Episode Nine Part Two

Peter, Satu and Gerbert exited the airport.

"I will be travelling by myself for a while," Gerbert announced.

His notice unsettled the witches.

"Any particular reason why?" Satu demanded.

"Nothing that should concern you," he said. "Diana and Matthew have gone into the past and there's nothing more to be done for a while,"

"We can still look for information regarding the Book of Life," Peter spoke up.

"Yes, we could. But I have other matters to attend to. So, you two should get started," ordered Gerbert. The witches were repulsed by his arrogant controlling nature. The taxi arriving stopped them from retorting.

"Good luck you two. And get searching," Gerbert entered the car and it drove off quickly. None of the witches said even a goodbye.

Satu glared out at the taxi as it pulled away. "I don't trust him,"

"And neither should you," Peter agreed. "But he is right. We should start looking for facts in the Book of Life. I will be doing that,"

"And what about me?" Satu demanded.

"You will be keeping your distance from the other Congregation members. And see if you can find anything that can track down Aurora's whereabouts. And keep it secret from everyone except me,"

Satu didn't speak back at all. But Peter's nature made her frown inside. Whatever power lay inside that girl, he wanted it for himself. He wasn't going to share it. But yet again, like Diana's sister, she held power that witches would kill to gain their hands on. And she was going to find out what it was, what it meant where the witch whom she had saved called her a weaver.

Emily and Sarah's hearts pampered faster and faster the closer they were coming to Sept Tour. The thought of living with a witch serial killer made them quiver. How would she cope with them staying here? Would she like it? She didn't exactly like Diana's company at first, judging from what Diana told them.

"I can't believe we're staying under the roof of that witch killer," Sarah shuddered as she drove in the direction of Sept Tours.

"You know we have no other option," Em once again reminded. "And besides…since her son and Diana are mated, that makes us family to her,"

"Not in her book,"

"Don't say stuff like that Sarah!" she hissed. "You're making me more nervous by the minute,"

"Guests should be arriving shortly," Marthe notified her mistress and close friend.

"Good," she said calmly. "I hope they're prepared for what's to come. The mere thought of living under the roof of a vampire will make them anxious. Especially one who's killed dozens of covens,"

"Try not to act hostile towards them,"

"They're witches,"

"They're Diana's aunts. And so that makes them family,"

"It does. It doesn't mean I'll grow to like them a lot,"

"You grew to like Diana. And so did Thomas. And if he can get on well with them, so can you,"

The remembrance of Diana made Ysabeau rethink her words of accepting Diana into her family. Her thoughts were interrupted when they heard the noises of a vehicle pulling up just outside the castle.

They're here.

Diana's aunts stepped outside their car and looked up at the magnificent chateau. It was so giant and grand, just like their niece had told them. They saw the doors above a set of stone staircases appear opening, revealing a vampire with short grey hair and kind ice blue eyes. She walked down to them. Em clutched Sarah's hand protectively.

The vampire stopped in front of them. "You must be Emily and Sarah," she greeted kindly. "I'm Marthe. Welcome to Sept Tour. Let me help you,"

The aunts weren't expecting Marthe to help them. Compared to Ysabeau so far, she seemed kinder and more open. They entered the ancient castle and stared all around at its inside wonders. There were paintings and candles and ancient pieces of furniture….it seemed as if this ancient site was traced back to the fifteenth century.

They were too busy wondering about their new temporary accommodations that they didn't notice Ysabeau appearing from another room. Once they noticed her, their hearts seemed to stiffen.

"I hope you like it here," she said calmly. "Your room is past the West Wing," she said. "Marthe, would you take them?"

Marthe nodded and carried some of the bags away. Em and Sarah stayed where they were, afraid that Ysabeau would leap at them and bite.

"I'm not going to bite you," she casually said next. "You're here for my protection,"

Em remained calm. Sarah, though, remains sceptical.

"I wasn't expecting these circumstances to be admitted either. But you both know why you're here. We both love Diana and Matthew. And we all know that you need a haven. And I will gladly give that. Make yourselves comfortable,"

She rotated around gracefully and disappeared back to where she came from.

"She seems…not so bad," Em awkwardly uttered.

"I still don't trust her," Sarah whispered.

Thomas had poured some more tea for the daemons and handed out some fruit.

"I look forward to seeing your dear friend," Agatha said admirably to her son.

Nate smiled. "She's a very dear girl,"

"She and Thomas's brother are in a relationship," Sophie revealed excitedly.

The boys stared at her, surprised that she had revealed the relationship before it could even be revealed by the visitors.

"Soph!" Nate laughed out.

"Wow. So, Matthew and Diana aren't the only ones in a forbidden relationship," teased Agatha.

Thomas chuckled.

Agatha noticed a picture of Thomas and a handsome man with blonde hair and dark eyes sitting above the fireplace "Who's that with you in the picture?"

Thomas noticed she was staring at his favourite picture of him and his beloved Argus. "No one," he answered quickly. "No one. That shouldn't even be here," he lumbered over to the fireplace and took the photo off before shoving it in a box. The daemons watched him curiously but Agatha's expression looked more sympathetic.

The doorbell rang.

Thomas walked over and he opened it. Marcus and Aurora were outside, nicely dressed in casual clothes. "Hey bro. Hey Rory,"

"Only Diana calls me that," Aurora sniggered at his choice of the term of endearment for her.

Thomas swerved aside allowing them. "Come in sir and madam,"

"Don't call us that," Marcus retorted earning a chuckle.

They walked into the living room where Aurora happily embraced her friends.

"Good to see you guys. All settled in?"

"Yep. And I just love Thomas's artwork here," smiled Sophie.

"Why thank you," approved Thomas.

"You must be Agatha," said Marcus to Nate's mum.

"Such a pleasure to meet you," Agatha shook his hand. "And a pleasure to meet you too Aurora," she shook hers. "Nate and Sophie have told me so much about you,"

"Well, I hope I meet your expectations," said Aurora awkwardly. "I suppose you know what I am…"

"I know you're not like any creature I've ever met but that shouldn't matter at all," From the wisdom and just in her words, Aurora could tell that Agatha was a woman who didn't just people by what they were but by how they treated others. Already she could see so much good nature within her because of everything her family had spoken about her.

Marcus pursed his lips nervously. "Is there any chance that Peter Knox mentioned her in the Congregation?" he asked desperately.

"He didn't," Agatha promised. "I had a strange premonition though that he was hiding something. I would have had a chance to speak about it but I would have been deemed mental and shut down. And for the past few nights, I've been having strange visions about you Aurora. They told me that you were in danger and that you couldn't be found out,"

Aurora breathed in and out slowly. "Thank you, Agatha," she said gratefully.

"Thank you for your devotion to my family. I take it your sister Diana Bishop and Matthew de Clairmont made it safely?"

Aurora smiled. "They did. I too like daemons experience strange premonitions and see visions. And I saw them reaching safety in the past,"

"Good," Agatha approved.

"What became of Baldwin?" Marcus asked her. "Aurora saw him in trouble,"

"He was indeed accused of betraying the Congregation. Gerbert put up a vote. I convinced the daemons to vote against it. And to my surprise, Domenico joined in too. He was expelled but he was forced to tell Peter Knox where they were,"

The brothers shared disappointed glances but they couldn't blame him.

"What's important is they made it to safety," Thomas pointed out what mattered.

"If any trouble arises regarding any of us, Baldwin will have to stand with us. He owes me a debt,"

"We can't be so certain," Thomas advised cautiously. "He's always been determined to keep out of trouble and keep his place in the Congregation,"

"That doesn't mean he shouldn't keep his word," Agatha kept bold. "He can try to shut me down all he wants but he cannot ignore the debt he owes me,"

"I admire your determination for equality," Thomas said proudly. "And if Baldwin causes any skirmishes now that he doesn't have to deal with Matthew and Diana, he'll have to answer to me and Marcus,"

"As Masters of the Knights of Lazarus, we can order him to give any information he gets from the other Congregation members' activities and to keep our activities underhand," Marcus crossed his arms as he smirked. "He's not going to be getting up to any trouble any time soon,"

"How about we all have a nice big dinner tonight?" Aurora offered. "Keep our minds off him and anyone we don't like,"

"Absolutely," Sophie approved. "Feel like doing our best cooking again?

"Absolutely," Aurora repeated her words with the same enthusiasm. They high-fived and hopped to work. A delicious stew was concocted, mixed with chicken and vegetables. Aurora then baked a delicious Victoria sponge cake whilst Sophie prepared a baked Alaska. The men and Agatha sipped wine together in the living room, chatting and sharing stories about each other's lives.

Two vampire brothers and a daemon mother and her son consorting together was an uncommon experience. Already they were beginning to become close friends and more notably they were seeing one another in a new light which no vampire or daemon had seen in one another. Consorting with different species meant seeing them in a new light and realising there was more to them than what you knew.

"Dinner time!" Sophie's voice rang in their ears.

They walked into Thomas's distinctive dining room where there were lit candles surrounding a large gumbo pot of the chiefs' sweet-smelling concoction.

Marcus sucked in a deep whiff of the stew with his nose. "Delicious,"

"Amazing," praised Agatha.

"Thank you," the chiefs accepted their compliments.

The daemons sat on one side, and the vampires and Aurora sat on the other. Aurora poured six large bowls of stew for them and she cooled them down if they thought it was too hot.

"Mmm….this is so good," Nate chewed on the chicken in the sauce.

"Absolutely a perfect stew," said Agatha as she nibbled on some of the vegetables.

"We're glad you like it," Aurora smiled. Already she was becoming quite close to the mother of one of his dearest friends. She had always wanted to meet her before but due to creature conflicts, it felt unwarranted. But now she was their ally, it felt obligatory to finally befriend her.

"I've never heard of vampires eating stew before," Agatha said.

"We may not eat very much but we're always open to trying anything we've never had before," said Thomas. "You're always welcome to use my kitchen whenever you'd like Sophie. Not only are daemons spectacular with art, but they're such great chiefs. You really should own your restaurant,"

"I'd rather stick to art," refused Sophie gently. "It's how I met Aurora,"

"Aside from her pastel drawings, she's always very curious about alchemy," stated Aurora.

"I have plenty of alchemy books in my small library that you can dive into whilst you stay here," Thomas said.

"Aside from science, what else are you guys interested in?" Agatha asked him and Marcus.

"I'm a doctor," answered Marcus. "And I've volunteered to help with the monitoring of the baby,"

"Thank you,"

"I used to be a writer once," said Thomas, beginning to bring up a topic which he hadn't during their earlier conversation. "But things happened and my career took a different turn,"

The dinner was finished and it was time for deserts. The vampires chose Sophie's baked Alaska and it was delicious. Of course, Marcus did not want to refuse to try out his girlfriend's cake; it was baked perfectly and to the joy of Nate and Sophie, it was decorated with strawberries, their favourite fruit. And Agatha's too.

"Yummy," muffled Aurora on her friend's baked Alaska. "Man have I missed this,"

"Your cake is so delicious. You always know what to decorate it with,"

"Well, you and Nate always love strawberries. Thought I might put it on,"

"It feels strange seeing you two taste dessert," Agatha observed the brothers again as they enjoyed the desserts.

"Can't resist my lovely girlfriend and Sophie's treats," Marcus answered with his mouth stuffed with cake sponge making everyone chuckle.

Thomas couldn't stop gorging on the Alaska bake without stopping. "You have to bake this Alaska again,"

"You can expect another one tomorrow," promised Sophie.

"By the way, you just write down a list of foods you want and I'll have them brought faster than you can say 'I'm hungry,'" Thomas's sentence made everybody laugh. "And if you need a doctor, Marcus will arrive in less than a minute,"

Marcus clicked his tongue. "Less than half a minute I think you mean,"

"No, I'm pretty sure I meant less than a minute," Thomas smirked playfully at him. "Agatha, if you wish to stay here I have an extra room,"

"If it's no trouble, I would like that very much," she smiled appreciatively.

Dinner and dessert ended and it was time for Marcus and Aurora to leave. "We'll come and visit soon," she promised, giving a strong hug to Sophie, then Nate and then Agatha goodbye.

"You sense anything wrong; you call me straight away. And Miriam will be available too," promised Marcus.

"You guys just enjoy yourselves," Thomas said. "And remember, don't be…"

"Okay. Okay. Enough of that overprotective brother talk," Marcus brushed off irritably with an awkward expression.

"Let's just go before it gets awkward in front of everyone," suggested his girlfriend. "Bye everyone,"

"Take care Aurora Bishop," said Agatha warily. "And don't let her out of your sight Marcus Whitmore. Enemies may sweep under our noses in Oxford,"

"They'll be fine mum," Nate assured, faithfully.

The pair left waving goodbye to Thomas and the daemons. As they departed down the road, Thomas was smiling but dejection tinted his friable face too. Seeing them together made flashes spark in the mind of his eyes. Flashes of memories of laughter and happiness and joy.

"Tom?" Agatha spoke up. "Are you all right?" she looked concerned.

"I'm fine," Thomas wiped his wet eyes in a blur. "I'm fine," he closed the door. "Well…you three should probably get some sleep,"

"Yeah. I'm feeling…rather tired after all that cooking," Sophie admitted.

"Let's get you to bed," Nate gently took her by the shoulders and led her away. "Good night Tom,"

"Good night," he said. He and Agatha watched them walk up the stairs to bed.

Agatha pressed her lips together nervously. Thomas heard her heart beating rapidly; she was scared. "Their baby will be protected. She's got the Knights of Lazarus to look after her,"

"You have no idea how much this means to us, to mean," Agatha looked like she was about to cry.

"You should get some sleep, Agatha. You've been worn out by everything that's happened and you need to rest," He noticed she was looking at him rather strange. "What?"

"Thomas…I know what you're feeling…" Agatha tried to speak.

"Please Agatha don't," Thomas begged. "I know you're trying to be helpful. You're open-minded and I respect you for that. But this is something that you can't fix. I appreciate you're trying to be helpful and…" he drifted off, unable to talk anymore.

"All right then. Good night Thomas," Agatha walked up the stairs to her room and Thomas clicked off the lights before marching up the stairs to his room. He sat down and buried his face in his hands. He didn't cry but he was heartbroken.

Marcus and Aurora were dressed up in their pyjamas and were in Marcus's room. Aurora was brushing her hair on his large double bed of turquoise sheets whilst Marcus was finishing a call to Miriam.

Okay. Goodnight Miriam.

Goodnight Marcus. She said over the phone.

Marcus passed the phone over to Aurora so she could speak. Hi, Miriam. How was it with Jason?

It was well. It felt great to catch up with him.

It would be lovely to meet him.

I'll see if he's interested. Now I'd best let you and Marcus get some sleep.

Goodnight Miriam.

Goodnight.

The phone switched off.

"Have you called Em and Sarah yet?" he asked.

"Not yet,"

"I'm sure they're settled in by now. I'm sure Ysabeau will be on her best behaviour with them. I know Marthe will too,"

Aurora smiled and then dialled on her phone. Em? Sarah?

Hi Aurora honey. Em greeted.

How are you two?

We're doing good. We're getting settled in. Marthe is just as nice as you'd said she'd be.

And Ysabeau? I trust you two have been good with her.

Good with her? Retorted Sarah. You should be asking her that.

Hey Sarah. Everything is all right.

We're good. Sarah didn't sound like she was enjoying being at the chateau at all.

Just give it time.

You all right?

All good. I'm settled. My friends are settled in at Thomas's. And we met Agatha. She's very sweet and she's staying over too.

That's lovely news. Answered Emily happily. And you?

It feels great being back in Marcus's house again. Aurora shot a glance up at Marcus who smiled back.

Don't you two even think about…. Sarah tried to warn.

Oh, don't you start Sarah! Aurora was growing tired of these protective talks about relationships.

Why don't we all get to bed? Em suggested.

Good idea. Love you Em and Sarah. Aurora blew a kiss.

Love you, honey. They bid goodnight and the phone call switched off.

Marcus switched off some of the lights. "I enjoyed tonight,"

"Me too Marcus. I'm so glad we've made a new friend in Agatha," she said.

"So am I. It felt great for Thomas to have company in his house again. He looked really happy. And I've never seen him so sociable since…never mind," he sat down. "How are you doing?"

"Good. Honestly, it feels great to be cooking with Sophie again. I haven't done it in a long time since before I was last in Oxford. Marcus…do you think it was safe to come back here to Oxford?"

"You'll be safe in my house. And your friends will be safe with Thomas,"

"It's not that," Aurora looked at him with a serious expression. "I'm concerned that any allies Knox has may be watching us. I dread to think what Gillian and the Oxford Coven leader would do if they had a chance to strike,"

"Not if we don't leave during the night-time. And with Diana in the past, the Book of Life cannot be summoned. Knox may spend much of his time with Gerbert or any other Congregation members. You've nothing to worried about. I promised her I'd keep you safe,"

"I promise I won't leave your house unless you're with me. I just hope Sarah would get over her distaste for vampires. I dread for your grandmother and her to get into a brawl,"

"Her bark is worse than her bite," Marcus assured, chuckling a bit.

Aurora chuckled back. "We should get some sleep,"

"You mean you need to get some sleep,"

"Then why are you in pyjamas?"

"So I can sleep in the same bed as you," he teased, pushing his forehead forward against his to make her lean back a bit as she chortled at his sexy manner. Leaning back up to their upright positions, they stared deep into one another's eyes with recognition. "Whatever happens right here, I'm going to be here with you always. No matter what,"

"I'm glad we're facing this together,"

"Me too. Me too,"

They kissed.

Gerbert patrolled in his house. He marched down the cold stone stairs to the cold cellars above the sewers. He passed one iron door, where behind he heard growling and snarling. Behind the cold panels of the locked door at the far end of the corridor emitted the sounds of mental screams and fuming fire. He pulled open a small hatch in the centre of the door of the cell. He peered his cold eyes through. "It would seem you may not be the only freakish creature in the world. Whomever this creature is that Peter Knox is keeping secret from me, I will find it. And you…will serve your purpose when the time is right,"

A fireball was thrown toward him. He closed the hatch quick.

He pulled out a phone and called a number.

Yes. A voice called.

It is nearly time to put our plan in motion.

And what of my son?

He will serve his purpose soon enough. We may yet be on the verge of discovering another creature like him. In the meantime, unleash the vampire that will point fingers at the de Clairmonts.

Very well. In the meantime, return him to our allies. They are eager to prepare him for he takes the first move.

As you wish. Gerbertshut the phone off.

And that's episode 1 of season 2 done. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please send reviews and let me know what you all think. Judging from what Gerber was saying, can any of you make any assumptions about what he's talking about or what's gonna happen next? We'll have to wait to see and find out. See you all soon.