Sugar and Spite

New song reference time

"They say that pressure makes diamonds; How the hell am I still coal?"

_{Coal - Dylan Gossett}

Ban the User Above You

Banned for laying forever.

The Witches & Warlocks of Tanner 2.0

The last few weeks in Tanner had been hectic for the Rosales family. Driving back and forth to Seattle while managing the family’s restaurant had taken up the vast majority of her time, leaving very little room for Reyna to get involved in or worry about Coven matters. In times like these, she felt like a rather horrible witch. Being torn between your blood and magical families was an indescribable feeling - one that she found leaving a bad taste in her mouth. Erin was nice enough to update her from time to time. Reyna had reached out to some of her friends to make sure that they were okay, but for the most part she had received radio silence in return. She chose to think it was because they were busy with their own issues.

With her mother returning from her business trip just a few days prior, Reyna was now free to do as she pleased around Tanner. Though she was the youngest in her family, Reyna found herself looking after her siblings in times like these. Maybe now with her mother home she wouldn’t have to worry about who had clean socks to wear. The young woman really hoped to get back into her Coven duties, and hoped even more that her friends wouldn’t judge her for ghosting them for the last few months.

She had spent days going through her closet, doing her best to find something in her closet that would be considered formal instead of slutty. It turned out that the young woman didn’t have many options to choose from. She had settled on a crop top and long skirt combo. While the sleeves fell off the shoulders, and there was a split in the skirt all the way up to her thigh - she hoped that her choice in fashion wouldn’t draw to many unwarranted comments tonight. Reyna had decided to lightly accessorise with large hoop earrings, and her makeup was just as simple. She had chosen to stick to a more nude and natural look tonight, hoping that her ‘new look’ would show how much she had matured.

The brunette had rode in the back seat of her brother's car to the Handover Ceremony. She had kept her eyes glued on the scenery outside of the window, her invitation in hand the whole way there. The young woman had always believed that she was lucky to have grown up in such a beautiful place.

Once they had arrived, Reyna climbed out of the car, made sure her outfit was properly adjusted, and waltzed into the Handover Ceremony right behind her brothers. She had exchanged a few small pleasantries with Carlisle and a woman she didn’t know.

Walking into the room, the Rosales woman kept her head held high, plucking a glass of champagne from one of the passing waiter's trays. A small, warm smile appeared on her face here and there as she waved back to the few people who recognized her. She was searching desperately for someone who she talked to at least on a semi-regular basis to no avail.

That was when she had seen the scene unfolding by the entrance. So many faces that she didn’t know, with so many fists flying around them. The thought made her down the second half of her champagne in one go. A nearby waiter gave her a some-what judging look - but Reyna didn’t mind. Reaching for another, she was trying not to stare as Amanda Aston was dragged away.

Soon after came Carlisle’s speech. She stood and listened as he bore his low self-esteem and mommy issues to the world, but all in all, there wasn’t much to complain about. Reyna had never had much to hold against the Aston boy, and only time would tell how horrible or magnificent of a leader he would be. It would be wrong to jump to conclusions so soon.

With a sigh, the young woman found a nice chair on the outskirts of the room to settle into. Soaking in the scenery, Reyna was more than sure that this was about to be an eventful night.

The Witches & Warlocks of Tanner 2.0

_{Starring: Lilith Montgomery, John Montgomery, & Salem De SIlva}

The only thing that Lilith Montgomery wanted to do right now was drink.

In the spirit of transparency - Lilith had never dreamed of living past the age of eighteen. She had all but checked out of this world by then, and the fact that she was still stuck in it pissed her off on a daily basis. Regardless of that fact, the young woman kept pushing herself every day to do what she could to build some sort of life for herself.

During those quiet moments when she envisioned her future, Lilith had seen Miles from time to time, sure. But she had never imagined herself as a wife or mother. No white dresses or hospital beds, dirty diapers or wedding bands. The Montgomery line had stopped with Lilith twenty-three years ago, and she had made as much peace with that as she could while constantly having Cordelia telling her she was destined for great things.

Lilith was pretty sure that pregnancy wasn’t a ‘great thing’. Not in her case. Not with Miles. Not now.

She had returned to the main room of the Coven house, doing the best that she could to appear calm and collected. Spotting her grandfather at the drinks table, Lilith had beelined over to him right before Carlisle’s speech had started. Slipping her hand into the older man's calloused grasp, Lilith held on for dear life. Her energy had been focused on giving Carlisle glances of encouragement during those awkward moments when their eyes met. His voice, on the other hand, was drowned out by the roar in her ears.

Lilith’s grasp tightened on her grandfathers even further, the world threatening to slip out from under her feet. A plethora of images flashed before her, showing the past, present and future simultaneously. Visions of a dark haired woman, paperwork strown out across a hospital bed. Oddly familiar blonde and dark haired figures walking into the Coven house. Salem wielding the sky in her hands. The young womans blood turned cold, a shaky breath escaping her lips as John shot her a look of concern. Before she had time to collect her thoughts, the Guild Leader's hand was on Lilith’s shoulder once more that night.

”Lilith,” Salem nearly cooed. ”I’d really like your assistance with something,” she explained, her eyes now resting on the eldest Montgomery. ”John, would you mind coming along for back up,” she asked.

With a shrug of his shoulders, John led his granddaughter along beside him as they followed Salem to the Alchemy lab. It was taking everything that Lilith had in her to put one foot in front of the other and not shout at Salem. What did she have planned? Did she know Lilith was pregnant? How would Salem react if she did know? Would it matter if Miles wasn’t related to whoever this Aloysius character was?

”Lilly,” she heard her grandfather whisper. ”What’s going on?”

Shaking her head, Lilith ignored his question, keeping her eyes glued onto the back of Salem's head.

As they entered the room, John had taken a seat beside Salem. Lilith chose to stand, looking at the glass in the other woman's hands that she hadn’t noticed earlier. She hadn’t pegged the Guild Leader for a whiskey kind of woman.

”So,” John questioned. ”What are we doing here?”

”Mr. Montgomery,” Salem began, crossing her legs at the knee as she made eye contact with the man. ”I have suspicion to believe that Miles Price is the son of Aloysius Leighton - a magi war criminal from one of our great lineages. I also believe that your granddaughter is pregnant with his child.”

As the last sentence fell from the woman's mouth, her eyes met Lilith’s. Goosebumps ran up the brunette's arms as she looked towards John.

”How in the goddamned fucking hell –” the old man shouted as he rose from his chair. Angry at and for Lilith, his eyes stayed glued onto Salem, knowing full well that she was the threat at the moment.

Eyes as sharp as daggers, Salem glared at Mr. Montgomery. ”Sit down before I kill you faster than cancer,” she grumbled, clearly not entertained.

”Thank you ma’am, but I prefer to stand,” John responded, now standing behind the chair he was sitting in as he gripped onto the back of it for support. Looking at Lilith, he sighed. ”Is it true, Lilly?”

Lilith had shoved her hands into her pockets now, balling her hands into fists as she did so.
”I don’t know,” she answered, her voice a hoarse whisper. Clearing her throat, the young woman kept her eyes glued onto her feet, careful not to look at either of the authoritative figures before her. ”Mary confided in her powers and got a clear yes in response, but I haven’t taken a test or anything, and I really had just –” Voice thick, Lilith shook her head as she blinked the tears from her eyes. ”I reckon so.”

Lips pursed, Salem studied the girl from head to toe. ”It’s more than true, Lilith,” she cut in. ”There’s so much power coming from you right now it’s almost as if you are a magi, my dear.” Taking a deep breath, Salems eyes furrowed. ”It’s hard to tell, since you’re so early on. It’s a strange thing indeed. Multiple sources of power are just radiating off of you.”

”Multiple,” John questioned incredulously.

Nodding her head, Salem's eyes never left Lilith’s figure. ”Five total. Hers, the boys, and if I had to guess… she’s having triplets.”

”Stop talking about me as if I’m not right here,” Lilith snapped.

”Watch yourself,” Salem warned.

It was now Liliths turn to glare daggers.

”Triplets,” was all that John could manage, echoing Salem once more.

Wasting no time, the Guild Leader now cut to the chase. Picking up the glass, Salem used her free hand to lift a few droplets of water from the rim. ”Now that that’s out of the way. I’ve collected one of the glasses that Miles was drinking from this evening. Both of you are necromancy users, yes? I’ve heard of a spell that allows you to track lineages as long as you have a piece of the person in question. Is that true?”

”Last time I used that spell was thirty years ago,” John grumbled.

”Can you,” Salem asked Lilith.

”Never tried it, and even if I had, I’m not sure I want to help you put a target on my back.” she quipped.

Tilting her head to the side, Salem took a deep breath before speaking. ”Ms. Montgomery. I can assure you that I’ll get my answers and handle my problems either with or without your help. Now all I need you to do is focus on the question at hand, and channel it into the water. Simple enough, right?”

Still very clearly not pleased with the situation at hand, Lilith crossed her arms. ”Fine.”

Over the next few minutes, John had located one of the world maps that The Coven kept stored in the various corners of the Alchemy lab. Don’t ask Lilith why it was here. All she knew was that they had found it, which now meant she really had to do this spell. No matter the outcome, she hoped that Miles would forgive her.

Salem continued to control the water, focusing on the small sphere floating in the air above the middle of the map.

”I can’t believe I’m playing with Miles’s spit,” Lilith grumbled.
”I think you’ve been playing with more than that,” John responded sarcastically.

Lilith was sure to glare at her grandfather for a moment before turning back to stare at her intended target. Taking a deep breath, Lilith focused all of her energy into the one question before nodding to Salem. Once the other woman had let her control of the sphere fade, the liquid fell onto the paper, showing no signs of going anywhere.

A silence filled the air as everyone kept their eyes glued onto the map.

John sighed again. Salem looked pissed. Lilith didn’t know what to feel. She was about to turn and head for the door when the water finally began to move.

It broke off into a few smaller circles, all of them headed towards North America. Four of them had settled in Garden City, New York, one of the others in Tanner - right in the center of town where the Coven house was located. The last seemed hesitant, almost as if it was trying to decide which way to go. Lilith watched the last droplet vibrate in place before darting off to go place itself right beside the other one that had landed itself in Tanner.

”Fuck,” Salem growled. Pointing at the larger collection of droplets, she began to explain. ”That’s Lola and her children.” Moving her finger to point at the others, she continued. ”That’s Miles. And that’s Aloysius.”

”How do you know?”

”The spell wouldn’t have even worked to begin with unless Aloysius and Miles were related. Additionally, Aloysius’s sister Lola lives in Garden City with her three children. Miles is in Tanner. And it appears that his father is too.”

”So Al is Miles’s father…”

”And you’re carrying Miles’s children,” John finished.

As Lilith looked back up at Salem, all she could sense from the woman was rage. The image that she was just shown minutes before flashed in her mind once again, making Lilith stand on edge.

”Thank you for your help,” the Guild Leader spoke to no one in particular. ”If you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. We’ll reconvene on your… issue, later.” As she spoke, the more and more upset Salem sounded. Her crossed arms and furrowed brow only added to that fact.

”Issue?” Lilith responded, her voice hollow.

”We’ll have to discuss specifics. Surely you don’t want to have those children?”
Glaring once again, Lilith could stop the venom dripping from her words. ”What if I do want to, Salem?”

Eyebrows raised, the older woman was already headed for the door. She couldn’t waste time arguing with a child when Aloysius was in the building. Hand now on the door knob, Salem turned to look at Lilith before responding. ”I have way bigger fish to fry, darling. Quite literally. Now. Like I said - we’ll discuss specifics later.”

As Salem turned the knob, all that Lilith could feel was rage and fear. She didn’t know what to say or do as Salem exited the room. Attacking her was a suicide mission, but she didn’t want to see anyone harmed, and Salem seemed as if she was on a war path.

Turning to John, the young woman began to break down. ”I’m sorry,” she began, the first of the tears beginning to fall. ”I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

Closing the small distance between them, John embraced his granddaughter in a tight hug. ”It’s gonna be okay, Lilly. You just need to go and find Miles right now, okay?”

Wiping her face, Lilith nodded her head as John held the door open for her.

The young Montgomery had no idea what the next few hours - or life in general - had in store for her.

All she knew was that she had better buckle up for the ride.

Post a random fact about yourself.

I really just want to buy a piece of land somewhere close-ish to the ocean, and turn it into a sanctuary of sorts.

I want a big ass garden that the whole community can eat out of, if they so chose. Food and water bowls stationed on the porch for all of the stray animals, and my yard will always be the one where the neighborhood kids can come to play.

I just want to be the silly little old lady that takes care of her community.

The Witches & Warlocks of Tanner 2.0

_{A @HaleyTheRandom & @SouffleGirl123 Collab; Featuring Mary Price & Lilith Montgomery.}

Only moments after her realization Mary hurried to find Lilith, leaving Claire with a promise to return for shots. Hurrying between rooms and quickly disengaging from conversations from other ex-coven members. On most days she'd slow her pace for her old comrades and seniors but today was different. She wanted to get to Lilith before anyone else in their little group got to her… or Miles.

She opened doors to side rooms and near hidden pathways she used to find Lilith and Miles back in her time as a coven member. It was when she went to the potion room the somewhat familiar scent of blunts danced in the air, trailing from the verandah. With a sigh the woman beelines for the verandah door, opening it to see Lilith with a blunt in her hand. She pokes her head through the opening she made with the door and looks the young woman up and down. Looking up and down at the woman's outfit she couldn’t help but give a chuckle. Although Lilith resembled her mother in many ways her fashion sense was far from one of them.

"How'd ya ma feel about you not wearing a dress tonight?" she asks playfully with a chuckle, an attempt to keep the air light even if Lil could detect her inner panic. "You do look lovely, dear. Can I steal some of your time for a moment? Somewhere a bit more private?"

After her conversation with Salem, Lilith had decided to step out onto the veranda to watch the rest of the setting sun fade into the night. She was good at acting calm and diplomatic in situations such as these, but she still couldn’t help the way her hands shook as she removed the prize from her pants pocket. Leaning against the handrail, Lilith drowned out the quiet hum of voices coming from inside the house by focusing on the sound of the crickets below.

The Handover ceremony was something that Lilith had both looked forward to, and dreaded. After today - there were no more excuses. They were the real adults, and they had to handle all of the issues now. From now on, she was going to be one of the ones people had no choice but to run to. All in all - Lilith wasn’t sure if she was up for the challenge.

Turning her head as she took another drag, Lilith couldn’t help but give a small smile at Mary’s comment. ”She had some words to say, but I think she’ll survive,” the young woman joked, her eyes now meeting her godmothers. Even without Lilith using powers, it was easy to see that Mary was frazzled. ”I don’t see why not,” she responded once more with a shrug of her shoulders. ”If you can think of somewhere more private than this - lead the way.”

"You might wanna put that out," she says softly, nodding her head toward the blunt. She then gives the young woman a warm smile and squeezes her hand before leading her back into the house. "How're you holdin' up?" she asks as they walk through the many corridors of the house.

Taking another drag, Lilith complied with the older woman's request by squishing the end of the blunt under her boot before shoving it back in her pocket. She didn’t have the heart or fight to tell Mary that she had smoked many times before in the Coven house. Letting Mary lead the way, the young woman shrugged her shoulders before responding.

”’Bout as well as anyone can do when they’re about to be given the responsibilities of a secret society. Mom’s not caused a scene yet has she?”

At Lilith’s question Mary gave a light chuckle, leading her into one of the small bedrooms of the house. A suitcase sat tucked in the corner with some of its contents pulled out around it. With all the visitors she knew all the rooms were probably in use and could only hope this room’s occupant wouldn’t need to come back in. "Y’know your ma, she can’t help herself,” she says closing the door quietly, a small smile playing on her lips as she reflected on the earlier fight, "That one might be on me though,”

Mary turns back to look at Lil. How was she meant to have this conversation? She wasn’t sure but she knew Lilith would rather get the news like this than from an angry Salem. That was assuming she didn’t know. "So, anythin’ new between you and Milo?” she asks the young woman, sitting on the bed. She pats the spot next to her, willing the girl to join. She was hoping if Lilith knew she’d be willing to give that information up.

So Claire had done something - and Mary was reluctant to share. That was different. Oftentimes, Mary and Lilith had stood in a corner and narrated or made fun of the fights that Claire had gotten into. For Mary not to come right out and describe whatever was going on for Lil was a strange thing indeed.

As they walked into the room, Lilith took her seat beside Mary while doing the best that she could not to read into the other woman's emotions. The uneasiness radiating from her was hard to ignore as Lilith took her place on the edge of the bed.

”Not really,” she replied, clearing the raspiness from her throat. ”Just been tryin’ to get used to things again.” With a sigh, Lilith let the silence feel the room for just a moment before speaking again. ”Why? Did he do something? Did I do something?”

Mary attempts to give the young woman a comforting smile. "No… well yes. Not on purpose, I don’t think,” she replies meekly, stumbling over her words slightly. Mary wasn’t usually one to stumble over her words. She gave a long deep sigh, trying to recollect herself. "Look, Lil, it might sound like I’m oversteppin’ here and if the situation was different I just well might be but… I think you might be pregnant. Actually, I know, the divination don’t lie.” She looks up at Lilith awaiting her reaction before dropping anything else on her.

A small ”Oh” was all that Lilith could muster as she attempted to process what Mary was saying. After Claire had presumably passed away, Lilith had turned to godmother for help and training with her Divination; she would never doubt Mary Price. Even still -

”Surely not,” she replied, with a short laugh. ”I mean we only… you know - ” Struggling for words, the young woman made vague motions with her hands. ”Like once. Maybe twice. Okay maybe three times but -” Lilith's ramble was cut short when she met Mary's gaze of sympathy.

At that moment, all of the puzzle pieces seemed to snap right into place. Lilith couldn’t lie that she had had her own suspicions - from the tightening of her jeans, to her hormones being wack as shit - but she had just chalked it all up to stress.

”I mean - that’s that, I guess? You know I won’t believe it until I see if for myself, so of course I’ll grab a test soon but how the fuck am I supposed to tell Kane?” The more that Lilith spoke, the more the panic set in.

Mary remained silent as Lilith went through a spiral that was reminiscent of the one she had had herself when she was not much older. She could do none but just remain silent, sympathy drawn on her face. "I’d offer to do it for you but honestly dear, it should come from you,” Mary replies, her eyes remaining on Lilith. She wished she could just slowly tell her everything over a course of days, long enough to not be overwhelming but she knew with the risk of Salem at her right after the ceremony that was far from possible.

She gives her another forced smile before continuing on. Mary knew it’d do none with Lilith’s abilities being able to read into her inner turmoil but it was a natural response at this point. "I wish I could say that’s all but you need to know something else,” Mary pursed her lips as the frustrations of the situation Miles’ father had put the family in came to the surface. "Miles’ father is magi- that I knew from the beginnin’. Miles was born with a birthmark but honestly I assumed it was a heritage thing considerin’ his powers are more common in witches and warlocks but uh-. Lil, I talked to Salem and she’s very convinced his father is Aloysius Leighton. Y’know, the kid who started the magi war.” Mary rubs the bridge of her nose. "I’m so sorry Lil, if she’s right-”

Shaking her leg a hundred miles a minute, Lilith was currently going through every scenario imaginable on how to break the news to Miles. They had just gotten back together, and everything was going relatively smooth. Did Miles even want to be a dad? Did she want to be a mom? Was John going to kill him? Was Claire? Was Carlisle going to have a heart attack? Her questions and scenarios were cut short by the word magi.

Listening to the rest of what Mary had to say, Lilith shook her head in protest as she stood up from the bed. Beginning to pace the bedroom floor, the young woman pulled her shirt sleeves up to her elbows as she ran her hands through her hair. ”I think I’m gonna lose it,” she warned. ”My boyfriends a magi. Cool, cool.” As she spoke, it was easy to tell that Lilith was trying to sooth herself by sorting her thoughts aloud once more.
”The son of a war criminal,” she muttered. ”I’m carrying a war criminal's grandchild. A magi war criminal.” Throwing her hands in the air, the young woman could help the manic laughter that escaped. ”What the fuck.”

”Leighton,” Lilith pondered, still pacing back and forth as she played with the name. The - hopefully - final realization hit the young woman like a ten ton weight, stopping her dead in her tracks. She felt her face grow hot, tears pooling in her eyes as a fear filled chill ran down her spine. Looking at her godmother, Lilith sighed, clearly defeated. ”Mary… Mary, no,” she protested weakly, now fully realizing what all of this meant.

Mary sighed a heavy sigh. Seeing her goddaughter in turmoil like this hurt her. Knowing she had a hand in it, no matter if it was unknowingly, hurt her even more. "Lil,” she says gently, gripping onto the younger woman’s shoulders to hold her in place. She sends a wave of calming energy through the girl before pulling her into a tight hug. "Look, you and I both know this baby’s gonna be… controversial to put it lightly. It’s gonna work out, ok? If ya want to have it you got me and Miles, and your mamma and John- I’m sure he’d shoot at anyone who looks at that kid wrong,”

Mary pulls back and produces a tissue from her pocket. She works at wiping away the young woman’s tears. "Look, I’m not saying it’ll be easy but we can make this work,”

Returning Mary's hug and taking the tissue, Lilith shrugged her shoulders in response. ”If by making this work you mean starting world war three, sure,” she joked. ”I don’t think Salem is going to let her mortal enemy's bloodline get any further than it already has.”

"You don’t know that,” Mary mutters, tucking some loose strands of hair behind her goddaughter’s ear. Despite trying to keep the mood up, even without empathic abilities it would be obvious that she wasn’t so convinced herself. "Who knows, Salem might be more graceful than we think. It’s not that Miles was raised by his father, might be enough to hold her back? For now, though, you should probably think about more important things. Like whatcha gonna do about this baby.”

Yeet myself off of a cliff didn’t seem like the appropriate response. Maybe Lilith didn’t have the right to act like everything was as bad as she was making it out to be, but that still didn’t help the fact that she felt like the world was crashing from beneath her feet. With Mary’s help, the tears had stopped flowing, however it was still easy to tell that Lilith was pretty shaken about the whole ordeal.

”I never thought of myself as a mom,” she answered almost too quickly. ”Figured I had drank and smoke so much that my eggs were either pickled or fried, honestly.” Taking another deep breath to steady her nerves she asked ”Does Miles know about his dad?”

Mary couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped her lips at Lilith’s comment. "If it’s any help neither did your ma or I but I like to think you kids turned out just fine.” That was when Lilith asked about Miles, it made Mary tenses slightly, a reaction she attempted to hide with limited success. She didn’t want Lilith adding a worry for her onto her rapidly growing list of worries.

"That was my next job- I just figured I had to get to you before Salem did. Would rather you found out this way over whatever Salem’s plannin’. I only just found out myself,” she replies gingerly. "I should probably have that talk with him before you tell him about the baby, hey?”

Nodding her head, Lilith forced a small smile. ”Yeah, that’d be preferable,” she sighed. ”Just promise me Miles and I will walk out of this alive tonight?”

"Of course. I’ll make sure of that myself, kay?” Mary replies, running a hand through her hair. "Just brace yourself for Salem’s questions. Doesn’t sound like she’s ready to attack but be ready. You know more of what the woman’s capable of than me,”

The legends and myths of Salem de Silva was enough to wipe the smile off of anyone's face - including Lilith’s. While it was comforting to know Salem wasn’t stomping around the grounds looking for her, the fact that she had to keep the Guild Leader at bay was absolutely terrifying.

”Don’t remind me,” the brunette mumbled, mostly to herself. ”I reckon if you can take care of Miles, I can handle Salem,” she decided, squaring her shoulders. ”I would say we could all go back to the ranch and have a drink after, but -”

"Sounds like a plan,” Mary muses, reaching for the door. At Lilith’s last words she turns back to her, her hand still on the door handle. "Sounds like ya got some habits to kick. Worry about Salem for now, we’ll sort out the rest later.” A small smile spreads over the woman’s face at her reflection of the conversation. Now the heavy stuff was out of the way her mind was able to focus on the situation as more than a point for panic. "Lilith? You’ll do great, dear,” she says vaguely before turning to the door and happily uttering, "I’m gonna be a memaw,” to herself before swinging open the door.

With a huff, Lilith came to the realization that her drinking and smoking days were over - at least for now. Where Mary seemed excited about the news, it was still all taking some time to really sink in for Lilith. Hearing the older woman's joyful cry, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. ”This is bullshit,” she grumbled under her breath, walking out after Mary and closing the bedroom door behind her.

Ban the User Above You

Banned for 302.

The Witches & Warlocks of Tanner 2.0

_{A @HaleyTheRandom, @Hedgehawk, & @SouffleGirl123 collab.
Featuring: Salem De Silva, Claire Montgomery, Mary Price, Amanda Aston & Carlisle Aston}

Amanda Aston was pissed off. Her own son had decided to replace her at the single most important event of the century. And he gave no thought about how it affected the Aston image. To make matters even worse, the woman he had picked was the worst possible woman he could have picked. Mary Price. That waste of space. She smiled nicely and treated everyone with grace, but she knew that was only a front. It was all a ruse to pull Carlisle away from her and leave Amanda with truly nothing.

So there Amanda was, sipping down shots of whiskey at the back of the house while everyone was entering the household. Her eyes never left the vicinity of Carlisle and Mary. She watched as Mary helped Carlisle greet guests and even supported him. Why bother? Carlisle had been a perpetual disappointment all his life. A few pats in the back now was hardly going to solve anything. Amanda watched as the Montgomery's entered the house. She was mid-swig when she watched them enter. It was then her eyes locked onto Claire Montgomery. That swig of whiskey suddenly turned into a choke as surprise and shock took over her system. Slamming down the glass and recomposing herself, she looked over again, just to confirm that it really was her. It was her. How? Why? Was it some illusion spell because the Montgomery's were desperate to bring back the past? To make it even worse the woman had the nerve to flip the bird at her as she entered. Amanda simply stood there completely stunned by what had just transpired. Amanda was livid.

As Lilith and John broke off to go look for something, Amanda closed in like a missile. As she got closer to Claire, Mary and Carlisle she began to feel it. Something about Claire felt off "How the fuck did you come back from the dead?" She sneered towards Claire. Now she was in sneering distance it was then she felt that strange presence and was able to put a figure on it "And why do you reek of my disappointment of a son?" She demanded glaring over at Carlisle who simply took a defensive step back behind Mary.

A tipsy Claire had been standing by the door, receiving mixed welcomes from the arriving Coven members. Strangely enough, Claire was used to this. Her presence had always been a controversial one, even before her death. All in all, she was having a rather decent time until the voice of Satan rang in her ears. Looking over at Amandas pissed of expression, the blonde couldn’t help but laugh.

”Wouldn’t you like to know, weather boy,” the woman quipped, a smirk on her face as she took another drink from her flask. ”This world has changed in so many ways - but yet you remain the same, crabby, dusty bitch you were years ago. Jesus H. Fuckin’ Christ, Amanda. Get a grip.”

The gaze of hatred in Amanda's eyes couldn't grow deeper. First she flipped her off and now she was refusing to answer questions. She took a sidestep, angling herself so she could once more glare at her son, pointing her finger at him. "YOU! Explain yourself!" Carlisle once more moved back behind Mary. Maybe it was cowardice, but he did not want to at all get involved in this. Amanda simply huffed and looked back over at Claire. "Alot has changed in ten years. You will find all the grips you had around here aren't as strong as they once were"

Now repositioning herself so that she was standing in front of Mary and Carlisle both, Claire glared at Amanda. ”We’ll get to the fact of how you bought up all of the land with my name on it after my death later. For now I highly suggest you takin’ a few steps back there, buttercup, before I knock all of the botox out of that ugly, rigid face of yours. Do you really want to cause a scene with me, Amanda,” Claire asked, tilting her head to the side, now pointing a finger at the womans chest. ”You may have had your chance to run this Coven into the ground while I was away - but that still doesn’t change the fact that you’re you and I’m me.”

"I didn't run it into the ground. I made it better. And you decided to drink drive into a post or whatever it is you decided to do" Amanda snapped back at Claire. While it was true that she had bought up most of the land around the Montgomery Ranch, she wasn't about to let Claire think she had the upper hand. "Yeah I did. Been thinking about getting planning permission for some lovely social housing around the ranch. What do ya think?"

With a scoff, Claire reared her arm back to throw a punch at Amanda before a hand gripped her arm. ”Now ladies,” Salem began, lowering Claire’s arm for her. ”Don’t you think there’s a better time and place for all of this?”

Amanda gave off a smug grin as Salem had intervened. She didn’t want to gloat, but she knew that when it came to Salem, Amanda had a fair better relationship than Claire. ”You will have to excuse Claire. She has been dead for ten years, and somehow she is back, and I know my rotten son is involved somehow. Please tell me someone can feel it too”

”Don’t you dare apologize for me, you fuckin’ cunt,” Claire spat before adjusting her jacket. ”Sally,” she nodded, greeting Salem.

”Claire,” Salem responded, raising a brow at the woman momentarily before shifting her focus back to Amanda. ”We’ll focus on the witchy woo-doo at hand later - for now, I believe you and I have much larger matters to discuss.” As she spoke, Salem crossed her arms, looking the Aston woman up and down with disdain from head to toe.

Amanda looked over at Salem and noticed the sudden look of disdain. This wasn’t normal. The duo normally had gotten along just fine. Amanda straightened her back and looked over at Claire once more, the fire really starting to show in her eyes. ”Sure. What is it you need to discuss? If it is coven related matters, you will need to speak to the hiding, hapless Carlisle over there. Apparently Ty and John though it appropriate to leave him in charge”

Salem took a step forward, positioning herself so that she was now the closest to Amanda, and also so that she could put distance between her and Claire. Pursing her lips, Salem began to play the little mind games with Amanda that she was best known for, letting the other woman sit in her worry and fear.

”I seem to remember you making a phone call about twenty-five years ago - very close to this time of year, too, now that I think about it. You didn’t happen to leave out any information that you thought might benefit you in the long run, did you?”

Amanda took a step back as Salem came forward. She hadn’t been subjected to this in a long time. Amanda was normally an iron spined woman, but as Salem came forward she found herself shrinking down. Shaking her head, she took a second to try and figure out exactly how she was going to answer this. ”I told you exactly what you needed to know. You got your fugitive, I got a safe coven” Amanda replied back, keeping her composure.

Focusing on her breathing now, Salem shook her head as a small, dry laugh escaped from her throat. ”Come on, Mandy,” the woman taunted. ”Don’t play dumb with me,” she continued to speak, closing what little distance was left between the two of them. ”Think harder.”

Amanda suddenly found her retreat cut off by a wall, forcing her to stay still. ”So there might have been a few details I might have embellished when you wanted to know more…” Amanda's voice spoke out, shaking, confused, and a little afraid.

With another deep breath, Salem took a moment to close her eyes and recenter herself before speaking. Looking at Amanda once more, her eyes began to flicker with the literal power brewing beneath their surface.

”Everything you know,” she growled. ”Now.”

Amanda normally wouldn’t crack under this kind of pressure. She looked at Carlisle, hoping that he would cast a barrier around her, or do something to allow her to resist the advances of Salem. And Carlisle was prepping a barrier in his one hand, but it seemed to aimed at Salem, and not her, which only made it worse for her. With a frustrated growl, she carried on, keeping her voice low enough that Carlisle and Mary might not be able to hear. ”So I wanted Aloysius for myself. I never intended to hand him over. Only he wouldn’t take my advances. So I discovered he got with Mary, and then got her pregnant. I had planned to separate him from his newborn child and hope that would bring him back to me. Or at the very least, I could remove Mary and adopt the kid as my own.” Amanda breathed heavily as she finished explaining. ”Imagine it though. If me and Aloysius had a kid. The raw power it would have. It would have been spectacular. Put you to shame. But no. I had to go and have Carlisle. Little weak Carlisle.”

Mary knew that the conversation wasn’t for her but that didn’t stop her from eavesdropping. Amanda had a big mouth and even when she was trying to blab ‘quietly’ a whole neighbourhood could hear. Quiet was not her forte. She didn’t know whether to be mad or confused. Aloysious wasn’t a name that rung a bell to her. Well, actually, it did. She’d heard of the antics of some uprising against the guild from a man named Aloysius through the grapevine back in the day but apart from that the name was meaningless. ”What nonsense are you spewin’ now, Amanda? You ain’t makin’ lies about me to get yourself out of what Salem’s got planned,” she quips, rolling up the sleeves of her dress and stepping forth toward the woman.

Salem already knew the repercussions of Amanda’s actions - she just needed to hear the words. Claire was ready to rip the Aston womans throat out, but Salem seemed to beat her to it. Slapping Amanda across the face with a small electrical charge, Salem continued to glare at the woman as she cowered down.

”You stupid fucking bitch,” the Guild leader spat. ”Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

Amanda let out a gasp as she was slapped across the face, feeling the electric shock enter her face. She went to raise her arm to cast an ice spell at her but was stopped as Carlisle cast counter-spell on her. "I don't. I don't know what thing you seem to be panicking about"

At this point, Salem really didn’t know if Amanda was playing dumb or if she actually didn’t know. The woman was doing the best that she absolutely could to keep her anger in check, but the blue hue from her eyes never faded - even as she shot a look of thanks towards Carlisle.

”You were so caught up in your want and need for power that you never stopped to realize that a Leighton child is running through the streets of Tanner. A magi child - with no training or guidance as to what stirs inside of him. And now he’s gone and found himself a home with the Montgomerys’.” Arms now crossed once more, Salem shook her head at the floor before looking back up at Mary. ”I’m not upset with you. I have a strong feeling you didn’t know outside forces were directing the course of your life, and that isn’t fair to anyone.” Her eyes flicked back and forth between Claire and Mary for just a moment, her mind trying to find the right words to say. ”Your children, however, have broken one of our most ancient laws - Magi and Witch alike - without even knowing it.”

Carlisle spent his time listening, not taking direct action unless it was against his own mother. He was trying to do his best to learn from Lilith and not trying to ‘help’. But his brain was struggling to process what was going on. ”Let me get this right: Miles was a Magi the whole time? And my mother is somehow involved. And now he and Lil are together. And great families should never mix blood. So what exactly do we do?”

Mary looked back and forth between Salem and Amanda unsure what to say herself. She knew Miles’ father was a magi- a secret she kept closely guarded even from the Montgomerys. She also knew he had a mark the way magi did but she had assumed it was because of his descent, not his power type. A lie she’d told herself until she’d convinced herself that he was a warlock. Mary knew how to train warlocks, not magi. Still, that name floated in the air; Aloysius Leighton. That leader of the rebellion against the Guild.

’I think you may have my boy mistaken,” she gives a sigh as she thinks through her words. ”I know Milo’s dad was a magi but he’s not this Aloysius guy, just some Korean bastard from England. I don’t see how it’s much different to Ty and Junie, for both me and our kids. They’ve only been back together for what? A month? I don't think there’s much damage that can be caused.”

”First off - the man is Japanese. Don’t tell me you’ve been making that poor boy eat kimchi for nothing.” As Salem began to joke, the electricity radiating from her body seemed to fade. She had turned her attention from her anger at Amanda to her focus on the diplomatic duties at hand. Her eyes flicked to Carlisle. ”If I’m right - there’s nothing anyone can do at this point.”

Hearing Mary’s words, Salem gave the woman a look of sympathy. ”You say he went by the name of Johnathan Park? That’s an old Guild alias a friend of ours used to use way back in the day for undercover missions. Aloysius was originally born in England - that he didn’t lie about. And there’s no way to be for certain without a DNA test - but the sight of your son sent literal shivers down my spine, Ms. Price; From the way that he smirks, to the way he carries himself - even his tone of voice. I strongly believe that Miles is Aloysius Leightons son.”

Letting her words settle into the air for a brief moment, Salem continued to answer the rest of the group's questions. ”Ty and Junie are a normal magi and a normal witch - for lack of a better term. When people like them have children, the child becomes either a witch or a magi - no inbetween. One of the bloodlines will trump the other every time. Sometimes you can have magi and witch children in the same family, just like with the Delamars. In your case, Leighton blood is stronger than Price blood, making Miles a Magi.” With a deep sigh, Salem finished off the rest of her explanation, hesitant to speak certain things into existence. ”When two great bloodlines merge - seeing as the Leightons are one of our major families - one can’t beat the other. It creates a whole new species entirely - one that we’ve never seen before because we’ve always made it a point to avoid situations like these.”

The more Salem reveals of her son’s father the more a storm seemed to form in Mary’s eyes. She knew Johnathan- or Al rather- lied about a lot. She only accidentally found out he was magi- something her divination guided her in screaming red flags. She never bothered to ask it about much else and by the time she had Al was talking in half truths not strong enough for her magic to alert her of without a ritual. She knew he lied but this? This was too much. For the most part she was over the man, only remnants of anger and guilt for the life he denied her son remaining, but this seemed to open a whole new wound. She swallowed the lump in her throat as her hands balled into fists. She wished the man was right there to take it all out of him.

She took a long drawn out breath, now was not the time for anger. ”Okay, so we just have to stop them from havin’ babies, right? Not let the new species happen. I don’t know what to tell them but I’m sure we can sort this,”

"I am no diviner, but we may be too late for that. We know that they have slept together at least once. So it might be worth preparing for the possibility it is too late" Carlisle interjected. He then looked over to his mother. "So let me get this straight: You knew about this Aloysius guy. You wanted him to have kids with you to give you a strong kid and deliberately break a sacred law?. When you couldn't have that, and he refused to be with you, and he decided to get with Mary: you decide to report him. But you knew Mary was Pregnant. You knew that you were about to split a family. Salem and Mary both were in the dark. And then to top it right off. You had a sick plan to try and take Miles for your own. So what does that make me exactly!?" Carlisle's voice got louder towards the end. The last question was almost shouted.

Amanda laughed. It was long, drawn out, and had so much malice and disdain, most of it aiming directly at her son. " You really wanna know that? Simply put you were born for one purpose: To show up the Price family. And yet you couldn't even do that. You became the first Warlock in the great families history. The weakest ever recorded. It was pathetic. And then. I had to watch your worthless ass grow up and just to rub it in my face more, you befriended that urchin. I had to keep my mouth shut and watch as you played with the enemy. I knew that great families weren't supposed to mix. It's a law that doesn't come up very often. Why do you think I kept pushing you in Lilith's orbit? Remember, I am an enchanter just like your little friend. All I needed was to keep you and Lilith together long enough. And then once again that street cleaner of a son had to come back from college and once again get involved."

Carlisle's eyes opened wide as she spoke. A sinking feeling was opening in his stomach. He was used to being called useless. He was used to her attacking Miles. None of this was new. But the fact that his mother was talking about him and Lil. It was then it suddenly clicked on his mind. His hand reached out on instinct to hold onto Mary's for mutual support. "I had been best friends with Lil for two years… But my attraction to her had started this summer all of the sudden. It was like a switch had been flicked inside me. I became so much closer to her… It was you… You enchanted me to love Lilith…"

" Guilty as charged m'lord" Amanda let out a slightly hysterical laugh, not attempting to deny anything that Carlisle said.

Salem stood there watching and listening as Carlisle put together more and more of the puzzle. She didn’t know much about the young man, but she was grateful that someone here was putting together the pieces. The Guild Leader had always known that her counterpart had been a diabolical bitch, but she had no idea that Amanda had treated her son this way - especially in public. Was the now ex-Coven leader beginning to go insane?

As Carlisle’s comment rang in her ears about Miles and Lilith sleeping together, the woman literally bit her tongue to keep from spilling any more information. She had wanted to confront Amanda about the whole situation, but seeing how hungry the other woman was for power made her hesitant to give out the final card that she held. Besides - she still needed to confirm her largest suspicion of all.

Claire on the other hand, showed no restraint. ”Who the actual fuck do you think you are to be medeling in my childs life?” she nearly yelled at Amanda.

Mary gave Carlisle's hand a reassuring squeeze before stepping up to her friend and once more sizing up Amanda from over Claire's shoulder. Her mind was moving a thousand miles a minute, it was almost overwhelming the amount of new information she's recieved in the last minutes. Her gaze centered on Amanda.

"Let me get this right," she says venomously, pushing past her friend. "You broke up my family. You're the reason my son grew up without a father. And not only that but you planned to take him away from me?" Anger seemed to radiate from the woman's words as she realized the effect Amanda really had in her life beyond the jealousy and snark. "And after all that you tried to meddle with my god-daughter's life?! Well ain't you a piece of work?" Mary wasn't the angry sort, not really, not anymore. But this? This was an exception. She stepped up closer to Amanda before throwing a punch at the woman’s cheek.

Amanda let out a grunt as she felt Mary’s fist collide with her face, sending the older woman staggering back along the side of the wall, and nearly bowling her over. She raised her hand to cover her face, her eyes glaring in disgust. She once again went to cast a spell, only to again be counter-spelled by her own son. Just this time he wasn’t hiding it. ”Yeah I did. And I would do it again. Aloysisus was supposed to be mine! We were going to create a lineage that would put everyone else to shame. But he rejected me! Said he had no interest in power games or control. So I did what I had to do. Even if the end result was a disappointment.”

Mary was fuming, so much so she could almost feel the heat coming off her skin. "You upended my whole life! You left me strugglin'. You pompous idiotic bag of garbage, I'll knock them fillers out of that face of yours!" she yells, squaring up for another hit. She bends down to get to the woman's level before throwing a punch at her face.

Amanda simply got hit one more time, once more almost hitting the ground and causing a satisfying yell to escape from Amanda’s lips. The only reason she was standing was because of the wall. ”You can hit me all you like. But it doesn’t change the loneliness you feel. You should have seen him beg me not to tell. He didn’t want to leave his poor little Mary” Amanda taunted, faking tears at the end.

"Lonely?" Mary laughs, standing up and looking at the slight bruising on her knuckles. It'd been a long time since she'd clobbered someone in the face like that, and she was sure the last time was Amanda too. "I ain't lonely. No, Amanda Aston, unlike you people actually like me enough to support me. I'm just mad at the life you took away from my son,"

”Oh Boo Hoo, cry me a fucking river” Amanda retorted as she straightened herself up against the wall, adjusting her hair so it was back in place. Her eyes then rested on Claire ”And don’t you start either. You should be dead. I don’t know what kind of tomfoolery my idiot son has done, but once I figure it out I am going to be sure of undoing it and sending you back to your grave.”

Watching as Mary landed a few punches, Claire was honestly surprised that Amanda had chosen to keep running that fat mouth of hers. She had gone out of her way to to ruin many peoples lives on her pursuit of power; Amanda Aston had plotted murder against the woman that Claire called her sister, took away the father that her godson could have had, made her own son feel inadequate, and then proceeded to meddle in Lilith’s life. She had no right to tell who to get over what, when her whole entire life had been built upon never getting over a single damned thing.

And don’t you start either. That was all the permission that Claire Montgomery needed. Tying her hair back quickly as Amanda spoke, the blonde took a quick step forward before throwing all of the weight and force that she could manage into her punch - aiming for the other womans throat.

Amanda was nowhere near fast enough to avoid the punch, letting out a heavy and heft cough as she choked on her own windpipe after the punch connected. She staggered to the side, across the wall before tripping on her own feet and hitting the floor, gasping for air. Carlisle winced at the impact. He knew his mother deserved all this, but seeing it made it hard to swallow.

"So what exactly do we do with her?" Carlisle asked, looking down at his own mother on the floor.

”For starters you better hope she listens next time I tell her to shut the fuck up.” Claire was the first to respond as she shook the shock from her wrist, looking back and forth between Amanda gasping and the group before her.

Salem had taken the backseat as the events unfolded in front of her. The Guild Leader knew the full extent of her powers, and she didn’t want to kill someone her first thirty minutes back in Tanner. Claire and Mary seemed to have the situation handled, and Salem had given out the information she had come to spread. Not to mention Amanda had nearly gotten curbstomped without Salem barely having to lift a finger. It was already shaping up to be a very interesting and eventful evening.

”Well, I don’t think we should kill her - yet. There’s still some things I’d like for her to stick around and see.” Salem said, looking down at the disgrace of a witch before turning to meet Carlisle’s gaze. ”The rest is up to you now.”

Hearing that Salem had pretty much delegated to Carlisle caused the male to cough and pull at his collar. She was right though. Amanda was his problem. With a deep sigh he ran his hands through his hair while he thought through his options. "Technically she is needed for one part of the handover ceremony. But I don't feel comfortable with it. Not after learning all this shit. Alright. We will just have to change the ceremony" Carlisle clapped his hands together with a small smile.

"As for you though…" Carlisle spoke looking down at his mother. He would then cast mental prison on her, performing the same spell he had on Grandpa John and locking her away in his mind. This time however the prison was dangerous, as opposed to the blank space he had placed John. Any attempt at her to get out was going to hurt her.

It seemed that a large group of people had chosen to stare at the scene happening before them. The sudden realization seemed to unsettle Salem as she cleared her throat. ”Someone tell Lilith to come find me after everything is finalized tonight,” she requested of no one in particular.

With a shrug of her shoulders and a nod of the head, Claire looked at Mary and Carlisle before asking ”Shots?”

"I should probably refrain from Drink Casting." Carlisle said with a light laugh. "But you and Mary knock yourselves out. I will deal with everything and make sure Lilith speaks to Salem later on."

"Please," Mary responds to Claire's offer before looking around at the faces staring back at them. "Alright folks, move along, show's over," she calls out to the crowds, using a bit of her enchantment to call for their departure. Of course this had to happen when her own parents were in town, she'd have some explaining to do tomorrow. She then turns to Carlisle, tucking some loose strands of hair behind her ear. "Sorry you had to see that, kid. Guess the kid ain’t gonna see me the same after that."

Reflecting through the conversation Mary seemed to be in her thoughts for a moment. Now less shell shocked she was able to pick up what Salem was trying to lay before them. Her eyes widened at the realisation as she then asked her divination a single question.

Yes it responded. Her face seemed to turn as white as a ghost as she purposefully looks at Carlisle once more. "I can talk to Lil, there's something I want to ask her," she says, her voice much softer than before.

"I think we all have questions for Lilith. But sure. I am going to have my hands full with all this shit." Carlisle replied, gesturing to the entire party.

The Witches & Warlocks of Tanner 2.0

_{Starring: Lilith, John & Claire Montgomery; Featuring Miles Price @SouffleGirl123
Introducing: Salem De Silva - Guild Leader.}

In the weeks leading up to the Coven ceremony, Lilith had been getting used to having a mother again.

Claire seemed to fill the house with an interesting sort of energy - powerful, playful and protective all at the same time. She’d argued with her daughter over her decisions in boys and what to wear, and constantly gave her father hell. Honestly, their family dynamic hadn’t changed that much, even with all the time that had passed.

The Montgomerys had spent the last couple of hours before the Coven party doing what they did best: throwing verbal punches and drinking. Some of the ranch hands had decided to take a few hours off, coming inside of the main house to celebrate Lilith - though for what reason she had no clue. It wasn’t as if she was becoming Coven leader. Still, her mother was using it as some sort of cringy ‘you're a woman now’ celebration.

Lilith had taken extra time that evening making sure she was dressed properly before being forced to be the center of attention. Claire had wanted her to wear some frilly little dress - much like Lilith assumed most people would. However, the young woman had chosen to wear a pantsuit that evening. It was a very small step in proving to both her mother and grandfather that she could make her own decisions. The nods of approval from her family members was enough conformation for the young woman as she made her way down the stairs and to the front door of the Montgomery household.

”You know, I always thought suits were a men’s thing, but you make ‘em look pretty good, Li,” Claire remarked.

”You don’t think the pants are too tight?” the brunette questioned. ”Nearly had to jump into these damned pants, but I mean - last time I wore this thing was over a year ago.”

Putting on her jacket, Claire rolled her eyes. ”You look fine. Now let’s go.”

John had elected himself to drive, seeing as he was the most sober out of the three of them. The old man still had had a drink or two, but he refused to let Lilith drive and well - Claire was already wasted.

Once the three of them had arrived, John decided to park across the street before making a fuss out of opening the truck door for both of his girls. The small group had made their way across the lawn of the Coven house and eventually up the stairs to the entrance. They entered the house with their arms linked - John in the middle with each of the women standing at his sides.

In the spirit of remaining cordial, John had given a simple nod in greeting towards Amanda before Claire shot the woman the middle finger and wrapped her arms around Mary’s neck. Lilith sighed silently through her nose, giving a quick sympathetic glance towards Carlisle as she walked through the door. Claire had stayed back at the entrance with her best friend. Probably not the best way to let everyone know you were back from the dead, but hey - who was Lilith to judge?

The brunette began walking around the main hall of the Coven house, her grandfather close behind. There was only one person that Lilith wanted to see right now - and much to everyone's popular belief, it wasn’t Miles.

There had only been a few times in her life where Lilith Montgomery was ever lucky enough to cross paths with Salem de Silva. Tonight was one of those opportunities, and the young woman wasn’t about to miss it. John knew this as well, and had a rather good relationship with Salem himself - mostly built on respect and fear.

It didn’t take long for the young woman to find her intended target, walking into the other woman's open and welcoming arms for a hug.

”Salem,” Lilith began. ”It’s been ages, how are you?”

”Lilith Montgomery,” the woman mused, now pulling away to observe her as she held Lilith’s hands. ”You look amazing! Last time I saw you, you were what - ten, maybe?”

”Something like that,” she replied, a small smile on her face as she put her hands in her pockets.

John had reached for one of Salem's hands now, bending down to kiss the top of it like a proper gentleman in greeting. ”Ms. De Silva,” he commented, looking up at her now as he smirked, tipping his hat with his free hand.

”Mr. Montgomery,” Salem beamed, moving closer so that he could hug the man. ”You’ve got to be my favorite man, you know that?”

”Not the first time I’ve heard that one, ma’am,” he chuckled. ”How have things been with the Guild?”

”Oh usual things. Training the newbies, keeping magical users in line - I had a kid, too.”

”Really?” Lilith asked, clearly surprised.

”Mmhm, little Celeste,” the Guild leader replied, doing a quick scan of her surroundings. ”The little menace is running around her somewhere. I’m sure you’ll meet her later.”

”With all due respect ma’am, I don’t think anyone ever imagined you as the motherly type.”

”Now there, John. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

As the three of them began to laugh, Lilith felt an arm wrap around her waist. Her body stiffened upon instinct before her empath abilities kicked in. A quick read of the other person's emotions, and it was easy for her to tell that it was Miles.

Miles hadn’t really known what to do with the spare time until the start of the event. Miles liked parties but this, in his mind, was definitely not a party. Just a formal stuffy event where he had to play at least half-decent, lest one of the past members have a fit. At some point a random little girl had appeared, zooming around the house and had honed in on Miles for some reason, likely as he was the only person just standing around. She’d dragged him into her games. Miles had no clue what was going on, at some point she was pretending to shoot him, to which he very over-dramatically fell to the floor prompting a giggle from the child, then at another she was adamant he had to give her piggy back rides around the house for some reason. Whatever it was, it was a way to pass the time so Miles played along until more people came piling in.

Eventually the kid just ran off to play some other game with someone else, not that Miles minded, he’d caught Lilith and John in the corner of his eye talking to the guild leader. Salem did seem an interesting thought but the little he knew about her was enough to make the idea of getting to know her not fully worth it, he had enough short-fused assertive women in his life. He wandered up next to Lilith and slipped his arm around her waist.

”John,” He greets the older man at her side with the nod of his head before turning his attention to Lilith with a squeeze of her waist. ”Lilith, beautiful, as always,” he greets her aloud before moving his lips to her ear and uttering, ”You in that pantsuit is really doing something to me right now.”

He pulls his face away and looks to the other woman in the trio. ”Salem, I assume?” he asks, sticking out his hand not wrapped around Lilith. ”Miles Price, it’s a pleasure to meet you,”

As the heat rose to Lilith’s face, John pursed his lips, doing his best to keep his eyes off of the pair. Salem seemed preoccupied with the little red-head that had been chasing Miles around only seconds ago. As she lifted the little girl into her arms, Lilith felt the energy in the room shift - the tenseness in the air now beginning to radiate from Salem. Looking at Miles, it seemed as if the woman's smile had faded, her face turning slightly pale. Shifting the child's weight so that Celeste rested on her hip, Salem seemed to be stunned for just a brief moment.

”Salem de Silva,” she responded, reaching out to shake Miles’s hand with a firm grip. Looking the young man up and down once more, her brow furrowed. ”Forgive me. You just look eerily similar to someone I met in a past life.”

At her words Miles cocked his head. ”Can't say I know why but if you figure it out let me know," he says curiously, retracting his hand. His eyes settle on the little girl for a moment and he gives her a smile before looking back at Salem. ”You have an energetic lil tyke there, I have to say,"

”Oh I plan on it,” Salem commented, raising a brow at the boy as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her daughter's ear. Hearing the rest of his words, the womans expression seemed to soften ever so slightly. ”Indeed she is, but she seems to like you well enough,” she remarked, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips as her eyes met Miles’s once more. ”I’ll have to remember that.”

The Guild leaders focus now shifted to his arm wrapped around Lilith’s waist, her eyes cutting to John before finding the girl's face. ”Don’t tell me you’ve run off and found some eligible bachelor and didn’t even shoot me a text,” she joked.

The blush that had begun to fade from Lilith's face had now returned. ”Apologies ma’am. We’ve all been pretty busy around here as of late,” the young woman responded, trying to keep the mood light. Lilith could tell that there was something making Salem uneasy. Was it Miles? Surely he hadn’t done anything wrong just by standing here for the last minute.

Her eyes now sparkling with curiosity, Salem looked the pair up and down once more. ”All is forgiven. We’ll have more than enough time to catch up this evening - and don’t you dare try and avoid me, Ms. Thing.” The woman continued to joke, continuing to play the game of ‘hide your emotions’ she had mastered in her last forty odd years of life.

”I wouldn’t dare.”

”Lilith darling, if you’ll excuse me, there’s some more people I need to speak with before this event really takes off. I appreciate the warm welcome.” Salem grabbed onto Celeste from where she was perched on her hip, helping the girl down to the floor before smoothing her own dress and grabbing onto her little hand. ”John, would you mind escorting me? You know how I always get lost in this place.”

”Course not,” John replied, offering his arm to the woman.
As the group began to disperse, Salem wrapped her arm around Johns before they began to circle around the room. Most of the people who recognized her there were older members of the coven - people's parents and grandparents. It took all of ten minutes before John saw through the womans ruse.

”Now I know neither of us here are stupid,” he said, once they had found the drink table. ”What is it about Miles that has you all bent out of shape.”

Letting go of Celestes hand, Salem watched the ball of red hair dance around the main hall, interacting with anyone who would give her the time of day. Once the eight year old was far enough out of the way that hopefully couldn’t catch on to her mothers alcoholic tendencies, the woman reached for two glasses before filling one with whiskey and passing it to John. With a stern expression, she poured vodka into the second glass for herself.

”Follow me onto the veranda, would you?”

Doing as asked, John followed the dark haired woman until they were outside.

”What do you know about that Miles boy?”

”He’s a menace who needs to stay away from my granddaughter,” John huffed, pressing the glass to his lips.

”Besides the obvious,” Salem quipped, now staring off into the fading sun. ”Where’s he from? Who are his parents? How old is he?”

”That’s all a bit personal, don’t you think?”

”John, darling. Just answer the questions. No one’s in trouble - I’m just trying to solve my own puzzle.”

”I don’t suppose it would matter if we were in trouble or not - you’d fry us all if we got boring enough.” the older man joked, making his way over to stand beside her. ”That’s Miles. He’s a family friend, a year older than Lilly I believe. Mary’s son - the woman standing with Carlton at the front door.”

The gears in her head beginning to turn, Salem began to focus more on the woman that she had met earlier in the evening - even if only briefly. She remembered seeing that warm smile somewhere before; carefully hidden away in photos, stored in an old wooden box in the corner of an enemies closet. Miles’s jawline, the shade of his hair - even that oddly familiar tone of voice. Not to mention that the timeline did add up –

Taking a drink from her glass, Salem pursed her lips, a small fire beginning to roar behind her eyes. ”Thank you Mr. Montgomery,” she replied simply.

”Did you figure out whatever it is you’re thinking about?” he asked.

”I’ll let you know soon enough,” she sighed, turning on her heel to walk back into the house.

The Witches & Warlocks of Tanner 2.0

_{A collab between @SouffleGirl123 & @HaleyTheRandom; Featuring Miles Price & Claire Montgomery}

Miles walked to the front door of the ranch, the evening breeze feeling chilly on his skin. He couldn’t work out why it felt so cold, was it preparing for the approaching Winter or the nervousness he held. Sure, it was normal for one to feel nervous when directly spending time with their girlfriend’s mother but Claire Montegomery was his godmother, that woman helped raise him until her supposed death. So why did the air feel so heavy? Hell, why was he even scared?

He contemplated turning around and just going back home. Make some excuse about having a meeting with an overseas client and bottle the stress for another day but he knew his mother wouldn’t allow that. Instead he knocked at the ranch door and braced for impact. Once upon a time Miles would have swung the door open and walked in like he owned the place but he was trying very hard to climb back into John’s good graces, even if he wouldn’t be around at this moment to impress.

Claire had spent every waking moment since her return looking after her family - just as she had always done. Both her father and daughter had seemed to manage without her, but she couldn’t help but notice all of the small things that needed to be cleaned and tidied around the house. Nor could she ignore the massive amounts of paperwork that were piling up in the office. John could play the role of tough man all he wanted to; Claire knew he was struggling. There wasn’t anything putting the ranch at risk - at least not for now - but someone had to get a move on signing shit.

Now taking her turn sitting at the head of the kitchen table, Claire was doing just that. Multiple papers and files laid spread out before her, reading glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. Hearing the knock at the door, Claire did what any other person would do and answered it.

”Miles!” she greeted the young man rather cheerfully. ”Come on in.” Turning to move back across the room, she asked: ”The drive over wasn’t too bad, I hope?”

If Miles was being honest, the last thing he expected on his next visit to the ranch was a warm welcome from anyone but Lilith but there one was. ”Claire,” he greets the woman smoothly before following her back into the house. Her cheeriness definitely alleviated some of the nerves that beat at him but there was still some uneasiness that lingered within him. Miles figured it was just some tension from the dinner earlier that week and hoped it’d leave him soon, he hated feeling out of place in what was essentially his second childhood home.

At her question he gave a nod of his head. ”Nah, not bad at all. How are you adjusting to not being dead anymore?”

”It’s interesting,” the woman replied, pursing her lips as she sat back down. ”I’ve missed a decent chunk of everyone's lives. Country music ain’t the same no more. You can’t hang up on anyone properly anymore because phones ain’t made to give you that satisfying ‘click’ when they close anymore. Target’s taken over everything. No one makes their coffee at home anymore. I swear Little Debbie cakes got smaller - but at least ol’ Jack Daniels is still the same,” she sighed, reaching for the bottle that seemed to stay on the Montgomery table these days. ”Want a drink?”

”Please,” Miles replies, loosening the tie around his neck and taking a seat of his own. He watched as the woman poured them both a drink. Part of him was still trying to process the fact that she was really here in front of him. She looked exactly the same as she remembered her, almost eerily so. ”Don’t mean to press any sore spots but did it feel like 10 years in the astral plane?”

Throwing her feet up onto the corner of the table, Claire took a sip of her drink before speaking. ”Time’s weird there,” she replied, looking off into the distance. ”Sometimes it would feel like five minutes, others would feel like an eternity. I was able to keep an eye on all of you from time to time, but it was hard. I’m not even sure if Astral Plane is the right word for it. It was something… in between. Cordelia could visit me, but not vice versa.”

Taking another drink, she studied the boy for a moment as he sat there in his business suit. ”What’s this fancy job you got now that I keep on hearin’ about?”

Miles was halfway through taking his first sip of his drink as Claire talked about her time in the astral plane, namely that she’d been occasionally keeping an eye on them. It took all it had in him to not choke on the whiskey in his throat. How much had she seen? ”Oh, and- uh- what did you see?” he asks, taking another sip in an attempt to cover up the nervousness on his face. Miles did tend to have a good poker face in times like these, accompanied by the fact he was hardly all that nervous, but there was something about Montgomerys that made it hard for him to keep that cover. Maybe it was the fact they were so close to him for so long he knew they knew him too well to be able to hide much, not to mention their divination being able to pick up what the human aspect missed.

He slumped back in his seat, making himself comfortable, at least being around Claire was a lot more comfortable than her father. As she mentions his job Miles gives her a half smile. ”I work in HR. Ma says she never thought I’d end up behind a desk. I guess she's got a point but I’m good at talking, I guess it just felt like a good option. Wanna give her a better life, y’know?” Miles replies with a shrug before taking another sip of his whiskey.

Claire thought for a moment, wondering which memories to share with him. There were a lot of private moments she had happened to stumble upon, but nothing to scaring for anyone involved. ”Just random things,” she responded, ever so slightly blowing his question off in the process. ”Mostly just Lilly.”

Listening to the young man speak, she continued to observe him. It was almost freakish how much time had passed - at least in her mind. She still imagined Miles as a little boy. He had barely just entered his teenage years before she had disappeared. Now he was sitting here looking more like her younger brother than her godson. A small smile played at the corners of Claire’s lips as she heard Miles’s last comment.

”Me and your mom had this dream of a commune one time,” she laughed. ”Figured we could start with the ranch, and then grow from there. Then life got in the way of things.” Claire knocked back what little was left of the alcohol in her glass before pouring herself another drink. She left the cap off for Miles, a clear signal for him to help himself.

”Now that we have the small talk out of the way,” Claire sighed again, resituating herself as she did so. ”I reckon’ I should tell you I brought you here to talk about Lilith - but you probably already knew that part.”

As Claire talked of her and her mother’s old plans Miles couldn’t help but chuckle, finishing off his whiskey. ”That definitely sounds like the two of you. I guess it almost felt like one between our house and the ranch sometimes,”

That was when Claire moved to her next topic of conversation. Miles tensed up a bit, squirming in his seat to sit more upright. He knew this was coming. He snatched the whiskey off the table and helped himself to another glass, he would definitely need it now. He gave a nod in response while taking a quick sip of his newly-filled cup. Was it just him or was it getting warmer in the room? ”I did have my suspicions- yeah,” he clarifies softly.

Watching him squirm where he sat, Claire's previous smile seemed to vanish. She was used to putting the fear of whatever god there was into men - but she didn’t want that from Miles. ”Relax kid,” she half-way joked. ”Ain’t nothin’ to fear ‘cept for the repercussions of your own actions.” Taking another drink, she took a moment to figure out how to articulate her thoughts. ”One thing that I remember seeing was the night Lilith… had her breakdown, if you will. Now let me start by saying that absolutely no one blames you for that, Miles. Shit happens and we can’t predict how others will react to the choices we chose to make. But… she tried to call you that night. I don’t know if you put two and two together from all the missed calls or not - but she did try to reach out. I’m not blaming you for that night, but I do have to ask why you left my girl alone in the first place.”

Miles gave an audible sigh, leaning back into his chair. He didn’t remember much of that night when the calls came flooding in. He remembered seeing the first few and figuring Lilith wanted to pick up where they left off- whether it be in the harsh fight they had the day earlier or in their relationship that had recently ended. From there he ended up getting black out drunk, a worse state than usual in an attempt to ignore the pain and woke up to more missed calls than he could imagine. One of his biggest regrets was not picking up that phone. That was the first major moment he failed to be there. He’d talked her off so many cliffs in the past but the worse one was the one he missed.

Miles took a moment to collect his thoughts and figure out how to word his answer. ”I guess I was scared,” he responds, his voice low and small as he tries to fight off the waves of emotions that accompanied that memory. ”I mean, at first I just expected her to get on the phone and yell at me off the heels of a fight we had earlier and when I realised I was probably wrong…” he readjusts himself in his seat again, slumping forward and taking a sip of his whiskey. ”I don’t know how much you know about what we were like then but we weren’t good for each other, I was the last person she wanted to see the last time I saw her before those calls. I guess I was scared I was just gonna make it worse.” Miles’ eyes pointed at the ground, unable to meet Claire’s as the shame overtook him at that moment. He takes another sip of whiskey to close himself out.

Watching and listening as Miles spoke, it was easy to see how sincere he was being. Claire didn’t have to study the boy to know he was telling the truth though. Ever since he was little, it seemed that Miles was unable to lie to his godmother. He had wiggled himself out of many instances with his mother, but he had rarely been able to do the same with herself. It seemed that fact was still proving true.

”I get it,” was all she had to say for a moment, letting their words settle into the air. ”It’s a weird thing having that Carlisle boy’s memories,” she mused. ”I know the things that Lilith has told him, but I still don’t really know the full story. I suppose it’s not really my place to know. She mentioned something about you two getting back together the other day? We had to keep the conversation a little hush-hush. Didn’t want John to hear, ya know?”

Miles pursed his lips as she spoke. The fact that Claire had Carlisle’s memories concerned him. There were a lot of things in that memory bank of Carlisle’s that probably weren’t the best to share with his godmother. ”I suppose if you got Carlisle’s memories floating up there you know a good gist of the story. I’m a bit surprised John hasn’t made a fuss about it yet,” he replies, taking another sip of his whiskey. At the mention of the result of his and Lilith’s catch up at the bar a couple of days prior a small smile spread on his face. Now that was a better memory. ”We did. Just trying to figure out how long I’ll make it before John mounts my head on a pike,” he half-jokes.

Pressing the glass to her lips once more, a small smirk appeared on Claires face as she spoke. ”That’s because he doesn’t know yet. And what you don’t know can’t hurtchya. Though I’m sure he has strong suspicions.” Shuffling around some of the papers on the table, Claire began to make neat stacks out of the various files and pages before her. ”’Sides. He’s not the one you need to worry about,” she quickly added. ”He still considers you family. Not quite sure if he wants you and Lilith to be a thing, but he’ll respect it in his own way. Now Lilly herself on the other hand…” Claire chuckled, slightly wincing as one of Carlisle's most recent memories rose to the surface. ”That girl knows how to swing.”

When Claire mentioned John still seeing Miles as family the boy couldn't help the snicker that escaped his lips. ”I think I lost all rights to being seen as family the day I broke it off with Li. Probably earlier than that really," he replies, downing the rest of his glass and placing it onto the table. ”Do you have the memory of her hitting Car with a tequila bottle?" Miles asks before sinking bad into his seat.

In this moment he'd once again felt comfortable in the Montgomery ranch, the fear and unease he'd felt washed away. Truly he was expecting Claire to interrogate him about every little wound he'd given to her daughter. He'd deserve that talk but being off the hook felt good. ”Must be weird having someone else's memories. Do you get all the feelings too just the visuals?"

Pursing her lips once more, Claire began to ponder what Miles was saying. She reckoned he had every right to come to the conclusion that he did - but Claire also firmly believed that Miles was one of the very many stand-in sons that John had ‘adopted’. Facts aside, she wasn’t about to sit here and inflate Miles’s ego with such a thing. He had hurt Lilith badly - everyone knew that - but it was childish to worry over and blame people for things that happened years ago.

”Visuals and emotions,” Claire responded, now finishing off the rest of her drink. ”I can picture the memory in my head, and I can sense the emotions around me - or him - and I can feel what he’s feeling. The whole tequila thing is very vivid - the whole party is, honestly. At least from Carlisle's point of view.” Filling her cup once again, Claire continued to speak. ”He’s an interesting being, that boy. Can’t seem to take the hint about anything, always seems to think he’s helping when he’s clearly not. I’m not even sure where to begin to describe how he feels about Lilly. Shit makes me want to gag, honestly.”

Miles only gives a thoughtful ”Hmm," as Claire recounts her experience with Carlisle's memories. As interesting as it would be to explore his friend's mind, the last thing he'd want is constant exposure to his past to that degree. ”Honestly, Carlisle is probably the only person that party was vivid for," he muses, mainly to himself.

As Claire complains about Carlisle's feelings Miles couldn’t help but chuckle. Lilith and her mother truly were cut from the same cloth. ”I suppose I can't really say anything about the feeling side, might come out a bit too hypocritical."

”I beg to differ,” Claire responded, shaking her head. ”I suppose he does love her, in his own way, and he does seem to want the best for her.” Her brow furrowed, the blonde tilting her head to the left ever so slightly as she concentrated. ”I don’t like the way he seems to see her as his. I could be wrong about that, but that’s at least what it seems like to me. This whole ‘it’s my turn. You’re supposed to be with me’ shit is a little… strange.”

”Anyway,” she sighed, drinking more of her whiskey. ”I reckon it’s not a problem so long as he isn’t a little asshole anymore.”

”Yeah, I get that," Miles muses, leaning forward in his seat and wringing his hands. No matter what was said between the pair, Miles couldn’t shake the feeling of unease the knowledge that woman could vividly picture Carlisle memories of him. Memories of him easing Carlisle's mind at parties by telling him him and Lilith were casual to college days of kicking the man out of their dormroom so he could entertain his latest hook up. He knew those members probably painted him in a dark light

”Look," he sighs, ”There's probably some memories up there that I… or probably neither of us want you having so if there's some sort of brain bin you could just chuck 'em into, that'd be great."

”Happily,” Claire laughed. ”Like I’ve said Miles - the past is the past. You don’t have to worry about me hanging it over your head.” Continuing to shuffle through the papers now, Claire let the silence fill the room as she continued to occasionally take a drink from her glass.

”I do have to ask one thing of you though,” she began, her eyes moving up from the table to meet his. ”Don’t hurt her. And I know that it’s a dumb thing to ask of you, because that’s what people do - they hurt other people with the choices they chose to make, even unintentionally. All I’m asking for you is to not hurt her intentionally.”

At her request the young man nods his head. ”I'm trying, Claire. I promise," he replies simply before giving a deep sigh. ”I really do want to be better,"

Hearing Miles’s words, Claire's expression softened as she gave him a sympathetic smile. ”You already are, kiddo.” With a sigh, Claire took a large sip of her drink before reaching for a pack of her cigarettes. ”Now you might wanna go on and git before they get back from doin’ the evenin’ rounds. Still need to give John the news and all that jazz. I got some leftovers you can take your momma on the way out.”

”Yeah, you're right," Miles muses, pushing himself up and out of the chair, readjusting his tie in the process. He hadn't imagined this talk going as well as it did but he was glad for it, thankful even. Her mention of leftovers took him back to days when Claire would cram his overnight bag full of food and supplies and would convince a young Miles to play 'spy' to sneak money from Claire into his mum's possession without her realising. Simpler times in some ways. ”Thanks Claire, for everything. I think having you back has been good for Lil," he says.