Diligo Est Amicitia
Chapter 8: Funny Friends and Middle Names
A/N: (sighs in satisfaction) You know the roll... time to answer the reviews!
RedRogue: Mm-hmm, I get what you mean about that personal view thing. Regarding the question about the Lycans… (smiles slyly) you'll have to read to find out in upcoming chapters. As for the 'inherit' thingy, they don't really own the girls… it's just that since William is older, the girls treat him like their sensei. They're not witches, exactly… their something else entirely. All I can say at this point is that everything that the readers don't understand will be explained when SOMEONE catches the girls using their magic. As for the "whole 'girl witches team up with boy witches and kick Lycan clan kahootie' idea", you'll see.
xlexisx: Omigosh, really? Hope you didn't get into trouble for skipping lessons!
Bigamericanflirt: I can't wait either!
elffy: The XLR is a pretty hot car, isn't it? But I still prefer the Aston Martin but because another author has used it and it would really serve no purpose in my story, I shall save the idea to use it in a future fanfic!
Asphodel Oakburt: Yeah, it would have been interesting but it wouldn't have fit into my plot, so… sorry.
bajan-martini: Hey, you! I received your PM and I read it with relish! sigh You, Bigamericanflirt and me just can't wait for the truth-to-be-revealed moment but alas, we shall have to hold our breaths. I hope I've satiated your curiousity for the mention of the lycans a little in this… sorry if you expected more but I've worked this part out for some time now… I'll see what I can do to push in more explanation of the Archos and the Rebellion in the next few chapters, yea?
And now, to continue with the story…Caleb ran up the steps of the dormitory building, taking two at a time. He hadn't bothered taking the lift; it was too slow. He ran down the corridor and slid to a sop just outside Lilith's door where he pounded as if his life depended on it. "Dude." A voice behind him addressed him. He spun around. "Where's the fire?" Jamie was leaning against her doorway, her arms crossed over her stomach with a posture of perfect calm.
"Jamie." He strolled past her and into her room before she could protest.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, buddy. Hold your horses there---" She started, hurriedly following Caleb but he interrupted her.
"Have you seen Lilith?"
"Lilith?" Jamie looked confused. "I don't know… I haven't gone out of my room since like… ever. If you need to ask about her, she lives right across you know."
"Which is why I was knocking like crazy." Caleb pointed out.
"And then I interrupted you." Jamie mused. She pointed at the door. "Okay, big mistake. Now get out of my room!"
She tried to push him towards the door but he wouldn't budge. "Wait a sec." She stopped pushing as she realized something. "Why are you asking for Lilith? Is something wrong? Did something happen to her?" Her voice was starting to get frantic.
"No… no, Jamie… nothing's wrong, really." Caleb tried to calm her down. Jamie waited for him to blow the big news about what was up with Lilith. She stared at him with those intense silvery eyes of hers and he got uncomfortable. "Well I… I went to Cameron River… you know where it is right?" When she nodded, he went on. "I saw something in the forest, which is kinda… unexpected since everyone wants to avoid it…"
"Hold on." Jamie held up a hand, interrupting him. "What forest?"
"Jamie, I don't know to break this to you but it was Deadwood. Deadwood Forest."
Jamie's face looked rather frozen and unreadable. "Deadwood. You saw Lilith in Deadwood?" Her voice was a monotone. Then she started laughing; in relief if Caleb interpreted her face correctly. Which he couldn't have. How could Jamie be so calm in spite of knowing that one of her two bestest friends in the world was in Deadwood and had not returned? "Jesus. I though that she had gotten into some car accident with her Mazda or something." She fell onto her bed, laughing.
"No, no." Caleb sat on the edge of her bed, at Jamie seriously. "It's even worse than that. How could you be so cool about this, Jamie? People go missing in Deadwood. Lilith could go missing in Deadwood."
"Oh, she wouldn't." Jamie said confidently while waving a dismissive hand at him. Caleb could not believe his ears! An eighteen-year old girl wouldn't go missing in the most feared forest in Ipswich where other braver, stronger men had vanished? "Lilith knows these woods, Caleb. I'd trust Lilith to be safe just about anywhere there's plants, just between you and me. And besides, the girl knows how to fight. She can protect herself just fine."
"I don't know about you but I'm going to find her." Caleb stood up and moved towards the door.
"Caleb, wait!" Jamie's voice was more alert now; more imposing. She sighed. "What makes you think Lilith's missing?"
Caleb was rushing for time but he felt he owed Jamie an explanation. "When I last saw her in Deadwood, she said she was going home and that she had her own car. I turned away for like a second, and then I turned back and she was gone, Jamie. She couldn't have walked so fast; I could see the forest for miles around from where I stood and there wasn't a sign of her."
"Maybe you didn't look properly, Caleb… listen, I'm sure she's fine but you… shouldn't go into Deadwood anymore, okay?" Jamie spoke gently as if afraid he was going to be offended.
Too late.
"What; it's okay for your best friend, whom may I add is a newcomer to Ipswich, to go into Deadwood but it's not okay for me, who's been living all his life here?" Caleb demanded.
"Have you ever gone into any of the forests? At all?" Jamie challenged.
"No." Caleb admitted. "It was forbidden to all of us. Lilith must have been the first one in decades to enter Deadwood."
"Yeah? Who's talking about me?" A well-known Boston accent demanded from the doorway. Both Caleb and Jamie turned around to see Lilith standing there, her white coat hung over one shoulder.
"Lilith." Jamie said in relief. "There you are. Can you please tell Mr. Deadwood-is-dangerous-everyone-who's-been-there's-gone-missing that you are fine and haven't met any kidnappers?"
"Oh, you aren't in Jamie's room just to complain about me, are you Danvers?" Lilith rolled her eyes impatiently. "I'm fine, Caleb. F-I-N-E. As in okay, excellent, in good condition, not a single bruise. Emotionally, physically, spiritually---"
"Yeah, yeah, save the rest." Jamie interrupted. She turned to Caleb. "Happy now? You satisfied? Okay, good, now get outta my room! Boys aren't allowed!" And with that, she pushed him and slammed the door behind him.
"Are you serious?" She hissed at Lilith once the door had been locked and she had pulled the blonde as far away as the door as possible in case Caleb was still hanging outside. "What were you doing in Deadwood?"
"Oh, pfft." Lilith waved an indifferent hand at Jamie. "He didn't see a thing."
"How can you be so sure?" Jamie demanded.
Lilith placed both hands on each of Jamie's shoulders. "Jamie. Trust me. Our secret is safe." She brushed past her to the door and exited. Jamie heaved her shoulders. Did Lilith know about the spies William had assigned to the girls? If she did, would she have gone out to Deadwood? William had been concerned about Lilith encroaching Deadwood but not as concerned as he was about the matter of where the girls hung out and whom they hung with so naturally, Lilith had taken it to her advantage that she was allowed there.
True that some of the creatures living in Deadwood were allies of the side of Archos but there were only so much they could do should the Rebellion choose to attack Lilith in broad daylight.
And that was the truth to it.
Jamie had been worrying inside ever since Caleb had told her about seeing Lilith in Deadwood. Not only for the sake of Lilith but for the exposure of their powers as well. And the fact that the Rebellion might actually kill Lilith. Then the Phasma of the ancient Lamia would be lost and the prophecy would be impossible to fulfill.
She sighed. She needed to tell them, only she didn't know what reaction it would evoke from them. Would they be angry with her for keeping it from them in the first place?
Would they get excited and be convinced that since they knew of the boys' secret, the boys should be let in on theirs?
Or would they be complacent and stick to the plan? However much Jamie wanted it, the latter seemed an unlikely choice. She sighed. The weight was on her, a burden she carried alone. Right now, nobody but her knew that Danvers, Parry, Garwin and Simms were the Sons of Ipswich, powerful witches in their own right.
Things did not look good. If Caleb found out about them, the exposure would be too much for the council and the Pack to bear. Suddenly, Jamie found herself wishing that they had never come to Ipswich and they had never met the four boys who seemed destined to interfere in everything they did.
Fin rose from her seat in English, as did everyone else, her bag slung over her shoulder. The bell had rung just a second ago and everyone was eager to leave the classroom – and their boring professor – behind to celebrate Friday. "Your essay's due on Monday; I don't care if your dogs ate it, I want it by then! Anybody wishing to contest the deadline will face double detention!" The professor yelled at his students' retreating backs. Fin almost felt sorry for the old man who had been trying hard to get their attentions throughout the lesson but there was just something about the November wind that attracted them to sleep rather than their books.
"Fin! Hey Fin!" Tyler jogged up to catch up with the redhead and stopped beside her, waiting for a few seconds to catch his breath. He had been sitting to rows to the left behind her and had been thinking about just how gorgeous she was. How the sun would shine its rays on her beautiful red hair and how he would give anything to run his fingers through it. Of course the English professor just had to embarrass him in front of the whole English class at that very moment.
"Mr. Sims." Mr. Carter had addressed him. "Would you care to tell us what is so interesting about the back of Miss Gray's head?" Tyler had blushed three different shades of red as everyone turned to look at him. When Mr. Carter received no immediate response, he assumed that Tyler was ready to resume paying attention to his lessons and Tyler sighed in relief as one by one, his classmates stopped shooting him funny looks and pretended to pay attention to the ramblings of John Carter.
"Tyler. What's up?" Fin asked. She had cast him a strange look of mingled curiousity and something else he didn't know but he had looked away.
"Well, uh… my eighteenth birthday's coming up---"
"Oh, happy birthday!" She wished him.
"Thanks, but uh, see… my parents are holding this big birthday bash for me," Tyler tried to explain without stuttering but it was almost impossible seeing as he was talking to the girl who had haunted most of his fantasies – none of them pervy, so anyone thinking otherwise should be ashamed of themselves – and daydreams.
"What Baby Boy is trying to say," Reid had popped up from nowhere, an arm slung over Tyler's shoulders, his sexy grin in place. Tyler silently cursed the older boy. "Is he wants you at that party. Or rather his parents, should I say." Reid grabbed something that Tyler had been hiding behind his back and presented Fin with a yellow card, decorated delicately with gold borders.
"What is it?" She asked, taking it into her hands.
"An invitation. For you, Jamie and Lilith." Tyler said. "And uh… anyone else you wanna bring along."
"Oh, you guys," Fin sighed. "I don't know." Tyler's heart dropped twenty thousand feet. "I'll think about it?" It was the best positive answer he could get and Tyler knew it. He nodded, and then watched with a heavy heart as she walked away, head bowed.
"Feeling rejected, bro?" Reid asked. It was an innocent question, Tyler knew but why was his blood boiling at Reid's voice?
"She'll be there." He told Reid, telling himself as well."She has to." He whispered.
Reid just laughed. "Grow up, baby boy. In three days, you'll be eighteen and Ascended. We'll all finally have full power. Fin doesn't seem all that interested in you anyway."
Tyler turned on Reid. "And you?" He asked. "You're gonna tell me not one of those three girls turns you on? C'mon Reid." He punched his brother's arm. "Some girl out there's gotta make your juices flow." He walked off laughing.
"Oh, believe me bro, I've found her." Reid mumbled to himself. "I just need to win her."
"Glenn and Dorothy Sims cordially invite you to the celebration commemorating the eighteenth birthday of their son, Tyler Zacharias Sims held this Saturday evening. Guests are to arrive by 7.45 p.m. as dinner will be served at eight after which, the celebration will ensue." William read off the letter. Finishing it, he lowered the card and stared down at the three girls bowed before him.
Fin, after receiving the letter, had run off to tell Jamie and Lilith about it. It seemed Kate and Sarah would be going and Lilith and Fin set their mind on attending the party too. Jamie had crushed their hopes slightly after warning them that William would have wanted to know about the party. She had finally told them about William assigning spies to make sure they kept their toes in line and it had ended in them being outraged at the invasion of their privacy.
Initially, they had decided not to tell him, a small payback for keeping such a paranoid eye on them but Jamie had soothed, consoled and convinced. Now all three of them touched one knee to the ground, their heads bowed as a sign of respect for the older Archos. Normally, he would have dismissed their formality only seconds after their knees touched the ground but for some reason, he had kept them like that and now it were beginning to ache.
"Well?" He asked. The three girls held their tongues, unsure of what to say.
"Is there something you would like to tell me about?" He prompted. Jamie finally took a chance at casting him a confused look before directing her eyes back to the ground. They didn't see it – though you could be sure they wouldn't be able to hold their laughter - but William rolled his eyes, a most un-lordly thing to do in any case, impatiently.
"Since when have you gotten so close to this… this Tyler Zacharias Sims," And the three girls had to fight to keep a straight face. "That you rate an invite to his eighteenth birthday party? Unless you're telling me that he is inviting the whole of Ipswich, I thought we had agreed before we came to Massachusetts that we were to keep a very low profile?" The three girls were silent.
After a very long pause, Lilith managed to conjure up a little strength to project her voice, which had suddenly become rather squeaky. "So, can we go?" She wondered.
The Lycan Lord seemed to ponder on it for a moment, and then nodded his head. "I'll have the dressmakers get ready their materials." The three girls exchanged triumphant looks. "Meanwhile," They returned their attention to their 'guardian'. "I believe you remember the two lycans, about the same age as Peter, whom you met while our stay in Rome. He nodded at the two doormen and they threw open the doors, admitting two shadows clocked in black. Simultaneously, they threw off their hoods.
"Adrien! Fabien!" Lilith was the first one to rush and give them a hug.
"Whoa, whoa… relax zere, mademoiselle." Fabien laughed. "We are happy to see you as well." His French accent, the three girls observed, was the first thing they noticed. It wasn't so thick anymore; obviously years roaming the world so as to gather more allies for the Pack and having to struggle to speak other languages had taken a toll on their twang. Where a year ago he would have missed the 'h's' in a word, he was now able to pronounce it.
"I believe we heard something of a party." Adrien grinned.
"Yes, one of the things I wanted to discuss with you. If I'm not wrong you'll be needing escorts to this… little occasion?" He asked the three girls. Jamie, Lilith and Fin stood, frozen on the spot. They had not expected this. "I believe Adrien and Fabien will prove to be wonderful companions, yes?"
"B-but Adrien and Fabien are only t-two…" Fin stuttered.
"Add Peter into the equation and it makes three, doesn't it?" William smiled, baring his teeth at her. "If the three couples are too shy to take partners, shall I assign?" And without waiting for a response, he continued. "Let's see… Extraxi with Peter, Lamia with Fabien and Sun with Adrien. Perfect. All right, the three of you, out; I have some business to discuss with our two guests." And without a word, the three girls were escorted out by guards, six of them; two on each side of the girls and they left the Lycan Lord to speak with his two messengers.
"How could he?" Lilith burst out as they entered her suite in Manor Aurelius.
"It's just his way of making sure that nothing that's not supposed to happen doesn't happen." Jamie finally said.
"Yeah, but---" Fin seemed to be at a lost for words.
"Look, you guys; he just doesn't want to take any chances." Jamie tried to plead on behalf of her respected benefactor although her heart agreed thoroughly with her best friends. "I mean he saw what we did that night at Nicky's." She said in a low voice. "And how we behaved… I--- just--- it's just didn't look good to our cause."
"That was your fault." Lilith hissed. "If only you had told us…"
"I wanted you guys to have a good time!" Jamie protested. "I just didn't think you'd have it if you knew the lycans were watching us!"
"Hey, give it a break, Lils… Jamie was just trying to look out for us. Look, we got invited to the party, William let us go and the dressmakers are going to be here in a few. Plus we got hot dates. I don't see any reason to complain."
"Yeah, well when Tyler handed you that invitation and said you could bring anyone you wanted, I don't think he meant for you to bring a date." Lilith retorted.
Jamie and Fin just sighed.
A/N: Okay... so how did that go? Boring? Irrelevant? Lemme know and if it comes to it, I'll revamp this chapter. It's late right now, my brain's melted into a puddle of icky, pink goo (sorry for the mental image) and I desperately need sleep. Please review!
Oh, and as a last note; let's see if you can guess which is Extraxi, Lamia and Sun!
Crickes