Cassie's car
The Graveyard
Laurel's House
"So, explain, please."
"Why don't we wait.. "
"Cassie." Laurel glared at the back of the driver's seat. "Explain. Please."
Cassie sighed. "Well, it was while I was working, there was a disturbance in the place where we were storing the Tools." Laurel shot a panicked glance towards the passenger seat, where Kori sat, and noticed Chris giving a similar look. Cassie giggled, in the driver's seat. "Don't worry, Laur, I told Kori everything."
Laurel shot Chris another panicked look, and was relieved to see that he had not appeared to go insane. "So, anyway. There was a disturbance where we were keeping the Master Tools, so, I decided to go down and check it out, since I'd had a hunch. I'd been to the graveyard, visiting Grandma's grave, and I'd noticed a distinct magical signature there, around the site of Kori's grave. Anyway, when I sensed the disturbance today, I went down to the beach, and there was Kori."
"And what's your story, Kori?" Laurel said, perfectly aware of the fact that her rhyming sounded completely absurd.
"My death was wrongful, done by the forces of Dark." Kori replied, in a softly mature voice that was out of place with her girlish looks. "The Light wanted to avenge it, and they sent me back."
Laurel raised a brow dubiously, and noticed Chris mirroring her look. No matter what kind of delusion Cassie was under, surely the rest of the Coven would not accept such an odd and ambigous explanation without some arguement.
"I think it's perfectly acceptable." Ten minutes later, at the graveyard, Faye was nodding her dark head. "I really do."
"I agree." Diana chimed in, and around her, Adam, Doug, Suzan, Melanie, Sean and Cassie were nodding along with her.
"What the bloody hell.. " Laurel muttered under her breath, and glanced to Chris, who was still looking as shocked beside her. Deborah and Nick looked dubious as well, but, then again, Deb and Nick always looked fairly dubious.
"Well. We can't perform the ceremony until Sunday, since we need a full moon and all." Cassie continued, blithely, seemingly unaware that what she was saying was rank heresy. "So, how about we head up to my house, and party? Kori's alive again, that seems as good a reason as any other."
Laurel blinked. Chris was right. They all had done quite a lot of drugs and forgotten about it. Yes. Many, potent, drugs. The worst part is, everyone was agreeing, and leaving, or making excuses not to go. It was madness, completely and simply. Laurel's eyes followed the group attending the party: Cassie, Diana, Faye, Suzan, Melanie, Adam, Doug, Sean. Her dubious folk, Chris, Nick, and Deb, were not attending, but, again, Deb and Nick were never really big party people. Laurel did give Chris a Look. "Wait up, okay? We need to talk."
"Yes. We do." Nick replied from behind Laurel (he really was too good at that moving without people seeing him bit), where Deb was standing also, nodding, her heart-shaped face detirmined.
"Um, yeah, me too." Chris said, glancing oddly at Deb and Nick. "Where to?"
Laurel glanced back at her house. "Grandma's home, and she wouldn't bother us." It had always kind of made Laurel proud of her parents that they hadn't survived. They had both been brave enough to face down the evil that was threatening the coven, and to some extent, you don't miss what you've never had. She was even happier that they had killed Black John, and avenged her parent's death. Her grandmother was more than enough parent for her, most of the time.
"Good idea." Deb ran a hand through her dark hair. "I've got my bike, anyone need a ride?"
Chris gave Laurel a panicked look. A ride with Deb was even beyond the excitement tolerance of a Henderson twin. She sighed, and looked resigned. "We'll go with Nick, I'll squish into that little backseat again." Chris looked pointedly relieved, and they headed out to the car.
The ride to Laurel's was made mostly in silence, probably because it was an exceptionally short ride. Witches apparently liked to build graveyards near their houses, or, quite possibly, commoners liked building graveyards near the witches houses. We're not entirely sure of the reason yet. Laurel's house was a nice Victorian one, a little run down, and certainly nothing as special as Diana's, but, not too bad. She lived at number five, next door to Adam on one side, and Faye on the other. They all piled into her livingroom, her grandmother was already quite asleep.
Laurel spread out on her couch. "There's something very wrong here." she stated the obvious.
"No shit." Deb had tucked herself into an armchair. "Kori's back from the dead, and not even acting like Kori, and everyone else is being all smiley and happy."
"Faye never even liked Kori that much." Laurel mused, quietly. "And Suzan absolutely despised her."
A pained look shot across Chris' face, which was, oddly enough, noticed first by Nick. "Suzan could never stand having someone around who threatened her as a guy-target." he commented, seemingly idly. "Diana intimidates 'em, and Faye scares 'em, but, Kori was adorable." Chris looked vaguely mollified.
"The real question is, is that Kori?" Deborah sat up, straight as a rail. "She looks like Kori, but, she doesn't act like Kori. And, that little "My death was wrongful" explanation doesn't hold for shit with me. Why isn't the principal still alive, if that's the truth of the matter? Why aren't your parents back, Laur, or your's, Nick? Or anyone else whose death was wrongful." A restless expression crossed Deb's face. "It doesn't add up."
"And Mel would never be taken in by something like that, not normally." Nick's voice was confident, and Laurel raised a brow, wondering just how close the enigma and the brain had gotten at that college of their's.
"Neither would Doug." Chris spoke up for the first time, his voice firm, and less spacey than usual. "I dunno what the hell that thing is, but, I'm pretty damn sure its not my sister. Kor was never that serious."
"So, if we're in agreement, there's really the question that remains - what's working through Kori? If it isn't her in there, who took her body?" Laurel frowned, quietly. "Black John is too obvious. When we killed him, we killed him good."
"And someone would've sensed if he was back in town. He wasn't the most subtle critter." Nick commented, dryly.
"We'll keep him on the list, just in case, but, mostly he's eliminated from the realm of possibilities." Deb nodded briskly. "If it isn't Black John, then, it's someone we've never dealt with before. Which is going to make things a lot more difficult." She bit her lip. "Damn. I've got no ideas." Looking around the room, she saw that everyone was equally clueless. "I wish, I wish we had Mel's Floppy disk of Shadows."
Laurel shrugged, a little hurt. Apparently Melanie was the answer to all ills. "We have my grandma." she pointed out. "And all our own Books of Shadows. And, we can probably get access to Mel's, when we need to. It's just a matter of time."
"I don't like that, Laur." Chris looked put out. "Some thing is wearing my sister's body." He looked upset, and Laurel mentally cursed herself, again. She kept forgetting that this was not just a nice academic spirit for Chris, it was a nice academic spirit which wore the body of his sister, who had died when she was only fourteen. It made quite the difference in the long run.
Deb and Nick were looking as awkward as Laurel felt. Great. These two were even worse at Moments than she was. Where were Diana and Cassie when you needed them? Laur turned to Chris. "You wanna stay over here tonight? Things might be kind of, um, crazy at your house, and stuff."
"And whatever is living in Kori might get kinda suspicious." Deb pointed out. "You'd probably be safer over here than at home."
"Alright." Chris shrugged. "I don't really wanna go home, and see Mom and Dad and Doug make such a fuss over.. the whole thing. And, uh, I can help research. My parents still aren't too crazy about the Circle, and I dunno where they're hiding all the stuff, but, there's next to nothing at my house."
"Good idea." Deb nodded, crisply. Then, she paused. Deborah didn't like to ask for favors, not even a few of 'em. "You mind if I stay over here tonight, too? My parents are being.. uh.. " she searched for a polite term.
"Themselves." Nick filled in. "Me, too, Laur?"
Might as well make it a slumber party. Laurel shrugged. "Sure. Keep all of us together and stuff, I guess. You guys need anything from home?"
Nick, Chris and Deb looked scornful at the mere though. Laurel should've suspected that they lived in the jeans that all of them were currently wearing. "Alrighty, then. Lemme get some stuff out, we might as well forgot about as much as we can, and start making dinner."
The Graveyard
Laurel's House
"So, explain, please."
"Why don't we wait.. "
"Cassie." Laurel glared at the back of the driver's seat. "Explain. Please."
Cassie sighed. "Well, it was while I was working, there was a disturbance in the place where we were storing the Tools." Laurel shot a panicked glance towards the passenger seat, where Kori sat, and noticed Chris giving a similar look. Cassie giggled, in the driver's seat. "Don't worry, Laur, I told Kori everything."
Laurel shot Chris another panicked look, and was relieved to see that he had not appeared to go insane. "So, anyway. There was a disturbance where we were keeping the Master Tools, so, I decided to go down and check it out, since I'd had a hunch. I'd been to the graveyard, visiting Grandma's grave, and I'd noticed a distinct magical signature there, around the site of Kori's grave. Anyway, when I sensed the disturbance today, I went down to the beach, and there was Kori."
"And what's your story, Kori?" Laurel said, perfectly aware of the fact that her rhyming sounded completely absurd.
"My death was wrongful, done by the forces of Dark." Kori replied, in a softly mature voice that was out of place with her girlish looks. "The Light wanted to avenge it, and they sent me back."
Laurel raised a brow dubiously, and noticed Chris mirroring her look. No matter what kind of delusion Cassie was under, surely the rest of the Coven would not accept such an odd and ambigous explanation without some arguement.
"I think it's perfectly acceptable." Ten minutes later, at the graveyard, Faye was nodding her dark head. "I really do."
"I agree." Diana chimed in, and around her, Adam, Doug, Suzan, Melanie, Sean and Cassie were nodding along with her.
"What the bloody hell.. " Laurel muttered under her breath, and glanced to Chris, who was still looking as shocked beside her. Deborah and Nick looked dubious as well, but, then again, Deb and Nick always looked fairly dubious.
"Well. We can't perform the ceremony until Sunday, since we need a full moon and all." Cassie continued, blithely, seemingly unaware that what she was saying was rank heresy. "So, how about we head up to my house, and party? Kori's alive again, that seems as good a reason as any other."
Laurel blinked. Chris was right. They all had done quite a lot of drugs and forgotten about it. Yes. Many, potent, drugs. The worst part is, everyone was agreeing, and leaving, or making excuses not to go. It was madness, completely and simply. Laurel's eyes followed the group attending the party: Cassie, Diana, Faye, Suzan, Melanie, Adam, Doug, Sean. Her dubious folk, Chris, Nick, and Deb, were not attending, but, again, Deb and Nick were never really big party people. Laurel did give Chris a Look. "Wait up, okay? We need to talk."
"Yes. We do." Nick replied from behind Laurel (he really was too good at that moving without people seeing him bit), where Deb was standing also, nodding, her heart-shaped face detirmined.
"Um, yeah, me too." Chris said, glancing oddly at Deb and Nick. "Where to?"
Laurel glanced back at her house. "Grandma's home, and she wouldn't bother us." It had always kind of made Laurel proud of her parents that they hadn't survived. They had both been brave enough to face down the evil that was threatening the coven, and to some extent, you don't miss what you've never had. She was even happier that they had killed Black John, and avenged her parent's death. Her grandmother was more than enough parent for her, most of the time.
"Good idea." Deb ran a hand through her dark hair. "I've got my bike, anyone need a ride?"
Chris gave Laurel a panicked look. A ride with Deb was even beyond the excitement tolerance of a Henderson twin. She sighed, and looked resigned. "We'll go with Nick, I'll squish into that little backseat again." Chris looked pointedly relieved, and they headed out to the car.
The ride to Laurel's was made mostly in silence, probably because it was an exceptionally short ride. Witches apparently liked to build graveyards near their houses, or, quite possibly, commoners liked building graveyards near the witches houses. We're not entirely sure of the reason yet. Laurel's house was a nice Victorian one, a little run down, and certainly nothing as special as Diana's, but, not too bad. She lived at number five, next door to Adam on one side, and Faye on the other. They all piled into her livingroom, her grandmother was already quite asleep.
Laurel spread out on her couch. "There's something very wrong here." she stated the obvious.
"No shit." Deb had tucked herself into an armchair. "Kori's back from the dead, and not even acting like Kori, and everyone else is being all smiley and happy."
"Faye never even liked Kori that much." Laurel mused, quietly. "And Suzan absolutely despised her."
A pained look shot across Chris' face, which was, oddly enough, noticed first by Nick. "Suzan could never stand having someone around who threatened her as a guy-target." he commented, seemingly idly. "Diana intimidates 'em, and Faye scares 'em, but, Kori was adorable." Chris looked vaguely mollified.
"The real question is, is that Kori?" Deborah sat up, straight as a rail. "She looks like Kori, but, she doesn't act like Kori. And, that little "My death was wrongful" explanation doesn't hold for shit with me. Why isn't the principal still alive, if that's the truth of the matter? Why aren't your parents back, Laur, or your's, Nick? Or anyone else whose death was wrongful." A restless expression crossed Deb's face. "It doesn't add up."
"And Mel would never be taken in by something like that, not normally." Nick's voice was confident, and Laurel raised a brow, wondering just how close the enigma and the brain had gotten at that college of their's.
"Neither would Doug." Chris spoke up for the first time, his voice firm, and less spacey than usual. "I dunno what the hell that thing is, but, I'm pretty damn sure its not my sister. Kor was never that serious."
"So, if we're in agreement, there's really the question that remains - what's working through Kori? If it isn't her in there, who took her body?" Laurel frowned, quietly. "Black John is too obvious. When we killed him, we killed him good."
"And someone would've sensed if he was back in town. He wasn't the most subtle critter." Nick commented, dryly.
"We'll keep him on the list, just in case, but, mostly he's eliminated from the realm of possibilities." Deb nodded briskly. "If it isn't Black John, then, it's someone we've never dealt with before. Which is going to make things a lot more difficult." She bit her lip. "Damn. I've got no ideas." Looking around the room, she saw that everyone was equally clueless. "I wish, I wish we had Mel's Floppy disk of Shadows."
Laurel shrugged, a little hurt. Apparently Melanie was the answer to all ills. "We have my grandma." she pointed out. "And all our own Books of Shadows. And, we can probably get access to Mel's, when we need to. It's just a matter of time."
"I don't like that, Laur." Chris looked put out. "Some thing is wearing my sister's body." He looked upset, and Laurel mentally cursed herself, again. She kept forgetting that this was not just a nice academic spirit for Chris, it was a nice academic spirit which wore the body of his sister, who had died when she was only fourteen. It made quite the difference in the long run.
Deb and Nick were looking as awkward as Laurel felt. Great. These two were even worse at Moments than she was. Where were Diana and Cassie when you needed them? Laur turned to Chris. "You wanna stay over here tonight? Things might be kind of, um, crazy at your house, and stuff."
"And whatever is living in Kori might get kinda suspicious." Deb pointed out. "You'd probably be safer over here than at home."
"Alright." Chris shrugged. "I don't really wanna go home, and see Mom and Dad and Doug make such a fuss over.. the whole thing. And, uh, I can help research. My parents still aren't too crazy about the Circle, and I dunno where they're hiding all the stuff, but, there's next to nothing at my house."
"Good idea." Deb nodded, crisply. Then, she paused. Deborah didn't like to ask for favors, not even a few of 'em. "You mind if I stay over here tonight, too? My parents are being.. uh.. " she searched for a polite term.
"Themselves." Nick filled in. "Me, too, Laur?"
Might as well make it a slumber party. Laurel shrugged. "Sure. Keep all of us together and stuff, I guess. You guys need anything from home?"
Nick, Chris and Deb looked scornful at the mere though. Laurel should've suspected that they lived in the jeans that all of them were currently wearing. "Alrighty, then. Lemme get some stuff out, we might as well forgot about as much as we can, and start making dinner."