Okay, I have NO CLUE why, but fanfiction.com somehow switched around the first two chapters. Massive confusion for you new readers. So, I'm fixing it. =) Here you go.



The Secret Circle; Volume IV: The Discovery

Disclaimer: I, in no way, own the characters or the general idea of The Secret Circle series. Those were created by L.J. Smith. The plot line and all other characters of this story have been created by me.

Chapter 1

The best view on Crowhaven Road would have to be from the bluff behind Number Twelve. The way the light shone off of the cool Atlantic water was breath taking, especially at sunset. Of course, Diana preferred sunrises. It represented the beauty of a dawning new day.

Always the first to arrive for these things, she thought to herself, cradling her knees to her chest. The meeting didn't start for another twenty minutes or so, but her two partners could show up early for once. But, Cassie was with Adam, like she always was nowadays, and Faye had to be fashionably late. Until someone else arrived, Diana would just have to wait . . . alone.

Her thoughts changed to Cassie Blake, her best friend, her foster sister. Six months ago, they had been inseparable. After everything they had been through, Faye trying to steal the coven, witch hunters, and defeating Black John, they had stayed close. Even after they had discovered that Cassie and Adam, Diana's boyfriend, were soulmates, and she had let them be together, she still had her best friend.

Diana realized that it hadn't exactly happened over-night. Her and Cassie were still close until just before the holidays. Slowly, Cassie spent more time with Adam than with Diana. She was sure that it was just because Cassie and Adam were spending time with their families, especially during the winter solstice. She guessed the celebration of inner renewal meant something else for them.

And then there was Faye Chamberlain. Diana and Faye were cousins, born within minutes of each other. Growing up they had been rivals, opposite as night and day. But ever since they had beat Black John, Faye had become gentler. She no longer set out to hurt people, but tried to be helpful and more professional. For a while, Diana and Faye had become closer, working together for the coven. Just like Cassie, though, Faye had gotten caught up in her life, and they hardly saw each other anymore.

It's not like the three didn't associate anymore. They spoke during rituals and meetings, but that was it. Diana had decided to graduate a semester early from school and had started taking psychology classes at the community college in Salem. She spent less time with the group now, no longer in the security of the "Club."

She was about to laugh until she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see white tennis shoes walk up to her. The breeze brought Diana the scent of hyacinth as the person sat down next to her, and she looked up to see wild-flower blue eyes staring back into her own. A small smile tugged at her lips. "Hi, Cassie."

Cassie smiled back, "Hey Diana."

"You're early. Didn't Adam come with you?" Diana turned to look for him, not noticing him anywhere on the bluff.

"He's trying to talk Chris and Doug out of putting a smoke bomb in the witch dungeon."

They both laughed. The Henderson twins could cause some serious trouble when they weren't watched closely.

"Plus, I wanted to see how you've been doing."

Diana sighed. She looked up at Cassie, yearning to say what had been on her mind not even two minutes before, but couldn't. She didn't want to seem jealous. All she wanted was for Cassie and Adam to be happy. But she also wanted her best friend back.

And an everlasting love wouldn't hurt, either, the voice in her head whispered. Diana ignored it, tossing her hair to the side. She placed a smile on her face and replied, "Oh, I've been fine. Melanie and I have just been going and tracing ancestry lines." She saw the smile begin to fade on Cassie's face as she looked out over the water. "How have you been?"

Cassie shook her head, looking back at Diana. "Oh, great. Adam and I have been researching version 1.0 of Melanie's 'Floppy Disk of Shadows,'" she paused to giggle, pushing her fine, light-brown hair to the side, then continued, "And trying to see what kind of spells we can use in Laurel's quest for environmental peace. She won't believe me that we can't find a spell for fixing the o-zone layer."

Diana laughed, then realized a low chuckle had joined their joke. They both turned to see Faye walking up. She looked magnificent, as usual, even in casual clothes. She walked around with an air of seduction at all times. Today she was wearing her dark black hair up in a ponytail, and a pair of red sweats, to fend off the last of the winter chill.

"What is this?" Cassie grinned, "Fashionably early, for once?"

Faye's chuckle turned into a glance of contentment. "My favorite show was a rerun." She shrugged and sat on the other side of Diana.

Diana smiled. It was nice to have all of the coven's leaders there. She looked at her two counterparts, hiding a grin. They were all totally different in appearance. Diana was light, Faye dark, and Cassie a blend of both. That's how their personalities used to be, too.

Diana realized that they were the closest things she could have to two real sisters. Now they had their own lives to lead, though. She knew she'd never have the feeling of them being as close as they had been before.

They just sat in silence, looking at the sun beginning to set. Their calm didn't last long, though. It was interrupted by a loud ruckus of jeers behind them.

Turning around, Diana saw the Henderson brothers jumping out of their Suzuki Samurai, the vanity plate on the front reading "Flip Me." Their disheveled blond hair and tilted, blue-green eyes made them identical, but, once you knew them, you could tell them apart. Chris had a more gentle, kinder side, whereas Doug was more of the savage type.

Adam was getting out of the back of the jeep, laughing at the insane behavior of the brothers. Diana no longer got that pinched feeling in her chest when she saw Adam Conant. She watched him brush his wine-red hair to the side, and saw his ocean blue eyes gleam when he laughed.

The pixie-like girl walking up behind them was yelling passionately about the squirrel that they had almost hit, while the wise-looking brunette with her looked passed, shaking her head. Laurel Quincey was adamant about nature, while Melanie Glaser was more mellow and wise.

The roar of a motorcycle came speeding up the road. The Henderson brothers jumped out of the way as the leather covered girl zoomed past. Parking her bike, Deborah Armstrong tossed her blond hair to the side, laughing at the brothers. A '69 Mustang Coupe slowly pulled up next to the bike, and you could see her cousin, Nick, behind the wheel, with his dark hair glinting red from the setting sun.

A strawberry blond head came out of the passenger side of the Armstrong car, shaking out its long curls. Suzan Whittier wore an apricot-colored sweater that held well to her tiny waist and well-developed chest. Behind her, Sean Dulany crawled out. He didn't look as slinky as he used to, but he still was a small guy.

Diana sighed. This was her coven. She had known all of them since she was born, with the exception of Cassie. Yet, right now, she felt distant from all of them.

She stood, brushing dry grass off of her khaki pants. "Let's get this started." With Cassie and Faye on each side of her, they made the descent down the side of the bluff to the beach.