Sasha Wolfhart couldn’t believe her long-time mentor and adopted mother was retiring from performing on stage. Her adopted mother had been her inspiration in learning magic and was following in her footsteps. Sasha could remember the day when Janet Elizabeth Wolfhart a.k.a. Sun Fire the Enchantress had found her abandon by her birth parents in the middle of a ice storm. They had abandon her on the side of the road during an ice storm because they hated the fact that she was transgender. Her parents had tried everything to make her give up wanting to be a girl. They had taken all her toys and forced her to dress as a male. They had even beaten her till she couldn’t sit down and made her stand in a corner for hours on end.

The day Janet had found her and took her in and nursed her back to health was the best day of her life. She had been beaten so badly that she had passed out from the blows to her body. Her parents had dumped her on the side of the road to die during an ice storm. Her birth father had lost his temper and started beaten on her. Even when she called out to stop him, he just kept on beating her. The last thing she remember was feeling his foot hitting the side of her head. She doesn’t remember what happened next, because she had blacked out. Sasha knew she would had died if Janet hadn’t spotted her prone body and stop to help her.

When she had finally woken up. Sasha had found herself in a hospital room hooked up to several machines. There was an IV going into her right arm and several bags hanging next to her. There was a brown teddy bear resting next to her on her left-hand side. She wasn’t dress in a standard hospital gown, but a light peach color night gown. The room itself was decorated so that it could be a kid’s or an adults room.

As Sasha was lying there in bed, a young nurse came walking in. She had a clipboard in her hand. Sasha didn’t know what to make of the nurse.

“Well, good afternoon there little one. My name is Gloria and I’m going to be your nurse during the day time. Your night time nurse is Jennifer and she’ll be looking after you in the evenings. Dr. Wolfhart will be in tomorrow to check in on you. I’m just going to check your vitals and if you’re hungry, I’ll have the cafeteria send up some lunch for you and later some dinner as well.” Gloria goes about checking Sasha.

At first Sasha, hadn’t known what to make of this nurse as he remembers her being very nice and gentle as Gloria went about checking his vitals. She had made him giggle while doing it. When he ate the lunch that had been sent up for him. Gloria stayed and kept him company. The lunch itself was some sort of soup and a sandwich. There was cherry jello and he was given the choice of chocolate milk, normal milk or water to drink. He had chosen chocolate milk.

When he had finished with his lunch and needed to go to the bathroom, Gloria helped him since most of his body was covered in bandages and made getting around ackwards. His biological father had broken four of his ribs and several of his fingers along leaving most of his body and face covered in bruises.

It was the next day when Sasha finally met Dr. Wolfhart. Sasha had been laying quietly just staring out the window near her bed watching some birds fly nearby when she had come in. She had knocked first before walking in. Dr. Wolfhart was a young woman with her long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. Sasha had notice she had a kind face and bright blue eyes. The first words out of her mouth had been if he wanted to see a magic trick. He had nodded his head yes and watched as three balls of lights had appeared in her hands and she started to juggle them. He watched as the balls of light changed colors as she juggled them. Then he was even more amazed as the balls of light split, so there were six balls of lights instead of three. Then Dr. Wolfhart threw them at him and watched as they circle around his head and then turned into a rainbow color halo above his head.

Sasha remembered giggling and clapping afterwards. After that day, she always came and did some type of magic trick for him and stayed to talk with him as well. They would talk until he was tired or he started crying. When it was time for him to leave Dr. Wolfhart private hospital. She had taken him to her house and told him if he wanted to, he could become her newest daughter. She had pulled a few strings and had Sasha given to her, since her parents no longer wanted her. Janet had tracked her birth parents down and had them thrown in jail for child abuse and abandonment and other charges. Janet had made and threaten them to sign over their paternal rights to her as well. Sasha figures it wasn’t her adopted mother that made the threat, but her adopted father. She could remember the fury she saw on his face when Janet told him what had happen. She knew then that Dr. Janet and her husband would be the family she always wanted.

When Sasha first met her new family, she was surprised. Her new adopted Father was in the military and was a Marine. He was a Lt. Colonel and one of their best special forces officer. Her new older sister was a nurse and was studying medicine to become a doctor like their adopted mother. The twins were the biological children of Janet and her husband Leland Wolfhart. They were geniuses and they weren’t identical twins, but Fraternal twins. Her adopted sister Janius was a partner in a law firm and her twin brother was in the Marines like their father. The next oldest, which was only two years older than herself was an artist and a lesbian. Her life partner owned her own construction business. Her adopted Aunt owned several businesses in the medical and technology field. She also owned several aircraft companies and develop advance weapons and body armor for the soldiers for the government.

Sasha had become her adopted mother stage assistant and started learning her magical tricks so she could follow in her footsteps. Sasha also learned to play the guitar and sing extremely well like all her adopted siblings. Sasha was part of a band called Siren and occasionally, she would add in some of her mother’s or her own magical tricks in their act. Which made them different than most garage bands. They were popular overseas and was starting to gather a following here in the states. Some of the places her adopted mother did her magical acts at would hired them to perform there as well.

The band itself had become popular and played as an opening act for several well establish known bands that were still touring. The band had a few gigs coming up that they were the main headliner for the event. Sasha breathes in deeply as she just looks out over the city from the balcony of her studio apartment. Her mother and father offered to co-sign a mortgage loan for her if she wanted to buy a house or even a townhouse if she wanted one. Sasha’s sister in-law offered to build her a custom house if she ever wanted to settle down in one place.
Her parents had already done a lot for the band by buying their tour bus and building them a studio to practice in. They had their own recording studio with the latest recording equipment and the staff to run it when they were touring. Sasha walks back inside and over towards her guitar and start practicing some scores and pieces she will be playing in the band. They were getting together later tonight to practice for the upcoming gigs in the next few weeks.

As Sasha was practicing her songs and pieces, her cell phone starts ring. She stops and checks the number. It was her sparring partner.

“What’s up Ellen?” Sasha and Ellen have been sparring partners since high school.

“Not much. I was calling you to see if we are still on for tomorrow morning for sparring or did you want to do parkour instead?” Ellen didn’t mind either. Her and Sasha were good together when they were running and sparring.

“Let’s meet for sparring tomorrow morning and if we have time afterwards, we can do some parkouring.” Sasha figures they should have some time after sparring tomorrow to do both.

“Sounds good to me. What are your plans for tonight?” Ellen was thinking they could get together for dinner and drinks maybe.

“Nothing planned other than band practice. Why, you want to get together afterwards for dinner and drinks later?” Sasha wouldn’t mind going out tonight for a little while.

“Sure, when do you get out of practice?” Ellen figure they can get together afterwards.

“We normally practice for two to three hours or so, so no later than eight o’clock.” Sasha figure if they start at four this afternoon, she should be out by eight or seven.

“Sounds like a plan than. See you later.” Ellen hangs up.

Sasha hangs up and goes back to practicing. She continues to practice for a few more hours, before stopping and fixing some lunch and getting her instrument put away and head out for practice.
 
Chapter Two
“Dam, girl check that guy out over there. He is checking you out.” Ellen spotted a guy that had been checking her friend Sasha since they step through the door.

Sasha glances over towards the guy to check him out. He wasn’t too bad looking. He looked to be in his mid-thirties. Then she really starts noticing the hidden things about his body movements. He was an undercover cop. He kept looking past her towards a group of young gentlemen surrounded by several women that were having some sort of party

“He’s more interested in something else.” Sasha figures he had everything under control. If necessary, she’ll help him out if he needs it.
Sasha orders another rum and coke and just sit with her friend Ellen. They talk about odds and ends. Something out of the corner of her eye catches her attention. She looks over towards what got her attention and she wasn’t liking what she was seeing. There were four guys walking in that had bulges under their coats. They were looking around inside the bar like they were looking for someone. She slips her hand into a secret compartment on her purse and palm her Springfield .45 automatic in her hand. The .45 caliber rounds were strong enough to take down any one they hit. Her aunt had given her specialized rounds for her gun.

As Sasha continues to watch the four, it appeared they had spotted their prey and were heading towards them. She notices one guy reaching for his gun.

“Ellen get ready to hit the deck.” Sasha had her gun in her hand.

The first guy she spotted pulled his gun out from under his jacket and was bring it up. Sasha taps off two shots hitting him center chest. She switches target quickly to shoot another guy as he brought his gun out and was looking for where the shots had come from. She puts two rounds into his chest. One of the other two guys left had spotted her and fired at her. His shots missed her, because she had moved in time. Sasha made sure that Ellen was taking cover on the floor before shifting her position to returned fire. She fires at him and hit him twice in the chest like the first two. She heard a double tap from the undercover cop at the last guy. Sasha knew she was going to have to answer some question about firing her gun, but thanks to the special license her Aunt got her. They couldn’t take her gun away or arrest her either.

Sasha walks back over to where her purse is and slips it back into the secret compartment in her purse. She presses a button on her bracelet that stops the jamming signal she had turned on so it blocked the cameras during the gunfight. That way there wouldn’t be any videos of her firing her gun showing up on the internet. Her aunt had warned her about that. Police and paramedics show-up to get everyone's statement and to take the dead bodies away. When the police come over and ask about the gun she had and where it is. Sasha pulls out her wallet and shows the special license she got through her Aunt. As for the gun, she doesn’t give it to them. It is considered experimental and you needed to have permission from the developer of the weapon, which in this case was her Aunt.

Sasha smirks after they run her license and return it to her. She knew what the file was going to say. She had a friend of hers run it once and in big bold letters. It basically said her file was classified and her badge said she was from the Office of Special Investigations. Which meant she answered to her Aunt who answered to the US Associate Attorney General. There was a special arrangement for her aunt with the US Attorney General. Her and Ellen stay till two in the morning answering question and giving their statement of the events. Afterwards, both leave and head home. Sasha follows Ellen to make sure she gets home okay and then head home herself.

As Sasha pulls into the underground parking garage, she notices a person larking around. They were looking at the cars parked there that belong to the residents in the apartment building she lived in. She turned the headlights off on her car and pull it into her assigned parking space.

“What is with criminals tonight.” Sasha slips out of her car quietly and move silently over towards the person considering the cars.

“Looking for something interesting?” Sasha stood a few feet behind him and was ready to protect herself if the person decided to attack her.

The figure turns quickly and notice a petite woman with shoulder length auburn hair standing at least four feet from him. He was ready to strike her with the knife in his hand.

“I wouldn’t do that if I was you.” Sasha had a serious look on her face.

The figure didn’t listen to her and went to strike her.

Sasha snitches the knife from the person’s hand and hits the pressure point in his wrist. That strike numbs and paralyze his hand so it won’t work.

“I warned you.” Sasha had an evil smile on her face. She was flipping the knife and catching it.

He couldn’t believe his knife had been taken out of his hand like that.

“If I strike you two more times, you won’t be able to move.” Sasha was stilling flipping the knife she had taken from him.

The intruder tries to grab his knife back from Sasha with his other hand.

She blocks his grab and then hit the other two nerve clusters and watch as he drops to the ground. She pulls her cell phone out and dial 911 and informed the police about the attacker. She waits for a patrol car to come by and to pick-up the trash.

“You know, you should had stopped while you were ahead. I might had consider letting you go.” The knife had disappeared.

When the police show up. Sasha fills out a statement and makes the knife reappear in her hand.

The car thief couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

After that business was done, she heads up to her studio apartment and put her instrument back on its stand and grabs a bottle water from the frig and start getting ready for bed. Sasha knew she was going to have to get up later to spar with her friend.

As Sasha lays down in her bed. She stares up at the ceiling and wonders what her life would have been like if her adopted mother hadn’t stopped to pick her up that day. Would she had survived and been able to live on her own? Would she had been able to afford the SRS surgery to fix her birth defect. Would her fate had been too died that day beside the road she was left at? All she knew and loved was the fact that it had been her adopted mother’s passion and concern that saved her that day. Her eyes slowly close as she drifts off to sleep.