Morrigan walked in the darkness, cloaked in her long black cape.  It was ritual that she would walk through the cemetery each night before going to bed.  She would go to her grandmother's grave, whom she was very close to, and tell her about all her problems.  Tonight would take longer than usual, though.  She had not been there since the incident with Bernard, but tonight she felt she had to pay a visit.  Morrigan hugged her cape closer to her.  She smiled faintly.  "I love cemeteries."

"Frankly, I think they're kind of creepy," a voice said from behind her.

Morrigan turned around quickly.  She laughed.  "Oh, it's only you Drake.  Don't sneak up on a person in a cemetery.  Especially at night."

Drake walked up to her.  "What brings you here?"

"I've come to see my grandmother," Morrigan explained, pointing at a gravesite not far from where they stood.  "And you?"

Drake smirked.  "I have come to see you."  He moved closer to her, making Morrigan feel uncomfortable.  She thought back to Bernard and that night.  Stupid.  Stupid girl.

Morrigan turned away.  "Please, Drake, don't do this."

"Do what?"

"I'm not ready yet," Morrigan continued, moving away from him.

"Why?"

"Drake, I was almost raped by my ex-boyfriend only a week or so ago.  He would have,  too, only Allora and Johnny interrupted him in the process."

Drake's eyes flared.  "Did you turn him in?"

"No," Morrigan whispered.  "We had nothing on him.  Nothing had transpired."

Drake punched at his side.  "That asshole."

Morrigan whimpered.  "Well put," she sighed, moving to sit at the bench off the pathway.

Drake sat next to her.  "I won't push it."

Morrigan put her head on his broad shoulder.  "That's all I ask."

The two sat there for some time.  They seemed to have a mutual, unspoken bond that made each other feel very comfortable in the other's presence.

Morrigan looked up at Drake.  "How long have you practiced Wicca?"

Drake thought for a second.  "Four years."

"Why'd you get into Wicca?"

"My girlfriend at the time.  What about you?"

"I don't really remember," Morrigan replied unconvincingly.  "Do you practice it often?"

"Rarely."

Morrigan got up.  "You should go."

Drake looked up at her, puzzled.  "Don't you want to talk anymore?"

Morrigan shook her head.  "It's not that.  I'm tired and I still haven't talked to my grandma."

Drake got up.  "I'll wait, then.  I'll walk you home."

Morrigan shook her head.  "It's okay.  I'm a big girl."

Drake nodded solemnly.  "Alright.  I guess I'll see you later."

Morrigan smiled faintly.  "Yeah I'll see ya."

Drake smiled back and walked away into the darkness.  Morrigan watched him walk until she could no longer see him.  She sighed.  Why does he have to be so charming?

Trey walked up to the spotless white porch, but turned right around before he got there.  He mustered up his courage once again.  Finally he got to the welcoming, blue front door.  He knocked.  Allora answered a few seconds later.

"Hi Trey," she greeted, giving him a warm smile.

"Hi," Trey's voice cracked.

Allora saw Trey was holding something behind his back.  "What's that?" she asked, pointing.

Trey blushed a brilliant pink.  "Flowers."

"Oh," Allora said.  "Who are they for?"

Trey looked at Allora strangely.  "You."

"Trey, you shouldn't have.  You don't have to get me flowers to thank me for your spot on the hockey team.  You earned it!"

Trey's mouth opened in shock.  What is with this girl?  Not everything is about the hockey team! Trey thought.  "No, that's not why I got them."

"Then why?"

Do I have to spell it our to you?  Trey's mind was racing.  "Um . . .never mind the reason, just here."

Trey handed a bouquet of daisies to her.  Allora beamed.  "Daisies are my favorite!  Well, it's nice that you're grateful to get on the team, but no more gifts, please."

Trey's mouth was open in shock again as Allora closed the door on him.  Trey walked away, not sure what to do next.  He had done everything he could to get her to notice that he liked her.  He stared at her, gave her flowers, even spied on her at a sleepover.  Trey came to the conclusion right then this would be very hard.

"They got away?  But how?"

"I don't know Idonea.  I wasn't there," Demisses slouched slightly as he stood, speaking to his sister Idonea.

Idonea hovered a few inches off the ground.  She was very tall and thin, but still with noticeable muscle structure.  Her hair was long, red, and wire-like.  She seemed to command respect just by her posture.  "Who was?"

"Just some low-ranked Messengers."

"Well, I guess you'll have to report this to Validus."

Demisses seemed scared.  "I'd rather not."

Idonea rolled her eyes.  "It's just one group.  You know, sometimes I don't think you deserve your position."

He glared at her.  "I'll tell him now," he said walking away.

She shook her head.  "His indecision making will be our downfall."

Allora lay, sprawled out on her bed.  Trey's flowers were in a vase next it, on her nightstand.  She looked at them out of the corner of her eye.  She felt guilty as she stared at them.  Allora got up and grabbed the phone.  At first she began to dial Morrigan's number, but then changed her mind and dialed Johnny.

Johnny picked up after two rings.  "Hello?"

"Hi Johnny."

"Hey Allora.  The scrimmage is at three tomorrow."

"That's not why I called," Allora said, quite surprised Johnny would think she would ever forget what time a hockey scrimmage would start.

"Oh.  Then why?"

"I just wanted to talk."

"About hockey, right?"

Allora was growing impatient.  "No."

"Then what?  Taekwondo?  Are you joining up again?  We really miss you at the school."

Allora thought about her karate school.  It made her sad.  "Yeah, I'm joining up again, I suppose."

"Why'd you quit?"

"Priorities."

"Oh.  Demons come first then?"

"Of course."

"Have your priorities changed then?"

"Nope."

"Then why join up again?"

"We can't beat demons with just powers you know.  A front kick to the head could help us."

"Hey!  I have an idea!" Johnny said excitedly.

"What?"

"We should all take karate!"

Allora's face beamed.  "That is a good idea."

Johnny and Allora both smiled.  In the excitement Allora had almost forgotten the real reason she called.

"Hey, there's something else I want to talk about.  It's Trey."

"What's wrong?  Can't he make it to the game?"

Allora was beginning to get why people got frustrated when she brought up hockey all the time.  "No.  I think he likes me.  You know, in that way."

"Why would you say that?  He's only drooling all over you," Johnny remarked sarcastically.

Don't worry, Al, if I know you, I'm sure he gets your drift.  I mean no one is that oblivious."

"Thanks a lot Johnny.  You're the best!  We'll tell everyone your idea tomorrow.  Bye."

"Bye," Johnny hung up.

Johnny sat back on his bed, returning to his geometry homework.  A few seconds later, the phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Johnny it's me."

"Oh, hi Truman.  What's up?"

"It's about Morrigan.  I need your advice."

"Doesn't everybody today?"

"Huh?  Anyway, I don't think she should get involved with Drake.  I don't think it's healthy."

"Why not?  They seem like a good couple to me."

"Drake's just like Bernard.  He'll just hurt her in the end.  We should do something."

"Shouldn't we let Morrigan make her own mistakes?"

"No.  She needs us!" Truman exclaimed defiantly.

"So we should meddle in her love life then?  She needs us to do that?  Besides, nothing is official yet."

"Exactly.  Yet."

"Truman, it's late.  Just sleep on it, man.  I still have a lab report to do."

"Thanks, Johnny.  You were a big help," Truman said gratefully.  "Bye."

"Bye."

Johnny turned back to his lab report.  As he looked at the questions for which he knew nothing about, he wished he hadn't stopped talking to Truman.

Morrigan nearly ripped the pages out of the humongous Conjuring Faeries for Beginners as she paged furiously through.  She stopped at a chapter entitled "The Easiest Way to See a Faerie".  She read quickly through; stopping at a likely looking paragraph and began to read carefully.

"Probably the best way to for the inexperienced to see a Faerie is using some type of crude lure.  Even the most skilled at the art still use some kind of lure.  For the beginner, it relies more on luck for a Faerie to appear, no matter how good the lure may be.  Lures vary depending upon the Faerie type for which you wish to see.  Water Faeries, for example, are attracted by daffodils or lilacs place on the edge of a creek bed."

Morrigan stopped reading.  Without really thinking, she grabbed a few black roses from a vase at the side of her bed.  She also pulled a few daisies out of her front yard as she headed for the woods at the back of JM High.  She stalked through the trees and barely noticed as she passed through the familiar clearing. 

She knew where there was a rather majestic looking creek bed.  It was a few minutes from the clearing and she sometimes went there to unwind.  It was also a good place to write poetry and draw.  She reached the bubbling creek and feel to her knees.  She gently placed the three black roses and the handful of daisies on the pebbles in the shallow edge.  She waited patiently.  She then said the Faerie Prayer three times.  Nothing was happening.  Morrigan looked dejected until a small blue head popped out of the water.  It smiled at her.  Morrigan leapt to her feet and moved back a few steps.  The Faerie was now fully above water.  She had legs that looked much like a frogs and she was slightly smaller than the one she had seen earlier. 

The first Faerie Morrigan had seen had made her feel very happy, though she was still scared of it.  This Faerie, though, made her very cold and sort of depressed.  She felt like she should run, but her legs weren't working.  The Faerie laughed at her, soundlessly.

 Morrigan was now being pulled into the creek.  She expected to lay safely above water, but was surprised to find that the creek was very deep.  The Faerie was still laughing as Morrigan began to drift to the bottom.  She tried frantically to swim but her arms and legs still couldn't work. 

Above the water Morrigan could now see that the blue Faerie was not alone.  There was now a ball of yellow light that seemed to be twitting madly around the blue one.  Morrigan tried to keep her eyes open but she could not breathe.  She felt like her lungs were going to burst.  Then, she just lost consciousness.

          Johnny and Truman walked into Hockey 'n' Stuff, their favorite store, to buy some gear for the upcoming season.

"Don't you just love the preseason?" Johnny asked almost giddily.

          "It makes you so happy.  It's like there's only hope.  During the season there's a lot more pressure," Truman agreed.

          "Especially this year.  I'm certainly hoping for that state title."

          "Yes, but we'll first have to beat them," Truman said, pointing to a burly guy wearing a blue and red letterman jacket.

          Johnny cringed as the guy started to walk over toward them.  It was JM's arch rival, Granger's, star center Colin Trent.

          "Well hello Johnny and friend," he smirked at Truman.

          "You know my name perfectly well, Colin," Truman said airily.

          "I'm sorry.  Sometimes I forget unimportant people's names."

          Truman faked a laugh.

          Just then a tall, busty girl with strikingly long, wavy green hair joined Colin.  She smiled at him coquettishly.  "Are these your friends Colin?"

          "Not really," Truman answered, appalled.

          "These are some of those JM Ice Demons I told you about."

          The girl surveyed them both.  "You didn't tell me how attractive they were, though."

          Johnny blushed as Truman gave the girl a mean stare.

          "Oh I'm sorry.  I never introduced myself.  My name is Evian.  Evian Monroe.  And yes I know I'm named after a water company and I'd rather you not ask why."

          "We really don't care to know the origin of your name," Truman informed her.

          Evian smiled at him.  "You're feisty."

          Truman nearly fell over.

          "And you, Mr. Strong and Silent, what's your story?"

          "Nothing.  We really must be off," Johnny squirmed, grabbing Truman and leaving the store.

          "What was that about?" Truman asked, flattening the sleeve Johnny had ruffled.

          "That girl…you don't recognize her?"

          "No.  I think I'd recognize that slut if I saw her again."

          "She's from the Newton Connecticut Snow Leopards team.  You know, they won the National Championships like five years in a row until last year."

          Truman thought for a second.  "Actually I think I read something on an Evian.  I guess I didn't make the connection."

          "Well, she's like the best female hockey player around."

          "Better than Allora?"

          Johnny didn't seem to want to answer.  "She's much meaner."

They continued to speak about the girl as they walked home, and as they did, much of the previous hope of preseason seemed to dissolve.

Brystol, along with the rest of the squad, felt as if she were about to topple over at any minute.  Bunnie had suggested that the squad go shopping at the mall that day, but not until now had they realized her true intentions.  Every cheerleader, freshman through senior, carried a handful of bags belonging to Bunnie as they walked from store to store.  Bunnie, of course, carried absolutely nothing but her bight pink purse.  And this was really starting to make Brystol angry.  She struggled to look at her watch.  It read 3:15.  She cursed silently to herself.  She was supposed to study with Johnny and Truman at 3:30.

"Uh, Bunnie," she called, walking towards her.

Bunnie turned around, thoroughly aggravated.  "What is it, Brystol?"

"I, uh, have to go.  I'm supposed to meet some friends to study," she said shyly, trying to hide her face behind the bags she was carrying.

"What?" Bunnie exclaimed.  "You'd rather study than shop with the squad?"

Brystol blushed.  "Uh, no…  I didn't mean it like that.  It's just that I had made previous obligations, before you invited the squad out to go shopping.  And, I really do need to study."

Bunnie put her hands on her hips and rolled her blue eyes.  "Okay, Brystol, you can go."

Brystol smiled gratefully.  "Thanks, Bunnie, I-"

"Under one condition," Bunnie interrupted with a smug expression on her face.  "You get to dress as the team mascot at the next game."

She thought back to when the squad tricked her into being the mascot last year.  Not only was the suit hot, but it reeked as well and made her hair flat.  Brystol sighed, feeling extremely depressed at that moment.   She knew what she had to do.   "So, Bunnie," she said, quite aggravated herself, "Where are we going next?"

Allora hung up the phone in frustration.  She had been trying to reach Morrigan for the eleventh time during the last hour and a half and hadn't gotten an answer.  They were supposed to have gone to the bookstore together, but it was quite obvious to Allora that it wasn't happening, at least for today.  She glimpsed at the clock that hung above her dresser.  It was three twenty-seven in the afternoon and she was bored out of her mind.

She got off her bed and walked over to her cherry oak desk.  It was neat and organized.  Not a pencil was out of place.  Boring. Allora dug her hands into her jeans pockets and threw the contents onto her desk. 

"Hah!" she yelled during her brief lapse of sanity.  "Not boring!"

She then proceeded to stare at the pile of loose change, jeans lint, and crumpled purple post-it note.  After about a minute of hardcore staring, Allora decided to read what was written on the note.  She opened it slowly, trying to build anticipation, but it wasn't much to anticipate.  In the end, it turned out to be Trey's phone number scribbled in messy black gel ink and a smiley face.

Allora suddenly felt very badly about the numerous times she had blown off Trey.  He was a nice guy and a great hockey player, but he wasn't her type. 

She looked up at her clock again.  It was three thirty-four.  Then she looked back at her note.  I am bored with nothing to do.  Why not?

Quickly, Allora hopped over to her bedside again, where her phone was, and dialed Trey's number.

"Hello?" a familiar voice asked.

"Hi, uh, Trey," she began hesitantly.

"Allora!  It's you!"  Trey's voice nearly sang her name.

"Umm, yeah, hi.  I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out tonight or something."

Trey's response was immediate.  "Yeah!  Sure!  You can come over  to my house and have dinner with my family.  My grandparents are visiting from Nevada and I know they'd love to meet you!  And, uh, this is fairly formal, so dress nice.  But, don't take me wrong it's not like you don't dress nice already…"

Allora blinked as Trey continued to yammer.  She'd barely said a word and already he'd planned her entire evening.  "That's a good idea, Trey," she interrupted.  "I'll see you around four-thirty, okay?"

"Okay! Great!" Trey replied. 

Allora hung up the phone and fell back against her bed.  What have I gotten myself into?