Prologue


People die everyday, some from illness, and others just because it’s time. But what if it wasn’t time, what if they were meant for more? What if even though all the odds point to death, what if it never came? Could anything in this world or any other withstand death? Could this strength be there for a reason? I’ve never questioned death. It really is a simple thing, like I said before it just happens. But when I saw the strength that withstood death and all its fury, when I met the single child who held this odd and mysterious strength, I knew my life was cursed and blessed for the very reason of keeping this strength fighting. To take all my power and find a way to save this child, to find the cure. To save Hope, no matter the cost. And that’s what it took, all my strength and my life.

Chapter 1

Alli sat looking into the gray tombstone. Above the wind blew the fall leaves, shaking them from the trees to the ground. A crow breaks the long silence with its call; acknowledging my sadness. Alli ran her thin fingers over the name engraved in the stone. Star Light Roberts it read; a name of a witch; my name. Tears fell from Alli’s eyes, leaving dark splotches on the stone. One last tear rolled down her pale cheek; then she got up and walked through the graveyard, past the black iron gates, and into Jacob’s arms.

I knew that my life had served a purpose, but it pained me that I couldn’t reach out and tell Alli that. That I couldn’t even hold her and say it’s all right! But I knew that if I tried to hug her or whisper to her, she would only feel cold around her or chilly air on her ear. No, I was forced to see the pain of loss in her eyes, just like when I found her beside her father’s pale death ridden body seven months ago. But to understand any of this, I must tell my story from the beginning, five years ago.