said. This was big, and she knew her will was not going to work with them. Her whims were being taken from her too, just like everything else. She thought her parents were unfair, but now, nothing seemed more unfair than life itself. She couldn't even wish her father and her brother goodbye. She ran away, angry at everyone and disappointed. She still wonders if she hurt them, if this was the wrong thing to do. She hopes they have forgiven her by now. And she wishes she has a chance to go back in time and redo the goodbye. She wants to hug them and never let go so bad!

The next week was again a blur. She only remembers unpacking her things and settling down in her new house in the new city. She remembers being given the new name Alex Monroe, remembers being told the back-story that their father died in a car-crash, and that they never had another brother. Her heart trembled when they wiped away all of their existences in one moment, and her heart shattered to pieces when Justin became someone who never existed in the first place. Everything sucked so much; she forgot to care about anything.

A month passed, and the day of the hearing arrived. She remembers meeting her father and her brother for the last time in the court. Her father looked like he had aged a thousand years within the month, his face was sad and his eyes were broken. And Justin? She had never seen him in so much of pain. She couldn't even bear to look at him for long. The image flashes in her nightmares sometimes, and it still bugs her as much as it did that day.

"Alex!" He had called out to her, once they were outside the court-room. For once, the inspectors were wise enough to stand aside, or she's sure that she would have gotten into a huge fight with them.

"Justin!" she ran up to him, engulfing him in a tight hug. She never wanted it to end, she never wanted to let go, because that would mean their time together was over, and they'd have to go their separate ways. But remembers that feeling, that "apocalypse is coming" panic, that "this can't be happening" disbelief. And that "I don't want to do this, please help me!" helplessness.

"Be a good girl", he whispered to her, stroking her hair. "Promise me you won't do anything that'll get you into trouble? These are dangerous people. Alex, promise me!"

She only nodded. What else could she do when she was crying so much, and focusing on feeling Justin with her, and embedding this feeling into her memory for eternity? Well, that's all she has got for the rest of her life, assuming they would never meet again. She has no idea why the Wizard competition never happened and she never lost her powers. She tried teleporting to Justin so many times, but it was blocked. Damn them!

It had been almost eight years after that. Eight miserable years that they had miraculously managed to survive. Life had set into a rhythm by then. Her mom had stopped crying, and started working in a flower shop, earning money for their household. Max had become quiet and a loner in the beginning, but he had finally recovered and come out of his shell. He was in college, outside state. And Alex? She had graduated with fashion, just like she always wanted. Now she was working for a famous fashion magazine. However, nothing about living her dreams excited her anymore. The only thing that had the power to make her happy was imagining what it would be like if she ran into Justin at some random place. She really wished that would happen!

From the outside, everything in their lives was perfect. But on the inside, she knew nothing was, and nothing ever would be. They were all incomplete, fragmented. She would catch her mother whimpering in her sleep sometimes. She would catch Max zoning out while talking on the phone. She, on her part, didn't bother to hold back her tears when she was alone in her apartment. Why did this happen to them? What had they done wrong?

It hurt not to have any contact with her dad and Justin. She wondered how they were doing, if they were alright, if they were this miserable. Sometimes she would sit with her phone with this irresistible urge to call them up. But what was their number now? What number was she supposed to dial to get to them? It sucked that even keeping a photo was against the rules. Most of the time, she'd just close her eyes and picture their faces, reassure herself that yes, she still remembered them, she could never forget them. Identities could be wiped away, but memories couldn't be. Sometimes she would paint their pictures on her canvas in the brightest possible hues. That shouldn't be against the rules, right? And if it was, well, screw the rules! When did she care about rules anyway?

She found herself wondering about them most of the times, she tried her best to live in the memories. Those memories were locked away in the safest part of her heart, held close to her forever, always secure, always protected. Nobody could ever take that away.

A/N: This was the first part. Sorry if I got any details wrong. My knowledge of Witsec is from "In plain sight" :P Hope you liked it. I know, not my best, but the idea just wasn't leaving me alone! Please review :)