Chapter 1

“Rainy! Rainy!” The teenage girl being called rolled over, unwilling to yet wake, for she was still in the grips of the dream again. No matter how hard she tried, the girl could never see the face of the hooded figure heading to the sea. She always tried to warn the figure of the other silhouette coming up from behind. The flashes of blue, yellow, then green lights dazzled and hypnotized her. The laughing haunted and chilled her. The dream felt so vivid and real, it always made her feel exhausted when she awoke, even though she didn’t understand why. “RAINY!!” came the shrill, high-pitched voice of the little boy who came running into the room. “Get up, Rainy! It’s time for presents!” Araina Mitchell, known as Rainy to her family and friends, slowly rolled back over to face her little brother. Jonathan Mitchell, or Johnny, was the typical six year-old. He was a first-grader, loved rocks and bugs, and had dreams of becoming either a drummer or an astronaut. The strange thing about him, though, was that unlike other boys, Johnny loved his big sister greatly. The two had a very close relationship, despite the huge age difference. At the moment, Johnny was bouncing up and down like a rabbit; his blond hair flying all over his head, his blue eyes the twinkle of a cornflower. The sight of him so happy pushed thoughts of the dream to the back of Rainy’s mind. “Alright, Johnny.  I’ll be down in a minute.” Instantly, the young boy stopped jumping, “Does that mean I can have the batter bowl this time?” He looked with eyes wide, like a puppy begging for a treat. Rainy reached out a slender hand and ruffled his already messy hair, and laughed “Yes, Jon-Jon.” Johnny, smiling ear to ear, turned and flew down the staircase. Rainy stretched and rolled out of bed, headed towards the bathroom. Looking at her, it was hard to believe that she was a member of the family. The other Mitchells had blond hair, blue eyes, a somewhat short build, and usually were either a little chubby or had just a few extra pounds. On the contrary, Rainy was none of those things, the oddball of the group. She had long, flowing hair the color of a raven’s wing. Her eyes were a sterling silver shade of grey. She was tall and naturally slender, very graceful and feline. When she was younger, she had felt so alien, but the elder Mitchells had assured her that she was theirs, showing her birth certificate to her. Still, Rainy felt alone. No one in either her father’s or her mother’s side was like her, either in looks or personality. Unlike the Mitchells, she loved animals (most were either allergic or afraid), she loved nature and water (phobias ran in the family), she was just a tad bit more adventurous than her other family members, she had a huge stubborn streak, and then was her nasty temper when she was mad or scared.

 

Once in the bathroom, Rainy stepped into the shower, the hot water soothing her muscles, which were always tired after the dream. I shouldn’t worry about it too much. Today’s my eighteenth birthday. I ought to be happy. What could go wrong? She thought as she let the water flow over her. For some odd reason, she had some distinct feeling that something was going to happen, something major that would change her life forever. I worry too much she thought as she stepped out the shower to gaze at her reflection in the mirror. As she did every morning, she vainly stared at her heart-shaped face, trying to find some remote feature to connect her to her family. The only thing she saw was her silvery eyes gazing back at her, her dark hair seemingly even darker due to it being wet. But, as she looked on, she thought she saw a dark figure standing behind her by the door. Rainy gasped and spun around quickly. Nothing. No one was there. “I must be stressing too much. I’m seeing things.” She muttered as she turned back to the mirror. Rainy then combed out her hair and hurried back to the safety of her room, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched.

 

Walking into the Mitchell kitchen was like stepping into a gourmet restaurant. Jean Mitchell, a short and plump middle-aged woman with shoulder-length blond hair and sapphire blue eyes, had been a well-known and famous chef, until she gave it all up to marry her college sweetheart, Paul. Even though she was in her mid-forties, Jean was still a perky and active woman, very involved in the modest neighborhood of Sierra Springs, just on the outskirts of Alpena, Michigan. It was true the Mitchells had money, but Jean was a firm believer of not trying to flaunt your wealth. She has having a hard time trying to teach that to her young son, that money was not always the answer, despite what the world said. However, it seemed that her eldest child was born with that ideal already instilled in her. Ah, my little Raincloud. So wild and mysterious Jean thought absently as she stirred the bowl of homemade frosting. Johnny was sitting a few feet from her, on the counter, fully enthralled with licking the remainder of the chocolate batter from another bowl. Jean smiled wistfully, her son was just like his father, but had inherited her love of food. He had been a miracle baby. Jean, due to some strange infection she had when she was younger, had been unable to have children, and so she and Paul had been so thrilled when they found little Araina one cold and rainy night while on one of their walks by the lake. Then, surprisingly, when Rainy was twelve, here comes Johnny. It had made the fact that Rainy wasn’t her biological daughter even more apparent. Jean and Paul had kept the fact that Rainy had been found a secret, but she was tired of the lies. Rainy had a right to know the truth. Both Paul and Jean had agreed to wait until Rainy was eighteen to tell her the real story. Just as Jean finished her thoughts, her lovely and strange girl came floating into the kitchen. “Good morning, Mom.” Rainy said with her usual musical voice, like soft ocean waves or like the feel of velvet on skin. “Happy birthday, dear.” Jean replied, giving Rainy a one-armed hug. “Rainy! I got the whole bowl! You can have the frostin’ bowl if you wanna,” said Johnny from his spot on the counter. Rainy went over to him and picked him up, tickling him in the process, his laughter ringing out loud and clear like church bells. “How’s my little Jon-Jon?” she teased as she mercilessly tickled him. “Ha ha! Rainy! Stop…it…ha ha!” the little boy managed between laughs. Jean watched in delight as the children played, marveling over the pair’s strong affection for each other. It pained her that they weren’t really related. Finally, masking the sorrow in her voice with laughter, Jean said to the two youngsters, “Okay, now. That’s enough. Rainy, you need to be getting ready for school.” The two stopped instantly. “Yes, Mom.” Rainy said, picking up her brother and placing him on her shoulders to carry him up the stairs. As they left, Jean sighed. How can Paul and I tell her?

 

Wesleyan High School was a jungle like no other, with each student forming packs of similar people. The dreaded Populars ran the place, with the muscular Jocks enforcing their rule. The Nerds and Geeks ignored and constantly tried to outdo each other. The Goths and the Emos ignored each other and the rest of the population. The Punks and the Rockers musically battled it out in the halls and after school. The Preps hung out with the Snobs just enough to get fashion advice, but no more than necessary. Out of all the students, only four girls refused to join ranks in any of the groups, and had formed their own, the Misfits: Hayley Marshall, the musician; Jessica Evans, the prankster; Regina Ericson, the artist; and Araina Mitchell, the confidant. As Rainy entered the school, she was practically surrounded by her best friends, all of them wishing her a happy eighteenth. “Guys! I told you not to fuss over me.  You know I hate being the center of attention,” Rainy said while trying to stifle a giggle. “Well, what you expect with us as your friends?” replied Hayley, playfully punching Rainy in the arm. “Besides,” chimed in Regina, “The only ones who are the center of attention are Courtney and her posse.” At the mention of that name, all four girls winced, especially Rainy. As if on cue, the Populars came from around the corner to march down the hall. Beautiful, petty, rich, and vicious�"the five girls paraded down the hallway, their stilettos striking the floor like hammers. Their leader, Courtney Snow, was the most idolized figure in the whole community. Her long hair was so blonde it looked white, her blue eyes were as pale as ice, her skin was as silky and pale as her namesake. Head of the cheerleading squad, she had all the boys she wanted and then some. She had the best money could offer: expensive, designer clothes; exotic cars; a limitless credit card; house like a mansion in the best neighborhood in town. But despite all of this, there was one thorn in her side: Rainy. Ever since the first day of school, way back in kindergarten, Courtney couldn’t stand Rainy. It unnerved her; it was as if she instinctively could sense that something wasn’t quite right about Rainy. She didn’t trust those grey eyes, and she believed that Rainy’s dark hair was menacing. As the Populars passed by, Courtney shot the group an evil look. “That girl gives me the creeps,” muttered Jessica after the five girls were gone. “You said it,” agreed both Regina and Hayley. Rainy felt the bad vibes that had come from Courtney and her crew, and it mingled with her earlier fears. “Guys, I think we should be heading to class now,” she suggested. As they hurried off to their various destinations, Rainy thought she saw out of the corner of her eye the dark figure again. It looked to be disappearing around a corner behind her. Rainy shook her head to clear her thoughts, and hurried on to her English class.

 

Walking through her front door, Rainy was greeted by the smell of her mother’s cooking and her father’s pipe. “I’m home!”she called out as she set her bag down by the small bench in the hall by the entrance way. “Yay! Rainy’s back!” yelled Johnny as she bolted out of the living room to embrace his sister and welcome her home. Following right behind him was his father, Paul Mitchell. Paul was a dignified and gentle man, with soft and short blond hair, and deep blue eyes the color of a night sky. He was of average height, and was just a little bit over weight. He smiled at his little boy hugging Rainy, the girl he had raised as his own daughter. Jeanie’s right he thought as he made his way towards the children slowly, what harm can it do not to tell her the truth?  “Hey, Daddy,” Rainy said with a smile as her father approached her. “Hey, sweetheart. How was school?” he asked, giving her a hug of his own as Johnny ran back to the family room to put away his toy trains. “It was fine, Dad. My friends wished me happy birthday, Mr. Davidson started us on The Odyssey, and I made an A on my Trig test.” Paul smiled warmly and ran his hand through Rainy’s hair, “That’s my girl.” Releasing her from his grasp, Paul told her to hurry and clean up for dinner. Rainy raced her brother upstairs, Paul watching in a mixed emotion of amusement and worry, before he headed into the kitchen with Jean.

 

Rainy was filled with contentment, the kind that only comes from being surrounded by loved ones. Dinner had been extraordinary, Jean providing a succulent feast and flaunting her skills. From the tender greens of the salad, to the juicy side of beef, to the crisp vegetables, to the cold and creamy sauces�"pure heaven on the tongue. After all of that, the cake seemed to be the crème de la crème. The chocolate cake was velvety and melted in the mouth, the homemade icing was light and airy. Now, the Mitchell family was sitting out on their back porch, enjoying the cool breeze that tasted like the salt from the lake that was several miles away. “Today was the best ever,” Rainy sighed as she gazed up at the constellations she knew so well, “I wish this night would never end.” Johnny was out in the yard, chasing fireflies. Jean and Paul sat beside each other on the other end of the porch, watching Rainy out of worry. To them, she appeared as a nymph of the night, the glow of the moon streaking her raven hair with weird white light, her grey eyes shining out like two blazing stars. Finally, Paul decided the time had come, and cleared his throat to gain Rainy’s attention. “Yes, Dad?” she asked, turning to look at them, her grey eyes curious. At first, they just sat there hesitant, but finally Jean gathered up the nerve to speak. Jean looked at her daughter fearfully, “There’s something we’ve been meaning to tell you.” Rainy stared with her eyes wide in confusion. “What do you mean?” she asked, her voice hardly above a whisper. “Honey,” started Paul, “Please don’t take this the wrong way…….but, um…..you….you’re not our real child.” The words were like small swords, piercing her heart with their coldness. “Wh-what?” she choked out. She had always felt she was different, but they had assured her that she was theirs. Why all the lies? “We found you by the ocean, abandoned. No one ever came to claim you, and so we adopted you. I couldn’t have children, and so we thought you were a miracle child. Then, after Jonathan was born, it became harder and harder to ignore the truth,” Jean tried to explain. She hated seeing the pained looked in Rainy’s eyes, as grey and wet as liquid storm clouds. “So, you lied to me? When you said I was yours, you were making believe?” Rainy cried, tears streaming down her face. “No, honey….we were only trying to protect you.” Paul said in response to the girl’s accusation. “Protect me? From what?”  Rainy demanded. She had trusted her parents, but now she learned that her whole life, every part of her very existence, was nothing more than a lie, a fairy-tale. Jean reached into her pocket and pulled something out. “This was around your neck when we found you,” she said as she reached to place the object into Rainy’s hand. However, by now, Rainy was so frozen in shock, she hardly registered the item in her hand, and she just closed her fingers over it. The Mitchells stared at her, waiting for some sort of reaction from her. They got one.

 

Rainy, sitting as still as a rock on moment, felt something deep inside her give way, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone. She dashed off the porch and raced through the yard towards the street leading out of the neighborhood. “Rainy! Wait up!” called Johnny, not fully understanding the situation at hand. Rainy was too much in the grip of her pain and sense of betrayal to hear him, and ran on past him. She had been the star of the track team at school, but never before had she run this fast, leaving everything behind as a blur, with the endless endurance of the wolf. It began to rain, hard and fast, a sudden shower from nowhere, but Rainy was oblivious to it. She ran on swiftly, not knowing or caring where she was going, all she could think of was Run away. Run far away. After what seemed like an eternity, Rainy came to a dense wooded area that she had never been to before. She ran into it, blindly going past trees and bushes, until she suddenly tripped on a root. She fell down, the momentum of her running causing her to tumble and roll, before finally coming to rest in a cleared patch of grass, a break in the trees right above her, which let the rain pour on top of her. She lay there, letting the rain blend in with her tears, allowing its chill to numb her. “I’m cold and I’m wet,” she announced to no one in particular, “I’m lost. I no longer belong here.” The thought of her words reverberated inside her head, You don’t belong here. So where do I belong?  She looked down at her balled up fist, and remembered she still held whatever it was her mot�"Mrs. Mitchell�"had given her. Rainy slowly opened her fist, and there lying in her palm was a strange object, the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. On a delicate silver chain was an amulet unlike anything Rainy had ever seen in either history books or museums. It was an intricately woven silver pendant, wound in a labyrinth pattern that left Rainy wondering where it started and where it ended. It was designed into a strange cross diamond style, with a large gem in the center of the silver web. The gem was a precious amethyst, and it glittered in the rain, reflecting the moonlight, casting odd shadows of colors ranging from pale lavender to deep violet. It mystified and intrigued Rainy beyond compare. This was around my neck? Who gave it to me? Why? Questions flew around in her mind as she sat there on the forest floor staring at the amulet.

 

As Rainy was pondering over the mysterious amulet, she noted it stopped raining. The woods seemed quieter, more eerie, without the constant pitter-patter of rain dripping onto the leaves of the tree branches over her head. The moon had disappeared behind some clouds, bathing the surroundings in pitch blackness. At first, Rainy stayed down, letting her wolfish eyes adjust to the darkness. Well, this is a fine kettle of fish you’ve gotten yourself into she mentally chided herself, Letting your emotions take charge again. While Rainy sat there and beat herself up, a mist rolled in from nowhere. It enveloped everything in its path, and something about it chilled Rainy to the core, it was unnatural. This is creepy she thought, rising from her seat on the ground. Creepy is a mild understatement, my dear came a dismembered voice that seemed to crawl into Rainy’s head and lodge there. She snapped her head up and quickly glanced around. “Hello? Who’s there?” she called softly into the dark and still woods. The voice came again, sounding like honeyed poison, sweet and deadly, My how you’ve grown. You look more like your mother each day. This was unnerving to Rainy, who wanted the voice out of her head. “How do you know my mother?” She asked, and then thought better of it, “Show yourself!” Panic tried to consume her, but Rainy was fighting to resist its grasp. The voice in her head, in response, simply laughed, something vaguely familiar about it, it seemed to pull at the corners of Rainy’s mind. As you wish, child the voice acknowledged her. The mist appeared to roll away, revealing a clearing in the forest right in front of Rainy. From this dark clearing, a hooded figure stepped out, which caused Rainy to gasp. It was the shadowy figure from her dreams. “Hello, dear,” said the figure, removing the hood to reveal a man of wizened age. Although he was about middle-aged, his grey eyes, which were very similar to Rainy’s, seemed to glow with youthfulness and malevolence. He smiled, a feat akin to an animal baring its fangs, “It’s been a long time, child.” Rainy slowly backed up in fear, her back pressing against a tree. The amulet in her palm was well hid in her palm, and it seemed to faintly warm up. The man walked closer to her, that sinister smile still on his face. “Child, you have no reason to fear me. I can help you.” Rainy doubted it, but still she let slip “How?” The man in the cloak laughed again, the sound gripping Rainy’s foggy memory, practically demanding her to remember. “I knew you would be curious, they always are,” he said as cool and smooth as velvet, “I can give you power…more power beyond your wildest dreams. Don’t deny you haven’t felt it. That pull deep inside. Like you don’t belong in this place.” It was as if he had read poor Rainy’s mind. She looked on in utter confusion, How does he know how I feel? The man seemed to be able to read her facial expression quite easily, “I know all about you, child. You hunger for power. You were never meant to mingle with…commoners. You should be pampered like a princess.” His words filled Rainy like one pouring water into a vessel; it coated her in sickly sweetness. Some part of her wanted to believe him, hang onto every word, but another part of her yelled at her to not yield. The amulet warmed up again, its warmth forced Rainy to snap back to her common sense. “Just who are you to be telling me how I feel?” she demanded, although suddenly sounding like she was out of breath, it took all her energy to stand there with a façade of calm. The man gave a grand bow, however he never took his silvery eyes off of Rainy as she continued to stand against the tree. “I am nothing more than a mere sorcerer, humbly at your service.” When he rose back up, Rainy’s sharp eyes noted a small handle to a dagger or something quite similar, hiding there under the cloak by his hip. “And what, may I ask, is the price for this ‘service’ you offer?” she asked, suspicious of the murderous man who had haunted her dreams. “My dear,” he continued smoothly, much like a cobra charming its prey before the strike, “there’s nothing I want. Well…maybe one thing.” He stepped closer to her, and reached out a hand. He stroked her cheek with a touch as light as a feather, just enough to know he was doing it, but not enough to really feel it. Despite this, Rainy felt as if someone had struck her with a white hot branding iron. She jerked her head away from the man’s touch, “Don’t touch me!” Suddenly, Rainy’s voice lowered, becoming much more threatening tone than she had ever used before. This change appeared to rattle the charming nature of the man before her. “You’re just like your blasted mother,” he hissed like a snake ready to go for the kill, “A silly suka! Now, give me what I want.” He roughly grabbed Rainy’s arm, fixing it in a vice-like grasp. Rainy, on the other hand, developed the feeling of a wounded and very scared wolf�"that is, she had a sudden flood of adrenaline to either escape or attack. “Never,” she growled, not really knowing what he wanted, but not willing to give him anything. Things moved slowly after that. The man tightened his grip on her arm with one hand, and raised the other as if to strike her. Rainy closed her eyes and tried to turn away from the oncoming blow, but the amulet burned like fire in her hand. There was a flash of violet light, the man’s screaming, and suddenly Rainy felt herself leave the ground. She was flying, twirling, spinning in a black tunnel�"enough to make her dizzy. Something hard and unyielding rushed up to meet her. Then everything stopped. What happened? She thought briefly, before a strong wave of pain washed over her. Mercifully, it went dark shortly afterwards.

Author's Note

Wrote this back in high school as well....so please try not to be too harsh but do tell me the truth of what you think....