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Melissa looked at her empty apartment. It's dingy dimly lit rooms held three years of memories. One ex-boyfriend, one cat and one fish. A dark brown carpet that had several food stains, a red wine stain that had led to an evening of sex that she regretted. 

"Ma'am?" 

She turned and looked at the slightly overweight moving company man. His blue polo shirt; which had a chocolate stain at the corner of his pocket. Stitched across the opposite side in bright red lettering was the name 'National Movers'. A company that moved anyone across the states except to Hawaii. She turned and looked at her apartment and then closed the door.

"I'm ready." She said with a sigh of resignation.

"You know ma'am. I know it's always hard moving but I'm sure wherever you are going will be a whole new adventure." He replied with a small smile. 

She returned his small smile with a sad one of her own before she walked down the hall and out to her car. Melissa's two door black Chevy was a car that she had personally picked to be her first. At the beginning it had a total of twenty thousand miles on it and now it was nearing one hundred thousand miles. On her bumper were a series of stickers. One that spelled out 'equality' in all the colors of the rainbow. Another was a pair of handcuffs with a riding crop going through them.

A different sticker near the bottom of the window was a white skull crying red tears. Melissa got into her vehicle and waited for the movers to close up their truck and lock everything tightly. She looked at herself in the rear view mirror and sighed. Her long brown hair was flipped to one side and her other side was shaved to a quarter inch in length. The dark purple eyeliner made her forest green eyes shine like an emerald in the sunlight.

Melissa wasn't overly tan by any measure, it wasn't for a lack of trying though. She could sit out in the sun most days and she would only get the slightest of tan. However she had learned to appreciate her pale skin and it meshed well with her way of life. Her black attire caused her already pale complexion to look that much more white. Her black shirt with a kawaii skull and crossbones bones on it matched the black pants with a skull stitched on each leg pocket.

Of all the 'classifications' of gothic that existed in the culture, she fancied the title of 'kawaii Goth' the most. Mainly because she enjoyed all things dark and mysterious with a flare of cuteness. The break lights of the moving van flashed and she put her car into drive and drove along behind them. As they drove out of town she looked at all the places she had been. The stores she had frequented, the parks she had enjoyed relaxing in and the trails she had walked through.

The only issue was that they all held the memory of him in them too. A sickening pain lanced through her chest forcing a lump in her throat. Melissa swallowed her sadness before it captured her full, then turned on some music and tried not to look out the window as they drove out of town. 

*****

"She will be here in two days." Said a woman in a long black robe. The flames of the fire that burned within the iron pit illuminated the cavernous rock around her. Though, even with the flames burning three feet high, her face remained hidden in the shadows of the hood. The six other robed figures around her remained silent and still. 

"How do we know that she has what it takes to become one of the eight?" Asked a different robed female.

"Because she does. I only ask that on the night of the new moon you meet her and see what she has to offer." 

The five other robed heads swiveled from side to side and looked at one another. No one spoke in agreement or disagreement. 

"In three days we shall meet again and see just what this woman has to offer. Until then." She said with a tone of finality.

The seven of them bowed and one by one they walked straight into the fire. The flames erupted into a pillar of light that shot up and catapulted them into the air illuminating the clouded sky above. After the first five had left, all that remained were two robed figures that stared at each other. They stood in silence for a long while, only the crackling of the wood broke up the vast silence.

Both robed members withdrew their hoods and the shifting light of the fire spread across their feminine features. 

"Haley. Why are you trying to upset the coven?" 

"Charlie, you know as well as I do that this coven was created with eight members and it will never be at full potential with only seven." 

Charlie grimaced and sighed. She wasn't an impatient woman, yet she had a known temper. Charlie's long blonde hair flowed behind her as she walked around the fire to stand in front of Haley. Both women were equal in height, their long black robes hid their bodily features. Haley's shoulder length brunette hair swayed in the night wind. It was on that wind that a strange energy drifted in.

Like smelling the change of a season or the thaw of winter, the shift of forces was at hand. 

"This coven has existed for nearly a century. It existed before the birth of this city." Charlie said. "I will see it stand tall and proud for another century more." 

"Then please don't fight me on this. You and I both know that the other five look to us for decisions. All I want is to get this coven to its original glory."

"As do I." Charlie agreed.

"Then help me. Stop pushing against me." Haley replied.

Another gust of wind carried the same strange energy causing them both to turn and looked out over the city. 

"It won't belong before they come." Charlie said.

"She will be here soon." Haley replied and stepped towards the fire.

The flames lapped and reached for her as if eager to take her into their burning embrace. Before she stepped into the fire she turned and looked back at Charlie who looked out over the city. Tension tight in her stance. Haley wanted to say something comforting or encouraging to her friendly rival but there was nothing she could say. She stepped into the fire and lifted away from the canyon as she was catapulted into the air.