Subj: Angelique Part Five
Date: 12/1/01 12:20:50 PM Central Standard Time
From: Aesgaard

Angelique had been living now in Spellcraft Manor for about a week and was slowly still getting used to the family. Samantha, Hilda and Zelda treated her warmly, but there were still the others. Zelda's eldest sister, Vespa, was a presence to be reckoned with as the opulent lifestyle had given her a very arrogant and haughty attitude. Samantha's Uncle Arthur was a bit getting used to as he used his powers for practical jokes on everyone around him as if he were the trickster of the gods himself. His eldest sister, Clara, had a heart of gold if not for her age and mental acuity affecting the accuracy of her spells. And then there was their sister who Angelique met by accident. It was Samantha's mother who ran the family house as if she were Queen Victoria herself !

Wandering through the long hallways of the huge edifice, Angelique heard the meandering argument between mother and daughter in the second floor library.

She tried to ignore it, but it soon became obvious it was about herself.

"I can't believe you hired a mortal witch to be the nanny to your cousin's baby!!" the older, red haired woman argued with her daughter.

"Oh, mother....." Samantha sighed. "She's my friend !"

"You can't trust them." her mother argued. " They make pacts with devils and demons for powers as a travesty to our true and more noble heritage !"

"She's not like anymore ! She's returned to more pagan roots."

"Are my ears burning ?" Angelique had heard enough. She had to make her presence known.

"Angelique." Samantha stepped back. "This is my mother, Endora Spellcraft."

"Charmed." Angelique tried to show respect to the door-faced lady who didn't trust her. Endora just smiled connivingly toward her and looked at her hand with faint amusement. She waved her hands dramatically and..................vanished ! No puff of smoke, nothing ! Angelique froze at the spectacle.

"You tell me now !" Angelique turned to Samantha. "What sort of witches are your family ?!!"

"Well," Samantha stretched the word into two syllables. " An, you see.....sit down." The two of them motioned to two chairs at the windows over looking the garden.

"My family line......are born with their powers." Samantha admitted. "I was conjuring unicorns when I was three years old. My ancestry runs back to pagan times and some of my oldest relatives still have memories of the Sumerian Empire."

"How old are you ?"

"I was born in the reign of Henry VIII." Samantha revealed. "My lifespan is apparently rooted in my DNA and you have to, what ? Use charms and incantations."

"I rooted my appearance to a portrait I posed for when I was eighteen." Angelique revealed. "I was eight when I was introduced to magic and an ordained witch by time I was 23."

"You see, that's the difference." Samantha replied."You had to work, tap and develop your powers. My family has to merely exercise them."

"But what's this nonsense about mortals." Angelique leaned forward. "You're not gods, are you ?"

"Heavens, no." Samantha chuckled. "In fact, true immortals such as Zeus and Odin don't call themselves gods. They exist too, but they won't have anything to do with anyone as long as they have pagan witches as yourself."

"Could you teach me some of your magic ?"

"Why would you want that ?" Samantha leaned back. "You seem more adept at your skills than any other human sorceress I know."

"I'm in love with a man who doesn't understand me." Angelique stood up and dramaticly changed the subject. "I know he loves me too,but.....I don't want to force his love, but I can't go on much longer with all these feelings in my heart going unfulfilled. Even a witch's heart, human or otherwise, can break too."

"I think I'm going to cry." Hilda stood eavesdropping in the arch as she pulled out a handkerchief.

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.