---

"Thanks, by the way. I just wish that we had met in better circumstances... you seem to be a nice guy."

For a second Justin was floored by the compliment. Only because he didn't expect such things from some rich kids that were used to everyone being at their beck and call. Maybe Mr. Magnanimous taught them some manners. That demeanor of a hardened "professional" faded as Justin ran a hand through his hair as he looked at Alexander. Especially with how shitty the circumstances were, that really brightened his day.

"I try my best," Justin stated... and realized how douchy and hypocritical he sounded. "I mean, thank you. I know things sound kinda shitty right now - but I'm going to do everything in my power to help you all break the curse and let you get back to your lives."

However, the chubby rich gal with a nasty attitude opened a portal and placed various books on the table. With one glance he realized it was the books on the Apparitions that James mentioned specifically. He crossed his arms as he looked at them.

"If Shane and the rest are handling it, then leave them be. He didn't seem sloshed when they left and if he was a half decent cop, then he'll know how to investigate. I'll text him to call you, Jus-tin...?"

"Justin Liao."

Justin introduced himself officially to the girl. He spoke flatly as he looked at Georgie for a moment. Building up the gall to tell her that she was wrong, "I mean..."

“You have Oscar’s number, don’t you, Justin? Surely it would be easier for you to just call him, rather than waiting for him to call you? I doubt that Oscar’s phone is working, considering that we all got soaked earlier. Mine isn’t. I think it would be best for us to follow your lead, Justin.”

Yeah. Exactly.

Tuyen took the words out of Justin's mouth... He wasn't even sure if his own phone was working. His abstraction protected him and his clothes from fire damage but he wasn't sure if the fire completely vaporized all water in his phone. Well, one way to find out, I guess. Justin said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed the power bottom... and it activated. He almost jumped up and down out of excitement for not having to have yet another awkward conversation with his mother about getting a new phone (Coming to this city in the middle of nowhere was already a conversation he didn't enjoy in and of itself).

He tried to call Oscar but... no response.

"His phone's busted, of course," Justin shrugged. "I mean, they ran out of here in a rush. So maybe they got a lead of their own?" Justin looked over towards Alexander for a second before he went back to Georgie.

He would have been worried about them going in without backup, but Justin was confident with that straggly looking one with them. He seemed like he could pull some weight. He was confident that they could handle themselves at the very least and not require him to jump and save them.

"All of these are what James mentioned. We should go through each book, find each artifact, and then divide them into Apparitions that weren't stolen and Apparitions that were or entities and people we should worry about. Once we have stock of everything accounted for and those that weren't, we should divide and conquer. Those of us without combat magic can figure out where to put the artifacts we do have and those of us that do have combat magic should read about all the ones we don't have. I suggest we hide the most dangerous ones in the Garden. Is it possible they knew to come here because they sensed the magic throughout the mansion? If that's the case wouldn't it be beneficial to hide artifacts in a pocket dimension not in this plane with only one entrance and exit?"

"The Garden..." Justin spoke to himself, about to ask some details about this Garden but he figured that it spoke for itself? A part of Justin wanted to ask but from what he could gather it was her own little pocket dimension that she could travel to at will and summon plants from. Pretty cool, but Justin preferred his own abstraction. However, that solves the problem of just where they can hide a bunch of mythical and powerful artifacts in a place where nobody can get at them. Just toss them in an alternate dimension!

"Yeah, that was likely how they found them. Putting them in your little world would stop anyone from coming in here and snatching one while you're all asleep... if they can even find this place!" Justin started, "My only thing is..."

Justin trailed off as he didn't want to say it out loud in fear of souring the mood.

... How many other people know about James' collection, though? We can hide them all we want, but if someone knows what they're doing... they're gonna get them. Or hurt one of you.

"... Are you the only person that can get in there? Or better yet, are you sure you are?" Justin kept it to himself as he merely gestured for Tuyen to come along as he walked towards the door.

"We're gonna get a move on... but before we go, Tuyen can we have a word?"

---

Shane went one way, and Sabrina figured that she should let him go off. Mr. Police Officer should be more than capable of handling himself, and if he isn't he'll still be in earshot. Instead, Sabrina went along with Oscar... she knew that he needed someone to temper out his rambunctious behavior! Also, she was not comfortable being out here alone so it'd be better if she went with someone. Of course, Oscar choose the most run-down and decrepit place to go first... when they stepped in Sabrina felt a little bit less comfortable with the whole thing now. She awkwardly coughed as the two walked in, fortunately, around this hour there was not really a whole lot of people in there. Other than the alcoholics and other degenerates with nothing better than spend all their money at a bar. The place reeked of cigarettes, dried up vomit, and depression - kind of like the dressing room at a fashion show!

The place was kind of dark and run down... the floor was hard concrete which didn't give off the vibe that the owners gave a shit, people were gonna get drunk here anyway. The room was dim and the bar counter was a dark-brown color and behind it was a short white woman with nice hair. Sabrina thought that she looked kinda pretty, too pretty to be working in a dump like this. She was cleaning the glasses with a rag... one that Sabrina thought looked kinda dirty.

She made a note not to drink anything out of here.

Oscar asked her a question without even a pleasantry... and the lady just continued cleaning as if she didn't even hear anything. Even humming along to the song, and Sabrina figured that was her politely telling them to fuck off.

"... What?" She suddenly said, not even making eye contact or stopping what she was doing, "You're just gonna barge in here and start asking questions and not even say hello."

She stopped as she kept looking at the counter and continued. "Sorry hun, I don't care who you are, but that's not how we do things here on Strange Street. Now, I don't know who you are, but I take it that you have no fuckin' clue where the hell you are. Nobody takes kindly to a bunch of well-dressed assholes barging in asking questions. I would think that you're the mob, but you all look too fucking stupid to pull that off. Now, I think I heard the name Morgana somewhere...."

With the rag still in hand, she pushed an empty coffee cup with TIPS scratched into it towards them.

"... I just don't know where I heard that before, it's like it's on the tip of my tongue."

Shane had gone on the way towards the pizza place, and Raymond thought it better if Shane just went his own way, alone. After all, that half brother of his needed to be alone in order to actually focus on what he was doing; otherwise, he's going to fumble a few things up while trying to do things. In any case, that man was also a cop; well, he used to be one, so he could easily handle himself if anything went wrong in the pizzeria, if there was any chance of that in there, anyway. So, he went with Sabrina and Oscar into the bar, knowing that Shane can handle himself. He's a cop, remember?

Unlike his two siblings, who were dressed as richly as they could, Ray had simpler attire; a habit that he had picked from spending so much of his time wandering the outside and being among all kinds of people while filming his documentaries back in the day, at least before everyone in this family started turning to stone. He had changed after getting himself dried from that tsunami that the cultist boy had summoned, and looked a little more in place in here than Sabs or Oskie (which are the nicknames he had called them since childhood). Grey shirt, black leather jacket, ordinary jeans and a pair of sneakers; nothing too bourgeoise.

And... well, the cleaner lady was a little rude. Of course she was; she isn't obligated to answer any questions from rich people that come to the destitute part of the city. They didn't even buy anything. Not that they would, anyway.

"... I just don't know where I heard that before, it's like it's like it's on the tip of my tongue."

Ray took his turn to speak to the cleaner woman, speaking with a rather marked Hispanic accent. "But you've seen her, no? Pale white girl with dyed red hair and really dark eyeliners? That is kind of hard to miss, yes?"

“Alright, I’m sure you’re feeling much better now but take one of these for the pain.”

Arabelle turned her head over to see the EMT handing her a bottle of water. The woman handed her a tiny paper cup with a pill inside next. Arabelle nodded her head like a child that couldn’t yet speak for themselves and took the cup first to pop the pill inside of her mouth. Once she’d set the cup down she took the water and began to gulp it down as if she hadn’t had a drop to drink in days. She was grateful to have the care of the EMT. Her arm was feeling a lot better, and she felt safe within the walls of the ambulance, but she still felt shaken by the attack on the estate. She couldn’t even tell the EMT how she was truly feeling.

Once she’d taken more than half of the water in she stopped to catch her breath and finally thank the EMT. She heard Nisha’s voice nearby and looked her way. Arabelle was surprised that the woman had stayed back for this long. Arabelle then noticed Ezra was walking her way and she realized that this was just a reason for Nisha to meet him. Unfortunately for Nisha, Ezra pushed past her as if they were strangers.

Arabelle’s eyebrow rose. Ezra certainly wouldn’t brush past someone he knew. Especially if it was a potentially new addition to the Vanburen family. Then again, Arabelle wouldn’t put it past the first born son of James Vanburen to do such a thing. There were enough Vanburens already.

Ezra approached the van and Arabelle watched his gaze rest briefly on the skull. Arabelle pressed her lips together. She couldn’t tell him here.

“How is she? Are you okay?” Did Ezra just show concern about her wellbeing?

“Did one…”

Arabelle’s eyes widened. He was about to blow her cover story. The EMT would definitely want to know what really happened. It was the perfect opportunity for Nisha’s voice to interrupt again, even if Ezra ignored it, and it was the perfect time for the EMT to explain what Arabelle should do next. Arabelle recognized the look of relief on Ezra’s face and felt relieved herself. He hadn’t blown her cover- well, their cover.

To go to the hospital for a checkup sounded like the reasonable thing to do. Especially if the estate was still in disarray. She didn’t want to take the skull back to her apartment, but she didn’t trust it at the mansion either. She felt personally responsible for it’s safety now. Until she found a completely safe place for it, she didn’t want to let it out of her sight. Even if she didn’t feel safe with it either.

Arabelle refocused on the situation before her in time to see Nisha embrace Ezra in a sort of happy-cry smothering. Arabelle instantly felt uncomfortable again. She returned Ezra’s discombobulated stare with one of exasperation. They didn’t have time for a family reunion. Not with these cultists on the loose. The object they were looking for was still poking into her ribcage. Didn’t Nisha understand that there were other troubles at hand?

Still, Arabelle felt sympathy for the woman. She must have been terribly lonely to have looked for love and kinship in the Vanburens. Arabelle couldn’t let Ezra treat a member of his family this way. And if Nisha was faking the connection to James Vanburen she’d be sent right back to where she came from.

So, Arabelle took a deep breath and nodded her head to Nisha. “Ezra, this is Nisha. She said you’ve been in contact with her, and that you were to meet her here at the cafe before I hurt my shoulder this way.”

The EMT was moving to shut the doors, and it looked like her window to think was closing too. Arabelle turned to the EMT next to her.

“I think it’s best that I check the ligaments for any spraining or underlying damage. It really was a nasty fall.”

She looked towards Ezra.

“Ezra, I would appreciate it if you met me at the hospital. I’ll see you there as soon as possible, yes?”

Hopefully Ezra could determine if Nisha was trustworthy enough to come along, or to go to the mansion and wait for their return. Arabelle didn’t have time to stand around and let Ezra determine that. She gave Nisha a brief smile and let the EMT help her into the back of the ambulance.

"Take care, Nisha."

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” grunted Ezra, hands still up in surrender.

“I hope your wrist feels better,” said Nisha in response to Arabelle’s take care, already forgetting that it was Arabelle’s shoulder that was injured now that her mark was here.

Fortunately, her words were muffled as she pressed herself into Ezra’s chest, so it was likely that they didn’t even understand what she’d uttered. The door to the ambulance closed, the sirens whined, and the vehicle drove off. Nisha felt Ezra’s hands slowly shift down to wedge her away from him, but she only tightened her grip. Was she coming out seeming a bit too desperate and clingy? Sure, probably, but pride be damned, it typically worked with men, although typically she wasn’t pretending to be related to them. Nisha dialed it back and let go of Ezra.

“S-sorry,” Ooooh, forced stutter? Now that was a smooth move. Keep it up, Nisha! It almost sounded natural, too. She brushed a stray bit of hair behind her ears and extended her hand. “I got a little too excited. I’m Nisha. Pleased to meet you.”

“Ezra Vanburen. It’s good to meet you,” he said, taking her hand. It was a solid shake, but the flatness of his tone made it impossible to tell if he was being sincere. She locked eyes with him and found herself looking away. It wasn’t to be cutesy, either. She had been trying to get a read on the guy, but he looked like he was seeing right through her—like he had already called her on her own bullshit the second he’d touched her hand. She didn’t want to give away more than he had already taken. Hell, looking away probably had given him all he needed. She dragged her teeth against her lower lip. She could feel his eyes still on her. This was getting uncomfortable. Why wasn’t he saying anything else?

“Nice wea—”

“Let’s talk in the car,” said Ezra as he walked past her.

Alarm bells rang in Nisha’s head as she realized she was about to get in a vehicle with a total stranger. How many murder mysteries began with a beautiful young woman trusting an older white man? Of course, how many victims were inhabited by a water hag and capable of projecting spectral arms out from their body? Nisha figured the crossover was zilch. She ignored what little common sense she possessed and jumped into the car, taken aback by Ezra’s lame ride. Maybe the Vanburens weren’t so rich after all. He fired up the vehicle and drove away.

“So, James Vanburen is your father?” asked Ezra, the doors locking with the question.

“Well, I never knew my father. I really hope so, but—”

“It’s a simple yes or no,” interrupted Ezra.

“I was told he was,” said Nisha, glancing over at Ezra. He was keeping his eyes on the road.

“By whom?”

“My mother,” she said, letting out a nervous laugh. She was about to spin a fairytale story about how her mother always told her that her father was some rich and powerful man and how she never had believed her, but Ezra was already onto the next question. There was no chance to even build a narrative into what was quickly turning into an interview.

“And her name is?”

“Amara Reddy.” Shit! She’d used her mom’s real name. “Why all—”

“You’re accent...you’re from Liverpool?”

Nisha’s eyes brightened and she answered before she could even think to lie. “Wow, impressive. Close enough, yeah. Have you—”

“You’re, what, twenty-five?”

“Wow again,” said Nisha, accidentally revealing the truth. “Yeah, turned it a few months ago.”

“When exactly?”

“September twenty-ninth,” said Nisha, furrowing her brow.

“And has your mother ever been to Ara—”

“Hey, what the fuck! What’s with all the questions? You gonna ask my blood type next, see if you can harvest my organs? ” shouted Nisha, glaring at Ezra. It was the first time he glanced over at her, and then back to the road. “I might be your fucking sister, and you’re interoggating me like I committed a crime. What is your fucking deal?”

Brakes screeched as the car swerved over to the side of the road and came to a stop. Nisha held her breath and watched as Ezra shifted the gear into park and killed the engine, his eyes focused dead ahead as the corner of his lip twitched. Crap, he was going to throw her out of the car. She had blown it. She had really blown it. She glanced outside. They were away from the crowds, away from the shops. She felt a tingle in the back of her skull. She gritted her teeth. No, she hadn’t pressed all her options yet. Maybe she could—

“I’m sorry, Miss Nisha. If you honestly believe that James Vanburen was your father then I realize that the prospect of meeting his family and being accepted in is truly exciting, but for me this has become rote. I should’ve begun with this explanation, but I had a really trying morning and I have seemed to have forgotten myself,” Ezra said as he sighed and looked over at her. It no longer looked like he was trying to analyze her, but it was difficult for her to tell if he looked remorseful or if he was just distracted.

“Let me explain—you are not the first stranger to show up to Araminta claiming that my father is your father. You’re not even the first one this year. Since I can remember, people have been showing up saying that they’re a Vanburen or that their kid is a Vanburen. Sometimes, it’s true, but my father was a very magnanimous man—and a very, um, active man—and people tended to take advantage of that fact. It’s not that we don’t want more members of the family, it’s just that we cannot afford to be one hundred percent trustworthy. So he developed a system when a stranger shows up claiming to be kin. It has proven to take care of most claims almost instantly, as most of them are false. It’s only one question,” said Ezra, who unbuckled his seatbelt and turned so he didn’t have to crane his neck. “Do you actually think you are family, or do you just want something?”

Nisha was about to answer when Ezra held up his hand to stop her. “I am only looking for honesty here, Nisha. My father wasn’t the only generous man in our family. If you need something—money, shelter, anything—I can provide it for you. Trust me, I am not lacking in resources or in wealth, but like my father I know that the most valuable thing a man can have is connections. If I help you today, one day you might be called upon to help me. Look at me.” Nisha looked at him. It was suspicious how genuine he seemed. “This isn’t a trick. I can provide for you, if you need it. So, do you want to be part of the family, or do you just want something?”

It was tempting, but more than that it was insulting: did he think she was a fucking idiot? If she asked for money he would’ve kicked her out of the car. Besides, she wanted more than just money—the payday was just an added bonus.

“I hope I can be part of the family, but I feel like I’m not wanted,” said Nisha. Cue the sniffling nose, the watering eyes, all made easier by the lingering smell of cigarette smoke messing with her senses. Disgusting little things, but they helped force the acting. She swore she even saw Ezra frown, perhaps upset at himself from making her cry, the thought that he was possibly annoyed not even crossing her mind.

“Your timing was just poor, but that’s not your fault. As long as you aren’t trying anything funny, this will be good for you,” said Ezra, turning the engine back on. Nisha didn’t dare ask what would happen if she was trying anything funny, feeling as if it would be too much of a giveaway. “Whether he is or isn’t your father you’re going to find some closure. I’ll explain how things are going to go while we’re on the way to the hospital. How are you with needles?”

“Needles?” choked Nisha, worried for a moment that Ezra might have been able to probe her mind and dig into his past. His employee had powers; did he as well?

“Well, yeah. How else are they going to draw your blood for the DNA test?” He must’ve seen her face tense, because he laughed and shook his head. “Relax, I’m just kidding.”

“Had me going,” chuckled Nisha, trying to stop her heart from exploding.

“Pretty sure they use the swabs now...” muttered Ezra, merging back into traffic as he headed towards the hospital.

…shit.

---

---

Shane watched from the window, the bored young, acne riddled young adult behind the counter scrolling on his phone. It didn't instill him with much confidence that this kid would be of any help but sometimes you had to really shake a tree to knock something loose... Whatever that means.

He breathed in, the cold still attacking his face. Better get started. He looked at his reflection in the window, thankfully his face showed no scarring from the attack at the manor but his knuckles were still cut up from the fight so he was going to have to keep them in the pockets of Sabrina's coat for the whole affair. Shane then ran a hand through his hair and began brushing it back, trying to neaten it as much as possible before doing the same to his beard. He shut his eyes and exhaled, standing for one more moment out in the cold before entering the store with a ding from the bell.

"Hey, friend." Shane said with a smile. "Had some... Timing problems with work today, missed lunch. You sell any single slices?"

The kid looked up from his phone at Shane and mumbled that they did. Undeterred, Shane kept up his friendly tone.

"Perfect. Just a plain cheese, pal." He watched the kid stand up and move over to the side. Taking out a ready made margherita and cutting out a single slice before turning around and putting it in the oven.

'Lovely...'

The kid seemed content to wait in silence much to Shane's chagrin. This was going nowhere fast and even by his standards he wasn't going to leave here with nothing to show but a slice of reheated pizza.

"Yeah, I... I woulda had a full hour for lunch but some of the kids around here were screwing around in the middle of the road. Had to take another route because they wouldn't move their ass." Shane mused casually, looking back out the window.

At this, the kid behind the counter actually seemed taken in, looking up at Shane more closely.

"Was it those weird kids from the woods?" He asked, his tone carrying a hint of curiousness that Shane took to mean he was on to something.

Shane shrugged. "That where they're coming from? See 'em around sometimes on my way to work, it was that loud redhead and a few others I think."

The cashier nodded and put his phone down. "That'll be Morgana. Her and her friends come round here a lot. Always yelling about this or that."

"Never used to see any of 'em round here. Not exactly sure what they'd even be doing this far on the east side." Shane said, keeping his hands in his pockets as he looked back at the kid.

"Yeah, if it were me and my buds we'd be at a bar or something... Not the one here though, somewhere nicer." The cashier said with a friendlier tone, eliciting a polite chuckle from Shane in response.

"So, wh-" Shane was cut off as the oven dinged. The cashier stood up to go and grab Shane's slice.

'Fuck.'

"Here's your order, sir." The cashier said placing Shane's slice on a paper plate and putting it on the desk.

Shane smiled and put a dollar with some change next to it. He leaned forwards a bit, now or never.

"Do you know whereabouts from the forest they're coming from? Would save me some time if I could just avoid 'em in future.

The cashier stood for a moment and thought to himself. "Sorry, sir, not specifically. I know they're hanging around in the forest somewhere though. Probably in one of those abandoned spots, seems like where kids like that'd lay their heads. I did see 'em following the footpaths into the forest though so it can't be that out of the way."

Shane raised an eyebrow and took his plate. Making sure to obscure his hand as much as possible. "Nice talking to you, thanks for the food." He said with one last smile and nod before making for the door.

'Foothpath into the forest. Somewhere abandoned...' It wasn't as specific as he would've liked but it put them in the right direction. They'd already narrowed it down from the whole of Araminta and lunch wasn't even over yet,

As he stepped back outside, Shane's face immediately reverted back to a neutral frown. Internally thankful he was pretty close to sober or else the charade might have been too exhausting to hold up.

He walked down the pavement a little until he was next to the bar. Taking a bite out of his pizza - surprisingly not bad, he was a little surprised his siblings weren't already out to meet him.

"All they've gotta do is just slip the bartender a tip." He mumbled quizzically to himself before taking another bite.

---

Hearing Justin agree with her assumptions made her smile. Of course she figured it out. This magic thing wasn't as complicated it seemed to be. All she had to do was pay attention and draw conclusions from observations just like any other subject she's ever excelled at. The fact Oscar spent a year studying and still didn't know enough to get them out of this situation told her he wasn't trying hard enough. She might as well hit the books herself. It'll help them all in the long run. Oscar should stick to what he's good at. Magic isn't it.

"My only thing is..." Justin hesitated. Whatever he wanted to ask she knew was on the tip of his tongue, but he wouldn't spit it out like he was searching for another question instead.

"... Are you the only person that can get in there? Or better yet, are you sure you are?" Obviously wasn't what he wanted to ask, but Georgie wasn't going to fish for something that she didn't care to know. He'll either ask or won't.

"Yes. According to the ring." She showed the golden carnation jewelry on her finger.

"Every person that wields it creates a pocket dimension of their making. When they pass on, the dimension collapses, because it's tied to the wielder's life force. And if the previous wielder is still alive, but lost the ring, the ring can't access the previous dimension. Seems to me like it's the perfect fail-safe."

Justin pulled Tuyen aside. While they do that, it's time for the rest of them to get to work. She quickly divided up the work in her head, the pointed at each of her siblings as she delegated work.

"We're going to work in sections. Elder Alexander, you're sections A thru F, Patty G thru L, I'll take M thru S, Alexander T thru X, and whoever gets done first can take care of Y and Z. James organized people by last names first and everything else by first name or title. We don't have a time limit, but let's make some type of headway before everyone else comes back. If there's any questions fill free to ask."

She clapped her hands, then set off to the library to work on her sections, hoping everyone pulled their weight and it ran smoothly like she outlined.

---

Okay, Oscar had to admit he’d been pretty rude.

So he brushed off all of the rudeness that was sent back in his direction without much of a care. He just wanted to get this over and done with and be out of this place. It absolutely stank, and he’d much rather be outside in the cold.

"... I just don't know where I heard that before, it's like it's on the tip of my tongue."

Oscar looked down at the tips cup, and then back up at the woman. Raymond responded first, seeming to play up his accent and continuing along the line of questioning that Oscar had started. Oscar just sighed as he did so and shoved a hand in his pocket, pulling out a crumpled twenty dollar bill and shoving it into the coffee cup.

”Now will you tell us where you’ve heard that name?”

---

---

Thankfully Justin agreed with Tuyen, and after a failed call to Oscar didn’t seem to plan to stick around. Which worked great for her. She was already feeling uncomfortable, both from being around these people and her still damp clothes. Maybe she should ask Justin if he wouldn’t mind using his abstraction so she could dry off from the second hand heat.

And because of all this she needed a new phone. She couldn’t really afford a new phone.

"We're gonna get a move on... but before we go, Tuyen can we have a word?"

“Of course,” Tuyen nodded as she followed him towards and out the door. She continued quietly, even though she was fairly certain they’d gone out of earshot of the Vanburens. She instantly felt more comfortable the more distance they had from them - she had never liked large groups, nevermind ones like this. ”What is it you want to talk about?”

---

Trisha rolled her eyes as Georgie went on about her power, and the two “experts” headed out.

”Since when were you in charge?” she muttered as Georgie started delegating work as if she was suddenly the head of the family. Fuck, she should just fuck off to her room and be done with this. ”Whatever, I’ll do it.”

She completely ignored the others as she headed to the library, finding the section Georgie had suggested. Instead of starting to look through books she pulled out her laptop, and started typing away.

It would be much easier to have her abstraction look for books too, rather than just doing it herself.

---

It seems that Georgie and the Vanburens had that down packed. It would suck if the Wiccans attacked them while they seemed to be split up all over Araminta it seems. He doubted that the Wiccans had enough brain cells combined to pull that off. While they slinked off, Junior was doing the floss dance and Justin rolled his eyes up into his head. Tweens. He thought to himself as he was tempted to go outside but he knew that Tuyen would probably freeze to death out there. He was tempted to go grab his suit jacket, but he didn't want to be cut off from his abstraction yet again.

Araminta was one cold ass place, but it wasn't like they didn't just leave a different cold ass place. When the two got a good distance away from the family (it wasn't like they weren't busy anyway), Justin stopped on his heel and immediately turned around to face Tuyen. He put a hand on his chin as he had a lot on his mind... however, he knew that they barely had any time so he better just focus on the most important things.

He just came out and said it.

"... Something about this seems weird," Justin started, "Like there's something going on here that we don't know about, y'know? Magic is supposed to be gone but this guy has a collection of apparitions sitting around... because..."

He didn't want to say how stupid it was, but who in the world could predict that things were going to turn out the way that they did? Justin shrugged as he leaned up against the wall and reached into his pocket for his Juul. He took one puff and blew it out before he continued.

"Now everyone's banging on the door because they want their... great," Justin took another puff and then spat it back out. Then he narrowed his eyes at Tuyen as he said, "But, James mentioned Thorton Walters... why do I get the feeling that's all we're gonna get from him?"

He shrugged.

"I guess we're gonna have to take things one at a time for now, we bark up too many different trees and I don't think it'll end well," He stated, "What's your take on all this?"

---

"But you've seen her, no? The pale white girl with dyed red hair and really dark eyeliners? That is kind of hard to miss, yes?"

"Wooooooooow," The Bartender said before she chuckled. "At least I know you guys aren't with the mob. They're smarter." She chuckled again as she pointed at her tip cup.

Sabrina awkwardly coughed at Ray and his antics. She was, fortunately, used to this type of airheadedness from her half-brother. At least Ozz was able to salvage the situation by giving the rude lady what she wants (but not what she needs, she probably needs a good slap). The lady, very smugly, smiled as Ozz dropped the crumpled up twenty into her tip cup. Probably more money than she'd ever get around here. Sabrina rolled her eyes as the woman continued.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" The woman said and Sabrina was prompted to roll her eyes... then the bartender continued. "Now, just who the hell did Morgana piss off this time? Because... you guys really don't look like you're from around here."

"The Vanburen family."

"Figured that she'd upgrade from drug dealers at some point..." The Bartender said as she put down that cup and then started drying off another with the same rag. "She's from 'round here, yeah - and I honestly doubt she's going anywhere. She works at the gas station down the street."

She pointed to the left.

"She got a bit of a reputation 'round these parts too, dealing drugs, causing trouble, stealing... and there's a giant list of people who want to kick her ass. But, I ain't gonna tell you her little life story - her reputation changed a bit. People say that she's a witch or something - Robbie from down the street says she summoned some kinda demon from hell... And I think that's a load of bullshit! People around here are so fuckin' stupid to fall for a magic trick or whatever she did to get them off her back!"

Sabrina tugged at her collar for a second as the Bartender began laughing.

"She and her little friends fuck each other in the woods..." The Bartender started, "Don't bother asking me where, though. I ain't a fuckin' tour guide for weirdos."

"Who are her friends?" Sabrina just asked. "What about a girl that looks like Morgana but with black hair?"

"Maybe. I might need another tip to jog my memory... maybe a bigger one will keep me talking."

However, Sabrina stuck her arm out in front of Oscar and shook her head as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a hundred dollar bill! Seemingly out of thin air.

That was because it was.

Sabrina and Mary Robert's little Apparition worked together to make a counterfeit hundred. Probably not the best idea to go around giving people fake money, but this place was in the dumps of Araminta. What exactly was she gonna do?

"Oh, you know how to jog my memory," The Bartender laughed. "That girl would be Tegan. Her sister. There's Kelly, that twenty-something girl with the short black hair that works at the same gas station. Then there's Thea, the tall pretty one with the head of blonde hair that's a nurse. Other than that, there's like ten of those weirdos. They come around from time to time and get pizza and everyone... stays out of their way. That's honestly all I know." She shrugged.

"Thank you," Sabrina said as she walked towards the door and gestured for her two siblings to come along. It wasn't that she didn't believe the bartender, but she had a feeling that she didn't know a whole lot. Though, she couldn't put her finger on a girl with blonde hair. Though, they should go find Shane and tell him... and when she opened the door and immediately saw Shane.

"Shane," Sabrina immediately said. "We found out where Morgana and another member of that cult works, but we don't have a clue where the hell they are." Though, it kinda sounded like one hell of a coincidence that this bar owner knew so much. Did Morgana really have that big of a reputation? However, the image of that blonde-haired woman popped up in her mind as she asked.

"... Do you know which direction that woman with the blonde hair and pizza went?"

---

---

Tuyen frowned as she listened to Justin, arms folded over her chest in an attempt to keep herself a little warmer. Thankfully outside of the somewhat destroyed dining room wasn’t so bad, but she really needed a change of clothes. If there was even a chance for that.

”Magic only came back after we defeated… it, right?” she narrowed her eyes. It was strange. Why did this guy have so many apparitions sitting around? How did he even know about them? ”How did he even find all these apparitions…”

Tuyen shook her head. There was a lot to think about, and a lot that they could pursue. Too much. It was hard for her to get her head around it all. At least in Farmer Hill things there had been a clear way forward a lot of the time… even if everything that happened was horrible.

”Well, I think that it’s no wonder that his children got cursed if he was already messing with all this stuff. It’s confirmed that he knew Thorton Walters… Even if he didn’t give us any useful information, which is the opposite of helpful. Maybe he’s connected to their curse, who knows. Hopefully they’ll find something in all those books.”

She wasn’t hopeful about that, but she figured she didn’t need to say that. It would have been easier if James had stuck around and told them more, but they couldn’t dwell on that. It was a surprise anything useful had come of it anyway.

”I agree with taking things one at a time, though. We should concentrate on the cult first and make sure they don’t release that horned god, and if they have… Well, deal with it. Even if they aren’t helpful for the rest it best to deal with something that might end up dangerous.”

She wasn't confident at all if they had released the Horned God - or that they would be able to take on the Triple Goddess either. She’d already called her shadow once today, something she was regretting now, and would it listen to her again? Unlikely. Why would it.

Tuyen sighed, giving Justin a faint smile. ”We really have our work cut out for us, huh?”

"We're going to work in sections. Elder Alexander, you're sections A thru F, Patty G thru L, I'll take M thru S, Alexander T thru X, and whoever gets done first can take care of Y and Z. James organized people by last names first and everything else by first name or title. We don't have a time limit, but let's make some type of headway before everyone else comes back. If there's any questions fill free to ask."

Alex nodded as Georgie pretty much told everyone what to do, even though no one had really put her in charge except for herself. He almost chuckled, but forcehe just forced it in and kept his mouth, lest he offend her or something. "Elder Alexander... haha... funny nickname for me. How sweet of you." He then turned around and began to make way towards the library while taking glances at the literal dozens of sealed Apparitions sequestered within very fragile glass containers. It was really convenient, was it. James Vanburen was the richest man in all of Araminta, and yet he didn't seem to bother with installing a basic security system that every other man of the same caliber of wealth had no doubt placed in their own homes. They were all suffering from their father's lack of foresight, though one could argue that he never did expect magic to return, and with it,any motivation to steal some magical creatures off his house. But still...

He did not like his father. Of that, there is no doubt. Having been abandoned at age 10, he'd watch as his mother descended into madness while he fought tooth and nail in order to attain his present status, only for the curse of stone to force him to come back here.

Now... he would not dare say it, nor did he fully realize it yet, but Alex really did want to mend their relationship. With the power that the Spectre has given to him, he could bring up James from the dead and have a meaningful conversation after so long. The one a while ago did not count at all; that was only for information regarding the curse. Not much did they get there, either way; James was clueless too...

"You know what," Alex called out to his half siblings that were still in the half destroyed dining room. "Just call me Sasha... Elder Alexander just makes me sound too old. I'm just 28."

With that, he went towards the library and began to read on the Apparitions from A through F, wondering if at the end of all this, he'd succeed the present Spectre in its position. Maybe?... Ah... This Babylon the Great thing sounds very wierd... and the Claws... and Akkad...

---

---

"Shane," Sabrina said. "We found out where Morgana and another member of that cult works, but we don't have a clue where the hell they are."

"... Do you know which direction that woman with the blonde hair and pizza went?"

Shane had thankfully just scarfed down the last remnants of his pizza as Sabrina exited the bar with their siblings presumably in tow. He continued to chew and gave a halfhearted shrug towards Sabrina before swallowing.

"Rounded the corner, there." He stated, pointing down the street where the road had a right turn back into town. "From there, anybody's guess. Pizza clerk said they've all got some hideaway in the forest, one of the abandoned spots I'd imagine. So, she's not headed there. Was carrying food too so it's likely she was off to meet her friends. Either they're holed up somewhere else."

He looked down at the floor and frowned "Or she took the long way around."

"If she's with 'em then they already know we're looking for 'em. Might as well just go to right to their workplace, try get a home address." He half-mumbled to himself but hopefully loud enough for the rest of them to hear.

"Alright." He said slightly louder, looking back up to face his siblings. "Maybe we'd better break off into twos. Two of us chase up where they work, try to find where they live if possible. Two of us ask or look around in the forests. See if we can pinpoint where it is they all decide to meet up in to talk about hitting mansions or killing farm animals.

The rationality in his voice was pretty foreign, at least these days, but it helped his clarity on the situation. Sobriety had its perks sometimes.

"Nothing drastic right now." Shane added, holding his hands up slightly for emphasis. "Just a little reconnaissance is all."

"We all in agreement?" He asked, placing his hands back into his pockets. His expression stone-faced as ever but with the slightest glint of determination in his eyes.

---

”Magic only came back after we defeated… it, right? How did he even find all these apparitions…?”

"Beats fuckin' me."

Justin sighed as he shrugged and took another puff of his Juul. He vaguely recollected something about other universes having magic but he wasn't going to bring it up. Probably because it was irrelevant to the current situation. He didn't want to sit here all day grasping at straws and trying to theorize why the fuck does he have so many God damn apparitions lying around in his house. Hopefully, the other Vanburen children will pull their weight and put them somewhere that nobody can get to them. Or else Justin and Tuyen will have another problem to solve but hopefully, everything will work itself out.

Hopefully.

”Well, I think that it’s no wonder that his children got cursed if he was already messing with all this stuff. It’s confirmed that he knew Thorton Walters… Even if he didn’t give us any useful information, which is the opposite of helpful. Maybe he’s connected to their curse, who knows. Hopefully, they’ll find something in all those books. I agree with taking things one at a time, though. We should concentrate on the cult first and make sure they don’t release that horned god, and if they have… Well, deal with it. Even if they aren’t helpful for the rest it best to deal with something that might end up dangerous.”

"I gotta feeling that James knows more than what he's letting on," Justin stated the obvious as he silently kicked himself for doing it. "I mean that's no shit, but let's uh not waste time on this." Justin shrugged yet again.

"We beat that thing- maybe with the help of friends, but it's possible - we can beat the Horned and Triple Dumbass and whatever the hell else comes our way. I promise."

Justin said, sounding like a lame anime character again.

”We really have our work cut out for us, huh?”

"Eh, nothing we can't handle," Justin started before he put the Juul in his pocket and gestured for Tuyen to come along as he walked towards the door. He opened the door and held it open for her as he said, "C'mon,"

He smiled.

"Let's tackle this one at a time."

---

"Rounded the corner, there. From there, anybody's guess. Pizza clerk said they've all got some hideaway in the forest, one of the abandoned spots I'd imagine. So, she's not headed there. Was carrying food too so it's likely she was off to meet her friends. Either they're holed up somewhere else. Or she took the long way around."

Well shit.

Looks like they're probably not going to find her anytime soon. Araminta was a big place, lots of hiding places here... and East Araminta was definitely not a place that Sabrina wanted to hang around in (or look lost in, in general). A sigh escaped her lips as she thought that maybe it would be easier to just corner one of them instead of trying to wander around here. Maybe she should have gone with her gut and confronted her from the start.

Oh well.

"If she's with 'em then they already know we're looking for 'em. Might as well just go to right to their workplace, try get a home address. Alright. Maybe we'd better break off into twos. Two of us chase up where they work, try to find where they live if possible. Two of us ask or look around in the forests. See if we can pinpoint where it is they all decide to meet up in to talk about hitting mansions or killing farm animals.

Sabrina nodded.

It sounded like a good idea to her, and she didn't really have much to add. Shane was a cop and honestly, he was the best suited for this than any of them. Though, she was wondering just who should go where. Her first thought was that Raymond probably shouldn't go do any type of detective work (Sabrina just couldn't get over how slow on the draw he was back there in the bar). Oscar was intelligent but enthusiastic and she had the underlying fear that maybe he'd blow it if he went investigating... but the same scenario would occur if he went to the woods so it wouldn't matter. Also, she really didn't want to go wandering around in the woods so she would do anything to avoid the nasty woods.

Maybe in a different life, she would love the woods.

But this is not that life.

"Nothing drastic right now. Just a little reconnaissance is all. We all in agreement?"

Another breeze came their way and instinctively Mary Roberts extended her scarf just a little bit. Probably not enough for anyone to really notice but she wrapped it around her face to protect herself from it. When it subsided she turned towards her younger brother and nodded.

"Yes," Sabrina said and hoped that her other two brothers would agree. "How about me and you go ask around... sorry, but I just don't think I was built for the woods, you know?"

She tried to justify it to the best of her ability but hopefully, her two brothers would understand? She took a few steps down the street towards the supposed gas station. "Let's hurry up before someone tries to rob us, I always hated East Araminta."

---

Hours later and the sun was going down on poor ol' Araminta. Justin, fortunately, was used to these weird-ass small towns being cold as all hell, thus he had remembered to bring his good ol' winter coat. It wasn't much, just a plain puffy winter coat that he got years ago. Still serves him to this very day... and he had a very strong suspicion that it wasn't going to last the night. He called all the Vanburens out here to discuss the matter at hand: what the hell are they going to do about the Wiccan cult and how? He had on jeans, and black combat boots that he got from the local military surplus store while they were out. Ironically he looks kind of like his doppelganger from earlier today but hopefully, the Vanburens will understand the practicality of the outfit.

Hopefully.

Today was a special day, not what he was honestly expecting but hey, life's full of surprises. He didn't expect to be impersonated by crazy cultists nor attacked nor did he expect to find them under the span of a day. They were some really shitty cultists, to say the least. They were able to be tracked in under eight hours! Maybe if they didn't scream each other's names like a buncha moron that would help, but that wasn't the matter at hand.

Justin was proud. He was powerful. He felt like he could handle juuuust about everything.

Not this time, though.

The cult was probably very powerful - their leader chick's hellhounds were tough enough to take several devastating attacks before even slowing down. The others... Justin wasn't sure about but if they all had magic it would be stupid for Justin and Tuyen to go in alone. Which was why he was standing out here on the grand old patio in the back that overlooked the snow-covered yard and garden that the Vanburens owned. He put his hands on the stone railing to the patio and felt the cold shoot up his hand - well, he would have if there weren't gloves on his hand.

It was going to be one hell of a pitch, but he felt that the Vanburens needed to hear it.

The Vanburens assembled one by one and Justin cleared his throat.

"Uh-" Starting with uh. Nice Justin. Justin scolded himself mentally yet again but he was going to get to his point. "Hello again, you're probably wondering why I called you all out here. I'm here to say that we've - well, with the help of Shane and friends - tracked down that cult to where they hang out... an old abandoned resort in the middle of the woods. Now you're probably wondering what you all have to do with that well..."

Now was the hard part. Maybe this was a terrible idea, but Justin was still going to stand behind it regardless of how stupid it may sound.

So he just came out and said it.

"... I think we all need to confront the cult. As like a group. I know it might sound crazy, but hear me out- I have a feeling that a loooot of powerful eyes are about to come looking for you all, and I think you all need to get used to these kinds of crazy fights. We should also take that cult out of the equation as soon as possible so we can focus on more important things. I know you guys didn't exactly..."

He awkwardly looked to the left as he said.

"... Do too good, but I think that was only because we were caught off guard and nobody knew how to handle them," Justin started, "If we catch them off then things will be different. And let's be real here, they're gonna come for the Horned God again and it's only a matter of time before they get lucky. So we should just work together and solve this problem and get rid of the Triple Goddess in the process."

Okay, it was a lot of talking. A lot more than he was used to. Justin knew that, if somebody else was talking, he would have been a lot briefer. Justin was, at the very least, desperately trying to convince them to go along with his stupid idea.

"... I think we all need to confront the cult. As like a group. I know it might sound crazy, but hear me out- I have a feeling that a loooot of powerful eyes are about to come looking for you all, and I think you all need to get used to these kinds of crazy fights.

"Well," Sasha scratched his head as Justin proposed that they all go out there and beat the cultists up with magic, "I've got my fair share of fights when I was younger... this would just be a very wierd and more... um... He paused, looking for the exact word to describe how the fight with the weird ass Wiccans was. "Yes... crazy."

He chuckled at the thought. They, the half siblings that bore the Vanburen name, were going after a bunch of idiots in the woods, after said morons charged into their manor looking for an old ram skull. A few weeks ago, he would laugh at the notion of witch hunting, but now, they were really doing it. Justin had pyrokinesis too... so... this will be a literal witch burning, perhaps. I wonder if this broken family could ever work together as well as the ones in the movies.

"Alright." Sasha rubbed his gloved palms together, looking right at Justin. "Since the only thing that is worse than doing something stupid is to do it alone, I'm in. It isn't like we have ay other choice, anyway, and I'd like to have payback to that one kid for burning my wrist. That one hurt. And you're already helping us, it should be fair for us to aid you in turn, especially if it's for our sakes too."

"If we catch them off then things will be different. And let's be real here, they're gonna come for the Horned God again and it's only a matter of time before they get lucky. So we should just work together and solve this problem and get rid of the Triple Goddess in the process."

"I guess we're in luck." Ray answered, pulling up a notebook and pen from inside his coat. "The witches had been very not subtle with what they could do, and this should help us with formulating a plan in catching them. They had pretty much exposed their powers... at least to those of us that had seen them in action."

No plan survives first contact, though, Ray thought as he began writing what he could remember from the onslaught of the wiccans. They should be ready to improvise if the wiccans pull up more unseen tricks from up their sleeves. After all, they had demonstrated multiple magical spells; transdimensional portals, hydrogenesis, fire manipulation, chain summoning, plant generation... and summoning three big dogs straight out of hell. Those Hellhounds were really hard to kill, for one, and the process of destroying them cost them a few rooms.

"Their leader Morgana summons three Hellhounds and chains, just like Sasha here. The boy that disguised as Justie had fire and water magic, as our wet clothes in the dryer now testify. His partner, the one that tried to look like Tuyen, opened a portal. And," he looked towards the hallway where he and Justin and drilled through a vine and a fire wall. "Two of them could make vines and a wall of fire."

A sigh. "It would seem that their abilities are highly variable, but we're sure to encounter fireballs, a lot of water, big dogs. Now..."

He began tapping on the note book, seemingly deep in thought. "What else had I missed?"

---

Alexander the Elder requested they all call him Sasha. Eh. Maybe if she cared enough, which she doesn't. She went through her section pulling books off one by one, skimming through to find out where they were sealed. She memorized each, then put them in her Garden for further reading later. After she finished, she pulled all the items she could carry at a time and put them in the living room. Most of her section was missing or persons of interests: The Many Eyed One, Mayor Crest, The Nightmare, The Oasis, Mary Roberts, Shade, Shimmer, and The Swan. She put them in the missing pile. The Rage of Dying Animals was the only one she could do something with. James mentioned a his, but didn't elaborate. Could be Thorton Walters. If he's as dangerous as James says he is, then he can't get his hands on something this deadly. She stepped inside her Garden, closed the portal behind her, then clapped her hands and parted them. The flowers separated creating a row of dirt. She buried the mound of harden clay The Rage of Dying Animals was sealed in, clapped her hands again, the flowers came back together and hid the object. It was lost to her now, until she called for her Garden to reveal it.

Georgie came back just in time for Justin to call a meeting with the family outside in the cold. All this work and she forgot all about tea time. It was so late. Almost 6:30pm. It's almost time for evening tea. She wasn't in a rush to get outside. She started the kettle in the kitchen, then went to the coat closet down the hall for her fur coat, matching hat, and gloves. She detoured back to the living room for James's rifle and slung the strap onto her shoulder. If they need to leave the house it might come in handy. She came back just in time for the tea to whistle. She poured the hot water into a thermos, then added her mint teabag. She joined her family outside, sipping her tea for warmth. It was scalding hot, perfect. She doesn't see him for a few hours and Justin came up with a terrible idea. The other brother she's not familiar listed off the magic abilities of each witch they knew so far. She made a note of herself.

"Yes, yes, all fine and well, but are we going to plan this time around? Last time we were ambushed, but that doesn't mean we should make an arse of ourselves and finish a fight with our pants around our ankles. I assume everyone knows what works for them and what doesn't. I can't fight that Morgana girl, her beasts, or one of the imposters. The Garden isn't fire retardant. Also, to cut down on liabilities those of us that are useless should stay behind."

Okay, okay, okay. Nisha knew now, as the ungentle nurse used a cotton swab to fence with her uvula and tested the limits of her gag reflex, wasn’t the time to panic. She needed a plan. Another plan, actually. Plan one had been to stop the test. It was simple enough: she could swab the nurse’s throat with one of the Long Arms of the Slaugh and see whatever she could rip out until the nurse stopped swabbing. Of course, then she’d have to deal with being charged for murder, or potentially another nurse. She could just off that one too, but killing the entire overworked hospital staff wasn’t really a plan.

Neither was her second idea, which was to burn the motherfucker down. The third was to pull off the old switcheroo and swap the swab with a dummy one that wasn’t covered with whatever booze that was still lingering in the back of her esophagus. However, that plan was dashed because it arrived about three seconds after the nurse had finished shoving the swab into the bottom of Nisha’s stomach and gingerly popped it into the vial, cruelly adding a “There, see? Not so bad,” as Nisha resisted the urge to yak. That left Nisha with one option and one option only: she’d have to steal it after hours. Filing Operation: Spit Take firmly into the “good idea” mental filing cabinet, Nisha hopped off of the white sanitary paper and followed the nurse to the lobby.

Nisha watched which ward the nurse headed down after she had returned Nisha to her guardian. Ezra was in a conversation with a female doctor with straight, blonde hair that was in such a tight ponytail that just looking at it gave Nisha a contact headache. Although Ezra looked as calm as ever, there was a redness to the doctor’s cheeks and a wagging of a finger that showed their conversation wasn’t casual small talk. It came to an abrupt halt as the blonde woman held up her hand and walked away, her heels clacking as she left the lobby. Nisha watched Ezra stare after her, swearing that she caught a faint smirk on his face.

Ezra wouldn’t admit it, but he had been smirking. He had just convinced Dr. Vaught to run some tests on the bloodsoaked knife he’d recovered from one of the cultists. Sure, Anne had been right when she said it was unprofessional, and unscrupulous, and, yes, even a bit uncool to put a friend in that kind of spot, but it was a spot Ezra knew he could put Anne in and that she would still pull through and they would still be on good terms. He just owed her dinner, and maybe a written apology. Smartest person he knew, but still a sucker for the sentiment. It’d take a day or two, and possibly three out of spite, but he should have the identity of one of the cultists soon enough. Anne had even promised to call him if anyone came in with a knife wound.

“She looked pissed. You two dating?” asked Nisha.

Ezra gave Nisha a blank stare. He not only didn’t trust the young woman, he was also fairly certain he didn’t like her. After what had been basically an interrogation, their talk had shifted into getting to know a little bit about one another. Well, okay, it had been Nisha dominating the conversation and talking about herself for nearly twenty minutes straight. She was rude, seemed impulsive, and sounded from her choices in life that she was fairly self-destructive. Honestly, those bad qualities made him believe that perhaps there was a chance that she was his father’s daughter after all. James wasn’t one to control his urges.

Regardless, Ezra wasn’t going to speak about his dating life with a stranger. He ignored the question and said, “How did it go?”

“Great. Is she your ex?” asked Nisha, studying Ezra’s face for some kind of revelation. “Casual hookup?” He blinked. She considered that to be a definite yes. “Oooh, you dirty dog! Sounds like you’re a chip off of the ol’ block, eh? Like father like son, huh? Apple doesn’t fall too far from the—”

“Oh look, I think that’s Arabelle,” said Ezra, rushing in the direction of some random woman and praying that the actual Arabelle would be released soon enough.

---

---

Nisha finally understood the nature of Ezra’s pointed interrogation when it had just been the two of them in the car upon their arrival at the mansion. In fact, he had downplayed it quite a bit. It hadn’t just been a break-in, it had been a full blown assault on the mansion. Someone must’ve brought some serious firepower to blow a hole in the wall that large. Ezra made some quick rounds with her to give her the lay of the mansion and show her the guest house she’d be staying in for the time being. He even did the honors of introducing her to the handful of Vanburens that were still around, taking them aside to what Nisha assumed was to ease their suspicion.

In reality, Ezra had reminded them of what James’ policy was on alleged offspring and to treat Nisha like a guest, but to remain vigilant around the girl and be careful what they mention around her. Even when James was around to expedite the process he was always suspicious anytime someone came knocking about being a new Vanburen, and her timing in relation to the attack did little to ease his nerves. Still, on the miniscule chance that she was family or at least believed that she was then he didn’t want her first impression of the Vanburens to be negatively colored by the tension brought upon by the day's events. Although it was hard to tell between the exhaustive girl and his extensive family which one would give off the worst impression in the first place.

Regardless, it wasn’t long after Nisha had found herself settling in and turning the guest house into a guest home by tossing all of her shit around in a mess that would seem chaotic to anyone but her that she noticed a small group of rich marks gathering on the patio. She gritted her teeth and flared her nostrils with a huff. First day “home” and they didn’t even invite her to the winter cookout? Well, she wouldn’t let a lack of a proper invitation stop her. She’d just crash the party. Nisha rushed out of the guest house barefoot without even thinking to throw a jacket on over her purple tank. Nevertheless, she trekked through the snow to the patio without even noticing the cold, seemingly heated by her spirits.

Ezra gave her a quizzical look as she snuck in behind the others. He put a finger to his lips as Justin started to speak, silencing the complaint that was about to come from Nisha’s mouth. Her eyes widened as the kid went on about a cult that lived in the woods and about how they should fight them and rambled on about gods and goddesses and, holy shit, it looked like everyone was taking this seriously. A gleeful smile spread on Nisha’s face as the Vanburens started chiming in support of the idea. Either these rich people were crazy, or the hot asian dude was a brilliant swindler, or what they said was true, or a little bit of everything. No matter what, this was going to be fucking fun.

“Oh, oh! I can help!” Nisha excitedly jumped forward in front of the gathering of what were basically total strangers, waving her hand in the air like a know-it-all teacher’s pet eager to volunteer to show the class how to diagram a sentence. “They don’t know I’m one of you, you know? So I could go in pretending like I’m really there to join the Horny God Cult—” “Nisha.” “—but really I’m not there for that I’m there to help you guys fight them and like I can drug their drinks—” “Nisha.””—or set off a bomb or do something really cool to fuck them over while you all charge in like a couple of badasses and—”

“Nisha, hold on!” barked Ezra in a rare moment of visual frustration. He stepped forward, grabbed the bothersome woman by the shoulder, and lightly shoved her out of the circle. His tired eyes scanned the faces of his family, a look of reprimand striking upon those who’d spoken up in support of this idea, and then his face relaxed as he sighed. He pushed his hair back, rolled his shoulders, and resumed his cool demeanor.

“Why are we immediately jumping to the idea that we go in swinging? Like you said, Justin, they caught us unprepared and still lost. They didn’t get what they wanted, they were forced to retreat, and they took casualties while we only lost the use of our dining room until repairs are done and the bearskin rug in the entryway that, in hindsight, was a bit tacky. I honestly think the threat of violence would be better than actual violence, and I rather not go murder a bunch of people who might have family that might start asking question. So before we go galavanting off to assault what seems like a couple of losers who hang out in a ransacked Five Seasons maybe we could try brainstorming a few other ideas? Anyone?”

Ezra closed his eyes and tightened his lips as Nisha spoke up again, “What if I pretend to join their cult but, but, but instead of kicking their asses I instead lead their leader to a mirror? And then Arabelle and I could pull them through and they’ll have nobody to follow, causing a power vacuum which will make them turn on one another and crumble from the inside.”

“That is, by definition, technically an idea,” said Ezra, as Nisha continued rambling on about something involving a car battery and jumper cables. “Anyone else?”

The please was unsaid, but heavily implied.

“Well, Miss Matthews, everything came out okay with your scans. No major tears or fractures to be seen, but you’ll need to follow the usual treatment for dislocations.”

Great.

The doctor before her set down a small stack of instructional and medical papers. Arabelle glanced over them quickly. Fortunately for her, she wouldn’t have to come back for any treatment. She didn’t see anything about seeing a physical therapist but she had an inkling that at least one appointment would be recommended. Arabelle would politely refuse.

“You’ll only need to wear the sling for a few days. I want you to wear it for two nights while you sleep with a pillow tucked under your arm for support.” The doctor continued as she helped Arabelle stick her arm into the fabric trap. Arabelle couldn’t feel a thing in her shoulder, but she knew that it would have hurt to move it without the painkillers.

Once the sling was properly secured, the doctor held up a bottle before slipping it into a paper bag, along with her instructional papers. [b] “Take one pill in the morning and one at night with water and crackers for your stomach. There should be enough to last you until your shoulder is doing better. The papers have information and resources for physical therapy, but you can also look up treatment exercises online through our website.”[/color]

“Unless you have any further questions, I think we’re all wrapped up here.” The doctor finished with a smile. Arabelle nodded before pushing herself onto her feet.

“I don’t have any questions now, but if I do I’ll contact a PT.” She smiled at the nurse and took her goody bag, stuffing it into the hand that poked just barely out of the sling. “Thank you, Doctor.”

The doctor returned the smile. “It’s my pleasure, Miss Matthews. Let me help you with your cardigan.” Arabelle watched her with an awkward silence as the doctor turned to the chair by the door. She took a step forward, just in time to prevent the doctor from also picking up the (super fucking weird) ram skull hidden underneath.

Arabelle cleared her throat and scooped it up with her good arm before clutching it to her chest. “Sorry, it’s a- um, a family heirloom. Just want to make sure it doesn’t fall.”

I can never come back here again. Arabelle thought as the doctor raised an eyebrow.

“Mhm”

Yep. Never coming back.

The doctor placed her cardigan over her shoulders, said a short goodbye, and led her far enough out of the wing that Arabelle could find her own way out. Arabelle would have flushed in embarrassment if she hadn’t seen Ezra down the hall.

“Let’s go before they admit me to the psych ward.” Arabelle muttered to Ezra before she continued towards the exit. Whether Ezra or Nisha followed didn’t matter. She wanted to get this ram skull back to the estate as quickly as possible.

---

Arabelle returned to the estate with too much on her mind. As she walked inside, her body shaking without her coat to protect her from the winter night, Arabelle immediately headed for her coat in the closet closest to the door. Thankfully Ezra was busy helping Nisha into the guest house, and missed the awkward display of Arabelle shuffling the coat over her shoulders. She wasn’t sure how she was going to manage wearing a sling for four days if it was this difficult to wear for an hour.

She could hear the whistle of a kettle from the kitchen. Tea time, right. Who would be making tea without a servant to help? Arabelle figured it was Georgie. She never missed tea time. Arabelle headed down the hall and towards the kitchen, but it seemed that she’d just missed the Vanburen sister. Maybe it was best that she missed the beginning of the meeting. What she had to say would be enough to explain why the cult attacked in the first place. Well, unless Ezra explained it for her before she made it out there. Into the cold, cold night. Arabelle sighed and made herself a hot mug of tea with honey to sweeten it. She sipped it for a few moments to warm up before joining the family meeting.

Arabelle stepped into the freezing air just in time to watch Ezra literally hold Nisha back. She could see the frustration on his face. It was a little funny to see him this way. Only a little bit.

Arabelle stood a few feet from the circle with her back to the warm light of the estate home. She listened to Ezra speak. She didn’t know what the others said before this, but she had to agree with Ezra’s point. It sounded like the Vanburen’s wanted payback. That was understandable. A full on assault on their cult grounds was not. Nisha spoke up again and Arabelle took this as a moment to sip her tea. Her eyes glanced between the Vanburen’s faces that she could see.

“-I instead lead them to a mirror? then Arabelle and I can pull them through-”

Arabelle almost spit her tea out. She swallowed what was left and held the mug away from her mouth. What the hell was with this woman? Did any of them even realize how Arabelle had escaped? Why would she bring her into this plan without asking first? Arabelle had an incredulous look on her face when Ezra actually agreed with her.

Arabelle sighed and put her mug into her sling hand. She then stepped her way into the circle, reaching for the ram skull under her arm. She held it out into the center of the group as soon as she’d taken her place among them.

“This is what they came here for.” Arabelle stated plainly as she looked at each of them in the circle. “The Horned God is sealed within this skull.” Just saying his name sent shivers down her fingertips, up her arms, and to the back of her neck. He was still trying to convince her to set him free.

“A girl within the cult spoke to me before I escaped. She is against this Morgana and the Triple Goddesses plan to release him. She gave this to me for protection.”

She turned towards the Liao ghost detective.

“If this girl is truly against their plans, she may know a way to stop them without violence. She may know about this goddesses weakness too. I think we should try to contact her.”

---

Tuyen was thankful to have had a chance to get changed after their investigation, bundled up in a more practical set of trousers and a thick winter jacket that she’d owned since she stopped growing. The scarf wrapped around her neck was worn and clearly old, but it still did its job.

She wasn’t going to freeze to death again, thank you very much. Though it wasn’t quite as bad as when Farmer’s Hill basically froze over. She shoved her glove covered hands in her pockets, shivering and keeping close to Justin.

Oscar had taken a short break after investigating with his siblings, traipsing through a forest and thankfully getting some information. Now Justin was suggesting going after the cult and everyone was chiming in with their own ideas. Far too many of them. ”You’ve got most of their abilities, though one must also be able to disguise themselves, so add that to the list.” He said to Ray, giving him a nod, having also kept a tally in his head of everything they could do (in hope of investigating it later).

Trisha, unlike the other actively participating, hung back and rolled her eyes. ”Oh yes, let’s just all go galavant in the woods and take out a bunch of weirdos, sounds like a great use of our time. Not to mention that you’re expecting us to work together. That isn’t going to happen. So the plan doesn’t matter, because it won’t work in the end.”

Oscar ignored his pessimistic sister and changed his attention to their new sibling(?) and her somewhat crazy idea that sounded fun but unlikely to work, and then Arabelle with her less crazy idea.

“If this girl is truly against their plans, she may know a way to stop them without violence. She may know about this goddesses weakness too. I think we should try to contact her.”

”Do you think you’ll be able to contact her?” Tuyen asked, eyebrows raised. ”We’ll have to get rid of the Triple Goddess either way, but it will be easier if we can negotiate with the cult itself. Without her, I don’t think they will be a threat to you.”

At least that was what she hoped, seeing as she didn’t have much confidence in the Vanburens fighting against both the cult and the Triple Goddess at the same time. There was only so much her and Justin could pull their weight in a fight, but they also couldn’t go alone. It was bad enough that she was as likely to be a hindrance as a help. She was just a burden, most of the time.

”Either way, I agree with confronting the cult,” Oscar spoke up, tapping his fingers against his mostly broken phone. ”And that if it comes down to a fight, not everyone here is suited to that. I can handle their water and fire at the very least.” Though their water abstractions seemed more powerful than his. He then glanced at Arabelle. ”And we need to make sure to continue to keep the Horned God away from them, right? It’s best it stays with Arabelle, I think.”

---

Georgie wasn't prepared for the surprise that came home with Ezra. Even went through the whole spiel she's heard a hundred times before. She'll do just as well to pretend the girl doesn't exist like all the new siblings they aren't sure about, until the DNA results are in. This time though, Georgie wasn't buying it. If the girl just arrive today, then logically she can't be a Vanburen. She would have turned to stone a week or so ago. She's surprised Ezra didn't think of it, but the results will come in soon enough and it will confirm what she already knows.

Turns out she'll be harder to ignore, for the northen twat nittered on and on and on. Oh God, it speaks. And not well might she add. She couldn't make out neary a thing coming out of her mouth. All she understood was Ezra trying to get her to shut up, and when he suggested they do literally anything else she couldn't see the merit behind it. So what if they died. Best to kill your enemies than to give them a second chance. He was so like James it was a tad unsettling.

Arabelle showed them the ram's head that went missing. So she did have it all along. Good. Best case scenario. Talk of negotiating went on and she couldn't help the slight giggle that came out. Ha! As if those monkey brained cunts even knew what negotiate meant. They weren't smarter than primary school students. Even Patty wasn't that dumb.

"Whatever we come up with will end in violence anyway. If we try to negotiate it will turn into a fight. If we ambush them we'll most likely win the fight. The most important thing here was keeping the ram's head away from them and it wouldn't be safe with Arabelle." She walked up to Arabelle more focused on the object than the girl herself. "You got it away, because you were lucky enough to talk to one of them. However, she's also aware that you were the last one with it. If she snitches, then they'll come for you." Georgie looked at her briefly, then took the ram's head from her. A voice tried to convince her to set it free and while it was tempting she's not an easy girl. "I came up with a plan on what to do with the worst of James's apparitions. I'll take care of this." She went back into the kitchen, but before she got too far, she turned around and pointed at the ones that knew what she was about to do. "And keep mum around..." she nodded towards the Northern Twat. "...that. Can't have outsiders knowing too much." Then she continued on her way out of sight to the living room down the hall.

Georgie opened her portal and closed it behind her. She did the same thing she did before, separated the flowers, buried it in the dirt, then commanded her flowers to bury it far and deep. She came back to the group once she was done and drank down the rest of her tea. "Now that the Horned God is out the way, what was this idea about contacting the traitor girl? How would we find her for one-on-one time? And if we do, we need to cross reference anything she says about the Triple Goddess with information in James's book. If she lies to us we're dead."

---

---

Shane sat with his arms folded and his eyes down the entirety of Justin's speech. He found himself kind of liking the kid as he slightly stumbled over himself trying to formulate a plan, his plan seemed halfbaked but at least he was trying which was more than could be said for most of the people on Team Vanburen. Endearing or not however, Shane furrowed his brow at the notion of attacking the cultists head on. It was a fight they'd probably win but the Ruskie Alexander only seemed to have some of the cultists abilities known, and if they could summon something as crazy powerful as the triple goddess, illusion or no, they were at least more of a threat than their intelligence would imply.

'Been too long since I had a drink...' He thought to himself, chalking up his sudden tactical caution to his sobriety. Only just this morning he'd wanted to go it alone and crack open their skulls to finish this thing. All this strategic thinking and pontificating made him uneasy, not helped by the inclusion of his family. Of which, he was reminded more and more as to why he kept his distance from most of them.

Trisha, Oscar, Georgie, Ezra and the woman who claimed to be a Vanburen all threw out half laid plans with reckless abandon. Arabelle's had some merit at the least since the kid had let her escape with the horned thing, but it still seemed a risk to work that closely with her. Maybe she had enough of a conscience to let Arabelle go without incident, but turn directly against her friends? Shane wasn't as confident.

He found himself about to speak a few times before the sudden voices of another siblings or the mouthy woman Ezra brought home would rise up again. He gritted his teeth. Shane felt around inside the front pocket of the blue fannel shirt he'd changed into upon arriving home, thankful James had insisted on him leaving some clothing in his old room should he ever decide to use it again, not that it was all Shane had left there. The flask in his pocket was cold as its metal had been exposed to the new open air feature of the manor, but it sat empty. Thankfully, James had left behind a solution for that as well...

Shane was about to stand up and leave wordlessly, but the chatter of his siblings irritated him to no end. He turned slightly, speaking with the amount of dry irritation that they had no doubt become accustomed to.

"Attacking 'em head on is possible. But it's an all in deal. We fuck up, they get desperate and probably do something really stupid. We might have beat 'em back here but if we throw that same crap at them on their home turf then we're screwed before we even leave the manor." He looked at the room with his continued expression of slight contempt. "Unless we want to nag or bore them to death with art history bullshit, might be a better idea to come up with more of a plan than 'attack' so we don't show up at the place with our dicks in our hands."

He shifted his look to Arabelle, expression softening slightly. "The girl may want to help. And I don't want to seriously hurt any of those idiots if I can help it. But unless you can fully confirm that she'd be willing to turn on all her friends to stop 'em, then it isn't something I can put a lot of faith in."

Shane picked up the black wool jacket that Mary Roberts had so kindly made for him earlier today, he began to exit the room.

[colour=SteelBlue]"I'm going to the old man's bar. Come find me when we decide whatever stupid shit we're doing." He stopped and looked back once more. "If we end up doing the new girl's plan then here's hoping she's a better actor than she is a 'Vanburen'."

With that, he left, into the darkness down the hall in search of his father's stocked bar to indulge in their shared vice.

---

“Why are we immediately jumping to the idea that we go in swinging? Like you said, Justin, they caught us unprepared and still lost. They didn’t get what they wanted, they were forced to retreat, and they took casualties while we only lost the use of our dining room until repairs are done and the bearskin rug in the entryway that, in hindsight, was a bit tacky. I honestly think the threat of violence would be better than actual violence, and I rather not go murder a bunch of people who might have family that might start asking questions. So before we go galavanting off to assault what seems like a couple of losers who hang out in a ransacked Five Seasons maybe we could try brainstorming a few other ideas? Anyone?”

You really shouldn't let whatever's watching out there get the idea that they can come in here and rough house you all without retaliation..

Is what Justin really wanted to say. That was that prideful, no-prisoners, nuclear option, upbringing speaking. He knew that maybe they wouldn't understand that - well, maybe he gave off the wrong intention. He tried to save face.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I think I kinda sent the wrong message here," Justin puts his hands up shaking them back and forth. He leaned back a little bit like a dramatic display. Before he chuckled and said, "I'm not saying we should be killing anyone - in fact, I advise against it. But, it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation here, by that I mean I don't think there's anyone to solve our problems without violence."

He shrugged as he looked Ezra down. He was obviously the man in charge and Justin was going to give him the utmost amount of respect. It was a miracle he's even hearing him out after all, but he had to say this. "What we need to do is take the Triple Goddess out of the equation. And if what I know about ancient ghosts is correct; she's gonna go down swinging."

Justin shrugged again as he said, "Take her out, and the cult's just gonna be a bunch of idiots floundering around."

At best, that is. At worst, they'll just find another patron saint and become a problem down the line.

“What if I pretend to join their cult but, but, but instead of kicking their asses I instead lead their leader to a mirror? And then Arabelle and I could pull them through and they’ll have nobody to follow, causing a power vacuum which will make them turn on one another and crumble from the inside.”

Justin raised an eyebrow at the mouthy girl, Ezra seems to be compatriots with her? For a second Justin thought that she was his sugar baby but then he heard something about being a "sister" to the Vanburens. That was an interesting notion, to say the least, but James slept around a lot. He probably has kids all over Araminta and beyond. Still, the girl was quite... annoying. Constantly talking about nonsense... Justin didn't know what, but he got some odd vibes from her. By that, he meant that she was odd.

"I don't think that's going to work..." He cut himself off there as he was certain that explaining how the Triple Goddess was the real problem (for the third time) was gonna fly over her head.

... If she was listening in the first place.

However, the servant chick that disappeared dropped a skull on the table and explained what it was. And Justin's heart started racing.

“This is what they came here for. The Horned God is sealed within this skull. A girl within the cult spoke to me before I escaped. She is against this Morgana and the Triple Goddess's plan to release him. She gave this to me for protection. If this girl is truly against their plans, she may know a way to stop them without violence. She may know about this goddess's weakness too. I think we should try to contact her.”

The Horned God.

Probably a powerful Apparition. Just in the hands of some servant all along. He was relieved that she had the Horned God and not the cult, but they should definitely get this somewhere secure. ASAP. The rude chubby girl took the skull and voiced some points that Justin had no choice but to agree with. However, Justin faced Arabelle when she mentioned that she made contact with one of them and something didn't quite sit right with that. He scrunched his face for a second as he slid his hands into his pockets.

"Do you like... know her name? Or how to even get in contact with her?" Justin started. "Or if we can really trust her, you know? Don't get me wrong, this could work out in our favor but she could be aiming towards installing a different deity for all we know."

”Do you think you’ll be able to contact her?” We’ll have to get rid of the Triple Goddess either way, but it will be easier if we can negotiate with the cult itself. Without her, I don’t think they will be a threat to you.”

"Whatever we come up with will end in violence anyway. If we try to negotiate it will turn into a fight. If we ambush them we'll most likely win the fight. The most important thing here was keeping the ram's head away from them and it wouldn't be safe with Arabelle."

"She's got a point," Justin gestured towards Georgie. As much as he liked Tuyen, he had to admit that her idea was definitely not going to go anywhere. "Only thing I think they'll want is the release of the Horned God."

He paused for a second.

"And that is not going to happen."

The tallest of the bunch kept quiet during this entire conversation... Sabrina Vanburen had a scarf over her face to protect her from the cold. All this talk of violence was not... boding well with her. Even you, Ozz...? However, she didn't want the Vanburens to go in and fight these people, she finally stepped up as she said.

"We know the names of a few of them and where they work," Sabrina piped up. "Why don't we just send the cops after them?"

Justin sighed as he facepalmed at having to explain the obvious. He held up one finger as he said, "One, try finding a cop that'll take a report of a cult of actual witches raided your mansion with hellhounds and magic seriously."

He raised another finger, "Two, a cop without magic is gonna get shredded by them... there's a little thing protecting us from each other's abilities. I'm not gonna stand here and explain it because we have better things to do."

He raised another finger as he said, "And three, we need to take the Triple Goddess out of the equation and unless there's some kinda secret ghost hunting agency out there - that task falls on us."

It sucks but the Vanburens should have realized that they can't have other problems solve all of their problems. Though, Raymond mentioning the cult and their known abilities (so far, Justin knew that they had something up their sleeve) reminded him of something: he didn't know what the Vanburens could do. He had a vague idea of what Shane, Georgie, Raymond, and Alexander could do, but not the entire family. So, what better way to find out than ask?

"So, uh, what can you all do by the way?" Justin asked before he felt the need to demonstrate his own abstraction. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few steel balls, and then they floated into the air for a moment before they combusted into flames. They spun around in a circle as he explained, "Mine is Pyro-telekinesis. I can move objects with my mind but whatever I control catches fire. Pretty simple, yeah?"

He didn't want to go into his grandmother's abstraction because he realized how impractical it was to use at the moment. Shane mentioned something about hitting up James' bar and not to bother him until they decide on a plan and Justin couldn't help but roll his eyes. Well, if he wanted to get drunk now of all times, that was on him but Justin was gonna focus.