Chapter Ten: Chaos Rising
"Damage is like an earthquake. Terrible, the first time around, but the aftershocks are worse."
"This will be inconvenient."
The voice was unfamiliar to Reid at first then all the events of the last twenty-four hours came rushing back. With a jolt he sprang up, taking note of his surroundings. Reid quickly realized that he was still in Lafayette Cemetery, though that did nothing to ease his nerves.
"He's awake," The same voice stated.
"What did you do to me?" Reid demanded, rising to his feet.
His eyes flared turning black with the magic in his blood ready and willing to fight against anything that he deemed a threat.
"There's no need for that," Drusilla responded, dryly. "As you've already witnessed your power isn't much in the quarter."
"To go against the coven in their stronghold is suicidal, Reid," Caleb's voice cautioned.
Reid covered up the wince at his brother's unexpected voice. Most people didn't know that the covenant was able to communicate telepathically. It was something that they would like to keep that way. Which is why Reid took care to mask his reaction, instead he allowed his power to flow away, his eyes going back to their natural blue. Drusilla smiles; every inch the woman who is used to obedience. Her hazel eyes were fierce, a testament to the matriarch who led the New Orleans witches.
"The rest of the Sons of Ipswich have arrived, Madame," A man dressed in black stated.
"Thank you, Vincent," Drusilla smiled. "Let them through."
Drusilla did not seem the least bit surprised to see the rest of the covenant come through the front doors of the Lycée. Caleb Danvers was front and center, the tall man looked like a fierce and capable leader. Tyler Simms and Pogue Parry flanked him on either side, their eyes sweeping the new surroundings on guard for any threat.
"Welcome to New Orleans, gentlemen," Drusilla greeted.
"Madame Deveraux," Caleb replied. "The nine covens have been quite busy."
"We practice ancestral magic, Mr. Danvers," Drusilla explained. "Our connection weakens over time. Every few generations we must restore the bond. After the Harvest comes the reaping, to be reborn we must sacrifice."
"You didn't need to do that," Caleb retorted.
"Yes, Mr. Danvers we did," Drusilla growled. "The witches are in a precarious position and we needed our power at full capacity."
"Your ritual has unbalanced other areas of the country," Caleb stated. "The amount of power you brought to this side is reckless and short sighted."
"Witches a lot older and stronger than you have done this ritual to no ill effects," Drusilla shrugged. "Yes, a ritual of this magnitude creates a nexus forti, a bleed of mystical power. Yet only those who know the craft can use that to their advantage. We've helped witches all over the country."
"All witches both light and dark," Caleb retorted.
"If you think you know more than my coven, you're a fool," Drusilla said. "The covens of New Orleans have been in this country far longer than your covenant."
"This isn't some pissing match between factions," Pogue said, sensing his friend's rising anger. "Your covens might have more experience, but this is a different world. With Lucifer free, this ritual was unwise."
"With Lucifer free witches need to be able to protect themselves," Drusilla disagreed. "And it doesn't matter now, this ritual cannot be undone."
Back in Sioux Falls, Hailey grabbed her coat before trekking into Bobby's backyard. She walked by the barn and around the piles of junked out cars. She needed room to practice her abilities.
When Hailey found a small clearing, she settled in the middle and closed her eyes. Her mind wandered back to the last time she practiced her abilities. Trevor's grin when she had hit the bullseye with one of knives, without moving an inch. The way he practiced his pyrokinesis, an ability she now has. Her heart aches a little, missing her first love. Trevor had taught her a lot and being calm was a necessity. Her emotions played a huge role on whether she had control or not, and with the addition of Abby's and Lucy's powers it made things more difficult.
With a small sigh, Hailey took a seat on the cold ground. The sun was setting in the distance and Hailey took the opportunity to breathe deeply. She shut her eyes and tuned into the environment around her. Pyrokinesis was one of the first elemental abilities that Hailey was able to control and without a lot of effort she made a circle of fire around herself, keeping it contained, yet not burning herself from the heat. With another push she allowed herself to levitate, meditating in the air. She was so caught up in practicing that she missed someone approaching from the house.
John had finished cleaning his weapons and went back up the basement steps, noticing that his youngest was no longer in the house, yet the Bennett siblings were combing through Bobby's library looking for lore. Barely sparing them a glance, he walked out of the front door. Singer's property was expansive, and no one knew it better then Hailey. Suddenly he caught a flare of fire slightly past the barn. With a quick step he went in the direction of the fire, not quite knowing what he was walking into. Seeing his daughter levitating in the air, within a ring of fire was something he hadn't been expecting. He didn't know what set him on edge more the fact that the fire looked like it should've been uncontrollable, instead it didn't move from the perfect circle, or his youngest floating in the middle of it.
"Hailey!" John called.
Three things happened at once first the fire surged before quickly extinguishing itself, and then Hailey's eyes snapped open and with a yelp she dropped back to the ground. A flash of irritation washed over Hailey's face before she turned to look at her father.
"Hey, dad," Hailey greeted with a groan.
"What are you doing?" John demanded.
Hailey felt her hackles rise, familiar with the look of horror and disgust. She had seen the same look on Dean's face whenever he had seen her use her abilities. Of course, Dean had gotten his views on their world from their father. The us vs them of the supernatural world. Hunters and everything else. Only things weren't so evenly split. Her brothers and she had learned that the hard way, after their father's death.
"Right before Dad died…he told me something," Dean said looking at both Sam and I, "he told me something about both of you."
"Guess you're disappointed with Dean, huh?" Hailey sneered.
"What are you talking about?" John asked, confusion coloring his tone.
"Right before you died, you gave Dean some instructions," Hailey explained. "That he had to watch out for us, keep us safe. Oh, and if he couldn't protect Sam and I that it was his responsibility to put us down."
"He was never supposed to tell you that," John growled.
"He wasn't supposed to tell me that?" Hailey repeated. "Where the hell do you get off putting that kind of baggage on him? After all he's done for this family?"
"Hailey," John warned.
John Winchester was not known for his patience. He had been a strict parental presence, at least when he had been there. John was not about to let him daughter speak to him like this and he wasn't one to back down from a fight, no matter if he was in the wrong or not.
"Don't," Hailey hissed.
"Do not walk away from me," John ordered.
Hailey had started to walk away, more to put distance between them then actually walking away. With her father's command, she stilled her temper flaring to life. She was still itching for a fight from when Fíona had arrived at the compound, however, John Winchester was not a good candidate for that rage. His temper was every bit as explosive as hers and as she reflected there was a lot of issues that had died with him. Now that he was back it looked like it would be slow going to heal that rift.
"Why?" Hailey asked, without turning to face her father.
"We had just got into that awful car accident," John sighed. "After Azazel had possessed me in the cabin, I knew how powerful he was."
"But to tell Dean that he may have to kill us?"
John knew that he was far from parent of the year. Hell, he probably wasn't in the running. He was so consumed with vengeance that there was nothing or no one who was going to stand in his way. He had told Sam to pull the trigger on the gun that would've killed both the demon as well as himself. Perhaps coming so close to finally avenging his wife's death and losing had damaged his perception of things.
He didn't truly know what Azazel wanted with Hailey or Sam, he just knew it was nothing good. There were creatures that weren't born a monster, but they triggered a change and then there was no going back. Like vampires and rugaru, once they completed their metamorphosis they weren't human and couldn't be trusted. And, yes, he put a horrible burden on his oldest to be the one to put his younger siblings down if they went down that path.
"I know," John whispered. "It was an awful thing to hear, which is why your brother shouldn't have told you."
"Give me a fucking break, dad," Hailey barked, her voice crackling with barely suppressed fury. "Take some responsibility for your shitty parenting."
Hailey's words hit John like a punch in the gut. John's temper immediately flared. He took an unconscious step forward ready to meet his daughter head-on, when her eyes stopped him cold. Hailey's eyes seemed to be glowing, making them look even more blue.
"Would you have killed us?" Hailey wondered.
"Once some things trigger their metamorphosis…"
"I'm not talking about supernatural creatures!" Hailey shouted. "I'm talking about me. About Sam! Your children. Or are things that black and white? John Winchester, hunter extraordinaire, ready to kill his children in cold blood?"
Hailey can feel her temper growing, building in her belly and making its way up her throat. She's shaking she's that upset. Both Winchesters jump as an old rusted car crumbled with invisible force. Glass exploding from the car's windows with a bang. Hailey scowled over at the car knowing that was going to draw attention from the inhabitants of the house. She fought hard to control her temper lest she destroy any of Bobby's other cars. Despite Hailey's attempt at control, multiple windows exploded with a bigger bang, showering broken glass to the ground. The front door had opened, and Sam and Dean were rushing out.
"Hailey!" Dean called.
"You wanted Sam to shoot you when you were possessed," Hailey growled, unwilling to drop the subject even with the impending audience. "Would you have killed us?"
When John had died, and Dean revealed his father's parting words it had stung. Not only had her feelings been hurt but she was scared. It was one thing attempting to deal with the confusion that Dean's declaration wrought when her father was dead but now that he was here it reopened wounds Hailey thought she had closed.
What was worse was there was nothing that John could say to make things better. He had told Dean that his siblings were his responsibility. It was something he had placed on his eldest's shoulders from the moment his wife had died. When his own death came calling, he only knew that the demon wanted Sam and Hailey. And if it came down to it, yes, he'd rather his children die then become pawns.
"Would. You?" Hailey snarled. She wasn't backing down until he answered the question. Her father owed her that much.
"You know the answer," John sighed.
Hailey knew what her father would have done. Perhaps that's why she was so angry. Still to hear her father not even deny what he would do to his own children, it hurt. Hailey felt her eyes well with tears, which made her even more angry. Even at twenty years old, she still felt like the girl who wondered why her father didn't love her enough to pick her over the job.
"Oh, Hailey," John whispered, he takes a step forward. Knowing that he caused this hurt, cut him deep. He wanted to fix it.
Hailey immediately countered with a step back, tears trickling down her cheeks. To make things even worse, it was then that Sam and Dean found them. In a rare moment of grace, they were silent as they both took in the scene. Dean took it in with calculating eyes, noting the crunched car, the shattered windows, their father's expression and then their sister's tears.
"Hay?" Sam whispered closing the distance between them to grasp her shoulder.
Hailey flinched out of her brother's hold, startling Sam and making Dean stare down their father. It was clear that whatever happened was not good.
"What's going on?" Dean asked.
"Ask him," Hailey hissed, scrubbing away her tears as she went to walk away again.
"Hailey!" John pleaded.
Sam wasn't use to being on the outside of a sibling fighting their father. Normally he was the one going to bat with the old man. Clearly there was a lot that they had walked in on. When Hailey moved to walk away Sam grabbed her wrist. There wasn't time for John to warn Sam against the move, or for him to take it back. By the time Sam regretted moving he was already on his ass, halfway across the lawn.
"You okay, son?" John asked, crouching down next to him.
"Where'd Hailey go?" Sam wheezed.
"Knocked you on your ass and ran," Dean frowned. "You okay?"
"Yeah, she just knocked the air outta me," Sam said. "The question is what's her problem?"
Sam and Dean turned as one to look at their father.
"Do you remember what I told you before I died?" John asked.
"Yeah," Dean replied.
"Well, Hailey decided to have it out with me about it," John sighed.
"In what way?" Sam asked.
"I was concerned what Azazel's plan was with you and Hailey," John explained. "Which is why I told your brother what I did."
Sam seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before he realized exactly what had happened.
"She asked if you would've killed us?" Sam questioned.
"She did," John replied.
"Aw, fuck, Dad," Dean groaned. "What did you tell her?"
"The truth," John stated.
Dean eyed his brother warily. He knew how sensitive his brother was about his abilities. But all this was years old, when Azazel died and without the demon blood, Sam had no abilities. Hell, Sam had trusted a demon over his own family, so there were a lot of issues the family had to work through
"You made the right decision," Sam said resolutely, thinking about his mistakes. "If we went darkside we should be put down. She can't hold that against you."
"I made a lot of mistakes," John said. "Maybe there are things that I can't come back from."
"No way," Sam disagreed. "Hails will come around, she always does."
"She's stubborn," John grimaced.
"Chip off the old block, huh?" Dean teased.
John spared his eldest a dark look, feeling a tension headache begin to form. Nothing a Winchester was ever involved in ended easy. That fact was especially apparent between John and his only daughter. The Winchester Patriarch was hard on his youngest daughter. Not that he was any more lenient with his other three sons, but Hailey took the brunt of his negative attention. Her crime was being a physical representation of what he had lost. She looked more and more like her mother with every passing day.
He could feel that he didn't know his daughter, not the way Dean did. The first time Hailey ran to Dean because she had scraped her knee had hurt. She came into the room sobbing her small knee bloody and she ran right past him into Dean's waiting arms. She didn't even glance toward her father as her oldest brother walked her to the bathroom gently cleaning and bandaging her knee, before he had given her a lollipop.
Watching his daughter seek comfort from someone who wasn't him hurt in every way imaginable. The fact that Dean nor Hailey even acknowledged his presence made him realize exactly how he had raised his children to codependency. Mary would be ashamed.
Something Hailey never knew was that she was born breech. Her feet kicking before the rest of her little body squirmed free. In many ways that fact would dictate the rest of her life. Dean would swear that his sister learned to run before she ever learned to walk. John was hard pressed to disagree. His daughter was fearless in every way he wasn't. The older Hailey got the more she reminded John of his beloved wife. She had Mary's tenacity. Her temper. Her smile. Worst of all, Hailey had her mother's hair, or at least she had.
Now things were so different. His wife was back, and his daughter had apparently died, only to be reincarnated in another body. It seemed that while the Winchester's had gotten another chance at being a family, the mistakes of the past weren't far behind them.
The sudden roar of a motorcycle's engine starting drew John away from his thoughts as did his eldest's muttered, "Aw, shit."
"You just had to fix the motorcycle," Sam sighed.
"What motorcycle?" John demanded.
"Hailey's," Sam said, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "It was wrecked the night Lucifer rose and Hailey…"
Sam's voice cut out, a pained wince passing over his face. He didn't ever want to think about that night. The night it was revealed that Ruby had played him like a fool and that his sister was dead. He still had nightmares about finding her body, about Dean's guttural screams of sorrow. Even though Hailey was here and alive, the nightmares still happened occasionally.
"John?" Mary called. "What on earth is going on?"
Mary's long, golden hair was tied up in a loose ponytail. She was wearing loose blue jeans and one of his shirts along with one of the pairs of shoes that were always left by the door. She had already heard about the not being barefoot on the property rule.
"A mess," John sighed. "Hailey and I had it out and she rushed off."
"She took the impala?" Mary questioned.
"No, she has a motorcycle, apparently," John frowned.
"Well, we'll give her some space," Mary stated, taking command of the situation. "She'll be back when she's ready."
"Mary…"
"I know what it's like to be that age," Mary interrupted. "She'll come back."
The Witches of the French Quarter Coven were raised knowing about their ancestors and how that's where their power came from. Every few hundred years the ancestor's hold on the world of the living started to fade, resulting in the harvest. Despite knowing of it, the actual ritual was a closely guarded secret amongst the elders. The French Quarter elders had told the harvest girl's that in order to be reborn, they had to have faith. The elders had been untruthful with how exactly the harvest would go. Each girl thought that it was a blood sacrifice. A cut on the palm and then it was over. Instead it was a far darker spell. Each girl would be sacrificed. As each girl died, she would release her power onto the next until only one remained. When the last girl fell the natural power that each girl possessed flowed into the earth of Layfette cemetery.
It would be two weeks before the elders had the necessary means to resurrect the Harvest Girls. After they had been sacrificed they spent time with their ancestors in the afterlife, being taught spells and other important lessons. When they would return to the world of the living, they would have a close relationship to the ancestors, second only to the Regent of all nine covens.
Madeleine Beauchamp felt uncomfortable in her skin. Resurrection was a hell of a thing. Each harvest girl seemed to be having trouble adapting back into the land of the living. Everything was too much. The French Quarter was too loud, too full, too stifling. She had more power than she had ever imagined. All of Harvest Girls were powerful beyond measure now. The pride of the coven.
"Maddy!" Astrid Fontaine called, letting herself into Madeleine's room.
Astrid and Madeleine had known each other their entire lives. The fact that they were both Harvest Girls only made them closer. Madeleine's dark brown eyes watched her whirlwind of a friend flit around her room. Astrid had tied her dark, black hair into a tight bun. Her green eyes sparkled as she flopped onto Madeleine's bed.
"You seem to be adjusting well," Maddy noted.
"Of course," Astrid scoffed. "To be reborn, you must have faith. And we had faith, so we're reborn."
"Trust in the Harvest," Maddy parroted. "What are you doing here? We're supposed to be going down to the Lycée."
"Greta and Delphine thought you seemed out of sorts," Astrid shrugged. "We know that it's a shock to be back. You always were more sensitive to your surroundings."
Maddy scowled at her best friend, the latter just shrugged.
"Don't be touchy, Mad," Astrid scoffed. "Now come on we're gonna be late."
Knowing that the ancestors were not a lot to be trifled with, Maddy grabbed her coat without an argument, following her friend out of her room and towards the Lycée. The Harvest ritual was a rare one with the French Quarter Coven, as such the girls involved had become celebrities overnight. Maddy wasn't use to having so much attention drawn to her. With Astrid by her side, the pair were normally up to mischief, something that would draw their parent's attention, maybe. But, now multiple witches watched as half of the Harvest Girls walked past. Astrid nudged Maddie offering a smile when the former looked over at her.
By the time they Astrid and Maddy reached the Lycée, the other two girls: Greta and Delphine had already arrived. All four girls were sixteen years old. Astrid was the tallest at nearly five foot nine, while Greta barely reached five feet. Both Greta and Delphine were came from two lines of powerful French Creole witches. The latter two girls were related, distant cousins though both families weren't exactly sure. All four girls were close and had only become closer since the rituals.
"Hey!" Greta greeted, smiling warmly.
After a few minutes exchanging pleasantries. They got ready for the ritual. Delphine lit al the white candles. Maddy placed crystals along the perimeter of the space. In order to commune with the ancestors, each girl had to get into a different position. Then Greta got into a handstand. Maddy tilted diagonally, leaning against the wall. Delphine lay on the ground. Finally, Astrid sat cross legged across from Greta.
Once everyone was set they began to chant in French, "Vie dans des ancêtres, renforcer noblesse. Comme des ancêtres, de coeur noblesse. Décider on de ancêtres, garder noblesse."
They continued to chant until Delphine sprang up with a gasp. The other three girls all stopped their chanting as Delphine began to talk. Her voice distorted as the ancestors spoke through her and then she slumped forward, like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Wow," Astrid stated.
"Here, Delly," Maddy said, shoving a bottle of water in her hand. "Take a minute."
The other three girls waited patiently for Delphine to get her wits back. It was clear that being hijacked by the ancestors really took a lot out of a person.
"Well?" Astrid asked, after a few more minutes.
"Dude," Greta snapped. "Give her some time."
"It's okay," Delphine sighed. "We've been instructed to bring the covenant into the coven."
"And how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Greta asked. "They're not New Orleans witches."
"It doesn't matter," Delphine responded. "They must be integrated into the coven. It's the only way we'll be able to protect ourselves against what's coming."
"What is coming?" Astrid demanded.
"The apocalypse," Delphine said. "Hell on earth. The war between heaven and hell. And we're smack in the middle of it. The Covenant has allies that can help."
"Allies like what?"
"It's more of a who," Delphine replied. "The Winchesters."