Chapter 20: Chapter 20

Annette vanished. Taking with her the strands of hair. She left Xander all by himself. Xander kick started the car engine and drove off from where he had initially parked the car. His face held a contented smile, he had achieved everything he wanted. All that was left was the ceremony and he couldn't wait.

Meanwhile, Liam and Landon have been keeping a close watch on the rogue's movement and also waiting for Drake to come to show up as that was the usual spot where they meet and exchange massages.

Thankfully, Drake showed up after some time. Landon quickly relayed the message to him. Drake was surprised and he had questions to ask but he knew now wasn't the time. Standing any longer than a minute would leave the rogues in suspicion and they needed to avoid suspicion. Things were already difficult and not exactly going the way they had planned. Any kind of suspicion now would only make it worse. Drake quickly walked away from there and quietly sneaked back to the rogues camp. Even though he wanted to run over to the dungeon and relay the information to Skyler, He couldn't. He would have to wait until evening comes, when he will be taking over his duty at the underground dungeon to see Skyler.

Meanwhile, preparations were going on at the Mystic Shadow pack as regards to the handing over ceremony that would be taking place in two days. The news about Alpha Pius stepping down and that of Xander being the next Alpha had spread to all pack members and they had mixed feelings about it. Some were happy to get a new and young Alpha while some weren't, because Xander wasn't the rightful person to hold the title.

Xander arrived at the pack house, he highlighted from the car and made his way towards the pack house and walked to his father's office. Along the way he received slight bows and nods from pack members who were walking along the wide passage. Xander and his wolf were very pleased with the attention and respect they were getting from the park members. When he got Infront of the office door, Xander paused. He could hear faint whispers coming from inside the office which stopped immediately when they noticed someone was at the door. Xander turned open the door and walked inside the office. But to his surprise only his father was present in the office, which left him baffled as to what voices he had heard before opening the door.

"I thought you had company," said Xander with a narrowed gaze, sniffing the air for any lingering scent but there was none.

"No, that was Rolly and me," he waved. Rolly is his wolf. But Xander was unconvinced and he could see through the lie. His father was clearly talking to someone. Xander suspected that person to be a witch. Because only witches could teleport and hide away their scents.

"Who was this witch?" he questioned himself. He would never have thought his father had such secrets. Suddenly, Xander became worried as having another witch interfere with their pack could spoil a lot for him.

Xander took a seat opposite his father and started to help out in sorting the paperworks that needed to be sorted before the ceremony. All through sorting out the paperwork and arrangement of the office, Xander was able to snoop through every document and paperwork that was present in that office, except for one particular document that he couldn't find. The ownership deed that belonged to the Freelands. He had in particular come to help his father out just so he could lay hands on it but he failed unfortunately so he decided to test the water.

"Do you think this paperwork is safe here, I suggest you should put them away just like you did with the deed of ownership" said Xander, watching keenly on his father's reaction.

Alpha Pius gave it a quick thought before aggressing. He pointed to a portrait that was hanging on the left side of the wall and asked Xander to pull it. Xander walked to where the portrait was hanging, it was a portrait of his late mother. The Luna of the Mystic shadow pack. He snarled at the portrait of the smiling lady. He never had a good relationship with that woman who once called herself his mother. Xander pulled the portrait and a secret vault came into view, surprising him. Xander had lived all his life in the pack and had been in this particular office countless of times but never had he ever noticed the vault.

Maybe it was because he despised the person in the portrait that he never thought to look at. Alpha Pius came around and input the password and the vault made a clicking sound before it opened. Xander smiled as he set his eyes on the deed of ownership. He backed away to let his father place the paperwork inside the vault.

Having achieved what he came there for, Xander excused himself and left the office. Walking along the passage that led to his room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Annette collected the strands of hair from Xander she didn't teleport back to her place but instead she went in search of Clara who after leaving the school premises went to have some more fun with her friends in the park. Annette watched her from a distance and her fears were constantly on the rise. She saw in Clara what others are yet to see. She wasn't just a banshee but she was something else. Annette gritted her teeth as she watched Clara play around with her friends. Annette brought her hands in front of her, curling her fingers around the strands of hair. Giving Clara one last look before she teleported back to her house. Quickly she made her way to a slightly dark room that looked more like a cubicle. A small shelf stood in the corner and various transparent bottles which contained liquid potions of different colors sat on the shelf. In another corner stood a table and on top the table were bowls of different sizes and shapes alongside a clay pot.

Annette moved to stand in front of the table. She removed the black cloak that covered her face. Revealing her wrinkled face and saggy eyelids, her eyes hid deep into the sockets and dark circles surrounded them. Tiny scars and cuts were visible on her wrinkled face and her scanty almond brown hair had lost its shine. Mere looking at the witch's face one would think she's aged except for her fresh looking hands and straight fingers.

Practicing dark magic and drawing energy from dark sources has its downside. Apart from the physical distortion. It also darkens the heart. Dark magic had eaten deep into Annette core, draining away every ounce of good and physical beauty.

Annette set the strands of hair aside before picking a bowl and setting it on the table. She walked to the small shelf and collected five different bottles of liquids and she walked back to stand in front of the table. She poured a little amount of each potion, one after the order into the bowl and stirred until the liquid was thoroughly mixed. Annette placed her hands above the bowl, her lips moved in sync as she chanted spells and the bowl of liquids began to simmer. She picked a small dagger by the side of the bowl, bringing forward her left hand, Annette cut through her palm and her blood dripped into the bowl, changing the bluish liquid into a colorless one. Gradually, the simmer cooled off and the potion sat quietly inside the bowl.

A smile played on Annette's cracked lips. Her loose facial skin made it difficult to tell whether it was a smile or a sneer. Her eyes moved to the strands of hair she had kept on the side of the table and she reached her hands out to get, placing it inside her cloaked securly.

"The hair would definitely come in handy in the future" she muttered with her dark voice.

Annette emptied the bowl of liquid potion in a small bottle before leaving the cubicle with it. Annette had spent hours making the potion that when she walked out of the room, the whole place was already clouded by darkness. She came to stand at the entrance of her house and soon a raven flew over and landed on the front porch before transforming into a beautiful girl.

"High priestess," said Mira with a bow.

"Take this and feed it to the banshee" said Annette, handing the potion over to Mira who held a puzzled expression.

"But____".

"No buts Mira, just do as I say" said Annette with a slightly raised voice. Mira swallowed back her remaining words before she hesitantly collected the potion. Taking a few steps backwards, she transformed into a raven, flapping her wings before flying away.

Mira flapped her wings in the sky, letting the air take her to the intended location, soon Mira arrived at Clara's place. She made a stop and perched on Clara's window and fortunately the window was left unlocked and wide open, making it easier to see Clara as she lay on the bed, sleeping.

Mira flew into the room and landed on the ground, quickly shifting back into her human form. Clara staired in her sleep as if sensing something. She rolled in bed, rubbing her sleepy eyes and suddenly, she sat up, eyes wide awake as she stared at Mira who was standing by the foot of her bed in deep shock. She had planned to sneak in and out Clara's room without notice but it seems she thought wrong. Clara stared at her for a few more seconds before her eyes widened with surprise.

"Mi….. Mira "Clara called. Pulling the blanket off from her body any trying to leave the bed but she was quickly put back to sleep by Mira with a sleeping spell. Mira walked to stand Infront of the bed where Clara laid quickly in deep sleep. Pulling out the bottle that contained the colorless potion. Mira contemplated whether or not to feed it to Clara. Left with no choice, she brought the bottle toward Clara's lip and emptied the potion into her mouth. She retreated her hands and placed the empty bottle back in her cloak, ready to leave. But seeing how Clara was sleeping so soundly in the wrong position for her to pause in her steps. Clara properly positioned Clara on the bed and pulled the blanket over her. Mira ran her hand over Clara's silky black hair before sliding away her hands.

"You don't deserve this' ' she whispered to Clara before turning around and shifting back in the black bird and flying away. Mira felt guilty for everything. She blamed herself for telling Annette about Clara, thereby making life difficult for the young girl. Thought flooded her mind as she flew in the air. Her mind made up to carry out her plan even though it was going to cost her her life, at least she would be able to rest knowing she had paid off her debt.

After flying for more than thirty minutes, Mira landed, shifting into her human form before walking toward an old house. Standing in front of the door, Mira knocked on the door only twice and the door swung open.

The person stares aggressively at Mira with hands folded in front of her chest.

"You are not welcome here, leave" she spat.

"I know," said Mira. "And I wouldn't be here if I had nothing important to say"

But that didn't in any way reduce the aggressive stare Mira got from this person.

"Speak, you have two minutes before I throw you out." Said the person and Mira nodded.

"Felicia's daughter is alive and she is in Mystic falls as we speak" said Mira, but that person only hissed and tried to shut the door but Mira was quick to hold it off with a spell. The rest of the people present in the house all rushed out thinking a witch was trying to fight one of their own.

A woman with black silky hair similar to Clara came darting towards Mira in full force in an attempt to attack but Mira screamed above her voice.

"Stop!"

"I am telling the truth, Felicia's daughter is alive and she is in Mystic Falls as we speak" Mira repeated what she had said before. The only difference now is that she told it to more than one person.

"You must take us to be fools" yelled a woman among the group. '' Your high priestess killed our queen and her daughter" the woman added.

"No she didn't, Annette never found the child" said Mira and now the people's faces held different expressions most of it were disbelief.

"She stays at the human residence, south side of Mystic falls, you can go see for yourself" said Mira as she transformed into a raven.

"Annette knows about her too," she added. Her birdy voice was shaky with a cracking sound but the people present were able to hear her loud and clear.