[IC] The Witches & Warlocks of Tanner 2.0

Everyone Returns to the Coven. Things have already kicked off.

Werewolves have breached the Tanner barrier, Carlisle gets cursed, and now a party is in full swing. Things can't get worse can they?

[Hedgehawk]

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.

---

---

---

---

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”

6:15 AM

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

The Coven Household

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.

[Inertia]

Victor Crowe

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.

[Sugar and Spite]

_{Time: 3:30 am -> 6:15 am -> 9:00 am.
Location: Family Ranch -> Coven House
Interactions: Her Guides -> Grandpa John -> Osiris -> Carlisle @Hedgehawk}
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________

”Can you guys seriously just let me FUCKING sleep?” Lilith shrieked, her eyes flying open as she sat up in bed.

’Calm down, dearest. We’re only trying to help.’

’Stop your damn whining, you got work to do.’

’Lilly, I’m sorry, but we needed you. Tanner -’

The voices of all three of her spirit guides shouting over one another immediately gave Lilith a headache. With all of their thoughts overpowering her own, she couldn’t process anything, much less the fact that she was awake at 3:33 in the morning.

”Okay. Stop. Stop it. Stop it right now. I’m fucking exhausted. You guys know that. I remember begging you to just let me use tonight to recharge before I ever fell asleep! That was my intent for tonight - to rest. And all three of you completely disregarded my wishes -”

In the middle of her tangent, Lilith heard footsteps coming down the hall. The sound was quickly followed by a long, deep, familiar yawn as Lilith picked up on the feeling that someone was right outside her door.

”Everything okay in there, Mo-mo?” Her grandfather's deep, tired voice asked.

”I’m sorry! Just arguing with the voices in my head again, Pop,” Lilith responded jokingly.

John chuckled. ”Well, since we’re both up at the ass-crack of dawn, I’m gonna go start some breakfast. Come on down when you’re ready. You’ve got a big day ahead of you, baby.”

As John spoke, his voice became more and more soft. He was doing the best that he could to calm his granddaughter's nerves, but the knot in Lilith’s stomach only grew tighter.

”Be down in a bit,” she called out, already hearing John begin to walk away.

’Lili-’

”Gaea. Shush. Now. Leave me alone,” Lilith groaned, gathering all of her hair into a bun. ”I slept for an hour. You guys gave me visions that gave me nightmares. The animals need feeding. I have to be at the Coven House by 11 so that the rest of what I consider to be the world can decide my fate, and you guys can’t even let me get a shower first!!”

Climbing out of bed, Lilith’s headspace was finally quiet. She quickly pulled a ratty t-shirt and pair of jeans from her dresser, and headed towards the shower. Water had always helped to calm her nerves, and this morning was no different. Setting the water temperature to hellfire, Lilith climbed in the shower and let the warm water run over her sore muscles.

The young woman hadn’t been sleeping well as of late. In fact, she had rarely felt tired - until this morning. Though while feeling invincible to exhaustion, Lilith couldn’t ignore the general feeling of unease that had been coursing through her veins all week. She and her grandfather had practically no boundaries, and kept zero secrets from each other; When she noticed him acting strange, it didn’t take much to pry the information from him. John didn’t give many details, but what he was willing to share was just enough to put Lilith on edge - and then her guides had filled in all the blanks.

She was sure that her Fate was what had her so uptight, but still… there was an energy floating around town that just didn’t sit right with Lilith. It was dark, gloomy, and overall unsettling - just like the feeling in her nightmare. Standing there under the water, the scene from her dream replayed in her mind.

Growling. Paws running across the forest floor. The moon had been full, glimmering high in the night sky. There was a feeling of aggression, and fear. Lilith had woken abruptly as soon as she heard the howling.

Rinsing off and shutting off the water, Lilith stepped out of the shower, and quietly got dressed.

’Why did you guys show me that,’ she thought. ’Is there even any significance to it, or did Halloween come early?’

’We… we don’t know what it means.’

”What do you mean you don’t know,” she asked, reaching for her toothbrush. ”You guys know everything.”

As Lilith began to brush her teeth, a feeling of uneasy fear washed over her. Her stomach flipping, the dark haired girl gagged, dropping her toothbrush in the skin. Taking a moment to regain control, Lilith furiously rinsed off her tooth brush and quickly rid her mouth of the rest of the tooth paste.

”Ladies,” she began, doing her best to speak calmly. Looking up into the mirror, Lilith gripped the edge of the sink tightly as she stared into her own eyes, past her own reflection. ”Please use your words or something. All of these emotions are killing me.”
’We just don’t know, Lilly.’ Gaea’s voice was the first that Lilith heard. ’We usually have the answers to everything, but this time… something is going on in Tanner and someone or something is keeping us from seeing the intent.’

There was a long pause as Lilith got dressed for the day. She took her time, not in any hurry to face her grandfather quite yet. John had the tendency to be optimistic even if it meant that he had to fake it on days like these. Lilith couldn’t stand the facade.

As she tossed her hair up into a damp, messy bun, Lilith began to descend the stairs.

’We’re sorry, we’ll give you some time.’

Nodding her head in silence, Lilith walked through the living room and past the recliner where John was sitting watching the morning news. The smell of eggs, bacon, and coffee filled the room. The familiarity was the first true thing that had put the young woman at ease this morning. Promptly making her way to the kitchen, Lilith wasn’t surprised to see her favorite breakfast waiting for her on the stove - though the sentiment did warm her heart.

Picking up one of the pancakes from the pan, Lilith spread a layer of cheesy scrambled eggs over it before placing the bacon and rolling it up. Taking a bite, she walked back over to the living room and sat down on the couch with her legs crossed.

”Good morning!” John exclaimed as soon as she was settled. ”No reason to ignore the elephant in the room, Mo. I’m sure your guides have told you what’s going on, and that you’ve heard some rumors - you have to be at the Coven house today by eleven.”

”But I hate that place. It gives me the c—”

The old man held up a single finger, silencing his granddaughter's tangent.

”You can’t fight this. Rather you like it or not, or want to be stubborn you have got to be at that meeting today.”

Crossing her arms and rolling her eyes, Lilith flopped back into the couch. Looking back to the TV screen, she noticed that it was a little after six in the morning now. Feeling her phone buzz in her back pocket, Lilith chose to ignore it for now. She had way too much going on this morning to be responding to calls and texts.

”I suppose you can’t give me a hint on what this meeting is for?” Lilith inquired.

”Sure can’t,” John responded immediately. ”Sorry to burst your bubble, but you have to figure this all out for yourself.”

Accepting her defeat with a great sigh, Lilith stood up from the couch and grabbed her Converse high tops from the shoe rack beside the front door. Putting them on and lacing them up, she grabbed her favorite denim jacket before heading out the door. She did all of this in silence, allowing whatever energy that was in the room to settle.

”I’m going to go run the perimeter, say hello to Osiris, and then I’ll be on my way.” Liltith did the best that she could to say this with hope in her voice, but she could tell that John saw right through her act.

Glancing up from the TV, her grandfather gave her a sympathetic and encouraging smile. ”That sounds like a great plan, sweetheart. Have a good day Mo-mo.”

Closing the door behind her, Lilith sat out on today's journey by first making her way across the front yard to the barn. Walking through the already open doors of the barn, Lilith was greeted by the sounds of happy horses. A smile quickly spreading across her face, the young woman gave her hellos to the ranch hands before making her way down the aisle to where Osiris’s stable was.

Osiris was a solid black stallion. A wild creature that begged to run free, Osiris was the son of John’s original racing horse. Neighing as Lilith came closer, Osiris threw himself up onto his back legs and shook his head wildly.

”Easy, boy, easy,” Lilith cooed, her hands held up out infront of her, palms facing upward.

’That weirdo Jamie put on my saddle this morning.’

She could hear Osiris’s disgust in her own thoughts, as she could with all other mammals. Jamie was one of the ranch hands, and he was the only person that Osiris refused to get along with. However Jamie seemed to be oblivious of the way the stallion acted towards him, and continued to force his presence onto the animal.

”I talked to him about it, just like I promised.” Now opening the stable gate, Lilith climbed onto Osiris’s back and gently adjusted herself into the right position on the saddle. ”I’ll try again later. Let’s go.”

Once outside of the barn, Lilith let Osiris run freely along the main gates of the property. Every morning, Lilith took Osiris out for a morning ride as the sun rose over the mountains. She loved to watch the colors come to life, and this morning the sky was pure red and orange, casting a colorful glow over all of the open land that was laid out before her.

Leaning forward, Lilith tucked her feet and grabbed onto the reins, urging Osiris to run faster. The dark stallion happily obliged, and picked up the speed as they now began to run alongside the river. Catching a quick glimpse of a crane in the water, Lilith smiled once again this morning. Moments like these were when she felt the most free - on the back of her horse, with the wind flowing through her hair.

Once the fence had been checked for any holes or other damage, Lilith returned Osiris to his stable. Removing his saddle, Lilith gave the horse a quick brushing and made sure that he had plenty of water and feed for the day before heading out on the rest of her adventure.

Entering her car Lilith unlocked her phone for the first time this day, attempting to connect her bluetooth to the radio. Seeing a notification for a text from Carlisle, Lilith opened it up to read a perfectly normal text from what seemed to be a perfectly normal Carlisle.

As soon as she began to respond, Lilith’s vision went white as she felt like her body was now floating in space.

When the light dimmed, Lilith was observing Carlisle pull a book off of one of the shelves in the Coven library. The book was old, dusty, and leather bound. Energy radiated from it in heavy waves, nearly knocking over whatever presence of Lilith there was. A wave of anger washed over the young woman, as she tried to scream at Carlisle to put the book back.

The two of them had just had a conversation not even two weeks prior where Carlisle had expressed interest in exploring the forbidden section of the Coven library. Lilith had begged him not to, and now she was having a vision of him doing the very thing she had asked him not to?!

Another blinding light covered Lilith’s vision before she came back to in the driver's seat of her car.

Gripping the steering wheel, Lilith cranked the vehicle before heading down the long winding road out of the ranch.

Her music playing did nothing to help calm her nerves as she replayed the scene of Carlisle over and over in her head, speeding down the highway towards town. She was torn between grabbing breakfast for everyone, or trying to beat them there in order to speak to Carlisle. The young woman quickly decided that pulling into the McDonald's drive-through and ordering fifteen bacon-egg-and-cheese McGriddles was the answer. She made the polite young woman throw some hash-browns in the bag as well.

Heading towards to Coven house, Lilith took her time driving and focused more on her breathing. Taking deep, calming breaths, Lilith pulled into the circle drive of her destination before climbing out of the vehicle with all of her treasures in hand.

Following her senses, a wide eyed, crazy looking Lilith arrived where the others were gathered in the dining room. Keys still in one hand, cell phone in the other, her hair absolutely everywhere, and the McDonald's bags stuffed under her arms - Lilith looked like a hurricane of a human being.

A quick scan of her surroundings, Lilith was mildly disappointed to find that she and Carlisle were not the only two people standing in the room.

Standing at the far end of the long, wooden dining room table, Lilith took a deep breath before walking to the other end and taking her spot to the left of Carlisle. She quickly emptied her hands and tossed the bags of food onto the table before flopping herself down in a chair.

Reaching for the one of the bags, Lilith decided to grab one of the McGriddles, her eyes flicking towards the familiar face across from her. "Good morning Victor," she said politely.

Unwrapping her breakfast sandwich, Lilith was surprised to find that her voice sounded as calm as it did. Sitting back down and crossing her feet on the table, Lilith would make sure that she was comfortable for this whole ordeal.

Sure that Carlisle had read her energy by this time, the brunette took the first bite of her breakfast and chewed slowly. She wanted the young man to sit in his uneasiness for just a moment longer.

"Carlisle, darling," she began in a simpering tone, "Do you mind if I speak to you after you've handled... this whole situation?" She asked, making a circle around the room with the pointer finger of her free hand.

[WolfLover]

---

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.

---

---

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.

[SouffleGirl123]

Catherine Rose Hierich

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,"

~xXx~

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.

[Hedgehawk]

---

---

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.

[Sugar and Spite]

_{A Collab between @Hedgehawk & @HaleyTheRandom
Featuring: Hayden Kersey, Kolby Hawthorne, Serena Delamar & Erin Blake
Time:
Location: JFK International Airport -> Coven House
Interactions: Mostly themselves.}
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________

Serena had woken early that morning, doing Erin a favor and calling the moving company to make sure that all of their items had arrived at the house in Tanner. Upon receiving pleasing news, the dark haired woman opened the only bottle of vodka left in their apartment before taking a swallow.

Already dressed and ready for the day, Serena was sitting on the kitchen counter, scrolling through her social media and waiting patiently for her cousin to get ready.

Erin, being the overthinker that she was, had spent roughly two hours deciding on her outfit that morning. She wanted to look effortlessly beautiful, but she had a feeling that someone would be able to tell that she had added just a little too much hair product.

Walking into the kitchen, Erin promptly marched over and grabbed the bottle of alcohol from Serena. As her cousin began to yell in protest, the blonde poured the contents of the Grey Goose bottle down the drain of the kitchen sink.

”Don’t you know it’s like a federal crime or something to get on a plane drunk,” she asked, eyebrows knit with concern.

”So?” retorted Serena.

”So do you want to go to prison,” Erin asked sarcastically.

Serena didn’t give a proper response, choosing to roll her eyes instead. Phone buzzing in her hand, she sighed deeply before looking back up at Erin.

”Come on,” she began, hopping down from the counter. ”Kolby and his little pet are waiting for us.”

As badly as Erin wanted to give Serena a speech on how she should respect Kolby and who he was with, she decided that she would save her energy for the larger battles she was sure to face today.

Thankfully the girls were only a short cab ride from the airport. New York traffic turned their ride into a thirty minute travel - and both Erin and Serena were on the same brain wave, thinking that that was plenty of time for Kolby and Hayden to already be arguing and making a scene.

Once at the airport, the pair made their way inside and to the ticket check in. Both Erin and Serena were only carrying small bags with daily essentials, seeing as everything else was being shipped back home. That made their bag check an absolute breeze.

Spotting Hayden and Kolby down the line at the baggage claim area, Erin began waving excitedly.

”Kolby! Hayden! Over here!!”

Hayden reacted first and looked over as Erin was waving. Indeed it had been a rough morning for the dating duo. Hayden had already threatened to push Kolby out of the plane. Despite that however, she was trying her best to be nice. She knew that none of these people had an obligation to bring her to Tanner. While Erin and Serena didn't know the danger Hayden was in, Kolby did. The fact he agreed to shelter her was a major thing. With a small sigh she walked on over to the female duo, bringing Kolby with her.

"Hey, was starting to think that you might not show and decided a whole exciting city was more exciting than the whole of a town in the back ass crack of nowhere."

Erin's eyes quickly looked Hayden up and down in a judging fashion when the other young woman commented on Tanner the way that she did. Kolby's laugh was the only thing stopping her - that and the fact that he promptly hugged Serena and Erin both.

Serena let the hug between her and her old friend last just a little longer than what most people would consider comfortable. Most of this was because she had missed Kolby and the familiar scent of leather and cigarettes - the other half of it was wanting to irritate Hayden.

Letting her arms drop from around Kolby’s neck, Serena looked over to Hayden, the playful smile still lingering on her face.

”And miss the chance to remind those bitches that I’m still the baddest one around? No way.” Tossing her left arm around Erins shoulders and pulling her close, Serena continued to joke. ”Besides. We can always skip town later and head to Vegas.”

Hayden gave off a polite smile, but the fact Serena was hugging Kolby for that long… She noticed. With a small smirk she would walk over to Kolby and put her own arm around his shoulder as Serena did with Erin. Kolby might be an annoying bitch at times, but he was her annoying bitch. At least until it suited her. She wasn't about to let Serena try and do anything.

"So what's Tanner like? Never been in a coven before. I don't have to do a stupid ritual thing under the moon or anything right?"

Tilting her head ever so slightly towards the left while looking at Erin, Serena thought about how best to answer that question as she picked up her things from the conveyor belt. Thankfully, Erin decided to do the talking for her.

”It’s home,” Erin stated simply. ”There’s beaches, and mountains. Deserts if you drive out far enough. The people are nice. The Coven is… the Coven is our family.” The more she talked, the more and more excited the blonde haired woman became.

”The people are nice,” Kolby repeated, mocking Erin as he scoffed. ”C’mon, E. Don’t lie to my girlfriend like that. You know people in Tanner are assholes.”

”Mm… And you’re the stinkest fuckin’ asshole of them all, ain’t ya, Kole?” the blonde retorted.

”You bet your ass. Now come on, let’s get this show on the road.” Kolby wrapped his free arm around Hayden, pulling her closer as he began to walk towards boarding their plane. Kissing the top of her head, he spoke quickly and quietly - hopefully where only she could hear him. ”You have nothing to worry about, love. Serena is a bitch, Erin is sarcastic - but words don’t hurt people, eh?”

"Words don't, but a fiery blade does" Hayden spoke back in a hushed tone. After leaning away she walked with Kolby and Co and boarded the plane, noticing that the quad had managed to bag a series of seats in order. Hayden would let everyone else sit down first, electing not to go for the window seat.

"So who is running the show in Tanner? Like who do I have to give puppy dog eyes to? And more importantly, who do I have to be weary of?"

Boarding the plane, Erin took the window seat, and Serena climbed in next. Kolby separated the girls from Hayden - a smart and subtle move. Kolby knew full well that Hayden would try to burn Serena - literally - but he also knew that Serena would and could do more damage than Hayden could ever imagine.

”Carlisle Aston - that nerd I’ve mentioned to you - he’s the leader of shit now. Or, he will be when his mom retires.” Kolby was the first to kick off the explanation, planning to give Hayden a quick run down. The girls however, had other plans.

”He’s a bitch, really. An absolute pushover,” Serena interjected, taking over the conversation momentarily. ”There was one time Kolby broke his nose. Poor Carlisle is still sore over it.”
”No one for you to really ‘watch out for.’” Erin added, making air-quotes as she spoke. ”I don’t recommend coming for any of the Coven with whatever guns you have blazing. IF you insist on watching out for people though, there’s Lilith. And our girl here, Serena. They come from the most recent governing families besides Carlisles. No one is going to try and harm you right off the bat though.”

At this point, Serena had given Erin a small side eye, accompanied with a smirk. Meanwhile Kolby had his head propped up in his left hand, his elbow resting on the armrest between Hayden and himself. It seemed there was no use in him trying to speak when Erin and Serena were around.

"So hang on. If Lilith and Serena also come from governing families then why is it that Carlisle is in charge? Shouldn't you get a crack at it as well?" Hayden commented. She was genuinely interested in why the coven worked the way it did. If she was going to become part of the system, then she might as well know who the movers and shakers are. While they were talking the on board announcements played and the plane finally ready for takeoff. For Hayden there was no turning back now.

”I don’t want to be in charge,” Serena responded, almost too quickly. ”I want to live my life freely. I don’t want to have to look after others and worry about upholding the justices of the world and having a moral compass and all of that other shit. No. What I want is to lay on a beach, with my tits out, with a liquor in one hand, and a pretty girls boobs in the other.”

Taking a deep breath, Serena looked out the window for a brief moment before turning back to Hayden.

”There’s three major families in Tanner. The founders, if you will. The Delamars are one, and Carlisle's family - the Astons - are another. It’s more about family lineages, and which family has given birth to the strongest witch at the time. You don’t really get a say in rather your the Covens leader or not. I don’t know many of the finer details.”

”Mostly because you don’t care to learn,” Kolby replied in a silly tone.

”Bingo,” Serena joked back, shooting a finger gun in his direction.

"So what I am hearing is that even if you don't want it, if you are deemed stronger, you would just be put in charge? Though I do get the boobs. Sometimes I wish I had some to hold too" Hayden would then wink over and Kolby, both suggestively and mockingly. "I get the idea though. I basically just have to woo Carlisle to give me refuge and then I can live in the house and spend my time winding him up and making him regret it. I can do that. And if he says no… I will just have Kolby break his nose again. I bet you looked hot doing that"

Serena, nor Kolby had a chance to respond this time. Instead, it was made evident that the small anxieties that Erin had about the flight were starting to get to her, and so were Hayden’s mildly annoying questions and assumptions.
”You’re not going to ‘woo’ Carlisle. And why wouldn’t you be staying with Kolby, anyway? The Coven will only house you if they have to. It is pretty easy to make him regret his life decisions though. Now. Anyway. When does this plane take off?”

Hayden didn't respond to the comment regarding staying at Kolby's. While appearances were they were a great couple, the foundation of this relationship was rocky at the best of times. There was no guarantee that Kolby would want her around when they landed. She had to practically beg to allow herself to tag along. Hayden was about to speak when the plane would begin taking off. She could see the anxiety coming off Erin so she decided to back off. Hayden wasn't the best with flights either.

It took a few hours, but the group had made it to Seattle, the closest stop to Tanner. After messing around with baggage and Hayden almost taking a whole family's luggage for the hell of it, they found themselves an Uber that was willing to make the long drive out into pine forests. Hayden had to admit that it was a beautiful place. Secluded, away from the world.

Entering Tanner proper, she took the time to absorb the old timey atheistic. The houses here looked ancient by New York standards. Each with different spires and verdanas, she hated to think how expensive these were. Though she imagined most were passed down through families. It wouldn't be long until the uber pulled up to the Coven household. After debarking and removing their luggage, Hayden took a look around.

"Well New York never had anything as fancy as this"

”At least New York knows what class is,” Serena mumbled, grabbing her bag and handing Erin’s to hers.

Walking up to the entrance of the Coven house with the rest of the group behind her, Serena promptly opened up the door and stepped right inside.

”Glad to see this place is still just as musty as ever,” she commented in a mildly disgusted tone. Looking up from the worn wooden floorboards, Serena spotted a familiar figure walking out of the room as they entered. Motioning for everyone else to follow, Serena quickly began following Carlisle down the hall to where the rest of the Coven was waiting.

”Well, I did it! I came back fucking home, and I even brought the others back in one piece.”

As Carlisle fell back into his seat, Serena’s eyes never left the young mans face.

”Proud?” she asked, the one and only word she had spoken dripping with acid.

[Hedgehawk]

Feat. Hayden Kersey

---

---

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.

[duskshine749]

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.”

[SouffleGirl123]

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,"

[Inertia]

Victor Crowe

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.

“... Lucien, what do you want?” Victor said in an uncharacteristically irate.

“Well I missed you too, brother.” Victor could practically see the douchey smirk on his cousin's face.

“Cut the crap,” He spat out, venom lacing his words. “I'm ending this call if you don't tell me what you want in the next few seconds.”

“Now, now, don't be like that. We're close, aren't we?” Lucien replied, “This is a courtesy call regarding your dearest mum and dad, they may be away than they've told you, Vic.”

“What!?” His parents hadn't told him. “You fuc-” He slammed his fist into the wall and took a breath. “... You Crowe's hurt a hair on their bodies, I'll come back there and we'll have a repeat of what happened a few years ago, you hear me?”

Lucien took a few seconds to reply, Victor derived a bit of satisfaction knowing that he had peeved off Lucien.
“Yes now we wouldn't want that, would we?” came the voice from the phone before abruptly dropping.

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.”

[SouffleGirl123]

Catherine Rose Hierich

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

[Sugar and Spite]

_{A Collab between @Hedgehawk & @HaleyTheRandom
Featuring: Carlisle Aston& Lilith Montgomery]
Time: 11:12am
Location: Coven House
Interactions: Mostly themselves.}
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________

With everything said and done, Carlisle would wait a moment to see if anyone had any objections or if anyone had volunteered right away. Once he was convinced that everyone had piped up and he answered their questions he would stand up.

”Right, I have nothing else left to say. If those who want to come with me upto the forest with me, hang around for a little bit, everyone else you are free to go and investigate whatever you want or go back and settle back in. I just need to talk to Lilith and then I will be back.” Carlisle would then look over at Lilith, with a small weak smile and then invite her to go out onto the veranda at the back of the dining hall. He really didn’t want to do this, he had a feeling that Lilith was about to tear him a new one.

Lilith had felt all of the emotions stirring in the room from the moment that she had arrived; Carlisle’s nervousness, Aurora’s familiar calmness, and Victor’s somewhat eager awaiting. The one emotion that she had felt the most though, was Serena’s anger.

While Lilith could and would agree that Serena was far from the best person standing in the room, she would also admit that perhaps Carlisle's comment had taken things too far. Lilith half expected Serena to turn Carlisle to ash right where he sat, but it seemed that the dark haired vixen had more restraint these days.

Continuing to eat, Lilith gave a small welcoming smile to Aurora and waited patiently while Carlisle spoke. As his speech came to an end, Lilith herself stood up shortly after the Interim Coven Leader.

That’s when she felt it.

A gut punching feeling, one that made her grip the edge of the long wooden table with both hands to keep from falling down. While the wave of emotion rolled over her, Lilith looked up just in time to see the fire behind Serena’s eyes as Carlisle’s face connected with the table.

A loud groan escaped the boy's lips, causing Lilith to spring into action. She quickly - and quite literally - climbed over the table, jumping down from the other side near Serena with a fist raised in the air.

Luckily for the other woman, Kolby also had fast reflexes.

Pushing Serena out of the way, Kolby caught Lilith in both arms as she jumped down from the table, taking whatever damage was intended for Serena as he did so.

”I’ll fucking kill you, you stupid cunt bitch,” Lilith shouted, spiting in brunettes direction. ”Put me down, Jett!” she screamed at Kolby, kicking and scratching wildly.

To everyone else watching, it might have been a funny scene. Kolby was a literal foot taller than Lilith, and the small, angry woman in his arms looked like an absolute maniac as he did his best to restrain her.

Elbowing Kolby in the jaw, Lilith felt his grip loosen ever so slightly as she heard a small voice of reason in the back of her mind. She knew Kolby was doing his best to influence her actions, but her emotions were too strong right now.

Almost getting away, Lilith managed to swipe Serena across the face, scratching her as she did so.

With Kolby’s arms now holding her even tighter across the torso, Lilith had stopped flailing around.

Her face burning with heat, and her eyes full of fire, she shouted at Serena once more.

”I swear to you. I swear it on the ancestors - if you EVER touch him in any way EVER again - I. will. fucking. kill. you. No questions asked.”

It took a second, but Carlisle would come back around. Just as he was getting up, suddenly his brain went foggy and he seemed to lose control, the next thing he knew, his brain was telling his body to headbutt the table. With force. Sitting back up, he could feel a warm liquid near his nose. Raising his hand, he swiped his fingers under his nose and felt the sensation of blood. He couldn't tell what condition his nose was in, but it certainly wasn't something healthy. He could swear it was broken.

Right now however, Carlisle was embarrassed. Emotionally, he felt broken. He was already nervous enough about Lilith and speaking to the Coven, and then Serena pulled this crap on him. Sure he was a little rude, but she had it coming given how she decided to enter the place. Carlisle wasn't a pushover anymore. Well. Much of a push over. Standing back up properly, Carlisle would look over to Lilith.

"Lil, leave her, please. I will deal with her later" He said as he glared at Serena while holding his nose. He would then walk out of the dining hall and onto the back veranda, leaving the door open for Lilith to come through. Leaning against the railing, he would curse under his breath as he leant his head back to try and stop the bleeding.

As Kolby sat her down, Lilith adjusted her t-shirt. Feeling the warm tears pooling in her eyes, Lilith kept her eyes fixed on the ground, though she still glared at Carlisle's words. What sort of tone was he was using with her? Lilith didn’t quite know how to label it - all she knew was that she was pissed off and confused.

Quickly using the sleeves of her jacket to wipe the angry tears from her face, Lilith looked up at Kolby.

”You ever try n’ stop me like that again, I'll kick your ass too,” she added, pointing a finger at his chest. Scanning the room, her eyes lingered on Miles for just a moment as her stomach knotted intensely.

Storming out after Carlisle, Lilith walked out onto the veranda to stand beside him, facing the view of the outside world that the Coven House had to offer.

Clearing her throat, Lilith spoke softly, still not looking at Carlisle.

”So what’s the damage?”

"It is not broken. So there is that. I think just taking a healing brew from the kitchen should deal with it. Sorry if I came across as a jerk back there. I guess I felt a little powerless after hitting the table and kinda took it out on the wrong person. I have never had someone get angry when I got hurt before y'know" Carlisle gave off a sort of goofy grin. He could see the hurt and anger in her eyes. She didn't know what to think right now, and to be honest, neither could he. "What did you want to see me about anyway?"

Eyes still glued onto the scenery, Lilith sighed.

”Don’t overthink it. I would have done the same for any of my friends,” she stated dismissively.

It was true. Lilith was fiercely loyal to the people that she cared about. Rather she had to be there for you by fighting you enemies, or making you chicken soup - she’d be there. However, Lilith had a deep suspicion that her reaction had something to do with her lack of sleep and overall shit mental health as of late.

Reaching out to grab the railing, Lilith thought for a moment before speaking.

”I had a vision. Well, I’ve had a couple, actually. Dreams too, ya know?” Nervous on how to truly approach the situation, Lilith took a deep breath. ”Something’s going on with the wards around town. You already know that. What I really wanted to talk to you about… I just… Carlisle -” Turning to look at him, the young woman couldn’t help but glare. ”Have you - or have you not - been messing around in the forbidden section of the library?”

Busted. Carlisle should have known that he could have got one over on Lilith. She could literally see the future. Carlsilse took a deep breath.

"Okay. Yeah. I was in the library a couple of nights ago. I was looking at a book in the forbidden section. I was trying to understand your divination powers." Carlisle looked down, right now he couldn't bear to meet Lilith's glare. "I know you have had issues with your spirits, and I really hoped the book might help me understand it a bit better. I was hoping I could help you through it."

As anger washed over the brunette, she took another deep breath to steady her nerves.

”So let me get this straight…” Speaking slowly and deliberately, Lilith kept her eyes locked onto Carlisle even after he had dropped his head. ”You come to me, seaking my opinion and knowledge on something. I give you my thoughts on the situation. I even go so far as to explain the dangers and warn you thoroughly of the consequences. And you have the audacity to disregard all of it?”

Eyebrows knit in frustration, Lilith threw her hands up in defeat.

”Why on Earth would you even ask me if you’re just going to do what the hell you want to do anyway?! And don’t fucking say it was for me. That just feels manipulative. Even if you aren’t trying to be, that’s how it makes me feel, and I don’t need your protection or your help or whatever it is you're trying to offer anyway, dammit.”

Carlisle hadn’t thought of the points that Lilith made. Perhaps he had been a little hasty himself. He had done it to try and help him understand what was going on. Lilith was fighting something terrible, at least in Carlisle’s mind.

”I am sorry. I was selfish. I wanted to help, but in the process destroyed the trust you had in me. I get it. I fucked up.” Carlisle said with a soft whimper. He would lift his head back up, his eyes welling up slightly, but he tried to move his head to the side to avoid revealing it to Lilith.

”No Carlisle, you don’t,” she responded fiercely. ”You don’t get it at all because I keep giving you chance after chance. You do these things, and I keep on forgiving you, and we end up right back in the same spot. So don’t tell me that you understand when you clearly do not.”
Hands now balled into fists at her side, Lilith was no longer trying to control the angry tears that fell from her face. Truthfully, she didn’t know why she cared for Carlisle so much, or why he had a special way of getting under her skin. Maybe being the only two that stuck around in Tanner had complicated whatever dynamic that this was. Maybe she had gotten too close.

”I’m not trying to be mean, I swear,” she pleaded. ”I’m just trying to make you realize that you can’t keep doing things like this and putting me into these situations and expecting me to forgive you. Look at me, please.”

Getting no response from her friend, Lilith reached up with her right hand to grab his chin, turning his face towards her. With her eyes locked on his, Lilith spoke once more - her tone more calm this time.

”You can’t keep acting like this. I don’t know what’s been going on with you lately. But if you keep acting this way - talking like that to Serena, pissing people off, messing with things that you know you shouldn’t - you’re literally going to get yourself killed, Carlisle. Do you understand me?”

"I am scared. I am just so fucking scared" Carlisle muttered, his shoulders shaking lightly as he struggled to keep his composure together. "I am scared about being a leader, worrying if I will screw up. I am scared that I will lose everything. I am scared about being left behind. I was enjoying a nice time in Tanner with just the two of us, and then all of this was thrust upon me. I am not ready for this. Carlisle then looked into her eyes. Those angry, but somehow soft eyes. And that was what broke him. Seeing the hurt in her eyes. He would begin to bawl lightly, making sure to keep his wails down so that people couldn't hear him in the dining room. The last thing he needed was anyone else seeing him like this. "Worst of all I am scared of losing you. Both in terms of you being killed and with you leaving me because…" Carilse would suddenly stop his sentence. He couldn't say it out loud. Not now. Not while he was looking like a complete respectless jerk.

As Carlisle spoke, Lilith let her hand fall back to her side. Her eyes still on his, Lilith began to finally feel herself start to calm down. Glancing into the dinning room, she could see that Erin’s eyes were still locked on her. There was no doubt that she was to thank for Lilith’s new state of mind. With her own emotions out of the way, however, that now meant that Lilith could feel other people's emotions again - and she was absolutely picking up on everything that Carlisle was not putting down.

Suddenly it all clicked in her mind. All of the times they had spent by the river, or reading in the library over the summer hadn’t been because they were ‘just friends’ and Carlisle wanted to ‘help her with her research’.

Lilith could feel the blood drain from her face as the realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

”Holy… shit,” she whispered, looking him up and down, arms now crossed across her chest.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Lilith laughed. ”I - nope. Not dealing with this shit right now. Absolutely not.” Now blushing and laughing, Lilith tried to cover her mouth in defeat. ”I’m sorry. I’m - I’m not laughing at you. I just —” Taking a moment to compose herself, Lilith looked back at Carlisle. ”I think I’m having a mental breakdown. Let’s just go back inside, and you get out of your head and stop overthinking shit and let’s just go check out the barriers, m’kay?”

Carlisle didn't have to say it. But after a summer together, she finally figured it out. Just why did it have to be right now when he was in the shit? With a soft sigh, Carlisle nodded. He would give a soft smile.

"Yeah okay. I get that. I dropped that at the worst time. I am sorry though. I know you might not get it, but I really am. Listen… After we look at the barrier, fancy grabbing a Taco Bell? Maybe talk about this with a clearer head."

Already re-composed, Lilith responded quickly. ”Talk about what,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. Taking a deep breath, Lilith kept her eyes locked on the group of people in the dining room. ”I’m going to go home and do some cleansing spells after. All of this energy is really…” Waving her arms around, Lilith tried her best to find the word to describe what she was feeling. ”....fucky.”

There was no way she could focus on the fact that her best friend had a crush on her - especially not with the boy who broke her heart in the next room over - and especially not after seeing him for the first time in years.

Carlisle let out a soft sigh. Fair enough. He took his shot, but he got it. It was hard at the moment. Carlisle then gave a small smile and wiped more blood from his nose. "Fair. Fair. Anyway. I will let you go, I need to go to the alchemy lab and grab a healie. You don't have to come to barrier if you just wanna clock off and do your cleansing" Carlisle would then walk down the veranda and leaving Lilith too her thoughts.

[Hedgehawk]

Time: 11:12am
Location: Coven Household Dining Hall
Interactions: Carlisle > Serena @HaleyTheRandom

---

---

It seemed that Carlisle did roll over pretty easily. Hayden had thought that she was going to have to threaten Carlisle with violence. But it seemed that he caved. She would shrug her shoulders and simply sit down in a chair. She was enjoying the little spectacle that was unfolding. She didn’t think that the little leader had it in him though to sass back at Serena. A small smirk tugged at her lips. Serena had it coming. Maybe she could use Carlisle to keep poking at Serena.

She carefully listened to Carlisle’s little introduction. It was clear that he was really nervous about leading the group. Even in his body language, he didn’t seem to have the confidence of a true leader. Hayden was just about to get bored when Carlisle finished his speech.

”Yeah, I am not really a school trip kind of person. So I will just stay here and get accustomed to the house. So you go ahead, and I will make myself comfortable!” Hayden was just about to put her feet on the table, when all of the sudden, out of nowhere, Carlisle seemed to headbutt the table for no reason whatsoever. Even quicker was the fact that Lilith suddenly dashed across the table and tried to claw her hand across Serena’s face.

”Finally things are starting to get interesting. I thought things were going to be really boring here” Sadly Kolby interjected and grabbed the small girl before she could spill any of Serena’s blood. Still. At least she got to see some of the show. ”Wow, Serena, You haven’t been here five minutes and you have already fucked things up. It is almost like New York all over again”

With a larger smirk she would finally place her boots on the table and looked over at little old Lilith and Carlisle moving outside. ”Wonder what they are getting upto?” Hayden would then rest her arms behind her head, taking in the energy and simply relaxing. She had an exhausting flight to get here, and now she just simply wanted to unwind.

[WolfLover]

Interaction with: Erin, Serena, Lilith. @HaleyTheRandom Carlisle, Hayden@Hedgehawk. Catherine. @SouffleGirl123

---

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.

[SouffleGirl123]

_{A Collab between @Soufflegirl123 & @HaleyTheRandom
Featuring: Miles Price& Lilith Montgomery
Location: Coven House
Interactions: Mostly themselves.}

---

---

Miles stayed silent as the fight raged, knowing the bunch involved just weren't worth losing his mind over. Instead, he sat finishing his coffee, twirling his keys on his finger. Soon Lilith and Carlisle rushed out, drats he couldn't help but think. He had so many things he wanted to say to her, to catch up on. Even though they would probably never be close again their childhood was so intertwined he at least wanted to have some knowledge of her life beyond what his lovesick bestie had told him. Yet, he let the pair be alone, a knowing smile spreading across his face. For all his denials there was nothing Miles was more certain of than Carlisle being head over heels for his ex-beau. Not that he minded, Lil and him were far in the past now, both of them had had partners since, he even jokingly gave his friend his blessing. All there was to do now was sit back and wait.

Time had passed and Carlisle returned to the interior of the manor, a dejected look on his face. Miles cocked his pierced eyebrow, had she rejected him? At least she was alone somewhere for them to talk. He headed to the verandah, clapping his friend on the shoulder and giving him a You good? glance before making the rest of the trip.

As he reached the verandah, Miles leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms. "Gee, Lilith. It's been a lifetime, hasn't it? If I didn’t know any better I would have thought you've been avoiding me this whole time," he greets her smoothly, resting a foot on the side of the doorway.

After Carlisle had walked away, Lilith had taken a moment to try and calm her nerves out on the veranda by herself. As soon as the young man had turned her back, Lilith had done the same, grabbing back onto the railing. She had only a brief moment to close her eyes and take a deep breath before she heard a familiar voice.

Gripping the railing harder now, the young woman watched as her knuckles turned white.

’Lily, darling,’ her guide, Gaea, spoke in her mind. ’Everything’s going to be just fine, I promise.’

’No, no, no,’ Lilith thought back in response, biting down hard on her bottom lip. ’The universe hates me, you all hate me. My brain is jello. I just want to go home, and now you send mehim?’

Blinking hard, Lilith tried to clear all of the thoughts from her mind before turning around to face the biggest skeleton in her closet.

”Miles,” she croaked, looking up at him, arms crossed across her chest as she leaned against the railing. ”I don’t mean to be rude, but I really don’t have time for this.”

Walking across the veranda, Lilith tried to slip past the much taller man and back into the dinning room with everyone else.

Miles didn't know what he was expecting. Her to laugh or cry. Want to reminisce over the times or even yell at him, but the last thing he expected was for her to just push him aside. He moved his feet over but remained on the edge of the doorway so Lily could walk past him but he was still there.

"Oh, come on, LiLi." He says gently as he readjusts himself against the doorframe. "I'm not here to rub anything in or throw myself at your feet- you've got Carlisle for that- I just… I don't know, Li. It's been 6 years since we've even shared a word, maybe it's possible I just wanted to see my childhood friend?

Sighing deeply, Lilith rolled her eyes, looking up at the taller man. ”Why?” she asked, her voice now sounding like a forced whisper. ”Why, Miles, on the day that the wards are falling, and Carlisle is trying to say whatever it is he’s saying. Why on the day where I’m having a mental breakdown? Just why point blank period.”

Truth to be told, as Lilith stood there in front of Miles, it took everything in her not to throw her arms around him. A hug from him would be exactly what she needed right now - familiar, comforting, & warm. She would love to hear his heartbeat, and have him bury his face in the top of her head once more - but things had changed.

”I… I don’t mean to sound harsh,” she continued, forcing a small laugh. ”It’s just… I’m not sure I have much to say.”

"Maybe it's because you've been mysteriously absent from wherever I've been, yet somehow my mother seems to know everything you do," he says, trying to not seem too accusatory. "She talks about you a lot, you know. Never where you are but a lot of what you've achieved. I guess you're the favourite child after all," In the heat of Lilith's emotional rollercoaster Miles remained remarkably calm. He was used to this, it felt natural slipping back into their old emotional roles. Even before they were lovers this scene was common, some things truly don't change.

"I know it's a bad time, Li, but I think it'll only be bad times from now on. Clans will attack, wards will break, there will always be excuses." He goes to say more but seeing the look on her face softened him. 6 years may have passed but he'd seen that look often for 8. He froze for a moment, hesitating on what to do. The impulsive side of him wanted to wrap his arms around her as if nothing had changed. As if they were still the 10 year olds who almost lived together, the 14 year olds who had lost a loved one… the young sweethearts on the football oval. Although the logical side of him knew it was far from what she'd want, or at least what she logically would want, Miles was never one to act off of logic.

He wrapped his arms around her, giving a sigh. There was something familiar and warm about the embrace, the same fond warmness that came from his childhood bedroom or his mother's cookies. A warmness he'd forgotten he had craved "I do miss you, Li. Not in a 'I want you back' kinda way, or even in a love kinda way at all. Honestly, I don't care who you date or whatever." Miles pauses to catch his words, it is rare that he gets flustered but he never really thought about what he'd say or really imagined getting this far. He takes a slow breath. "I just miss the girl I grew up with,"

Lilith stood there, trying to figure out how to respond. Was it weird for her to have stayed in contact with his mom? After all, Mary was the only mother that Lilith had had for years.

The young woman wanted to hop even further into defensive mode, and tell him that she hadn’t been keeping tabs on him. She had. She wanted to tell him that she didn’t care she did and that she hadn’t been avoiding him. But she couldn’t lie to him, even after all this time.

As Miles embraced her, Lilith’s initial reaction was to freeze up until he finished speaking. Even still, she slowly felt herself relax as she buried her face into his chest, wrapping her own arms around him.

Was it wrong to feel like this? It wasn’t like she still had feelings for Miles, after all. Sure, she had never managed to stop caring about him, but she didn’t love him, either. At least not anymore. Listening to his words, Lilith wondered if she was anything like what Miles used to know - and if she wasn’t… Well, who knew?

”I miss you too,” she replied, quiet tears now starting to run down her face. ”So much has changed and happened and all I ever wanted to do was call you -” her words rushing out of her mouth, Lilith forced herself to stop speaking as she tightened her grip on Miles even further. ”I’m sorry.”

Part of Miles fully expected Lilith to push him away, to scream at him about being absolute scum yet maybe it was clouded by the last words she’d ever dared spoke to him. As the tears streamed down her face he pulled her in closer, massaging the top of her head with his fingertips. He felt his shirt get painted with Lilith’s tears and was somewhat glad it wasn’t from something he had done for once. Although many years had passed this felt more like normalcy to Miles, comforting, familiar normalcy. The kind you get content in.

"Oh, LiLi,” he replies softly. He was unsure how to respond, part of him wanted to tell her to not be sorry but part of him found solace in those words- that admittance of purposeful absence. "I see you’ve gotten feistier,” he says with a chuckle, more just sound to fill the void than anything but a true comment nonetheless.

The pair stood in silence for a while, gripping on to one another. Something felt so addicting in her grip, so right but he was over her… right? It had been 6 years, she was a different person and he… well he was kinda still the same but still…

He shook his head, no time for those thoughts anymore, not knowing how much Carlisle loved her. Besides, he knew he could have a slew of lovers but a friendship like Lilith’s? That only came once a lifetime and he had already lost that once. "We have a lot of time to catch up on. How about we have lunch or something sometime soon? You can bring your new man if it makes either of you feel better,” he offers. Why did offering to extend the invite to Carlisle feel so sour on his lips? Perhaps it was assuming she probably did not accept Carlisle but Miles didn’t know, maybe Carlisle was into rejection?

Standing there in Miles’s arms, Lilith allowed herself to become vulnerable again for the first time in a long time. Sure that her mother would have something to say about old habits dying hard, she couldn’t help but let all of those old memories come flooding back. All of the days by the lake, or lunch at Huskers. How he used to make her laugh, and actually cared to read the things that she had created.

Pulling away from him, Lilith chuckled, whipping her eyes.

”Carlisle,” she questioned. As Miles spoke, Lilith paid more attention to his eyes than anything else. He was the stoic type - but his eyes never lied - nor did Lilith’s empathy. Something told her that while Miles was playing calm and cool, he might not have truly felt that way, but she couldn’t dwell on the thought.

”We’re just friends,” Lilith continued. ”I mean, we might be close but… we’re just friends.”

As Lilith pulled away Miles gave her a forced smile ”Want the sleeve too?” he half jokes, pulling his sleeve over his hand and holding it in her direction. What was one more wet patch in his now tear-stained shirt.

He knew she was searching him, as much as he tried to play up his pomp and joy Lilith had a knack for seeing deeper into him that always scared and fascinated him together. She knew, she had to know. Miles, he could read cues, but Lilith could read his whole soul through his eyes. At Lilith’s claims that her and Carlisle were just friends he raises an eyebrow quizzically. Carlisle was rejected then, it seemed. Either that or Lilith was trying to protect him. She was always trying to protect him.

”Li, it’s fine,” he says gently with a soft chuckle, ”That man talks about you more than my mother does, in a way it seems like a similar friendship we had before…” He peters off and remains silent for a moment. Their break up was always a sore spot for Miles, less so the actual end of the relationship and more of the awful things they had both said to each other at that time. He clears his throat and gives her one of his goofy smiles, ”You’re allowed to move on Li, he’s a good guy and really does care for you,”

Waving his shirt sleeve away, Lilith now leaned up on the other side of the door frame across from Miles. As she listened, more and more came to realization for her.

”Are you - how - what?” Eyebrows knit in both a newfound frustration and confusion, Lilith tried her best to articulate her words without cutting too deep into Miles. ”So you mean to tell me that even you know he’s… feeling whatever it is he’s feeling? How is it that everyone in this town knew before I did?” she questioned, throwing her head back in defeat. ”We’re just friends, Miles,” the young woman added, now making eye contact with him once more. ”And you mean to tell me that you two - you and CARLISLE of all people - are besties? What the actual fuck?”

Here she was getting more information from Miles on how Carlisle felt than she had ever learned from Carlisle herself. Something about that fact didn’t sit right with her. How much had Carlisle really told Miles? Hell, how much had Miles told Carlisle was really the question.

Taking a deep breath, Lilith rolled her eyes. ”Not that it’s a problem - it’s just… interesting. You’re both allowed to be friends with who you want, obviously. I just - what makes you think I haven’t moved on? Or at least tried,” she questioned, laughing dryly at his comment.

Miles let Lilith pick up the pieces of her mind as she connected that the men were close, well at least close enough to know such information before saying anything. ”I thought you knew? Damn bastard truly is rather private I suppose. We went to college together, Li. We dropped out together. I don’t know, I guess that stuff just bonds people like us. He never said anything but funnily enough it’s what he didn’t say that told me. I always wondered if it was obvious in the way he looks at you, that I didn’t know until today. But, I mean, you don’t have to like him back, I guess I just assumed,” he gives a shrug before simply tacking on a ”Sorry,”

He tried to search her in the way she had him but paying attention to her motions and facial expressions. Perhaps Carlisle’s affection was one sided after all. Maybe it wasn’t on her mind, or perhaps someone else was. Before he could question it Lilith started talking again, questioning words obviously taken in twisted context. Miles throws up his hands defensively, ”Relax, LiLi, I never meant you hadn’t. I just know what you’re like with being all over protective and all that- I just- it’s okay for you to admit it to me. I’m a big boy I can take- wait, what do mean tried?” Maybe Miles was overthinking, perhaps his self-centeredness was winning in making the scene seem more about him, or maybe the desires he just couldn’t shake were twisting his words out of context. Was she still into him? Surely not he decided, she couldn’t. Yet his question lingered in the air.

Lilith blinked once. Then twice.

Truth to be told, she hadn’t even realized what she had said until Miles had repeated it back to her. She knew exactly what she was feeling right now, and how she had felt for the last six years - she just hadn’t dared put words to the emotions. She remembered standing there in her bedroom, telling him that she’d wait forever as long as it meant that she got to be with him - she just never expected herself to actually mean it.

”Just, for lack of a better term,” she responded quickly. There was no way in hell that Lilith was about to take a neck dive into what this conversation could be with practically the whole Coven in the next room. ”Just… why do you care? Why do you care if he likes me, or if I like him, or if I’ve moved on,” she questioned, doing her best to keep the tone of her voice soft. ”I get that you two are friends, but like… I’m sorry, I’m not accusing. I just really don’t understand.”

Miles was taken aback by Lilith’s questioning, for all this time he was probing into her thoughts he was ignoring his own. He didn’t want to admit how he was feeling, not outright. He’d moved on. He’d thought he’d move on. The drinking, the partying, the one night stands, the very short lived romances. Were they solely in his nature? Or was he also running from a truth he couldn’t confess? It wasn’t the time for a confession… Miles wasn’t sure if it’d ever be time for one but if there was a right time it wouldn’t be with his best friend only one room over.

He looked to the ground, trying to do all he had within him to not turn the colour of beets. ”Gee, I don’t know, LiLi. I suppose,” he gives an exasperated sigh, kicking at the ground. ”I just… I care about both of you… ok?” He looks her in the eyes, swimming in their chocolate brown hue. ”Ok?” he echoes. Going silent for a moment. He didn’t know what to say. What was enough to make her trust him again but not enough to make her privy to how he really felt. ”I want you, both of you to be happy. Together or not, whether in love or life I just… I want good things for you, LiLi,”

Paying even more attention to his body language now, Lilith tried her best to ignore her empath abilities. Sometimes they were a blessing, and other times - such as these - they were most definitely a curse. Whatever Miles had to say, Lilith actually wanted to hear it, not just feel it. No matter how hard she tried to suppress it though, there was enough context there to tell her that Miles was being truthful, at least.

There was a long moment of silence as Lilith chose how to respond.

A simple sigh escaped her lips as she nodded her head. ”I get it,” she said, shrugging her shoulders in defeat. ”I want the same thing for you. That’s all I ever wanted, really - just for you to be happy.”

Miles gave Lilith a small smile, ”And the same right back at ya,” he replies before falling silent. He slowed his breathing, unable to think of what to see and do next. How long had they been out here? Probably too long. Nevermind, it was worth it. ” We, ah, we should go back… But come for dinner someday soon. I guess it will be nice to catch up without, y’know,” he stops himself, giving Lilith another smile, ”I’m sure mum would love to see you,” He then moves aside, allowing room for Lilith to leave through the door.

A dinner that Mary didn’t have to make sure Miles was out of the house for? That’d be a nice change. The thought almost made Lilith smile.

”Sounds like a decent plan,” she responded, slipping past him. ”Don’t want too many people asking questions anyway, hm?” she laughed.

There was a small, familiar urge that made her want to grab his hand as she walked through the doorway - and she nearly did.

Lilith just hoped that she was the only one to notice it.

[Hedgehawk]

A Collab between @Hedgehawk & @Soufflegirl123
Featuring: Carlisle Aston& Miles Price
Location: Alchemy Lab
Interactions: Mostly themselves.

---

---

Carlisle entered the Alchemy lab from the otherside of the verdana, Completely unawares of what was unfolding outside. Holding the edge of his nose to contain some of the blood falling from it, he walked over to a cupboard on the opposite side of the room, opening it haphazardly as he stared at the rows of vials inside. It was truly a rainbow cupboard, with many different colours and consistencies. Most of them haphazardly labeled. Someone thought mixing poisons and healing potions was a good idea.

With a soft groan, Carlisle fished out a small looking pink vial and popped it open taking a quick swig of the potion. He nearly wretched as he swallowed, it looked nice, but it tasted horrible. A few seconds later, the bleeding stopped and the nose would set back in place. With a sigh he would toss the empty vial across the room and into a bin, hearing a satisfying smash as it crashed onto the bin and shattered, the shards dropping into the bag. Carlisle then walked over to the pewter cauldron that rested in the middle of the room. Looking inside to see his own face reflecting back at him through the crystal water.

His insides were churning. He didn't know how he felt right now. Embarrassment, regret, rage, upset. Every kind of emotion one could feel was swirling around both his stomach and his mind. "Why am I so stupid?", "Did you really think she was going to fall for you?" At that thought, the rage in him boiled over. He would place his hands onto the sides of the cauldron and with an exhausted but also raged up yell, tossed the cauldron to the side, letting the liquid spill all over the floor. "Feel better?"

Placing his hands on his head, Carlisle began pacing the room, the occasional squelch to be heard as his shoes pressed on parts of the wet floor. He needed guidance. Normally that would be Lilith. "Fuck". With a sigh he pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. Settling on Lilith his hand hovered there for a second, the urge to say something. Anything. Was building up. He was able to suppress the urge and push further down until it stopped at Miles. This could work. His thumbs began to move as he wrote out a simple text:

"Dude, I fucked up"

Miles watched as Lilith walked back into the dining hall where everyone else remained. He could have sworn she almost reached for his hand but maybe that was all in his head. As she stepped further away from him and into the house. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, Miles was sure he had felt it buzz only moments after Lilith had released her embrace but waited until their conversation was over.

On seeing Carlisle’s name at the top of the notification Miles couldn’t help but feel a slight pit in his stomach, did he mess up? He shook the notion away, since when did he care about these things anyway? Sure, Carlisle was a good friend- it didn’t matter, Miles had decided, reconnecting with a friend was no slight at Carlisle. His eyes fluttered to the message. Obviously a rejection it seemed.

Where r u he messages back

Miles was normally quite fast to text back, at least in most of Carlisle's experiences. It seemed strange that he had to wait a few minutes for a response to come back. By this time Carlisle had worked himself even more, pacing more furiously as the weight of his expectations began weighing him down more and more. With a brief deep breath, Carlisle centered himself long enough to send a single text back:

Alchemy Lab

Miles replied with a simple coming and gave a sigh, slipping his phone into his pocket. No rest for the wicked it seemed. He branched off the straight path down the hallway to head toward the alchemy lab unable to help but smile at himself at the prospect that it almost seemed he was sparing the ‘question’ Lilith had mentioned prior.

He soon reached the Alchemy lab and pushed open the door while calling out ”It’s me, Car,” Before him was a sight to behold. Carlisle, although seemingly healed, looked rough. The cauldron had been overturned but the floor looked incredibly sticky much like the floor in a club by the end of the night. ”Damn, Car, are you alright?” he asks, entering the room and closing the door behind him.

Seeing Miles entering the room Carlisle almost wanted to scream. He pulled on his hair slightly as he carried on pacing up and down the room. "I fucked up Miles. I screwed up. Big time. Fucking big time. I pretty much confessed to Lilith. While being chastised by her. What the fuck was I thinking!" With that Carlisle kicked the cauldron. His foot regretted it almost immediately.

”Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down there, bud,” Miles says, putting an arm across Carlisle’s shoulders. ”I think both you- and the pot- have been through enough already today. Come on, sit down,” he chuckles, leading his friend to a chair in the room. He fought the urge to tell his friend he knew of the rejection already but even he knew that was the last thing Carlisle needed right now. ”I mean, if you end up dating Lilith you’ll get used to badly timed chastising anyway,” he half mumbles as he slips himself onto a counter. ”Tell me though, what happened?”

"A few weeks ago, Lilith told me about a vision she had. She warned me bout a book in the libraries restricted section that I shouldn't touch. So I went and had a look and it was about divination and spirits." Carilse would lean back into the chair. His left leg shaking as he was trying to compose the overflowing emotions in his body. " It's not my place to say, but Lilith has been going through shit, and I thought maybe the book could help. If I understood how her magic works, maybe I could help. Maybe I could make a dispel magic spell that fixes everything. So I read it. It was enlightening, but didn't really help. So I put it back. And well. Lilith being Lilith, found out. So she came over to have a go at me for doing it. And in the middle of it all. I kind of admitted that I did it because I like her and wanted to protect her." Carlisle leaned forward throwing his head into his hands as she took a deep sigh. " I am so fucking stupid"

”Oh, so you do like her?” Miles teases, a triumphant smile spreading on his face that screamed ‘I told you so’. He hid the part of him that felt a twinge of sadness that him and his best friend would likely have their friendship perturbed with how they both liked Lily. Miles didn’t intend for it all to get so messed up. He gave himself a moment to process all the information Carlisle had dumped on him.

”In all fairness, why does the library even have a restricted section? It’s like, just don’t house the book on display?” he gives a chuckle before his face falls to become more serious. ”I’m going to be honest, Car, may have not been your brightest idea but, hey, good on you for giving it a go. Girls rejecting you is part of life, her loss. Does… urr… reading the book have any consequences? You have been more… how do I put it… irritable? Angry? Whatever it is you’ve been a bit off recently,”

"Of course I like her. I wouldn't have said anything if I didn't. I don't know… When you stayed behind and I had to come back here alone, It was nice to have Lilith around. We were the only two from the same year kind of. And as we hung out more over the past couple of years, I felt myself get closer to her. She is such a calming influence. With all the shit about retirement and my mother… She guided me. I owe her more than she will ever know. So to see her angry at me. It hurts. It almost burns" Carlisle's voice dropped lower. His body language softened, everything was as calm as an gentle ocean. Even if he was nervous. However he snapped out of it the second Miles spoke once more.

"Most of the books are just garbage. It's mostlt old spells or things that while not dangerous on their own. When combined with other things could cause trouble. And I don't know about the book. Admittedly I didn't cast dispell magic on it before using it. And I can't cast detect magic on myself. So I couldn't tell you." Then Miles turned the subject over to his anger, and in a click of switch, that anger returned. " Oh really!? Angry? I wonder why that would be. I don't know, maybe the fucking pressure of dealing with taking over the coven, dealing with the morons that now work here. Then I have Serena parading around, and then Lilith rejects me. Don't event get me started on the pressure of rebuilding my social life after my best friend decides to stay behind!"

At Carlisle’s admission he liked Lilith, Miles gave a forced smile, ”It's just good to finally hear it in words rather than reading between the lines,” Miles replies. Suddenly Carlisle snapped. Miles pursed his lips. Truly, he did miss his friend when Carlisle returned to Tanner but no one made him go back. The man really had changed recently. Although Miles was tempted to blame it on passing time, he had been back in Tanner for 6 months and it was only really in the last one he had noticed these changes. Still, at the attack on Miles’ choice to stay he looked right up at his friend.

”Whoa, dude. No one made you leave Olympia, that was your choice. You know I had a job there. I invited you to live with me until you had an income. It’s not my-” Miles had noticed that the volume of his voice was escalating louder and louder. He stopped, took a breath and calmed himself before continuing. ”Look, I’m sorry you felt alone, I am. But you can’t blame me for the outcomes of your choices,”

Carlisle scoffed at his remark. So this was how he was going to be. Miles finally showed his true colours. "I couldn't stay in Olympia. The embarrassment of dropping out. Everyone saying things behind your back. It was toxic. Plus my parents wouldn't let me stay once I dropped. But no. You couldn't understand that. You had it easy. You don't know what it is like to have such overbearing parents. Constantly wanting you to do better, be better. Cause heaven forbid another person your age might, just might, be better than you at leading the coven." During the whole triade, Carlisle's voice got louder and louder, until it finally trailed back to silence. Carlisle's breath was heavy, slowing down and becoming more methodical, like he was trying to regain control. His mind was centering back to Lilith, and the thoughts of the past summer.

Miles was taken aback by Carlisle’s rage, usually in situations like this Carlisle would hide away like a scared puppy. It was rare for him to raise his voice, let alone have a long outburst like this. ”Everyone? Really, Car? Did I judge you? How about Chris or Trin? Your problem, Carlisle, is you care too much about what everyone thinks about you!” Miles argues, imbuing his words with calming magic, not enough to control his friend but just enough to avoid Carlisle exploding at his response. He hated using magic on his friends but with how… touchy his friend had become it felt like a necessary measure. ”You don’t think people judged me too? Don’t act like you don’t know. Here comes that bastard boy of Tanner to drink all our liquor and sleep with our daughters. Oh, he dropped out? Of course he did, not a sober thought between those ears, that boy. The difference between you and me, Car, doesn’t lie in the weight of others expectations but how much we care about what people think and you, buddy, simply care too much,”

"Look…" Carlisle spoke. His voice now much softer. "I don't expect anyone else to understand. The weight of expectations that roll on my shoulders, its enough to crush most people. Lilith was my escape. The catalyst that allowed me to center myself. And I am sure we will still be friends, but today… Today that has been tainted. There will always be that black spot there, a pool of sad emotion and anger. I am scared Miles. I don't think I am strong enough to be the person everyone wants or expects me to be." His voice trailed off at the end, as his skin began to go whiter than it already was.

”Car,” Miles starts before carefully picking the words he wanted to say, ”Bud, you are one of the strongest people I know. There’s a lot riding on you but, realistically, a lot of that burden you’re carrying is due to yourself. You just… you just need to let go sometimes. Not be concerned with how people see you. You’re a badass leader, you’ll do fine. Might be worth finding a new centre, maybe on something less fluid than a possible relationship. Or may-” Miles’ stream of words cut off mid-sentence. His friend wasn’t like this. Carlisle was somewhat of a wildcard, yes, but this anger, this irritability, it was never part of his emotional roster. ”Car, do you mind if I try something real quick?”

Carlisle looked over at Miles while he was talking. He wanted to get angry again. It was bubbling up inside, threatening to spill once more, only to then be magically soothed. It wasn't a fix, but it stopped Carlisle from flipping his lid again. He forgot that Miles was really adept at manipulating certain emotions. Maybe that was why no one really hated him? "Maybe you are right. But as a leader, I get judged by what I do. Regardless of how well it goes. But I digress. Try what you want?" Carlisle shrugged his shoulders real quick, confused and what Miles was going to try next.

”Just, gimme a sec, I haven’t done this in a while,” Miles replies, rolling up his sleeves. He lifts his arms in front of him and closes his eyes. In truth, Miles didn’t need all the pomp to cast the spell but it did make things more fun. He opens his eyes as he casts a spell toward the man in front of him; detect magic. A grey aura only Miles could see illuminated where Carlisle’s brain and heart lie. ”Welp, that’s not good,” Miles mutters.

"What's not good?" Carlisle responded right away. Only a second later for the penny to drop as he began to feel the spell. "Wait… Are you casting detect magic on me?" He could feel Miles' own energy interacting with his own. "I mean I have magic. So what possibly is there to detect?"

”I don’t know if you know this, bud, but you’re cursed. I would say it’s not that’s always bad, left a girl in Olympia hanging once and she cursed me so I couldn’t taste for a week, that sucked but the way you’ve been acting, I think it may not be that innocent,”

Carlisle almost jumped out of his seat. "Who the hell would want to curse me! ?" More rage began to build, though this was more explosive. Almost like a failsafe. His mind was telling him to attack Miles. But as soon as it exploded, it simmered down again, and Carlisle lowered his hands that were at that point starting to raised towards Miles. "Okay… So maybe something is up. But what do you gain by cursing me? And how?"

Not that there was ever a time Miles regretted using his charming abilities but there were few he was thankful for more than this. In his position Miles would have essentially been dead meat, unable to run. He made a note to be constantly keeping his friend in check. Since when was he the responsible one? ”I don’t know, man. That’s probably a better question for a witch or something. All I can tell you is you’re cursed in a not good way. And supposedly the curse hates me for some reason,” He replies with a shrug. ”I guess for now the best we can do is keep you calmed and try and regroup to figure it out later, hopefully with someone better at this stuff than me cus, damn, my brain is fried.”

"I don't think it hates you. It's probably some sort of self defense mechanism about being spotted. Mother was really good at them" Carilse then gave off a small smile. "You know when Lilith finds out I am never hearing the end of this right?" He would then grab the cauldron and rest it back where it belonged. "Okay, just gotta stay calm. Investigate what's going on, and hey, maybe see what this is all about." Carlisle then grasped onto Miles hands to half shake it, half hold it. "Thanks for looking after me. I couldn't ask for a better best friend"

With that, Carlisle began walking towards the exit, his hand resting on the handle. "Remember when we kept trying to find theme songs to our lives… and I could never find one. I think I got it now. Paramore - Pressure. Fits perfectly" He gave off a goofy grin, for a brief moment the old Carlisle was back. He pulled on the handle and opened the door for them to leave.

Carlisle walked out and headed back to the dining hall. Now with a flashy new, repaired nose. Hopefully Serena wouldn't break this one. He kept Lilith on his mind, just incase the calming aura from Miles suddenly wore off. He couldn't keep it up forever. "Okay everyone. I apologise for the delay. As you can see, I have fixed my nose." He would then look over at Serena "I Do apologise for suddenly snapping and being sassy. I know that coming back here is.. Tough, and I am here to help in anyway I can. Speaking of helping. He would then turn to face everyone.

" As a way of saying sorry for what just happened, and to reintroduce ourselves, I think we should have a party here tonight. 7pm start. I have control of the Coven budget, so I can buy the drinks. Just leave a list in the kitchen of the stuff you want buying" This was it. Carlisle was back. It felt good.

[Sadie]

_{A collab between: @Sailorsadie & @HaleyTheRandom
Featuring: Delaney Barlow & Erin Blake}

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeee- The alarm was interrupted by a hand grabbing the device and throwing it at the wall opposite, shattering it. Groaning at the noise, a small pale hand went to the girl’s forehead in protest. Shouldn’t have had that last shot. Or five.

A pounding at the door made her wince. “Yo, Del. Didn’t you have a thing to be at today? Like, I dunno. An hour ago?”

Her voice came out raspy and dry as she replied. ”What?”

“I dunno, like one of your witchy things?”

Delaney’s forehead creased as she turned to look at the spot her alarm once was. She clicked her tongue in frustration as she searched for her phone. Soon finding it under her mattress- the fuck was it doing there?- her eyes caught sight of the time. They soon widened. ”Shit!”

Scrambling to her feet, she hurried to her closet before stopping. Her nose scrunched as her eyes scanned over the options. She knew she had to go to work at the bar later, so she had to dress for both occasions. Delaney grabbed a few items and soon dressed. Pulling her hair up into a messy bun to complete the look, she grabbed her keys and wallet before hurrying from the room.

Her mother turned and glanced at her, biting back a disappointed sigh. “Good morning, Laney. How’d you sleep?”

”Like I had a chainsaw trying to make babies with my brain stem.” She noticed her mother had made breakfast. Grabbing a slice of bacon, Delaney popped it into her mouth and took the mug of coffee from her youngest brother. She quickly kissed her mother’s cheek. ”Thanks, call you later.” She turned to her brother. ”Bye, bitch.” She smirked and quickly ran out of the house before she could get scolded by her mother for the language.

Hopping into her car, Delaney sped off to the coven. She glanced at the clock on her radio as she sipped from the lukewarm coffee. 11:30. Groaning, she shook her head. ”They’re so gonna be on my ass. Awesome.”

It didn’t take her long to get to the coven. Grabbing her mug and her wallet, she locked the car and hurried into the building. The atmosphere felt tense. Raising a brow, she sipped at her coffee as she walked into the main room. Her face instantly lit up at the group despite the harsh emotions. ”Well. Look who the cat dragged in.”

Watching the scene unfold between Carlisle, Lilith, Kolby, and Serena had been an emotional roller coaster for Erin. She had done her best to keep everyone calm and level headed, but it seemed as if her powers just simply weren’t working this morning. As she tended to the small wound on her cousins cheek, Erin sighed, all but ready to just walk out and leave everyone in the room behind.

That was, at least, until she heard the voice of literal sunshine behind her. A smile already creeping across her face, Erin turned back around to see her best friend, Delaney.

Practically running over to the other young woman, Erin quickly wrapped her arms around Delaney’s shorter frame in a tight embrace.

”Laney!” she shrieked. ”How have you been?!”

Delaney couldn’t help a laugh at the noise as she hugged her best friend around the waist. It felt like she was finally complete again and her entire body relaxed. ”I’ve missed the hell out of you, woman! Look at you!”

She took a small step back to fully take in her appearance. Giving a whistle, she nodded and smirked. ”Looking hot as hell, as always.”

”Oh, you know - gotta do it for the fans,” Erin joked back.

Her eyes took in the rest of the crowd and she gave simple nods to everyone except the new girl. Delaney immediately disliked her. Raising a brow in question, she returned her attention back to Erin. ”Looks like I missed all the fun.”

She turned back to the group. ”Anybody feel like getting rid of the screaming badger in my brain?”

Laughing again, and ever grateful to be back in Delaneys presence, Erin smiled. ”I mean, one of us might be able to offer a temporary fix, but I think you might need a big tall glass of water, and a big ol’ burger, hm?”

Looking around the room, Erin sighed. ”I guess someone better catch you up to speed, huh? That is - if your head isn’t going to literally explode?” Still joking, Erin’s attention was now back on her friend, her eyes twinkling with happiness.

Delaney eyed the girl before playfully rolling them. ”Yeah, yeah. I’m late to the party and sporting a hangover. Really, did you expect anything more from me?”

She spotted a bit of blood on the table and she folded her arms across her chest. Her nose scrunched. ”Aww. Please don’t tell me I missed a fight already. I always miss out on the fun.” Looking at Serena, she smirked at the girl. ”Please tell me it was you. Who’d you hurt?”

Lounged back in one of the dining room chairs, Serena laughed. ”It was me,” she began.

”Mostly,” Erin interjected sarcastically.

”Fuck you,” Serena grumbled back. Turning her attention back to Delaney, the dark haired girl began giving her a quick rundown of events. ”I actually arrived in a good mood, and Carlisle had the audacity to be a little fuck head and make some comment about me doing cocaine in an alley or whatever, so I listened to his speech and then I might have tried to make him break his own face on the table.”

Delaney pouted out her bottom lip. ”Aww, you hurt Grover? You know the kid is pretty much useless.”

Very obviously pleased with herself, Serena smirked as Erin glared at her. ”And don’t forget that Lilith flew over the table and would have rocked your shit - had it not been for Kolby,” the blonde added, her eyes flicking over to the dark haired boy momentarily. ”That’s why she looks like she’s been fighting alley cats for that cocaine she mentioned earlier,” she smirked, directing her comment towards Delaney.

Her eyes moved over to Kolby and she took a brief moment to fully appreciate him. Damn that’s just gotten better with age. She tilted her head as she looked over to study Serena. ”Sure you don’t have any snow? I could definitely use some of that right now.” Delaney could practically feel Erin staring daggers at her. She gave a mere shrug of her shoulders. ”Kidding. Mostly.”

She sipped at her now cold coffee before sighing. ”For real, though. Is there any actual information I missed? And for the love of Pete will someone fix my hangover? I know one of you bitches can do it.”

While Serena sighed quietly at Delaney’s joke, Erin chose to glare at her friend instead. The blonde haired girl knew that Delaney didn’t really mean anything by her words, but someone had to stick up for Serena - even if it was silently. Besides, Serena was an alcoholic anyway. Why anyone thought she did hardcore drugs was something that Erin had never understood.

”Not really - besides the fact that Carlisle’s our new temporary leader,” Erin stated simply. While she was sure that some of the other witches and warlocks were freaking out over the Council’s decision, Erin was overall very indifferent towards the situation. There was nothing to worry about, especially if things weren’t official yet. ”And I can try to fix your hangover, but I’m not sure I’ll cure it - more so just trick ya into thinking you’re fine - technically speaking and all that.”

”It’s okay, I trick myself into thinking I’m fine everyday.” Delaney couldn’t give a damn who was running the Coven. In truth, she wouldn’t have even shown today if she knew Erin wouldn’t be here.

Finishing her coffee, she gave a slight nod of her head and turned to face the door when Carlisle’s voice broke through her haze. She turned back to face him and looked him over. Oh, he’s in way over his head with this crap. Delaney couldn’t help a small smirk as the boy apologized to Serena. Aw, so he does have a soft side. It’d be cute if it wasn’t pathetic.

She started to focus on the pain in her head when one word broke through the dam. Delaney blinked and she immediately perked up, a bright grin on her face. ”Party? Hell yeah, I’m in.” She nudged her best friend. ”Say you’re in, too. Come on, Tulip. Need my bestie to shake her ass with me.”

[Hedgehawk]

Time: 12:30pm

---

---

It seemed that everyone had made up their mind as to whether or not they were coming or going. It seemed like a good chunk of the Coven were coming to investigate. That was good. Carlisle was doing his best to remain as calm as he could. After Miles had revealed that his current outbursts were not of his own, he wondered how much of his behavior as of late had been influenced by this curse. He still couldn't quite believe that someone would really want to curse him. He couldn't work out what someone would gain. He knew that he had his doubters, but he wouldn’t call them enemies. Even Serena and Kobly wouldn’t hate him that much.

Leading the coven out of the household, the group got into their cars and Carlisle led them out to the outskirts of Tanner. The roads out here had turned to dirt, and eventually stopped completely. At this point the towering pine trees had surrounded them, making Tanner feel a million miles away. Carlisle pointed out the direction they were due to travel. It was far easier for him to retrace his footsteps when it was daylight as opposed to the darkness from last night. He could even see some of the bootprints he and Ty had left behind.

Carlisle guided the group to the clearing he came from last night. With a deep breath he found himself once more facing the blue hued barrier. To everyone else, it was clear that the barrier had been mended in some way. Carlisle's own barriers had a slightly different shade of blue compared to the rest of the barrier so it looked like someone had simply plastered a band-aid over the barrier. Inspecting it, Carlisle sighed. It looked like something had clawed at the patchwork too. They hadn't gotten all the way through, but there were scratches. It seemed whatever it was lurking around it came back to the scene of the crime after they left last night.

"The job looked an awful lot better when I did it last night. Guess I am going to have to spend some time reinforcing the barrier. God I wish Lilith was here. Her projection barrier might just give this the reinforcement that it needs. Now I am bonded to the barrier, I can feel when it has been damaged. My best guess is that I didn’t feel it getting damaged last night, as the barrier hasn’t fully bonded." Carlisle spoke out loud. Fully aware he wasn’t speaking to anyone but himself, but everyone around him could hear him nonetheless.

Turning back around to face the group, he suddenly felt it. For some reason or another, maybe Miles was exhausted, but the calming effect had ended on him, and the rage began to build up once more. He tried to focus on Lilith like he had done last time, but this time it didn’t seem to work. It was almost as if it had been bottled up while Miles had been claiming it, and now it wanted to explode out of him.

"Not that you know anyone actually cares? Just casually all turn up and be like 'Hey look it’s that loser Carlisle from high school, they put him in charge!' Carlisle would continue to rant senseless nonsense about how people didn't truly care or understand how hard things were for him. But to everyone else something different was happening behind Carlisle, as he was raging, the entire barrier was flickering, almost to the rhythm of Carlisle’s rage. As soon as Miles calmed him down once more, the barrier would stabilise, and everything would be seemingly back to normal.

"Okay. It's okay. I got this" Carlisle would take a deep breath. " Okay so everyone spread around and have a look around, see if you find something, though no going anywhere without a partner please! I will stay here and strengthen the barrier. You can also stay here and keep me company if you like!"

[WolfLover]

Interaction with: Carlisle@Hedgehawk

---

---

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.