The Secret Circle

You'd think being a Witch was magical. The truth? It's anything but. My mom died in a mysterious fire which we now suspect to be magically related. One of the members of my Circle died in an effort to kill a Demon. A group of Witch Hunters have arrived in Chance Harbour and I'm in their sights. My lineage is the oldest and my Witchcraft the strongest. My Grandmother is my rock, my friends – the few that I have are my rocks. And then there's Jake. The Witch next door. The guy I'm in love with, except. The naïve traitor who is working with the Witch Hunters. But I shouldn't love him – destiny says I should fall in love with Adam. Except destiny isn't always right. I'm not a naïve little girl that's going to die. I'm going to get rid of these Witch Hunters and free Jake. But if he can't be freed then he has to go with them. Whatever that means.

.

"You seem a little distant, do you have a lot on your mind?" Jane quizzed.

"It's just that a lot's happened recently," Cassie replied, eating a spoonful of cereal, "and I'm…trying to figure things out with Jake."

"I knew him a long time before you did Cassie and I've seen a remarkable change in you," she mused aloud, "he's a remarkable young man. I think losing Nick was a wake up call for him…he ignored a lot of Nick's issues when they were growing up. You're a good influence on him too – is he taking you on another date?"

Because I'm going to discuss that with you.

Cassie shrugged calmly, "Jake can make the next move Grandma," at least she wasn't lying – she would let Jake make the next move, so long as she remained ahead of him, and ahead of whoever he was working with, "and then we'll see where we are after that. Diana said she'd give me a ride to School so I'll see you this afternoon, if Jake asks me out I'll call you." She stood up abruptly, swooped down to kiss her Grandma on the cheek and in one fluid motion was already moving toward the door.

.

She turned toward the Armstrong House and waved at Jake who was stood on the porch before ducking inside Diana's car, glad of having a door and some glass between her and Jake – a physical barrier felt so much better than just having some distance. There was something blocking the two of them. Not that she thought he'd picked up mind-reading but the strain of trying to hide the fact that she knew the truth was beginning to get to her. She couldn't lie for much longer, eventually everything was going to unravel. And she had to have figured out how to confront the Witch Hunters first before she told Jake anything. She needed some leverage.

"Are you having trouble with him?" Diana enquired quizzically, turning her head to make eye contact with Jake, he dodged her prying eyes however and Diana was left confused as to whether that was a natural reaction or he was hiding something. Surely he wouldn't be that obvious about it?

"Not at all, why do you ask?" Cassie enquired, fastening her seat-belt as Diana pulled away from the curb.

"Because," she murmured checking her mirror, "you just gave him one of the looks that I found myself giving Adam all the time before we broke up and it doesn't exactly suggest romantic bliss. Come on you can talk to me about this stuff Cassie."

Cassie looked at Diana and tried to smile appreciatively. "I don't mean any disrespect but it's private…with me and Jake things are complicated…I'd rather keep other people out of it."

"We aren't talking about the romance anymore are we?" Diana asked as they pulled up at the junction. "This is Circle stuff isn't it? What is it – are you two fighting about your Books of Shadows? Is he trying to get you to do something you don't want to? Age doesn't necessarily dictate wisdom Cassie – you know that don't you?"

Cassie bit her lip, Diana was trying to be nice. But she couldn't know. No-one could, even Cassie knowing was risky – Jake could sense something was off about her. If Diana knew there was even more risk. She wore her emotions clearly – which was a good quality in a friend but not in a confidant. "Just trust that I know what I'm doing – like you said age doesn't dictate wisdom, I know a lot more than you'd think…now can we talk about something else…have you done your Math homework?"

.

"I'm sorry Charles am I boring you?" Dawn asked, vexed. His attention returned to her from the embrace of the window and she rolled her eyes. "There are Witch Hunters here in Chance Harbour and they have been for a while, and I'm almost certain Jake Armstrong is working with them."

"What do you want me to do?" Charles probed. Though he hated to admit it Dawn only really contacted him when she wanted him to do something for her. Clearly she had something special in mind if she had called him during School hours, and if something had rattled her then they clearly had a reason to be worried.

"We can't lose Jake – we lose Jake and the Circle lose their power, they lose their power and we never get their power." Dawn replied cagily – she would never actually imply what she wanted him to do – then it might infringe on his conscience.

Charles cocked an eyebrow, "If Jake is with the Hunters doesn't he want to kill the Circle? I'm not exactly sure how to take that kind of motivation out of a person Dawn – I don't know if we can. If he's intent upon it then he'll kill them…we all know what a messed up kid he was. Maybe that part of his personality is still with him and he's just concealing it well."

"I don't believe that," Dawn shook her head, "confront him – if he won't change knock him out and we'll lock him up."

"Will that hold him for long enough?" Charles prodded.

"It'll have to – you deal with Jake, I'll deal with the Hunters. Jane will help too – she's still under the impression that we're working to protect the Circle," Dawn mused, contented that she had settled the matter completely, "I'm making Casserole for Dinner, I'll see you at 8. It'll be good for Faye and Diana to get used to eating together as a," she paused as she struggled with the word, "see us as a family."

.

"Something's wrong." Diana said as they walked and talked through the busy hallway between classes.

"And why do I care?" Faye asked disinterestedly as she admired herself in the reflection of a door window.

"Because whether you like it or not Cassie is the most powerful in the Circle and we have to help her so that when we really need her she's focused on the issue at hand." Diana said accelerating and rounding on Faye stopping her in her tracks.

Faye groaned, "Look just because Cassie's bloodline is the oldest and because her Grandma appointed her head of the Circle doesn't mean I recognize her authority or the need to help her in her hour of need – we didn't rush to help Melissa when Nick died I'm not suddenly gonna drop everything to help Cassie with some mystery that you can't tell me about Diana."

"Because I don't know what it is," Diana countered, moving to Faye's side again as they continued progressing along the hallway, "Faye we are all bound to one another – surely you can at least sense that something isn't right about Cassie?"

"All that I sense is how annoyed with you I am Diana," Faye said she stopped and turned to glare at Diana, "I'll see you at the Abandoned House this afternoon – you can talk to us altogether with Cassie there. Maybe we'll find out if she really does have a mystery problem."

Diana frowned. That hadn't gone exactly as she planned. She turned around and spotted Adam. She hated seeing him now, all she saw was the guilty look in his eyes. He'd worn it for a long time, ever since she'd broken up with him. The guilt of knowing he'd lied to her and himself, that he loved Cassie and somehow destiny had repeated itself and his feelings had been spurned by Cassie as his father's had been by Amelia. Diana smiled weakly as he walked up, his eyes wandering after Faye.

"What were you arguing about?" Adam enquired, ushering her across to his locker, he opened it and plucked out his Chemistry book, stowing it in his satchel as he waited for a response.

"I'm worried about Cassie, she's distance and it has something to do with Jake. I'm sure of it. She's keeping a secret and she's panicking about it," she clued-up, watching to make sure no-one was listening to them, something told her she had to be on her guard, "I'm half-hoping Cassie will tell us tonight at the Abandoned House but I don't want to push her. She needs a friend not an interrogator…maybe you could speak to her?"

Adam gave her a quizzical look, "What makes you think she'll speak to me?"

"Fine it was a stupid plan." she replied angrily, drawing away from him and moving into the flow of students on their way to Class.

"Diana, come-on!" Adam called after her but she'd already moved away from him. They hadn't found a comfortable friendship yet. Instead they were somewhere in between. Not quite in a relationship, not quite in a casual friendship. Instead they just seemed to argue all the time and Adam didn't know how to get to a good place. And it wasn't as if he could talk to Cassie. She was in love with Jake – which was impossible. Mainly because Jake was a dick and incapable of winning such a sweet girl as Cassie but also because she couldn't be, destiny said he was going to end up with Cassie. Like Amelia and his Dad before them. They were tied together by the stars.

Adam felt a tingling on the back of his neck, "Careful Adam, anyone would think you were pining about Diana." Faye grinned at him maliciously as he swung round to face her, "Oh wait, that's impossible because you're in love with Cassie. Except she…rejected you…didn't she?" She let out a shrill laugh, "Oh Adam, you're so…pathetic. Please have a shred of respect for yourself and try not to spend the entire meeting staring at Cassie."

.

"You wanted to see me?" Cassie asked, poking her head around the Principal's door.

"Of course Cassie, please, take a seat." She gestured to one of the chair's in front of her and Cassie sat down, instantly feeling foreboding rising inside of her. Dawn was on the face of it the antithesis of everything Faye stood for. She was kind, sincere. But Cassie understood a lot more than people's external appearances. Her Grandma was a case in point. The kind, harmless old lady. Or the super-powerful Witch, depending on what part of herself she showed you. Everyone in Chance Harbour – at least everyone Cassie met had a persona that they used to further their own objectives. Dawn liked playing the caring Principal – it had after all allowed her to get close to the Circle. But Cassie understood implicitly that Dawn had objectives, and she was Faye's Mom. Two reasons to not like her. "I understand from Faye that you've been spending a lot of time with Jake Armstrong – are you two dating?"

"We've been on dates but we aren't exactly…dating." Cassie admitted, trying to keep her answer as ambiguous as possible.

Dawn nodded – she'd expected as much, "Do you like spending time with him? Is it because he's older?"

"He's certainly more mature than some of the boys here," she admitted – Adam was being…annoying, it was as if he didn't even know how to behave around girls, "I'm sorry what relevance does my personal life have to my school life Principal Chamberlain, I'm just not following? Did you ask me in here for something else?"

Dawn sighed and then fixed Cassie with a steely look, "Fine, let's not avoid things Cassie – you know as well as I do that Jake is working with Witch Hunters. I want to protect the both of you, and the only way I can do that is by getting you away from Jake."

"Did you already set your attack dog on him?" Cassie was grimly aware of Diana's Father's roles in Dawn's schemes.

She smiled at Cassie in a look she hoped would unsettle the girl.

"Cassie I didn't want to have to make this difficult but I will if I have to. Jake is in a very dangerous position, I need to take you out of the equation so that I can take those Witch Hunters," Dawn paused a moment weighing the merits of going through with the original plan, "and you're going to help me Cassie Blake."

"Why would I help you?" Cassie quizzed, her interest piqued.

"Because if you don't I'll have Charles kill Jake. That'll draw out the Hunters and then I can kill them."

That got to her. "You wouldn't, you need him."

"You act very old and very wise Cassie but I don't you know even the first thing I want. You could guess, you might even get it right but you can't be certain and you won't take that risk," Dawn fixed her with a grin that reminded Cassie very much of Faye in one of her moment's of effortless triumph, "come-on Cassie we both want the same thing, to protect you and to protect Jake."

Somehow she felt like she was singing a deal with a devil, "I doubt that very much. What do you want me to do?"

"You're going to bring me Jake, you bring me him and I can protect him."

.

Melissa looked at her French Fries and picked one up, almost bringing it to her mouth before putting it back. She'd lost her appetite; Faye had walked in. She slid into the opposite side of the booth and smiled at Melissa in her perfect, friendly and menacing way. Melissa sighed; she hated having Faye like this. There were times – rare times – when Faye could be a good friend. But the rest of the time she was a sociopathic bitch hell bent on ruining everyone's lives.

"Why are you so happy?"

"Because Adam's rattled, and if Adam's rattled so is Diana and so is Cassie – which means the time is ripe for me to take control," Faye cast her eyes over to the bar, "is Adam working tonight?"

"I saw him leave about half an hour ago," Melissa replied distractedly, Faye gave her an interested look and Melissa rolled her eyes, "he's probably meeting Diana before the meeting to discuss tactics. He doesn't trust Jake, and neither do I."

"Cassie does," Faye murmured, she didn't like talking about Jake too much, "and isn't she supposed to be our leader?"

"You don't think so," Melissa countered, "do you Faye? If you had your way you'd be leading us to greater heights of magical greatness wouldn't you? Well you missed your chance, there's a darkness coming and Cassie seems to be the only one who knows what to do."

"Seemed to, you forget she isn't exactly giving us any information," Faye reminded, ignoring the swipe at her, "aren't you a little bit interested to find out what blondie's up to?"

"No Faye, no I'm not," Melissa stood up suddenly, "this darkness killed Nick, if she's doing stuff to stop it and doesn't want to be bothered I don't really care. I'll see you at the meeting."

Faye swung round, "Where are you going, it isn't like you have any other friends?"

"Neither do you Faye," Melissa turned away from her and strolled out of the Boathouse, completely uninterested in continuing the conversation, "neither do you."

.

"Diana I told you I didn't want to discuss it this morning," Cassie said as she unwrapped her hair from the turban and let her wet-locks hang down, "can't you just leave it?"

"Cassie I'm worried – this darkness is after us all, that girl that attacked you with a knife? They might have attacked you because you're the most powerful but that doesn't mean they won't try and pick us off one by one," Diana replied fiercely, "I think we have a right to know what we're up against."

Cassie slumped onto her bed exasperatedly, "I don't understand why you want to make something into a threat when it hasn't really materialised yet." She stopped herself before she went too far along the line of exasperation – it was liable to make her say something that she regretted.

"You don't have to do this alone – this is why we bound the Circle, so that we can work together and be stronger for it," Diana implored, "just…just let me help you."

"Diana I can't burden you with this, I'm the leader of the Circle, I have to protect us…I've been entrusted with a great power and I'm not going to expose the rest of you to this danger Diana," Cassie shrugged, "I'm not going to expose any of you."

.

She hated lying to them all. Melissa had suffered so much in losing Nick and now Cassie was making her accept his lying traitor of a brother, Jake, as an ally. Faye could probably tell something was amiss but she wasn't saying it, she was saving it: leverage for if she ever had a chance at taking power, a reason to dethrone Cassie. Diana. She was so kind – one of the only true friends Cassie had in Chace Harbour, and she knew Cassie was keeping things from her, but she kept loyal. Even though their lives were at risk. Cassie might be annoyed at Adam but she still felt like crap for duping him. And then there was Jake. He had been so good to her – he was a lying bastard, that she couldn't deny – but it wasn't of his own making. He didn't know how he was being manipulated. He didn't know how Nick had really died – none of them did. Cassie didn't know the exact details beyond knowing that Dawn Chamberlain was involved somehow.

"We just need to always be near one another, our own homes aren't even safe so I'm considering using some of these defensive spells that I found in my Book of Shadows." Cassie said, her eyes flickered to Jake and again she saw it. Something wasn't right about him. His eyes kept flickering to the doors. And suddenly Cassie could feel a jet of danger shoot through the Circle, Faye had been the warning lighthouse, Melissa had caught it of her, and then Diana had passed it to Cassie, and they were all focusing on Jake.

"What are you hiding?" Faye demanded, crossing the room and squaring up to Jake.

Cassie crossed the room, immediately grabbing a hold of Jake by the arm and steering him, despite resistance away from the others, putting distance between them. She flashed a meaningful look at Diana, "Get everyone home, now. Tell my Grandma where I am." Diana seemed to falter but then moved and Adam followed her lead, Melissa lingered before following them, only Faye remained.

"No fricking way Cassie – this isn't a lovers tiff. This is something else what did he do?" Faye inquired, moving toward them again.

Cassie gave Faye a look that she hope communicated the urgency of the situation, "Faye please, just go." She took a few steps back and then flew out of the other door, Cassie turned toward Jake and she could see something in his cerulean coloured eyes. He was panicked and she could tell, she touched at his arm and it was tensed: on edge. She stroked at the side of his face and he looked at her sweetly.

"Thank you for that."

She moved her hand away and instantly iced over, "You don't really think I'm as stupid as them do you? Give me some credit."

"I don't understand." Jake replied, he was convincing but didn't have her convinced.

"Even now you can't tell me can you?" Cassie prodded. "I waited Jake, I waited and waited for you to tell me and you couldn't manage that could you?"

"Cassie-"

She turned on her heel and spotted the girl lingered at the edge of the room in the shadows, "You did this to us – just remember that." She turned and lit a candle and then turned toward the girl, "Power of Fire, burn my foe," she heard the girl whine slightly, "power of fire, burn my foe." She felt the crystal burning in her jean pocket as she used the power and then heard Jake cry out, she swivelled round and watched as Jake dropped to the floor, clutching at his neck. She then turned round and the girl was upon her at close quarters.

She screamed as she stumbled back from a blow to the abdomen before trying to bring a fist back at the girl. Then she felt the object smash into her head and she dropped to the floor, darkness creeping over her as consciousness seeped away from her.

. . .

Hope you liked my first ever Circle fic,

There will be more in the coming weeks,

Acrobat

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