 |
| The drama at the caves escalates |
The Cave at the Northshore Cliffs was a tinder box with rage over what had just occurred. A cavern filled with Welshport Villagers, Lord family members, several tombs of The Dænian people and one empty coffin that everyone was promised would be that of the creature, the monster that was killing people all over town -- the undead body of Sebastian Lord.
But this promise did not come true.
Mayor Timothy Churchill's entire premise that he'd be the savior of the town he loved, a town his ancestors helped build and eventually ceded ground in power and privilege to the much more influential Lords collapsed in front of his very eyes as the coffin lid slid open to reveal - nothing.
His anger began to grow; they had made him look like a fool! Where was the monster of Welshport?! Where was Sebastian Lord?!
As the waves crashed against the rocks outside, pushing a cold wet wind chilling everyone to the bone, Matthew got up from the cave’s cold wet ground after being punched by a member of the village mob.
He cracked his tightened neck, fixed his torn clothes and went over to Evie and pulled her from the grasp of man who caught her as she fainted once Sebastian's coffin was revealed to be empty.
“Easy.” The villager said. “She’s gentle.” He added with a crooked toothed grin that made the groggy Evie’s skin crawl.
“You see! there’s nothing here! You have nothing! Leave us alone and leave! You have desecrated a place where my people have come to rest, this is the last place that my family -- my ancestors -- have of this island that had not been taken over by all of you and now you bring this chaos here and disturb this hallowed ground. LEAVE!” Matthew shouted angrily.
Mary too began to feel her own anger burn inside of her. She was furious at everything that had happened. Jacob could see it building up in his ex-flame’s eyes. The cruelty she had suffered for so long. The lies about her over the years. The decade she was out of her daughter’s life. The betrayals. The misunderstandings and so much time lost and now this...Sebastian was her last resort to help save Filipe. Her heartache and pain were about to explode, she could not control it.
Watching her seethe, Jacob whispered to himself “Mary, no.”
“This has to stop!” Caspian suddenly spoke up as the mob continued to swell. “We have all lost our minds! Look at what’s happening here!” He added as he released himself from his captor and walked towards the center of the cave.
“Not until we find and kill the beast the Lords are hiding.” Churchill growled.
Mary’s eyes narrowed and locked on to the vengeful mayor like an arrow headed towards a bullseye.
No one would control what darkness was about to be unleashed.
It came like the snap of a finger. One-minute sounds of waves from the sea crashed outside the mouth of the giant cave the next sounds of screaming echoed in the chamber — it was what Jacob feared.
With all of the injustice and cruelty she was witnessing Mary’s frustration in the lack of finding Sebastian to help Filipe fueled a fury in her no one had ever seen.
A powerful beam of energy burst from deep insider her chest and lit up the inside of the cave like white lightening. Her eyes began to glow white, and the energy beam blasted towards the mayor. Caspian jumped in the way of the beam of powerful light it electrocuted him on the spot.
Caspian fell to the ground hitting his head on the ground knocking him unconscious, his body shaking.
Rebecca screamed and rushed over to her husband. Jacob ducked as Mary once again shot powerful beams from each of her ten fingers towards Mayor Churchill who jumped out of the way, and it hit his aide instead.
People screamed and ducked as the beams of light blasted the wall of the cave leaving rubble and burn marks all over.
Mary looked like a wild banshee, a woman on set to destroy everything and anything that had hurt her and now taken her only chance at saving Filipe away.
She screamed into the air and began to float. Evie tried to reach for her, but missed, her powers were too strong for even Mary to control. Light beams burst from all over her body, and it was as if she were a bomb of supernatural energy that had been locked up for so long and the tipping point, the unlocking of her powers, had finally come. It took the overwhelming feeling of losing it all for Mary to reveal how powerful she truly was.
But as soon as it came on, the energy inside of her also drained Mary and like the blowing out of a candle, Mary fell to the floor out of breath and weak. Jacob lunged towards her, but Rebecca grabbed her son’s hand as he passed her on the ground.
“We have to get Caspian to the hospital!” Rebecca sobbed.
Timothy stood up, dusted off his mayor’s sash with a shocked expression on his face. Everyone stared at Mary as Evie and Matthew rushed to her side to help her up.
"Mary." Evie said, unsure of what exactly she had just seen. "Oh Mary." but Evie knew this was not good.
"What the devil." Mayor Timothy Churchill whispered to himself.
Murmurs from the crowd became louder and mixed with crashing waves outside the mouth of the cave.
Matthew grabbed Evie and Mary and stood in front of them holding them back as the crowd continued to encircle them as their anger grew. Matthew felt the surge of fury staring at the from the villagers, as if they were a pride of starving lions hunting and trapping prey...all the while trying to piece together what had just happened.
"He's dead." a second of the mayor's aides said of the first as he searched for a pulse.
"We have to get out of here." Matthew whispered, pushing Evie and Mary further behind him as the circle of villagers tightened.
"Jacob, what should we do?" Rebecca asked in a hushed tone. “Caspian needs help.”
Jacob felt powerless and said nothing.
"You're not leaving this place on your own accord." Timothy said to Matthew. He then turned to the crowd and tried to regain his power of 0ver them and regain the notion of monster and creatures all around them.
"PEOPLE OF WELSPORT VILLAGE! DO YOU SEE NOW?!" Timothy shouted as he stood on a large boulder in the cave above the crowd and pointed towards Mary, Matthew and Evie.
"Sir... what are you doing?" The second of the Mayor's aides asked.
"I'll take care of this Nathan." The mayor replied to him by name. “A man is dead because of this woman's dark abilities. You all witnessed it for yourselves with your own eyes. The three were here to unlock a casket of a man we all believed dead, why? Why would they do that? And yet, the casket lies empty! Where's the body? What ungodly thing have they done to Sebastian Lord's corpse? What sacrilegious and horrifying event have we interrupted here on this night? What are these three creatures standing before you who are led by Mary Goode.... THEY'RE WITCHES! They’re all witches!!” He emphasized. Then Mayor Churchill turned to officers and shocked the group.
“Arrest them! Arrest the witches!”
Then, like bees protecting their hive, the towns people rushed the three and arrested them.
****
 |
| Johnathon catches Jaqueline leaving their room |
Johnathon got up and reached over for a silk maroon paisley robe and slipped it over his naked body. He felt the chill over the morning air rush over his skin like cold water on a summer day.
As he opened the bedroom door there was Jacqueline, down the long red carpeted corridor beginning to descend the giant main staircase, the mansion still a disaster from the mob's attack the night before.
"Jacqueline!?" He shouted.
"Good morning sleepy head." She said, now back at the top of the stairs. "I'm off!" She added.
"Off? Off where? It's before 8 in the morning and it's still pretty dangerous out there. The villagers have daggers on each one of us. Look around! They made a mess! I promised we'd help fix things up around here." He asked.
"I know, I know, but don't you remember? I said had errands to run this morning, how could you forget?" She replied, lying.
"You never told me you had errands to run. I'll go with you; you shouldn't be alone out there. We'll have breakfast and I'll go with you." He said.
"What?" Jacqueline asked with one hand one the doorknob. "No, no, that won't be necessary. I can get there on foot."
"I spoke to him just now, Jane, you needn't involve yourself with any more information. It's fine." Jacqueline replied with a whip in her voice.
"Of course, Ma'am, but the staff has been asked by Mrs. Lord-Casador to be careful out there now that the villagers have started such a ruckus over the family. She wants to make sure we know where everyone is at all times. So it's my job to know. It won't make a difference, now ma'am, I won't tell anyone where you might be, unless asked." Jane explained.
"I'm sure Rebecca has much more to worry about than where I am." Jacqueline hissed.
Jane nodded "Yes, poor Miss Evie. Arrested as a witch, imagine that? Of all the stupidest things! A witch? What's next? Will be attaching letters on to women's bodices if they stray from their marriage? Never the less if at least one person knows where you are Mrs. Lord than we can all feel safe."
Jane smiled and curtsied as Jacqueline made her exit stupidly trusting the maid.
He went to his bedroom window and watched her slip through the front gates of the mansion and into the woods.
Johnathon quickly put on any clothes he could reach, his socks and shoes, a coat, and made his way out of his room down the stairs and into the foyer where Jane was standing watching the clean-up crew as they worked while she fluffed a giant bouquet of fresh hydrangeas.
Jane nodded. "Yes sir."
"What things?" he asked, Jane shrugged.
 |
| Coraline & Aurora in Evie’s living room |
"Should I call Dr. Jordan?" Cora wondered, hoping Nik could help.
"It burned down remember?" Cora reminded her. "They're being held at Village Hall in an area that was the old jail."
 |
| Jacob arrives at the Goode family cottage |
Later that afternoon, as a cool breeze shifted over the trees on the small satellite island named after the Goode family, 14-year-old Charlotte scurried around the cottage in frenzy trying to get a meal ready for her little adopted brother Caleb who'd been left in her care by her mother Mary.
Morgan, the young man of the same age who was staying with her, entered the front room with a concerned look on his face. Mary had gone to the village in hopes of finding Sebastian to finally put an end to Filipe's lycanism, but she hadn't returned.
Charlotte was an autopilot dealing with housework and the baby that she seemed to not even notice her mother Mary wasn't home, but she did notice, she forced herself to carry on hoping Mary would return. Pushing past all of the worry about where Mary was.
Morgan, however, had more on his mind. He saw something from his front bedroom window just before coming out.
"Charlotte..." he began before pausing as if searching his mind for the right words to follow.
Charlotte turned to him and tilted her head. She didn't need to use her powerful psychic abilities to see that what he saw from his bedroom window was bothering him.
"What is it?" She asked.
"It's.... your father." He replied.
But before Charlotte could enquire further, there was a knock on the cottage door.
"It's Jacob." Morgan said, "I saw him coming." He added, revealing he had seen Jacob walking through the forest towards the cottage from his bedroom window.
Charlotte grabbed a small towel to dry her hands before she slowly walked over to the door to see her father, a man she hadn't had contact with in months. A strange feeling of nervousness washed over her. She didn't fear Jacob, she knew she had much more on her side now that her powers were building, but still, the man who raised her was an overwhelming source of anxiety for Charlotte, who was under a constant fear that someday he'd do something to her again, like the time he locked her in a turret when he discovered her abilities. It was an unimaginable fear that he'd try and destroy her too just as he did her mother Mary, her uncle David, her aunt Sabrina and her cousin Sebastian -- anyone who'd get his way, Charlotte recalled was on his radar to remove.
She straightened herself up, Morgan went over to little Caleb and picked him up, and then she opened the door.
Jacob removed his black bowler had and smiled warmly. "Charlotte."
Charlotte gulped. "Father, what are you doing here?"
"I needed to come to you as soon as I could before the news broke to you in a way that would not be helpful to anyone. It's about your mother."
Charlotte felt her heart sink --- Morgan too.
"What about her?" Morgan said from inside the room.
Jacob pushed his way into the cottage. "Have the three of you been here all this time? Alone?" He asked.
"Just over night. My mother went to Welshport --- she had to--" Charlotte struggled to explain.
"I know what she went to Welshport for, no need to try to sugar coat anything. The came to me and explained." Jacob said, as he turned back to Morgan and Caleb. "Who's the child?"
"Caleb. Mother and Filipe adopted him. His birth mother died." Charlotte explained walking over to Morgan and taking Caleb into her arms as if to protect him from Jacob's glare.
Jacob felt a strange feeling now too, he had not known of Mary and Filipe's new child, only that Mary had lost her own child in a miscarriage. He looked at the baby, close up, in his daughter's arms and saw a familiar face looking back at him. Someone he knew, someone close to him but he couldn't pin it.
"The birth father?" He asked.
Morgan shrugged "We don't know."
"What about My mother?" Charlotte replied stepping back with Caleb from Jacob, again feeling as if she needed to protect the baby.
Jacob lifted a brow, he had quickly forgotten why he'd come with the baby's presence. "She was arrested last night along with Matthew and Evie at the coves below the Northshore Cliffs. The mayor and town's people stormed Tirymor and tore it to shreds searching for Sebastian, of all people. They quickly turned their sights on the coves where your mother, Evie and Matthew were searching for Sebastian too. Evie hid his coffin there."
"They found him? They found his coffin???" Morgan asked happily remembering Mary needed Sebastian to save Filipe.
Jacob turned to Morgan "Yes and no. The coffin was empty. Your mother explained she needed to find Sebastian, but not as to why he was so important."
"To help Filipe." Morgan replied as Charlotte shushed him.'
"Filipe? That's right, she said he was responsible for the deaths on the docks. She said he was in trouble, ill even, she said she needed to find Sebastian and that Sebastian was going to help him. How? How as Sebastian supposed to help Filipe if he's dead?" Jacob asked.
Morgan and Charlotte once again shot each other looks.
"He's not dead. Not...not like you think." His daughter replied.
Jacob's face froze realizing what they were saying, realizing that Celeste had failed, and that Johnathon did not take care of Sebastian like she promised he would months ago. To Jacob's horror, Sebastian was still in his vampire form -- somewhere.
"I see. Well it seems we all have much more to contend with than I realized. Go on, the three of you, gather your things and come with me. I won't allow you to stay here alone. Note in times like these."
"We don't want to go! We told Mary we'd stay put. She told us she'd be back." Morgan returned.
"Morgan, you're not understanding, she's not coming back, the situation with her is much more dire than I can explain to you. The village has lost it's mind, they're going to try her for...." Jacob paused when the words came to his lips on what Timothy Churchill accused Mary, Evie and Jacob of being.
"Try them for what?" Charlotte asked after Jacob's pause felt like an eternity.
Jacob took a breath realizing he was about to sound insane repeating their arrest charge "Witchcraft."
Charlotte gasped, Morgan rushed over and grabbed Caleb from her arms as she almost dropped him. It felt like all the air had been let out of the room. The idea that her mother's true nature had been exposed to people that would not understand, to people who would condemn her this way for being what she was and trying to save everyone felt like a punch to her face. Charlotte understood that Mary's life, Evie and Matthew's too, were in danger because of the destructive way the villagers and Timothy Churchill were about to handle the idea of a real-life witch among them.
The revelation of the truth seemed unsurvivable.
"Go pack." Jacob ordered again. They complied.
Jacob looked around the small cottage that once belonged to Eliza Goode. It was quaint, not like he remembered years ago. Mary had cleaned it up, made it less medieval in it's appearance. There were cabinets in the kitchen, fresh rugs on the floors, a hearth that seemed to have been refurbished and furniture that was reupholstered. Mary and made her life here, with Filipe and the children. Jacob found it admirable, sweet even. His heart had been cold to Mary for many years but now knowing that her life was on the line, he couldn't help but feel a small twinkle of guilt for his treatment of her over the years.
He turned towards a small photograph of her and Charlotte when Charlotte was only a few months old that Rebecca had taken of her new grandchild and her mother. When Jacob destroyed his relationship with Mary and took custody of Charlotte, the photo had been only days old, it was all Mary was able to take with her.
Jacob picked it up, he smiled, remembering sweet young baby Charlotte.
"The damage is done." he whispered to himself about his actions. His guilt was plenty, but he knew there was no way back.
Charlotte quickly gathered things for Caleb just after she packed her own bag. Morgan entered the small room where she was and tapped her shoulder.
"Can we trust him?" he whispered.
Charlotte was unsure "I can never really tell when he's being sincere. I've never been able to read him the way I can with others. My father is very wicked in that sense. He has a knack for blocking me telepathically, I don't even think he knows he's doing it. It's just his nature." She explained.
"So we should just go with him? I don't want us to leave here if we can't trust him."
Charlotte agreed but she too knew there was more at stake now. "We have to get to Welshport either way. We have to get to Fatima and find Sebastian now ourselves. My mother, Evie and Matthew are in trouble and can't get Filipe help. Whatever happens, Filipe must be changed back, that is the only way we can save everyone."
Morgan agreed.
Then, the group wrapped themselves in warm clothes and traveled the short distance through the little forest surrounding Goode cottage and to the small dock on the island where Aaron Hamstead was waiting on the Lord's personal boat.
"Aaron!!!" Charlotte said rushing up to an old friend with a hug.
"Miss Charlotte, very good to see you again." Aaron replied as he helped her in and took the baby from Caleb.
"Home." Jacob ordered.
Charlotte turned back to Goode Island as it started to grow smaller in the distance and whispered to herself "home."
****
 |
| Matthew, Evie & Mary in their cell |
Later that evening, the cold wind blew into the Welshport jail. Windows had been left open to air out the stench of stale smoke from the fire of the adjoining police station that had burned down the night before. In one of the 5 cells, stood three accused of an archaic and bizarre accusation of witchcraft, and yet -- a true one.
Mary, Evie and Matthew shivered in the cold cell as Matthew stood at sliding bar-door hoping any of the police officers would come to them. No one had been there in hours, as they had all been out cleaning up the mess from the fire and the investigating everything that happened in Village Park and at the Coves.
Mary sat in the corner of the cell, crumbled in a ball, holding her legs to her chest with her face buried in her lap. Evie went over to her and put her arm around her.
"Mary," Evie said softly, "Mary what was that back there?"
Matthew turned to Mary and Evie. He knew what it was. He had seen that type of magic before. He had known it's powers, very well. He'd seen it in his sister. His mother. His grandmother. His Aunts. His cousins. He'd seen it in himself as a child but never ever gave into the urge to tap into the powers he inherited as a child, unlike his late sister Alice who reveled in them.
"You have to tell us what's going on, we saw something that I don't think we can explain if you don't help us understand." Evie added, still in a soft tone.
"It's not easy to explain." Mary said her head lifting slowly to show eyes swollen from crying.
"They're accusing us just as they are you." Matthew said. "Whatever you tell us, you're safe. We're in this together."
"My mother was this." Mary said simply.
"This?" Evie asked, already knowing the answer but wanting Mary to say it.
"She was a woman with a great link to a world of supernatural powers. She had them, she always did. I always knew she did. When she died, they passed to me."
Matthew peeked again outside of the cage they were in to be sure no one was listening.
He turned back to his cellmates "So it's true?" he asked.
Mary nodded then sobbed into Evie's arms.
Evie began to console her as she looked at Matthew, both of them knowing they'd been involved in several scenarios where they'd been close to someone who'd been of the world Mary inherited. Matthew's sister, Matthew himself, and of course Sebastian.
"Sebastian is what he is because of my mother. Evie, please don't hate me, but when I shot Sebastian, he only came back the way he came back because of a spell my mother placed on him. It was the only way we could fix my wrong. The only way, I swear it, either he became one of the vampires, or he'd stay dead. I never intended for it to turn out in the worst way as it did, but it was the only way back. We used Filipe's blood, his life source, and without Sebastian returning some of that back to Filipe, he'll die. Filipe will die and kill so many in the process. We have to get out of here, we have to find Sebatian and get to Filipe. WE HAVE TO!" Mary exclaimed.
"Alright, alright. Everyone let's just stay calm." Matthew said, seeing Mary beginning to spiral.
"We're going to do what we can to get out of here, but..." Evie began "but..." she couldn't say it. She didn't have the true answer on how they'd get find their way out of such difficult situation.
"Jacob and Rebecca. They have to come through for us." Matthew added. "They have all the money and power in the world, they wouldn't want the two mothers of Lord grandchildren dragged into such a scandal. They've had enough scandal already with Baxter's articles. They'll come. They'll have to come."
"Rebecca seemed as if she wanted nothing to do with any of it when they took her off to the hospital with Capsian. She'll blame me for whatever happens to him." Mary said reminding them she injured Caspian in the cove.
"Still, Matthew's right. She'll always look out for number one, and that's the family's name." Evie reminded her.
"Maybe in your case, Evie, you're a true Lord. Married in and everything. I'm just Jacob's estranged child's mother. The daughter of Eliza Goode. My mother and Rebecca have a very dark history. She won't save me. You two, maybe, but not me. I'm the guilty one."
"You're not going to be really charged with anything Mary, this is insane. We were pressured to react, they cornered us. What you did was in self-defense." Matthew added.
"Someone died, Matthew. I can't be forgiven for that." Mary again reminded them of the events at the cove where her energy bursts killed one of the Mayor's aides.
"We still have the other issue at hand." Evie added.
"Sebastian." Mary said.
"Where is he? When he saved me from the grave, he and I discussed that for the good of our family, and for the good of this island he'd remain in his coffin, safe and sound. We decided that we'd both been through enough and it was time to put all of that darkness behind us. He was adamite that he stay there in the caves, he wanted to be there. Safe. Away from harm and from harming people. Why would he go? Why would he leave without saying goodbye to Gabriel or to me?" Evie said.
"You're assuming he left on his own." Mary added.
Evie turned to Mary, her mind quickly jumping on that notion.
"You know." Evie said.
"Know what?" Matthew asked.
"You know, don't you. You know of her." Evie said.
Mary nodded. "She's in my coven. Jacqueline is a witch that I brought to Welshport to help with Caspian, she's gone out of control and now, now I think she's taken Sebastian." Mary said.
"My god." Evie said. "She wont stop until we're all dead."
"You two think Jacqueline took him? Why?" Matthew asked.
The two women almost answered at the exact same time the same word "Love."
"She'll do anything for it." Mary said.
"But Mary we saw what you can do, can't you just reverse all of this? Time? Space? Can't you save us? That would take care of Jacqueline stealing Sebastian and everything else that came before and after. Even safe Filipe."
"No, no, I can't do that. I can't change what has come already. The way fate is laid out is the way it's supposed to be. A witch can't alter that timeline." Mary explained.
Matthew walked over to the lock and tapped it with his finger.
"And this?" He said.
"Matthew, no." Evie replied knowing what he was thinking.
"If you could break the lock with the energy you used at the cove, we'd probably be able to get out."
"We can't escape!" Evie shouted. "I have a child Matthew; I can't risk myself by escaping jail. They'll hunt us down."
Mary tried anyway. She lifted her hand closed her eyes and whispered to herself to bring the powers form inside of her to expel out like fire just as she did at the coves and hopefully, break the lock.
But nothing happened.
"I, I don't understand." Mary said.
"You can't do it." Evie replied.
As the realization of Mary's powers mysteriously vanishing, they began to hear footsteps coming back into the close ups jailhouse. Keys were rattling. Voices of police officers could be heard.
"I just want to go back to my children." Mary said tearfully.
Evie rushed over and held her, Matthew stood in front of them hoping to shield them from whatever was about to come through that door. Was it more of the mob to come for their lives. Was it jailers who'd play judge, jury and executioner. Mary and Evie braced themselves for anguish and death, they could feel the fear burning in their veins and the frightening breath of death slowly creeping around the exposed skin on their neck.
When the door finally opened, four young police officers entered and....paid then no attention, expect for one, who came over and slipped meals into the cell.
Bread. Water.
"Keep your strength up." the police officer said with a stained toothed grin. "You’re gonna need it."
****
 |
| Johnathon finds Sebastian with Jacqueline |
The darkness of the late summer night fell over Welshport like a blanket over a canary's cage lulling the small island world to sleep.
Off in the Tirymor forest inside of the small cottage known as Lockwood Thicket, Jacqueline Gray wrapped a thick dark brown strand of her own hair around a burlap doll stuffed with cornhusk, that had yellow yarn hair and a tiny black dress unevenly stitched together but perfectly fitted to the little body.
With her own hair she twisted and knotted it around the body of the doll was tightening as she went along causing a powerful invisible force that stretched from the thicket all the way to the jailhouse in the village. The doll was a of Mary Goode, and Jacqueline had bound her powers so she could not use them to save herself.
Jacquline continued to tightly bind her little voodoo Mary until she heard something outside the Thicket walls. A rustling in the bushes, branches cracking under foot.
Jacqueline quickly tossed the voodoo Mary into a drawer and dashed into the front room from the main bedroom that was down a separate hallway from the second bedroom of the cottage. When she entered the front room, the cottage's front door had been left open.
Someone was inside.
Jacqueline panicked. She was so busy binding Mary's powers her own instincts and senses had not caught the intruder as they lurked around the cottage.
Jacqueline quickly knew she had to check on her most important asset and as she did, she heard a loud crash from inside a small bedroom where this “asset” was being held.
She quickly made her way down the hall of the small cottage and pushed open the closed door to a side bedroom that she knew she had left open.
When she opened the door, Jacqueline saw that a table had been turned over, one of its legs had been broken off causing the crash that she heard and standing there with a broken off table leg in his hand was her new husband Johnathon DeViana standing over Sebastian’s paralyzed like body on a bed draped in black.
Johnathon had followed his witch wife to her most secret hiding place, the home she shared at one time with her true love Sebastian Lord.
In Johnathan’s hands a broken table leg with a sharp end raised his above his head preparing to be plunged into the vampire's sleeping chest.
"STOP!!!!!" Jacqueline screamed as Johnathon’s stiff arms began to drop deep into Sebastian’s sleeping chest.
All of Jacqueline’s work was about to evaporate before her very eyes.
She had secretly followed Mary to Belmore Beach and overheard Evie tell Mary where Sebastian's coffin was hidden. Jacqueline narrowly missed the entire confrontation between Mary, Evie and Matthew and the towns people and had successfully remove Sebastian's sleeping body form his coffin and transported him by magic to the cottage at Lockwood Thicket.
Sebastian, lay there, as if a stone statue waiting for the hour where he'd finally sense he was not in a coffin and wake to feed. His skin was a perfect tone of alabaster, his hair combed and fine as strands of golden-brown thread, his lips turning pinker the by the moment as he was about to wake.
Johnathon turned to the woman he married with a shocked, horrified, panicked look on his face as the stake in his hand towered above his head.
Then, without even saying a word, Johnathon dropped the stake towards Sebastian's chest.
Jacqueline screamed and lifted her hands out in front of her. A powerful energy beam shot from her palm shocking Johnthon's whole body into a frozen state, the stake only inches from Sebastian's chest.
Then, Sebastian's eyes flipped open, his hissed like a devilish cat and he began to levitate from the mattress without bending his body as if his feet were anchored to the edge of the board. Then in a flash he shot across the room into a shadowy corner void of candlelight.
Jacqueline slowly walked towards where Sebastian went. She could hear him breathing and sense his energy, but she could not see him. She grabbed a candle from a table as she walked closer and closer.
Two golden eyes began to flow from the dark corner of the room, Jacqueline gasped and froze in place.
"What have you done, witch?" His voice said from the shadowy corner of the bedroom. "What have you done?"
**
 |
| The Mysterious Veiled council |
In the shadows outside Lockwood Thicket in Tirymor Forrest, three veiled figures appeared in the mists and fog of the night beneath the trees and in the glow of the pale moon's light.
Their faces obscured, blackened by the layers of cloth over their faces.
"Here. This is the place such perils of our kind convene." The center figure spoke.
A cold wind blew their cloaks that made them seem to float.
"Much danger approaches this island." The second figure said.
"Much danger approaches this place." Said the third, pointing to Lockwood Thicket.
"How shall we proceed?" The second figure asked the first.
"A dark wave comes, but not by sea, by the punishment of something even darker than the sea at night. It's there -- in this Thicket now." The first said.
The other two repeated and pointed "It's there."
"Let the witch find her way..." The first spoke.
"...Let the witch have her say..." The second continued.
"...Let the witch see another day..." the third added.
then together "Let the witch, known as Jacqueline Gray, find her way, have her say, see the day, but if she should fail and betray, we as coven guard shall make her pay."
