I was 8 years old when my parents died and I was sent to live with my aunt. It scared me at first. See, my parents were devout Christians, but my Aunt, well, my parents called her a devil worshipper. It was a couple years after I moved in with my Aunt that I learned that my parents were not only wrong, but also ignorant. Aunt Anne never worshipped the devil, you, see, because there is no devil in the Craft. Now I could go on and on about what Paganism and Wicca really is, but that would take years to educate you on. So I will leave it at telling you this: the most important law of Wicca states simply “An ye harm none, do what you will.” See, harm none… nothing evil, nothing bad.

It never bothered me, or occurred to me that anything was strange about my aunt never coming out of her rooms during the day. Her housekeeper, Lily, was always there to see me off to school and to welcome me home, and once the sun went down, and my aunt woke up, I spent my evenings with her, talking and learning, until it was time for me to go to bed. It was in my junior year of high school, shortly before my 16th birthday, that I found out why my aunt was never up during the day. I was freaked, of course, what would you expect from one still so young? I had walked into her room one evening to tell her good night, like I did every night, and thought I heard her call to come in. When I opened the door I was greeted by a beautiful white wolf looking at me. I screamed, and Lily, who was coming to see me off to bed, only stood there saying “oh dear” in this saddened tone of voice. This was not a normal reaction, and I knew it. “What do you mean ‘oh dear?’ There’s a fucking wolf in the house, in my aunt’s room!” I shrieked at her. Like I said, I was freaked. “Call the police! Call the zoo! Call animal control! Call someone!”

“You will call no one, child” I heard my aunt say. Somehow I missed my aunt coming into the room. “But there’s a wolf in your room!” She raised an eyebrow at me, “Really? Where?” I looked around and it was gone. I freaked more. Lily looked at my aunt calmly and said she was going to go make some tea. My aunt looked at me and told me to sit. She told me a little about ghouls, and vampires, and their laws and rules. She gave me a choice: I could either prove myself to her by keeping my mouth shut or she could drain every drop of my blood. The look in her eyes told me that she would have no hesitations or problems with the second option, so of course, I kept my mouth shut. I asked her to teach me, and over the next couple years she did. I asked her one night why she didn’t embrace me that night. You want to know her answer? She said it would have been difficult for me to finish school if she had. I had to chuckle at that one. I did finish school, and went off to college.

The summer after my freshman year of college I went home for a visit. My aunt and I went out to dinner one evening shortly after she woke. As we were leaving the restaurant, I went to get the car while she paid the bill. I will never forget that evening. I walked around the building to the parking lot and there were a few guys there, one of them was breaking into my car. I yelled at them to stop and turned to go back to the restaurant for help. I remember hearing a loud bang, almost like the back fire of a car, only louder, and I remember my aunt’s scream. I remember the feel of the bullet as it ripped through me, entering my back and coming through my chest. I looked down to see the hole in my chest, and the blood running down my shirt. That is when the darkness engulfed me. I remember hearing my aunt begging me to drink, and tasting the blood on my lips. I have never seen the sun since. I drank, until she told me to stop. She helped me to the car and drove us home, and helped me to heal.

I spent the next 10 years with my aunt, now my Sire, learning more of the rules and laws of the kindred. I also learned of the true relationship between my aunt and my mother. But that is another story. She taught me many secrets before I left to wander and learn more. I have spent the last 10 years, since leaving my Sire, exploring the globe. I still have a lot to explore, but the last time I spoke to my Sire, she asked me to find out about a book for her... thus I find myself coming to the city of Magid, for this is where my Sire last heard it to be.