Atticus looked at Mitch after he answered his question and he shrugged at his apology. “Don’t worry about it. We’ve all got that thing that makes us act like that.” He said, and soon he was told he could head up to the bathroom. However, he first let Cassandra in, and watched very briefly before he headed up the stairs, grabbing his bag before he did so. When he got in the bathroom, he turned the shower on and stripped out of his wet clothes before he got in. The hot water felt nice against his skin, and he sort of lingered in it a bit longer than he would have, but his mind was still a bit hazy. What the hell had triggered that little half a memory to come through, and why was it still so distorted? Like the person in it had been the same from that first one. He didn’t understand it. He didn’t understand any of it, why would someone bind his memories period? He thought a moment, back to what Kat had said. She said she could help him, if he wanted her to, and he was considering it. Highly considering it. He got out of the shower, and dried off before putting on his sweats. He didn’t expect they’d be going elsewhere tonight, especially with the storm and how late it was getting. He gathered up his things and headed down the stairs, being sure to put his wet clothes on the porch before joining everyone. He’d grab his clothes in the morning and wash them then. For now they could just sit outside so they didn’t get anything else dirty, or start to smell. He sat at the table, looking a bit between everyone before Kat spoke to Cassandra. All he could do was give a small smile, knowing what she was trying to do. -- It was definitely good to see Cass again, Lia noted as they began conversing. Cass looked over to Kat when she asked about Starforge and smiled. “Oh, everything is just fine there, sug. My witches just needed a few special items from the elders there. There are just some things I gotta get from the North for them.” She said. Lia looked over to Kat and gave a gentle look to her when she asked about Starforge. The past may not have been brought up often around here, but she had known that it was where Kat had come from. Personal details hadn’t really been discussed, even with how close they seemed to feel, no matter how much Lia… she shook her head a bit at the thought. When Cass asked to be caught up, Lia heard Mitch answer her and she nodded. “It’s been relatively boring around here. Aside from Kat joining us, nothing else has really happened.” Lia agreed, and she saw Cass cast a look between the two of them. “So, nothin’ else?” she asked and Lia shook her head. “Mmm-hmmm…” Lia gave a confused look to Mitch, seeing him mirror her confusion. What did Cass think? She heard Kat compliment Cass hair before she even noticed Atticus was back. “Oh, thanks sug! I use rosemary and mint to keep it extra clean and I used jasmine to make it smell nice.” Cass said and Lia went about cutting more brownies, sliding a plate in front of Atticus and the next one in front of Mitch. “What do you do to yours because it looks softer than silk.” She smiled. Lia was glad that Cass was there, and once the hair conversation was over, she turned to Lia. “So, sug, are you at least a little excited about the ball?” Lia shrugged, “I mean I guess I am. Not like I’ve ever been to one.” She half mumbled the last bit to herself and Cass gave her a look. “I could have swore you went with Bianca.” Cass said before she noticed Lia look down. “Sorry sug, I didn’t realize that...” Lia shook her head, “It’s fine.” She said, taking up her cup and taking a sip of tea. “Who is Bianca?” Atticus asked. Cass looked to Lia who just kind of waved off the question, “It was nice seeing you Cass, but I’m going to head up to bed, I have a few things to take care of.” She said, giving Cass a small hug and a kiss to each cheek before heading up to her room. Cass sighed and shook her head a bit. “Sorry. I didn’t realize she didn’t talk about it still.” She apologized before her eyes darted to the stairs. “Bianca was her younger sister. That’s all I’ll say, I know she wouldn’t want me to say much else.” Atticus nodded a bit, deciding that a change in topic was a good idea. “So, what’s the South like? I never made it real far South because of the wolves while I traveling.” Cass gave a gentle smile and nodded a bit, “Well, sug, it’s beautiful. Full of lush forest and great music. Not to mention it’s got character and style, and you don’t gotta deal with the cold. Oh, it’s wondeful. Sure, we’ve got a bit of a wolf problem, but the witch council has been helping me resolve it here as of lately. Since Danielle took over the council, it’s been a lot more peaceful.” She said with a smile. -- Lia had decided to call it a night after Cass accidentally brought up her sister. Even she knew it wasn’t all Cass’s fault… the woman had been there for her and her family before the tragedy… she shook her head again and sat on her bed, making sure her light was off so no one would bother her. She laid back on her bed, barely moving or anything, and she stared up at the ceiling. She could feel herself drift off a few times, but she always jolted herself awake. It wasn’t until about midnight that she finally gave up fighting it… and the nightmare set in… [I]Ophelia sighed as she sat in her chair, watching as the fire in her fire place flitted in an almost trained fashion. Sanctuary, her home for the last 25 years, was in grave danger, and she could hear the last of the evacuation groups running into the forest just behind her house. Very few had decided to stay. She had, old man Gimple had, and a few others that were pretty new to the village had. She stayed to give the others as much of a fighting chance to get to the South borders and to head into the safety of the Southern witch council. As much as she hated the council, especially with Sybil still in charge, she couldn’t deny that they had a better chance in the South than anywhere else. She sighed, taking a long sip of her tea as her eyes continued to watch the fire. “Ophelia, are you sure you want to stay? You know the pathway South better than any of us, even Alessandra doesn’t know it the way you do.” The elderly man asked as he too took a sip of his tea. “Aless knows the way better than she leads on, Gimple. Besides, I’m not welcomed into the Southern Council because of who I am.” She replied, quietly, looking into her tea glass. “Plus, Aless’s group should be safe now, so that gives me all the comfort I need. I mean, short of actually knowing what became of Abel.” The old man gave her a soft half chuckle, “You are a stubborn woman. I could see why Abel was so taken with you. And you care, even if you want to act cold. A true sort of beauty lay there, don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.” Ophelia tossed a look to the man and shrugged. “You sound a lot like my father did.” She commented, off handed and Gimple chuckled again before he began coughing. “157 years I’ve been here, would you believe it? Built this place with my own two hands, and now, I fear I will witness it’s destruction.” He sighed. “But it’s necessary, I suppose. If I learned anything from living with affliction it is that destruction often brings greater things.” Ophelia gave a small nod before she stood, the old man doing the same as they headed outside to meet the others. Ophelia saw Gimple falling a little behind her, his cane supporting him as he made his way to them. “We follow Ophelia’s plan. They should be coming from either due east or due north. The flames from New Salem have since died out, so they could be here any moment now.” The agreement that came along the others was just in simple nods as everyone began taking their places. Ophelia took her place atop the roof to her own home, watching the path to the South border carefully. The hunters dare not tread too far into it, they’d come across some very angry wolves if they did. She had lost track of time as she stared out towards the South, but the bang of guns drew her attention away and towards the center of town. Gimple was casting destructive spells in the direction of a rather large group of hunters, and soon Ophelia willed her own magic before everyone stopped dead in their tracks. “Stop! Or we kill the hostages!” the leader said, showing a group of five in chains with bags over their heads. The bags revealed to be the Deeds, a couple who had went missing three weeks ago. Another revealed Fontaine, their only natural soul, and the Abel’s came into view, and she stopped. She hadn’t been seen yet, she could tell from how the others moved and how far back she was. If they had been ordered to do something, she hadn’t heard it as she looked upon the bruised face of her husband. She got her wish. They hadn’t killed him yet, but she could sense worse was still to come. She quickly scampered off her roof and headed towards the center of town as stealthily as she could. Everyone was being put on stakes, even Gimple, who willingly led the pack. She shook her head a bit and felt the rage bubbling in her veins before a voice came. “How did this happen?” the female voice whispered, and Ophelia turned her head to see the Sandy blonde dreadlocks and bright amber eyes. “Aless!” she hissed, “What are you doing here? You could get killed!” “I wasn’t going to leave you.” She whispered back, and her attention turned to the group in the center of town. “You’re stupid, you know?” Gimple began with a chuckle that turned into a cough. “Why do you say that?” the leader asked as he teased the torch along the bottom of Gimple’s stake. “Because, you are still missing one of us. Probably the only one you should really fear. I may be an old, afflicted man, but this woman can do things I could never dream of.” He replied, and the leader shook his head. “You know, in New Salem, they said that Sanctuary housed what would be the infamous Death Witch, but if that’s so true, then why is she not here right now, defending you?” he retorted and that’s when Ophelia felt Aless’s eyes on her. “Death Witch?” she whispered and Ophelia nodded. “You?” “Yes, shh honey…” Ophelia whispered. Abel’s voice came next. “Because she is far from stupid.” Ophelia looked over and she met Abel’s eyes as he continued speaking. “Why do you think you only caught me last week when you ambushed us? She went through the cemetery. It’s also why you had to bring in another team, she probably killed the half you sent after her. Haven’t seen or heard from them since have you?” The leader was getting visibly frustrated. “And how would you know that?” “She’s my wife.” Abel laughed, “And let me tell you, when she decides to open the gates of hell upon you, she will gladly do so. Humans, always want to destroy what they cannot understand. Make yourselves some bad enemies that way.” “SILENCE!” the leader bellowed and not long after he began lighting the stakes. Aless went to move, but Ophelia caught her arm, getting a look. “They want us to come out for this. Stay put.” Ophelia whispered. “But dad is going to die!” Aless felt the tears in her eyes, but she saw the ones in Ophelia’s and just nodded. Ophelia looked to Abel, his eyes meeting hers before looking away, mouthing that he loved her. She mouthed it back and looked to her daughter. “It’s inevitable baby, only you and I will make it out of this one.” She said, and she pulled the younger woman into her arms and placed a kiss to the top of her head. “Run, head South and don’t stop until you reach the vampire coven there. Cassandra will help you, just tell her that you’re my daughter, and that I’ll be fine.” Alessandra looked to her and shook her head. “I’m not leaving you, mother.” “You have to. I promise we’ll see each other again one day.” She whispered, letting her daughter go. “Now run, I don’t want you to see what I’m about to do. Old man Gimple is dead, so I can tap into his power now.” Aless nodded and kissed Ophelia’s cheek before she ran, and Ophelia headed towards the center of town. “And who is this lovely creature?” the leader asked. She looked to Abel again and she could feel him dying, and the tears came down her face. “You know, he was he was right. You made a huge mistake today for humanity, you just became enemies with the Death Witch.” She said, and her hands came up and the fire began engulfing everything in its path. The houses and buildings and he hunters, and as each of the other witches died… she could feel their power melding with her own. She could feel her heart breaking in half. Her husband of 20 years was now dead and only child was making a run for the South borders. “Why do you still fight us?” the leader asked, watching as a ring of flames burned around him. “Because, once you’re dead, I can make sure you’ll never know peace. You will rot in the earth until I decide you’re useful to me . And even then, your soul will be bound to the earth.” She spoke, her voice void any emotion, but her concentration shattered when she heard a shriek. Not a second later, she bounded off in the direction it came from, going as fast as she could. She came upon three hunters that had Alessandra cornered. One didn’t look like he wanted to be there, but he was being forced into it by the others. She could see Aless trying to hold the spell to keep them back, but she was having issues from being so tired. Ophelia waved her hand and watched as fire engulfed one of the hunters, the younger hunter running off as Aless looked to her. “Run!” Ophelia screamed and the other hunter turned their attention to her. “Run!”[/i] “Run!” Lia screamed as she shot up, her eyes opened as she brought her knees to her chest and looked around. She was in her room, in her bed, and it seemed the anti-magic field held up alright. She could feel the tears on her face and she was breathing heavy, her eyes catching a small burn mark on her blanket where her hand had been. It hadn’t gotten too out of control, but it was getting close to it. She didn’t know how much she had screamed during the dream, if she had at all… she was barely aware if anyone was in the room with her or not… all she knew was it had come and she didn’t want it to come again.