Thanks to everyone who takes the time to review. I appreciate it!

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Witch One?

From the darkness of the alley, the figure watched them, the remaining Sons of Ipswich and their new flunky. The girl was an unknown, some transplant student to the public high school.

So what does three prestigious young men want with a seemingly less-than-average girl? Perhaps the girl was a gang whore or something. Whatever the case, she was of little concern.

Who will be the next to fall? Maybe Garwin, with his arrogant ways and misuse of powers. Hmm…or maybe the ever indestructible Pogue Parry? The figure watched as the group stopped just outside the door. The watcher smiled, a flash of white in the dark alley, as Tyler Simms shook his head and motioned to his SUV.

Yes, he would do just fine…

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"Shit," Tyler said as the group reached the door to Nicky's. "I forgot, I've got a two-page essay due first period tomorrow."

"What, so you're not coming?" Reid asked.

"I can't. I gotta get back. I haven't even started yet," Tyler said, shaking his head. He motioned to his car. "You coming now?" he asked Reid.

"Can I catch a ride?" Reid asked Sam, who nodded.

"Nah, I'll be home later," he said, wrapping an arm around Sam. "Hopefully, much later."

"Mmm…sorry Casanova. You're not my type," Sam said, slipping out from under Reid's embrace.

"Too solid?" He asked, patting his torso.

Sam smiled tolerantly and rolled her eyes. "You're a riot."

"Later guys," Tyler said with a wave.

"Later. Hey!" Sam called. Tyler rolled down his window. "Watch yourself, alright?"

He gave a nod and waved again before Sam turned and joined the others inside.

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"We've been at this for a week now, and no one has even seen anyone remotely suspicious. I don't know if you guys fully understand the seriousness of me not being connected with my body."

Caleb looked over at Sam, who was buried beneath her pillows, doing her best to ignore him.

"After a body is in a coma for a certain amount of time, chances of waking up are slim to none."

Sam groaned and sat up, rolling off the bed and shuffling to the bathroom. When she emerged a moment later, she sat on her bed and leaned against the wall.

"Ok Caleb. You have my undivided attention. Let's get all the negative energy out so that you can settle down and I can get back to sleep."

Caleb crawled in bed beside her, leaning his head against the wall. He talked to her about everything; his fear at the thought of never waking up, his apprehension for his friends, his concern for his mother.

Whenever he would open his eyes and look over at her, she would be sitting up and paying attention to him, her head tilted to the side in thought as she processed the things he was telling her. Caleb had never been so open with anyone outside of the Sons, and he was surprised to find that Sam was right. Just talking to her did make him feel calmer.

When he was finally done, he sighed and looked at her. "So, Doc? What's the diagnosis?"

"Caleb," Sam began, sitting up on her knees. "Your friends are some of the most loyal and devoted people I've ever met. They won't let anything happen to your mom while you're…indisposed. And I know I sure as hell won't let anything happen to you," she said, bringing her hand to his cheek.

Caleb gasped at the contact of her fingertips on his skin. "How are you doing that?" he asked, closing his eyes. He swallowed the lump in his throat as her fingers skimmed along his jaw.

"Focus. It comes with the package," Sam said with a soft smile.

Caleb turned his head to look at her, bringing his hand up to cover hers. He wasn't surprised when his hand slid through. Sam leaned forward, bracing her other hand on the wall beside his head. She tilted his chin up and lowered her mouth slowly.

Caleb could feel her breath on his lips, and wondered idly if she could feel his. He watched as her eyes fluttered shut…

The phone rang and Sam's eyes popped open. She gave a small yelp as she lost her balance and fell through Caleb. Their moans mingled as their forces blended. Caleb gritted his teeth against the pinpoints of pleasure that erupted along his skin…or whatever. He pushed himself from the bed, leaving Sam panting where she lay.

"Ssshit," she hissed.

"What the hell was that?" Caleb asked.

"I don't know. It's never happened before. Of course, I've never actually touched an astral body before, either."

"Samantha Jane," her mother called from the hallway. "There's a boy on the phone for you. Your father wanted to talk to him, but I wouldn't let him. Please let him know that calls made after midnight should be made to your cell, alright?"

"Yes ma'am," Sam said, taking the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Pogue. Did I get you in trouble?"

"No, it's fine. Next time call my cell though. My pop is kind of a raging brute about calls after eleven or so. What's up?"

"I was just—why are you breathing so hard?"

"I, uh, had to run to get the phone," Sam lied. "'You were just' what?"

"Oh. I was just wanting to go over everything that happened with Caleb one more time. Something's not adding up. Can you take me through it, step-by-step?"

"You want to do this at 2:30 in the morning?"

"Is there anything else you were doing?" Pogue asked. "I mean, you sound pretty awake to me."

"Yeah, I mean, it's fine. Hang on a sec," she said looking at Caleb. "Pogue wants a step-by-step rundown of everything that happened that night in the parking lot."

"We've been over it," Caleb said despairingly.

"I know, but he wants details."

As Caleb rattled off everything he did that night on the way to the car, Sam repeated it to Pogue.

"I got in, started the car—no, I was going to start the car, but there was something under my wiper blade. Flowers or something. So I got out—"

"Whoa, wait. You've never said anything about flowers before,' Sam said.

"I never thought about them," Caleb said.

"Describe them to me."

"I don't know, small. Dried. Um, maybe purple at one time. Oh, the center was black, but that might have been because of being dried. They were tied with twine and a feather of somekind."

"Hang on a second, Pogue," Sam said, going to her bookcase. After selecting a book, she flipped through the pages until she came to what she was looking for.

"Is this it?" she asked, pointing to the page.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's it," Caleb said, nodding.

"Hensbane," she told Pogue. "It's a common herb used in spells. What we're looking for is a someone who knows their way around a curse, but isn't confident in their magic. So they doubled up with a little bit of Hoodoo."

"Hoodoo?" Pogue and Caleb asked together.

"Yes, and in order to get you back with your body, we're going to have to find the conjurer and make them reverse it."

"So we're looking for what? A Hoodoo priestess?"

"Not necessarily," Sam said. "Anyone can conjure Hoodoo, as long as they have some sort of magic capabilities."

"So we're pretty much where we started," Pogue said.

"Except we know now what we're looking for, just not who."

"That is a thoroughly confusing statement," Caleb said, lying down on Sam's bed.

"No, see, anyone with a hand in magic can do a curse. And anyone who believes in Hoodoo can work that, but why do both? Whoever we're looking for is a newbie."

"Did you really just say 'newbie'?" Pogue asked.

"Shut up. Anyway, whoever it is hasn't had much involvement with their magic. Find the inferior witch, find the conjurer."

"We're next door to Salem," Pogue replied. "There are pseudo-witches everywhere."

"So we hit the library. Research local witches—other than you guys," she added, "and anyone who might have been affected by magic. Like that Chance guy last year—"

"Chase," Pogue corrected.

"Right. Chase. Like him. He was all ballistic with his Power, right? Killing that kid and everything. Maybe somebody from the kid's family knows about you guys and wants revenge?"

"Maybe," Pogue said. He yawned. "Ok, it's late. Let's meet at the library tomorrow and we'll start looking. G'night."

"Good night, Pogue," Sam said, disconnecting the phone. "Caleb, this is great! It won't be long before—" she broke off, setting the phone on the base and shaking her head at the sight of Caleb dwarfing her bed. She picked up a blanket and spread it over him, rolling her eyes when it passed through him.

She crawled between him and the wall, careful not to merge, and covered up, hoping to get a few hours sleep before her alarm went off.

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The phone next to Tyler's head rang four times before he woke up enough to answer it.

"Mmmf?"

It took a minute, but Tyler finally recognized the voice on the other end of the phone. "Is something wrong?"

He rolled over and checked his roommate's bed. "No, he must have found some girl to go home with."

Tyler sat up, running a hand through his already messy hair. "The roof?" he asked, yawning. "Yeah, I guess. 'k. Bye."

The boy flopped back on his bed with a groan before standing and pulling his jeans up over his boxers. He snagged a t-shirt off the end of his bed and left his room, climbing the back stairs to the door on the roof. The lock had long since been broken, and since the rooftop allowed for a great deal of privacy, no one had reported it.

"You out here?" Tyler called, shuffling along the edge of the building. He sat on the ledge and yawned again, breathing deep as the cool wind blew through his hair.

He heard a sound behind him and turned. "Hey. What's that?" he asked, taking the small flower that was being held out to him. He heard quiet spoken words, and then all went black.

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A/N: It's a bit shorter than the others, but CH 4 will be longer. I will try to get that typed up sometime today (Friday).