Agatha

"Here," Shepard says, as he scrolls through his mobile. He turns it around so Baz, Penelope, and I can see the screen.

Hey Jack! I forgot to mention I'm working on this translation with a friend of mine, Christopher. I copied his email address above so you can reply to us both. I appreciate the help! Let me know if there's anything else you need.

Shepard

"This is what he must have sent when he had the laptop," Shepard explains.

Baz looks like he might have a go at Shepard again, but I cut him off. "What did the translation say?" I ask.

Penelope takes the mobile from him and swipes through to pull up the spell again. "The spell is very old, but only works once according to the text here at the top. The mage who casts it can go back in time to change one thing in the past. They will be the only one to retain their memories. Whatever they decide to change will then set the future on a different course and they will continue their lives from that point."

"What do you think Christopher wants to change? Who is he?" Shepard asks.

"More importantly," Baz growls as he runs a hand through his hair in aggravation, "why does he need Simon?"

Penelope is reading over the email again. "I don't know who Christopher is, but my guess is he had ties to the Mage. The journal mentioned using 'C's connections" when planning the first vampire attack. Maybe he wants to try and bring the Mage back? Change the day he died?"

I shudder thinking about that afternoon. It's the whole reason I haven't been able to walk through the front gates at Watford again.

"Oh," Penelope says grimly as she stares at the screen. She looks up and locks eyes with Baz. "The spell requires a large amount of power from the individual performing it. I think the only one who could do it is…"

Baz finishes her sentence. "Simon."

Baz

Fiona's on her way with Nicodemus. I called her because I'm hoping she can find Simon like she found me when I was kidnapped. I let her know about the spell we found and about Christopher. I haven't told her about all the other journals and what it said about my mother's murder. The main priority right now is finding Simon.

Bunce says the spell has to be done during the night of a new moon. That's two nights from now, which give us less than 48 hours to find Snow. I don't like the odds.

I'm pacing around the main room of my flat while the others are still in my bedroom. I hear them talking in hushed tones. Before I walked out to call Fiona, they kept looking at me like they used to look at Snow when he was about to go off. I don't blame them. I feel the way I did in the desert before I literally ripped that NowNext leader apart. If I had just stayed with Simon tonight…

When I walk near the door, I can smell Snow's blood from the hallway. It's making it hard to think clearly. I move to the kitchen to get a towel to clean it up when I see the refrigerator. My picture from the nursery is still up there, but Simon must have put the picture with his mother next to it. The way it's angled, it looks like he's gazing down at me in the photo with my mother.

Bunce comes up behind me and puts a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Baz," she says softly.

I turn away from her to hide my face and walk into the hallway. I could spell the blood away, but instead I wipe it up and burn the towel in my palm until there's nothing left but ash. Bunce watches me silently from the doorway. I stare at the black powder as it slips through my fingers onto the floor and then turn to face her.

"We have an idea of how we can try to communicate with Simon. I'm not totally sure it will work, but we should try something while we wait for your aunt, yeah?" I stay silent, so she walks forward and tugs on my arm. "C'mon. They should be done setting it up."

I let her lead me back to my room. When we get there, I see they've moved some of the furniture around so there is more space for what appears to be a large chalk circle on the floor with a moon and star drawn at its center. Shepard is placing a pillow down at the top as Wellbelove lights a few candles she must have grabbed from my bathroom.

"What's this?" I ask as Bunce lets go of my arm.

"I met a psychic once who was a dreamwalker. She helped a friend of mine reconnect with a sister she had been separated from long ago," Shepard says as he moves to the side of the circle. "She taught me how to perform the ceremony, but I think it still requires some magic behind it."

I look at the symbols on the floor skeptically. "Are you going to try and contact Snow in your dream?" I ask Bunce.

"No- I think it has to be you," she says. "You have the strongest connection being the anchor."

I fold my arms. "This is ridiculous."

I'm surprised to hear Wellbelove speak next. "Just try it Basil!" she huffs. "We have nothing to lose and we don't have a lot of time. It might not work, but if it does you can ask Simon where he is and we can run in and save the day."

"We?" Bunce asks, raising an eyebrow at her.

Wellbelove sighs and rolls her eyes. "We need some sage to burn. Do you have any?" she asks me.

"It's in the cabinet over the stove," I say. When she walks out, I turn to Bunce. "How does this work?"

"You'll lay in the center of the circle. You need to focus your mind completely on Simon when I begin. It should transport you to his dream if it works. I'm not sure how long you'll stay so find out as much as you can." She takes a seat behind the pillow on the floor.

Wellbelove returns with the sage and hands some to Shepard as she takes her seat opposite of him around the circle. The three of them look up at me expectantly.

I sigh and move to lay down in the center. Wellbelove conjures sparks in her palm to light the sage in her hand and then in Shepard's. They start waving it slowly over me.

"Close your eyes," Bunce says as she move her fist over my face. She's drawing on her gem for power as she starts chanting something in Spanish.

Once she stops speaking, I open my eyes. "I told you this wouldn't-"

I fall silent when I realize I'm not at my flat anymore. I'm laying outside my old room at the Hampshire estate. There's an empty bowl and two forks sitting on the ground beside me. I stand up. I left dishes outside my room nightly, but the only time there were two forks was… Simon. I feel hope rise in my chest.

I reach out to open the door. It's quiet inside except the light crackling of the fireplace. I walk towards it and see Snow laying on the ground in front of it with his arms behind his head and his eyes closed. He's wearing my football jersey and pajama bottoms.

"Simon," I whisper as I move closer.

"Baz," he says as if he's been expecting me. I kneel down beside him and see blood smeared on the sleeve of my jersey. I reach out to it.

"Simon are you hurt? Are you ok?" I ask while looking him over for injuries.

He moves his arms out from behind his head and takes me by the collar, pulling me urgently to his lips. He's kissing me and though I know I don't have a lot of time, I let him. My body's pressed into his and he rolls me over so I am on my back. He props himself up on all fours above me. "Baz," he says with so much longing that I feel entranced by his voice. But Bunce's words also echo in my head.

I'm not sure how long you'll stay…

I slide away from him quickly and sit up. He sits back on his feet confused.

"Simon- it's me. I'm really here in your dream. Bunce sent me to find out where you are," I explain as Simon's eyes grow wide. "Are you at my family's old estate? In Hampshire?" I ask.

He looks like he's about to tell me something and then reconsiders. "No," he says quietly.

"Do you know where you are?" I press again, moving closer to grab his hand.

He looks down at our hands, but doesn't say anything.

"Simon- we got the spell translated. It's for time travel. Bunce thinks this Christopher who took you may be trying to go back in time to save the Mage." I continue trying to catch Simon up so he can tell me something helpful before we are pulled apart again. "Is there anything you saw that would help us-"

"He's not going back to save the Mage," Simon interrupts.

"What? Do you know what he wants to do?" I squeeze Simon's hand and use my other one to turn his head towards me. "Simon," I begin, but stop when I see a tear roll down his cheek.

He tries to smile at me, but his eyes are full of despair. "I didn't think I'd get a chance to say goodbye," he says.

I pull my hands away and stand up. "We're going to save you! You just need to tell us where you are!" I demand.

"I'm doing this for you," he says, looking pleadingly in my eyes as he stands up across from me.

"What are you talking about?" His tone is scaring me more than his words. It reminds me how I felt on that beach with him in California.

"Baz, I'm the thing that needs to be changed. I should have never been part of the world of mages. Everything that happened- our mothers, Ebb, you becoming a vampire, the Humdrum…it was my fault. He can fix it. He can take it from me."

"Christopher is going back in time to take your magic?" I ask, trying to make sense of what Snow is telling me.

"Not Christopher," Simon says as he starts to turn away again. I grab his hand and hold it to my chest, drawing him back.

"Then who?" I beg him. "What aren't you telling me?"

Simon looks down at the ground when he says his next words. "My father."

I jerk back from him, dropping his arm. "What? But he's dead."

Simon looks back up at me. "Not anymore."

Rage boils over my skin, but I remember my time is limited and go over Snow's words in my head carefully.

"You're going to let him take it- your magic." I say. Simon nods. His jaw is set with determination, but I see fear in his eyes.

"He made a vow to keep our mothers, Ebb, and you safe. I know you never wanted this life." He brings his hand up to my neck where I was bitten so long ago. "You wouldn't have to be a vampire."

My eyes widen in horror as I feel the full impact of his words. "What will happen to you?"

"He's going to absorb my power instead of killing my mum. He says that he'll send us away to California and that I'll be a Normal, and…"

"And we'll never meet." I finish for him.

"Baz," Snow says as he closes the gap between us. He brushes his lips against mine, but I pull away from him this time.

"No. You can't do this! Even if the Mage is telling the truth, how do you know a world without you will be better? How am I supposed to get up every day knowing what I've lost?" I yell at him.

Simon reaches up and wipes the tears off my cheek and then grabs the sides of my face. "You won't remember."

We hear a distant sound like stones piling up on each other. Snow turns to look over his shoulder. "I think my uncle's back," he says anxiously and then looks at me. "We only have a minute."

"Your uncle?" I start to ask, but Simon's lips are pressed against mine again. He's kissing me like it's the end of the world and I worry this time it may be true.

I pull away from him after a few seconds. "Tell me where you are. Please!" I whisper as I hold both his hands between our chests now.

"I love you," he says to me. "I think a part of me always will even if..." We hear the slam of a door and the room starts to fade around us. Simon starts walking away from me. I move to follow him.

"Simon!" I yell. I almost reach his hand again when I trip over something on the floor. I look down at my feet. It's a toy train…

"Baz!" I hear Bunce call out and my eyes fly open. Her hands are cradling the sides of my head. "Are you ok? Did you find him? You were screaming and we didn't know if-"

I push myself off the floor and cover my face with my hands, rubbing my fingers over my forehead while I try to think.

The Mage is alive. He's going to destroy Simon's life. And Simon's going to let him because he loves me. Because he wants to save me from a life as a vampire without my mother.

But I would never choose a life without Simon. I should have said that. I should have told him.

Angry tears sting my eyes and I move out of my bedroom as the pain of what's to come washes over me. I hear the others follow cautiously behind me, hanging back slightly as if they can feel the rage radiating from inside me.

I drop my hands from my face and see my violin propped up in the corner. I walk over and pick it up, examining it carefully. I think about all the times I played for Simon. Then I violently smash it against the wall.

"Basil," I hear Fiona say. She's standing in the doorway with Nicodemus behind her. She moves wordlessly over to me and takes me in her arms.

Penelope

I thought Simon was dead when Baz came out of the spell. I thought we were too late.

We might still be too late.

I made Baz tell us everything once he had calmed down enough. I started mentally writing a What We Know column in my head again.

1. Christopher is Lucy's brother, Kit. The Mage didn't have any siblings. Agatha had heard from her maid, Helen, that Kit never attended Watford because he wasn't magical enough. That was exactly the kind of policy the Mage was trying to reform, so it makes sense that they became allies along the way.

2. The Mage is alive. We don't know how, but I know Simon has said he never meant to kill the Mage in the Chapel. My best guess is his words had a temporary affect.

3. The Mage needs to absorb Simon's power to do the spell. He wants to go back in time and take Simon's magic from him as a baby to rewrite history with himself as the hero.

4. Simon is willingly going to let the Mage take his power because he truly believes we'd all be better off without him. That we'd want a different life.

I never befriended Simon because he was smart. Quite the opposite actually.

"Damn!" Baz's aunt shouts as she swings her arm out in frustration and knocks the map she's been trying to use with her spell on the floor.

Agatha and I are sitting across from Fiona on the sofa with Baz between us. He's gone quiet again.

Shepard is sitting at my feet with his legs pulled up to his chest as he watches Fiona work. Nicodemus hasn't moved away from the front door since he came in.

"What's wrong?" I ask Fiona.

She lets out a frustrated sigh and tries her best not to sneer at me when she responds. "I can't get the finding spell to stick. I feel it working and then it just stops like someone is cutting the circuit."

I turn to Baz. "Hey," I say gently. "I know it's hard to think about but do you remember anything from the dream that would tell you where Simon is?"

He gets up from the sofa and starts walking towards the kitchen. "I already told you. We were at my family's estate in Hampshire, but Snow said that wasn't where he was."

"Do you think he was lying to you?" I ask. "To prevent you from stopping him?"

Baz shakes his head. "I don't think so." He turns and leans back against the counter, folding his arms over his chest.

Baz

"It was Simon's dream, right?" Shepard asks.

I nod. "It was a memory of when he was with me over Christmas break that year."

"Was anything different from how you remember it?" Shepard continues.

I stop and think about it. "His clothes were different. He was wearing my football jersey and pajama bottoms Bunce bought him last year. There was blood on the sleeve."

"So maybe those were the clothes he was wearing when Christopher took him," Shepard suggests. "And if those were different, maybe other details were different, too."

Bunce looks at me hopefully. "Was anything else altered? Even the smallest clue could help us."

I close my eyes and try to pull the image of the dream back into my mind. All I can think about is Snow's face as he started fading away. I tried to get to him…

My eyes fly open again. I immediately walk over and pull the photo of me in the nursery off the fridge. At the bottom right corner of the photo is a small toy train.

I turn around abruptly to face the others. "I know where Simon is."