Chapter 1

POV Lilly

I sighed as we pulled up to the house.

"Here we are." my Mom said, trying to hide her nervousness.

I looked over at her and smiled. She and I looked alike, both with blond hair and bright green eyes. We were both about 5 feet 5 inches and slender. Most people knew right away that we were related.

"The house is nice" I observed and she nodded.

"It looks just like when we left it" she replied.

It was a cute two story house. Not huge but not small either. It had a small garden out front but I knew that my Aunt Iris had a big one in the back too. I smiled at the rosemary planted by the gate and gestured to it to show my mom.

She smiled too but I could see the anxiety all over her. In the lines under her eyes, in the stoop of her shoulders, everywhere. I've never seen her like this, even when the coven was right behind us.

I was about to press her for information when I was tackled by a dark haired blur.

"Oh, Lilly! I've missed you so much!" Jasmine yelled as we both fell over.

"Calm down, Jasmine. Don't kill the poor girl" Aunt Iris called as she walked out of the house and gave my mom a huge hug.

"I'm so glad that you're both here. We've missed you so much this last year" she added.

Jasmine and Iris looked as much alike as my mother and I did. It's just odd that they look nothing like us. They both have dark brown eyes and and almost black hair. They are curvy and stand at 5 feet 3 inches. Most people would never dream that were we all family.

Jasmine got off me and helped me up with a grin.

"We have a room all set for you, Aunt Rose but Lilly, you'll have to share with me. Is that okay?" Jas asked knowing perfectly well that I'd rather share with her than have my own room.

"You know that it is" I laughed and pulled her into a proper hug.

I've missed them in the past year. We've been together my whole life and it has made running from the coven easier. It didn't bother me to have to move all the time since my best friend was always with us.

It's been just the four of us for as long as I can remember. I guess that Jasmine's father was with us for a while but he died when I was just a baby. No one talks about him much but that's better than my father who no one will even mention. I asked my mom about him once. The look on her face was heartbreaking. She just looked at me and shook her head. I never asked again.

You might be wondering why we are always running. That goes way back to before Jas and I were even born. My grandmother did something that pissed off her old coven royally and she took her two daughters and ran. No one will tell Jas and I exactly what Grandma did but it's so bad that they're still after us. The coven is extremely powerful and they will kill us if they find us.  Evidently that's why my Grandma left with my Aunt and Mother. They ran for a couple years before settling down right here in this very house. That's right, we're about to move in to my Aunt's and mom's childhood home.

Mom and Aunt Iris grew up here. It sounded like they had a fairly good childhood here too. But then my Grandma died and something happened that made my Mom have to leave. My Aunt couldn't bare to be apart from her sister so she left too but she kept up with the house.

They met our father's around the same time and Jasmine and I were born on the same day, within a few hours of each other. We love that. We've literally been together our whole lives, until last year that is.

The coven was closing in on us and Iris said that we had to come back here.

"It's the only place that's safe." she said to my mom. My mom shook her head though.

"It wouldn't be safe for me and you know it" Mom argued as Aunt Iris sighed.

"It would be if you would just talk to him. He wouldn't care. He could be safe." Iris replied but my mom shook her head again.

With that, Iris and Jasmine moved here to Hudsonville while Mom and I ran to California. Don't get me wrong, Cali is beautiful but I hated it without Jas. The Coven almost caught me a few days ago and Mom decided that she had no other choice but to follow Iris and Jasmine to Hudsonville. That wasn't the only reason we left California but we won't get into that right now.

After we all hugged, Iris and Jasmine ushered us into the house.

"It looks just the same" Mom whispered and Iris nodded.

"The girls are sharing Mom's old room. You have your old room and I have mine" Iris explained and we all worked at unloading our car. After we got everything inside, Jasmine helped me lug my suitcases upstairs to a large bedroom.

"This is us" She announced and I looked around.

The room was beautiful with two twin beds on either wall and a door to the bathroom between them along with a ladder up to a loft space. There was a large window on one wall and the other wall contained two doors that I guessed went to walk in closets. The room contained two desks and two vanities as well. It was done in pale rose, lavender and white but had accents of grey that kept it from being too bright.

"This is wonderful" I exclaimed and Jas grinned.

"We can use the loft for our alter and spell casting" she explained and I nodded.

"We even have our own bathroom!" I turned to Jas and hugged her.

"Thanks for sharing your room with me. You didn't have to go to all the trouble" I added and she laughed.

"Are you kidding? I've had this set up like this the whole time, just hoping that you would come" she replied and I smiled.

"So... what's this town like? Any idea why our Moms are convinced that its safe here?" I asked.

"I still haven't figured that out but this town is strange." She answered as she helped me unpack.

"Mom is watching me like a hawk. She has forbidden me from going out in the woods especially at night. I'm only able to go to school and come home. I've made almost no friends." She explained and I frowned.

I knew that Aunt Iris was a bit protective but she's never been this bad.

"That's the other thing, the school is strange. Like the kids are weird." she continued.

"Kids are always weird" I laughed but she shook her head.

"Not like this. Most of the school is divided. One side is ruled by this girl named Ember and her cousin Cedric and the other side is run but this guy named Griffin and his friends. They all sit in their groups. Have lunch in them, everything. It's like nothing I've ever seen." she explained.

"So do the two sides not get along?" I asked and she shrugged.

"That's the other weird part. Most of the time they are fine, a little strained but okay but once in a while, there's a fight between a few people. Ember and Griffin never seem to fight and they always stop it before it gets too bad." She answered.

"That's a bit strange but at least we don't have to worry about fights all the time. So.. what side do you belong to?" I asked and she shook her head.

"Neither. I'm usually alone or with one or two of the other 'outsiders'" she laughed and I stared at her.

"Outsiders?" I inquired and she nodded.

"Yep. That's what they call us." she added and I sighed.

"Of course, Cedric was trying to get me to have lunch with him at the end of the year but I refused" she went on.

"Cedric, huh? Is he cute?" I pushed and she shrugged.

"He is but..." she drifted off.

"But?" I pushed.

"But he's strange. I don't know. Something is off here. I can feel it. It's uneasy here. Like everyone's waiting for violence or something. You'll see." she replied and I sighed.

"Do you think that it's safe?" I asked and she shrugged again.

"I think that we're safe from the coven but there is something else here." she answered and I sighed.

"As long as we're together we'll be okay" I said with resolve more for me than for her.

"I hope so" she smiled and hugged me again.