Diligo Est Amicitia

Chapter 11: End of Story

"But how…" Fin started to ask.

"I don't know. Use your imagination! Lie!" William hissed. "I understand you are very good at that already, no, Extraxi?" Fin's eyes started to water. She knew that insult wasn't meant for her; it was for Jamie and she was still standing strong but Fin only realized just how much they had hurt William. He would be ridiculed amongst the ministers and the council.

"Soren and his team will be watching you." William warned. "The most important thing is; I want everyone to believe it. More to the point: the witches. They must, in some way or another, witness it. Do you understand?" When they all nodded, he dismissed them with a cold look; something most unheard of when he was with the three of them.

They were about the leave the Manor, having exited the Castle when Fabien called them back in and told them that they were to stay in the Manor for the night and tomorrow too. They did not want the witches to get a chance to talk to them, Lilith realized. While walking back to their rooms in the Manor, Lilith suddenly lashed out at Jamie.

"Why?" She yelled. "Why didn't you tell us? Why do you think you have the right to keep everything to yourself? We promised, Jamie! We swore! No secrets! And then you just…" Then she had run off, slamming her bedroom door behind her. Fin looked slightly reproaching of Jamie but gave her a hug all the same.

"I understand why you did it." She mumbled into the brunette's hair. "You knew how we'd act when we found out."

Jamie nodded, hugging Fin back. "If you knew of their secret, why couldn't they of ours. And I've hurt William, Fin… I've hurt him and Lilith and you. I'm so sorry…"

Tears started to spill from her eyes and down her cheeks, some dropping onto Fin' shoulder.

"It's okay." Fin soothed, rubbing her back. "We'll get through with this. We'll do as we were ordered to. We'll get William to forgive us and we'll be like we were just last year. Happy."

Jamie just held on tightly to Fin - the sister she never had - crying all her emotions away and the both stood there for a long time, unaware that Lilith was listening to every word and tearing just as much as Jamie. How had it come to this?

On Monday morning at breakfast, Lilith caught a surprised Jamie in a hug before they sat down to breakfast. "I'm sorry." Lilith whispered. Jamie returned the apology and both of them had another good cry before the bacon and eggs were served. Fin just sat, looking at the moving scene and feeling like she had to shed a few tears herself if they would not stop.

"Aww… cut it out, you guys." She sniffed. "Look at me, sitting here all alone and watching you guys tear up… makes me wanna cry." Lilith and Jamie laughed, and then embraced Fin in a group hug.

"Uh…am I disturbing something?" A familiar voice inquired at the door to the breakfast parlor. Peter stood there, looking unsure. He looked weary and his amber eyes were dull.

"Nope… just investing in some girl time." Lilith quipped. "Wanna join us for breakfast?"

"Why not?" Peter shrugged. He took his seat beside Jamie.

"Are you okay?" Fin cocked her head to one side, observing the young lycan.

"Yeah… I'm just… tired." Peter rubbed his face. "The ministers are on my case about hunting the Rebellion again."

"The ministers are on all of us." Fin said quietly.

"Yeah, well… how was the party?" Peter asked. Apparently, he hadn't heard.

"Disastrous."

"Catastrophic."

"Cataclysmic."

"Oh. That bad, huh?" Peter smiled sympathetically.

"We don't wanna talk about it." Lilith said, rising from the breakfast table, as did her best friends. "We've got a long day ahead of us. Loose ends to take care of and deaths to fake."

Peter didn't even bat an eye. "Good luck." Were his last words before the three girls headed out of Manor Aurelius, not really looking forward to the day but if it was what it took to make William happy, they'd accomplish their mission gladly.

"So d'ya guys wanna head over to Nicky's tonight?" Jamie asked casually over her cup of juice. It was lunchtime and they had all gathered at their table, picking at their food.

"What's the occasion?" Caleb wondered out loud.

"Well, since we never did really celebrate Tyler's birthday properly, Boston style," Lilith grinned. "We thought we'd do it tonight."

"Sounds good." Tyler nodded. "You three never really did dance with me properly."

"Oh, we're gonna give you any dance you want." Fin sipped on her coffee. Of course, being the baby girl of the trio, she never really meant any innuendo in her words but boys were boys and at eighteen, they were the most dirty-minded creatures on the planet.

"Hey, I'm up for that." Reid raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah… too bad you're birthday's over, big boy." Pogue said.

"Aww… it don't have to be my birthday to get a dance, right girls?" This time he targeted all five females at the table, ending up with two smacks to the head; one from Pogue who had placed a protective arm around Kate's waist and one from Jamie.

"Don't worry, I don't go for blondes." Kate assured Pogue. "Only certain brown-haired, shoulder length, well-muscled ones are my type."

"Shucks…" Pogue pretended to look all flattered.

"Hey, folks!" Reid, who had mimed puking all over Pogue, banged his cutlery on the table. "Newsflash: people are trying to eat here! Give it a rest and save it for the bedroom, will ya?"

Now, Pogue really blushed along with Kate and he mumbled a 'Shut up.' before starting to pick on his food again. His relationship with Kate had been never better and while sometimes he had to assure her that his relationship with Fin remained close friends, she had never been more sensitive of his own feelings.

"So what time should we meet up with you?" Tyler asked Fin as they walked away from English class. He had to fight a blush from colouring his cheeks; being alone with Fin just made him remember Saturday night.

"Um… why don't we just meet you there? Me and the girls have something to do before we get there." Fin suggested, shifting from foot to foot and biting her lower lip. Cute.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure." Tyler nodded. "Uh… what time?"

"Eight." She seemed to have prepared the answer already.

"Okay. See you at eight."

"Right. It's a date!" She called as she hurried down the hallway, leaving him rooted to the spot.

It's a date!… a date!… date! Her voice rang in his head and he couldn't seem to hide that goofy smile he wore all the way to class and throughout History two lessons later.

"Mr. Sims!" Mr. Waugh called. It took three times of that and one painful nudge in the ribs from Reid to get him to pay attention. "Are you listening to me?" Mr. Waugh asked impatiently.

"Ye—yes, sir." Tyler stuttered slightly.

"Mr. Sims, you do realize this is the third time I've caught you for not paying attention. Another repeat of this will land you in…" But from then on, Tyler's shoulders had gone slack again and the goofy smile was back on his face. "Is that clear?" He managed to catch those last three words and nodded quickly.

"Alright, now, Mr. Abbot! Why don't you tell me…" The lesson went by in a drone for Tyler and by the end of it, he still wasn't enlightened. His attention was spent entirely on a certain redhead sitting two rows to the right of his own row.

"So, girls, are we ready?" Jamie asked. They had all assembled in Jamie's room after getting dressed. Sarah and Kate had gone with the boys first.

Fin and Lilith took deep breaths and nodded. This was it. The end of their life in Spencer. Give them four hours – six, maximum – after this and they'd be dead in the eyes of everyone except the Pack. They took Lilith's car to Nicky's. It was the only vehicle that could fit three passengers and they needed one that could race. The surprising thing was that they didn't feel sad, not much. Instead, they felt excited; exhilarated… this was the first time they were going to pull off such a stunt anyway.

"Right." Jamie led the way out of her dorm. "Let's go get 'em, girls."

The bar was packed but that didn't matter. The three girls danced and drunk to their hearts content, especially Fin who seemed to be wanting to get drunk. Tyler and Pogue had to practically pinch her away from her next bottle. Already, Fin's cheeks were flushed but she didn't seem to be showing any signs of drunkenness. The only indication that she was inebriated was that she had given Reid a lap dance but other than that, she seemed perfectly sane.

"Why'dju go?" Fin whined. She was being tugged out of the bar by Tyler and Pogue. Kate and Sarah lingered nearby, watching their friend in sympathy. Boy, was she wasted. Behind, Caleb and Reid were helping Lilith and Jamie to stabilize their feet.

"You've had enough to drink, Fin." Pogue said in a warning tone that dared her to contradict him.

Fin only blew a raspberry at Pogue and stuck her tongue out childishly at him. Pogue rolled his eyes. "I don't think they're sober enough to drive back, guys." He said, as he looked back at his teetotal friends.

"Well, that's okay." Caleb said. "Tyler can drive them back to their dorms. I'll ride with him. Reid, you and Pogue get into Lilith's car and drive her back to the dorms. Kate, you and Sarah got here by her car, right? You can get back?" When Kate nodded affirmative, they started to move according to plan.

"Hey!" Lilith cried, pushing Pogue away. "I can drive my own car thank you!"

Everyone stopped. "Lilith, you can't…" Caleb started but Lilith thrust a finger up in his face.

"Don't you tell me what I can't do!" Lilith yelled, obviously intoxicated. She ran with amazing speed into her Mazda and settled into the passenger's seat at the back.

"Lilith!" Sarah, Pogue, Kate and Caleb yelled.

Already, her two pals were scrambling into the remaining seats; Jamie riding shotgun and Fin in the driver's. "Hey, Reid!" Lilith called, rolling down the window and tossing the keys to Fin who started up the engine.

"Betcha ass you can't race me!"

"Oh yeah?" The words were out of Reid's mouth before he could stop them.

"First to reach the Cross Marblehead cliffs wins!" Lilith challenged. And without warning, Fin revved up the engine and they shot off out of the car park. The four boys looked at each other in shock, totally forgetting about the girls.

"Caleb?" Tyler gulped. "Cross Marblehead cliffs?"

"Get in the car!" Caleb yelled.

The four buckled into Tyler's car, Reid in the driver's seat. This time, Tyler didn't complain; Reid had a better chance of reaching the girls than he did.

"Boys." Kate muttered under her breath at Sarah. "I wonder what's going on with them." It was evident that Kate did not like being pushed away without a second thought. Kate was the princess who always had attention and ever since the three girls had arrived, she hadn't been getting that much from her boyfriend. Not to say that their relationship wasn't in it's best of times… she felt a lot closer to him than ever before which might have something to do with the fact that there were no secrets between them.

Sarah only sighed and shrugged. "I wish I knew." She whispered. Neither one of them would have guessed that soon, they wouldn't have to put up with being second best. Soon, the competition would be gone.

The atmosphere in the car was so tense; it might have spontaneously combusted if they had not kept a tight hold on their emotions. Everyone was tight-lipped and wishing that Reid would go faster but Reid was already pushing it to the limit. His blue orbs stared at the road before them and his knuckles had turned white due to clutching the steering wheel too hard.

Tyler was praying; praying that Fin was not high, praying that she knew about the ten thousand foot drop and that she would stop in time to avoid the fatal fall. He clutched his hands into fists. She was the first one. First girl he had ever really liked. First girl that had kissed him. First girl he had fallen in love with. No, they had to get to her. They had to save her before it was too late.

Caleb just stared at the back of Tyler's seat, too engrossed in his train of thought to think of anything else. Instead of having his heart pounding and ringing so hard he could hear it in his ears, he was calm. Unruffled. It was a really weird feeling but then, he realized he had been stripped of any emotion of shock ever since Chase Collins' attack. It was like he couldn't feel panic at all. The three girls; he just didn't know what to make of them. They were friends, sure but were they close friends? They certainly didn't evoke feelings of friendship like he had for Kate. No, he decided. The reason they wouldn't feel the same was because they had a secret. Shared some secret between them that he hoped would be enlightened on him someday.

Pogue tapped his foot impatiently on the carpet. Come on, come on, come on! He chanted like a mantra in his head, as if it would help them get to the car on time. He had befriended them; all of them and he wouldn't let his friends into danger. Especially if it was life threatening. No, we'll catch up with them. He assured himself. And nothing's going to happen. They'll be safe. I hope.

Reid had never hated Tyler's truck more than he ever had a second ago. And he still did. Come on! Faster! Faster! He mentally commanded the vehicle. As it was, he was already speeding the maximum and the bumps he encountered were twice as rough as it could have been. There! He spotted a flash of red amongst the trees and turned the wheel so violently that the car jolted as it bumped against tree roots and rocks. But Reid couldn't care less about them; they needed to get to the Mazda and fast because the cliffs were just less than three minutes ahead.

"Press the horn, Reid!" Pogue ordered. Oh yeah, good idea. Reid started banging on the horn; the shrill of it piercing through the air. C'mon, c'mon. Stop… stop the car, Fin!

Fin heard the horn of the car but didn't care. She pressed on straight ahead, sometimes dodging trees and driving like a drunken maniac. Whom she was supposed to portray. "Just go on." Jamie had ordered quietly from her left when she had seen Fin's slight hesitation.

"I wished we could have said goodbye." Fin whispered.

"This is the only way, Fin." Lilith replied harshly. "Look, the cliff's just ahead. When we leave the ground, we scream. They'll stop in time and hear us. They'll say it was an accident and we were drunk. Our bodies will never be found. End of story."

"Hit the pedal, Fin." Jamie commanded. Obediently, Fin stepped on the gas pedal and they went faster. The horns seemed to scream more shrilly, if that was possible, as if the boys had screamed along. They seemed far away and Fin knew, with some satisfaction, that they were never going to reach the car in time. They were so close to the edge… the horning hadn't stopped… the car reached the edge… and Fin let go of the pedal.

Jamie felt the adrenaline in her veins; it was flowing through her body and it was energizing her. You don't fear death. A small voice inside her head told her. You are death. Silently, Jamie agreed.

A/N: I wonder how many of you glanced at the title of this chapter and thought that this was the end of DEA? Who knows? This just might be. The next chapter might just be the Epilogue. If you're wondering why I'm writing in such a un-Crickes way – because my previous chapters amounted to more than 2500-words at the very least – it's because my holiday is in 3 days… and I haven't packed!

The last chapter will be in on the day I leave… not the last chapter, mind you; that joke with the 'Epilogue' thingy was just that – a joke! I took it out of Lilith's dialogue. Lame, I know… anyway, thanks to every one of you reviewers out there who have supported me, one way or another and I hope you keep reading! Chapter 12 (aka the last chapter) has some more teaser lines for you; only I've made it into a sort of verbal trailer… hope you will enjoy it!

P.S.: The names I selected for Jamie, Lilith and Fin (Extraxi, Lamia and Sun) aren't all Latin; my cousin helped me with it and she won't tell me what they mean! One of the three girls' names are Latin however...

Crickes