Sorry it took so long, hope y'all enjoy =]

We walked down to the beach hand in hand to meet the rest of the Circle for another meeting, and though I love Diana and that fact that she made me feel super welcome, and because I had someone I absolutely knew I could count on, I was buzzing with pure happiness at the fact that Nick was walking beside me holding my hand. I know it sounds pretty cheesy but he made me feel stronger, like I could face anything, it was a good feeling. The eyes of the rest of the Circle turned to us as we approached, Diana, Cassie, and Suzan were all smiling, Deborah was grinning broadly, Faye was seething, Adam, Melanie and Laurel looked surprised, Sean had his lips pressed together in a line, and Chris and Doug looked very annoyed.

"Why does Nick always get the new girl?" Doug grumbled to an equally disappointed Chris. I had to try really hard not to smile.

"Hey guys." I greeted as Nick squeezed my hand and led me to one of the larger rocks that was sticking out of the sand. There was a chorus of Hellos and I was a little surprised when Deborah sat down on my other side. "So any new theories?" I asked when everyone sat down.

"Not really..." Cassie admitted.

"I think you might be right about the dark energy though..." Adam told me. "You know, that its still hanging around or whatever."

"What makes you think that its still here?" Melanie asked.

"The outsiders have never liked us." Laurel pointed out and it clicked into place in my mind.

"Well, of course they don't..." Diana was saying but I cut her off.

"No wait!" I said and all eyes turned to me. "Were the outsiders acting like this before Adam found the skull?" I asked, and looks were exchanged, but Diana looked excited too.

"Well...no." Diana said. "I mean, they didn't like us, but they weren't as up front about it until after Cassie was initiated." She added.

"And the day before Cassie was initiated was when I found the skull." Adam said, his eyes widening in excitement as he got what we were saying.

"But Black John is gone." Faye snapped.

"Yeah, but Kat said the outsiders aren't themselves." Suzan said, as she studied her perfectly manicured nails.

"So, then what are you saying?" Deborah asked from beside me, she was looking around the circle.

"Kat, you're a genius!" Adam said, his brain obviously moving faster than the rest of ours. Beside me Nick was staring down at the sand, not saying anything. His grip on my hand had loosened, and I sighed pulling my hand away from him and returning to the conversation.

"Um...how exactly am I a genius?" I asked with a snort.

"Well if the dark energy is just hanging around..." He started, and I straightened up, stunned. For a fraction of a second Adam and I smiled at each other.

"Than maybe its just amplifying the way they feel, and making their reaction stronger than it would normally be." I finished for him, and he rushed across the circle and scooped me up excitedly swinging me around. I couldn't stop giggling when he sat me back down, and the rest of the circle was smiling, until Nick stood abruptly, lighting a cigarette.

"Well, now that we've figured that out, later." He said, coldly before heading up the beach, with me staring after him. I met Adam's eyes and he gave a small apologetic smile. I glanced over at Faye who looked smug and shook my head. Cassie was staring after him.

"So...how are we supposed to get rid of the energy?" I asked getting back on topic. "I really don't think it will be anything like how you got rid of Black John.." I added. There were nods around the circle, and everyone turned their attention to the coven leaders, Cassie, Diana and Faye. Cassie shrugged.

"We should probably check out our Books.." She suggested.

"We can talk to the crones too." Diana added.

"We can read his personal papers too...see if there is anything helpful." Adam added.

"I guess the meeting is over." Faye said, and with that everyone got up and started heading back up the beach toward Crowhaven Road. I found myself walking beside Deborah. I was only a little surprised when she spoke.

"DOn't let him push you away." She said, diving right into the heart of the matter. I liked that about Deb. I just shot her a look. "I'm serious. He really does like you. He just has a crappy temper sometimes." She said.

"Well, please tell him to give me a call when he gets over it. Whatever it is." Just because I liked him, did not mean that I would put up with him being an ass. Before she turned to head to her house, she nodded and swear I saw a slight smile playing on her lips. What if the IT he needed to get over was the fact that he still had a thing for Cassie? This was what I was thinking about as I made my way home.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

I was sitting in the kitchen flipping through my Book of Shadows, while my Granny was chopping away at some greens for a salad. What didn't help was that I had no idea what I should be looking for; I mean, how in the world were we supposed to get rid of evil energy? It wasn't even a tangible matter that we could physically fight. It was even more frustrating because there seemed to be a spell for absolutely everything, except for what we needed. So I tried the next best thing.

"Hey, Granny?" I asked, looking up at her from the book. She paused in her chopping and glanced over at me.

"Yes, dear?" She asked. I took a deep breath and asked my question.

"Do you know anything about Black John?" I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been watching her so closely, but when I said his name her face lost all of its color and she suddenly reached up and clutched her chest, gasping for air.

"Granny!" I cried as I ran over to her, where she was leaning heavily against the counter, still gasping. So I grabbed the phone off of the hook and called for an ambulance, despite her protests. I concentrated on moving her to a chair, and when I heard the sirens I ran out and waved them in. It was when they were wheeling my Granny out to the ambulance that she grasped my arm in a surprisingly firm grip, and tried to talk.

"Ma'am you shouldn't talk. Save your strength." One of the EMT's said, but my Granny shook her head and pulled me closer. I could barely hear her words, but when they registered it was the only thing I could understand.

"H-he's... y-your... g-grand...f-father." I stood on the street watching the ambulance drive off, mentally repeating the words over and over again trying to comprehend them.

"Oh, my god..."