Lilah's car was the last to pull onto the drive. The rest of the teens were waiting just inside the front door, anger and worry battling on their faces. Bren and Cas were the most obvious about their emotion. Pure, incensed rage was palpable. The sky was midnight black, the storm raged, incensed by the frustration of Cas and Zee. As Lilah stepped out the car, the light of the moon dimmed and shadows drew across their faces, leaving the dim artificial fluorescence of the house to form a tense backdrop.
As the twins exited the vehicle, lifting Avery's limp body between them, the group surged forward. A nervous and jittery energy filled them as they saw her blood covered face and clothes. She had passed out on the journey home, still weeping blood. Flora and Lainey took the small girl from the twins and led her into the house, leaving the pair open to the glares of the remaining coven members. They made their way through the open door, pushing past Bren and Cas, walking purposefully to the kitchen, where they turned to face their coven.
They had barely made a one-eighty when the two boys were immediately in their personal space.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Bren spat in the girls' faces, grabbing at his girlfriend's forearms. Evie slapped his hands away. Cas watched on, a grimace on his face, his own anger thinly veiled now in the grimace of his mouth and narrowing of his eyes.
"We did what we needed to do," Frey responded, her tone acerbic. "Avery had to erase the memories the men had of us. It was easier for her if there were only memories of the three of us, and even then she had to use our power. You've seen what that did to her. Imagine what having to do it for all thirteen of us would do."
"That's not good enough Frey. We could have all given her power." Cas held the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb as he spoke between gritted teeth.
"And how do we even know that it worked?" Bren fumed, smoke rising as his magick was stoked by his fury. Cas placed a hand on his shoulder as he started forward again, Evie stepped up to meet him. Her arms folded and eyes sharp.
"We know because we have faith in Avery. Now step back and calm down. I understand you're angry. But can we stop pretending it's because we had a plan you didn't like. You all are upset that your will was taken from you. Again, that's understandable. But would you have gone if we asked?" Bren's mouth opened to respond, "Don't respond. It was rhetorical Bren. Of course you wouldn't and I know that because we wouldn't either. Freya said the exact truth, we did what we needed to do. Now can everyone get off our backs for it? We got the grimoire. Now we need to focus on healing Ave and freeing Eira." Evie pushed past the others and went to the living room where Flora had Avery lying on one of the Murray's copious sofas.
Flo was muttering soothingly while she spread a green paste across Ave's forehead and Lainey washed the blood from the small girl's face.
"Get out of this room if there's any ill will. It won't help the healing process." Flora ordered, staring straight at Bren and Cas. Bren held his hands up in a surrendering motion, while Cas only smiled amicably. The group all sat around the room, knowing their presence would be helpful in healing Avery. For hours, the group sat in silence, moving only to follow the orders of Flora.
"Is there anything we can do Flo?" Robin asked as he watched the pair working tirelessly over the girl, still without her waking up.
"I'm trying all I can think of, would those of you with grimoires be able to check them for healing spells please- maybe check for Eira's too. Oh and look for a burn salve too." She commented pointing at Evie's arms which she had been hiding under the sleeves of a cardigan. The group were temporarily distracted in fussing over the twins' burns until Lilah shouted over the din in the room.
"Hang on!" All attention was on her. "Eira's grimoire. Where did it go?" She directed the question at Frey.
Freya's responding grin was cat-like. A look of pure superiority. She waited until all eyes were on her and then clicked her fingers. The book appeared in her open palms. She shared a glance with Evie, who then did the same with the twins' grimoire. There was a sudden uproar from the group.
"Aren't we supposed to share magick and knowledge?" Seb asked, looking at the twins over his family's grimoire which he had retrieved manually from his bag.
"Yeah, what's with all the clicking ladies?" Cara questioned, holding the Evans grimoire in her hands. "Cas, Robin? Where're your grimoires?" She continued with narrowed eyes. Meeting Cara's glare with a demure smile, Cas clicked his fingers. Making the Thomas grimoire appear on the table before him. "Of course you know how to do it!" Cara exclaimed, you're included in the plans, you're involved in the magick and the decisions. I feel like if you're not dating a twin, you're second fiddle. Robin, go on, go and get yours from your bag- don't worry, you can be part of the benchwarmers too." Robin looked around the group with a grimace, before meeting eyes with Flora who resignedly held out her wrist, he held the small book charm between his fingers and murmured the incantation and suddenly the grimoire was in his hands in the place of the piece of jewellery.
"Well, where did you learn to do that?" Cara sneered indignantly. Before Robin could open his mouth, Evie beat him to the response.
"He, unlike some of you, have been doing what we asked and actually reading through your grimoires and practising your magick. The 'click thing' is a simple non-verbal banishment spell. His is a slightly more complicated transfiguration spell, something I am sure any of you could have been doing a week ago too- had you looked in your grimoires."
"Okay. That's enough!" Flora shouted, "Everyone get out. Only come back in if you find a healing spell. Or need herbs for their burns." She stood up and began shooing everyone in the room (barring Lainey who had stayed silent) out of it and into the hallway. She slammed the doors behind them.
The group stared at the door in dumbfounded silence. After a moment's pause, Zee said with a small grin, "Got yourself a fiery one, Rob- I suppose we should do what she said." And with that, the tension was dispelled. He threw an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and walked to the kitchen. Cara mumbled embarrassed apologies to the group and headed after them and the group began their research.
At around seven in the morning, as the sky was starting to turn light and Mica was snoring in a corner, finally, Cara shouted: "I've got it!" Mica jerked up, almost falling off his barstool, Zee caught him and helped him up on his way to Cara. The teens all crowded around her.
"Okay, so it says :
'To heal: Stand in a circle around the sick person, everyone should hold a lit white candle. Speak aloud the following:
Hekate hear us from above
Help us with kindness and with love
Healing thoughts brought in flight,
Come to us as we extinguish this light.
Then douse your candle between your forefinger and thumb.'"
She looked around the group after she had finished reading.
"Sounds decent, and it's the only option we have. Let's do this." Bren decided. "Lilah- white candles, we need twelve. Do you think you will have that many?" She nodded and pulled Freya after her to help. Evie ran through to inform Flora and Lainey.
The group swung into action, lifting Avery onto a chaise in the middle of the room so they could sit around her, closing the windows and curtains and setting the candles in a circle. One by one the group sat around Ave, lifting their candle in their hands. With a nod from Evie, Bren lit all the candles and the group were connected by their magick.
"Okay guys, remember, we count to three and extinguish the candle, everyone ready?" Evie took a deep breath. "Let's do this."
As the group spoke the incantation, the air in the room stilled and a sense of overwhelming calmness befell Cara. As they raised their hands to extinguish the candles, a noise caught Seb's attention.
Keys rattling. The front door opened. The candles were extinguished. Footsteps. The coven leapt into action.
Frey and Evie banished the candles with a click of their fingers. The guys ran around the room putting the furniture back where it belonged. Lainey was flying about the room opening windows and curtains. Avery still lay in the middle of the room.
"Lil, go stall." Cas hissed across the room as he and Bren lifted a sofa back to its original position.
"Why me?" She panicked "Oh right, my family..." She started across the room, leaping over a bent double Evie who was helping Flora with the bloody washcloths.
Suddenly Frey stood straight and dropped the box she was holding, "The grimoires!" Everyone froze.
"Do the click-y thing." Cara urged.
The door opened.
"Lilah, sweetheart!" Avery sat up as Lilah's mother walked through the door. Lilah rushed to her mother and began talking obnoxiously as Flora rushed to Ave and caught her up in hushed tones.
"All of these people in our house- do their parents know they're here?" Carla Murray asked her daughter.
"The girls' parents do Mother, and the guys were supposed to be camping but the weather was terrible last night and we really would have hated for them to be ill or hurt or anything so we invited them here," Lilah said placatingly as her father walked in his arms full of grimoires.
Beside Freya, Cas swore under his breath.
"Hi, darling. What the hell is all of this?" Richard Murray questioned, doing a double take at the full room.
"Oh, it's, erm, it's for a game we play. Kind of a dungeons and dragons kind of thing. Fewer dragons and dungeons, more witchcraft?" She spoke questioningly. Her father nodded as he took in the new information.
"Okay, and why are there boys in the house?" He asked, looking specifically at Zee, who stepped forward as Lilah's chagrin deepened.
"Hello sir, it's nice to meet you again." Zee greeted with a charming smile, holding his hand out to shake.
"Zephyr, seeing as my daughter is momentarily mute, do you want to explain why you're in my house?"
"Honey, stop trying to intimidate the poor boy, the girls invited the boys in out of the rain because they were camping nearby when the weather turned bad." Carla patted her husband's arms as he dumped the grimoires in Zee's outstretched hand.
"I think maybe it's time we left, head back home anyway?" Bren suggested, "Come on Zee come and help us pack the cars." The guys left the house, packing everything from the weekend into the four cars.
"Lilah, honey, your headmaster has been on the phone, I think maybe we need to have a little chat," Carla looked around, "without your friends."
"We'll see you at school tomorrow then?" Frey suggested. Lilah nodded her head as she hugged Frey and Cara, asking to be kept in the loop about everything happening back home. One by one, the four cars exited the premises and then her parents unleashed holy hell on her.