ATTENTION: the spellcheck for this was a bit hurried, so we apologize for any typos.
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Plotline writers – Forcystus5, flower gettin' lady, witch-witha-B
Writers –, Forcystus5, CharmedMilliE, ilove2dance, witch-witha-B, TtylerMaria
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Disclaimer: We don't own The Secret Circle
Episode 20 – "Abandoned"
Adam and Faye were sat around at the boathouse waiting for Balcoin, Faye was drinking a cup of coffee whilst she waited and Adam was doing some cleaning behind the bar. Adam decided to stop working and went over to sit with Faye, so they could wait together. Balcoin would be there soon.
"So where were you yesterday? I called you." Adam asked as he sat down.
"Yesterday, Oh I was at Cassie's house." Faye told him.
"Cassie's? But you don't like Cassie. Why were you there?" He asked sounding annoyed.
"Cassie's not that bad, she can just be annoying." She told him defensively.
"Faye, you moan about her all the time. I'm pretty sure you hate her with a passion," Adam said smirking.
"Hate's a strong word," Faye muttered under her breath, as she took another sip of her coffee.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing," she whispered.
"Anyway what were you doing there? I thought we had plans." He asked annoyed.
"Oh did we, I forgot sorry. I like to hang out with Diana sometimes, she can be a laugh." Faye admitted.
"Diana? You like to hang out with Diana?" Adam asked sarcastically, with a big smirk on his face.
"Yeah, why what's wrong with that?" Faye asked annoyed.
"Nothing, it's just Diana. Guess I'm surprised. I don't see why you're hanging out with such a goody- goody I mean; we have so much power now. Twice as much as her, you could be doing awesome things! Not just hanging out with some goody two shoes." Adam explained.
"Shut up! Diana's alright, and anyway she's a really good friend and is really supportive," Faye argued.
"Why would you need her support? You've got me." Adam asked annoyed.
"No reason, it doesn't matter." Faye whispered, drinking more coffee and then staring out the window at the rainy sky, ignoring whatever story Adam had gone on to tell her about what he did yesterday.
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Diana and Cassie were just hanging around Cassie's house not really doing anything. Cassie was looking through her box of DVDs for something to watch. 'Want to watch Doctor Who?' Cassie asked her sister through their mental link.
'Don't you mean doctor House?' Diana asked.
"No, Doctor Who. You've never heard of it. It's this British TV show about a time traveling alien and his companions who basically save the Earth a lot of times." Cassie paused. 'You know it's hard to explain, but it's really good.'
"You know I'm sure it is," Diana said switching from the link to normal "but I don't feel like watching TV. I need to do something. Just some stupid work to get my mind off of things."
Cassie sat down next to Diana. "What do you want to do then?" Cassie asked.
"I don't…" Diana paused. "You know what we could do. Go clean the abandoned house."
Cassie stared at Diana. "Why?" Cassie asked.
"Because it's messy and well we need something to do and why not," Diana asked add then switched to the mental link 'Come on Cassie. Come help me.'
'Fine,' Cassie said kind of regretting it already. "I'll help you.'
'Yay, come on lets go," Diana said and then jumped up ready to leave.
Cassie sat there for a minute and then followed her sister out. 'Should have watched Doctor Who.' Cassie thought to thought to herself, but Diana called back 'I heard that.' Cassie smiled and then laughed as she closed the door of her house and went to the abandoned house with Diana.
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Melissa just exited the front door of her house. She didn't make it far past the entrance of her front yard, though because a dark haired man bumped into her.
"Excuse me," Melissa apologized.
"Not a problem…Melissa Glaser, was it?"
She stared at the man more closely to determine if she had seen him before. She ended up shaking her head in denial. She would remember it if she saw a guy with such a devious look in his eyes combined with such a knowing smirk. She got enough of that from Mr. Sanders in their first classes.
"Yes, but who are you?" She asked.
"I am Booth," The man said as his own smirk broadens. "I am the one who told Cassie about
Amelia's murder."
Melissa took a step back involuntarily.
"Why?" Melissa asked as if chewing the word to taste it better.
"Oh that's irrelevant my dear Melissa," He said.
Melissa didn't like how he used the word dear. It was as if he believed he owned her or that he will soon enough.
"Okay, then how do you know my name?" Melissa asked with suspicion.
"I am afraid it's too soon to answer that question properly," He said chuckling. "Suffice to say that if you know your way around magic, it isn't that hard to have eyes and ears everywhere for a long time."
"Do you enjoy being cryptic?" Melissa asked with a glare. "Or being a pain in the **?
"Somewhat," He admitted as he eyed her with interest. "Yes, that's right, get angry little witch. Strike me with it as you descend into dark magic. I would love to see what happens next."
Melissa didn't know what was happening. She was used to people taunting her but somehow she got the feeling that this guy was magically influencing her mind into getting angry so she would want to kick his **. And for a long moment, she was very tempted to give in a hurt him. Then she remembered the Nidaros code. It said she should accept her darkness, not submit to it through taunts and fight indiscriminately. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
This Booth guy actually looked disappointed. "Shame," He muttered.
"Well, I don't know how you find out, but if you know I am a witch, you should be aware that I am also from the Nidaros bloodline and because of our family code we are better at controlling ourselves," She said with a hint of pride in her voice.
Booth, however, stared at her with a mixture of shock, concern, and contempt, which started to worry Melissa. His eyes suddenly looked dangerous, almost primitively savage.
"You are a Nidaros witch?" He asked in a menacing tone.
Melissa just nodded slowly, slightly unnerved. Suddenly, she was telekinetically flung backwards until her backside hit the front door. Melissa groaned and stood up and saw Booth running toward her. Thinking quickly, she used an electro kinetic spell she read on the Nidaros Book of shadows and fired a blast of green lightning from her fingertips.
Melissa then stared in complete astonishment as to what happened next. The man just raised his bare palm and caught the electric beam as if it was no problem at all. The she felt her concentration broke as she heard a disturbingly loud scream inside her head but not with her ears, bringing her green attack to a halt. He then threw a lightning blast of his own but the color was black. Melissa screamed at the sudden pain but when she placed her hand on the wooden door, she realized the electrical pain became more bearable as wood is good at disrupting electric currents.
Summoning her pent up determination, she forced herself to stand up. She glared at the man, who looked impressed at her resilience, and push the lightning beam with telekinesis. Gritting her teeth during the struggle, she finally pushed it past her body reach and then jump off the entrance stairs and rolled to avoid the approaching beam until it collided with a garden gnome that got in his line of fire. The statue exploded but the distracting dust gave Melissa the time she needed.
She made the remaining five gnomes float with her mind and throw them at Booth. He blasted apart three of them and ducked before one but the last one smash on his chest. To Melissa's surprise, he did not collapse. Who was this witch?
The sudden attack seemed to disorient him a little though, because he didn't notice what Melissa saw behind the man's back.
"Stay away from my daughter!" Emily Glaser yelled as she hit the man in the head with a wooden baseball bat.
The bat shattered on contact but the man merely flinched at the hit, much to their surprise. He stared at Melissa's stepmom, who took a step backwards in fear. Then, to their confusion and slight outrage, the man just laughed hysterically.
"Women," He said in amusement.
Then, to their shocked eyes, he disappeared into thin air. They stood there in silence for a few moments, trying to process what happened. Then Emily ran to Melissa's side.
"Melissa, are you hurt?" Her stepmom asked worried sick.
"I think my backside is bruised," Melissa said with a grimace. "And I am still a little dazed and pained from all that electricity but I think I will be fine. Then she chuckled. "Nice swing with the bat, by the way. It was badass."
Melissa smiled wearily when her stepmom blushed slightly at the compliment. "Who was that man?" Emily ended up asking.
Melissa shook her head. "I don't really know. He said his name was Booth. I bump into him as I was leaving. He knew I was a witch and didn't bother hiding it so I ask him some stuff to know how he knew. He didn't attack me until I told him I am from the Nidaros family, though."
Emily looked horrified. "He has a grudge on the Nidaros family, then?"
Melissa shrugged and felt dizzier. She collapsed out of exhaustion but her stepmom catch her and held her firmly. She took her home and sighed with slight relief. Maybe she wasn't a witch but she was a nurse and if her baby was hurt, at least she knows what to do.
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"So, what do you think?"
Faye, with an afternoon in which she had nothing to do, had gone to the mall a town over and gotten an array of new clothes. She was parading around the back room at the Boathouse, attempting to get a smile from Adam, at the very least. Or, with the was the top she had was currently riding up her stomach, maybe a make-out session on the couch. She found the she'd become less fond of kissing Adam—or being around him in general—but if she managed to get him in a good mood he might not be so harsh with her.
"Well?" she persisted, wiggling her hips at him hopefully.
Adam sighed, turning his head a fraction of an inch to look at her. "Well..." he began, like it was far too much effort to even speak to her, "it's a bit slutty, isn't it? Not like you need to attract any other guys." He shrugged. "Not like you could."
Faye felt anger seething in the pit of her stomach. Didn't he want her to look nice? Not like he cared much, anyway.
"Really," he continued, before she'd even had time to defend herself, "it's like you're desperate. Throwing yourself at anyone as long as you don't have to spend time with me." It was eerie, how his words should have been angry, but his tone made it painfully clear he didn't give a damn what she did with or without him.
"That's not fair." Faye huffed. She dropped into a chair across from him, glaring. "I spend plenty of time with you, but you just don't care about me anymore."
He shrugged again. "It's true. I mean, you'd even be happy with Diana—you've spent more time with her than me in the last week."
Suddenly furious, Faye gave a careless shove with magic in his direction, sending him flying off the couch. She knew almost instantaneously it was a bad idea when she saw his eyes light up with fury. He'd sat their discussing their crumbling relationship without a care in the world, but one push and his eyes glowed with murder.
"Adam, I—" she started.
It was too late. She felt a massive weight against her side, like a two-hundred pound truck had been thrown into her, and she crashed into a bookshelf. She yelped, just barely able to keep it falling on top of her. A book narrowly missed her head, banging into her legs instead.
Adam stood there, just looking at her. She wasn't sure if he meant to say sorry or just lord it over her that he was three times as strong as she was, and she didn't wait to find out. She gathered her nerve and dignity, then made her way out as fast as she could.
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Cassie sighed, dropping yet another stack of dusty books on the table of the second floor of the abandoned house. Diana had decided they should sort through all the books they had, and maybe organize them by subject. Cassie personally thought that it would be better to leave them in the cellar.
"Have you talked to Faye recently?" Diana asked, dropping another stack and accidentally smudging dust across her cheek as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Cassie shook her head. "I don't talk to Faye much, you know that. Why?"
"Well..." Diana knew she wasn't betraying Faye's trust, but she felt like she shouldn't tell Cassie about everything that had been going on. "It's just that she's seemed so unhappy recently, and she's never around. She... she said that Adam wasn't treating her very well."
"She said it?"
"Okay, maybe she didn't outright say it, but I can tell." Diana said. "He's been so moody recently. I think something's going on with him, and he keeps taking it out on her. You know Faye, she's far too proud to actually admit it!"
Cassie sighed heavily, wiping a thick layer of grime from what appeared to be a spellbook. "I think that Faye can handle herself. You don't have to be so worried about her, she's not helpless."
Diana decided to stop arguing for the moment—or to stop before it became an argument. "That's the problem." She said, more to herself than Cassie. "No one thinks she needs protecting."
But Cassie had already gone back to the cellar.
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Melissa lay comfortably on the bed under her stepmom's inspection. She had been asleep since she passed out and Emily Glaser was trying to keep her as comfortable as possible. She realized her internal organs weren't fried by the electricity so she will only have to rest.
Suddenly, the room's door opened and Patrick stormed in. "How is she?" He demanded to know.
"All things considered, quite well," Emily said grimly. "Only her quick thinking at disrupting the electric currents saved her from being fried."
Patrick stared in horror at his daughter. Melissa then stirred in her sleep and groaned as she opened her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Patrick and his wife asked in unison.
"I will be fine," Melissa said as she stretched her muscles. "I just need to rest some more."
"Who did this?" Patrick asked with a hint of anger.
Melissa yawned before answering. "He said his name was Booth. Don't know if he was saying the truth, though. He knew I was a witch so I confronted him on how he knew. It wasn't until I told him I was from the Nidaros family that he got touchy and attacked me."
Patrick narrowed his eyes. "And then?"
"And then I fought what may have very well been the most dangerous magic duel I have done," Melissa grimaced. "That guy was strong, dad, too strong. He absorbed the lightning I threw at him with his bare hands like it was nothing and when he attacked me with the same element it was at least twice as strong as the blast I fired at him. When I broke free of the beam, I smash a garden gnome in his chest and mom broke the baseball bat on his head and he still stood firm."
Patrick balked. That was not normal.
"Maybe he made his body impervious to pain with magic?" Melissa suggested.
"Or maybe he was a friend of Blackwell and that was why he doesn't like the Nidaros family?" Emily threw in.
"Or," Patrick said slowly, "he was a well-trained witch possessed by a demon," He muttered.
Melissa and her stepmom glance at each other with worry.
"Are you sure?" Melissa asked.
"No, but it would explain his resistance to pain and magic prowess," Patrick replied.
The family members stayed quiet until Emily broke the silence. "I need new garden gnomes," She pouted.
Melissa and her dad chuckled at that. "And a new baseball bat," Melissa said grinning. "That swing was great."
Emily blushed again as she remembered hitting Booth. "Well, I couldn't just let him hurt my baby."
Melissa smiled and her stepmom smiled back before hugging her.
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"No, I'm serious. Those two are trouble."
Book-cleaning had escalated into attempting to wash the dust from all the walls. Diana had noticed Cassie was unwilling to do anything, under the impression that cleanliness wouldn't bring the Circle back together. Diana knew it wouldn't, but she just thought it might be nice for their gathering place to not be coated in a foot of dust.
Diana had brought up the subject of Faye again, and how she and Adam weren't the ideal couple. That, at least, Cassie seemed to agree with.
"All Faye does when she's around him is stick her tongue down his throat." Cassie said.
Diana rolled her eyes. "No, not trouble like that. I mean that they're not good for each other.
"He was nice with me." Cassie argued. "One of the better boyfriends that I've had, actually. I think that Faye's the one who's a bad influence on him, not the other way around. He didn't start acting so moody until after they started dating."
Unbeknownst to either of the girls, Faye had just stopped outside of the door, surprised by the topic of discussion. Already hurt and angry, she felt a sort of helpless rage boiling in her stomach. Oh, of course Cassie would think it was Faye's fault, since Saint Adam could do no wrong. Faye remembered all the times he talked down to her, the day he threw her across the beach into the rocks, the way he seemed to control her.
"That's not really fair." Diana said. She sounded reluctant to push Cassie, Faye noted. Probably too concerned about hurting her delicate feelings.
There was some shuffling from inside, probably someone walking away. "Faye's always been trouble, ever since I met her." Cassie said. "Okay, fine, she does care about other people sometimes, but it's usually after she's managed to screw something up. She doesn't have an excuse anymore, Diana. I think the reason Adam's so moody is because she's not nice enough to him, or because lately she's been spending all her time with you or Melissa. He probably feels ignored."
Faye bit her lip hard, forcing back her tears. It wasn't like she should feel insulted—of course Cassie hated her and thought that way. Still, it stung. Here she was, standing outside in the cold just wanting to talk to Diana, to anyone, but there was no way she'd go near Cassie. Besides, she didn't want to let on that she'd heard Cassie. False apologies were something she had no need for.
A loud thump resounded from inside. Had someone dropped something? "No." She heard Diana say. No? What was that supposed to mean?
"No?" Cassie asked, echoing Faye's thoughts.
"No." Diana repeated. 'That's completely unfair, Cassie. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be harsh, but it is. "She only acts the way she does because of how Jake hurt her. You didn't know her before him, when she was... when she was happy. Faye was one of the nicest people I knew in middle school, and when she was little."
Cassie laughed, disbelieving. "Sure."
Diana persisted. "She was. In second grade, we had a class where we got to hand out valentines to each other—you know, most elementary schools do that sort of thing on Valentine's day. Back then no one like me because I was shy, gangly, and awkward, so no one talked to me or gave me any valentines. That is, except for Faye. She saw me crying, so she went over to me, hugged me, and gave me a crumpled box of candy hearts. She cared, Cassie, she cared so much about all of us."
"What does that have to do with her now?" Cassie asked. "Maybe she was a nice kid, but most are."
"She was always like that!" Diana's voice rose, frustrated. Faye was surprised at how hard Diana was trying to defend her. "Jake screwed her up. In ninth grade he decided to take in interest in her. He was all eyes and pout, convinced her to go along with his every whim. He used her and then he left her. She was too gullible then, too gentle, and it made her go a little bit mental. That's why she acts like she doesn't care about anything, because she cares so much that it hurts. I think that everyone is too quick to assume she's fine, especially you. Adam' moodiness has nothing to do with her. He could be hurting her, for all you know, and all anyone has to say about it is that she can fend for herself, that she'll be fine." Diana huffed in frustration when she got no answer from Cassie. "You know what? I don't want to fight about this. Just... lay off Faye, please?"
Faye didn't wait for Cassie's response, just turned and started to walk away. Her chest felt just a tiny bit lighter than it had before, and she was grateful. Still, she didn't want to go in and let Diana and Cassie know she'd heard them. If they found out how scared she was, it would only be a matter of time before Adam did too.
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As soon as her parents gave her a minutes alone, Melissa called Cassie, Diana, and Faye, setting it up on her phone so all of them could talk at the same time. As soon as they answered she explained what had happened.
"He just attacked you?" Cassie asked for the hundredth time.
Melissa sighed. "Yes, and my mom helped fight him off."
"Well, that's pretty awesome for her." Diana said. "It's good that it's helping bring you two closer, even if the actual getting attacked part isn't so fun."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Melissa agreed, laughing. "What are all of you up to? I was wondering if maybe I could join you guys. I don't really want to sty home right now."
"Abandoned house." Diana and Cassie said. After a moment, Faye said, "Home."
"Are you okay, Faye?" Diana asked. Faye's voice was thicker than usual, like she'd been crying.
There was a noncommittal noise from Faye's end of the line. "Head cold, I think. Don't get your knickers in a twist, Diana, I'll be perfectly fine."
"Right," Melissa said, "So anyone mind if I joined you at the abandoned house?"
Cassie answered, "No, of course not."
"Maybe you'll join us, Faye?" Diana added, almost pleading.
Faye gave a long-suffering, "Diana-why-do-you-always-pester-me?" sigh. "Maybe. I have things to do, I might be there later tonight."
"Alright."
Everyone said their goodbyes, Melissa hung up, and then she headed out to her car.
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When Faye had gone home she'd been grateful to see her mom wasn't around, but soon the gratefulness had turned to anger. Faye was getting frustrated with herself; she hated that every little thing today was setting her off and making her unreasonably upset. Who cared if her mom wasn't home? It wasn't like she'd be willing to help Faye. It wasn't like she would want to give her advice for how to handle Adam.
Terribly confused, she left home and found herself wandering to the Boathouse instead of the abandoned house. It was as if she wanted Adam to treat her like, call her names, and abuse her. What was wrong with her?
Maybe that was why, she thought miserably, hunching her shoulders against the cold. Because she was wrong, because she'd been screwed up the first time she actually tried to have a relationship.
Her mom was at a table when she walked in. Dawn grabbed Faye by the arm, roughly stopping her in her tracks. "Where have you been?" she demanded. Faye shrugged listlessly, slumping down across from her mom. "That's not an answer, Faye. You're always out somewhere lately, you grades are terrible, and you look like you're eon something."
"Of course you'd think so." Faye mumbled. She didn't have the strength to fight back.
Dawn eyes her suspiciously, leaning forward to examine her daughter's shadow-rimmed, bloodshot eyes. "You are, aren't you? Probably some sort of magical drug, isn't it?"
"I'm not on anything." Faye persisted wearily. "I'm just tired."
"You're lying." Dawn snapped. "I've noticed how you've been withdrawing. You treat me and your friend like we're worthless, you barely even go to school anymore, and I never see you anywhere! This is serious, Faye, you need to get your act together."
Faye glared at her mom, furious once again. Screw it, she thought. She had nothing to lose. "No, mom, I don't. And you know what? All of you treat me like crap. Just 'cause I'm bitchy sometimes doesn't mean I don't care. I'm not on anything, and I haven't gotten drunk for an entire week!" as soon as the words left her mouth, Faye knew she would regret them.
"You've been getting drunk too?!" Dawn was acting absolutely scandalized. It was clear she'd only listened to the very last thing Faye had said. "That's it, Faye. This has to stop."
"No." Faye said, petulantly. "Why should you care? You're never home, you're never around. It's not like you're actually interested win what I have to say or what's happening to me."
"I do care." Dawn said, voice like ice. "So that's why it has to stop, now. Otherwise..." she trailed off, as though she didn't have a sufficient enough threat.
"What?" Faye asked. "What could you possibly do to make my life any worse?"
"Otherwise you can't live at home anymore."
"What?" the seven words were like a fist colliding with her gut.
Dawn said, "You can't stay under my roof if you're going to constantly disobey and disrespect me."
"Fine." Faye was surprised to hear the words leave her mouth. Fine? She's just agreed to be homeless when there was obviously no one else int he world who would take her in?
She stormed out, catching a glance of Adam smirking at her from behind the counter. Oh, he was loving this, wasn't he? He probably thought she'd come to him for help, snivelling and begging forgiveness. Faye refused to look back at him again. That would never happen. She would go do what she could, with the hopes that her magic would keep her safe.
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Melissa was putting away sponges and clothes, looking around appraisingly at the abandoned house. She'd never seen it so clean before. "We should have done this years ago."
Diana laughed. "Yeah, we should have, shouldn't we?"
Cassie on the other hand, gave a sigh of relief, collapsing on the couch. "Thank goodness we're done. I don't think I could scrub another floor."
"I've got to agree with you there." Melissa said. She started to gather her things from the table, shoving them into her bag. "So, back home?"
"That's the plan." Said Diana. "We should probably walk home together, in case you get attacked again."
They all agreed, Cassie and Diana dropping Melissa at home before heading back to Cassie's.
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Enough was enough. The last few weeks of her life had gone from bad to worse and she was honestly sick of it.
As the weeks drew on Adam got more distant and he wasn't acting like himself. Her mom had just disowned and publicly humiliated her and Adam had just smirked and left her to stand there in shock before she just grabbed her bag and left.
Faye wasn't one for being emotional but it seemed like everything was too much, she had gotten to Adam's and she had cried. But her sadness had turned quickly into anger and she wanted this all to stop.
And she was going to be the one to stop it. Things weren't right, she had known that for a while but somehow Adam had been able to convince her everything was fine when it obviously wasn't. Everything that had happened today had proved that something was wrong and she had gotten herself in this mess so she would get herself out.
She had messed up, truly messed up. How had she believed all this time that Adam cared about her? Well, maybe he had at first. She felt like an emotional wreck, she had made that promise to herself to not care but obviously she cared more than she thought and look at the position it had gotten her in.
Taking a deep breath Faye stood up to compose herself. She was going to do this, she was going to make things right and screw the consequences. She was Faye Chamberlain and it didn't care what people said or did to her because she always muscled through however much it hurt.
Once she had composed herself Faye knelt down beside the bed and reached under. After a minute or so of searching she pulled out a slightly tattered looking treasure chest. She remembered that when they were little Adam had wanted to be a pirate, he loved boats and the water. All the dreams they had when they were kids seemed so normal now. Now they were all powerful witches who got in trouble every week and almost died every other.
Letting out a small sigh Faye stared at the lock and muttered "Lock Unlock."
And heard the soft click that confirmed her spell had worked. Gently she opened the top of the chest and saw the Balcoin book right on top, it was Adam's new treasure. She would find him at night reading it or practising spells like he was seriously obsessed.
Picking up the book she slid it into her bag, turning back to the chest she touched the top picture lightly with a small smile. Their parent's Circle stood there all so young and all so happy. Adam had confided in her about the chest and told him it was where he hid anything relating to his mom that he found. He had picture of all of their parents in that chest, all looking normal and happy. She assumed that was what their Circle had also looked like to people on the outside, they would never know how much they had been through.
Giving one last look to the young face of her dead father, Faye closed the truck and re-locked it before sliding it back under the bed and preparing to leave. She took all of her belongings with her, by the time Adam would notice they were gone she would hopefully have been welcomed back, maybe not with open arms, to the rest of the Circle and they could sort this mess before it got even more out of hand.
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Finally getting back to the house, Cassie and Diana both flopped onto the sofa exhausted. What with the spring cleaning, in the winter, of the abandoned house, and Melissa being attacked the two had had barely any time to just sit and do nothing.
But the relaxation was short lived when there was a knock on the door, groaning Diana stood up to go get the door and a reluctant Cassie followed. After all it was her house.
And when Diana opened the door, Cassie wished she hadn't made the effort. Faye was stood on the porch with a bag and looked as pleased to be there as Cassie was for her to be there. Diana quickly greeted Faye and asked her if she wanted to come in. Faye simply nodded and Cassie heard a small "thanks" escape Faye's lips.
All three of them stood slightly awkwardly in the hall until Faye handed Cassie an old and slightly battered book. Cassie took it without a word, slightly confused. Before she or Diana could ask any questions, Faye spoke,
"It's the Balcoin book of shadows and it should have everything in there to help you get your dark magic back," she told them a hint of jealousy in her voice.
Cassie and Diana had no idea what to say and again before they could get anything out Faye spoke,
"And for your information, Jake left me and it hurts just as much this time that he walked away from me again." Her voice sounded emotionless and it partially was, she would admit to being hurt but she would never show it and she knew no one would dare bring it up in the future.
Diana and Cassie were shocked, they had no idea that anyone had been around when they were discussing the Faye and Adam situation. Diana was mortified that Faye had heard all those things after everything Faye had done for her in the past few weeks, she had even considered calling herself and Faye 'Friends' although she knew Faye would never agree to it and most likely make a sarcastic comment about the term if it was mentioned.
Cassie opened her mouth to say something but stopped, what was she suppose to say? She had been so rude and nasty about Faye when she was speaking to Diana and she had no idea Faye would hear it, Faye was never suppose to hear it. There was ways you said things to people and the way she had been talking was not the right way to do it.
" Look, Faye..." Cassie started but was cut off by Faye raising a hand,
"I know some things I have done are stupid," Faye admitted, " And I know we don't really get along, but there is a line and Adam and I definitely crossed it...and passed the moat with the tower bridge..." She stopped, "Moving on...Things need to change, back to how they were. Back to when we were a Circle not the Circle minus Faye and Adam."
"How do we know we can trust you?" Cassie asked and regretted it when she saw the look Diana gave her.
"You have the key," Faye told her looking at the book.
"What changed your mind?" Cassie asked still unsure,
"Hearing the way I was talked about by you, Adam and my Mother kicking me out." Faye said her mask fully up. Diana started to worry slightly as she heard Faye mention Adam, she had mentioned his weird behaviour at the fashion show and it seemed to have been taking an effect on Faye.
"Your mom kicked you out?" Cassie asked a little shocked, "When?"
"Around 5 minutes ago." Faye said casually.
"And you came straight here?" Cassie asked.
" No I grabbed the book from Adam's and then I came here."
"So you and Adam did steal the book?"
"No we found it on the floor." Faye said sarcastically and Diana rolled her eyes,
"Well you can stay here if you want." Diana piped up giving Faye a smile before giving Cassie a look and Cassie heard "Can't she?" in her mind and knew Cassie had no choice in the matter.
"Sure," Cassie said a little reluctantly, "But she is staying in your room." She said pointing to Diana before heading into the living room with the book.
Faye gave Diana a small smile before placing her bag at the bottom of the stairs and following Diana, who motioned to her to follow them into the living room.
Diana went to sit with Cassie and Faye was left on her own which gave her a slight daunting feeling but she didn't show it.
"I think you need to do some explaining," Diana said, "We need to know all the facts before we start running around doing spells to get our dark magic back with what happened when we lost it."
Cassie nodded in agreement and the two looked at Faye, who knew that it was coming but had no idea where to start so she blurted out the first thing that popped into her head.
"Adam kept the skull."
"What?" Diana and Cassie both said in shock and Faye simply let out a sigh.
"Adam was hiding the skull at the beach, he tried to get rid of it but apparently he couldn't."
"Why did Adam tell you?" Diana asked, "I mean he must have been keeping it all summer so when did you find out."
"Adam was acting odd," Faye said simply, "I told the rest of you it was weird and you all just ignored me," she added smugly before continuing, "I followed him and saw him with the skull. He was a little freaked out when I found out but we talked everything through and I agreed to keep it a secret."
"Wait, so that was why you starting hanging around with Adam?" Cassie asked but Diana had a small frown on her face and wasn't paying attention,
"Basically, Adam was using the skull to get bursts of power and that was all it was at first."
"At first?" Cassie asked but before Faye could answer Diana piped in,
"Wait you started hanging round with Adam about a day after you were attacked." She said.
"Yeah so?" Cassie asked intrigued by Diana's thoughts.
"I saw Adam before I got attacked," Faye said, "I was heading back home when I got attacked." She lied, why was she even lying for him anymore? She was sure that Adam wasn't himself, he hadn't been for a long time. Diana stayed quiet and Cassie looked back to Faye who remembered that the other girl had asked a question before.
"Adam thought the skull wanted something from him," she said and shook her head when both Cassie and Diana gave her weird looks, "After everything we have been through you think that is weird?" Faye asked receiving shrugs from both Cassie and Diana.
"Anyway we decided to find out what the skull wanted, stop giving me that look. So as it was linked to the Balcoin blood line we decided to find the Balcion book. Which was hidden in the basement of the abandoned house all along," Faye paused, "We saw the evil siblings steal it and planned and succeeded to steal it from them."
"Where in the basement was it?" Cassie asked and Faye looked thoughtful for a second.
"There was a hidden compartment in the floor, would be good for hiding things in the future." She told them.
"What happened after that?" Diana asked getting more curious as the story went on.
"We found some spells and tried them out until we found one that worked, but don't ask me what one because there is no way I will remember. The skull gave Adam a spell to do and assured him we would get power if we did it."
"Power from where?" Cassie asked.
"Patience," Faye told her and got a look from Diana that made her continue, "Anyway, we did the spell and the skull turned human."
"The skull turned human?" Diana asked and Faye simply nodded,
"Well Demon that looks human but it's all the same to the story. So this was about the same time you all did your fainting act."
"You took our magic?" Cassie asked sounding a little peeved.
"No, the demon was your magic." She stated and Cassie and Diana looked thoroughly confused.
"Okay short version, your family was good until Francis Balcoin your ancestor tried to rid the world of the demon. But the only way that could happen was trapping him and taking his magic into himself. Well that's how I saw it anyway."
"Wait, so what you're saying is we are part demon?" Cassie asked.
"I don't think so. The demon was trapped in your bloodline, I never asked for specifics," Faye told her, "But it was weird the demon knew everything."
"What do you mean by everything?" Diana asked starting to panic.
"Everything that happened in our lives, the demon was in you, in your heads. It knew so much about us, our personalities it was creepy."
"It was the demon that found us when we were shopping?" Diana asked shocked, the question was more or less rhetorical but Faye decided to answer anyway.
"Yes it was," She said and both Cassie and Diana turned their attention to her, "He wanted to split you all up. You are the only group powerful enough to trap him back in the skull and potential destroy him."
"But if we trap him again, we will have our dark magic back." Diana said, she had gotten used to the idea of her dark magic. But it felt like she hadn't had it for so long and she felt so much better, freer even.
"And?" Cassie questioned.
"Look, I know we sorted this issue out a long time ago but I feel so much better knowing that I can't lose control of my magic."
"But we can't let the demon roam free," Faye told them, "You have no idea what he can be like or how much influence he has over Adam. We really need to do this."
"No matter what the cost is?" Diana asked, "You don't have to have dark magic forever or a demon in your blood line that can terrorize you whenever he wants."
" No, i've just had the crap kicked out of me, lost my boyfriend for the second time, turned a skull into a demon because my new boyfriend is obsessed, been ignored by the people who are suppose to be my friends and stick by me and had my mother kick me out. No Diana I know the cost of what magic is doing to our lives," Faye finished leaving Cassie and Diana absolutely gobsmacked once again.
"Anyway, if we can get the demon back into the skull, we could try and split it into crystals and destroy any clues on how to form it so this will never happen again." Faye added
"You think we can really split the skull again?" Cassie asked and Faye simply shrugged.
"So was the demon in all of the family crystals too?" Diana asked and Faye frowned,
"I'm not sure, I think the demon can only be used if it is in skull form and has a Balcoin using it as it basically gives the demon his magic back as it filters through the skull."
Diana and Cassie looked gobsmacked but Cassie shook her head,
"But then where did our magic go?" Cassie asked,
"The demon took it back."
"And where did you get your extra magic from Faye?" Cassie asked a hint of judgement in her voice.
"Balcoin gave us some spare magic, I guess he thought it would keep us in line but something changed." Faye said.
"What changed?" Cassie asked.
"Adam." Faye and Diana said at the same time and Cassie's head whipped around to face Diana.
"How do you know?" Cassie asked her sister.
"A hunch," Diana said before her eyes shifted to Faye, who nodded, and back, "And from Faye, at the fashion show Faye stayed behind and we talked for a while."
"That's why you have been defending her? Because you knew all along that something was up." Cassie asked.
"Only since the fashion show and don't be mad." Diana said causing Cassie to laugh slightly.
"I'm not mad, a little annoyed though," she paused and Diana looked worried, "How did we not see what was really happening? I know Adam was weird and Faye and Adam together was even weirder but how did we never question it?"
"We were all hoping that after the Blackwell thing that everything would be normal." Diana answered.
"But it isn't." Faye added, "And the only way to sort that is to make things right. God, I sound like such a goodie two shoes right now." Faye moaned and the other two laughed.
"So what now?" Cassie asked and Faye simply shrugged.
"For now we relax," Diana said and Cassie raised an eyebrow, "We'll have a Circle meeting minus Adam and possibly plus Melissa's parents and talk everything over. Then we will decide what to do."
The other two nodded in agreement, it was tomorrow's problem.
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
Adam was livid. Why hadn't Faye shown up yet? He'd seen the spat between her and mother, so it was only a matter of time before she crawled back to him. He'd decided to let her stay with him, but to make her really beg for it first—she had thrown him off the couch for no reason, after all. He was bruised and insulted, not in the mood for easily accepting her.
He decided to look through he spell book, for something that might make her come back, or make her more agreeable. Why not? Power and magic was what made him so strong. It made sense that it would work for this.
Unfortunately for him, it wasn't there.
He wasn't sure what to do. Balcoin would be furious! It'd been so hard to get the stupid spell book, how was he going to feel to hear that they'd lost it?! Adam had a feeling that Balcoin wouldn't be very forgiving.
It had to have been Faye. She got angry at him, so she decided to take the book for herself. Fuming, he resolved to get her back for it as soon as humanly possible.
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
Faye and Diana were sat on Diana's bed talking and eating Ice cream. They were just relaxing and Faye was savouring the peace and finally feeling relaxed and happier. Going to Diana had been a great idea!
"Listen, thanks again for letting me stay," Faye told her for about the hundredth time.
"Faye, I've told you. Its fine both me and Cassie have agreed you're staying here." Diana told her, trying to be serious. "I'm ordering you!" She told her smiling.
"Well then I better stay." Faye agreed.
"Yeah and Cassie really is sorry about what she was saying earlier, She was just having a little rant." Diana explained.
"Oh I know its fine, Diana I'm like queen bitch I think I can handle someone talking a little bit bitchy about me." Faye said smirking.
"Yeah I guess you are." Diana agreed.
"God this Ice cream is good! I love Ben & Jerry's!" Faye exclaimed a big smile on her face as she ate a load of Ice cream. Diana smiled and did the same.
"So do you want to talk about what happened with Adam and your mum?" Diana asked her.
"Not really, not now anyway. I'll tell you some other time or Adam will I don't doubt. He heard everything she said to me." Faye told her.
"Okay, don't worry about him. I could talk to him for you and I've already told you, you can stay here as long as you need too. Don't worry, it'll be fun!" Diana told her.
"Yeah, it will be better then living at home anyway. Now how about we stick a movie on?" Faye asked.
"Sure, sounds great. I'll go and ask Cassie if she wants to join us. You can pick a film" Diana said as she got up and headed to Cassie's room.
TSC~TSC~TSC~TSC
Balcoin teleported back to the Lake and the first thing he did was to keep on laughing.
"By the darkness, I love this town," He chuckled. "It certainly is not boring," He cackled as he thought of that mortal hitting him with a baseball bat. The thought that a simple insect had the courage to do that to him was simply so funny he couldn't kill them yet so he left.
He breathed deeply and smirked. It had been a very long time since he got a decent fight, not since his showdown with Francis. True, Melissa was nowhere near as skilled as Francis and he could have crushed her if he had chosen to stay but there was something about her that caught his attention. The sheer determination in her eyes even as he was electrocuting her.
"A Nidaros witch," Balcoin muttered thoughtfully. "She could have been lying but I believe her. She most certainly has the Nidaros fire in her character."
The ageless demon frowned. Of the four original light magic families the Nidaros were always the ones that worried him the most. True, the Sunwalkers were the most powerful of the four and the Nidaros were merely slightly behind the Meade family, which gives them the fourth place but they made up for that by being the most unpredictable of them all. Balcoin simply could not read the family members as he had encountered them over the millennia. Just when he thinks he knows how they will behave, they always pull out something that surprises him, usually in a bad way.
Balcoin recalled the encounter he had with Mary, the most powerful Nidaros he encountered, around 500 years earlier. He had recently escaped his crystal cage and arrived to England. But when he finally arrived to Stonehenge to fulfill his plan, he was attacked by Francis. The British heir to the Nidaros bloodline was astonishingly great at healing magic, capable of healing severe wounds Balcoin gave Francis almost instantly. Then, while Francis kept the Ancient One busy, Mary was the one that finished casting the spell that would seal Balcoin inside Francis.
After that, the two friends' part ways but they would meet again, 20 years and hundreds of murders later. By then they were both Elders and while no longer on their physical prime, Mary became ridiculously powerful and skilled in a wide variety of magical branches. Even after Balcoin compelled the now-evil Francis into attacking his friend, Mary repelled every spell and form of attack they threw at her.
However, it was the big finale that stunned Balcoin. She channeled immense power from the Spirit World and then combined those vast energies with intense dark magic. The two different magical aspects combined within her like Twin Rivers. The last thing Balcoin saw with Francis eyes was Mary glowing in a flash of grey right before a massive explosion of magical energy obliterated his first host.
Balcoin survived by following the bloodline to Francis´ son but he was awed like he had never felt in his many tens of thousands of years of age. He had no idea witches could wield that kind of raw power. And it wasn't only the might of the spell; it was the look on Mary's eyes. Even though she obviously channeled a great deal of dark magic, her face was completely at peace. She succeeded in finding the balance between the two opposing forces of magic and unleashed its sheer power in its purest form. Balcoin wondered if that had something to do with the Nidaros code, Melissa mentioned, which sounds like a code of conduct.
As the demon snapped out of his thoughts, he realized that for the first time since he was reawaken; his plans were well and truly hanging in the balance. With Melissa representing the Nidaros family, should the circle discover how to recreate the spell that imprisoned him inside the Skull, they have enough witches to pull it off.
In the end, though, he decided to let her live, if only for the time being.
"Samhein is fast approaching anyway," Balcoin remind himself. "The wait is almost over. If they force my hand, I will kill her without hesitation but every king needs an army, and every army needs a general. When the ritual is done, sooner or later, all of these witches will bow before me and if Melissa has the potential within her to replicate the insanely powerful magic that destroyed Francis, she might as well become my general."