CHAPTER #26

Cassie was working at the cafe and just finished serving Melissa a french vanilla cappuccino, when Adam joined her. Cassie had to handle some other orders, before she could go back to take Adam's. As she moved around the cafe, she saw Adam flirting with Melissa. It was like being stabbed in the heart. Melissa did deserve to have a nice guy's attention, but did it have to be Adam? And did he have to do it right in front of Cassie? Working hard to keep a neutral face, she went to get his order.

"Hi, did you want to get anything?"

"I'll have a hot chocolate and I'll buy Melissa another of whatever she is having," Adam said.

Cassie went to complete the order. Once she had delivered the drinks, she took the garbage outside. She needed the break. It hurt so much. Especially since he never told her that she'd been okay in bed. He never seemed to appreciate how much she had given him that night. Love or no love, Adam still could have said something. There was no one she could talk to. Diana was avoiding her, ever since she said that they were sisters. Diana was being selfish. There was Faye, but she was too self involved and enjoyed when Cassie was in pain. The only other person was Jake. She was shy about having lost her virginity and didn't know how to share that with anyone. Sure her grandmother was home now and for the loss of love, she had given comfort, but she needed a friend to lean on too.

She was just at the end of her shift at the cafe when Jake stopped in for coffee. His truck was getting repaired and he needed a ride home. Since he always gave her rides, she had no problem returning the favour. Adam and Melissa didn't even notice them. At least one good thing had come out of the whole forgetting he loved her, Jake and Adam fought less. Cassie let loose a big sad sigh and Jake heard it.

Jake looked over at Adam and Melissa, then back to Cassie. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yup, let me just grab my jacket," Cassie said.

Jake went outside to wait for Cassie. As she went to join him, Cassie saw Adam, move a hair off Melissa's face and in doing so caress her cheek. The look on his face, said it all. Cassie ran out the door and smashed straight into Jake.

Jake didn't say anything to her, because he saw how wounded Cassie was emotionally. He just held her for a second, until she regained her balance. Cassie looked up at him, "sorry about that," she said quietly.

"Do you want to come out with me on my boat? Have you ever gone fishing?" Jake asked.

"Sure I'll come and no I haven't gone fishing. Isn't it too cold out?"

Jake smiled, "not really. I have traps set out for crab, we'll check those too."

They drove down to the marina and parked. Then she followed him to his boat. He cleaned it up a little, so she had a place to sit and then he removed the lines. Jake started up his boat and then took them out of the marina into the harbour. On the open water, it was a little cooler and he gave Cassie a blanket to wrap around her legs.

"It's so beautiful out here. Thanks for inviting me along. I needed to get away from everything for a while."

Jake nodded, then stopped the motor and dropped anchor while he checked one of his crab traps. Nothing in the first trap. He started up the boat again after pulling in the anchor. This happened three or four times, until he had checked all his traps and had all the crabs. On the way back, he gave Cassie a fishing rod and helped her cast a line. She was able to troll as they slowly moved along the coast line. As was normal with beginner's luck, Cassie caught a fish. She got excited when the line got hit. Jake explained how to reel it in. When the fish was close to the boat, he used his net to bring it in. It was a good size and he kept it.

"That's my first fish ever! That was so fun. Are you going to eat it?" Cassie asked happily.

"We're going to eat it. I'll clean it and cook it for you. There should be enough for your grandmother too." Jake took out the hook and put the fish in the holding bucket. Then he put the fishing rod aside.

Once they arrived back at the marina, he tied off the boat and then unloaded the catch. Cassie was stepping up on to the dock and tripped. Jake caught her. She looked up at him. "You always seem to catch me when I fall." Cassie kissed him, opening her mouth when he responded.

Another person going to their boat walked by and said, "get a room."

That broke the moment. They looked at each other and then at the old guy and started laughing. They picked up the catch and headed back to Cassie's car.

"Do you mind stopping, so I can drop off the crabs?" Jake asked.

"Sure no problem."

Once all the crabs were gone, they drove back to Jake's house. He took the fish inside and cleaned off the scales and then took out the guts. That part, Cassie was glad she didn't have to do. Lucky appeared from somewhere and kept getting in Jake's way. When Jake accidentally stepped on him, then the kitten finally went out of the kitchen. Then she watched as Jake got stuff out of his fridge, seasoned and stuffed the fish. Jake wrapped it in tin foil and put it in the oven to bake. Then he wrapped and threw out the fish left overs. After scrubbing his hands good, he finally turned around.

"All done. It's going to take a while to bake."

Cassie said, "I already texted my grandmother, not to make anything for diner."

Jake nodded and gave her a glass of pop. "What did she say about you catching your first fish?"

"I didn't tell her, it's going to be a surprise."

"Where did that pesky kitten go?" Jake asked looking around the kitchen.

"He's been out in the hall since you stepped on him." Cassie said.

"I better check and see if he's okay." Jake went to grab the kitten and it took off upstairs.

Cassie grinned as Jake swore, then they followed Lucky. They found the kitten hiding under the bed. "I guess he's okay, if he can run up the stairs. He's probably just offended."

Jake sat down on his bed. Cassie joined him. They sat with their feet off the floor. Two minutes later Lucky came out from under the bed to see where they went. Cassie winked at Jake. She put her hand under the blanket and made rustling noises. Lucky sprang on to the bed and pounced. They played a few minutes until Lucky accidentally bit her finger.

"Ouch! Okay play time is over." Cassie said.

"Let me see your finger," Jake instructed.

She gave him her hand and he inspected the finger. "No teeth puncture wounds, you'll be fine."

He didn't let go of her hand, instead he pulled her closer. She let him pull her on top of him as he lay down on his bed. She was lying half on top of him. Her hair hung down, framing their faces and he tucked a few strands behind her ear. She moved her face down and kissed his lips. One of Jake's hands traced patterns on the back of Cassie's neck, the other slid slowly down her back and on to her ass. As their kissing got more heated, Cassie couldn't stop her body from responding, her hips moved against his thigh. She sat up a little and he took off her shirt. His shirt came off shortly after. She was in her sexy lace bra and where their bare skin touched, it was like an electric charge raced through their blood. Jake kissed her neck, shoulder and chest. The hand that had been on the back of her neck, caressed her skin and travelled ever closer to her breast.

"Did you wear this sexy bra for me?" Jake teased.

She smirked, "maybe." Cassie was pleased that he noticed and liked her bra.

She traced her fingers over his chest and around his chiselled abs. She kissed her way down his chest and liked it when he sucked in his stomach, when she got close to his jeans. He wouldn't let her unbutton his jeans. Instead he rolled her on to her back, so that he was on top. He leaned down and kissed her neck, then held himself over her. He kissed every part of her exposed skin. Jake was about to remove her bra, when the oven buzzer sounded. Jake got up because he had to turn off the oven. She got up too and put her shirt back on.

"That sure was a buzz kill," Cassie said, tossing Jake's shirt back at him.

They went down to the kitchen. Jake put on oven mitts and then pulled out the baked fish. He checked it and declared, "it's ready. Grab the door and we will take it over to your house."

Cassie opened the door and closed it behind Jake. The same process was done at Cassie's. "Grandma? Jake and I have diner!"

Jane came into the kitchen and saw the dish that Jake carried. "I'll get the plates, Cassie you get the cutlery. What are we having Jake?"

Before he could answer Cassie explained. "Jake took me fishing and I caught my first fish. He cleaned it and made it."

"Bring it to the dining room Jake, put it on the doily in the centre of the table." Jane directed. "Thank you for making diner."

Jake nodded. Cassie brought them all a glass of water and juice. Then Jane brought in some lemon. They all sat down and Jake unwrapped the fish.

"It's smells delicious," Jane said. She took a bite and smiled. "Jake you're mother would have been proud, it tastes great."

Cassie could see her grandmother's praise and words meant a lot to Jake. "Don't forget, I caught the fish." She said, to make the diner atmosphere a little lighter.

Jake said, "thank you for catching the fish Cassie and I'm glad you both like it."

Jane scooped up some potatoes, "the potatoes as the side dish, was a great idea." She smiled at Jake and put her hand on his arm. She knew how hard his parent's death had been on him. She was glad that he had matured and was no longer a troubled, destructive young man.

Once they were finished, Jane cleared the table. "You can cook diner for us any time you like Jake. Thank you. When I got your text message Cassie, I baked an apple pie. So that's what's for desert."

The entire diner was very nice and homey. Cassie's grandmother went to do dishes and give her granddaughter some alone time with Jake. They walked to the door together.

"I've got to go," Jake said. "Good night Mrs. Blake!" Then he looked at Cassie. "Good night Cassie."

"Thank you Jake, for everything." She winked at him and then gave him a quick kiss.

"Good night Jake," Jane called back from the kitchen.

CHAPTER #27

The next day at the cafe, Cassie was working a double shift because one of the other waitresses called in sick. She could use the extra money, but in the evening hours she was getting pretty tired. Thankfully, since it was a Sunday, the evening wasn't very busy. It was pretty late when she finally was done. When she pulled on to her street, she saw the ambulance lights a her house. Fear leaped into her throat. She parked behind a police car and got out. She saw her father talking to the police. Then she saw the stretcher, a sheet covered a body. The wind blew back the sheet and that's when she saw who it was.

"Grandma!" She screamed in sorrow, running towards the stretcher.

John Blackwell stopped her, as Cassie broke down in his arms. She tried to fight him. "No, oh god no! Let me go!" She wailed.

Jake parked his truck behind her car. He saw the ambulance and the police. "Cassie? Cassie!"

He ran forward thinking the worst. When he saw her struggling against John Blackwell's grip, he went to them. "What happened?"

John Blackwell explained, "witch hunters killed Jane Blake."

"What? Oh no." Cassie went into Jake's arms and together they went to look at Jane.

Cassie buried her face into Jake's shoulder, sobbing. "I've lost the last connection to my mother. Grandma just came back, why now?"

"I don't know Cassie, but we'll avenge her death. I promise."

John Blackwell came to them, "Jake take Cassie to your house. I'll take care of all this. Can she stay the night with you?"

The stress of seeing her grandmother dead, was too much for her. Cassie fainted. So Jake picked her up. "I'll take care of her."

John Blackwell nodded, "I know you will."

Jake carried Cassie to his house, unlocking the door with a spell. Then he called for Lucky and put Cassie on his bed. "Lucky, Cassie needs your comfort more than ever."

Jake went downstairs, took off his boots and locked his door. Then brought a glass of ice water upstairs. Lucky sat partially on Cassie's chest purring loudly. "I don't know if you understood me Lucky, but I hope that works."

The kitten kept licking Cassie's face, cleaning up her tear stained cheeks. She opened her eyes and looked at Lucky. Jake sat down beside her leaning against the wall. "I'm so sorry Cassie."

"I just don't understand it. Why her?" She petted Lucky a little bit and then turned to Jake and cried on his chest.

She felt a drip on her cheek and looked up. Jake had tears in his eyes too. She realized then that he too was feeling sorrow about her grandmother. She moved closer to him and kissed away his tear. Then kissed his lips, needing to be close to someone, to feel that connection to life. He responded back. It was Cassie who pulled back this time.

She blurted, "Diana's my sister. She's the other Blackwell. In the mine, she couldn't go in either."

Jake found it odd that Cassie picked right then to tell him this, but in a way he also understood. She wanted to be truthful and not have any secrets from him. "How did she react, when she found out?"

"She won't even talk to me. But the circle needs to be stronger than ever now and find those other crystals."

"Unfortunately death has a way of putting things into perspective. She'll talk to you." Jake said. He looked at Cassie, "thank you for giving me a good memory of your grandma Jane. She was so nice last night."

Cassie sniffed, "no thank you…. Jake will you just hold me? I don't know if I can sleep tonight."

Jake lay down, re-organizing the pillows. Then they got under his blanket and he held her. They could see the emergency lights, coming through the window. Eventually the lights were gone and everything was quiet.

"I'm glad you were here tonight Jake," Cassie whispered.

"Me too. And Cassie?"

"Ya?"

"Even though you may feel very alone because your grandma is gone, you have the circle." Jake said.

"Just the circle?" Cassie asked.

Jake smirked, "and you have me. I'll always protect you."

"Thank you," she said.

Eventually they both fell asleep, but neither slept very well. Both woke up tired and sad in the morning. Neither were hungry. Jake showered and changed into a black suite, for Jane's funeral. Then he went with Cassie to her house. Her father wasn't there yet, so Cassie went upstairs to shower and change. When she came downstairs, Adam and her father had arrived.

"Jake went to pick up Faye and Melissa," Adam said. "Diana will meet us at the cemetery."

Cassie went into Adam's arms and he held her until she let go. The feeling or connection she'd been expecting with him, was not there. It was a good hug, but he felt like a stranger. Her pain over loosing her grandmother, overshadowed anything else.

Then her father said, "it's time to go."

Her father drove the three of them in Cassie's car. Cassie cried during the whole ceremony and didn't see a thing. Her circle all hugged her and stayed close by. Then everyone headed to her house for the wake. Five minutes after they arrived, people started coming with food and drinks. What bothered Cassie was that all these people whispered around her and stared in pity. She knew that they meant well, but she wanted to scream. Things seemed to go in slow motion.

"Why do they bring all this food?" Cassie asked Melissa.

Melissa shrugged, "I guess cooking makes people feel better."

Cassie went to talk to Diana. "I just wanted to say that I'm glad you're my sister."

Diana ignored that comment and said, "I'm sorry you lost your grandmother." Then she walked away.

Cassie looked around and saw Faye, who looked sexy as usual, even dressed for a funeral. She saw Faye hanging all over Jake, milking the situation for all it was worth. Cassie couldn't handle it anymore and went upstairs to her room. As she passed her grandmother's room, the tears came and she began to sob. A few minutes later, John Blackwell walked into her room.

"You're so strong and handling this so well. I just wanted to say that I didn't know Diana was my daughter. Elizabeth never told me." John Blackwell explained.

"Was there anyone you didn't sleep with from the women of your circle? I can't believe my father is a man whore. You slept with Dawn, Diana's mom and with my mom. You say you loved my mother, but then how could you be with the others?"

"People fight and find comfort in other people. I was young and stupid. I hurt a lot of people with my choices back then, but I know that's not an excuse." John Blackwell said. "We need to focus on finding the last two crystals, to protect your circle from the witch hunters."

Cassie looked at him. "I want to destroy the witch hunters for what they did to grandma."

"We can use the crystals we have and the map to locate the last crystals. Have Adam and Melissa join us at the abandoned house later. We need them to help do the spell." Cassie's father directed.

CHAPTER #28

They found out that one crystal was at Jake's and the other John Blackwell said could be cloaked by Adam's grandfather. So Adam and Melissa went to his place to look for a clue. Jake and Faye showed up with her mother's crystal, explaining they'd found it in her purse, but wouldn't say anything more. John Blackwell went back to the wake, to say good-bye to the last of the guests and put away all the food.

While Jake, Faye, Diana and Cassie were trying to decide how to help Adam find his crystal, suddenly Faye's crystal got sucked into a table. Jake went to check around the house and found ash. The crystal was gone and they realized the witch traitor stole it with magic. They figured maybe the witch hunters didn't want them to create the crystal skull.

"We could ask Isaac where the crystal is," Jake suggested.

"You want to ask a witch hunter for help, that's just great." Faye said with disgust.

"Isaac is against Eben, he hates everything to do with magic and how it corrupts people. He may turn against Eben and the witch traitor. It's worth a shot," Jake argued.

Cassie says, "I'll ask my father."

"NO!" Diana says, "we don't need him. We can handle this on our own. I don't trust him, even if he is my father too."

Faye gives her a disgusted look and shakes her head.

Jake sees that they are about to fight and sides this time with Diana. "Isaac won't come if Blackwell's there. Diana's right, we have to do this on our own."

They go to meet Isaac, but it's Ian, the witch hunter that kidnapped them at hallowe'en, that show's up. Cassie hates Ian and her anger fuels her black magic and she starts to choke him with her hate. She accuses him of killing her grandmother. He coughs up blood. Jake tries to stop her and she flings him aside.

Diana stands in front of Cassie and yells, "NO! Cassie STOP!"

Cassie stops and Ian explains that Eben killed Isaac. He explains he only came today, because he knew how close Jake had been with Isaac. He explains that Eben had ordered the witch traitor killed once he had the demon power. When Isaac let the witch go, Eben killed him as punishment. Ian tells them he tracked the witch to Chance Harbour and then lost him. Then Ian leaves.

"Don't let him go!" Cassie says chasing after Ian.

"Cassie control yourself. I can't believe how willing you are to kill first and ask questions later!" Diana accused, clearly disgusted with Cassie.

Jake steps between them, when he sees Cassie clench her fist. "We can track the crystal with that map and find the witch at the same time."

They go back to the abandoned house and do just that. Faye, Jake, Cassie and Diana use the crystals and find out that the stolen crystal is at Hudson Fields.

"Where's that?" Cassie asks.

Faye answers with a shiver, "it's the creepiest place on earth, especially at night."

Diana rolls her eyes, "it's an amusement park."

They all go in Cassie's SUV and break in at the front gate. They start searching the buildings, but there is so much ground to cover. Jake suggests they split up. Faye says she doesn't want to get between the 'Blackwell sisters' and leaves with Jake. As Diana and Cassie search, snide comments by Diana finally irritates Cassie enough to confront her.

"Stop judging me Diana! My black magic saved your life on hallowe'en and my life when your grandmother tried to kill me. If you were in my shoes and had to choose between saving the only people in your life that you care about and using magic, you'd use magic too. Or if you were at death's door, don't tell me you wouldn't do everything in your power to survive."

Diana backed down and stopped talking, unless it was about where to search next. She had to admit that Cassie had a point, but she still believed that she'd find another way. "Hey that ride just turned on, let's find out what's going on."

Jake and Faye had follow blood to a ride. They find Ian's throat slashed, he was dead. They turned on the ride with magic and found a few more dead witch hunters. Diana and Cassie ran up and saw the bloody scene.

"The witch traitor is killing witch hunters too, not just looking to take us out." Faye said.

Jake looks at the three girls, "we need to find that crystal. Let's keep looking, we don't have much time."

Faye and Jake go towards the haunted house. Inside a clown jumps out at Faye and she shrieks, jumping backwards and into Jake. He laughs at her, but puts his arms around her comfortingly.

"You're okay, relax, it's just a clown." He then adds, "I can't believe you're scared of it."

"I hate clowns. But this one is scary because it has real blood on it, look." Faye pointed to it's arm.

They follow the blood through the haunted house. "This is the worst house ever, too many damn clowns!" Faye complains.

The blood brings them through some doors and they find where the witch has been hiding out. They find some cloths and a journal. In the journal they find a picture of Jake, Nick as a baby and their parents. Neither of them can figure out why the witch hunter would only have Jake's family picture and not all of their pictures.

Meanwhile, Diana see's the witch hunter. Cassie and Diana give chase. The witch hunter looks like he is going to get away, but Cassie uses her black magic to throw a prop spear at him.

"Cassie don't kill him! Don't let the magic control you, you must control it!" Diana says.

She listened to her friend and used the spear to trip the fleeing witch. The traitor drops the crystal. Cassie runs and picks it up. As he gets up, they see his face and are shocked.

"Nick?"

"I thought he was dead," Cassie says, equally in shock.

Nick runs away, using their shock to his advantage.

Diana looks at Cassie, "what are we going to tell Jake?"

"I don't know," she confessed. "Last time we saw him alive, Nick had a demon in him."

"Cassie, do you think Nick killed your grandmother?"

Cassie couldn't think, this was just too much for her. "Don't say anything until we get back to the abandoned house. And at least we have the crystal now."

Diana and Cassie go back to the car. Jake and Faye are waiting for them. Faye says, "we found the witch's journal, it has Jake's family picture in it."

Cassie shows them the crystal. "We found the witch hunter, but he got away."

"Jake… It was Nick," Diana blurts.

Faye says, "What?" Her eyes dilate in shock.

Cassie looks at Jake, his face shows nothing, but his eyes tell her everything. "I saw him too, it was Nick. But we don't know if he still has a demon in him or what. He ran away after he dropped the crystal."

Jake shakes his head. "Who ever that was, even if he looks like Nick, it's not him. He'd never fake his death or try and kill us."

Their cell phones went off and it was Adam. He and Melissa had been able to figure out how to uncloak the last crystal. The map told them it was in the high school. He also mentioned that his grandfather had been a history teacher at their school, in the past. The text also said they were still at the abandoned house.

Diana sent a reply text for all of them, telling Adam and Melissa to wait there, they found the crystal and were coming back there anyway. "Let's get going, we need a circle meeting," she said.

Faye touched Jake's arm, "are you okay?"

He shrugged her off and instead said, "shot gun." Then he got in the front seat and stared out the window. The girls left him alone and Cassie drove them back to the abandoned house.

Once everyone of the circle's six were seated, Diana spoke first. "It turns out that I am Cassie's half sister, thanks to John Blackwell cheating with my mother. But that doesn't mean I plan on using any black magic, if I even have it."

Faye snorted, "you're such a bore."

Cassie, looked at Jake, he nodded, but said nothing. "Diana and I saw the witch traitor, it was Nick."

Melissa sucked in her breath and shook her head in denial. "No, you're wrong. No!" She stood up and turned her back on the group.

Jake said, "Faye and I found his journal, he had my family picture in it. It may be Nick's face, but it might not be him."

Faye added, "Jake's right Melissa. The last time we saw him Nick was possessed by a demon. If he was with Eben, then he may still have a demon in him."

Melissa turned around, her eyes full of tears. Adam stood up and went to her. He held her as she buried her face in his chest and cried. Cassie looked at Jake, his eyes were red, but he didn't shed a tear. She decided to direct everyone's attention to the crystals.

"So we got Faye's crystal back. Adam, you said you uncloaked your grandfather's crystal?"

"Ya he left a clue for me, something from my childhood. Together Melissa and I used the map and found out that the last crystal is somewhere in the high school."

Diana, ever cautious asked. "Did you cloak it again, so no one else can find it before us?"

Adam smiled at her, "of course! Prom's coming, so we can search for it then. When we get there, I'll uncloak again then."

"Good idea. Anyway it's late, let's get home." Diana added.

"I'll take Diana, Faye and Melissa home. You can take Jake home Cassie," Adam suggested.

"Ok, good-night everyone. See you at school." Cassie then said to Melissa, "don't worry if we can save Nick's life, we will."

Once they were driving home, Jake looked at Cassie. "How do you do it?"

She gave him an odd look, "do what?"

"Stay so strong with everything that's happened? You lost your mom and grandmother, you find out your dad cheated on your mom and that you have a half sister. With all of that happening in such a short time span, you haven't run away from the circle."

Cassie pulled over and put the car in park. "You guys are all I have left. I'd loose it if anything happened to you… and Adam, Melissa, Diana, Faye and even my father. We have to protect the circle, that's all that matters right now. Like I told Melissa, we'll help Nick, if it's really him." She put her hand over Jake's.

He squeezed her hand and then let go. "It's not your black magic that makes you strong, like Faye thinks, it's your heart."

Cassie got back on the road and began to drive again. "At least one of you believes in me," she smiled.