Just so it doesn't confuse all of you.It's a bit rough, but cut me some slack, it was a sudden brain-blast I had a little while ago. Go ahead and tear it apart though, I don't get easily offended and don't mind critiqueing.
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Circle of Seasons
Book 1
Autumns Passing
The witch walked towards her, cool eyes flashing, dark hair whipping around her face. She was frighteningly beautiful, and a force to be reckoned with for sure. Ariella felt her heart beating frantically, her breathing fast. The woman with the ice in her power was chasing her, for reasons unknown to Ariella, though she had a few ideas.
Thinking back, to the day that started all of this, the running and confusion, she wondered if normal would ever be so simple…
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Walking down the side walk, a cool refreshing breeze in her face, Ariella Morakea felt a renewed sense of energy in her, a spring in her step that hadn’t been there before. The long day of school at Sherman High was over, and it was time to go home and relax, and maybe go for a walk through the woods to the lakeside.
It was about a thirty minute walk through the edge of town and down the small dirt road that led to their big brick home. It was almost exclusively their driveway, and all the locals called it Morakea road, though it was really Old Southern Trail Dr. It was almost 4:30 when she got home, the sun not yet into its decent towards the horizon, though in an hour it would be twilight.
She stomped through the front door with a sigh, and threw her backpack down, kicking her school shoes off. Tossing her auburn hair over her shoulder, she went into the kitchen for a snack. Their shiny stainless steel kitchen was spotless, kept that way by the family’s house keeper Mary, a plump, jolly little woman, with dark hair and bright blue eyes. She loved to clean and be around kids, hence what made her so perfect at their house for so many years now.
Grabbing some bread, and a can of tuna, plus the mayo from the fridge, she threw together a tuna sandwich and took a big bite. Catching her reflection on the reflective silver refrigerator, she stood their chewing and watching herself, taking her features in. Deep green eyes shown out from her tanned skin, a straight, almost Grecian nose, full lips, deep red without lipstick or anything on them, and a strong jaw. Dark auburn curtains of hair fell in gentle waves to her waist, and no matter how much she cut it, it always grew quickly right back down to her waist again.
Some people had called her beautiful, strikingly so. She called them fools, obsessed only with appearances. She didn’t want to be known for her beauty, she wanted to be known for who she was. A bookworm, and an artist, she loved to spend hours in her studio painting, a hobby her parents indulged with high spirits as long as she kept her grades up.
Suddenly, Mary came around the corner, a broom in her hand, blue eyes merry, humming a tune. “Evening miss!” she said to Ariella, dipping her head, and Ariella called out “Hello Mary!” as she disappeared around the other corner.
Lately Mary had been like that, polite, but distant, and strangely happy. She kept reminding her that her 16th birthday was tomorrow, and though Ariella dreaded it, Mary seemed excited. She walked over the calendar, looking at the date. Her birthday was on the official first day of autumn this year, and her mother had drawn little leaves and a swirl that was supposed to be wind around it.
Her lolly-gagging had cost her, and even though it was Friday, it was now too late to go out, the sun having set, and night had descended. Looking around, she noticed for the first time how quiet it was, no sound of her mother humming, or her father clearing his throat in his study around the corner. A white square caught her eye, pinned to the wall by the door; they had obviously thought she would see when she came in. She took it down and opened the stiff, fancy paper to find her mothers swirling writing.
Ariella Darling,
Your father and I have gone out for the night. I made you dinner, it’s in the microwave, just warm it up and it should be perfect! We will be back around one, Mary is there if you need anything, and help yourself to some ice cream when you are done with your dinner!
Love Always,
Mom and Dad
Ariella sighed. “Okay mom, whatever you say…” She marched obediently over to the microwave and pulled out a bowl of pot roast, the potatoes and meat slopping around in the broth.
“Thank you mom!” She loved pot roast.
She heated it up, watching the bowl twirl slowly through the yellow screen, her stomach growling. She pulled a soda out of the refrigerator and took a gulp, impatient for it to be done. Finally it beeped and she pulled the warm bowl out, the savory smells permeating the room. She grabbed a spoon and a fork, sprinkled some salt lightly over it and dug in, the rich broth covering her tongue.
She snarfed it down, unwilling to let it cool, too hungry to care. Hunger was the best sauce, she had been told, and when you hadn’t eaten anything since lunch it was definitely true.
Mary came around the corner once again, clearly on a mission to dust every surface of their big home.
“Hey Mary, where are Rose and Lyn?”
Her obnoxious little sisters, Roseanne and Carolyn, where usually chasing each other around right now trying to stay awake. They had early bed-times, something they despised, and it would seem they thought screaming and yelling and chasing each other was the best way to get Mom and Dad to let them stay up.
“Oh! They went to their little friend Solara’s house for the night, I think that’s why your parents went out, you know, for alone time and all!”
Mary kept moving, and was soon out of sight once again. Ariella sighed. A sudden idea flickered to mind, and grabbing a book, flash-light, and thick blanket, she called out to Mary,
“I’m going to the Haven, I won’t be too long!”
A muffled affirmative reached her ears, and she was out the door, her sandals squeaking slightly in the damp grass as she made her way towards the trees, following the bobbing orb from her flashlight.
The Haven was a sort of fort, if you could call it that. Her parents had built it for her a long time ago, and for a child’s playhouse, you couldn’t get much better. They had gone out one day, and let Ariella pick a tree, her favorite tree. She hadn’t known why they wanted her to do such a thing but, being young, she went along with it anyways.
The tree she had picked was her favorite, a big, very tall and thick oak. It had seemed to glow that Autumn day, its bright red leaves whispering quietly in the wind. Running up and hugging it, she had called out, “This one!”, and when she turned, her parents were smiling at it.
That had been the start of it. For three days, all she heard were boards being sawed, things cracking and motors running, and her curiosity had barely been contained. Mary had been set to work watching her, making sure she didn’t sneak off to go see what was happening. She had run rampant through the house, crying, screaming, pleading, trying her best to get to go see, but to no avail, Mary kept her in the house, and Ariella still considered it to be the longest three days of her life.
Then, her parents had come for her, and she had practically sprinted towards the place the noise had been coming from. She stopped before she reached her tree, what she saw stunned her. A bridge, with an arch over it, led the way across a ditch, a sign over head claiming it to be the Haven. Squeals of delight rang through the air as she found her tree, a small house sitting up high in its branches. A spiral staircase ran around the trunk, and she had climbed these quickly to find the inside.
Climbing those very stairs now, Ariella laughed, remembering that happy day. It was one of her brightest, happiest memories. She crawled inside the house, its pretty glass windows glistened luminously in the rising moonlight. A small lamp sat on a table and she flipped it on and flopped down in her cozy chair, wrapping up in her blanket.
Her bliss didn’t last long though, a migraine quickly came on, and she put her book down, trying not to focus on anything too long. The pain in her head seemed to spread down her back, down her legs, fire licking through her veins. This wasn’t an ordinary head-ache it would seem. A snuffling startled her, and though her body screamed against it, she shot up. There were bears in this forest, and wolves too. Quietly, she locked the little door into her Haven, and crawled back to her chair, holding perfectly still, barely breathing. The snuffling continued, the sound of claws scratching on the wood planks of the stair case. Her heart beat fast, the pain continued to flow through her body, and as a thump hit the bottom of the little house in the tree, she passed out.
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It's more engaging when you don't tell the reader stuff. They get to think they figured it out on their own. 
