Punished for Someone Else's Crimes

Chapter 1: The Envelope

She propped her feet up on the hardwood desk, tilted her chair back, and yawned lazily. The gentle humming of the computer in combination with the ocean waves was making her sleepy. The open window let in cool winds and her hair blew gently in the breeze. The beach outside was quiet...

Ahhhh, now this is the life...the girl thought.

"HEY, AIDEN!!!!!!!"

"AHHHH!!!!"

A loud thud interrupted the peaceful silence as Aiden fell to the ground. She stood up in a fury and screamed back:

"WHAT?????"

"MAIL!!!!"

Aiden scowled then looked at the beady-eyed cat lying on her bed.

"Go on, Hermes. Go get my mail."

The cat made a shockingly similar face to the one Aiden had on, then reluctantly got off its resting place and went downstairs. While, she was waiting, Aiden looked at herself in the body-length mirror on her closet door. She often liked to do this, for she had no parents, no siblings, and no relatives that really gave a shit about her. The mirror was just a thing she did as a reflection of how alone in the world she really was.

Now she stared at herself. With black hair, black eyes, and extremely tan skin, no one would guess that this sixteen year old, 5'6" Asian was anything other than Californian. But when she opened her mouth, the thick British accent immediately flowed out. It was the strangest thing too, considering she had never been to the United Kingdom or Europe for that matter. She had always lived in good ol' United States in her good ol', run-down apartment.

But Aiden also knew something, no one else in the world knew. Aiden had powers... Not bench-pressing, bodybuilder powers. Real, magical powers. She could make things disappear. She could teleport and all sorts of good stuff. It never bothered her where she might have gotten these powers from because she was too happy thinking that it was God's blessing to her.

Hermes was back and there was something in his mouth. Aiden took the letter and rubbed Hermes' belly. She flipped it over to read the cover and her jaw dropped. In magnificent cursive was written not only her address, but the exact place she was standing.

To Miss Aiden Wang

In Her Bedroom, In Front of the Mirror, With Her Cat

United States of America

Apt. G15, 4536 Sunrise Way

Laguna Beach, CA 93247

Aiden looked suspiciously for a return address. Nothing. Simply a wax stamp (which poor, sheltered Aiden had only ever seen in her history books at high school) that had a strange symbol and said "Hogwarts."

The look on her face lightened and she laughed. Just a dumb joke. Her best friend, Jared must have sent it. Tossing it in the trash, Aiden went back to chillin' on her desk chair. But of course, the relaxation didn't last long. There was a throbbing pain in the side of her head as she fell to the ground a second time. Still feeling slightly light-headed, Aiden turned around and found the reason for her suffering. The envelope she tossed was floating in mid-air and now, was glowing a dangerous red like it was going to explode.

"OW!!!" Aiden yelled as the envelope whacked her upside the head again. Aiden gritted her teeth.

What the hell is this???