Audrey nodded to him and then turned to look at Nathan. "Let's get out of here," she recommended. She slid between her friends and started walking out of the room. She had made it half way down the stairs when Nathan caught up with her. He followed her out onto the front porch. He grabbed her waist before she could walk any further and spun her around and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was short and sweet. When she pulled away, she could see the giant grin on his face.
"Audrey, that was absolutely amazing." He stated.
She shook her head. "Not really. I just did what I thought was right."
Duke burst out of the house and stopped beside them. "What in the hell did you just do, Audrey?"
"I just took away Aaron's trouble, Duke. I just said that. Will you please calm down?"
The large man jeered. "Me, calm down? Why don't you explain what actually happened in there. Because I saw that look on your face, Audrey. You looked… different. You remembered her, didn't you? Just like William said. I knew you shouldn't have done it."
"William?" Nathan questioned.
Audrey pushed away from his embrace and poked her finger into Duke's chest. "Don't you dare bring that up. Nothing happened. I'm fine."
"What did William say?" Nathan asked loudly.
She turned to him and sighed. "He and I… Look, apparently, the original me, a long long time ago, created the Troubles. With him. We were in love and created the Troubles together and then I got caught and cursed or something and ended up in the barn. Now he thinks that if I start giving people Troubles again, I'll remember who I used to be and, ya know, go back and be with him." While the speech had originally started firmly, it ended on a low note and Audrey looked down at her shoes, afraid to see her friends' reactions.
"Well that's not going to happen." Nathan stated.
Audrey stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Of course, I know that. He, on the other hand, is pretty set on it. But look," she glared at Duke, "nothing happened up there, okay? I just took away Aaron's Trouble, now things can kind of go back to normal."
Duke took a step back and held up his hands defensively. "Alright, alright. Fine. Whatever you say, Audrey. Just don't come crying to me when—"
Audrey felt his presence before she saw him. The magic aura that surrounded him, which she used to just attribute to authority before she knew about the Troubles, tingled against her skin. She turned and looked across the lawn.
There he was. But how?
Audrey turned back to her friends, eyebrows furrowed. "Do you guys see…?" She gestured with her thumb over her shoulder. She watched the confusion settle onto their faces and she frowned.
"What are you talking about, Parker?" Nathan asked, his tone all interrogation, no emotion.
"It's Agent Howard, standing right over there. You don't see him?"
Duke shook his head. "I thought he exploded with the barn."
"I hadn't seen him since the day of the Hunter. But he's there, I'm not going crazy." The blonde insisted.
Nathan shrugged nonchalantly, although his voice softened. "Okay, I believe you."
"I believe you," Duke whined mockingly. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head or something?"
She groaned. "Shut up Duke." Audrey looked back over her shoulder; Agent Howard was still standing there, hands clasped behind his back patiently. They locked eyes for a few seconds and then Agent Howard cocked his head back, beckoning her.
"I'm going to talk to him."
"Wait." Nathan reached out and grabbed her arm. "Are you sure? Do you want us to come with you?"
Audrey sighed. "Nathan, you guys can't see him. He's here for me, I can feel it. I need to go over there. This is something I can do on my own. But if I need backup, I'll let you know." She shook his grip from her arm and then reached out to him with her other hand. "Will you hold on to these for me? Please? I just… they feel odd. I don't want them." She dropped three small black balls of aether into his open palm. Instantly, he folded up his hand and tucked the weird substance away. "Thank you." With that, she squared her shoulders, turned, and walked across the yard.
"What are you doing here?" She asked forcefully, stopping a few feet away from her old boss and crossing her arms.
"Hello Audrey." He said, his voice smooth and familiar. "It's good to see you."
"Not sure that I can say the same."
Agent Howard shook his head. "Oh Audrey. Always so brash. Seems odd, then, that you'd be the one to bring back the light."
Audrey's mind raced. The light? What was that supposed to mean? She felt as if she had heard the term before… but where?
"You have plunged this town into darkness!" She could hear a loud voice screeching through her memory.
"Witch!" Came a deeper voice.
"Who am I?" Audrey snapped back to reality and looked up at Agent Howard.
"You know who you are."
"No." She shook her head. "I was Mara. But I'm not anymore. She did all of this, she started the Troubles, not me."
The memory came back. Audrey could feel the ropes bound tightly around her. The air smelled of smoke. The townspeople in their dreary garb were yelling incoherently.
A figure stepped through the crowd and everyone fell silent. Audrey gasped. Agent Howard? He was wearing a long black tunic that was tied around the waist with a red strip of fabric. The swirly blue and yellow design along the hem of the tunic stood out among the black and brown clothes of the others. The small feathered headband around his forehead solidified the look. The height of the feathers made him look even taller than he already was, and the entire ensemble gave him an aura of power.
"You will suffer for the Troubles you've caused here."
Audrey could feel a sardonic glee build up inside her. A deep laugh burst from her chest. "You all deserved it," she growled.
"You've remembered, haven't you?" Agent Howard's voice sounded, cutting through the confusion.
"You were the Chief." Audrey said slowly.
"Of the ancient Mi'kmaq tribe, yes. The original inhabitants of this land."
All she could picture now was Agent Howard dragging her into the barn and standing over her, telling her of her fate—to spend an eternity in the barn and to always experience the Troubles.
"You trapped me—her—in there."
Still standing resolute, he asked, "Have you ever wondered what your Trouble is?"
"I'm immune to the Troubles." The blonde paused. "And you once told me that I didn't have a Trouble."
"I may have glossed over that one." He replied with a slight smirk. "With as strong of a magic as you were once able to yield, there is going to be a consequence of its use. You're the trigger for all of the magic that lingers. You're the catalyst."
Audrey gasped. She could feel the tears start to fill her eyes. And yet, it wasn't because she didn't understand what was going on or anything. It was that she finally, fully, understood. "I come back, they come back. The Troubles are my Trouble."
"Exactly. You created them, so you get to keep living through them. It took the tribe's combined power to trap you in that barn and to only allow you out every 27 years. Others felt that allowing you bits of freedom only to take it away would punish you more."
"Love. You mentioned that I had to recharge on love. So I would go out, gain love, and lose it, over and over again."
Agent Howard grinned, the smile taking over his face in a way that made Audrey extremely uneasy. "Exactly."