The Naked Truth
L.J. Smith owns The Secret Circle books and CW the TV Series.
This chapter is rated T
Both Jake and Cassie are dumb struck at the revelation about who Sam really is, they turn to look at each other unsure of how they did not see any of this coming at all. Morgana is sitting still on Sam's lap with puppy dog eyes looking at him endearingly.
The intriguing conversation continues in Dr. Sam's office as he talks about the contents of the parcel he asked Jake to get from Vancouver.
S: Do you know what is in the parcel Jake?
J: (fumbling) No I never opened it
S: You really are noble aren't you?
J: It was addressed to you why would I open it?
S: Go on open it now
Jake is still coping with the reality of who Sam really is, the minute he touches the parcel a surge of energy courses through his body confirming his connection to the parcel. Jake is dazed as he starts unwrapping layer after layer of meticulous packaging. Then he finally sees a vial similar to the one Grandpa Royce left him months ago which helped save the non-Balcoin witches from the Balcoins while they unleashed their power during the witch hunter fight. This vial though in the exact same container has different contents, it is not grainy but rather is filled with a glowing blue liquid which looks like something out of a lava lamp.
J: What is it?
S: Well Jake as the lead researcher now you should think of this as a challenge. Find out what this vial is and more importantly what it can be used for
Cassie and Jake are annoyed that Sam is testing Jake's ability to find answers, Sam on the other hand thinks it is hilarious. While Morgana still on Sam's lap has child like eyes wide open eagerly listening to her grandfather desperately trying to please him.
C: (annoyed) So what is your angle? Have you been studying us this whole time?
S: (laughs wickedly) I like that you think so much of yourself Cassie, that is a purely Balcoin trait
C: (seething) I am nothing like you or John.
S: Oh is that so young Cassie?
C: I might have Balcoin blood that is running through me but it is not something I chose, I am not evil
S: Oh really? How confident you are about yourself, it is adorable.
C: I have equal amount of light and dark magic, so picking light is a choice I make every single day
S: Oh darling grandchild don't I know it? You have much to learn
Cassie is enraged at Sam's condescending tone as is Jake. Morgana looks over at Jake then gives him a look as her head tilts to suggest he should calm down. Even though she enjoys the banter between Sam and Cassie she does not enjoy seeing Jake uncomfortable, she then speaks trying to defuse the tension.
Morg: Grandpa why don't you tell them more about John
S: Great idea Morgana, it seems they think John and I are alike when in reality that could not be further from the truth.
Sam turns to look directly at Cassie, then wearing a wicked smirk he resumes talking.
S: Let me tell you a story about your father John. Where should I start? (pauses to ponder) His main mission was to grow the Balcoin tree.
Everyone listens keenly as they look at Sam with intensity bracing themselves for more shocking naked truths to be revealed.
S:Let's start with Balthazar, John first met Balthazar's mother Martha when I moved him to New England for high school. He had some sort of petty romance with Martha, he was infatuated with her because she was four years older than him, a half witch and took an interest in him. When she got pregnant he freaked out, although I wasn't impressed with his selection I welcomed my first grandchild Balthazar from him.
I realized that John had no idea what he was doing so I sent him to Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales on a quest to find some magical relics which were deemed to possess power. I practically had to set him up on a date with Ravena
Morg: (smiles with pride) That is my birth mother
S: That's right! Morgana Le Fay's descendants have a coven with extremely strict rules on not forming special bonds. Each member is no more or less important than the other. My poor Morgana did not get the attention and love she so rightfully deserved.
Then Sam strokes her hair dotting on her as she looks at him with puppy dog eyes. Jake feels sorry for Morgana not having anyone love her or make her feel special during her formative childhood years. Cassie too feels a bit sad for Morgana who never knew the love of a mother. Although John had been a disappointment to Cassie at the end, Amelia was nothing short of perfect as a mother.
S: Morgana was a well planned conception (Sam still petting her liked a puppy) she is the epitome of a what I always dreamed off, the Balcoin line combined with the Morgana Le Fay line was magnificent. That is why she is perfect (gleaming down at her) why she is my favorite
Morgana's eyes gleam with happiness on hearing his words. She has never had anyone lay claim to her especially when they had others to choose from, she is ecstatic. Morgana had thought she was John's special most adored daughter all the way up to when she read John's letter to Jake where he revealed Cassie was 'the most precious piece of him'. Reading those words had crushed her fragile heart as well as her ego and the already brewing resentment towards Cassie only grew until she despised her completely from there on out. Sam continues to talk
S: Then John started to get the hang of his role in growing the Balcoin bloodline. (Exasperated) Finally! I sent him to Scandinavia on a covert witch's conference to explore Norse magic. There he met Lagertha, a smart confident powerful witch whose power was derived from old Norse witchcraft. They were instantly attracted to one another and although their relationship had started off as a one night stand which gave them Gunther. It was Lagertha who was there for John after Amelia left with Cassie.
Jake holds Cassie's hand sensing her pain at the mention of her mother's name. She is completely numb at all the information Sam is throwing their way, never in her wildest dreams did she think Dr. Sam would be her evil grandfather toying with all of them, including the lives of her siblings who are currently not present in Sam's office. Knowing that Sam is steam rolling both Jake and Cassie he gets a tremendously amount of satisfaction as he continues
S: John really screwed up when he came back to Chance Harbor to look for gratitude from me for all his accomplishments. He wanted to bond, to truly do father son things but I had a mission, as did John one that he hadn't taken very seriously. When he came back to Chance Harbor, he was magnetically attracted to Amelia, they were both drawn to each other instantly when they first laid eyes on each other. He ruined everything when he truly fell in love with Amelia, she was a good powerful genetic match for him but the fact that John married her then wanted to stay committed to her was never part of the plan.
He was suppose to sleep with and impregnate Sarah after Amelia because of her powerful bloodline but John couldn't go through with the plan. He was weak letting his emotions get in the way, his love for Amelia combined with his loyalty to Richard and Sarah proved to deter him from his mission.
Cassie holds on to Jake's hand firmly at the mention of Sam's plans for his mom Sarah. She knows that Jake is growling on the inside at the sadistic plan Sam had for his mother, she also knows that at any moment he could strike against Sam which would be rather foolish.
Completely against his nature Jake controls the urge to pounce on Sam then kill him with his bare hands, but Jake is wiser now besides he knows he is no match for Sam, who could crush him in a witch fight without even blinking. Sam realizes the affect he has on the two blonde witches in his office as he continues talking, shocking them further with each revelation
S: In an attempt to please me after John refused to go after Sarah he slept with Elizabeth, Diana's mom because he saw an opportunity when she spilt up with Charles for a few weeks. That wasn't planned they had been together only once but it was enough to create Diana, it would do for now.
However John was ridden with guilt, he started to push Amelia away feeling ashamed for sleeping with her best friend. Amelia sensed something was wrong but couldn't put her finger on it then one day Elizabeth broke down and confessed. Amelia felt so deeply betrayed she never forgave him. John had broken down completely when Sarah and Richard were killed in the boatyard fire and Amelia took Cassie then disappeared.
John lost everything he loved in a heart beat, he was crushed and full of hatred. I wanted him to use those strong emotions to fuel his power but he convinced himself that is was dark magic that had taken away everyone he loved, instead he wanted to hide from everything. He loved Cassie more than anything and wanted to keep her safe but he knew the closer he stayed to them the more dangerous it was for Amelia and you (looking right at Cassie).
I remember catching him in your bedroom leaving flavored tea bags for you once when you were at school. I confronted him about it when I caught him red handed, then he confessed he had left them at every place you lived in once you had left Chance Harbor so you would feel like he was always with you.
C: That was John?
S: Yes I know, I had a sap of a son
C: I always assumed my mom left those tea bags
S: No! John would watch you play tea party with your dolls and stuffed animals. He thought it would be a subtle way to let you know he was around without revealing himself.
Cassie has glassy eyes as she turns to look at Jake who is smiling at her while holding her hand in his, he knows how torn up Cassie was about her father. She really wanted to trust him to believe him to love him unconditionally but she could never be sure of his intentions. Now that she knows Sam was behind his depravity she sees John from a different lens. Cassie sees John as misguided who was almost like an orphan except he was still vying for his cold, distant father's love but in return was met with his evil dad's manipulation of him, his life, coursing John to carry on his own agenda.
C: So it was John the whole time? (Tearing up) As a kid I would pretend to know what tea my father liked to drink at tea parties, this whole time it was really him? My mom would deny leaving the tea bags there but I as I grew older I just thought she was encouraging my fantasy of make believe friends since I didn't have any siblings.
Cassie looks over at Jake as her emotions are overwhelming her. She looks knowing that she hadn't been wrong or foolishness or naive about John.
C: He really did care for me Jake!
Cassie has tears that are now flowing down her cheeks. Jake pulls her closer to his chest as he strokes her back reassuringly that neither of them were wrong to have trusted John. He really did have a heart after all his father had put him through, after every loss he had endured in his still relatively young life and from what they could gather Sam resented John's love for both Cassie and Jake.
Watching Jake being protective over Cassie sparks instant jealously in Morgana. She knows that they are together however Morgana cannot bear to see them loving or caring towards each other. She can't take the thought of both her father and Jake dotting over Cassie, she knows the dotting smile on Jake's face exists now because he is thinking of a young Cassie playing with her dolls pretending to drink tea with the tea bags John left her.
She urgently needs to demolish this heart melting moment between Jake and Cassie. She doesn't want him falling any deeper in love with Cassie, so she takes another jab at her half sister knowing her next words are likely to pierce Cassie's heart.
Morg: Get over it Cassie! You never appreciated him when he was alive infact wasn't it you and Diana who finally killed him?
C: (choking up fumbling as she speaks) When he used the skull to kill all non Balcoin witches...we... we had to stop him.
Morg: Is that what you tell yourself every night so you can sleep?
C: It was not a planned attack it was spurred by our need to protect our circle and other non-Balcoin witches it was never our intention to kill John we just needed to stop him.
Morg: (taunts) But you still killed him all the same when all he ever did was love and adore you
S: (interrupts) What you don't understand Cassie is that John was betrayed his whole life by lesser witches. Witches he truly loved for whom he had given up everything Balcoin on numerous occasions but would invariably always let him down
J.: That's not true Sam. My Grandpa Royce loved him as did my mom and dad
S: Oh yes they did I stand corrected. How he loved you Jake? How could he resist his precious godson who would one day be his son-in-law? He always loved you
Cassie's head is spinning at what Sam just said, how was Jake always going to be John's son-in-law? How the hell would John know something like that? Also does that mean that John knew Jake would be hers? She is giddy at the thought of John as her father taking a shine to Jake because of her. She blushes as she thinks the man sitting next to her holding her close could be the last man she is ever with. Cassie looks at Jake lovingly but notices he is wearing a disgusted expression on his face.
J: How could you use your own son as a pawn in your scheme?
S: Should I continue or do you want to stay on your moral high horse Jake?
J: (glares then speaks under his breath) Continue
S: When John vanished everyone assumed he was killed in the fire but he moved to New York, to live a life of anonymity. He wasn't looking for anything he just wanted to survive without thinking of his Balcoin purpose. He spent a few years working in a publishing company as a graphic artist, who knew he had a natural talent for making things look enticing?
There he met a wealthy powerful woman named Beatrice she owned or rather inherited the publishing company where he worked. It turned out that Beatrice was an extremely powerful witch who had stayed under the radar so not to attract greedy, selfish, opportunistic men.
When she met John she was taken by him, he had never met anyone quite like her either, she was confident, charismatic and beautiful. If anyone knew her net worth there would be more men that a crowded subway cart trying to woo her, fortunately she laid low and tried to live a normal life.
Although Bea, as she liked to be called had lived a life of privilege she was very much down to earth. John started to develop genuine feelings for her, he was finally ready to move on from Amelia (looking towards Cassie) but never from you my child. John really thought he would have a second chance at happiness however when Bea got pregnant with Greyson her health started to deteriorate, she was bed ridden for half the pregnancy.
Ultimately childbirth didn't agree with Beatrice and she died a few weeks after Greyson was born. Atleast John had the foresight to make sure he married wealthy this time around. You wouldn't know from the way he behaves but Greyson is just like his mother a trust fund kid trying to rough it out for fun.
Okay so what are you thinking about this loaded chapter? John's come back in a positive way? Sam's agenda for the past? Next will come some of his agenda for the future.
