A dark damp mist descended onto the deep forests that surrounded Tanner. The swirling white clouds dancing between the trees. A full moon in the sky had reached its efflorescence along the blackened sky, using its reflected light to shine down through the thick mist, that somehow only made things harder to see. Suffice to say that the majority of the town was at this point asleep, and anyone who was awake in this hour was certainly upto no good.

Hurried footsteps moved through the forests, accompanied by hurried draws of deep breath. Panic rising in the air. Moments later another sound could be heard in the woods, giving chase, faint snarls mixed in with the sounds of running. Occasionally the prey would look behind them, hearing the snarling getting closer and closer. The mist was making it harder to see where they were supposed to be going or how close their pursuer was.

Suddenly, A single scream pierced the air. And then silence.

---

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---

It was late at night, but somehow here Carlisle was. Sitting in the passenger seat of his mother's SUV as they drove out to the outskirts of Tanner. Opposite him was his mother: Amanda Aston; A blonde haired petite woman who had clearly dyed her hair and used many makeup products to disguise her true age. In the backseat sat a middle-aged male, with brown spikey hair. He was wearing a white collar shirt, deliberately unbuttoned to reveal the top of his chest, along with the sleeves rolled up to reveal the many tattoos that decorated his body.

"Remind me why I got woken up at midnight again?" Carlisle huffed, letting out a half stifled yawn while sitting back up straight in his seat"

"Because something doesn't feel right with the barrier. Don't tell me you can't feel it too" His mother snapped back, clearly not in the mood.

"Well yeah, I get that, I can feel it. But it's nearly 2am, why can't we look into it in the morning"

"Because who knows what could get in during that time. And before you ask I woke you up because as of midnight this is officially your problem. I asked Ty to come with because he was already with me at the party"

“Ah yes, the Retirement Party. I am guessing that Ty was the only one besides you that wasn’t drunk out of their head?” It seemed neither his mother, nor Ty decided to answer the question.

It wouldn't be much longer until the group made their way to the edge of the Tanner forest. Jumping out of the vehicle, Carlisle turned his phone flash on, while his mother bought out a flashlight. Ty elected to simply hold his hand up and conjure a bright burning flame in his palm. The trio made their way through the forest, heading towards the barrier: A magical field created by the coven to keep out any supernatural threats to the small town. Reaching the edge of the barrier it seemed their suspicions were confirmed. While invisible to the Mundane, anyone with magical sight could see a bright blue and purple swirling shield infront of them. A massive tear was visible, the newly created edges pulsating with a faint blue glow.

Carlisle got in closer to inspect the damage to the barrier. It seemed to be extensive. Not only had the magic been torn, but also destroyed. Ty would walk over to Carlisle, taking a look himself.

“Whatever broke this must have some serious power. It looks like it ripped the barrier apart rather than shattering it” Ty commented, running his non-inflamed hand along the gap where the barrier once was. “No latent magic even left here. Think you can repair it?” Carlisle nodded in acknowledgement and Ty took a step back. “Remember to focus your energy. The barrier is still up, so draw from its power to boost your own.”

Carlisle would hold both his hands out, taking a deep breath as he dove deep into his well of magical energy. His hands would glow blue as the barrier would begin to reform, the torn edges slowly filling in and making their way to the center of Carlisle’s hands. Both Ty and his mother watched as Carlisle finally finished fixing up the shield. After he was done, Carlisle could be seen breathing heavily, clearly exhausted.

“You did good kid. Repairing the barrier is normally a task reserved for a group. It takes real power to be able to repair it solo” Ty praised, helping Carlisle back onto his feet properly.

“Well, it should be expected of an Aston really” His mother spoke, rather dismissively. “Those claw marks make me think that potentially a werewolf has breached the barrier. Looks like you have your work cut out for you” His mother spoke, staring directly at Carlisle.

“I will don’t you worry”



Carlisle’s sleep was punctuated by the sudden chime from his phone alarm on his bedside table. Grabbing it, he looked at the time before letting out a short sigh and dismissing the alarm: 6.15am. Rolling onto his side he would sit up running his hand through his hair. Today was the day. College was over, and everyone would be back from college. Carlisle was both excited and dreading the day ahead. It was going to be nice to see people he used to go to high school with, but at the same time, it was also quite scary. Have people changed? Would people even remember him? He had tried his best to keep in touch with people, but that wasn’t exactly easy for him.

Putting on a baggy tee and his morning shorts, Carlisle got out of bed and walked out of his room in his parents house. The Aston family lived in a nice Victroian style house in the more well to do area of Tanner. It was one of those ‘In our family for generations’ style of houses, where half of the furniture was most likely older than his parents' ages combined.

Reaching the kitchen he saw his mother sitting at the kitchen tabletop, a dark green leather bound book in her hands, clad in her half lace dressing gown. Amanda Aston was one of the premier witches in the Tanner Coven, making up one of the three council members. Normally she was always engrossed in coven matters, but at the moment she seemed to be rather relaxed.

”Enjoying your first day of retirement?” Carlisle asked. As he made his way to the toaster to put some bread in. Toast would make everything better.

”It isn’t exactly relaxing. I still have alot of Coven stuff to do, it just means I don’t have to spend every waking hour of every waking day dealing with things. That is your problem now.” The coven would certainly not be the same without Amanda walking around every day and calling the shots. As the Coven Matriarch, it was certainly going to be an adjustment to not seeing her every day. ”Besides, most of my life at the moment is trying to find a replacement for myself.” With the toast popping out of the toaster, Carlilse grabbed it and spun back around. Deciding to try and head his mother off as he knew the point she was about to make.

”Let me guess, the other council members are still reluctant to put me in charge like you want?” Carlisle retorted, the corner of a piece of toast now hanging from his teeth. Amanda on the other hand was somewhat casual with her body language.

”They are still uneasy about a warlock being in charge of the coven, and ontop of that, they still think Serena would be a better candidate. They have only agreed for you to be a caretaker Patriarch until the council has made its final decision. And that was a hard enough sell. Had to spend weeks essentially arguing that Serena had been away for too long to be deemed an immediate choice. It is only a matter of time.” Carlisle had been leaning against the kitchen counter, listening to his mothers words, eating the toast, forgetting to put any topping on it in the process.

”Have you ever considered that perhaps, I don’t deserve it? I mean let's be clear, I am a warlock. I know, before you start, you don’t like it. I am the first warlock of the bloodline, and father will go on and on about how I am either a disgrace to the bloodline, or omens of the future of the Aston family. But at the same time, maybe I don’t want it. I am not exactly a natural born leader.” Amanda sat up straight, finally her fuse had been set off, and the relaxed facade had finally crumbled.

”Carlisle, the Aston family have been Matriarchs of the coven seven out of the last ten times. It is within our nature to be the leaders of this town's fine witches and warlocks.

”Exactly, 7/10. That means you don’t win every time. This is just one of these times that you don’t. I guess we'll just have to focus on my child… If I ever have one.” Carlisle knew what he just did. Threatening not to have children infront of his mother was the equivalent of setting off a nuclear bomb in this household. Anything that would suggest that the Aston bloodline would end with him always elicited the same response. ”Also bear in mind you said Matriarch, not Patriarch. It is no secret that magical energy runs stronger in the female side of the Aston bloodline. I am not ashamed of that.”

”Not this again. Where is your ambition Carlisle? Your family has an amazing history that most witches would die for, and you sit here like it means nothing to you. I had really hoped with your friends coming back that maybe some fire would be ignited under you. I even got this book out that discusses rituals to turn warlocks into witches.”

”Mom. No. I am not taking part in any hokey cokey ritual that could potentially kill me, all for giving you some extra family credit. End of discussion.” With that, Carlisle finished the final bite of his toast and began to walk back upto his room, ignoring the protests of his mother to come back and listen to him.

A sigh escaped Carlisle’s lips as he reentered his room. This morning had gone exactly as he imagined it so far. Nothing new there. Picking up his phone, he at least noted that it had burnt about 20 minutes of his day. Opening his messenger app he would quickly find Lilith and send her a quick text:

Morning, So I have already had the ‘talk’ with my mother. It isn’t even the start of day one proper yet. How’s your morning?”

Sending the text he put the phone back in his pocket. He was used to Lilith responding whenever she was free and able to talk. There was no guarantee that she was even up yet. Carlisle then began the process of getting dressed and ready for the day. His mother had already informed everyone to let their children know that they needed to be at the Coven household by 11am that morning. She had of course instructed Carlise to be there fashionably earlier than that. She had also taken an immense amount of pride telling every parent who would listen about how ‘her boy’ was looking after the coven after they all decided to take retirement.

Retirement wasn’t exactly a new concept. It had been around for a few generations, but normally, the elders waited until their replacements were in their mid thirties before pulling their stunt, so doing it this young was a decision that he couldn’t quite comprehend. They clearly had their reasons, but they were keeping everyone in the dark about it.

With his clothes now on: A simple white shirt and black trouser pants, a la, smart casual, Carlisle decided to set off to the Coven household. That way his mother couldn’t try and sacrifice him to some sort of eldritch horror in a vein attempt to save the family's vanity. Carlisle decided to walk through the quiet morning streets of suburban Tanner to get to the household. Mostly because he knew that everyone was most likely to bring their car and cause a massive pile up at the house. And there was no way he was going to be stuck there because someone can’t park correctly.



The Coven Household was situated in the center of Tanner, and if you believe the history of the place, it was one of the first buildings that was built in Tanner and it was built by the coven for their exclusive use. It was called the Household because that was what it was. In order to avoid raising suspicions in older times, some witches and warlocks lived inside the house so that to the outside world it was just a popular residence. Nowadays most of the mortals believe it is some kind of membership only club.

Carlisle would enter the household through the front door, unlocking it with his mothers master key. Well, I suppose for now, his master key. The building had a wonderful entrance hall complete with a twin staircase that led upstairs. The home was filled with many bedrooms, drawing rooms, lounges, studies, libraries, and then there was the basement. That was something else entirely. Carlisle hadn’t exactly explored the entire house even with all the years he had been here. You never really went into a room unless you needed to. But in theory, this was his house now. So it would be rude not to take stock.

His adventurous streak was dashed however when he checked his watch. It had just turned 9am. He decided instead to go to the dining room adjacent to the entrance hallway and wait to see if anyone turned up early. He had to be the responsible one.

Victor groaned into his pillow as the ever-familiar, rhythmic beeping of his alarm resounded in his room. 7:30 AM. He had recently moved back into his family home in Tanner. His parents would arrive in a few days as they had some business to take care of, they didn't inform him of what- although he guessed it was related to his ever-obnoxious extended family; The Crowe's. Despite the excommunication, his extended family often called their parents for differing reasons. It irked Victor to no end, as he's had more than a few negative run-ins with them.

Willing himself out of bed, Victor began his routine. Preparing a small breakfast- eggs and toast, he began eating. He ate slowly, still attempting to will the sleepiness away. Victor then jumped into the shower to clean up. He wondered if the Coven had changed, or if it was more of the same. Well, atleast that curiosity will be satisfied today. Stepping out of the shower, he wore a dark leather jacket, a blue hoodie, and comfortable black jeans. An outfit he defaulted to in relatively casual settings. Hopefully the Coven hadn't embraced the trend of business attire in recent years.

Victor nonchalantly heated the coffee that turned tepid when he was lost in his thoughts. Oops, should avoid doing that around the other Coven members. With that he stretched, bones creaking and crackling. He made his way outside and took in the fresh air of Tanner. An oddly nostalgic feeling overtook him. He really was back.

A family friend had lent Victor his junker to drive to the Tanner Coven household. A beat up truck that looked like something out of a junkyard. He arrived and parked in the Tanner Household by 8:15 AM. Mid-drive he remembered that he was to be there by 11 AM. With a chuckle, Victor reclined his seat, opting to catch a few more hours of sleep he's missed out since he was born.


Victor's nap was interrupted by the vibrating phone in his pocket. Good thing too, he might've overslept. It was about 9:45 AM. He locked his car behind him and lazily sauntered to the the front door. It clicked open and he let himself in.

There were a few changes within the mansion, but thankfully it was still familiar. A few paintings were changed, furniture shifted, and some lighting fixtures different, but it still felt very much like 'home'. Victor ran his hand through his hair as he spotted familiar figures. It was Carlisle Aston, an old friend he hadn't seen in awhile.

Victor walked into the dining room, patting Carlisle's shoulder with lazy smile before finding a seat himself. “It's good to see you, Carlisle, been a while.” He said, nestling comfortably into the chair with a yawn, situating himself as if he's never left. “Oh, did you prefer acting 'Coven Patriarch' Aston?” A smirk tugged at his lips, seemingly amused by his own joke.

---

Last night:
Papers were scattered everywhere, across a spacious wooden desk.

It had been one of those long nights; where Aurora had been working throughout the night. Reading and altering through the latest pieces for her publishing company. Eventually becoming frustrated, with herself and her lack of creative thoughts to feedback on the projects. Leaving things tossed around her desk; before she had given up for the rest of the evening. Maybe more creative thoughts would find her tomorrow. Or so Aurora could pray, they did.
Knowing she had to be up early tomorrow, was another reason she decided to get some shut eye. A constant reminder from her parents about the coven meeting tomorrow; it had been imbedded in her mind the entire day. A constant reminder from the head of the Newman's about her Wiccan duties. It was safe to say even though Aurora was dedicated to both her mortal 'work' and the 'Coven.' Her parents still expected higher standards from her, no matter how hard she was trying to better herself and her magic. Often missing the good old days, when she was let off easier and didn't have so much pressure put on her shoulders by her parents. But her brother wasn't with them anymore. He wasn't the future of the Newman family. She was. So automatically, all the pressure went on her now. As frustrating as it was. Aurora never dared speak out against her parents. Always too tense to. Her father's anger and wrath was something, no one wanted to risk. The man was scary.

Aurora never understood why her parents were so hard on her. Yes the Newman's were a well known and respected family in Tanner. But it's not like she was meant to be the next coven leader. That burden didn't fall on her family name. Knowing full well, that other coven members were suffering from the same. Overbearing parents, that expected utter brilliance of them. It had been with those thoughts, that she eventually found sleep.

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The Morning:

The sound of the birds chirping near her window, along with the light sun coming through her curtains awoke Aurora that morning. After sliding out of bed, she pulled the curtains aside; letting in the day-light into her bedroom window. Her day starting off the same; a little yoga stretching before she hit the shower, for a quick rinse. Often finding that her day to day routine remained the same. Aurora had always found Yoga to be relaxing, and a good way to start her morning. It helped her feel refreshed. Often than not, it helped her think. After Aurora got dressed for her day, she brushed through the thickness of her blonde locks. Pulling it up into a braid, so her hair was swepped away from her face. Not liking when her hair fell into her face. It was distracting for her.

Checking the time, Aurora had some time to grab a quick breakfast. As she headed downstairs to the kitchen; she made herself a quick egg and bacon sandwich. Making a cup of coffee to go in her favourite travel mug, with a blueberry muffin. Most of her breakfast, would be had at the coven house. The scent of bacon and eggs, filled her nose. Making her mouth water with hunger. Flipping the bacon, to make sure it was cooked evenly on both sides. Once her breakfast was finished cooking, Aurora cleaned up the pan between taking bites of her food. Enjoying her sandwich, she then set out towards the coven house with her travel mug and muffin in hand.

Luckily, she did not live far from the Coven house. Upon her own arrival, she saw everyone else was slowly arriving, not just herself. Finding that few of the younger coven members were already there. And thick tensions up in the air.

"Morning everyone." Aurora's voice sounding soft and friendly, as she walked into the room. A friendly smile accompanied her voice, as she greeted her fellow coven members. Taking her own spot around the table. Aurora set her mug of coffee and muffin on the table, as she got herself comfortable in her seat. Her eyes scanning the room, to see whom else they were missing. No one exactly looked enthusiastic this morning.

Seeing the bags under Lilith's eyes, and how tired she looked. Aurora gave her a soft smile with sympathy. "Rough night?" She asked with concern. Aurora did often look out for those younger than her. Even if some found her bit intimidating. She was nicer than others gave her credit for.

Catherine lay on the bed in the spare room of her uncle place, playing with a slither of light. She caused it to run between her fingers, illuminating the darkness in front of her face. Since moving to Tanner she had lived between her mother and uncle's as he was her magical mentor and she had only started honing her magical abilities around a decade after most in her cohort. She had returned from college the night before and after dinner and a drink with her mother she had gone to her uncle's so he could help her prepare for her first day as a protector of Tanner. Dawn was breaking outside the blackout blind and despite the warm day there seemed to be a mild nip of cold in the room... or maybe it was all in Catherine's head. She took a deep sigh as what was to come today hit her. To say she was nervous was an understatement, there seemed to be so much working against her. Her powers weren't really... destructive, she felt to risked being seen as lesser for that. As well as that she was very much a newcomer to the coven, although she knew many who we to be her future comrades and confidants their connections rarely ran as deep as many others had with one another, not to mention what her father had done 22 years ago. Catherine inhaled sharply- she needed to stop the barrage of thought reigning down on her. She needed to clear her head. She quickly changed into a tank top, jeans and slipped on a light jumper. She headed to the door for a morning walk.

"Not thinking of running away, are we?" came the half joking voice of Michael, her uncle. Catherine turned, startled. She hadn't seen him on the way out, lost in her own thoughts. Yet he was there, sitting at the dining table, drinking his morning coffee.

"Uncle Mike! No, no, of course not!" she tried to find the words to explain her plan to go on a walk and need to clear her head but her mouth seemed unable to make them. Michael chuckled, gesturing toward the seat across from him.

"You really don't need to be that nervous, Cat. I'm sure you'll be a stand up witch. Take a seat, I made waffles, do you want a coffee?" he asks, already getting up to grab her a plate and pop a coffee pod into the machine. Catherine slinked into the seat.

"You don't know that. It's just everyone is so close and so powerful and useful outside the infirmary and... you know. And uh... yeah, 2 sugars please."

"Cat," Michael sighs, bringing the plate and coffee to the table and setting it before her, "A good healer and illusionist can make all the difference- the coven know that, you're not going to be seen as lesser for it. If you really bothers you know you know we could train you more in ne-"

"You know I can't..." Catherine cuts in gently.

"Of course. Cat, if you let your father's actions define you... nevermind, we've had this conversation too much. Look I was only a year younger than you were when I moved to Tanner and I have the same heritage as you and I got along with the coven just fine,"

"At least you knew how to do magi-" Michael tuts, interrupted Catherine

"I've had enough of this pity talk, eat your damn waffles and I'll tell you what your initiation day will look like,"



It was only 9:45am when Catherine left her house but after her uncle had run over a basic initiation, a generic day as a coven member and the set out of the mansion... twice and they had caught up and done the morning crossword Catherine was too antsy to just wait around. She called her mum before getting changed into a casual dress, as per her uncle's instruction to wear something 'a little nicer than casual wear', and threw an outfit more fit for fighting and training into her day bag she was out the door. Being early wasn't so bad she had convinced herself, it'd give her time to settle in, feel comfortable and maybe strike up some conversation to get to know people better. She drove over to the mansion and parked around the corner- she didn't really want these people of immense power and wealth seeing her trashcan of a car as their first view of her after a few years of distance. She sat in her car for a good 15 minutes as she attempted to calm the butterflies beating in her chest. She thought of running away, her uncle's earlier joke seeming more and more enticing but she knew she couldn't run forever. Eventually she mustered up the courage to swing open her car door, grab her day bag and walk toward the house

As she walked the driveway to the house Catherine was in absolute awe of he building. She had seen buildings of such grandeur and size before she'd never been inside of one, she never had the need to be in the coven house until now nor ever was in a situation she could be in such a building. The idea that this was to be her 'base' for the next phase of her life was wild. She took a deep breath as she gripped her bag tightly then rung the door bell, ignoring the wave of sheer nervousness that swam over her.

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Carlisle was naturally a nervous sort. With how big today was, his stomach was knotting around and around. Seeing Victor enter only made that knot tighter. It seemed that he was trying to diffuse the tension by making a joke, but the joke instead only made Carlisle slightly more tense. It only highlighted the awkward position Carlisle was in. He was in charge, but actually ‘in charge’. Carlisle sighed and then lowered his hands onto his lap.

”Just Carlisle will do. And yeah it has been a while. Feels like only yesterday that we were all graduating from high school."

Carlsile had just begun to calm back down, taking a couple of slower breaths to try and tame that curling knot in his stomach. Little did he know it was about to turn into a whirlpool. Lilith had arrived. For a brief few moments, his stomach unknotted. His chest felt a bit warm as that school boy style crush feeling overcame him. Right now it was just what he needed, as terrible as it sounded. It didn't really last long as once his eyes had clocked onto her look, he knew he had done wrong. Well. That wasn't strictly true. It was the fact she addressed Victor and then not him. Then came the awkward bit. The fact she hadn't said anything meant that he must have done something. But what? He couldn't think what possible thing could be. The stress of trying to figure out only caused that stomach knot to get tighter, and as it got tighter Carlisle began to look more and more visibly anxious. Then there was the awkwardness about whether or not he talked first or not.

Lilith decided to interject. Carlisle couldn't tell if she was kind of enjoying watching him visibly suffer. He knew that when crossed, Lilith could be one of the fiercest witches in the Coven. Sadly, Carlisle always seemed to land himself in it more times than he would admit. The ingratiating tone she used to speak to him only confirmed that she was indeed pissed. It was now he was happy that Victor was here. If not, Victor might have walked in to Carlisle being put in a choke hold. Okay. Maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, or maybe it wasn't. Carlisle couldn't decide.

”Of course we can. This shouldn't take long. Then you can have all the time you want with me" Carlisle would go back to sitting in silence for a moment. Aurora would arrive moments later, breaking the silence a bit more. Things were doing okay right now, but then suddenly the doorbell rang. That was strange. Everyone just let themselves in. Carlisle would let out a huff and get up and walk around the table and behind Lilith to reach the door. No one else was going to get up it seemed. What was the point in being Patriarch if you had to do all the work anyway?

Opening the door he would be greeted by a familiar but also unfamiliar figure. He remembered her at Highschool, they graduated together, but she moved to Tanner at some point. Again the exact time eluded him.

”Hello! Catherine…? It is Catherine right? My memory hasn't been all there while we were at College. No need to ring the doorbell, you are with us, just walk on in"

Carlisle would open the door long enough for Catherine to enter, closing the door behind and showing her to one of the seats in the dining room. He would then walk back around and slink into his own chair. Looking at the clock. If he made this meeting last forever, Lilith wouldn't be able to speak to him.

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His mother had always told him that being a leader sometimes had tough choices. Life would never give you a good outcome, and you just had to pick the one that sucked the least. It seemed like his first day as leader, that mantra was coming to haunt him big time. Just as he managed to slump down into the old fashioned button cushioned dining chair, an entire posse decided to enter the room, led by the worst person of all: Serena. Serena was the whole reason that he had the word ‘Acting’ in his new job description. Okay, so Lilith could also be a contender technically, but mostly any kind of competition had been between him and Serena. Listening to her declaration, Carlisle wanted to go over the table and strangle her. But that wouldn’t exactly be a good look. So instead he would begin to slow clap, as sarcastically as he could.

”Well done, You made it back in one piece. Congratulations for not getting overdosed on heroin and not ending up in a gutter somewhere. You defied all expectations. Do you want a medal?” Carlisle looked around, seeing Erin as well. It was nice to see the calming aura of the party at least. His eyes darted further across and saw Kolby as well. Well that ruined everything even more. What puzzled him even further was the fact he had some random stranger with him.

”Look what else you dragged with you.” Carlisle said as he looked Kolby up and down. ”And what’s worse is that you bought someone else who I don’t know. Well they must be magical otherwise they won’t make it through the door.”

”Name’s Hayden. I am Kolby’s girlfriend. When he came back to Tanner, I wanted to be with him, so we decided to see if you would let me join the Coven. So that me and Kolby would be happy together.” Hayden interjected with a small, twisted smile. She knew all she needed to about Carlisle to be able to push his buttons just from this little outburst.

”Okay. Well normally, if it helps Kolby in anyway, then fuck no. However, I am supposed to help protect and nurture witches wherever I can. So I suppose you can at least stay in the interim. We will have to get the initiation done at some point.”

Carlisle would leave it at that and then wait for everyone else to arrive. Once he saw everyone he thought he needed to see, he would stand up and clear his throat, indicating that he was ready to talk.

"Thank you for coming so quickly everybody. I know that it was most likely a bit of a shock to suddenly be recalled here so quickly, also with the end of college and what not only just happening. Just as many of us thought we had escaped we get pulled back in again right" Carlisle let out a little chuckle, disguising the fact he had been here all along and glossing over the fact he dropped out of college.

"Still, we all knew that this day would eventually come, and we would be called back to Tanner to see to the coven. None of us expected it to be this fast. But our parents all seemed to want to retire early, and we just have to roll with the cards we have been dealt." A lump began to form on the insides of Carlisle's throat. He had been speaking to people publicly for too long and now his anxiety was starting to take hold and dig its claws into the edges of his mind. If he had ever hoped to become leader he had to dig deep and push through. With a soft cough and a little stuttering of words, Carlisle eventually continued.

"Given the sudden turn around of events, the council did not have time to select a replacement for my mother to lead the coven. So in the interim, they have asked if I would be willing to step in and be interim leader until the council have made their final choice. I know that being a Warlock means that me becoming a leader is a bit… unconventional, and many of you probably expected Serena to be standing here in my place, myself included. I do hope however that this arrangement isn't a problem for anyone?" Carlisle took a moment to gather his words while he let that question hang in the air. He decided to omit the fact that the council had wanted Serena to be in his place right now, and it was only through his mother's insistence that he was here instead.

"Okay, normally we would spend a few days getting to know each other and resettling back into Tanner, but sadly, we have to get to business. As something is going on in Tanner. I am not sure from memory if any of you are Abjurers, if you are, you have probably been feeling the same sensation I have been feeling. For the uninitiated, Tanner is protected by a magical ward that is designed to keep most of the more… feral members of our supernatural family away from Tanner. However, recently, that barrier appears to have been weakened and there appears to have been a breach. I don't know exactly what might have caused it, or what might have come through, but if it is a threat to us, or a threat to Tanner in general, we need to deal with it." Carlisle pulled the chair out from the dining room table and decided to sit down as he continued to speak.

"I appreciate that for some of you, you may need to settle in as you may have only arrived in Tanner. That is perfectly fine. You are more than welcome to stay at your family homes, or move in here to some the bedrooms here. Please take some time aclimiatise if you need to. However, I do intend to go out into the outskirts of Tanner and see if I can find this breach. I could use some people to come with me if they would like to volunteer." This was the moment for Carlisle, if no one did agree to come with him, then he might as well just quit now. To say he was nervous was an understatement.

Daniel was up a bit after the sun, ready to start the day before he had to be at the coven house later. He had been back in Tanner for a couple of weeks now but today was finally the day. His mother had given him the vague details of what would be happening. She also informed him she called him home early because she was going to start her retirement a little early and go on a European vacation. So Danny had the house all to himself until she got back. She had been sending picture periodically, checking his phone he saw he had a new one.

“Look at this authentic Italian pizza, good luck today, love you, mom,” Dan read the message out loud as he looked at the picture. The pizza certainly didn’t look like anything he would get from any of the local places, still looked good though, probably healthier than the local stuff too.

Daniel put his phone down and changed into his sweats, it was time for his morning run he enjoyed doing before breakfast. Popping in his headphones he opened up Spotify and put his playlist on shuffle. He didn’t have a specific workout playlist, he just had all his liked songs in one big playlist and listened that way.

He left the house listening to Avril Lavigne. He didn’t look like it but his music taste was very much centered in what people would generally consider “emo”. It was what he listened to when he was younger and his music tastes hadn’t exactly evolved a whole lot since then.

After a few miles he made his way back home and showered, making sure to be thorough. He really didn’t want to be sweaty around everyone today. He idly wondered how everyone was doing, Danny wasn’t exactly close with any of the others in the coven. They were on friendly enough terms, but the only one he really knew well was Lilith. But that was either here nor there, best he could do now is be ready. He put on one of his only nice shirts, a simple blue button down, along with some nice jeans. Hopefully everyone else was equally casual.

Dan went downstairs to make his breakfast. Since today was a special occasion he decided to make some hashbrowns and bacon to go with his usual omelette. He was careful not to dirty his shirt, in hindsight he probably should have worn something else until it was time to leave but it was too late now.

As he ate Daniel put on a Youtube video, something about what the best helmet for a medieval adventurer was, it was surprisingly interesting. He finished eating and cleaned up, then finished the video. Unfortunately it was longer than he realized, checking the time and seeing he was gonna be late if he didn’t hurry up.

He patted his pockets, confirming he had all his things, then locked the house and proceeded at a light jog to the coven house. Tanner wasn’t a smallest town, but it was small enough that Daniel didn’t feel the need to drive most of the time, especially with how the weather was now.

As Daniel got inside it seemed Carlisle was just starting his address. Glad he didn’t miss it Daniel just listened. When Carlisle was done there was a pause for a moment after he asked for volunteers. That was when Daniel spoke up, “I’ll go, I’m willing to help however I can.” It was only natural for Daniel to volunteer, the coven was his responsibility now, at least in part. “Also, hi everyone, good to see you all made it.”

Miles wasn't up at the crack of dawn like some of his peers, Miles still wasn't up at 9. He got leave off of work and if he didn't have to wake up at the rise of dawn to get into a stuffy dress shirt and tie he's going to take advantage of the rest in he can take. At 9:37 Miles' alarm blared to life, it's shril yell piercing the quiet morning. He gave it a lazy thwack as he groaned into his pillow.

Despite the fact Miles had been back in Tanner for a 4 months Miles' room has scarcely changed since when he left Tanner at 18. His walls were still painted black from when his mother dejectively painted them after 13 year old Miles made a blotchy mess out of his unconsented attempt. White sticker marks covered the wardrobe where Miles had pulled off stickers in room for things he was more into throughout his childhood years. As much as he joked about the cringeyness of the room there was a sweet nostagia in its memories that made Miles smile; the family's, sadly now in another world, Border Collie- Kelsey waking him up by rubbing her wet nose on his feet; his mother bringing him hot soup and rolling in the TV to watch cartoons when he came down with a horrible case of the flu; when he figured out the power in his charm magic- convincing his cousin to sneak him McDonald's through the window that one time he was grounded. It almost made him want to live in his childhood room forever.

Brrrrrrr brrrrrrr brrrrrr brrrrrrrrrr 0953- his second wake up alarm. Miles groaned, flipping himself over to face the ceiling and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He realistically could get away with another 10 minutes but he knew that was a dangerous road to oversleeping. With a sigh, Miles sat up. First day as an actual protector of Tanner, honestly he had no strong feelings about it- as the only child of a hardworking wotch he knew his time would come eventually and although Miles didn't really seem to spend much more time with the witches and wizards as the mortals he did grow up with most of his new teammates and he'd been babysat by many of their parents when his poor mother just needed a break.

Miles eventually beat his laziness and went his wardrobe and picked out a casual red top and black genes- he couldn't be bothered with stuffy business clothes in his day off. He then wandered to the kitchen to find his mother had left some pastries on the table with a note reading Be good, have fun. And please don't be late, I will know, Miles Connor. Love you xoxo -mum. Miles rolled his eyes at the note, even at 24 his mum insisted on treating him like and out of control teenager but the use of his first and middle name left a sour taste. She rarely used Miles let alone both his names- she was obviously taking this more seriously than him. "Love you too, mum" he chuckles to himself



As per his mum's wishes, Miles did indeed rock up in time, albeit walking through the door at the set arrival time on the dot. Much like everyone else, he entered the door of the coven's mansion. "What's up, party people?" he calls through the door with a chuckle as he makes his way down the corridor. As he hit's the dining all he greets everyone individually, sharing smiles, winks and clapped backs as he takes sips of coffee out of his travel mug. Eventually his eyes came across Lilith, she seemed to be mysteriously absent from wherever he was the past months. It couldn't have been from their break the many years prior, could it? Then again, from Miles' perspective, she was always so sensitive. "Lil," he greets her coolly with a head nod. He did have more to say but was cut off by Carlisle calling for the start of the meeting.

Miles settled into a chair at the dining table, playing with his keys and occasionally nodding to show he was paying attention, just enough at least. When Carlisle asked for volunteers to help assess the parameter of the ward surrounding the town Miles gave an enthusiastic nod. "Hell yeah, I'm in," he calls out, raising his travel mug toward his friend, "You know I got your back, bro,"

The energy of the room got a bit more tense and awkward as Lilith entered the dining room. Victor winced, clearing his throat awkwardly, unable to handle the atmosphere. He stayed quiet throughout their interactions. A few fellow coven members began dripping through the entrance and settling in the dining room. Victor gave them all a glance and a nod if their eyes had met.

Carlisle Aston, the current 'acting' leader of the Coven. From the years Victor has known him he knows that Carlisle's heart is in the right place. His family situation reminded Victor very much of his own, except that he atleast cut off pretty much all contact from them. Victor believes a bit of confidence would do the guy some good. At the very least Carlisle would get what meager support Victor could offer. He did like him and the Coven after all. “He's stronger than he knows.”

Lilith Montgomery, her family is one of the big three in Tanner. Victor honestly was surprised at how close the two had gotten between high-school and when had he left for college. Lilith was well known in Tanner for being aloof and standoffish. He put no stock into rumours but it appeared that rumours do stem from a kernel of truth. They both felt comfortable enough to hang out with barely a word between the two; at times they even dived into each other's personal lives. In his words, “She's a good egg.”

Aurora Newman. From first impressions she seems to be a good person. Exuding more experience than the others with maturity to boot. While he may not know her much, she seemed to be a dependable sort, protective even. Her honesty is much appreciated, Victor himself dislikes dancing around issues that seeps into long-running hatred.

Carlisle had left to answer the door. He had returned with Catherine who politely rang the doorbell. A grin formed on his place. Cathrine Heirich. She-

Victor's impression was interrupted by his phone buzzing in his pocket. A look of anger flashed on his face for a moment as he recognized the unsaved number calling. Lucien...

“Gotta take this call, excuse me.” Victor said apologetically, getting up to go to an empty room. He didn't want to bother the other Coven members with his own family issues.



Victor calmed himself down a bit more before rejoining his fellow Coven members. He returned right before Carlisle had given his speech. Carlisle addressed the stranger that Kolby had brought with him. Victor gave her a curious glance before focusing on the speech. It was worrying that the barrier seemed to be weakening.

Victor lazily half-raised his hand up, “I'll help, Carlisle. Gotta take my mind off a few things anyway.”

As Carlisle let her in the front door she gave him a smile although she was internally feeling quite awkward that she had made somewhat of a scene of her arrival. Of course everyone is just waltzing in she chastised herself. Regardless, she'd never been inside the mansion before, she never really had a reason to be there in her couple of years in Tanner so never ended up within its walls. She didn't feel a need to bring that up, instead she responded briefly with, "Thank you, Carlisle. And, uh, yeah- Catherine. Just call me Cat if you'd like. I'll be sure to just walk on in next time,"

As she entered Catherine was greeted by high ceilings and pillars, intricate art pieces on the wall, furniture that likely predated Catherine herself but decades. She had never seen an interior so marvelous, she was in utter awe- and this was to be her base of operations for the next decades. "Whoa," she gasped to herself in her softest voice- her mouth left slightly agape and her pace slowing as she took in her surrounds on the short walk to the dining hall. She ended up trailing a bit behind her new boss by the time she hit the room. She looked among her new colleagues, of many she knew little of. She exchanged brie pleasantries with some of the members she was closer with and took a seat at the dining room table and quietly waited. Erin and Serena, 2 of her closest high school friends arrived. She greeted them with a smile, unmoving from her sea. She could mingle after the meeting.

Throughout the meeting Catherine did try her best to pay attention but it was hard to pay attention when the walls were so intricate or when the jingling sound came from Miles playing with his keys- could he just not? She did, however, hear his call to arms and gave a shrug. "Not sure how much use I'd be for a trip like this but I'm happy to come along. Might as well reexplore Tanner," she replies

---

The dining room was soon enough getting crowded by the minute; especially as Erin arrived with Serena and Kolby. Along with someone that Aurora nor the others seemed to recognise. Aurora wondered whom the new addition was. A little surprised that it was Kolby's girlfriend. Knowing that the youngster was more than troubled; but she had been more than kind enough to give him the benefit of the doubt when he came back to Tanner. But she still kept her eyes peeled; not wanting to see anyone in the coven hurt. So naturally, she was a bit tense around the troubled young man. Most of it coming from her closeness to most of the coven members. They were her family. So she felt protective over them, for the most part. "Welcome back, home." Aurora said with a friendly smile aimed at Serena and Erin. Whilst Serena was the hardest to get on with, Aurora always remained civil. "Hope you ladies had a nice trip." The Witch getting on better with Erin out of the pair, that had returned home.

But the time for small talk was over. Sipping on her coffee when she heard Carlisle's sassy greeting towards Serena. Ooft. This was going to be interesting.

Seeing how nervous Carlisle was, Aurora gave him a soft encouraging smile. God knows, she along with so many people were aware that he felt, that he wasn't fit to lead their people. But she had a huge respect for him. It wasn't an easy job to be handed over. He was a good person, and believed that he could do a good job of keeping their coven running, even if he didn't think so. He just needed a little bit of confidence. That was all. As he informed everyone about the events from last night, her brows furrowed with concern. "Does that mean something is lurking, on our lands?" Daring ask the dreaded questions, others must have also been thinking themselves. It had to be something powerful, if it could breach the magical wall that they kept up around their land to keep them protected. "But by all means, count me in." She too offering her help, when he mentioned going to investigate what had breached their wall. A small part of her hoped, that whatever had broken through the magical walls, had run off and not hiding somewhere on their coven lands.

Since they had a few minutes before Carlisle would be ready, Aurora waiting with the few others that offered their help. But of course, Serena had to start something up. Wincing at the sound of their leader's face being smacked against the table.

"Really Serena?" she sighed shaking her head. The girl couldn't keep calm, not even for 5 minutes. When Lilith leaped into action. Aurora yelled out. "Woah woah, everyone calm down." Being one of the eldest, she always tried to play the mediator between chaos breaking out. It was exhausting sometimes. But she certainly didn't like the way Kolby was trying to manhandle Lilith. Seeing so much of herself in young Lilith, the pair had bonded and Aurora considered her to be like a sister. Luckily, the pair got separated before Aurora had to step in herself to physically pry them apart. Looking over at Lilith to make sure that she was alright. "Just breathe Lil." she said soothingly, trying to help her calm down before she walked off with Carlisle again, to talk with him about something. Aurora would come to her defence if needed. Being protective over the younger girl.

Shaking her head. What a great start to the morning, it had been. Already coven drama. Knowing it was a trend, especially with Serena's personality.

But she tried to turn her attention to the newcomers. At least she could try and make them feel a bit welcome, despite what they had just witnessed. Along with Hayden being new to Tanner, there was also Catherine. It's been a while since they had new additions to the coven. "Welcome to Tanner. I am Aurora, and always happy to help if you need anything." Taking the time to introduce herself to the two newcomers, after the whole blow out.

---

---

Aurora was relieved, when things seemed to calm down as quickly as they had escalated. It felt like it had been forever, since everyone was in the same room; knowing many had been away to college, or of doing their own thing elsewhere. So she knew that tensions were about to be high; she didn't think it would have escalated that quickly though. Hopefully, the rest of the day would be tamer. Or she could hope. That was until Carlisle suggested a party. The perfect time for things to kick off again, if someone got on someone's wrong side. Aurora was sure, there'd were multiple people besides Serena, that'd lash out in that situation. It was just a matter of everyone keeping their cool and not pissing anyone off. Given what had happened that morning, she was worried for a good reason. But hopefully if everyone remained chill, it'd be a good chance to get to know the newcomers.

With the last of her coffee in her travel mug, Aurora headed out to the woods with Carlisle and the others that had volunteered to check up on the barrier. It didn't take them long to reach the barrier. Like everyone else, Aurora examined the messy barrier in front of them. Seeing the change in hues of the blue's in the barrier. It had been loosely fixed in the night. But it seemed like it wasn't holding up all that well. Taking note of the claws against the barrier. Something had been determined in trying to get through. But what?

To any outsider, or someone whom didn't know Carlisle well, would think he was rambling like a crazy man. But she on the other hand was concerned. Something was bothering him. And it clearly wasn't the pressures of being the potential new coven leader, or what happened earlier at the coven house. Was it something to do with Lili? Aurora saw how the boy looked at Lilith. It wasn't that hard to miss, if someone could see the signs. But apparently her friend seemed oblivious to how Carlisle was always looking at her. Then there was Carlisle dropping out of college. Something that Aurora knew; but she kept a secret. College wasn't for everyone.

Her brows furrowed, as she saw how the barrier seemed to flicker with his emotions. Yep, something was wrong with him for sure. But what?

"Are you sure, you're okay?" Aurora questioned as he assured everyone, that he had it. But she didn't seem all too convinced. Not needing to be an Abjurer, to read people. Experience and being older, allowed her to tell if something was bothering someone. "You know, if you need someone to chat to, I am here." Offering him a listening ear, if he needed to vent to someone. Aurora was a good listener. And liked to offer advice and helpful hand, whenever she could. Not that he had to take her up on that offer, if he wasn't ready to. But it was still there; if he needed to talk to someone that wasn't Lilith or Miles. Knowing he was closer to the two, than herself.

Hanging back for a few moments, as she wanted to assure him of something. "I know you think, that people don't get you. Or understand the pressure you're under; but it's not true." She understood it all too well. And not many people knew that; including himself. As she never really bothered anyone with her own family issues. The coven had enough to deal with, as a whole. They didn't need to deal with her parents perfectionist views too. "I know my family isn't one of the major 3 in Tanner. But my parents are major perfectionists. But I know, what it's like to live under pressure. When I was younger; they expected my big brother to be the best. To perfect whatever magic that found him. Not to be weak. But sadly, that pressure is now all on me and has been since he died." Aurora admitted. It annoyed her, that people could put so much pressure on someone; especially their own children. "So I know what you're going through, if just a little bit. No one's perfect; I know it's frustrating, when everyone expects you to be though. I have to deal with that expectation too. But I also know you're more capable than you give yourself credit for." Knowing he wasn't a bad Warlock. He just needed to believe in himself more. Probably being one of the few people, that gave him some credit for his abilities. He was still young. But more experience and confident would come with time. He wasn't alone, in this. Not like he thought he was. Aurora was sure, that other people also knew what he was going through, like she was.