"Okay, so tell me what happened again?" Liam questioned Sean. "What do you mean Eva gave you her panties?"
"Just what I said," Sean replied. "Eva gave me her panties. Told me it was a way for me to remember her while she was at some party. And the really embarrassing thing is that I didn't mind. I'm keeping a sixteen year old girl's panties in my drawer for when I…" he flushed. "You know."
"Have you considered getting a girlfriend?" Liam asked. "You should try it."
"Fine, I will," Sean replied. "But enough about me…what about you? What's going on in your life?"
"Work's been hard," Liam replied. "Mary's curse is about to happen so your aunt's been causing all sorts of trouble to celebrate. I wonder what poor Mary will do in return?"
Then, a beep on his cell gave him the answer: "Liam, my curse will be enacted soon. It may be tonight, it may be in a week. I don't know what will happen or when, but I want to be far away from everyone when it does so no one will get hurt. Please don't follow me. I'm sorry. Mary."

He read it over quietly, then brought his phone down slowly to his lap.

"What's the matter?" Sean asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just about to tell you something that will make you forget all about Eva's panties," Liam told his friend. "Your sister has headed for the hills. Since her curse could come true any day now, she decided to run away so she can be sure she won't hurt anyone."

"Damn, this is all my fault!" Sean groaned. "I should have been more attentive to her, but I got so caught up in this mess with Eva that I…I let my sister, the whole reason why I came back, fall by the wayside. My father would kill me for being so inattentive if he was still here!"

"Don't beat yourself up," Liam said and put a hand on Sean's shoulder. "She's a teenager now, not a kid. If she didn't want you following her, she wouldn't have let you no matter how hard you tried. We'll get her back, don't worry."

"I'll come with you," Sean volunteered. "She's my sister. You shouldn't have to handle this by yourself."

"It's a nice offer, but…I think you should stay here," Liam advised. "What if Mary comes back? And someone has to console her parents. I think that person should be you."

"I-I suppose you're right," Sean nodded. "I'll go and talk to her parents, you go look for Mary."

"Right," Liam nodded. "And when you see Jonathan and Savannah, assure them that not only am I looking after their daughter, but I've recruited other people from the council to help as well."

"Is Astrid going to be okay with you taking away some of her workforce like that?" Sean wanted to know.

"Actually, she's had the situation with your sister put high on the list of priorities," Liam replied. "We've had this group of trackers training for this day for years. No one in the office is being taken away from their normal jobs, don't you worry."

"Good," Sean replied, feeling lots of relief. "I'll make my way to Mary's parents' now and tell them what happened." He paused. "Such a shame she was in a hurry to leave today. It's her birthday, and I'm very surprised she didn't at least give herself time to have a little cake."

Amy was watching Aaron and Rosalie study when Savannah and Jonathan came into the house without knocking, Sean trailing behind them. Savannah looked like she had tears in her eyes and Jonathan was visibly flustered. "What's going on?" Amy asked. "Has the time for Mary's party changed?"
"We're terribly sorry for intruding on you like this," Jonathan apologized. "But we came to say that there won't be any party. Mary has run away. Apparently, the prospect of her curse coming true was too much for her."
"Oh, my god," Amy said and stood up. "Do you need us to help you look for her?"
"No, thanks," Savannah replied. "Liam is tracking her, and he's got people from the Council helping too. All we can do now is wait." She came to sit by her mother and Amy gave her a hug while Jonathan remained standing next to an equally somber Sean, his expression grave, and his grip on his hat, which he held in his hand, tight.

"You don't just have to stand there," Amy told them gently. "You can sit down if you want."

"Thank you," Jonathan said quietly. He and Sean sat down while, after a little while, Savannah stood up and said, "I think I'll go get the cake from the car. No use in it going to waste."

She went out and got it, then brought it in and lit the candles using her magic, making a wish for Mary to be returned home safely, and for the safety of Liam and all the others who were out looking for her, then blowing them out, then asking Jonathan to take up a knife and hand out pieces to everyone so they could eat them, and, even if it was only for a moment, possibly forget that Mary was missing on her birthday, a fact that even made Klaus (who'd been hiding out in the basement while Aaron and Rosalie were studying at Amy's request), feel pity for Jonathan Putnam for the first time. After everyone had their cake, Klaus offered Jonathan a drink and the two of them sat in silence, both drinking and hoping that Mary was all right.

"Hey, Sean," Eva said as she made her way through the door of his house. Sean had been moping ever since Mary had left, not talking to anyone, except for when Savannah or Jonathan called, wanting reassurance of Mary's whereabouts, or to reassure him that everything would be all right. It had been a quiet time, which he felt Eva was very keen on disrupting.

"Hello," Sean replied and stepped back a little. "What can I do for you? If it's nothing important, I'd rather be alone."

"I just…I wanted to thank you again for what you did the other night, taking me away from the party and all," Eva told him. "I would have had Christine do it, but I didn't want to ruin her good time."

"It's not a problem," Sean replied. "I'm just…I'm grateful you had the good sense to call me instead of doing something that would have gotten you hurt."

Eva smiled. "No problem," she said. Then she came a little closer to him. "What did you do with my panties after I left, huh? Please don't tell me you threw them away. They were nice ones."

"Are you asking for them back?" Sean wanted to know. "Cause I can find them easily. And you'd probably have more use for them than I do." His eye twitched then, and he quickly turned his face away, hoping she hadn't seen. "I'll just go get them for you."

"No, of course not, baby!" Eva smiled. "I said those were for you and I meant it. And I know you're upset about Mary. We all are. But all the moping and worrying in the world won't bring her back, will it?" She then kissed him and pushed him onto the sofa, straddling him as his eyes widened. He smiled in spite of himself, reaching toward her breasts, his fingertips closing around her hard nipple before he pulled his hand away and gave himself a hard slap that caused Eva to jump. "No!" he told himself firmly but quietly. "You know it isn't right!"

She rubbed his shoulders and smiled, whispering, "It's all right, baby. You can touch me. I don't mind." She reached under his shirt and rubbed against him, her hair just barely brushing his cheek. "But if you'd like something more than my panties, something that provides a little more…give and take, I'd be more than happy to give." She reached forward to put her hands either side of his face and kiss him, but he grabbed her wrists instead, squeezing them hard enough to hurt as his eyes flashed angrily, the only thing betraying his feelings being his heavy breathing. With a grunt, he pushed her backwards and she landed on her back on the floor. He then got on his knees and loomed over her. "I know you were planning on doing more while on your back today, but I'm not that kind of man." He then got up and pulled her to her feet. "Let me escort you out," he offered. "I have things I need to get done, but it was so sweet of you to come and let me know that you're better. Have a good day!"

He nudged her over the threshold onto the front step and bade her farewell, ignoring her protests as he shut the door in her face.

Once the door was closed, Eva stared at it for a long time before conceding that he'd won that round. "But you haven't won the war yet," she said with a smile. "I know you like me, but that you're too stubborn to admit it. I can wait, though. And I will, because you're worth it to me. You really are." She then headed home and climbed into bed, clutching Sean the bear close to her (while all her other stuffed animals had been either put in storage or given away, Sean the bear was allowed his same spot in her bed that he'd always had…at least until his warlock counterpart finally gave into his feelings and brought Eva into his bed.) She then shut her eyes and imagined Sean was with her, and that they were naked in bed, both holding one another close, her head on his bare chest so she could hear the beating of his heart, which was just as loud as hers was.

After a few days of looking, Liam finally got a call from Mary. "How did my parents take my leaving?" She asked. "They weren't too upset, were they?"

"What the fuck kind of question is that, Mary?" Liam asked in surprise. "You leave on your birthday, you skip out on your party, you don't even tell them goodbye…and after putting them through all that, you're surprised they're upset? I know you're afraid of this curse thing, and your intention of making sure no one would be hurt because of it was noble, but the least you could have done is tell your parents goodbye."

"I couldn't," Mary replied. "They would have tried to talk me out of it. They would have found some way to keep me home. Just leaving was the only way to ensure that everything would turn out all right."

"Well, it should come as no surprise to you that your parents didn't take that so well," Liam replied. "And neither did I, frankly. That's why I and a bunch of other volunteers from the council are out looking for you. Now, I won't force you to come home if you don't want to, but all I want is to make sure you're all right. You shouldn't have to handle this whole curse thing by yourself. Someone should be with you."

After a long silence, Mary replied, "You know, you're right. And if anyone is gonna stay with me through this, I want it to be you. I'll send you directions to where I am, and I'll be waiting for you when you get here, even though I told you not to look for me. I knew you'd ignore it, though."

"You damn well better be waiting for me!" Liam told her. "And don't you put anyone else through something like this again! Do you understand?"

"Yes," Mary said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Liam replied. He got the directions she sent him, and went on his way, hoping it wasn't some sort of trick or wild goose chase, and that she would, in fact, be there to greet him when he arrived.