At first, Lia didn’t answer Mitchell, her mind still a bit heavy, but once she finally registered his question she sighed. “Checkov wants Kathleen and I to actually attend the ball this year. I simply went the logical route and assumed that you and Atticus would be our escorts… unless of course you both already had dates.” She answered him, quietly. “He has been trying to formally introduce us as his coven witches for a while now, but I keep making excuses. Finally caught up with me I guess.” She said. Checkov was a very interesting character as she had found out just before she had met Mitchell for the first time. [I]It was the first time she had been alone in a room since she had arrived the night prior, well, aside from the vampire who had taken to bandaging her broken ribs as Checkov went to fetch her new bodyguard. She had been silent, having been given dry clothes and allowed to shower, but she was in pain, and she saw herself in the mirror and touched her face before hopping on the table and sitting, her feet dangling down. “Is there anything else?” the vampire asked, and Ophelia drew the sweater closer around her. “Why is he in need of a new coven witch?” she whispered and the female sighed. “He burned his last at the stake. A restless soul she was, and he had discovered that she had plans to rebel. Of course, he tortured her first. Fifth restless soul he’s found that’s tried to betray him, but you have nothing to worry about, you’re balanced.” The female left, and Lia removed the sweater, inspecting herself. She was bruised, beaten, and exhausted from the last 55 years, and she could hear the storm outside. Her eyes were cold now, not what they were ages ago, but the amber hue remained. “And this is Ophelia Lockhart.” Checkov’s voice came, and she looked to him and the man beside him. She had been so absorbed in herself that she hadn’t hard them come into the room. To be honest, she wouldn’t deny that he had a certain charm about him, but she didn’t feel relaxed at all. “Ophelia, this is Mitchell Anderson, your new body guard.” He introduced before leaving. Ophelia remained silent, trying to take everything in. However, he spoke, and she looked to Mitchell. “Lia,” she corrected, her voice barely a whisper, “I prefer Lia.” Honestly, he didn’t seem to bad, but she carefully got off the table and held her side. She looked to him. “Look, I’m not going to lie to you here, Mitchell, but I’m tired, and I really don’t need a guard.” She was sure he could argue with her on how she looked alone. She headed to the door, taking slow movements, actually feeling the pain she was in, looking for the room she was supposed to be staying in. She could feel him following her. “Don’t hover, don’t pry, and stay the hell away from me. We shouldn’t have issues then. I don’t trust you, I don’t know you, and I don’t want to.” She managed to get to her room and closed the door in his face. She didn’t bother to lock the door, but as she approached the bed she noticed that Checkov was sitting at the edge of it. He looked to her and motioned for her to sit. “Firstly, no matter how much you protest, Mitchell will be your bodyguard. He has experience in the field and you will need one. Second,” he paused looking her over, “I have an assignment for you.” “An assignment?” she asked. “Yes,” he began, “I have heard of the Lockhart witch line, I know you are a capable sort, which is why I sought you out personally. I need you to look into breaking the vampire curse to the sun.” She gave an odd look. “That is extremely old and delicate magic. I can’t screw it up, so it could take me years, decades even to even translate the spell from its original language, much less attempt to dissect it.” Checkov nodded. “That is what I ask, you have my full library and what knowledge we have available to you. Anything else I will send others out to find.” She nodded, “Who here has any magical knowledge?” He chuckled, “Mitchell.”[/i] It took her a moment to register Mitch’s second question and when he explained he was from the east she couldn’t help the chuckle that left her. “You dealt with Issack? God, I can see why you left.” She said, bitterly before she gave a small nod. “I was back east for a time. Ever heard of New Salem and Sanctuary? Both witch havens , so quaint and quiet. We didn’t bother anyone.” She looked down and then back to him. “About 100 years ago they were both burnt to the ground and Issack did nothing…” She stopped herself, feeling herself getting upset as she spoke but she continued after a moment. “Back east, I wasn’t known for being a Lockhart or a balance soul, I was known for something much worse. You probably heard of me… they used to call me the Death Witch.” The name left a sour taste in her mouth and she felt the old feelings of regret come over her. “Things were different then, I watched people I had been with for 25 years burn at the stake before me and another witch fled. I killed 17 hunters, I burnt my home to the ground to protect her. She was so young… so much to live for… so I did what I could to draw the hunters to me.” She stopped herself, seeing the glow of fire when she shut her eyes. “Issack said that it wasn’t [i]beneficial[/i] to him to break the alliance with the hunters for some [i]second rate magical freaks [/i]. He set us up when we were leaving our meeting with him, the hunters managed to take one of us.” She looked up to him. “Abel practically threw himself to them though. I’ve never hated someone so much as I hate Issack. And it’s why whenever Checkov asks me to attend the meetings I make up excuses. It took everything I had not to set Issack on fire in there.” She quieted as they approached the cottage and when they got to the porch, Ophelia gave a nod. “Yeah, and when you get back I need your help setting up an anti – magic field in my room, just until this nightmare passes.” She said, but she grabbed his arm before they went in. “Just, please, don’t lead on like I said any of what I just said. It’s not time for them to know about me being a necromancer.” She couldn’t bring herself to say the other name, but she was a necromancer, and one of the few who wasn’t completely dark. She let go of his arm and headed inside, removing her shoes and placing them beside Kates before she smelled it. “I see someone learned to cook.” She remarked off hand, and when she looked at Atticus she moved her arm and gently hit Mitch’s. Atticus was wearing an old pink apron she had found ages back when she was allowed to clean up the cottage for a home and his hair matched. Ophelia knew this was all Kat and didn’t want to spoil her amusement. “I’ll be upstairs, tell me when food is done.” Ophelia headed up to her bedroom and closed the door, lighting her sage and lavender to calm the air about her as she changed into a pair of black sweat pants and a matching hoody and she sat on her bed, staring blankly at the wall. Kat had seen a memory she had tried to use to block the negative energy from her nightmares. Mitch just got to hear a bit of her past, and she felt odd, a sort of vulnerable she hadn’t felt in years. She hadn’t opened up like that to many, and those she had were now either dead or MIA. She heard Atticus calling up to her not long after and she slowly headed down stairs. If seeing Issack didn’t bring on the nightmare sooner, like she had a feeling it would, she had a feeling that her state of mind right now would. -- Atticus let Kat play with his hair when she started to, a smile coming over his face as she began making garlic and cheese bread. “Thanks doll,” he said, using his best gay voice, “I’m sure I look fabulous.” He said, but he heard the porch and stopped dancing almost too abruptly and nearly fell on the floor , catching himself on the counter before he could fall. He looked to the door when Mitch and Lia came in and smiled. “Hey. We’re making kitchen sink soup.” He said, but when he heard Lia make her comment a rather fond memory came to mind. One of the few times he wasn’t around vampires or alone even. He had met a young girl named Alessandra about 75 years back who traveled with him up to the border of the wolf country. He and a group had managed to get stuck in wolf country for a while, but he met up with Alessandra who he was almost certain was human, but as he thought back on it she couldn’t have been… [I]Atticus was up early, the small shack he and Alessandra had been sleeping in while the rain came through filled with the smell of the one thing Atticus knew how to make. Kitchen sink soup. The sand blonde girl with bright amber eyes smiled as she stretched when she woke up. “I see someone learned to cook.” She joked, rubbing her eyes and pulling her dreadlocks up into a bun looking thing. “Whatcha making?” she asked. “The only thing I know how.” He said, and Alessandra smiled, sadly. “Too bad my mom isn’t around. She could make this chili that was absolutely to die for.” Alessandra said. Atticus looked back to her, and she sighed. “What happened to your parents?” he asked, and she shrugged. “My dad died a while back, he was trying to protect my mom from some kind of monster I guess, and my mom… I don’t know.” She said. “But enough about me. We need to get you heading north again. The end of wolf country is about a days hike off.” “Where will you go?” he asked, putting the soup into two bowls. “Not too sure, been thinking about going out west, seeing the mountains and all. From there I may head north. You never know, we might meet up again.” She smiled. [/i] Atticus shook his head a bit and he stirred the soup and got out some bowls and began making everyone a bowl. “Foods done!” he shouted up the stairs, and he heard Lia coming before he caught himself in one of the mirrors that was placed around the house. He touched his hair and looked to Kat. “Color coordination is definitely your thing.” He said, sitting at the table and when he saw Lia sit down for some reason his mind went to Alessandra again. “So,” Lia began. “After lunch, Kat, we kind of need to figure out sleeping arrangements for the next week.” Atticus rose a brow. “Why?” he asked. It was quite possible he missed a whole conversation while he was sitting in his own mind. Due to his bout of amnesia where he couldn’t remember anything from when he was younger, he was often prone to fall out of reality when he remembered things. “You and Mitchell will be staying here for a week.” Lia said, and he nodded. “Alright.” He would have to ask Mitch later what was going on, but he was going to go along with it for now. With the thought though, he removed the apron and looked to Kat. “As much as I would love to keep the pink, mind changing it back before I have to go put things together. I’m not staying here for a week and having to wear these clothes all the time.” He said. He looked about the table, glad everyone was eating, and he got his tea made again, bringing Kat her drink before he saw Lia get up and make her tea and Mitchell some coffee. Neither of them seemed really there. “So, a week?” Atticus asked, and he received a nod. “I get to sleep in for a week?” He was liking the idea of that, but he knew it wasn’t likely. He was too used to getting up early to meet with the girls, and he ate some more of his soup as he tried to imagine why they would be able to stay. He was thrilled, he had often thought it would have been better for them to stay with them all the time simply because then they were always protected, but Checkov and the elders had been adamant about them not staying together. [I]Atticus and Mitchell were in the kitchen, like most early mornings, and it had been a year since Kathleen had joined them. Atticus rubbed his eyes and leaned back. “I don’t understand the elders reasoning on us not staying with them.” He complained, looking towards the stairs. “When I asked Lia about talking to them about it she said that there wasn’t a snow ball’s chance in hell of it happening. I may talk to them one of these days man, this is ridiculous.” He got up and made himself some tea, bringing Mitchell some more coffee. “Especially after the wolves almost getting in last week. I mean, sure, there aren’t too many here, but still. And what if the hunters decide they’re going to infiltrate?” Atticus didn’t realize that Checkov had entered and when he heard his chuckle. “Atticus, it’s just not a good idea. You two get your breaks being away from them. Plus we have guards at the walls, and if you knew their history, or the bits I do, you would know these girls can hold their own until help arrives.” He said, sitting at the kitchen table. “Sir, the sun will be rising soon.” Atticus reminded and Checkov nodded to the stairs where Lia was descending. “I’m aware, I just need to have my weekly meeting with Ophelia early, the South coven and I are having our meetings tonight, so our normal time block is full. Don’t worry about tagging along Mitchell, she will return in one piece.” Checkov said, rising and opening the door for Ophelia. Once they were gone Atticus sat back, “He still scares me when he does that.” He remarked, heading up the stairs and peering into Kathleen’s room, looking over her still sleeping form. She was a wild one, one of the new vampires had tried to attack her, but she had managed to handle herself until Atticus incapacitated them. It had been their first close call with a newbie, and he could never understand why they were drawn more to Kathleen. They had been since her arrival, but Atticus shook the thought from his head and headed downstairs. “He sat back with Mitchell and sighed, “Am I just overreacting?” he asked, running his fingers through his hair.[/i] A knock at the door drew Atticus back and he saw Checkov there with his right hand man. “Hello,” he greeted, his eyes looking over the four sitting at the table as he took a seat as well. Atticus took note of the other vampire standing rather close to the door. Even Atticus knew the only reason they were here at this hour was because there was no sunlight threatening them today. He could feel the oncoming storm, it would probably reach them tonight, but the sky was already growing darker and the rain picking up some more. “Hello, sir.” Atticus greeted, but he noted how Checkov looked over the cottage. It was as if he were sizing it up for something, and Atticus spoke again. “Is everything alright sir?” “Yes, yes, I have just come to extend a dinner invitation to your four. The elders, Issack, and I will be dining tonight in the main hall, and the elders have asked for me to come invite the four of you.” He said. Atticus looked to Kathleen and then to Ophelia. “Unfortunately, sir, I must respectfully decline. The change in weather has me in a bind on lessons for Kathleen, so I need to rework my lesson schedule.” Ophelia said, and Checkov gave a nod. “And what of the rest of you?” he asked. Atticus looked to Kathleen again. His decision relied heavily on hers. He wouldn’t go if she did, and he would go if she decided to. He didn’t understand why the invitation was being extended when he knew every time that almost all of them would decline. Something about Checkov had everyone on edge, and soon his right hand man took to standing on the porch, and Atticus heard him speak again. “I must be going if any of you do decide to join us, we will be dining at seven, I have a meeting with the elders now.” He barely waited for any argument or protest from anyone and left, and Atticus got up and looked at them, “That was odd.” He mumbled.