October sat up with a sharp gasp, eyes wide, and heart pounding.

She looked around frantically, trying to place the dark room.

Sheets rustled next to her.

"October? Are you okay?" a diminutive voice whispered in the darkness, but she knew it was Marco who asked. He was the lightest sleeper out of all his brothers.

The remnants of her dream were already fading and she suddenly forgot what had jolted her awake.

She leaned back against the bed's headboard and breathed a sigh of relief as she placed her surroundings. They were in one of the boy's rooms in the hotel. A safe place. Home.

"I'm okay. Just a bad dream I think."

Marco yawned loudly and shuffled around until he sat beside her, his head resting on her shoulder. She felt a little bad for waking him up. He probably wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now.

An unexpected thought occurred to her. "Hey Marko, how did we get back to the hotel? What happened at my sister's?"

He yawned again, his breath warm against her neck. "You don't have to worry about that anymore," he told her dismissively before he brushed a kiss against her jaw.

October immediately wanted to press him for more answers, a sudden sense of urgency filling her with anxiety but the feeling left her just as suddenly when Marco dragged his lips over the shell of her ear.

"Let's get out of here. The others can meet up with us later," he whispered into her ear, voice full of mischief.

October licked her lips, her thoughts scattering. "Okay."

With complete disregard for the other slumbering members of their tribe, Marco and October crawled over their unconscious forms with barely stifled laughter. The next thing October knew, the two of them were speeding along empty roads towards a closed boardwalk.

She had no idea what time it was. It had to have been late because the sky was still a dark indigo so she wasn't worried for her vampire companion. Plus, it felt good to not worry about how much time there was until daylight spoiled their fun. For a moment she could pretend they had all the time in the world. Which, technically she supposed they did.

When they arrived at the empty boardwalk, Marco took her hand and led her down to the beach where they laid down in the sand, their fingers still intertwined.

This was nice. Between Marco laying beside her and the sound of waves crashing in the distance, October was content.

"I could get used to this," she remarked absently, curling into Marco's side, her head resting on his chest.

Marco chuckled and pulled her closer to him. "It doesn't have to end you know. Living with us? We could be together forever."

Her face scrunched up. "Witches don't live forever, Marco. At least, not in the same way you do."

He became silent.

She didn't like it, so she swung her leg over his waist and straddled him. He was forced to look up at her. His hands came to rest on her hips.

She started to lean down towards him and her eyes fluttered closed.

"You could live forever the same way we do," he told her when there was just a hair's breadth left between their mouths, causing her to stop short.

Her eyes cracked open and she looked down into his, searching.

She didn't know what to say. Was he suggesting… she turn?

The idea wasn't totally out there, she mused. Hell, she had been well on her way to becoming a vampire in her past life as Rose.

"Tell me you'll at least think about it?" he pleaded, rubbing comforting circles into her hips.

"I-" she bit her lip, unsure how to respond.

Why was she hesitating?

Something about that moment felt...off. But her witch's mark wasn't burning like it usually did when there was about to be trouble. Although, she was feeling a bit hot all over. She dismissed the sensation, blaming Marco for making her so hot and bothered.

"There you guys are!" Paul's unexpected voice called out. "You snuck out on us you jerks!"

October jerked her head in his direction and was blinded momentarily by the sunlight beating down on the beach.

"W-hoa, w-wait," she breathed shakily, panic seizing her entire body.

She scrambled to her feet, her raised trembling hands doing little to block the light from her eyes.

"Nononono! NO!" she cried, reaching for the magic at her fingertips, already thinking of a dozen spells to protect her loved ones. "You guys have to get out of here! The sun's up already!"

She cast her gaze about wildly, completely baffled as to why they weren't the slightest bit worried about their imminent annihilation.

Dwayne caught her wrists and forced her to lower her hands. She squinted at him in the light.

"Look," he said, nodding at the ground.

She did.

There was no shadow at his feet or any of the others for that matter.

"What the…"

David approached her cautiously, tilting her head to look up at him as he examined her face. "You don't remember that spell you used? After everything went down with the widow? The sunlight can't touch us now."

She had trouble following what he was telling her. The cogs in her head refusing to turn. She shook her head, trying to jumpstart her brain into catching up. There was something she was supposed to be remembering. Something crucial.

"Spell? There's a spell for that?" she mumbled, sounding unsure.

Of course there's a spell for that. The thought popped into her head and suddenly she felt silly for not remembering.

"Of course there's a spell for that!" she laughed.

"Atta girl!" Paul hollered, slapping her on the back. "Let's get you some water. You're probably still drunk on Marco's kisses," he teased.

She gasped in mock-offense. "Excuse you? How dare?"

Marco smacked his lips in a kiss and winked at her. Everybody laughed.

The five of them trudged back up the beach, weaving between the other beach goers October hadn't noticed before. In fact, the entire beach was packed with people enjoying the sand and the ocean. She felt unsteady from how easily she lost track of time. Hadn't it been night a minute ago?

Marco threw his arm around her, interrupting her musings. "It's going to be a great day. I can just tell."

She agreed and then all she could think about was how happy she was at that moment even as the sunlight beat down on the beach, searing her skin.


Why couldn't she remember what happened that night with her sister?

The feeling that something was horribly wrong had returned sevenfold, not to mention where she was feeling a little hot before she was now sweltering.

Her and the Lost Boys had returned to the hotel after their day at the boardwalk had passed in a blur. She couldn't recall anything after Paul, Dwayne, and David interrupted her and Marko.

"I can't remember…" she mumbled to herself before trailing off.

"You say something October?" David asked her from where he sat in his wheelchair.

She wiped beads of sweat from her brow. "Did I?" she asked, unsure.

She was perched on the fountain ledge with no idea how she had gotten there.

"I don't feel right," she whimpered, turning away.

"October?" Dwayne questioned, coming to stand in front of her.

Her gaze wandered around the room, taking in the space, focusing on the little details. Everything was a little blurry around the edges..

"Something's wrong. It's too hot," she groaned, turning around to stare into the fountain water running down the stone. "Need to wake up…"

You are awake. The thought appeared unbidden in her mind.

"I am awake," she parroted to the water.

Wait.

Through the disarray of her thoughts she was able to make sense of one thing. There was someone in her head and it wasn't her.

"This isn't real."

"What isn't real? You're kinda scaring me babe," Paul told her from where he had joined her on the fountain ledge.

"Maybe she's having a bad trip?" Marco suggested from the other side of the fountain.

David stood up from the wheelchair and rounded the fountain. He claimed the other spot next to her on the ledge. "I can make it stop October."

Dwayne stepped closer, pressing the back of his hand to her forehead. "You're feverish."

His cold hand felt ridiculously good against her skin and she leaned into it. For a moment she doubted herself.

Maybe this was real.

David took her hand and wrapped her fingers around a glass bottle. Dark liquid sloshed around inside, staining the glass red. She stared at David in confusion.

"Drink and then you'll feel better."

She opened her mouth to object but no words came out.

Why was she resisting? This was something she wanted, wasn't it?

Just give in. Stop fighting. The thought was insistent. So insistent that October found herself raising the bottle to her lips against her better judgement and took a swig.

She dropped the bottle as soon as she realized what she had done. Blood spilled across the floor.

"Be one of us October," David grinned devilishly as he reached out and shoved her into the fountain.

She went under, her arms flailing to gain a bit of leverage to pull herself up. Righting herself against the base of the fountain, she realized that the water had turned into blood and it was pouring down on her just like the infamous scene in Carrie at the dance.

She closed her eyes and screamed while the Lost Boys laughed.

The witches mark on the nape of her neck burned like it was on fire which distracted her from the quake that shook the lobby until the walls came crashing down around them.

Her eyes snapped open.

The hotel was gone.

The boys were gone.

She was still in the widow's basement, pinned down by iron nails on a table like an insect on display.

"Put her under again damn it!" the widow herself, Maud, shrieked.

"I can't! She won't stop fighting me!" Her other sister, Jess, shouted in frustration.

October's mouth was paper dry. It really felt like she was burning up from the inside and there was a long matching cut running the length of her arms.

"You don't have to do this," she rasped, her throat scratchy and dry as all hell.

Maud scowled at her from the foot of the table. "Yes. Yes, I really do." For the first time ever, October was actually terrified of her sister.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe Hecate placed me in your path all those centuries ago to keep you safe? To protect you?" October tried to reason.

"That's what you were doing when you sicced vampire hunters on my husband? You were 'protecting' me?" Maud sneered, her eyes burning with hatred. "You took everything from me. Now I'm going to take everything from you."

Hooks dug into October's neck and pulled, it felt like. She tasted blood in the back of her throat.

She screamed. "FUCK! Stop! Please stop!"

"Maud, this is crazy even for you," Jess spat from the head of the table.

Maud dangled a porcelain doll in Jess' direction. October recognized the object for what it really was. An effigy*, which explained why Jess was helping Maud at all. She didn't have a choice.

"You'll do what I tell you no matter what. Now keep going."

The little girl jutted out her chin in defiance. "Fine," she complied begrudgingly.

October watched upside as Jess hefted the leather bound book up in her arms and closed her eyes. She recognized the book for what it was as well. A malleus maleficarum**, and from the way the lights flickered and how the house shook; it was a real one.

Whispers echoed around the room as the spell resumed.

This might actually kill me, she thought to herself.

"You can't do this! Please, stop!" she cried out, writhing in agony.

Black ichor welled up along the deep gashes on her arms and her eyes rolled back in pain.

No...it can't end like this. I can't lose the boys again. I just got them back…

"YES! It's working!" Maud exclaimed in triumph as she dropped the effigy and held out her hands. "Your magic is mine."

The inky black ichor trickled down October's arms, pulled in Maud's direction like a magnet. Rivulets of ink stretch up, up into the air, detaching from her body completely and reaching for Maud's awaiting fingertips… before it splattered against the dirty basement floor.

Maud blinked in confusion. "Jessica, what just hap-"

The little girl no longer held the malleus maleficarum. Instead, in her small hands she clutched an effigy that looked exactly like Maud.

"I'm sorry, sister, but you brought this on yourself. May Hecate have mercy on your soul."

October and Maud looked on in horror as Jessica reared back her arm and sent the effigy into the cement wall where it shattered on impact.

October's passed out to the sound of her sister's screams.


The next time October wrenched her eyes open, she knew instantly she was elsewhere. Elsewhere, as in she was somehow on an entirely different plane of existence.

Although, technically speaking, she was standing on a railroad bridge which normally wouldn't be considered strange or otherworldly.

What really gave away the peculiarity of this world was the pulsing of the moon in the sky and how the light illuminating its surface waxed and waned by the second.

"Well if it isn't two out of three Weird Sisters."

October dragged her attention away from the hypnotic moonlight and realized she was not alone on the bridge. Maud stood beside her looking equally stunned to see her and before them was another woman whose appearance seemed to wax and wane at the same pace as the moon. First, she was no older than a young child. Then October blinked and that young child had matured into a grown woman. October blinked again and saw the grown woman was now an old crone. Another blink, another phase of the moon October realized, the old crone was once again a young child.

"Hecate," Maud named the girl aloud.

The goddess smiled at the other woman. "It's been a long time."

October glanced from one woman to the other in confusion. "How is this possible? Isn't my vampire sister banned or something from your domain? You know, because she's a fucking vampire."

Hecate inclined her head, a patient smile on her wrinkled lips. "It is true only a witch may enter my domain and it is true your sister forsook the gift I gave her to become a vampire. However, a little bit of your magic, October, did touch your sister. It was enough that I was able to snatch her up from the beyond and bring her here so we can chat."

Maud scowled at Hecate. "The beyond? You don't mean to say that I died."

October snorted. "Ha! Our big sister totally stabbed you in the back! Serves you right."

Maud rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You died too, genius."

Her older sister's words slowly sunk in. October's eyes widened briefly with alarm before slanting with utter disbelief.

"Shit!"

She ran her fingers through her hair as a lump of emotion built up in the back of her throat. There were so many loose ends she hadn't been able to tie up, specifically four of them. Was David even okay? Was Dwayne, Paul, and Marco going to find her dead body, bloodied and splayed on a table?

They had had a second chance to be together and she hadn't been able to say goodbye this time...

"Ahem," Hecate cleared her throat, gaining their attention again.

October looked to Hecate through a sea of tears.

Sympathy was etched into her features. "I hate to be the bearer of more bad news…" she hesitated.

Maud sighed, her rigid posture softening into something more resigned. "I can take a guess where this is going."

October immediately picked up what wasn't being said. "Neither of us are witches anymore because my magic is gone and Maud is technically a vampire which means-"

"Which means you're no longer under my protection," Hecate finished.

October's breath stuttered.

She was never going to see her boys ever again.

"So what happens now?" Maud cut in.

She glanced at her sister forlornly.

She couldn't even bring herself to believe that this was all Maud's fault. She knew part of the blame belonged to her. If only she had been able to convince Maud that her "one true love" was anything but before she turned. Or, hell, maybe she shouldn't have meddled in her sister's love life at all and let them ruin each other. Then, none of this would have happened.

Hecate clasped her small hands, her young and delicate features becoming stern. "You have a choice to make. It's a one time deal, so you have to be sure."

October wiped her eyes. "What's the deal?"

"I can offer you one more lifetime. A new one. A final chance to start over as ordinary humans."

Maud scoffed, placing her hands on her hips. "Ordinary humans? We wouldn't even have magic anymore?"

October clenched her now trembling hands into fists. "And when we die, we just… die?"

Hecate nodded solemnly. "Like I said before. It's a one time deal."

Maud pursed her lips. "And you probably won't tell us what era you're going to drop us off in."

The goddess mimed zipping her mouth shut.

Maud sneered. "I'll pass."

If she didn't know any better, October would say Hecate looked a little sad. Regardless, the goddess stepped aside and swept her arm in the direction behind her towards the other end of the bridge.

"Then you may cross this bridge and move on."

October watched silently as her sister brushed past her, her lips parted as though she was about to tell her something. Only, she wasn't sure what she wanted to say. She struggled to find the words. I'm sorry? I hate you, but I don't really? Goodbye? Nothing seemed to fit the bill. This would be the last time she saw Maud in any lifetime. She knew she had to make it count.

"I'll miss you," she told her sister's back.

Maud paused and October wondered if she would say something.

She didn't.

October watched as her sister continued on, head held high, back straight, and then disappeared on the other side of the bridge.

Hecate sidled up to her then. "So I take it you wish to take the deal?"


Notes: *A roughly made model of a particular person, made in order to be damaged or destroyed as a protest or expression of anger.

**The first comprehensive book of witchcraft and witchcraft prosecution.

(And this wasn't an asterisk but I felt I should include the info anyway for readers who aren't familiar with Greek mythology): Hecate was the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts and necromancy.