Tuesday, June 3rd
Evening
Cassie's house
They were meeting here simply because it was the easiest place for them to meet. Cassie's mother was okay now, of course, and her grandmother was dead, but, there was still many unused rooms in the house. As in, almost a whole unused wing in the house. Cassie had let them come over before she got home from the store. Witches or not, it was summer, they were college kids, and everyone needed money. Laurel was just glad that her shift at the greenhouse ended at noon. There were some advantages to getting up early.
Of course, knowing this group, it could be a very late night...
Laurel and Melanie had arrived early, and within minutes of each other, and had only been alone for a few moments, which frustrated Laurel. Melanie was her best friend, and they hadn't seen each other for more than a few minutes without someone else around. Laurel was dying to get a good talk in. Last night at Diana's had been wonderful, but, that was with Cassie and Diana, which made things a bit more hyper. Laurel had come to like Cassie more and more during their year in Boston, and she got along with her far better than before, but, Melanie was her childhood friend, and would remain that way.
Adam and Nick were there with them, and the sight of those two as friends was enough in itself to make Laurel giggle. Adam, the white knight of the Circle, and Nick, who was as mysterious as anyone Laurel had made the acquaintance of. And, in the case of a 19 year old witch, that was really saying something. The four of them had fallen silent over the past few minutes.
Finally, Adam glanced to the door, growing impatient. "Where the heck is everyone? Cassie said she got off work at 7, and the others didn't even have work to keep them away.."
Melanie rolled her eyes. "Adam, be sensible. It's five of seven now. Cassie probably won't be back until ten after, and, Diana will probably pick her up at the store. Faye and her crowd will probably be fashionably late, as always."
Adam sighed, and nodded. Then, to her surprise, he glanced to Laurel, his stormy eyes looking nervous. Damn, the man was good looking. There should be laws against him looking pensively at single women. If he hadn't always been Diana's or Cassie's, and she hadn't been raised with him from childhood, Laurel would probably have made more of a fool around him than she did around most guys. "Laurel... can I ask you something?"
Laurel nodded, a puzzled look creeping into her green-hazel eyes. "Of course, Adam. What's up?"
Adam looked a little uncomfortable. "I know this isn't any of my business or anything, but, has Cassie been... dating in Boston?"
Chuckling a bit, Laurel shook her head. Those two were really too classically romantic for words. "No, you don't have any competition, though, if you ever visit I reckon Cassie will. With the pictures of you she's got up in the dorm.. well, just have it be safe to know that about half the female population of the freshman class is pining after you."
After a relieved look, Adam flashed a grin. "What, only half? You've killed my ego, Laur. I was hoping for at least two thirds.. "
Laurel sent him a withering look. "Keep the ego under control, but, expect to be mobbed when you visit. Seriously. So, Mel, any of the girls going wacky over the pictures at Stanford?"
Her gray eyes sparkling Melanie shook her head. "Not a one. Though, Nick can hardly keep the women off of him." Grinning mischievously over at her fellow Stanfordite, Melanie continued "It's barely safe to have him visit my dorm, now, unless Christa's out." Christa was Melanie's roommate, and not a half bad one, if you went by her letters. Emails, more like. Laurel was an awful letter writer, and she was incredibly glad the she and Melanie both had America Online.
Laurel raised a brow at Nick. "Really, now? Never thought I'd see the day when you turned into a player, Nick" she said, teasingly, and giving Nick a quick smile just to make sure he knew all was innocent. Nicholas was the one that no one had ever understood, even Cassie, who'd dated him for a while. Laurel always was kind of.. silent, nervous, when she was around Nick.
Nick grinned back at her, a rare occurrence to say the least. "Mel's right. I'm gonna have to take up kickboxing to fight them off."
Laurel bit back a sharp reply, as the door opened. She could've sworn Adam muttered "finally" under his breath, but, she couldn't hear that clearly. A fair head peeked in. Diana. "Hey, is Cassie here? I went to meet her at the store, but, they said she'd already left. Early, in fact. Annie was pretty upset."
Adam's worry increased by tenfold in those few moments Diana spent speaking, and Laurel was afraid that he would jump out and demand to know where Cassie was in a few seconds. Great, now it was obvious that she couldn't be depending on Adam to act sensible if Cassie ever did something the slightest bit out of the norm.
"Adam, calm down" Melanie's quiet voice broke the silence in the room. She was usually the first one to think things through with any kind of coherence when they had a problem, and today seemed to be no exception. "We'll just look around for Cassie, she's got to be here somewhere. I know her mom is out in New Hampshire for a few weeks, visiting her old college roommate and some friends, but, we can go back to the store, and check with Faye, and the others. She could've met up with them. Or, she could've been held up somewhere. We'll find her, soon enough."
Adam still looked as though he'd like to protest, but Melanie merely gave him a stern look. "Who drove over here? We're going to need cars, and I know Laurel and I walked."
It turned out that Diana and Nick had car-type tansportation with them, and it was decided that Laurel and Melanie would go with Nick, while Diana and Adam would go alone. Laurel personally didn't think that it was the greatest arrangement. First of all, there'd be tensions with Diana and Adam. They had, after all, dated for a good four years (well, almost), and Laurel hadn't heard that Diana had been really serious about anyone besides Adam. Of course, Adam was annoyingly devoted to Cassie, but, one really must imagine the awkward silences. And, Laurel was going to be stuck with Nick and Melanie, who had spent most of the past year together.
Yet, the three of them piled into Nick's new black Toyota-something. He'd picked it up from some guy somewhere, and it had been last summer's Project. Didn't turn out half as bad as most of his Projects, either, and the backseat was more than a pillow in a foot and half wide space, something that Laurel definetly appreciated. Being small, she always was the one to squeeze into small places.. in backs of cars, when they were camping, or whatnot. She almost wished that she was tall and stately like Diana, or at least moderate height, like Cassie and Melanie were. They were never forced to be the one to go into small places. Buckling herself in carefully, Laurel glanced at the backs of the seats where Melanie and Nick were sitting. She didn't know what to talk about with them, so, she hoped they'd let her in on the conversation. Or, at least acknowledge her exsistance. That would be nice, too.
The car started up fairly smoothly, and they were off. True to her fears, Mel and Nick started into a conversation that immediatley excluded Laurel, and they almost seemed unaware of her presence. Great way to make a girl feel wanted.
They exited the car, walking to the small grocery store where Cassie usually worked. Laurel trailed behind Nick and Melanie, almost dwarfed by the two of them, glancing at everything. Cassie's white Rabbit was not in the parking lot of the store, although Diana's sleek blue car was. They entered the cool air-conditioning without a word, and while Melanie and Nick wandered over to where Adam and Diana were already talking to Faye and the others, Laurel drifted more towards Annie's register, quiet now, as the whole store usually was when the Club of yore came in. The two of them had been friendly in high school -- Laurel was the only one of the coven who went out of her way to make outside friends. Diana and Melanie were beloved by all, but, people knew Laurel.
"Hey, Annie." Laurel perched on the empty register and grinned. "It's been a while."
"Yeah." Annie replied, with a friendly smile. "Y'all must be worried, Cassie seemed really upset when she left."
"Hm." Laurel pondered for a moment. "Did she say anything?"
"I already gave Adam the whole run-through." Annie remarked, dryly, and paused for a moment. "Wait. There was one thing I forgot. When she was going towards the back room, she said something about someone named Kori and looked more angry than upset. " Annie frowned. "It was kinda weird, she didn't even say goodbye or anything."
Kori. The image of Chris and Doug's blonde-haired, turquoise-eyed sister flitted into Laurel's head, but, she made sure her facial expression didn't change. "Yeah, that is weird."
"I guess you better head back" Annie said, ruefully. "Before Adam comes over here, and takes you by force."
"Darling, Adam isn't the boss of me." Laurel quipped, and then got up. "But.. he is angry.. and big.."
"I'll see you later, Laur." Annie grinned at her.
Laurel hopped off the counter, and walked nonchalantly to the group, where Adam was looking like he'd cheerfully like to slaughter her. "What the hell are you doing!?" he snapped, grabbing her by the arm, roughly.
"Let go of me, Adam." Laurel said, coolly, rolling her eyes. "I found out something about what happened to Cassie. Annie said that when she was leaving, she was muttering something about damning Kori, and was pretty angry."
"Damning Kori? What the hell's that, Laurel?" Chris looked angry, he and Doug had never really recovered from Kori's death.
"Laurel obviously doesn't know, Chris." Faye said, smoothly.
"Does Annie know where she went?" Adam questioned, still looking angry with Laurel.
"Just to the back-room and then, she left." Laurel answered, shortly, glaring at Adam.
"Great. That's no help." Adam ranted
"Actually, it is. We know Cassie's storming out had something to do with Kori." Nick asserted. "I think we all know where we need to go."
Diana rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Enlighten me, Nick?"
"The graveyard. Kori's grave. That's the only logical place."
Evening
Cassie's house
They were meeting here simply because it was the easiest place for them to meet. Cassie's mother was okay now, of course, and her grandmother was dead, but, there was still many unused rooms in the house. As in, almost a whole unused wing in the house. Cassie had let them come over before she got home from the store. Witches or not, it was summer, they were college kids, and everyone needed money. Laurel was just glad that her shift at the greenhouse ended at noon. There were some advantages to getting up early.
Of course, knowing this group, it could be a very late night...
Laurel and Melanie had arrived early, and within minutes of each other, and had only been alone for a few moments, which frustrated Laurel. Melanie was her best friend, and they hadn't seen each other for more than a few minutes without someone else around. Laurel was dying to get a good talk in. Last night at Diana's had been wonderful, but, that was with Cassie and Diana, which made things a bit more hyper. Laurel had come to like Cassie more and more during their year in Boston, and she got along with her far better than before, but, Melanie was her childhood friend, and would remain that way.
Adam and Nick were there with them, and the sight of those two as friends was enough in itself to make Laurel giggle. Adam, the white knight of the Circle, and Nick, who was as mysterious as anyone Laurel had made the acquaintance of. And, in the case of a 19 year old witch, that was really saying something. The four of them had fallen silent over the past few minutes.
Finally, Adam glanced to the door, growing impatient. "Where the heck is everyone? Cassie said she got off work at 7, and the others didn't even have work to keep them away.."
Melanie rolled her eyes. "Adam, be sensible. It's five of seven now. Cassie probably won't be back until ten after, and, Diana will probably pick her up at the store. Faye and her crowd will probably be fashionably late, as always."
Adam sighed, and nodded. Then, to her surprise, he glanced to Laurel, his stormy eyes looking nervous. Damn, the man was good looking. There should be laws against him looking pensively at single women. If he hadn't always been Diana's or Cassie's, and she hadn't been raised with him from childhood, Laurel would probably have made more of a fool around him than she did around most guys. "Laurel... can I ask you something?"
Laurel nodded, a puzzled look creeping into her green-hazel eyes. "Of course, Adam. What's up?"
Adam looked a little uncomfortable. "I know this isn't any of my business or anything, but, has Cassie been... dating in Boston?"
Chuckling a bit, Laurel shook her head. Those two were really too classically romantic for words. "No, you don't have any competition, though, if you ever visit I reckon Cassie will. With the pictures of you she's got up in the dorm.. well, just have it be safe to know that about half the female population of the freshman class is pining after you."
After a relieved look, Adam flashed a grin. "What, only half? You've killed my ego, Laur. I was hoping for at least two thirds.. "
Laurel sent him a withering look. "Keep the ego under control, but, expect to be mobbed when you visit. Seriously. So, Mel, any of the girls going wacky over the pictures at Stanford?"
Her gray eyes sparkling Melanie shook her head. "Not a one. Though, Nick can hardly keep the women off of him." Grinning mischievously over at her fellow Stanfordite, Melanie continued "It's barely safe to have him visit my dorm, now, unless Christa's out." Christa was Melanie's roommate, and not a half bad one, if you went by her letters. Emails, more like. Laurel was an awful letter writer, and she was incredibly glad the she and Melanie both had America Online.
Laurel raised a brow at Nick. "Really, now? Never thought I'd see the day when you turned into a player, Nick" she said, teasingly, and giving Nick a quick smile just to make sure he knew all was innocent. Nicholas was the one that no one had ever understood, even Cassie, who'd dated him for a while. Laurel always was kind of.. silent, nervous, when she was around Nick.
Nick grinned back at her, a rare occurrence to say the least. "Mel's right. I'm gonna have to take up kickboxing to fight them off."
Laurel bit back a sharp reply, as the door opened. She could've sworn Adam muttered "finally" under his breath, but, she couldn't hear that clearly. A fair head peeked in. Diana. "Hey, is Cassie here? I went to meet her at the store, but, they said she'd already left. Early, in fact. Annie was pretty upset."
Adam's worry increased by tenfold in those few moments Diana spent speaking, and Laurel was afraid that he would jump out and demand to know where Cassie was in a few seconds. Great, now it was obvious that she couldn't be depending on Adam to act sensible if Cassie ever did something the slightest bit out of the norm.
"Adam, calm down" Melanie's quiet voice broke the silence in the room. She was usually the first one to think things through with any kind of coherence when they had a problem, and today seemed to be no exception. "We'll just look around for Cassie, she's got to be here somewhere. I know her mom is out in New Hampshire for a few weeks, visiting her old college roommate and some friends, but, we can go back to the store, and check with Faye, and the others. She could've met up with them. Or, she could've been held up somewhere. We'll find her, soon enough."
Adam still looked as though he'd like to protest, but Melanie merely gave him a stern look. "Who drove over here? We're going to need cars, and I know Laurel and I walked."
It turned out that Diana and Nick had car-type tansportation with them, and it was decided that Laurel and Melanie would go with Nick, while Diana and Adam would go alone. Laurel personally didn't think that it was the greatest arrangement. First of all, there'd be tensions with Diana and Adam. They had, after all, dated for a good four years (well, almost), and Laurel hadn't heard that Diana had been really serious about anyone besides Adam. Of course, Adam was annoyingly devoted to Cassie, but, one really must imagine the awkward silences. And, Laurel was going to be stuck with Nick and Melanie, who had spent most of the past year together.
Yet, the three of them piled into Nick's new black Toyota-something. He'd picked it up from some guy somewhere, and it had been last summer's Project. Didn't turn out half as bad as most of his Projects, either, and the backseat was more than a pillow in a foot and half wide space, something that Laurel definetly appreciated. Being small, she always was the one to squeeze into small places.. in backs of cars, when they were camping, or whatnot. She almost wished that she was tall and stately like Diana, or at least moderate height, like Cassie and Melanie were. They were never forced to be the one to go into small places. Buckling herself in carefully, Laurel glanced at the backs of the seats where Melanie and Nick were sitting. She didn't know what to talk about with them, so, she hoped they'd let her in on the conversation. Or, at least acknowledge her exsistance. That would be nice, too.
The car started up fairly smoothly, and they were off. True to her fears, Mel and Nick started into a conversation that immediatley excluded Laurel, and they almost seemed unaware of her presence. Great way to make a girl feel wanted.
They exited the car, walking to the small grocery store where Cassie usually worked. Laurel trailed behind Nick and Melanie, almost dwarfed by the two of them, glancing at everything. Cassie's white Rabbit was not in the parking lot of the store, although Diana's sleek blue car was. They entered the cool air-conditioning without a word, and while Melanie and Nick wandered over to where Adam and Diana were already talking to Faye and the others, Laurel drifted more towards Annie's register, quiet now, as the whole store usually was when the Club of yore came in. The two of them had been friendly in high school -- Laurel was the only one of the coven who went out of her way to make outside friends. Diana and Melanie were beloved by all, but, people knew Laurel.
"Hey, Annie." Laurel perched on the empty register and grinned. "It's been a while."
"Yeah." Annie replied, with a friendly smile. "Y'all must be worried, Cassie seemed really upset when she left."
"Hm." Laurel pondered for a moment. "Did she say anything?"
"I already gave Adam the whole run-through." Annie remarked, dryly, and paused for a moment. "Wait. There was one thing I forgot. When she was going towards the back room, she said something about someone named Kori and looked more angry than upset. " Annie frowned. "It was kinda weird, she didn't even say goodbye or anything."
Kori. The image of Chris and Doug's blonde-haired, turquoise-eyed sister flitted into Laurel's head, but, she made sure her facial expression didn't change. "Yeah, that is weird."
"I guess you better head back" Annie said, ruefully. "Before Adam comes over here, and takes you by force."
"Darling, Adam isn't the boss of me." Laurel quipped, and then got up. "But.. he is angry.. and big.."
"I'll see you later, Laur." Annie grinned at her.
Laurel hopped off the counter, and walked nonchalantly to the group, where Adam was looking like he'd cheerfully like to slaughter her. "What the hell are you doing!?" he snapped, grabbing her by the arm, roughly.
"Let go of me, Adam." Laurel said, coolly, rolling her eyes. "I found out something about what happened to Cassie. Annie said that when she was leaving, she was muttering something about damning Kori, and was pretty angry."
"Damning Kori? What the hell's that, Laurel?" Chris looked angry, he and Doug had never really recovered from Kori's death.
"Laurel obviously doesn't know, Chris." Faye said, smoothly.
"Does Annie know where she went?" Adam questioned, still looking angry with Laurel.
"Just to the back-room and then, she left." Laurel answered, shortly, glaring at Adam.
"Great. That's no help." Adam ranted
"Actually, it is. We know Cassie's storming out had something to do with Kori." Nick asserted. "I think we all know where we need to go."
Diana rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Enlighten me, Nick?"
"The graveyard. Kori's grave. That's the only logical place."