They Had Lights in Their Eyes

Seven

'More Than a Blue Eyed Metaphor'

The basement of the old house was anything but warm. The windows were shattered as if it had lived through the bombing of both World Wars, and its foundation was more akin to a seesaw than a solid base. Yet somehow despite the house's rickety look, it still felt natural for Cassie to be in it. It was certainly an odd feeling, one that she could not even begin to explain, but with the rest of the Circle around her, it felt that anywhere could be like home. She'd never experienced a bond so deep, especially so sudden. Shifting her weight to her right foot, she could feel Adam's presence next to her. Cassie didn't even have to tangibly touch him, for her to notice the strong sensation. It was as if their bodies were being pulled together like a magnet, and even if she wanted to, she didn't feel she could pull away. Maybe it was dangerous to have such heavy emotions for him, but right now logic felt like a superfluous companion.

"I want to know everything," Cassie said as the silence continued to fill the basement. Everyone turned their eyes sharply in her direction, and she suddenly felt a whoosh of self consciousness overtake her. Was that not the right thing to say?

"We don't even know everything yet Cassie," Diana returned softly, "just one step at a time." Cassie couldn't help but roll her eyes slightly at her friend's words. Diana was too cautious—Cassie wanted and craved the power she could not yet touch.

"Well we can't be this passive forever. With your book and mine Diana, we can figure out so much… I don't even know what it's like to cast a spell." Cassie shook her head, "I just think that the time for waiting and holding back is over." She crossed her arms, looking to everyone but Adam. If he didn't approve, she didn't know what she'd do.

"Oh give it a rest will you?" Faye shot back in return, and Cassie flickered her eyes in the girl's direction. "This is like day three of you being a part of this Circle; you have no right to even talk. In fact, you haven't even been bound to it officially yet." There was no kindness lingering in her words, not even a shot of welcome. Cassie couldn't care less about what Faye Chamberlain thought of her, but what caught her was that Adam had withheld the information that she had to be truly bound to the Circle. She glanced at the wonderful brunette, hoping Faye was just making things difficult.

"Is that true? You never told me about that." It wasn't that Cassie really minded having to do something to become a part of the group, it just unnerved her that Adam had kept it from her; if he'd held this back, what else could he be hiding?

"I didn't want to overwhelm you Cassie, that's all. You were so uncertain; I didn't want to push you away with all the seriousness." He shrugged his shoulders, and she nodded in repelling understanding. Something in his tone compelled her to accept his answer, and she ran her thumb along her index finger. Adam certainly had a knack for making everything seem more mild and reasonable.

"Just relax about it all, Cassie," Melissa piped in timidly, "we can bind you to the Circle, and then we can go from there. Like Diana said: one step at a time." She gave a supportive smile, and Cassie returned the gesture warmly.

"Tell me what to do," she addressed the whole group, and as usual, Diana stepped forward to take control. Cassie noticed Faye's distain out of the corner of her eye, and smirked inwardly. She had to have at least one enemy here; if she didn't, what fun would that be?

"We'll probably have to go outside," Diana thought aloud, "since we need fire for the spell… does anyone have matches?" She turned her head to look at every single present member, but no one stepped forward.

Faye smiled mischievously, "why not let Adam take a whack at it? Apparently he can conjure fire now…" It was certainly not a compliment or straightforward envy, but both were subtly implied in Faye's bitter tone. Adam looked to his fellow witch blandly, his vibrant eyes becoming an unforgiving ice.

"Adam?" Diana turned to her ex slowly, a disapproving look finding its way on her face swiftly. She remembered when he'd produced fire in chemistry class. There was no way it could have been the materials he mixed; they were anything but flammable. Adam sighed in annoyance, not wanting to have to defend his case. What was so wrong with fire?

"I did, once… but I can probably never do it again. It's honestly not that big of a deal." He crossed his arms defensively, and felt Cassie lean in slightly closer to him. He felt the strong jolt of electricity immediately, and welcomed the feeling with open arms.

"If you really can produce fire Adam, it could be useful," Diana brought up, trying to find the good in Adam's newfound power. Despite him no longer being hers, she'd still defend him to the end.

"For what," he shot back blandly, "combating the insidiously conniving cheerleaders?" Adam raised an eyebrow, not knowing what the matter was with him. There was no way he could find to bring back his benevolent self, and every member of the Circle looked to him in shock and disbelief.

"That's not what I meant at all," she returned quietly. "What's wrong with you today?" Diana didn't care if everyone heard this tense part of the conversation. Besides, every member of the Circle deserved the full truth; or so she liked to think.

"I just don't understand why fire is such a terrible thing to you. It's not solely a property of dark magic, so what is the problem?" Adam set his jaw tightly, feeling an odd anger build up inside of him.

"Adam," Diana said tiredly, "conjuring fire was first done by the Welsh… the recently turned dark Welsh." She spoke of the matter as if it was scandalous and forbidden, and that did little good at settling Adam's haywire nerves.

"That's never been proven," Adam replied tightly, "it's just myth."

"All of this is based on myth, Adam, and most of it has turned out to be true. Why do you feel the need to defend this so much?" Diana tilted her head to the side, and it was as if no one else in the room was even there anymore. It was a melancholy fact that this was what their once grand relationship had become.

"I have my reasons," Adam replied cryptically. Cassie by now had had enough of this, and cleared her throat.

"Just leave him alone, Diana," she said firmly, "there's no law against being able to make fire. Let's just get on with the bonding, alright?"

Diana tried not to let the hurt show on her face, and she did quite a smashing job with it. "Okay, fine. Let's go outside and get this fire going." She supplied the Circle with a smile, and they all uneasily walked past her and out of the house.

"Will it matter that Nick's not here?" Cassie asked as she walked with Adam to the spot where the fire would be held. He turned to look at her, his face draped in a sort of shadow. The sight was slightly unnerving to her, but he was still Adam; no matter how much darker he appeared.

"I don't think so," he returned, his voice certainly not matching his features, "you just need at least most of the Circle; that's what I read. We'll see soon, won't we?" Adam raised an eyebrow at her, finally stopping when they were a safe enough distance from the house. Everyone else followed close behind, and began to form a circle around the area that would (hopefully) soon hold the fire. All eyes turned to Adam, and he breathed in deeply, closing his eyes softly. Ten million different spells swirled in his head, but none would do the trick. It hadn't been by spell that he had conjured fire, but he didn't know the emotion to mimic.

Again sifting through all the words jumbled in his head, a spell finally came into sight. It was in his native Cambrian, and exactly what he needed to perform the act of making fire. Adam breathed in, reciting:

"Greu'r y fflamau, tanio'r tân. Gwnewch y byd hwn llanast llanast o wres na fydd teiars." His words were more like an ethereal prayer, spoken in the ancient days surrounded by blackness and a sacrifice on the table. Cassie felt the impact of his spell, and noticed the sensation of little pixie dust-like particles entering her veins.

Diana watched as a spark appeared on the emerald green ground, and then abruptly burst into a full flame. Her heart was pounding, her ears beginning to ring. She had never heard Adam recite a spell in anything but Latin, and hearing him speak in this foreign tongue was unnerving, to say the least. She watched as his eyes finally shot open, and could see the reflection of the fire in his mesmerized cobalt eyes. It was as if his orbs were a portal into Chaos and nothingness.

"You did it," Cassie said with enchantment, smiling at Adam. He looked down at her, returning her warmth. "How did you learn that spell?" It was a weighty and hard question, seeing as how Diana's book certainly wouldn't have held the spell, and he hadn't looked through Cassie's to find it. The sweet blonde waited expectantly for his response. What was he to say? The truth was that it had come to him, as if it was a deep memory he had only just uncovered. It was nothing short of a miracle.

"I don't know," Adam whispered, "I just… knew it." The fact made him terribly uneasy, and he knew that he had to speak to his father about his family's history and heritage: it was the only way any of this would make sense…

Again, short one. I apologize for that and updating so late, but please still give me your feedback. I think I have a pretty solid idea of where I want to go with this, but I still would love to know you suggestions and opinions.

(By the way, the spell that Adam recited is roughly translated into "conjure the flames, spark the fire. Make this world a havoc mess of heat that will never tire".)

Be good and review