Circles of Magic
(A Crossover between The Secret Circle & The Originals)
Written & Adapted by Kai Michaels.

Chapter Seven:
"The Secrets We Hid in the Night"

Previously on Circles of Magic: Finn Jr met-up with Hayley, after nearly six months. The two had lost contact for a while following their own individual quests to save their family. The reunion proved quite emotional for the young Mikaelson witch. Especially when Finn was finally reunited with his twin brother; Matthias, who had awoken from the sleeping spell he had been placed under by their Great Uncle Sol to protect him from himself and those he cared for. But now, Matthias was no longer enslaved by the dark magic that activated his werewolf curse turning him into more of a beast than a man. He had been returned to his former self; which is that of a five-year-old child and their cousin, Hope, who had also been restored to her eight-year-old self. But Finn still remained as he was; a 23-year-old young adult, since he still had an important role to play in saving his family. Finn returned to Chance Harbor with a letter from Sol, but was attacked upon his return by the Balcoin Circle and has now been taken prisoner by Frederic, after rendering the powerful warlock; unconscious.

Loxley Manor was home to another family of witches that lived in the town of Chance Harbor. Its majesty was truly a sight to behold with the scent of old money that proudly taunted the early morning breeze with its unwavering presence. The encroaching dawn stretched across the fading night sky. The moon, stubborn in its stay would soon fade with the morning light, but not before it let itself linger a while longer.

The time was now 6:30 am in the bedroom of Dean Loxley or Deano to some. An eighteen-year-old warlock; born into wealth but cursed by the supernatural world. An oracle of foresight; a seer, a psychic or even a fortune-teller…they have had many names over the long passage of time, a rare gift among the witches and warlocks of the modern age. A gift many would seek to exploit given half the chance for their own personal gain.

Dean had spent most of his life; sheltered from the evils of this world and the fiends that would seek to use his gifts and kill for it, just to get their hands on it. Dean's family knew this and have protected him from these evils in the strictest of ways, but unknowingly condemned the teen to a life of loneliness and unending pain; a means to an end, they believed.

In his defiance, Dean has tried to build some as a semblance of a life beyond that of his family's reach, when he started high school, but still remains not the most social of creatures. In his exile, Dean has attempted to build his confidence in the past through fitness to channel his frustrations and more.

For a time, his visions remained dormant but lately, they have become wild, painful and far more frequent than ever before. Darkness threatens to swallow all he has come to know and on this night, the most vivid of visions gripped him in its unbreakable hold and dragging him down into the underworld to see its ire acknowledged and unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.

"No…please…Noooo!" mumbled Dean in his sleep. The teen began to toss and turn erratically; his mind becoming the doorway to an influx of excruciating visions of pain, doom and mystery that were relentless in their execution.

Blurred images flashed across the scape of his mind; a multitude of voices could be heard echoing in the distance. The first of images showed the Balcoin circle leader, Frederic starring down at a fallen Finn Jr with the baseball bat resting against the top of his shoulder; a villainous smirk forming across his lips.

"I'm going to enjoy this!" stated Frederic, his last two words continuing to vibrate across the vision before reaching down.

Dean snapped his head to the right, the visions growing in length as he began to break out into a cold sweat.

"Finn…where are you…?" a distant voice echoed in the darkness of the next vision. A picture was zoomed in upon that housed the Mikaelson witch and his mother, Freya Mikaelson with a strobe-like effect.

Dean yelled loudly, "Arghhhhhhhhh…." his back arched in reaction. "Make it stop! Please!" he called, but no-one heard his cries. His plea to be freed from his curse, the manor abandoned for the moment. Home alone for the next week.

A series of violent flashes raced through Dean's mind showing a black skull, a circle of twelve darkened figures chanting loudly and an eruption of mystical fire from an unknown location, but somehow familiar.

"Urggggggghhhhhhh…" Dean cried his pain increasing, a tear streamed down the side of his face. "Somebody help me…anybody!" he called, his voice shaky as the tears continued to flow.

Dean's head snapped to the right this time as the last of the visions began closing in on him, as they rushed forward to reveal the beautiful Melissa Glaser sitting in the Java Brew Coffeehouse, alone, her sadness overwhelming as she stirred the hot liquid of her open-top cappuccino with a wooden stirrer. Her fist rested against the side of her face.

Soon the visions changed to show the arrival of a tall; muscular male with dark sandy blonde hair entering the town of Chance Harbor from a bird's eye view and looking out into the sea. The final vision was crystal clear and saw Finn Jr tied to a chair, surrounded by a circle of black ash. He remained unconscious; a silver blade was raised as its metal surface shimmered bright and was about to descend upon the Mikaelson warlock from behind…

"FINNNNNNNNNNN!" yelled Dean instantly waking up and sitting up breathing extremely heavy, sweating profusely and was truly shaken by what he had seen. Dean just laid down on his side in fear and curled up into a tight ball, where he began to cry to himself.

Elsewhere in Chance Harbor, our hero; Finn Mikaelson Jr was seen tied down to a chair, alone, inside a circle of ash-wood that is said to stop a witch from using their magic, while ensnared in its mystical boundary. How much of this is true is unknown, but it has proven to be quite accurate since it was an effective tool that was used against Cassie and her friends during their recent visit from the witch hunters a few months ago.

Frederic was seen watching over his latest prisoner with his arms folded across his chest as he stood in front of the man who had been making life difficult for him and his siblings as of late. Lucifer entered the closed-off room and joined his older brother at his side staring down the bane of his existence with nothing but hatred and annoyance for the youth who had made him feel pain on more than one occasion, a feat not many have had the pleasure of doing.

"So you reckon the ash-wood will keep him in-check, brother?" Lucifer asked.

Frederic remained silent for a moment, "I don't know. I've not met any other warlock with his kind of power. Sure, father was strong, but this…Finn…he is in a class of his own, it seems." replied the elder witch.

"True. I've tried researching into who he is, where he comes from etc, but nothing. He's a complete mystery. We don't even know his last name that is how limited our Intel is." the younger witch revealed in his frustration.

"I'll get the answers, we seek, do not worry little brother. Leave Finn to me. You already have your orders." Frederic said turning his head to look at Lucifer.

Lucifer smirked a bit to himself, "Diana, our allusive sister will be back in Chance Harbor within 24 hours. We're monitoring her closely through our locator spells. Soon, we'll be able to complete our circle and Cassie will have no choice but to join us, if she wants to save her. It's what our dear little sister has a huge complex about." he predicted, a sinister grin forming across his lips.

"Excellent. Finn won't be stopping us, this time. Now leave us and make sure, I am not disturbed while I attempt to probe his mind." Freddie instructed.

"But wouldn't that mean you breaking the circle?" Lucifer said, not liking where this was going knowing his brother's history with Finn so far.

"Relax, brother. I know what I'm doing." Frederic informed his sibling.

Lucifer cleared his throat quietly still not convinced but did as his brother asked and left them alone for the time being.

Frederic watched his brother leave before turning his attention back to a still unconscious Finn. Frederic pulled his sleeves up to his elbows and walked around the circle slowly. Freddie picked up the jar of ash-wood on the table by the wall and used the front of his foot to wipe away a small section of the circle. Frederic entered the boundary, free to use his magic now until the circle was complete again, where he placed the jar down at the side of his foot. He would need his dark magic; if he was going to take a look inside Finn's mind.

"Now then, it's just you and me now Finn. You're going to tell me exactly who you are and what you're doing here in my town, whether you like it or not!" Frederic promised with a sharp, aggressive tone to his voice.

He gripped the side of Finn's head firmly and lowered his head; he began to chant a spell that would assist him in getting the information he wanted. An instant reaction was seen from Finn's subconscious as his head was thrown back in his unconscious state groaning at the attempted intrusion into his mind.

Meanwhile, Dean was seen walking through the street on his way to the gym in a dark navy blue tracksuit and trainers, while wearing a tight-fitting white tank top on underneath as an undershirt. He carried a black holdall over his right shoulder. Still haunted by the visions from this morning, Dean was a little emotionally unstable right now and working out seemed to refocus his psychic energies.

But the visions would soon return this time, more vivid than before as approached the Java Bean, the local coffee shop. Dean fell to his knees and held both sides of his head, he groaned in pain.

"Leave…me…alone!" he yelled in agony. The visions showed Melissa once again in the Java Bean stirring her coffee with a sad expression on her face, before transitioning into what was happening currently to Finn at the abandoned warehouse. Dean looked up and saw Melissa through the coffee shop window as had just sat down with that same expression as the pain began to subside, just like that.

Dean began to understand his visions better now; it was trying to tell him something. Finn was in trouble and Melissa was the only one that could help him, Dean could only assume. The psychic witch quickly got back to his feet after creating a little-unwanted attention on the street and headed inside the Java Bean right away and took a deep breath. If his assumptions were right, no matter, how crazy it might sound to her, he had to do this or his visions would keep returning and continue to torture him endlessly.

"Melissa?" Dean asked as he approached her table as she stirred her coffee.

"Oh hi, Dean…everything okay? What brings you to this part of town?" she quizzed her schoolmate.

Dean wasn't sure how to explain things, so he opted to sit down opposite her and placed his bag down on the floor, leaning forward slightly towards her. Melissa raised her eyebrow, not sure what to make of Dean's behaviour right now. She didn't know him that well, many people didn't. He had mostly kept to himself over the years and his family was overprotective too.

"Dean? Are you okay?" she asked him again.

"Melissa…" he paused, looking up at her. This was proving to be much harder then he thought.

"If I tell you something…do you swear not to tell a soul?" he hoped, he could trust her with his family secret, especially if his visions were leading him to her.

"Of course, yeah…why what's wrong?" she wondered.

"Your new friend…the…err…really hot one?" he said a little embarrassed at his attraction to Finn in such a serious interaction between them. A little inappropriate, but he was only human after all.

"You mean Finn?" Melissa replied, looking for confirmation. Who else could he be talking about? The school knew about Dean's open homosexuality.

"Yeah…Err…him," he responded with a bashful smile.

Melissa raised her eyebrow, a lopsided smile formed across her lips. "Wait…do you like him, Dean!?" she questioned the seer. "Is that why you're being all weird right now?" she chuckled softly.

"What? Yes…I mean…no…I mean…that's not what I came here to tell you!" he replied, fumbling over his words as his face became beet red.

Melissa just chuckled at Dean's stuttering, "It's okay Dean. I think it's great you have a crush on him. I do myself, but ssshhh…don't tell him that! It'll be our little secret!" she admitted to him.

"Wha..?!" Dean was speechless right now, snapping out of his daze. "No! Melissa! I think his in trouble!" Dean blurted out in his desperation.

Melissa's expression completely changed to instant worry and concern. "What do you mean his in trouble? How do you even know if he is or not?" she asked him, more questions now than answers. "Are you like stalking him or something?" she accused the senior high school student.

"What!? No! It's…Err…complicated…" he took a deep breath, gulping a little. "I...Err…" his words fading off into the distance.

"Dean, just spit out already! What's going on here!? Why do you think Finn is in trouble!?" she almost demanded to know from him, her anxiety rising.

Dean just looked at Melissa seeing the fear in her eyes for her friend, her suspicions of him growing by the second. He decided to just tell her outright.

"I'm psychic! That's how!" he just blurted out fighting off the fear of being called crazy or something worth.

"Say, what?! Are you serious right now? Is this all a big joke do you?!" Melissa said standing up in her disapproval of Dean's tactics.

"No…no! Of course not!" Dean said standing up, begging her to keep her voice down as they were starting to draw people's attention.

"I know it sounds crazy…but it's true, Melissa, honestly. Why would I lie about something like this? I had visions of you sitting in this very seat at this coffee shop looking sad and I also had other confusing visions this morning…but the ones that stood out the most were involving Finn. He was tied to chair…unconscious…possibly being tortured in some way in some kind of warehouse surrounded by a circle of ash or something. It's all true…Melissa…you've got to believe me, please!" he tried to whisper to her, his vocal volume rising on occasion. He was desperate for her to believe him.

Melissa just stared at Dean for a minute, she could see his own fears in his eyes and she actually contemplated the fact that he might actually be telling her the truth. Dean was being way too specific to be making it up, she would never forgive herself if she didn't at least investigate the possibility of what he saw was in fact correct.

"Okay…okay…" she said, leaning in. "But not here. We can talk more outside. Tell me everything you remember, what you saw; if Finn really is in danger than I have to save him. I owe him that much." she suggested, seeing this as a chance to redeem herself in her friend's eyes after what Jake and others made her do against her better judgement.

"Let's go." Melissa said, taking her coffee to go as Dean nodded and quickly picked up his bag and followed her.

Back at the abandoned warehouse, Frederic was probing Finn's mind, but everything was jumbled and hard to make out. Finally, Frederic was pushed out by an unknown force as he staggered back breathing heavily.

"Nooooo!" Frederic growled angrily. "Who keeps locking me out!?" his anger rising within him.

In his rage, Frederic grabbed the sides of Finn's head aggressively. "Let me in, damn it!" he yelled, his frustration continuing to hinder his progress. Freddie soon found himself being flung into the wall behind him upon his second attempt.

He groaned in pain as he steadily got back on his feet, as he stared the Mikaelson witch down. "Someone's protecting you and your secrets aren't they!? But who?!" he grunted and in his anger stormed back into the circle and grabbed the jar of ash-wood and stepped back out, completing the circle once again.

"Well…we'll just see how long that lasts now, won't we? You won't be leaving here anytime soon, Finn. So get comfortable and when you awaken, I won't hold back!" Frederic promised and exited the room, slamming the door closed behind him.

Finn remained in his unconscious state, alone, unable to escape for the moment. Soon without warning, he was joined by someone unfamiliar to him, who had teleported himself into the room in under the guise of the obscure magic they wielded. The visitor in question wore a set of black combat pants, a form-fitting white tank top and light brown fleece leather jacket that was left open.

He wore a small metallic pendant of some kind symbolizing that of a cross around of his neck with the support of a black string. He was quite handsome and incredibly muscular with warm-toned white skin and short dirty blonde hair that had been styled forward accordingly. He didn't look too happy in the slightest, angered by Frederic's latest treatment of Finn Jr, no doubt.

The stranger walked slowly around the circle of ashwood with an analytical approach to the prison entrapping the young Mikaelson witch before him with a limited sense of swagger and poise in his movement.

"Do they honestly believe they can hold you here with me watching over you? How foolish they must be. Do not worry Finn; I shall protect you from their evil. They will never learn the truth about your origins as long as I am around." promised the mysterious, older warlock.

"Unfortunately as much as I would like to rescue you from these inferior beings myself, I cannot at the present time. But do not worry, Finn, I have already sent aid for you. You and I we will meet, very soon. This I promise you. Nothing would bring me more joy, let me assure you." He paused, "But for now, I can keep them out of your mind until help arrives. I hope you can forgive me someday. I am looking forward to meeting you in person and getting to know you, young one." he admitted with a warm, caring smile.

The handsome male reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a vile of liquid. "I am well aware of the ash surrounding you, and its ability to negate any form of magic within its enclosed boundaries, which puts you at quite the disadvantage to your captors, but this little concoction? It should even out the playing field for now," he revealed, unplugging the cork and began pouring its contents onto the ash below slowly as he followed the circular pattern all the way around.

The ash began to react violently to the liquid causing its surface to boil aggressively. The warlock smirked to him, and once he was back standing in front of Finn outside the circle, he waved his arm horizontally through the air with his palm in an upright claw-like gesture while chanting a spell.

"Excindo!" ordered the witch, unleashing an instant ring of towering fire before the flames vanished without a trace just as rapidly as they appeared, the ash slightly charred now. The warlock grinned triumphantly to himself. "Give 'em hell, Finn!" he suggested vengefully.

The older witch quickly snapped his head to the left; he narrowed his eyes losing his confident grin immediately. "I must go. They will be here soon." the muscular male returned his attention back to Finn, not referring to Finn's current captors. "Stay strong, Finn. And please…stay safe until I can join you. I will explain everything then." he voiced, knowing Finn could still hear him in his current state.

"Farewell for now." he concluded and faded into a mystic overcast that teleported him away once again.

Elsewhere near the Chance Marina, Melissa was like a woman on a mission with Dean jogging after her, just trying to keep up with her.

"Melissa! Wait! Where are we going?!" Dean asked, trying to catch his breath.

"The Marina. Finn's boat is there and has the strongest connection to him. Since your visions aren't exactly accurate about what warehouse he is in. I can perform a locator spell, and it should lead us to where he's being held!" Melissa informed her partner in crime at this particular time.

"That's a great idea, and all, Mel….but it won't work." Dean corrected her, not wanting to disappoint her but it was true.

"Why not!?" Melissa argued.

"You won't have enough power to pull that off. A piece of his clothing is one thing, but a boat? That's a whole different ball game." Dean sighed.

"…than help me, Dean!" Melissa asked him, a sense of desperation in her voice.

"What?! Me?! Dealing with these visions is enough magic for me!" Dean replied, shooting her down immediately.

Melissa grabbed Dean's wrists and pulled him towards her. "You clearly have more experience than me! We're all Finn has right now…if something happens to him, do you want that on your conscious, Dean? You've had these visions for a reason. Please, Dean…help me…" she pleaded with him, as she held back the tears forming in her eyes.

Dean looked deeply into Melissa's chocolate brown eyes and saw the fear and desperation in them. It made him question, what kind of man he was, and how selfish and heartless he may be coming across.

"Melissa…I…what's this really all about?" he asked her softly, looking to clear up the confusion he was currently feeling.

"This is about Finn…I owe this to him, to the friendship I may have ruined that meant a great deal to me…" she expressed wholeheartedly.

"What happened?" Dean wondered.

"It was stupid really…my friends wanted to learn more about Finn, and who he is. He's a complete mystery, and that wasn't sure they could fully trust him, despite him saving Cassie the other night at the Boathouse party." she paused wiping a tear away from the corner of her eye. "…we all came to his boat, while he was out of a town hoping to find out anything about him, but the cabin door was sealed with a spell…they wanted to break through it, but I didn't think this was a good idea, and said we should just go, and let Finn tell us when he's ready but they wouldn't listen." Melissa further explained.

"They convinced me to help them perform a group spell to unseal the door, but it went horribly wrong and the backlash from it, sent us flying up the ship's dock. It was Finn. I know it was…I could feel his rage…his fury…he countered back hard; we'd never experienced such power! I knew, I had made a mistake right away, and knew Finn would never forgive me. I was hoping to talk to him when he returned, but…now you tell me, he's in trouble! I can't just ignore! I care about him, and he's still my friend…even though, I may not be his anymore. So please Dean…if you can help me find him, please let me do this to make it up to him by saving him. It's the least I can do." begged the teenage witch.

Dean thought about everything for the moment and could see how much pain Melissa was in. She needed to do this, to prove herself to Finn, and hopefully gain his forgiveness down the road. Dean smiled softly at her.

"Okay, Melissa. If you feel that strongly than how could I refuse? I will help you find him." Dean said with a nod.

Melissa smiled and threw her arms instantly around the male psychic, and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Dean! Thank you so much!" she continued to offer her gratitude as she sniffed a few times, and wiped her eyes getting her head back into the game. This was her chance to make things right, and she wasn't backing off. Her mind was already made up the instance that she learned of Finn's plight.

"Come on, the boat's this way!" Melissa said grabbing Dean's hand, and the two witches began racing towards the Marina and entered its domain. They reached Finn's boat and made their way onto it.

"Okay…hopefully this stuff I picked up on our way here should help." Melissa hoped and took off her shoulder bag to unzip it and pull out its entire contents.

"So I have a map of Chance Harbor, four candles, some matches, black sand and my family's book of shadows. It has a pretty good locator spell in it. Here's hoping it can find Finn for us." Melissa said remaining optimistic.

"Alright then, let's get set up before the wind picks up, and blows the candles out." suggested Dean.

The two schoolmates began setting up the four candles in their holders and setting their wicks a light. Once done they folded out the map of Chance Harbor with Dean very carefully began sprinkling sand onto the map. Once done, Dean and Melissa sat crossed legged opposite each other and took hold of each other's forearms looking to channel the other and began lowering their heads and read from Melissa's book of shadows their chosen locator spell holding to find Finn before it was too late.

"...Salacku, tusdeh do..." they recited, slowly closing their eyes. "...Salacku, tusdeh do... "Salacku, tusdeh do..." chanted the two witches, concentrating all their power. A flash of hazy narrative could be seen as the sand began to slowly move away from its primary location.

Melissa opened one of her eyes slightly to see the sand moving, it was working and she continued to chant more, closing it again.

"...Salacku, tusdeh do...Salacku, tusdeh do..." Dean could feel their combined power affecting their surroundings the flames on the candles flickered more, and the sand began picking up speed heading straight for Finn's location, after increasing their power output and chanting volume.

"...SALACKU, TUSDEH DO... SALACKU, TUSDEH DO!" they called with defiance, and soon the spell ended with another flash of narrative haze. The two friends instantly felt their arms break apart from each other, and took a moment to catch their breath.

"Did..it..work?" Melissa asked, exhaling.

"I..think..so.." Dean answered in-between breaths.

Melissa and Dean looked down at the map and saw the path of sand stretching out towards the warehouse district in deeper part of downtown. It had stopped, dead centre too.

"That must be where Finn is! It's in the centre of the warehouse district! Come on, let's pack this stuff up and go before we lose him!" Melissa said eagerly not wanting to lose this lead.

"Okay!" Dean said, helping Melissa pack everything up, still in disbelief at the fact that it actually worked. Now they were one step closer to rescuing their friend.

...To Be Continued.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Originals, the Vampire Diaries or the Secret Circle.