The Rede Breaker

Chapter 1: Waking the Dead

I hate graveyards.

The wrought-iron gates of Charon's Crossing cemetery are just as foreboding as the fog that has rolled in. The mist from fog on my self-proclaimed caramel skin feels refreshing. I would enjoy it if I weren't freaked out to my core.

I walk past a huge white marble crypt with the name Tereso carved into the crevice above the door. I pass rows of gravestones until I arrive at a crossroads with a statue of woman with three heads. Each head has a spiky crown laid atop it. It's clearly meant to be Hecate, but the statue's faces are worn.

I cannot help but feel enamored with the statue, wornness and all. Her normally spiked crown's edges have dulled. There is light in it.

The fog thickens as it climbs higher all around me. I sigh as I look down at the climbing mist. I wave my hand, causing it to dissipate. "This is why people hate witches."

A woman appears from the fog. The council's High Witch steps out with long, frizzy brown hair down her back. Her taupe skin glistens under the moonlight. She is dressed in a flowing powder blue dress and a dark blue cloak with glimmering stars on it.

"The only people who hate witches are those who fear us." Aria Fletcher says.

Aria is a luminescent being. As the High Witch, she is one of the most powerful witches in the world, if not the most. I know her to be kind and gracious, if not a bit pretentious. She never misses a chance to lecture me on morality.

"You couldn't have chosen a coffee shop or a night club?"

Aria lifts her hand in a grand gesture. "Can you imagine?" She jokes.

I laugh as I imagine Aria twirling in her cloak in the middle of a lively dance floor. It would be quite a sight.

"You preferred not to be seen with the council. It was a condition, if I remember correctly." Aria says. "This agreement is on your terms."

"I remember."

"What you are doing is a great favor for the council. I hope you know that."

Her words almost make me forget the atrocities I've been a party to. I may not have caused the atrocities but watching them happen makes me no less culpable than those who committed them.

"It's penance. The things Ambrose did were horrible."

"You—"

"Stood by while he did them. So, I have a lot to make up for. And I will. But it's my journey alone. Which is why my family and friends can't know I am working with the Council." I say. "They don't remember. It needs to stay that way."

"And so they won't."

"You're a gracious woman normally, but you're being overly nice to me. Most witches treat me like a traitor. Why don't you?" I ask.

"We have met before. When you were very young. The boy I met was a kind and brave young man. I don't believe the boy turned into a monster. I see what you don't."

Her words are calming. I do not remember meeting her at all, but I believe her. The world is full of magic and magic touches everything. Why couldn't it touch me, too?

A wolf howls in the distance and I look to the trees beyond the cemetery to find the source. When I see nothing, my attention turns back to Aria.

"What is this place? Prophecy Cove? Whatever is happening here is overwhelming. I can feel it." I say.

"It is a place of great power. It is like a beacon to supernaturals. That's all I can say."

I hate her answer. It's too vague to understand but just specific enough for me to know she is not telling me everything. The howl in the distance could mean a random wolf or it could mean a supernatural being.

Aria goes on to explain to me that I am needed in Prophecy Cove to solve a mystery the council suspects to be supernatural. Many of the townspeople have gone missing, stolen away in the middle of the night.

"How am I supposed to find missing people?" I ask.

"Your gifts. I have never met a more gifted psychic. Use your gifts to track down the culprit behind these attacks." She says.

"What does the council suspect is happening to them? To the people?" I ask.

Aria smirks. "We have no clue. But we know that something important is happening here. It is up to you to get to the bottom of it." She says.

"Great. I'll start searching for anything creepy." I say as I take another look around. "Ah, there, found it."

"You will do fine. If you need me, you know how to contact me. I would say be careful, but I suspect trouble is around every corner here." Aria says. "Does it scare you."

I stare at her without blinking. The honest answer is that everything scares me so much that nothing scares me. I am standing in the middle of a graveyard wearing my favorite black leather jacket and all I can do is wonder if the mud will come off my boots.

Aria chuckles. "Of course, it doesn't. Take care of yourself, Parker. And be careful who you trust."

Before I can ask her to elaborate, she walks backwards into the thickening fog. She disappears into the fog, leaving me alone in the cemetery, or so I hope.

"That! Teaching me to do that would be helpful!" I shout into the darkness.

And suddenly, I am alone in the dark with my fancy coat.