A/N: I do not claim to own The Covenant or any of the related characters. I am just borrowing them for some good ol' fun! I DO however own my plot and OC's, so please ask before borrowing. I have worked rather hard on my story idea and would appreciate it if you, the readers, dropped me a review to let me know your thoughts.

Crossroads of Destiny

Chapter 4

She was floating, surrounded by warmth. What happened? Why couldn't she open her eyes? Wait…. Sarah! Was she okay?

"Aislinn…."

"Máthair?" She asked confusedly. "Máthair, I am verra sorry I disobeyed ye. I had ta! She was badly hurt, I had ta heal her!"

She felt a warm hand on her forehead.

"Ssshhhh…."

"Máthair?" She struggled to sit up. "I didna mean ta expose my power! But it was only tha' healin' one I used!"

"It is alright Aislinn."

"Ye are na angry wit me?"

Silence greeted her question. She felt hot tears escaping from behind her closed eyes.

"Máthair, I meant na harm! I dunna think anyone saw. I couldna let Sarah just lay there. Even at the risk o' my own life."

"Your life was at risk?"

Aislinn scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. Was it her, or did her grandmother's voice get deeper?

"Máthair, what kind o' question is that? You know e'ery time I heal, I give up part of my own health, my own life force."

"Forgive me child. I forgot."

Aislinn smiled in satisfaction. No, her Máthair's voice was fine. It was her imagination.

"Máthair, I love ye. Please dunna leave me again! I dunna belong here! I dunna belong an'where but Éire! I have ta go back! Hamilton will find me easily. He wants Éire. He is powerful. He doesna know that we know about him though, or his coven. He doesna know I had that vision, the one you told me na ta share with anyone."

"Do not worry child. You will be fine here. Just rest."

"Yes. Rest. I need ta rest. Watch o'er me Máthair. Dunna let them get ta me, na like they killed Bridie. Poor Bridie. She wasna destined to be thrice blessed."

She drifted off into unconsciousness feeling the weight of a comforting hand upon her forehead. Yes, Máthair would watch over her.

Alana sighed as she removed her hand from Aislinn's forehead. "She is sleeping again. She still burns with a fever, but it has lessened."

"She'll be okay though, right?"

"Yes, Sarah. She will recover with rest. She…she did too much in healing you with her own injuries."

Alana faced the silent occupants in the room. Glancing at the unconscious woman on the bed she addressed Evelyn Danvers.

"Evelyn, let us adjourn to the parlor to discuss what just happened."

"Discuss what? I have nothing to discuss! She lied to us! She lied to me!" Tyler said bitterly.

"Tyler Sims! She did no such thing! She was following her clan's code of silence!"

"No mother! I will not stay and listen to whatever explanation you deem necessary to tell me now! You had the chance to tell me what was really going on with that Turlough and you did not!"

Alana flinched at her only son's raised tone. "Tyler, I couldn't… it was…it is forbidden to discuss anything about their bloodline unless you were considered part of the Turlough clan! And even then you still need the blessing of the Head of the Clan! You should understand that! As a Son of Ipswich, you know all about keeping family secrets."

Caleb intervened before the argument could escalate further. "Look, let's go downstairs and discuss this calmly like adults." He fixed Tyler with a stern look, exerting his power as coven leader. "All of us."

Tyler pressed his lips in a thin line before he gave Caleb a curt nod. Reid and Pogue who had been standing silently listening to the proceedings nodded their assent as well. Alana and Evelyn led the way out of the bedroom, Tyler and Reid following.

"I will stay here." Sarah said softly as she pulled her chair to Aislinn's side. "Besides Kate is going to call me from the hospital and let me know what Abbott and his friends remember, if anything."

Wisely, no one remarked on the fact that Kate was going to contact Sarah and not Pogue. Caleb sighed, running his fingers through his short hair.

"Be careful. We don't know what she is capable of yet." He warned.

The blond scoffed. "She won't hurt me. She saved me, remember? And at the risk of her own health, I might add."

Caleb observed the resolute face of his girlfriend. "Okay." He said quietly before leaving the room.

Pogue stayed a moment longer, a thoughtful look on his handsome face.

"She's not evil you know Pogue. Or spoiled, fake, or even helpless. She is just Aislinn. She bleeds like the rest of us do and has feelings like the rest of us. You should try being nicer to her."

Not saying anything in response, the longhaired man walked out of the room silently, his thoughts weighing heavily on him.

A pair of slitted grey eyes watched him coolly as he left.

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Alana Sims paced in front of the unlit hearth in the parlor room at the Danvers Manor. She clasped her hands in front of her taking a deep breath, getting ready to explain to the gathered audience what she knew of the Turlough clan.

"Aislinn comes from a long bloodline, descended from the ancient royal line of Ciardha, rumored to be blessed with fey blood. Some call it Irish superstition, that there isn't such a thing as fey blood. Regardless, she is in fact the absolute last living relative descended from the royal line."

"She's royalty?" Reid asked incredulously.

"The Ciardha bloodline has been diluted over a millennia, and there is no recognized royal bloodline in Ireland today. If there was, then yes, you could consider her royalty. But in all honestly, that is not nearly as important as her position as the Head of the Turlough clan. Or her supposed fey blood which gives her certain abilities."

"Wait, when you say fey, you mean like David Bowie in Labyrinth?"

"Reid, shut up."

"No, I'm serious Pogue! It was an honest question."

"Gentlemen, I believe what Alana is referring to could be most likened to Avalon." Evelyn said coolly. Alana thanked her friend before continuing.

"And yes, before you ask, King Arthur's Avalon. Tatiana, queen of the fey, has been attributed to birthing the first Ciardha, if you can believe in something like that. Though that is entirely off point. As Head of the Turlough clan, Aislinn has the responsibility of the welfare of her entire clan and her family's legacy. Many would do whatever was necessary to get their hands on her and her assets. Such as murder."

Caleb was the first to catch on. "Bridie, who was she?"

Alana's face adopted a faraway look. "Bridie was Aislinn's twin, the firstborn of the two. Their mother died in childbirth and the girls were secreted away by Brigid Turlough, their grandmother and the Matriarch of the Turlough clan. It had been foretold ages ago, that a thrice blessed one would be born, thus renewing the magic in the bloodline. The last Turlough who had been thrice blessed was over four centuries ago. The prophecy was told by one of the family's strongest seers, who knew the exact date of the blessed one's birth. She had it written down in the family annals. The seer died three hundred years ago." She paused emphasizing that fact.

"This prophecy is the reason that Bridie was murdered. It happened when she and Aislinn were only five. A grounds man that had been newly hired was the one to do the deed. He had been contracted by an English lord to kill the heir of the prophecy. It was not common knowledge that twins were born on that foretold day, so when the grounds man, by a fluke had caught sight of Bridie once, he thought that she was the thrice-blessed one. He killed that poor girl in cold blood. To this day Aislinn refuses to speak of it."

"What exactly does thrice blessed mean?" Tyler asked curiously, unable to help his interest. He felt his anger waning throughout his mother's tale.

Alana smile faintly. "For generations, women of the Turlough clan had been blessed with either Sight, Empathy or Healing. It wasn't until a few generations back that the blessed ones became more and more scarce, thus causing the clan to pin their hopes on the prophecy. To be thrice blessed means to have all three of the powers, becoming the strongest of all. But it comes with a terrible price."

Her face fell as she stared absently out the window.

"Alana, please continue." Evelyn said evenly, recognizing the signs of one who had to depart bad news.

"As you know, healing takes it toll on the holder of that power. Every time that power is used it takes the energy, the life force of the one who carries the ability. Depending on the severity of the injury or sickness, dictates the survival of the blessed one."

"So Aislinn could die if she healed someone with a life threatening injury." Pogue said slowly.

"Yes. Though she is much, much stronger than the normal healers."

"Because she has all three abilities." Caleb stated astutely.

Alana nodded. "Correct. Healing is the only one she has control over. Her power of Sight she prevents by simply hiding behind her gloves. Skin on skin contact with her bare hands could possibly trigger a vision. Her eyes will go white and she cannot discern between reality and what she sees. This has occasionally triggered her last and most unstable ability, her Empathy. With this ability, Aislinn can sense others emotions, as well as essentially becoming a human lie detector. She cannot read minds, but she can read emotions. Eventually, she will be able to project emotions into people. She would be able to soothe someone or even drive them insane."

Reid whistled lowly. "How does she gain control?"

Alana shook her head. "I don't know. That is the hard part. But she has to learn control, or she will die. Much like you boys, Aislinn will inherit the full strength of her powers on her eighteenth birthday. While, she is unable to do what your four can, her powers can and will drive her to madness. She can easily have a heart attack or a stroke if she is overwhelmed with her powers and lacks the control that she needs."

"Can't she just heal herself?"

"No Tyler. The curse of a Turlough healer is that you cannot heal yourself."

"Mom, we can't let her die! Why didn't she tell us?"

"I did not tell you for fear of you not understanding. As the Sons of Ipswich, you have a covenant of secrecy that cannot be broken. What would happen if you learned of another with powers, very different powers than yours? You would feel threatened and most likely strive to eliminate the supposed threat."

Aislinn walked into the room, leaning heavily on Sarah. Reid jumped up, silently offering his seat to the weary woman. She smiled in gratitude allowing Sarah to lead her over to the loveseat where she sat in relief. Tyler, the other occupant of the loveseat furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Why would you think that we would hurt you?"

She laughed bitterly. "All people are afraid of what they do not understand and sometimes jump to incorrect conclusions as a result. Besides, you are teenage boys. Testosterone rules your actions. Anything that makes you uneasy you attack."

"How would you know? You don't know us well enough to make that assumption." Pogue pointed out.

"And I do not plan on getting to know any of you further."

"What do you mean by that? I thought we were becoming friends!" Reid demanded, hurt seeping from his tone of voice.

Aislinn sighed deeply before turning to look at Reid. "I am going home."

Sarah cringed at hearing that. While the Irish teen had explained her reasoning to the blond woman before coming downstairs, she knew that the boys would protest.

"WHAT? WHY?" Tyler roared.

Tears filled the beautiful raven-haired woman's eyes. She cast her gaze around the room finding shock, disapproval and hurt on their faces.

"I canna risk any of yo'r lives! I dunna have control and I willna be put in a position where I could verra well hurt ye!" She said desperately.

"Look, you know our secret and now we know yours. We can help each other." Caleb said evenly, glancing at his distressed girlfriend.

Aislinn glanced down at her bare hands before looking at the eldest Son of Ipswich. "Come here."

Raising his brow, Caleb hesitated before walking over to stand in front of her. Shakily she reached out and grasped his hand. She didn't know why, but instinct told her that he was the one she had touch.

Her eyes flashed white and she froze in place, hanging onto Caleb who had tried to detract his hand.

"No." She whispered, her voice ethereal. "Do not move."

The room watched in a tense silence as Aislinn's body stiffened and she began to breathe heavily. She threw her head back and released a blood-curdling scream startling the room's occupants. She slumped to the side, releasing her grip on his hand.

"Aislinn, what did you see?" Alana asked cautiously approaching the loveseat.

Opening her eyes, the teen responded hoarsely. "A ghost. I saw a ghost, come back to harm ye. All of ye."

Evelyn crossed over to the sideboard and poured a glass of water, offering it to the distressed teen. Taking it gratefully, Aislinn drank deeply.

"What do you mean you saw a ghost?" Pogue asked warily.

She fixed her grey eyes on him. "One that Caleb has battled and vanquished will come forth from the nethers. He will be stronger and faster. He willna stop til he kills ye all."

"Collins. Chase Collins."

Aislinn nodded her head at Caleb's statement. "He wants power. He will be released by my clan's mortal enemy, the coven we call Crón Draiocht. That is why I canna stay! I have ta stop them from resurrecting tha' monster!"

"Aislinn, Brigid warned me that something like this might happen." Alana said gravely. "She also told me that you were not to return to Éire until you gained the control you need."

"You can not stop me." The Irish teen warned.

"That is where you are wrong Aislinn. Your Máthair left explicit instructions if this type of situation arose. I was told to give you this."

The older woman withdrew a fat envelope from her jacket and handed it to the silent teen. The petite woman delicately opened the contents and stifled a gasp as an antique necklace tumbled out. She lifted it with trembling hands and stared at the crimson stones set in the engraved silver inlay of the clan's crest. She quickly pulled out the letter and scanned it swiftly.

Tyler craned his neck trying to read over her shoulder but was disappointed to find that it was written in Gaelic. He watched his cousin's reaction closely as she grew paler. Her grip on the amulet tightened as she crumpled and flung the letter far from her. She stood abruptly; her chest heaving and eyes shining silver from her fury. She looked distastefully at the necklace she held in her hand before throwing it across the room where it slid out into the hallway. She was pacing, foreign words spilling from her mouth with alarming speed.

"Did you know about this?" She spat out, her glare focused on Alana.

"Yes."

A sudden wave of energy crackled through the room, as the air around Aislinn began to pulse.

"And ye dinna think ta tell me?"

"Hey, don't shout at her!"

"Back off Tyler! This doesna concern ye!"

"Aislinn…Child, I am so sorry…."

"I am na a child! That damnable letter has proven that! And ye will be sorry if this goes through! Verra sorry!"

The enraged woman spun on her heel and left the room leaving a gaping audience behind. The front door slammed, the sound echoing off of the walls.

"Mom, what did you do?" Tyler asked carefully as Evelyn Danvers retrieved the crumpled letter from the floor.

"I did not do anything. It was all Brigid's doing, though even I am wondering at the daft woman's motives."

"Tell us."

"I can't. At least not now. All of you should go. It's been a long day and I think that maybe someone should check in with Kate."

Mumbling, the teenagers reluctantly left the room pausing in the hallway, well out of sight. Pogue's foot brushed against a glittering object on the floor. He picked it up and pocketed it resolving to return the necklace to its owner.

"Alana, this handwriting, it seems rather masculine."

"That's because it is Evelyn. That is a betrothal contract you hold."

The group of students stared at each other, stunned.

"So? I am not clear as to why that girl got so upset in the first place. How is this betrothal going to keep her here?"

"She won't be in a hurry to return home until she has full control. You felt that wave of energy. That was her loosing control over her anger. Believe me, it could've been much worse."

"I still don't understand why this contract would cause her so much anger."

The eavesdropping teens edged closer to the door, waiting with bated breath.

"Because Evelyn, the old bat, betrothed her only grand daughter to the sole heir of the Turlough's clan's deadliest enemy. Jasper Hamilton. If Aislinn returns home now, without control, she goes to her death and she knows it. At least here she has time to learn to work with her powers and will stand a fighting chance."

"Surely you are joking!"

"I only wish I was Evelyn. If Aislinn returns to Éire now, she will die."

Sarah covered her mouth in dismay. Caleb's grip on her free hand tightened.

"Alana, you are serious! But why would this Hamilton want to kill her? She is beautiful, powerful and of course loaded. Any man would adore and worship her!"

"I never told Aislinn, but Brigid and I have been preparing for Aislinn to come and live here for the past five years. I was sworn to secrecy about a great many things, and this was one of them. Hamilton lusts after Éire something fierce, but his obsession with Aislinn is much more worrisome. He loves and hates her with a burning passion that literally rival the fires of hell. For generations the men of Crón Draiocht have been doomed or actually I should say cursed to fall in love with the women of the Turlough clan. This of course has caused numerous hatred and deaths on both sides over the centuries."

"Wasn't this Crón Draiocht the coven Aislinn was talking about?"

"Evelyn, you have to swear not to tell soul what I've told you now and what I'm going to tell you."

"I swear."

"You are correct that they are the coven she was referring to. Jasper Hamilton is the Head of the coven as the Hamilton line has always been. They are the strongest with magic and each generation gets stronger and stronger. Aislinn will have one hell of a battle ahead of her and I hope that she won't have to face it alone. There is a reason that fate has brought the boys and her together and I believe that they can achieve a lot if they can learn to trust each other and work together."

Not wanting to hear any more, Tyler walked away silently, his thoughts miles away. What else was his mother privy to? He was hard pressed to think of Aislinn as the cousin he had befriended and not as some sort of legendary super witch. He stood outside of the Danver's mansion and breathed in the crisp autumn air.

"Ty? What's up man?"

"Just thinking."

Reid snorted. "I think we all are."

"Yeah."

The two friends stood in silence watching the wind lift and toss about the dead leaves.

"What do you think Aislinn will do?"

Tyler shrugged. "I don't know. But if she plans on returning to Ireland I'm going to kick her ass."

"I'll help you with that."

Both men turned around at Sarah's statement. The blond wore a look of fierce determination.

"She saved my life! The least I can do is help protect hers, even if that means knocking some sense into her!"

Caleb smiled wryly at his girlfriend's declaration.

"We have to decide what we are going to do. Not only about Aislinn's situation, but about her vision. She saw this coven that Hamilton is the leader of resurrect Collins. I for one really don't want to deal with him particularly since we are nearing Pogue's ascension."

"I don't think we have a choice Caleb." Pogue said joining the group.

"Could her vision be wrong?" Reid asked.

Sarah shook her head. "No. Right after you left the bedroom, Aislinn woke up. She knew what was going on with your meeting downstairs and opted to tell me some things herself. One of them was that her Sight is always correct. She told me…."

The pretty blond paused her eyes staring at nothing.

"She told you what?" Tyler prompted.

Sarah shook herself before continuing. "She told me that sometimes the meaning of her visions are hidden or not expected. In order to understand her visions fully, the key is to expect the unexpected."

"Expect the unexpected? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Reid demanded.

Pogue snorted. "It means that while the answer may seem obvious it isn't always what needs to be done. She has to look at all angles to get a feel for the truth."

"How do you know that?"

The longhaired man rolled his eyes. "Because, I actually paid attention in mythology class Sophmore year. Remember we did a project of seers vs. frauds?"

"Ohhh yeah. I remember now!" Suddenly the blond man's eyes got wide. "That's it!"

"Uhh, what is 'it'?" Tyler asked his excited friend.

"The Turlough seer! All we have to do is research seers for the past three, four hundred years in Ireland, and maybe we can get our hands on the prophecy!"

"What good is that going to do? We already know the prophecy!"

"No, Tyler, I think Reid may be on to something. We offer a different perspective since we are not part of the clan. There might be something in there that could help."

"Help with what?" Tyler asked confused by Caleb's statement.

"Help with Aislinn controlling her powers, dumb ass!"

"Fuck you Reid! And what makes you think that a dead woman's words regarding a thrice blessed one will be any more insightful than what we learned today?"

Caleb sighed. "I don't know if it will be helpful or not. But it may point us in the right direction. Aislinn and we are all linked now. Mrs. Sims was right when she said fate brought us together. The Sons of Ipswich are very powerful but so is the Daughter of Éire. Maybe we were brought together to stop this coven and Collins."

Pogue cocked his head to the side. "Wow, two inspirational speeches in one day. I didn't know you had it in you."

Caleb shoved his friend none to gently. "Shut it Pogue."

Sarah jumped startled as her pocket began to vibrate. Quickly pulling out her cell phone she flipped it open while walking away from the boys.

"Kate, talk to me. What's the deal?"

"Abbott has no idea what happened. He apparently doesn't even remember seeing the swim race. His two Neanderthal friends are rather dazed and confused as well. They seem to think that they were in the old science lab working on some sort of chemistry experiment that went haywire."

"Are the authorities going with that story?"

"Yeah. They figured that it was a bunch of kids screwing around. Since the explosion was minor and only affected the classroom the cops aren't planning on pressing charges."

"I am sure that your statement about seeing the three men enter the unused classroom shortly before the explosion played a big part in the police deciding to drop it."

"Probably. But what else could I do? I'm not going to let the guys and us get involved if I can help it. I figured the smartest thing I could do was to keep everyone's name out of it.

"Yeah, we all owe you for that."

"Nah, I'm just glad you are OK. How is Aislinn doing?"

"She woke up and seemed fine if not a bit tired. She took off a little while ago."

"Man, I only wish you could've seen her! She healed you like it was nothing! Fucking amazing!"

"Yeah well, there's a lot that comes packaged with that and I'll fill you in later. I'm going to head back to the dorms. I'll see you there."

"Aiight. Later."

Sarah closed her phone and absently tucked it back in her pocket. She turned to face the anxious faces of the Sons of Ipswich.

"Kate says we are in the clear."

Caleb smiled in relief. "That is great news!"

"I know. Now, I want to head back to the dorms. Give me a ride?"

The handsome man offered his arm to his girlfriend and they left the others standing shaking their heads.

"Well, we might as well head out too." Tyler said.

Nodding in agreement, the other two Sons of Ipswich followed the youngest out, oblivious to their surroundings.

It wouldn't be until later that they would regret their inattention.

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A/N: I am utterly unhappy with this chapter. I rewrote the damn thing THREE TIMES and I STILL cannot get it to flow like I want! UUUGGHHH!!!! Thus the late update.

Anyway, so there you have it. A bit more background on Aislinn and some ripples of the ties that will bind the Sons of Ipswich and the Daughter of Éire.

We will be getting back to Chase Collins soon enough. I am sure that all of you guessed he was the prelude in Chapter 3.

We will also start to see more interaction between our heroine and her true love. Of course all of the love stuff will be a bit slow in coming since they are rather antagonistic. What can I say? It makes writing about them all that more fun!!

Also, I would like to throw down a challenge to my readers. Not a story challenge, but a review challenge. I WILL NEED A MINIMUM OF FIVE REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPTER BEFORE I UPDATE AGAIN!! Next chapter I will need a minimum of 6 reviews, Chapter 6 I will need a minimum of 7 reviews and so on and so forth.

Think you can do it? I know you can. With as many of you that have this story on your alert lists, I figure that I won't be let down.

(I hope either that or I really do suck at this writing thing).

Thanks for reading!

F.L.