---

Kate handed the journal to Rowan, hoping that she has ingredients for their potions. "Thanks, it better then calling them fire potion, ice potion, etc." Kate say to Rowan when she complement the potion names, they were about to say something about the flavor of frozen yogurt to use to make the ice potion but Kate thinks it for the best to leave that a mystery. When Rowan handed them the Sarcodes flower, Kate can already tell that Rowan did some wild plant magic on this one "Oh, dear Rowan, if you keep spoil me too much, I would become a spoiled child" Kate jokingly say to Rowan.

While Kate was about to make their potions, Maggie came in to grab some potions and tell the two potioneers that she'll let the others know they are finishing up, Kate was about to tell Maggie that Rowan and them are not done yet but Maggie was already out of the room, Kate can feel the worriedness from Rowan voice, even she try her best to hide it. Rowan ask Kate that she can help with finishing up their other potions, even though Kate can finish all three of their potions, a helping hand won't hurt "Well, since we have much time and you are almost done with your light potion, you can make my fire potion while I'll make the ice and poison potion" Kate say Rowan while handing her the ingredients, although everyone is going to be killed by vampires, Kate is honestly excited to use potions as weapons.

---

After making potions, Kate carefully pour the magical liquids into nine vials, three vials for three potions and with Rowan done with her potion, the potion squad is ready to kick some vampire ass! Rowan went to her room to get her bag while Kate walk outside to meet the others "Although I do love a good old sarcasm, your remark got me thinking..." Kate say to the group and ask a very important question to everyone "...Why are they sending us? I mean, they could easily ask all of our parents to do the job since they have more experience then us but no, they want us to do. Does this seem very odd to all of you?" While waiting for their question to be answered, Rowan made it just in time before anyone leaves.

"Well, since Jean Luc and Charlie are the only people in the group that has cars, I think it safe to say that we are not driving with Summer." Kate say to Rowan with a smile and then look at Charlie, who will be their driver of today "So captain? When are we going to hit the sails?" Kate ask Charlie

@Jumbus@Melissa@KaijuBaragon

---

As expected, David was driving alone. He finished tying the tarp down, which adequately hid the arsenal of deadly weaponry it held. Hopping back into the front seat, he ignited the ancient engine and let it sit. It rumbled in a fashion few cars of the modern age did, David just let it sit and hoped that it didn’t explode. This truck would need to last him a 3 hour road trip and he had yet to put that to the test. Would it last him to Baltimore? Who knew, but did David care? Hell no. It was time to get on the road.

As David drove by landscape after landscape, he found himself admiring the countryside. As far as he could think back he had never really seen it, whether he was driving or being driven. He was glad he had control of this ride. The mission was imperative that everyone would be ready as soon as possible. But seeing the scenery he was passing by, he found it difficult to speed. In general, he kept to the speed limit throughout the journey. Not like it was hard to make such a decision with an armies worth of weaponry in the back.

Although it was great to see the countryside, the great expanse of land that he had never seen before. The quiet let in less pleasant thoughts. What would his dad say if he saw him right now? An arsenal in the back and driving off to kill multiple people, or at least they were close enough. Did his mum know about this? Did she know this is what spending the summer with the coven would entail? Was his father right. He would try his best to dissuade those thoughts, but they were becoming more and more frequent with the knowledge of impending danger and would come rocketing into the foreground everytime he thought of this ‘mission’. It was best to just let his mind sink into the scenery and ignore that issue, at least for now.

---

Sometime down the road he pulled over for a proper lunch. He was in no rush to get to Baltimore and the bloodsuckers any time soon so it was best to relax i.e. not eating in the car. He didn’t imagine the others were exactly going full throttle either. From his guess, Calypso’s car would be lucky if they reached Baltimore and didn’t take a detour to some theme park. So in short, he was planning on enjoying his lunch.

The place he pulled over in was just a roadside forest clearing with a park bench in the middle. The sort that would have been used if it were 50 years ago. Now it just looked like some dilapidated relic of the past. But that was what David needed, somewhere that no one is going to be looking at the truck. He sat down at the park bench and pulled out his lunch. David packed himself a poorly constructed chicken sandwich. He didn’t mind it though, it tasted all the same anyway.

Taking the time to absorb his surroundings, David noticed a couple of blue jays on a nearby tree branch. Did he have some special magnetism to this specific type of bird? He could only guess based on how much he saw. Only, these blue jays didn’t seem to pay him any mind. They went on their own business as if he weren’t even there. This was curious because of how the ones around the coven house acted. Or had he really been correct that it was the same blue jay. It was a curiosity of his to be sure. Tossing out a bit of bread in their direction, they did respond by flying down and pecking at it. But afterward they just flew away as if nothing happened. Doing the same thing, David had finished his food and was immediately ready to continue the journey.

---

Nearing the end of the drive, David was entering the urban areas of Baltimore. This was a much more familiar environment, he felt in his element entering here. But he still had one matter of business he wanted to attend to before he arrived at the hotel. His truck pulled up at the gaudiest pawn shop he could see.

“Look mate, as I said me and me Dad just moved over here from Aussie. He’s a bit of a collector and he wants something like this. So can you just sell it to me or do I need to get him in here mate.” It was a bold faced lie, but he doubted the store owner would sell the item to someone who looked as young as David. And on that note it worked flawlessly. Although, he had a suspicion that the owner really didn’t care how old David was in the end. David left the store with a brand new set of brass knuckles. He had always seen them in gangster movies and thought ‘damn it would be cool to have some of those’ and now he was admiring them on his fingers. What a place America is.

David pulled up to the hotel a bit later and began unpacking. To his shock, or maybe lack of shock, he was the first one there.

---

---

Dakota was curiously looking at the trunk of Calypso’s Jeep, and more specifically, her bag, which was taking up an awfully large amount of space in the trunk of the car. Dakota’s bag was large (made for backpacking), but it was so full of stuff that it looked like it was holding three times as much as it was actually supposed to hold. Dakota gave the gigantic backpack a few shoves to push it into the back of the trunk when she suddenly heard somebody yell “Shotgun!” before hearing the sound of running. Dakota jumped back, slamming the trunk shut, and made a beeline for the passenger side door, but by the time she had gotten there, Caleb was already in the seat with a cocky smile on his face. Dakota laughed. "You do know I called shotgun first, right?" she said with a surprisingly self-assured smile. "I called it, so it’s my seat!" she declared boldly, swinging the car door wide open and proceeding to get into the vehicle anyway. Acting as if Caleb did not exist, or was otherwise part of the seat, Dakota then proceeded to sit down in his lap, lounging back into him and kicking her boots up onto the dash. She leaned back into him, crushing their bodies together, and flicking her locks directly into his face, a very wide and boisterous smile on her face as she messed with Caleb.

The teen, who had been idly pondering on whether he should’ve brought his skateboard, suddenly felt the body dive on top of him. Blinking, he remained uncharacteristically quiet for a few moments before letting out a loud bark of a laugh. “You’re funny Dak.” Caleb grinned back, seemingly unperturbed by the unexpected weight of the younger witch on his lap. Reaching an arm around her, he moved to prod her playfully in the cheek with his index finger. It was something he always did when his little sisters would insist on following him around. “Everyone knows it only counts when the car’s in view!” He announced proudly, happy that he had remembered the rules of the made up game.

She laughed with that same endearing hyena cackle before eventually leaving Caleb be, rolling off of his lap. "Fine, take your front seat...but you’re not getting any of my snacks, you cheater!” she declared. She then stuck out his tongue at him before making her way to the back seat, swinging open the door and plopping down in the back-row seat behind Caleb.

The teen shrugged his shoulders when she moved away, resuming his attempts to turn on the radio. “Your loss! I was totally fine with sharing.” He mused idly as he fiddled with the array of buttons and twisty things. Nothing seemed to work and if Caleb had thought about it carefully, he probably would’ve realised it was because the car engine was not yet turned on. Though it’s probably for the best. I can never keep still when I’m on road trips. Giving it up as a bad job, Caleb leaned back in his seat, an arm moving to hang out of the open window.

Though Dakota had conceded her pursuit for the front-row seat, she was far from done with her quest to bother Caleb. She first rested her feet up on the chair in front of her, leaving her boots directly due left of Caleb’s face. She then casually lifted one of her hands, snapping her fingers a few times. "Magic Hands," she uttered, but unfortunately for Dakota, nothing happened. She grit her teeth. "Come on, I said Magic Hands!" she declared again, and this time she pulled the spell off, a light blue hand of ethereal energy slinking out from underneath her real hand and moving into the trunk. The hand of energy rummaged through Dakota’s bag for a few moments, before returning with a large bag of chocolate pretzels, which Dakota then proceeded to (very loudly) pop open. She grabbed a handful and popped them, one-by-one, into her mouth, the way a trainer would feed a tamed seal. She chewed them (quite loudly, on purpose) before grinning and tossing the oversized bag over the seat to Caleb. "Sharing is caring," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I expect the front seat on the way back though. Provided we don’t all get killed in Baltimore. Actually, I take that back. I want the front seat in the hearse."

Calebs gaze had followed Dakotas as she focused her attention on the trunk, a flicker of mischievousness pulling at the edges of his lips. His eyes glanced at the pair of boots, the laces slowly unravelling before looping around the headrest and tying themselves into neat bows. ”Sure, it’s all yours.” Caleb nodded once he had finished his task, catching the pretzels deftly between his outstretched hands. Also grabbing a handful, he purposefully stuffed as many as possible into his mouth before turning to grin at the witch. ”’ese are ‘eally ‘ood!” He exclaimed as he chewed on the satisfying mix of sweet and savoury, coughing for a few moments as he nearly choked on the tiny baked pastries. Might need a hearse sooner at this rate... He laughed when he had finally recovered and managed to come up for some much needed air.

Casting another Magic Hands, Dakota sent another paw of magic back into the seat, which returned with a small teal box that had the word ‘Marlboro’ printed on it. Showing no signs of hesitation nor regret, Dakota opened the box and removed a cigarette, resting the rest next to her as she lifted the coffin nail to her lips, holding two fingers at the end. A small blue flare shot up from her fingertips, lighting the cigarette, from which Dakota gave a puff. Dakota did have the decency to roll down the window and exhale outside of the Jeep, but this action was still not enough to prevent the faint smell of cigarette smoke from filling the inside of the car. ”Any of y’all want one? I’m, like, 90% sure this brand doesn’t fuck up your lungs or anything. Those are pretty good odds, you know! It’ll kill you much slower than fighting vampires either way.."

Iris came out of preparing a little late compared to most, while everyone else was in the car and getting lung cancer, she was trotting along outside to the sickly yellow Jeep she assumed Dakota and Calypso were in. She looked wildly more presentable compared to what she looked like this morning; Her messy hair was smoothed down behind her shoulders, and she was carrying a small backpack with numerous things in it, potions, a vampire book, and a dagger she hoped to not have to use. That wasn’t all she had, in one ear were her earbuds, playing and in her arm was a golem she dusted off. It resembled an owl in shape, and yet was the size of a large raven. How Iris was able to make a golem fly, she couldn’t remember, this golem was old, but she assumed it could have some use. She called it Crone. Crone was in a dormant state, having its heart removed to conserve magic energy, but it could fly easily as a real bird. Iris walked up to the Jeep and saw the smoke, a real Dakota move. She walked around to the other back door and sat in the ugly car next to Dakota. ”Hey, cancerous enough for you?’’ She joked as she carelessly tossed her bag behind her head and into the back, leaving Crone in the floorboards. ”What’d you guys pack? I brought books, birdbrain here and potions. Oh yeah, knife…’’ Iris could smell the cigarette in the car, gross. ”Anyway, you’re Caleb right? Hi, anyway uh...Oh yeah, I brought something. Here, where’d it go...uh. There.” Iris pulled a CD out of her coat pocket, a singular cd just...in there. ”I brought music.” It had a solid black cover with no writing or anything on it and it had just a few songs, though knowing Iris, she was probably the only person in the car who liked what was on it.

Calypso was the sort of person who took the word recommended to mean required. So when she was handed a list of recommended weapons to fight vampires, she took every single item on the list. A rifle, a pistol, a handgun, a flamethrower, some grenades, some brass knuckles, some cool knives… she shoveled them all into her duffel bag while she was in the armory, along with some both normal and silver ammunition that she thought looked right. The armory was a cramped, badly lit shed behind the house. The single lightbulb in the shed flickered on and off. It illuminated all sorts of weapons hanging off of the walls. Most looked somewhat modern, but there were a few delightfully antique weapons hanging off of the walls too. Pre-colonial era, even. Calypso could imagine her ancestors using these.

Once she was done gathering her copious amounts of weapons, Calypso zipped up her now incredibly heavy duffel bag and heaved it onto her shoulder. But it was so heavy that she couldn’t quite lift it, so, with a sigh, Calypso dug her fingernails into her palm and cast a spell to give her arm a bit of added strength. That’s better. With a loud creak, she opened the shed door and went to go pick up the bright yellow suitcase sitting outside. She had packed almost as soon as she had gotten out of the room, neatly folding her clothes, toiletries, and other things into her bag. She had even stowed a spellbook in there. She had changed from her original outfit into something she thought was a bit more city worthy. She hadn’t had to exchange her plain white tank, but she had donned a leather jacket, some jeans, some chic high-heeled black boots, sunglasses, and a cutehead wrap. While she was getting dressed, Calypso seemed to have forgotten they would be fighting vampires. But she had packed tennis shoes, too.

Dragging her suitcase behind her, Calypso walked to her car. Oh! Her smile brightened. Iris, Dakota, and Caleb were already there and… in the car? “Hey, guys! How did you get into the car- Kota!” She caught sight of a Marlboro sticking out of Dakota’s mouth and tutted. A subtle anger filled her, but she kept on her smile. Smoking? In Calypso’s car? Calypso lifted her suitcase and duffel full of weapons into the trunk and then went to the back door where Dakota sat, and slammed it open. “No smoking!” she scolded, and grabbed for the cigarette in Dakota’s hands. “You’re going to give yourself lung cancer, you know! Magic can’t cure lung cancer. And, by the way, my car is not your hotbox.”

”Calypso~!" Dakota moaned, as if she was a young child that had just gotten her favorite toy taken from them. She pouted. ”You’re a really great friend, but you have no sense of adventure." Dakota did not attempt to snatch the cigarette back, though. She did not want to set the car or Calypso’s hair on fire, and Calypso did have a point, although a very annoying point to be sure. ”Fine, fine, I won’t smoke in your Jeep. The window was open, by the way, so that’s not hotboxing. You want to see hotboxing, just wait until we get to our hotel room," Dakota said with a smirk. ”Here, Callie, let me stomp it out…" Dakota moved to get out of the vehicle, but because of Caleb’s trickery, instead just flopped to the floor of the Jeep like a dead fish.

”What in the hell?!" Dakota exclaimed as she climbed back into her seat. ”Caleb!" Dakota shouted, at first annoyed but soon beginning to laugh lightly, as she struggled to untie herself. She eventually managed to do so, pulling her legs off of the headrest. ”You better watch yourself, you! You’ve made yourself a terrible enemy," Dakota said with a good-natured but oddly menacing chuckle, leaning forwards and wrapping her arm around his forehead. She then planted her right knuckle onto the top of his head and proceeded to give Caleb a brutal noogie. ”You should know I’m much more dangerous than any of those vampires, you dummy!”

Caleb good-naturedly let himself be subject to the noogie, head tilted back, unable to contain the reams of carefree laughter that tumbled from his mouth. “Sorry it was just so tempting!” He finally managed to utter breathlessly, arms moving to wrap around his chest which was now aching slightly. “You should’ve seen your face though! You looked like…like-” Trailing off as he burst into another fit of laughter, a hand moved to wipe some tears away from his eyes as he admitted defeat, unable to complete his thought. “Well I don’t know what you looked like but it was hella funny!”

Calypso giggled at their antics, high and only slightly obnoxious-sounding. This funny scene almost made her forget about how Dakota had just smoked in her car. Almost. “Looks like someone’s finally met her match! Good prank, Caleb. Don’t worry. Kota’s all bark, no bite. And if she does bite… well, they’re love bites.” She turned and winked at Caleb, and then hung over the side of the window. “Now gimme that cig, Dakota. Full warning: if you smoke any more I’m making you ride with Arken.” With a commanding presence, she held her hand out for the cigarette. When Dakota put it into her hand, Calypso threw it down onto the dirt road and stomped with a vengeance. She took her foot off it and stared at it intently for a few seconds. She knew they were on a dirt road, but there was forest around here… she wouldn’t want to start a forest fire!

“First and only warning. Don’t smoke in my car again,” she warned, stern, but then patted her best friend’s head affectionately. “Now, it’s like…” Calypso checked her phone, “2:15. I spent 10 minutes loading Google Maps and it’ll luckily only take a couple of hours to get there. So we should probably get go- wait… wasn’t Alayna going to ride with us too?”

When it came to thinking about the weaponry she might need for this trip, there was only one thing that had come to Alayna's mind other than relying on her almost natural gift with fire. A hand reaches up to clasp that said thing around her neck, her fingers trailing over the intricate designs etched into it until she feels less intimidated by her current situation. With this as her backup, she should be fine the girl tells herself, as her necklace is enchanted to allow her to steal the strength of, and possibly kill, any supernatural creature it cuts into. Granted, she would have to get close to the creature in question to make it work, but it is merely a failsafe. After all, the biggest threat when it comes to vampires is probably their strength and speed. Take that away and they're all a pile of ash. And perhaps if she repeats this to herself enough, she'll be completely convinced that these monsters she's about to face cannot hurt her. And that Sister Deborah hadn't completely lost her marbles yet as a result of age.
Perhaps.

With her pink suitcase and pink duffle bag in tow, Alayna strides out the backdoor of the main house, looking around before spotting Calypso's vehicle (she'd at least remembered to ask her what it looked like before leaving the meeting earlier). Making her way over, she first notices a small commotion in the backseat, only hearing the end of the dispute once she comes to a stop next to Calypso. The smell of cigarette smoke reaches her nostrils, and she steps forward to catch a glance of the lung killer in Dakota's possession.

"Hi..." Alayna awkwardly interrupts before clearing her throat and adding, "Cal does make a good point, you know, Dakota." Before the ceremony, she would have never had the audacity to speak up this way, but things had changed. The witch couldn't feel more comfortable. And to further express this comfort level, she allows a smirk to play over her face before pouting.

"I was kinda hoping to get a window seat, but I'll find it in my heart to let it slide if I get a few pretzels." Alayna then turns to the girl next to Dakota, putting her hand up in a friendly hello.

“Alayna!” Calypso turned at the sound of her new friend’s voice, and raised her hand in greeting. “You’ll have to take the middle seat, yeah… sorry. Early birds get the worm, y’know? Caleb was the earliest bird of all, so at least you don’t have to deal with any manspreading.” She winked, and then caught sight of Alayna’s bags. “Oh, here! Let me take those… I cast a strength spell on myself earlier, don’t think it’s worn off yet.” With the effort one might use to lift a cup, Calypso lifted Alayna’s bags into the air and placed them gently into the trunk. She smiled and gave a thumbs-up to Alayna. “Go ahead and hop in. I have some scents up in the front seat, so the cigarette smell should go away soon enough. Just maybe… hold your breath.”

Alayna laughed a little at that. "You're right. I probably got off easy." She looks over at Caleb then, mouthing a silent, "sorry", in case she'd taken the joke further than she could. Although the boy had always given her the impression of being easy going the few times they'd spoken, so she probably had nothing to worry about. After her bags were taken care of, she thanks Calypso for her help with a thumbs-up of her own and gets into the car, looking out the window at the main house. A morbid thought occurs to her then, that perhaps this might be the last time she will ever see it; however, she immediately stops questioning her fate and looks away and at her new group of friends. This is what's important now, what she has before her. Whatever they are about to face, whatever they are about to do, they'll do it together. And with that self-assurance, she smiles to herself before laying her head back against the seat.

With everyone now in the car, Calypso wandered to the front seat and hopped in her car. She turned the keys in the ignition, took her sweet time adjusting her mirrors, and tightened her seat belt. Safety first! “Everyone good back there? All buckled up? Going to the city’ll be fun for all you country bumpkins, I’m sure, but we have to arrive alive first!”

”Yeah we’re good…” Iris said from the window seat by Alayna, rummaging through her pocket for the CD she had. ”Here, I packed some music, pop that in and just uh pick something, get some taste in this bitch.” She said reaching up to the front of the Jeep handing it to either one of the two up front who’d grab it first.

Calypso grabbed it, and took a look at the song list. She narrowed her eyes, furrowed her brows, and then chuckled. She had no idea that Iris was such a hipster! Even though Calypso considered herself a music person, she hadn’t heard of any of the bands or songs on this list. She shook her head, and handed the CD back to Iris. “Nah. No way. We’re listening to…” Calypso thumbed through her CDs, frowning, “some Dolly!” She popped the CD into the player, and it started to play Jolene.

”Uh, what the heck’s that…” Iris’ music taste clearly didn’t line up with Calypso’s. ”Gross. We’re doing mine next.” She joked. She didn’t actually mind listening to something she cared not even an atom for, but she wasn’t gonna do it all the way to whatever place Baltimore was in. ”Calypso, you poor thing…” She jabbed at the girl a bit, did this cubic bus driving girl even know decent music?

“No we’re not!” Calypso said cheerily, glancing at Iris in the rearview mirror. There was no way she was listening to Iris’s hipster swill. If she wanted to listen to her own music, she could’ve driven, damnit! “Next up is some good old-fashioned Taylor Swift. If you have any problems with that, feel free to hitch a ride in David's truck. Now, if we’re all good…”

With that, Calypso stepped on it, and began to drive down the dirt road of the mountainside, pulling away from the coven house.
At the last minute Caleb remembered to put on his seat belt, clicking it into place as the car rumbled gently along. He felt a rush of something, probably adrenaline, rush through his body at the thought of going on his first ever mission. Even if it was with boring vampires. Turning in his seat, a wide grin spread across his face as he glanced between the three girls crowded into the back. Bringing a closed fist to his mouth, he feigned a ‘clearing my throat before an important presentation ’ cough before sitting as upright as he possibly could. “Okay ladies and…gentleme- well, just me I guess. As the official representative of the passenger seat, it is my duty to make sure you’re sufficiently entertained for the duration of this car journey…” He paused for unnecessary effect before continuing.

“If you’ll make sure you’re tightly fastened in, Kota has kindly provided us with snacks which I encourage you to eat before she does.” Sticking his tongue playfully out at the girl in question, he quickly reached over to grab another pretzel from the bag. “Normally my favourite is 21 questions but I think we should play a good ol’ fashioned game of truth or car-contained dare. Followed by an unbearably loud sing-along to Swifty of course.” Focusing his attention back towards the front, he moved to look at Calypso, raising his eyebrows questioningly at her. “What dya think? Truth or dare is nearly as good as telling fortunes right?”

The yellow Jeep winded down the dirt mountain road, and the coven house disappeared behind the tall, green maple trees of the forest. Despite the sunny day, the road was slick with mud. It had rained last night, Calypso remembered vaguely from waking up to go to the bathroom and hearing the sounds of rain pattering against the roof. Calypso was internally hoping there weren’t any potholes to drive over or anything like that- she really didn’t want to have to unstick her car or anything. When Caleb began to talk, she turned down the music to where their voices could be easily heard over it. She listened to Caleb’s speech, amused, and giggled.

“Someone hit me with a pretzel,” she commanded, but didn’t hold out her hand for one. No way was she going to drive one-handed! “Truth or dare is an… alright car game, I guess! Better than ‘I Spy’. Although dares’ll be hard. Hm. I’ll go first!” Calypso kept her eyes steadily trained on the road as she spoke. She was driving at a steady 25 miles per hour down the mountain, only a few of the other cars behind her. “And I’ll go for… hm. Alayna, you’ve been awfully quiet. Truth or dare, roomie?”

This one would be easier! Calypso grinned at Alayna in the rearview mirror, and cocked her head.. “Truth. Alrighty.” Should she go hard, or should go soft? Calypso didn’t know much about Alayna, so would any more probing questions be met with anger? But she did want to actually know something about Alayna. So she went for an in-betweener. “What makes you the happiest?” she asked, confident that that was a safe one.

Her eyes pop open at the sound of her name being called, always having been a light sleeper. "Huh?" is the first thing that comes out of Alayna's mouth before her mind catches up to the question asked. She knew she would pay for the lack of sleep and can only pray that her mouth hadn't been open. "Uh truth, I guess," the witch replies, biting her lip nervously. Truth or dare had never been her favorite game to play, much preferring to be on the sidelines watching how things around her progress quietly. The mischievous glint in her friend's eye also isn't helping the situation, and the girl can't help but squirm a little in her seat.

This one would be easier! Calypso grinned at Alayna in the rearview mirror, and cocked her head.. “Truth. Alrighty.” Should she go hard, or should go soft? Calypso didn’t know much about Alayna, so would any more probing questions be met with anger? But she did want to actually know something about Alayna. So she went for an in-betweener. “What makes you the happiest?” she asked, confident that that was a safe one.

Once the actual question reveals itself, Alayna can't hold back her sigh of relief. It isn't an easy one to answer, but at least it isn't too personal. She takes some time to think about it, reaching over to steal a pretzel from Dakota's bag before she speaks.

"Being able to spend time with my dad." She surprises herself with her honesty at first but shakes it off. What were they going to do, make fun of her? Besides, she’s had years to accept that her childhood consisted of the best and happiest moments of her life so far, and that it is thanks to one person. "It was easier as a kid to be close to him but lately he's been really busy and when we do get the time, it's mostly just spent on witch-related stuff and, well... not," us" stuff. I've never been all that close with my mom either so there's that."

Alayna then gives them a moment to process her words and react before continuing, attempting to draw attention away from herself for a bit.

"What about you?" She blinks. "I-If that's okay?".

Calypso kept her eyes on the road while Alayna spoke, but fully paid attention. They were still winding down the mountain road, but getting closer and closer. The town was visible if you looked down the mountainside. “Deep,” she remarked, and laughed. “Good answer. Seriously. As for me… some boba tea will do it! And maybe a good rom-com.” She grinned. She hadn’t quite been expecting something so deep off of Alayna, but she couldn’t say she was disappointed. She hadn’t realized that her new friend was so close to her family. “Now, it’s your turn!”

"Oh right, it's still my turn, isn't it?" Alayna asks, placing a hand on her chin in mock concentration, "How about youuuu...Caleb! Truth or dare?"

Caleb, who had at some point undone his seatbelt, was now fully turned towards the back, hands clutching on the headrest as he watched the other witches. “Nice question Cal!” He nodded enthusiastically, grinning when Alayna decided it was his turn. “Well, seeing as you just went for truth, I guess I’ll go dare!”

Alayna takes her seat belt off, twisting in her seat to reach behind her to grab her duffle bag. Opening one pocket, she takes out the bag of cheese puffs there and tries to hand it to Caleb in the front seat.

"I dare you to stuff as much as this as you can in your mouth, without choking and dying, of course."

”Wow, the fuck.”

“Oh, that’s an easy one. I’ll have you know I’m a chubby bunny champion!” The corners of his mouth pulled up into a small smile as he reached his hand towards Alayna, gently taking the bag of cheese puffs from her. Opening it up, and accidentally spilling a couple on the floor, he shot Calypso an apologetic look before beginning to cram as many as possible into his mouth. Although somewhat messy, the teen was known for having a near endless appetite, and only stopped when he could barely take breath. “Ook aht ow any I ot n ere!” He mumbled incoherently before eventually managing to swallow the mouthful of food. “That was fun!” Caleb chirped, before his gaze strayed over to Iris. “Guess it’s your turn then…truth or dare?”

”Okay uh, truth.”

“Truth. Hm, okay…” Caleb paused for thought, munching idly on another cheese puff. “Alright I’ve got one!” A mischievous smile flashed across his face as he leaned closer towards the witch. “Do you have a crush on anyone in the coven? Elders included.” He laughed at the last part, shaking his head. “Well, not really...unless you do?” His eyebrows raised questioningly at her whilst he waited for an answer.

Well shit.

Crushes? Really?! On the surface Iris wasn’t really bothered but deep down she was somewhat panicking. She anticipated something like “Fuck-Marry-Kill” or whatever Alayna said, nevermind telling them about Dakota…

”Well, hmm… Now that I think about it, yeah, I guess there is.” She said airheadedly. ”Now I guess it’s Calypso’s turn. Hm…” She awkwardly tried to speed past getting asked about who since they were literally in the car.

”I dunno, I give up.“

Dakota, who had been keenly listening the whole time, leaned in. ”Woah, woah, woah, you’re gonna let her dodge the question like that?" She raised an eyebrow, a wicked grin on her face. ”Not sure whatever kind of wussy backwater state you guys have grown up in, but where I come from, you gotta finish what you started." She leaned over Alayna’s lap, looking in on Iris. ”Come on, spill the tea. Who is it? Are they older?” She wiggled her eyebrows. ”You better dish out the dirt to the rest of us common folk."

”Define older.”

”Like, old old. Elder old."

”Ew. The fuck.”

”Well, if they’re not older, that means they’re our age!” Dakota leaned over poor Alayna’s lap, resting her elbows on her legs, propping her chin up with her hands. ”Spill the beans! Who is it? Stop dodging the question!"

”Know what, Kota? How about I tell you when there aren’t other people in the car, cool?” This was making Iris just a little nervous.

“Ooooh, Iris has a crush!” Calypso shouted, enamored with the conversation. “Spill the beans, girl. Who is it? Is it Charlie? Hana? Summer? It’s gotta be someone we know.”

”I’m- not into guys, you know…” Did they though? Iris wasn’t exactly known for this cutesy love stuff, it was probably obvious by now with the way she never looked at a guy in any enamored way, but it was still a tad awkward talking about it here...How in the fuck do you get into and out of this one?

“Iris, just say it!” Calypso urged, and tightened her grip on the steering wheel. She had a gleeful, mischievous smile on her face. “Everything said in the Jeep stays in the Jeep. Promise.”

”Yeah!” Dakota said in agreement. ”We won’t say a word to anybody outside of this vehicle, promise."She held up her crossed fingers. ”Oh, shit, is it Jean-Luc? I can see it now, you two making potions together, all romantic...ooh, doesn’t Kate like potions too? So many options..."

“She just said she doesn’t like guys, dumbass.”

”Oh, right.” Dakota rolled her eyes. ”Listen, Curly, as long as it isn’t Summer, we’re all cool.”

“What if the person… is in this car?! Oh my God, is it me?” Calypso gasped, now entirely wrapped up in trying to find out who it was. “Nah. I bet Iris likes Rebecca. She seems like she’d be into dead people.”

”Callie, you gotta understand, nobody likes you,” Dakota said, sticking her tongue out. ”If Iris was gonna have the hots for somebody in this car, it would be me, obviously!” Dakota struck a flamboyant pose, before running her hand through her hair, obviously joking.

“First of all, fuck you, my first grade ex-boyfriend would disagree with you, second of all, it could be Alayna!” Calypso threw a pretzel at Dakota’s head from behind her back.

“I highly doubt that,” Alayna interrupts then while also rubbing her thigh where Dakota’s elbows had been, “Iris, you don’t have to say who it is if you don’t want to.” Somehow coming to the other’s defense feels right, especially if it turns out that she is the object of her admiration. It saves her from reacting in a way that may hurt her.

“You don’t have to but I’m totally gonna think it’s Sister Deborah if not.” Caleb teased lightly, gaze passing over those gathered in the back. “But for real, if you’re not ready to tell anyone that’s cool.” He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, not really having expected her to actually name names. “Anyway I’m sure we can all agree that Brother Lucien is the hottest member of the coven. All that grey hair and lack of emotions...damn!” The teen joked playfully, flourishing a hand so that the bag of cheese puffs slowly floated over to Iris.

”I…” She wasn’t sure how to go about this conversation. ”Not here… Iris clearly wasn’t alright with saying anything in front of this many people, and she normally didn’t get rattled like this. She laid back in the seat and just gazed out the window awkwardly thinking about how to do this. She still reached into the cheese puffs and catched the bag, resting it in her own lap. Her head was a bit messy, so she popped in earbuds to listen to something on her phone as she contemplated an idea…

---

---

What followed was awkward silence. For an hour. After Iris’s weird avoidance of the question (which made Calypso think that whoever she liked was in the car), everyone went quiet. So Calypso turned up the music and drove. They got off the mountain road, drove through Bluebrook, and emerged onto the freeway. She would quietly sing along to a tune occasionally, and had to switch the CD once, but other than that the car was mostly quiet. Occasionally, someone would try to interrupt the silence with a cracked joke or a question, but they were quiet for the most part. Most of everybody in the car silently browsed their phones, read a book, or stared out the window at the passing scenery. Soon enough, Calypso could see their exit in sight. She gulped.
She would be lying if she said she wasn’t scared. It was just a tickle of nervousness at the back of her brain, sure, but it was still there. She had never really fought anything before. Unless you counted her friends during “hardcore magical Capture the Flag”, which had never ever gone well. This would certainly be an experience. But after a few minutes stuck in her own head, Calypso didn’t quite want to worry herself into oblivion, so she spoke up.

“Everybody ready and excited for a bit of vampire hunting?” she asked the car, nervousness clear in her voice. She glanced in the rearview mirror and flashed a smile, at least. “Hopefully we’ll be done quick, at least.”

”We should probably talk about how we’re gonna do this, right?” Iris asked.

"Yeah, that's sort of what I meant? Like, we could talk strategy maybe," Calypso respondedd

”I brought a book with vamp stuff in it, and a knife and some garlic, won’t kill them but they won’t like it much either.” She had that book for a while, it finally came in handy.

“Well, you know me. Firegirl and all,” Alayna added, “Although I do have a backup in case that doesn’t work out for whatever reason.” She feels for said backup hanging around her neck, her stomach twisting like a riptide in a thunderstorm. At least, by the tone of Caly’s voice, she isn’t the only one who is a little afraid.

“Can I be real with you guys for a second here? Considering that we already...you know...lost two witches because of this same group we’re after, doesn’t it seem weird that 9 of us rookies are being sent out with so little knowledge of what’s to come?” Alayna stops here, suddenly unsure if she should have said what she had. Still, it is too late to take back her words now and all she can do is wait for her question to sink in.

”Well, Deb never really had her head on straight anyway…” Iris joked. ”I guess we should bet on dying, best case, we’re wrong, worst case we, we’re prepared to do something about it.”

Calypso’s mouth hung open in shock. She hadn’t expected them all to just be so disrespectful towards the elders! This was a time-honored tradition. “You guys!” she admonished, and turned into the exit. The skyline of Baltimore loomed close. “I can’t believe you would even say that. Sister Deborah and all the elders know what they’re doing. I’m pretty sure that if these rookie missions regularly killed witches, they wouldn’t have us go on them. She said it was only a couple vampires. It’s not a big deal. Every single initiate ever has went on one of those. Your parents, Alayna; my mom; your dad, Kota… we’ll all be fine. Don’t be so negative. We have plenty of information. I’m pretty sure we’ll know a vampire when we see one, you guys.”

”They can be pretty hard to spot unless you’re staring at them, and that’s weird.”

Alayna cringes inwardly at Iris's words about them dying but still smiles somewhat at the irony of them having thought the same about their coven head. While she would love to believe that everything was going to be all fine and dandy, considering it is the same Sister Deborah that sent two of their fellow witches to die it is hard to have the same complete faith that Calypso does. Still, she supposes there isn’t much she can do about any of this other than to trust her friends and her abilities.
“I just hope we’re not too late.”

”I brought a golem and a sharp thing so we’ve got friends, we can laugh in Deb’s little face when we get back.”

Calypso shook her head. They didn’t get it, clearly. She had always had complete faith in their leaders, in the power of witches, so to hear it so clearly disregarded by her friends was baffling. How could they think that? “Nuh-uh. You guys are wrong, everything will work out! Just watch. We’re gonna have an awesome first mission. We just maybe need to do a bit of… strategizing!”

”It’s important to do our best, but it’s important to win too.” Iris added, quoting Lord Shaxx from the back.

Calypso sighed. It was clear that she wasn’t going to win this argument. Some of her fellow teens were just anti-authority, and she couldn’t fix that! They’d learn, though. Everything would go well. The elders knew what they were doing! If they said it wouldn’t be hard, fighting vampires wouldn’t be hard. Calypso kept driving, a silence settling over the car in the wake of their small disagreement. So she cranked up the music. Taylor Swift blasted for the next half an hour as they drove down the freeway.

---

---

Eventually, the Baltimore skyline came into view. Skyscrapers stretched up, touching the sky. Calypso didn’t seem too impressed, unlike some of the country bumpkins in the car might’ve been. “Look, guys!” she said, enthused, and took a hand off the wheel to point at the skyline. “We’re here! In Baltimore! Home of the Ravens. And vampires, apparently.” She giggled at her terrible joke.

It took an additional 15 minutes to drive to their hotel. Calypso’s Jeep weaved its way through the city, finally parking at an unassuming little La Quinta Inn. They were the first to get there. It… wasn’t a nice hotel, perse, but it was good enough! The coven only had so much money, Calypso reminded herself. The hotel was in an alright spot in Baltimore, although still well within mugging territory. They parked and stepped out of the car.

“Alright, you guys!” Calypso said, cheerily, and pulled out the folder, which had somehow acquired a sun sticker in the past three hours. “We’re here. Our rooms are…” She flipped open the folder, going to the hotel page. “204 and 205! I think the intent was that guys take one room and girls the other? That’s just common sense, though! Anyways…” Calypso opened the trunk and immediately went for the duffel bag full of guns and her suitcase. “We’ll probably need to illusion the bags with the guns and stuff. And, like, use a lot of illusions to get in and out… but it’s a La Quinta. So. And… there’s a pool! That’s cool. And free continental breakfast… anyways! Race you guys!”
And with that, Calypso cast a quick spell on her bag and dashed to the check-in desk, taking off through the parking lot.

---

Rowan's car group had arrived a bit earlier than the others. But as agreed they did not enter until they were at full numbers. It was already dark, but the silence screamed far too loud with the feeling of eyes on them. Rowan was nervous, well that is an understatement. Ever since the conversation in the car she couldn't get one fear out of her head that town of Gary no longer belonged to the living. Of course, she had no way of knowing this was the case. It was just her nature to fear the worst had already happened and now they had just willingly drove into the heart of it all in the town center.

Watching Jean Luc's car approach the motel parking lot, she could see just how out of place the witches must look. "Well if the vampires have eyes on the town, they certainly know we are here now. Probably know our faces too." Rowan nervously crossed her arms as she shifted her gaze to see if she could catch potential onlookers. This was a fruitless endeavor and almost convinced her that the feeling of being watched was all in her head. But the feeling was all too palpable.

Upon Jean Luc's group getting out of the car Rowan addressed the group. "Well glad everyone made it here safe. Lets check in and get our stuff packed. I don't want to be out in the open too much longer." Getting a move on, she grabbed her bag out of Charlie's car and slung it over her shoulder. "Oh Charlie, when you guys are all settled in. Could you three head over to our room? We need to start getting a plan together." Rowan's talking incrementally grew in pace, but she managed to get all that out with a hitch. The fear of social situations seems a bit lessened when faced with this greater danger.

Rowan waited for someone else to do all the check in business then continued to the room she was sharing. In general, Rowan hated the look of this place. The whole thing looked like it was going to crumble down and don't even start on the stench of mold. The rooms inside were better thank god, but not by much. At least it wasn't covered in mold, well for the most part anyway. Rowan dropped her bag by her single bed and sat waiting for everyone else so they could begin the meeting.

---

About a half hour later the nine witches were all gathered in the same room.

"Hi, uh, ok thanks everyone for coming. I called in everyone because I think we need to get a plan of action. Now I don't think we should do much tonight outside of making sure we can sleep safely. I think its best we have some of us check the perimeter and then have someone keep watch throughout the night on top of magic locks and all that.

"Tomorrow, while the sun is up, I think its best we try to figure out just how much of this town has been taken over. They probably already know our faces, so I will work on the Circle of Shifting Guises ritual tomorrow." Rowan looked meekly at Summer who was across the room. "I could, um, use your help with it Summer. Same goes to anyone else who is good with rituals."

---

Speaks with: Summer @Danvers

---

---

After hours filled with researching, selecting various herbs from her garden, and scouring the army for appropriate weapons that she was capable of using, Hana found herself in front of three separate cars. She didn’t know which car she would ride in yet but made her way to David’s car to drop off the chosen weapons since she didn’t want to continue to lug them around. It seemed as though the plan was that they would use the truck for transport of those items and would leave the other cars free for people and any extra storage needed. At least that is what she was going to assume since there were already multiple weapons in the back of it that would need to be strapped and tarped. Hana readjusted the two bags that would be going with her on the trip and took a look at the group climbing into or hovering around Calypso’s car, instantly feeling a bit of panic at the thought of climbing in.

The thought of spending three hours in the backseat and pressed in the middle or into the side of the door had her skin crawling. She hated being in cars, they had a way of making her feel trapped and the more people or traffic then the worse it got. It instantly made her reject wanting to be a part of that car for the trip. David’s car was unfortunately a truck which meant compartment wise it would be smaller and if it wasn’t then she didn’t really know him all that well yet so she didn’t want to be tense all trip. That left only one option but she didn’t want to impose if he wasn’t alright with the company. Hana tightened her grip on the straps of her bags and nervously moved over to Arken’s car. She lightly tapped his shoulder and asked softly,”H-Hey Arken, um..would you mind if I rode with you?”

Arken was standing by the open trunk of his car. “Ugh. Why did dad have to come take the Jeep from me and leave me with this ridiculous car that sticks out like a sore thumb…” Arken mumbled. He stared at the matte black muscle car. “How is that practical for me to drive anyways… I feel like I’m going to step on the damn gas too hard and take off towards the moon or something… Such an ostentatious car, especially for a middle-aged man…” Arken sighed, dropping off his duffle bag of clothing items into the empty trunk. “At least dad kept it clean…”

He sighed again, looking around at the rest of his group and how they’re gathering around the cars they seemed to be taking for the trip. David’s car became the de facto equipment car, since everyone piled their gear into the bed of his pickup truck. Arken idly adjusted the leather pouch that hung relatively loosely on the left of his waist. He had tossed the backpack he prepared into the back seat of his car, seemingly assuming that he would be driving alone.

Just as he was about to shut his trunk and get in the car, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. It was Hana, asking if she could ride with him. “Oh. Hi Hana. Uh. Yeah, of course. Here, go ahead and just drop your bags off in the trunk. We should setting off soon anyways. This is my dad’s car. A bit impractical if you ask me, but its what I’ve got at the moment so it’ll have to do.”

The car’s engine and exhaust rumbled softly, giving their conversation a soft background noise amidst the other mumbled conversations happening around them.

”It’s just as good as any other car.” Hana replied absentmindedly as she placed one of her bags into the car while keeping the travel one on her. She figured there would be enough space by her feet to tuck it in there and not have it be in Arken’s way while still being reachable. In all honesty, she had been hoping one of the drivers had a motorcycle or something that wasn’t so enclosed but there was no such luck. She had been saving up to get herself one but with her focus mostly on practice and helping the coven house, she found it impossible to really keep a consistent job. ”Th-Thank you so much for l-letting me ride with you.”, she said before carefully shutting the trunk, figuring they could easily open it back up if anyone else was joining them. Hana let the purr of the engines as well as the multitude of mumbled conversation fill the comfortable silence as they waited for the time when everyone would start to hit the road. She tucked her hands behind her back, rocking on her feet as she tried to think of something to say or not keep it too awkward but what came out was just plain stupid instead. ”The w-weather is nice today isn’t it? Wait, s-sorry...that was dumb, um...h-have you ever been to Baltimore b-before?”

Arken had walked over to the passenger side to open the door for Hana at this point. He was chuckling inwardly at how awkward Hana is being. He thought to himself “You don’t really have to be this gentle with this car. I couldn’t care less if it gets dinged up… Dad took my fucking jeep anyways…” Having swung the door open, Hana would smell a slight tinge of Febreze Fresh Linen and an even fainter smell of Dior Sauvage. Febreze was his father’s air freshener of choice. The Dior cologne was Arken’s scent of choice at the moment. “Oh uh, yeah, no worries. It seems like all the other cars are full anyways. What I’m trying to say is it would be nice to have some company for the drive.” Arken said, waiting by the passenger door.

When Hana would approach, Arken would reach out, placing a hand at the small of her back and guide her into the car that sat slightly lower than ‘normal’. “Watch your head and feet, I’ll close the door for you.” he said with a small smile. Taking a small step back, he gave Hana a moment to get settled into the seat before closing the door for her. Walking over to the driver side, he opened the door and stepped in, casual as you’d like. It was as if they were just going on an easy Sunday drive, and not a potentially deadly mission…

“Ready?” Arken asked idly. He took the brief moment between his question and actually setting off to attach his iPhone to the magnetic vent mount he had on one of the front air vents. The bluetooth soon connected. “Oh, and yeah. The weather is quite nice. Good driving weather this is.” He said with a small smile, not minding the fact that Hana chose the classic ‘Ah, look at the weather’ way to start a conversation. “Um, no, I’ve not been to Baltimore. Thats in Maryland, right? They have good food there I heard…” Arken said idly again. Shifting the car into gear, the engine offered a low growl that betrayed how much power was actually under the hood. As Arken took off, he accelerated smoothly, the car picking up speed effortlessly. A small hum came on through the car’s stereo. “Ah. La Vie En Rose…” He said, in slightly accented French. The song continued to play in the background, in stark contrast to the vehicle they’re in and how Arken usually presents himself...

”A-At least that is s-something to look forward to. I d-don’t know much about Baltimore.” Hana admitted, picking at the frayed bits from the overall shorts. She was actually excited for the mission they had been handed but also extremely worried about what they were taking on. She wasn’t as defenseless as most probably thought but it still worried her that someone would be hurt or that the vampires would be faster than they all could defend. She felt the panicked nerves build but was calmed by the soft hum of music, one she recognized. A gentle smile tugged at her lips,”I love this song though...I, umm, I hope i-it isn’t rude to say but..I didn’t expect you to like this kind o-of music. It’s a nice surprise. Is there any other type of music you enjoy?”

Arken nodded along. “Yeah. Baltimore. Not somewhere I expected myself to be visiting, especially under these circumstances.” Idly picking up the bottle of water nestled in the center cup holder, Arken opened it with the help of his hand that was on the steering wheel and took a small sip from it. ”Oh, um, that bottle of water in the holder by your door is for you if you want it. Arken said. Arken’s gaze would occasionally drift from the road in front of them to Hana, for the briefest moments. He noticed that Hana seems to be playing with her hair a lot. From what he knew, people played with their hair as a nervous tick. Hopefully Hana was nervous about the mission and not about Arken’s drive, which he is keeping rather tame and ruly in her presence.

He instinctively wanted to reach his hand over to try to calm her, thinking that she is nervous. Often, he can’t read minds and doesn’t know that she is actually excited. Would reaching over now be doing too much or stepping over the line? The song that played in the background was heading towards the finale, and Arken was there just thinking up imaginary scenarios and doing a little back and forth dance route with his hand physically. “Um. Haha. Yeah. My music taste is quite varied I guess you could say. I usually just put my stuff on shuffle and let it be. For all I know the next song after this can be some ratchet Drake song or like… My Chemical Romance from back in the day or something.” He said with a small chuckle. The song in the background slowly faded out. After a brief silence, a smooth, droned out synthy bass filled the car. “Ah. See. Its Bad Bunny, and Drake. I went from French to Spanish…” He said, again with a small chuckle. This brief pause from his previous thoughts seemed to have made him forget whatever his inhibitions were and he just reached out and grabbed her hand “Look, I don’t know if you’re nervous or what, but I got you.” He said, bumbling over his words a little…

Hana gave a light chuckle at Arken’s answer that the music could drastically change once the next song rolled around, moving in more of a direction she had visualized him to enjoy. As if the universe had heard him, it changed to not quite the song he had been joking about but hit the nail on the head with one of the artists and she couldn’t help but genuinely laugh at the coincidence. He would know his own playlist well but it tickled her pink nonetheless that it had happened. It helped elevate some of the nerves and stress that was building of the ‘what ifs’ of this mission. She knew it did no good to dwell on those things but sometimes she let her emotions get the better of her or let her nerves get way too frantic. It was only moments after her laughter died down that she felt a hand take her own and she turned her gaze to the only person it could belong, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

Part of it was due to the embarrassment of being caught acting nervous, probably unconsciously doing one of her tell tale ticks and the other was because she felt touched that he had tried to comfort her when it could have been ignored. Hana gave his hand a soft squeeze and gave a soft warm smile.”Thank you, Arken. I g-guess I am nervous...I worry about e-everyone else getting hurt b-but part of me is excited too. I m-mean, this is our first mission so how could I not be a l-little excited that they trust us this much, t-to do something like this. S-Sorry, that probably sounds weird. The Elders practically raised me and…. m-maybe part of my nervousness is not wanting to be a disappointment or fail a-as well as wanting nobody to be hurt.” she said, feeling a bit flustered again talking about it. It also seemed like a huge downer and had her biting her lips a bit. She quickly grabbed the bottle from the door, taking a sip to get herself to stop talking for a moment and gather herself before attempting to speak again. ”B-But enough about that, umm, e-ever play twenty questions? We could give that a try...l-learn a bit more about each other, keep away boredom and what not?”

That one small squeeze Hana offered felt like the world to him. Both in weight and significance. It felt so reassuring but it also felt like the weight and responsibility of the world followed behind it. “There is nothing to be nervous about. Look, the elders know us, or you, better than anyone else other than our parents. They would not have sent us on this mission if they didn’t think we can handle it. Beside, I’m sure you’re a fine witch, fully capable of taking care of yourself and others. On top of that, you have me.” He offered her a small smile and a wink.

The car banked gently left and right, following the curvature of the road. The previous song slowly drew to a close. The next song was another odd one perhaps. “Hm. Sinatra. I guess my playlist is in some sort of mood today…” The familiar crooning of days past filled the car. “Um, I’ve played that, but sure, ask away.” He smiled softly again. Then he mumbled “I-I’d love to get to know you better…” softly.

She smiled brightly, glad that her suggestion had been easily agreed to and started to try to think up a question. She decided to take one of the easier routes and keep away from anything too heavy or awkward. It was always best to start simply, right? Well, that was the logic she was gonna go with for now. The last thing she would want was too serious questions so it seemed fair to do unto others that you would want done unto you. ”Alright, so what is your favorite color?” Hana asked.

Arken noticed that she wasn’t stammering anymore. Thats good, right? Arken made no effort to comment on it, and just let it slip by as if he did not notice. It seems like Hana was more at ease with whatever she may be dealing with. That is definitely an improvement to what she was feeling previously. The previous drew to a close. The next song was a simple jazz song one would likely hear at any number of local cafes that served overpriced drinks and locally sourced baked goods.

Arken took a small sip from the bottle of water in the center cup holder. “Mmm. If I had to pick just one, I’d say red. Normally, I’d ask what yours was but let not keep asking the same questions. Let me see…” Arken said, pausing briefly. pcolor=BFA658] “Ah, this could be fun. What is your favorite spell and what does it do?” [/color] Arken asked. Obviously he is not trying to assess anything related to the mission, but more so he wants to get her to start talking about herself...

”I-I’m not sure if I have a favorite...but I do have some things I’ve been trying to work on! I’ve really been getting into scrying, trying spells to track and location people or items. S-Sadly, it has been hit and miss just like a few other things I’ve been trying to work on.” she answered with a bit of a shrug before taking another sip from her water as she tried to think up a new question. ”Oh, I got one. What is your fondest childhood memory?”

“Ah. Those will definitely come in handy, especially on this mission. We’re being asked to hunt something that easily blends into the shadows as it is. I’m sure you’ll do fine and be very useful during the mission.” Arken said. Taking a sip from his own water, the pair was now passing through the city of Chantilly, VA. “It seems like we’re about half way according to my GPS…” Arken said absentmindedly. “Uh, fondest childhood memory… Probably going to a Yankees game with my dad, one of the last games at the old Yankee stadium. That place, its like the holy grail of baseball…” Arken said with a small chuckle. “I’ll ask one. What do you want to do, or be, after we eventually move out of the coven house?”

”I-If they end up working then i-it could be helpful but if not then at least I can heal. I’m...I’m sure I can find a way to contribute.” She said, feeling very small and doubting herself. She wished she could have as much confidence in herself that Arken seemed to have in her. Hana gave a tiny nod at the mention of where they were. It felt like no time had really passed but they say time flies when you are having fun. At least it wasn’t a silent ride and she was actually managing to speak so thank the stars for small favors. ”That sounds nice. I’ve never been to a sports game but I’m not much of a fan of watching sports. It seems more fun to play.” she said. She frowned a bit at the question and shrugged lightly. ”Honestly, I don’t know. I love painting so maybe I’ll try to be an artist or if that fails maybe a chef since I love to cook. It’s hard to say.” Hana replied. ”My turn, let’s see...hmm..oh, what kind of things do you enjoy doing in your free time?”

“I’m sure you’ll be alright. Trust.” Arken said, almost nonchalantly. It wasn’t that he didn’t care. He definitely did. It was just that he was sure that she would be fine. He wasn’t trying to sound arrogant, or overly sure of himself. In reality, he wasn’t. He didn’t know what they were getting into, he didn’t know how things would turn out, he didn’t know how the mission would end. But, what good is it to doubt anything at this moment? He has the rest of his friends at his back, and he will be at theirs should it be needed. That is all that he needed to believe it.

Of course he doesn’t outright say this to Hana…

“Ah, we have to go. I’ll take you to a baseball game. Maybe in Baltimore. Camden Yards is also a classic baseball stadium...Although the Orioles aren’t all that good… Its fine. You go for the atmosphere anyways. If the teams are good, thats just a bonus.” Arken said with a small chuckle. “And thats just it. We’ll go visit all the sights, sports stadiums and all that. You can paint those too, capture the moment type of thing. Cooking huh. Interesting…” Hearing Hana’s question, Arken smiled softly before replying “Well, what a coincidence. I like cooking as well. Otherwise I don’t really do a whole lot. I like going on hikes and just being out in nature. Maybe thats just because of my magic being so attuned to the outdoors.” Arken said with a small shrug. The pair is now pulling up on the outskirts of Washington D.C. on highway 495. “Oh, its Washington D.C. Maybe we can double back this way when the mission is over for some tourist-y sightseeing…” Arken said with a small chuckle. ”Since you like cooking, my question is when are you cooking for me? Arken asked with a smirk and a small wink should Hana turn to look at him.

”If you say so, but don’t blame me if I only go for the food and to watch the mascots be silly.” she laughed before adding,”It would be fun to maybe sketch and draw somewhere completely new and the sights would be nice to see if we aren’t all exhausted or up to our ears in vampire fights.” There was a soft pause for a moment and Hana found herself glad that she was able to talk without being a stuttering mess. She wanted to feel comfortable with everyone, to be able to trust in everyone and become a real team. This was at least a good start to trying. The really new people would take time, much more than a few hours but she hoped she could have situations like this with each of them.

”Oh you do? We should exchange recipes some time! I agree with you though, hiking and being a part of nature is a good alternative to cooking. It is probably why I go running in the mornings. It must be even more amazing with magic in tune with all that is around you.”, she replied with a gentle smile and looked out the window as Arken spoke of Washington D.C. and talking about doubling back that way after it was all over. ”That isn’t a bad idea, especially if we all don’t get to sightsee in Baltimore!”, she smiled glancing back over to Arken before looking out the window once more. She had almost forgotten the game they were playing until her companion started to ask a question, drawing in her attention. Hana instantly felt a blush on her face and turned away from the window to look at Arken. She started to feel a bubble of nervous energy and tried to take a deep breath but that was little to no help. She blushed deeper, playing with her hair as she spoke, ”W-Well, I don’t know about cooking b-but I actually couldn’t sleep last night s-so I was up baking. I-I...um, I made some c-carrot cake muffins w-with cream cheese frosting a-and brought some as a trip snack, if you wanna t-try them. I-It might be a little messy to eat w-while driving though”

“I mean, what else does one go to a baseball game for?” Arken said, chuckling slightly. It was refreshing to see, and hear, Hana banter with him. He continued, “Oh for sure. I mean, I feel like we should be ok. The vampires aren’t active during the day anyways. We should have some time to unwind a little. All that tension can’t be good for my skin…” Arken said as he made a joking gesture to run his right hand down the right side of his face.

The GPS reminded them that they should be pulling off the highway soon as they approach the outskirts of Baltimore. “Mm. We should be there soon. We’re pulling into Baltimore now. I wonder if the rest of the group are there yet…” Arken idly commented. He also thought about how the hotel situation will play out. No doubt the rooms will be split, but he was more so wondering about the general condition of the rooms. He wasn’t expecting five-star accommodations but at least it won’t be some dingy roadside motel…

“Carrot cake, huh. Sounds really good…” Arken said, glancing over at Hana. Noticing that she was twirling her hair again, he naturally reached out and softly moved her hand. “Stop that.” He said softly. “I’m sure the cake is fine. The fact that you baked it because you couldn’t sleep is a little funny to me though. Let’s share it with the group in the hotel...” Arken said. The car slowly meandered through the street of Baltimore, approaching the prearranged hotel.

Hana nodded softly with a light smile and replied, ”That sounds like a great idea.” She made sure to avoid the strangeness of not being able to sleep, not really wanting to talk about the reason behind it. She mostly just hoped it didn’t happen on the trip while she was surrounded by even more people than usual. She turned her attention out the window, taking in the sights of Baltimore as they made their way to the hotel, not taking long to see the view as they began to approach the hotel.



She grabbed her bags from the car before giving a quick wave goodbye to Arken for now, heading to the room to join the other ladies. She didn’t really care who ended up bunking with her so she just tossed her bags on one of the open beds which was closer to the door than the window and set to work on Calypso’s plan. It took awhile for everyone to get settled but eventually they all had pizza in hand and were calculating with the whole group on the best location to set up a stake out and catch the vampires in the grave robbing act. It would be the perfect time to see how the vampires operated and could potentially lead them to where the vampires were hiding. The obituaries proved to be the most valuable source of information, a woman named Madison Hawkins coming up with clear signs of being bitten even though the ruling by the police was change entirely but that was to be expected since mortals didn’t know the truth of vampires unless they were unfortunate to become one. Her heart hurt for this woman she did not know even though she knew she couldn’t allow herself to think or look at it that way.



For hours they stood, surrounded by silence and not a single one of them daring to fill the void with speech in fear the vampires were near. They had been switching off on the invisibility spell to cloak the group, Calypso now in control of keeping them from view along with the darkness of the shadows as light of the pathway did not quite reach this place. It seemed to make the polished well maintained tombstones look dreary and made the place which was already so devoid of life even more depressing and boring. Hana couldn’t really say she hoped the vampires would appear but at the same time, it had to be better than waiting around for nothing to happen. They couldn’t have been wrong could they? Maybe they had already dealt with this grave or maybe someone else was of more interest to the vampires? She was about to ask the others their thoughts on maybe scouting out a bit further when two pale looking men appeared, one of them very clearly pointing in their direction at the tombstone they had been observing.

She felt herself tense, carefully glancing to the others in her group and hoping Calypso could keep up the spell. Hana could feel her heart racing frantically and was just praying the vampires’ senses wouldn’t pick up on any of them. The last that they needed was to lose the element of surprise which they had so carefully laid out. She felt herself practically holding her breath, trying to make as little noise as possible while the vampires got closer. They seemed to be getting to work, the shovel out and plunging into the dirt which while not really the happiest things to witness was a much better than them instantly suspecting something was amiss. That hope and relief was instantly dashed though as the one that put shivers down her spine spoke about sensing another presence. She felt panic sink in and looked to the others of the group with large eyes like a deer in headlights or a rabbit spotted by a wolf before preparing to dash. Hana carefully followed Calypso’s lead, trying to keep side stepping and back from the swatting hand.

At the third swat though, she had been just a touch too slow and was harshly pulled into Dmitri’s space which caused her to let out a mostly startled cry but tinged with pain. She was too close for her liking, her wrist locked in a hard icy grip that would most likely bruise but that was far from where her worry was right now. Hana noticed how close her wrist was to his face, those deadly fangs barely a beat away from her skin. She felt frozen for a moment, simply trying to tug from his grasp when the word witches spat from his lips. Her blood instantly ran cold as he didn’t say witch, he had said witches which meant the others could be seen. Hana didn’t have a time to worry about them though as her wrist was viciously yanked even closer to the elder vampire’s mouth. She quickly took her free hand, reaching for the knife at her waist as she knew kicking or fighting without a weapon wouldn’t be the best idea. It hadn’t worked earlier when she struggled and that wasn’t about to change now. At least the distraction from her team was working in her favor for the time being or so she thought.

The moment her hand curled around the handle of the knife was when a sharp pain exploded in her wrist. Her free hand instinctively let go of the knife, shoving at the vampire to pry him off which was futile but her mind wasn’t focused on the fact a weapon would be a benefit but honed in on the pain. Hana had no idea if she screamed more or even how long he had been attached to her wrist but it felt like agony. She felt him trying to pull her other arm away, trying to remove the offending appendage that was interrupting his meal so Hana changed tactics and roughly dug her fingers into his hair at the back of his head, yanking the strands backwards with all of her strength to try and force him away from her wrist.

The position forced the vampire to let go of her wrist, obviously planning to attack her in another way as he grabbed her neck but with her wrist free, she pulled out a chunk of his hair before using her now bloody hand to grab a hold of her knife and take a shot at his heart. Sadly, she was rather at a disadvantage as she was hurt, struggling to breathe as she dangled in the air, and slower from blood loss. Dmitri caught her arm with a sickening grin, her blood still dripping from his mouth but while he was grinning, Hana was glaring. He moved her closer, planning to attack again but paused, a frown appearing on his features as the grass around them started to rapidly wilt and die. Water started to boil and build up from the ground around them, the spark of magic in the air which had him dropping the witch in his grasp to dodge a forceful wave of water. Hana coughed, panting and gasping for air as exhaustion clung to her, blurring the edges of her vision. It wasn’t wise to keep fighting, it was in all the rules when dealing with bites but she knew she had at least an hour if she was lucky before symptoms sunk in. She could try to hold off on using too much magic, stick to guns and support as best she could. There was nowhere for her to run or hide anyway so this was all she could do. She weakly picked herself up and placed the hair she had pulled into her pocket before working to head towards the car so she could get the other part of the group's help and maybe find a better vantage point to snipe the vampires. She didn’t have the energy to deal with her wound right now nor did she have time to stop since the vampires could block her path at any moment.

There had been much discussion on how to proceed with the mission, but never did Alayna imagine that it would be such a boring affair for this long. Her eyes are drooping, her body not quite used to being awake at such a late hour. Being surrounded by the dead and the completely silent living isn't helping either, a part of her wanting to say something, anything, to break the monotony. Although, the witch supposes that there was a certain comfort in knowing that everyone is as tense as her. If the vampires were to show up now, they should have the element of surprise. To take that away from her team would be to play this whole thing off as a joke. And that surely may cost them a significant advantage, her eyes widening as the sound of an unfamiliar voice reaches her ears.

The hair on Alayna's arms rises as the two vampires appear before her and her group, making their way in their direction. Her hands instinctively reach for the weapon hanging around her throat to quieten the sound of her heartbeat, her eyes sticking on the vampire that seemed to be the oldest of the two. The bigger threat. The one that could ruin everything for them. The older ones, after all, have a much keener sense of smell for magic, invisibility cloak and all. Yet, as long as they are not visible and stay out of the older one's path, her group will still have the first blood advantage.

So when the invisibility cloak suddenly drops, Alayna feels her heart rate plummet, her body growing cold as the night air that wraps around her. Hana. Hana is in danger, is the first thought that pops into her mind as she hears a small shriek not far from where she stands. Before she can react, however, a smaller female figure appears before her, startling her with the speed of her attack. The witch barely dodges the blow aimed at her neck, words of a simple fire spell already on her lips as a counterattack. Instead of aiming it at her opponent, she places the small wall of fire between the now injured Hana, who thankfully was able to defend herself somehow, and their undead offenders, effectively separating her from the situation.

For now, Alayna thinks, wincing slightly as she feels a sharp pain in her right cheek and blood trickling down her neck from the small gash she'd apparently sustained. Any lower and her neck might have been taken right off. Yet, hopefully, the light from her fire is enough to warn the others in the car of the imminent danger her group is in.

The sound of seatbelts unbuckling and car doors opening roused the blonde in the passenger’s seat from her slumber with a start. Eyes flying open, she looked around and was met with the sight of the Williamson’s Inn- they had arrived in Gary. Not realizing she had dozed off towards the end of the trip, Maggie was surprised that the others didn’t wake her. Hopefully they didn’t think she was being rude by falling asleep... it was certainly not her intention. When it came down to it, talking with the other witches for nearly 8 hours was exhausting for the shy girl, so it wasn’t completely out of character that she closed her eyes for a bit.

After gathering the belongings she had held onto in the front seat, the bookworm nimbly slid out of the car and grabbed her duffel bag from the trunk. Darkness had fallen a few hours prior, but the eerie silence was enough to send shivers up Maggie’s spine. As they said in the movies, it was quiet- too quiet. She was thankful though that Rowan took the lead and cut through the stillness of the night, offering up instructions to the group for checking in and meeting in one of the rooms. Admittedly (and also pretty evidently) the blonde was more of a follower than a leader, so if someone had to spearhead this mission she was confident that Rowan had the chops to do so.

Following suit, Maggie made her way behind the others to the room they’d be staying in, their lackluster accommodations revealed as the door creaked open. It definitely wasn’t the nicest hotel room she’d ever been in, but it would do for the purpose of their travels. Setting her bag down on the bed closest to the window, she sighed and began to go through the checklist her father had instilled in her since she was younger. According to him, you were only as safe as the room you were in and it was important to figure out what resources you had from the get-go if your magic failed you. First were the locks: the deadbolt and locks on the front door, locks on the bathroom door, locks on the windows. God forbid if an enemy (in this case, the Vampires) were to track them back here, it was important to understand how secure the group was in their own quarters. Following that were any items in the room that could be used to barricade the doors: a dresser, a coffee table, the pull-out couch. And lastly were items that could be used to defend yourself if your spells or weapons were to no avail: the ironing board in the closet, the iron itself, and the heavy bible that could be found in every hotel room.

After acclimating to her surroundings (as well as taking a few calming breaths), Maggie decided it would be best to freshen up before the meeting and before whatever they were to try and accomplish tonight. Grabbing a change of clothes from her duffle as well as some miscellaneous skin products, she went into the bathroom where she washed her face and slipped on an oversized black sweatshirt and black leggings. Sure, they would use spells and charms to render themselves incognito, but matching the dark surroundings wouldn’t hurt either. Emerging minutes later, she spent the rest of the time before the meeting flipping through a few pages of the novel she brought in order to center herself.

And then the nine of them were together again discussing their plan. Maggie had propped herself on her bed, legs crossed tensely as she listened to the various ideas being thrown around by Rowan and Jean Luc. Neither of them were bad ideas, in fact the two of them were being quite rational in their proposals, but the blonde knew that in order to be most effective in their hunt the group would have to mix both approaches. They had to leave no stone unturned if they were to be successful and make it back to the coven house… alive.

“We need to do both.” Maggie blurted boldly. Not anticipating how commanding and strong that would sound, she clarified. “I, um… what I mean is, some of us should go out tonight to see what we can find and some of us need to explore the town in the morning.” With another breath the blonde stood, uncharacteristically offering herself up and not falling behind or silent. “I got some shut-eye in the car and feel well rested enough, so I’ll go with Jean-Luc. He’s right that the vampires are only active in the night and if we want to see what we’re facing we can’t just idly stand by.” Looking around at the rest of the group nervously, she completed her train of thought.

“Who else wants to come?”

---

"....This can't be the place, right? You are joking, right?" Kate wished that the group or elders were joking, this is not the place they are going to sleep in, Kate was hoping for a hotel, you know, room service and all that, with their bag still in hand, Kate walk toward Charlie and throw their bag in there "If anyone wants to wake me up, I'll be sleeping in the car" Kate say to their group with a deadpan tone in their voice.

After the another half of the group finally arrived, Kate thinks more potion ideas, if they run out of fire, ice and poison potions, then what? Sure, they have daggers and stakes and that pretty much it, they will probably made some strength potions to beat the vampires up and maybe if there any more fire potion left, they use the last drops to make of the dagger on fire, yeah, that sounds good and badass. Kate hears a Ugh from Jean-Luc when the two of them take a look of the room, without saying a word, Kate put their hand on Jean-Luc shoulder and give it a sincere pat "I know, I'm disappointed too..."

---

Nine witches were all gathered in the same room, thinking about what plan they'll come up with....While also hoping those plans won't end in disaster. Kate and others listen to Rowan plan and all though she sounds nervous, Kate is really impress toward Rowan acting like a leader in the group, Kate could lead a group, sure but without a voice of reason in their brain, the group would definitely fall, maybe in the near future, Rowan run the coven someday, hell, she can make her own coven....With Kate as co leader maybe.

While Rowan plan does sound good, Jean-Luc plan sounds way better, while they are looking around, the group made find some vampires and take them out easily and find the rest. As Kate was about to side with Jean-Luc but then Maggie takes the stage, suggesting that they can do two plans, which doesn't sounds like a bad idea at all, Kate really does hate choosing. "I'm coming with you guys" Kate says voluntarily "Plus, if while we are touring around the town _{and if we made it out in time if one of them find us}, we can see how many are vampires there" Kate say "....And if McDonald and other food places are closed, I can make some meals, for lookouts"

@Melissa@Hitman@Jumbus Everyone in group 2

Charlie rubbed his eyes and yawned as he saw the other car pulling up in the parking lot, getting out of the car to greet it and retrieve his bag from the boot. Charlie realised about 30 minutes into the drive that he had never driven anywhere for anywhere near as long as he had just done before - the most time he had spent driving was probably about an hour and a half. So he was even more grateful to have 3 other friendly people in the car with him to provide conversation - it kept him alert and awake. If they hadn't had been there, who knows, he could have lost focus or fallen asleep at the wheel, which would obviously have been a total disaster without a doubt. But they were here now, in this admittedly run down looking parking lot.

Charlie knew that the facilities they were going to be making use of while were wasn't exactly going to be a five star hotel, but even so, this place looked almost abandoned. Nevertheless, Charlie was still his usual optimistic self - it was probably nicer on the inside, right? So, after everyone retrieved their bags and the two cars re-mingled, they all headed inside to find that it was, at best, marginally better on the inside and out. At least there wasn't any graffiti on the inside. It seemed the task fell to him to check everyone in, so Charlie went up to the reception to do just that. It was a simple process, but the receptionist looked positively shocked that they were all here. Whether that was because no tourists ever visited Gary, or for more sinister reasons, Charlie didn't know.

Rowan had taken the initiative and said they should all come to her room after briefly settling into their own seperate rooms, so Charlie quickly went up to his to do some light unpacking. He took a bed, unpacking his book and briefly flicking through it before tossing it back on the bed. There was no doubt he was feeling apprehensive about what lay ahead of him. They were in a town they had never been to before, hunting dangerous creatures that wanted to kill and eat them, and with no help from the Coven aside from a few weapons. But surely they wouldn't have sent them on this mission if they didn't think it was possible. That would just be incredibly irresponsible, right? And the Coven was made of responsible adults, surely...

Charlie's apprehensions continued as he headed down to Rowan's room, joining the rest of the group as they assembled there for whatever reason - presumably to try and get some kind of plan going. And Rowan quickly revealing that's exactly what they were here to do. She wanted them to prepare themselves here for the night, set some protective spells around the place (what would the receptionist think about that? A flaw in the plan perhaps) then cast a spell in the morning that would change their appearances. That certainly peaked Charlie's interest. Looking different for a while could be fun - what would it be like not to be ginger for a little bit?

But Jean-Luc seemingly had other ideas, and said he was going to tour then town, but not before being highly rude and dismissive about Rowan's ritual. That was followed by Maggie, Kate and Isolde also announcing they would go. Charlie thought for a moment. "Well, first of all, Jean-Luc was absolutely uncalled for, I don't think it sounds like a 'hopscotch ritual' at all, I think it sounds rather interesting, but that's enough on that matter." He looked at those who had already announced they were going. "I suppose I'd like to go, and I will, but I think that perhaps we should all go, if they already know we're here then there's safety in numbers." He noted. "We can get back before it gets dark and perform the protective rituals then."

@Jumbus @Melissa @sassy1085 @Blizz

---

Jeremy wasn't quite as put off by the conditions they were met with when they made it to the hotel as many of the others were. While not his preferred environment by any means, he'd been on enough other hunts and similar excursions with far cheaper people to have already had some idea of what to expect. Of course, he'd get stuck into cleaning their room if he found the time, but that was more for his own satisfaction than any current discomfort.

Thanks to Jean Luc's liberal application of febreze, part of the job was even already done!

Again though, now wasn't the time for that. It had already been dark when they got into town, and that meant the vampires they were hunting could very well be roaming around already. While he wouldn't be able to confirm it just yet, it was entirely possible that they also knew the initiates had arrived in the area, and moreover, that they already suspected he and the others were, in fact, initiate witches. While this was all very much the worst case scenario, one lesson Argo had made absolutely certain to drill into his head was to never discount the worst case scenario. To do so is practically asking for death. So, in anticipation for any approaching guests, Jeremy spent the time the others used to unpack setting up as many defensive runes as he could. Fortunately, the process behind drawing these runic arrays was basically enchantment, just applied to the doorframe, window frames, and various items of surrounding furniture, so it still wasn't as difficult or slow as normal spells generally were for him.

Despite this however, he knew he still wouldn't be able to properly fortify the room before the meeting Rowan had organised, so for the moment he prioritised small arrays, focused mainly around the door and windows. Most of these arrays were of two varieties. The first kind would alert him if crossed by anyone he didn't specify while inscribing them, causing a small but distinct tugging sensation in the back of his mind. The second was similar in it's targeting criteria, but would cause fatigue in the individuals while active. Although the actual fatigue induced was only minor, there were a good number of them hidden around the room. Should they be triggered, the effect would stack, leaving any intruders at a significant disadvantage. Along with that, the large number also made it harder to nullify the effects by destroying the runes, as it would take longer to find and deactivate each one than if they were all in a single large array, allowing the initiates at least a few more precious seconds to incapacitate them. Honestly, for such a short amount of time, Jeremy was actually rather proud of what he'd managed to accomplish.

Maybe, even if he couldn't really compare to the others in terms of offensive abilities, or his knowledge and experience in vampire hunting didn't end up being needed, he'd still be able to contribute with fortifying their base of operations... Ok, so maybe that didn't seem like much, but as long as his squadmates didn't act like complete idiots, they honestly probably wouldn't need him for much else, other than maybe ranged support.

Unfortunately, over the course of the meeting, Jeremy began to wonder if he'd maybe given his companions just a little too much credit. So far, the only plan he'd actually agreed with had been the one put forward by Rowan herself. All the others seemed to agree with Jean Luc, who he was sure had been one of the more level headed initiates he'd met over the last few days, but now wanted to run out into the night to fight the vampires head on. In fact, the only part of Rowan's plan he'd acknowledged was that some of them might be too tired to join him. Everything else, he'd apparently disregarded, and extremely rudely at that.

As he listened to more and more of the others decide to join him, Jeremy found himself shaking his head.

"I agree with Moore. Going out now is too reckless." He said. "We don't know this town well enough. We have no idea what the layout is, or the layout of the surrounding areas. Potential choke points, optimal spots for ambushes, we have no knowledge of any of these places. The Vampires have all of this. Not only that, but as we've established, it's night. Our enemies are at their strongest. We, on the other hand, are largely blind. I can reinforce my eyesight to improve my night vision, but unless the rest of you can all do something similar, that's another disadvantage. And finally, as a few of you have already mentioned, there's a strong possibility that they have learnt of our arrival, posing an even greater risk. There are two options there. Either they already suspect we're witches sent out to hunt them, in which case they have a vested interest in taking us out, or we're just a group of teenagers from out of town, with no connection to any of the locals, meaning no one who will ask questions should we disappear, easy prey. Maybe eventually there might be a search, but not before they can pack up and move on to the next small town. Either way, if they know we're here, we potentially already have targets on our backs."

He looked over the people in the room, hoping they were all actually listening to him.

"Listen, I understand that I'm just another initiate. I may have experience hunting vampires, but that doesn't mean I have any authority over any of you. I can't order you to stay here. All I can do is try to convince you. I think we should focus on fortifying our rooms for tonight, making sure the vampires can't break in and kill us all while we rest. Then tomorrow, we perform reconnaisance around town, making sure we're at least aware of places we could be ambushed, and locate potential areas of interest. If we somehow manage to catch any of the vampires during the day, that would be the best scenario, but it's unlikely. However, if we can't find where they hide during the day, we can try to fight them tomorrow night, when we at least have a better understanding of the area."

And then he sighed, a frustrated expression growing on his face.

"However, like I said, I have no authority over anyone here, so I can't enforce this plan. If I'm outvoted, there's not much I can do. I will stay behind to help reinforce our defenses, but I'm not sure there are many other ways I could contribute. However, I'll at least ask that you find a better way to contact us than texting. Should something go wrong and you need us to come and help you, I doubt your opponents would give you the chance to write and send a text. Something faster will likely be necessary."

@Jumbus@KaijuBaragon@Blizz@sassy1085@Melissa@Hitman

---

It was a strange feeling, not being able to see his own hands. He had to admire Calypso's invisibility spell. There were plenty of times back in Aus David could have used it. Speaking of which, this whole plan felt reminiscent of home. Sure the invisibility was new, and he hadn't staked out a graveyard before. But that was all a back drop to the same type of shit he did back before he moved. Now it was only a matter of time before they saw the people he needed to jump. David thought he had moved across the world to get away from that type of life. What was next? Shaking down pixies? Regardless, the point was that David had been in these situations before. He leaned back on a tree, slowly chewed on a piece of bubble gum, and waited for it all to go wrong. These things always went wrong.

One might ask that if he knew it was going to go wrong, why didn't he speak up in the meeting. Well that is because he wouldn't be able to think up anything better. David was a punch first ask questions later kind of guy and he knew it. Often the questions part was skipped entirely. Sitting in the meeting all he did was make the occasional quip while contributing very little to the plan itself.

This attitude changed greatly when the vampires entered the picture though. David stood up and paid attention to them. He hadn't seen a real life vampire before, and he wanted to see how they match up to their movie counterparts. In general, they looked human. Far too human. Sure they had skin as white as snow, but there was nothing to really say 'this is a monster'. It wouldn't stop David from fighting, of course not. He had beaten plenty of people up. But if the task was to kill, he wasn't sure he would be able to go through with it.

Eventually the vampire started moving toward the group. David stopped chewing. This is where it would go wrong. In what felt like a blur, the invisibility shattered and Hana was taken by the larger vampire. David reached into his pocket a slid on his newly bought knuckles. His immediate thought was to take the big guy on, but that was interrupted by Alayna. Her quick thinking had put a wall of flame between Hana and the bloodsuckers. David didn't feel like getting burnt so he turned his attention to the younger vampire.

The vampire rushed toward them with incredible pace. At such a pace, one wouldn't be able to register oncoming projectiles as easily. David took advantage of that by spitting his gum out and at the young vampires face hoping to startle and stagger him. "Roight, I got the runt of the litter then aye. You fellas aren't as ugly as I thought you'd be, but you are going to be a whole lot uglier when I'm done with ya." Still trying to capitalize off his dirty tactic, David went for an uppercut with his knuckles. But he would soon find out that vampires are not the same as the back alley thugs he brawled back in Aus.

---

Arken sat in his car with whoever decided to stay back from his group while the rest went out to physically investigate the graveyard. Several times Arken wanted to reach for and turn on the radio. He thought better of it however, given the heightened hearing of vampires. Instead, he fiddled with his bowie knife, trying his best to whisper the incantation needed to activate one of its runes.

Inevitably, he let out a long but subdued sigh. Being the one that had to stay in the car during a night mission can get very boring, very quickly. Especially if nothing happens.

Nothing is happening, right?

Wrong.

The moon was shining and six pale figures appeared essentially out of nowhere and headed straight towards the graveyard. Arken jolted from his previous hazy state and called out, softly, to everyone else in his car. "Guys. Something has gone terribly wrong... Six figures, three went through the gate." He said, his grip tightening around his knife. Arken's mind was now racing. Can he drive his car through the gate? How, if needed, can he get the rest of the team out of the graveyard? How many vampires are around them, and how many more are waiting in the shadows? His head darted from left to right, trying to figure out a way to get out of there. He was assuming the group that went in to the graveyard has not have their covers blown yet.

His assumption was wrong.

A loud shout, followed by commotion, can be heard from their current position. "oh shit, oh fuck." Arken exclaimed. Iris was first to act, darting out of the car. Dakota followed. Arken fumbled with the handle of the door before half stumbling out of his own car. Before he was out of range, he called back towards his car to Rebecca and said "Call the other group. Let them know whats going on here!". As Iris exited his car, she called out something that vaguely sounded like 'Hana'. As he gathered himself, a grim thought entered his mind. What if one of the screams was from Hana? "Fuck. Fucking fuck." He cussed. As he was about to turn to engage the trio of vampires at the gate, Dakota seemed to have conjured a large fireball from thin air and hurled it at the trio. Trusting that Dakota and Iris can clean up whatever the fire would leave behind, Arken charged through the gate and towards the sound of the commotion.

His knife firmly in his grasp as he ran like a mad man, slightly stumbling from his mind wanting to move his body faster than his body can keep up. "Ahhh what is the fucking incantation for this fucking rune. God fucking dammit." He cursed out as he ran. His mind was not even considering using his magic. He only thought to physically stab the vampires, who are guaranteed to be stronger than he is. As he was running, he saw a figure weakly hobbling towards him. There is no way a vampire can be shambling around like this, right? Arken continued to move towards the figure, steadying his steps as he approached. As he and the figure got closer, he started to make out the image of the person. It was Hana. "Hana! Oh fuck." He exclaimed again. He then noticed the bleeding. "Fuck!" He shouted as he ran towards her. As he reached her, any thought of fending off vampires left his mind. As he looked at her wounds, it was clear that she was bitten. "Fuck. Ah. You're going to be ok. You, uh. Yeah. Lets get you to the car first." Without waiting for a reply, he switched his knife into his left hand, slung her arm over her shoulders and started to half carry Hana towards the car.

@Akayaofthemoon

Cassandra had been quiet up until now, but she had to speak up. This was far too risky for her- the cursewright wasn't exactly a coward, but neither was she suicidal. "Um, don't you think we're moving a bit fast? I've got some hexes that would work to weaken the vampires, but we need to find them first. Line of sight would be best, but I can establish a link with a camera feed as well.

Either way, if I'm not going to put a curse on the whole damn town- and you'd have to whistle up a big demon or a god for something like that- I need to know what I'm blasting. Besides, we can't just blunder around loaded for supernatural bear, can we?"

A scowl dots her face after the vampire's remarks, but the witch does not respond. Instead, she tries to concoct a plan that may get her out of this and able to assist the others. If she can somehow bait the vampire close enough to her, she may get her with her necklace, but that idea does not come without its risks. Still, she doubts the vampire will give her time to get help from the surrounding others.

With this thought, Alayna gathers some fire in her hand, waiting for her opponent's attack. When it does as another leap, however, she throws it at her opponent's feet once she's close enough, throwing her off enough to land the blow that she needs to. The other does not give her time to celebrate though as she quickly counterattacks, kicking her in her stomach and knocking her onto her back. The air in the witch's lungs bursts in a loud gasp, her eyes widening as the female vampire pounces on her, her arms in the air to give yet another blow.

"No!" Alayna screams, blocking her face to protect it from the incoming attack. But, to her surprise, it doesn't come, and a sigh of relief escapes her as she takes in the new situation.



[@anyone that wants to be Alayna's knight in shining armor.]