FicWad

(Author notes. I know it has some errors I don't have a beta. It is still in the rough draft stage but I would love to know what people think. Any suggestions or comments are welcome)


The last day of school is always exciting, but for Alexandria Moore and her class, the excitement was doubled today, they were seniors and about to graduate. It was the last class of the day and every senior in the school was just hanging out, most of them were chattering excitedly about graduation. Alex was sitting by herself staring out the window when she noticed her teacher watching her intently. Mr. Warner had developed a strange habit of staring at her whenever he thought no one was looking. The first time Alex noticed this, she found it creepy but after awhile she just dismissed it as paranoia. There wasn't a student in the school who didn't think Mr. Warner was odd. He was good looking, tall with short brown hair and piercing green eyes, and only in his mid 30's. Yet he was still single and he was never even seen around women his own age. In fact he was never seen outside of the class room at all, it was almost as if he just disappeared after school hours. Mr. Warner never tried to talk to his students at all, everyday he just lectured and handed out assignments. Many students wondered why he even became a teacher in the first place, he didn't seem to enjoy his job at all. Alex had heard the rumors about the strange Mr. Warner but when she entered his class room on her first day she was surprised by his reaction to her. He just started at her, shocked with his mouth hanging open, and she swore she heard him whisper “It's her” but couldn't be sure. After that incident there was nothing but covert glances and Alex had convinced herself that he wasn't staring at her and it was just her wild imagination.

“Mr. Warner is staring at you again.” Her best friend River said as she plopped down in the desk next to her. “It's kind of creepy”

“I know right!” Alex replied. “I thought I was just being paranoid, but he really is staring at me and it's creeping me out. What do you think he wants?”

“Who knows, he's probably a pervert or something. Why else would he stare like that” River replied

“Thanks Riv, that makes me feel so much better”

“Oh, chill, today is the last day before we graduate, after today you never have to see him again”

“Yeah, I guess but it is still creepy”

“Whatever, so what are you doing for your graduation party?” River asked changing the subject.

“I don't know really, I haven't thought much about it. I am just glad this is all over with finally. I can't wait to start college in the fall”

“I know, I can't wait either, there better be a ton of hot guys there” She said with a wink. Alex laughed.

“I bet there will be. It'll be nice to have some variety too, I am sick of all the guys in this town.” Alex replied with a smile. Seconds later the bell rang and the normal rush for the door began.

“Alex, can I speak with you for a moment.” Mr. Warner said urgently, but his request went unheard, drowned out by the roar of excited students rushing for the exit.

In the hall several students were shouting in excitement, the seniors were especially happy because their high school education was officially over. Alex tried to avoid the stampede and went to clean out her locker thoroughly before heading home. She only lived a few blocks away from the high school so she decided to walk home today, to avoid the over eager students on the bus. Alex didn't mind the walk, in fact sometimes she love to walk by herself. It helped clear her mind whenever things got to be too much. As she walked she thought back on her high school education. There were some things she would miss, some of the teachers, being able to see her friends everyday and even the crappy lunch food. All in all though she was glad to be done with it, school was never her favorite place to be, there was too much drama. Alex knew that she could have graduated several years ago, she had an uncanny ability to remember absolutely everything, but she refused to skip ahead, wanting to be as normal as possible. Her parents had always told her that she was very special but for the longest time Alex just blew it off. Surely all parents said things like that about their children. As she grew she began to notice that some people treated her strangely though. School was always difficult for Alex, a lot of the other children were annoyed with her incredible memory and she had a hard time making friends. She couldn't hate it entirely though, if it wasn't for school she never would have met her best friend River. River was bold, outgoing and very intelligent herself so she was never bothered by Alex's perfect grades. Alex smiled to herself as she remembered the day they met almost 13 years ago.

It was the first day of kindergarten and Alex was feeling a little sad, she was shy by nature and hadn't made any friends in the class to play with. During recess she sat off in a corner playing quietly by herself until a little brown haired girl came up to her.

“Hi I'm River” She said smiling “you're Alexandria right?”

“Yeah, but you can call me Alex” She replied shyly

“OK Alex, let's play” River said.

They played dolls happily for a long time until Alex leaned forward to grab a dress for her doll. Her hair fell forward exposing her neck and River saw the strange sword-like shape on her neck.

“Whoa, that's a cool tattoo” River said loudly “It looks like a sword”

“What? Oh that's not a tattoo it's a birthmark” Alex replied shyly “My momma said I have it because I am special, but I am not supposed to show anyone”


River stared at her for a long time, Alex swore she could see the little gears turning in River's head until she finally spoke again.

“It's OK, I won't tell anyone, it can be our secret.” she whispered. “Let's be best friends.”

“OK” Alex replied, and from that day forward they were inseparable. They had both applied to and were accepted to the same colleges and had even signed up to be roommates so that they wouldn't drift apart now that their primary education was completed. Alex was incredibly excited about college she loved her parents like crazy, but couldn't wait to finally be on her own, college was going to be awesome. A muted thump and a muffled curse brought Alex out of her musing. She whirled around searching for the source of the sound, but there was no one in sight. She shook her head and continued her walk home. A small voice in the back of her mind told her that someone was following her so she picked up the pace eager to get home safely. She breathed a sigh of relief when she turned down the street that her house was on, knowing that she would be safe in a matter of moments. Alex still couldn't shake the horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach though, as she got closer to her house the feeling only escalated. She practically sprinted the rest of the way to her house, in a matter of minutes she was bursting through the front door. The house was eerily quiet which Alex found incredibly odd, normally her parents were bustling around, they always seemed to have something to do. She stepped farther into the house and set her book bag on the floor in the hallway.

“Mom, Dad” she called desperately. There was no answer, almost as if no one was home. Alex knew that something was wrong, the door had been left unlocked so she knew at least one of her parents had to be home. After a moment she decided to check their bedroom in case they were taking a nap, she knew it was unlikely, her parents didn't nap, but at the moment it was all she had. The door to her parents room was left wide open, with a deep breath Alex stepped through the doorway. A horrible stench hit her as soon as she walked into the room and her eyes took in the horrific scene before her, she knew this moment would be branded into her memory forever.

Her parents were sprawled across their bed in a bloody heap, each of them had numerous stab wounds in their chests. It seemed like it was the work of a sword or something but it was difficult to tell. Bruises were visible on both bodies as signs of their resistance. Their blood had spilled forth run dry from their bodies, it lay in pools on the bed and floor. Her father was missing an ear, along with his left foot, and right arm from the elbow down. He also had a wide gash across his neck. While her mother's head lay severed from her body. The head was still close to the body, her face was looking towards the door, eyes opened wide. Her parent's bodies seemed as if they had been specifically placed certain way. Almost like a ceremony or ritual. The sight was horrific to behold. Alex stood in the doorway frozen in shock. As soon as she could move she sprinted to the bathroom and threw up violently. Tears were streaming down her cheeks by the time she had emptied the contents of her stomach. She slid down the wall and started sobbing loudly, unable to control her shaking legs. It all seemed unreal, just this morning her parents had been alive and well and now all that was left of them was their exsanguinated and decapitated bodies. Alex couldn't understand why anyone do this,her parents were very friendly loving people, they had no enemies. This morning for example, Alex's mother Brenda was baking muffing for the local shelter.

Earlier that day

“Alex honey breakfast is ready” Brenda called as she set her daughters plate on the table.

“Thanks Mom” Alex replied as she sat down at the table, putting her book bag on the chair next to her. “Where's Dad?

“Oh he's next door, helping our neighbor fix her oven, you know how Mrs. Jones is, she never wants to call a repair man” Brenda replied laughing lightly

“Yeah, are those muffins for me?” Alex asked hopefully. She loved her mother's homemade muffins.

“No you silly girl, I am taking these down to the shelter, I am sure the less fortunate would enjoy a little treat”

“Oh” Alex said, her disappointment evident in her tone.

“Oh don't be that way Alexandria, that face is not attractive” Brenda scolded lightly. “I will make you some muffins when I get home. Oh, that reminds me, make sure you come home right after school today, no going over to the Valentines' house. Your father and I need to talk to you about something very important.”

“Yeah sure mom.” Alex replied, quickly finishing her breakfast. “I have to go now or I will be late, thanks again for breakfast” She kissed her mother on the cheek and hurried out the door.

Everything had been perfectly normal this morning, so why today of all days? The house was as immaculately clean as ever, there was no sign of rummaging and as far as Alex could tell nothing was missing, so it couldn't have been a robbery. She wracked her brain trying to think of a logical reason for this, everything was done way too strategically for it to have been a random act of violence. Suddenly it hit her, mother had said she wanted to tell her something important, maybe whoever murdered them, did it to keep them quiet. Suddenly Alex heard footsteps in the hallway, her heart began to race in fear. Who ever had killed her parents must have come back for her. She sat on the bathroom floor frozen and silent, trying to avoid detection.

“Oh no, it is worse than I thought” a familiar voice said sadly “I was too late.”

“ Mr. Warner?” Alex called out, confused.

She opened that bathroom door to reveal a very distraught looking high school teacher.

“What are you doing here? Were you the one who was following me home? Did you kill my parents?” Alex shrieked, getting louder with each question.

“Slow down Alexandria, I can only answer one question at a time. Come on let's go sit down on the couch” he said and he lead Alex to the living room . Once they were settled on the couch he continued. “First of all I came here to speak with you and your parents. We were supposed to talk to you today about your destiny, but it seems that I was to late.”

“Destiny? What are you talking about”

“ I will explain in a moment. I made an agreement with your parents once I figured out who you were. They agreed to tell you of your destiny as soon as you were finished with high school. I wanted to tell you sooner but they insisted that you finish school first. They did not want you to be distracted from your studies and they told me that you felt different from the other students already and they did not want to make it worse. To answer your second question, yes I was following you home. It is dangerous for you to be out by yourself, and I was assigned to protect you. And third I did not kill your parents, how could I when I was at the high school with you?”

“I'm sorry, I am a little freaked out by everything that is going on” Alex replied. It was silent for a moment but then she spoke again. “So my parents died because they were supposed to tell me something that someone else doesn't want me to know?” Mr. Warner nodded. “You know what they were supposed to tell me?”

“I do. This is all going to sound very strange to you but you must believe me. You are very special Alexandria. Even before you were born you were chosen to stop the reign of the evil lord Storm.”

“What in the world are you talking about?” Alex asked looking at Mr. Warner like he was crazy.

“Please just listen, I will explain everything, so don’t interrupt. 20 years ago the dark master Storm's seer predicted that there would be a child born with a sword shaped birthmark that would bring an end to his dark rule.” Alex gasped “He sent an assassin to kill your parents so that you would never be aware of your destiny, my sources tell me that there is one among his ranks who was assigned to keep a close eye on you. Their identity has not been revealed but you can't trust anyone. Who ever it is must be very good, they learned about the conversation your parents planned to have with you and got to them before they could talk to you.”

“How am I supposed to kill this Storm?”

“My mother happens to be a seer, she is not as powerful as the seer in Storm's castle but she has seen enough. She said that the chosen on will have a heightened mental capacity, a perfect memory, a shield to protect herself and telekinesis.” Mr. Warner explained.

“Well, I don't have any of those things. My memory is pretty good but I can't move things with my mind and I don't have a shield.”

“Of course you do, you just don't know how to use them yet. You have to come with me. I can take you to our secret base where you will be protected and trained.”

“Are you crazy? how do I know I can trust you?” Alex replied with a huff.

“Look you don't really have much of a choice, whoever killed your parents will be back soon for you. I can protect you if you come with me.”

Alex sighed, she knew that she had to go with Mr. Warner but what about her life here? What was she supposed to tell River?

River had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, something was wrong. She rushed over to Alex's house annoyed with the children on the bus. She was supposed to met up with Alex a half hour ago but her stupid rowdy classmates made her late. The bus was filled with loud unruly students, sticking body parts out the windows, throwing things and shouting about summer vacation. The fools had upset the bus driver so much he had to pull over until they all calmed down and promised to shut up. She finally reached the door and grew worried when she saw that it was left wide open, she cautiously looked through the door, but saw nothing.

"Alex, are you here?"River called out.

Alex looked up surprised to see her best friend standing in the doorway. With everything that had happened she had forgotten that River was supposed to come over. Alex frowned, she knew she looked horrible, her lips were red and swollen from purging the contents of her stomach and her eyes were red and puffy. River would be able to tell something was wrong.

"Yeah I'm in the living room" she replied.

River could automatically sense that something was wrong. She rushed into the living room to find her very best friend looking like a mess, and their teacher Mr. Warner comforting her.

"Alex, what is wrong? Is everything alright?" River asked with a concerned look on her face.
Alex couldn't stop the fresh tears that began streaming down her cheeks.

"Nothing is all right anymore, I got home and..." she couldn't finish, she just gestured to the hallway.

"Her parents were murdered, quite brutally" Mr. Warner explained.

River gasped, Alex's parents were murdered? She just couldn't believe it, who could do something so terrible? In truth River had her suspicions about who had done it but she couldn't be certain yet.

“Alex I am so sorry, is there anything that I can do?" River asked

She knelt down in front of Alex and gave her a big hug. Alex returned the hug, holding her best friend tight, River was the only part of her life that made any sense anymore.

"Mr. Warner says I have to leave now, he thinks whoever did this will be back for me."

River held her friend closely, she could feel that Alex was in a lot pain from this loss. She looked at Alex very seriously.

"I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise you that." She vowed

"Thank you, but I couldn't bear it if you were hurt too. You are all I have now. I think, maybe I should listen to him." Alex replied sadly, hating the thought of leaving her home. "It makes sense, this house can't be safe for us"

River looked hurt, she understood that Alex cared about her but she still hated the fact that Alex thought she had to leave in order to protect her.

"But what if something happens to you. What would I do without you? I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you" she pleaded with her friend.

"I know, but I have to go. Maybe you could come with us?" she said looking at Mr. Warner uncertainly.

"I am not sure that is such a good idea Alex" Mr. Warner replied. "we have to go into hiding, how do we know we can trust her?" Alex began to get angry, she was very loyal to her best friend.

"River is like my sister, she would never betray my trust. If she can't come with us I am not going!" Alex said defiantly.

"I can't believe that you would say that Mr. Warner." River replied , getting all teary eyed. "I would never hurt Alex or betray her trust. You can trust me. I won't say anything to anyone."

"Fine, she can come, it's not like you have given me much of a choice." Mr. Warner replied irritated. "I am sorry River it is nothing personal but Alex is very special and I need to be extra careful with her safety."

River nodded her understanding to Mr. Warner.

"Alex is very special to a lot people. I am sure a lot people would put her safety as a top priority. I know I would make sure she was safe above all else." River sad as she extended her hand to Alex. "Shall we get going now, Alex?"

"Yes, we do need to be going. The longer we stay here the more we are risking our lives." Mr. Warner said, as he looked around wearily. "River, Alex this might seem a little crazy to you both but I need you to stay clam. We need to travel quickly and without detection so I will need to call our dragon." He said as he ushered them out the door. Alex gasped and River looked at Mr. Warner curiously, a dragon? She knew that most dragons were extinct. The only dragon she had ever heard of was Shadowstorm and he belonged to Storm. Shadowstorm was practically a legend, he was fierce and strong and not exactly a well kept secret.

"I shall try my best Mr. Warner but I have never seen a dragon before." River said lying a bit, she thought it was best to feign ignorance given the situation.

"Do not fear, she is large but very gentle, she will not harm you." Mr. Warner replied, secretly thinking it was a bit strange there was no fear in Rivers reaction. "we must hurry." He told them as they headed for a nearby forest.

As soon as the reached a clearing in the thickly wooded area he closed his eyes and reached out with his mind to find Avira. Once he located her, he began to cast the summoning spell.

"Why are we just standing here?" Alex shouted frustrated. "You said we had to hurry and now we are just sitting here waiting."

"Shh" Mr. Warner replied "Avira will be here any moment."

A few seconds later they heard the beating of large wings and a large, graceful white dragon landed in front of them. Alex stepped back and gawked at the magnificent creature in front of them. She was very powerfully built, her scales were pure white and she had striking blue eyes. She was incredibly beautiful and scary looking all at the same time. Alex knew that she should be terrified but somehow she wasn't. The dragon gave off a calming aura and she knew on some deep level that she could trust the great white beast.

"Greetings little ones, I am Avira" Avira said in a soft melodic voice. Her mouth didn't move and yet somehow her voice rung out clearly in the small meadow.

River was stuck staring up at the dragon with her mouth hanging open. This just couldn't be, Shadowstorm was one of the few dragons still around these parts. This dragon was clearly different from him in every way. So how is it that no one knew of her existence?

"I never would have imagined that dragons actually existed. This is hard to believe." River stated with pure disbelief showing on her face."Avira, huh? Well, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Avira tilted her large head to get a better look at River. Her piercing blue eyes stared directly at her face

" The pleasure is all mine" She replied kindly "You look familiar young one, have we met before?" Avira asked. She could not place where she had seen this child before but she knew River looked vaguely familiar. River just stared up at the dragon getting slightly uneasy.

"I don't believe we have met before" River said certain she hadn't met the dragon before. Shadowstorm was the only dragon that she knew of. "But maybe I am one of those faces that just seem familiar” She gave an uneasy laugh as she rubbed her head sheepishly.

"Perhaps" Avira allowed."No matter, You must be Alexandria" She said turning to her new companion "I have waited a very long time to meet you"

"It is wonderful to meet you Avira.” Alex replied shyly as she reached out to stroke the dragons long neck. Avira hummed in contentment and leaned in to her new master's touch.

"I hate to put a rush on the introductions but we really must be going" Mr Warner said.

Avira kneeled down before them so that they all could climb on her back.

"Shall we?" River asked as she pointed at Avira's back.

"Of course, let's go"

Alex climbed up onto Avira's back and then stuck her hand out to help River up. When all three of them were settled securely on her back, Avira took off. Once they were airborne, she used her cloaking powers to be sure they were not seen. River sat quietly and observed, she wasn't really sure how she was feeling about all of this but she would stick it out for Alex.

"You must be terribly curious about me" Avira said breaking the silence, as they flew at top speed toward their secret encampment. "Since you both have grown up unaware of the existence of dragons. Sadly there are only a few of us left. My Twin brother Shadowstorm and I are the only ones in this half of the world. Unfortunately, though we are twins we are nothing alike, he has bonded with storm himself." Avira said sadly.

River listened with great interest. So Avira was Shadowstorm's sister. That explained a lot.

"It is hard to figure out where to begin. But you are right. I know nothing about dragons."

"Of course, feel free to ask me anything you wish." Avira replied.

"That is so sad," Alex said. "How do you cope with being mortal enemies with your own brother?"

"It is difficult," Avira replied. "As you know this world depends on balance, even the powers of us dragons must stay in balance, it is necessary and I must accept it."

"I don't think I could fight my own family. How can you accept that it all comes down to balance? I think I would try to work it out, but, maybe I am just getting emotional," River exclaimed. She couldn't picture having fight her own family so she didn't know what she would do about it. River didn't really have any siblings so it was hard for her to imagine.

"That is understandable little one" Avira replied "But I have been sworn to protect the balance of the world, it is my duty as a dragon. If the worlds power stays out of balance for too long the planet will self destruct and I cannot allow that to happen" She explained. " That and dragons don't get as emotional as people"

River thought about what Avira had said wondering if that was true. It might have been a ruse she thought. After all her father would have told her otherwise.

"I guess so, but I still don't like it. You shouldn't have to fight your brother." River was letting her emotions rise. She needed to stay calm so no slip ups would occur.

"It is nice that you care so much, but this is the way that it must be." They flew in silence for a while until Avira began to descend slowly near another small forest.

"What are we doing?" Alex asked puzzled. "There is nothing here but a bunch of trees" Avira laughed lightly.

"Things are not always as they seem my child" she said as she landed near a large tree.

Avira touched her nose to the trunk and suddenly the ground began to rumble. A huge hole opened up in the ground beside them with a staircase leading deep underground. River sat there and tried to calm herself down. She slowly began to relax as they neared their destination.

"This is well hidden. I never would have guessed there was anything here." River commented as they began to descend the staircase.

"Of course" Mr. Warner replied. " We take our security very seriously, these are dark times and we cannot afford to take any risks. Only the people who have actually seen our hideout would ever notice that tree's existence," He explained.

They walked in silence for several minuets until another loud rumble startled both Alex and River. They looked up just in time to see the ground close back up and they were immediately bathed in darkness. Avira let out a small puff of flame from her snout and suddenly the group could see again. There were several lanterns lining the walls and Avira had lit them all in an instant.

“Cool,” Alex said excitedly.

“That was nothing dear one,”Avira said proudly.

She puffed out her chest in pride, happy that she had impressed her new master. Mr. Warner just laughed at the silly dragon who was now strutting pridefully. Alex also noticed Avira's swagger and started giggling along with him. Their journey continued in silence and soon they reached a huge door. Mr. Warner pulled a small round amulet from around his neck and placed it in a slot in the middle of the door. After a moment the lock clicked and the door swung open to reveal the underground base.
*
A messenger came running into the study, only to find Storm staring out his window. Upon entering the room fully, Storm turned to the messenger. The messenger began to tell Storm about the happenings that had just taken place. The messenger had a worried look plastered on his face.

“My Lord, Alexandria Moore, has vanished from the village of Moonstar. She has been taken away by a member of the resistance. A middle aged man that was taxed with guarding the girl from your clutches. We know not where they are headed. Our only guess is that they mean to take her to their headquarters, to have her trained.” The messenger let this set in before continuing. “We have also been informed, by Fury, that a large, white, creature was seen in the vicinity of Moonstar, as the girl was fleeing. Fury believes it to be a dragon but has little support to prove that claim. That is all I have to report at the moment.” The messenger finished with a bow.

Storm was not happy with this news. She had managed to escape from his grasp somehow. Perhaps he did not give enough credit to the resistance. It seems they had chosen a worthy member to guard their precious “hero.” It was a bold move that paid off for the resistance. It was well played in fact as Storm thought about it some more. Storm eyed over the messenger carefully. He was of no real importance or consequence. He could easily be disposed of and no one would lift a finger to do anything. The messenger gave a frightened look at what he saw in his master's eyes. Storm summoned a lightning bolt from the tip of his finger, hitting the messenger square in the chest. The messenger flew back into the wall, shattering several bones in the process. The messenger drew his last few ragged breathes before he drew his last. Storm returned his gaze to his window after summoning someone to clean up this mess. They dragged the dead body from the study and dropped it over the castle walls. The wild animals would see to the disposing of the corpse.

So, Alex had fled from Moonstar, after her parents murder. Storm had made sure that everything was going according to plan. Alex was framed for her parents murder. All of this was meant to inflict the most pain upon the girl. Storm wondered how she would take all of this once she found out about what he had done. A scowl crept onto his face as continued to plan his next move against this threat. He had not planned on her escaping though. He was deep in thought when a small black stone glowed softly in the study. Storm knew who it was without even seeing the face reflected in the stone. It was one of the communication stones, that he used to keep in touch with his followers. The man in the stone spoke softly but to the point.

“My lord, I have an idea that you may be interested in. It involves the target we have been observing.” Storm nodded to the figure for him to continue with his explanation.

“Well, as you know the target has just fled from the town, with one of the local resistance members. However, someone else went with her aside from the target and the resistance member. River Valentine, accompanied the target in their desperate flight. It would be a simple task to have her blamed for kidnapping the Valentine girl as well as your other plan. What do you think of this plan?” The figure spoke with cunning.

Storm considered this option briefly. This would inflict more suffering upon the girl when she found out about what happened. He gave an approving nod to the man. He would allow this act to occur. He just wanted to make Alex Moore suffer as much as possible.

“Also, we have taken measures against the traitors that planned to reveal the target's destiny. Here is the account of what actions we had taken against the traitors. The man is missing an ear, part of an arm, and one of his feet. The woman was beheaded. Both were stabbed many times before taking their last breathe. The daughter will be framed for their murder.”

The man severed communication with Storm to begin the work of setting up the kidnapping of River Valentine. Storm let out a laugh as he sat in his study. He was going to make sure that Alex Moore would regret the day she was born. He would make sure that she would be unable to resist him. Everything was coming together nicely in his favor.

Storm had been informed him that the girl, Alexandria, fled with one of the resistance members in the town. He could not recall the name, but it mattered not. He also knew that this would not be enough to stop her from resisting him. He stared out through his wall sized window in his study. He was furious at this turn of events. He had killed the messenger and had him disposed of. Rose wouldn't be too happy but she would get over it. She was needed elsewhere after all. A soft growl escaped from his throat. He began to pace around the room. His hope of capturing the girl was dashed. He knew another opportunity would present itself in time. However, this would hinder his plans somewhat. The girl would receive training that would be used to defeat him. She would develop her powers, and learn to fight. More complications that Storm did not need right now. He cursed, silently at this turn of events. He would make them pay dearly for this slight done to him. No one wins against Storm, let alone foil his plans.

He wondered what his next move should be against the girl. He pulled out several books as several ideas came to him. He needed to think about all possible aspects of each idea that came to him. He had the girl framed for her parents murder. She was also going to be set up for kidnapping her best friend. He needed to come up with a fool proof plan to placate her. She could not be allowed to obtain the skills and power needed to destroy him.

He stumbled upon something he had not thought of yet in one of his books. He looked it over carefully. He knew that this is what he was searching for. A smile spread across his face. This would work in his favor. After all it would be hard to resist something as good as this. How he had not considered this before was unknown to him. He began to gather the needed elements to enact this plan into action. Alex Moore had better be ready for him. He was going to do this in person, opting out of using a lackey to do this job. This task was much too important to be left in the hands of someone less experienced.