Pretty Little Witches

Disclaimer: we don't own either Pretty Little Liars or Secret Circle.

Chapter 1: Bound

Cassie shivered as she made her way through the woods, desperately trying to stay caught up with Ali and the others. Every time a branch snapped or leaves rustled she would nearly jump out of her skin with fear, thinking that someone had followed them or was on to them. Was it even worth it anymore?

A cold hand grabbed her wrist, and Cassie screamed. "No, let go!" She yelped, using her magic to throw the attacker off and into a tree. She was about to yell for help when she saw a familiar pale face looking up at her.

"Ow…" the girl in question groaned. "Sorry, Cassie, I was trying to get you to slow down so I could catch up."

"I thought you were ahead of me, Aria." Cassie retorted, angry that she'd been scared for nothing. Of course, the anger slipped away in moments. Cassie couldn't stay angry at her friend for long, especially since not too long ago she didn't have any real friends. Sure her and Aria had talked some, but she wasn't sure the relationship they had before would count as friendship. At least not the friendship they had now.

Aria struggled up, stumbling over on thin, coltish legs. "Sorry. Emily, Hanna, Spencer, and Ali are all ahead, they told me to go back and look for you but I went back the wrong way, and—"

"Never mind, I get it." Cassie assured her. "Lets' just find them, okay?"

She pulled Aria behind her, breathing heavily as she shoved her way through the brambles. The darkness was a little less terrifying now that she had a friend at her side, and Cassie was grateful for it. A low-hanging branch hit her face, scratching her skin and leaving a red trail.

Moments later they stumbled out into a small clearing, where the other four girls were waiting. Hanna, Spencer, and Emily all looked as frightened as Cassie felt, but Ali was as calm as though they were still safe inside their homes.

"What took you so long?" Ali demanded. Her voice had an icy edge to it, one that all the girls had directed at them sometimes. Cassie saw Emily grimace sympathetically.

"I was slower than you guys, I got lost." Cassie explained. "Sorry."

"Just keep up now, we have to get to the beach on time." Ali said huffily. She tilted her head, taking in Cassie's bloody cheek and generally ruffled appearance. "Did you cut yourself on something, Cassie?"

Cassie flinched at the way she enunciated one particular word. "Yeah, a branch."

"Oh… well, c'mon, girls, let's keep going." Ali's eyes glimmered, the way they always did when she had a secret over one of the girls. Cassie lowered her head and followed silently.

As they trudged to the beach Spencer caught up with Cassie and whispered a quiet spell to fix Cassie's cheek. As she went ahead to keep up with Ali, she patted Cassie's arm. They all knew what it was like. Being around Ali, being friends with her—it was a blessing and a curse. Ali made them all feel like they were something special, like they mattered. All five girls—Aria, Spencer, Hanna, Emily, and Cassie—had been nobodies. Until Ali started to talk to them, they were friendless losers that could only dream of being like Ali.

Her friendship came at a cost. Ali had them share secrets with her. Secrets, she said, were what would keep them together forever. The personal stuff was what only Ali knew, but they all shared the secret of The Jenna Thing. Even though it had just happened not long ago it had become one of their greatest and most dangerous secrets. Every day they feared that they would be found out and Ali would charm her way out of the situation, leaving them to take the fall. Ali would probably be able to convince them it was for the best.

As they finally reached the small, secluded beach, Cassie's stomach was in knots. Ali had told them all about the witchcraft stuff a few weeks ago. Cassie hadn't even known she was a witch and neither had Hanna or Spencer. Aria and Emily had known though and had begged Ali not to tell their parents they were practicing. Of course Ali didn't share secrets unless she had to. It had come as a shock, knowing that the It Girl of Rosewood was a witch and then learning that you were one too. Ali, Aria, and Emily had helped Spencer, Hanna, and Cassie with their powers. Trained them and taught them what they knew. It had been fun in a weird way and then just this morning Ali had made an announcement. Ali had explained to them that she knew a spell that would bind all six of them together forever, make them a real Circle. She assured them that it would give them more power as a group. Somehow, Cassie thought it might be better if they kept their power the way it was. She was afraid of being forever bound to Ali, forever enslaved by secrets.

A bonfire was constructed in short order. "Stand around the fire." Ali commanded. Slowly everyone took their places. "Ready?"

Five scared nods were her only answer. She smirked, her pale skin contrasting starkly against her now-illumined hair. It shone and danced in the wind and firelight, as though maybe it was part of the flames. "Fire, earth, metal, air, water, and blood. By these elements, we bind the Circle and follow in the footsteps of our ancestors who pledged themselves to fight against the forces of darkness. When evil assails us, when fear weakens us, when descent threatens us, in the Circle we will find our power. We come to this place alone, but we leave bound as one. With this oath, our journey begins together."

Softly all of them murmured their agreement. They could all feel a tightening in their lungs for a split second, like drowning, but then it vanished. Ali stood at her place for a minute. "There. Now we're all bound together for ever." The group could see a smile on Ali's face before silently turning and walking into the woods. Emily followed her closely, mumbling something about the woods not being safe. "Ali, wait up!" she called.

Cassie found herself being dragged after Ali by Hanna and Spencer, Aria stumbling after them. Soon they'd found her, climbing over a fence to get back into her yard. Emily was loudly protesting.

"You're going to fall!" she said worriedly.

Ali dismissively waved a hand at Emily as she hoisted herself over, landing with a soft thump.

"Easy, Killer." Spencer teased. They all liked to call Emily Killer, as in Ali's personal pit bull. Cassie often wondered why Emily worried so much about Ali. Did Ali not have a secret to hold over Em? Was it why they were so much closer?

It didn't matter much anyway. She went the long way around the fence and headed to her street. Aria and Hanna walked with her for a while, but soon they split up and went their separate ways.

As she snuck inside, careful not to wake her mother, Cassie wondered what being bound would really mean to them in the future. What had been Ali's game plan in getting them to bound the Circle? Was there one or did Ali just want to be with them forever? Maybe Ali might open up and share a secret with them. Cassie snorted, shaking her head. As if. Ali would never let them know something that could be used as leverage against her.

Cassie tried to stop all the thoughts of Ali as she clambered into bed. She could dwell on it later, but for now she needed to sleep. Who knew what the next day would hold.

-TSC/PLL- (A year later)

Everything was quiet as Aria Montgomery woke up. She shook her head wondering why she thought drinking was a good idea and then looked around at her sleeping friends. Emily and Hanna weren't too far from her both asleep. Cassie was the furthest away sleeping against the wall of the barn. The little notebook they kept laying on the floor not far from her. No one would think that notebook was anything special, but in it the girls kept information about their greatest secret in there. It was their book of shadows.

The girls had started making their own book of shadows since none of them really had access to their families. Aria's parents had locked it away when Aria was a kid and Emily's parent refused to let her use magic unsupervised, which basically meant almost never. Hanna, Spencer, and Cassie hadn't even known they were witches until Alison had told them a year ago. The only book they had any access to was Alison's so the group had started to make their own. Aria, Emily, and Allison had added the most information since they had some knowledge, but as time went on Hanna, Cassie, and Spencer also found spells and potions to add.

Looking around at her Circle, Aria realized two members were missing. "Guys wake up," Aria said shaking Hanna and getting Emily up. "Cassie." She yelled throwing a bag at the girl. Cassie jumped up.

"Alison and Spencer are missing," Aria said, but saying Spencer's name had almost been like summoning her. At that time the girl walked into her barn and looked around. "Spencer, where's Ali?"

"I don't know," Spencer said and then looked at her friends. "I thought I heard a scream."

No one said anything for a while, but then Cassie went and picked up the book of shadows. "Come on you know Ali. This might be a joke. Let's just do a spell to find her." As soon as the words left Cassie's mouth though they all felt something painful in their chest. They all screamed out in pain. After a while the pain was gone.

"What was that?" Hanna asked and everyone looked around. There were mumbles of 'I don't know' from everyone.

"Let's find Ali. She would know," Emily said holding out her hand to Cassie. "Give me the book." The minute the words left Emily's mouth the book flew out of Cassie's hand and to Emily. Everyone just stared at the book.

"Who helped Em with that?" Spencer asked looking around, but no one took claim to doing the group magic with Emily.

"I did it on my own," Emily said. "I felt it. My magic. The same way I used to before we decided to bound the circle."

"Emily, that's impossible. We bound our Circle. The only to break it is..." Aria stopped what she was saying. A sick look came onto her face. Emily slowly followed realizing what Aria meant. Hanna, Spencer, and Cassie didn't know though. The three had never had any training before meeting Ali. Both Aria and Emily knew a little and knew a bit about Circles even before Ali had suggested they bound theirs.

"What?" The three asked together.

"The only way to unbound a bound Circle is death," Aria said finally letting the three in. "A member had to die." It took a second but the three realized what Aria meant.

"Ali..." The word came out of Cassie's mouth, but she couldn't find it in herself to finish what she was saying.

The next day a massive search for Alison started. People had hoped she was alive. They were looking for her as a missing person since no body turned up. Soon the search died down and people started to give up not knowing if Alison DiLaurentis was alive or dead. The five girls who had been her best friend and her secret Circle of witches knew though. They knew Ali was dead, but couldn't tell anyone. How were they supposed to explain how they knew? The five drifted apart from each other. The friendship and Circle dying. That is until a year later when they would need each other again.

AN: Okay, how does everyone like the first chapter of our Pretty Little Lairs and Secret Circle crossover. This was co written with my friend and fellow Secret Circle Project writer Flower Gettin' Lady. The Secret Circle Project is a fan made project to write a season 2 of The Secret Circle. It's under Flower Gettin' Lady pen name, so go check it out. We have ten episodes posted and this week is our mid season finale. We have huge plans for that, so make sure to read. Oh and give us a RVIEW.