Frightening Little Princess
Summary: The Ipswich Covenant isn't the only power around. A powerful friend of the families returns to Ipswich at the request of her grandmother, who fears for her life. But returning to Ipswich makes things worse and puts them all at risk. Sometimes the only way to save the ones you love is to sacrifice everything, including your life. TylerOC.
Disclaimer: Yeah… I own nothing. Damn.
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A/N: Thanks to scruffybunny!
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Lorelei entered the classroom for AP Studio Art with butterflies flapping around in her stomach. At least, she thought it was butterflies. She couldn't exactly remember the saying, to be completely honest. They were picking partners for the majority of their major projects for the rest of the school year and she really wanted to be partners with Reid. She knew that she would be fine with whoever she got -or rather she hoped she would- but she still wanted to work with Reid, to get to know him better.
Reid, of course, was already in class. Lorelei half wondered if he could teleport and just didn't tell anyone about it. He was always the first person in this class despite the distance from their AP Spanish class (usually she detoured to Choir with Raven, which is why he was there before her). He smiled at her as she sat in the desk across from him. The desks were arranged in clusters, four per cluster, but before Lorelei came, Reid sat at his own cluster. When she walked into class on her first day, Reid had immediately indicated the seat opposite his and she had complied. It wasn't lost on her (or him, for that matter) the looks she was given by the other girls in the class, but those were shrugged off. Those people could think what they wanted. Lorelei was Raven's friend and therefore Reid's friend. He was going to do whatever he could to make her more comfortable, particularly since she had very little clue about how ostracizing people could be. It only slightly occurred to him that he probably wasn't helping all that much when he came to the female population.
There weren't many students in AP Studio Art, so most of the desk clusters only had two or three people in them. Reid, however, preferred to work alone and everyone knew that about him (which was why, on that first day, most people –including the teacher- were shocked to see someone sitting with him). He was intense about his work, more so than with anything else he did. Ever. At all. Something about his art meant more to him than anything. He would never admit it to anyone but it was the truth. Only members of the Covenant knew about his studio in the basement of his parent's house. Caleb, Tyler, and Pogue often called it his "man cave" because he had never brought a girlfriend there. Truthfully, they themselves had only been in his studio once or twice.
In fact, all four of them had their own special places where their brothers had rarely ever been and even when they were there, they never poked around. Tyler, for instance, had an entire small library (in comparison to, say, the Boston Public Library) hidden behind a bookcase in his room. Really! It had once been part of the Underground Railroad, but after the Civil War it was no longer needed for that purpose. It had mostly been storage over the years until Tyler turned thirteen and asked for bookshelves to be put in so that he could put books there. Now it was nearly full, though Tyler still tried to squeeze in book after book. What kind of books? Reid had absolutely no clue. Most had blank spines, he'd never picked any up, and –honestly- he'd only been in there once or twice since Tyler started collecting.
"What are you thinking about?" Lorelei asked cautiously after watching Reid stare into space for nearly two minutes.
"Huh?" Reid asked, "Oh… Nothing. It was nothing."
"Oh… Kay." Lorelei replied, turning back to the picture she was drawing in her sketch pad. Reid looked at it, impressed. He was in awe of how good she was without trying. She was sketching an entire countryside (in the bottom corner, in tiny, perfect cursive, it said "Val d'Orcia, Tuscany, Italy"). Reid, who considered himself only passible at countrysides and landscapes, gazed at it. Lorelei noticed, "What?" She asked.
"When were you in Italy?"
Lowering her voice and leaning over, Lorelei replied, "Um… About a thousand years ago, I think. I lose track of time sometimes. Give or take a hundred years?" She added innocently.
"And you still remember what it looks like enough to draw it?" He asked. She nodded, "That is amazing. The picture too."
Smiling, Lorelei replied, "Thanks." She quickly returned to her picture as Reid gave her a smirk. He was far better at portraits, figures, and buildings than landscapes in his opinion (which made his future goal of being an architect much more attainable) and he could appreciate when someone was good at landscapes. Particularly when he noticed just how much detail she was putting into it.
"Wow…" He mumbled.
"What?" Lorelei asked in a whisper, looking up again, "This little thing? No way." Reid tried to protest, but Lorelei stopped him, "Reid, when you've seen the sheer concentration and artistic passion of the Renaissance geniuses who created the Sistine Chapel as they created the Sistine Chapel, you just feel inadequate. I'm just trying to invoke the feelings that I don't think I'll ever really be able to understand given that I'm not… you know." Reid knew. He could tell from the beginning that Lorelei felt that she wouldn't be able to understand human emotions given that she wasn't human. He also knew that she would give anything to be human, just to know what it was like.
"Quiet down, my artistic geniuses," A light, lilting voice that was shockingly full of authority rang through the room and all of the students immediately ceased any and all conversation. Cheryl Whitley, more commonly referred to as Dr. Whitely (she had a PhD in Art History and an MFA in Studio Art), entered the room with an air of insanity mixed with superiority. She was absolutely every cliché about artists mixed into one. She knew everything about art –from the different mediums and sub-mediums, to artistic periods and their characteristics, to artists, and so on- and she often seemed as if she had been stuck inside a freshly painted room with no ventilation. She was the smartest person that Reid had ever come across and he had decided when he was a sophomore that, were she not his teacher, he would have no problem "going there" so to speak. The fact that she was around fifteen years older than him did absolutely nothing to deter that line of thinking. However, she was, in fact, his teacher and –to his knowledge- in a relationship that was still going strong after ten years. In fact, if Reid remembered correctly, he'd met Dr. Whitley's boyfriend once or twice…
"E 'magnifico!" Dr. Whitley's voice broke through again. It was only then that Reid and Lorelei noticed that Dr. Whitley was standing over Lorelei's shoulder, looking at her sketch of Val d'Orcia. Lorelei raised her eyebrow at Dr. Whitley before looking at Reid, clearly asking if he had known that the elder woman spoke Italian, "Miss Zilberschlag! What lovely work. When did you visit Tuscany?"
"Two summers ago." Lorelei said with resolve. Reid had to stop himself from showing his shock at the smoothness of her lie, "I'm just doing this from memory."
"You must have a wonderful memory." Dr. Whitley mused momentarily. She gave Lorelei an approving smile and walked to the front of the classroom. The class watched as she pulled a top hat out of her desk (Reid was sure that she would never cease to amaze him), "Alright, as I mentioned last week, we are picking partners for the remainder of the school year. Now, not all of your projects will be with your partners, but most of them will be. I'm doing this because I want you to have the chance to get to know your partners and their particular artistic style. I want you to learn from them." The class nodded, "Now, I have placed all your names into this hat. I will call you up one by one –I will draw the name of the person who will pick- and you will pick from the hat. Hand me the slip you pick and I will read it off." She reached in and pulled a little slip of paper out of the hat. She unfolded the slip, "Ah! Miss Zilberschlag."
Lorelei nodded slightly, stood, and walked over. She was very curious indeed about pulling names out of a hat. It seemed so simple and perfectly unbiased, which was something that she had noticed meant a lot to humans. Reaching in, Lorelei grabbed a piece a paper and hoped. Extracting the slip, she hoped even harder. Handing the slip to Dr. Whitley, she hoped so hard that she thought her eyes would pop out. Dr. Whitley unfolded the slip and said, "Mr. Garwin."
C-C-C
As swim practice came to a close, Reid remembered back to art class. Lorelei had smiled sweetly when his name had been read off and she completely ignored the bitter glares of some of their classmates. Reid had been happy too. What he hadn't expected was the aftermath.
Lorelei stopped him after class and pulled him aside, "Looks like we're going to be partners." Reid had nodded, "I just have to ask you one thing."
"What?"
"Did you use to make sure that we were partners?" Lorelei asked in all seriousness. Reid returned her stern look with one of shock, "I know how much you like to work alone and I also know that anyone else in the class wouldn't have given you your space. Don't give me that look and answer the question."
Reid had groaned at her before finally admitting, "It was only a little bit." Lorelei proceeded to slap him in the arm, "Ow! What was that for?"
"Reid, Raven told me about what happens if you use too much."
"That's only after I turn eighteen!" Reid replied, nursing his now sore arm.
Lorelei had not been deterred, "But you shouldn't get into the habit of using for frivolous things. After you turn eighteen, everything will change. It could kill you, using too much."
Reid had promised to be more careful and they made plans to work on their first project the next Saturday in his studio. Why his studio, Reid had no idea. He had offered the space before he could stop himself. It was probably better though. If they used any of the rooms on campus other than dorms, they would have to register with security. Besides, it was Lorelei! Lorelei was like Raven, but not. It made sense.
After that, Reid had raced off to practice, which in and of itself had been pretty uneventful. He was looking forward to after practice too much to really notice what was going on. At eight that evening, all eight of them (himself, his brothers, Sarah, Kate, Rae, and Lorelei) were going to meet up at Nicky's and he was far more excited for a night out than usual.
"What the hell are you grinning at?" Pogue asked, ripping Reid away from his day dream. They had finished changing and were getting ready to head out (Reid and Tyler to their room and Caleb and Pogue were going to Danvers Manor) and all three of his friends had noticed his strange behavior.
"Nothing." Reid replied, "Today was a good day, that's all." They clearly didn't know whether to believe him or not. Reid rolled his eyes and sighed, not bothering to say anything. They exited the locker rooms and headed towards the dorms, where Caleb was going to pick up his car. In front of the dorms, they ran into Sarah, Kate, and Raven, "Ladies." Reid said with a smirk.
"Reid." Raven replied, "I hear you and Lorelei are partners in art class."
"That would be correct." Reid replied, "Hey where is she, by the way?"
Raven didn't answer. She merely looked him over for a minute and he hoped that Lorelei hadn't mention that he'd used to make sure that the situation would work out the way he wanted it to. In fact, Lorelei should be happy. He knew she wanted to work with him. She would have way too much to hide from someone else. Raven opened her mouth to speak, but was suddenly overcome by a ripping pain in her gut. Groaning in pain, Raven sank to the ground as her friends rushed to her to make sure that she wouldn't hurt herself.
"Rae!" Tyler exclaimed in thinly veiled hysterics, "Are you okay?"
After a moment, the pain ceased, but Raven had to give herself time to recover from it. She had never –literally NEVER- felt anything like that before and she most certainly did not want to again. She looked around at her worried friends and said, "I'm okay… I think." Pogue and Caleb helped her to her feet.
"Raven, what was that?" Kate asked.
"I have no idea." Raven replied, worry lacing her voice. Sarah, not knowing what else to do, brushed Raven's hair out of her face. Just as she was going to thank Sarah, Raven saw a small figuring moving towards them slowly, as if in pain, "Cordy…" Raven muttered, "Damn." If Cordy had felt it, then something was most definitely wrong. If Aggie or Jane had felt it, then it was time to panic.
Cordy walked over to the group and hesitantly said, "How's it going?" Raven shrugged, "I take it you felt that as well."
"Yup…" Raven replied, her worries confirmed. Kate and Sarah were clearly confused but the boys were deeply concerned. They knew what Cordy was, of course, and they knew that when a Universal Being felt pain like what they assumed Raven had felt, then something was wrong.
"What do you think the likelihood is that Aggie and Jane felt it, as well?" Cordy asked.
"High." Raven replied running her hand through her hair.
"Well damn." Cordy sighed, "That really hurt." She added, leaning down a little. Caleb offered her his arm as support just in case. She looked at him for a moment and said, "I have no idea why I'm supposed to not like you… Any of you for that matter."
The boys looked amongst themselves, "Neither do we." Caleb replied.
"Well that's dumb." Cordy said, straightening up, "Oh, and Lorelei was looking for you, Rae. And… um…"
She looked worried and slightly guilty. Raven narrowed her eyes –as an older sister would do to a younger sister who was confessing to borrowing clothes without asking- and said, "Go on."
"Does… Lorelei… have an…" She thought for a moment, looking for the right word, "adverse reaction to caffeine?"
"Oh dear." Raven groaned, "Why?"
"I may or may not have… given Lorelei some of my Coke." Raven groaned and Cordy grimaced, "Sorry."
"Where is she?" Raven asked.
"Um…" Cordy said, "Oh! Right over there!" She pointed behind them and, sure enough, Lorelei was coming towards them from the directions of the athletic fields. Everyone quickly noticed that something was different. Lorelei was literally bouncing towards them, a huge grin on her face.
Seeing the group, she raced over and gave Raven a big bear hug. Raven groaned as gasped in Lorelei's grasp, "Raven, I was looking for you!" She said in one breath. She squeezed harder.
"Lorelei!" Raven groaned, "If you squeeze me any harder, you're going to break me…"
"Oh… Sorry." Hyperactive Lorelei replied. She was bouncing in placed, her head whipping around to look at everyone in the group with a huge smile. Her eyes reached Reid and her smile got even wider. She also began clapping.
"Lorelei… Honey… What did I say about caffeine?" Raven asked as Cordy sunk back a little. Raven couldn't blame Cordy for this entirely; the poor girl didn't know how Lorelei would react. Raven herself learned the hard way after giving Lorelei a sip of Dr. Pepper about a month after Lorelei had assumed her human façade.
"But I didn't know that Coke was caffeinated…" Lorelei replied, still bouncing high.
"Why do you think I wouldn't let you have any?" Raven groaned.
Lorelei looked around for a moment before looking back to Raven and said, "It didn't occur to me." Raven chuckled slightly. Lorelei didn't know what else to do, so she looked back to Reid and said, "So, what time do you want me to come over to your parents place on Saturday?" She asked, again in a single breath.
Reid thought for a minute before replying, "Um… Around three, I guess. My parents will show you to the studio."
"Cool." Bouncy Lorelei said with a smile, completely missing the confused glances that Caleb, Pogue, and Tyler were giving Reid. Never did they expect him to give someone who wasn't them permission into his sanctuary.
Raven sighed, "Lorelei?" Lorelei looked at her, "I want you to go fly around." She said in a whisper, "Work off some energy. Still meet us at Nicky's at eight, but go calm down a bit."
"Okay!" Lorelei said, clearly elated at the idea. She loved flying.
"Invisible." Raven reminded. The last thing they needed was sightings of a giant, flying wolf. Lorelei nodded and bounced off. Raven shook her head, "I'm going back to Danvers Manor to drop off my car. Caleb, Pogue, I'll see you when you get back." Caleb nodded, "Need a ride home, Cordy?"
"That'd be great." Cordy replied. She smiled and followed Raven to the parking lot. Like Caleb, she didn't live in the dorms. Her great-grandmother was ninety six years old for crying out loud! She wasn't going to leave Aggie alone like that. Sure, Aggie was pretty spry for a woman of her age, but Cordy didn't want to risk it. After her mom and grandma died (within a year of each other), Aggie was the one who helped her through it. Now, she was repaying Aggie back. Besides, she hated the communal showers at Spencer.
As Raven and Cordy left, Sarah and Kate excused themselves. At this point, Tyler, Caleb, and Pogue took their chance to question Reid, "You're letting her into your studio?" Caleb asked, "No one goes in there."
"We've only been there a couple of times, man. Are you sure?" Tyler asked.
Reid rolled his eyes, "She's Lorelei, guys. It's the same as Rae visiting."
"Reid, your parents don't even go in there." Pogue piped up.
Rolling his eyes yet again, Reid replied, "We're working on an art project. It's an art studio. That's what it's there for." With that, he headed off towards his room, leaving behind his confused friends.
C-C-C
Once again, the group was spread out over Nicky's. Reid and Tyler were at the pool table, playing some random pairing, Caleb and Sarah were playing foosball, Kate and Pogue (who had refused Caleb's offer to play foosball, wanting to just sit with Kate instead) were chatting and eating, and Lorelei and Raven were dancing. Every so often, Tyler's eyes would rest on Raven for a few seconds and Reid would internally shake his head at his friend. If baby boy didn't get his act together soon, Raven would get bored with waiting. He knew that she cared about Tyler –a lot- but even Raven had her limits. Then he would have to deal with Tyler being mopey and stupid; even more so than he was being at that point. Reid, personally, didn't have to patience to deal with that.
Reid knocked the eight ball into one of the corner pockets, effectively ending the game and winning for himself and Tyler. The two boys they were playing against –peers of theirs from Spencer- groaned and pulled out fifty dollars each. Reid took the money from the nearest to him, while Tyler took from the other. This was one reason he liked playing people from Spencer. Most of them cared very little about money and were willing to bet a lot. Fifty was the least he'd gotten from a Spencer kid in nearly a year. He chuckled and pocketed the money.
Tyler and Reid gave back their pool cues and headed towards the table where Pogue and Kate were sitting, "Hey, baby boy, want something to eat?" Reid asked.
"Um… Sure." Tyler replied, "Cheeseburger, fries, Coke."
Reid nodded and headed over to the bar, "Nicky!" Nicky looked over and smiled. He'd clearly been watching the pool match, "Two cheeseburgers, two fries, a Coke, and a Dr. Pepper." Nicky nodded and began filling the order. Reid tapped his fingers on the bar and bobbed his head. Why? He had no idea. After a couple of minutes, he felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over. He smiled, "Hey Antoinette."
"Hi." She replied with a smile.
"I wasn't sure you were going to come." Reid admitted.
Antoinette shrugged and said, "I couldn't think of a reason not to, so here I am."
Reid smiled back as Nicky placed the food he had ordered in front of him, "Come on." He said, "I want to introduce you to my friends."
"Really?"
"Of course." Reid said with a slight chuckle, "Although, I have to ask you a favor." Antoinette nodded, "Would you mind carrying the drinks?" He indicted the drinks still on the bar, "I'm getting food for my friend Tyler as well and I can only carry so much."
With a slight smile, Antoinette replied, "No problem." She picked up the Coke and Dr. Pepper and followed Reid to the table where everyone was now sitting.
"Guys," He said, passing Tyler his food and placing his on the table, "I want you to meet Antoinette." The girls, Raven in particular, perked up as Antoinette came behind Reid with the two glasses in her hand, "Antoinette, this is Caleb, Sarah, Tyler, Pogue, Kate, Raven, and Lorelei."
She smiled at all of them somewhat shyly and turned back to him, "Which is yours?" She asked, holding out the drinks. Reid took one and took a sip from it. He nodded, took the other from Antoinette, and handed it to Tyler.
"What if that had been mine?" Tyler asked slightly annoyed. Reid shrugged causing Tyler to scoff.
Raven interjected, "So, Antoinette," She patted the seat next to her. Antoinette complied, "How and where did you meet Reid?"
Chuckling slightly, Antoinette replied, "Before I answer that, you've either been friends for years or are siblings. Which?"
"Friends for years," Raven said, "but close enough to be siblings."
Antoinette nodded, "Good to know. I also suppose that if I do anything to hurt him, I can expect an untimely and most likely excruciatingly painful death."
"Bingo, sister." Raven said with a smile.
Chuckling, Antoinette replied, "Fair, I suppose. And back to your question: here. We met here about two… three weeks ago." Raven nodded, doing the math. Right around the time that she arrived… Reid was moving fast; far faster than Raven had ever seen or heard of him doing before.
Grabbing a fry from Tyler's plate, Raven smiled (somewhat at Tyler's reaction to her taking some of his room and somewhat at Antoinette) and said, "So, Antoinette… Tell us a little about yourself."