Hello my darlings! So, because this is still my first night, I am going to stop on chapter ten.
Please review & tell me all the things I can change!Tragically, most of these characters are not mine. I own one of them. Who has yet to have a name. The rest belong to LJ Smith.
Enjoy & review!
Two Years Later...
-Cassie-
She was done! College was over and Cassie was officially an artist! She threw her hat up into the air and went to join the entourage that awaited her. She hugged her mother first, gripping her slight form tightly and squeezing. Afterwards she hugged Diana, then Laurel and Melanie. Then Suzan, Deborah, Faye, the Henderson twins, and Sean. Hanging towards the back of the group were two taller young men having a staring contest. Adam was the first to look up at surged forward to give Cassie a hug. Nick quickly cut in with a clearing of the throat and hugged Cassie. It was a quick and emotionless hug, but was followed with a whispered 'later' and a seductive wink. Cassie tingled with anticipation.
After telling her mother good night and having Faye drive her home, Cassie and the Circle decided to go out. They went to a Japanese steak house that was pleasant and then went out dancing. Many of the girls (including Cassie) were asked to dance multiple times. Diana only danced with Adam, and Cassie only danced with Nick, but the other girls danced with quite a few guys. Sean was even asked to dance a few times, so everyone was happy. Soon people were complaining of being exhausted and many went back to their hotels.
Nick and Cassie stayed a little after everyone, sitting in a small booth in the back catching up.
"I've missed you. These past few months have been tough." Nick grimaced.
Cassie sighed and nodded. "But I'm done now, and I'm coming home soon."
Nick looked up, his mahogany eyes searching Cassie's blue ones hopefully. "What do you mean?" he questioned.
"A gallery near our old school has asked me to come and manage there. I had been looking for jobs in that area, but I didn't think I would get an offer this quickly..."' she trailed off suspiciously.
"That's great news! Are you going to move back into your old house?" Nick asked.
"I'm planning to. My mom got a job on the Mainland and is renting an apartment there, so she won't be around much."
Nick smiled mischievously and Cassie giggled. After they had talked about lighter topics, they paid and left the club.
-Nick-
Cassie was coming home today, for good! Nick could almost dance he was so happy. Cassie would be arriving in a few hours and Nick was going to pick her up. She was bringing a few necessities, but the majority of her stuff was going to arrive a few weeks after Cassie did. Nick glanced at the clock in his garage, only 2 more hours until he got to pick her up. He sighed and tried to focus on fixing his car. He had been a little distracted lately and his car was being neglected.
Nick was just tweaking a wire when he heard a delicate cough from outside his garage. He rolled out from underneath his car and stood to face the girl in front of him. She was small, and very skinny with dark hair and startling violet eyes. She looked to be about fifteen or sixteen.
"Can I help you?" he asked coolly.
"Yeah. Is Deborah here?" she asked, matching his icy tone.
"Upstairs." he nodded.
"Thanks." Nick nodded again and watched the girl leave. What the hell? he thought. Nick quickly brushed it off though and glanced at the clock. He was supposed to be picking Cassie up in half and hour. He sprinted out of the garage, up the stairs and into his room. There, he showered and changed.
"Deb! I'm going! See you in a while." he shouted to his cousin. She shouted a hasty 'see ya!' and Nick left.
Once Nick was at the airport, he immediately was looking for Cassie. He was a little late, her flight had landed ten minutes ago. Nick walked to the baggage claim area, and waited.
"Nick!" a voice called from a far. It was Cassie. She looked amazing, dressed in white shorts with a blue and green tie-dyed shirt and converse. Her long brown hair was in braids and there was a smile plastered to her face. Cassie ran to him and met him with a hug. Her blue eyes shone up at him and he ached to kiss her, but Nick knew she wouldn't appreciate such a public display of affection. Instead, he kissed her on the cheek and grabbed her hand.
"Let's go find your bags." he said and smiled.
She nodded and pulled him along to the rotating baggage claim station. He chuckled and let her lead him. All the way there she was bubbling with excitement. Cassie told him how much she missed him, and what a hassle moving was, and how happy she was to be home. After they had located Cassie's bags they walked to the car and drove home.
Nick pulled up to Cassie's house. Cassie's eyes widened, "You aren't coming in with me?"
Nick shook his head, "You have to go change and unpack. Be ready in an hour. The Circle has a surprise for you."
Cassie frowned, "Will you at least walk me to my door?"
Nick chuckled, but did what she asked. When they reached Cassie's door, she turned to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"You're absolutely sure that you don't want to come in for even a minute?" she said coyly, batting her eyelashes.
"As incredibly tempting as that sounds, I was given strict orders. They even included a punishment for me if you weren't down at the beach in an hour." he shuddered.
Cassie pouted for a moment before retracting her arms from around his neck. "Alright then."
Nick grabbed her wrist as she started to turn and spun her so she was facing him. He leaned down dangerously close to Cassie's lips and smirked before whispering, 'I missed you too.' Nick then closed the distance between them and kissed Cassie with a hungry passion. All too soon, Nick pulled away and walked back to his car. Cassie waved to Nick from the doorway and then shut the door.
-Cassie-
Nick was amazing. He picked Cassie up from the airport and listened to her rambling all the way home. Cassie flew upstairs and started unpacking quickly. She wondered what the Circle had concocted for tonight...it better not end with her on a date with Chris Henderson again. Cassie giggled at the thought of what Nick would do. She sighed as she finished unpacking in her rose room, and pulled out a pair of flair jeans. She pulled them on quickly and ran downstairs. Cassie still had about 15 minutes until her evening activities and she decided to make some tea. After it had finished brewing, she went into the living room and found a note her mother had left her.
DEAR CASSIE,
IF YOU'RE READING THIS, THEN YOU'RE ALREADY HOME. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I AM GOING TO BE HOME SOON TO VIST, MAYBE SOMETIME NEXT WEEK. I'LL GIVE YOU A CALL SOMETIME IN THE NEXT DAY. SO GLAD YOURE BACK!
LOVE YOU,
MOM
Cassie smiled down at her Mother's awful handwriting and put the note in her back pocket. She sunk down into her favorite green chair and sipped her tea. After about 10 minutes of sitting there, a knock came from her front door. Seeing as it was probably Nick coming to get her for the Circle's plans she yelled 'Coming!' and rinsed her tea mug. She wrenched open the door to find a small package. Cassie picked it up gingerly and opened the light green top. The box opened to reveal a pair of beautiful blue sea glass earrings. She smiled and looked around her door, not seeing anyone, she assumed Nick had left them and put them in her ear. Cassie placed the small box on the table in her foyer, when she noticed Nick's car pull up.
"You're seriously making me wear a blindfold? I know that we're just going to the beach." Cassie demanded.
"Yep. Circle's orders. You have to wear it until we get to where we are going." Nick said matter-of-factly. "But, you know, we were supposed to be there two minutes ago. Could you maybe pick up the pace?"
Cassie could tell he was teasing, but she decided to milk it. "Maybe if you to this blindfold off me, I could walk faster."
"Hmmmm, or", suddenly the ground disappeared from underneath Cassie. She squealed with surprise and Nick chuckled. "I could just do this."
Cassie huffed and was silent the rest of the walk.
"Alright, we're here." Nick said. He put Cassie down gently and then seemed to disappear. She whipped the blindfold off to reveal...nothing. No one was there.
Cassie was utterly confused, What the hell?, she thought. Then she noticed the note. She picked it up.
HINT NUMBER ONE: WATER AND FIRE, IN THIS HOUSE IS WHAT YOU DESIRE.
Nick's house. It was the only logical answer, Nick specialized in water (specifically ice) and Deborah in fire. Cassie raced to Nick's house and on the door, she found another note. Oh god, Cassie thought, a scavenger hunt.
HINT NUMBER TWO: ALL THE WITCHES IN A LINE, DEFEAT THE BAD GUYS ONE AT A TIME.
This wasn't so hard, Black John's house. Cassie walked to the end of the street and found yet another note.
HINT NUMBER THREE: THE SECOND YOUNGEST OF US ALL, IS THE ONE TO HAVE A BALL.
Okay, so Sean's house. Cassie jogged up to his house and grabbed the note on his door.
HINT NUMBER FOUR: SADNESS SURROUNDS THIS PLACE, ALWAYS A GOOD PLACE TO HIDE YOUR FACE.
This one was harder, where does sadness surround?, Cassidy thought. She was momentarily stumped. Of course! The graveyard, she thought. Cassie was getting tired of walking, but she walked to the very top of her neighborhood and found the next clue.
Nailed to a tree was a plank of wood, on it was an arrow pointing to the center of the graveyard. Hanging from the nail was an ornately carved silver mask. Cassie untied it from the nail and followed the arrow. She walked until she saw a purple dress over a headstone. It was a beautiful dress, about knee length with a silky purple material. Cassie picked the dress up and quickly changed into it. It fitted perfectly. A few headstones away was a pair of tall silver heels. Cassie snorted, but slipped them on.
This is getting ridiculous, she thought. Cassie followed the arrows that had been placed throughout the graveyard and the surrounding forest area. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the forest began to thin and nailed to a tree was a heavy piece of parchment. It read:
DEAR CASSIE,
PUT ON YOUR MASK, SLIP ON YOUR DANCING SHOES AND LET THE PARTY BEGIN!
-THE CIRCLE
Cassie fastened the mask around her head and stepped into the clearing.