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Chapter 1A
Title: “An Extraordinary Girl” Chapter 1A
Author: auntiewrites
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: none
Summary: A happy family, a happy home, warmth and safety, until it is all shattered by the touch of a distant, malevolent hand.
Warning: No actual dogs were harmed in the writing of this chapter, and all fictional dogs were stunt dogs who were taken to Petsmart and treated to cups of Frosty Paws with Milkbones toppings, and then taken for a day to the dogspa for doggy massages.
Words: 4.668
Disclaimer: This is a work of original fiction, so please do not take, or use without permission!
A/N: Finally, this is starting to flow. I hope it is readable!






James Ryan sat in his care for a moment to appreciate the view. The large, two story farmhouse sprawled among the oaks on top of a hill overlooking the San Gabriel river valley. His favorite parts were the wide deep porches that wrapped around the entire bottom story, the tower rooms on each corner, and the little cupola in the middle. A little balcony surrounded the cupola, and a telescope mounted on a tripod could be seen on one corner. James sighed, catching the faint shimmer of the warding that surrounded the property from the corner of his eye. He’d set those wards himself, though he’d gotten advice from his grandmother beforehand. The ancient volcano that had once formed the valleys and hills of this area was long asleep, but there was enough elemental fire magic left for him to use effectively to protect his little family, making the house invisible to hostile eyes. A hot wind rose and swept down the hills, stirring the drying grasses and swirling invisible fingers among the blades. He smiled and put the car back into gear, driving the rest of the way up the hill, already tingling with anticipation. The sound of his car’s engine was greeted with much noisy barking from two Labrador Retrievers, and one small dog of indeterminate breed that came bounding out, followed by a small body topped with a cap of strawberry curls. “DaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddy!!!” cried a little voice.

James parked his car rather soon than he expected and leaped out just in time to snatch the child up and swing her around. “Oh, there’s my little Button!”

“You’re home! You’re home!” Little arms wound tight around his neck and he felt her nose press against his skin, heard her inhaling deep as she hugged him hard.

“Yes, I’m home!” He rubbed her face with a bristly cheek, making her giggle and squirm away. “Where is everybody?”

“In the kitchen.” She wriggled until he put her down and she grabbed his hand, pulling him eagerly. “Come on! Come on, Daddy! We havin’ Tex-Mex!”

“Tex-Mex? Well, what are we waiting for?” He began to play run ahead of her before scooping her up in his arms. “Hurry up, Button! I can taste those tacos already!”

“Daddy!” she giggled, protesting, but she didn’t try to get down that hard this time. He swung her around and ran jouncingly into the house, his little daughter whooping happily, waving her arms as they went. They burst into the coolness of the house, where the rich, spicy smells emanating from the kitchen told James the location of the rest of his family.

“Hellooooo, family!” he shouted.

“Dad!” he heard his eldest son shout, and then his younger son was blasting out of the kitchen, leaping up to catch his father around the shoulders and squishing his sister in the process. She didn’t seem to mind, giggling again and turning to look at her brother with merry eyes. He laughed back at her over their father’s shoulder, then looked up at James.

“Dad, come on! We’re waiting for you and I’m starving!”

“Here,” and he waited as the boy slid down. “Take your sister while I say hello to your mother.”

Grinning, the boy took his sister, shifting her to one hip as he watched the tall man hurry into the kitchen.

“Pip?” said the little girl, putting her hands on her brother’s cheeks to make sure she had his full attention.

“Yeah, Button?”

“Daddy’s silly, huh?”

Pip grinned. “He sure is!” He carried her into the kitchen that was the heart of their home, jostling her in a friendly way, and making her shriek with laughter.

Their oldest brother popped up. “Where’s Ry? Why’s she… oh, you have her, Pip. I shoulda known.” Rob grinned and rolled his eyes over at their parents. “Dad’s still saying hello.”

They looked over at their parents. Standing by the counter, they had their arms around each other’s waists, foreheads pressed together and eyes closed, seeming for all the world to be just quietly enjoying each other’s presence. But the kids knew better, and Pip was already handing his sister over to Rob when James opened his eyes and said, “Pip, what’s this I hear about you putting a rubber snake in Ry’s bed before her nap?”

“It wasn’t a real snake, Dad,” said Pip stiffly. “I wasn’t trying to hurt her!”

“No, but you frightened her, and that got her excited, and she wouldn’t go to sleep. Your mother missed two hours of work on her research project because of your little stunt.”

Pip dropped his head. He hadn’t thought of it that way. He just thought Mom was being… well…girly or something. But to make her miss valuable work time on her research? “I’m really sorry, Mom.” His contrition was very real this time.

Vivi looked over at her son and reached over to ruffle his pale blond hair. “As long as you understand why I was upset,” she said quietly. “I don’t get angry for no reason, Philip. It’s not just me that suffers if I can’t finish my research.”

Pip nodded. He understood.

All of a sudden, Vivi cried out in dismay. “Robert James Ryan, you are not giving that baby a jalapeno pepper to eat, are you??” The last two words came out in withering Mother-Tones.

“Mom!” Rob looked hurt as he held up a green slice like the one he’d given his little sister, who was munching at it happily as she sat on his hip. “It’s bell pepper!”

Vivi subsided, sighing and shaking her head before turning back to the cheese she was grating. “Well, thanks to my helpers, dinner is just about ready.”

Gathered around the big table, James watched his little family and sighed. If only all their problems could be solved so easily. The foreboding that had been building since early afternoon pressed on his nerves, making him rub the back of his neck irritably, and he wished sincerely that he knew why. He looked at his daughter, laughing as Pip’s taco crumbled to pieces when he bit into it.

“James?”

His head jerked around as he looked at his wife.

“Bad day at work?”

Of course, she knew he’d had a good day. He had told her so when he’d said, “Hello.” She was just reminding him that others needed his attention. “No, it was actually a pretty good day.”

“Did your project go through, Dad?” Rob looked eager.

As James filled his space-mad son in on his new project, he watched them all, watched his wife tousle Pip’s hair affectionately, saw his daughter sneak a bit of taco meat under the table to the dog that had somehow managed to steal into the kitchen and was now happily ensconced among their feet. It made him feel almost normal, made him feel a warmth spread through him, a warmth that meant happiness and contentment. Except a small voice from the back of his mind whispered, It’s not going to last. It’s not going to last at all!!

He smiled at his son, and did his best to vanish the little voice, and the little tingle of prescience that followed it. He would enjoy the now, and forcing his thoughts firmly away from the tingle, he laughed when the dog, unable to remain under the table, popped out and demanded his share of the tacos with a booming bark. Chaos, and happiness, ensued.






“Honey, have you seen the baby?”

He looked up from the schematic he’d been frowning over, pushing back from the computer chair to look up at his wife. “Hmmmmm?”

“The baby. Have you seen her?”

He paused, feeling his brain shift from work matters to family matters in an instant. “Last time I saw Ry, she was with Pip, playing with the dogs outside. On… the front porch, I think. She even got old Blue out to play.” He thought about it, making himself remember the peripheral noises that had been coming from outside, noises that had stopped some time ago, he suddenly realized. “Yeah, definitely the front porch. Why?”

Somehow, the look on Vivi’s face was anything but reassuring. “I found Pip sound asleep on the porch, and I can’t find Ry anywhere!”

James stood up, the unease he’d been fighting for two days now surging back to torment him again. It had grown stronger when he woke up that morning, and heeding the warning, he’d arranged to work from home for a few days. He’d checked and strengthened the protective wards around the house and property, made sure the boys knew to stay close to the house and watch their little sister. “Calm down, honey,” he began, but Vivi caught his arm, staring up at him urgently.

“I can’t feel her, James!” she said, as close to tears as he’d ever seen her. “I can’t feel her at all!”

A jolt of fear shot through his heart, and he pushed past her to run up the stairs to his last hope. “Nonsense. She’s probably curled up on Rob’s bed, sleeping while he works on one of his projects. You know how she loves Rob.” But even as he said it, he didn’t believe it, and neither did she.

When they got to Rob’s room, ominous silence met them. It would have been quiet anyway, had it been as James said, with Ryan asleep as her older brother worked quietly on whatever took his fancy. Yesterday, it had been a Japanese fighting kite, and they had all watched with varying degrees of delight and pride as he’d flown it in the pasture, making it swoop and turn with astonishing ease and dexterity. Even thought it would have been quiet, it would have been a quiet filled with presence. But now… it was utterly silent, and James pushed the door open with his heart in his mouth.

Rob was sprawled on his back, deeply sleep on the floor with a magazine open on his chest. His mouth was wide open as he snored, which alarmed the anxious parents for another reason. Rob never snored. But he was snoring in earnest now, his head tilted back slightly, long legs folded awkwardly as if he’d collapsed and fallen where he was standing.

“Rob? Rob!!” Vivi shook her oldest son, trying to control her rising terror. “Wake up!”

Rob stirred, mumbling sleepily as he tried to open his eyes. “M-M-Mom?” he asked in a faded voice before plunging back into his deep sleep, his head back on the floor.

James closed his eyes and held his hand just above the boy’s face, opening his senses as he moved his hand back and forth. “Sleep spell,” he said angrily. It was a quite common one, used by parents to put their children to sleep when it was necessary. Why hadn’t he or Vivi felt it being cast? Then he scowled as he realized what that meant. Why hadn’t he tried to do… more? That feeling of imminent danger that had been growing over the last few days, rising to almost unbearable levels this morning… and all he had done was re-set the wards and stayed home. Why hadn’t he insisted on Ry staying indoors? Why hadn’t he kept a closer eye on her? Where, oh, where could his little Button be? he asked himself, though that little voice inside him told him he knew very well where she most likely was. Or at least, where she was headed. He gritted his teeth and looked up.

“We have to find her!” Vivi was saying with a frenzied determination. “We have to find her, James!”

“We will, Vivi,” said James, reaching to grip her shoulder. Vivi, so calm and collected usually, handling all the accidents and adventures the boys could and did get into with the detached objectivity of the researcher she was, came close to losing it where their daughter was concerned. Perhaps the events following Ry’s birth had traumatized Vivi in ways that just weren’t obvious. But still, it amazed him that she could handle Rob’s near drowning when caught in an undertow off Port Aransas with such relative calm, and become frantic when little Ryan wandered too far at the Houston Zoo.

She bit her lip, struggling to get her emotions back under control. “We should wake the boys and start looking around the property.”

James nodded, then said, “Wait… where are the dogs?”

“The dogs?” Vivi stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “James Kanaohe’ele Ryan, why are you worrying about the dogs? Our daughter is missing!”

“Calm down, honey,” he said firmly. “Think this through.” When she had stopped fuming, he started speaking calmly and logically. “The dogs are always where the kids are, especially Ry.” He frowned thoughtfully even as he knelt back by Rob. “I don’t hear them, and they’re not here with Rob… were they with Pip?”

“No…” she said slowly. “I didn’t think anything of it, but… no, they weren’t with Pip on the porch.”

“So… they’re most likely with Ry, wherever she is!” It was a very thin hope, such a frail hope, but he would grasp it with both hands and run with it until it was proved false.

“Yes,” said Vivi, grasping at hope with him. “Come on, let’s get the boys up and see what we can do!”

It was easier said than done. They’d brought Rob down to the front porch where Pip was still sprawled on his stomach under the swing. They tried everything they could think of to counter the spells on the boys, but nothing seemed to work, not really. They would stir, try to open their eyes, mumbling incoherently, and then they’d sink back into deep sleep. James was aware of precious seconds ticking away, seconds that they could be looking for their daughter and realized that it was probably intentional. Whoever had done this had known they would try to revive the boys first, to find out what they knew. He looked out over the yard, all too aware of the absence of the ever-present, always noisy dogs… where were they?

Pursing his lips, James let out the piercing “Come home now!” whistle, sending it ringing out over the hills. Normally, all five of their dogs would burst into a noisy chorus of answers, no matter how distant… but there was nothing. He did it again, and again, that pulse of fear hammering into a steady beat that pushed him off the porch into the yard, to trot out toward the driveway until he found himself racing down the private road that led to the gates, down where the mailbox was, thinking, surely not, oh, no, no, she wouldn’t, she knows not to come down here…

“No, Ry, no, please, no,” he found himself saying as he pounded down the caliche road, praying to every god and goddess he could think of that his little daughter had not taken it into her head to go down to the mailbox or… given the condition of the boys and the silence of the dogs, that… she hadn’t been lured…

There was something lying in the road by the gate, something large and … greyish. He tried desperately to remember what Ry had been wearing. With her strawberry hair, Vivi tended to dress their little daughter in bright colors to match. Today, it was… he frowned… turquoise. A little scooter set, Vivi had called it, laughing at him only two hours ago about it. He drew nearer, and the thing lying in the road raised its head and whined. James stopped in horror. Blue? He looked up and down the quiet road. Nothing, except two postal cartons, one turned on its side to spill envelopes and glossy magazines into the limestone dust at his feet. White dust that showed the clear prints of feet; Ryan’s little sandal, and a larger adult shoe… something gleamed in the dust. James bent, frowning as he reached to pick it up. A tiny turquoise bumblebee sat on his palm, made of plastic, with little bits of embedded glitter sparkling in the afternoon sun. A hair clip that had held some of the curls back from Ry’s laughing face. A silent witness that could tell him almost nothing of what had happened. He stared at it, then looked up and down the road again before going to kneel by the old dog that lay panting and waiting. Blood matted one side of the big head, and the fear he’d been reining in so tightly finally burst free of his control.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to his last resort and opened his senses, reaching for his daughter’s mind, his sweet little Button, reaching, reaching, stretching to the point of pain and… nothing. Blankness, dark, heat… moving rapidly away, farther and farther…

His eyes flew open, and he threw his head back. “Ryan!!!” echoed off the hills and rose in the dusty air over the pale caliche road, full of a father’s fear and grief.









It was dark. Dark and hot. Airless. She tried to sit up, but there wasn’t enough room, and her arms and legs felt heavy anyway. She felt heavy and dozy… and strange. She blinked, trying to make the dark less dark somehow, but it just stayed… dark. Dark and hot… and hard to breathe.

“Blue?” Her voice quavered and that made her shrink into herself. Small, small, small. Her fingers twitched, as if longing for the comfort of shaggy fur. The last thing she really remembered… her mind shrank from that memory. Don’t think of it! Don’t!

……..She’d been so happy, playing with Pip on the porch, throwing the ball for Max, Baron, and Shorty. Funny little Shorty, odd little ballistic missile of a mutt as Daddy called her, racing against the two Labs for the ball. What she lacked in legs, she made up for with speed and guile, and Ry had laughed over and over again as Shorty outsmarted the two big dogs to get the ball when Pip threw it… then Pip had started yawning. And acting funny, like he could barely keep his eyes open. And it was as if a little voice whispered in her mind, now’s your chance, and she was suddenly overcome with the desire to go check the mail, an activity she was only allowed in the company of Daddy, Mama, or Rob. Never, ever by herself.

It’ll be fun, whispered the little voice. You’re a big girl now.

It was so very hard to resist that voice. She had stepped off the porch and went to the gate as Pip finally toppled over, deeply asleep, ball still clutched in one hand, the other stretched out toward her and grasping at empty air before it, too, fell next to its owner… still empty.

Baron immediately blocked her from reaching the gate. He knew she wasn’t allowed to go beyond it without a Big Person. The big dog nudged at her, and she felt Shorty tugging at her skort, trying to pull her away.

They’re just dogs, what do they know? You’ll be fine! It’s just the mail!

Max had grunted at her in that way of his, nudging at her and trying to push her away from Baron’s sturdy body. Ryan whimpered suddenly, covering her eyes as if to block the memory, wishing the darkness would swallow it up. Because she was so very ashamed of what she had done. They’re just dogs echoing through her mind, and yet, the dogs’ very real concern for her, their instinctive knowledge that her leaving the yard was so very wrong… she whimpered softly, feeling tears sting her eyes. She hadn’t meant to hurt them! No, no, no, she didn’t mean to hurt Baron, who had been so patient when she was learning to walk, letting her hold onto his strong back as she took every wobbling step. Or Max, who slept at the foot of her bed every night to keep all the bad dreams away.

Shorty, though… Shorty had known. Shorty had stopped tugging on her skort and had jittered away, retreating with uncertain whimpers to hide under the porch. Shorty knew, because Ryan had done it before, back when she was too young to know any better, back when it was instinctive… Ryan’s cheeks burned with shame at the memory, and if she could have, she would have buried her face in her arms to hide from it. The big dogs who loved her so much, and the voice that was coaxing her, pushing at her new discovery of independence. Baron had started moving sideways, gently pushing her away from the gate, and squealing with frustration, she had clenched her fists, stomped her foot, and felt the energy surging within her tiny frame. Max had yelped, but Baron had pressed into her with even greater determination, one chocolate brown eye on her as if begging her to stop.

They’re just dogs, whispered the voice. How dare they try to stop you!! Go ahead… DO IT!!

And she had. To her everlasting shame, she had. The energy surged through her and out of her little hands, striking each dog. They’d yelped and stiffened, then fell onto their sides, twitching as they lay in the grass, their legs churning as if fleeing the pain she’d inflicted on them. Sobbing with horror, she’d fallen on her knees, touching each dog gently and calling out their names. Each dog twitched and whined, eyes flicking rapidly as their legs ran, and ran, and ran.

They’re just dogs, whispered the voice.

“No, they’re not!” Ryan had screamed. “They’re my friends!!”

Not anymore, the voice had snickered.

And it was true. Shorty had already fled to the barn, ki-yi-yi-ing the whole way. And Max had staggered to his feet finally, swaying away from her hand when she reached out to touch him. Even steadfast Baron had crawled away from her, whining with confusion.

You might as well leave now, the voice had whispered. No one is going to like you very much when they find out what you did.

It was insidious, this voice, whispering to her fears and vulnerabilities. Driving her to her feet, making her little fingers work the latch on the gate to open it. Had she been even a little older, she would have recognized it as coming from outside herself. But she wasn’t. She was only a few weeks past her fourth birthday, and despite being very bright for her age, she had so far led a very sheltered life. She’d already begun working with a martial arts trainer, and another who taught what Daddy liked to call “dirty fighting.” However, Mr. Sharon, her instructor, called it “survival fighting.” But none of that had equipped her to deal with anything like this. None of it.

When she walked out to the caliche road that was their driveway, Ryan had found Blue waiting for her. He didn’t try to stop her, didn’t block her, or push her away. He merely fell into step beside her and walked won the road with her. There had been no sign of their other herding dog, Zephyr, and that should have worried Ry. Because one rarely saw Blue without Zephyr, or Zephyr without blue. But the ever present voice whispered in her mind a handy answer.

It’s nothing. Dogs wander off all the time.

It was a lie. Because their dogs weren’t like that. She remembered reaching to sink trembling fingers into Blue’s shaggy coat for reassurance. He had paused long enough to lick her cheek, as if to say, “I’m here. I won’t leave you.”

Isn’t this fun? the voice kept whispering. Such a big girl now! Won’t Mama be pleased when you come back with the mail?

Except, said another part of Ryan sternly, she won’t be pleased. She’ll be frightened and worried. That part sounded very much like Rob. It wondered why she was walking down the road, and was thinking of coming to stop her. And then, the Very Odd Thing happened that should have made her run back to the house. She felt the voice that had been encouraging her to break her family’s very clear-cut rules, felt it reach out of her and arrow to the house, could almost hear the words of the spell, Somnus Profundus, Maxima Profundus, Maxima Profundus, Maxima Somnus Profundus, as they flew out and wrapped themselves around the presence she knew as Rob. And she had known, almost as well as if she had been watching it, knew that though he fought it, struggled against the heavy, slumbering magics, he, too, like Pip, folded into sleep, falling to the floor of his room before he even had a chance to cry out.

Keep walking, said the voice, not so friendly now. Keep walking, or I’ll hurt him. And she knew suddenly, that this voice could, and would, hurt Rob. Keep walking, child.

So, Ryan had kept walking, walking with threats to her brothers ringing in her head, until she got to the mailbox where the mailman was waiting. Not their usual mailman, the cheerful cowboy who wore a blue Stetson rather than the usual pith helmet, and a grey handlebar mustache. Instead, a pudgy man who sweated profusely and had strange, blank eyes waited for her. Those dead eyes had turned toward her and she had shuddered, moving to stand closer to Blue, hands fisted in his merled coat, and the dog had growled warningly low in his throat.

Step away from the beast, child, warned the voice.

Ryan stared up at the man, aware that he was not the source of the voice. But she huddled closer to Blue, who spread his feet wider to support her.

Step away, child, or…

“You won’t hurt him!” Ryan had shouted, furious and defiant.

No. I’ll make you hurt him.

Ryan froze and stared at Blue in horror. It was true, Ry could feel it. The voice could make her hurt Blue. She looked up at the vacant-eyed man, and swallowed. Blue’s growling increased.

“No, Blue, no!” she begged him. “I have to go! You stay here!”

What a very smart little girl you are, the voice said.

That had made Ryan angry, and she balled her fists, but there was nowhere to direct her anger. The blank-eyed man wasn’t the voice, she had known that instinctively. And the laughter that echoed through her mind had confirmed that.

What a very bright child you are! I shall enjoy getting to know you, but first…

The man moved swiftly, and Ryan had felt a sharp sting in her arm. Suddenly woozy, the last thing she saw before sudden darkness swooped over her head was Blue lunging, teeth bared, and a baseball bat swinging up to meet him.

She sobbed, squeezing her eyes shut, not wanting to remember the yelp, the sickening crunch… oh, poor loyal Blue!!

Awake, I see, whispered the voice.

Ry didn’t answer, making herself as still and quiet as possible.

Ah, a quiet little mouse, I see…

“What do you want with me?” she slurred thickly. Her tongue felt too big, and her throat didn’t want to work.

All the better to keep you quiet, the voice chuckled. We can’t have someone hearing you and trying to take you away, now can we?

Ry sobbed softly, trying to move, to curl into a ball, but whatever spell had held her so still was too strong for her. “Why?” she mumbled. “Why?

Because, I want you, whispered the voice with a longing that sent icy chills shivering through the little girl’s frame. I want you, Siddhartha Limue Anathalia du Boissey Ryan Delgardie. You are the key, and I need you here with me. I will raise you, until it is time. For now, child, sleep. Somnus Profundus, Maxima Profundus…

Unable to resist, even though her mind screamed, “NO,” little Ryan Delgardie fell fast asleep.