Come Thursday evening and Thorn strutted quickly down the hall towards the High Priest's office. She'd made a quick trip to the bathroom after her demonology class but knew Blackwood didn't like to be kept waiting so she walked a little quicker than usual, but just as she passed the statue of their Lord a huge crash drew her attention.

Thorn's head snapped up towards the Herbalism section of the west wing to find everything in darkness, utter pitch black but still she went forwards a few steps unafraid. It was strange, after classes ended most students went to their dorms or the library until dinner was served in the dining room on the other side of the school. Whoever was lurking in those dark depths it wasn't a student. No, it was powerful and old, ancient even. She could feel its persistent power drift down the hall to her but she didn't run.

"What are you?" Thorn demanded of the darkness.

A chuckle, high-pitched and imp-like.

"He didn't like you." The cryptic voice teased, something about it seemed vaguely familiar. "Much too headstrong for a woman, women should just shut up and do as they're told." Thorn raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing. "Doesn't matter though, Christopher is dead now... and soon so will you be."

Realisation washed over Thorn, her eyes went wide and a split second later she raced away, up the stairs and burst through the door to Father Blackwood's office; chest heaving. The warlock looked up at her with annoyance.

"And what took you so long?"

"Bigger problems!" She wheezed. "Christopher Lang summoned a demon!"

Faustus launched to his feet. "What?"

"I'm pretty sure that the idiot's dead."

The High Priest ignored Thorn's comment and instead fixed her with a glare.

"Where is it?" He demanded.

"In the Herbalism hallway." She said quickly.

In an instant Faustus snapped his clawed fingers, a sharp thunderous sound. The whole school burst into light and a moment later the Academy's plethora of teachers appeared around the office looking confused. Faustus didn't miss a beat.

"There is a demon within these walls, summoned by a student. Evacuate the students with haste." The teachers nodded and the Dean turned his attention to Zelda who stood beside Thorn looking unimpressed. "Zelda, gather Prudence, Sabrina, Agatha, Dorcas and Nicholas Scratch at the statue of our Lord Satan."

"Of course."

It amazed Thorn at how quickly the teaching staff fled the room, clearly when Faustus Blackwood gave them an order they hopped to it, all but Zelda who continued to stand and give Thorn irritated sideways glances as if it were her fault. Her head snapped up when the Father used her name.

"Thorn, go back down and ward the hallway to Herbalism. If it's still in there then it's trapped if not, then it can't get back in."

"Is that really wise? To have her perform such a task?"

"Do not question me, you're wasting time and you have your orders. Do it."

Everything happened quickly then and the school cleared in what had to be record time, clearly Father Blackwood had planned for extraordinary speed and precision.

The demon hadn't been in the Herbalism hallway when Thorn got down there so she'd re-lit the sconces then warded the hallway to block it off entirely, nothing would get back into the network of rooms unless she allowed it. Thorn jumped when she turned around to find Faustus only a step behind her.

"Forgive me, startling you is starting to become a habit." He spoke while looking past her down the hallway. "Was the demon still in there?"

"Regrettably not, Father. However, it's not getting back in there."

"Good. One less place to search."

"Search?" Questioned Thorn with a raised eyebrow.

Faustus nodded. "Yes, the Academy is much to large to use a location spell, it will clearly be quicker to search on foot."

He was pleased when she didn't object, not that he'd thought Thorn would.

"That's why you sent Zelda to get the sisters, Sabrina and Scratch." She nodded to herself.

"Come."

Faustus made a vague gesture as he turned and made his way back to the statue and Thorn followed loyally. There before the idol of their Dark Lord the others had gathered, Zelda stood with her arms folded across her chest as though she'd been personally assaulted; she opened her mouth to say something but Father Blackwood spoke anyway cutting her off before she could get a single syllable out.

"We have to search the entire Academy and quickly. I have sealed the building so as the demon cannot escape but despite that I will not allow this creature to have free rein of my school. The Herbalism corridor is blockaded thanks to Thorn." The Dean turned his attention to the raven-haired witch then. "Did you see Christopher Lang's body in there?"

Thorn shook her head. "No, even when I re-lit the sconces I saw nothing."

"Then it is likely that his corpse has been possessed."

Suddenly they all saw Sabrina as she gestured wildly and they looked over to see the confused expression on her face.

"Wait, wait, wait! What's happening? Who is Christopher Lang and why is he a demon?"

Prudence huffed as she turned to her short friend. "Weren't you listening, Sabrina? Someone summoned a demon onto school grounds and got themselves killed, now they're being used as a meat suit for a demon."

Sometimes Sabrina wondered if Prudence was capable of saying a single sentence without sounding patronizing and condescending.

"Pairs." The word drew every attention back to the imposing looking High Priest. "That will work out best. Sabrina, go with Prudence to the East wing. Agatha and Dorcas to the North. Zelda, take Nicholas to the West wing. You can skip Herbalism obviously. Thorn and myself will take the South wing. Try not to die and do hurry."

Zelda clearly didn't like being sent with the young warlock rather than Faustus but she was wise enough to stay quiet and just obey him. They all branched off and made their way through the school, Faustus nor Thorn spoke as they went down lit hallways checking rooms as they went. Each time they found it empty Thorn sealed it while Faustus kept watch. It wasn't until they'd been through three hallways that the young witch spoke.

"This is my fault." She sighed.

"How do you reach that conclusion?" He asked without turning to look at her.

A pause, a little longer than needed. "A few weeks ago he asked me to help him summon a demon, I think he thought it would make him look good. Apparently his father wanted me to marry him which is just... I don't have words for that. Anyway, I shut him down, told him it was stupid and he'd get himself killed. I thought he'd listened. This is my fault, I should have told you."

"I very much doubt that, Thorn. Even if you told me I don't believe Lang would have obeyed very long. He was arrogant. I'm surprised he didn't kill himself sooner. No, the most you're guilty of is denying us a little forewarning."

He was being kind and that confused Faustus. Thorn had known about Lang and his stupid plan, she should have told him! However, there he was reassuring her while hunting a monster through his halls.

"He's lying to you, little girl." Chuckled that demonic voice once more. "This is your fault."

Their heads snapped to the darkness at the end of the hallway with raised eyebrows before flashing glances at one another. Their eyes locked for a moment both clearly cautious, then with a single snap of her fingers each and every sconce along the darkened hallway roared to bright life. There at the end of the hallway stood Christopher Lang, or at least whatever was using his lifeless body. Christopher's skin was paper white and the veins around his temples were jet black to match the pool of tar his eyes had become, surly there was more but the second the light touched him the demon fled away into the black in a cloud of dust.

"It's playing with us." Thorn hissed.

"Indeed," said Faustus slowly "but now I know what it is. It's a shadow demon, they can't stand light of any kind and cannot survive in it very long."

Thorn nodded as they carefully continued to tread down through the school.

"That's why it took Lang's body, to protect it from the light. Shadow demon's were born of darkness," began Thorn as she remembered Father Blackwood's lesson from quite some time ago "they try to avoid light at any cost because it drains their abilities. Makes them weak."

"Hmm, good to know someone listened to my classes."

Thorn chuckled at that as she sealed off another room. "Always. You're an orator and everything you teach is very interesting. Most of my professors are rather loquacious."

The very next hall they turned down was pitch black, they were clearly getting closer to the demon. The pair paused, slow and cautious was the wisest course of action. After a quick glance at one another Faustus gave her a curt nod.

"Thorn, turn the lights on."

The raven-haired beauty obeyed and was quick about it. The flames bounced their glow off the walls but the demon was nowhere to be found.

"We need to move faster, this slow but safe method is not working out as hoped." Grumbled the Dean.

"However, we can track it." She paused a moment there. "Which may well be exactly what it wants."

"Hmm, indeed."

Teacher and student continued to stalk the demon, Thorn sealed each room as they went denying it yet another hiding place. It taunted them every now and again but Faustus and Thorn were too smart to be drawn into its teasing, wouldn't let it put ideas inside their heads for its own sick games. Eventually they happened upon a fork of darkened corridors and it quickly became glaringly obvious what the shadow demon wanted.

"It wants us to split up, doesn't it?" Sighed the young witch.

"Yes." The High Priest confirmed. "However, we aren't going to do that."

Thorn took the liberty of lighting up both hallways as far as she could see. Still Lang didn't appear to taunt them just the hexagonal room maze of walls.

"Ward that one and follow me." Faustus ordered with a loose gesture to the left hallway as he turned to the right; Thorn had to jog after him. "Best not to split up lest it pounce."

Thorn ignored the 'you need protecting' in that sentence, it was unusual from him but with a shadow demon wandering around Thorn could understand why.

"It's just the choir room and the graduation hall down here, ri-"

Before Thorn could finish her sentence the choir room door opened and a cloud of black sucked her in; she screamed as the door slammed shut. The warlock launched after into the darkest depths of the choir room. Faustus had taken all he could, he wouldn't let the demon roam his school any longer and he certainly wouldn't allow harm to come to anymore of his students... not Thorn. He lit the room with anger and glared at the demon as it stood inhabitating Lang's body on the stage. Thorn lay slumped against the far right wall having been thrown into the mirror that had hung there; shards of glass surrounded her spotted with crimson blood.

In a sudden rage Faustus flung Lang at the wall and held him there, he couldn't let the demon get away and the longer it hung in the fire light the weaker it became. At first the High Priest had struggled to hold the shadow demon but soon he felt his muscles relax and it grew far easier; that earned a smirk. The demon couldn't break free and it knew it.

"Thorn!" He growled out, just because holding the demon had grown easier didn't mean it didn't take a huge level of concentration. "Find something to contain it!"

Awkwardly the young witch looked around until she came across a flute case that was just out of reach beside a guitar case. With a hiss of pain Thorn shuffled towards it – she ignored the pain and glass as best she could – and reached out with a long stretch, the pain in her leg was agony and she was fairly certain she could feel bone pressing against skin. She couldn't reach it, her leg wouldn't let her go that extra two inches to reach the case so, with annoyance, she flicked her hand an the black flute case scraped across the glass covered floor to her. With a groan of anguish she flicked open the case and tipped everything out of it, the three flute sections, the cleaning cloth and even the protective foam found itself cast aside. The case wasn't exactly what one would like of a demon prison but it would do in a pinch, Faustus could put extra warding on it; they had to trap the damn thing first.

Fire light reflecting from the shards of mirror caught her green eyes and an idea struck her. Thorn gathered up the larger pieces as fast as her stinging hands would let her and tossed them all into the case.

The Demon chuckled at it fought against Faustus' restraints; dark eyes locked on Thorn.

"Silly little girl. A music case will never hold me! You know nothing, do you. Silly girl, stupid girl. Just give up now and I'll give you a head start while I deal with your teacher."

Thorn glared up at the demon in Lang's pale body, her eyes darkened with rage.

"I am Thorn Mortimer, last of my name, and I will not be dictated to by you!" She turned her attention back to the case and broken mirror. "Glass of image, bind and fix. Force the dark to see its visage. Glass of image, light of phoenix. Imprison darkness demon with its vestige."

Quickly the glass shards bound together and moulded itself to the case like a perfect mirror lining. Pleased with the result – not her best work but she had only had ninety seconds – Thorn pushed the flute case across the dark wood floor where it bumped into Faustus' foot. With little more than a glance down to the open case Faustus nudged it so as it lay between his feet and glared at the weakened demon.

"Turpis et infernis in terris pariunt. Adiuro vos tamen hoc graecas munus!"

The demon fought, for the love of Lucifer did it fight but the fire light had weakened it. It should have killed them when it had the chance, toying with them had been more important to the demon and all it had resulted in was its own downfall. With a strangled cry a cloud of black was ripped from Lang's dead body and crashed into the flute case and locked; Faustus slammed his foot down on it just to be safe as he bound the thing. A rusty chain wrapped around the small case and Blackwood was sure the shadow demon wouldn't be escaping.

Faustus relaxed, it was contained and couldn't cause any more havoc in his school. Christopher Lang lay up on the stage, body cold and lifeless, just a shell of nothingness. Thorn hissed as she tried to stand and his eyes snapped over to Thorn, she couldn't stand. He leapt into action and marched to her side where he took a knee, it was plain to see her leg was broken and her palms scraped and scratched by the mirror.

"It threw me straight at the wall, I didn't even see it coming." She sighed.

"Your leg is broken." He told her. "Easily fixable."

To Thorn's amazement the Dean lifted her into his arms bridal style as though she were little more than a feather. The dark-haired man said nothing as he carefully bent to pick up the flute case prison as well before he carried both out of the destroyed room and down the halls back to the statue. Thorn didn't say a word, didn't quite know what to say. Thank you?

Zelda's eyes went wide when she saw Thorn cradled in the High Priest's arms and a spark of anger filled them when she noticed the younger witch had snaked her arms around his neck.

"You found it then." Said Sabrina which drew her Aunt's attention back to the problem at hand.

"Indeed. It's in the flute case." All eyes fell to the case that Faustus held in the hand that supported Thorn's legs. "Sister Spellman, inform all the students that they'll return in the morning. no exceptions, and have the other professors arrange for that."

Zelda nodded. "Of course, but are we certain that the demon is contained?"

"I trapped it myself, it's not getting out. Go." The strawberry blonde haired witch obeyed quickly when authority filled Faustus' voice. His icy eyes fell to his illegitimate daughter. "Prudence, take the others and start removing the wards. Find where Lang summoned the infernal thing as well and make sure nothing else can slip through."

"They can't remove mine, I blood bound them."

Prudence didn't look impressed. "Overkill don't you think, Mortimer?"

Faustus smirked in that devilish way of his as he glanced down at the young woman in his arms, no one saw that look very often, it was his 'I'm proud of you' look.

"No, only someone of her lineage could break it. Quite clever.

Sabrina's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Because that way the demon couldn't kill her, it needed her to break the binding and let it out. Same reason it needed me alive." Probably why it separated us. Faustus turned his attention back to Thorn. "You were turning the building into a prison."

Thorn shrugged. "Plan B and all that."

"Prudence, clear Christopher Lang's body out of the choir room as well."

"Oh is that all?" Grumbled the youngest Spellman and Thorn felt Faustus grow irritated; a tightness appeared in his shoulders.

"Do as you're told, Sabrina. We don't have time for this and you do not give the orders here."

The High Priest just walked away then up to his office with Thorn, he didn't care what Sabrina Spellman thought, he just cared that she did as she was told for once in her life. The young witch said nothing, she could feel the tension in his body and chit-chat didn't seem wise. There was something about Sabrina that just got to Faustus.

Once inside his office Father Blackwood set Thorn down in the chair she usually favoured and then turned to close the imposing double doors.

"I'll remove the warding first thing in the morning, Father." She promised just to say something.

Faustus nodded. "Good. We could do without witches being locked out of lessons."

The High Priest stripped off his suit jacket and cast it over his chair. Thorn watched as he carefully rolled up his sleeves to the elbows and knelt down before her. She liked his arms, they were strong without being too muscular and had a light tan. The raven-haired beauty forced her eyes not to widen when he parted her legs a little so he could kneel between them; she might have even held her breath. Faustus stretched the damaged leg out and pushed her dress up her thigh to reveal the top of her stockings; his clawed hands were so warm. She could feel his sharp nails brush against her snow white skin when he unclipped her garter then slowly and wordlessly rolled it down her leg. Thorn bit her lip as she forced her heart rate under control. Once the stocking reached her ankle he slipped off her blood red heel and set it down without so much as a sound.

Faustus couldn't stop himself from sliding his hand back up her leg as he checked to see how bad the damage was; so soft, so smooth.

"This shouldn't take too long to repair." He informed a little breathlessly but he did his best to hide it. Thorn said nothing as he continued to all but caress her legs. "I can heal your leg in a few minutes but it'll hurt for some time though.

"I'm okay with that."

To Faustus it seemed like a very oddly phrased sentence but he said nothing about it and instead he rose to his feet and opened a small draw over beside the bookshelf with a bronze colored key. The draw contained several small glass vials each filled with different colored liquids all just waiting to be called into action. Faustus rooted through them only for a moment until he found the one he was looking for and then he was back on his knees before her and for the love of Lucifer was she beautiful. Witches didn't do love, they did passion and damnit did he want to be passionate with her; as cliché as it sounded. Father Blackwood poured some of the dark green liquid onto his palm then offered her the vial.

"Drink that." He ordered.

Thorn hesitated for only a second before she obeyed and drank the dark liquid down while Faustus coated his hands. She almost gagged, like when someone experienced the burn of whiskey for the first time.

"What is that?" Her face scrunched in a very unladylike manner. "It's disgusting."

"It's probably better you don't know the ingredients. Just drink it all." He told her a little absent-mindedly as he rubbed his hands up her calf, past her knee and almost to where her dress skirt started.

It stained her leg a thick dark green but it quickly absorbed into her supple skin. She watched him every step of the way, green eyes firmly fixed on the High Priest.

"There." He said once he was done. "Stay still and the bone will knit back together. The less you move the less painful it will be."

"Thank you, Father." She smiled pleasantly at him.

"You're welcome." Faustus cleaned the remnants of green paste from his large hands with a handkerchief that he pulled from his black waistcoat. "We've lost one student tonight, I will not risk another."

The 'especially not a Mortimer' was left unsaid. Faustus discarded the dirtied handkerchief and roll his sleeves back down before he rested her leg up on his desk.

"I have matters to take care of. I shall return later. Stay here."

Thorn nodded. She had no idea Father Blackwood was so good at Herbalism, but she doubted that one got to the position of High Priest without excelling in a number of subjects; she could already feel her leg fixing itself. Bone fusing back together and healing.

She opened her mouth to thank him again before Zelda entered the office with a disgruntled expression that might have been a permanent part of her face. Her face grew shocked when she saw Blackwood knelt before his student; only when the silence went on too long and Faustus prompted her did Zelda snap back to the world.

"Yes, Sister Spellman?"

"Em, the teachers are informing families that all is once again well and that the students can return without worry. Also, most of the hallways have had the warding removed."

"Good." Said Faustus as he rose to his feet and slipped his coat back on. His icy eyes glanced over to young Thorn. "Remember what I said about staying still."

Thorn nodded. "Yes, Father. I won't move a muscle."

Thorn flashed him a smile and Faustus saw it for what it was, a teasing smile of fun but Zelda saw it as something far different and ire sparked in her eyes. Fortunately Faustus diffused it without even trying.

"Follow me, Zelda. I need to inform the Langs of their son's death, best to have a woman present."

The strawberry blonde witch nodded and went with him as he strutted out of his office. As soon as they were gone Thorn let out a deep sigh. She'd always found Faustus Blackwood attractive. His stoic manner that made him unpredictable and that perfect English accent full of elocution that existed solely to intimidate men and make women swoon. Thorn pressed her thighs together a little awkwardly what with one leg elevated on the Dean's desk. Faustus had hardly touched her yet she was a quivering mess. Still, he was her Dean, her High Priest! Thorn knew he was a good man at heart. Father Blackwood might not have always gone about it in the best way, but she believed in him, in the end he'd do the right thing for their coven; even if others disagreed.

Thorn tightly closed her eyes and willed away her want, willed away the feel of his warm skin on hers, willed away how his sharp nails had danced over the flesh of her thigh so delicately. Faustus could have sliced through her skin like tissue paper had he been so inclined but no, he'd been so gentle. She willed away the whole experience as best she could, Thorn willed it away so well that after thirty minutes of sitting in silence with her eyes closed she fell asleep.