Sorry for the late updates. Quick note: I will be going on a family trip a few times over the summer. I will be gone this weekend, and again in a few weeks. TIme in between will largely be spent on preparing for the trips. I will try to update when I can. Please read and review, this story is getting lonely with no reviews.
disclaimer: I don't own it. If I did it owuldn't have ended.
3rd Person: 4:30 pm.
Nine people stood in the abandoned house outside Chance Harbor.
"So, Adam, have you dealt with that certain something yet?"
"You kidding? Without the full circle it's pretty much impossible to properly shatter that thing." Ethan Conant said. In recent months he'd been helping his son hone his abilities.
"You mean there's a way to return it to it's broken form?" Cassie asked.
"Yeah. It was broken once. In our family's book it explains what happened." He held up a leather bound volume.
"So that's why I never found it." Adam said.
"Yep. Here you go. Check it out."
"wait, I think it's time we told them what happened." Cassie looked at her remaining siblings.
"You're right." Adam said.
"Our families each had a crystal, something to magnify our own magic. What we didn't know was that each crystal was a shard of the crystal skull." Cassie started. "It's a token of immense destructive power. Dad wanted to bind our circle around it, forcing us all in to the darkness. Repairing the skull was what broke the original binding. We gave the skull to Adam to keep it safe."
"And now we have to break it again. It will take the six families with a mirror spell." Ethan said.
"A what?" Jake asked.
"God I hate being the only parent not trying to destroy you guys. The crystals magnify the power already in you six. You need to reflect the true power within your bloodline. Each is tied to something, one of the six elements. You have to find it within you. We should do it tonight. Only in shadows it truth revealed."
"I have the spell here." Adam held up the page in his book. We have to light six candles with a symbol of each of our elements. Then we have to call on our past ancestry to break the bonds of darkness or something."
"You're learning. Now, I'll get things ready for the spell. Cassie, Diana, Adam, take the other kids and work on using the Balcoin powers. Keep it simple. You can do it. See you at eleven." Ethan went upstairs.
Lpov
"Okay, according to this we can sit here." We sat beneath our father's symbol, the one he used for dark magic. "Now magic is only as dark as the user, so we just channel the energy and use our good emotions to channel it and our negative emotions to strengthen it. What's our goal?" I looked at them. My twin brother, Louis, goof ball, Brent, muscle, Diana, angelic warrior, Cassie, and dark eyed but affectionate, protective Adam. Such a lucky girl my sister is.
"I think we need to scan the area for demons." Cassie said. "Safety has been the last thing on our mind for months and we really need to check up. The school's going weird, the weather's dark. Sound good?"
"So we reach out and try to sense anything demonic?"
"Exactly. The skull's been intact for three years. Something's gonna show." Cassie sat with her hands held tight by Diana and Adam. I felt a slight bit of jealousy at their easy comradeship. Even Brent and Louis didn't act like that. Not even Marcus and I. Then I felt Cassie's power. Oh my god. She was scary. How is this possible? Even my power paled. Then Diana and Adam joined her. Marcus, Brent, and Louis focused. Once the energy was ready I cleared my throat.
"By space, by time, by day, by night, we are dark and we are light." We repeated the phrase. Cassie was right. Something was definitely here. We honed our vision. A demon for sure.
"Try to get a visual." Essence-Cassie pointed her palm at the shadowy form. It was possessing a young girl of about ten. It was hard to be certain, but it was probably coming our way. It was already not too far.
"Okay, draw back. We need to get this thing soon. We have a few hours until we destroy the skull. Until then it's like a beacon."
"You're right."
"Wait, time passes weird in trances. I spent five minutes under once but it was really like a couple hours." I shuddered.
"She's telling the truth. She slept forever. Luckily mom was working so she didn't know. Someone check a watch." We left the trance to see that three hours had passed. It was a quarter till eight.
"Cassie what do we do? It's been three hours, who knows how close it is now?" I asked, glancing around. I'd faced hunters. With Balcoin power it wasn't hard to beat them. Demons were a whole other realm of bad. They had real power that was pure destruction.
Brent and Louis hadn't faced them either. But these three had.
"Okay, let's see. Diana. Call Melissa and gather the circle. Brent, Louis, Marcus, get Ethan and protect him. Adam, Marcus, Lilah, come with me. I can't guarantee anything, but I have a strong feeling about where to go." Cassie stood. I could see the air of leadership. Fate was right. Cassie was the intended queen. Only the heir would have such natural control. Diana was flicking her phone like lightening. Brent and Louis were grabbing their jackets. Adam and Cassie were talking low.
"I have a strange feeling that it's near where we found the lethe root." Adam stared.
"Lethe root? Why? It doesn't make any sense."
"I don't know. I just think that's the place. Di-" She looked over. "Tell Jake to find us where we found Lethe root. He'll know the place. Or at least the vicinity. You can find us from there. Go." We went outside. Cassie traipsed towards a n old stable. "This was my father's land. Now it's mine. I built a stable here two years ago. Grab a horse, each of you." We mounted, began the journey.
Cpov.
It was foggy and depressing in the shadows of the woods. I was frightened to be back here. I had no good memories of this part of the forest. Diana's grandmother burying me alive, nearly killing Jake, erasing my relationships, yeah, cupcakes and crumpets all round.
"We're almost there." Adam called to me.
"What is lethe root?"
"It's an herb that alters memories. The key ingredient in erasing an emotion like the feelings between Adam and I. Not that it worked. But there really is nothing cheerful about this place. Stop." I gritted my teeth. We're here. Either the demon is here or really close. This is where we have to be."
"We're here." Jake and Diana walked in with everyone else. Brent, Louis, and Marcus weren't there, obviously. They were busy protecting Ethan.
"Good, you're here." An eerily familiar voice said. I whirled. Jake froze.
"You." Lucy Gibbons faced us.
"Yes. Hello Cassie. And you two Jake. Are you two finally an item? You seemed so close when last we met." She smiled. But her eyes were black, veins showing like wildfires.
"She's possessed. It's her." I glared.
"Only now I have more power than you know." Red energy snaked around my neck. I struggled to breathe.
"Cassie!" Adam choked out.
"Cassie, do you remember the spell?" Diana said, trying to block out her own snake of evil.
"The amulet is gone!"
"It was just a channel. Say it Cassie!" I tried to remember the medallion spell. "Ignes Dissipare Et Vallum." The snake of scarlet power caught flames, releasing all it had captured.
"Not this time." Lucy recoiled, choosing a more direct method of attack.
"Chance Harbor Circle, get ready. Siblings, flank her." Cassie held up her hand. "Diana, do remember the spell in my mom's Book?"
"Barely. Not all of it."
"We need time. Begone, for now." We chanted, trying to push her back.
"What the hell? We should have been able to kill that bitch." Faye said.
"Faye, demon, possession. Without John's powers we've never fully vanquished one before."
"But with Nick-"
"He killed himself and it still came back for more. John did that too. There might be something in the Books, but for now we need to regroup. Jake, the symbol you burned in the ground outside, that never faded, right?"
"It's a mark, it's still there. Why?"
"Marks are centers of emotion, the hunter's desire to kill witches. That joint need will call a demon. With the two combined we can summon Lucy there. With the spell we can get rid of her."
"What about Lucy herself, her body?"
"I won't stop myself. According to some info Jake got she was killed anyways after our last encounter. I warned her that if she ever came after us again I would kill her. That was the first time I gave way to dark magic, for real. Nearly didn't spare her life. Let's head back to the house."
"You know we could renovate that place and live there. We're done with highschool now. The Blackwell kids deserve a place anyways."
"We're fine wherever." Lilah said.
"We should still pick up. It's technically mine anyways, according to the lawyer who came when they found Dad's body."
"You know what I noticed? We call him so many things. Blackwell, John, Dad, it changes so often." Diana pointed.
"Maybe it's the aspects we think of him in day to day. Leaving the house to Cassie was kind, in his own way, so subconsciously she called him something equally nice. We unconsciously talk about him depending on the light we think of him." Lilah said.
"Sounds legit. Let's go." We remounted and galloped the remaining miles to the house.
"I'm gonna head back to my house. There might be something there I can use. More candles or something."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanna head home. See you tonight." Diana walked out, leaving us all staring.
"Something's up."
"She probably just has a weird feeling. Remember, her and Charles Meade didn't leave on perfect terms last time. Even if she's been back lately, it doesn't just get easier to find out the guy you thought was your dad killed your half-sister's mom." Faye said. We gaped.
"What? Oh shut it." Faye said, rolling her eyes.
"Well, Lilah and I are gonna hit the books. Mel, check in with Louis, see how Ethan's doing. If something happens to him we're screwed." I flipped through the books, looking for the spell. Ugh, annoying.
"Adam, I found it." He got up to look when his phone rang.
"Hello? Hey Grant, what's up? We'll be right over." He hung up. "Something's really wrong. I could hear Diana crying, but it's bad. Get everyone." I grabbed up my phone.
"Louis says everything's okay. Ethan's ready for the spell, but we have exactly two hours."
"Tell them to head to the Meade house. Something happened."
"What?"
"Not sure. Whatever it is has Diana in hysterics and Grant totally freaked."
"Then let's go." Melissa turned back to the phone and began rattling off instructions.
"Diana? Grant?" The house was trashed.
"In here." Grant called. Diana was huddled in the corner.
"Diana? Oh my god what happened?" Faye asked.
"Cassie? Is that you? Where are you Cassie?" Diana asked.
"She asked the same thing when I tried to talk to her. She needs Cassie."
"I'm right here." I pushed past the others, wrapping my arms around distraught sister. "Shh, it's going to be okay. It's me. You're safe. What happened?" She lifted one shaking arm, pointed towards the kitchen.
"Faye, Jake, go check." They walked around the precariously piled mess.
"Holy mother of all." Faye said.
"What the hell happened?"
"It's Charles."
"What?"
"Oh my god." Jake was freaking.
APOV.
I followed them to the kitchen. Charles Meade's body was nearly ripped apart on the floor. Diana's father in all but blood was dead.