Cursing loudly, I hopped on one foot and held my throbbing toe while Cassie laughed at me and I glared at her, my toe throbbing painfully, it'd been a long day at Spencer, at least no one had noticed me and I was under the radar, I didn't want any attention brought to me.

Cassie on the other hand…..

She glared at me, obviously hearing my thoughts, it was one of the effects of our Powers, we could hear one another's thoughts if we didn't put up barriers or the thoughts were clear enough, it was present in siblings and between everyone and the Head of the Coven, and, since Cassie and I were sisters and I was the eldest of our Coven left which made me the Head of the Coven, we heard everything in each other's minds if we weren't careful.

"Rubes, can we go out? I'm bored," Cassie whined and I shook my head, sitting on the couch and pulling off my sock to inspect my aching toe, "ooh, blood," Cassie teased and I glared at her.

"Do me a favour and get me a band-aid please, Cass," I sighed, my eyes catching sight of the newspaper on the chair opposite, and Cassie mumbled under her breath as she walked away and I pulled the newspaper to me, "shit," I muttered, seeing that a Spencer student had taken an overdose and died at the Dells, a local party spot apparently.

"Oh, you didn't know about that?" Cassie's voice asked and I looked up, seeing her holding out a box of band-aids and taking them with a thank you, "no problem, Rubes, but he was a transfer, like us, like that Chase guy I saw talking to earlier," she smiled slyly and I rolled my brown eyes.

"He just helped me out, Cass, we're friends, not even friends really I guess," I said, putting a band-aid on my bleeding toe and throwing the paper carelessly over my shoulder, "besides, I have bigger news, turns out the Sons of Ipswich are in the majority of my classes."

"Whoa, really?" Cassie gaped, sitting opposite me, and I nodded.

"Caleb Danvers, Pogue Parry, Reid Garwin and Tyler Simms, the Sons of Ipswich," I said quietly, "witches, like us, but more powerful, with a bigger curse, their power rips away their life, ours can be used as much as we like as long as it's in short doses, just leaves us weakened for a while, but, we have our limits too-"

"Yeah, yeah, and if we Use to much in over a long period of time, we die, I've heard it before," Cassie interrupted and I narrowed my eyes on her as she Used to get her manicure kit to give her a manicure.

"It may not have short term effects, Cass, it may not age us like the Sons' Power does, but as we grow older, if we've Used too much in our youth, our Power diminishes and leaves us weak, just like Grandpa David," I snapped, my eyes flashing red and forcing the manicure kit to stop, "now, Use sensibly, otherwise I'll block your Power."

"Only the Head of the Coven can do that!" Cassie argued.

"I am the Head of the Coven!" I retorted, my voice rising, "we're the only two left, Cassie, we need to Use sensibly, to preserve ourselves, keep ourselves safe, we're the only ones left who can continue our Coven, without us, it dies."

"I know that! I'm not an idiot!" Cassie shouted, storming upstairs and leaving me alone.

Stupid girl.

"I HEARD THAT!!" she roared and I rolled my eyes as I heard a door slam and made sure to put up my mental blocks.

Is this was I was like at her age? If so, I really am sorry, mom, dad, I never meant to be, I know how hard it is now.

A soft sigh escaped my lips and I switched on the television, my homework in my lap, had to get it done, right? My curly black hair fell over my face as I worked and I bit my bottom lip slightly in concentration, I did want to stay in Spencer, which meant homework.

Unfortunately.


Sitting in Literature class, I kept my brown eyes on the teacher and tried to block him out without looking like I was, I just didn't want to listen today, it was the three month anniversary of my family's slaughter, I deserved a break, but no, I had to sit through class.

The chalk the teacher was holding suddenly snapped and I felt my eyes change from brown, to red, then back to brown in a mere split second, damn emotional connections, I usually have better control. I sighed silently and looked down at my notebook, but my stress was bubbling inside of me and it took all I had to keep control of my Power.

"Miss Jacobs!" the teacher suddenly snapped and I looked up, "would you mind repeating what I just said?"

"Miss Jacobs," I retorted in an uncharacteristic sign of defiance and the class snorted with laughter, but I didn't pay any attention and looked down at my notebook again.

"Pay attention, Miss Jacobs," the teacher ground out and I shrugged as he went back to the front of the class, picking up another piece of chalk, but once more, my Power kicked in and the chalk shattered the second it touched the board, "what on earth-" he stopped and shook his head, getting another piece of chalk as I forced my Power to stop and took notes on what he was saying.

Someone suddenly walked in and I glanced up, but they just handed the teacher a slip of paper and walked out again.

"Mr Collins, you're wanted in the Provost's office," the teacher stated and I glanced at Chase, who was next to me, as he put his things in his bag, stood and walked out with a smile directed at someone behind me.

He was close to the Sons of Ipswich, made friends with them, just like the other transfer, Sarah Wenham, at least I was hidden in the background, just like I wanted to be. The bell soon rang and I was at my locker, releasing my mental barriers slightly and hearing some of Cassie's hidden turmoil, she was hurting so. Shaking my head slightly with a frown, I put my mental barriers back up and closed my locker, I should talk to her, she might need me.

"Rubes!" Cassie's cheerful voice suddenly cried and I looked behind me, seeing her running towards me, "I need a really big favour," she pouted and I rose an eyebrow, this was not a good thing, "can I go to the Fall Fest? I know we're supposed to be concentrating on that thing, but please, Rubes," she begged.

That was it?

"Yeah, sure," I shrugged and her jaw dropped, "what? I'm not that much of a bitch, Cass, I'm not going to stop you having fun."

"Thank you Ruby!" she squealed happily, attracting attention and hugging me tightly, before skipping away and leaving me shaking my head at her with amusement, she acted like I never let her do anything.

But I'd heard her thoughts when she hugged me, she was blocking it all in, pretending she didn't care by acting happy, but she did care, she was broken inside and she couldn't hide it. I sighed softly and went into my next class, thinking and trying to come up with a way to make Cassie feel better, hm, she'd need a new dress for the Fall Fest.

Great, looks like I'm going shopping after school today.

Chase sitting next to me cut my thoughts short and I glanced at him, he looked faintly angry, but I didn't comment and looked at my notebook, writing random lines down, I used to write a lot, poetry, the occasional story, but not much nowadays, too preoccupied with making sure Cassie did her homework, ate, behaved, you know, all that stuff, then I had to keep an eye out of the hunters and that scared me half death as it was.

"Don't you want to know what the Provost wanted?" Chase asked suddenly, his voice almost biting, and I turned to him, frowning slightly, "he thinks I had something to do with that kid's death."

"I thought it was an overdose," I said slowly and Chase nodded.

"It was, but he stole my student ID card I think, it was in his car," he bit out icily and I frowned slightly deeper, "but I didn't have anything to do with it."

"Okay, I believe you," I said quietly, turning to the front as the teacher came in, missing the smirk that slid onto Chase's lips.

But something nagged at the back of my mind, why would someone steal Chase's student ID? It's not like they could pose as him, everyone's student ID's had their pictures on so there was no point in stealing one another's, it was just strange.

I pushed the thoughts from my mind and began taking notes, this entire school was strange, I wasn't going to get caught up on some little thing about student ID cards.

But the thought was still there, and it wouldn't leave.


Everyone was talking about it, Kate Tunney had been bitten by spiders, hand an awful allergic reaction and was rushed to hospital, and, her boyfriend, Pogue Parry, had been in a motorcycle accident, it was strange, plus the spider thing sounded familiar.

I snapped my fingers as I sat in the sitting room alone (Cassie was already at the Fall Fest) and a large book appeared in front of me, hovering over the coffee table, another snap of my fingers and the book opened, the pages turning rapidly, before stopping in a chapter on the Sons of Ipswich, on a page about one of their spells.

'The Creation Spell' I read, frowning slightly, it sounded familiar, oh yeah, mom made study the entire book when I first gained my Power at ten and made me write essays on every chapter, the Creation Spell contained spiders, lots of them, biting the victim and causing them to become deathly ill, they're in a great amount of pain until they die.

But why would the Sons put a Creation Spell on Kate? They wouldn't, so who had?

Someone knocking on my front door pulled me from my musings and I waved a hand, getting rid of the book, as I stood and went to the door, my eyes their usual brown color. I pulled the door open and my eyes widened in surprise as I saw Chase on my doorstep, how in hell did he know where I lived?

"Hey," I said slowly, my surprise, not to mention suspicion, obvious.

"Why aren't you at the Fall Fest?" he asked and I shrugged.

"Didn't want to go," I said simply, "why aren't you there?"

"Had better things to do," Chase answered with a mysterious, rather creepy grin, "just wanted to say goodbye."

"You're leaving?" I questioned, eyebrow raising, "you've only been here a week, Chase."

"I know, but, I'm about to get what I want," he laughed, almost manically, and I took an unnoticeable step back.

"And that would be?" I asked lightly, but he just grinned at me and then his lips were on mine, his fingers laced around the back of my neck, pulling me to him demandingly, what the hell?!

"You'll find out by tomorrow, Ruby, just you wait," he whispered silkily in my ear, turning and walking away, leaving me gaping after him in disbelief.

I think I'm going to go wash my mouth out, there's something about that laughter that sent scared shivers running down my spine.

Shutting the door, I went to the kitchen and got myself some food, then sat back in the sitting room, flicked on the television and brought The Book back. My brown eyes flicked over the pages in the chapter on the Sons of Ipswich and I stopped on the execution of John Putnum, the final in the fifth family, but Agnes Goodwin-Pope said that he visited her as an incubus in her dreams, no one believed her, but, ten months after her husband was killed, she gave birth to a son, Hagen.

A frown furrowed my brows and I thought, Cassie and I were sent to protect the four Sons of Ipswich, but if the fifth still lived on, the bastard son of John Putnum, then he could be the one who placed the Creation Spell on Kate, but who could that be?

"Had better things to do."

Chase's voice suddenly filled my mind and I gasped, tonight was Caleb's Ascension, I'm guessing the fifth bloodline would be pretty angry that they were pushed away, which meant that they'd most probably want revenge.

"Had better things to do."

Once more, Chase's words pushed their way to the front of my mind, he was the fifth, the bastard Son, he was going to hurt Caleb, oh damn, do I get involved? Or do I just leave them fight it out? I mean, I was just sent to take care of any hunters, not get involved in personal wars.

Then why in hell am I changing my clothes into a dress and going to my car?! Goddammit, if anything bad happens at the Fall Fest, then I guess I'm getting involved, I hate my good heart, sometimes I wished I could be more selfish.

Ten minutes later, I was getting out my car, fully dressed in an elegant black dress, light make up and my curly, black hair left circling my shoulders, I looked passable I guess. I saw Reid and Tyler with Sarah, but no Caleb, reasonable, he was Ascending, it probably wouldn't be pretty, I still wasn't going to get involved, I wasn't, I was just going to make sure no hunters appeared and tried to kill them during Caleb's Ascension.

A sigh pushed past my lips and I leaned against the wall just inside the building, the music from the dance vibrating the floor, but Tyler suddenly running past made me look up and I frowned, seeing his panicked expression.

"Hey! Have you seen Sarah? Sarah Wenham?" he asked me, his voice bordering on frantic.

"No, sorry, maybe she's in the bathroom," I answered apologetically, "want me to check?" I sighed at his nervous expression, and he nodded gratefully.

I went into the bathroom and looked around, seeing all the cubicle doors open and no one at the sinks, guess she wasn't there. I left the bathroom and shook my head, Tyler instantly bit his lip, blue eyes wide in panic, then thanked me and ran off again, leaving me immensely confused.

Strange boy.

"Hey, new girl, have you seen Sarah Wenham?" Reid demanded, suddenly appearing.

"No," I replied, "sorry."

"Can you check the bathroom?" he asked, his voice impatient.

"She's not in there, I just checked for your friend," I said and Reid cursed, muttering a quick thanks and running away again.

What if Chase had taken her? If Chase really was the descendant of John Putnum, and was using her against Caleb? But why? Oh, damn, I was confused, why couldn't I have just stayed at home and not get involved in things?

Because I'm nosey, let's face it, I'm freaking nosey and I have to know everything that's going on, stupid me. I mentally cursed myself and glanced up at the large clock, seeing Reid and Tyler talking to each other out of the corner of my eyes, Reid looking at his watch, must be seeing how much longer until Caleb Ascended.

Can't be too much longer.

Leaning against the wall beside the main doors, I looked up at the sky and begged for someone to help me to work out what the hell I should do, I was scared, I was scared that I should help them with the whole maybe-Chase thing, but I wasn't helping them, I was scared that the hunters would show up, that I wouldn't be able to beat them, that I wouldn't be able to avenge my family.

Biting out a muttered curse, I pushed myself off the wall and headed for my car, why, I'm not entirely sure, I don't know what I'm supposed to do, I don't know anything anymore, I don't want to be who I am right now, I want my parents to tell me what to do, to take the responsibility of it all, I was just a kid, but I wasn't able to act like it.

"Fuck!" I shouted, slamming my hands onto the steering wheel and pressing my forehead against it, "fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" I chanted, tears sliding down my cheeks, I didn't want to be in charge, I didn't want to be the one who had to shoulder all the responsibility, I was just a kid, it wasn't fair.

I just wasn't fair, and it was all the hunters fault.

They were going to die.


Thanks to TragicCure and Britishgl for the reviews! I hope you enjoyed and review this chapter, the story's beginning now, yayness!