A/N: Hello again everyone! I'm back again! I was going to wait to post this, but figured I would go ahead and post it before bed. :P

Before we go any further, I would like to thank everyone that read last chapter! I would also like to give a huge thank you to Side1ways, winterschild11, and Guest for reviewing last chapter!

I hope you all enjoy!


James searched around on the floor for his clothes, throwing Kendall's jeans to him when he untangled them from his own.

"Thanks." Kendall said before he pulled them on and glanced around for his T-shirt. As he sat on the bed to pull his socks on, he caught James staring at the bare walls of his bedroom.

"You said you've been doing your family tree, right?"

Shit. Kendall paused with his T-shirt over his head, then slowly pulled it down. "Yes."

"Don't you have it printed out anywhere?" James looked around as though expecting to see it somewhere.

The sheets of paper showing Kendall's ancestors were safely tucked away at the top of his closet. Out of sight. But what he'd forgotten about was the fucking book left out on his bedside table. Before he could subtly knock it to the floor or snatch it up, James' gaze landed on it.

He reached out to pick it up, before looking over his shoulder at Kendall. "Do you mind?"

Kendall shook his head, then forced a smile. "Of course not, go ahead."

What else could he say? He bit his lip as he watched James turn the book over and start reading the back cover. For a few tense seconds, James said nothing, and Kendall prayed he wouldn't open it and read his mother's notes. Knowing there was a book about his ancestors being witches was one thing, discovering his family believed it wholeheartedly was quite another.

And then there was the house. The book, coupled with his mom's stories, went into enough detail that James would easily put two and two together.

When he set it down unopened, Kendall breathed a sigh of relief.

But then James turned around, his eyes alight with excitement. "Oh my god!" He pointed at the book.

"What?"

"Isaac Knight. Is he your great-great-whatever?"

"Yes. We're related."

James stood, seemingly far too worked up to sit still. "And he was a witch?"

Kendall swallowed. "So they say."

Please don't ask me anything that I'll have to lie to you about.

"Fucking hell." James' smile was huge.

Kendall wondered if he was missing something. His ancestors were interesting, definitely, but not that interesting. Well, unless you knew the whole story. Which, thanks to his mother's notes, you would if you read that particular copy of the book.

"We found Isaac's diary." James said.

All the breath left Kendall's lungs in a whoosh. The "What?" he managed to get out sounded more like a croak.

"In the cellar." James was practically vibrating now. "Me and Dak went down to have a look around, and we found it in a dresser drawer. The inside cover read 'Property of Isaac Knight''" He shot his gaze to the book again. "That's him, right?"

Kendall nodded mutely. Exactly like in my dream.

James hadn't finished, though. Not by a long shot. "And you said the house has been in your family for ages, so it must be the same one. Of course, the rest of the book looked blank, but still. Maybe the ink faded. It's got to be over two hundred years old." His eyes lit up again. "Or maybe it's concealed with magic. He was supposed to know-" he waved his hands in the air and wiggled his fingers-"spells and stuff, right?"

"Right." Kendall fought a burst of hysterical laughter. If only you knew how true that was.

James sobered a little and perched himself on the bed. "Seriously, though, it's kind of exciting. Finding something so old, even though there's nothing written in it." He gestured to Kendall's face. "Although, you don't look all that bothered considering it's your old house and your ancestor."

Kendall needed to snap out of it. Plastering a smile on his face, he sat on the bed next to James and bumped shoulders. "Sorry, I'm just a little shocked, that's all."

"I'm surprised it's not a listed building or anything, considering there's a book about people who lived there."

Kendall did laugh then. "That book sold very little and is vague on the exact location of their farmhouse. I think it was written by a member of the family more as a sort of archive than for profit. That one was my mom's, and Kelly has one. Apart from the one downstairs in the shop, I don't think there's many knocking around. Besides, the original farmhouse burnt nearly to the ground. There's hardly anything left to be listed."

"Oh." James looked a bit disappointed at that, then rallied with "Do you want to see it? The book, I mean. Even though there's not mu-"

"Yes."

James startled at the forcefulness of Kendall's reply. "Um, okay, then."

Would it be rude to invite myself over there right this second?

The question was on the tip of Kendall's tongue, but then James stretched, yawned, and ruined his plans.

"Not today, though. I've got lesson prep to do, and then an early night. Being in a room all day with excitable nine-year-olds is no fun if you're tired."

Kendall struggled to hide his disappointment. "I can imagine."

His fingers itched with desperate need to get his hands on that book. James didn't realize how close to the truth he was with his theory about magic hiding the words. Kendall would bet his life that book wasn't full of blank pages.

James stood to buckle his jeans. "And it'll give me a chance to find where Dak put it."

The words took a moment or two to sink in. "You've lost it? But you said-"

James shook his head. "It's somewhere in the house, just not where Dak said he left it. But it's not as though it could have moved itself, so we'll find it. Don't worry. I just need to jog his memory."

Momentarily lost for words as a myriad of reasons for the book being missing filled Kendall's head, the sound of the front door opening startled him.

"I think that's my cue to leave."

Snapping back to attention, Kendall pushed all that aside for now. "She doesn't bite." He said, more to lighten the mood than to get James to stay. Right then he wanted to go and tell Katie everything James had told him, and then maybe call Kelly. This was huge.

"I'm sure she doesn't. But I'd rather not have to chat with your sister while smelling of sex."

Kendall grimaced. "Good point." The door to Katie's bedroom closed. "She just went in her room. Now's your chance."

James grinned, his hazel eyes warm and teasing, and a little bit of the tension in Kendall eased. "You can make my apologies in a way that doesn't make me sound like an asshole."

"I'll do my best." Kendall teased before walking James to the door, managing to sneak in a kiss before he left.

Then James was gone.

Kendall turned and leaned against his front door, banging his head against the wood. "Fuck."

Katie came out of her room and stopped in her tracks when she saw him. "Everything okay? He didn't leave because of me, did he?"

"Not exactly." He took a moment to collect his thoughts before meeting her gaze. "He had stuff to prepare for school tomorrow and wasn't too thrilled with the idea of talking to you after we'd…"

"Fucked?" Katie snorted.

Kendall narrowed his eyes, ignoring the blush heating his cheeks. "No! We didn't-"

"Oh come on, it's not like I couldn't guess what the two of you were up to. With the way you were looking at each other earlier, I'm surprised you made it to lunch."

He waved her comments away and took a deep steadying breath. "James found Isaac's diary."

Katie's expression changed from amused to shocked in a second. "At the house?"

"Yep." He pushed off the door and ran a hand through his hair. "Apparently he and Dak found it in the cellar we didn't know about."

"What, it was just lying around waiting to be found?"

He shook his head. "I don't know the specifics, other than they found it in an old dresser down there."

In hindsight, he should have asked more questions, got James to tell him the details, but he'd been blindsided. His brain caught on to the fact that the diary actually existed yet wasn't in their possession.

Katie, of course, had plenty or questions. "Have they read it? Does he know about us? About our family? Did you ask to see it?"

"Jesus, Katie, one question at a time."

Her gaze slid down to the cuff he still wore, covering his tattoo. "Did you tell him about the mark?"

"Let's go and sit down." This wasn't a conversation to have standing in the hallway. The leather around his wrist felt uncomfortable now, as though Katie drawing attention to it made it more noticeable. The skin underneath itched, and with a sigh he undid the clasp and took it off.

The relief was immediate, any irritation subsiding as the air got to it. He frowned. He'd never had that reaction before. Rubbing his thumb gingerly over the black lines, he collapsed onto the sofa, Katie beside him. "No, I didn't tell him about the mark. He saw Mom's book next to my bed, so he knows a little about our family history, but not about Alexander or any of that. He didn't open it, thank God."

A yawn escaped him and he quickly covered his mouth.

"Afternoon sex will do that to you." Katie smirked when he glanced at her. "So, what about the diary? Have they read any of that?"

"No, because according James, all the pages except the first one are blank."

"Blank?"

"Yep. The only thing in it is his name, Isaac Knight."

"Hmm." She tapped her chin with her finger. "So it's hidden with magic, obviously."

"Obviously."

"Shame they didn't pass that knowledge down through the generations, too."

Kendall could only nod in agreement. His mom and his grandad might have believed that magic-witchcraft-was possible, but as far as Kendall was aware, his family hadn't practiced it in a long time.

She grinned. "A nice simple reveal-writing spell would be handy right now."

Arching an eyebrow, Kendall reminded her, "It's not our book, you know."

"But-"

"They found it in the cellar of their house. I can't just demand they hand it over." As much as he wanted to do exactly that.

"Shit. But he's going to show it to you, at least?"

"Yes."

"Tonight?"

Good to know he wasn't the only one eager to see it. Not that either of them had any idea how to make the words appear. And he didn't doubt for a second that Isaac's diary was full to the brim with family secrets. "No, he was too busy. And apparently they've misplaced it."

"What?!" Her voice rose to a level that made him wince. "Sorry. How have they lost it already?"

"Misplaced, not lost."

"There's a difference?" Katie asked, looking skeptical.

"I think so. Well, maybe…" He let his head fall back against the cushions. "After that weird episode in the room on Friday, Isaac's diary is conveniently missing."

Her eyebrows rose, and Kendall was again struck with how much she resembled their mother. The ache in his heart flared for a second before settling again, and he swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat, focusing on Katie's voice.

"You think it's Alexander, don't you?"

"Maybe. I know it sounds far-fetched, but-"

"But our family is full of shit like that."

"Exactly."

A heavy silence settled between them. Kendall closed his eyes for a second. Despite all the warnings from his mother about that house, anticipation of the next few weeks set his blood alight.

His life wasn't bad by any means, but it had never held so much promise of this much excitement before. Part of him hoped the weird stuff wouldn't stop, any possible danger now overshadowed by the thrill Kendall felt at the prospect of finally experiencing witchcraft first-hand.

Katie nudged him and he startled guiltily.

"I know that look." She said.

"What look?"

She shifted to face him and poked his cheek. "That one. The one that says you're enjoying this all way too much." A slow smile spread across her face. "But I can't really blame you. I'm enjoying it, too."

Kendall's phone buzzed with a text message from James before he could comment on what terrible Knights they were.

Hey. Found the book. Wanna come over Wednesday night? -J

Katie leaned over to read before Kendall thought to angle it away.

"Wow, is that how you talk to each other? All business, no pleasantries?"

"Hmm?" The frown he leveled at her made her roll her eyes. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing." She pointed at the text. "Reply, and say yes."

"I was about to." He typed out his message and went to put his phone on the table, but something James said at lunch stuck with him. Turning the phone over and over in his hand, he made up his mind. "I'm calling Dad."

"What the hell for?"

He scrolled through for the number, dialed, and set his phone on speaker. "Because he and Mom must have known about that fucking cellar, and we can't ask her about it."

Katie didn't answer. The call connected, the ringtone sounding loud in the suddenly quiet living room. It took four rings before someone answered.

"Hello?" His dad's familiar curt tone cut through the air, instantly making them both tense.

Kendall couldn't remember the last time they'd spoken with any fondness.

"You're on speaker so Katie can hear." Kendall replied."Why did you block the cellar off in our old house?"

He wasn't about to address the book or the dresser yet. Any mention of that would have his dad hanging up quicker than Kendall could get the words out.

The silence on the other end spoke volumes. The resigned expression on Katie's face indicated they were probably both in agreement. Their dad obviously knew about the cellar, and they weren't going to like his answer.

If he ever gave one. The line remained quiet for so long, Kendall began to wonder.

Finally, his dad sighed. "The place wasn't safe, so we blocked the door with an old bookcase. It was the one and only thing your mother and I agreed on regarding… that stuff. The two of you were too curious for your own good. A simple 'don't go down there' wouldn't have worked."

While his dad had a point-neither he nor Katie would have listened, and they'd have been down there at some point-Kendall got the feeling it wasn't the whole truth. "That's not the only reason, is it?"

Another sigh. "Your mother got a 'bad feeling' about it as soon as we moved in." The air quotes were obvious in his voice, and Kendall pictured the accompanying look of scorn. "Apparently, your great-aunt always kept it locked when they lived there before us, so that's what we did too." The rustle of fabric interrupted them, followed by the jangling of keys. "Look I was just on my way out. If you want to know more, then ask Kelly. She and your mother were always as thick as thieves." And then he hung up.

The abrupt end of the call didn't bother Kendall, but Katie made a small noise of surprise.

"So"-he put a hand on her knee and gave it a gentle squeeze of reassurance-"we probably should call Kelly. I need to tell her about Isaac's diary, anyway."

Katie nodded, then leaned against his shoulder as he called Kelly and invited her over.

Maybe she would be able to shed some light on things. And why had the diary only turned up now after all these years?

XxX

Kelly stopped by that night for an hour or so. Long enough for a drink and for Kendall to tell her about the book and ask about the cellar. Her reactions weren't quite what he'd been expecting.

She set her glass down. "That door has been locked for as long as I can remember. When your mom and I visited your Aunt Mary we never went into the cellar or even tried. In fact, it probably did have a bookcase shoved in front of it even then. You mom used to say she sometimes felt a pull when she passed it, something calling to her to go down there. She had dreams too, and they weren't pleasant. She never told me about those, but I know they stopped all her curiosity about going into the cellar. Mine too."

"But it was Isaac's book down there, why would that give her bad dreams?"

Kelly shrugged. "I have no idea."

Katie glanced at him, and he knew what she was thinking. "My dreams aren't bad. Well, from what I remember, anyway. I just see Isaac." Even as he said it, he wondered if that was about to change. "Do you have any idea how to unlock the writing in Isaac's diary?" He addressed Kelly, mentally crossing his fingers that she might have some clue, but her apologetic look said it all.

"As far as I'm aware, I think the last practicing witch-and I use that term loosely-in your family was your great-great-aunt Anna. I don't remember that much about her, apart from her being a little scary, but she did recite spells all the time. We thought it was funny, because she was old and crazy and we were very young and rude. I'm sorry to say I paid no attention whatsoever. I always was a shitty student. But your mom hung on to her every word."

Kendall held back his groan of frustration. "Did Mom keep any notes? Like the ones in the book you gave me?" His mother seemed to be a prolific note-taker, so maybe…

"I don't remember, I'm sorry. It was years ago. Anna died when I was sixteen and your mom was nineteen. If your mom kept any notes from that time, then I don't know where they are now."

The boxes up in the loft sprung to mind. Maybe his mom his other things up there? They hadn't searched the entire area. They never really had a reason to before, but now it didn't seem beyond the realms of possibility that his mother could have secret hiding places.

Kelly sighed. "I'm sorry I'm not much help. If I'd known I'd actually need any of the stuff Anna used to spout, I would have listened harder. I'm not sure what you can do even if James shows you the book." She glanced at her phone. "It's getting late. I need to get back."

Feeling more than a little disappointed, they said their goodbyes, and she left.

XxX

Kendall sat up in bed later that night, leaning against the headboard, mulling over what Kelly had said.

Katie's voice accompanied a knock on his bedroom door. "Hey, are you still up?"

"Yeah."

The door sat slightly ajar and she stuck her head around it. "Can I come in?"

"Of course." He shifted to one side of the bed and patted the space next to him. "What's up?"

She bit her lip, a sure sign that something was bothering her. "I was just thinking about stuff."

"Okay."

"All that talk of the house got me thinking."

Unease settled like lead in his stomach. "About what?"

"Well, Dak's dad will be back in a couple of weeks. That's what the vets' receptionist said when I called them, remember?"

Kendall nodded. "What does that matter?" He failed to see why that would have his sister worried.

"I imagine one of the first things he'll do is go and see how his son's doing in his new home." She looked pointedly at him. "I know Dad said Scott doesn't know exactly why he has the mark, but he might know something. Imagine his surprise when Dak tells him James is dating a guy who used to live there. A guy whose family owned that same house for the last two hundred years and apparently has witches for ancestors."

Kendall opened his mouth, but words failed him.

Katie didn't suffer the same problem. "At the very least, he's going to think it's strange. And what happens if he sees your tattoo?"

"Why would he?"

"Well, I'm assuming James will see it as some point and realize it's the same as Dak's. Then what?" She narrowed her eyes. "Or are you planning on keeping it covered forever and just not telling him?"

"I…" He honestly hadn't thought that far ahead. I'm so fucking stupid.

"Ken. If you plan to keep seeing James-"

"We've been on two dates."

She ignored him. "-then you need to tell him before he finds out for himself." She sighed, and Kendall felt like the younger sibling instead three years older. "What happened to telling him the truth, anyway?"

"I didn't think there was a need to once I saw Dak's tattoo. Besides, it's early in the relationship. It might not ever work out between us."

She huffed out a laugh. "Seems to be going okay so far."

"That'll change if I suddenly say to him, 'See this tattoo, James? I got it to prevent an evil spirit from using me on Halloween to help him come back to life. Oh, and by the way, all my family has one and your best friend too, because guess what? We're related!' I'm sure he'll want to keep seeing me after that."

Now Katie was the one lost for words. She sat and stared at him for a good few seconds. "I suggest you don't phrase it exactly like that. And I don't see what choice you have. Unexplainable things are happening in that house, and if James is no blood relation, then there must be something wrong with Dak's mark or something. You need to tell them both and find out what." She sat back with her arms folded.

Kendall slumped against the pillow and covered his face with both hands. He thought of James laying next to him hours before, and sighed. It had been nice while it lasted.

"I'll talk to them both this week." Kendall promised.


Done! So the mystery of the cellar door is solved! And it also looks like James and Dak are in for an interesting talk soon...

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter, as well as if you happened to have a favorite part/moment!

Next chapter will be up sometime this weekend!

Until then! :)

-Epically Obsessed