Huff. Huff. Huff.

A young girl moved at lightning speed through the pitch black forest where the eclipse of a moon barely gave her light. Her long, black brown tresses swiftly waved around in sync with her running as sweat poured down her neck, back, and everything in between. She felt like she was on fire, like someone had just threw a match at her old, worn out, lace-up boots and laughed cynically as they watched her burn in flames, dashing around the premises, in hopes of the fire dispersing. Dark purple eyes flashed across Natalia's mind, and suddenly, she woke up with a start. Her eyes flashed open and her muscles forced her to sit up so abruptly, her heart pounded like a drum being hit multiple times, repetitive and on key with every single hit of the stick to the drum.

Her ears echoed and she tilted her head to the side, knocking her palm against the left side of her head, trying to get the sounds out of her mind. Natalia glanced over at the clock- 7:30 am. Her arms floated up above her head, doing her daily stretch, one hand to the opposite elbow, stretching out the muscles near her shoulders. Throwing the sheets off, she yawned, sluggishly pulling herself out of bed. Approaching the tall body mirror with antique silver lining on the other side of the room in the left corner, near the window, her green eyes slid slowly over her not-so-perfect figure. The wavy, light brown tresses with blond highlights was in a rat's nest, and her eyes held dark circles underneath them- courtesy of staying up late to finish the rest of her history homework.

Natalia lazily trekked over towards her bathroom, stripped herself of the sky blue pajama short shorts with Rilakkuma all over them, and her sky blue spaghetti strapped tank top that came with the shorts- pajamas all in one when you shopped online at a Japanese fashion retail store. Pulling off her lacy pink panties, she walked over to the shower, turning it on to a lukewarm setting, then stepping inside, sighing in content as she felt the liquid beat down on her back like a waterfall. It'd be lovely if she could just stand there for hours, water bills not riding up, and the idea of not having to hear her brother or father shout for her to get out would be so wonderful.

After her morning shower, Natalia got ready for the day. She took a blow-dryer to her hair, put deodorant on, all the important aspects of a girl's life when "getting ready for the day" and later on. Pulling on a cute, modern, white vintage-styled dress and a jean jacket, she took one more glance at herself in the mirror, smiling and winking, then making a "bang" gesture with both of her index fingers and thumbs. She was totally ready for the day, especially for the date she and a boy were going to have- hence the reason why she woke up early on a Saturday morning, but didn't care about staying up late Friday night.

"Nat," her mother greeted, glancing up from wiping down the crumbs from Natalia's baby sister, Alexis' tray. "Good morning! Well, aren't you just dazzling?" Natalia gave her mother a tired smile, boots making a distinctive clunk as they hit the corkscrew staircase. "Hey, Mom," she spoke, voice chill and laid-back. "Something smells good. What's for breakfast?" Natalia's Father grinned, sitting in the open dining area, newspaper and coffee placed down on the white table. "Well, well, well. Look who decided to come out of the turtle shell this morning. Your mother cooked up some good old-style bacon and eggs with toast. There's a plate waiting for you near the stove, Natalia. Grab what you can." Natalia nodded, walking into the kitchen.

She used the large wooden spoon to scoop up some scrambled eggs- which took a little effort to get the desired portion she wanted- and used a regular silver fork to grab two pieces of bacon. There was bread in the toaster already, so she used her finger to push down the knob, and waiting for the toast to pop up. Her mother came around, a paper towel and wipe full of crumbs. Why couldn't she just do it her way? The scrubber used to clean dishes and surfaces always worked for Natalia- those crumbs stuck to the wet surface like glue. "I know what you're thinking, Nat. 'Why can't you just use the scrubber, mom? It works wonders for me!' Well, this is easier for me. So, who's the lucky guy?" she asked, teasing laced within her tone. Natalia scoffed. As if she didn't already know. Natalia had told her parents yesterday about Ren coming over to pick her up so they could go to the movies. She knew they had nothing going on- as her Mom planned in advance, which her Father completely condoned, and even helped out sometimes.

Natalia walked over towards the dining table, toast on plate, and silverware in right hand. She sat down, using her knife to slice a piece of butter off the block and smash it on her toast. "I'm looking forward to meeting this boy, Ren, of yours." Natalia glanced up. "He's wonderful, Dad. His flaws and strengths are what make him unique." She took a bite of her toast, butter smothered all over it. "He's charming, optimistic, polite. Strong and broad-minded. He really has a mind of his own." Natalia's father chuckled. "I'm sure he does. Now, before you go on your little date, how about coming down to the basement so we can practice some more occult magic?"

Natalia nodded as she shoved a large piece of egg into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. "Of course, and go over everything I learned yesterday." Natalia stated. "Ah, yes, your magic. It's definitely important to keep those screwed inside your head. I'll head down to the basement now and get everything ready. Don't keep me waiting, Nat," he teased, winking and giving her a big grin. Natalia rolled her eyes at her Father's gestures and went back to eating. Her mother came over, picking up her Father's plate. "So, how is your home schooling with your Father going? No one gets hurt, right?" Natalia sighed, standing up from a half "clean" plate and bringing it over to the sink, handing it off to her mother. "We're fine, Mom. No one gets hurt. It's completely safe." That was the sugar-coated truth. It was mostly safe, but there were times when her father would try to challenge her with something a little beyond her current level.

"You're still here- that's what matters most," Natalia's mother spoke, giving her oldest daughter a quick kiss on the forehead, then glancing up at Alexis' cry of joy. "Oh, god. Lexi is at it again." Natalia's gaze rested on her baby sister, smiling a little, making the blond-haired baby giggle and pound on the small, round plastic plate situated in front of her. Natalia smirked playfully. "Good luck, Mom." She walked over to her youngest sister, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. Alexis giggled at the gesture. "Be bad for mommy, okay Lexi?" she joked, running her hand over the girl's head before turning to head down the hallway on the other side of the living room. "Be safe, Nat," Natalia's mother muttered, picking up the small pieces of cracker that had fallen down on the ground. "As always," Natalia responded in silence from the hallway.

She opened the basement door with a special key, and entered, locking it from the inside. This place Natalia was about to go through- it wasn't accessible to anyone but her and her father. Not even her mother could enter because she was human. Natalia was special- she had demon blood her, even if it wasn't pure like her Father's. That was why she could slip past the spell cast on the basement door. Only she and her Father could see it and feel the deep essence from it- the clear coating that looked like white liquid from a demon's eyes.

"Natalia? Did you make it?" came her Father's voice from down below. Demons had adept hearing, meaning he could hear her from all the way up the basement steps. She smiled a little. "Here, Dad," she stated softly, beginning to walk down the steep, wooden steps of the basement. Her left hand held onto the edges of the railing built in, looking down at her feet to make sure she didn't trip. Not much light showed, except for the sconces evenly and perfectly spaced between every two portraits that showed the faces of Natalia's descendants from her Father's side. Once she reached the end of the pathway, she glanced over towards her left and right, admiring the area like she always did when she arrived for Occult and Magic classes. Windows had been shut, tacked down with pieces of wood to keep from anyone trying espionage. "Natalia made it. I was just finishing up this sorcery. You feel like you could use a breather, though. Sorry, I wasn't able to ask before. Your Mother was there. Did you have that dream again?"

Natalia smiled weakly. "Yeah... I don't know why. It was me, but I looked so... different. My hair was darker, my eyes were purple. I had this different personality..."

"What were you doing this time?"

"Running."

"Where?"

"Through a forest... The moon was out... I was sweating... Like, really sweating. My body felt on fire. There was an eclipse..."

"An eclipse?" Her Father's voice rose in slight surprise. "Yes... A joining of the sun and moon at one point..." Natalia stated, slightly confused by her Father's actions. Did an eclipse mean something important? What did it mean? She watched as he rushed over to the right side of the basement, approaching an antique treasure box in the center, decorated with handcrafted details. He pulled out something like a letter and some kind of jewelry- maybe a ring or necklace. It was hard to watch from where she was standing. Natalia moved closer, worried about her Father's sudden panic attack. "What's wrong?" she inquired, placing her hand lightly on his shoulder.

"She's here..."