Chapter 1 Never Has She Forgotten

"How old are you?"

Valerie looked away from the window and turned towards the speaker. Her... therapist.

"Sixteen." She said with a sigh, twisting around in her seat uncomfortably.

"And you've been dating this boy Jay for how long?"

"Since just last year, when we turned fifteen." She said, irritated. "Why?"

"You're dating a boy you don't like back, why?"

"Because!" Val sat up and glared at her therapist, a Dr. Mahogany.

"Because of Lucian and Jewel?"

'What do you mean?" Val rolled her eyes, sitting back again as she calmed a bit.

'When everything happened, Jewel ordering you to give her your book of shadows, how old were you all then?" Dr. Mahogany evaded her question with ease.

"Lucian and Jade and Jewel were all fifteen, and the rest of us were thirteen, although I turned fourteen about two months later."

"So this was all about three years ago?"

"Yes, about." Val yawned, closing her eyes.

"And you don't remember what happened that night? The last time you saw Lucian and Jade and Jewel?"

"NO, how many times do we have to go over this? All I remember is what happened before it all. After he hung up the phone... it just all goes black."

"Huh." Dr. Mahogany raised her head from her clipboard. Her black hair was pulled back in a tight bun, her glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. She was pretty, but Val ignored this fact easily.

"What?" Val said uneasily.

"The first thing you can remember after that is waking up in a children's park covered in blood, naked, and completely alone. Doesn't it make you wonder if maybe, just maybe, he did something to you?" Dr. Mahogany asked, raising an elegant brow.

"No!" Val hissed, suddenly angry. She stood up, arms crossed. "Lucian wouldn't do anything to me that wasn't," She searched for a world, "Right!"She frowned and sat down again.

"Sure." Mahogany glanced out her office window for a moment and shrugged before turning back to Val. "The whole point of all of this is to find out what happened, to find out whose blood you were covered in and where those three disappeared off to. To help you regain your memories."

Val sighed, frustrated. "What if I don't want my memories back?"

"Well then." Mahogany leaned back in her chair. They stared at each other in silence for a moment. "Why don't you want your memories back Valerie?"

Val didn't answer at first.

"Because I'm afraid."

Mahogany leaned back with a pleased smile. "See? Breakthrough."

"Breakthrough?" Val snorted in disbelief and opened her mouth to say something else, but the buzzer on Mahogany's desk went off.

"I'm sorry Valerie, we'll have to continue this next week." Mahogany leaned over and shut off the alarm. Valerie stood up and sighed. "Whatever."

"Have a good week Valerie." Mahogany said, eyes suddenly sad. Valerie rolled her eyes again, turned, and walked out of the office. When she was finally outside she stared up at the sky for a minute, letting out a small sigh.

"Val!" Jay's voice, deeper and stronger, broke through her solemnness and she turned with a smile. Jay used to be short, with long, shaggy brown hair, small dimples in his cheeks when he smiled, teeth perfect. Now, he was 6'2", his hair was trimmed, and his dimples were as cute as ever. Too bad she wasn't in love with him.

Jay's arms went around her and she smiled, leaning up and kissing his cheek.

"So how was therapy?" Jay asked after a moment, smiling.

"Same old, same old." Valerie rolled her eyes and started walking, Jay's arm around her waist.

"Wanna get some lunch, maybe see a movie?" Jay asked after they walked about a block.

"Sure, I'm starving." Val said with a smile, turning to kiss Jay's cheek. She wished she could love him the same way that he loved her, instead of just as a friend. After she had woken up covered in blood, he had been there for her. Not to say that Jasper hadn't, but Jasper wasn't in love with her. Then again, Jasper was gay. Which she had only found out last year.

"So, where do you want to eat?" Val asked, looking at Jay.

"Mmmmm, pizza?"

"Oooh, sounds good."

"Great." Jay smiled. "Lets go."

~~~

Valerie watched Jay and Jasper play football with a small grin on her lips. They played almost every day, it was a sort of non magic ritual.

"Hey Val, what time is our next meeting?" Jasper and Jay plopped down on either side of Valerie, both of them laughing, Jasper looking curious.

"It's at six." Val said immediately.

"Do Vanessa and Nicholai know?" Jay asked, green eyes warm and friendly.

"I don't know about Vanessa, but I know."

Nicholai Saunders, the most recent member of the coven, plopped down beside them.

"Hey Nicholai." Val turned and smiled at Nicholai in welcome. "Didn't see you there."

"You never do." Nicholai rolled his eyes with a grin. "I'm like a ninja. Ninja skills."

"Oh whatever." Jay scoffed, wrapping an arm around Val possessively.

Nicholai at the moment was actually the oldest in the group at seventeen, and easily the most handsome with well groomed black hair, a fit muscular body and a height of 6'4".

Val considered shrugging Jay's arm from her waist, but decided against it. Instead, she turned and kissed his cheek.

"Is Vanessa coming?" Jasper asked, his tone mildly curious.

"Maybe." Nicholai shrugged, not interested.

"Huh."

As they all fell silent, Val leaned back, staring up at the cloudless blue sky.

Someone was watching her.

She didn't know how she knew it, but she did. Sitting up slowly, she glanced around, eyes pensive.

"Val? Whats wrong?" Val glanced over to see Nicholai watching her. She wasn't really surprised that he had noticed that something was off, the entire group was an intuitive bunch.

"Nothing." She said with a smile, forcing herself to look relaxed. Still, she glanced around out of the corner of her eye.

Which was when she saw him.

Lucian.

His hair was different, shoulder length and an icy white, his eyes were as icy as ever; a stark contrast against his ivory skin. He stared at her, eyes filled with an unrecognizable emotion.

Val shrieked and shot forward onto her feet. She stared at Lucian, and despite him being across the park, she knew that he was staring at her as well.

"Val!" Jay stood up and walked over to her, startling her. She turned to look at Jay for only a moment, ignoring the concerned look on his face, before turning back to look at Lucian again. Only, he was gone.

PROLOGUE ETERNITY

Staring into the distance was a girl.

It was hard to tell what she looked like, besides her black hair and pale skin, but even harder to tell was whether or not she was waiting for someone, or simply sitting in the rain.

Her name was Valerie Ever Rivera, however everyone simply called her Victory. She was a competitive, fierce and violent kind of girl, yet at the same time withdrawn, distant, dark. She had a reputation for being someone not to be messed with, the kind of girl that most preferred to stay away from.

She was a witch.

And she was not alone.

"Val," A voice said from beside her. Her eyes flitted over to see a boy, her own age, standing there with his hands in his pockets.

Valerie sat under a tree, her back pressed against the trunk. She was mostly shielded from the rain that poured fiercely down to the ground, however a few drops hit her, causing her to squint so as not to be hit in the eye by the falling water.

"Merry meet, Jasper." Val said, looking away as the boy sat down beside her, ignoring the wet grass.

"Are the others almost here?" Jasper asked after a few minutes of silence. Val jumped slightly, having already tuned everything out, as usual.

"They should be." She replied after a moment of hesitation. "Soon, anyways."

"Kay, good." Jasper leaned back and closed his eyes, smiling slightly as Val began to hum under her breath.

"Val! Jasper!" Val and Jasper both jumped as another boy leaped from the other side of the tree and fell to his knees in front of the pair.

"Jay." Val said dryly, rolling her eyes. "You're one minute late."

A false look of hurt appeared on Jay's face. "Oh Val, you break my heart."

Val and Jasper exchanged a look. It was a well known fact that Jay was, in fact, in love with Valerie.

"Sure." Valerie said hesitantly, looking past Jay as she saw a boy and a girl walking towards them. Valerie stood up, bracing herself against the tree, and stretched, waving.

"Lucian! Jade!" She called, stepping out from the shelter of the tree and jogging over to the pair. Lucian and Jade were twins, Lucian older by thirteen minutes exactly.

Val smiled shyly at the sight of Lucian, a blush painting her cheeks lightly like rouge.

Lucian smiled and waved back, Jade crossed her arms, an irritated look on her face.

"Whats wrong Jade?" Jasper said, walking over as well, close on Valerie's heels.

"Mom grounded her." Lucian said with a grin. Jade elbowed him sharply. "Lucian!"

"What for?" Valerie asked, raising a brow.

"She caught Jade with a boy. Both of them had their shirts off." Lucian said triumphantly. Everyone gasped and Jay let out a whoop. "Jadddeee!" Valerie said with a laugh.

"Things got a little out of hand." Jade muttered, face bright red.

"Whatever." Jasper said, chuckling under his breath.

"Merry meet." Everyone went silent at the sound of a girl, unseen until now. The girl was Jewel, Lucian's girlfriend.

Everyone in the small group were wiccans, together they were a coven. Lucian and Jewel, however, were the leaders.

Jewel wasn't exactly... nice.

"Merry meet." Everyone said in unison.

Jewel glared at them all, her long dark brown hair falling around her shoulders. "Well? Valerie?"

Valerie blinked in confusion, staring at Jewel. "Huh?"" She said rather stupidly.

"Did you bring your book of shadows?" Jewel snapped, eyes flashing. Everyone stepped forward, Lucian's hand touched Jewel's shoulder.

"Jewel!" Valerie protested. "It's my own personal book, I shouldn't have to bring it."

"As your High Priestess," Jewel shrugged off Lucian's hand. "I've ordered you to bring your book of shadows. Now, did you bring it or not?"

Valerie stared at Jewel, her lips a tight line. "Yes." She finally admitted.

"Hand it over." Jewel ordered coldly.

"Jewel." Lucian suddenly interrupted, turning to Valerie. "Don't Val, it's your book. Keep it."

"Lucian!" Jewel turned towards Lucian, her brown eyes blazing. Lucian stared back at her, his own ice-blue ones emotionless.

The rain continued to fall, soaking them all. It was a tense silence, cold and heavy.

"I'm leaving." Jay said. "Call me when your all done arguing." Jay turned and started walking, leaving everyone staring after him. Nobody said anything.

Valerie stared out of her bedroom window several hours later, sighing under her breath.

"That could have gone better." She murmured, turning away from the window to look at her own reflection across the room. She stared at the mirror for a moment, then focused on her reflection. She had intense blue eyes, the kind that seemed to almost glow, vibrant and full of life. Her hair fell down to her waist in waves, cascading down her back like a midnight black water fall. Her skin was smooth and flawless, a pale, ivory-cream shade. She had high cheekbones and a pointed chin, her cheeks were rather gaunt, and there were dark shadows beneath her eyes, so no matter how pretty she might have been, she constantly looked fatigued, and, to her dismay, gothic. Her eyebrows were elegant, balancing carefully over her wide eyes. Yet her eyes... Val turned away sharply, hating the haunted look in her eyes.

Her door slammed shut.

"No!" She screamed, standing up and taking a step forward. Her window shut as well, the glass shattering from the force of the impact. Val whirled around in horror. The picture frames on her bedroom walls began to fall, the light bulb shattered. Valerie turned and ran across the room towards her desk, opening the drawer and rifling through it with a panicked look on her face.

"Why?" She hissed. "Why does it have to be so damn cluttered!?" Finally she found what she was looking for; a small talisman. Holding it up in front of her face with both hands, she closed her eyes and began to chant under her breath. Everything in her room was shattering and falling, slamming and breaking.

"Spirits of my ancestors many, come to me and help, watch me in my time of darkness, and light the way to come." She whispered, eyes closing. "I am peaceful, and I am strong. Day must follow every night, and I know all will be all right. The night is not so long. I am safe from all and any harm, for who but the goddess, holds me in her arms." It didn't matter if the chant didn't rhyme, it helped. As everything in the room stilled, Val slid to the ground, all of the energy sucked from her.

Her cellphone rang.

"Val?" Lucian's panicked voice was on the other end when she slowly answered the phone.

"Yes?" Val whispered in a hoarse voice.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes." Val whispered.

Silence.

"No." She finally admitted.

"Stay where you are, I'm coming over." The line clicked, and Lucian was gone.