Chapter 1
Prologue
It was late, but she had to come. She needed to come. The whispers had become more persistent. Whispers of a mansion and a baby. She did not know what it meant, until earlier today. She had gone to the store and as she headed to her car to go home, she heard a faint whisper. “Evans.”
Evans. The name of the other founding family. A family that had escaped the Salem witch trials with her ancestors, the Bennetts. The matriarch of the family had been a dear friend of her many greats grandmother, Emily.
The pair were very powerful. But, when the rest of the founders had figured out about the supernatural, they had fled. And Sheila could understand why. After Emily and some of their friends had died, there had been nothing left. So they had vanished.But, every ten years or so, someone returned to look after the place.
And if these whispers were true, then one of the Evans was coming back. Permanently. A baby, though.
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Now, hours later, she was at the mansion. She had been waiting for almost an hour before there was a bright flash of light and a small pop. She had to cover her eyes as the light was blinding. She moved when she heard a baby crying.
She saw a baby that could be at least a year old, crying on one of the steps of the mansion. She hurried to grab the baby.
“Shh, little one.” Sheila cooed. He was a beautiful baby. She felt a deep sorrow for the parents. Why were they not with him?
The toddler had eventually calmed down enough to fall asleep. When he did, Sheila got a good look at him. He was a bit small and had dark, unruly hair. She could see that he was holding something. A necklace, judging by the chain.
She adjusted the toddler before taking ahold of the chain. She let out a gasp once she pried the stone away from the small fingers.
It was an emerald. She had heard rumors about this necklace. Patricia, the Evans matriarch, was a very powerful witch. In the Journal, passed down in the Bennetts, it was told that Patricia had transferred some of her powers into the amulet. It was also a talisman to protect the next witch in the family. The Bennetts had one, but it was lost years ago.
This young one, had to be destined for something bigger if the Emerald led him here.
“I wonder what your name is?” Sheila muttered softly to herself.
She felt a cool breeze. “Hadrian.”
She smiled. “Well, Hadrian Evans. Welcome to Mystic Falls.”