Plotline writers – Forcystus5, xleamalfoyx, Coralinas, thefallenloveoflife,
Writers – Coralinas, Forcystus5, CharmedMilliE, ilove2dance, luisa Mendoza, thefallenloveoflife, witch-witha-B, TtylerMaria
Editors – flower gettin' lady, witch-witha-B
Graphic Designers – xleamalfoyx, Charlene F.
Twitter Account – ImaGleekBaby, TSC_Project
Tumblr Account – witch-witha-B,
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Disclaimer: We don't own The Secret Circle.
Episode 4 – "Accident"
"Adam, what are you doing?" Faye asked quietly, he was still stood in front of her just staring his eyes completely black. Not getting an answer, Faye stepped back unknowingly in the direction of the skull. Knowing that Faye was getting too close to the skull Adam lost it, he threw his arm out planning to push her away from the skull but the amount of power the skull had given him sent Faye flying across the beach and into one of the rock outcropping before she fell to the ground. Adam then started to walk over to Faye who was slowly moving to try and get up through the intense pain she was feeling all over.
Faye swore she had blacked out at some point in between hitting the outcropping of rocks and hitting the ground, she took a quick assessment of what hurt the most and moved slowly to try and get up. When she looked up she saw Adam moving closer, making her panic. She had no idea what was wrong with him and what he was capable of anymore. Adam carried on moving closer nothing in his face changing, his expression was blank and his eyes had still not changed from the black they had changed to not minutes ago.
Once Faye was finally able to sit up she saw that Adam was too close for her to get away especially with the pain that she was in. She knew that Adam could probably see the pain and the fear in her eyes, but right now she didn't care she just wanted to get away from here before something else happened. She didn't risk saying anything that would set him off so she watched helplessly as Adam came closer and closer to where she was sat. She knew in any physical or magical fights she probably couldn't beat Adam his magic had been off the scale lately and she didn't exactly study martial arts.
When Adam was finally stood above her Faye started weighing out her options, why had she not told anyone she was coming here sometimes her own stubbornness pissed her off. She couldn't get her phone out without Adam seeing and she had already ruled out magic and physically punching him there was nothing she could do. She had no options left and no way out.
But before she could think it through further Adam's eyes changed back to their usual comforting blue and automatically filled with worry,
"Faye are you okay?" he asked as he crouched down beside her so he was at the same eye level as Faye.
"Of course I'm okay." she told him not knowing what was going on and if he remembered what he had done or not. He then stood up offering her a hand to help her up but Faye stood herself up wincing slightly at the pain that was in her body.
Again Adam looked at her his eyes showing worry, he had no idea what had happened to her. He knew Faye wasn't the clumsy sort of person but he didn't have the faintest idea of what had happened since she surprised him a few minutes before. He was unsurprised at the fact she didn't take his hand, she had always been stubborn, he also didn't try to ask her what had happened or if she was okay again,
"So...did you want me to give you a ride home?" he asked as he was sure she had come alone and he knew from Faye's whining that her mum didn't like her driving the car. He again was not surprised when Faye shook her head,
"I'm fine, I borrowed Melissa's car." she told him and Adam could have sworn she was backing away from him. What could have happened to make Faye act like this around him, it probably had something to do with why he was getting such a headache all of a sudden. He paused when the weirdest thing happened, he was simply looking at Faye when she seemed to fly back into the rock outcropping.
But when he blinked Faye was still stood in front of him, not as close but still in front of him. He shook his head slightly wondering what the hell was going on, was that what had happened when his mind seemingly blacked out? Was Faye more injured than he had originally thought?
"Faye..." was the only thing he managed to say before getting another flashback, he felt a flash of anger then saw his hand fly out in the direction of Faye and watched as she flew into the rock cropping.
But yet again when he blinked Faye was moving towards the parking lot where she had obviously parked Melissa's car before coming to find him. He had to stop her and he had to know what was going on, what had happened. Were the flashbacks real or was it the skull playing with his mind?
"Faye, wait a second!" he almost shouted heading up towards the parking lot where Faye was quickly getting into Melissa's car.
Before he could say or do anything Faye started to drive off and head back to town. Adam let out a large sigh and looked back towards the beach where the skull was buried. If that thing had made him hurt Faye he wouldn't just hide it, he would destroy it.
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Cassie woke up to her alarm and groaned as she realized she was yet again waking up alone, and as depressing as it was to go from Diana all the time to being utterly alone, she also realized they'd jumped head first into deep waters, when they really needed to ease back into seeing each other so often. She understood fully why Diana would want her space, though it hurt that she was blaming her for the outburst.
It was the first day back at school and Cassie was less than stoked, but she was hoping that maybe Diana had had time to think things through and they could talk about what was going on. This whole situation should have been happy and fun, which it really had started out as, but it ended up just being much too fast.
Heading to her dresser Cassie stared at her drawers. She normally didn't fret over her appearances, but today was different. She moved around her different shirts before giving up and heading to the closet and scanning what she had in there. After a few moments consideration she picked a simple Navy blue quarter sleeved dress, and headed off to the shower, going over in her head the conversation she hoped to have with Diana, that is if she was willing to talk.
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The smell of bacon wafted into Diana's nose, waking her up. Smiling, she stretched and sat up as Melissa walked into the room.
"Morning sleepy." Melissa joked.
"Morning." Diana smiled back, it felt good to wake up in a house that felt so care free and happy, a house where she woke up to delicious smells, and a house where she didn't wake up to her sister and be reminded that things were so, so wrong. She felt she needed this escape.
"So, you ready to go back to school?" Melissa asked in an annoyed tone that told Diana she defiantly wasn't.
"Ha! Did I want to leave the open road? No. Not at all. Grant pulled me into the clouds. I spent the entire summer learning to enjoy the view and soft wind in my hair. Now I have to return to a boring classroom?"
"I'm so jealous of your summer! Well... No I'm not. I had a fantastic summer here with Faye Adam, and even Cassie. I just wonder what the sunset looks like in other states."
"They look different everywhere you go. Setting against so many different and beautiful horizon lines."
"Sounds breathtaking."
"It is, but enough about me; tell me how your summer went?"
"There wasn't much to it. I spent most my days with Faye at the boat house, when Adam had down time he'd sit with us and steal French fries. Adam and I spent some time in the forest identifying different plants after I found a journal my mom kept of the different plants and herbs in chance harbor. Faye and I used our individual magic for mischief, convinced bouncers and bartenders we had shown them our legal ID, helped play ourselves up to randomers in the bar to take us out dancing. It was really fun."
"As much as I love how I spent my summer, I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous I missed out on that." Melissa laughed a bit at Diana's words; it was funny to her that with Diana's summer she'd be even a little bit jealous.
From downstairs Mr. Glaser suddenly yelled "Girls! Breakfast!"
"Come on hippie chick, get dressed and let's go!" The girls smiled at each other as Diana thought to herself how perfect this morning was, and how much she had missed Melissa.
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Adam opened his eyes, blinking. He couldn't remember what had happened yesterday, or even the past week. For s second he was completely and utterly lost, and then he remembered; he'd found the skull and brought it back home. It was taking over him. For whatever reason, the last thought was the strongest and it had never really occurred to him before. It was taking over him. His life, his thoughts, his actions…
Then he remembered Faye. She had been talking to him, and suddenly he'd blacked out. When he came to, she was crumpled on the ground, like she'd been thrown at the rock outcropping. He could remember how terrified she as and he wasn't sure why. All he knew was that he had obviously done it, or the skull had. The magic had reached from the ground when she stepped too close, keeping her away.
Adam rolled out of bed and grabbed his cell phone, dialing wildly. He waited with bated breath, praying that Faye would answer.
"This is Faye Chamberlain. If you're getting this message it means that I'm busy or that I hate you and there's no chance in hell that I'll pick up. So… leave a message or go away."
Adam growled in frustration, hanging up. He was tempted to leave a message, but he had a feeling that Faye wouldn't answer if she heard his voice. She was probably terrified of him.
Adam was about to go to her house and try to fix whatever he'd done when his dad appeared in the doorway. "Adam?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you headed to school soon?" ever since he'd gotten the skull Adam had been different, and Ethan had noticed. He eyed his son carefully, judging every reaction. "You have about ten minutes to get there, which is just enough to get you there in time."
"What?"
Ethan repeated what he had said carefully. "So," he concluded, "You should probably leave now. You know, because you'll be late if you don't."
Adam nodded, reluctantly grabbing his bag and passing his dad, heading to the car. He would have to catch up to Faye at school.
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Jake opened up his eyes and looked around. He was thankful that this time he had remember to put his vial away and didn't fall asleep at his desk. He picked up his cell phone and decided to call Faye. He needed a break from all the research and Faye was the perfect distraction.
The phone rang a few times and finally Faye picked up. "Hello," Faye mumbled. Jake found it weird that she hadn't made some stupid comment about his vial.
"Hey, how's my favourite girl?" Faye usually liked it when he said stuff like that, but this time was different.
"What do you want, Jake?"
"Well I thought we could hang out today. Go to a movie or somewhere less lame like my bedroom. We could fool around a bit." Jake offered and he didn't think Faye would refuse. Faye never refused that offer.
"I have school today." Jake forgot all about school since he didn't go anymore.
"Oh, okay. I forgot. Maybe after school?"
"I don't know," Faye mumbled and hung up. Jake thought the conversation was weird. Faye showed no interested in coming over after school or cutting school to come see him. Jake shrugged it off because he figured it was just Faye being Faye.
Jake looked around trying to figure out what he could do today. The entire Circle would be in school, so he couldn't hang out with any of them. He hadn't spoken to his old high school friends for two years and most of them were away at college. The only other friends he ever had were the witch hunters and that wasn't an option since most of them were dead and the ones who were alive wanted him dead. Jake then knew what he would be doing that day. It would be another day of researching on his vial, leaving him plenty of time to spend with Faye in the afternoon.
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Faye hung up on Jake and slid her phone onto her bedside table. Although she had told Jake she was going to school, she really wasn't planning on it. Most of the time when she moved it hurt and she had barely gotten any sleep, she hated feeling this weak and didn't want the others to see her as such. She was just grateful her mum had gone away for a conference and she hadn't seen Faye when she had come in last night, she had probably looked a right state. Getting out of bed was trouble moving her right wrist hurt a bit but when she moved to push herself up she hissed at the pain that shot through her arm, putting pressure on her right hand or arm was out of the question. Once she had manoeuvred herself to be able to get out of bed she also found putting pressure on her left ankle wasn't the best idea either, she was going to be wearing flats for a while.
Padding into her bathroom with a small limp, she went to the sink intent on seeing how bad the damage from the beach had been. Adam had already called her three times this morning and it was only 7:30 but she hadn't answered any of the calls. Something weird was going on with him but for now she was leaving it, looking in the mirror she was grateful that there were no obvious bruises, cut or anything else on her face and chest. She knew from getting changed she had some minor bruising on her legs so that ruled out skirts, shorts or dresses. Removing her top she moved in front of the mirror and took note of the large bruise that covered her right shoulder, though she wasn't surprised to see it there after the pain she had gone through getting changed the night before and the pain she had gotten when she rolled onto her right side. There was also bruising near her ribs but if Faye was honest with herself everything hurt. Other than that she had a few small bruises on her arms, side and back that could easily be covered up,
"Not like Jake would notice." She muttered to herself before attempting to change. If anyone from the Circle came over to find out why she wasn't at school she wanted all the bruises hidden from sight. Oh and they would come, none of them could just leave things alone Faye included. She wouldn't admit it to the others but a part of her wished that she had left the Adam thing alone and focused on the fact that Diana was back, the Circle was whole and the fact that Jake wanted to marry that stupid vial.
Faye just wished that Jake would figure out what it was and get over it already, they had no idea what it was and his granddad was crazy anyway so it probably was just a vial of dirt that would do nothing to help them and just waste time, oh and ruin her relationship with Jake.
Maybe that was his grandfather's plan Faye thought before quickly discarding the idea. Jake's grandfather hadn't even known about Faye and Jake and she was sure Jake wouldn't have started confiding in him after one visit that had not ended on the best note. Letting a small sigh escape her lips she finally made her way back into her bedroom unsure of what to do now, it wasn't like she could call anyone and ask them to come over. Everyone would be at school soon and Jake would be suspicious if she asked him to come over, not that he would come alone, he was attached to that vial.
Maybe someone could prank him by super gluing it to his hand. Then he would never be without it. He could sleep with it and shower with it, even go to the toilet with it. Faye then rolled her eyes at her own idea, now she was just sounding childish but anyone else in her situation would be acting like her, right? Then again who would be in the same situation? Her boyfriend was getting obsessed with a jar of sand or dirt that apparently had magical qualities that would stop the other Balcoins or something like that.
Letting a small sigh escape her lips she made her way downstairs planning to get some food, it wasn't too bad getting around the house. Her legs may have been bruised but they weren't that sore just achy, her shoulder was the worst. She hissed a few times when she had to grab things from the cupboards but was able to get herself breakfast without too much pain.
Faye lounged on the sofa and ate her breakfast while flicking through the TV channels but quickly got bored, day time TV was rubbish in term time and Faye had always gotten bored easily. Having time to think while she finished her breakfast Faye decided that she couldn't just let what happened with Adam slide. She needed to know what was going on with him and why he had done what he had. Putting her bowl in the sink she slowly headed back upstairs and got out her laptop planning on doing some research to see if she could find out what was going on with Adam. After a few hours of searching Faye gave up, most of the results she found were telling her that a demon had possessed Adam which wasn't right, they knew what demon possessions were like. Obviously she wasn't going to find the answer online but before she could think any further she heard her phone ringing and turned to pick it up and see who was calling.
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Cassie walked into class right before the bell rang and took her seat besides Diana. She smiled at her sister, but the two didn't have time to talk before class. Cassie found herself wishing she had gotten there earlier. The rest of the Circle, except for Jake and Faye, were already in the chairs behind them. Adam was staring at the window and appeared to be nervous about something. Melissa was trying to get Adam's attention, wanting to talk before class start, but that ended when the new teacher arrived.
The teacher was tall and had really dark hair which he combed back. "Good morning students," He said. "I am your new teacher for the class of Folklore. My name is Nicholas Sanders and as long as you do well in this class you may be on first name basis with me," He added with a quick smile.
The teacher scanned the class and Cassie couldn't help but notice that his brown eyes stayed on the Circle members longer than any other member of the class. A bad feeling formed in the pit of Cassie's stomach as her eyes met his. For some reason she had the feeling this teacher knew things, but she decided to shrug off the thought. There was no way this teacher had any knowledge of them. She must be imagining things. Then his eyes drifted toward Sally when she raised her hand.
"Yes miss…?" Nicholas stopped as he realized he had no clue what the girls name was.
"Oh, I'm Sally Matthew, Mr. Sanders," She said briefly. "I was just wondering what exactly this class will be about."
The teacher smiled. "Well, if you are looking for a definition, folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, stories, tall tales, and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It can also be described as the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared." Nicholas stopped as he looked around as the students absorbed in what he said. Once again his eyes drifted to the Circle.
"However," He continued after a moment, "no matter how much you try to narrow it down folklore is always a broad area of study and as it is not an exact science a lot of its topics are up for discussion, its meaning might depend on someone's point of view. Therefore, in this class you are going to have to think a lot and make your personal conclusions. I will teach you information the way it is but an important point of the class is to analyze the themes by yourselves."
A student chose that moment to interrupt. "But what will these fake legends be of any use for us in the future?" He asked without trying to hide his annoyance.
Cassie rolled her eyes as she thought of the irony of that comment. In this town paying close attention in this class was probably the best idea, but no one knew that this town was full of legends. Cassie found herself wishing she had paid more attention to a similar class they had back in her old high school. Maybe if she had participated more on her own folklore class before coming to Chance Harbor things would have turn out better for her and her Circle. After all, she is a legend come true; being a witch and all.
The teacher blankly held the gaze of the student for a moment before answering. "Many people think that way, true enough, but I can guarantee you that you would be surprised. Most folklore tales aren't true in every bit of detail but almost every one of them has a moral lesson; lessons from which you can learn a lot, if that answer your question. Now, who wants to guess our first topic?" He asked the class
When no one answered the professor sighed and started writing in the board. When he was done Cassie involuntarily held her breath. She looked at Diana, whose eyes were widened in surprise. Professor Nicholas turned around and Cassie could have sworn she saw him smirk for a second.
A smile came on his face when he was done writing and his gaze held Cassie's for a while before she looked away. Every member of the Circle shared a look as Nicholas Sanders started to talk. "That's right; we are going to talk about witchcraft."
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Nicholas Sanders was busy writing on the board and when he was done he turned back to the class. "Now, take out your notebooks and write down the proper definition of magic and a couple of descriptions." He pointed at the definition he had just written down.
Cassie raised an eyebrow and laughed to herself. The last thing her and her Circle needed was the proper definition of magic, but she did what she was told and so did the other members of her Circle.
"Now, magic is the influencing of events by supernatural means," Mr. Sanders recited. "Magic can often be split into dark and light, though depending on the situation, can also be neutral," He added and noticed Diana flinch. He looked at her and Diana lowered her head. Cassie looked at her sister hoping she was okay with the topic. It truly was a tricky topic for the two of them right now. Sanders continued his lesson as though he hadn't noticed Diana's reaction. "Also, magic is both a genetic heredity and a studied technique that connects a person to the elements and forces of nature in order to practice sorcery."
As the class progressed the Circle members were growing more and more suspicious and more and more worried. They kept looking at each other and were trying not to draw suspicion onto themselves. They all just kind of wanted to get out now. This teacher was making them uncomfortable and Cassie was really starting to believe he knew something.
The new teacher started by talking about the different versions of the origins of witchcraft. He explained that some ancient people attributed it as a gift from their polytheistic gods that is passed down from generations. Other cultures claimed that the power came from nature and their shamans could tap into it as they connect with it and the spirit world. He also added that on more recent eras, people have claimed to use drugs that provoke hallucinations to have premonitions, which could also be described as a branch of witchcraft called Divination.
The Circle had to agree the class was interesting, especially Cassie and Diana, as they knew that their separate bloodlines came from both the origins of Dark Magic and the origins of Light magic. The thing was that every time he emphasized something important about magic or witches he glanced at one of them and they could tell he was trying to judge their reactions. It just kept the thought in the Circles mind that this guy somehow knew something. They tried to stay reaction less, but it was getting really hard.
When he talked about the drugs, he named a few but the one that caught their attention was Devil Spirit. Diana and Melissa quickly exchanged worried glances and that did not go unnoticed by the teacher. "Any knowledge on the subject you two?" Sanders pointed them out and everyone turned to look at them.
"No," They mumbled and Diana added "What was the name of that stuff, Devil something?" Just for good measure.
"Oh, too bad. Firsthand knowledge would have been interesting." The class turned back as Sanders went on talking a little about modern age Voodoo and not for the first time did the Circle wondered if he knew the truth about them as they could see similarities between his teachings on the subject and what they have faced against.
"So," Professor Nicholas continued. "The main difference between magic and Voodoo and of its practitioners is that, from a folklore-oriented point of view, magic that comes from true witches is genetically inherited, while Voodoo is not an inherent ability but a religious system practiced by various normal humans that involves ritualistic ceremonies that have magical effects. A big cultural center of Voodoo is New Orleans."
A red headed girl raised her hand. "Yes?" The teacher asked.
"It is just that I have always heard a divided opinion about Voodoo," The girl said. "Some people say it works perfectly well while others say that those practitioners are all frauds. Do you know which answer is it?"
As he smiled the Circle was wondering if the reason he knew so much was because maybe he was a Voodoo practitioner like Callum and Lee. It would make sense and maybe he knew about them because of Callum. Maybe this was Callum's way of getting back into their lives. As the thought slowly crossed all their minds they looked at each other and then turned to Melissa, who knew Callum the best. Melissa shook her head knowing what they were silently asking her, but she did not know if this guy knew Callum.
"Both answers are correct, actually," He said. "Though, that also depends on your definition of the supernatural. I have come to realize from my studies that most of the ingredients that are used by the practitioners, such as herbs, totems, and the famous dolls have side effects that if triggered properly have been able to impress and/or scare people so much over the centuries that they have come to believe it is magic and those believes are usually kept in the family. Many times, however, it has been confirmed that the more the intended target believes in the supernatural, the stronger the effect will be because the mind can turn against you if you are not careful." Sanders stopped for a minute and once again looked at the Circle before he continued.
"And that is the one unspoken truth about folklore, students," He stated. "Religious or Atheist, scientist or ignorant everyone is bound to believe in something one way or another. Even if they don't take it seriously in public they could easily dedicate their time and interest to it in private. Even if Atheists don't believe in God, many still believe in things like fate, aliens, demons, ghosts, not to mention traditional superstitions, wherever they keep it quiet or not."
There was a contemplative silence after he finished. While he paused everyone was considering what he said and most had to agree that the teacher's logic was sound.
Nicholas smiled. "From your expressions I can see that some of you agree with my previous statement but, while I am glad for that, remember I said that in this class I want you to come to your own conclusions. What I tell you will be important to pass the class but in the tests and projects if you don't agree with my view and can defend your own well enough you will still get a good grade. I am also trying to teach you to be open minded. After all, what is an absolute truth for someone can be a dreadful lie for someone else."
"But back to your question," He said looking at the red headed girl realizing he had not actually answered her. "You could say that most of what a Voodoo practitioner does can't really be describe as magic by most people so in that sense they are frauds but that doesn't mean their work can't do anything that is not easily explained by science if the practitioners refuse to reveal their secrets," The girl nodded and wrote down some notes.
"Now," He continued, "For those who are a little more sceptic, if you want an example, there was a science show that studied voodoo shamans. They said they made people their zombie slave by blowing some powder into their face. The ingredients of the powder included puffer fish poison known to cause paralysis and death. Taken in small amounts the person could feel enough paralysis that the heart would appear stopped. In Haiti, a doctor said he treated a patient for a broken leg that he knew had died years earlier and the patient said that he was under the spell of a shaman and died but was resurrected by the shaman and made his slave. It was then only recently that the shaman had died and he was freed."
"So, a zombie is seemed to be mostly hypnotic control of a subject by using the puffer fish poison and the weak-minded state of their subconscious to instil the belief that they died and were resurrected," He explained.
There was a sudden silence in the classroom. Some were torn between looking disgusted and interested while other were outright horrified. The teacher then search for something in his bag and it took all the self-control of the Circle not to let out a collective gasp when he took the object out. They looked at each other worried and most of them put their heads down not even wanting to see the object.
"Can someone tell me what this is?" He asked while showing the object to the class. No one answered so he looked at the Circle again, but they were all looking down at their desks avoiding eye contact.
"You four have been awfully quiet," The teacher said bluntly causing everyone to look at them. "Do you find my class not interesting enough?" He had a small smirk on his face when he asked them. "Well, what about it? Am I boring you?"
Cassie looked up to face the guy. "No sir." She mumbled and then looked away as her Circle mumbled agreements. In her head Cassie was wondering 'Who the heck is this guy? A Voodoo priest? A Witch hunter? Just a crazy teacher and this are just some frighteningly accurate guesses on witchcraft?'
"Then what is it? Why are you four so quiet?" The Circle stared at him not knowing what to say and finally Nicholas left it alone and decided to continue with his lesson.
"Well, for those who don't know, this is called a Sway," He said while looking closely at the four friends looking for any reaction, but they refused to give any. "According to folklore, this is a magical artefact of unconfirmed origin. Some say it was made by Voodoo priests while others say it was made nearly 2 millennia ago, not so long after Christianity took control of the Mediterranean area, in order to fight witches because they saw them as minions of the devil and other lesser demons found in Christian Demonology."
He smirked and continued. "At any rate, the few written records that can be found about this object tell of the same result, that it can be used to steal a portion of a witch's power to transfer it to a normal human, which would then give the witches enemies enough power to subdue them."
He stared at the four Circle members again and Diana fought the urge to swallow, the memory of Luke trying to torch her flashing through her mind. Adam frowned, wondering again if his dad actually made the deal with the Witch hunters that got half their parents killed. This class was starting to bring back bad memories for the entire Circle and it took self-control to just not jump out and run out of the class.
The professor looked at the watch in the wall. "The class is almost over," He informed them. "Your first assignment will be to write an essay about your favourite folkloric topic. It can be about any culture around the globe but it has to exist already and you have to describe why it is your favourite," He explained. "If you don't have a favourite one, then search until you find one good enough to be willing to write about it. I believe there are some in the Library," He added.
The bell rang and the Circle hurried to leave. Even though they had been towards the back of the class they were the first to leave wanting to get as much distance between them and this new teacher as possible. If they would have turned around, they would have noticed Nicholas chuckle and put the Sway back in his bag.
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Cassie, Diana, Adam, and Melissa couldn't get out of that class fast enough. They didn't stop walking until they felt they were far enough away from that teacher. They looked at one another not wanting to say a word. Finally it was Diana who was the first to speak up. "Okay, I'm just going to say it. That guy knows something."
"But how?" Melissa asked and turned around to make sure no one was listening but the four had already walked out of the building and the next class had already started. Melissa realized they were all supposed to be in class, but this was more important anyway.
"I don't know," Cassie said. "It just felt like he knew. Did you see the way he looked at us anytime he said something?" The rest of the Circle all nodded their agreements. "Where's Faye anyway? I mean I know she's skips sometimes, but the first day of school, really."
Diana and Melissa looked at each other. Both had no idea where their friend could be. Adam for his part was looking nervous and was trying to avoid eye contact with the three girls. "I don't know. Maybe she's with Jake." Melissa suggested.
"I'm going to call him anyway. I'm calling a Circle meeting now." Cassie took out her cell phone and dialled Jake's familiar number.
"Shouldn't you be in class?" Jake answered with a laugh.
"Yeah, well something weird happened. I'm calling a Circle meeting at the abandoned house now."
"Now?" Jake questioned confused. He knew something had to be wrong if Cassie was calling a Circle meeting in the middle of the school day. "Was it the Balcoins? Did they do something?"
"No, it was... Well it's kind of hard to explain over the phone. We'll tell you later." Cassie told Jake. "By the way is Faye with you?"
"No," Jake said. "Shouldn't she be with you in class?"
"She's not here." Cassie could almost hear Jake panicking on the other end.
"She said she would be in class." Jake was really worried.
"Alright, calm down. Faye cuts all the time. I'll have Melissa call her. I'm sure it's no big deal." Jake took a deep breath and realized Cassie was right. There was nothing to worry about.
Cassie hung up and looked at Melissa who already had her phone out having heard Cassie's conversation. The phone rang a few times before Faye answered. "What?" Faye mumbled not really wanting to talk to anyway.
"We're having a Circle meeting at the abandoned house now." Melissa told Faye not even bothering to ask where she was.
"Why? Don't tell me it's more freaking Balcoin family drama we're being pulled into." Faye complained over the other end. "I don't really want to hear about evil siblings or Jake's stupid sand he wants to date instead of me anymore."
"It's not family drama and you don't have a choice. Get to the abandoned house as soon as you can." Melissa hung up before Faye could say anything else. "She'll be there."
Adam looked like he wanted to run, but once again the three girls didn't seem to notice or care that he was jumpy. "Did she sound okay?" Adam asked causing the three to look at him.
"Yeah, why?" Melissa asked.
"No, reason," Adam said quickly and then shut up. He wished he hadn't asked anything.
"Well let's go." Diana said and the four left the school to head to the meeting.
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
Cassie was settled on the couch, chatting quietly with Diana when Faye finally showed up. Truthfully, Cassie had been hoping Faye would take a long time, since Cassie wanted to be able to spend more time with her sister. She was so lonely at her house. Sometimes she thought she could hear noises, like her Grandma talking. She just wished that for once there could be a real, living person in that house.
Cassie prepared for some snarky comment from Faye, but there was nothing. Faye was pale, and Cassie detected a limp as she took a seat by herself. Jake looked disappointed.
"Where were you?" he demanded, still looking a little pouty. Cassie held back her giggles at Jake's consternation from being rejected. "You said you would be at school."
"I was sick." Faye said shortly. Jake shifted closer to her on the couch, and she shifted away. "No big deal."
"You definitely look a little off." Adam agreed.
"So, should we start?" Cassie stood. "Something's… something is off about our new teacher."
"New teacher?" Faye seemed remotely interested.
Cassie nodded. "Yeah, of Folklore or something…"
"I gather that I missed some weird witchy vibe moments, then?"
"Oh, yeah." Diana and Melissa chimed together. Melissa continued, "He knew a ton of things about witches, and he kept looking at us. It was so obvious that he knew."
"Is that so?" Faye said. Jake slid closer, catching her by surprise. He took her hand, and Cassie's eyebrows went up when Faye flinched. The dark-haired witch tried to pull back, tears coming to her eyes when she did. Only Adam and Diana seemed to notice, along with Cassie.
Cassie continued, "Yeah. So… do we confront him?"
Melissa shrugged, pulling the shawl she wore tighter around her shoulders. "I don't know. He could be anything. He could be another witch hunter, or even something supernatural."
"We could always use persuasion to find out what he is…" Jake suggested. It was Diana this time that noticed how Faye flinched when Jake laid an arm across her shoulders. She bit down on her lip, hunching her shoulders forward so he wasn't touching her.
"Something wrong?" Jake asked Faye, as though he'd heard Diana's thoughts. Faye shook her head. "Are you sure? You feeling sick?"
"I'm fine." Faye snapped. Her eyes flicked to Adam for a second, who looked away. "I'm fine."
Cassie saw that Adam clearly wanted to bolt again. His hands jittered nervously, picking at the frayed edge of his jacket. When he wasn't doing that he was tapping his feet, fixing his hair, or drumming his fingers on the table nearby. He was so antsy that it was starting to bother Cassie, and Melissa kept moving as though she want to go to him, but wasn't sure if he'd react well.
Suddenly his phone rang and he jumped in surprise. He answered it hastily, saying, "Hello?"
Jake rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, he has to leave." He mumbled, glancing at Faye and expecting a laugh or even a smirk. She stayed stony-faced.
Adam put his phone back in his pocket. "Sorry, there's a huge crowd in the Boathouse and dad needs help. We can figure this out later, right? I mean, we all agree that we shouldn't confront this man. He could be dangerous."
Before anyone could even say a thing he'd run out and was long gone. Melissa shot an apologetic glance to the group and followed. She hoped that maybe with less people around he'd be willing to tell her what was wrong.
Jake finally got up, stretching. "Well, I think I'll go to the basement and see if there's anything I can dig up. I know it's mostly empty, but I might as well try."
"I'll go with you." Cassie said. "There is a lot of stuff, and places to hide things. In fact, when I banged into one of the walls once it sounded kinda hollow…"
Soon their conversation faded and became inaudible. Diana smiled at Faye.
"Want to help me research? We could look through the books we have here."
"Or you could use this thing called Google." Faye snapped. "You know, look this guy up on Facebook or something. I doubt he's in some musty old book."
"Please, Faye?" Diana begged. She widened her eyes, blinking at the cranky witch. "Books are nice."
She went to pull Faye up, grasping her wrist, and was surprised when Faye cried out in pain and jerked away like she'd been electrocuted. Diana saw tears welling in the girl's eye, along with a mixture of pain and fear. She looked like a wounded animal, and Diana decided to keep her distance for the moment.
"Faye, what's wrong?"
Faye lowered her face, shielding herself from Diana with her hair. "Nothing."
"You're hurt." Diana said softly. She edged nearer. "Faye, did someone hurt you?"
"No." Faye's head went up, and she glared at Diana. "Don't treat me like a child. I'm fine."
Diana reached out carefully, pushing back the sleeve of Faye's jacket. She gasped at the ugly bruises that traced up Faye's arm and the obvious swelling. "Faye…" she received another scathing look. "This isn't fine. Please, you're scaring me. Who hurt you?"
Faye just shook her head mutely, pulling back her arm.
"Please…"
"There's nothing wrong with me." said Faye. "Nothing… fatal. Okay?"
Diana wanted more than anything to get Faye to a doctor, but she knew that in this state she was lucky Faye hadn't already taken off. "Okay."
"You can't tell!" Faye burst out, a few tears streaking town her face and leaving mascara smears. "Don't tell anyone, please."
Diana nodded.
"No one can no." Faye whispered, more to herself than Diana. "I'm fine."
Diana reached out impulsively, kissing Faye's forehead. "Just tell me if you need anything."
"I'm fine." Faye said for the hundredth time. She jumped up from the couch and forced a smile to her face. "So, should we start googling?"
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
Melissa walked into the boathouse, glancing round to see if she could spot Adam who she'd been really worried about lately. She spotted him sat at a table in the corner, and quickly walked over to him.
"Hey," Melissa said, sitting down across from Adam.
"Hey." Adam mumbled back moodily.
"Are you ok?" Melissa asked concerned as Adam seemed really upset about something
"Fine," Adam snapped before getting up and storming off to wait some tables.
Melissa sat and stared into space for a while, thoughts going through her head about Adam. He had been really off lately, avoiding everyone in the circle. He also seemed really moody, after about five minutes Melissa decided to have another go at seeing what's wrong and headed over to where Adam was serving at the bar.
"Hey, can I have a cup of coffee?" Melissa asked him.
"Sure thing." Adam replied without looking at her, he quickly turned around and busied himself with making her coffee.
"Here you go," Adam said handing over her coffee
"Thanks." Melissa smiled sitting down at the bar, in front of Adam.
"So I haven't seen you much lately, where've you been?" Melissa asked.
"I've been helping my dad out; he really needs the help at the moment, you know? Between school work and the boathouse I don't have time to spend sorting out stupid Circle drama's and hanging out." Adam snapped.
"Ok sorry," Melissa whispered a bit shocked at how Adam had spoken to her.
"I was just wondering." she added after a minute.
"Sorry. I'm under a lot of stress at the minute." Adam told her "I'm not making very good company at the minute with the mood I'm in your better of hanging out with someone else." He said.
"Well, I want to hang out with you and besides I need to finish my coffee before I leave." Melissa told him determinedly.
"Fine." Adam said before turning round and started to clean up, avoiding Melissa.
After a while Melissa got fed up of Adam not talking to her and being annoyed.
"That's it!" Melissa said marching over to where Adam was stood "I'm sick of this just tell me what's wrong!" she shouted exasperated.
Adam grabbed her and pulled her into the back angrily.
"Nothing is wrong with me. Just leave me alone! For god's sake Melissa I told you I'm under a lot of stress and don't have time to hang out with you, I really don't care if that hurts you feelings. Just leave already I don't wanna talk to you about what's wrong. The only thing that's wrong is you being nosey and butting in to my business!" Adam shouted pacing up and down.
Melissa stood staring at him in shock, she'd seen Adam get angry before but he had never shouted at her before. He was like a whole different person, a dark and mean version of the Adam she is used too. Melissa quickly turned and rushed out of the back room, grabbed her coat and bag and nearly ran out of the boathouse, trying to hold back her tears until she was in her car.
Adam paced angrily in the back room. Why did everyone but into his business? He heard Melissa flee the room but didn't even run after her. What's the point? He didn't want to be around her at the minute, not when he was this angry. He quickly turned and punched the wall, trying to get rid of this horrible anger and darkness which was starting to swallow him whole.
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
Jake was sitting down and looked at Faye. He smiled. He knew he had been kind of distance lately and thought he would surprise Faye by doing something he considered romantic. As Faye was walking by Jake took hold of her planning on pulling Faye onto his lap. Faye always seemed to enjoy that spot in the past, but this time was different. As Jake took hold of Faye, Faye screamed out in pain and pushed her boyfriend away.
Jake was confused for a minute and then realized Faye was hurt. "Faye, what happened? Are you hurt?"
"It's nothing. Leave it alone," Faye hissed at Jake. There was no way she was telling him what happened.
Faye tried to walk away from him, but Jake is too fast. He gets in front of her stopping Faye from running. "I'm your boyfriend. I want to know what happened and who hurt you, so I can protect you."
"Oh, so now you care" Faye said venom in her voice,
"And what is that suppose to mean?" Jake asked taking a step towards her, his anger flaring up at the way Faye was talking to him.
"YOU DON'T EVEN CARE ABOUT ME!" Faye screamed at Jake after she took a step back from him, she knew he wouldn't hurt her but after what had happened with Adam the day before she wasn't taking any chances.
"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?" Jake was pissed that Faye would question that he cared for her. Of course Jake cared for her.
"ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS THAT STUPID VIAL OF YOURS!" Faye knew she should probably leave it there but she couldn't. She just had to continue. "ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS THE BALCONIS! INCLUDING THE TWO IN OUR GROUP. THE ONLY TIME YOU PUT THAT FREAKING SAND DOWN IS TO HELP THEM. DO YOU STILL LIKE CASSIE OR SOMETHING?"
"WHAT? YOU'RE MAKING STUFF OUT NOW!"
"I don't think I am." Faye started walking away from them and then looked at Cassie and Diana who were sitting down and had watched the exchange. "You don't say a word!" Faye said pointing at Diana who looked like she was about to say something. "And you..." Faye pointed at Cassie "You want to go have a three-way with Jake and his vial? Well be my guest!"
Faye ran out of the abandoned house before anyone could say another word. "FAYE WE WEREN'T DONE TALKING HERE!" Jake yelled running after his girlfriend leaving Cassie and Diana alone.
Cassie looked at Diana. "What did I do this time?" Cassie asked. She hadn't even said a word to Faye and there had been nothing between her and Jake for a long time. They were just friends.
"Nothing," Diana assured Cassie. "Faye is just being... Well Faye. She wanted to yell and all she could think of was picking on the old relationship you and Jake use to have. I'm sure it will be fine soon."
"That was so weird. Those two never fight. At least not like that."
Diana laughed at Cassie's comment causing Cassie to look at her. "They used to fight like that all the time."
"I've never seen them fight like that before." Cassie thought it over, but no she had never heard a fight that bad between the two before.
"Not recently, but they used to all the time. You should remember..." Then Diana remembered something. "Oh right, I sometimes forgot you weren't around two years ago." Diana did sometimes forget they had not known Cassie for a long time. The two were so close and they were sisters it was weird to think they had known each other for under a year. "Okay, two years ago you remember us telling you Faye and Jake were in a relationship." Cassie nodded. "Well that type of fight was completely normal back then." Diana started to tell Cassie a story.
-Two Years Ago-
Diana was in school standing at her locker with Adam. The two were smiling and laughing at something they had just said when they heard it. Screaming coming from down the hall. "I'M NOT DONE TALKING TO YOU YET FAYE!" Jake screamed running after the girl.
"WELL I'M DONE TALKING TO YOU, YOU IDIOT!" Faye screamed back. The hall had fallen silence as everyone listened to the two fight.
"YOU JUST ALWAYS HAVE TO BE RIGHT. YOU CAN'T EVEN THINK THAT YOU ARE WRONG!"
"BECAUSE I'M NOT WRONG!"
"YOU KNOW WHAT? I'M DONE WITH YOU!" Jake screamed at him. "DON'T COME CRYING TO ME LATER WHEN YOU REALIZE YOU MADE A MISTAKE! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!"
"YOU WON'T HAVE TO!" The two turned away and walked away from each other.
-Present Day-
"Seriously?" Cassie asked and Diana nodded. "Any idea what they were fighting about back then?"
"Not that time, but they fought over so many things I forget everything they fought over."
"Did they really break up after that fight?"
"Nope," Diana answered. "They were back together the next day and screaming at each other again a few days later. Don't worry about this fight. The two will make up soon like they always did." Cassie wasn't too sure. She knew Faye was seriously hurt over this vial business and she really hated that her name had gotten mentioned in this fight. Considering she did nothing at all that really did hurt. Diana sensed her sister was upset at that. "Hey, like I said Faye was just looking to throw something at Jake and you were the perfect thing. It means nothing."
Cassie smiled at her sister. "Thanks. That makes me feel better."
The two sat there for a while no one saying a word. Diana looked back down at the computer. "Well I don't think we'll find anything here." Diana stated as she closed the computer. "I'm going to go back to Melissa's place."
Diana got up and started to the door. Cassie wanted to stop her. Cassie wanted to ask Diana to come back to her house for a while. She didn't want to be alone, but she didn't say anything. She didn't want to get hurt if Diana said no. Diana left the house. Cassie sat for a while, but the only thing worst then being at her house alone was being alone in the abandoned house. Cassie got up and started to go home.
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
Cassie was on her front step just about to go in her house when she looked over at Jake's house. She knew she shouldn't go, but Jake was a friend and Cassie wanted to make sure he was okay. Cassie walked next door and noticed the door is open.
"Jake," she called out, carefully ready to defend herself with magic. "Jake, are you here?"
"Upstairs," Jake called out. Cassie closed the door and went upstairs. She walked into Jake's room to see him pacing, and the room was a real big mess. Jake was going through papers and seemed to be freaking out. "You come for that three way? If you did I have to tell you my vial and I are kind of busy, but we might be able to make time for you." Cassie held back a laugh at Jake's comment.
"Your door was open," Cassie told Jake.
"Damn, I forgot to close it." Jake looked around. "I can't believe Faye. She's hurt and won't tell me why."
"Maybe it's nothing. Maybe she just fell down the stairs or something."
"Or one of your Balcoin siblings could have hurt her and she's too afraid to tell us."
"I didn't think of that." Cassie walked over to Jake's desk and went to lean against it. She put her hand down on the desk and it ended up touching something that felt weird. Cassie looked at her hand to see she had gotten some type of dirt on it. "Jake! Oh god this place is a mess." Cassie said using her other hand to brush the dirt off and back onto the desk. "You got to learn to cleanup. A pig is neater then you."
Jake stopped himself from chuckling slightly at Cassie's comment. "You know this is no time for jokes Cassie. Faye could be in serious trouble..." Cassie thought Jake was being a bit of a hypocrite since he said the first joke, but she decided to not mention it. Truthfully she was starting to feel a little weird and her hand was starting to itch.
"I need to find them," Jake finally said after a bit more of throwing papers around. It took Cassie by surprise and she had no idea what Jake was talking about.
"Find who?" Cassie finally asked confused.
"Your Balcoin siblings."
"What? Why?" Cassie was shocked Jake would want to do this.
"If they hurt Faye we need to take care of this now. We have to make sure they know we will not let them get away with hurting someone in our Circle. You could help me." Cassie looked at Jake confused. "I'll need some extra power on my side. Who better then one of the Balcoins herself?"
"Jake, I don't..." Before Cassie could finish her sentence she looked at Jake's face. He was pleading with her and the look in his eyes. Cassie couldn't say no to him. After everything Jake had done for her. He had left the witch hunters for her and had always protected her. Cassie had to help him out here. "...know how we'll find them." Cassie finally finished. "They always seem to find us. We don't even know where they are staying."
Jake thought it over for a minute and then got an idea. "I know how we'll find them." Jake went into his closet and started looking through it. Finally he took out an old game of Monopoly.
"We're going to find them with a board game?" Cassie asked but Jake wasn't paying attention to her as he was once again looking through his closet. He took out two other board games and Cassie saw him taking something out of it. "Okay I'm confused." Jake didn't answer as he started looking through his desk draws. He finally took out a piece of paper and unfolded it.
Jake placed the paper on the floor and Cassie saw it was a map of Chance Harbor. "Okay with this map of Chance Harbor and these..." Jake held out his hand and Cassie saw he was holding six dice, probably from the board games. "We will find your siblings."
"How?" Cassie was really confused now.
"There is one dice for each of the six Balcoins in town." Cassie understood that part. "You are connected to them by blood and magic." Cassie waited for Jake to continue. "Take the dice and sort of wrap your magic around them. Do you understand what I mean?" Cassie nodded understanding Jake wanted Cassie to put her magic into the dice. Sort of like casting a spell without words on them. "Then think about your siblings. Throw the dice onto the map. One dice will land here representing you, one will land on Melissa's representing Diana, and the last four will lead us right to the Balcoins."
"That's brilliant," Cassie said shocked. "Why don't Lucas and Ryder do this to find Diana?"
"It's a little known magical trick I picked up. They probably have never heard of it." Jake smiled at the thought. "You ready?" Jake held out the dice. Cassie put out her hand with the Balcoin symbol on it and Jake put the dice in her hand. Cassie closed her fist around the dice and went to draw her magic out and into them, but when she tried she felt pain. It felt as though her Balcoin symbol was on fire.
Cassie yelled out in pain as she dropped the dice. The minute she stopped trying to use magic the pain disappeared. "What's wrong?" Jake asked worried.
"I felt pain as I tried to use my magic." Cassie looked at Jake's lamp and went to shatter it, but all she felt was the pain again, "I have no power."
"What?" Jake asked confused going to Cassie's side worried about his friend. He looked at Cassie's hand. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Cassie hissed. "I felt pain and..." Cassie stopped thinking. "It's the same thing that happened to Diana yesterday."
"We got to figure out what's going on with the two of you." Jake said. "You're our most powerful members and we need you two to be able to stand against the Balcoins if need be. Maybe there's something in my spell book." Jake went to look through his spell book,
Cassie was looking at his desk thinking of something. "Jake, what was that dirt on your desk?" Cassie asked.
"What?' Jake asked as he was flipping through pages in his spell book.
"The dirt I put my hand in. What was it? Where did it come from?"
"Oh a little of the sand from my vial came out and fell on the desk the other night. I was keeping it there so I could study it without it being inside the vial. You must have put your hand in that. Why?"
"You had some on your hand the other night when you picked up Diana." Jake looked at Cassie. "The next day Diana couldn't use her magic. Today I put my hand in the same stuff and I can't use my magic."
Jake jumped up running to his desk. He touched the sand and then waited a few minute. Then he moved the papers around with his magic. It was working fine. "My magic is working fine." Jake said disappointed and then thought of something. "Maybe it only works on witches with dark magic. Maybe when this sand or dirt or whatever you want to call it comes into contact with a witch who has dark magic it blocks their powers temporarily."
"Is that possible?" Cassie asked shocked as Jake went to get the vial out. Jake stared at the vial.
"I don't know, but now that I have a working theory on what this can do, I can do more research. I can find the answer." Jake was staring at the vial and bringing it closer to his face. Cassie seriously thought he might kiss it and could totally understand Faye's point about the vial.
"Oh just marry the freaking thing already," Cassie said a little pissed that she was powerless. Cassie left the house without another word.
Jake watched her leave and then looked at his vial. He had so many things to research now, but it would have to wait. He had to find out how Faye got hurt first and deal with the Balcoins. He put his vial away deciding he would research later.
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
Melissa and Diana were sitting in Melissa's living room talking. The TV was on, but neither girl was paying much attention to the show. Then someone started knocking on the door. "Were you expecting anyone?" Diana asked and Melissa shook her head.
"Diana, Melissa, you there?" They heard Cassie's voice.
"It's Cassie. That's weird. She never comes here." Melissa said as she got up. "Then again you are here so I shouldn't be that surprised." Melissa started walking to the door and yelled coming.
As soon as Melissa opened the door Cassie ran in. Melissa closed the girl and looked at the girl who seemed out of breath. She had her backpack on her back. "Did you run here or something?" Cassie nodded as she tried to catch her breath. "Was someone chasing you or something?" Cassie shook her head no. "Then why did you run?"
"Wanted to get here fast and my car wouldn't work for some reason." Cassie explained as Diana came over.
"You want some water?" Melissa asked as Diana led her sister into the living room.
"Please," Cassie called back.
Melissa went to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. She went back into the living room and gave it to Cassie. Cassie opened the bottle and took a huge sip. "Thanks." Cassie said when she was done and Melissa just nodded.
"So what is with the running?" Diana asked curious.
"I'm powerless," Cassie told the two causing them to look at her. "All because of the stupid dirt and..." Cassie mumbled and neither girl understood what she was saying.
"Cassie," Diana said making Cassie stop. "Slow down and start from the beginning. What do you mean you're powerless?"
"I'll show you," Cassie said putting the water bottle down on floor. She held out her hand at the water bottle and Cassie and Melissa expected it to explode, but that didn't happen. Instead Cassie screamed in pain and held her hand with her other hand. "That hurts badly. It feels like my symbol is on fire. The same thing that happened to you Diana."
"I only felt a small burn. It didn't feel like my hand was on fire." Diana said worried about her sister. "How does this keep happening to us?"
"Well it's all Jake's fault. I must have gotten a bigger amount on me then you did." Cassie told the two.
"Jake's fault?" Melissa asked confused. "What do you mean?"
"You can't tell anyone this. That means Dylan and Claire." Cassie looked at Melissa when she said this. "You can't even think about this around them." Melissa nodded understanding. She might like the two, but whatever was going on was clearly top secret circle business. "Jake's vial is doing this to us."
"What?" Diana asked.
"Remember he had some of the sand on his hand when he picked you up the other day and I was just at his house and got some of it on my hand. Jake thinks that it might block the powers of a person with dark magic temporarily."
"Wow that would be really useful." Melissa said causing the two sisters to look at her. "I know it sucks for you two since you ended up getting it on you, but it could help us out a bit." The two had to agree. There were a lot of uses for that little vial now.
Cassie took a deep breath. She had to ask. "I'm powerless." She repeated. "Diana's magic must have been gone for nearly a day and I got more on me then she did. I don't know how long I'll be without magic. I can't stay alone in my house. What if the Balcoins decide to come? I can't go to Faye's. I don't think Ms. Chamberlain is around tonight and Faye isn't too happy with me right now." Cassie looked at Melissa. "I need a place to hide. Can I stay here? Please."
Melissa looked at the girl. This was unusual. Sure the two were a part of the same circle and everything but they rarely hung out. In fact Melissa thought this might be the first time Cassie set foot in her house. "Sure," Melissa said. No matter what Melissa was Cassie's friend and she wasn't going to let Cassie be on her own and powerless. "You can stay here until your magic is back. Actually the three of us together could be kind of fun"
"Thank you," Cassie said and hugged Melissa. Then Cassie looked at Diana. "You don't have a problem with this. Do you?" Cassie knew Diana wanted to be away from her.
"You're my sister, of course not. I wouldn't let you stay in your house alone powerless anyway." Diana might have wanted some space from Cassie, but she wasn't going to let Cassie get hurt. If Cassie hadn't been able to stay here Diana would have gone to Cassie's house to protect her. Cassie smiled very glad she would be spending more time with her sister and Diana smiled too happy to be spending more time with Cassie.
"Hey, so we're going to be having a bit of a sleepover. What do you guys want to do?"
Before anyone could say anything they heard someone ask "Who's sleeping over?" The girl turned around to find Patrick Glaser had just walked in.
"Hi dad," Melissa said. "Cassie is going to be spending the night."
"Hi, Mr. Glaser," Cassie said waving. She had never actually met Melissa's father before.
"Cassie Blake, right?" Cassie nodded. "I knew your mom. We were friends." Cassie also knew that but choose not to say anything. As far as she knew Patrick Glaser had no idea the kids were practicing magic. "I didn't realize Melissa and you were close friends."
"I'd say we're pretty close, right Melissa?"
"Yeah," Melissa answered. "Really close." The three girls smiled.
"Well you girls have a good time tonight then." Patrick walked up the stairs leaving the girls by themselves.
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
Fury was burning through Jake's whole body as he stormed to the Boathouse. No one else would believe him, so he knew he had to come here. Adam hated the Balcoins as much as he did, so he was the only one that would be willing to go after them. Diana and Melissa would be too hesitant to try anything. Cassie just couldn't help, thanks to that sand. Faye… well, she probably didn't want to talk to him anyway.
"Adam?" Jakes said, heading to the back room when he couldn't spot Adam in the Boathouse.
Adam was seated at a desk, flipping through some textbook. It made Jake grateful that he wasn't in school anymore; being a witch was such a full-time job that adding school to it made it nearly impossible.
"What?" asked Adam. He looked nervous. "Come to badger me in Faye's place or something?"
"No, I need to talk to you about something concerning Faye." Jake said. He sat down on the couch. "I need to figure out who hurt her."
"It could have been anything." said Adam quickly.
"I need to know what it was." Jake said. His foot tapped impatiently on the ground. "It's like she can't tell me, which means she was threatened. You think it could have been the Balcoins?"
"Probably." Adam said.
"Maybe they needed her for something, or maybe she saw something she wasn't supposed to." He continued, oblivious to Adam.
"That's true, she could have." Adam was grateful that Jake had found someone to blame so easily. He knew Faye would probably never tell Jake that he hurt her, but Adam figured it would be safer if Jake blamed the Balcoins. Even if they denied it, Jake would still think they were the culprits. "Maybe we should go ask them."
"Maybe we should." Jake agreed. There was a new fire burning in his eyes.
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
Cassie, Diana, and Melissa were laughing at some soap opera on TV when they heard the knock at the door. It was Diana who opened, finding a shivering and terrified Faye.
With Melissa's help she led Faye inside and sat her down on the couch. Cassie watched from the floor, concern in her eyes.
"Did something else happen?" Diana asked slowly, remembering Faye's hesitance earlier that night.
Faye shrugged. "I was just at h-home, and I was s-scared. I… Jake is angry with me, so I can't go there, and my Mom isn't home. Everything hurts…"
Diana and Melissa both knew this side of Faye; the broken, vulnerable side that had no way to hide emotion. They'd seen it when Jake had left her, and when her grandfather had died. Cassie had seen it too, but not to the extent Melissa and Diana had seen.
"What?" Melissa asked. "What do you mean… are you hurt?"
"Yeah, something banged her up pretty badly." Diana said. "I found out at the abandoned house."
"Faye, what hurts?" Melissa asked. She was speaking softly, trying to not to scare Faye. It was like she was talking to a younger child. "I'm going to need something more specific than 'everything', okay?"
Faye nodded. "My wrist hurts, but I don't think it's broken. A-And my ribs are bruised, maybe… I don't know."
"You were limping, weren't you?" Cassie suggested helpfully. "I saw it earlier, you were limping when you walked in the abandoned house."
"I guess." Faye said. "I just don't know."
After about half an hour Melissa and Diana determined that Faye had a sprained wrist, bruised ribs and ankle, and numerous small bruises all over her body, not including the bruise that covered her right shoulder that had spread down her arm and back. Faye refused to tell them what exactly had happened, but to Diana it appeared as though Faye had been thrown through a wall or at something incredibly hard. Faye didn't protest when they helped her, and soon she was bandaged up and in much better shape. Even Cassie abandoned her place on the floor to help.
Half an hour later Faye was drifting off to sleep on the couch, Melissa stroking her hair and humming softly to her.
"What do you think happened?" Cassie asked. "I mean… whatever hurt her, it—or they—were powerful. You think that maybe it was…?"
"The Balcoins?" Dian ventured. She glanced at Faye and led Cassie into the kitchen. "It's all I could come up with, but it doesn't make sense. Why would they hurt her? More importantly, why would they hurt her and then let her go?"
"Maybe she escaped?"
Dian shook her head. "No, they would have found her by now. Unless they somehow threatened her and made her spy on us there's no reason they'd just let her get away. Even then, they have Claire and Dylan doing that. Melissa trusts them, so they're the perfect spies."
"Then who?" Cassie pressed her hand to her forehead, groaning. "It could have been anything. It could have been that teacher, for all we know. Faye doesn't know what he looks like, so he could've attacked her."
"We'll know once she's back in school." said Diana. "But for now maybe I should just take her home."
"Home? What if whatever did this comes back?"
Diana started to walk back out to the living room. "I'll be there. I might as well stay with her. I don't… I don' want any more trouble, and I don't want my magic getting affected by yours."
"Diana, please don't."
"I'm sorry, Cassie, but I can't risk it. I miss you too… but I hate the feeling dark magic gives me and somehow when I'm around you it sparks." Diana said. She gave her sister a quick hug. "Please understand."
Cassie nodded after a minute. "Okay."
Out in the living room Faye was nearly asleep, Melissa pulling a blanket over her. "Is she staying?" asked Cassie.
"Actually, I was thinking I would take her home and stay with her." Diana told Melissa quickly.
"Diana?" Faye mumbled. She blinked, slowly opened her eyes. "What?"
Dian sat down next to her. "I'm going to take you home and stay there. Wouldn't want any Balcoin power surges."
"Oh, of course." Melissa said. She shrugged sympathetically at Cassie. "Faye?"
"I can get up by myself, thank you." Faye snapped, back to her old self. She pulled herself up with Diana's arm as support, finally managing to stand. "Are we driving?"
Dian took the keys from Faye's hand. "I'm driving."
When the two had gone Cassie sank onto the couch, biting her lips and trying to keep back the tears. Melissa sat next to her, not sure what she could say.
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
When Jake and Adam arrived at the hotel where the other Balcoin's were staying, the rain started to plummet and hit the roof of the car hard.
Adam was terribly worried and kept trying to get a plan of action in his head. He couldn't give himself away to the Balcoin's, if they found anything out or even suspected him they could make Jake doubt their guilt in what happened to Faye. They had to get in and attack. And, of course, try not to be killed by any of Blackwell's heirs and their genetic dark magic.
There was also the problem of repeating the same thing that he had done on the beach, losing control of this new Power, allowing Jake to see what was happening to him.
"It's here." Jake interrupted his thoughts. The blonde parked the car in the courtyard of a small and old hotel. The engine stopped so suddenly that the car jumped. Jake, once more, was giving the world a demonstration of his self control and taking out his anger on the vehicle.
"So, what's the plan?" Adam asked, realizing that was the first time either had spoken.
"We kick the door in and demand surrender. And then we kick their asses."
Adam watched Jake get out, feeling more anxious than ever.
"Brilliant." He muttered to himself, before following his partner to the attack.
...
Ryder arranged the card again. Claire yawned before starting to turn them, one by one. Ryder had a thing for tarot and since he had found out that Claire had psychic powers, he liked to make her read them.
Now Claire just thought that it was an unbelievably boring loss of time. She had never found anything that made sense in those cards. But according to Ryder, the fun was working out the cryptic messages.
Claire didn't agree with that. Her brother was a guy with strange habits.
"Not enjoying this, kid?" He asked her with a smirk when she pulled another card without any enthusiasm. Claire didn't answer.
"This is killing me." Lucas usual raspy voice broke the silence. He was half sitting half lying down on an old chair, starring at the roof.
"The cracks on the roof?" Dylan asked. "Yeah. They make me quite upset too."
"No. Your company." Lucas answered, making Dylan look at him with a fake offended face. "I'm out of here." They all knew he was talking to Ryder, he never usually bothered talking to the other two.
He got up and walked to the door. Before he could raise his hand to open it tough, it blew up in a mess of dust and wood and Lucas who was hit by a flying piece of door flew into the opposite wall.
Dylan got up fast as a cat, probably due to the shock of what had just happened. Claire screamed and covered her face with her hands, to avoid be hurt by one of the hinges that flew off. Ryder who was as tough as Lucas had stayed where he was and casually pulled another Tarot card from the pack
From the middle of the dust, Jake appeared, his eyes furious, his hair in a mess. He stepped into the room, his hands balled into fists. Behind him, showed up Adam, pale and jumpy, shaking his shoulders as if to prepare to a body-to-body combat.
Both of them were also covered in dust, just as the Balcoins and the room.
Jake took a look at the place around him and in a demanding voice, shouted, "Surrender now or we will make sure you are all finished right here, right now!"
Adam rolled his eyes. So, he was being literal.
After a few minutes of silence, with Dylan starring at the two boys with shock and Claire with horror, a loud laugh exploded in the room.
Ryder started clapping, in the middle of his laughter.
"Wow!" He said, finishing his laughing and clapping. "Great entry! A little too messy for me, and I probably would try to keep my own face clean, but still was very memorable!"
"What the hell?" Dylan finally recovered his voice. "Are you really that unaware of the 'knocking the door' thing? You just need to knock a little bit, not blow it away! 'Hello, can we came in?', 'Oh, Yes, PLEASE COME IN, DO YOU WANT A CUP OF TEA?'?"
Jake, ignoring both of them, walked in Ryder's direction in a very threatening way and said trough his teeth, "Don't try to act dumb!" Jake said angrily, Ryder just raised an eyebrow. "We do know what you did!"
There was another small silence, where Lucas got up from the floor. There was a little cut on his eyebrow that he wiped with his hand, but it was bleeding again almost immediately.
"Ok. I confess." said Ryder rising his hands in surrender. "We did order pizza and we haven't paid for it. God, you people are good!"
Jake's expression, that was starting to change into a victorious smile, shined into a new wave of fury as he raised his hand and a chair came flying in Ryder's direction. Claire screamed again and ran to get out of the way, but before the chair could reach Jake's target and all his annoyance, something threw it away and then it was Adam who had to get out of the way. The chair reached the wall and stayed there, as if something was keeping it immobile. Adam looked and saw a card – seven of hearts – carved into the wood by a blade.
Ryder got another card and then stood up, shaking his hair and making a small cloud of dust show up around his head. His face had lost all the hilarity it had moments before.
"What is this, buddy?" He said walking in Jake's direction. His voice was the coldest thing Adam had ever heard, but he couldn't think about it too much: the tension was starting to make him feel like he was about to lose it again, and he just couldn't do that in front of Jake or everything would be lost. "You blow up my door, destroy my room, offend me and try to kill me with an old wood chair, which I personally think that was the most insulting thing of all. Till now we have just waited for a good explanation to what the hell you are doing here, annoying me with your presence and now I'm tired of waiting. So, what is the reason behind your suicidal behaviour?"
Jake smiled bitterly.
"Suicidal?" Clearly, he took that comment about his lack of capacity to face the Balcoin siblings as a very insulting one. "You are the one in a bad situation here. You, your pets and your caveman broke the truce!" Ryder rolled his eyes and took a deep breath.
"No, we did not." He said in a way that made Adam think that he was very sorry they had kept their word. "Everybody is behaving very well. So, if you just want a fight you need a better excuse than that."
Okay, that is what Adam was afraid of. He stayed besides Jake and looked at Ryder. From across the room, Claire watched Adam with an interested expression.
"A liar! Just like Blackwell!" Adam had to shut them up and let Jake keep believing they were the ones responsible for Faye's injuries. If they had to get into a fight, so be it: He felt strong enough.
"Can't he just be a liar?" Dylan asked snappy. He had liked Cassie's friends, he really did, but that was the wrong way of getting into their room and he hated being caught by surprise. Ryder gave him a look and he realized that that probably wasn't the best comeback he could have thought of.
After hear Blackwell's name, Jake's eyes shone in a very strange way. The blonde gave Ryder a smile and said in a pleasant voice, as enjoying every Word:
"I hope that your damn father is burning in hell, by the way."
After Jake said that, another explosion was heard and Adam was thrown out of the room till he hit the iron frame that separated the hotel room from the garden. Lucas, after throwing Jake away started to walk in his direction, the cut in his eyebrow bleeding and making him seem scarier than ever. But Ryder stopped him angrily:
"DON'T!" He barked to Lucas, pushing him away.
Adam, feeling euphoric and relieved that there was no time for conversation anymore, he made a move to attack Ryder, but he was pushed away with such energy that the air was expelled brutally from his lungs.
Across the room, Dylan still had his hand in Adam's direction and seemed to be having an internal battle. He liked Cassie's friends, he really did, but Ryder was still his brother and the family bound demanded that meant that protecting Ryder was his priority.
And, okay, he still was mad about the way they scared him.
Jake showed up and suddenly the table came flying in Ryder and Lucas's direction, making each of them run to opposite sides of the room.
Dylan ran to Claire and both hid behind the bed. Claire saw Adam getting up from where Dylan had thrown him and her gut feeling told her something was really wrong. It was like Adam's energy was gone and else had taken its place, something that was dark and powerful.
Lucas prepared to attack Jake once more, and once more Ryder stopped him. Before he could hit Jake, his brother pushed him violently and instead Lucas attacked the wall, making a hole in it.
"IT'S A TRICK! THEY ARE TRYING TO FOOL YOU TO BREAK THE TRUCE!" Ryder yelled angrily to Lucas. He was furious and Dylan didn't need Claire's powers to tell that.
Claire screamed and Dylan saw Adam walking in their direction. He seemed quite crazy and Dylan didn't want to hurt the guy, but couldn't really say the same about Adam's intentions. He grabbed Claire's arm and ran with her outside the room.
Inside, Lucas pushed Ryder back. If the older one was furious, Lucas was almost foaming at the mouth.
"THEY ARE ATTACKING US, IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T REALIZED!"
"WE WON'T BREAK THE TRUCE!"
Lucas was telling Ryder exactly where his brother could put his truce, when they heard Claire's voice coming from outside. Jake ran outside to look for Adam and that gave Ryder an idea: he pointed at the floor and it suddenly cracked and Jake fell into the hole of wood and sand.
Nobody could blame them if the floor's wood was rotten, right?
Adam, who was busy chasing Dylan and Claire, stopped when the floor of the hotel came down. The shock made him come back to himself. He looked at Claire and Dylan who looked prepared to start running again at any moment, before he went to look for Jake under the wreckage.
Jake got up slowly, a cut on his face.
"Where are they?" The blonde mumbled. "Where are they?"
Adam looked around and saw both Ryder and Lucas standing in front of the door of the hotel room. Claire and Dylan ran to reach them, both panting and red from all the running.
Jake once more walked in their direction, but he reached what seemed to be an invisible wall.
"Protection spells?" He yelled at Ryder. "Are you afraid of facing us, huh?"
"You, see, protection spells don't really break the truce." Ryder told him, sounding proud of himself. "As it's clear that you girls were looking for fun in the wrong place, we will keep our security by keeping you away from us."
"You can't keep this spell forever, you know!" Jake yelled angrily. "This will go away!"
"I can keep it for time enough for you to leave." Ryder answered, turning his back to Adam and Jake going back into the room once more. Lucas, with his eyes glaring, sent Jake a very ugly gesture before following Ryder. Dylan went after him, feeling to exhausted to give the night a good closure. Claire stayed for a few seconds, though. She looked directly at Adam, with a very curious expression.
So, he was himself again, huh.
Claire then turned and walked back into the room.
"They did it." Jake said to Adam, still looking at the spot where the Balcoins disappeared. "I'm sure of it."
Adam, hearing that, felt that the whole thing was worth it. He was safe. At least for now.
"They said they didn't."
"Do you believe them?" Jake looked at him.
Adam took a deep breath.
"No. I don't."
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
It was dark in Faye's room, and the unfamiliar shadows were making Diana nervous. She was curled up in Faye's bed, listening to Faye mumble in her sleep and pitch back and forth restlessly. Diana stretched, yelping when Faye accidentally hit her in the side. "Faye!"
"….hmmmmm?"
"Faye, stop flailing."
Faye yawned, rolling over to face Diana. "Sorry, Lady Di."
"I'm serious!"
"And I'm Lupin." Faye laid her head on Faye's shoulder. "Go to sleep."
Diana was actually starting to drift off when her phone began to buzz. Sighing, she flipped it open and said, "Hello?"
"It's Melissa."
"Is something wrong?" Diana was suddenly imagining Cassie being hurt, or kidnapped. What if it was the teacher, or the Balcoins? Why was Melissa calling? "Is it Cassie?"
"Cassie can't sleep." Melissa said. "She keeps waking up because of nightmares or something, and now she won't go back to sleep."
"Nightmares?"
"Not like yours, Diana. Regular ones."
Diana breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, I'd hate it if she got hurt. Do you want me to come back? I'm not sure if it's the best idea. I mean, What if my magic somehow started to make her nightmares real like mine?"
There was a prolonged silence before Melissa said, "How about you just talk to her?"
Faye was wide awake by then, so Diana switched to speakerphone, telling Melissa to do the same. "Cassie?"
"Diana?" Cassie sounded tired. "Is something wrong?"
"Melissa said you couldn't sleep."
"Yeah." said Cassie. "Umm… just had dreams about Blackwell. It's nothing."
Diana turned so she was facing Faye and set the phone between them. It glowed, lighting up Faye's pale skin and making her look ghostly. "What happened in them?"
"It doesn't matter." There was some shuffling, and Diana wondered if Cassie was lying down like she and Faye had.
Melissa said, "Do you have nightmares about him too, Diana?"
"Sometimes." Diana admitted. "But he's dead. When I wake up I remember that. There's nothing that could make him real again."
Her head became heavier and heavier as they kept talking, until finally all four girls fell asleep.
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
Ryder and Lucas were looking around their motel room. It was a mess after what that Adam had done to it. "I'm going to kill him," Lucas hissed. "I'm really going to kill him."
"It would break the truce," Ryder told his brother.
"They're breaking the truce. Coming here and picking a fight with us." Lucas mumbled under his breath.
"Actually the truce never said they couldn't pick a fight with us. Just that we would not hurt them." Ryder pointed out and stopped Lucas before he could say anything else. "What I'd like to know is how is that guy so powerful? He's not a Balcoin." Ryder saw that Claire was looking a bit nervous. "Claire, do you know something?'
Claire looked at her big brother and nodded. "It's not much. Don't be mad."
"Tell us what you know." Ryder said deciding it was better not to frighten his little sister anymore. Adam had already scared the two enough for today.
"There's something wrong with him. I don't know what though. It's like he has the same power that drew us to Chance Harbor in the first place." Dylan put an arm around his twin sister for support. It was hard ratting Adam out to their big brothers since they truthfully liked the guy, but it needed to be done. "He's keeping a secret, but he's keeping it so well not even I can tell what it may be."
"I say we go to that stupid boathouse and force the secret out of him," Lucas said looking like he was ready to leave.
"And get knocked into a wall again," Ryder pointed out, which caused Lucas to give him a look. "No, we have to be more sneaky about this. We have to get close to him and figure out what he might be hiding." Ryder looked at his two younger siblings. "Seems like you two might be able to do that."
"Yeah probably," Dylan said, but felt a little bad about it. He truthfully did like Adam, but he knew his brother was right. Adam needed to be watched.
"Good," Ryder said. "One thing don't trust him. We're going to try to get close to him, but we can't trust him. Apparently no one can trust him." Ryder laughed. "Not even his own Circle."
