Chapter 1 –Introducing me

I awoke to the sound of my brother running down the hall to our parent's room. Sure he's not my biological brother, but I was worried all the same. He had probably dreamt of the vampires again and was scared out of his mind. I threw the covers off of me and trotted over to my door to make sure Tony had gotten to my adoptive parents room okay.

Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Stella, I was adopted by the Thompsons when I was five years old and I am now 14. If you had seen me on the street with them, you would have just thought that I was a friend of Tony's, mostly because I'm biracial. I have bright hazel eyes with flecks of blue, hair down to my waist that is naturally wavy and about 5' 5". Honestly, most people think I just have a natural beach tan. Now back to the story.

I was unable to fall asleep as I lay back down, the moonlight glistened on my necklace. The slight movements kept me wide awake, so I crept downstairs to get a glass of water. Our castle like house had the still housed the smell of old books and dust, making me gag slightly. I figured I might as well get used to, seeing as I don't go to school anymore. The thought reminded me that I had to finish the paper for my online course and made a quiet groan escape my lips as I trudged back up the long staircase. I threw the large door open and sighed at my room full of boxes. I had painted the walls to resemble the woods and my bed frame had a canopy alongside treelike bed posts. I dragged my feet to the bed and placed my half empty glass on the bedside table before pulling my thick duvet up to my neck. The starry night on my ceiling brought a smile to my lips, calming me to sleep.

A beam of light hit my face, causing me to cringe before I hissed and covered my head.

"Stella, it's time to get up, you said that you wanted to come with me to drop off Tony," Mom coaxed.

I groaned and mumbled into my pillow, "Fivemoreminutes."

"No, now, you need to get dressed so I can take Tony to school," she demanded sternly.

I peeked my head from under the covers and said, "Very stern, I'm impressed."

A smile appeared on her lips and nodded in thanks before exiting. I rolled from the comfort of my bed and walked over to my walk-in closet, grabbing an ACDC muscle tee, skinny jeans and a pair of black converse. I changed into my clothes for today and made sure that my necklace was on before running downstairs where Tony and Dad sat at the table.

"Morning," I greeted, grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting next to Tony.

"Stella, where's your jacket," Mom scolded.

"It's in the closet, I'll grab it on the way out," I assured, glancing over at her.

She nodded and Tony tugged on my hair lightly. I turned and placed my mug down, giving him a questioning look.

"What's up bud?" I asked.

"Can you tell me the story about how you got your necklace?" he asked shyly.

"Again?"

He nodded and I shrugged, "When I was young, I lived in a foster home just outside of Maine, the family I lived with was neighbors with a witch. Mind you, she was a good witch, the kind that worked for the forces of nature. One day, I was playing with my foster brothers and Jack kicked the soccer ball over the fence, but was too afraid to get it. So, I volunteered and climbed over the fence. The yard was empty, bare and lifeless, but I felt as if I was being watched. It took me a while to find the ball and when I did, the witch was standing with the ball at her feet. She looked at me sternly, and I apologized for trespassing, and explained that my brothers were afraid to knock on her door. She handed me the ball and the necklace saying that I was brave and had a destiny to fulfil. The end."

Tony squealed in excitement, as he had done many times before. After we all finished eating, mom rushed us out the door and into her minivan, saying that Tony would be late. We filed in and began the trip.

"Wave hi to Dad and Lord McAshton," Mom instructed.

I waved lightly and Tony sat motionless, looking at the two of them blankly. I shook my head at him and Mom let out a sigh.

"Scotland is beautiful, isn't it?" Mom attempted to strike up a conversation.

"If you don't have vampires," Tony stated.

They began to discuss the reality of vampires when I yelled out, "Mom, you're on the wrong side of the road!"

She swerved quickly and the man on the red tractor began to yell curse words that unfortunately I could understand.

"What did he say?" Mom asked.

"I'm not allowed to repeat those kinds of things," I stated simply from the backseat.

"Everybody talks weird here," Tony mumbled.

"Don't worry munchkin, it'll get better," I smiled at Tony.

We pulled up to the school and I helped Tony out of the car, giving him a hug and ruffling his hair. I hopped back into the car as we drove back to the manor.

"So, how's your college course going?" Mom asked.

"It's too easy," I mumbled.

"I have no idea how I ended up with a genius for a daughter," Mom chuckled.

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm a genius…" I trailed off jokingly.