Waking up the morning Nathan found himself staring weirdly at the ceiling. He had a dream, or well, dreams. He couldn't remember the content of them exactly, but he knew there were three of them and in one of them he did the nasty with Josie. Which might have been why there was a tent forming. With a groan, he quickly got out of bed and dashed right into the bathroom to make the problem shrink away.

The school seemed to be in some sort of a festive mood, Nathan noticed as he walked down the hall. The students looked full of life than previously and more smiles were going around. And he knew why. The talent show Wade had informed him. The talent show that was going to be held today. Nathan was never one for those, even if he had taken part in one when he was younger. He couldn't remember why he did it. But he was sure that he would never do it again and that was a promise he intended to keep even today.

The Entrance Hall as Nathan had started to call it, was full of excited students chattering and eating small pastries. And from the corner of the room, a certain auburn-haired femme was waving to him. Eyes blinking in surprise Nathan walked over to the group there. He was surprised about the mood Hope was in. For one he had never seen the girl smile like this, so frequent and free. Like she did not have the stress at all. It wasn't that he didn't like it. On the contrary, he loved that for her, she deserved the smiles. But it did settle uneasily for him. Something was up here.

"Hello, there handsome number three" Hope greeted him, making him blink rapidly at her, trying to not let his jaws hang loose. Yup, there was definitely something she was on.

"Hi?" he greeted in confusion. To his side he found Josie standing with her twin, smiling at him. That made him smile a bit wider. "hey there" he greeted.

"Hi" the brunette greeted back, her smile growing just a tad wider. "How are you?"

"I'm alright" he answered, "how was the trip?"

"It was good. Much needed" the brunette nodded.

"Tell her about the monster" Hope nudged Nathan's leg. "And how you totally made it submit to your will."

"I did not" Nathan scoffed but Landon added his agreement to his girlfriend's words.

"He totally force choked that Oneiroi" Landon added, his reference going over everyone but Nathan's head.

"English, Landon" Lizzie asked nicely, another surprise for Nathan. Since when has Lizzie been nice to Landon?

"He used his telekinesis to make the thing float" Landon grumbled, looking put out that no one got his reference.

"Really?" Josie turned to Nathan, her eyes widening just a bit and her smile more in awe. "You can do that now?"

"It got easier" Nathan rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "The thing hit a personal note and I got mad. And well, I was bad at controlling my rage. Hope killed it though. Arrows in the eyes."

"Your assist was appreciated" Hope insisted, her smile still gracing her lips.

"Right anyways" Nathan turned to everyone now. "Any of you taking part in the talent show tonight?"

A musical chime made everyone turn to the speaker in the corner of the room. "If I could have your attention" the headmaster's voice came through it. "Last night we were able to capture a monster here on the grounds. We have everything under control. But given this potential danger, it is with a heavy heart that I must postpone the talent show" a round of groans went around the room at the announcement. Nathan noticed Josie deflate beside him "Hopefully, we'll be able to reschedule this... unique event. At a later date. A much, much later date."

"He doesn't sound like he's saying that with a heavy heart" Nathan pointed out.

"Kind of overkill if you ask me." Hope stated. "I told your dad that a unicorn barely counts as a monster."

"Wait, our new monster's a Unicorn?" Nathan asked and Hope gave a nod. "Oh sweet! I have got to see that!"

"Wait, you want to go see the monster?" Landon asked. "It's definitely here for the urn. Meaning it can harm you."

"The worst it can do is ram its horn straight through my heart" Nathan rolled his eyes. "I'll be alright" he stated before taking a few steps back and rushing out the room.

"He'll get himself killed one of these days with how much he gets excited about these things" Landon muttered with a shake of his head, Raf and Josie seeming to agree with that statement.

Outback Nathan found the Unicorn feeding on grass that Dorian was feeding it. Nathan walked up to the man and gently tapped on his back. Making the guy jump a little.

"Don't creep up on a man like that" he muttered, giving Nathan a light glare.

"Sorry" the boy grinned, "So that's the Unicorn huh?" he asked, looking to the horned horse. "You think I can go and pet it?"

"I would prefer if you don't" Dorian looked at the boy as if he was mad. "It's still the monster that came for the urn."

"If it charges at me with its horn, I'll be sure to jump out the way" Nathan muttered, earning another incredulous look. "You think there's some kind of spell that lets us talk to animals?"

"Maybe" Dorian gave a shrug. "There are many spells out there. And even more that have been lost to time" that statement had Nathan turn to him with a curious glance.

"Lost to time?" asked the boy.

"Yeah. Either the coven just lost touch with magic and the spells faded until no one knows about them. Or the coven got destroyed somehow" he explained. "Sometimes it's the language. People forget the older languages over time. So the spells written in the old language just get lost and discarded."

Nathan nodded at that, his mind taking him to the thoughts of his own coven. If the Necromancer was right, then he had one. And that meant something must have happened to them. He didn't believe this part, but the Necromancer was right about his mental abilities. It was during his late-night musings that he realized that he was able to trap the Oneiroi in his dreamscape. That the chain may have been his doing. The dreamscape was part of his mind after all. Maybe he should take the Necromancer's word of advice on this matter.

His eyes caught something on Dorian's leg and he asked the man to stay still. With a thought, he made separated the thing from Dorian's leg, a worm, and had it floating in between them. "What kind of an insect is this?" Nathan asked, looking at it with a confused frown.

"I think" Dorian muttered, closing in to look at it with a frown, "this is our monster."

"Mr. Williams" Hope's voice made them both turn to the side. Hope and Landon were walking towards them with intent. "We need your help. Dr. Saltzman's been MIA, and this slug came out of my ear."

"Kinda like that one" Landon pointed to the thing floating beside Nathan.

"That one was on me. Nathan here spotted it" the librarian informed the two. "I think our harmless friend the Unicorn brought it on campus" he added. The Unicorn began to neigh and all four looked around at it. It began to go crazy before falling on its knees and then to its side before remaining still.

"See" Hope mumbled, her voice soft and slightly cracking. "Harmless."

"And dead" Nathan pointed out blankly. Dorian brought over a jar and Nathan put the slug thing inside of it. "You think this thing killed it?"

"I think we are dealing with a parasite" Dorian answered. "And once it's done with its host, it simply lets them die" his lips pursed. "I was hoping this was the only one. But seeing as how Hope here was infected too, there's probably more of them."

"We better find a way to deal with this before we lose an urn and a whole bunch of students" Nathan muttered and the four moved back to the school and headed straight for the library. Dorian put the slug jar on the table before all four of them looked through the shelves for any book that might be of help to them. Time passed by without them much noticing and night fell over them.

"Okay," Dorian brought over one last book and placed it onto the pile on the desk, "we have no idea how long the unicorn was infected before it keeled over, so we should figure this out right now." He looked at the thing and narrowed his eyes on it. "It's hitched a ride in the Unicorn and got here, like a Trojan Horse. And then it moved on to us. And from what Hope described, it latches on to the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with inhibitions"

"So, I was slug drunk" the auburn-haired girl stated with a look of disgust on her face.

"Since we have multiple slugs, it must replicate inside the host, and then lie in wait for the opportunity to infect someone else" Dorian continued.

"I'm good on the gory details, thank you" the girl commented again, looking just as grossed out as before. "So how do we stop it?" she questioned.

"That's the weird part. I can't find any ancient legends about a creature like this" the librarian frowned.

"Since it is a parasite, we won't know who is infected. For all we know, some of the darker legends were influenced by this thing from the shadows" Nathan added, looking at the slug on the table. "And the only way to stop it is to shock the host and get the slug to shoot out of it. Like it did with Hope. But how does this thing work?"

"Mind control" Landon spoke. " Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The Faculty. I say again, Wrath of Khan! Sci-fi is our modern-day myths! Meaning they have to be inspired by something, right? In those movies, it's all about mind control. Before the slug popped out, Hope wanted to take the urn someplace."

"I'm guessing Malivore" Nathan muttered under her breath.

"So, it's like an infection. It gets worse as it spreads" Dorian added. "Stage one, it lowers your inhibitions. Makes you act out of character. Stage two, once you're susceptible to suggestions, you'll do whatever the slug wants."

"Till stage three" Nathan added.

"You go the way of the Unicorn" Landon muttered, lips pursed thin. The team looked at one another, digesting the information. Hope picked up the jar and looked at it closely.

"Did you see this?" she asked, turning the jar around in her hand. "Parts of this thing is bioluminescent."

"Let me check that out" Dorian took the jar from Hope. Shuffling through his bag he took out a flashlight. He put it on the jar after flicking it on and watched the insides glow green.

"Woah," Nathan, Landon, and Hope said in unison, leaning forward to take a look at the jar.

"See that?" Dorian asked, moving the light around the jar. His eyes flickered to Hope and he moved the light over to her. Slowly he trailed the light up her body and stopped at her face. The three of them saw a trail leading from the side of her face and into her nose. The three made a face at that.

"I don't want to know, do I?" Hope asked and the three shook their heads in the negative. Dorian handed the three each a light and sent them on their ways, the black lights being able to tell them just who was infected and who wasn't. Hope, Landon, and Nathan split up, Hope and Landon going together while Nathan moved to check the places where the talent show was not taking place.

The floor was full of drag marks as Nathan traveled the light over them. His main aim was to check the upstairs to see if anyone was there or not. The slug trails led to pretty much every room, but none of those rooms had people in them. Nathan was satisfied that every room on the upper floor was empty, meaning everyone was wherever the talent show was taking place. He didn't know where that was, he wasn't paying attention. When he walked down the stairs, he was approached by Josie, looking at him with an excited smile that lit up her whole face.

"Josie? Wha-" his question came to an abrupt end when Josie grabbed him by the front of his shirt and yanked him towards her. She slammed her lips onto his and put her arms around the back of his neck.

"I've been wanting to do this since the day I saw you" she mumbled against his lips before resuming to kiss him. Nathan was too surprised to act on the kiss at first, but once the shock had passed he melted into it and kissed her with no hesitation. The two only separated once they were both finding it hard to breathe. Josie leaned her forehead against his, panting slightly while she looked at Nathan with a goofy smile.

"I thought you liked Penelope" Nathan mumbled, looking right into her eyes.

"I do" Josie nodded, her eyes looking to the side. His eyes followed her gaze and he saw Penelope stood there. And the girl had the urn in her hands. "I also really like you too" Josie added looking back at him. Nathan tilted his head to the side, placing a hand on her cheek.

"Slugged," he thought with a little disappointment. He needed to find a way to get that out of them both. A taser would have worked wonders right now.

"A light shock," he thought, gently caressing Josie's cheek and watching her lean into his touch. "He pulled at his magic and his eyes glowed a bright green. He heard a hiss near his ear and felt a burst of energy leave the fingertips against Josie's face. Josie let out a yelp and fell forward. He looked to the side and immediately stomped on the two slugs beside them.

"What did you do to her!?" Penelope let out a shriek and charged him. Nathan held his hand out and a burst of what looked like lightning hit Penelope, sending her flying back.

"Dude, did you just go full Sith Lord on her?" Landon's voice made him turn to the curly-haired boy and the auburn-haired girl who was standing on the other end of the hallway.

"She has the urn," Nathan told them, his eyes going back to their normal brown. Hope nodded and rushed over to the fallen Penelope. Nathan watched her stomp on the ground before helping Penelope up and taking the urn from her.

"How did you even do that?" Hope asked, hoisting Penelope over her shoulder, which she did with ease thanks to her werewolf strength. Nathan shrugged at her question.

"I just felt like I could do it" Nathan answered, holding Josie a bit closer to him.

"Is Jo okay?" Lizzie's question made Nathan blink in surprise. He hadn't noticed the blonde until now.

"Yeah, she'll be okay" Nathan nodded his head. "Upper floor is empty. So everyone should be at the talent show" Nathan informed them and they gave a nod. The four and a passed out Penelope and Josie rushed to the great hall. The doors were spelled shut courtesy of Hope but it didn't seem like it would hold for long.

"You think you can redo what you did to Josie and Penelope?" Hope asked. Nathan took a deep breath, handing a slowly waking Josie over to Lizzie.

"Fingers crossed" the boy muttered, his eyes glowing green. Nathan put his hand on the wooden floor and pictured what he wanted to do in his head. He felt the previous rush and then felt it travel through his arm and out his palm. On the other side of the door, they heard everyone let out a squeal and then harsh stomping on the ground. Nathan and Hope shared a look and Hope undid the spell. The doors opened to reveal student and a floor covered by green slime.

"Ugh" Lizzie made a face of disgust at the sight.

"Dude you're totally going Sith Lord on us" Landon muttered and Nathan rolled his eyes at him.

Nathan fell on his bed and finally acknowledge the toll his body had taken throughout the day. The talent show had gone without a hitch and the Witches won, all credits to Josie who gave a brilliant performance. The thought of Josie made him smile slightly. He still remembered the feel of her lips against his, a memory he found himself cherishing already.

A knock on the door broke him out of his fantasies and he called for whoever was on the other side to enter. It was the girl he was just thinking about. She was still in the outfit she had performed in, looking even more beautiful up close. Nathan sat up hastily and winced as his body protested.

"Are you hurt?" Josie asked, rushing over to him with clear worry on her face.

"Yeah" Nathan smiled at her, inviting her to take a seat beside him, which she accepted graciously. "The shocking thing I did today was something I totally pulled out of my ass. Probably side effects of that" he explained and Josie nodded. "I loved your performance. You really have a very beautiful voice."

"Thank you" Josie mumbled, a pretty blush coating her cheeks. She looked at the ground for a moment as silence between them grew comfortable. She looked like she was thinking about something, something she wanted to talk about. She finally looked at him, renewed determination in her eyes.

"The kiss we had downstairs" she began.

"You were under the influence of the slug" Nathan cut in, thinking she was going to apologize for it.

"I wanted to do it" she pushed on as if he hadn't interrupted her. "I have wanted to do that for a while now. But I just never could. Lizzie had an interest in you first so I had backed away. But once she got over you I thought I could try again. But then I got buried alive by the Necromancer and after that, I just went away and never really got the opportunity."

"You, actually like me?" I mean, like me more than just friends?" he asked and Josie gave a small shrug.

"I'm not exactly sure what I feel about you. But it's not friendly that's for sure" she confessed.

"I guess we feel the same" Nathan mumbled and Josie looked at him. "I found you cute when we first met, the day you gave me a tour. I really like how helpful you are and how caring you are for the need of others. And your smile and the way your eyes light up every time you smile" Nathan shook his head with a soft shy smile, a smile mimicked on Josie's face. "I just never asked you out because one, I thought you didn't feel the same. And two, you still had feelings for Penelope."

The smile dropped slightly at the statement and Josie fell on her back on the bed. "Penelope, is, complicated" she confessed. Nathan laid beside her and looked at her with a slight tilt of his head.

"You two have a history" he stated and Josie nodded.

"Can we, give us a try?" Josie asked, tilting her head to the side and looking at the boy beside her. "I don't know what will happen in the future, but I want to take that leap"

Nathan looked to the girl beside him, looking right at her eyes and mulling over the words in his head. He shifted to his side and placed a hand on her chin. Gently he pulled her in and joined lips with her, melting into it right away this time. Josie closed her eyes and she too melted into the kiss, her hand finding a place on his cheek.