A trail of fire was seen from afar in the blackness of the night. Each torch showed brightly the path of Wolfsbane pass. The forest silent in anticipation awaited the fate of the halo sisters. Four sorceresses of very strange and powerful magic’s.

Deep within the woods at the end of Wolfsbane pass, Halo manor stood in a fairly large clearing. A grand log cabin that not even Bill Gates could afford. One side was tinted glass facing west toward the sunset. A grand garden was located inside the house in the back full of exotic plants and creatures covered by a canopy of willow trees.

Inside of the garden one of the Halo sisters sat in concentration in the middle of the soft grass floor. Her dark brown hair cascaded over her face and shoulders. She wore a pale pink ruffled dress that resembled a flower. Her voice was low; enchanting the central tree to hold a protection spells to ward off famine in the garden. A green circle of her power surrounded her as she continued the spell and subsided once she mutters the final words to the spell. The tree hummed quietly as the magic flowed into it and began to glow softly. The girl smiled happily at her work then silently stood up and tiptoed out of the garden.

Inside, marvelous portraits and paintings hung from the walls on both sides and the halls were lit with candle fire. She shuddered as her bare feet felt the ice cold floor beneath her. The floor was black marble with traces of silver within the cracks. Another girl flew up the first girl. A breeze encircled her causing her to hover several inches off the floor. Her short strawberry blond hair tousled from the mini cyclone surrounding her. This halo sister’s dress was reddish orange like the leaves in autumn. It’s also loose and wafts in the wind surrounding her almost like wings.

“Sister we must hurry” The blonde's voice is smooth and serene like the calm sound of a small stream over rocks. The two girls rushed down the halls to the entryway where two grand staircases on both sides of the room were located.

“Where are the others?” the other asked the blond. There was no response “Gwen?” she asked again. The girl turned to her sister.

“What Brianna?” Gwen replied.

“Where are our sisters?” Brianna asked again. Gwen shrugged then took out a card from her pocket. She closed her eyes and placed it against her head.

“Rise wind guardian” She ordered and the card disintegrated into smoke then formed into a silver knight with angel wings and a lance. “Find Allycia and Natasha.” She instructed. The knight bowed and flew down a hall. Her eyes flashed to Brianna ‘happy?’ Brianna rolled her eyes and summoned a warrior of her own. A large stone golem with a battle axe.

“Guard the gate, let no one pass” She commanded the warrior. He trudged out the door to the gate with it’s axe at the ready.

The silver knight returned with two girls following him. One was young with porcelain skin, pale blue eyes, and a stunning crystal white ball gown. Her hair a curly platinum blond that was clouded around her eyes. She completely contrasted to the sister next to her with dark tan skin, dark green eyes, and sleeveless shirt and short shorts. Her stunning red hair was long and smooth.

“Natasha there you are!” Brianna said running up to the younger sister. Gwen and Allycia staring incredulously at her as she tightly hugged Natasha.

“What about Allycia? She wasn’t here either.” Gwen bluntly told her. Brianna glared at the blond.

“Natasha is all of our responsibility. Allycia is the oldest she can handle herself,” Brianna replied. Gwen rolled her eyes and Natasha untangled herself away from Brianna.

“I can handle myself," The little girl grunted, Gwen snorted. Natasha gave her a glare and chill ran down Gwen’s spine as she turned away. Gwen turned to her knight and nodded to him as he returned to card form.

“Trust me darling you are truly the most delicate, complicated, spoiled little girl I have ever known. We practically do everything for you, and all that it takes is temperature higher than 50 degrees and you’re useless,” Gwen glanced down at her as she clammed up. Still and proper Natasha tried hard not to start crying. Brianna muttered a curse under her breath and hugged Natasha again fiercely glowered at her. ‘What?’ Gwen mouthed oblivious to her sister’s distress. Allycia irritably sighed and pulled out a crystal ball.

“Are we going to ask the bureau of mythical creature survival for an explanation of what’s going on?” She rubbed the ball in her hand.

“Oh just call them already," Natasha told her. Allycia tossed it into the air where it remained. The ball began to glow and projected the image of a man. He was short and had hard cold black eyes. He had nappy black hair which was cut short and stringy from being combed too much. He held his chin up as if he wanted to look down at them despite being short.

“Hello. You must be the halo sisters calling in about why your home is under siege.” They nodded in response. “Yes well as it turns out the treaty between mythical creatures and humans have expired due to the betrayal of our great and wise leader. You must either relocate to a more secure home or come to the bureau and wait for the next portal back to our realm.” They stood in complete silence.

“We were betrayed and you didn’t think of telling us about it before!” Brianna shouted

“And we must relocate ourselves this was your job as the bureau for our survival!” Gwen angrily remarked too.

“We are truly sorry.” The image faded away.

“Useless, no good, rotten-”

“Gwen!” Allycia shouted at her. She shrugged and trudged off muttering to herself about how the bureau should get their act together. Brianna and Allycia glanced worriedly at each other.

The house shook as a loud explosion hit the side of the house. The wall caught fire immediately as more explosions were heard. A cannonball shattered the wall and hit Allycia directly in the gut knocking her back.

“Allycia,” Natasha and Brianna cried, rushing to her side. “How did they get past your guard?” Gwen bellowed taking on an attack stance. She summoned more winged warriors and barked out her orders as Bat wings stretched out from her back. The house shook some more and the roof crumbed a bit. “Damn it! Natasha, Brianna Get Allycia to the bureau now! Get out of here before this place collapses. I hold them off for as long as I can!”

“No, Gwen you can’t do this alone. I’ll stay with you," Brianna declared.

“No you go on. You only know protection incantations we need more of an offense. Allycia is out and Natasha can’t handle extreme heat, I’m the only chance we’ve got. So go now.” She commanded. Brianna numbly nodded, tears flowing down her face as she took out a card.

“Rise travel spirit,” and a green circle appeared below her again as mist in the shape of butterflies swirled around them and they all faded away leaving Gwen to protect the house.

Gwen turned to the front door again, her warriors and knights fighting in the front lawn. Then she felt another incantation of an attack spell. She fumbled for a counter-spell as her knights began to turn to stone.

“Sir Wyatt,” She whispered as she finished her counter-spell. She was too late she began to turn to white marble as red crystals formed a circle around her and similar crystals around her winged knights.

A man Strolled in. He was tall and had some muscle. Dark skinned and black cold, piercing eyes, he coolly gazed at the statue he made. “Ah, Gwen what a pleasant surprise," he chuckled to himself. “Ah well I spent too much time here already. I must be off, got a busy schedule of taking down the mythical government. So long my dear friend.” Then he vanished like smoke.

Seasons pass, too many to count and Halo manor was left abandoned. After several years the garden had grown past the confining walls and over run the house. Many more later Wolfsbane Pass became too dangerous to use and Halo manor was almost completely forgotten.

The roaring sound of an engine coming to life was loud enough to wake even the dead. It was also loud enough to muffle the dull thuds from the trunk of the car. Violence was the way of the world it seems no one is truly safe ever since the new leader of the world declared the government is not to be held accountable for the public actions. People could stick needles in candy then give them to little children and no one could really stop them. This didn’t stop the abduction of doctors and other medical supports by rival gangs in need of medical help.

Several black cars drove down the highway with few other cars in between to keep others from getting suspicious. One of the drivers called up their gang leader.

“Sir, where exactly is this old mansion you told us to go. We haven’t so much seen a map with the name of the town beside it” The driver complained fretfully.

Their boss’s voice was heard over the phone with a sharp patronizing tone. “Way out of the way in the countryside, so no one sniveling about would see what we’re up to. Did you grab a medic?”

“Yes, sir,” the driver replied. “This one is a really strong fellow almost knocked me out, good thing I had backup. If only he was a she… all the girls were snatched first when this ruckus began so now they won’t even accept girls into college if they are majoring in a medical career. Oh well, that’s life for you I guess.”

“Stop bitching and drive. That’s what I’m paying you for,” the boss hung up. The driver continued to complain for five more minutes. He drove on for hours until it was nearly nightfall when he passed a sign that read ‘welcome you’re now entering the town of Aureole.’

The cars pulled to a stop and unloaded. There were seventeen thugs, and one guy in the trunk of the first car. The thumping stopped and all was silent until they plotted out where to go then.

“This place that is to be our new base it’s well hidden from the town right, but not far away that we have to drive for hours for supplies,” a tall lean man said. He had sandy brown hair and jet black eyes; the right one was slightly lazy.

“It’s just up the hill over there, Billy,” the Driver man took out a map “Aha! Here we are. The town is linked to the place called Halo manor by a trail through the forest called Wolfsbane pass.” He told the rest, “so let’s ante up and get moving before midnight.”

They got into the cars except the driver. He went to the trunk and opened it up revealing a guy about eighteen with blond curly hair and dark brown eyes like coffee. The man dragged him out.

“Okay Doc, we’re letting you ride up front, but if you try anything funny I blow your head off, understand.” He pointed a shotgun at the doctor. The doctor tilted the nozzle away from his face and glared unconcerned at the driver.

“Whatever you say,” he replied indifferent and got into the passenger seat. The cars swiftly drove past the town remaining discreet and pulled up to the trail of Wolfsbane pass. Everyone got out of the cars except the drivers. They receded and disappeared into the night.

“We have to walk!” Some of the men groaned and began turning on flashlights. The doctor glimpsed around for a way out, but they were surrounded by thick trees and the town was too close by to hide at. He cursed under his breath and began to walk toward the manor with the rest of the men.

Billy tread behind him with a handgun pointed directly at his back making sure the doctor doesn’t run.

“Hey Doc, can’t you move any slower! My feet are killing me here!” he whined. The doctor turned “I do have a name,” he coldly retorted. A chill struck Billy and they paused for a moment to glare at each other.

“… Well? Don’t just stand there, tell us Doc, what’s your name?” Billy smugly asked shining a flashlight on him.

“Jason, it’s Jason,” he informed his adversary. Then they began to walk again catching up to the rest of the group who were huddled around a statue. It was a knight with angel wings posed to strike at something. The reason why they stopped wasn’t because of the statue or the inscription on the stone tablet beside it. It was the red crystals around the base that caught their attention. They yammered about what it possibly could be and some even tried to pick some up, they didn’t budge. Then they tried to pull them up with force, after getting frustrated they began to dig them up; each attempt failed miserably.

Jason snatched Billy’s flashlight and gleamed the light on the tablet to begin reading the inscription.

‘This statue is one of many located throughout Halo manor symbolizing the defeat of the once great Halo sisters the manor is named after. It is said that they were deemed as witches and enemies of the estate even though they did many good deeds to the surrounding towns. The crystals at the base of each statue are yet to be identified, but it has been proven that they are incredibly dense and unmovable. All attempts have been made, so just trying to pull them up isn’t going to work.

Quinn 1:1’

“Now you tell us” one of the men moaned. They marched on following the twisted path of Wolfsbane pass finding more and more similar statues but with different weapons and armor style. Several were in strange positions and all of them were far too detailed for some average artist to do on their free time.

One statue they all froze to stare at: in one hand a broad sword, the other a real human skeleton. Jason inspected the corpse and noted mentally that the neck was snapped and the skull fractured like it was hit on the top of the head with the hilt of a sword.

“Whoever designed these statues really wanted to impress somebody with realism," Jason commented “It’s like they are telling a story of some kind.” No one was impressed and shoved him forward, each person, looking back for one last wary glance at the statue.

They came up to the front lawn and realized that this was the perfect place to have a hide out. The shrubs went wild, a sign that no one bothered to maintain the place, so no worries of prying eyes. The building was huge so everyone is going to get their own room and then some in addition. Billy began tossing out orders, but no one paid any mind to him, they waited for the okay for dismissal to hunt down the best room.

They rushed into the house as a tall man came out holding a candle holder. Billy aimed his gun at the new comer, until he held up his spare hand to show he was unarmed.

“Who the hell are you?” Billy asked. The new comer had a deep voice that echoed slightly like there was a void within it.

“I am the keeper of this house. Have been for several years, hasn’t your boss mentioned me at all? My name is Quinn, for generations my family has kept the house from falling apart and hooligans like you from defacing it. I only wish to cooperate with you if it’s for the best and safety of this household. Do we have an understanding?” He gazed at Billy with a bit of resentment, but mostly annoyance now that he practically has to babysit a bunch of fools. “And might I ask you to tell your men to not touch the statue of lady autumn as some call her, I don’t appreciate the disrespect they show by defiling her statue.”

Billy looked at the man with intense boredom “yeah sure, whatever,” and then Quinn bowed and left the two men behind as Billy mocked his words. “Might I ask you not to touch a stupid statue of a lady who’s dead!” He laughed at the remark as Jason just glared at him. Billy eventually stopped laughing and noticed Jason's glare then pointed his gun at him. “What are you looking at? Get a move on," and shoved him forward towards the door.

Inside there was hardly any light for there were no light bulbs or anything electronic anywhere. Everything was lit up by candles and large windows that were at the moment blocked by dark curtains. The floors reflected the light and gave off the appearance of it being glazed in ice. The railings of the stairs were covered in thick vines of ivy and morning flowers some even draped over the hallway. Between the two staircases and the hallway was yet another statue. Between the crystals surrounding this one was a circle of candles ranging from dark reds to bright oranges and a couple browns and yellows.

Billy began ordering the men around again. “Get some damn light in here! It’s so dark I can barely see the outline of my own hand!” He shined the flashlight onto the face of the statue.

This statue too was in a battle position except in one hand she had playing cards the other she held out before her as if she thrust something forward. Markings were seen on the floor around her between her and the crystals. The only thing different about her from the other statues was that she had bat wings instead.

Quinn walked into the room still holding the candle holder. He had a basket in the other hand chock-full of white lilies and red roses. He set the candles down and began to assort the flowers throughout the room while whistling Danse Macabre. The men shuffled by with generators and other high tech equipment. He continued on pretending not to even notice their clumsiness. Billy strolled up to him and shoved him against the wall.

“I thought you said you took care of this place,” he growled thrusting Quinn harder against the wall. The basket of flowers fell and spilled all over the floor.

“I do take care of this place,” he responded like Billy had lost his mind. Then he calmly removed him off his person, brushed himself off, and then began to clean up the flowers.

Billy guffawed at the comment and blocked Quinn from the hallway. He tried to get around him but Billy kept moving in his way. Finally he got annoyed and went to shove Billy out of the way, but he dodged and tossed Quinn away from the corridor.

“Look at this place, look around you! This place is a mess! Flowers and vines and who knows what else are covering the walls.” Quinn tried to speak up but Billy cut him off. “I wonder why there is no light here! And the art pieces so cliché, except little Ms. Batty there…” he thought for a moment and a wicked idea came to him. “Now that we’re here we may as well fix this place up to fit our style!”

Quinn began to frantically attack Billy while shouting “No! You don’t understand, don’t touch or break anything in this house unless you had brought it with you or you will regret it.”

Billy snorted and swatted the man away. Jason, who was watching the whole time, came to his aid. He helped the man to his feet as Billy began to walk over to one of the stairs and tore down the flowers. He tossed them to the ground and stomped on them into dust.

“Well old man what are you gonna do about this, huh? My, this staircase is looking better already. After me and my boys turn this place into what we want we’ll make sure you clean it properly this time.” Quinn could only shake his head; the damage was already done.

He sighed solemnly and turned to the gangster. “Well don’t say I didn’t warn you, the lady doesn’t like others people ruining her stuff. Especially strangers and thugs…” Billy looked at the caretaker with puzzlement while he continued to tear down the flowers. Jason began to walk around the statue examining all its sides. He noticed it was way too detail for an average artist also, almost if she would begin to move at any moment. He wasn’t sure about the house; it gave off an eerie aura like they were intruding into something really big.

There was an obnoxious buzz behind him as he continued to observe the statue. He ignored it because he knew nothing good would come by getting involved with the affairs of this gang. He just came across a small groove in the marble stone barely visible and easily overlooked, when Billy began to scream. Jason jolted then spun around to see that the flowers and ivy had rapidly grew back and ensnared Billy tightly so he couldn’t move. He was speechless trying to form the thought of how that could be even possible. The ivy then yanked Billy up into the air so now he was dangling from the ceiling. Jason burst out laughing as Billy cursed at the world.

“Get me down!” Billy shouted at him. He sobered up slightly, so he chucked instead. He walked over to the vine suspending Billy took out a pocket knife and hacked away taking several minutes as it attempted to heal itself as he slashed it. Finally the vine snapped and Billy fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. He stood back up immediately and brushed the leaves and twigs off frantically.

“What type of house is this?” Quinn had disappeared. “Somebody find that demon caretaker!” then ran down the hall in search for Quinn. Jason shrugged indifferent and left to find himself a room; he may as well help the fools because they couldn’t even help themselves, he was too nice of a person to just leave him. He had forgotten the statue entirely.