The Secret Circle

"Was it wrong of me to hope that you wouldn't wake up?"

Jake coughed a few times as he tried to shake off his grogginess and found that his head was ringing – they'd used some kind of sedative on him, he blinked a few times and took in his surroundings. It was reminiscent of the house by the harbour that Isaac had been using, except there were no windows and the walls were made of brick. Across the tables there were a few things laid out loosely. He scanned the floor around them and spotted a thick circle of some kind of metallic compound circled around them – two circles he reassessed after blinking a few times.

"Where are we?" he asked and realized that his throat was burning – dehydration.

Cassie laughed, "Because this is all my doing? Really Jake how naïve do you think I am?"

"Cassie I swear I don't know anything about this." He said, sounding sincere.

"Forgive me if you swearing doesn't mean very much," Cassie sighed and looked at the floor between her boots, "you know I was actually stupid enough to think that if we fell in love you might let me in? But it was all just a game to you – when you were planning on killing me Jake? When we made love? After I fell asleep? Well I guess your Witch Hunter Masters finally figured out that you know too much and that being a Witch your motives ought to be polar opposite to theirs. At least they bought that part of my act."

"What did you do?" Jake demanded, Cassie laughed again hopelessly.

"You fell in love with me Jake, that wasn't part of their plan," she grinned, not that he could see it bound back-to-back with her on two hard, uncomfortable wooden chairs, "and clearly the Witch Hunters bought into it. At least I'm taking you down with me."

"Cassie please," Jake said, trying to mask the rising desperation inside of him, "I don't know what this is – focus with me, we can break out of the bonds."

"About that? See my Grandma told me not to tap into that part of me, the darkness. Every time I take something from it I have to give it more of me," she shook her head, "you told me to embrace that…let myself become a monster? What kind of sick person does that Jake?"

"Witchcraft killed my parents and took my brother." Jake declared, lashing out at Cassie and then regretting it.

"So that means we're all to blame Jake?" Cassie quizzed mock interestedly, "Great Logic there Jake, maybe once we're both burned alive you can tell me on the other side what your great plan was? Would you have killed Nick if they'd asked you to?" The minutes of silence that passed between them told her all she wanted to know.

"Cassie you know I-" the door to the basement opened, casting an arc of natural light into the artificially lit, dingy, damp room. Cassie looked up and rolled her eyes, this was just typical. Dawn Chamberlain strolled down the stairs and paused just out of reach of the two rings of metal. "Cassie whose there?"

"It's not the Hunters," she murmured disinterestedly, "hello Mrs Chamberlain."

"Cassie…I wish we could have met under better circumstances but you didn't bring me Jake." Dawn said in her crisp, controlled tone.

Cassie sighed, "Unfortunately I was detained…I'm almost certain that the Witch Hunters will be moving in on the others – do you know where they are?"

Cassie saw a flicker of panic flash across Dawn's eyes before she froze them over again, regaining her control, "Charles and your Grandma will protect them," Cassie laughed, a Witch who was running on the last remnants of his stripped power and her Grandmother – not exactly a formidable defence against the people Jake was working with, "but I need to use you two, more specifically Jake to lure out those Hunters."

"I knew you didn't want to protect us." Cassie replied, feeling Jake pulling at the bonds and sighed. Did he really think that Dawn was going to be stupid enough to allow them to be tied up with frayed rope. "When were you going to tell Faye that you were exploiting her powers to recover your own?"

"Faye is not important," Dawn said, moving around Cassie to face Jake, "Jake is the one that I'm interested in."

"How do you plan on getting them here?" he enquired, raising an eyebrow interestedly.

He spotted a flash of metal as Dawn produced a blade, and moved carefully on the blank space between the two circles, slicing into Jake's wrist and taking a vile of blood and then delicately easing her way back out of the circle, clutching the vile of blood to her chest.

"Needless to say they'll be here in due course, and when they get here, they're going to die." She grinned at Jake and then left them together in the basement.

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"You don't need to worry you did the right thing in coming here," Jane Blake murmured as she rummaged in her cupboards looking for the appropriate herbs, "Diana, Adam I'm going to need your help to protect this house and then I will find Cassie and Jake. Take a handful of this," she said handing them some dried heather, "and a handful of these." She offered the two younger Witches a box of White Sage from which they each plucked some of the ivory coloured leaves. She bent down again and produced four jars, handing two to the younger Witches and putting two on the side for herself, she filled them and watched over Diana and Adam as they filled there's and then collected the four jars on the side. "Now I need this," she produced a small beaker of green liquid and added two drops to each jar, "say this spell after me each time. Protect this house from evil close," Adam and Diana joined in, "protect this house from evil close, protect this house from evil close, protect this house from evil close."

Jane turned toward the two Witches and could tell both were scared, their auras were radiating as much into the atmosphere around them, "Adam, Diana I need you to stay here and wait for me, take these jars to the four corners of the house – it will create a protective field in which you will be safe. If I don't come back in an hour don't call for me – don't let anyone in, even your father Diana or yours Adam. I just hope Faye and Melissa are alright – do you know where they went?"

Diana shook her head, "Unless…Faye wouldn't be so stupid. The Wilson's antiques shop – when we figured out that Calvin was a Witch Faye started obsessing over stuff we might find there…depending on what happened with Cassie and Jake Faye might have headed there…I'm not sure where Melissa went. She left before we did."

"I have to find Cassie…she has her crystal which means she and Jake are in grave danger," Jane paused a moment, "move those jars now," Adam and Diana nodded and took two each, moving off to the corners of the house, "stay safe."

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Faye paused – had that been a noise? She crept further along the corridor into the backroom and darted into a cabinet in the corner, shutting the door behind herself, leaving a crack through which she could watch the entrance to the room. She could feel the crystal jabbing into the side of her leg in her pocket but she didn't dare move now, in case she made a noise. The foot-steps followed and then Faye breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized the curled, dark-haired head of Melissa enter the room.

"You scared me!" Faye yelled, though not quite as loud as usual since she was still sure they were in some kind of danger.

Melissa shrugged, "I saw you come in here and I was worried you might do something stupid. What are you looking for anyway?"

"Something…anything," Faye replied, exasperated, crossing to the table which was covered in a layer of dust: clearly no-one had been in the antiques shop since Calvin Wilson had turned up dead, "Jake's mixed up in something dark Melissa…something evil…and I'm going to find something here to stop him." She let out an anguished sigh and began rummaging through the books in the dilapidated back-room. "There has to be something here of use."

Melissa raised an eyebrow, "What's that?" she bent down and picked up a leather-bound book and put it on to the table, wiping away some of the dust and finding it was unmarked. She flicked it open and recognized the text as being old…very old. It was a handwritten set of scribbles running the length of the page with a few illustrations, she began flicking through it as Faye's eyes widened at the possibility.

"I thought the Wilson's weren't in the Circle?" Melissa quizzed interestedly.

"They weren't," Faye replied coldly, "they weren't strong Witches – they must have been more interest in White Magic…mixing remedies and things to assist ailments. Makes sense, if you're weak you don't practice aggressive magic…this still isn't any use." Melissa continued flicking through as she found something altogether different and put her hand down, stopping the page turning. Faye cast her gaze over it, "Well, well, well maybe White magic isn't so weak after all."

"We need to take this to Adam's Dad," Melissa said calmly and Faye gave her a thunderstruck look, "Diana and Adam went running off to Cassie's Grandma – Adam's Dad is the only other one who will know what to do with Witches running riot. I mean unless you want to go to your Mom or Diana's Dad?" Faye gave her an equally fearsome look and Melissa closed the book, clutching it to her as they swept out of the room.

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"Clearly your little Hunter friends failed if Dawn got to us, unless she's using slave labour now but somehow that seems a little…ridiculous," Cassie drawled distractedly, her throat was starting to burn with thirst and she was becoming increasingly drained by being in the room with Jake, "what was your big plan Jake, out of interest?"

Jake laughed this time, "Well you ruined things at Halloween, and your little lovey-dovey act actually took me in which was a mistake and maybe I did fall for you Cassie. But Witchcraft took everything from me – I was going to lure you all to the Abandoned House, the Hunters would close in and you'd all die at close quarters."

"And then they'd kill you," Cassie reminded, "out of interest did you know that I had the crystal, or the old documents about the Hunters? I just wondered if that's why you killed Calvin Wilson?"

Jake wanted to snap back but was growing more tired by the minute, "He was spineless. He didn't even try to stop me. He deserved it."

"You're so full of hate aren't you," Cassie judged, "and so consumed by it you let someone exploit you, that's why you're mad. Yes your Parents were killed by magic and Nick was killed by a Witch Jake but that doesn't mean every Witch is responsible for what happened. They died because magic was abused by someone evil…by my Father…he perverted the magic they were using and misled my Mother and that Circle into doing something completely wrong. Jake I loved you, and hell, depending on how you act in the next few minutes I might actually love you after this. But I need to know that you accept that magic isn't to blame, otherwise I'm going to have to take your powers from you."

Jake laughed and then let his laughing die down, "Maybe I want that Cassie? I'd be free from Witchcraft."

"You don't really believe that, you might hate…or at least think you hate Witchcraft but you love having powers, you also loved the superiority you got from not having a bound Circle to sap at your power." Cassie shot her head to the door as Dawn descended the stairs again, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

Cassie turned her head away, "Oh please Cassie carry on with your motivational speech. Except it won't work and I'm quite glad it isn't, because Jake will be perfect bait and he'll be killed. The furious Witch, ranting and raving about the evils of Witchcraft as he dies and his blood runs down this street. The Hunters are nearly here Cassie, I hope you're ready for a show. And if you're wondering Jake your little cohorts are knocked out upstairs awaiting rescue. Of course they won't be rescued, I'm going to kill them, with what's in your pocket Cassie." Dawn carefully passed the two circles ringing the two Witches and bent down toward Cassie, plucking the crystal out of her pocket and marvelling at it for a few moments before stepping out of the Circle.

"I'll deal with you two later."

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"Are they secure?" Charles enquired. He cast his gaze over the two unconscious figures on the carpet of the upper room of the disused shack.

"They won't escape, and in any case Cassie no longer has her crystal," Dawn said, offering it to Charles to hold as she moved around the room, to the window, looking out on the wooded approach to the building, "they're Scouts are already assembling positions around the building, are you ready?"

Charles nodded. He was completely relaxed. For once he'd actually be killing someone meaningful, when he'd become involved in Dawn's scheme he had known that the road they would follow would be a dark one but he hadn't been prepared for the darkness that had threatened to consume him. He'd murdered Amelia Blake and Nick Armstrong – and he'd somehow managed to subvert remorse as an emotion, ignoring it and forging ahead. To get his powers back. Although in retrospect he wasn't even sure how important it was to get his powers back if it meant putting Diana in harm's way. Which he had done. She had almost been killed several times after spearheading the binding of the Circle.

Dawn clutched Cassie's crystal in her left hand and Henry's in her right hand as she slowly opened the door and walked out onto the porch, the Hunters were advancing toward the house now and Dawn greeted them, knocking the four preliminary Scouts against trees, killing them by breaking their spinal chords as they struck branches. She advanced as Charles joined her, having disposed off the two juvenile hunters they'd captured. She smiled as she came face-to-face with the lead hunter, a bearded man. Dawn handed Charles a crystal and raised a hand to deflect an incoming flurry of arrows, redirecting them towards their Archers in the trees, causing a series of cries as they dropped from the branches to the ground – also dead.

"Is that the best you can do? I thought the True Believers were meant to be experts?" she murmured and then Dawn collapsed as the spell struck her in the back.

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"Faye I don't know what you think you know but you have to put that spell-book back where you found it," Ethan dismissed bringing out fresh bottles of spirits to change over in the bar, "it might seem benevolent but its dangerous magic. You could end up getting yourself killed, or worse killing other people."

"But it's for the greater good isn't it?" Faye said in an innocent voice, "That's what the spell's about Dispose of the one…" she trailed off before she fully completed the spell and gave him a look telling him to tell them what he knew. Melissa snatched the book of Faye and shut it, placing it on the bar and seated herself on one of the stools.

"We are worried about Cassie and about Jake Mr Conant…just please tell us what you know about that spell." Melissa gave him a sincere look and shot Faye one to tell her to stop pressing him and cut-out the suggestive act, it wasn't helping them to succeed anymore than the nicely, nicely, softly, softly approach would.

He cast his eyes over the Boathouse – it was more or less deserted apart from a few old timers sat at the booths overlooking the harbour, blissfully unaware of the sorcery being conducted at the bar, "Amelia…she led the Circle in using that spell because she wanted to kill John Blackwell-"

"-Cassie's Dad?" Faye enquired, becoming genuinely intrigued, pulling a stool up beside Melissa.

Ethan nodded, "Because…because he had been manipulating her – it was after the rest of our Circle…after they'd passed on…she killed Blackwell but the darkness affected her…it affected Cassie. The way that she escaped from the Witch Hunters with you – that was because of the Dark Magic it makes her stronger but also more susceptible to manipulation. If you use a Spell like that there are consequences…with John Blackwell it transferred his darkness to Cassie…if you use that on the Hunters…there's no telling what it will do."

"So what do we do?" Melissa enquired.

"We find Cassie and Jake," Jane Blake murmured walking up to the bar, "and then we finish this once and for all."

.

"She's been gone longer than an hour." Adam commented.

Diana looked up at him and scanned the clock, "It's only five minutes over just calm down."

"When Cassie could be dead?" he asked, fire building inside of him.

"We both care about her." Diana reminded, standing up to try and calm him down.

"Really Diana? Cause I seem to remember you being pretty pissy when you found out that I'm destined to be with her! Except the connection seems to have got something wrong doesn't it? Or else why would Cassie be in love with Jake?"

"Why are you being like this?" Diana demanded, she could tell he was getting angrier with every passing moment, "Is it being cooped up in the house are you getting Cabin Fever?"

"We should be doing something, shouldn't we?" he demanded and let out a yell, pounding his fist against the wall.

Diana steered him to one of the chairs at the kitchen table, "Adam just calm down, breathe deeply."

"That's right Adam breathe deeply," murmured a voice as a female slipped into the room, Diana swivelled on a heel to fight back but instead received a blow to the head dropping to the floor, "Diana down and now I'm taking you down to." She produced a bottle and poured the contents onto Adam, causing him to scream out and drop to the floor, rolling around in agony.

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Hope you liked Chapter 2,

Also I know it's very AU but I'm doing my best to predict things that might happen and to draw together plot elements,

Thanks for the reviews,

More advice and responses are as always welcome,

Acrobat

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