**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Covenant, or its characters, I only own have the rights to my own**

Hey everyone, so sorry that it took so long, but you probably understand what it's like to be completely swamped with school as break is drawing near. But without further ado, this is my next chapter! I hope that you all like it, and please don't forget to review! As for my faithful reviewers, thank you for sticking with me! You guys rock! For those who are new to this story, thanks so much for deciding to give this story a read, and please don't forget to leave a review with what you think! All reviews, negative or positive, are welcome!

Much Love,

Nova

As the race in the pool came to an end, it became clear that Chase came out victorious. However, the group and Chase noticed that his opponent hadn't surfaced since the race ended. Immediately realizing this, Chase hastily made his way into the other lane and swam down to grab an unconscious Caleb. The guys and Tana quickly seemed to realize that their friend needed to get out of the water as soon as possible, so they helped Chase lift Caleb out of the pool and onto the deck. When Caleb was finally situated on the deck, Pogue checked for a pulse and any sign of breathing. He noted that Caleb had a pulse and was still breathing, so the guys assumed that he would probably come to soon enough. "Man, I really hope that he's okay.," said Chase with concern marring his normally carefree and handsome face. "Yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine in a bit man, don't worry about it.," said Tyler reassuringly. Interrupting the guys, Tana said, "Hey, did any of you see Lena leave?" The guys looked at the girl and shook their heads no. Tana's questioning look on her face was soon replaced with one of confusion. Lena had just been there a second ago, where could she have gone?

Tana looked around the deck of the pool, her eyes constantly searching for her missing friend, but she did not see her. It wasn't until her eyes landed on the water that all emotion drained from her face and her body became frozen in place. Lying beneath the water unmoving was her best friend. Tana couldn't move. Though she saw her friend, motionless and under the water, she couldn't make a move to do anything. The only thing that her body seemed to be able to do on its own accord was to allow Tana to fall to her knees and begin uncontrollably weeping.

Seeing Tana in such a distraught state, Tyler quickly made his way over to the girl. "What's wrong?," asked Tyler worriedly. Tana registered the question, but she could barely make her mouth form the words that she so desperately needed to say for her friend's well being. Finally, Tana was able to half scream out the message she so desperately wanted and needed to say. "IT'S LENA! I COULDN'T FIND HER! I LOOKED AND LOOKED FOR HER, BUT I DIDN'T SEE HER! SHE'S UNDER THE WATER! YOU HAVE TO HELP HER!," Tana half yelled in between strangled sobs. Upon hearing the distraught message from Tana, the guys all looked in the direction of the pool. As Tyler tried to console Tana, the other guys quickly took action. Reid was the first to look down into the water. Seeing exactly what Tana had just said, he quickly dove into the water and swam down to an unconscious Lena. Grabbing her by the waist, he quickly began to swim them up towards the surface. Upon reaching the surface, he frantically swam them over towards the side of the pool, where Pogue was knelt and motioning for Reid to quickly swim her over, so he could pull her out onto the deck.

Finally getting Lena to the side of the pool, Reid handed her arms off to Pogue, who quickly pulled her out of the water and onto the deck. Just glancing at Lena, everyone could see that she had probably been under the water for awhile. Her lips were a purple-blue hue, her skin was a very pale color, since all the blood had drained from it, and she wasn't breathing and had no pulse. Quickly taking action, Pogue instructed Chase to go get Coach and tell him to call EMS.

Getting out of the water, Reid quickly made his way over to Lena's side. Looking at Lena, Reid knew that he had to take action if she was going to have a fighting chance until EMS would arrive and take over. Kneeling beside her right side, her gave her two breaths before beginning compressions. After several rounds of CPR, Lena still wasn't responding. Everyone began to become very worried that she was gone, and even if EMS got there soon, she still might not be able to be saved.

As Reid was doing his third round of CPR, he couldn't help but say out loud as he did compressions, "Come on. Breath. Breath." Even as Reid was saying this to an unresponsive Lena, her condition remained unchanged. Giving a look to Pogue, who was knelt on the other side of Lena, he was silently asking with his eyes if he could use on the girl. Pogue looked down at Lena before nodding for Reid to try. Suddenly Reid stopped doing compression, he let his body tap into its power, his eyes blacked over, and he concentrated on starting Lena's heart. As soon as he thought he had used enough to help the girl's condition, he began to pull back from using the alluring powers. Looking down at Lena now with his ice blue eyes, he still didn't see any signs of life. Just as Reid was leaning down to give Lena two more breaths, Lena moved and began coughing up the water that was in her lungs. Helping her make sure that the water was able to get out of her body, Pogue rolled Lena over onto her side.

Lena being very weak from her near drowning couldn't even open her eyes; they felt so heavy, as if someone had placed cement blocks upon her lids.

The time in which Lena was unconscious and underneath the water had all been like some sort of surreal experience. She remembered that she saw black eyes before suddenly blacking out and falling into the water, but there wasn't much more to that. As she was in the water, Lena had an experience that she just couldn't seem to explain. As her body seemed to lifelessly sit at the bottom of the pool, it was as if she was having an out of body experience. At one point, it was as if she was helplessly watching her body in the pool and the next, her subconscious mind was pulling her elsewhere. Her subconscious led her placed her on a deserted dirt road, surrounded by very old looking trees. As she looked around, she realized that she did not recognize anything about this road, and to make matters worse, it was dark outside.

"Where am I?," asked Lena out loud.

Realizing that there was no one there, and that she did not recognize where she was, Lena did the only thing she could do, she began walking down the old dirt road. As she walked down the dirt road, she began to see a settlement house, however, this house did not look old and run down like some of the ones she had seen before. This house looked as if it had just been built. As she neared the house, she stopped in her tracks. What she saw, she could not believe her eyes. An older woman was being led out of her house forcefully by two men. Lena wanted to run to the woman and tell the men to leave her alone, but she immediately stopped in her tracks when she realized that it wasn't just the house that was amiss, but it was the attire the people were wearing as well. The woman and the two men were dressed in colonial attire.

"How could this be?," questioned Lena.

As the men led this older looking woman away, Lena didn't get a chance to follow her before her subconscious began to pull her elsewhere once again. Looking around her, Lena realized that it was now daylight, and she was sitting in a pew in an old colonial building. The people around her were sitting attentively, looking towards the front of the building, and everyone was dressed in colonial attired once again. Hearing the banging of what sounded like a hammer on wood, Lena's attention was quickly directed to the front of the room, where an imposing man sat behind a bench wearing a black gown and a dark, curly wig upon his head. The man looked out at the crowd before cordially addressing everyone.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the court, it is my duty to examine the testimonies of the accused and of the victims. On more than one occasion we have heard from Miss Mercy Lewis, of being afflicted by witchcraft turned upon her by Misses Mary Towne Eastey. Even in this courtroom, we have seen thee Misses Eastey and her witchy ways; turning her craft upon Miss Lewis as she sat upon the stand. Therefore, we find thee, Misses Mary Towne Eastey, guilty of witchcraft. Her penalty will be death by hanging.," said the Magistrate before standing and adjourning court for the day.

Upon hearing the guilty verdict, people began looking around and quietly whispering to one another. As Lena looked around, she couldn't help but think to herself, "Mary Towne Eastey, why does that sound so familiar?." As Lena looked around, her eyes landed on an older woman who was weeping beside an older man. When the woman looked up, Lena immediately noticed the youth that barely, but still remained in her face. What was even more shocking was that she looked a lot like her! As she stared at the woman, it became unmistakeable the resemblance that Lena shared with the woman.

As the woman was being consoled, Lena heard the older man say to the woman, "It will be alright Sarah, we will find a way to prove your sister's innocence." Realizing the woman's relationship to the guilty woman, Lena instantly pitied her.

Not able to dwell on the room and the people that caught her attention for very long, Lena's subconscious once again pulled her to a different place. It was daylight, the leaves on the maple trees were changing, and some were falling from the trees to the dirt packed, well trodden ground. As Lena looked around, she realized that she was outside of town, and a large group of people where gathered around an elevated, wooden stage. Lena couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips when she noticed that this stage had a large wooden bough over the top of the stage with ropes dangling from the bough.

"Oh my gosh, I'm going to witness a hanging.," Lena gasped out.

Though Lena seemed surprised and distraught by the scene before her, many of the people gathering looked contemplative, yet slightly excited by the event that was about to occur.

As Lena payed more attention to the stage, she saw several women being lead up the steps on the side of the stage and lined up between each respective noose. Once all the women were in their proper place on the stage and each noose was fastened onto their necks, a man came to the front of the stage and gave a brief statement.

"Those before you have been accused and found guilty of witchcraft. On this day and year of our Lord, September 22, 1692, those before you will be hung as a penalty for their conspiring with Satan. Those guilty are as follows: Martha Corey, Mary Eastey, Ann Pudeator, Alice Parker, Mary Parker, Wilmot Redd, Margaret Scott, and Samuel Wardwell.," said the man.

Before the executioner pulled the lever each member up for hanging was allowed to say his or her piece. As the executioner went to pull the lever, Lena couldn't manage to remain looking at the gallows. Her eyes did not want to see the victims dangling from the rope, or that last minute look of fear upon each of the victims' faces. When all was said and done, Lena heard a loud wale come from a woman in the crowd. Looking for the source of the distraught voice, Lena's eyes landed once again upon the woman that she had seen in the courtroom. Sarah.

Not wanting her to cause anymore of a scene, several people lead Sarah away from the crowd and in the direction leading further way from town. Out of curiosity and pity, Lena decided to follow the group to see where they were going. As they got several miles out of town, the group took a turn onto a dirt path shrouded by trees. Coming up to an old colonial home with smoke escaping from its brick chimney, Lena watched the group enter the home through the front door. Deciding to see what they were doing in the house, Lena made her way to one of the front windows that allowed her to see into the living room of the home and overhear their conversation. The group she saw earlier were sitting or standing, while talking among each other in the living room.

"Sarah, there was nothing that we could do for Mary or Misses Parker. It was out of our hands.," said a man, who looked visibly upset and uncomfortable.

"No! There was something we could have done! We have to protect our own Nathaniel!," said a very angry Sarah, as she stood up from her chair in the living room and began gesturing around the room with her hands.

"What did you want us to do Sarah? Did you want us to cause a scene and oust all of us for what we are?!," said Nathaniel, who looked pointedly at Sarah.

"No! But I wanted us to fight for her Nathaniel! She was my sister. She was everyone that is present in this house's sister or mother figure! You cannot deny that Mary was good to everyone here! She treated you like you were her own son!...," said Sarah before being interrupted by Nathaniel.

"Don't you think I know that Sarah!? I know that! We all loved Mary, but there was nothing that we could do for them! We all would have risked exposing ourselves! How many times do you want this family to have to turn and run from persecution because we were exposed!?," said Nathaniel heatedly.

"Oh, so now this is being turned on me!? Well Nathaniel, if you didn't already know, I was accused of witchcraft! Can't help being accused of what I am now can I? What we all are!," said Sarah as she gestured around the room. As if trying to solidify her statement, a vase was levitated in the air and thrown against a wall behind Nathaniel's head.

Looking angrily at Sarah, Nathaniel said, "You are an insolent woman! And insolence can easily be fixed."

Sarah narrowed her eyes at Nathaniel before saying, "And just how do you plan on doing that?."

"Until the Trials cease in Salem, your powers are to be bound.," said Nathaniel.

"Nathaniel, you know the law! You cannot do that unless the council votes to do so!," said Sarah, looking flabbergasted by Nathaniel's statement.

"After today's event's, the council has decided to convene at the Eaton's home shortly after sundown. It is here that I will move to have your powers bound until Salem moves to end these accusations of witchcraft, and we can once again be at peace.," said Nathaniel.

"The council will not agree to this, I assure you!," said Sarah determinedly.

"We shall see tonight.," said Nathaniel before swiftly leaving the room and the group behind him as he made his way towards the door.

After Nathaniel left he home, Lena remained listening to the conversation among the group in the living room of the old colonial home.

"Mother, Nathaniel isn't doing this to spite you. You know that he cared a lot for Aunt Mary, and he cares so much for you. He's just trying to protect you. He doesn't want what happened to Mary to happen to you. It's just his way of dealing with things.," said a young girl, who looked to be in her twenties and resembled Sarah.

Sarah cupped the girl's face with her hands and half smiled at her for attempting to help her understand the reasoning behind Nathaniel's words and actions.

"I know my child. However, it is times like these that we must look past fear and embrace who we are. My dearest Prudence, never be ashamed of what you were born to be.," said Sarah as she looked fondly at her daughter before she turned and walked out of the room.

As Sarah walked out of the room, Lena's subconscious again took her elsewhere. This time, it was dark outside, and she was situated in the corner of a candle lit colonial style living room filled with many in attendance, including the one's that she recognized from the house earlier.

At a table in the front of the room sat three men and two women. An elderly looking man began to address the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have called this council out of respect to the persecution that our people are still enduring. We left England to escape the gallows that were constantly weighing upon us, and many of us know and have experienced the cost of our motherland. Today we lost two of our own. Misses Mary (Towne) Eastey and Misses Mary Parker. It was a great tragedy, and something that we do not want to have to endure again as long as Salem continues to carry out their search for witches. Let us all take an oath to remain resilient and silent during this trying time. Now on other pressing matters, it has come to my attention that Mr. Nathaniel Parker, son of the deceased, Misses Mary Parker, would like to move for the council to bind the powers of Misses Sarah (Towne) Cloyse for instability and uncontrolled use of her powers in the presence of a gathered group. I would like to move for the council to deliberate and resume this meeting when we have come to a cohesive and appropriate resolution.," said the elderly council member.

After what seemed like hours, the council finally came back to the room and an older woman, who sat on the farthest end of the table, away from the man who spoke earlier began to speak.

"After much deliberation, the council and I believe that we have come to an appropriate resolution to the problem at hand. The council moves to bind the powers of Misses Sarah (Towne) Cloyse until the end of the trials. However, until a cohesiveness amongst the families can be reached, the council moves to bind the powers of future female descendants of the Towne/Cloyse line and of the conflicting Parker line until six weeks before the descendant's 18th birthdays. At that time, the female descendants of the two families will get a taste of their powers, but if they cannot retain a cohesiveness amongst the two, they will lose their powers until the next line is born. The Council has spoken, and it will be so.," said the older woman before all of the council got up from their seats at the table and quietly exited the room.

Both Sarah and Nathaniel looked flabbergasted at the Council's decision.

"Thanks to you Nathaniel and your desire to put me in my place, you have just jeopardized the future lines of our families!," said a very angry Sarah.

"Well, Sarah, it wasn't my intention, and I certainly did not ask for the Council to do this. I can only hope that for the sake of our families, we can retain the powers that have been handed down from generation to generation.," said Nathaniel before swiftly leaving the room of the house and an upset Sarah behind.

At this point, Sarah could only quietly whisper to herself and her daughter, Prudence, who quietly stood by her side, "For the sake of our future lines, I hope that when the girls of our families first get a taste of their powers that they strive for control and understanding of others. Prudence, promise me that you will never forget to pass this on to your daughters and sons."

"I promise mother, I will not forget.," said Prudence as she gazed with deep respect at her mother.

As Lena watched the two, she couldn't help but think, "Sarah, people have forgotten. Our families have forgotten this lesson."

After thinking that last thought, Lena got one last glance at the seemingly older woman and her adoring daughter in that home before her subconscious allowed her to travel back through a broad, shrouded tunnel that eventually brought her back to the pool that she seemed to have been in so long ago. Now she was floating above her body before she was sucked back into her body, and she finally was able to gasp for air as her heavy eye lids remained closed.