A/N: So… I got a lot more views and reviews than I thought I would, so thank you! I'll be continuing this story at random, mostly because it's just for fun. I am really glad everyone liked it, though :) your support and reviews mean more to me than you will ever know (or maybe you do know… but still)

Onto the story!

"What the hell is this?" Faye hissed, glaring at all of us. "Is this supposed to be funny?"

She was looking at me. "No." I said. "I found her, by the docks, and thought she was you."

"I would never dress like this—" normal-Faye stepped over to Australian-Faye, who shrank back as normal-Faye tugged at her top "—and my hair is so much better. What do you do to this stuff, anyway?" normal-Faye pulled on Australian-Faye's frizzed hair and laughed.

I stepped forward and pushed Faye aside, anger bubbling in my stomach. "Hey, leave her alone!"

Faye gave me a sullen look. "I'm not hurting her… wait, is she crying?" her voice was filled with disgust. "This is so wrong in so many ways."

Australian-Faye was hastily wiping away tears at normal-Faye's comment. Diana stared accusingly at normal-Faye and came over to put her arms around Australian-Faye. "What's your name?" she asked gently. "It can't be Faye… I hope not, anyway."

"It's Cleo. Cleo Sertori." She said, gratefully taking the tissue Diana offered and looked at me. "I don't know why you brought me here. I thought you were crazy."

I shrugged apologetically. "I thought you were Faye gone good."

Faye snorted.

"Anyway," I continued, "you should probably get home, or… wherever." I had never even seen this girl before. Her parents had to be hysterical with worry. "And try to explain to your parents how a bunch of freaks dragged you off to an abandoned house."

"Yeah, about that…" Cleo ventured nervously. "You said something about magic, and witches."

Faye cast me a "what now?" glance, almost like she was triumphant. I shrugged. "Oh, that was… that was…"

"Just nonsense." Faye said.

Cleo shook her head. "No, all of you were acting really weird, and you said I should know about magic and I'd been a witch, but you meant Faye."

"We're just a bunch of crazy Wiccans, it's not like we actually do real magic." I improvised. "Just herbs and stuff. Nature stuff."

Melissa nodded and gestured to the various herbs around us. "Yeah, what she said. Herbs."

"For healing powers and stuff?" Cleo asked. She looked slightly less confused. "I think I read about that somewhere."

"Mmm-hmm, like that." I said.

"To fix… well, stuff like that?" Cleo asked.

I looked at what she was pointing at and realized it was my hand. "Huh?"

"Your hand, it's got this cut or burn or something." Said Cleo, squinting.

I saw Adam start forward and shook my head. I held my hand, palm up, and noticed the ugly cuts that criss-crossed my skin, faintly forming the symbol on my dad's medallion. Jake looked completely furious, and I wondered how he had snuck in so quietly. More importantly, how long had he been here? "That's nothing, really."

Cleo gave a little gasp of sympathy and broke away from Diana, grasping my hand gently. "What happened?"

It was unbelievable to hear those words in that gentle tone coming from someone who looked like Faye. As it was, Faye didn't seem to particularly care. She rolled her eyes at Cleo's caring instead as she examined her red-painted nails.

"I… it was just some medallion." I stammered.

"You meant your father's medallion?" asked Diana. "When you disappeared, you went to destroy it?"

I shook my head and glanced at Adam and Jake. "No, I was headed home when it strangled me. I crashed and my car flipped—" Diana covered her mouth in horror, and then she was helping Cleo, suddenly seeing all the scratches on my face I had covered with makeup "—but I'm fine. I saw the guy that had been following me and I chased him to this church, Sacred something church."

"Of course!" exclaimed Diana. "That what it meant when it spelled 'sacred'. I've heard of that church, I should have known."

"As I recall, you thought, and I quote, 'Maybe it means you're the most sacred witch in all the land' and the promptly burst into laughter." I teased. "I should have known too. When I got there I was surrounded, but Jake and Adam managed to find me and save me. Adam was…" I trailed off, looking at Cleo's doe eyes and she watched in fascination. "It doesn't matter."

"So what do we do with the doppelganger?" Faye interrupted rudely. "Since she's not one of us."

"Do you know the way back." I asked. She nodded. "Good. I would go with you, but we have to talk some stuff over."

"I'll get back, don't worry." Cleo assured me. "Just… thanks for not kidnapping me like I thought you would."

"Any time."

As soon as I heard the door slam I sighed. "What I was saying is that Adam got possessed by all the ghosts, and I had to destroy the medallion to save him."

Adam nodded, confirming my story.

"So, what did you do when I left?" I asked. "Party? You all seemed a little bit off."

"We had a little too much sugar." Faye said harshly; sharp and definitive, like she was hiding something. She went to Melissa, whose face had fallen, and linked arms with her. "Just an average sleepover."

I let it stay at that. "Oh."

An awkward silence hung in the air. Should I tell them about Adam? I didn't want to admit in front of Diana that I had kissed him, especially since I had told her I didn't have feelings for him. She would be crushed, I was sure. She would never want to speak to me again.

"Should we go, then?" Jake suggested. "I have better things to do."

Faye raised a mischievous eyebrow. "Or better people to do."

He glared. "Shut up."

Faye lowered her eyes, seemingly hurt. It was Diana's turn to send a vengeful glare and link her arm with Faye's. Faye had a girl on each side, Melissa and Diana. I giggled softly when Jake turned tail and ran upstairs.

"Are you going to tell them?" Adam whispered, coming up behind me.

"No." I admitted. "I don't want to, not yet. It'll kill Diana."

"I know." His voice was laced with regret. He took my injured hand and brushed it lightly with his fingertips. "I know."

I was about to say more when Jake shouted something from above and there were several loud thumps. I heard Faye scream.

Adam and I looked at each other and raced for the stairs at a pace that would be the death of us if we weren't holding onto each other. Faye was still screaming—it reminded me vaguely of the lakehouse, when she kept saying, "Cassie saw her too! Cassie saw her too!" the same desperation was mixed into her screams now.

When I reached the top of the stairs I expected almost anything. Instead Jake was holding Faye—no, Cleo—to the ground while Melissa, Diana, and Faye watched.

"She was spying on us!" Faye said accusingly. She smiled at me. "Guess she's not so innocent after all, Cassie."

"I never said she was or wasn't." I snapped. "Jake, get off."

Cleo stayed on the floor, curling into a ball and staring at us through tear-flecked eyes. "Please don't hurt me."

"You were listening to us!" Jake was aggravated and I was afraid he would just lose it and start hurting her. "You were supposed to leave."

"I didn't mean to!" she whimpered. Clearly she was thinking what I was.

"You didn't mean to?"

"Jake—" Diana started as he took a step towards Cleo.

Melissa said, "I'm sure she didn't mean any harm."

I stepped forward and grabbed Jake's arm. "Stop." I crouched to Cleo's level and said, "Are you alright?"

She nodded.

"Do you not know the way after all?"

She shook her head. She was so miserable, reminding me of the lakehouse even more. It was the one time I'd seen Faye cry. "I do know they way."

"Then why are you still here?" I didn't mean for the question to come out so rudely; it just did.

Cleo opened her mouth, then shut it, then decided to say something after all. "I… there's… it's raining."

"So?" I said. "It's not like you're worried about your hair. Right?"

"No." she uncurled like a cat, eyes wary and focused on Jake.

He groaned and roughly grabbed her arm. "Then leave."

I wanted to reprimand him for being so callous, but I was shocked by her expression. Cleo held both arms out and stared in pure horror at the rain cascading down her face, arms, and body. It was like acid was coming down from the sky and not rain. After a second she looked up at us and ran for it.

"Follow her!" Faye ordered. She bound off into the rain. Everyone else shrugged and dove into the storm.

Cleo hade made it far considering how slippery the grass was. I spotted her head peeking out from under a bush and skidded over. "Cleo! Cleo, are you hurt? Did you fall?" I looked around wildly for help. "Adam! ADAM!"

I fell to my knees. Cleo was tangled in a bush and desperately fighting to get out. "Hey, it's okay, it's okay. Adam will help you, just hold on."

"I don't want help!" she snarled fiercely, not unlike Faye. She seemed more afraid of me than angry. "Just leave me alone."

"But you're stuck!"

"No, I'm just hiding from that guy. Jake." She said. "Please just go."

"I guess I could. You're really not hurt or stuck?"

"No."

I shrugged and got up. As I rounded the corner of the abandoned house Adam came pelting towards me. "What's wrong?"

I snickered at his gelled hair, completely plastered to his face. "Nothing. Clearly you're the one with a crisis right now, not me."

"Shut up." he said, gently shoving me. I started laughing even more. "What?"

"You shove like a girl."

"I do not!" he whined. I was doubled over with laughter at his face, his ridiculous hair, and then he had me pinned to the ground and rolling over in the mud.

"ADAM!" I screeched, indignant. "You're getting me filthy!"

He faked a maniacal laugh. "That's what happens when someone makes fun of my macho-ness."

It was all too unreal, and came crashing down when someone cleared their throat. "You want a room or something?"

It was Faye, Melissa and Jake next to her, Diana behind her. Jake looked enraged, Melissa oddly unsurprised, but Diana was the worst; her mouth was covered, and her wide eyes spoke of pain and betrayal. I felt awful. I knew it wasn't the best picture—I was practically on top of Adam, both of us were streaked with mud and laughing, and he had been stroking my hair lightly like we were about to kiss—but it could have been worse. I struggled to my feet and pushed past Faye. "Diana, please—"

She shook her head and dashed inside. Faye held me back. "I think you've done enough damage already." She said. "You should go home."

So I did.

~*~H2O~*~SC~*~H2O~*~SC~*~

Later that day I hung around the dock, dejected and alone. I knew Adam was working inside the boathouse, but I also knew that Diana was there with Faye. Why they chose to go there of all places after what had happened, I had no idea. Diana had seemed reluctant, but after a screaming match with Adam she was crying unabashedly in Faye's arms while Melissa shot Adam some looks that should have killed him, or reduced him to a pile of ashes. She also called him a few choice names. I had never seen Melissa or Diana so upset over anything.

Jake was near the end of the docks. I had a feeling he knew I was there and was pointedly ignoring me.

I was seriously considering leaving when I spotted Cleo walking down the dock. She froze when she saw me, torn between running and saying hi.

"Cleo!" I yelled. The wind ripped the words from my mouth. "Cleo, hey!"

She smiled faintly and came over to where I was, sitting down next to me and hanging her legs off the side of the dock. "Um, hey."

"So you're staying? Your parents moving here?" I asked. "Or is this somehow considered a vacation spot?"

"Vacation, sort of." She said. "But without them."

"Very independent." I said. I wanted to try and be friends with her. As for what she might have heard when we were talking… it didn't matter. She probably thought we were all insane. "So you did get home okay, then?"

"Yeah, I found the way out of the woods." She said. "I'm good with directions. There's this island, back at home, and I know every square inch of it."

"Really? Where do you live?" Dumb question. I realized. "Australia, maybe?"

"Uh-huh."

We sat there in silence for a while just watching the waves. After a while she said, "You remind me of someone."

"Who?"

"My friend." A smile, a real smile, traced her lips. "Emma. Very reasonable, very kind, a little neurotic. Faye reminds me of Rikki—blunt, carefree—and then…" she stopped.

"What?" I asked.

Cleo sighed. "That guy—Adam—the way he looks at you, and talks about you or to you—it reminds me of Lewis. He and I used to be friends, and eventually more than that, but he got clingy and I dumped him."

"Oh." I said sympathetically. "Ouch."

"I never should have!" she sniffed forlornly. "Then Charlotte waltzed in and know he won't even talk to me anymore. I needed him."

I drew her into a one-armed hug. "Then he's a jerk." When I let her go I saw Melissa and Faye coming to where I was, Diana straggling behind them. Adam was cautiously following them. "Oh no."

"What?" Cleo looked up and saw them. "Why 'oh no'?"

"Long story short, Adam and I were kind of close to kissing and even though Diana broke up with Adam she was horrified and won't speak to me."

"Maybe she misses him." Cleo bit out harshly. "Sorry."

"That's fine, I can see why you'd think that." I stood up and faced them. "What?"

"Can we go down to the beach to talk? All of us?" Faye asked. It sounded more like, "We're going down to the beach to talk and if you don't come I'll rip out your heart."

"Sure." I nodded at Cleo. "Bye."

"She has to come too!" Faye said. "Because of what she might have heard."

Tears welled up in Cleo's eyes. Jake came up to us and stood next to Faye, his expression mirroring her's. "I think Faye's right."

"You'll hurt me again." Cleo mumbled.

"No, he won't." I said, wrapping an arm around her and walking to the group. "Let's go."

We headed down to the beach where Diana had once told me was the old Circle meeting place, before they found the abandoned house. It was sheltered from all civilization, rocky formations blocking it from the road. It was the perfect place to do magic.

"First of all, we need to know what you heard." Faye said, looking at Cleo. "And it had better be the truth."

Cleo shivered. "You said that A-Adam had been possessed by ghosts and Cassie said she saved him by destroying the medallion."

"Do you believe it's true?"

"No?"

"You do!" Faye said accusingly, but she allowed a smile to creep up her face. "You do, don't you." It was how she talked when she thought there was something in it for her. "You lied when you said magic wasn't real."

"No, I didn't." Cleo insisted, her voice shakier than ever. "I d-didn't!"

"You did!" Faye insisted much louder. The waves were roaring against the sand. "I'll bet that you're a witch too, or some sort of trick sent by one of the other covens that John Blackwell killed."

"Hey!" I protested weakly.

Faye was murderous. Her eyes blazed brightly like tiger's eye, nearly golden and reflective. I could hear the waves again, pounding and beating and splashing nearer.

"Faye, stop it!" Melissa cried. She saw what was happening, and so did Diana.

Diana shook Faye's shoulder. "You'll start a storm again, Faye, stop it!"

"No one's helping her." I pointed out as Faye refused to take her eyes off Cleo, who was shrinking back. "Where is she getting the power?"

Suddenly her eyes flashed like two bright sparks and a gigantic wave crashed onto us. I screamed, my lungs filling with salt water. For a minute I though I was going to be pulled under when the wave hit sand and retreated back to the ocean. It hadn't been big enough to hurt anyone.

I coughed saltwater onto the sand and stared at Faye, who was looking surprised but highly pleased. I glanced at Cleo.

She had the same exact expression from the abandoned house when it was raining, staring at the water like it would kill her. Before I could say a thing she ran down the beach, through the water, and disappeared beneath the surf and she dove in.

"Where does she think she's going? This water is surrounded by underwater rocks!" Faye said.

"She could get hurt." Said Diana reproachfully. "What was that, anyway, Faye?"

"I'm you side, Diana, why are you mad at me?"

"STOP!" I screamed. They all shut up and I found five pairs of eyes glued to me. "We have to stop. Cleo might get hurt if she decides to swim out too far."

As soon as I had finished talking I saw a head break through the surface of the water. Cleo was near an outcropping of rocks, and she kept ducking her head under like she was looking for something. Disregarding the others, I made my clumsy way down the outcropping. Rocks kept falling when I moved.

"Cleo?" I asked. "You okay?"

"Super." She said shortly. "Look, you should all go."

"Why?"

Jake, Adam, Diana, and Melissa had joined me. Faye was more nervous than us, picked her way carefully with her heels on. Cleo was far enough in the water that I could only see her head.

"I, um, lost my shirt. In the water."

Jake snickered. "Really? I'd be glad to help you look for it."

I hit him without looking back and heard his "Ow! Hey!". "Look," I said, "we'll make the boys go away, or get a you a towel, or you could even have my sweatshirt."

She shook her head. Coming up a little, I saw she had what looked like bra straps that had fake scales on them. "No, you can just go."

"Oh, just get out of the water. You're skinny enough to have a good body, if that's what you're worried about." Faye said. She leaned past me and put her arms under Cleo's to lift her up.

I shrieked as soon as I saw the rest of Cleo. From her waist down, her skin merged into shining yellow-gold scales. Faye jumped back like she had been bitten and Cleo fell into the water with a splash.

"Guys?" Cleo surfaced and saw our stricken faces. "It's not what you think."

"You're some sort of snake?" Faye guessed. Cleo shook her head. "Then what—?"

She sighed, saying, "Go back to the beach, I'll swim over there and show you."

As she dragged herself onto the sand I could see more clearly. A long, aquatic tail flopped behind her and she pulled up onto land with her elbows. "I'm a mermaid." She said. "Whenever I touch water, this happens."

"So I assume that you know about magic after all?"

"Oh yeah, just not witch magic." She grinned. "Anyone want to explain that to me?"

A/N: Whew, 3,382 words. I think I should stop now. Oh, and it's not spellchecked.