Disclaimer: I do not own the Covenant.

A/N: Here's the one that is the beginning of the end. I'll have to write more tonight and maybe I'll finish. If you review we might post lots more tomorrow! YAY!

That night, Ash and Griff lie awake outside on the balcony at Ash's house, discussing things.

"So, when do we tackle Reid?" asked Griff, looking up at the stars.

"Soon," said Ash. "Probably Sunday night. I'm a little too distracted with Kay's birthday right now to do anything."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right, but there's one thing that confuses me."

"What's that?"

"What do we do once we show them? I mean, what if they don't figure out what they have to do in time?"

Ash stayed silent for a while. Griff understood then.

"Ash, we can't do that!"

"It's us or them. And I can't let Kay have this stupid curse. I won't."

"But, murder?" Griff whispered it like it were the worst curse word to be uttered.

"I'll do what I have to," Ash said, her voice full of resolve.

"Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"You like Reid, don't you?" Griff voiced what she had suspected all along.

Her cheeks colored as Ash nodded. "Why don't you just tell him?"

"Oh, yeah, that would go over well."

"He likes you too," Griff tried.

"I'd rather not get attached to him, if you don't mind," she said, hinting at what must be done. "Maybe they'll figure it out. I mean, they're smart guys."

"Let's hope so," Ash said, getting up and walking across to peer toward the street. "It'll be okay."

The rest of the week flew by, it seemed, and Saturday's party came and went flawlessly. Sunday was a dreary day, and late that night, when the girls got to the cottage, the rain poured down in sheets.

Griff sat on the floor, inside a circle of candles. Her eyes began to glow ice blue, and she seemed to stare into space with enough intensity to bore a hole through the wall. As the spell began to take effect, something went wrong. Griff's face contorted in pain and she was suddenly thrown out of the circle and into the wall. She slid down, and groaned painfully as she hit the floor, landing with a thump.

"Griff!" Ash ran to her side. Blood trickled from a cut in her forehead, and she had landed hard on her wrist.

"Oh! God dammit! That hurts!" she said, standing up shakily, with Ash's help. "Something deflected the spell. I lost control there for a second." She tried to smile, but winced, and gently touched her forehead. The sticky, red blood tinted her fingers. "Golly, that one was a doozy!"

"You're telling me," Ash said, doing her best to stop the bleeding. "What could have deflected that spell?"

"Well, it's an easy spell, as long as you've got some sort of magical jewel near you while you sleep you're going to be immune to it." Griff groaned again and set her head against the wall. "We're not going to be able to go through with the spell until whatever it is gets taken away." As she said this she looked at Ash. Her eyes said more than just pain.

"Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!! Why can't you do it?" Ash whined.

"Because I can't stand without a splitting headache. Besides," Griff smiled at her weakly," he likes you."

"What do you suggest I do? Just sneak in there and take it, and run out?"

"Whatever you have to." Griff shrugged. "And I do mean whatever. We're running out of time, I can feel it. It's your pride or us, pick one."

"Can't we just do this my way?" Ash pleaded, really not wanting to do what she knew she would have to.

"No, not until we've tried this first. Now go, I'll be okay." Griff lie down and closed her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, I hope you know that if you fall asleep after you get a concussion you could die, and I'm not going to be here to help you now!" She said to her friend, who was only pretending to be asleep. Ash could see the wound healing before her eyes. She sighed and rushed out to her car. Lightning flashed, and the thunder was loud enough to drown out a train. In the thirty seconds it took her to get to her car, Ash was already soaked through.

Not wanting to be exposed, she parked a block away from Reid's house. Keeping to the shadows as best she could in the pouring rain, she made her way to his backyard. It looked like no one was home, save for the eerie blue glow of a television set in one room. Ash carefully climbed her way up from the ground, to the window and peered in. There sat Reid, on a couch in front of a TV, playing video games. The rest of the room was cast in darkness, and all Ash could see were dark shapes silhouetted in the glow from the screen.

Lightning flashed, and her shadow was cast into the room for the split second that the world was illuminated like day. His head snapped in the direction of the window, and she scrabbled down as quickly as she could. His shape appeared at the window no more than a foot above her head, and he peered out, his hand up to the glass.

Ash held her breath, as the rain threatened to drown her. The cool water hit against her clothes, and trickled down her back and neck. It seemed to begin to rain harder as time went on. Drops the size of quarters battered her face, as she strained to see into the room once more.

He had left the window, and the door stood ajar. He had left! Now was her chance. Pushing with all her might against the window pane, she found it locked. Concentrating, she heard a soft click, and the glass flew upward, granting her entrance.

Her shoes made a sickening squashing noise on the floor, and she felt the water drip off of her clothes and her hair onto the floor. Not wanting to risk turning on the light, she felt blindly around the room, until she bumped into something hard. It was his bedside table. Her eyes finally adjusting to the light of the room, she made out shapes of various things. Car keys, a small lamp, a magazine that she was sure she didn't want to know the name of, and his cell phone. Nothing like a jewel of some kind. She felt carefully for a drawer-handle and found one.

Gently pulling, the old tracks made a screeching sound as they ground against each other. Ash stopped still and held her breath, waiting for the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. Nothing. Pulling slower this time, she got the drawer out far enough for her to put her hand in. She felt for anything hard, and round for what seemed like hours.

The door creaked open, and she froze, her heart plummeting to her stomach. She whipped around. No one was there. She let out her breath, and resumed digging through what seemed like a junk drawer. Something hard, round, and cool touched her hand. It was an old necklace, with a heavy gem on the chain. She blew on it gently, and it began to glow with an unseen power. Just as she was about to put it in her pocket she felt someone come up behind her, and grab her around the waist. Their other hand was placed over her mouth.

"Don't move, and I won't hurt you," came the husky whisper. "Who are you?"

Ash's voice caught in her throat. It was Reid, he had caught her there. Think. Think! THINK! She told herself, racking her brain for a good excuse. His grip tightened on her stomach and a shooting pain ran from the small of her back to her neck. She felt her energy draining as the pain got worse. She realized then that he was using his powers, or had been. And her pain was not being caused by him, but by her curse.

"Answer me," he said, removing his hand from her mouth.

"Reid, stop, you're hurting me!" she whispered. Immediately, the pain subsided as he quit using his powers, and he released her. Ash fell to her knees, panting as light flooded her vision.

"Ash?"

"No, Santa Claus."

"What are you...? How did you...? Why...?"

"You're certainly eloquent tonight, Garwin, what's the occasion?" Ash asked him, standing up.

"What are you doing in my room?" He asked her, dismissing her sarcasm. His hair was damp, and he was wrapped in a towel. Ash had been there longer than she had thought.

"I, um.. Well.. Funny story, see, a priest, a rabbi and a duck walk into a bar..." Ash blurted, not even comprehending what she was saying.

"Ouch," they said together. Ash averted her eyes, embarrassed.

"Well?" Reid prompted, expecting an actual answer.

"I... I... I" Ash stammered, trying to think of something, anything. All she could hear were two things. One was her mother's voice telling her to always wear clean underwear, and the second was Griff. 'It's your pride or us, pick one. Whatever you have to do.' Ash swallowed hard, and ran her fingers through her damp hair.

"I wanted to see you," she said, looking at the floor.

"You did?" He sounded confused and hopeful all at once.

"Well, yeah," said Ash. "I mean," She began to get closer to him and closer. "I don't know what I mean." She had lost her nerve. "Now that I've seen you, I guess I'll be going, have a good night, Reid."

She turned and began to walk back to the window but never got there. Reid grabbed onto her wrist, and held her there. Ash looked up into his eyes, and it felt like it were the first time she had really seen him. Something changed then, and she stepped to him. He kissed her, and her head began to feel like it were floating pleasantly above her shoulders.

Reid took off her soaked sweatshirt, and began to pull up the T-shirt she had been wearing underneath.

"Reid, I'm all wet," she said, dumbly.

"It's okay."

"But.." He silenced her with another kiss, and she gave in. Before she knew it, her clothes were in a heap on the floor. The soft comforter hit her back, and cushioned her fall onto the bed.