Coven

~ Sanctum ~

The ride home was tense. Every car, every individual was silent. The unspoken worry of the group being split, the promise of a conversation to come. Frey and Lainey waited with bated breath for their phones to sound. Waiting for some sign from Lilah that her parents hadn't made her shut out the group. They heard nothing.

Absolutely nothing. Not when they all arrived home and twelve of the teens video called each other. Not when twelve members of the coven turned up for school on Monday morning. And not for the following week. Lilah wasn't at home and no one answered her door when the girls came calling. Mica, who lived opposite her, was adamant that she and her parents hadn't come back on Sunday. Lainey believed she had seen Dean packing up his car and leaving the house on Monday after school. But that was nothing new, Dean came and went.

Zee hadn't heard from his girlfriend for five days now and it was starting to worry him. Frey hadn't spoken to her best friend. Cara hadn't argued with anyone. The group was worried, lost without their friend. At lunch, Cas walked to the coven's table and slammed his bag on it. He threw Bren's coat at him and looked at everyone.

"Pack up your stuff. We're going to find Lil." He pulled at Frey's hand, yanking her from her seat where she had previously been moping. Evie swung her head around wildly, noticing her sister's absence; Bren pulled her from the table too. The rest of the group stood and followed quickly, leaving the dinner hall.

"Act natural and keep an eye out for teachers guys, we'll be in so much trouble if they catch us skipping... again." Evie told the group, speed walking to the front doors of the school.

Looking highly suspicious, the not-so-sneaky dozen made their way past the staff room and the maths department, until they reached the last corridor before freedom. The halls were quiet, with most of the rest of their school was in lessons. Cas, in the lead, pushed on the handle to open the door and had one foot in the autumn sun.

"Stop." Heavy panting. "Stop right there, right now." Mr Bainbridge called, sprinting towards them and breathing heavily. The group froze. Bren cursed audibly. "Language Mr Kelly." Bren gritted his teeth, clenched his jaw and turned to face their headmaster.

"Sir, we're all feeling really emotional right now, you know, because of the crash..." Lainey began. Mr Bainbridge laughed slightly.

"Not going to work Miss Dunne. The therapist you've all been seeing says you're all perfectly acclimatised to everything that has happened. No issues. Just a strange dependence on each other." Lainey swore this time, rolling her eyes at the inevitable rebuke. At the back of the group, Cara was nudging Avery, pushing her towards the headmaster.

"Ave, just do it." Cara pushed. Avery looked around panicked, seeking the opinion of more than Cara. Beside her, Bren nodded and gave her a less-than-subtle shove forward. She met Frey's eyes as she righted herself, Frey nodded.

Avery walked towards Mr Bainbridge, her narrowed eyes resembling steel in colour and her chin high. Around her, the air seemed to close, to tighten around the group.

"Miss Quinn, I never expected this from you, acting out with this group of delinquents." Bainbridge began to mutter to himself. "Although, I suppose it was to be expected, orphans are so much more likely to misbehave after all..." He trailed off as his own eyes met Avery's. He began to shake, as her lips wove a silent spell. Cara watched as the aura around the small girl turned the silver of her eyes and then began to turn black. She nudged Evie.

"Avery that's enough, just make sure he doesn't remember us leaving." She placed a comforting hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. It was quiet. Slowly Ave blinked.