A Blight on the Map.

~Justin~

I woke up as the light peered through the boarded up windows of the abandoned warehouse that I called my home. I grabbed my pocket knife from the ground, looking to see that it was still covered in the blood of yesterday. Pulling my hood up, I wiped off the blood on the old hoodie and set the knife in my pocket before walking over to the neighbors' house.

The old lady who lives there is blind and thinks that I am just a kid that lived on the block whose deadbeat mom couldn't afford the water bill. That used to be true, but I killed my mother three years ago; still, no one has found her rotting corpse that lay on the old, crusty, kitchen floor. I walked into the building, her little dog greeting me with barks and kisses.

"Who's there?" Mrs. Johnson called out from in the kitchen.

"Just me, Mrs. Johnson!" I called back in reply.

She walked out, feeling around her to make her path. She had her apron on and flour all over her, a chuckle escaped my throat and I helped her over to the couch.

"It is so nice to have you here again Justin!" She avoided the word 'see' a lot, "Are you hungry, dear? There should be some cookies on the table. Your favorite, peanut butter."

I smiled and picked one of the soft delicacies up off the plate.

"Thank you."

I took a small bite and savored the cookie. The last time I ever had a peanut butter cookie was before my gram died, she was the one who took care of me when I was younger. Grams was a nice woman, the perfect grandmother, she tucked me in with a song and a story. Had breakfast ready and smelling as good as ever when I came down the stairs, she always kept me well fed and feeling loved. When she died I had no one to protect me from my mother; the night after the funeral was the first time in years that I had felt the stinging touch of my mother's hand.

"Quit crying you little brat. She was a horrible woman anyways." She said.

I think that's when I started to really hate my mother, lose every thought of love for her that my grandmother put in my head. After finishing the cookie and helping Mrs. Johnson back into the kitchen and to cook, I went up the stairs to get a shower. I was wrapping up my scarred arm with a new bandage when I heard her scream, the sound of her dog bark and then stop. Alerted, I grabbed my knife and ran down the stairs to find Mrs. Johnson lying on the ground missing a shoulder, and only a leg was left of little poochy.

I rushed over cradling the woman in my arms, tears pouring out and anger filling me as I watched the giant metal contraption retreat in the sky. I ran after it, my legs moving on their own as I couldn't see through the blurry tears gathering in my eyes; if I can work through this neighborhood blindly at night, I could do it with tears in my eyes. I wasn't afraid of running into someone and them seeing me crying, who else could be alive?

My answer came when a red-headed girl with dark green eyes came into view ahead. She was sitting on the sidewalk in front of a house, staring off into the distance, with her arms wrapped around herself. She wasn't crying, though it looked as if she had been. I slowed down, nearing her slowly, as not to scare her. I noticed that she was dressed semi like me, black jeans with holes that aren't premade, a black hoodie; But the sleeves were rolled up, and just like my arms, hers were lined in self-hatred and anger.

"Hello?"

I called to her and was answered when she snapped her head my way. I noticed her from school. She always walked around with this blonde girl in the hallway, they didn't interact with others that much, or at least not in the years before I was expelled.

"Hello." her voice was small, she always was quiet.

Some people would pick on her and call her mute in class, she always kept a smile though. I never would've thought that she was battling the same battle I was...

"Are you the only other one who made it out of the attacks?"

I couldn't stop myself from saying it. This girl could've just lost her family! Well, I feel like a jerk... She nodded, standing up with her sleeves suddenly up and holding them under her nose. I think the last time I ever saw this girl doing that was in third grade when she was coming in from the playground. She had rosy pink cheeks, and her small hoodie on, that's sleeve was beginning to soak in blood.

"You okay?" I asked.

She nodded but the blood revealed itself on her jacket. I quickly reached for the tissues in my pocket, that Mrs. Johnson gave me for my runny nose in the winter, and handed one to her. She took it, getting a little pink as she pulled it up to her nose and tilted her head back the slightest, never taking her eyes off of me. She looked at me as if she was afraid, and every time I moved near her or handed her another tissue she flinched as if I was about to hit her.

We sat back down on the sidewalk in silence, and it just kinda stayed that way.

"How'd you escape?" I questioned her.

"I dodged when they threw that blue stuff and stayed quiet. Guess they thought I was dead." She responded, a little more relaxed. "How did you?"

I think that's the most I've ever heard her say...

"They never saw me. They were already leaving by the time I reached the stairs." She nodded.

We sat there, both grieving over the loved ones we lost. She kept a good foot of distance between us and tried to keep no physical contact. It was like a single brush of a person would kill her, she wouldn't even accept my help up off the sidewalk.

"Who exactly did you lose, if you don't mind me asking?"

She sniffled and replied, "I guess the one that had the most effect on me would be my best friend. I lost my father and brother too, but they never really cared about me anyway."

I knew that feeling. I patted her shoulder, it's something Mrs. Johnson would do to comfort me, but something weird happened to her. She froze, just for a second, before looking at me.

"I'm so sorry about your Grams."

That's when it hit me, she was a witch. They were pretty common nowadays, and the fact that she knew about my grams lowers down the type of witch to two. An Empath, or a newish clairvoyance witch. Either way, it means that I'm going to have to keep contact short, I don't want her to know about the whole "Midnight Slayer" thing, I don't want to scare her.

"Empath, or Clairvoyance?" I wanted to know which.

"Empath, I got my powers a little late. Sorry if I freaked you out, I'm still trying to get the hang of this."

I nodded. Empath's can see a person's past through their feelings if that person touches them willingly. They can also direct feelings onto other people if they touch another person.It's quite an interesting topic, actually. Empaths are very rare as they were the easiest to hunt, witch hunters just had to look for the people that seemed to be too kind, too sweet, or too caring/understanding. Empaths are also mostly known to be able to have more than just one power, many powers can be hidden within just this one type of witch. Some of the most powerful witches were actually Empaths.

~Aria~

Justin seemed to refrain from making contact with me after I told him, just like everyone else, except he didn't flinch or try to refrain from me touching him. Maybe there's something about him that he's hiding from me...?