"well tonight has certainly been interesting, I think it would be best if you childr-" Graves doesn't get to finish whatever he was saying because he is full on attack hugged by Reese. The older man is surprised by the affection but after a few seconds he lowers his hands around the assistant manager. Reese is a rumpled mess and when he jumps Graves he loses his hat.

''I…..I thought you were dead!" Reese has tears running down his eyes and he chokes up a bit as he speaks. "Y-you were a statue! W-we had to carry you out of that alley.''

''Yes, that was an unfortunate state I found myself in. Sadly, Nacht caught me at a moment of weakness.'' Graves sighed and turned to look at me. It was a little difficult for him because Reese was still wrapped around the man's waste. ''Avery, I have you to thank for still being alive. In fact, you all saved not only me….but the café too.''

''Umm I appreciate the thanks, but what exactly did we do? And how exactly are you alive…..again?" As I ask him the question his face becomes cold and he pulls away from Reese. I've seen Graves upset but it has never looked like this. He realizes that his stern expression is upsetting me and he lets out a tired sigh.

''I wasn't killed by his magical attack. His powers are similar to mine, he is a warlock of metal." Graves looked down at his own hands as he spoke. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them back up it almost seemed like the brown eye glowed brighter. "He trapped me in a sort of….cocoon. It kept my soul trapped away from my body. After I transferred the Café to Avery I was weak, but as you all can now see I am back at 100 percent.''

''So what exactly just happened here? I mean we all stop being cats and then this creep shows up!" Finely shakes her head and nervously clutches her hands to her chest. "I knew something was going on with you Graves but this is crazy!" Landry puts a supportive hand on Finely's shoulder in an attempt to calm her.

''It's okay, we are all safe now.'' She smiles at him as he speaks and the shaking in her hands slowly stops

''Yes now that we are all safe I think it would be best if everyone went home." Graves flicked his wrists as he spoke and turned to the hotel. "It's a shame really, I was getting used to staying at this place.''

''Wait, what do you mean?" Hayes's voice is barely audible and when he spoke I jumped in surprise. He quickly backs up and hides himself away in his hoodie like he always does. "Oh! I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you.''

''No no, it's fine I just forgot you were here.'' I smile at Hayes and turn back to Graves, who is still looking at the Café. ''But he is right, what do you mean by you were getting used to this place?"

''Due to this attack I have no other choice than to close the Café.'' Graves ran his hand along the front door as he spoke. "It is far too dangerous to stay here. By now we have certainly caught the attention of some powerful witches.''

''But isn't the building warded against attacks?" As Reese speaks Mason nods in agreement.

''Tis safe here.'' Her brief words are enough to move even Graves from his stubborn position. His shoulders raise a bit as Mason speaks and he turns to face us.

''How can you say it is safe? You just fought with a Warlock over the place and barely survived!" Graves's voice is raised and it sends a chill down my spine. It is almost like there is fear in his voice, and whatever scares him must be something bad.

''Fought's a strong word.'' Mason cracks her knuckles as she speaks and a slight smirk reaches her face.

''We can't just abandon this place!" this time the person telling Graves off was Finley. I'm a bit surprised by it because she really didn't have anything connecting her to the Café.

''I've been studying that book you gave me; Mason too. We've learned magic and I'm sure everyone here can!" I reach into my jacket pocket and pull out the weird bookmark thingy that is required to read the magic text. "You gave this to me Graves, you wanted me to learn magic, What's changed?''

''Avery I….." Graves trails off as he looks at each of our faces. The looks we share are ones of desperation, anger, sadness, and even fear. Each of us have our own reasons for wanting to defend this Café and it seems Graves is realizing that. "This is a very magical place. The reason I cursed you all was because working at this place will eventually expose your magical powers. In the witching community it is….common practice to prey on the weaker and inexperienced witches and warlocks. So I used the curse to hide your magic, and with the curse now broken witches everywhere will sense the magic of this place….the magic of you all. And they will come to take it. Do you really think Nacht was the most powerful Warlock out there? His powers barely scratch the surface.'' Graves face is full of concern as he speaks and he looks at the floor.

''Wait? So you were just grooming us all along? Why the hell did you create this place if you knew how dangerous it was!" Landry's expression is full of anger as he speaks and when Finley tries to calm him he just pushes her off. "You knew how much I hate magic! Why risk our lives like this?"

''When I started this it was…..an experiment. I wanted to create a coven of sorts. Teach young warlocks and witches about magic and their powers.'' Graves crosses his arms as he speaks and looks down at the rings on his fingers. ''but I was to afraid of what could happen. After I realized how big of a target I created it was to late to go back. Reese, Mason, and you were already employees by this time. So I used the curse to mask your abilities and used wards to keep us safe.'' Graves flashes Landry a sad smile, but Landry just continues to glare.

''So why stop now? Why throw away all the work you've done? You could teach us!" as I speak Mason takes my hand and squeezes it.

''Ain't going no where anyways.'' Her brief words encourage me. Graves looks at all of us and realizes he is fighting a losing battle.

''It will be dangerous for you, for all of you. I've placed wards at all of your houses except Avery's but they don't protect against everything.'' As Graves speaks everything starts to make sense. He was gone all the time because he was making everyone's homes safe to be in. A shudder runs down my spine as I think about that creep Nacht busting into my home. "And if you children really wish to learn magic it won't be easy. There will be many hardships and I can not guarantee your safety.''

''When you were telling that Nacht guy off you called us a coven, that's like a family of witches right?" Finley holds up her phone as she speaks. "I googled it and that's what it said. We will be the most kickass coven ever!"

''Yeah! I don't care what it takes Graves. I'm ready to learn magic, all that stuff Avery taught us was lame as hell. I bet you know all the cool tricks!" As Reese speaks it hurts a bit to hear him call what I taught them lame, but he probably isn't wrong.

''There are a few steps I need to take for this to work. For starters I need to know who wishes to learn magic. You are not being forced into this, if any of you wish to quit and go back to your normal life no one will hold that against you.'' As Graves speaks pretty much everyone turns to Landry. His face hardens and he crosses his arms when he realizes everyone is looking at him.

''I need this job, that's the only reason I'm staying.'' He huffs his response and when he finishes speaking Finley wraps him up in a hug.

''I knew you liked us!" He just rolls his eyes and chuckles at her words.

''Okay, with that out of the way now I need to take ownership of the Café.'' As Graves speaks he turns to me and holds out a hand. My face reddens a bit and I start to back up but Mason pushes me forward. I look up at her and she gives me a reassuring look. "Tis okay.'' I nod my head and put my hand in Graves.

''Okay Avery, I need you to repeat my exact words. Say, I give it to you, all of it.'' As Graves speaks small orange orbs start to emanate from our hands.

"I…I give it to you, all of it.'' As I speak the small orbs disappear in the middle of Graves palm and he takes a deep breath. Nothing feels different but then again, when he first transferred the Café to me it didn't feel weird.

Graves lets go of my hand and walks back over to the large front door. "Okay my students, let's get to work!"

''Wait you're serious?" There is a spark in Reese's eye that can only be described as curiosity in its purest form.

''If you all wish to learn than I shall teach.'' Graves holds the door open and we all slowly walk back inside. Our little group all sits down at the tables we had scooted together earlier. Graves actually sits at the head of the table and lays his hands down on the surface of the table. "If this is going to work then I will teach magic after closing and you all may stay as long as you wish. You all will continue to work at the Café and we will keep it running during the day.''

''Sounds great! Café workers by day and witches by night!" Finely gives a thumbs up and takes a quick selfie. "My first pic as a witch in training! I wonder how many likes I'll get?"

''No.'' Graves voice is cold and when he speaks Finely lowers her phone. ''we must not bring attention to ourselves. Magic is not a common practice in the normal world, do you all recall the Salem Witch trials?"

''Umm isn't that that weird scary movie?" As I speak pretty much everyone laughs at me. My face reddens and I look up at Mason who is just slowly shaking her head.

''No Avery, they were a group of trials where many witches and warlocks were exposed and killed due to their powers.'' Graves lowers his head in sadness. His hand curls into a fist before he continues. "This is the most referenced witch hunt to date, but I can assure you they still very much happen. If we are going to practice magic we have to watch out for much more than just other witches.''

''T's shame that is happening.'' Mason's face remains blank as she speaks.

''Yeah, so we have to watch out for other witches and evil organizations that hunt witches. Is that about right?" Landry speaks common sense but it being said out loud does make me twinge in fear. Do we really have to learn magic in secret or face evil organizations and rogue witches?

''I'm afraid that is correct. So now you all know why we must be very secretive, and why I need to protect your homes with wards…why I had to turn you into cats.'' Graves quickly regains his composure and claps his hands together. "Well with all that history out of the way we need to figure out what needs warding. Is there any other places that require protection? Do any of you have relatives that live nearby, and Avery….i still need to ward your home.''

''Grandfather, needs protecing.'' Mason crosses her arms as she speaks and looks away from the group. ''can't let nothing hurt em.''

''is there anyone or anything else?" asked Graves as he nodded in Mason's direction. "We should take every precaution.'' No one else says anything so I guess everyone else's family is far away enough that they aren't worried about them. "Well okay then, Avery you brought my book here yes?"

''I….yeah I've got it. It's what we were using to learn about magic as quickly as we could.'' As I speak a sheepish expression reaches my face. I reach into my coat pocket and slowly hand him the book. "S-sorry for stealing that from you.''

''You did not steal anything that I did not intend for you to take." Graves smiled at me as he spoke and then stood up. "So it seems I have a little work to do. Miss Mason would you be so kind to guide me to your grandfathers, I will ward his home so that on the rare possibility that a witch hunts him down they will be stopped.'' Mason nods her head and stands up. "Go on, get up.'' she says to me which kind of catches me off guard.

''Y-you want me to come?" I ask as I point at my chest. She nods her head but Graves shakes his.

''No Avery, I will meet you at your home. Once I finish up with Mason I will head to your place of residence.'' Graves holds out his hand and I'm confused by what he wants. He realizes I'm confused and rolls his eyes. "Your address Avery, I require it." I chuckle a bit and grab a napkin. I nervously scribble down my aunt's address and hand it to him. "Thank you child, I will be over shortly. As for the rest of you. I suggest you remain here and read this text. Maybe you will unlock your powers if you do. And for those who already know of their powers, read the text as well. You always have more to learn.'' Graves stands up and he and Mason walk out of the hotel and go down the street that leads to the corner store. I watch them go and don't move from my spot, that is until Finley jumps me.

''Shouldn't you get going? I think you have some cleaning to do.'' She smirks at me as she speaks.

''I…what do you mean?" I'm confused by her words, I think the apartment is fine. ''and how do you know what my place looks like?"

''Well I mean, you've told us how messy it is!" Finley just shrugs as she speaks. ''And You've been up in Graves apartment, you know how picky he can be.'' As she speaks the situation hits me. Graves is coming over….to my apartment! I jump up from my seat and rush towards the front doors. "Wait! Do you need any help with cleaning?" I don't respond because I'm already out of the Café. The pain in my ankle gets worse as I run towards my street but this is more important. "Oh man this is bad! He is going to judge me so hard because of this!" I make it to my apartment in record time and quickly unlock the door. I jump inside and try to clean up as much as I can. In about twenty minutes the room is actually presentable and I hear a knock on the door. I stop in my tracks and silently try to keep cleaning.

"Avery I can sense your presence please open the door. It is a bit chilly out here.'' Graves voice defeats me and I let out a sigh. I open the door and force a smile as Graves walks in. He looks around the room and his face is one of pure disgust. "Did Nacht already ransack your home? I was to late to save your valuables, I am so sorry.''

''What? No, it's fine, no one has ransacked this place." My face is a bit red as I speak and I sheepishly kick my feet together. ''So how is Mason's grandfather?"

''Oh we did not awaken him, instead we just cast the wards and I was on my way.'' As Graves speaks he steps away from the pile of trash that is overflowing in the trash can. "I must say the condition of your home is…..disturbing.''

''Oh well I have just been a bit busy, reading that magic book you know?" I'm lying through my teeth but my justification seems to work for Graves. He just nods his head and crouches down by the front door. He begins to say some weird words and a few symbols are burned into the floor. "Wait if my Aunt sees that she will be pissed!" Graves doesn't respond and I realize that the symbols are gone. It's almost like the words sank into the floor. With both eyes closed Graves outstretches his hands and the whole room lights up. It's so bright I have to close my eyes. When I open them, Graves is standing right in front of me. I yelp in surprise and when I take a step back Graves grabs my shoulders.

''Avery…..you do not understand, but you saved everything. I cannot thank you enough.'' He pulls me into a hug and I am basically stunned frozen.

''I…ughh….yeah anytime!" I finally say as I pat his back. He pulls away and when he does he wipes a tear away from his blue eye.

''Well, it is getting rather late and you need to sleep if you are going to be up early for Mason.'' Graves winks his eye and my face turns a deep shade of red. A smirk reaches his lips as he steps out of the apartment. ''You will be completely safe now; these wards are very strong. While you work at the Café I will make my rounds to each home and keep these wards up. And when night comes we will train more, goodbye Avery.'' Graves pulls the door shut and I'm left alone in the center of my messy living room. After a bit of pondering what has happened I change into my Pajamas and climb into my bed, I finally realize how tired I am and sleep quickly overtakes me.