Chapter 67

Claira's bottom lip began trembling as she looked down at her hand, clenching her fist angrily, tears welling in her eyes. "It's my fault! Don't you get it?! It's my fault Roman is dead! Seth killed him and it's because of me! I had no choice! H-He said he could bring him back…with his father's help and I have to try! I owe Roman that much! He didn't deserve to die! And he won't go after Dean or anyone because I MADE A BLOOD OATH WITH HIM!" She practically shrieked out, the green aura surrounding her again and Sonya whimpered, nudging her Master's leg to try to calm her down. "If he breaks the oath, he dies. I had to make sure he kept his word if I agreed to help him…and I did."

"O-Oh god…" Brooklynn knew what that meant, looking up at Mark and felt fear grip her heart for both the world and her daughter. "Claira…"

"Oh God, Claira," Mark ran a hand down his face, shaking his head. "He won't come back as Roman!" They were all screwed… all of them. Between Taker and Claira, there was just the right amount of stupidity and they had both condemned the world. "What's dead should always STAY DEAD! Nothing and nobody EVER comes back the way they were! You just condemned your friend to something worse than his current state!" That was pretty bad. "And the world, don't all those people out there count, Claira?!" Because these were the decisions they were making. They were risking the world, ALL those people, for what was going to be a zombie.

"Mark, we need EVERYONE now." The entire circle had to get here as soon as possible, not just a select few. She felt bad because that meant Melina, but…the world was at stake now. "You condemned us all. You're going to open that dimension and set Nemesis free or you DIE, Claira!" A blood oath was some of the darkest magic and the oath HAD to be fulfilled.

"The same goes for Seth! He said he could bring Roman back with his father's help! If he goes back on that, he dies!"

"But did you make it clear HOW you wanted Roman to come back to life?"

Claira realized where she made her mistake and felt her eyes widen. "No…"

"Exactly. You didn't and they won't bring him back as anything other than a zombie that will have to be destroyed. He won't be able to crossover if he's brought back that way, don't you understand?!"

"But…what if he crosses over before we open the dimension?"

That was the only way to save Roman's soul at this point. "It's up to him, only if he wants to go and he's ready."

Claira frowned, tears streaking her cheeks and knew she'd just make a fatal mistake. "Oh no…"

"Yeah, no shit, oh no!" Mark snarled, glaring down at Sonya. "You should have bitten her."

Familiars weren't 'pets', they were equals and he was struggling to remember that Sonya was just as young and dumb as Claira. They were meant to grow and learn together. He doubted any of them were going to be living much longer.

"I'll go call the others and get them here."

Brooklynn just nodded while Claira ran up to her room in tears, not able to face any of them right now. They were about to be at war and only had a week to plan how they were going to try to vanquish Nemesis. Nothing had worked before, but with Mark at full power now that he was merged, maybe they could come up with something. Instead of going for the coffee, Brooklynn went for the wine and did not care how early it was. She really needed a drink before she went upstairs and flayed her daughter for being stupid and reckless.

"They're all on their way." Mark said sometime later, coming to join her, a bottle of whiskey in hand.

This was not a beer day. This was a hard liquor day. They had known that their daughter was instrumental in freeing Nemesis. They hadn't known that she would be handing over the key, so to speak. She really was his offspring, wasn't she?

"I paddled her ass…" Mark didn't even feel bad, knowing she was a young adult now. "I feel like I should've done it harder, Lynn."

"Yeah, you should've. What the hell are we going to do, Mark? If she doesn't open that dimension, she'll die because it's a blood oath." Brooklynn covered her face with her hands, tears already falling and felt Mark pull her against him, burying her face in his chest. "W-We have to protect her somehow…" There had to be something he could do. "Demons…there has to be a way to kill a demon, right? There has to be a way to vanquish them like dark spirits…" He looked thoughtful as she looked up at him and pulled back to pour herself a shot of whiskey. Hard liquor was needed indeed. "Glenn is book smart and is good on the computer, so maybe he'll find something that will help us get rid of Nemesis and his offspring once and for all."

"I don't know if I can crossover, Brooklynn."

She just nodded at Roman, not blaming him for wanting to cling to life, but he would never be himself again, no matter what Seth vowed.

Mark sat there, quietly sipping the whiskey as he considered their options. If nothing… if with all of them together, they couldn't come up with some game plans that guaranteed success before the week was out… could they really put Claira over the entire world? If she was the key to all of this, would they have to sacrifice their own daughter?

"What if we take away her choice?" He asked suddenly, holding up a hand. "Just… Bastet kept Taker and Mark both, me, us, whatever, locked up regularly… and whoever was there would usually just… not be. What if we did that with Claira until the week is over?"

"She has to open the dimension, or she dies, Mark. That blood oath will take her life the moment, the second, she's back in her body and then what? Why don't we wait until everyone gets here and brainstorm with them? Between the 10 of us, we can come up with something, I'm sure." Brooklynn suggested, needing to keep a calm head and not lose her mind, which is what she really wanted to do. "We'll figure it out."

Another shot down, the doorbell rang, and Mark went to answer it while she took a minute to wash her face of the tears. The circle was going to lose THEIR minds over what Claira did. Considering most of the circle had a family now… and Nemesis had probably grown a lot stronger in his confinement like Taker had… He saw a major headache coming on. They'd all plan something and then another something, in case the first something failed, kick ass and take names like they always did. At least, that's what the whiskey was telling him.

"Hi."

"Jesus Christ, Mark, what the fuck is happening?! My head feels like it's gonna explode." Glenn grumbled, stomping into the house clutching his head. Suddenly, the pain stopped and he looked around, no longer having blurred vision. "Okay, whatever you did, thanks. I can focus again." He blinked when a woman, who looked just like Brooklynn Meyers, came walking out of the kitchen.

"Hi, Glenn."

His eyeballs nearly shot out their sockets, his jaw dropping to the floor. "BROOKLYNN?!" When the hell did she decide to dye her hair from black to silver? Or was it white? He couldn't tell right now. "You two are…?"

She nodded, walking over to stand beside Mark and felt his arm wrap around her. "We got back together a little over a week ago. It's a long story that can wait for another time. We have…major trouble headed our way, thanks to our daughter."

"Actually, it's a short story. You already know she lost her fool mind and left me, she regained her sense and saw reason. End of story." Mark snorted when she elbowed him in his side, letting his hand drop to slap her backside. "Claira did a blood oath with a little half Demon bastard to let Nemesis loose."

"There is a really easy solution to that."

"I already thought about it. I'd like to avoid it."

"What's she getting in return?"

"Pet zombie."

"Pet zombie?" Glenn echoed, shaking his head and suddenly yanked Brooklynn into his arms, hugging her tightly. "Good to have you back, honey. This one was lost without you." He smirked at Mark's one-finger salute and returned it, kissing the top of her head. "I don't wanna know about the zombie shit." It was bad enough they had a Demon to deal with since, apparently, Nemesis was about to escape his prison.

"The second Claira is back in her body, she'll die, Glenn. If there's a way around this to where she doesn't die, without opening the dimension, I'm all ears."

"There isn't." Mark smirked when Glenn winked at him over Brooklynn's head. Sure, emotionally lost maybe, for a while, and then the merge happened and everything had changed. She had done a nose dive, he had thrived. When Brooklynn turned and eyed him like she knew what he was thinking, he flashed his most innocent smile, eyes flashing acid. "I love you."

"Mark," Mickie let herself in, huffing because it was hotter than balls out there and inhaled deeply, enjoying the AC. "I-" She stopped at the sight of silver hair. "I swear to God, if you called me out here to meet a new woman, I'll- OHMYGOD!"

Mickie CLOBBERED Brooklynn next with a bone-crunching hug, actually taking the wind out of her. "Nice…to…see…you…too…Mick…" She wheezed out, feeling the woman loosen her grip only a fraction, but it was more than enough. "Thanks."

"Your hair! What happened to your hair?! Not that I'm not digging the silver, but HOLY SHIT you look completely different and…" Mickie had to take a breath, hyper since she'd pounded a red bull on the ride here from the airport. "John is going to FREAK when he sees you!"

"Uhh, Mickie? Are you all right?"

"Yeah, she's fine, homie. She pounded red bull on the ride here with me and…who the fuck is this?" John tilted his head, raising a brow at Mickie when she shouted 'Brooklynn!'. "No fucking way – NO FUCKING WAY! Holy shit, girl!" He was next to give another bone-crunching hug.

"Can't…breathe…Cena…"

"I called the rest," Mark said once Brooklynn was done being crushed in hugs. "Randy is… hi."

Randy was inside, crossing the room and touched Brooklynn's face. He already knew she wouldn't tell him much about her break from Mark, so… he was nosy. "I see." He pulled his hand away before bending down to hug her, stepping back, his gaze moving up the stairs. "She up there?"

"Go on." He had been texting Randy since the plane landed. "Just… if it feels weird, stop. No coma."

Snorting, Randy headed upstairs without another word.

Brooklynn blinked, not expecting Randy to do that and knew he had seen EVERYTHING, including her and Mark's intimate moments. "I'm fine." She smiled when Mark asked if she was alright and felt him kiss her head. "What is he going to do to Claira?"

"Probably find out the extent of this blood oath. I can't believe she did that." Mickie was highly disappointed in Claira right now, sighing heavily and folded her arms in front of her chest. "Milayna wanted to come, but I told her to stay home and warded."

"I don't blame you. Do you want some coffee or…?"

"No, what I DO want to know is how the fuck this," She gestured with her finger between Mark and Brooklynn. "Happened."

"Glenn just asked me the same thing and I know John wants to know. So, why don't we wait until the rest of the circle gets here and I'll tell you all the tale at once." Brooklynn did not feel up to repeating herself and time wasn't on their side.

"Fair enough. John, start talking to Roman and find out what he knows while I try to find a way to kill a Demon." A Witch's job was never done.

"I'll help." Glenn had brought his laptop and he felt better with Mickie in the house since her light magic helped with his headaches. First, however… "When do you wanna do your plan, man?" He directed that to Mark. "You had an idea to use my headaches in the upcoming battle. How were you thinking?"

"Oh yeah, I want to mess around with your brain." Mark stooped to retrieve his bottle of whiskey off the coffee table and took a long swallow before offering it to Glenn.

"You want to what?" Glenn raised an eyebrow, taking the bottle and two long swallows, not entirely sure he trusted his best friend at the moment. Mark's magic was stronger now and he had all that accumulated knowledge, but… "Mess with my brain?"

"Those headaches, I want to magically redirect the chemistry in your brain to inhibit the headaches."

"And then what? I'm useless."

"Nah, we'll give you the warm and fuzzies when something bad is happening, maybe be able to enhance it." Mark was beginning to grin. "You can be our early alert detector."

Before anyone else showed up, Brooklynn made her way upstairs to Claira's room and could hear Randy talking to her through the door. He wasn't angry, just talking in a calm, rational voice. It made her smile, he was always better at talking to people than he realized, one of the many reasons she had Randy the godfather. Deciding to leave them be, she headed back downstairs and sat on the couch, looking to her left at the sight of a distraught Roman.

"This isn't your fault, you know that, right?" She said quietly, reaching for his hand and sighed when hers went right through his. "We're gonna figure this out. You won't be a zombie, not unless it's over my dead body."

"If I can't come back as myself, then I don't want to be brought back, period. I'd rather…find peace like you said and go into the light." Roman couldn't believe what he was saying, but it sounded like there was no way to bring him back unless he was a night of the living dead or some crap like that.

"Good, that's good to hear."

"Uhh Brook? What the hell does crossing over into the light mean?" It'd been a while for John and he needed a refresher course on what exactly she did. He was also writing Roman's thoughts on a notebook as Mickie instructed.

Brooklynn proceeded to explain what she did to John…again since the man apparently had a memory problem.

"Well?"

Randy had found Mark and Glenn outside sitting at the picnic table, drinking and apparently discussing something about magical brain surgery for rewiring things. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know. Then he could claim ignorance if Glenn wound up a vegetable.

"She's not allowed to tell, not under the blood oath." He smiled wanly when Mark rolled his eyes. "Of course, nothing to stop me from finding out, which I did."

"BROOKLYNN!" Mark bellowed, his voice magically amplified. He figured she'd want to hear this too.