Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume (16 page)

The girl who stood next to her had
long brown hair curling down her shoulders like ringlets. She had
almond shaped eyes almost oriental, cherub like rosy cheeks, and a
large smug courtesan like smile. She wore a dark blue blouse, and
long khaki pants with small black boots. She wore no jewelry save
for a pair of pink plastic star earrings.

"Um hi," Aradia said as the two
girls sauntered down the stairs to look at her with complete and
cold indifference.

For a while, they all stood
silently facing each other, Dax holding Aradia's hand.

Xan crossed his arms looking as
smug as ever, and the two girls standing as stiff as magazine
models.

Xan then put his arms around the
two girls and said, "Rai-Rai, meet Ginevra and
Domitilla."

"Don't call me Rai-Rai, my name is
Aradia!" Aradia snapped.

Xan looked offended and argued,
"But that's what Roy calls you."

"Yeah, and Roy is the only one who
can," Aradia stated firmly.

"Why?" Xan asked.

Aradia opened her mouth planning to
explain, but was immediately cut off by one of the
girls.

Ginevra said, "Aradia? Ah so you
are the skanky little redhead that has been shacking up with both
our brother and a werewolf huh?"

Aradia eyes grew wide with shock;
Dax slapped his hand against his forehead while the girls and Xan
just smirked. Luckily, the impending battle was stopped by Mr.
Dayton appearing and ushering them all into the dining
room.

Aradia just nibbled at her food for
a while until she looked over at Domitilla and asked, "Do you
really have to eat?"

"Excuse me?" Domitilla
said.

"Well I have read that vampires do
not need to eat is that true?" Aradia explained. She was also
hoping to God that she had not just given Domitilla a reason to
kill her.

Domitilla looked at Aradia amused
and asked, "Do you believe everything you read?"

"No, that's why I am asking you,"
Aradia replied smiling.

The others all stopped, and looked
at them silently. Domitilla said nothing for a few minutes while
Aradia waited patiently.

Until finally Domitilla chuckled
and said, "We do not need to eat but if we get enough blood then we
can consume food as regularly as anyone else. It helps boost our
energy a little bit but not as much as blood does. The only
downside is that because we are technically undead the food only
has half the taste"

"So the drinking blood thing is
true?" Aradia asked warily.

Domitilla cocked her head to the
side and said, "No. You think?"

Aradia just shrugged while Dax and
the others stayed silent except for Xan who chuckled, and smiled
softly.

"My God Dax," said Xan, "You sure
know how to pick 'em."

Aradia looked at him venomously and
growled, "And you sure as hell don't know how to keep your damn
mouth shut!"

"What is that supposed to mean?"
Xan asked her.

"Everybody now knows that I am the
last witch! Last time I checked the only people who knew were my
parents, Dax, your father, and you. Now of all sudden I cannot even
walk down the street without people pointing me out like a freaking
zoo exhibit. I might as well hang a sign around my neck identifying
me as the 'lastus witchus'!" Aradia snapped.

At least Xan had the decency look
uncomfortable.

"You can't prove anything," he told
her sounding unsure.

Aradia looked at him straight in
the eye and said, "You do realize of course in spite of you being a
vampire not only can I read your mind but I can search it too!
However, most importantly I can rip out of your mind your passwords
to access your email account, and Facebook to see exactly what you
posted! Therefore, as matter of fact Xan I can prove anything. Hell
at this point I can prove everything!"

Xan was already pale being a
vampire and all, but after hearing Aradia's words, he became even
paler.

His father looked at him accusingly
causing Xan to say quickly, "Would you excuse me please? Thank
you."

He then got up from his seat at the
dinner table, and walked off.

Ginevra looked at Aradia long and
hard and finally said, "I don't know about you guys," she trailed
off leaving the family hanging with suspense shortly. "But I like
her!"

The Dayton’s all laughed while
Aradia grinned as they finished their dinner with the ice between
them finally broken.

After dinner, Dax showed Aradia
around the house, the backyard, the TV room, the library, indoor
swimming pool, and tennis court. Aradia was amazed at how huge the
house was. However, with Dax hovering about her and specifically
pointing out the rooms Aradia was getting restless. She liked
wandering on her own seeing things at her own pace, and discovering
new places. When she was a kid, such habits would drive her mother
crazy with worry. In spite of Aradia growing up and learning
better, she could never cure herself of her habit of wandering off
alone so as soon as Dax turned his back, Aradia snuck
off.

On her own, she managed to find
Xan’s room, and resist the temptation to set fire to it. She also
found three entertainment rooms with pool tables, and video game
consoles in addition to a weight lifting gym. She had been amazed
at how beautiful everything had been.

What had truly surprised her,
however, was when she noticed that in all the bedrooms instead of
beds there were coffins! She had opened them to see dirt strewn
along the bottom. Dirt from their native land, Aradia had
concluded.

So far, Aradia had discovered how
many vampire stories was myth or fact such as the coffins and no
mirrors in the bathroom. In addition to no windows in any of the
rooms, black curtains covering the balconies, and mini fridges in
every room filled with red plastic bags that Aradia could only
guess what the contents were. Most of all she found in every
medicine cabinet thousands of bottles of suntan lotion. In spite of
finding all this, Aradia had to admit that it was all boring and
there was nothing intriguing in the house.

At least until she found a huge
white door on the deepest part of the house with a heavy padlock on
it. She did not know what she expected to find, but still wanting
to find out what was in the room. Aradia quickly unlocked the door
by using her powers, and slipped in. At first, she saw nothing, but
after feeling along the wall, she found a light switch.

Aradia's eyes adjusted to the
sudden change from dark to light. She looked around to see the room
she was standing in was an artist's studio. It had sculptures,
blank canvases, and an open closet full of smocks. There was also a
painter's easel, and dozens of finished magnificent works of art.
Aradia walked all around the studio, marveling at their beauty, and
staring in amazement. It was as she was passing a sculpture of a
unicorn rearing on its hind legs she saw a covered painting in the
back of the room.

Aradia wondered what was so strange
about a painting that the artist would want to hide it. Curious,
she edged towards it thinking that since she had come this far she
might as well go all the way. Aradia reached towards the sheet
covering the painting. At this point, Aradia wondered if Dax was
the artist and maybe the painting he was hiding was of her. This
made her more eager to rip off the sheet.

The first thing she saw as the
sheet fell gracefully onto the floor was blonde hair so she now
knew that it was not of her. However, what the painting was of was
a beautiful woman with long flowing wavy blonde hair, pale skin,
red lips, and she had a sharp defined but highly elegant pale white
face.

She was wearing a pale blue 16th
century England gown, walking by a river, wearing gloves,
accompanied by two greyhound dogs, and was smiling the most
charming sweetest smile Aradia had ever seen on any woman. I wonder
who this is, Aradia wondered. Her first thought was because the
painting had been covered that it must have been of an old
girlfriend. But whose? Aradia thought. She then remembered she was
not supposed to be in here, and decided to save the answer to that
question for another day.

Quickly she reached for the sheet
but then stopped when she heard a voice. "What are you doing in
here?"

She immediately recognized the
voice but tried to play dumb by saying, "Dax, is that
you?"

Dax groaned as strode over to
her.

Aradia held the sheet meekly in
front of her like a pathetic excuse for a shield, but Dax just
walked right past her to look at the painting.

"So what do you think?" he asked
her.

Aradia hesitated but finally she
said, "It depends."

Dax raised an eyebrow and asked,
"On what?"

"On you being the artist," Aradia
replied without missing a beat.

Dax chuckled and said, "Yeah I
am."

"Oh well then in that case the art
is amazing!" Aradia smiled brightly.

Dax shrugged, looking frustrated
and said, "I was talking about the painting,"

"Of the woman?" Aradia
asked.

"Yes," Dax replied.

"Oh then..." Aradia studied the
painting more closely and said, "I think she is
beautiful!"

"Oh really?" Dax asked while
laughing a little.

"Yeah, is she your girlfriend?"
Aradia asked.

Surprisingly, Dax became solemn and
grim looking at Aradia's question.

After a moment of awkward silence,
he replied "No."

"Oh well then who..." Aradia began
to ask.

Dax cut her off by explaining, "She
was my mother."

"What?" said Aradia?

She looked back at the painting
then at him, confused.

Finally, she asked, "But what about
Mrs. Dayton?"

"Oh, she is my foster mother," Dax
explained further to her.

"Oh," said Aradia nodding with
sudden understanding, but then her face grew puzzled again. "But
what about Mr. Dayton?"

"He is my foster
father."

Aradia nodded, but now she had even
more questions for Dax.

"So you are a foster kid?" asked
Aradia.

"Indeed," Dax nodded.

"Why?" Aradia asked
again.

Dax sighed, and Aradia started to
wonder if it had been a good idea asking Dax these questions. He
now seemed angry, and upset with her.

Finally Dax said, "My real mother
died years ago and my father in addition to the vampire who turned
me both abandoned me years ago."

Aradia gasped while Dax nodded
solemnly and said, "It had happened when I was barely over eighteen
years old. A vampire killed my mother and turned me because the
last thing she begged for was for the vampire to spare my life. In
a way he did but by turning me...he not only spited my mother but
me as well."

"How so?" Aradia asked.

"He did not kill me but made sure
that I could probably never die and be with my mother again in
heaven. In addition, by turning me into a creature like the one who
killed my mother...well what do you think he meant by doing
that?"

"Oh my god," Aradia said
softly.

"Yeah well that was the past so..."
He trailed off and looked at the painting once again.

For a while, the two of them just
stood in silence looking at Dax's mother portrait until finally
Aradia remarked once again, "She’s so beautiful."

"Yeah she was, wasn't she?" Dax
agreed softly.

"Was this painted when she was
still alive?" Aradia asked.

Dax shook his head and said, "No I
painted this from memory."

Aradia said nothing after
that.

After a few minutes of silent
scrutiny she then said, "You miss her don't you?"

Dax looked up at her looking
stunned, and Aradia wondered if she had pushed him too far this
time.

However, Dax just looked at her
silently.

Finally, he said,
"Sometimes."

Aradia sighed, relieved that she
had not hurt Dax's feelings.

"It must be tough living forever
and never being able to see her. It must really rip your heart out
knowing that you will probably never see her again even though she
meant so much to you." Aradia had not meant to sound so brash. She
covered her mouth as if that would help her to forget the cruel
words that had come from it.

Dax, however, laughed. "You know
what I like about you Aradia?"

"Certainly not for the way I talk
that is for sure," Aradia, muttered.

Dax laughed and said, "No it's
because of your honesty."

"You say honesty I say rudeness,"
Aradia quipped.

He laughed again, and the two of
them turned to look at each other.

"Why are you telling me this?"
Aradia finally asked. "About your mother and all?"