B7/Ch13: HE FEARS THAT FACE

Lucas visits Cora at Bellmore Beach 

Lucas Mural sat on the veranda at Bellmore Beach, home of Evie Jordan-Lord, and watched the bright blue waves crash up against the white sand that just off in the distance. After several days of harsh spring storms, the warm sun hit his cheeks as memories of the Portuguese islands he came from rushed into his mind just as fast as the waves hit the sand.

He was there visiting Coraline Tyler who he had become fast friends with. They connected and bonded over being two people thrust into the wild world Welshport could be; a world that so often spun out of control. 

On this day, he was there hoping to help her through a tough time now that she was slowly getting use to the idea of being the of the child of the late Henry and Lorna Lockwood, Maggie, that was sold on the black market in exchange for expunging Henry’s vast depts.

Cora, in a floral dress and pink scarf around her neck, came out on the deck with some cool tea. She carefully dropped circular lemon slices into the amber colored liquid and handed the glass to Lucas who thanked her in Portuguese. 

"When will Gabriel be back?" Lucas asked, knowing Cora was at Bellmore Beach getting a new lesson ready for the little boy’s return. 

"Aurora said sometime after lunch, she was going to try and see if she could take him to see Evie."

"In jail?" Lucas asked.

Cora shrugged. "She feels Gabriel needs to see his mother and the rest of his family. It’s been so long. He’s been asking for her." 

Lucas agreed "Speaking of family, have you thought about reaching out to Rebecca about what you know?" 

Cora took in a deep sigh "I don't know about that." 

"She's going to find out eventually that you're the niece she long thought gone. I think maybe it'd be better if you told her than --- a column from Baxter." Lucas said.

"Do you think Baxter would do that to me? His own sister?” She wondered. 

“Cora, he’s lied to you for years. He knew this truth all along and never told you, and then he tricked you into working for the very family you’re related to? Don’t you see? This was all some kind of game he could watch play out. For himself.” Lucas reminded.

Cora seemed to agree.

“After all he's already done with that poison pen of his, I can’t imagine he’d do more to me." Cora said, her deep blue eyes gazing out to sea that seemed to reflect the same color. 

"Veneno." Lucas said, using the Portuguese word for poison. "Even if you were not his real sister, you were raised like siblings. He lied to you for so long." 

"So did Lear." She reminded Lucas who was not in a very good romance with Lear. 

"Well, for him I think the pain of it all, knowing what happened to you and what your father Henry did, I don't think he was thinking clearly. Baxter, well, he enjoyed I think, the idea of someday sinking this news into the Lords. The disaster at the Moon Festival just came first." Lucas said, protecting the man he loved. 

"Are you saying I should just forgive Lear and not Baxter? They both had a hand in hiding my truth for years. I had no idea that both of them had known all this time." Cora asked her new friend.

"I know it seems like I am giving Lear a pass and Baxter not, but knowing what I know Baxter in the short time that I have interacted with him, I can see his is indeed very conniving. Lear was caught in that web. Maybe he would have chosen differently if he was never in Lear's eyes." Lucas replied, his accident floating into the air like a beautiful Lusophone poem. 

Cora sipped her tea and stared out into the sea. She thought about what she would do now knowing she was a Lockwood. A lot came with the name. The Lockwoods were one of the first founding families of Welshport and although there were very few of them around now she was one of those few. Lear, Rebecca were the last of the name. 

"Do you think, if I asked Lear, he'd help me find information about something--- before I say anything to Rebecca about me being Maggie.

"What kind of information are you looking for?" Lucas asked, his light brown hair filling with the ocean breeze.

Cora sipped the tea again, the small bits of chopped ice cooled her lips. "I want to know how Henry Lockwood got involved with this black market that sold me, as an infant, to the Murphys. There is no way Henry just discovered the Murphy’s by chance and proposed some kind of twisted baby transaction. I want to know who it was... I want to find the person that brokered this deal and I want to know why they did it." 

“For money.” Lucas replied quickly. “Henry’s finances were in shambles. He owed millions.” 

“There has to be more.” Cora pressed. 

Lucas' brow furrowed. Cora’s need for closure was unyielding and not only that Lucas was unsure Lear could even supply her with everything she wanted. "Cora, in truth, what would knowing all these details even matter now? You know what you know, don't you think you should just move on and hopefully get to know your real family better?" 

"It matters Lucas." Cora replied, her tone of voice soft secure. "I need to know everything that happened and how it happened and... and I just need to know it all Lucas. I want the details so that I can then move passed it. If anyone has that info, it’s Lear. I know it. He would never have pressed the issue and allowed Baxter to convince him to use me to get the Lords without solid proof I truly was his sister Maggie." 

Lucas thought about it for a split second, it didn't take long for him to see she was right. Lear must know exaclty how it all transpired, or else he would have never plotted with Baxter in the first place. As a lawyer, Lear knew the power of having phyical proof and that made clear to Cora and Lucas that there was.

"Maybe we should do the digging ourselves." Lucas said.

"Ourselves?"

"I think Lear wants nothing more than to just forget all of this, I know he feels horrible about hurting you. And especially since he's so tied up with the trial in the village, he may not really have the time. He’s been incredibly busy with the trial so…well…what if you and I just go to his office and find what we're looking for." 

“Alone? Through Lear’s things?” She asked.

Lucas realized what he was saying, setting himself up to go into Lear’s office without his knowledge. But the principal mattered most to him. Truth. And Cora finally needed to know hers.

“He won’t be happy —  at the end of the day I think he’ll understand we had to just take the bandage off and face the past.”

Cora smirked. "You'd really help me, behind Lear's back?" She asked.

Lucas sighed hearing “behind Lear’s back” "Well… nobody deserves to continue to live in the shadow of such a horrible thing done to them. You deserve to know. I just want to help.”

"You don't think he'll be angry?" She wondered.

"He's already promised you more answers, we're only doing the hard part for him while he’s at trial." Lucas said, crafting his own pre-excuse.

"How would we do it? We'd have to get access to his office." Cora asked.

Lucas lifted a brow and smirked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a shining key ring. 

"Like a key?" He said showing her the golden key to Lear's office. 

Cora giggled "Yes! Like a key!" 

****

Media chaos outside the Courthouse

Meanwhile, a crush of press was once again causing a claustrophobic scene at the front steps of the village courthouse as Jacob and Celeste stood at the bottom of the slick concrete steps surrounded by flash bulbs, sketch pads and pens flailing at their ever word. Jacob was doing damage control after Charlotte's disastrous testimony the day before that caused shock waves around the island. 

During Charlotte's testimony, a hidden Jacqueline caused her to behave as if she were being controlled by the so-called Witches of Welshport and one after the other more people began to say they were afflicted by the witches too. 

All Jacqueline's doing. And the press ate it up!

"But how is your daughter, Mr. Lord? Physically." One reporter asked flipping his notepad open.

"Charlotte is fine, I will have you know that what happened yesterday, while unexpected, had nothing to do with witchcraft." Jacob replied.

"So how do you explain it sir?" Another reporter asked, as a flash bulb burst in Celeste and Jacob's faces with a crash.

"We can't," Jacob replied "but I know my child, and I know the accused very well and they are in no way what the Mayor has accused them of being and what the press has hounded on since the day of the full moon disaster." Jacob replied. 

"That doesn't make sense." Baxter said, appearing in the crowd. "Mary Goode, for example, was seen doing something extremely supernatural. She used what some would call magical powers — and killed a man. How is that explained?"

"Baxter, as someone who has seen many things that are unexplainable by the human condition, you should know that there might be scientific situations that I am confident Mr. Lockwood will get to once he has his chance to plead his defense." Jacob replied. 

Flashbulbs went off again. Bright lights dotting Jacob and Celeste's eyes so much, so they did not see the couple walking up the street toward the courthouse: Genevieve Thorne and Christopher Wesley.

"We should turn back." Chris said.

"Chris, you said to me you were ready to show yourself after all the hiding, you said to me this very morning that you wanted to come with me to court because you wanted Morgan to see you by my side when he testifies. Everything will be ok." She said.

His hands shook. 

"They're going to think I...am.... you know." He said panicked. 

The man she came to the village with from London, the man determined to destroy Jacob suddenly vanished and in his place, David Lord stood and the terrified younger brother of the man standing in the swarm of small-town press had his entire attention. But it would not be for long. Celeste's eyes finally adjusted from the flashbulbs, and she eyed the approaching Chris and Genevieve. 

Chris locked eyes with her too, they knew each other for years and years. 

"Your name is Christopher Wesley." Genevieve whispered to him. "That's who you are."

Chris who had changed his mind about trying to trick Jacob into believing he was the ghost of his dead brother, wanted to do better by his family, Sabrina and Sebastian. But before he could do it, secretly though his identity of Christopher Wesley, he had to face his own darkness.

Celeste gasped when she saw Chris.

Baxter quickly picked up on where Celeste was looking and turned to that direction, seeing David Lord standing at the end of the sidewalk too.

"JESUS!!!" Baxter shouted and like a mouse in a maze fled through the press and approached Chris and Genevieve.

"David??? DAVID LORD?" He shouted, just loud enough to get Jacob's attention.

Jacob and Christopher locked eyes and it was as if the entire world stopped. Jacob could no longer hear anything. He could no longer feel anything in his feet. It was as if his whole body had gone numb. He turned white, he couldn't breathe. He grabbed Celeste's hand and squeezed to the point of pain.

"He...it can't be." Jacob murmured under his breath and the press ran towards Christopher.

Seeing the face of David in Christopher and the face of Sabrina in Geneveive made Jacob's stomach drop and everything went black. 

Jacob's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he fell down to his knees clutching his left arm.

"I can't breathe....." He said chocking on his words.

"HELP! HELP!!!" Celeste screamed. 

"YOU'RE ALIVE! Where have you been? What happened???" reporters shouted.

"NO! You don't understand, this is Christopher, his name is Christpher!" Genevieve shouted.

But no one could understand what she was saying over Celeste's screams for help.

Everyone turned back to see Jacob clutching his chest. The shock at seeing the couple he once destroyed alive and, in his face, caused a heart attack and he was on the brink of death.

Chris panicked and dropped Genevieve's hand and ran off down the street as camera's snapped photos of him running.

"What the fuck is going on!?" Baxter said grinning from ear to ear. It was the happiest day of his life. 

"SOMEONE HELP ME!!!" Celeste screamed as people come over to help Jacob get medical attention.

****

Nathan, Timothy & Eden in the courtroom

As chaos enraptured the press outside the courthouse, there was a strange calm inside as preparations were being made for the new day's hearing. 

Eden Sydney, the special prosecutor Mayor Churchill requested from Augusta, sat at his table furiously sorting through the files on the case. He felt humiliated at even having to be in what he saw as a backwater village far away from the capital. Situations like this made him miss his days as high-powered attorney in Boston. For his part, Churchill knew that Syndey had to fulfill his duties and this kept him keen to push Churchill agenda for him. 

Not that Sydney had to try too hard -- Judge Banning was also in Churchill pocket. 

"Very bizarre scene out there." the mayor's aide Nathan Cramer said to both men. 

Churchill grinned. "Something was bound to happen to Jacob at some point, if a bullet couldn't do it, maybe karma would." 

Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Maybe we should ask the judge to push for a recess, I'm sure The Lords would want some kind of representation in court today and being that Jacob is ill -- " Eden began trying to delay more humiliation in a kangaroo court. 

"Absolutely not!" Churchill shot back. "You have a job to do and it's high time you put on the pressure." 

"Sir, I think Mr. Sydney might be right. Right now the village seems to be on your side and more and more they turn against the family, maybe giving them a bit of a breather would shine bright on you too." Nathan added.

"Is that what you want with all this? Really? To tarnish the Lord family? Just to drag their names through the mud in a trial about -- of all things -- witchcraft? Timothy, really, even you know this is insane. I don't' know how many times I have to tell you this but I can't really apply a three-hundred-year-old law in modern time just to fulfill some selfish vendetta of yours against this family." Eden said.

"Selfish? Do you think I'm the only one who's lived under this faux Lord family dukedom? They've taken land, businesses, fortunes from countless families over the years by expanding their little empire decade after decade. They own the entire island in real estate. Everyone in this village in some way pays those bastards --- my father and uncles lost everything to them. Everything! And it wasn't just our family. No, what I am doing is a long time coming and they deserve every column inch of bad press they're getting with this." Churchill replied.

"Its never going to work." Eden said. 

"Sir, we do have to be realistic." Nathan added.

"Listen to them." A voice from defense table said. 

It was Lear, setting down his briefcase and removing his coat. 

The three at the prosecution turned but Churchill did not backdown.

"We carry on. Sydney, do your job. We saw what we saw at the caves." The mayor replied mentioning Mary being witnessed using her powers. 

"I going to dismantle that Tim. You know I will." Lear said from his side.

"Do you best Counceller." Timothy replied as he and Nathan joined the rest of the court gallery in getting to their seats. 

As everyone entered the courtroom, there was a buzz as electric as the thunder in the air just a few nights before. Everyone was in shock at hearing Jacob seemed to have had a heart attack in front of a buzzing press. There were rumors he was afflicted by the witches, some said his guilt at being even affiliated with them finally took his toll, only one person, Baxter Murphy, really knew the dish.

The face of David Lord, Christopher's face, still haunted Jacob. 

Fatima and Filipe who had arrived after Jacob's collapse, entered the court when Fatima overheard the whispering of the town's people and press about what had happened. She couldn't believe what they were saying and had always known of the scandalous rumors of David Lord supposedly murdering Sabrina on Bellmore Beach decades ago. Everyone knew the story. Everyone in town had different version of it. But when David jumped off the lighthouse in what was said a guilt-ridden death by suicide, the story eventually became more myth than truth.

And here they were again, shocked and confused over David's Lord showing up to court. 

And yet -- he wasn't there. 

Fatima fluttered about the court room gathering information when suddenly Genevieve Thorne entered. She was there on this day because her son Morgan was set to testify. Everyone turned to her as she walked in knowing she was Genevieve but also remembering she had the uncanny resemblance to Sabria. Fatima quickly rushed over and pulled Genevieve to the side.

"What is all of this about Daivd? What have you done?" Fatima asked.

Genvieve pulled her hands from Fatima, a woman she barely knew, and scowled. 

“Let go of me!” Genevieve shouted.

“I can sense things, menina,” Fátima began, using the Portuguese world for girl when addressing the younger Genevieve. “and I don’t like what I feel when I see your face and I hear what name: David Lord.” 

"I would have hoped a woman of your age would know better than to be sifting through gossip. His name is Christopher Wesley. He's a man I met in England, and he came home with me. There's no David Lord anymore." 

"Wesley?" Fatima asked confused.

"His look is a coincidence." Genevieve replied, continuing to help Chris move on from his past by keeping up the lie. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to save a seat for my son.”

Fatima pursed her lips not believing a single word that came out of Genevieve's mouth. 

As the gallery settled in, the side door of the courtroom opened and the three accused entered still chained at the wrists. 

As Fatima returned to Filipe's side he asked her what the whispered were about.

"Jacob Lord collapsed outside." his mother said. "They took him to Hope." 

"Oh my god. Poor Celeste." Filipe answered thinking first of his former partner of 2 decades, Celeste. 

Moments later, the accused were led into the room. 

Filipe spotted Mary who was clearly exhausted. Her eyes looked withdrawn, and she could barely focus on him. Her mind, of course, was on what had happened in her dreams with the witch council and what they showed her. Her face. Her body. In a casket. 

She was groggy and wishing to be back in the cell, a wish she'd never thought she'd have, but there she could rest instead of sitting in a court and listen to all of the awful things Eden would push out. 

"She looks ill." Filipe whispered to Fatima. "We have to stop this."

"Filho, não." Fatima said in her native Portuguese, knowing he wanted to confess to being the wolf to save Mary. "We cannot push ourselves further into this. We've come too far."

"But they want to kill them." Filipe said.

Fatima lifted a brow "They'll try." She replied cryptically. 

"ALL RISE!" The bailiff shouted. "JUDGE COLEMAN BANNING PRESIDING."

"Be seated." Banning said as he too sat on his large red leather chair. 

"Now, I know we have a lot to cover, and I am very sure there will be no outbursts as there were in our last meeting. If there are I will call for a mistrial and we'll have to do this all over again and frankly, I don't think this town has the stomach to start over. I've been as lenient as any judge can but if I have to I will place people in contempt and a mistrial. Is that clear?" 

Everyone in the court nodded. 

"Good. Mr. Syndey, good afternoon, call your first witness." 

"Afternoon, Judge. The state calls Morgan Thorne."

As Morgan's name was called, the back doors to the courtroom parted and 14-year-old Morgan stepped in with Jane Donnelly who was asked to remain with Morgan as the Lord family took to the hospital with Jacob. Morgan scanned the courtroom as he entered and finally saw his mother. A half smile peeked out from behind the nervous young man but then a full smile shone when he saw Mary, the woman who'd become his foster mother while Genevieve was off in London.

Seeing this Genevieve's heart sank. 

Morgan took to the stand and took his oath, the light beaming over his chestnut hair causing a halo around him, an ironic visual considering the very dark topic at hand. 

"Morgan I don't have a lot of questions, so don't be too nervous." Eden said stepping into the area in front of the witness stand. "How do you know the three defendants?"

"Evie is a friend I met her when she lived at Tirymor before she --- uh -- well before we thought she died. Matthew I met too... at Tirymor. And Mary is Charlotte's mother. We lived with her and Filipe."

"You lived with and Filipe? Eden asked.

"Yes."

"Not your own mother?"

Morgan sighed and Geneveive's heart sank realizing she was about to hear how her rush to find David in London was practically abandoning her own son in a strange place.

"No. My... my mother left for a long time but she's returned. Mary watched over me. She's been like a second mother to me." Morgan said, his voice falling faint in hopes it wouldn't sting Geneiveve too much to hear the truth. 

"I see. And do you remember when Matthew and Evie both went away, and everyone thought they died?" Eden asked.

"Yes."

"But they didn't. Right?"

"No."

"How did Mary explain that to you?" Eden wondered. 

"She hadn't explained it. We all just knew it was all just a terrible mistake." 

"Their supposed deaths were terrible mistakes?" Eden asked.

"Yes. They were alive. We all just didn't know it." 

"I know that your father Steven died, is that correct?" Eden said surprising both Morgan and Genevieve. 

".... yes." Morgan said before a pregnant pause.

"Was your father's death a mistake?" Eden asked.

"Objection your honor!" Lear shot up.

"Grounds?" Banning asked.

"Leading! How is Mr. Thorne, a boy of 14, supposed to answer such a heavy question about his father's death in regard to what happened to Mrs. Lord and Mr. Winterborn? These situations are very different the Mr. Sydney is trying to conflate them."

Banning thought for a second. "Sustained. Mr. Sydney, skip it." 

"Morgan, do you know what truth and lies are?" Eden asked as Timothy Churchill squirmed in his seat.

"Yes."

"Do you know that telling the truth here and now is very important?" 

"I do." The boy answered. 

"Ok, then can you tell me if you ever saw Mary Goode use any sort of witchcraft in your presence?" 

Lear gulped not knowing what the boy had seen when living with Mary. Mary too felt a slight tightness in her chest. Evie and Matthew looked at each other unsure of how he'd answer. 

Morgan thought for a second. His brow furrowed and the halo around him from the sunlight seemed to brighten. He new what a truth and a lie was and he also knew what that keeping this trial going was only going to destroy families more each day that Mary, Evie and Matthew sat in dirty, cold jail cells in the basement of Village Hall. 

"Your answer Mr. Thorne?" The judge asked. 

"I..." Morgan's mind went to the several times he witnessed Mary using magic with Charlotte. The spell book. The times he could not understand how they did the things they did. For Morgan they were miraculous events even though they frightened him at time. Nothing Mary or Charlotte had done in front of him was to hurt anyone. But the truth was the truth.

"Mr. Thorne, have you ever seen Mary Goode use any sort of magic?" Eden repeated.

"I have." he answered.

The crowd gasped and the judge banged his gavel. "Order!" 

"No further questions." Eden said sitting down as Timothy patted him on the shoulder.

Lear got up to cross examine. 

"Morgan you just testified that you saw Mary Goode use magic in front of you. Can you tell me what exactly she did?"

Morgan's face scrunched in thought "I don't know." 

"You don't know what she did?" Lear asked.

"No. Not really." 

"So how do you know it was magic? Or Witchcraft like the prosecution suggests." 

Morgan again tilted his head unsure "Well, I just know that she was is able to go into her mind and think deeply and she gets answers to questions. I saw her do that." He said remembering Mary's way with telepathic connection just like Charlotte. 

"You saw Mary think deeply." Lear asked.

"Yes."

"Have you ever done that?" Lear questioned.

Morgan said he didn't understand. The judge asked Lear to clarify. 

"Have you ever had times in your young life where something was bothering you and you had to sit back and think deeply on it -- as a way to sort it out for yourself?" 

"Yes. I have yes!" Morgan said seeing were Lear was going.

"And was that Magic?" Lear wondered.

"No." 

"Was that witchcraft?" Lear said again.

"NO!" Morgan replied happily. 

Churchill growled "Object damn it." he whispered to Eden who refused.

"So how do you know what Mary was doing was witchcraft and not the same thing you do?" Lear wondered. 

"Well, I don't. I don't know exactly!" He said.

"Could it be that Mary is just better at, what you say, 'deep thinker'? She is older than you. Has more life experience. Would that make sense?" Lear asked.

"Object!" Churchill again whispered to Eden who again refused allowing Lear to go on hoping this would be the beginning of the end. 

"I think so. I think you're right." Morgan said.

"And as for Mrs. Lord and Mr. Winterborn, you never saw anything strange about them did you?"

"Never, no."

"Thank you, Morgan. No further questions your honor."

As the judge allowed Morgan to take his seat, Churchill fumed at Eden's lack of push to break the boy on the stand. Eden was done. After being dragged into the stupid trial he wanted out and would not allow Churchill's attempt to destroy the Lord family on selfish means to ruin his career any longer. 

There seemed to finally be a light at the end of the tunnel for the accused. 

But Mary, deep in her mind knew, something else was to come. 

B7/Ch12: THE NIGHTMARE WAS REAL

The Witch Council summons Mary & Jacqueline  

Nightfall in Welshport during the last leg of a storm that had come and gone twice in the last few days. The remainder of thunderclaps cracked the sky above like shattering glass. Mary Goode, the accused witch of the three-person coven stared out of her basement level jail cell under Village Hall as the storm swirled overhead. 

She could not believe what had happened in court. 

Her own child on the stand behaving in a way that made it look as if Mary herself were controlling her with magic. The audience then jumping in adding fuel to the already enflamed situation. She already suspected foul play. Charlotte would never accuse her like that.

Mary then turned from the window and saw Evie and Matthew in their individual cells resting in their cots. The two lovers had pushed the small little beds as close as possible to the bars so that they could reach over to each other. It was the only way they could touch. 

Mary’s heart warmed at their sweet way to keep hold of each other in the horrible situation they were in and then she curled up in her own cot hoping to dream of her own husband, Filipe. 

She ached for her children and yearned for Filipe to hold her again. The weeks in the cell and Charlotte's outburst in court were beginning to drain her hope of ever getting out of there alive.

As the rain fell outside her small rectangular window at the top of her cell and lulled Mary to sleep, it didn't take long for her to fall into a dream. Her body and mind were so exhausted that she welcomed the quick pull into her subconscious in hopes she'd wake up and everything she, Evie and Matthew were going through would have been just another dream; she’d accept it even as a nightmare. 

Anything but reality.

Now in her dream world Mary walked through the Tirymor forest at dusk or dawn, she couldn't tell. The skies were so similar at both intervals of time. The fog floated against the hem of her dress that matched the forest green of the plants all around her. She could smell the wet soil and feel the cool air swishing through the trees above her. 

She felt as if she were on her way somewhere through the forest, she didn't know where, but in her heart she had a direction. It was almost as if an inner compass was pointing in the direction of where the sun was either setting or rising. 

Just as Mary got to an opening of the forest floor where the plants, bushes and trees had receded back allowing for a circular shaped area something changed in the air. 

Mary smelled sulfur. Heat could be felt in the air that blew across her face. In seconds everything green around her turned black and was on fire. The fog at her feet was now black smoke that was rising. She choked on the thick air that became darker and darker blocking out the sun, distant in the background, and she fell to the floor gasping for air. 

When she lifted her head, Mary was now in complete Darkness and Jacqueline Gray was standing directly in front of her in a matching dress. 

Identical, as they were attired, they could not be more different than any two coven sisters ever.

The smoke disappeared and Jacqueline gave Mary a helping hand to stand. 

"What are you doing here?" Mary asked quickly yanking back her hand as she stood. "It was you, wasn't it, in court. You made all of that happen. You made Charlotte and the rest of them act as if I were doing something to them." 

Jacqueline lifted a brow coyly "Maybe a little." She said patronizingly with her forefinger over her thumb as if measuring the tiny bit effort it took her to magically manipulate their mind.  

"You don't know what you've done, Jacqueline. You've exposed me further, you've given them more to tack on to me not to mention how all of this will reflect on Evie and Matthew. They're innocent." 

"Trust me, I know what I've done. And so do they." 

“They?” 

Jacqueline replied: “I'm not here to plead my case to you. I'm here because of them." 

Mary's eyes followed where Jacqueline was pointing and just off into the distance while the smoke gathered from the burning forest of Mary's dreams, the three cloaked and veiled figures of the witch council materialized seated on large thrones that were made of smoke. 

The cloaked figure to the left turned it's head slowly to the one in the center as did the one on the right.

The center figure stood up. 

"Who?  -- What's happening?" Mary wondered, she had never heard of the council. Her mother Eliza, who rarely spoke of her own supernatural powers in depth, would have never discussed witchcraft, magic or the council who governed all the covens. 

"We've been summoned. I've been accused. You are their witness." Jacqueline replied.

"Accused of what?" Mary asked.

Jacqueline rolled her eyes knowing her crime "Mary, we have rules as a coven and no matter what happens between us personally, we aren't supposed to betray those rules. I was summoned by this council who watches over us. A panel of elder witches that keep things in line. They see that I have stepped over that line — I’ve plead my case to them and they've found me guilty of betraying not only my sister, you, but of crimes against all covens." 

Mary didn't know what to say, one of the cloaked figured then stood. 

"Mary Goode, we bring you here to find you too of reckless usage of the powers that have been bestowed on you. We also find that that would never have happened had Jacqueline never told the mortals where to go and find you. As not for her, you would have never shown the mortals your ways and thus we nullify our finding and give you penance." The center cloaked figure said as the other three nodded in agreement.

"Please help me out of this. I don't know what to do. Evie and Matthew, my friends, they're innocent." Mary begged.

The three clocked figures looked at each other but did not speak knowing that they'd already had a way to help. But it involved Jacqueline. 

"That's where I come in." Jacqueline said.

Mary slowly turned to her foe. "Meaning?" 

"The council cannot impose anything harsh on us, obviously our kind can undo many of our own spells and punishments so it would be futile to try and destroy me. They've come up with a punishment that will help undo most of what has been done with my involvement. And I have agreed. Mary, we should have never become this. Enemies. I let it go too far, and even in court, my anger towards you and Evie perhaps wasn't warranted." Jacqueline explained, finally revealing the her true nature, the one she had when she first arrived in Welshport. 

Hearing Jacqueline finally admit her faults, the main, center cloaked figure sat down.

"Continue." It said. 

"I thought that losing my child was my punishment and I lost myself, I went further into my anger towards all of you and I see now that it has only worsened all of our situations. Well, I knew it all along, that whatever I did would make things worse, but I wanted to make everyone feel the pain I felt losing my child." Jacqueline explained surprisingly leaving out the part Mary’s husband played in the lose of the child. 

"You lost a baby?" Mary asked, her heart sinking deep into her body remembering her daughter Louise who died at birth thanks to a physical altercation she had with Jacqueline the year before. Jacqueline nodded. 

"The cycle of pain continues." She told Mary knowing Mary was already back in the memory of Louise. 

"I did not wish that on you." Mary said. "I would have never wished that on anyone." 

"I know." 

"Does Johnathon know?" Mary asked knowing Jacqueline was married.

"It's a complicated situation. Probably more complicated because of how much of a mess I made of things between Sebastian and Johnathon, but yes -- he knows." 

"Sebastian? So it was you, you did take him from the coves." Mary said.

Jacqueline nodded. "He was the baby's father, not Johnathon." she added shocking Mary.

"It's time." the cloaked figure to the right of the center one spoke. "It's time to show her." 

Jacqueline nodded and turned to her side where she began to swirl the black smoke around her with her hands. The smoke began to form a solid base of something, almost as if a statute was about to be formed right there in front of her from the bottom up, but the base of whatever was in front of them did not grow into a statue. 

It was a catafalque made of smoke. Then, a coffin appeared.

Mary's eyes widened. "Who is it? Who is inside?" She asked.

Jacqueline was not allowed to answer.

"Step forward Mary Goode." The left cloaked figure said as the there stood up.

"Step forward Jacqueline Gray" The right cloaked figure added.

"Clasp hands." The center cloaked figure ordered as the three did in front of them.

Mary looked down to her left hand as Jacqueline, already knowing what would happen next, did as she was told when, then, in deep voices that seemed to come from the depths of the earth, the three cloaked figures spoke together:

"OCEUPAT. FRANGIUMS. OCEUPAT. SCINDIUMS. HAEC VIA VENEFICAE. FACIES PRO FACIE NON NOS FRANGIT. OCEUPAT.  NOS SORORES NON FRANGIMUS." 

Jacqueline squeezed Mary's hand and looked her in the eye "Nos Sorores Non Frangiums."

Mary understood and repeated "Nos Sorores Non Frangiums."

"We will not break the sisters." Their voices echoed. 

"Step forward Mary Goode and open the coffin. The face inside will be your freedom. The face inside will be the one to break you out of this hold the mortals have over you, but you must not reveal this in the world when you awaken. Allow it to happen and allow it to be unveiled as natural as we will make it." The center cloaked figure said.

Mary slowly walked over to the coffin on the dark catafalque and lifted the lid to see the face of the person that would come and save her.

Mary screamed in horror at the face when she saw it and recoiled back ... it was her own face, it was her body. It was her. Mary’s own body lay in the coffin of black smoke. 

She woke up in her jail cell screaming. Evie got up from her cot as a flash of lightening lit her way to the edge of her cell. 

"Mary! MARY! What is it???" 

Mary did not answer. She was sworn not to reveal anything she saw in the dream in the waking world. 

She went over to a bucket that had fresh water, Matthew got up from his cot to check on Mary too.

"Nightmare?" He asked.

Mary washed her face, turned and smiled back. "Just a nightmare." She said, blonde hair sticking to her wet face.

But this nightmare — was real.

****

Celeste gets an update on Johnathon 

The skies above Welshport the next day were crowded with thick grey clouds filled to the brim with rain that was sure to drop at any moment. 

Standing at a large set of windows in a drawing room that faced to the front of Tirymor House, Celeste DeViana-Lord held herself with her arms across her chest as the glow of a lamp illuminated her beautiful caramel skin. She watched as Dr. Nikolas Jordan approached, his thick brown hair windswept and damp and his cheeks rosy as a fresh summer peach.

It only took a few minutes for Nik to be let into the mansion and announced in the drawing room to Celeste who was expecting him. Nik was there to update her on her brother Johnathon's state after admitting himself into Churchill Green Asylum at Hope Hospital. 

As he entered, he quickly dropped his bag and umbrella and greeted Celeste who kissed him once on each cheek. 

"Please sit, Nik. Are you thirsty? I can have Jane bring in some tea." She offered.

"No, thank you." he replied as they sat. 

Celeste inhaled deeply bracing herself for news on Johnathon "So how is he?"

"Before I begin I should let you know I’ve moved on from my duties at The Green and I’m working more closely in the main hospital. But I’ll be kept abreast on Johnathon’s case until a new full time psychiatrist is hired.” Nik explained.

“I see. What have you learned so far?” She asked the line between her eyes deepening with worry. 

“Johnathon has been very quiet since your visit the other day, and perhaps that has a lot to do with the medication we've put him on. We're trying to keep him in a calm state so that when the new psychiatrist finally arrives they can have a better idea of where he is mentally and what it was that made him have such a breakdown." 

"Why isn’t there a psychiatrists at The Green working with him now?" 

Nik sighed "Unfortunately the new person is bit behind in starting full time. From what I was told they were coming from San Francisco. So for now we're just trying to keep him in a better state of mind." 

Celeste’s face dropped. Her heart ached for her mentally struggling brother.

"I see,” she said searching a small pocket book for a scrap of paper to write down a note to herself. “that’s disappointing. I’ll have to pull some strings for him." Celeste said wielding her Lord power.  

"Celeste, do you know what could have happened to him those few days that he went missing? Where he was? Where did Jacqueline go? It might help us in the long run if we knew what led up to all of this." 

"No, I just know that when Jacqueline sent everyone on that wild chase out to the cliffs after Sebastian's ghost or whatever, that they both then took off and only he came back. He never once told us what happened to her and we all just assumed she ran off -- left him Their marriage was clearly something that just happened. None of us really thought it would go anywhere." Celeste explained.

"I see." Nik replied knowing a few bits about Jacqueline's own twisted mentality. "When Johnathon arrived he kept saying things about Lockwood Thicket, Sebastian and Evie’s old home. We sent a case worker there to try and understand what he meant. Celeste there was lots of blood found. All over.”

“Dear god, you don’t think he hurt his wife do you?” Celeste worried. 

“We don’t know. There wasn’t a body there.” Nik said “As soon our new in house psychiatrist arrives, I'll have them contact you so that they can discuss Johnathon’s sessions, hopefully that doctor can unlock what happened that night with Jacqueline and hopefully there is a logical explanation for her disappearance." Nik explained.

“So you’re not going to say anything about what was found at the Thicket?” Celeste asked. 

Nik knew the powerful bond between brother and sister and he could appreciate Celeste’s worries for Johnathon’s action while he was under mental distress.

“For now.” He said. “But that may change once the psychiatrist comes and can dive deeper into Johnathon’s psyche.” 

“I understand, thank you Nik.”

"Dr. Jordan, so nice to see you!" A voice said from the entrance to the drawing room.

Recognizing it as Rebecca's Nik quickly turned and stood up to greet her. "Mrs. Casador, hello."

"How is our sweet Johnathon?" She asked, Celeste narrowing her eyes at her mother-in-law's clearly faux endearment to her brother's wellbeing.

"I was just telling Mrs. Lord that he'll--" Nik began before Celeste interrupted.

"Oh, Nik, I don't think we should bother Rebecca with my brother's care. After all, she has other fish to fry.” Celeste said quickly standing and turning to Rebecca. "He's doing well Rebecca, I hope to have him home soon." 

Rebecca noticed Nik’s confused expression and Celeste's sudden stone like appearance and resistance to her enquiry. 

"I was only trying to help." She said.

"Yes, well, I know exactly what you do to those you try to help." Celeste shot back. 

Nik stood there uncomfortable and unsure of what the two were passive aggressively talking about, even Rebecca seemed taken off balance. But Celeste had her reasoning. The day after Johnathon admitted himself into Churchill Green, Celeste went to visit him and when she re-entered the main hospital from the asylum she overheard the Rebecca and Danielle discussing Caspian's true identity, that of Viktor Holten, Danielle's supposed dead father. Rebecca's cold demeanor to Danielle put Celeste on high alert knowing that the marriage between Rebecca and Caspian was invalid since he was really someone else. It angered Celeste that Rebecca would continue the sham only because Rebecca knew being married meant she held a steeper stake in the family company. 

"I don't know what you mean." Rebecca replied, her tone hardening. 

Celeste didn't reply to her only turned back to Nik "How's Asha?" 

"Well, she is doing better. Stirring a bit more. She hasn't fully awoken from her sleep. We think the lack of oxygen while under all that burning debris really did a number on her and hopefully, with much care, she'll come back. It's only been a few weeks so there is plenty of time for her to recover." He explained, reaching down for his bag. 

"Yes, and that new nurse, Danielle Holten I believe, She's doing a great job caring for her I hope." Celeste replied dropping the name Rebecca did not want to hear.

"Uh, yes! Well all the nurses do a wonderful job. Danielle too." 

Rebecca's eyes seared Celeste like hot coals. 

"You know Danielle, don't you Rebecca? I saw you speaking with her about Caspian." Celeste said as she continued to poke the bear.

"Yes, she has been very good with Caspian." Rebecca replied unsure what Celeste heard of the conversation. 

"Caspian. Yes. Interesting you mention him, I know that Danielle has been looking for her father, and Rebecca, you may actually have the answer to her search isn't that right?" Celeste said as Nik's head was bouncing back and forth from one Lord woman to the other in a very serious verbal volley that could go anywhere.

"I don't know what you mean."

"This!" Celeste explained as she raised a hand in the air. "This is what I mean, this behavior of yours. One minute you are so concerned with someone's wellbeing like Johnathon, and the next you're lying about someone else's. Don't you think Caspian deserves to know what you know? Don't you think his wellbeing being matters? Who he really is: Danielle's father." 

"Perhaps I should leave." Nik replied.

"You do not know what you're talking about, Celeste, so hold your tongue." Rebecca replied, her eyes widening with anger. 

"I know what I heard. And I know what you’ve done." Celeste said as Rebecca saw red. 

Celeste was done. She was done being her mother in law’s door mat. She was done letting Rebecca stand on her pedestal looking down at others for their misdeeds when she herself was just was just as bad, feigning worry for others likes Johnathon her late husband’s bastard son.

"I know what I heard too." Caspian replied from the entrance of the drawing room. "Is what Celeste saying true Rebecca?" 

Rebecca snapped around behind her. Her heart pounding in her chest felt as if it were a ticking time bomb ready to be set off. Nik stood there, his heart matching Rebecca's intensity as Celeste calmly sat back down, the cat out of the bag, her job done.

"I ... I ..." Rebecca didn't know what to say. She was trapped.

"Is it true? Did you discover who I really am and not tell me? All this time, you've known I was ... I am Nurse Holten's father? Nik, did you know this?" 

"No sir! I did not. I was only here to update Mrs. Lord on Johnathon." Nik replied quickly.

"I only found out the other day when I heard Rebecca threaten Danielle about revealing the truth to you. Danielle has been wanting to tell you Caspian, she even came here but Rebecca had her turned away." Celeste replied.

"That's enough!" Rebecca scolded Celeste. "Caspian I can explain why I didn't tell you right away. I wanted to be sure that... I wanted to be sure it was true myself before she said anything or that I even said anything."

Caspian's eyes narrowed. Her tone was off, she seemed nervous and unsteady in the way she spoke, so very unlike the stoic and calculating Rebecca Lockwood-Lord-Casador. She never ever second guessed herself. Now, standing before him she searched his face for any note of acceptances of her frail excuse. but there was none. He could not accept it.

"You're lying to me." He said calmly. "I can tell."

"No." 

"You are." Celeste replied from the sofa. "You wanted Danielle to forget what she knew and let him go. Tell him!" 

"ENOUGH!" Rebecca shouted at Celeste. "Caspian, listen to me, you don't know what this Viktor person was like before. Think about what happened to you, think of how we met. Who you were when we met. That person. Think of that person -- that creature that you were when we met. That may have been who Viktor was. Is that who you want to be again? I was protecting you, us, all of us from that person. If Danielle brought that back into our lives, I don't know if we could all survive it." 

The explanation seemed fair, but to lie, to cover it up without even considering what he would have done with the information himself was a betrayal. He had the right to know, at least 3 of the people in the room thought, but Rebecca took that right away. Selfishly. 

"I... I need some water." Caspian said, his eyes squinting with a sudden sharp pain to his temple. 

Celeste quickly rushed to the bar cart near a table and grabbed a pitched with fresh water and poured him a glass. "Are you ok?" She asked.

"The headaches, he's been having headaches." Nik replied, surprising the room. "Dr. Ward and I have collaborated on treatment."

"What? For how long?" Rebecca asked.

"AS IF YOU CARE!" Caspian screamed back kicking the table in front of him in another outburst. 

 "This is why I was keeping things from him, you see? Do you see what is coming back?" Rebecca replied referring to Caspian's dark past while possessed. 

Hearing Rebecca's voice again only angered Caspian and after only a small sip of the water he asked for he growled and threw the glass clear across the room and everyone watched as it shattered up against a portrait of Rebecca herself. 

The water slowly slid down the painting and the wall. Everyone stood in silence at Caspian's outburst.

"I do not want to hear your voice." he said through his pain. "I do not want to see your face right now." 

"Mr. Casador, why don't I take you upstairs and check on you." Nik replied.

As Nik took Caspian to his room, slumped over and in pain, Jane quickly entered ready to clean up. She was never far off when an argument was taking place.

Rebecca swished around to Celeste after watching her husband painfully walk away with Nikolas. "You have made the biggest mistake of your life cornering me this way, Celeste. I could have been your best ally, and now I will be your biggest enemy." 

Celeste didn't fear her. She knew she had Jacob on her side. After a beat of no response from Celeste, Rebecca left the room.

**

Upstairs, Nik helped Caspian sit on a soft chair in his bedroom and handed him a fresh glass of water and a pill to help his pain.

"I apologize for revealing your condition, I know you had asked Dr. Ward to keep it private." Nik said.

Caspian shrugged, and drank his water. "How many times a week are you getting these headaches?" Nik added.

"Often." Caspian replied, his head feeling as if it were in a vice. "Too often." 

"I see. I'll be sure to tell Dr. Ward of this, together we'll try and come up with some better treatment. The pills seem to be just a way to ease the pain." 

"Aurora." Caspian replied.

Nik stood back hearing his mother's name and knowing Caspian and Aurora had been out of contact for a very long time and the secret of their love child being alive had yet to reach Caspian.

"What about her?" Nik said, kneeling down next to him.

"She wanted to see me the night the mob came to Tirymor to tell me something. We haven't spoken. Rebecca has been discouraging it. I want to see her, I want to see your mother." Caspian said. 

Nik nodded and tried to keep Caspian comfortable. The young doctor knew that any day now, the truth about the child Gregory and Asha took from Aurora at birth would be out just as the truth about the true identity of Viktor Holten was out and Rebecca's life would be in shambles. 

Nik's nerves were on edge. Rebecca would raise hell. 

Again.   

****

Matthew & Evie make a choice 

Down in the basement of Village Hall, Mary slept soundly after she was given something by a guard to help her sleep after her disturbing nightmare. Evie sat cross-legged in the corner of her cell, watching over Mary as she slept, and Matthew watched Evie.

The three of them had become as thick as thieves during the entire ordeal, or in this case, as close as a witch's coven could be -- even if they weren't. 

Matthew wondered how it all would end. If they were freed, and now that Sebastian had returned, how would he and Evie's relationship move on? He didn't want to lose her. He loved her with all his heart, and he knew she loved him. But her son was incredibly important to her and she'd missed out on so much of his life already. 

As Matthew daydreamed of his life with Evie, Filipe and Fatima were ushered into the basement. 

Evie quickly got up and put her finger up to her lips "Shhh." 

"What's happened?" Fatima whispered.

"She had a terrible nightmare last night." Matthew whispered back. "She was unconsolable. We had to beg for a guard to give her something to sleep. They called for a medic and they brought her something."

"A nightmare?" Filipe asked.

"It seemed more than that, Filipe." Evie added. "I don't know what she saw, but whatever it was it shook her Filipe. I've never seen her that way."

"This has gone on too long." Fatima replied. "I fear whatever happens after this she may never recover."

"She has to." Filipe added. "For herself, for our children...."

"For you." Fatima replied, he nodded his head.

"Please watch over her." Filipe asked Evie as he reached through the bars and they touched hands

"Of course."

“I wanted to visit but I won’t disturb her.” Filipe added then turning to his mother “We should go.”

“You really love her don’t you.” Evie said. “It’s wonderful to see. Even after all this, after everything you and she are up against it’s wonderful to see you’re still coming to see her. When she wakes I’ll let her know you came.” 

“I’ll do anything to get her out of this. All of you.” Filipe replied. 

Filipe and Fatima then turned and went back up the stairs to leave the basement jail. Evie walked over to the side of her cell that faced Matthew's. Their eyes locked and she smiled at his sweet handsome face. It was so tender and kind. Almost boyish. She could literally see the love wash over him when he looked at her. Just like Filipe looked at Mary. 

 The feeling was mutual. 

"Are you ok?" She asked in a whisper as to not awaken Mary.

"Just worried." He said.

"She's going to be alright."

"Not only for Mary." He said. 

Evie sighed "I know, what happened was Charlotte was shocking. I felt like something was pressing on my heart as she testified. I can't imagine what came over her. But Mary... Mary knew. Something in that room made Charlotte and the other's create that outburst. And Jacqueline is the only one I can think of who would." 

"Is she really the only one?" He asked.

"Who else?" She asked Matthew who only looked at her in a way that gave her an answer. "Sebastian? No. NO! He would never do anything like that. Matthew, he wants us free."

"He may want you free, but what about me and Mary? Does he want us free? She's the reason he is what he is and half the reason Gabriel is def and I... well, I have you." 

"Matthew, I love you with everything in my heart and I would never ever do anything to hurt you. You do know that, don't you?" She wondered not knowing he overheard her speak with Sebastian. 

"I want to believe that, I do believe that, but I can't help think that at some point you'll find your way back to the father of your son, and I'll be the one left in the dark." Matthew explained.

Evie's heart sank. 

She did love Matthew and she did love Sebastian. She hated that she was in a place where at some point she'd have to choose between them both, if she and the others ever got out of the terrible ordeal. She had been through so much in her time in Welshport and now living through this terrible ordeal in jail, away from her son, trapped between two men that she loved dearly-- it felt now she was in a cell within a cell. 

She couldn't do anything to ease Matthew's worries, and she couldn't promise anything to Sebastian. For her, Evie knew what she needed to do -- and it was focus on getting out jail as soon as possible.

"We need to let this go, for now." She said in a whisper.

"Of course, I understand. There's nothing we can do now in here about where our relationship will go." Matthew said.

"No." Evie replied "I mean, I think maybe the pressure between the two of us right now are too high to think about anything other than getting us out of here alive. Matthew, I love you, but maybe we jumped back into things too fast." 

"Evie, no. I... I didn't mean for us to stop. Not here, not now." Matthew replied.

Evie began to cry. She reached through her bars and Matthew reached back. Their hands touched. She squeezed his hands as they interlocked and she could see the dispar in his face, but it had to be done. She couldn't possibly give to herself to both men, and it was impossible to even think of romance while sitting in the dingy, horrible jail cell not knowing if she and Matthew would even make it out. There was love; clear, powerful, beautiful love, but it had to be put on hold until they were free.

If they were free.

"We have to get out of here Matthew. Let's deal with that first and then we can -- we can think about us. Does that make any sense?" Evie asked feeling like a teenager rambling along as their hands still linked in the center of the jail cells tightly.

Matthew didn't want to agree, but he loved her too much to try and hold her back.

He smirked kindly and nodded "I do."

They both went back to watching over Mary as she slept and back to their daydreaming of being free. His daydreams were again of being with Evie and Gabriel, and her dreams were of being free of all that held her back -- that included, perhaps Matthew. 

****

Charlotte finds Sebastian with her mirror 

Over at Tirymor House, Charlotte sat in her bedroom watching the clock tick away the day. She had been hiding out in her room after the debacle at court. She knew that the family was shocked at what happened, but there was something else on her mind. 

A promise she gave -- a commitment to Aaron and her uncle David, or as he was known Christopher. 

 She could see her reflection of the clockface in between the tiny brass hands that told her the time. The ticking sound lulled her into a trance as she began to go deep into her subconscious as Morgan entered her room and locked the door behind him.

He was there to watch over her as she searched for Sebastian. 

In her mind, she could feel herself telepathically searched everywhere Sebastian would be. The Darkest most secretive places in Welshport. But her telepathy was more like a honing device, and it turned her back into the village and down a crooked cobblestone street of houses and to the door of a very surprising residence. 

Fatima Braga's.

Charlotte, with her mind, entered the home that she was very familiar with following her instincts. 

It led her down into the basement where Filipe once stayed hidden way while he was suffering from the bite of the wolf.

There, under the shadows of a the glowing single candle lit in a candelabra was a coffin.

Upstairs in the house, Fatima felt a presence: Charlotte's. 

She put down the book she was reading and looked around her home. Filipe came out of the kitchen and asked his mother what was happening, he could tell something was off with her behavior, but all Fatima did was raise her hand as if to tell Filipe to stay quiet, they were being watched. 

Charlotte, telepathically lifted the coffin lid and saw her cousin Sebastian lying there perfectly still. Perfectly serene. 

She entered his mind and finally faced him.

"I've been waiting for you to find me." Sebastian said with a grin. "How are you little cousin?"

"We've been looking for you. Filipe told us you saved him." She said.

Sebastian smiled. "A hero." He joked.

"I have to be quick." She replied.

He noted her nervous nature. "What is it? Is it Evie? What's happened?" 

"No. Its Uncle David." She replied to his shock. "He's back Sebastian and wants to see you. Your father wants to see you." 

"My father is alive?" Sebastian asked. 

"He's hiding in town, and I don't know how long he'll be here." 

"How do I find him?" 

"Look for Christopher Wesley." 

Before Sebatian could ask any more questions Fatima entered the basement and slammed the casket shut breaking Charlotte's lock on the room. Charlotte flipped open her eyes back inside her bedroom where Morgan was standing.

"Well?" He asked.

"I found him, but my lock on him was broken." 

"How?" Morgan asked.

Fatima, for her part, broke the connection. She stood in the basement as Filipe came down the steps to find her and Sebastian. 

"What was it?" Filipe asked.

Fatima turned to him and lifted a brow "Telepaths." She whispered. "Someone knows he's here."

Sebastian didn't have the heart to tell Fatima it didn't take Charlotte's telepathy to find him; there were spies all over Welshport who'd already outed his placement there in her home.

The secret was already out.

B7/Ch11: A SACRIFICE OF SPECTORS

Lear & Eden present in Judge Banning’s Court

On a drizzly afternoon, crowds once again rushed the village courthouse where Judge Coleman Banning would once again preside over the outlandish and headline grabbing trial of the Welshport Witches.

Baxter Murphy, pen and pad in hand, sat front and center behind the defense table ready to take notes on everything from the accused's body language to the judge's facial expressions to the evidence present. 

The gallery was packed to the brink: the Lord family, Jacob, Celeste, Charlotte, Morgan sat bunched together in a corner of the room on the same side as Baxter, their eyes burning holes into him as they continued to bristle at how he'd weaponized their very own business to turn Welshport against them. 

Behind the Lords, Aurora sat between Lucas and Nikolas who held her hand as Evie was led into the courtroom with Matthew and Mary behind. Lear turned to Lucas, the man he'd fallen in love with and smirked happy to see he was there supporting him. Lucas winked back, encouraging him to keep doing his best. Lucas had become such a light in Lear's life, he only wanted to make him proud. 

Matthew then looked back, no family. Just a very kind friend in Lucas who'd been there for him too. Behind him Genevieve Thorne who'd come to be with Morgan as he was on the witness list. 

As the bailiff entered the room, the back door of the courtroom squeaked open causing heads to turn back, Jane Donnelly, the head of the household staff at Tirymor entered with her Cora Taylor. 

Baxter made eye contact with his estranged adopted sister; Cora's face froze. Her icy expression made him turn away quickly. Even after all that he'd done, he missed Cora, but he knew that was a bridge left burned behind him. 

"All rize." the bailiff announced. "Magistrate Colman Banning presiding." 

"Thank you, Officer Brady." Banning said, taking the files from the bailiff. 

"Judge this is case number 3891WPRT1915. The accused have been taken their oath in their cells, and the parties are now seated." 

"Good afternoon, I think we should just get this on straight away." Coleman said to the audience as a woman entered into the courtroom late. Her hair tied up in a dark chignon, her skin a warm tan and her eyes a strange tone of dark amber. 

As she passed a glass panel of the back of the courthouse wall to sit on one of the benches, the distorted image in the reflection was of Jacqueline Gray, not of the woman. The real witch of Welshport had shapeshifted again and entered the room.  

A strange sensation ran up Mary's spine. She felt suddenly cold. Her heart pounding in her ears. She turned her head back towards the gallery of people, a blur of faces: Jacob, Charlotte, Jane. Then the blur again her eyes welling up with water. 

She was clearly distracted while Judge Banning explained the case once more for the record. Then, Mary felt an urge to stand. The chains on her iron cuffs clinking between the Judge's sentences. 

Mary could feel Jacqueline but could not see her. Jacqueline, hidden behind the face of a woman unknown to Mary, smirked with delight knowing Mary could sense her presence almost like a ghost in the room, invisible to the skeptic’s eye.

"Mary, what are you doing sit down!" Lear whispered.

"She's here." Mary said out loud. "She's here!"

"Mary, what is it?" Evie asked. "Sit down." 

Mary turned her whole body around, her back facing the judge who was beginning to lose patience with the defense. 

"Mr. Lockwood, control your client." the judge ordered. 

"Yes sir." Lear replied feeling a bit embarrassed. "Mary, you have to sit down."

Baxter gleefully took notes.

"But I can feel her, and she is watching us. She's here!" Mary said out loud of Jacqueline, the woman who put them in this position in the first place.

"Who Mary?" Evie asked.

"It doesn't matter who," Matthew added in frustration. "She has to sit down."

Then Evie realized. "Jacqueline."

Matthew and Evie turned to the audience who were now seeing the three accused witches acting strange. Looking back into the crowd as if they were staring at them, the audience.

"This is bullshit." Jacob whispered to Celeste.

"What are they doing?" Aurora asked in a whisper. 

"Lear!" Nik shouted to the lawyer and motioning for him to get control of his clients.

"Show yourself. Why are you hiding?" Mary said out loud to the crowd who began to feel very nervous.

The crowd whispered and recoiled, fearing something was about to happen. A spell. Bewitchment. Something terrible and as a sudden thunderclap shook the windows of the building, Filipe entered the packed courthouse breaking Mary's gaze.

His face suddenly calmed her heart. Her eyes finally released the tears welling up and the powerful pull Jacqueline had over her vanished like smoke in the air.

Filipe could see how terrified and worried Mary was. He mouthed to her "sit down, Mary." 

And she did, followed by her co-defendants. 

"If you three want to live, I suggest you never ever do that again. Do you understand me?" Lear scolded. 

"But Jacqueline is...." Evie began. 

"ENOUGH!" The judge shouted back. "Are you clients through with their show Mr. Lockwood? Because I certainly would like to get on with it." 

"Yes sir, I apologize, we apologize."

At the prosecution desk, Eden took notes but felt very odd about the entire 2-minute interaction. The mayor leaned over the wooden barricade and tugged on Eden's sleeve "This should be a walk in the fucking park after that." 

Eden, who'd felt pressured by the mayor to push the case against the supposed witches, refused to look back at the mayor and acknowledge him. He felt as if it were drowning in a world of old folk tales and superstitions instead of a world where logic and understanding interpreted the law. He hated every minute of this trial against what he saw was lies. Mayor Churchill's only saving grace at making sure Eden remained steady in his prosecution was because of the people who died that night.

That is where Eden knew it could apply the law and where he hoped he could get convictions. 

As the judge continued to read off his script describing the case and what the trial would entail murmurs in the gallery continued to float up into the cathedral like ceiling of what had just happened.

"Seeing spirits." One woman whispered. 

"Must be." Her friend added.

"Maybe the devil?" A third older woman replied back.

"You think so?" The first woman asked. The other two shrugged. "Glad I brought my rosary." 

 "They're done for." The second woman whispered to the other two.

Cora and Jane heard this, looked at each other and worried. 

"They're done for." Jane mouthed to Cora what she overheard, Cora swallowed hard.

"The nature of this trial is if anything, strange. I caution everyone in this room to understand that at the core of it we have people on trial for not only breaking this very archaic law that that is long past due of repealing, but it’s also the law against man. Remember, people were killed. Those who died deserve justice for their lives. I want to be sure I get to that no matter what most of all." Judge Banning said.

Timothy smirked. 

"Let's begin then. Mr. Syndey, please call your first witness."

"Sir, excuse me." Lear interjected.

"Mr. Lockwood, yes?" 

"My client Mary Goode has confessed to the crime, as is her prerogative. In that confession She has stated that the others accused, Ms. Jordan-Lord and Mr. Winterborn had nothing to do with what she has confessed to. Could we expect a ruling on if your honor will still pursue charges against them? If one has confessed to a crime only committed by her and that the other three are innocent, surely the court can find that based that and a lack of evidence they should be set free." 

The judge took a breath, his eyes switching from Lear to Timothy and back again. "Yes, I understand your point Mr. Lockwood, but as I thought I made myself clear at oral arguments. In a court of law, we deal in evidence; any evidence, and this should still be the basis of whether or not I believe what Ms. Goode’s plea. If she is truly the only guilty party in this entire unfortunate case then the evidence will show that, and I will find the parties guilty or not guilty accordingly. Your argument, sir will be made on the record but I will still hear a case against all three.” The judge explained. 

“I Understand sir but we are worried that perhaps, uh…” Lear began to speak, hoping an idea would come to mind getting Evie and Matthew cleared of these crimes, but his mind went blank. Nothing came out of his mouth and everyone was waiting. 

His foggy mind was no anomaly. Jacqueline, in her disguise cleverly sent him a distant vibration deep into his psyche that erased any ability for his mind to connect his thoughts. 

“Lear? Lear they’re waiting.” Matthew whispered. 

“…you’re worried? I see that.” The judge chuckled. “Worried into silence evidently. Listen, Mr. Lockwood if Mary Goode is telling the truth, that the other two defendants are innocent she won’t have to worry about their conviction, evidence is a lawyer's best friend. Let’s hope you have it on your side. Does that clear things up?" 

Lear took a breath and replied embarrassingly “Yes....sir." 

Jacob sighed unhappy with his cousin's work failure.

"Good. Now, Mr. Sydney please call your first witness." 

Eden stood up and adjusted the grey vest under his matching grey suit. He licked his lips and announced: 

“I call Charlotte Lord.” 

The room filled with whispered and low gasps as Mary and Jacob’s daughter, the 14-year-old headstrong and independent beautiful blond stood up from the gallery bench behind her mother. 

Baxter quickly jotted down a description of the young heiress in her daffodil pink dress and matching lace gloves. 

Jacob grabbed her hand squeezed and winked, hoping she’d feel more relaxed. 

Charlotte stepped out in front of the court, ever the stoic and cool persona of a Lord and put her hand on the Bible handed to her by the bailiff.

“… the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god?” The bailiff asked her. 

Charlotte stared at the defense table, a wrinkle between her eyes forming with a slight frown seeing her mother in iron cuffs and in a quiet girlish voice said “I do.” 

****

The witch council convenes 

As the storm over Welshport clashed in the sky overhead like two titans battling out their most furious frustrations, far off into the mists of a place where no one could reach from the mortal world was the scene of yet another trial. 

This one, still in its preliminary stages, was held by a panel of three shrouded figures in dark cloaks seated in the shape of a triangle with their faces obscured by veils. In the center of this triangle a cauldron bubbled and burned heating the mysterious room they sat in as incense and myrrh perfumed the air all around them.

This was the witch council that had predicted, as if by prophecy, what was to come in Welshport for the troubled coven of the Sisters of Highgrove. Finally, they'd come together, the three veiled figures to discuss what could be done with Mary and Jacqueline's shattered sisterhood that had upended ways of sorcery. 

One of the shadowy council members stood and spoke in her scratchy voice.

"What say you two of the situations of our sisters. Their infighting has come to a pass and the accusation of witchcraft now plagues them. One showed her cards, the other seems to use it to her advantage. Both a-troubling."

"Both a-troubling." The other repeated.

"Both." Third agreed in a deep female voice. "Call upon the one that is free, the shapeshifter. Have her answer for these exposures. Have her come to face us three and we then impose sanctions of powers." 

"Sanctions would cause more of this. No sanctions. As We have seen she has betrayed her oath." The second witch said.

"We as guard have promised to make her pay." The first reminded.

"But bring the shapeshifter forth, yes. Ask her then to prove herself and save her sister. That is the only way." The second witch replied from behind her veil.

"Save her sister? How?" The first witch asked.

The other two slowly turned to each other almost as if choreographed, nodded, and turned back to the first witch still standing before them. 

The cauldron burned hotter as the second and third witch of the council stood. They both lifted their hands, and the flames grew hotter and hotter. The first witch then joined in with her hands in the air and suddenly on a stone platform off to the side something began to appear from thin air. 

A sleeping person. A body. Void of mind, void of conscious. The eyes closed; the heart frozen. 

"Call her forth, this shapeshifting witch." The first one said.

"Call her forth, this shapeshifting witch." The two others repeated.

then together they said "Then this knitch of this time will conclude. Send her a sign. Call her forth, this shapeshifting witch. Then this knitch of this time will conclude. Send her this sign." 

****

The Casadors

As two trials raged on two different fronts, a third ravaged the mind of Rebecca Lord-Casador as she stood in a grand drawing room of her mansion as her beloved white Bichon BeeBee yapped and played around the hem of her long black dress. 

Rebecca paid no attention to BeeBee only stared out into the storm dripping in pearls with her hair locked in tight red and grey curls crowning her head with elegance as the haunting gloom of the rain poured down over the misplaced gazebo in the garden.

As buttoned up and calm as she looked, inside her mind she only thought of Danielle Holten. She wanted that girl to stay far, far away from Caspian. Her entire marriage seemed to be on the brink of collapse, it was the only thing in her life that kept her happy. 

To be married. To be in love. To be with a man she cared for so deeply. 

Caspian's true identity had to remain a secret, or else the darkness that lurked inside of Viktor's mind and heart could return and, most importantly to Rebecca, she'd lose him forever. She had fallen so head over heels in love with him — this her last love of her life now that she was in her mid 70 — she could not lose him now. 

Caspian's daughter, Danielle, had to be dealt with.

"Penny for your thoughts." Caspian said, handing his slightly older wife a sherry. 

"What?" Rebecca said, turning from the storm out of her window and happily taking the drink.

"You were lost in thought." He replied as he sipped.

"It's this trial, every day something even more grotesque appears in the papers, and I keep thinking of ways to cut off Baxter Murphy's head." She replied with a giggle. "Metaphorically, of course." 

"Of course." Caspian replied with a grin. "No one in town worth their salt really believes there’ll be conviction, Rebecca. We should be focused on that. The truth." 

"We saw what Mary did, Caspian. I can't imagine how Lear will get her out of that." 

"True, the supernatural is hard to explain, but there's always a way." He said.

Rebecca turned back to stare out of the large windows in front of her. She thought about the secret she was keeping buried deep inside her mind of who he really was while staring at the gazebo that ironically had its own buried secrets underneath. She felt like that gazebo: beautiful, strong, yet fragile and figurehead for something much more macabre hidden below its serene surface. 

"Do you ever..." She began before pausing for a moment. 

"Do I ever what?" He asked caressing her shoulder lovingly as he too watched the rain fall in the garden. 

"Caspian, do you know how much I love you?" She replied turning to face him, so they were now inches apart. "Since the time we met, I have."

"We were meant to be together. Somehow this is what our fate marked down. I didn't have anything in my life that I could cling to after what happened to me and you've given me a home, a life, a family. I love you too." He said. 

"Family, yes." She replied. "And I would do anything for family, and I have done everything for family; to protect them. It's ingrained in me to protect what is mine. It's always been this way with me. The world is cruel, and it takes from us when we least expect it. I don't accept that as a fair way to live. I fight the cruelty of the world by taking and holding on to what belongs to me. The love I have for the people that I love, that’s where I shine." 

Caspian tilted his head. He sensed something odd in her words, almost as if she were warning him of something she had done or was planning to do. She turned again to watch the storm as it intensified with showers. He couldn't help the uneasy feeling he was getting from his wife. A strange and unwelcomed tightness in his gut told him there was something in the air beyond the storm itself. 

"You don't have to fight Rebecca. Not all the time." He whispered as he kissed her head. "I'm not going anywhere." 

She smiled but knew the fragility of what was happening. If he were to discover his real name, his own child, his true past, he’d leave her. At least this is what she feared. 

Caspian walked over to the hearth and begin to light a fire inside to warm the room. As the burning light ignited, he began to feel yet another one of his headaches burning his inside just as hot as the flames before him.

He winched in pain but quickly regrouped before his wife could notice. 

There were many secrets locked in that room. The reveal of either of them would spell certain disaster for the marriage of Caspian and Rebecca Casador. 

Rebecca knew now that she had to make sure her threat on Danielle was not a simple preemptive strike, but a lethal one. 

****

Christopher and Genevieve 

Elsewhere in town, Christopher Wesley and Genevieve Thorne sat in their room at The Welshport Inn scanning over the afternoon papers in horror of what they were reading. A real-life witch trial was actually taking place right down the street at the Court House.

Frustrated with it all, Genevieve tossed the newspaper into the fireplace and watched the flames engulf it, embers slowly encircling the name of the young 14 year old boy who was involved in the case, named as "the witch's surrogate son, Morgan Thorne.". Genevieve's son. 

"I don't know why he wants to stay here." She said of Morgan. "It's like he's addicted to them, to this place. He can't pull away no matter how bad it is for all of us." 

"You brought him here. This is his home now." Chris replied.

"It was the biggest mistake of my life." She answered.

"From what I know of this place nothing really lasts forever. Eventually some other scandal will take over and everyone will begin to follow that in the papers. Small remote towns are like that, Gen, we just have to keep on pushing through until we get to that place." Christopher replied to her surprise.

"What do you mean 'from what you know'? Welshport is new to you, isn't it?" She asked, starting to feel as if her original hunch that Chris was David had been true all along.

"I've been to plenty of small towns in my life." He replied.

"No." She said. "I don't think so. You know I'm getting really tired of being kept in the dark about a lot of things around me, I've had just about enough. I think it's time you tell me the truth and nothing but the truth, Christopher."

Chris stood up from his chair, his breathing shallowed. He suddenly felt nervous. Her tone of voice had never been quite this firm before. She crossed her arms across her chest waiting for him to reply to her. She would not budge and would not speak until he finally came clean with her. She knew he was David, she had always known but played along with him in his Christopher facade to please him, and perhaps to alleviate the pressures of doing Sabrina's ghostly bidding too. All Geneveive wanted now was her life back, her life with Morgan her beloved son and she wanted nothing to do with Welshport's past. 

"I don't know what to say." He replied.

"Let me help you, say this… 'I am David Lord.'"

Christopher gulped. He hadn't said his own name in years. He had divorced himself from his dark past of lies, secrets and murder and wanted to be free but at the same time he wanted to be there in the town it all began to somehow make things right. 

Christopher... David.... David... Christopher. 

He couldn't have it both ways. He couldn't live in the shadow of his old self and still fly in the freedom of his assumed name.

Geneveive tilted her head waiting for his answer.

"I am David Lord." He replied. 

She took in a deep sigh. Geneveive was released. She had found him. She had done what Sabrina really wanted her to do, bring David home but at the same time she knew how hard it was for Christopher, or David, to admit the truth, and the love she had for him once again washed over her. She walked over to him and looked deep into his warm green eyes. The eyes that she fell in love with him in London. She knew how troubled the man she met was the day she first laid eyes on his and having him finally admit to her what he tried to hide for decade meant a lot. 

She put her hand on his bristly cheek. He closed his eyes; a small tear fell down and puddled at her fingertip. He was somewhat relieved that he came clean to her but worried she'd force him to out himself. 

"You were David Lord." She admitted.

Seeing that she understood him after finally admitting who he truly was send a warm feeling over him. He reached over and pulled her into a hug, then he kissed her so passionately that finally they could move on together in a new light with the truth finally out in the open. 

****

Charlotte takes the stand 

Back in court, Charlotte was on the stand and Eden was about to begin his questioning. 

The young girl settled in her chair on the witness stand and scanned the packed room. So many eyes on her. If felt like she was a goldfish inside of a pet-shop staring at would-be takers. In the back of the room, Jacqueline too watched from behind the face of an unknown woman she shape-shifted into.

Jacqueline watched carefully waiting or her moment to turn the tables on Mary, and Evie. 

"Miss Lord, can you tell me how you are related to the accused?" Eden asked.

"Well sir, the lady in the dark dress is my mother, the lady in the dark dress with darker hair was married to my cousin, and the gentleman on the end is a friend of our family." 

"Your mother, are you and she close?" Eden asked.

Charlotte gulped. "Yes." 

"Always?" 

Charlotte looked at her father Jacob, his face flush with guilt now. 

"Mostly." the heiress asked.

"Mostly? So most of your life?"

"Most of my life, yes." Charlotte said.

"Miss Lord, is that really true? Because from what I have discovered is that you only really came back into contact with your mother on a regular basis only about 3 years ago. Isn't that so?" 

"Objection your honor." Lear said straight up. "Leading the witness."

"Overruled. Miss Lord can answer."

"That's true." She said.

Eden smirked. "Then how can you have been close to her most of your life if she only came around 3 years ago?"

"It wasn't like that,” Charlotte began. "You see she..."

Eden cut her off "Isn't it true there was a reason for that? For her absence?" 

"That's what I was going to say, sir, she and my father were not together as I grew." 

"And why is that? Why were they not together?" He asked. 

"I... I don't know." She said, her voice lower in tone.

"Are you sure? Are you sure you don't know? Why don’t you try to ‘know’" Eden replied antagonistically. 

"Objection your honor, badgering!" Lear replied.

"Your honor, I'm trying to get to a point here, but Miss Lord is being evasive with her answers." Eden replied.

"Overruled. But watch yourself Mr. Sydney. Miss Lord, please be sure when you are answering you are making a clear statement. Do you understand?

"Yes." She said quietly to the judge. 

"Please answer." Judge Banning ordered.

"My father told me that my mother lived a different lifestyle apart from how we lived and that when I was very little he had to take me from her and save me from -- that. Whatever that was." Charlotte replied as Celeste shot a look at Jacob.

Everyone in the Lord family circle knew Jacob had lied for years about Mary's supposed behaviors. He'd only started those rumors to use against her in a custody case for Charlotte. It had worked, and the scandalous lies had followed Mary since. 

"Can you tell me what happened at your cousin Sebastian's wedding to Evangeline Jordan, that lady who sit's to your mother's right?" 

Charlotte took a deep breath before answering. Jacob lifted a brow. 

"Sebatsian was shot." Charlotte replied 

Evie closed her eyes, her heart pumping faster. The memories of her nightmare wedding flooding back. She could smell the gun smoke. Sebastian’s blood. If she rubbed her hands together she could still feel the stickiness of his blood soaking them. 

Mary grabbed Evie's hand and squeezed.

"By whom?" 

Charlotte took a beat again to answer seeing how bad her answer was going to look. 

"My mother." 

The gallery whispered as the judge banged his gavel. 

"But it wasn't really my cousin!" Charlotte added quickly jumping into the lie her family had spun to cover Sebastian’s shocking return to life. "You see he'd been kidnapped by people who wanted money from our family, and they sent an imposter and that's the man my mother shot but it was all—it was all a ploy, faked by these charlatans." 

"Yes. So the police reports say. But none the less your mother shot a person she believed was her own cousin, yes?"

She took yet another beat to answer. "Yes." 

Mary held her breath. 

“Does that sound like a person in a good state of mind?”Eden asked. 

“I—I don’t know how to answer that.” Charlotte replied as Lear objected. 

“Your honor Objection! Conjecture!” 

“Sustained. Move on Mr. Sydney, get to your point.”

"Yes sir. Charlotte tell me about your grandmother, Eliza Goode, what did you know of her?" Eden asked.

"Not much, just that she was a very quiet person. Private.” 

"And you never met her, is that right?”

"No."

"You'd never heard of anything odd that happened on Goode Island?" Eden wondered.

"No."

“And you never knew of the things that happened on Goode Island before you lived there?”

Charlotte did know. Her whole life she had heard rumors thanks to Rebecca who has always spouted off about Charlotte’s “other grandmother” who’d “sold her soul”, a comment the young heiress struggled to understand as she grew up but eventually the truth came to her. 

“Your answer Miss Lord?” Eden pushed. 

 Charlotte decided to lie with a reply of  a quiet “no.” 

Eden’s eyes narrowed. 

As Charlotte's testimony continued, Lear could tell what Eden was doing. Establishing a pattern of bizarre behavior of Mary and her family that would sew not only doubt in the minds of all who sat in the gallery but also in the judge's mind about how Mary's mind operated. A woman who'd shoot someone in cold blood that everyone assumed was her own cousin couldn't be considered someone of a sane mind, and yet -- no evidence of witchcraft had presented itself. 

"Your cousin Evie, by marriage, I should say, at one point you all thought her dead. Yes?"

Charlotte confirmed this.

"And yet -- she returned to your family, very much alive. Yes?" 

Charlotte confirmed again.

"How can you explain this?" 

Before Charlotte could answer, she began to feel something in the pit of her stomach. A warmth. And it began to get hotter and hotter. 

Jacqueline, her fist squeezed tightly had grabbed hold of Charlotte with her powers. She closed her eyes and began to pull into Charlotte's mind. Charlotte felt the strange feeling but had no idea what it was, or how it was happening and suddenly Charlotte began to feel words bubbling out of her throat that she had no control over. 

"Stop. Please. Take your hands off me." Charlotte said, as Jacqueline mouthed the words at the same time.

Eden paused his questioning and looked around. The audience in the court too churned in their seats.

"Please. Please. Take your hands off my throat mother!" Charlotte said as Jacqueline mouthed the words like a puppeteer. "STOP!!" She screamed.

Mary didn't know what her daughter was talking about. Evie looked around. Matthew too. 

"What's happening?" Matthew asked. 

"Charlotte????" Mary whispered to her daughter.

"STOP HURTING ME MOTHER!!!" Charlotte screamed as she shot up from the witness stand, Jacqueline still controlling her.

"Oh my god." Jacob said in a whisper. "What is she doing?" 

"SHE'S BEWITCHED!!" A person shouted from the audience.

"STOP HURTING ME!" a woman shouted from the audience standing up from her seat. "EVANGELINE! TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF MY THORAT!" 

Everyone turned to stare at Evie who had no idea what was happening. 

Jacqueline controlling the other woman too.

"I CAN'T BREATHE. I CAN'T BREATHE!!!" A third woman said, falling to the ground and gasping for air. "She has my throat!!!" 

A domino effect of faux acts of bewitched people suddenly spilled into the audience from the witness stand. Six different people were all grabbing at their throats saying Mary and Evie had taken them and were strangling them. 

Jacqueline still in the body she shapeshifted into held her head down, mouthing all the words the others were saying and clenching both her fists so hard her nails had dug into the palms of her hands. 

"I CAN'T BREATHE!" the fourth woman said, rolling around on the courtroom isle. 

"SHE CLUTHES ME THROAT! THE WITCH! THE WITCH!!!" 

"WITCHES!!" A man stood up and pointed at the accused. 

"ORDER! I CALL ORDER HERE!" Judge Banning exclaimed. 

"Its her!" Mary said standing up at the defense table and turning towards the room. "WHERE ARE YOU!? WHERE ARE YOU HIDING?!"

The audience screamed and looked away from Mary fearing she was putting a spell over the room choking out several people including her own daughter.

"Stop!!! Please Stop this!" Evie screamed. 

"CLEAR THE COURTROOM!!! CLEAR IT NOW!!" The Judge ordered.

People began to quickly file out of the room. Guards and Bailiffs grabbed the accused and rushed them out of the courtroom and quickly begin to take them back to their cells. 

The women were still gasping for air. Jacob rushed to get hold of Charlotte who was also gasping, picked her up and began to carry her out while the rest of the room began to rush out fearing for their lives.

"What just happened???" Nik asked his mother as they made their way down the slick front steps of the courthouse.

Aurora had no answer. 

Mayor Churchill snuck back into the judge's chambers where Judge Banning was hanging up his black robe. The judge was sweating and had a confused and panicked look on his face. He couldn't understand what he had just seen, what he had just experienced. 

Churchill entered and quietly closed the door behind him. From the exit of the court room Jacob, still carrying Charlotte quickly turned his head back, his eyes darting to Churchill entering the judge's chambers.

He instantly felt his blood boil, and just before guards rushed him out, he knew what was happening. Jacob knew corruption better than anyone one else in town.

Inside the chambers the judge's mind raced. 

"Well, that was something, wasn't it?" The mayor said entering the judge's chambers. 

Banning turned and shook his head. "I -- I don't know what I just saw." 

"You just saw real life witch controlling people. At least that's how I see it. Now you know what to do." 

"But-- how? How could that have happened?" 

Churchill shrugged, happy with the results of something so odd and terrifying because it fit his narrative, and it fit his hopes to damage the Lord family once and for all. 

Grinning from ear to ear, he pulled out a thick envelope from his inside coat pocket and handed it to the Judge.

"This is the final one. I think it's very clear now what you should do at the end of this." 

The judge grimaced and stared at the envelope on his desk. It was filled with money. 

**

Outside, Jacob tucked his family into the car. He pulled his driver Aaron Hamstead aside before he jumped in the driver seat and took the car keys away. 

"Stay here. Get back in there and find out what Churchill is doing in the judge's chambers." Jacob ordered.

"But, sir?" Aaron said, noting the scene all around. 

"I'll drive us." Jacob noted. "Just get yourself in there and get me the information that I need." 

"Yes sir." Aaron replied. 

**

As the money changed hands in the office and Jacob began to suspect dirty deals, Jacqueline slowly exited the courthouse unrecognized by her shape-shifting skills and pleased with the chaos she had unleashed, but she'd quickly learn there was a price to pay for her little game.

She suddenly began to feel her own choking sensation. The body she had shapeshifted into started to faulter and she was quickly changing back and something else--- She was physically vanishing.

Jacqueline looked down at her hands and they were becoming transparent.

Seconds later, the choking stopped. She could breathe easy again and she was standing in front of the three cloaked and veiled figures in black --- the witch council had yanked her from the mortal world.

"Jacqueline Gray, Sister of Highgrove." The center witch spoke from behind the blackness of her veil. "You are accused of betraying your coven and of it's secrecy by inciting hysteria against your own kind. How do you plead?" 

Suddenly a new trial was to begin. 

****

A meeting in the forest 

That night, a hare raced through thickets and trees as fast as it possible could. It's little heart beating so fast it felt as if it would jump out of it's little body. The fear in it's little eyes told a story of something terrible on it's tracks. 

Something hungry. Something dangerous.

And within seconds the hare fell for a trap. 

In a struggled that lasted seconds, the hare's life ended in the mouth of Sebastian Lord, fanged, bleeding and thirsty for the blood of anything that wasn't human; his promise to Evie continuing not to harm a human.

But Sebastian was not alone. As the fog of the forest swirled at his feed and poor, blooded body of the hare fell to the ground, Sebastian felt as if he were being watched. He turned quickly behind him.

There was a figure standing there in a thick coat, a hat and obscured by the shadows of the forest.

The person stepped forward into the moon light, it was Jacob Lord. 

"What are you doing here?" Sebastian said, his fangs refusing to retract at the sight of his dastardly uncle.

"That's no way to greet a family member." Jacob said.

Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "How did you know I was here?" 

"You of all people should know I have spies in every corner of this island, son, I've known of your return for a while." Jacob said. 

"Aaron?" Sebastian wondered.

Jacob shook his head. "Not this time. He had other duties. You were seen late at night entering the fortune teller's home. This time of night I figured you'd need to feed. This is your favorite place." Jacob explained.

Sebastian turned his whole body around, facing his uncle, a man who killed him, a man who had fully been responsible for who and what he was. Their only truce came when they mutually fought off the devil inside Caspian. But Jacob had searched out his vampire nephew again -- not to fight, but for yet another truce.

"What do you want?" Sebastian asked.

Jacob removed his hat. The darkness of the night shrouded him, his dark blue eyes seemed black, Sebastian felt something sinister in his stance, something in the way he held his body that made him step back, but Jacob was not there to harm him. He needed his help.

"I need you to do something for me -- no the family. Something only you can do. Something that has to be done because of what I've seen today in court." Jacob explained.

"In Court? Evie? What happed, is Evie ok??" Sebastian panicked.

"She'd be better if Timothy Churchill was dead." Jacob replied without skipping a beat.

"What?"

"He's paying off the judge, I know it. I've already been told, the fix is in." Jacob warned. "He has to die. What he's doing to our family, the mothers of our children, can only end if that man is dead."

"And you want me to kill him?" Sebastian asked, Jacob did not reply. "No! I told Evie I wouldn't hurt another person. Its the only way she'll allow Gabriel near me. Besides if he's dead, it would come back that somehow the witches did it. I can't do that to them!" Sebastian said.

"Don't be foolish. This entire trial is farce. It'll end in a few days' time." Jacob replied. 

"If that were true you wouldn't be here in the dead of night asking me to do this. I can't do it." Sebastian replied.

Jacob sighed with frustration. It was true that he didn't know whether or not the trial would be shut down, not now, now that the judge was being paid off by Churchill. But he wanted Sebastian's powers, to use them for the family's advantage. He had to convince him -- but Sebastian was holding firm.

Jacob looked around the forest, the darkness in the distance didn't fear him, the animals that hid under the brush almost feared Jacob more than he feared the unseen. 

"I won't beg you to do this, and I won't come looking for you again to try and convince you. But think about it and remember, that this is your family too, our legacy is yours and in turn Gabriel's. Don't let that bastard shame us more than he already has. It will get worse, and when it does, I hope that he answers for what he's done, and frankly Sebastian, only you can do that. He deserves to die. I'll let you decide when." Jacob said.

Sebastian stood in the cold air that chilled his already cold skin. Jacob replaced the hat on his head, adjusted his coat and walked off into the forest where, his spy, Aaron Hamstead, was waiting on a trail to walk Jacob back to a car that was running on a road just up the ridge.

Sebastian looked down at the dead hare. It's body was in a serene position on the forest floor. A stain of blood sliced across his perfect fur. So much death surrounded Sebastian. Even worse, so much death that surrounded him was caused by him. 

The hare, a small innocent creature. A certain sacrifice, something to keep Sebastian alive. Or was it Sebastian's latest victim?  

Was Timothy Churchill next?