A/N: There's a poll in my profile for readers to vote on the next story after BTHE is complete. If I could have two in my profile, I would have a poll for upcoming Naley stories after this story is complete. As always, I like to thank my awesome beta: Leeese!

Disclaimer: Don't own OTH

Chapter Eighteen

Speak No Evil

Time passed too slowly for Haley. Once Nikki had been taken out of the cell, she hadn't been brought back. Even though Nikki wasn't her favorite person to talk to, she was still company. All she could do was wait until Brooke was ready to give out her first punishment. She knew that she wouldn't be allowed to eat any meals until she was ready to cooperate.

Haley didn't care about eating. She didn't care if she was in the cold dungeon either. She just wanted to try and warn Nathan and the others about the coven's plan somehow. Yet, she knew that she wouldn't be able to do that without cooperating with Brooke.

She looked down at her wedding ring and instantly started to think about Nathan. She wished that she could be back in the cabin with him so they could live out their lives in peace. She would love to have a family with him, but she knew that it couldn't happen until after the coven was defeated. That was why she had asked Nathan to wait to consummate their marriage. She would have loved it to happen on their wedding night, but it hadn't feel right.

She looked up as she heard footsteps. She wasn't surprised when she saw that it was Brooke, who was smirking away. Julian and Owen were with her. "I do apologize for your accommodations. When I picked this place, I didn't realize how cold it would be. Luckily, we've made it nice and toasty upstairs. I'm sure you would love to join us now." There was a short pause before she spoke again. "But there are a few new rules." Haley was about to roll her eyes when Brooke gave her a warning look. "Don't give me attitude, Haley. Or I will send you up to Chris and I'll let him have his fun with you. And I can promise you that there will be no time limit this time."

Haley knew that Brooke was serious and immediately stopped with the attitude. The last thing she wanted was to be put with Chris for an undetermined amount of time. "What are the new rules?" she asked hesitantly. She knew that the new rules would be stricter than usual because of her breaking the previous rules.

"Why don't you step outside of your cell and I'll show you?" Brooke asked her as she unlocked the door. Haley gave her a confused look, but didn't say anything as the door was pulled open. As she walked out of her cell, she was relieved to see that Julian and Owen were staying in their positions. She then realized that they were there only if she was resistant to do Brooke's orders. It was confirmed when Brooke conjured up a chair and gestured her to sit down. Haley did obediently right before Brooke used her magic to tie her hands behind her back.

Haley looked at her. "Do you really think that I'm going to try to escape when I know better than that?"

"Clearly, you don't if you ran off with Nathan," Brooke reminded her. "And you got married to him. How was your wedding night by the way?"

"None of your business," Haley snapped.

Brooke glared at her. "You know, I was going to start with the new rules, but I think I'm going to start with fixing your mouth first."

Haley looked at her confused. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

Brooke just smirked at her. "I'm sure you know the Little Mermaid story, right?" she asked her. Luckily, she wasn't expecting an answer. "The mermaid gives up her voice so that she could be with the one that she loved. And you are going to do the same thing except it won't be for your husband. It will be your first punishment."

"I didn't think Peyton would allow that," Haley replied. "After all, you need someone to entertain your coven. And I'm your favorite singer."

Brooke knew that she had a point. "True, but Peyton even agrees that you need to rest that big voice of yours," she said. "You're going to need it after Halloween night."

"You're right. I will. Because I'll be free of you after that and will be able to sing wherever and whenever I want," Haley replied. She then asked, "By the way, how the hell do you propose to force my voice out of my throat if I don't sing?"

"You should know by now it's either willingly or by force," Brooke reminded her. "And you know that by force will involve some pain. And I'm sure that you don't want that. So what it is going to be?"

Haley glared at her. "Go to hell," she exclaimed angrily.

"See, this is exactly why I want to do this. You're lucky. I could have started with the roughest punishment first. But I decided to go easy on you," Brooke replied. "Now are you going to cooperate or will the boys have to get rough on you?"

"If you're so desperate, then why don't you use a spell or your magic?" Haley asked her.

Brooke knew that she had a point. "I could, but then you wouldn't suffer. And I want you to suffer."

"Like being away from my husband isn't punishment enough?" Haley asked her in a incredulous tone.

Brooke gave her a look. "You know you weren't supposed to fall in love with him in the first place. That was part of our little arrangement, remember?"

"It's not like I wanted to fall in love with Nathan. It just happened," Haley protested. "You can't help who you fall in love with, can you? Or have you forgotten all about that when you turned to the dark side?"

"You'll find out yourself when you join our coven," Brooke told her.

"As I told Charlene, I'm never going to join your coven," Haley exclaimed angrily. "You can kill me along with the rest of the Scott family. Just because my mother was evil doesn't mean that I will become evil too." Even though she said that out loud, she still didn't know if she could believe it.

"You will, Haley," Charlene said as she came into view. "You may deny it now, but you will soon stop resisting your destiny."

"My destiny is with my husband, not with you and your coven," Haley protested. She didn't care what they did to her, but she wasn't going to give in to them. "So you might as well kill me now because I'm never going to join your coven."

"I'm sorry, Haley, but your presence here is too important for our plan that it wouldn't be right to kill you," Charlene told her. "Now are you going to sing for us or are we going to have to force it out of you?"

Nathan walked into the house and his parents came out into the hall, wondering who had come in. They were relieved when they saw their son. "We haven't found Haley yet. But we are doing everything possible to find her," Karen told her son.

"I found her. She's safe for now," Nathan said. "But who knows how long that will last with Brooke's patience."

His parents exchanged confused looks. "How do you know that Haley is safe?" Dan asked him. Nathan didn't answer as he walked through the house to the kitchen. His parents were right behind him. "Nathan, what did you do?"

Nathan didn't answer for a moment. "I asked Skills to help me," he replied. His parents gave him scolding looks. He was expecting that. However, he tried to reassure them. "Don't worry. I said my wish carefully."

"And what exactly was that wish?" Karen asked as she crossed her arms.

"Well, I knew that I couldn't bring Haley back to the cabin since Brooke would come after her again. So I wished that I could go and see Haley anytime that I wanted to," Nathan replied. "As long as I needed to until I feel that I need to get her out of there."

Dan looked at his son impressed. "Wow, that was very specific. Good thinking, but what will happen when you feel that you need to get her out of there?"

"I'm hoping that we will have figured out a plan by then so that I can bring her back to the cabin," Nathan replied. "Then I'm going to use my third wish to set Skills free."

"Where is Skills now?" Karen asked her son. Both of his parents had noticed that he had walked in the house alone. "You didn't bring him here, did you?"

Nathan shook his head. He knew that would be too risky. "He is back at the cabin until I am ready to make my second wish."

"So Haley is ok?" Karen asked him in a concerned tone.

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, but it looks like she is in a dungeon of some sort. But that's all I could find out about the location. Maybe I can find out more if I go back there."

Karen immediately stopped him. "Nathan, I know how much you want to see Haley again. But it's too dangerous right now. You should wait until after we've come up with a plan to deal with Charlene and the others."

"What do they want? Clearly, they don't just want me and Haley apart, do they?" Nathan asked them. He didn't believe so, but he couldn't help asking.

Karen sadly shook her head. "I'm afraid that it is much worse than that. We believe that Charlene and her followers want control of the magical world," she told him. Nathan was surprised. "After all, the magical world can't survive without the Witches Council. But if the new Witches Council is full of evil witches, then the balance of power will shift from good to evil."

"And the good creatures won't stand a chance at a fair trial and will be executed without a second thought," Nathan finished for her. "And I don't even have to guess at who they would go after first."

"If we're right, Haley won't be the only one who will have to battle the enemy come Halloween night," Dan replied. "And we're going to need all the help we can get."

Nathan frowned. "You think it will be more than just our coven against their coven? Who the hell would help them?"

"Well, they have more than just witches for their followers. They have a few vampires as well," Karen explained. "I remember Lucas telling me about one particular nasty one named Ian."

Nathan nodded, now remembering. "No one has staked him yet?" he asked in surprise.

Karen shook her head. "No, he is still out there seducing innocents and then feeding on them whenever he can. We have tried to keep tabs on him, but it has been difficult. He knows how to cover his tracks."

"Or he has someone doing it for him," Nathan muttered before he asked his parents a question. "Do you know if he is still in town? Because he is probably the one who will contact us for Charlene and her coven." He shook his head in disbelief. "I still can't believe that she is one of them."

"I can," Karen replied as Nathan turned to her. "I haven't trusted her for a moment. But I was willing to give her a chance."

Nobody had a chance to respond as Victoria popped in the kitchen. "You will never believe what I found out about your son." Everyone exchanged confused looks before turning back to her. "There may be a possibility that Lucas is alive," she told them as the Scott family gave her shocked looks.