Author's note:

In chapter 11, the girls visited Punch Pizza when they did a concert in Minneapolis. This week, I'm watching a friend's cats in Minneapolis while she's away on vacation, so I thought it would be cool to try out eating at Punch Pizza myself. I honestly had no idea of Punch Pizza's existence before researching for this fanfic, so it was a lot of fun eating at a place I wrote about in this fic! As the girls said in the chapter, their pizza was indeed quite delicious. I hadn't realized it when I wrote the fic, but apparently they make their pizza in the same style as it is made in Italy which I thought was super neat! I must say it was surprisingly spicy though! I didn't intend to order a spicy pizza so it came as a bit of a surprise haha.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

"What the hell?" Dusk exclaimed. "You're leaving the band?!"

"No, I didn't say that!" Luna defensively said, while continuing to fight back tears. "I'm just saying I don't like the direction the band is going. I don't really like touring, and you saying to those fans that we're going to be touring all the time was the last straw for me. I miss the days we were at home, writing music as a way to express ourselves. It feels like we're just doing this for fame now, and I don't like it. Like I said at the Canal, when did the fame become more important than our music?

"Oh for the love of God, Luna, you're overreacting." Dusk sighed.

"No, I'm not. I'm just saying how I feel." Luna promised.

"So you're just going to leave us in the middle of a tour?" Dusk exclaimed. "And you were calling me a bad friend."

"No, I'm not going to do that. I'm not saying I've made my mind up or anything. I want to be here for the rest of our first tour, even if I'm not really enjoying the concerts. And I want to talk about this with you all before making the decision. All I'm saying is it's a recurring thought I'm having." Luna admitted. "I hope you can support me."

"Fine. At least you're not leaving." Dusk said, before dropping her voice to a mutter. "Drama queen."

"Excuse me?" Luna defended.

"Come on, Dusk." Thorn jumped in. "You're being really petty and immature. With behavior like this, you're going to make Luna want to leave the band."

Thorn still was careful about her words in case the witches happened to pop in, or were reading her thoughts to listen to the conversation. She figured everything she was saying still went along with Bridgit's orders of trying to keep the band from ending. Besides, Dusk was being ridiculous, and Thorn didn't think the band should end simply because Dusk was too tied up in her own fame to see that her friend was struggling. It was a win-win situation since Thorn could say what she wanted while still going along with Bridgit's instructions.

"I don't need this!" Dusk snapped, as she walked away. "We'll talk about it later. I don't want this dumb shit to bring me down after such a great concert."

"Um, what about Bridgit, Nia, Sam and Gus? Do we tell them I'm thinking about leaving the band?" Luna asked.

"No." Dusk firmly said. "This stays between us, and hopefully, we'll have it figured out so we never have to tell anyone."

Thorn thought about saying something, but she didn't want to make it seem like she was revolting against Bridgit or hiding something from her, so as not to be punished by the witches. She figured it would be a good thing to not tell them, as it would allow her to test out whether the witches truly were constantly listening in, and knew about her meeting with Gus that night.

"Okay. Whatever you two want." Thorn said, trying to remain completely neutral in case they were listening.

"That sounds good to me. I'm sorry to spring something like this on you." Luna said sorrowfully. She looked like she was ashamed, probably in part due to Dusk's extreme reaction.

"Great concert! Ready to go, girls?" Gus popped in. His voice scared Thorn for a moment, because she hadn't expected him to pop into the room at that moment. She wondered if he had heard Luna's revelation, but she was pretty sure he hadn't. The less people that knew this, the better. Perhaps her theory would prove fruitful in defeating the witches once and for all.

Thorn dug through her suitcase once they arrived back at the hotel, searching for her pajamas. Just as she located them, she noticed something she'd forgotten about: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Wicca, the Wicca book her mother had given her. She hadn't remembered packing it until now, but she was incredibly happy she did. Things had gotten so busy with their album release and touring that she'd neglected to read the last 100 pages of the book. She excitedly grabbed it out of her suitcase and plopped herself down on the mattress next to Luna. Dusk was currently in the bathroom taking a shower.

"Oh, it's that book on Wicca." Luna noticed. "I forgot you had it."

"I forgot about it for a little while too. This will be a nice way to unwind for the night." Thorn smiled, feeling excited.

"Yeah. I'm sorry about dropping that on you right after the concert." Luna apologized.

"You don't need to apologize." Thorn assured. "Your feelings are valid and your rationale totally makes sense."

"Thanks." Luna smiled. "It feels good to be listened to."

This comment made Thorn feel equally happy and sad. She was happy she could provide that support for Luna, but sad at the comment's implication that Dusk didn't support her. It was a fair remark though, as Dusk really hadn't been supporting her lately. She'd been more concerned about herself and her fame than her own friends.

"Do you actually think you want to leave the band?" Thorn asked. "Of course, I'll support you if you do."

"No, I don't want to leave." Luna confirmed. "I just liked the way things were before. But Dusk has gotten so caught up in fame that it feels like she's lost sight of our identity as artists. Our music is all about empowerment, but it feels like Dusk is getting power by taking it away from others. She beams whenever she thinks about how important we are now that we're famous, and acts like we're more deserving than other people. That's not the type of band I want to be in."

"It's not the type of band I want to be in either, admittedly." Thorn sighed. "I consider it more of a Dusk problem than a band problem, though."

"I think it would be different if I enjoyed touring. I really wanted to, but being up in front of all those people every night is nerve-wracking to me. I have to syke myself up every night just to be able to handle it." Luna admitted.

"I guess it's taken me a little while to get used to performing in front of all those people, too." Thorn added. "But I think I'm getting better. This concert was great, honestly, and I enjoyed it."

"I'm glad." Luna smiled. "I'm fine with staying in the band…I just don't want to tour all the time. And Dusk needs to change her attitude. She's not the same person she was before we released our first album."

"She's not." Thorn sighed.

Both girls could hear Dusk turn the shower off in the bathroom.

"It feels good to open up about this without being yelled at." Luna stated. "I'm glad we had this conversation."

"Me too." Thorn smiled. "It's good to know what you're going through, and I hope you know that I'm always here to support you."

"Thanks." Luna opened her arms up to hug Thorn. Both of the girls shared a quick hug before Dusk got out of the shower.

While Luna returned to her book, The Warlock of Wimbledon by W. Anthos, Thorn took her mother's book out of her suitcase and eagerly began reading it. Perhaps she'd find something that could clue her in about the witches.

Thorn quickly read through the chapter about different types of witches, but didn't find much. They listed sea witches, city witches, plant witches, cottage witches, kitchen witches, and influencer witches, and how each one of them was essentially a different way of embodying one's truth through the geographic locations of places that made them happy. There was a tad bit of history of Gerald Gardner, who had created the definition of witches as more of a social construct for being in tune with one's aura and energies, rather than actually being able to cast spells. Bridgit was able to cast spells though, which she knew from when she choked Gus. The chapter went on to talk about how witches could have visions from focusing deeply on their spiritual auras. Finally, it discussed finding magic in one's everyday life. The author argued that you didn't have to wave a magic wand or make someone disappear, because certain things in life - such as living on a rock in outer space (otherwise known as Earth) or human connection - could be just as magical.

She normally would have been fascinated by this stuff, but she skimmed it a bit in hopes of finding something that would help her with her situation. She could feel her eyes getting very sleepy, and she wasn't finding much. It was all just stuff about how you could enhance your powers by improving your ability to focus on your spiritual energy, and how collective energy made it stronger. Ugh, why wasn't there anything that applied to her situation?

As she paged through the book, she found herself almost unable to keep her eyes open.

Must. Stay. Awake.

Thorn woke up to the sun streaming in her window. She groggily realized her Wicca book was still lying next to her arm. She must have fallen asleep reading it. She felt frustrated with her body for falling asleep on her when she should have been able to read the rest of that book. She probably wouldn't have time tonight, since she was meeting Gus secretly again, and she most certainly wouldn't have time right now, as she needed to pack up and get down to breakfast. She'd just have to keep observing the witches and see what happened. It would be interesting to see the result of her little test of if Bridgit, Nia and Sam overheard Luna's revelation, and even more imminently, her conversation with Gus when she snuck out that one night.

Thorn felt a rumble in her stomach. She vowed to brush her teeth and get ready later, after she got some breakfast. She was going to change out of her pajamas, but realized she had fallen asleep before she changed into them. Just as she was about to head out the door, she heard a knock at it. She found it odd at first, but figured Dusk or Luna just forgot their key in the room or something.

Thorn's heart skipped a beat when she opened the door. Bridgit was standing right there, with a sense of urgency on her face.

"Sorry, but we need to talk." Bridgit said, as she barged in the room without asking if she could come in. "I heard your conversation with Luna yesterday. She's leaving the band, and we both know that can't happen."

"I know…I don't know what to do, though." Thorn sighed. "Dusk actually did what you told me to do, and that upset Luna so much that she said she might not be able to be in the band anymore if that happened."

"Well, convince her that she just hasn't gotten used to touring yet. She can't dip out on you guys in the middle of this tour. It's very important to us that Luna finishes this tour." Bridgit had a sense of intensity present in her eyes.

"She won't leave in the middle of the tour." Thorn assured. "She'd never do that to us."

"You don't know that!" Bridgit snapped. "She's clearly not in her right mind if she wants to leave this band, so what if she does something crazy and leaves? We can't take that chance. I need you to convince her that it will just take her a little while to get used to touring. Maybe say you've been struggling on tour too, but things are getting better for you."

Thorn was a bit confused. She wasn't sure if Bridgit was thinking she would be making up that she's struggling being herself on the tour, or if Bridgit had actually read her thoughts to know this.

"Okay, yeah. I can definitely say that." Thorn agreed. She was much more okay with telling Luna this, given she wouldn't be lying. It was something she'd actually felt.

"Good." Bridgit nodded. "Just whatever you do, do not let her leave this band."

"I won't." Thorn promised. She felt incredibly selfish, but she sort of agreed with Bridgit's mentality that Luna shouldn't leave the band. Of course, she'd support her friend if that was what she really needed to do, but Bridgit's strong desire to keep the band alive at all costs was somewhat appealing to Thorn.

"Let's go downstairs now." Bridgit instructed in a commanding voice, as if she were giving orders to a dog.

Thorn didn't give her the dignity of responding, and just followed the pink-haired perpetrator to the elevator. She wasn't really sure if she preferred Bridgit weirdly talking to her as if nothing had happened or the silence. Both were equally awkward and terrifying, if Thorn was honest.

The trek to Chicago had been one of their shortest drives yet, only taking around four hours. Luna had offered to drive this time, presumably because she felt bad about her sudden revelation about being unhappy in the band and wanted to make herself seem useful. One of these days Thorn would have to offer to drive, since she hadn't yet.

"Alright everybody, we're almost there!" Luna exclaimed, as she turned onto West Ida B. Wells Drive.

"Well, where's our hotel this time, Mr. Tour Guide?" Sam inquired, causing Gus to blush a little bit. It was interesting how their faux friendship still functioned a little bit, in the sense that playful interactions still occurred from time to time. Thorn supposed it was to make it look more convincing on the witches' parts, but she still found it quite fascinating.

"Tonight, we'll be staying at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. It was built between 1974 and 1980, is fascinating in the sense that the hotel is comprised of two towers, both of which are connected by a skyway and an underground concourse. The hotel just recently hosted the World Science Fiction Convention back in August. It's also home to two restaurants and bars, and a game area." Gus listed off the top of his head. "If you've ever seen Rollercoaster, that movie was filmed here."

"Never heard of it." Bridgit shrugged.

"Ooh, do we want to eat in one of the hotel restaurants?" Nia suggested.

"God no." Dusk rolled her eyes. "We're not some poor bums who have to mooch off a hotel's crappy dinner. We're famous now. We've gotta explore the town and find a really classy place to eat."

"I hardly would call the restaurants in the hotels 'crappy dinners,' Dusk." Gus challenged. "They're quite nice, from what I've researched."

"Even so, why not just splurge a little bit?" Dusk urged. "If a fan saw us eating in some cheap dump like that, they'd probably wonder what the hell we were doing with all their money."

"I think you overestimate the amount you're going to make on this tour, Dusk." Gus chuckled. "Yes, it's a decent amount, but you're not going to become Bill Gates."

"I'd be fine going out somewhere. It's nice to get out instead of being in the hotel all day." Thorn suggested.

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Luna agreed.

"Do you know of any good restaurants around here, Gus?" Sam inquired.

"I'd love to go to a cute little café." Bridgit suggested.

"I think I know the perfect one." Gus suggested. "It just opened last year, actually. It's called the Lula Café, and it's quite small, but the food is excellent and the staff is extraordinarily friendly."

"That sounds perfect!" Bridgit exclaimed.

"Okay. It's quite a drive…about 30 minutes from our hotel, I believe." Gus warned. "And then it's another 30 minutes back to the House of Blues, where you're performing tonight. We should have plenty of time, though, given it's only 3."

"The House of Blues? Sounds like a place for jazz musicians." Sam commented.

"Not exactly, Sam." Gus corrected. "It's actually a chain of concert halls for all types of music, which was opened by Dan Akyroyd. There are lots of them. There's ones in Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, and New Orleans…and I believe one in Florida, as well."

"Did you say 30 minutes each way?" Luna exclaimed. "At least we had a short drive up here."

"If you're still debating whether to tour or not, one thing you may want to consider is how much driving is involved, because there's a lot of it." Gus chuckled.

Thorn immediately got uncomfortable. Gus was still unaware of Luna's dissatisfaction to the level of considering leaving the band, so besides feeling bad for Luna she had to keep quiet, she also worried that this would only push the witches more towards irrationally forcing Thorn to do things. It seemed they were so hell-bent on carrying out whatever their plan was that they couldn't possibly wait to see how situations played out. Every little detail that went against their plan was challenged, such as Luna commenting briefly that she wasn't satisfied, which led to Thorn bringing up the conversation about what would happen if one of them left the band, which led to Dusk saying what Thorn was going to say anyway…and it all just led back to the witches being hyper alert and forcing Thorn to try to get Luna to stay in the band. It felt like a never-ending cycle of manipulation and cruelty.

Lula Café was exactly what Thorn expected: a small, cute-looking café with not a lot of space. A few booths and tables scattered throughout the restaurant, but the café looked like it was built to hold only about 25 to 30 people at a time. After going to so many big restaurants on this tour, Thorn enjoyed the change of going to a small locally-owned place. It reminded her a bit of Jack's, just like the Broadway Bar and Grill had. They were greeted by a sweet voice that reminded Thorn a bit of a grandmotherly figure. She had white hair and wore a red waitress apron.

"Why hello there!" the woman greeted. "My name is Lula and I'm the owner of this café. Can I get you girls a booth or table today?"

Thorn looked at her fellow travel mates. None of them seemed to have any preference other than Dusk, who mouthed 'booth.'

"We'd prefer a booth." Thorn stated.

"Right this way, ladies…and gentleman." Lula instructed, pausing once she saw Gus. "So, are you from around here?"

"No, they're not, Grandma!" a feminine voice called from the back. "Do you know who those girls are?! They're The Hex Girls!"

"Who in the world are The Tex Girls? Are you from Texas?" Lula looked confused. The person who had previously spoken came out from the back, revealing herself to be a young teenage brunette. She was wearing a waitress uniform and khaki pants.

"Not The Tex Girls, Grandma!" the teenage girl laughed. "The Hex Girls! They're, like, the hottest band in the world right now! I can't believe you're here eating in our little restaurant! I feel so special!"

"Very nice to meet you." Thorn smiled.

"Yeah, it's always wicked meeting our fans." Dusk exclaimed.

"Hi! What's your name?" Luna inquired.

"I'm Susan." the brunette replied.

"Well, I'll be!" Lula exclaimed. "I didn't know you girls were famous. Where are you from?"

"They're from a little town called Oakhaven, Massachusetts." Susan informed, before the girls could.

"Wow, you sure know a lot about these girls, Susie!" Lula said in surprise.

"I'm, like, your biggest fan!" Susan turned to The Hex Girls. "I've listened to your album, like, a bajillion times! I've never related to an album so much!"

"I'm so glad you love our music so much!" Dusk exclaimed. "What's your favorite song?"

"That's a hard one…and I can't believe I'm actually talking to you guys about my favorite song on the album!" Susan looked like she was in heaven. "I have to pick "Earth, Wind, Fire and Air." I'm really passionate about the environment, and you guys do a great job of making the song super empowering."

"Thank you! That's my favorite too." Thorn responded.

"Actually, it's my favorite as well." Luna chuckled.

"Woah! Really? I can't believe I have the same favorite as you guys!" Susan exclaimed.

"Are you coming to the concert tonight?" Dusk inquired.

Susan's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Am I?! Of course I am! I wouldn't miss you guys coming to town for the world. Anyway, I suppose I should take your orders instead of just talking at you all day." Susan chuckled.

"No worries! We love talking to fans!" Thorn smiled. "If you want, we can even give you a ride to the concert. That's where we're headed right after this. It might be a little tight, but I think we can squeeze you in."

Susan looked like she was about to explode with excitement. "Are you serious?! That would be my dream!"

"That's very nice of you to offer Susie a ride." Lula complimented. "How about this? If you drop her back off here after the concert's over, the meal for all seven of you is on the house!"

"Wow! That's so nice of you." Nia complimented.

"Sure, we can do that." Gus agreed.

"I'm gonna order a huge lobster!" Sam joked.

"Well, we don't have any lobsters here." Susan chuckled. "We've got lots of sandwiches and salads, though!"

"Sam!" Bridgit scolded. "Don't take advantage of the woman's kind offer."

Bridgit's comment was quite ironic to Thorn for obvious reasons.

"No, she's right!" Dusk said. "If we're famous enough to be getting free dinners, we might as well treat ourselves a little. I'll take the steak sub." Dusk ordered.

Thorn internally sighed. Dusk continued to value fame over being kind to other people. It seemed she thought her fame was a right of passage, rather than something extra to supplement her already fulfilling life. This nice old lady had been incredibly generous to give them all of their dinners free, and all Dusk could think about is how she could get the most personal gain possible out of the deal. Thorn would be even angrier than she was if not for the witches.

Everyone had enjoyed a splendid dinner, particularly Dusk, since she bought the most expensive thing on the menu. After the meal, Susan tagged along with them to the concert hall. The concert hall looked impressively immaculate, and seemed like something a major star would play in. It still took Thorn aback sometimes to think about the fact that they were actually major stars now.

The concert hall had multiple levels of seats: a main level, and two balconies. Each of the balconies had fancy railings that looked like something that would be in an opera house. Two pillars surrounded either side of the stages, with five large plaques running across the length of them by the stage's ceiling. The seating on the bottom row was auditorium style, and rows of seats led nearly all the way up to the stage. The sound and lighting systems also looked like the most impressive they had seen yet, with so many intricacies that it made Thorn dizzy just trying to trace all the different accessories attached to the ceiling.

The seven had just arrived at the theater, and were led to the backstage area by an employee. The backstage looked very spacious, with a lot of room to set up.

"So you guys travel around to all your concerts in a van?" Susan asked. "That's crazy."

"Yeah, we do, actually." Thorn confirmed. "It's really fun though, taking road trips and seeing a different city every night."

"That must be so cool! Your van's really quirky too. Looks nice for fitting a lot of people and instruments." Susan commented. "It's not what I would have expected, though. I just thought you'd be traveling in like private jets or something…but I guess I don't know much about touring and stuff."

"I can see why you'd think that." Thorn understood. "I guess I thought that too before I became famous, but now I see that fame is just a supplement to what your life is like already. Fame doesn't have to be flashing fancy jewelry or anything. That van is just what we drove around Oakhaven, and it was most cost-effective to drive that around rather than paying for jets and stuff, which we couldn't afford anyway."

"Oh yeah." Susan looked like she had a sudden realization. "I guess fame doesn't instantly make you able to do everything like society implies."

"Exactly." Thorn said, as her thoughts shifted to Dusk's recent behavior for a moment. Since she was teaching Susan what fame was like, Thorn felt a responsibility to educate her on what she felt fame shouldn't be. "Fame also doesn't replace your personality or anything, or at least it shouldn't. It should just be a small supplement to your life. You have to keep yourself down-to-Earth and not let fame become overly important to you. It's a nice bonus, but you can't let it go to your head."

"Yeah." Susan's mouth formed into a smile. "That totally makes sense! You seem like you've got a really level head. That only makes me look up to you more."

"Thanks." Thorn responded, before Gus interrupted.

"Alright, Susan, if you like, we can lead you to your seat while they set up." Gus informed.

"That'd be great!" Susan responded. "It was so awesome talking to you, Thorn!"

"It was nice talking to you too!" Thorn reciprocated. "I'll see you after the concert! I hope you enjoy it."

Thorn waited until Gus, Bridgit, Nia and Sam were out of sight. She felt bad handing one of their fans over to evil witches, but she knew they wouldn't do anything in front of so many people.

"That's so sweet." Thorn smiled.

"Yeah, she worships us!" Dusk exclaimed.

"I'm not sure that's the takeaway from this…" Thorn cautiously said. "But anyway, do you guys see where the mic's at?"

"Yeah, it's right over there. You'll have to get it though, given there seems to be someone over there that I'd prefer not to interact with." Dusk passively aggressively replied.

Thorn simply rolled her eyes when her brain processed that she was talking about Luna.

"I'll get it for you, Thorn." Luna said in a disappointed voice.

Thorn thought about saying something to Dusk about how her anger towards Luna was going from petty and obnoxious to downright cruel. She was already stressed about enough things that she didn't feel she had the mental energy to deal with it at the moment. Between trying to make sure she leaned more towards the "Sally" side of herself rather than "Thorn," and especially figuring out what to do about the witches, she had enough on her mind. An even more frightening thought was that the witches weren't just going to sit around forever - they could execute their plan at any time, so Thorn had to figure out what to do, and quickly. Hopefully her secret meeting with Gus tonight at midnight would provide some more strategies.

Thorn could feel the empowerment in her veins as she struck her guitar to play the last few notes of "Petrified Bride." The crowd was absolutely loving it, and they erupted in cheering. She was really feeling into the concert tonight. It honestly felt like a way to rebel against the witches, in the sense that she was taking control over being herself despite her lack of control over the situation. She still had moments of struggle throughout the concert, where she felt like she needed to be Thorn, but she felt a little more comfortable than she had last concert.

Even though the song was over, Thorn decided to give them an extra guitar riff just for fun. The crowd adored it, and began chanting her name.

"Thorn! Thorn! Thorn!" the crowd chanted.

This caused Thorn to experience multiple emotions at once. On one hand, she was happy that the crowd was enjoying her playful outburst so much, but on the other hand, this is exactly what had happened in her dream. Ever since the revelation that Bridgit, Nia and Sam were witches, Thorn questioned any moment like this that seemed too good to be true. The roars of the crowd could all simply be Bridgit, Nia and Sam playing mind tricks in order to convince her that she loved the rockstar life, thus keeping her complacent.

As the girls each bowed and the curtain closed, Thorn turned to Dusk and Luna.

"Wow. That was a really good concert." Thorn said, feeling blissfully satisfied.

"Hell yeah!" Dusk exclaimed. "I can't believe how good the crowd's energy was! Don't tell me though, you probably think it sucked, didn't you Luna?"

"Really, Dusk?" Luna sighed.

"She's right, Dusk. You have every right to disagree with her, but it almost feels like you're starting to pick on her." Thorn took Luna's side.

"Whatever." Dusk snarled.

"Shhh!" Luna whispered. "Susan could be coming backstage at any moment. We don't want her to know we're fighting."

"Oh, right." Dusk quickly composed herself.

Sure enough, all of the others shortly came backstage.

"Wow! That was an amazing concert!" Susan exclaimed. "You guys did incredible. I especially liked your little guitar solo at the end, Thorn!"

"Thanks!" Thorn exclaimed.

"I really hope you guys come back here someday. I'd love to see another concert! Any chance you'll tour again?" Susan inquired.

Thorn gave Dusk a subtle look, hoping to ensure she wouldn't make some stupid remark about how they'd have hundreds of tours again, when Luna was feeling less than comfortable with the idea of touring.

After a brief pause, Dusk responded: "Maybe. We'll have to see when we release the next album."

Thorn was proud of Dusk. Even if she was letting the fame consume her, it relieved Thorn that Dusk still knew where the line was when it came to respecting your friends' boundaries. It wouldn't surprise Thorn if Dusk had just made the comment yesterday to those fans about "lots more concerts" obliviously, and then got defensive about it. If there was one thing Dusk hated admitting, it was that she was wrong. Thus, Dusk's backing off made Thorn feel perhaps there was still some of the old Dusk left in her, despite the new Dusk's obsession with fame.

It was nearly an hour out of their way, but Thorn, Dusk and Luna made the trek back to the Lula Café to drop off Susan. They had dropped Bridgit, Nia and Sam off at the hotel as per their request…Thorn wondered if it was so they were able to plot against them.

"Thank you so much for the ride, and for the amazing night!" Susan exclaimed. "It was so nice meeting you all! You guys are my idols."

"Of course! It was so great meeting you too!" Thorn said. "We wanted to give you something quick to remember tonight by."

Thorn pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket, which she had written right before the concert. She handed it to Susan, who quickly unfolded it and read it aloud.

"To Susan: You rock! Thank you for being one of our biggest fans. Never stop being who you are! Love Thorn, Luna and Dusk." Susan read. "Aww! Thank you guys! I'll never forget this night."

Suddenly, they heard the voice of Lula behind them.

"Thank you girls, for making sure Susie got home safely." Lula appreciated.

Thorn stepped out of the Soccer Mom Van to talk to Lula. "Of course!"

Before heading back into the restaurant with her grandma, Susan gave Thorn a big hug.

"That's okay, right?" Susan said nervously, realizing she perhaps should have asked.

"Of course!" Thorn responded, as she hugged Susan back.

"I suppose I can give you one too." Luna said, as she got out of the vehicle as well to quickly hug Susan.

"Well, I'm not much of a hugger, but I suppose I can muster up the energy for a hug too." Dusk responded, as she too gave Susan a hug.

"Thank you so much! Bye!" Susan said, as she began walking back to the restaurant with Lula. She looked a tad sad to Luna, probably wishing the night didn't have to be over.

Thorn was happy to have a moment alone with Dusk, Luna and Gus…she only wished it were just with Gus. She supposed that wouldn't work anyway, since Bridgit, Nia and Sam were probably reading her thoughts as they spoke.

"That was really nice." Luna said. "She seemed like a sweet girl."

"Dusk and Luna, I thought you girls did a good job of not fighting in front of Susan." Gus complimented. "Now, we just have to work on not fighting at all."

"I'm allowed to be mad, aren't I?" Dusk challenged.

"You are, but not at the expense of Luna's feelings. It's logical to be sad and upset about Luna's uncertainty about touring, and what it means for the future of the band. However, you have taken it to the level of being punitive and petty towards Luna, and are not even talking to her anymore. That's not going to be good for your friendship." Gus advised. "Your friendship with Luna is important to you, right?"

For a moment, Thorn wondered if Bridgit had given him the same orders and that's why he was saying all this, but she didn't want to think the worst. Gus seemed like a genuinely nice person, and was likely just concerned about their relationship given how meanly Dusk was behaving.

"Of course it's important. I really care about Luna." Dusk admitted. "That's why I'm so pissed off she might leave the band when I'm finally happy. I hated playing in places like that shitty bar and not feeling like we were going anywhere. Now, it feels like we're finally seeing some success, and that's the very moment when Luna says she's not happy. It isn't fair."

"A-ha. Now we've gotten to the root of the situation." Gus acknowledged. "You're upset because you're scared. Scared you'll lose your fame if Luna leaves."

"I'm not scared!" Dusk defensively replied. "I just don't want her to leave is all. It's badass being in a band with my two best friends, and I don't want to lose that. And being popular makes me happy, and I don't want to lose that. It feels like I have to lose one thing or the other, no matter what."

"I wouldn't say that." Luna jumped in. "I haven't made up my mind about leaving the band yet. I don't really want to leave the band, but I also don't want to tour. I wanted to talk about it with you guys, after this tour, but I can't do that if you're going to attack me for just stating my feelings, before I've even made a decision. I want you to have fame if that's what you want, and I don't want things to change either. I just know I'm not happy with touring and it's not what I want my life to look like."

"Well…" Dusk looked like she still wanted to go by her instinct and be upset, but reached a new level of understanding of Luna's situation. "You said nothing's going to change during this tour, right?"

"No. We'll talk about this after the tour." Luna affirmed.

"Okay. So there's still time to convince you to stay, then?" Dusk inquired. "I'm sure I can think of something by then."

"Dusk, no! I don't want to be guilted into anything!" Luna's tone of voice raised. "I just want to be listened to. Is that really too hard to ask?"

"What she's asking is very fair, I think." Thorn chimed in.

Dusk closed her eyes and sighed for a minute. "You're right. It is fair. But I'm not going to lie, it's hard. This has been our dream ever since band camp when we were 14, so it stings for you to just suddenly say you don't want to do it anymore, you know?"

"I absolutely understand. It's hard for me too. I thought I wanted to do this, but when I actually did it, I found out I didn't like it. It's difficult because now I don't know what I want." Luna admitted.

"Wait, really?" Dusk asked. "I didn't realize you were disappointed about this too. I guess I just thought you didn't want to do it, and that was that."

"Yeah, it's been hard. That's why I said we'd talk after the tour. It's just a preliminary feeling I'm having. I don't even know if leaving is what I want yet, so I don't want you to worry." Luna assured.

"Oh!" Dusk exclaimed happily in surprise. "That actually totally makes sense."

"I'm glad." Luna smiled.

"I think you owe someone an apology, though." Gus chimed in.

There was silence for a moment.

"Oh, you mean me. I'm sorry for yelling at you and stuff, Luna. That wasn't right." Dusk apologized. Admitting she was wrong was one of Dusk's biggest weaknesses, so it was a bit of an awkward apology, but it seemed genuine to Thorn.

"So, are you going to stay up late and read that Wicca book again, Thorn? You fell asleep reading it last night." Dusk quickly changed the subject. Thorn might have been offended by the quick subject change from anyone else, but she knew Dusk struggled with it, so she didn't mind all that much.

Thorn realized it was the perfect alibi for staying up until midnight so she could sneak out to see Gus.

"Yes. I think I will." Thorn smiled and responded.

The hours had passed quickly reading Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Wicca. Luna and Dusk had fallen asleep almost instantly, which Thorn was grateful for. What she wasn't grateful for, however, was how little she found reading the rest of her Wicca book. It was all about balancing your everyday energy, the lifestyle of a Wiccan, and how to make your own spells, but the former two were discussed in a very topical sense, while the spells were simply collective rituals of hoping to manifest something with the combination of your energies. It was interesting stuff, but ultimately nothing that would help her defeat powerful witches.

The clock read 11:38 when she finished her book. If she was going to walk 12 blocks to meet Gus, she would have to get started now if she wanted to ensure she made it on time. It was times like these where she wished she had a watch, so she could track how long it took her to walk 12 blocks. She figured that she and Gus wouldn't be doing this too many more times, if any, so it wasn't a big deal to her. She quietly unzipped her suitcase and hid the Wicca book under her "I Saw the Ghost of Oakhaven (and Lived)" t-shirt, and checked one last time to ensure Luna and Dusk were asleep before grabbing her coat. Sure enough, both of them were fast asleep…Dusk was actually snoring like a kitten, which Thorn found cute. There wasn't going to be a better time to sneak out than now, so Thorn did so quickly and quietly. She didn't want to risk bumping into one of the witches in the elevator, so she hurried down two flights of stairs of the Hyatt Regency Chicago to get to the first floor. Thorn quickly looked behind her and to both sides, to ensure she wasn't being watched or followed. She didn't see anyone, so she kept going.

It felt spooky to be walking in the middle of the night, so she tried not to look around too much. It was a particularly windy night, which caused the treetops to sway side to side. It made the night seem even more creepy to Thorn. Once again, she counted each block as she briefly looked down the street she was passing. She mainly saw businesses, streetlamps, and lit-up signs, but not very many people. She thought she saw a drunkard in one alley, but she didn't stop to confirm.

9 blocks.

Thorn bustled to the next street sign, which read East Pearson Street.

10 blocks.

She saw a few storefronts and some street signs as she passed it.

11 blocks.

Only one more block to go. She could see the sign now, East Delaware Place. She saw a figure up ahead, which would have frightened her, but she assumed it was her manager.

"Gus?" Thorn said, as she approached the figure.

"Gus?" a drunken voice slurred. "Man, I'm looking for bus! Where the hell's it at?"

"Umm…sorry, I really don't know. Maybe try the next street down." Thorn stuttered.

"Ah, sorry. Be careful out here lil' lady. I don't know if you know this, but there's a lotta filthy drunks that come out here to be obnoxious at night!" the intoxicated man ironically said, as he went up to the next block. He didn't know how right he was.

Thorn felt rattled by her mistake. If that wasn't Gus, where was he?

"Psst. Sally." a familiar voice said. That must be Gus.

"Gus?" Thorn whispered.

"Yes, it's me, Thorn. Thank you for meeting me again. Now, have you noticed anything in the past few days?" Gus inquired.

"Well, Bridgit is really worried about the band breaking up. She actually told me to say what Dusk said. Thank goodness I didn't have to." Thorn reported. "Have they confronted you at all in the past couple days?"

"No, they haven't." Gus replied.

"I don't know what to do. They're not giving us any clues as to what their plan is." Thorn sighed.

"Well, you didn't think they'd just come right up and say, 'hey Thorn, these are our plans', did you?" Gus chuckled. Thorn admired how Gus could still find a bit of humor even in such a dire situation.

"I guess not. We need to make another plan. They could carry out their plans any day now, and I don't think we can wait much longer to find out what that is." Thorn pointed out.

"Yes, I was thinking about that..." Gus responded. He was cut off by the sound of footsteps behind them. Thorn presumed the worst, and felt her heart race in sheer panic that Bridgit, Nia or Sam had found them.

"Thorn? Gus?" a familiar voice called, causing Thorn to gasp.

The figure emerged from the shadows, and revealed herself to be Luna. "This is the second night I've watched you sneak out. What are you two doing out here in the middle of the night?"

Author's note:

Real-life locations in this chapter include the Hyatt Regency Chicago, the House of Blues (yes, it was actually opened by Dan Aykroyd), all of the street names, and the Lula Café. I do want to note that the names Lula and Susan are fictional, and are not names of actual employees that worked there, to my knowledge. The Lula Café was not owned by someone named Lula. The café was opened by a man named Jason Hammel, who is a professional chef, twice nominated for awards for his cuisine. He has been featured on famous media outlets such as NPR and the New York Times, and the restaurant has been nominated for multiple awards. The name of the restaurant comes from the name of the farm where the food came from. I realize I could have made the story historically accurate by just having Jason be the owner, but I admittedly feel a little weird about writing for real people. I've heard of things like celebrity fanfics, where people will write fictional stories of what happens to celebrities (i.e. "Taylor Swift was at the grocery store and saw a hot guy who was the love of her life, but he then walks away! What will she do?"). Personally, I guess I think it's a little odd to write for real people, as putting myself in their place, I wouldn't want someone publishing fanfiction about me. I think it's different to write characters inspired by real people, which is something I have done (i.e. with Avenue Beat in another fanfic, who were mentioned in chapter 2 here), but I wouldn't want to make up stories about random people I don't know. Anyway, sorry for that tangent, but hopefully that explains it.

Gerald Gardner, who is mentioned in Thorn's Wicca book, is a real-life figure who wrote about the Wicca and witchcraft movement. After retiring from his job as a civil servant and writer in 1936, Gerald began exploring occult groups and covens, which he lived in for years. In 1945, Gerald started writing books about Wicca and witchcraft, hoping to spread the movement and raise public awareness about it. After publishing these books, he started his own coven called the Bricket Wood Coven before his death in 1960.

During the scene where Thorn is reading her Wicca book, the book Luna is reading - "The Warlock of Wimbledon" by W. Anthos is a reference to The Scooby-Doo Show episode of the same name, in which the villain is named The Warlock Anthos.

I hope the ending has left you all on the edge of your seats for the next chapter!