With every step I take I still miss you

And I need you, more and more each day

I wish that you were here, but you had to disappear

Forcing me to learn to live without you here

-MariaC-

What if…

It had finally gone quiet in the Parry's household. The Boston kids, as Reid had nicknamed the group, had finally left. But Pogue knew that they would all be there again by Monday.

He lay on the couch, staring at the TV without actually seeing what was on.

"Pogue…" Kate's soft voice tried to pull him from his thoughts. She knew that it had to be done, to keep him from being lost there forever. He didn't look at her, but moved his eyes to the picture in his hands instead.

Rachel…

Kate saw the tears appear in his eyes again, and she had to blink her own tears away as well.

Everyone in Ipswich was talking about it: 16 year old Rachel Parry had committed suicide. And of course, suddenly everyone was her best friend, and no one had seen it coming, etcetera.

The funeral was in two days, on Monday. The school had decided to give the senior year a day off that day, and in the evening there would be a memorial service. Kate knew that they, Rachel's real friends, wouldn't be there. Because almost everyone at school only knew Rachel as 'the little sister of Pogue Parry'. Some people would remember her as a great dancer, as the one that played the lead in the musical once, but they would be outnumbered. And the entire ceremony, people would walk to the microphone and say how nice Rachel always was, how sweet, how great… forgetting how they never actually had spoken to her.

Kate looked around the living room, to the broken faces of boys around her. She knew that they blamed themselves. Kate and Sarah were sad as well, but they hadn't really known them. Sure, they had talked to her in the past three months, but Rachel hardly ever had spoken about herself, about what she liked or thought, about what she hated. She had been a friend, but nothing more.

It was different for the boys. They had known her from the day she was born, and they were convinced that they should have protected her. And, as Tyler had said, if they would have talked to her before, if they would have actually tried to be nice to her a little bit sooner, then she might have understood how much they loved her. And maybe she wouldn't have given up so easily.

Kate and Sarah had al tried to tell them that it didn't work like that, that it was just a maybe, that it wasn't their fault, but they had refused to listen. And they all had chosen their own way of grieving.

Caleb had started to take his role as leader more and more serious. He was the one who had organized almost the entire funeral. When his mother and the parents of Reid and Tyler had found out about that, they had helped, but Pogue's parents had refused to have anything to do with it. But it had kept Caleb busy, and that was all that he had wanted at the moment.

Tyler had buried himself in old photo books where he kept searching for photo's of Rachel. That was harder then expected, since there weren't a lot of persons who wanted to take a photo of her. Luckily, there were some were she stood in the background, looking at the boys. The Boston kids also had some photo's of her of when they were dancing. So now Tyler kept looking at them, smiling softly as he saw Rachel's smile in one of them.

Pogue's way of dealing with his pain probably was the most depressive. He hadn't said a word in the past two days. Instead, he just lay on the couch, staring at the television, ignoring everything and everyone around him. He had only responded when Tyler had given him a picture of Rachel, which he now held tightly in his hands. Kate had managed to make him eat and drink some, though not much.

And Reid…. He had disappeared as soon as he had heard the news, and no one had heard from him since. Kate knew that when, if, he showed up, she would do some serious damage to him. She couldn't believe how selfish he was, leaving his three brothers alone at a time like this.

Sarah had cried a few times, but mostly spent her time running after Caleb, trying to calm him down, to make him eat or drink or rest, basically keeping him alive. Kate had done the same thing with Pogue, trying to keep strong.

Pogue's parents hadn't really helped. They had called a psychologist, who would come by in a week. After that they had basically told Pogue that it had been Rachel's own choice, and that she wasn't worth the drama. Only they had worded it slightly more careful. It hadn't helped, and now Chris Parry walked around with one black eye. He was lucky the other boys hadn't been around at the moment, or he probably wouldn't have made it out alive. Kate knew that if there was anyone to blame for Rachel's death, her father probably was the one, her mom being a close second.

Kate was scared, though she tried not to show it. There were so many problems at the moment. There were Pogue, Caleb and Tyler, who seemed unable to take care of themselves at the moment, there was Reid, who had disappeared without a trace, and then there still was the fact that there was a rapist walking around in Ipswich. And Kate didn't have a clue how to deal with that all.

So for now, she simply pulled Pogue closer to her, laying his head on her lap and stroking his hair, hoping that everything would be okay some day.

At that moment, Caleb, Pogue and Tyler all at once opened their eyes and looked at each other in shock.

Reid walked through the forest, back to the place they had fount Rachel. He had spent the last two days searching for clues that would lead him to the monster who had killed Rachel. Because, unlike his brothers, he wasn't about to stand on the sideline, letting that bastard live his life.

It had taken him some time to muster enough courage to go out there. He kept seeing Rachel as they had found her that day, broken, naked, bleeding.

He finally reached the tree where they had fount Rachel's clothes, ripped and bloody. Reid sat down against another tree and sat down, pulling his knees to his chest and staring at that tree, to the spot where Rachel had been murdered.

Because he knew that that was the place where Rachel had died. Maybe not physically, but mentally Rachel hadn't been there anymore when they had found her. Her rapist might not have killed her directly, but in a way he was her murderer.

And Reid would make sure he'd get punished for that. Because he knew that was the only way he'd ever get peace with Rachel's death.

After a few minutes he closed his eyes, and they turned black behind his eyelids.

Reliving the past was possible for everyone, power or not. But watching someone else's past was a lot harder, and it cost a lot of energy, though it was easier when you were on the right spot.

Reid was dragged into the past, making sure he wasn't dragged to faraway. If that would happen, then he wouldn't be able to return and he would eventually die with Rachel.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw the same tree he saw before. Only this time, a girl lay in front of it. Her shirt was used as a blindfold to cover her eyes, and the rest of her clothing lay beside her. She was shaking, by the cold and the tears, that Reid knew she must be crying, though he couldn't see them.

He told himself it wasn't real anymore, that he couldn't help her, but still it was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life; sitting still as he watched the only girl he had ever really loved dying.

Because he loved Rachel. Not like Tyler did, not even close, but as a sister. And he kept wishing that he had said something to her about it before. Before it was too late.

And then he gasped, because the thing he saw was something he had never thought about. And now that he saw it, he couldn't believe that he hadn't thought about it. Because it made so much sense.

Before his eyes, he watched as Aaron Abbott, his archenemy, raped Pogue's little sister, as Aaron's best friends stood behind him, laughing and encouraging their friend.

And Reid cried.

When the doorbell rang, Kate and Sarah both stood up to answer it, not expecting one of the boys to move from their spots. But to their surprise, all three of them sprinted towards the door. And not long after that they heard screaming.

"How could you have been so stupid?" That was Pogue.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" That was Caleb.

"Do you honestly want to get addicted or something?" Pogue again.

"Or do you just don't care about dying? Do you think we can lose you now, as we lost…."

Kate and Sarah looked at each other confused in the silence that was caused by Caleb when he almost said the forbidden word.

Then they both walked into the hallway, just as Tyler asked his best friend:

"What did you find out?" It was the first time he said anything, and it was so calm that Pogue and Caleb stared at him in confusion. Reid opened his mouth to answer, but that was when his eyes met Kate's confused ones.

"O shit." He mumbled, barely loud enough for Kate to hear him. But she did.

"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked worried. "What did he do? And what are you talking about 'getting addicted'? Is Reid on drugs or something?"

Pogue looked down to his shoes, and that was when Kate realized there was something seriously wrong.

Caleb managed to convince the two girls to sit down on the couch as they explained things. He started with his explanation.

"Okay… Well, you know the story about us right?" Kate and Sarah looked at him confused, clearly needing a better definition then 'the story'.

Then it was Pogue's turn. "Ya know, the story about us being witches…" He told them, falling silent when Kate stared at him in confusion. She clearly didn't understand why he would bring it up at a time like this. Reid rolled his eyes, getting frustrated with the waste of time. They should be hunting down Aaron at the moment.

Tyler rolled his eyes at him, clearly having he same feeling. And that was when Reid decided to step in.

"Right. Actually, it's really simple. Here it is: We guys are warlocks. Not witches, warlocks. And no, we are not like Harry fucking Potter!"

Pogue glared.

Caleb sighed.

Sarah blinked.

Kate fainted.

Reid rolled his eyes.

And Tyler just wished Rachel was there.

It had cost some time, even after she had woken up, but finally Pogue had convinced Kate that he didn't intend to kill her. Sarah had been easier. She had been silent for a second and then whispered why they hadn't used their magic to find Rachel. After that, Caleb had started to explain the whole rulebook.

And then Tyler turned to Reid.

"Seriously man, what did you do?" Reid's smirk, that he hadn't dropped during the whole thing, now vanished.

"I tried to find out what happened to Rachel." He told them. At that moment, Pogue nearly attacked him. Pogue had been able to forgive Reid for making his girlfriend faint, because, to be honest, it had worked, but he wasn't about to let Reid bring up Rachel.

Caleb flew forward and grabbed Pogue before he could make a move and Reid quickly took a few steps back.

"I know who did it." He whispered. "And I think it's my fault." Tyler looked confused, while Caleb used all his energy on a still furious Pogue. Kate rolled her eyes and walked to her boyfriend.

"Calm down, Pogue. Just listen to him, okay?" After a few seconds, he stopped trying to break Caleb's hold and relaxed. Kate took his hand as Caleb took a few steps back and glared at Tyler.

"Thanks for the help."

"Anytime." Tyler muttered, before turning to Reid. "Explain." He commanded. Reid didn't need any more encouragement.

"I went to the place where we found her cloths, and used to look back into the past." He explained, knowing Caleb would want the full story. Then he hesitated for a second.

"It was Aaron, guys. Aaron, Bordy and Riley. I think… I think it was some sort of revenge on us." He almost whispered the last words, and all fell silent, taking in that possibility. Then Caleb walked to the hallway.

"Kate, Sarah, stay here." He told them as he grabbed his jacket. His three friends quickly followed his example, not bothering to ask any questions.

No one said a word as they stepped into Tyler's hummer and drove off, searching for Aaron and his friends.

As they entered Nicky's, everyone fell silent. But they ignored the stares and quickly walked to the bar.

"Hey Nicky." Reid greeted the man. He nodded to them.

"How're ya holding up?" He asked them softly. Caleb shrugged and Nicky nodded.

"I'm sorry. Rachel was a good kid." Pogue rolled his eyes.

"As if you knew her. She barely came here." Nicky didn't get mad, but simply looked at him with pity.

"I guess you heard that line to many times. But I did know Rachel, she came her quite often."

Tyler blinked. "Really? I never saw her." Nicky shook his head.

"That's logical. I think she was fifteen when she got here, asking if I needed a waitress. I said she was too young, but she practically begged me. Said she needed the money, didn't saw what for. So she worked here a month or six. But she always tried to avoid you guys." Pogue looked down and nodded softly.

"Guess you knew her better then I did, huh?" Nicky smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, she didn't really talk much. But she worked hard, was nice to the customers… And she loved you guys. Stopped me a couple of times from throwing you out." The four boys laughed sadly. That sounded like Rachel.

"Have you seen Aaron and his cronies around here lately?" Reid suddenly asked. Nicky lifted his eyebrow.

"Why? Looking for another fight?" The faces of the four boys had turned from sad to furious, though it was clear that their anger wasn't directed to Nicky. He frowned. Caleb and Pogue had never really fought with Aaron all that much, only when it couldn't be avoided. Why would they suddenly hate him now.

And then he connected the dots.

"There's a rumor…" he started carefully, sighing when he saw the boys freeze. "They say that Rachel was… raped, before she..." He didn't finish his sentence, but the expressions of the boys said enough. They all seemed furious as much as sad, and he knew they answer to his unspoken question.

"They left when you guys came in. One of them was about to throw up, so they're probably still in the alley." He answered them. "Don't get yourself locked up, okay? Rachel wouldn't have wanted that."

The boys disappeared into the alley behind the bar. Nicky decided that they had never been there, as far as he knew.

Aaron stood in the alley, looking bored as one of his friends, Richard, was demonstrating one of the effects of alcohol. When the door to Nicky's fell close behind Tyler, Aaron looked up. His eyes widened in fear when he saw them. Then he just started to grin.

"Well, well, look who we have there: The fags of Ipswich. Tell me, what are you gonna do now that you lost your little whore?"

A few of his friends looked at him in shock. They knew that Aaron hated the four sons, but this was a low blow. Even below his usual level.

Reid flew forward and slammed Aaron against the wall, desperately trying to keep his eyes from turning black.

Bordy and Ryan tried to help their friend, but Tyler and Caleb quickly prevented that. Pogue turned to the others.

"If I were you, I'd get out of here and forget you ever where here." He advised them. Kira, Aaron's girlfriend (most of the time) stepped forward.

"Why? What did they do?" She asked. Pogue looked her in the eyes and realized she really didn't now.

"They raped my little sister." He snapped at her, unable to keep his anger in check. Kira staggered back, with a shocked look on her face.

"No… No, Aaron, that's not true, right?" She looked her boyfriend in the eyes, with tears streaming down her face. And she saw the truth in his eyes. She finally understood where he had been that day he had simply disappeared without a word. She finally understood why he wanted to leave when the sons came in. And she finally understood what he meant when he said that 'things were finally even' between him and the sons.

She turned around and ran away. Her two friends, Ria and Samantha, quickly followed her, looking evenly shocked. Richard followed as well, to drunk to do anything else. Only Michael and Trevor remained.

"How could you?" Trevor hissed. "She had nothing to do with your little war!" Aaron looked confused, not understanding how is own friends could turn against him.

Richard nodded to the sons.

"I'm sorry. We didn't know, otherwise we would have said something. We'll make sure no one disturbs you." He said, his voice filled with regret. Then he and Trevor walked into the bar.

Reid turned his eyes away from the door and back to Aaron. The boy now looked terrified.

"Please…" He whispered. "I'm sorry… I was drunk, I didn't think… I didn't know she'd kill herself!" Reid's fist hit him full in the face.

The time after that had been pretty great, giving the circumstances.

They all had a few bruises, but nothing to serious. Aaron, Riley and Bordy hadn't been a match for them. By now, they were in the hospital were officers were ready to take them in. The four boys wouldn't be charged, for the simple reason there was no evidence that they had been there. No one in the bar had seen them, Nicky's denied ever talking to them, and the boys got their bruises from a fight between the four of them. They had said that Reid and Pogue had gotten into a fight, and that Tyler and Caleb had tried to stop them.

Aaron's friends, or ex-friends, denied ever seeing the sons. According to them, Aaron, Bordy and Riley had gotten into a fight. And since they had hated the sons since forever, it was only logical to blame them.

But there were no witnesses, there was no evidence and no police officer really felt like doing a investigation.

Aaron, Bordy and Riley were convicted for abduction, rape and abuse. Since they were almost eighteen, they were convicted as adults. No one would see them for at least ten years.

Pogue's parents were charged for neglect and abuse. They would both serve two years. Pogue moved into the dorms.

Two months later

Pogue flew up in his bed, trying to suppress his scream.

He had dreamed of Rachel again, of the night she was raped. In the end, she would cut her wrist and stare at him as she bled to death.

"Why, Pogue?" She'd ask him. "Why did you let me die?"

Pogue wiped the tears out of his eyes again and looked at his clock.

Three a.m.

Sighting, he lay back down and tried to fall asleep again.

"Sleep well?" Caleb asked the next morning during class. Pogue shook his head.

"Nightmare." He mumbled softly. Caleb sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, me to."

"You to?" Tyler asked as he sat down beside Pogue. "I had one to. Reid to, we woke up at the same time." Caleb suddenly looked worried.

"What time?" Tyler frowned.

"Around three, why?" Pogue flew up.

"That was exactly when I woke up!" He hissed, trying not to drag all the attention to him. Caleb nodded softly.

"Me too. Meet you during lunch in the forest, okay?" The two other boys nodded.

Caleb paced up and down the room. After spending their entire lunch time debating the possibilities, they had now spend the past three hours in their lair. And they included Sarah and Kate.

"Uh, guys?" Kate suddenly whispered. She looked scared. Pogue immediately ran to her side.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked worried. Kate pointed to the page she had been reading.

"It says that there were five families, but that the Popes were banished." She whispered. Sarah froze.

"O shit." She muttered, receiving a confused look from Caleb. She sighed softly.

"Chase was adopted. We once asked him who his birth family was, and he said that he didn't really know them. All he knew that they were called Pope."

"Guess the cat's out of the bag now, huh?" All six jumped at the sudden voice. When they turned around, they saw Chase. He laughed.

"Ah, aren't you happy, to finally find your long lost brother? Look at it this way, you lost a sister, you get a brother!"

Pogue balled his voice and took a step forward. Kate took his hand, pulling him back.

"Don't!" Pogue hissed. "Don't you talk about my sister like that!" Chase laughed again, the evil laugh that practically says 'hey, I'm evil!'.

"Ah! Don't you want to see her?" Chase asked them. His eyes turned black, and suddenly Rachel appeared beside him. But she wasn't human anymore. She was a darkling.

Chase touched her cheek, but she didn't respond.

"You know, it's a real shame Aaron got to her before me. I mean, I need a descendant to carry on my power. I though she was a good choice. Too bad she was too weak."

And that was when the four sons lost it. Tyler was the only one who hadn't ascended yet, and they all knew that Chase didn't stand a change.

So why did he still fight?

They all started to throw energy balls at him, but he simply deflected them.

"I'm disappointed, I though you could do better then that." He said quasi sad. "Here's an example!"

He threw a massive ball of fire to Sarah and Kate. Pogue and Caleb jumped in the middle and managed to deflect it, while Tyler and Reid continued the attack. None of them saw how Kate suddenly fell down, grabbing her head. Sarah screamed her friends name, causing Tyler too look up.

And then he knew.

Chase had bounded himself.

A wizard, or warlock, whatever term you prefer, had the possibility to bind himself to someone. That way, he could steel the energy of that person.

Chase had used Kate. As long as Chase would use, Kate would be the one to suffer the consequences. Only she wouldn't get older, she'd just die in a very painful way.

"Stop!" he yelled at his friends. "We're killing Kate this way!" His friends looked at him in confusion, but Chase started to laugh again.

"Baby boy has figured it out! I'm so proud of you!"

Tyler desperately searched for a way to break the bond without killing Kate. He tried to remember the spell.

You had to fill a bag with stuff that belonged to that person. A lock of her hair, a mirror she had looked in, a fork she had used to eat and a fingernail. Tyler never understood why there had to be a fingernail in every spell.

Then, you had to keep that bag close to you. Tyler let his eyes fly over Chase's body, and that was when he noticed the necklace around Chase's neck. It had a small bag on it, big enough to contain the previous mentioned objects.

"Distract him!" Tyler yelled at the others, using his telepathic link. The others started to throw balls of energy and fire at Chase again. Tyler waited until he had just deflected a few, and then he pulled the necklace to him, using all his force. Chase started to fight against him, but Reid came to the rescue, supporting his friend with his own power.

Tyler felt the necklace in his hand and quickly burned it. Kate froze in Sarah's arms. She started to cry. Chase combusted in flames.

Ten years later

"Hey guys." Pogue whispered softly. He had his arm around Kate's waist as the both stood beside the grave.

Rachel Parry

May she rest in the peace that live couldn't give her.

6/1/1989-11/29/2005

And Tyler Simms

May he live with his love forever more

5/26/1987-2/3/2006

Tyler had died while saving Kate's life right after he had defeated Chase. According to Reid, it was because he had loved Rachel, but had been to shy to say so. He couldn't live on, knowing his brother had lost his little sister and the love of his life. And Tyler wanted to be with Rachel.

So in the end, you could say there was some sort of happy ending for everyone. And it had only seemed right to bury Tyler in the same grave as Rachel, although no one knew how Rachel felt about Tyler.

Now, ten years after they lost their sister and friend, they all felt like they were alive again. Reid had found a beautiful girlfriend, who's name happened to be Rachel as well. The first three weeks, Reid had refused to talk to her because of that. Now, two weeks ago, he had brought her to meet his little sister, as he had told her. He was thinking about proposing to her.

Caleb had proposed to Sarah a long time ago. They would soon celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary. But for now, they were still cleaning up from the party for Will's fourth birthday. Caleb had decided to name his son after his father, so his name had become William, something that was quickly shortened to Will.

They were already thinking about the name for the baby that would be born in six months.

Kate and Pogue had been married for five year and their son Michel, or Mike, would turn four in a couple weeks. That probably wouldn't be a huge party, since Kate was already five months pregnant and was a little bit too tired to have twenty children running around the house.

No one really understood why they suddenly had more than one child. But Caleb thought that it might be to make up for the two lost lines. Kate didn't really care, she loved the idea of having a second child.

She listened to her husband, as he told his little sister about what had happened, as he did every week.

"…And Reid has managed to make a fool out of himself again. He walked in to a door at the office. Luckily for him, I was there to see it and tell the others about it." Kate and Pogue chuckled softly. Then Pogue kneeled down, replacing the old flowers with new ones.

"I love you two, and I miss you. I hope you're happy wherever you are." He whispered softly.

A soft voice flew through his mind, like every week, and he smiled.

We are.