Isobel felt groggy. Not to mention she had a killer headache and it took her a few moments to realize that she was in a bed that didn't belong to her but she was in a room that she knew very well. Wearily forcing herself to sit up in the bed, Isobel realized that she was in Pogue's bedroom but she had no idea why on earth she was here or how she even wound up here in the first place. Isobel's memories were slightly foggy but what she did know was that she needed to get out of here and head back to her own house. This was the last place that Isobel wanted to be here and so she quickly climbed out of Pogue's bed and started looking for her belongings so she could quickly leave and head home. It was getting late and she did have school in the morning and Isobel would very much prefer to sleep in her own bed. Finding her bag and shoes were easy enough but her car keys on the other hand? A whole other matter as they weren't in her bag or her pockets and Isobel had a suspicion as to where her car keys were or who had them but she couldn't deal with that. Isobel would prefer to leave her car and the keys here so she wouldn't have to deal with Pogue as her memory was becoming a lot more clearer and she was remembering the events of tonight. Specifically what had happened outside Nicky's. Deciding that her only option was to sneak out of the house and walk the very short distance to her own house next door, Isobel crossed the room when the door opened and in walked Pogue.
"Your finally up, which is good as we need to talk." Pogue began and Isobel noted the way that he was looking at her, clearly he wanted to talk about what had happened when she didn't.
"I don't think we do actually, so if you'll excuse me I'm going to head home as it's been a long day." Isobel replied as she motioned for Pogue to move away from the door but he didn't budge. Instead Pogue did the opposite and shut the door and remained standing in front of it so he was preventing her from leaving.
"Sit down Iz, we need to talk." Pogue said in a firm manner and Isobel sighed as she knew that she wasn't going anywhere until Pogue had said what he had to say. Isobel could venture a guess as to where this conversation was going but she still had to listen to it and so she walked over to the armchair sitting in the corner of Pogue's room and took a seat.
"So what are you so intent on talking about Parry? Make it quick though as I would like to go home and get some rest."
"Everything that happened tonight for starters, not to mention all these secrets which you've been keeping Isobel which had now started coming out one day at a time." Pogue began.
"Seriously? There is nothing for us to talk about Pogue, so you can drop the whole being concerned about my well being act that you seem to currently have going on at the moment. As for whatever secrets you seem to think I have, what I chose to keep private is my business and if I wanted you to know everything about my life then I would tell you. But I like keeping a few things to myself, it's nice to have some privacy and an added layer of mystery on my part." Isobel replied as she waved her hand in a nonchalant manner.
"You collapsed Izzy! You were using your powers and you had another nosebleed and then you collapsed right in front me and you don't even seem concerned about that!" Pogue hissed in an angry tone of voice but careful to keep his voice down so his family wouldn't overhear the raised voices and ask what the two of them were discussing so loudly.
"So I had a little nosebleed and I fainted it's no big deal Pogue, I'm stressed out about a lot of things constantly right now and my body can't deal with all of the stress. With you guys always doing something stupid and getting in to trouble, plus my dad always being on my case about this covenant stuff it's pretty stressful not to mention the normal teenage problems like homework, boys and college applications. My life is the definition of complicated and stressful. I honestly don't know why I haven't collapsed before now, maybe it's because of a lack of sleep but I will slow down and take it easy if it gets you off my case Pogue. Scout's honour." Isobel stated.
"That bullshit may work on the others that they would believe it without batting an eyelid but your talking to me Isobel and I know you are lying. The nosebleeds and the fainting are because you're using your powers. Instead of aging like the rest of us do, you get nosebleeds and I'm guessing the severity of them depend on how much your using." Pogue retorted and Isobel was going to deny it all but then she realized that there was no point as Pogue had connected the dots and figured out her last real secret. There was no point in denying the truth any longer because both her and Pogue knew she was lying.
"So what?" Isobel admitted in a questioning tone of voice as she looked at Pogue, as much as she never wanted this to come out, it was now out and she would have to deal with it. "You and all the other males in the covenant age when you use your powers, I get nosebleeds and occasionally faint it's no big deal Pogue. Everything has a weakness so I guess this is mine, after all I am the first female witch in the history of the covenant and it would have been unfair if you all had a consequence of using your powers and I didn't."
"No big deal? Izzy I was there both times when you had nosebleeds and you may have been able to play it off the first time but I saw you tonight. I saw the fear and terror in your eye when you realized how bad it was, you told me yourself that you were scared before you fainted right in front of me! You were unconscious for over an hour so don't play this off as nothing, it's pretty damn serious!" Pogue says in utter disbelief and Isobel could tell that he was not too happy with her and to be honest Isobel was not exactly happy with him.
"You don't think that I know that?" Isobel snapped, having enough of this lecture from Pogue who was telling her everything that Isobel already knew. "I know how bad it is, why do you think I don't use my powers? You think I wanted to be so uptight when it came to magic? No I didn't but I had to Pogue, I started getting nosebleeds soon after I received my powers when we were thirteen and I knew that it was serious, which is why I didn't use my powers much! I knew it would only get worse after my ascension so I gave them up because I couldn't take the risk of turning into another William Danvers. I didn't want to end up like him, so I stopped using my powers because I knew that I couldn't will them away. By giving up using magic I was saving my own life, ensuring that I don't end up stored away in one of the old colony house because of prolonged abuse of our magic. Then the day before yesterday happened, I used my powers because of you idiots as your instance to do that Marblehead prank!"
"Iz…" Pogue wearily began.
"Shut up Pogue I'm not finished! It's addictive. You've all seen with your own eye what it did to William Danvers but you all keep pulling these dumb stunts of yours and blowing it off as harmless fun. Well it's not harmless fun Pogue, it takes a toll on your body and ascension just makes it ten times harder. Each time you use, it chips a little bit of you away. Shortens your lifespan and ages your body with every use and what is the point of allowing yourself to do that yourself? Because your some kind of adrenaline junkie and you like the euphoria that it gives you. Just because your young doesn't mean that it won't kill you because it will at the rate that you guys are using. You know what it does, you've heard all the stories but they keep falling on deaf ears because you guys think that because your young, the damage won't do too much harm but that stops right now. The four of you forced my hand tonight and I swear to god if I have to keep using my powers to make you all see what it will do to us all then so be it because I've had enough with every single one of you! I may be the youngest but my power is greater than all of yours and I am taking charge of the covenant now because I'll be damned if I let things continue the way they have been going lately. This business you guys have of using your own powers for your entertainment stops now!" Isobel hissed, reversing roles so now she was giving Pogue a lecture because she had enough. Isobel was fed up with the boys and their cavalier disregard for the danger they were putting themselves in with their use of magic. Isobel needed to step up and take charge but to do that, she needed to do the thing that she swore that she would never do and that was to finally accept her family's seat in the covenant.
"Okay."
To say that Isobel was surprised with Pogue easily agreeing to her order without so much as a fuss was shocking Isobel expected more of a fight from him but she figured that tonight with the whole fainting thing must have really freaked him out for Pogue to be agreeing so quickly. "Okay? I say stop and your going to stop just like that? Don't agree with me just for the sake of making happy Parry because it won't work."
"Your right Iz things have been getting out of control lately especially tonight with Caleb and Reid, then what happened with you. If we're not careful it will end up killing us and after seeing you collapse I don't want something like that to ever happen to me." Pogue replied as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
"Thanks! Glad to see my little accident has been a great eye opener for you." Isobel scoffed in mild amusement.
"I didn't mean it like that but speaking of you Isobel, why didn't you tell any of us about this?" Pogue questioned.
"By not using magic I was dealing with it myself so I didn't see the point of informing anyone else as it has nothing to do with you all. This thing only effects the females who have the power and I am the only female witch to ever be born into the covenant it was my business and mine alone." Isobel admitted with a casual shrug of her shoulders.
"I take it your dad doesn't know about this…"
"No one does Pogue, everyone thinks of me as this amazing creature being the first daughter and witch, always looking at me as if I'm this prized exhibit. Telling them about this, what happens to me when I use my powers will only make things worse, I can't tell them and I certainly can't tell my dad as it would kill him. You've seen how hard he is on you guys, you can only imagine what he'd be like if he knew the truth about me…"
"Why couldn't you come to me? I know that we hate each most of the time, argue like there is tomorrow and half the time you want to punch me in the face but there is a part of us that loves each other like brother and sister. Iz, you know that I always have your back regardless of whatever is going on between us so why couldn't you come to me about this?" Pogue demanded but in a rather gentle manner instead of yelling Isobel, which knocks her off guard slightly despite the fact that she knew everything Pogue had just said was true.
"I'm a big girl Pogue, I don't need protecting anymore I can take care of myself and the rest of you." Isobel idly stated.
"This is your health we're talking about Iz, I don't care whether you think you can take care of yourself I don't want you to end up dead because of all of this and what it's doing to your body! Despite how reluctant you've been about joining the covenant you've made it pretty clear tonight that you're taking over and leading us and there's something you need to know if your going to lead us Isobel."
"And what's that Pogue?" Isobel questioned.
"We take care of our own, so your problems are now our problems whether you like it or not. Your not in this alone anymore Iz, we're right here with you."