To you guys, Breathless Kisses, Becca the Crazo, Killashandra and Soraia. .
.thanks for your encouragement. Everyone else, please read.
Hmm. . .this chapter is more about plot development/set up (I hope) and less about characterization. I have tried to avoid using Cassie as a character because she is pretty boring now that she found true love (puking my guts:). I'm only using her here because Cassie's cross-generational flashbacks from the original L.J. series inspired my story.
I promise to lay off Cassie centered chapters (only two more of these out of what seems to be like 20+ more). As a side note, I'm technically breaking copyright laws writing this piece of fan fiction, but what the hell. I also plan to cheat on my taxes. (Sort of kidding, it's tempting) Also, the bad guys: I'm getting to them, yeah, I know, mix danger and sex (well, sex without the sex because I'm trying to keep this PG-13) if you want people to enjoy it. I suppose I'll have to steal a bit of Stephen King for the danger stuff. Maybe his writing hand in a jar will do. Muh hwah hah:
Thanks for reading:*). . .Emmanuelle * * *
Chapter IV: CAssandra
Part I: Cruising
After school Adam and Cassie cruised off into the sunset. Unfortunately it was not the happily ever after of a love story, thought Cassie, quite unhappily. It's Cassie's turn to buy the supplies for a coven meeting. So she spent the last hour at the local supermarket on a Friday afternoon. Most of that time spent convincing the person at the cash register that despite personal appearance and the truth of the situation, she is really over the age of 21. Nick, Deborah, and the twins better appreciate the effort it takes to get their lousy beers.
Then Cassie perked up a bit because Adam was talking. Adam's silky smooth tones wafted over towards Cassie. Barry White, eat your heart out baby.
"Hi, Nick? You'll have to speak louder, I can't hear you." Oh, thought Cassie, without opening her eyes, Adam was talking to Nick on his cell phone. Adam's voice might be sexy, but she had better things to do than eavesdrop on their most likely boring conversation. She promptly zonked out.
Part II: Nick on Board
Burning red. A bit too warm. Cassie's eyelids felt like they were being slowly toasted by the January sun. So much for her nap. She'll just have to turn down the flippy thing, the thing that has the car mirror, whenever she opened her eyes. Still, she was too tired to bother with opening her eyes, which was probably just as well considering what would happen next.
"What happened to your car?" Cassie hoped Adam wasn't talking to her, she didn't feel like telling him that she rear-ended her Volkswagen last week.
"I still have no idea, all I know is that I left the Hendersons alone in my garage for ten minutes and now the car won't start. So thanks again for the ride to the meeting tonight. Everyone else's cell phones weren't picking up." Cassie almost opened her eyes then. She thought that Adam was talking to someone on the phone if not to her, also, she thought that she and Adam were the only ones in the car. So it was with a sharp jolt that she realized that Nick was actually in the car.
Then there were a couple moments of silence. Cassie relaxed; they weren't going to start a fight in a moving car. Surprising, given that they seemed to be always fighting whenever they saw each other. They usually found something to fight over: territory, male leadership of the coven, and even Cassie herself. Maybe they were both growing up--
"Nick, I have a question for you."
"Go ahead."
"Back in junior high, why didn't you ever ask Diana out?" --or maybe this was about to get really interesting, mused Cassie.
"WHAT?!" At this point Cassie almost opened her eyes to look at Nick's face, but thought the better of it and kept her eyes clamped closed. She really had to hear the rest of this. She figured if they noticed that she was awake, they would stop the conversation.
"Nick, not so loud, you might wake up Cassie." This was followed by another awkward silence.
"Yeah, I'll keep my voice down. But what do you mean by that?"
"I've been talking to Suzan recently, actually eavesdropping on Suzan and Deborah in the clubroom at lunchtime. I was doing homework so I didn't realize I was eavesdropping until Suzan started talking about you. I don't remember all the details. . .
Flashback Session Earlier today: Backroom of cafeteria
". . . .Okay Deborah, I'm going to lay off your male wish list for now, but just so you know, I want to see you in a real dress at the next dance. No biker chick gear, understood?"
"Whatever Suzan. . ."
"So, is he gay?" Suzan asked this offhandedly.
"Who?"
"Nick."
"@#$%^&^?!" Adam glanced over from his schoolwork and got to see a wad of tuna fish fly from Deborah's mouth to Doug's shocked forehead.
"Well, the only female he ever showed interest in was Cassie, and she is. . .well, sort of a mix of girl-next-door and a butch-pretty tomboy," Suzan turned her head to say, "no offense Adam." Suzan moved herself again to face Deborah's frozen face.
"If a guy liked her, it wouldn't have proved anything," Suzan finished. At this point Suzan had whipped out a nail polish bottle and opened it. Nail polish is probably not healthy to inhale, so it might have been a good thing that everyone else in the room (the twins and Adam) was holding their breath.
Deborah looked angry and her warm brown eyes hardened to look slightly dangerous. "Look, Nick never talks to me about this stuff, but I do know that he was drooling over Diana back before high school." Deborah remained pissed for the next couple of seconds. After five seconds, she began to look shocked.
Suzan smiled. "Thanks, that's all I wanted to know. Don't worry about Nick finding out." Suzan met the eyes for the boys in the room. "No one is talking to Nick about this, right?" Each guy had a good angle to see Suzan's wink, Deborah was still too dismayed to notice. All the guys could do was nod their heads.
Suzan returned the nail polish to her bag and left the room without looking back. Deborah sulked in a corner. The wad of tuna fish on Doug's face slid off to the table with an audible gloppy noise.
End of Flashback: Back to 'Nick on Board'
". . .but somehow Suzan weaseled out of Deborah that you once had a major crush on Diana. So, why didn't you ask her out?"
There was a Nick dominated silence for about a minute.
"Well, we were best friends at the time and you told me about liking her first. After you told me that, how could I ask her out without losing you as a friend? Rule number one of best buds is that you don't go after the girl your friend likes. Strangely enough we stopped being friends around that time anyway." Nick said this quietly from Cassie's right so he was probably staring out into the snow-frosted trees on the side of the road.
There was another long silence. Cassie was about to slip back to dreamland. It seemed like the show was finished.
"So, did you fuck her?" This time Cassie was shocked enough that her eyes opened, then very quickly shut them. Hopefully no one noticed.
The tires suddenly squealed and Cassie was thrown to the side door. Adam's driving suffered for a couple of seconds, but he was in charge of enough of his senses to park the car by the side of the road. Then the ignition was turned off.
Nick sounded like he was smiling. "I guess that means you didn't get that far with either of them; all that puritan righteous indignation is steaming out of your ears. Very unwitchy. If you actually slept with Cassie and/or Diana, you would have kept your cool trying to figure out who I was asking about. And besides, it was you who turned this ride into sort of a truth or dare. I just couldn't stop myself from being crude. Don't worry man, Cassie is still asleep, right? Drive on. I'll leave you alone. You had your question and I had mine."
Adam grunted.
The trio continued driving into the sunset. Cassie should know, she had to force herself to keep her eyes closed with the sun in her face for the remainder of the car ride. But it was worth it. * * *
Part III: The Dead and the Living
(open)
White. Winter wonderland. Snow on the trees, on the ground and the clear expanse of the gray white night sky. The coven sitting around a vivid, flickering bonfire, drinking cups of strong smelling herbals. Some state park on the mainland. Cassie vaguely remembered the Henderson twins breaking the locks on the main gate in order to get inside. At this point, Cassie's sleepiness got the better of her and Cassie closed her eyes without remembering that she had a reason for keeping them open.
(close)
After adjusting to the swirling red and black of her closed eyes, she saw her arm tending to the flames in the old fireplace, freshly plastered as it would have been 300 years ago in her ancient home. Her arm was clothed in warm brown wool, old puritan style. From behind, she heard a voice calling a name.
"Jacinth, Jacinth. . ." Cassie's mind responded to the name as if it was Cassie's name also, so Cassie turned around. And saw the face of a girl with Diana's silver blonde hair. The girl from the slide in history class. The girl with Faye's eyes.
(open)
Cassie had to blink once or twice to adjust to seeing Faye in front of her.
"Cassie, Cassie. . .wake up mush for brains, we have a coven meeting to run." Faye said this with a wicked grin, she loved undermining the other coven leaders.
After the group chuckled, Faye continued from where she left off.
"I know you guys all heard about the freshman witch, Richard, and are scared that there is someone with our powers wandering around New Salem, but if you think about it, he is only one person. We are not in any immediate danger. We should do some preliminary investigation, not try to scare him off the island. Like find out where he lives, what's his phone number--"
"We all know why she wants his number," said Doug with a loud snicker, which earned him an ugly glare from Faye. Everyone else tried not to giggle again. Fortunately, the charged quiet didn't last long.
"Does anyone here know any of that information, where he lives, where he is from?" Suzan asked.
Cassie was in between being awake and being asleep; she heard Nick respond but she could only catch a few words. Something about paying for a college and PhD education with rent money from his parents' house. Yeah, Cassie thought, since Nick, Laurel, Adam and Melanie are single children with both parents killed by Black John, they are the heirs to their parents' properties. People who are dead due to Black John, freedom bought with their deaths. . .
(close)
Cassie/Jacinth was walking alone, down a clean, cobbled street. The peculiar click of wooden soles on stones punctuated a silent, clear morning. She picked up a pail, to carry the water for the morning wash. Cassie was a bit disorientated since the view of the world Jacinth was seeing is a bit higher than Cassie is used to. Jacinth must have been taller, thought Cassie.
Preparing for the messy chore, she pushed up her sleeves past her forearms. Mother might not be there to yell at you, but some habits are enforced because the fear never leaves you, mused Jacinth.
Before she could get off the main road, there was a deep puddle to be seen. Not water. A puddle of deep velvet red. Life blood. A sense of terror choked Cassie's/Jacinth's heart. Then everything went black.
(open)
"They're brothers?!" Faye is getting worked up, noted Melanie. What a world we would be living in if Faye is not only after a guy younger than her, but also if Diana gets the older brother. The goddess has a good sense of humor.
Cassie knew she was out of it; it was lucky for her that Faye yelled, otherwise she might have seen more of that gruesome image. She would rather not know the intimate details of a death from 300 years ago. Engrossed in her own thoughts, the flow of conversation was beyond her. When she finally came to, the conversation was wrapping up.
". . .visit them in their house then. How about this weekend, like Sunday?"
"Everyone agreed?" That was Faye.
*I wonder if they have hot sisters, otherwise one of us might end up with Laurel,* Chris communicated to Doug.
Laurel threw her mug between them. "I heard that," warned Laurel.
After a few minutes and a vote by a show of hands, it was determined that the coven would be paying a visit to the witch brother's house. Faye stepped down from the center of the circle.
Diana's turn at bat. "I promised to teach you guys lessons about being a witch, and I'm sorry I forgot to do this last meeting, but I believe we were all a little preoccupied back then." After Diana received nods of agreement, she went on.
"Looking through my Book of Shadows, I found an interesting section. Here, I'll pass the book around and let you guys read it."
Diana handed the book for Sean. Sean stared at the book distastefully for a couple of seconds and turned pages as if trying to touch as little of the pages as possible. *He doesn't like to do work either,* commented Deborah.
"Hey, this book is about soulmates. Why would I have to read this if I don't have a soulmate. . ." whined Sean.
(close)
Jacinth/Cassie was reading her Book of Shadows, while sitting by the warm fire. When Cassie looked up, there was Diana/Faye/Kate in a rocking chair staring at the flames. Cassie was a bit taken aback. Her friend was no longer a pretty girl, but a beautiful woman. She had voluptuous curves and a heavy belly that could not be hidden behind the strict tailoring of her dress.
Jacinth/Cassie put down her book and started to talk. "Kate, I haven't seen you in two years. And now you are married and with child. I'm very happy for you but why didn't you invite me to the wedding?"
"Jacinth, it happened so quickly. Please forgive me. I met my soulmate."
Jacinth/Cassie couldn't say anything. Cassie's mind went into double speed. *If she had a soulmate back then, would it be the same person now?*
"Who is he?" Jacinth/Cassie was all warm smiles, genuinely happy for her friend.
"Nate." Cassie's mind was skimming through all that she knew of the coven's history. Who was Nate? A Henderson? When Jacinth's mind came up with a mental picture, Cassie was amazed. Nick, in breeches. How cute. Slightly anticlimactic. Are Diana and Nick soulmates? What about Faye?
Cassie/Jacinth wanted to go on with the conversation, but there was a sound coming from the window. Against Cassie's will, Jacinth turned her head back and Cassie saw a flash of an angry face with black hair framed by the darkness outside. A face she saw once before. The face of the other girl in the slides from history class. Way too much of a coincidence. But before Jacinth/Cassie could think of something to do. . .
(open)
Adam was pinching her. "Cassie, wake UP!"
"Aw-oh. Adam, that hurt."
"Sorry sweetheart, but now its party time. Diana was mad at you for sleeping through her witch lesson."
"Oh, how mad is she?"
"Not that mad," said Adam with a smile. "She promised to come over your house and make sure you read it first hand. Then I'll come over and teach it to you, alone. I won't leave even when you get it right."
While Cassie was blushing, Faye was thinking, *Yuck, and double yuck. Whatever happens, I don't ever want to fall in love.* * * *
Part IV: Dancing
Faye was back in the spotlight, holding a large stereo. Strange exotic tunes with a pulsing rhythm were being played. The bass was close to the primal sound of a heartbeat, thought Cassie. Everyone was looking at Faye wondering what would happen next. Freezing your ass off in a state park in the middle of winter was something everyone didn't want to do.
"It's called Bhangra music. Old in India, new in London and the U.S. dance scene. I just learned the dances and I want you guys to learn too."
"What's with all this learning?" whined Sean.
"Shut up shorty, It'll be good for you. You might actually get a date without blackmail," replied Faye.
So the circle learned the dance and was caught up in the beat. Sean danced with Laurel, Suzan and Deborah with the Hendersons. Nick approached Cassie while she was dancing with Adam.
"Could I borrow her for a dance?"
Adam was looked suspicious. "I hate to sound like a jealous boyfriend, but the answer is no."
"Adam," interjected Cassie, "Faye is dancing by herself and she looks a bit lonely. Whirl her around once. You can trust me, right?" said Cassie teasingly.
Adam nodded stiffly and walked over to Faye. After a few minutes of friendly dancing, Cassie decided to look up at Nick and break the silence. "So, why do you have to dance with me?" Cassie asked Nick.
"Hmm, it looks like you have ole Adam boy on a tight leash. Well, anyway, I wanted to ask you something."
"Okay."
"Were you awake during the car ride here?"
Cassie didn't respond and a soon later the dance ended. Just before Adam reached them (looking very angry), Nick said, "So, you were awake. Don't worry, I was just trying to make sure." Nick left with a grin and Cassie couldn't help but to break her frown and smile back. Nick always did make her smile.
"So, what was that about?" asked Adam.
"Oh nothing, " responded Cassie, "I feel like going back to the jeep, how about you?"
"Stop trying to change the subject. What did Nick--" The noise of another conversation interrupted their own.
"Hey, normally I would love to dance with you, but I'm beat. Leave me alone," complained Doug.
"You have to continue dancing, there is a purpose to this," replied Faye reasonably.
"Well, why?"
"What we started is the Sunrise Ceremony. Witches are supposed to spend one night a year dancing until sunrise without a break. It's supposed to keep the sun rising for the rest of the year."
Everyone started yelling at once, but after awhile, everyone thought it would be cool to dance all night for one night. They sucked up Laurel's herbal to keep warm and danced until sunrise.
When the sun finally came up, Cassie looked at the circle proudly. By then, all her strange cold visions had thawed away in the warmth of being together with her friends. The morning sun glistened on their slowly moving hair. A perfect moment frozen in time that no one could take away. * * *
* *
*
Hmm. . .this chapter is more about plot development/set up (I hope) and less about characterization. I have tried to avoid using Cassie as a character because she is pretty boring now that she found true love (puking my guts:). I'm only using her here because Cassie's cross-generational flashbacks from the original L.J. series inspired my story.
I promise to lay off Cassie centered chapters (only two more of these out of what seems to be like 20+ more). As a side note, I'm technically breaking copyright laws writing this piece of fan fiction, but what the hell. I also plan to cheat on my taxes. (Sort of kidding, it's tempting) Also, the bad guys: I'm getting to them, yeah, I know, mix danger and sex (well, sex without the sex because I'm trying to keep this PG-13) if you want people to enjoy it. I suppose I'll have to steal a bit of Stephen King for the danger stuff. Maybe his writing hand in a jar will do. Muh hwah hah:
Thanks for reading:*). . .Emmanuelle * * *
Chapter IV: CAssandra
Part I: Cruising
After school Adam and Cassie cruised off into the sunset. Unfortunately it was not the happily ever after of a love story, thought Cassie, quite unhappily. It's Cassie's turn to buy the supplies for a coven meeting. So she spent the last hour at the local supermarket on a Friday afternoon. Most of that time spent convincing the person at the cash register that despite personal appearance and the truth of the situation, she is really over the age of 21. Nick, Deborah, and the twins better appreciate the effort it takes to get their lousy beers.
Then Cassie perked up a bit because Adam was talking. Adam's silky smooth tones wafted over towards Cassie. Barry White, eat your heart out baby.
"Hi, Nick? You'll have to speak louder, I can't hear you." Oh, thought Cassie, without opening her eyes, Adam was talking to Nick on his cell phone. Adam's voice might be sexy, but she had better things to do than eavesdrop on their most likely boring conversation. She promptly zonked out.
Part II: Nick on Board
Burning red. A bit too warm. Cassie's eyelids felt like they were being slowly toasted by the January sun. So much for her nap. She'll just have to turn down the flippy thing, the thing that has the car mirror, whenever she opened her eyes. Still, she was too tired to bother with opening her eyes, which was probably just as well considering what would happen next.
"What happened to your car?" Cassie hoped Adam wasn't talking to her, she didn't feel like telling him that she rear-ended her Volkswagen last week.
"I still have no idea, all I know is that I left the Hendersons alone in my garage for ten minutes and now the car won't start. So thanks again for the ride to the meeting tonight. Everyone else's cell phones weren't picking up." Cassie almost opened her eyes then. She thought that Adam was talking to someone on the phone if not to her, also, she thought that she and Adam were the only ones in the car. So it was with a sharp jolt that she realized that Nick was actually in the car.
Then there were a couple moments of silence. Cassie relaxed; they weren't going to start a fight in a moving car. Surprising, given that they seemed to be always fighting whenever they saw each other. They usually found something to fight over: territory, male leadership of the coven, and even Cassie herself. Maybe they were both growing up--
"Nick, I have a question for you."
"Go ahead."
"Back in junior high, why didn't you ever ask Diana out?" --or maybe this was about to get really interesting, mused Cassie.
"WHAT?!" At this point Cassie almost opened her eyes to look at Nick's face, but thought the better of it and kept her eyes clamped closed. She really had to hear the rest of this. She figured if they noticed that she was awake, they would stop the conversation.
"Nick, not so loud, you might wake up Cassie." This was followed by another awkward silence.
"Yeah, I'll keep my voice down. But what do you mean by that?"
"I've been talking to Suzan recently, actually eavesdropping on Suzan and Deborah in the clubroom at lunchtime. I was doing homework so I didn't realize I was eavesdropping until Suzan started talking about you. I don't remember all the details. . .
Flashback Session Earlier today: Backroom of cafeteria
". . . .Okay Deborah, I'm going to lay off your male wish list for now, but just so you know, I want to see you in a real dress at the next dance. No biker chick gear, understood?"
"Whatever Suzan. . ."
"So, is he gay?" Suzan asked this offhandedly.
"Who?"
"Nick."
"@#$%^&^?!" Adam glanced over from his schoolwork and got to see a wad of tuna fish fly from Deborah's mouth to Doug's shocked forehead.
"Well, the only female he ever showed interest in was Cassie, and she is. . .well, sort of a mix of girl-next-door and a butch-pretty tomboy," Suzan turned her head to say, "no offense Adam." Suzan moved herself again to face Deborah's frozen face.
"If a guy liked her, it wouldn't have proved anything," Suzan finished. At this point Suzan had whipped out a nail polish bottle and opened it. Nail polish is probably not healthy to inhale, so it might have been a good thing that everyone else in the room (the twins and Adam) was holding their breath.
Deborah looked angry and her warm brown eyes hardened to look slightly dangerous. "Look, Nick never talks to me about this stuff, but I do know that he was drooling over Diana back before high school." Deborah remained pissed for the next couple of seconds. After five seconds, she began to look shocked.
Suzan smiled. "Thanks, that's all I wanted to know. Don't worry about Nick finding out." Suzan met the eyes for the boys in the room. "No one is talking to Nick about this, right?" Each guy had a good angle to see Suzan's wink, Deborah was still too dismayed to notice. All the guys could do was nod their heads.
Suzan returned the nail polish to her bag and left the room without looking back. Deborah sulked in a corner. The wad of tuna fish on Doug's face slid off to the table with an audible gloppy noise.
End of Flashback: Back to 'Nick on Board'
". . .but somehow Suzan weaseled out of Deborah that you once had a major crush on Diana. So, why didn't you ask her out?"
There was a Nick dominated silence for about a minute.
"Well, we were best friends at the time and you told me about liking her first. After you told me that, how could I ask her out without losing you as a friend? Rule number one of best buds is that you don't go after the girl your friend likes. Strangely enough we stopped being friends around that time anyway." Nick said this quietly from Cassie's right so he was probably staring out into the snow-frosted trees on the side of the road.
There was another long silence. Cassie was about to slip back to dreamland. It seemed like the show was finished.
"So, did you fuck her?" This time Cassie was shocked enough that her eyes opened, then very quickly shut them. Hopefully no one noticed.
The tires suddenly squealed and Cassie was thrown to the side door. Adam's driving suffered for a couple of seconds, but he was in charge of enough of his senses to park the car by the side of the road. Then the ignition was turned off.
Nick sounded like he was smiling. "I guess that means you didn't get that far with either of them; all that puritan righteous indignation is steaming out of your ears. Very unwitchy. If you actually slept with Cassie and/or Diana, you would have kept your cool trying to figure out who I was asking about. And besides, it was you who turned this ride into sort of a truth or dare. I just couldn't stop myself from being crude. Don't worry man, Cassie is still asleep, right? Drive on. I'll leave you alone. You had your question and I had mine."
Adam grunted.
The trio continued driving into the sunset. Cassie should know, she had to force herself to keep her eyes closed with the sun in her face for the remainder of the car ride. But it was worth it. * * *
Part III: The Dead and the Living
(open)
White. Winter wonderland. Snow on the trees, on the ground and the clear expanse of the gray white night sky. The coven sitting around a vivid, flickering bonfire, drinking cups of strong smelling herbals. Some state park on the mainland. Cassie vaguely remembered the Henderson twins breaking the locks on the main gate in order to get inside. At this point, Cassie's sleepiness got the better of her and Cassie closed her eyes without remembering that she had a reason for keeping them open.
(close)
After adjusting to the swirling red and black of her closed eyes, she saw her arm tending to the flames in the old fireplace, freshly plastered as it would have been 300 years ago in her ancient home. Her arm was clothed in warm brown wool, old puritan style. From behind, she heard a voice calling a name.
"Jacinth, Jacinth. . ." Cassie's mind responded to the name as if it was Cassie's name also, so Cassie turned around. And saw the face of a girl with Diana's silver blonde hair. The girl from the slide in history class. The girl with Faye's eyes.
(open)
Cassie had to blink once or twice to adjust to seeing Faye in front of her.
"Cassie, Cassie. . .wake up mush for brains, we have a coven meeting to run." Faye said this with a wicked grin, she loved undermining the other coven leaders.
After the group chuckled, Faye continued from where she left off.
"I know you guys all heard about the freshman witch, Richard, and are scared that there is someone with our powers wandering around New Salem, but if you think about it, he is only one person. We are not in any immediate danger. We should do some preliminary investigation, not try to scare him off the island. Like find out where he lives, what's his phone number--"
"We all know why she wants his number," said Doug with a loud snicker, which earned him an ugly glare from Faye. Everyone else tried not to giggle again. Fortunately, the charged quiet didn't last long.
"Does anyone here know any of that information, where he lives, where he is from?" Suzan asked.
Cassie was in between being awake and being asleep; she heard Nick respond but she could only catch a few words. Something about paying for a college and PhD education with rent money from his parents' house. Yeah, Cassie thought, since Nick, Laurel, Adam and Melanie are single children with both parents killed by Black John, they are the heirs to their parents' properties. People who are dead due to Black John, freedom bought with their deaths. . .
(close)
Cassie/Jacinth was walking alone, down a clean, cobbled street. The peculiar click of wooden soles on stones punctuated a silent, clear morning. She picked up a pail, to carry the water for the morning wash. Cassie was a bit disorientated since the view of the world Jacinth was seeing is a bit higher than Cassie is used to. Jacinth must have been taller, thought Cassie.
Preparing for the messy chore, she pushed up her sleeves past her forearms. Mother might not be there to yell at you, but some habits are enforced because the fear never leaves you, mused Jacinth.
Before she could get off the main road, there was a deep puddle to be seen. Not water. A puddle of deep velvet red. Life blood. A sense of terror choked Cassie's/Jacinth's heart. Then everything went black.
(open)
"They're brothers?!" Faye is getting worked up, noted Melanie. What a world we would be living in if Faye is not only after a guy younger than her, but also if Diana gets the older brother. The goddess has a good sense of humor.
Cassie knew she was out of it; it was lucky for her that Faye yelled, otherwise she might have seen more of that gruesome image. She would rather not know the intimate details of a death from 300 years ago. Engrossed in her own thoughts, the flow of conversation was beyond her. When she finally came to, the conversation was wrapping up.
". . .visit them in their house then. How about this weekend, like Sunday?"
"Everyone agreed?" That was Faye.
*I wonder if they have hot sisters, otherwise one of us might end up with Laurel,* Chris communicated to Doug.
Laurel threw her mug between them. "I heard that," warned Laurel.
After a few minutes and a vote by a show of hands, it was determined that the coven would be paying a visit to the witch brother's house. Faye stepped down from the center of the circle.
Diana's turn at bat. "I promised to teach you guys lessons about being a witch, and I'm sorry I forgot to do this last meeting, but I believe we were all a little preoccupied back then." After Diana received nods of agreement, she went on.
"Looking through my Book of Shadows, I found an interesting section. Here, I'll pass the book around and let you guys read it."
Diana handed the book for Sean. Sean stared at the book distastefully for a couple of seconds and turned pages as if trying to touch as little of the pages as possible. *He doesn't like to do work either,* commented Deborah.
"Hey, this book is about soulmates. Why would I have to read this if I don't have a soulmate. . ." whined Sean.
(close)
Jacinth/Cassie was reading her Book of Shadows, while sitting by the warm fire. When Cassie looked up, there was Diana/Faye/Kate in a rocking chair staring at the flames. Cassie was a bit taken aback. Her friend was no longer a pretty girl, but a beautiful woman. She had voluptuous curves and a heavy belly that could not be hidden behind the strict tailoring of her dress.
Jacinth/Cassie put down her book and started to talk. "Kate, I haven't seen you in two years. And now you are married and with child. I'm very happy for you but why didn't you invite me to the wedding?"
"Jacinth, it happened so quickly. Please forgive me. I met my soulmate."
Jacinth/Cassie couldn't say anything. Cassie's mind went into double speed. *If she had a soulmate back then, would it be the same person now?*
"Who is he?" Jacinth/Cassie was all warm smiles, genuinely happy for her friend.
"Nate." Cassie's mind was skimming through all that she knew of the coven's history. Who was Nate? A Henderson? When Jacinth's mind came up with a mental picture, Cassie was amazed. Nick, in breeches. How cute. Slightly anticlimactic. Are Diana and Nick soulmates? What about Faye?
Cassie/Jacinth wanted to go on with the conversation, but there was a sound coming from the window. Against Cassie's will, Jacinth turned her head back and Cassie saw a flash of an angry face with black hair framed by the darkness outside. A face she saw once before. The face of the other girl in the slides from history class. Way too much of a coincidence. But before Jacinth/Cassie could think of something to do. . .
(open)
Adam was pinching her. "Cassie, wake UP!"
"Aw-oh. Adam, that hurt."
"Sorry sweetheart, but now its party time. Diana was mad at you for sleeping through her witch lesson."
"Oh, how mad is she?"
"Not that mad," said Adam with a smile. "She promised to come over your house and make sure you read it first hand. Then I'll come over and teach it to you, alone. I won't leave even when you get it right."
While Cassie was blushing, Faye was thinking, *Yuck, and double yuck. Whatever happens, I don't ever want to fall in love.* * * *
Part IV: Dancing
Faye was back in the spotlight, holding a large stereo. Strange exotic tunes with a pulsing rhythm were being played. The bass was close to the primal sound of a heartbeat, thought Cassie. Everyone was looking at Faye wondering what would happen next. Freezing your ass off in a state park in the middle of winter was something everyone didn't want to do.
"It's called Bhangra music. Old in India, new in London and the U.S. dance scene. I just learned the dances and I want you guys to learn too."
"What's with all this learning?" whined Sean.
"Shut up shorty, It'll be good for you. You might actually get a date without blackmail," replied Faye.
So the circle learned the dance and was caught up in the beat. Sean danced with Laurel, Suzan and Deborah with the Hendersons. Nick approached Cassie while she was dancing with Adam.
"Could I borrow her for a dance?"
Adam was looked suspicious. "I hate to sound like a jealous boyfriend, but the answer is no."
"Adam," interjected Cassie, "Faye is dancing by herself and she looks a bit lonely. Whirl her around once. You can trust me, right?" said Cassie teasingly.
Adam nodded stiffly and walked over to Faye. After a few minutes of friendly dancing, Cassie decided to look up at Nick and break the silence. "So, why do you have to dance with me?" Cassie asked Nick.
"Hmm, it looks like you have ole Adam boy on a tight leash. Well, anyway, I wanted to ask you something."
"Okay."
"Were you awake during the car ride here?"
Cassie didn't respond and a soon later the dance ended. Just before Adam reached them (looking very angry), Nick said, "So, you were awake. Don't worry, I was just trying to make sure." Nick left with a grin and Cassie couldn't help but to break her frown and smile back. Nick always did make her smile.
"So, what was that about?" asked Adam.
"Oh nothing, " responded Cassie, "I feel like going back to the jeep, how about you?"
"Stop trying to change the subject. What did Nick--" The noise of another conversation interrupted their own.
"Hey, normally I would love to dance with you, but I'm beat. Leave me alone," complained Doug.
"You have to continue dancing, there is a purpose to this," replied Faye reasonably.
"Well, why?"
"What we started is the Sunrise Ceremony. Witches are supposed to spend one night a year dancing until sunrise without a break. It's supposed to keep the sun rising for the rest of the year."
Everyone started yelling at once, but after awhile, everyone thought it would be cool to dance all night for one night. They sucked up Laurel's herbal to keep warm and danced until sunrise.
When the sun finally came up, Cassie looked at the circle proudly. By then, all her strange cold visions had thawed away in the warmth of being together with her friends. The morning sun glistened on their slowly moving hair. A perfect moment frozen in time that no one could take away. * * *
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