-----

Author's Note: Hi there...I bet you all thought I got lost in Ravencrest forest or something. Sorry for the massive delay, I promise it won't happen again. I had a bit of a struggle with this chapter, I wrote up to a certain but just couldn't figure out how to end it. The other day a few of the author DRU writers got together with me and we hashed out what I needed. This chapter is a bit shorter than the others but its a nice set up for the next one :) I'd like to thank djkauf and Indy for the magical editing and everyone for enjoying this universe :)

-----

TWENTY-THREE

“Sophie?”

I think the shock of seeing my friend took a few moments to set in. My brain however began to process things a few seconds before my mouth. If Sophie was here, it meant two things. One she was somehow here to rescue me, as crazy as that seemed. Hell, outlandish actually. Which left the second reason, the one that was much more believable but extremely hard to believe. Sophie was here now because she was with them. That thought weighed heavy on me, heavier than any thought I’d had in a long time. Here was this girl---the coolest girl I’d ever known---and she was a backstabbing bitch. She was in league with the very same people who had been after me from the beginning.

Sophie sighed. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“You have no idea what I’m thinking,” I said angrily, pulling at my bonds.

If I could get free, I might have enough time to punch her. It wasn’t much but it would sure make me feel a whole lot better.

“Actually I do” said Sophie, tapping her head. “It’s a bit of a gift---runs in the family. I spent many years honing my craft and I’m pretty good at it.”

Her craft? Did that mean…

“You’re a Witch?”

She smirked. “See I knew you’d figure it out given the right motivation.”

Sophie was a Witch. Was this the day of revelations.

“So what is all this then?”

She opened her mouth but was interrupted by Talbot. He stepped forward, pushing her away from the position she’d taken at my bedside.

“Miss Green” he said, his voice taking on a severe tone. “You will have time for this later. It’s important that things not be delayed any longer.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder. It was apparently the wrong thing to do. Sophie seized up, a look of pure anger and hatred spread across her face. The girl I once knew---the carefree, fun loving nut---was gone. Hell, I’m not even sure if she ever existed. Whoever Sophie was, this was her true face. As soon as Talbot touched her, I could feel the power ebbing from her. I’m not sure how she managed to mask it before, especially from the other witches in town but now it was radiating off her. She spun on Talbot so fast, the man stumbled backwards but staggered to a stop.

“You will give me a moment alone with her”

“We don’t have time…”

Sophie raised her hand, her fingers slowly clenching shut as if she were grasping an invisible object. No, not invisible. I looked over at Talbot and though he was barely visible in the shadows, I saw his body begin to twitch. It was as if someone had a hold of him and was squeezing the life out of him. No not someone: Sophie. This was her power, her craft. Somehow she was using magic to do horrible things to this man. Any given day I would have loved to see him get his just desserts but the pain that he was clearly in---there was no noise coming from him---but it was clear by the look of horror on his face that he was in excruciating pain.

“The mind is a truly fascinating thing,” said Sophie with a laugh. “The brain controls every little bit of your entire body. Control the brain and you control everything. You know what I’m capable of Mr. Talbot; you know what I’ve done and what I can do, so it would be very wise for your sake if you allow me a moment alone with my friend. Don’t you think?”

The man nodded his head but it wasn’t clear if he was doing it himself or if Sophie was making him do it. A second or two later, he stopped twitching. His body relaxed completely and I saw him wiggle his fingers a bit. He was in control again and he took that opportunity to flee from the room as quickly as he could. I watched him go then turned back to Sophie. Her magic---the terrible power she possessed---was the most frightening thing I’d ever seen. On a villainous scale, she made Darth Vader and Voldemort look like kittens. Ok, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but it was clear she was a person not to be trifled with.

She turned back to me, the anger disappeared and she was smiling again.

“Now where were we?”

I decided to take a stab at it. I wanted answers after all. “You were about to tell me what the hell is going on.”

She smiled. “It’s a neat trick isn’t it?” I nodded, not sure what else to do. “I discovered it when I was a little girl. You see most witches don’t come into their magic until their teen years but my family was special. At least that’s what I’ve been told. They had an unnatural affinity for magic, strong magical heritage actually. I’m not going to bore you with a history lesson though. Remind me to tell you about it later though, it’s really interesting.”

“Is there going to be a later?”

She laughed. “Of course there is…at least for you and me. I’m not sure about the rest of the town and frankly I don’t give a damn. You and I though, we’re going to leave this place together. Did I tell you my parents were loaded, my fake ones not, my real ones. MY real ones are deal, well the fake ones are too, but they left me loads of money. It’s amazing what a lot of money can get you. I spent quite a bit of it finding you actually.”

“Me?”

Why in the hell was she looking for me?

“You’re special Kelly, one of a kind actually. It’s not very often that a Dud becomes a Witch overnight.”

I shook my head. “That was an accident, a spell.”

She smirked. “You honestly think that moron you call a cousin did this to you?”

Of course, I did because it was the truth. Maybe it wasn’t the permanent reason why I was like this but it was definitely a contributing factor.

“Kelly I chose you for a reason.”

“And what would that be?”

She smiled, her features growing very soft. She ran her fingers gently through my hair as she spoke. “I need you Kelly. I know I’m not right in the head, I haven’t been for a long time but you’re going to help fix that. With you by my side, I’ll learn to be better. I’m going to teach you everything I know, too. No more reading dusty old books, I’m talking about real magic. I’ve been in your head Kelly; I know what you’ve been thinking. Mary knows real magic and you’re a bit jealous of it.”

I’d be lying if I denied it. I’m not saying I totally agreed with her, of course, but I was angry that I wasn’t learning any true magic. That didn’t mean I was willing to abandon my studies though and run off with some nut job like Sophie. A nut job who…

“Wait, how many times have you been in my head exactly?”

She bit her lip. “A few.”

Damn it. “If you want me to trust you, you need to be completely honest with me” She nodded. “So how many times since coming to Ravencrest have you been in my head?”

“Three or four but the first time you asked me too.”

What the hell was she talking about? “When?”

“The day in the diner, right after Troy attacked you in the street. You said you wished he’d wrap his tree around a car and so I made it happen.”

“You?” A sudden thought occurred to me then. “You used me, didn’t you?”

“I couldn’t do it myself. I didn’t want the Coven to know I was in town after all so I was playing things low key.”

Something seemed to click then. I’m not sure how or why it came to me but when it did it hit me like a ton of bricks. “It was you in the alley that night wasn’t it? At my birthday party when I was attacked. I know I blacked out but Miss DeWitt claimed I was the one who killed that guy.”

She smirked. “A loose end. If he had talked then my secret would have been out.”

“You were their boss!”

She nodded. “They were supposed to get you for me but they failed. When they failed in California that first time I decided to take matters into my own hands, but I also had to keep up the pretense so I kept having the two of them coming after you. They were supposed to push you into your magic, make you use it. I lost all hope until you let them have it in the alley; I was beginning to think that you truly were a Dud after all. I wanted to see if you were Raw like me, and boy did you ever prove it. That’s why I know you and I will be perfect together. It was how it was meant to be. It’s what this whole thing is really about.”

She leaned forward and wrapped me in a hug. “You have no idea how long I’ve been trying to find you.”

When she pulled away, I saw tears running down her cheeks.

Sophie was clearly unhinged but I didn’t want to do anything to set her off. I saw what she could do when she was angry and I didn’t want that.

“So, what about the Black Cross?”

She laughed. “Long gone. They died with my real parents. Mom and Dad ran them, took over from my grandfather. I figured spreading a rumor about them popping up in Africa would get your parents out of the way. I needed you in Ravencrest, I needed you to Awaken. I knew there was no way you could do it back in crummy Carsonville. You needed to be here where magic was strong and where the Real You could be found.”

I nodded. I needed to keep her talking. The more she talked, the longer it would take. It was clear Sophie had orchestrated this whole thing but it was the other guys I was worried about. I didn’t like the way Talbot was talking earlier. It was clear that Sophie thought she was in charge of things but Talbot was definitely running the show here. I’m not sure what he was up too but I had a strange feeling it has something to do with the Vault.

“What about the Vault?”

“The night we went out, I slipped something in your drink. It was harmless but it made you a little sleepy. I was planning to use you right then and there but those vampires got in the way” I could hear the venom in her voice when she said vampires. “When you got home though and fell asleep, I used you then.”

“Why me, though?”

“I needed a witch who I knew couldn’t be tainted by the darkness inside, someone innocent and pure. I could have used Mary but she had this edge to her that wouldn’t have worked. I only used her once and believe me that’s one body I never want to walk around in again.”
Used her? Oh right, the bike tires.

I felt kind of bad for Miss DeWitt now. Here I was denying everything and she’d been right all along. I had done all the things she accused me of. Of course, it wasn’t really me but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that she had been right and now she was dead. Dead because of Sophie. She could think whatever she wanted, but just that fact alone was going to keep me from agreeing to anything. Not that I was ever going to agree to being BFFs with her now.

Right now, I needed to play along because I had one more question.
“The Vault, what did you have me take?”

Sophie smiled; it was a devious one, not like anything I’d ever seen her throw my way before. It kind of reminded me a bit of the look she was giving Talbot earlier---before she got all scary on him that is. She gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

“It was a means to an end. They wanted something in return for my help…something special to them. I don’t really understand all of it but they made me get this weird tattoo on my shoulder and swear to secrecy. All I know for certain is that it’s something they’ve been looking for.”

She probably would have elaborated further but I heard the door open.

“Change of plans” said a stern voice as three robed figures walked into the room.

Sophie snapped around, ready for a fight. She didn’t get a chance though. One of them threw something on the ground; there was great big flash of blinding white light. It filled the entire room and all I could do was scream as rough hands reached toward me.

For someone who’s been spending a lot of her time getting knocked unconscious, you’d think I’d get used to it by now. But it didn’t matter how many times it happened, I don’t think I was ever going to get used to the world going all black around me and waking up in some crazy, dark place. So once again, I opened my eyes, half expecting to be in the dark and tied down once again. I didn’t even react to reaching up and brushing my hair out of my face. It was one of those reflex moments that I didn’t think about until a few seconds later. As soon as I realized that, I also realized I was no longer in the same room as before. It was still pretty dark but not as dark as before either. I could see a distant light, very faint; at the end of what I thought might be a hallway.

I bit back the urge to shout for someone.

Instead, I pushed myself to my feet, stumbling a bit in the dark. I was hoping the distant light might be enough to guide my movement but sadly, it was lacking. I took another step or two before realizing I might actually fall and possibly break my neck. I stopped moving to take stock of my current situation. Ok, so it was pretty much the same as before but this time---as far as I could tell---there was no Sophie or creepy robe guys hiding in the dark. I tried to weigh my very limited options. I already agreed to do whatever it was they wanted---I needed to make sure they didn’t harm Maggie, Mary and whoever else they might have grabbed. I also needed to make sure that whatever happened to the town could be reversed. Of course, all of that was a mute point until I could figure out how to get the hell out of here.

Risking another chance, I took a few steps. I didn’t stumble blindly this time. I kept my arms out in front of me, hoping I’d run into something eventually. I was expecting to hit a wall; I wasn’t expecting to hit something squishy. Actually, I stepped on it.

“Damn it,” snapped a voice, causing me to nearly jump out of my clothes.

I knew the voice. “Mary?”

“No, Angela Lansbury, of course it’s me” she snapped.

I took only a second to find her and when I did, I found myself giving her a hug. I know a bit uncharacteristic of me but she wasn’t pushing me away so it was clear we were both happy to see one another. The hug didn’t last long and as soon as it was over, we went back to our respective corners of darkness.

“How long have I been…?”

“About ten minutes” she interrupted. “They dragged you in here and then left.”

“Where is here exactly?”

“Damn if I know,” she sighed heavily. “I was out when they brought me here. When I woke up, I was in this place. I think we’re in some kind of large basement or something. The walls are stone, the floor concrete.”

I guess that made sense. “Any idea where?”

“Only a few places like this,” she said, clearly having given it some thought. “It’s too big to be one of the residential places and the mansions in town are way too modern. If I were to guess I’d say one of those old warehouses by The Pit.”

Did warehouses have basements?

We stood in silence for a few moments. I let what she said sink in for a bit. Whoever these Black Horn guys were, they were pretty organized. To be able to pull off something like this---including finding a base of operations here---had to mean things were well planned out. It scared me to think that a group like them could easily pull something like this off. Did that mean they had someone on the inside, someone here in town pulling all the shots? To even think about something like that made my skin crawl. My skin crawled even more when I realized how close Sophie had been to me all this time.

“I was set up” I softly admitted.

“What are you talking about?”

“I had this friend---Sophie---she kind of turned out to be not much of one.”

“The girl Scarlet said wasn’t at school?”

I nodded, tearing up. “she said she came here for me which doesn’t make any sense. Why would anyone do all this just to get to someone. Why am I so…”

I broke down and found Mary’s arms around me. I sobbed into her shoulder. Her compassion surprised me. This was Mary, after all. She held me for a long time, allowing me to get my cry out. I’m not sure how long we stayed that way. She held me even after I stopped, speaking softly and kindly to me. Her words were totally lost to me but the intention was felt: she genuinely cared about me. When we finally parted, I wiped my eyes and cheeks.

“I’m sorry I got you into this mess.”

She scoffed. “I’m sorry we didn’t hail a cab.”

I laughed, it was refreshing. I knew she didn’t mean it of course. Mary was always one to mask things behind her sarcasm. I think that’s where the whole “Malice” thing came from.

“I’m trying to be serious here; we’re in real big trouble in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I’ve been in worse.”

There was no pleasing this girl and clearly no topping her either.

“Are you going to take this seriously? These people are dangerous. Sophie does something, I’ve seen it. She makes Darth Vader look like Mr. Rogers. She’s dangerous. She started choking this guy and there was nothing in her eyes, they were dead. She had this wicked smile too like she enjoying it way too much. Mary, we can’t fight something like that.”

“Maybe you can’t…”

“Damn it Mary this isn’t about either of us anymore. Stop being a jealous bitch for once and try to face reality.”

There I said it. I’d finally said it. I’d been wanting to say those exact words to her for over a month. I’m not sure what was holding me back but now that I’d said it, I felt a little more relieved. Unfortunately, this was hardly the time nor the place to be having this kind of conversation.

“You think I’m…I’m not…”

Her words were interrupted by the sound of metal scraping against concrete. A second later, there was a footfall. She shut up quickly and I felt her grab my hand, squeezing it tightly. The beam of a flashlight swung into the room. It danced slowly across the floor until it fell upon our faces. We couldn’t see whoever was holding the light but he wasn’t wearing a robe like the others. At least I couldn’t see him but apparently Mary recognized him.

“You, I should have known,” she snapped.

The figure stepped forward, lowering the beam. He stopped for a moment until I heard something that sounded like keys jingling. He moved forward quickly. “I had no idea this was going to happen. They threatened me…if…well it doesn’t matter, you two have to leave now.”

I didn’t recognize the voice but somehow Mary must have seen his face.

“This is your club isn’t it?”

He didn’t answer but now I knew who he was. I didn’t know the man’s name but I understood what Mary was implying. We weren’t somewhere near The Pit, we were actually in it. We must have been in the basement, possibly a storage room or something. It made a bit of sense, actually. What better place to hide than in a place where every seems to go. Ok not everyone but enough people to hide safely.

“What the hell is this?”

“They’re going to do something to her,” he said, his keys still jingling, as if his hands couldn’t stop shaking. “I’m not sure what but I can’t stand here and let that happen.”

He clicked on the flashlight again, giving us a quick view of the room as he swept it about. I was right about being in some kind of storage area but was surprised at how much room there. Sure, it was lined with metal shelving units and lots of boxes but here I thought Mary and I were in a tiny space. In truth, we actually had a lot of room to maneuver. WE also didn’t seem to be in any kind of cage like I had originally thought. It just seemed to be the two of us locked up in this room. It wasn’t very smart but then again I don’t think these guys were thinking about us escaping.

“This warehouse used to be used to run rum during prohibition. There’s a lot of tunnels like this underneath it. I know most of them like the back of my hand. I can lead you two down one and get you to safety.”

Still using the light, he beckoned us to follow. Mary didn’t waste any time but I was still a bit reluctant. I didn’t say anything though as he led us toward the entrance to the room. The light at the end of the tunnel I saw actually came from a single bulb dangling in the main tunnel. There was a cone of light that surrounded it but darkness in either direction beyond. It was definitely creepy. Mr. Breem---the Club owner guy---led the way, his flashlight guiding us. We didn’t say a word as we followed him but Mary kept a hold of my hand the entire time. I think she might have been a bit more freaked out about all of this than she was letting on. After all, we’d had a busy night. If following this guy meant it was going to be over all that much faster then so be it. I was happy to do whatever he wanted as long as he got me back to my family and friends in one piece.

Friends…oh Shit.

I let go of Mary’s hand. “Where are we going exactly?”

“Out of here” said Breem, annoyed that we stopped.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, thinking of Maggie.

There was no way I was leaving my best friend here.

Mary sighed. “We’ll get help, come back. No one is going to get left behind.”

“It’s not your best friend back there,” I said, standing my ground. “I’m not leaving without Maggie.”

Mr. Breem groaned. “I’ll buy you a new one. Now c’mon before they notice you’re gone.”

He angrily grabbed my wrist. I guess I could see it from his point of view---if only for a second. He was risking a lot trying to help us but I didn’t give a fuck. I yanked my arm from his grip. There was no way I was leaving Maggie behind. If that meant he took off without us then so be it. I caught sight of his face in the glow of the light. I saw it in his eyes---that’s exactly what he meant to do. So no more hero for him. He’d rescued the damsels and now instead of staying around to help like the knight he thought he was he was hightailing it out of here like the court jester.

Well fuck him.

“Leave then but I’m not going without Maggie.”

“This is bullshit,” snapped Breem, a little louder than he should have. “You two are fucking idiots. Stay here and get killed, I’m out of here.”

He stormed off down the hall toward his exit, taking his light with him. I watched the beam bounce down the hall. The figure a few feet ahead of him was barely illuminated before a shot rang out. The blast from the gun was pretty loud. It echoed down the hall. I let out a scream as Breem’s body dropped---I know, I’m such a girl now. Mary grabbed my hand and whipped me around; I think she was hoping the jerk didn’t see us. Not that it mattered though. We got about ten feet before we ran into someone. Mary tried to fight but our new friend had others and it wasn’t before long that there were three of them---not including Breem’s shooter---surrounding us.

“Very clever girls” said a voice I recognized as Talbot’s. “But not clever enough.”

I spit in what I hoped was his face.

He let out a low laugh. “I’m tired of waiting. Take her upstairs, we need to get this started soon.”

Two rough hands grabbed a hold of me tightly. I kicked and squirmed but it was no use. They dragged me down the hall and to whatever fate awaited me.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF