Kennedy Rosabella was fifteen years old; she was short for her age and very skinny. She had a long mane of dark brown hair that went to the middle of her back. She never wore anything fancy, usually just a t-shirt, jeans, and a sweatshirt. But the thing that really mattered about Kennedy was that she was a wizard. That fact was what made her have a bedroom in the basement, what kept her inside most daylight hours, was the thing that made her tremble at every knock on the door. You see, Kennedy was considered a mistake, an accident. She was born with powers, magic, and that was forbidden. If the police found her she would be killed or taken to a lab to become a human lab rat. Thankfully, her family lived in the country so there was a much smaller chance of getting caught.

Kennedy was sitting in her favorite chair examining her already memorized bedroom. The large, simple bed in the middle, the old love seat in the corner, her desk against the wall opposite the love seat. The walls were very bare, with only the ancient clock her great aunt gave her above the door. Then she heard a rap on the door and nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Time for dinner,” said her father, gruffly. Kennedy's mother had died giving birth to her and Kennedy's father had never forgiven Kennedy for that. The only thing that kept her father from leaving her on the streets was her loving brother, Eric.

“Thank you, Father,” Kennedy smiled.

He grunted, then stumbled up the stairs muttering something about inconvenience.




Kennedy, after eating a few bites, pushed the rest of the food methodically around her plate. Then she looked out the window and the dark road that led to the back of their land seemed to be calling her name. She rose from her seat, took her plate to the sink, then turned to her brother.

“I am going for a walk.”

“Okay, but keep a sharp eye,” he warned.

Kennedy loved walking at night, the soft breeze with a hint of Jasmine, the bright full moon, the hoot of the owl. Then a sharp snap of twigs brought her back from her poetic world. The strong sense of magic hit her like a brick wall; there were wizards very near. She heard a soft whisper coming from the trees.

“Levi, do you sense that magic? The sizard must live close by.”

Thoughts ran through Kennedy's head. Wizards were looking for her—were they good or bad, should she run or stay, should she hide or come out . . .

“We have to hurry and get the wizard out before the hunters get here.”

That answered most of her questions. They were running, too, and they were trying to help her.

“You know, if you're trying to get past the hunters, it would probably be best to at least be able to get past me. You'll have to practice,” Kennedy said sarcastically.

One of the boys, with eyes wide, shouted something that sounded like, “Gagashaaahh!” The other, who looked older, turned to her and said,

“Girl! You 'bout gave me a heart attack!”

There were only two boys, one about seventeen, the other probably her age. She found out that the older wizard's name was Levi and the other's was Seth. Levi was tall with Blonde hair and blue eyes. Seth was shorter with slightly curly, dark brown hair and matching brown eyes.

“My name is Kennedy, but you can call me Ken. Now, what did you say about the hunters? How did you find out they were coming here?”

“We have spies within that organization and they had heard some whispers that there might be a wizard close to here, so we came to get you before they get here,” explained Levi.

“Yeah, so we really need to go,” whispered Seth

“Okay, let me grab some stuff and tell my brother. Then we can go.”




Kennedy snuck upstairs and to her brother's bedroom door. She tapped lightly on the door and slipped in. Her brother paused his music and put his rather large headphones around his neck.

“What's up?” he questioned.

“Eric, I have to leave!”

“What?! Why?!”

With that she explained the entire situation with as few words as possible.


“I'm sorry, I wish I could stay, but what is safest now is for me to leave.”

“I'll go with you . . .”

“No, Dad needs you here, he won't even notice I'm gone.”

Eric put his arms around Kennedy and pulled her close. “You know that's not true, he loves you . . . in his own way.” A tear trickled down his face and onto Kennedy's shoulder, “I love you, too. You be safe now, ya hear? And you better come back!” He smiled a watery smile.

She kissed him on the cheek and, with bag in hand, started towards the door. Then she turned and said one last thing, “Cover my tracks,” then walked out the door.

Levi was in the driver's seat of a beat up, probably stolen, car. Kennedy jogged to the car and jumped into the back seat. Seth was sitting right beside her and saw the tears running down her face. He put his arm around her and let her cry into his shoulder. As they drove away she got one last look at her house, and she knew she would probably never see it again.

When Kennedy woke the next morning she felt horrible. Her eyes felt like they were swollen and her back and neck were sore from sleeping in an awkward position. She sat up and realized that she had fallen asleep on Seth and what had woken her was his snoring. She giggled.

“How are you feeling?” asked Levi.

“Just peachy,” she said dryly.

“Sorry, sleeping in the car usually isn't comfortable.”

“No, it's okay. What about you? You didn't sleep at all!”

“It's called coffee,” he laughed.

“Oooh! Can I have some?”

“Yeah, and there should be a package of donuts under your seat.” He passed back another cup of coffee.

“Where are we going?” she asked with her mouth half full of donuts.

“To headquarters in D. C.”

Kennedy half-choked on her donut. “What! In D. C.? Isn't the hunters' headquarters there, too?”

“The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm. Plus, we can easily get spies in there.”

“You're insane!”

“Proud of it!”

Kennedy realized that she was still tired and laid back down to get some more sleep.


When Kennedy's father, David, woke the next morning he sensed that something was wrong, then, he realized that it was the smell, burnt bacon. Burnt? Kennedy never burnt anything, she was a good a cook as her mother had been. David trudged down the stairs and was surprised to see Eric cooking. That is why it was burning.
“Sorry, but your not much of a cook. Where is Kennedy?” asked David.

“Gone she left last night. The police are visiting here sometime today so she had to leave.”

“Why wasn't I told?”

“She thought you wouldn't care, and frankly neither did I”
“Start Packing!”
“What? Why?!”
“First of all, I am getting my baby girl back, second, when the police find out a wizard was here they will burn this place to the ground.... with us inside”



“Oh, crud!”

Both Kennedy and Seth woke with a start. The car lurched, then sputtered to a stop. “We'll have to take a train the rest of the way,” muttered Levi.

“Isn't that dangerous?” asked Kennedy

“Yes.”

Levi had just enough money to get them all one-way tickets, then they scrambled on to the dart train just in time. They had no trouble the entire train ride and Levi was beginning to think that luck was with them, until they got off the train. There were three police cars outside the station.

“What if they found us?” asked Seth.

“There isno way they could possible find us so fast!” whispered Levi.

“So we try to slip past them without suspicion?”

“Yeah.”

The threesome put on their best act as they walked past the police and they got past just fine. Levi then led them down an almost invisible alley, he whispered a spell, the wall turned to jello and they walked right through. What they didn't notice was a pair of eyes peeking around the corner.





The next day Kennedy woke with a strange sense of danger, then Seth walked through the door. The look on his face was enough to send fear rippling down her spine, but what he said next was utterly terrifying, “They found us.”

“No!”

“Yes, It turns out the police at the train station were following us. That's how we got past them so easily, they wanted to find our hideout. They are coming with an army. We have to fight!”

The wizards had been trying to launch an attack, so they were well-equipped, but they never expected the battle to come to them. Everything was prepared, everyone in place, then everything came undone. The door exploded and the battle began. Guns went off everywhere, most bouncing off shields. Spells were flying. Screaming, crying, running, everything was in chaos. Kennedy saw Levi leading a group of about twenty wizards out of a secret passage to attack the left flank of the garrison.

The humans were not altogether over-powered, they had an energy absorbing gun that, if hit, would absorb all power and knock the wizard out. A lot of the wizards in front got hit by those. The hunters seemed to be gaining ground, but then Levi charged from behind and in that confusion a bullet grazed Kennedy's temple and everything went black.

When she woke again, she only vaguely remembered Seth carrying her to a car and she remembered seeing the mangled bodies of hunters and wizards alike.

“Seth?”

She opened her eyes to see a very happy Seth grinning.

“We won?”

“Oh, yeah! We whooped 'em good! Of course, this means war.”

“Yes, but it will be worth it when we win our freedom.”

Seth's brown eyes stared into hers. Then he wound his fingers between hers.

“As long as you're with me, I will be happy.”

As he leaned in to kiss her, Levi burst through the door. “Um . . . er . . . sorry, but duty calls!”

“Well, duty can hold it's horses for a few seconds,” retorted Kennedy.

He kissed her, then grinned and asked, “Ready to kick some hunter behind?!”

“Wizard freedom is just over the horizon!”

Levi grinned, “Let's get this show on the road!”


When Kennedy, Levi,Seth and some other wizards got back from a supply raid the first thing Kennedy saw was the familiar face of her brother.
“Eric!!” Kennedy ran into the arms of her brother, “How did you get here? How did you find us?”
“We found you with much difficulty, you are rather hard to track these days! Father was...”
“Father is here?” her smile faded.
“He has changed.”
'We'll see.”
Then Seth walked around the corner.
“Seth! Come meet my brother! Seth this is my brother Eric, Eric this is Seth...”
“Her boyfriend.” Seth finished
Eric's eyebrows rose a mile.
“Boyfriend eh? Do I need to give him a little talk?” Eric asked playfully, his fist rising.
Kennedy slapped Eric's fist away.
“Now you two be nice!” she turned serious again, “I have to go speak to father,” she said.
“I'll give Eric the grand tour, I am sure he hasn't seen everything yet.”suggested Seth.
“Thanks” she whispered.
“Good Luck,” he whispered in her ear. Seth kissed her on the cheek then led Eric to the kitchen to start the tour.
Kennedy found the room that her father was staying in and gently rapped on the door.
“Come in”
She hesitated by the handle then walked in. The look on her father's face was filled with pain and regret. David awkwardly pulled his daughter into his arms,
“I am so sorry,” he whispered, “I have been angry and have been taking it out on you. I never really blamed your mother's death on you, truthfully, I blame it on myself.”
The only response Kennedy had were tears of joy, she had everything, a loving brother and father, good friends, a home, and Seth. She knew that as the war raged there would be more sorrow, but as of right then she was completely happy.