Hey guys! Sorry for the long, long wait. I was suffering from severe writer's block and couldn't figure out which direction to take the story in. I just want to say thanks very much to everybody who has ever reviewed because you really do inspire me to keep writing. Some reviews were so sweet I was moved to tears. Critiques are appreciated too, especially on my writing style. Tell me what you like and don't like; I want to write this story well. Here's the chapter, so enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Covenant. What a shocker...

Astaire was not in a good mood. It was two days after she had woken up from her recuperating slumber on Sunday, and she was practically on house arrest. The boys, who she would not affectionately call her boys as long as she was incensed with them, had not allowed her to leave her mother's residence, even going so far as to convince her mother she was not well enough to attend classes. It was all a lie, because Astaire was conscious and in perfect health, but the Sons were overprotective males who were guarding what they saw as the helpless party. And that, in a nutshell, was what vexed Astaire. She was not some princess who needed to be stowed away in the tower while the knights slayed the dragon. In fact, she could probably demolish said dragon, with her powers being as advanced as they were. So she decided that when the boys came to visit her later that day, she was not going to be the damsel-in-distress.

At precisely 5:30, post school and swim practice, the Sons of Ipswich walked into the Montgomery household armed with movies and candy, intending to cheer Astaire up via a movie night. They walked in with practiced ease in their step and relaxation on their faces. They were worried about things, but that didn't mean Astaire had to know that. Their alpha-male instincts screamed, "defend the female" and that's what they were going to do. Said female was probably in her room reading a book, they thought, or listening to music. The boys climbed the stairs and veered in the direction of her room. The sight they were met with, however, was not what they expected.

Astaire was dressed to kill, pulling on stiletto black boots over sheer tights. She was wearing a black cocktail dress that hugged her frame stylishly and showed off a daring amount of cleavage without taking away her mysterious aura. Both her hair and makeup were done to tempting perfection. Pogue couldn't take his eyes off of her. When she heard the door open she looked at the boys and stood up, putting her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow.

"I'm going out to a party in the city. Anyone that tries to stop me gets pinned telekinetically to the wall."

Caleb glared at her, unimpressed.

"It's Tuesday."

"I'm bored."

"I don't care. You don't know anyone in the city well enough. "

Astaire walked slowly but threateningly over to the oldest member of the Covenant, stopping right in front of his face.

"You may be the leader of the Sons of Ipswich, but you don't have any lasting control over me. I have stayed in this house for two days like a good little girl and now I crave fresh air. I'm getting out of here whether you like it or not, and you can come with me or leave me alone. I'm not kidding Danvers. Move."

"Someone's got cabin fever…" Reid drawled. Truth be told, he was a little frightened of her, but that wasn't going to stop him from being a smartass. It was like leopards not changing their spots and all that.

"Shut up Reid," Pogue said, shooting the blonde a look before addressing his girlfriend. "Let's just go to Nicky's."

Astaire didn't even dignify Pogue's suggestion with a verbal response, just a death glare.

"Look, maybe we should pick someplace in the city that we could go that's not a random party," Tyler brainstormed. "Somewhere that's safe, but not completely routine to us like Nicky's is."

Astaire and Caleb stared at each other, fighting a silent and intense battle of wills.

"Fine," they both ground out simultaneously.

"Cool," Pogue sighed in relief. "But before we go anywhere, Astaire, you've got to change."

"Why?" she retorted stubbornly. She did not appreciate being ordered around. And it wasn't like Pogue such a fashion expert.

Pogue chuckled and looked her up and down pointedly.

"Babe, even I'm checking you out with no shame. I doubt you want some random perv undressing you with his eyes."

"Too late," Tyler muttered, looking at Reid.

Astaire looked down at herself and then at the boys again. She gave them a begrudging expression.

"Okay, so maybe my outfit is a tad oversexed." They stared at her disbelievingly. "What?"

Reid smirked. "Let me put it this way: I didn't know you owned stripper boots."

An hour later, the five of them stood in a mall. They hadn't really decided to go there. It was more of an "Astaire and Caleb keep arguing over where to go so we just stopped somewhere to stop the row" kind of choice.

"What now?" Reid asked.

Astaire placed her hands on the hips of her snug-fitting jeans, which were tucked into scrunch-top stiletto boots. She flicked a finger through her hair, and looked straight ahead with a smirk on her face.

"Now you four cater to my every whim and request."

Tyler blushed and Reid snickered. Pogue just smiled somewhat saucily at her.

"I didn't mean that in a sexual way," she clarified, "Though that would undoubtedly be interesting."

Caleb rolled his eyes as Pogue glowered and Reid laughed.

"Can we not discuss this? You're like my sister."

Astaire just nodded and smiled before grabbing Pogue's arm and pulling him along. "Come on. Let's mall crawl."

All she heard as she sauntered off was the hilarious sound of four teenage boys groaning in horror.

Two hours later, the group sat down at a table in the food court. The boys were exhausted. Astaire had successfully gotten each of them to buy new pieces for their wardrobe after she forced them to try on what seemed like thousands of clothing items.

"I'm usually not a girly-girl," she had said to them, smiling softly. "Let me have my fun."

And so they did. They also figured they owed her for holding her hostage at her house. Now, they were just glad it was over.

"I'm hungry." Reid grumbled, a pale hand over his stomach.

"Aren't you always?" Astaire threw at him.

"Can it, woman," Reid said playfully, albeit a tad testily.

"Hey, show respect," Pogue said to the blonde as he put an arm around Astaire. "She's my woman."

Caleb raised a brow. "Look who suddenly turned into a Neanderthal."

Astaire laughed. She was glad to be with her boys.

"All right Mr. Caveman," she told Pogue, looking up at him. " Let me go. I'm going to go get us some food."

"Need help?" Tyler asked.

"No thanks. I'll be right back."

Astaire got up and surveyed the area, considering her choices. Chinese, chicken, seafood, pizza, or burgers. Burgers it was. She could rattle off numbers and the guy would know what entrée she was talking about.

Arriving at the counter, she gave the fifteen year old at the counter a polite smile as he rattled off the customary greeting. When he was finished, she looked at the menu for a few seconds before giving the order.

"Can I please have four number two's, one number one, two number fives, and two number threes? Also can I have two Cokes, one Dr. Pepper, one Sprite, and one Mello Yello?"

The poor boy looked traumatized.

"Is t-that all?" he asked, his voice cracking. He was looking at her as if he were wondering where all the food was going to go. At her nod, he finished the transaction and handed her the change with shaking hands. "Have a good evening."

After smiling in thanks, Astaire wandered over to the pick-up section and waited for the order. She was busy thinking about nothing when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Excuse me."

Astaire turned, eyebrows raised in question. Her mouth fell open when she caught sight of who it was.

"You!"

The girl nodded, her corkscrew auburn hair bouncing.

"Yeah."

Astaire blinked, surprised at the non-cryptic answer. Then she decided it was time to get some facts.

"What are you doing here? What's your name?"

The girl from her dream didn't look surprised.

"Lily. I'm here to warn you."

"About what?"

"What's to come."

Astaire sighed. The enigmatic responses had returned.

"What's coming? If it's so important, can't you tell me?"

Lily shook her head. Her bright blue eyes looked startlingly remorseful as she looked at Astaire.

"I can't. It's against the rules."

"Against the rules of what?"

"What I'm a part of," the girl answered in a way that ended that train of discussion. "Delilah, you need to prepare. Get ready for what is to come. Hone your power."

Astaire sighed again. She was tired of all this mysterious crap. Eyes bleeding into an agitated green, she waved her hand to stop the flow of time.

"Look," she said tersely to Lily. "I'm severely unnerved by everything that's going on, but I have no clue what you're talking about. I have a feeling you made me have that creepy dream about 'opening my eyes' but I don't know what it means. I do, however, know that I don't want my friends to die. So no matter how bad I feel with threatening someone younger then me, I'm going to." After taking a deep breath, Astaire continued in eerily calm voice. "Tell me what is going on before I lose my temper and I lose control of my powers."

Lily didn't even look perturbed. Instead, she looked at Astaire in sympathy.

"I understand why you're frustrated," she said softly. "But I really am being as clear as I'm allowed to. You have to figure out everything else on your own." Without concentrating, Lily started time up again. "Just be wary. Follow your intuition. You'll find if you concentrate your powers enough you can do stuff that I can."

Astaire looked puzzled. "Stuff like what?"

Lily smiled. "Like look into the future."

Astaire was quiet, taking it all in. "Why do you call me Delilah?" she asked after a moment.

"Because it's who you really are."

Astaire was extremely confused, but decide to file that information away for later thought. There were other points that needed to be cleared up. "Why were you outside Caleb's house? And what was that thing chasing you?"

Lily laughed, blue eyes twinkling. " You ask a lot of questions."

"You're really good at evading them."

Lily was somber again. "I was there to warn you," she said.

Astaire nodded. "And that thing?"

"A manifestation."

"Of what?"

Lily looked up at Astaire with sorrowful eyes.

"Of the nightmare that's to come."

And then the girl was gone.

"Here's your order, ma'am."

Astaire jerked as she turned to a man holding a tray loaded with food. She didn't bother asking him if her had seen the girl disappear. She knew he hadn't. So she smiled a little at him before taking the tray and wandering back over to the boys. She really needed to tell them what was going on.

"What the hell does all this mean?" Reid spat, crossing his arms. "Who the hell does this Lily think she is?"

"She's thirteen Reid, not the spawn of Satan." Tyler told him.

"But she could be a threat," Caleb said, looking off to the side. "And it looks like whatever plot Astaire's involved in, we are as well." The fire in the center of the room glowed brightly, flickering on each of the Son's faces as they sat almost regally in their designated spots in the colony house.

Pogue looked like he was reigning anger in. He was not happy with the thought of his girlfriend being in danger. They had only been back together for a few freaking days and already there was trouble brewing around them. Why couldn't things just stay normal?

"We need to figure out what the hell is going on," he said, the words harsh. "And figure out who the hell Delilah is."

Tyler looked around at his brothers as he thought.

"Lily said that Astaire was Delilah. So does that mean she's possessed?"

"She is not possessed!" Pogue roared. He couldn't believe Tyler would suggest that. Not with over-protective Caleb in the room who would take drastic measures to keep the Covenant in tact. Caleb could order them to put a spell on Astaire or something.

"Calm down, Pogue." Caleb said, as if he read his friend's mind. "I don't think she's possessed. But there may be something hidden inside her."

"You mean like power?" Reid questioned.

Caleb shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know if that's what the bad guy wants, whoever it is. It could be, it couldn't be."

Tyler looked at him. "So this has the potential to be like Chase all over again?"

"Yeah," the eldest sighed. "But we don't know for sure. So we need to keep our eyes and ears open, especially at school. Anything suspicious, and we tell each other, got it?"

The boys nodded their assent.

"We need to fix this man," Pogue said to Caleb, though he didn't look up at him. "I'm not going to lose her."

Caleb nodded. "We'll get through this. With all of us in one piece."

After nodding wearily, Pogue got up and climbed the stairs, ready to leave and go back to his apartment. Caleb followed, leaving the two youngest in the meeting room.

"'In one piece' doesn't mean we'll be alive," Reid murmured, staring unseeingly into the fire.

Tyler looked at him and then to the Book of Damnation on the shelf. The last word was morbidly highlighted by the flame.

"Maybe we really are damned."

Thanks for reading!