Two

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As I close the door behind me, I can hear voices in the tiny living room of the suite. Two brown-haired girls are talking and the one sitting on the couch with an open book on her lap looks up at me and smiles, "Hi, Andy."

The second one, sitting on the floor with a couple piles of CDs surrounding her, turns around and flashes me a devilish smile, "Hey, you. What'up?"

I was heading for my room but I spare a minute to talk with my suitemates. The one with short, dark hair and cute glasses is Tina, our official bookworm. Over the past few months, I have grown to like discussing my British Lit courses with her and other books that we have read. She is genuinely kind and generous with her heart-warming smiles and I never need to act all sweet-Andy when I am around her; it is a trait that people bring out for her naturally.

Then, there is Jessica, the care-free party queen that couldn't be more of a cliché if she were blond of hair. She is the one who insisted on going to that party where I first met Bonnie Bennett and her vampire best friends last semester, but I"ll come back to that. Jessica's sense of humor is more like mine and Liv's, sharper than Tina's, and she shamelessly flirts with everybody; I even get the impression she's hitting on me sometimes.

"Not much," I answer, casually sitting on the couch's armrest, looking down at her CDs, "What's that?"

"I got these at the second-hand sale that was on at the stadium this morning."

"Oh right, how did that go?"

"Pretty good; Tina found a couple books she was pretty excited about and I got us new ideas for our music nights."

She gives me a satisfied smile and giggles. Her room being right next to mine, she heard me play the guitar and sing very early on, saying I should learn to play this song and that one so we can spend nights singing together while she bakes. At first, I was hoping Tina would be against it for some reason but she turned out to be an even better singer than I am and it sort of became a ritual on Tuesday and Thursday nights, when I'm not working at the bar. It actually gives me time to practice some songs for the singing club I conveniently attend with Tina and Target number 3, aka Bonnie Bennett. I usually roll my eyes at Jessica's requests for songs but I must admit we have been having quite some fun on those nights

"Yeah, about that…," I lean in and cast a glance at the pile of newly-acquired books sitting next to Tina. She grins at me when I notice an old copy of The Great Gatsby and I shake my head with a smile; I believe she has six copies of that book, a great favorite of hers.

"About that, what?" Jess asks and I report my attention on her fully.

I open my mouth and say nothing. Of course, I was not about to tell her that something has been up with my witches and that I am going to have a lot on my plate soon and so I won't get to just come home at night and spend some quality time with my suitemates because I'll be off to God-knows-where, monitoring my Gemini Twins. Of course, I was not going to tell her that. I was going to say something about finals coming up and needing to study but instead, silence fills my mouth. I don't want to lie to them.

Somehow, coming home every night to this suite has been a relief. It might be the only place on campus where I don't need to act or watch people. Don't get me wrong, I like what I do and I am one of the best at it, but doing it twenty-four-seven tends to drive me nuts sometimes, and I sincerely enjoy being able to come back to this safe heaven every night. Here, I can simply be myself, moody or kind as I might feel. The three of us couldn't be more different and the cohabitation could be a lot more difficult than it is, yet it has been working out perfectly so far. Here, with these girls, I have been free in a way I can't be with Liv, or anyone else.

It's funny in a way, because they literally know nothing about my real life but somehow, they know the real me. They may not know that my holy sacred mission is to hunt bad witches but we've been living together for months and they know me; they know my habits, my tastes, a couple of my girl secrets; and I don't want to lie to them. I don't want to stop spending time with them either, so I shake my head and give Jess a smile.

"Just no more Taylor Swift, please."

"Oh, come on," Jess mocks while Tina laughs, "I mean, I understand the whole 'wanting to be cool' thing and saying she's meh, but I know that deep down, you find her songs catchy and you secretly sing her tunes in the shower, just like everybody else."

We laugh and I look at my phone after hearing the message tune. It's just an event alert I set in order to remind myself that I'm supposed to report tonight. I say nothing as reality creeps back and breaks my bubble of time off.

"…all I'm saying is: your singing club has liked all the songs I've picked up for you to learn this semester, so I'm pretty damn sure to know my business. Taylor Swift, I say; always a good hit. But hey, since you're being picky, try these."

I take the list she hands me, still focused on my phone, as I stand up, "Okay, I'll look it up."

I hear the girls talk about having a massive party before the semester ends and it strikes a chord to think they have nothing more than finals, parties and boys to worry about. Anyway, I head to my room and sit down at my desk, loading a course on my tablet before grabbing my books. I have been drowning with all the reading assignments lately but I guess I can't really send a note to my professors, saying 'hey, sorry I didn't do the homework, I was busy spying on witches.'

As I read and take notes for the next hour and a half, I don't realize I have come to a state of peace until my phone buzzes. I turn off the alarm for 'home call' and sigh. I then clear my desk and take out from the only locked drawer the files I have composed so far. When my phone shows 22:00, I dial the number and wait.

"Andy," the male voice greets me after one ringtone, "It's good to hear from you, how have you been?"

"Doing good; you?"

"Pretty good, thank you. So, are you alone?"

"Yep, alone and ready to report."

"Good. You haven't forgotten I'll be hearing your report tonight; Alice is on a mission right now."

"I know, she texted me. Am I allowed to know what–"

"Strictly confidential," Jared gently cuts me off, "But, as it happens to be about your mission, I'll give you this: last time you called, you mentioned a group of witches called the Travelers. Now we have our own records about them but the elders did insist on Alice getting fresher information, so she's taken a little trip with a team. We'll tell you more when we have something to share. In the meantime, don't hesitate to eavesdrop on conversations about them."

"Wow, you seem to know quite a lot about my mission already," I simply say.

"I am first lieutenant, Andy, I know about everybody's missions. However, I don't know all the details about everything so you'll have to fill me in on a couple things, okay?"

I nod before answering by the affirmative and starting talking, "So as you know, I've been assigned to these three witches: Bonnie Bennett, of the Virginia Bennett bloodline, and Lucas and Olivia Parker, from the Gemini Coven."

"I'm following."

"I successfully established one-way contact with the three of them last semester: I meet with Bonnie twice a week at a singing club, though she has been missing it lately, and we share an Occult Studies class together with Olivia."

"Bonnie Bennett…," he trails off, reading his notes, "Didn't you say quite early on that she didn't have magic anymore?"

"I didn't say no magic at all," I correct, "I simply said that her Light didn't seem like the average witch Light. It seems…bleak, dead or dormant. I'm not sure whether she has magic or not but what I'm positive about is: she doesn't have access to it."

"Okay, so you kept watching her anyway, good call."

"Yeah, well there's a lot of supernatural stuff going on around here and she's still in the loop with her vampire friends when it comes to crises, so I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up finding her way back to her magic."

"Good to know, then what about the other two?"

"I've been focusing my efforts on the twins. As you know, I work at the Scull Bar with Liv; I also share two classes with her. One with Bonnie, as I said, and one with her brother Luke, plus we have lunch together sometimes; when they feel like letting me in."

"Did you get that close to them?"

"Closer than anyone else on campus, I would say, but definitely not as close as normal people would call it. I only get to spend time with them because I'm the nice girl who's figured out a way to be friends with Liv, but if I get too nosy or too present, they'll shut me out."

"Hm. That's one hell of a vibe that you have going on here," he mocks, "Do you know why they behave like that?"

"Every coven of witches have their own secrets you know, but they also have a heavy past."

"Right, the Gemini file mentions some family slaughter when they were kids…" he trails off as I nod and he asks, "Don't we know more about that?"

"I've asked Alice but the record is sealed. It goes back to when my dad was leader of the clan and he refused to tell her about it when she went to ask him."

"Hm. So, creepy-sibling-murder-no-one-knows-about when they were four, I guess they have every right to be on edge."

"It's not just that. I mean, they don't talk about their family or their childhood and, of course, surviving a family slaughter committed by your own brother leaves its marks, but more than that, I can sense that even though both of them are very powerful witches, Luke is stronger."

"Stronger," Jared repeats, thinking.

"Yeah. I mean, Liv acts all reckless and ruthless like she's some badass bitch, which she undoubtedly is, but I think that deep down, she knows Lucas is the stronger one.

"Wait, is that why she's the chronically unhappy one? Because she's jealous of her brother?"

"No, I'm talking about the upcoming merge."

Silence meets my words and I can almost see him squint, trying to make sense of it all.

"It's a tradition in the Gemini Coven–"

"Oh right," he cuts me off, "Like a– magic battle for leadership or something. I've read about that."

"Yes," I confirm patiently, "when they turn twenty-two, Gemini twins merge for leadership. The stronger one absorbs the magic and life of the weaker one and becomes coven leader."

"Isn't that weird," he comments.

"Some ancient, barbaric tradition," I shrug, trying not to sound too affected, "Which means that next January, when they turn twenty-two, they'll be waiting around for a celestial event to merge."

"Okay, so you'll stay put at least until then…" He trails off and I know he's writing it all down, "And you're saying Olivia is the weaker one? Do they know that?"

"I don't know but if I was able to sense it, I think they might have a clue. I mean, she's literally the one target that is still unpredictable to me. The other two present no threat whatsoever but Liv… she's emotionally unstable; I think she knows she's going to lose next year and die…"

I trail off, realizing that the curly blonde girl I have grown to like will probably die a little less than a year from now. Isn't that weird, to know that you have an expiration date?

"Which would leave you with only one full-time witch to keep an eye on. I mean, a super powerful one, but still, less problems by the minute."

I clench my jaw and say nothing, knowing it to be a lost battle at this point.

"So that covers the generals," Jared says, "What's new since your last call?"

"Well, I've witnessed a whole lot of supernatural crises over the past few months and it was sort of calming down but recently, a couple new characters have entered the stage," I announce, looking over my notes, "Mainly Lorenzo St-John, a vampire who's friends with the Salvatore brothers; or at least with the eldest. He doesn't have much contact with the witches but he might have something to do with those Travelers and he seems rather unstable. There is also Tyler Lockwood, he's a hybrid vampire-werewolf; he comes from Mystic Falls. He's been part of that supernatural gang for years now but I've seen him hang around Whitmore College more often for some time; along with a Matt Donovan, a human with a magical ring that revives him when he dies of supernatural death–"

"Great," Jared mutters as he takes notes.

"…And, new to the college party, Jeremy Gilbert."

"Gilbert. That name sounds familiar…"

"His sister Elena is a vampire and she's Bonnie's best friend."

"That's right, and there's another vampire best friend, I recall–"

"Caroline Forbes," I cut him off, nodding.

"That's quite a lot of vampires," Jared admits.

"Yep. You have no idea how hard it's been to monitor my witches discreetly when there's a vampire on every corner of the street."

"Trust me, I know what it's like," Jared chuckles, "My first mission undercover with Alice? Freaking nests of vampires everywhere. And don't get me started on the werewolves."

"Honestly, a couple of them would deserve a–"

"Ah-ah, Andy," he cuts me off, "You know the rules. You can't lay a finger on vampires unless they've attacked you first. And even then, your case would be hard to defend."

"I know. Which brings me back to little Gilbert being in the loop: he's a vampire hunter, possibly from The Five."

"Huh. Ironic, considering his sister is a vampire. Has he recognized you as a fellow hunter?"

"No, I don't think he would know how to acknowledge someone who hunts from a different branch. I haven't seen him a lot but it hit me right away, you know, his Light–"

"His Light was different."

"I've seen him pause when he sees me, like he can sense there's something going on with me but he didn't say anything, so I don't know whether he knows anything about us."

"Okay then, keep it that way. At least you have a person to count on if it all goes to hell. Anything else I should know?"

"Again, whispers about the Travelers, so I don't know what's going on with that but I don't like it. Especially when Liv has been spending so much time in Mystic Falls lately."

"Really? I thought Mystic Falls was Bonnie's hometown; I didn't know Olivia even knew it."

"The tracker I planted on her phone has been going there though, together with Bonnie's and, more rarely, with Luke's."

"Huh. Do you know where they were going exactly?"

"Mostly Lockwood Manor and the Mystic Grill when it comes to Liv; and the Salvatore Mansion for Luke."

"You know what that means…" Jared trails off.

"Yep: my three targets have acknowledged each other as fellow witches and they are now probably working together on something highly mysterious."

"Exactly. It would make sense that this vampire gang is looking for a new witch since Bonnie can't access her magic for some reason."

I nod and I can hear him sigh, "Alright, I need you to find out what your witches are up to when they go to Mystic Falls and let us know anything you hear about the Travelers."

"Will do."

"Good work here, Andy."

"Thanks."

We say goodbye and we hang up.