The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 10

Glimmerbrook Watch, Present Day

"Alright," Cassie said with a smile, "that's studio business dealt with for now. Though I'll be up all night reading scripts."

"Did you get their guy off OK?" Miranda asked.

"I had the car service wait and drive him back," Cassie said. "Rather than abandoning him on the edge of the forest... unlike some people."

"That happened one time," Gwen rolled her eyes, "and they found him eventually. He was fine."

"OK, much as I'd like to hear that story... I think... I want to know more about you guys as teens," Mariah smiled.

"Right," Cassie laughed. "Where was I?"

"'Fated friends'," Mariah said, amused frustration weighing down each word.

"Oh yeah," Cassie sighed theatrically. "Well..." 

------------------

Ophilia Villa, Willow Creek, 2000 

After Gwen left that night, Bella and I had a huge fight. I believe she said I was irresponsible and disrespectful, and I probably said something about how she was a controlling hypocrite who wasn't my real mother. 

Naturally, I stormed off. 

As usual, it fell to my father to try to make peace.

I'll admit, he managed to come up with a pretty interesting compromise idea... if I could make it work.

Buckingham High School

Have you had ever been perfectly clear on things at night and have them suddenly seem much more confusing the next morning? 

That's how I felt. The night before, the idea that we were destined to be best friends had made sense out of my confusing feelings. Looking at Gwen the next morning, having her smile at me, everything suddenly felt very confusing again.

"I mean, I know I've only known her for a few weeks," I said to Molly later, in the cafeteria, "but it feels like..."

"It feels special," Molly said. "You really like her."

"Well, yeah," I said. "Then I find out that her mom was best friends with my birth mom... it's like..."

"Fate," Molly said with a little gasp.

"Right," I said. "Like we're supposed to be together... to be friends. When I'm with her I feel..."

"Like the whole room lights up," Molly smiled. "Like when she wasn't there, you feel like something's missing..."

"Yeah," I nodded, glad that someone understood (even while I obviously didn't understand). "Like, I hear a song, or read a poem, and I just want to share it with her... you know?"

"Oh yeah," Molly said. "But when you see her, you get totally tongue-tied. Like everything you think to say sounds totally dumb... but then she smiles and it's all OK again."

"Exactly," I sighed. "See, I knew you'd understand."

"Oh yeah," Molly chuckled knowingly. 

Molly got it. I didn't get it, yet, but Molly got it. 

Of course, not everyone in school was as supportive as Molly. I could always count on Elly to be... well, Elly.

"Hey freak," Elly said. "I guess it was only a matter of time."

"Before you got crabs?" I snarked back. "I hear they have a cream for that."

"Before you went full dyke," Elly snarled.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"Oh come on, Cas!" Elly drawled. "Everyone knows you and that weirdo, Gwen, are totally muff diving."

"I... what... you... no!" I stammered.

"You know, I bet Carmilla's been giving you carpet munching lessons this whole time," Elly said. "Did you just watch or was it a threesome thing with her and Tubby?"

"Elly, the peroxide has finally leached into your brain," I snapped, recovering. "Don't you have a football player to blow?"

"Hey, if you want to switch back, I know a guy who'd love to have you on your knees," Elly laughed. "No accounting for taste, I guess."

"You'd be the expert on how it tastes," I snarled, stalking away.

I really hated her.

After my run-in with Elly, lunch was awkward. 

Carmilla was going about something... rumors about them making a movie of the second High Fang novel, probably. I wasn't paying attention. I just kept wondering, did people really think that about me and Gwen? 

Gwen could tell something was bothering me, which bothered her. She didn't say anything though (and, let's be honest, Gwen not saying something uncomfortably insightful in that moment was a pretty clear sign of her own confused feelings).

To make things worse, Molly kept giving me knowing looks. Thinking back, I know she was trying to be supportive, but I found myself wondering what she really thought... or guessed. Not helped by the fact that, of course, she obviously had guessed more about my feelings for Gwen that I was willing to admit, even to myself.

Yeah, all in all, it was a really awkward lunch period.

Still, it was Molly and her knowing looks that got me to take the next, very, very small, step after class.

"Hi, Gwen," I was trying to sound so cool and casual. I was totally failing.

"Hello," she said.

"So... umm... I was thinking," I stumbled. "I mean... we've got that history test coming up and... I was wondering..."

I remember, she didn't say anything. She just gave me that Look of hers. (Yeah, that Look.)

"WouldYouLikeToComeOverToMyPlace?" I blurted out. "To study? If... if you want..."

"That would be great," Gwen replied, adding with a mischievous smile. "Let me just find Doug and ask him if it's OK."

"Great," I said. "Yeah, you... you should... ask."

Of course, that was my father's "compromise" idea. Bella may object to me going to Gwen's house, unannounced, but he said she couldn't object to Gwen coming over to our house. 

I'd been sure she would try to find some reason to forbid it anyway, but she didn't. In fact, she seemed quite interested in getting to know more about Gwen. She kept asking her questions and stuff. It was a little annoying, really. I mean, we were trying to study. 

Still, like Molly said, with Gwen there the whole room seemed to light up.

 

The Raven's Apprentice - First Interlude

Ophilia Villa, Willow Creek, 2000

Bella had overreacted. She could admit that to herself, privately at least.

She and Cassandra had fought after Doug had left with that girl. (Dear God, that girl. The implications were terrifying.) Of course, Cassandra had been incensed about being required to do something as simple as calling home to let them know where she was. God forbid she show Bella the slightest bit of courtesy. 

Still, Bella admitted with a sigh, she could have handled it better.

Mortimer had once again stepped in to play mediator, letting Bella rant until she admitted to herself that she had, in fact, overreacted. Dear, sweet man, he hadn't pushed. He was insightful enough to recognize that Bella's concerns where somehow related to Vickie and Ari's mysterious shared Past, and to Bella's own secret Work, but he never asked for explanations. 

She loved him for that, while at the same time thinking he was an idiot. The man trusted too easily.

Mortimer knew enough to understand her Work... the long hours, strange disappearances and vague lies about what she did during them. He never asked for specifics, simply accepting that his wife would tell him what he needed to know. He hadn't even questioned when she'd taken over the secret room in the house to work from.

In that room, with its secure computer and communication lines, she started doing what she had been trained to do - digging for secrets. As a field agent for the Strategic Intelligence and Multinational Security Agency (commonly just called the Agency), secrets were her stock and trade.

"Nothing," she muttered to herself. "No incident report. No sign of even a cursory investigation. Not even a back page article in the Windenburg press. Just an obituary that tells me less than Doug did. Glimmerbrook could give Operations lessons in cover ups."

With a sigh, Bella dialed a number.

"Control," the distorted voice responded.

"Rose Red," she replied.

"You have 60 seconds," Control stated.

"Message for Command," Bella said, smiling slightly. "Message reads - 'Can she meet for lunch at our usual spot?'"

Magnolia Prominade, 2000

Shantel Bridges, Region One Director of Intelligence.

In a covert community dominated by men, Shantel was smart enough, tough enough and ruthless enough to have seized that position with both hands and held onto it. The men who ran things called her the Dragon Lady and made jokes to cover their insecurities.

Despite them, and sometimes in direct response to them, she had assembled a hand-picked team of agents who were among the best and most dedicated in the Agency - including Agent Bella Goth.

"I assume there's a reason we couldn't meet in the office," Bridges said. "Not that I object to the chance to breathe fresh air."

"I have word from a reliable source that Arianrhod Silveroak and her mother Ceridwen were killed recently," Bella said. "In a home invasion."

"The names ring a bell, but refresh my memory," Bridges replied carefully.

Bella took a deep breath, "Ari was one of the first psychokinetic actives I profiled, back when I was working for Section 6. Ari and..."

"Victoria," Bridges finished for her. "I remember now."

She paused, soberly, before continuing, "I assume the mother was also an Active."

"No first-hand profile, but yes," Bella nodded. "I rated Ari as Alpha or Alpha Plus. Based on what we know about inherited Active potential, and things Ari let slip, Ceridwen was certainly an Alpha Plus."

"Two Alpha Plus Actives, killed in a home invasion?" Bridges looked skeptical. "Did this 'home invasion' involve a Special Forces team, tanks and air support?"

"I can't find any information," Bella admitted. "Just a vague obituary in a Windenburg parish register... but they lived in Glimmerbrook."

"It may as well have happened on the moon," Bridges nodded. "Worse, since we actually know exactly where the moon is."

"I'm sorry for your friend, Bella," she continued, "and I admit I'm curious about the circumstances, but this is a matter for the Windenburg office or Section 6. You could have copied me on the memo. Instead, you asked for a face-to-face where no one is likely to listen in. What haven't you told me?"

"Ari's teenage daughter was in my house last night," Bella said. "She's in Willow Creek... and she's become friends with my daughter."

"Shit... She's an Active," Bridges breathed. It wasn't a question.

"Almost certainly a strong one," Bella agreed. "Given her apparent age, probably Delta or Beta... but it's not impossible for her to be an Alpha herself."

"Bella," Bridges started with a deep breath. "I understand your feelings about Section 6..."

"You mean what they did to me, or the part where they're responsible for Vickie's death?" Bella said bitterly. "I don't want Section 6 anywhere near my daughter, Shantel!"

"Bella, she's not..."

"Don't start," Bella snapped. "I get enough of that from her."

"I was going to say, she's not an Active," Bridges continued calmly in the face of Bella's outburst. "Her profile shows high extra-sensory potential but no psychokinetic ability. You tested her yourself... and no one has any reason to doubt those results. Doctor Key shouldn't have any interest in her."

"Key's funny about what he is and isn't interested in," Bella said, visibly containing herself.

"Bella, we're talking about a traumatized teenage girl with access to potentially catastrophic psychokinetic powers," Bridges said gently. "That makes her dangerous. Section 6 is trained and equipped to deal with situations like this."

"You and I see a traumatized teenage girl," Bella said. "Key will see a weapon of mass destruction wearing a school blazer."

"You could have buried this," Bridges said. "Instead, you brought it to me. That means you know how serious this situation is." 

"I know, I know," Bella sighed. "I'm hoping you can see a way out, for me and for Gwen. That's her name, Shantel. Gwen Silveroak. Maybe she is a WMD, but she's still a seventeen-year-old girl... with skinny knees."

"You're trying to play me," Bridges smiled, "and damn you it if it isn't working."

"Alright," she smiled. "Standard protocol for an unknown Active is observation and profiling. You're Section 6 trained and you already have contact with the subject. I might be able sell that to Key. Besides, he's wanted you back on his team for years. You know the old monster will see this as a chance to lure you in. We have to inform him. No way around that, but if we play it exactly... and I mean exactly... right, we can get you leading the operation. 

"From there, it will be in your hands. I'll back you up as far as I can, but if you fuck this up, and this kid destroys half of Willow Creek, it'll be both our asses."

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Author's Note: The character of Shantel Bridges was created by my fellow SimLit writer DaniRose2143 for her excellent story Under the Tartosan Sun and is used with her permission. - L

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 9

Glimmerbrook Watch, Present Day

"So... oh wow, is that the time?" Cassie laughed.

"Possibly," Gwen replied with a slight smile.

"We've been talking all morning," Cassie said. "I'm sure you didn't expect such a long story, Mariah."

"Really, I don't mind," Mariah answered. "It's fine... I want to hear everything. If you don't mind, that is."

"Yeah, I only ever got the short version before," Miranda said.

"You were much younger the last time we told you this story," Cassie said.

"Well, I definitely want to hear the rest," Miranda smiled.

"Alright, but right now I need to go to Elixers," Cassie smiled. "I'm supposed to be meeting someone from your mother's production company," she added, nodding at Mariah. "She wants me to look over some new scripts."

"That's cool," Mariah chuckled. "We'll just wait in breathless suspense."

"Not for long," Cassie said. "We'll pick this up after lunch."

"How much are you planning to tell them?" Gwen asked with deceptive mildness as she stepped out onto the porch with Cassie.

"Well, I thought I'd leave off some of the more salacious details," Cassie chuckled, "for the sake of Miranda's delicate sensibilities."

"As if that would bother me," Gwen smiled. "I'm the one who talked to her about sex, remember."

"I remember," Cassie rolled her eyes.

Gwen sobered. "Are you going to tell them about Bella?"

"I think I have to," Cassie said. "The things they've gotten involved in. The things that are coming... they need to know."

"Dangerous secrets," Gwen mused.

"We're witches," Cassie sighed. "Dangerous secrets are our business. You taught me that."

"I need to go," Cassie added with a sigh. "I shouldn't keep whatever poor kid Londyn sent out here waiting at Elixers. It's hard enough bringing these studio people all the way out here. Leave them sitting too long in a place with no Wi-Fi and no cell coverage... they just can't cope."

"Go," Gwen smiled. "We'll be here when you get back."

"I won't be long," Cassie said. "Please... don't turn Mariah into anything while I'm gone."

"I like Mariah," Gwen insisted.

"So, it should be easy for you to not turn her into a pumpkin," Cassie said seriously.

"Go," Gwen laughed.

Sobering, Gwen focused for a moment on the flow of the air, the sound of the nearby brook, the harmonies of the world around her. She felt the clean, warm breath of spring, the distant metallic bite of a car and beyond that... 

"By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes," Gwenivar Silveroak, Elder Guardian of Glimmerbrook, whispered. 

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 8

"Argh, so close," Mariah groaned theatrically.

"So true," Cassie laughed, her eyes lingering on Gwen's. "But wait... it gets worse."

----------------

Buckingham High School, Willow Creek, 2000

Bella was always very 'protective' of me, insisting that I call and keep them informed of any changes in my routine. I considered it the height of unfairness. She could unexpectedly run off to Senbamachi for work (making me play hostess in her place at some horrible dinner party), but I couldn't go to the park with Carmilla and Molly without calling first.

Edwards usually picked me up every day after school. Dear, faithful Edwards...  he'd waited for what he felt was a reasonable amount of 'chatting with Carmilla and Molly' time before finally deciding to discreetly look for me. 

Once he had determined I wasn't loitering around outside the school, he talked to Principal Prescott. She fairly quickly determined I wasn't on school grounds, and I'm pretty sure that's when she asked Molly, who promptly gave me up. 

To be fair to Molly, it wasn't like I'd sworn her to secrecy or anything. I like I said, this really hadn't been planned out.

Ophilia Villa, Willow Creek, 2000

Anyway, Edwards had updated my father. My father had called the Browns, and Mr. Brown had, politely but firmly, made it clear that he was taking me home. It wasn't like I could really argue with him about it. Especially once Gwen said that since I'd visited her house, it was only fair she visited mine.

I said earlier that, when I'd gone to Gwen's, I hadn't thought about the difference between the Browns' humble house and my family's stately mansion. Standing on those tall steps, looking up at the shadowy bulk of Ophilia Villa, I remember thinking how much I hoped the house didn't put Gwen off.

Edwards met us at the door.

"How you doing, Luc?" Mr. Brown said warmly to Edwards. "I've got a delivery for you. One wayward daughter of the house, returned in undamaged condition."

"Much obliged, Doug," Edwards had smiled back at him. "I hope she wa'n't too much trouble."

"No trouble at all," Mr. Brown laughed. "She's always welcome... but with her parents' permission, next time."

"Maybe you remember that now, Cas," Edwards chuckled. "You staying, Doug? I'm about to put on some of my famous blackened catfish."

"I would, but Lil was getting her chicken and rice going when we left," Doug laughed. "You coming out fishing with us next weekend? The guys would love to have you along."

"The guys want me along because none of you all can cook," Edwards laughed. "Yeah, I'm coming. Fresh fish for the table, yeah? Hey, you all should go through, let Herself see Cas ha'n't been carried off by white slavers. I'll call you about the fishing." 

"Here's our girl, safe and sound," my father announced as he saw us. 

Just like every evening before dinner, Father and Alexander were playing chess and Bella was watching the news. On a regular evening, I would have been upstairs in the music room, practicing.

"I told you, you needn't have worried, Bella," Father continued.

"I'll worry less when she doesn't disappear," Bella replied sharply, as if I made a habit of running off to the City or something.

"Yeah, I brought her back," Mr. Brown smiled. "Thought I'd save you the trip. Maybe give you time to work on your next novel... Mr. Big-time, Best-selling Author who doesn't know the difference between 'your' and 'you are.'"

"That's what I have editors for," Father chuckled, rising to take Mr. Brown's hand. "You know, I should get you to look over my new manuscript."

"I'd be happy to," Mr. Brown said, then added, "Mortimer, I thought I should introduce you to..."

"Yes, of course." Father pushed passed Mr. Brown, a strangely mesmerized look on his face. "You must be Gwen."

"I must be, mustn't I," Gwen smiled back.

"You're Ari's daughter, alright." Father smiled a little sadly. "You have your mother's eyes. I knew her, Gwen. We all did. We're so sorry for your loss." 

"Ari was a good friend," he continued, "most especially to Cas's mother, my dear lost Vickie."

"Wait, you're saying our moms knew each other?" I asked, shaken. 

"They were best friends... childhood friends if I remember correctly," Bella replied from her seat on the couch.

My mother was an almost mythic figure to me. I knew she and father had met at University, but I knew so little about her and almost nothing about her life before University. Finding someone else who had some connection to her, especially to her past, was like uncovering a hint to the location of some lost pirate treasure.

"It must be fate," my father said. "Vickie and Ari's daughters finding each other."

"Wow, our moms knew each other," I said as Father wandered off to talk to Mr. Brown and Bella. "That's amazing. That's..."

"Vickie?" Gwen puzzled over the name. "Victoria? You mother was Victoria Rowen?"

"Yes! Did you know her? Did your mom talk about her?" I asked eagerly. "I mean, I know you wouldn't remember her. She died when I was little..."

"You know you're in big trouble, right?" My little brother, Alexander, on his way to the kitchen I think, picked that moment to interrupt.

"Yeah, I know, dork," I snarked at him. "We're talking."

"I don't know that there's a lot I can tell you... about Victoria," Gwen said. I recognized the sadness in her eyes, even if at the time I didn't really understand all of what was behind it.

"No, I guess not," I sighed. "Still, it's amazing. Father's right. It must be fate, us meeting and being friends, just like they were. That must be why... why I feel so... like we're just meant to be... to be friends!"

----------------

"You didn't!" Mariah groaned. "Please, tell me you didn't!"

"What?" Miranda looked puzzled, then her eyes widen in enlightened memory, "Oh, I get it."

"Yeah," Cassie admitted. "I was seventeen and I was an idiot. I wasn't ready to admit, even to myself, that I was having romantic feelings for Gwen. The intensity of what I had felt not even an hour earlier had frightened me. Besides, I was pretty sure I was straight... at least, like I said earlier, I knew I was attracted to guys in a vague way. The idea that I might be bisexual didn't really occur to me at the time. The thought of us being 'fated friends' felt like a life preserver in the stormy seas of my heart."

"New song title?" Miranda asked with a smirk.

"Bit long," Cassie laughed, "but I'll work on it."

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 7

"So, there we were," Cassie said, picking up the story, "slowly coming closer together. It should come as no surprise to either of you that that's when things went a little off track."

"Vampire attack or alien invasion?" Miranda offered.

"That's not really a thing... is it?" Mariah asked, her tough attitude not quite hiding her lurking concern.

"I don't know," Miranda smiled. Turning to her mom she added, "So, vampires or aliens?"

"Worse," Cassie said with a slight grin. "Parents."

-----------------

Foundry Cove, Willow Creek, 2000

I don't remember exactly what prompted the impulse, but one day, instead of waiting for Edwards to pick me up in the car, I went home with Gwen. I don't even remember if I asked her if I could go over to her house. I think we were just talking as we left school and kept talking as I followed her onto the bus. 

The truth is, I just wanted to spend more time with her.

I'd been to the Browns' home once before, for some after-school event back when I'd had Mr. Brown as a teacher. The humble, little house in Foundry Cove was about as different from Ophilia Villa as it could be, but I wasn't really thinking about that as I followed Gwen inside.

"How was your day, Gwen?" Mrs. Brown called.

I've always liked Lilian Brown. She's a real artist. She wasn't famous, though even then she was known in local art circles. She certainly isn't pretentious. She's just nice, in that slightly odd, hippy, counter-culture kind of way. Whenever I think of her, I smell paint and brownies. 

She also inspired my first tattoos.

"Oh, hi Cas," she added when she saw me. "I didn't know Gwen was bringing a friend over."

I remember being a little surprised she remembered me. I'd only met her a few times, back then. 

"Hi, Mrs. Brown," I smiled back. "I'm just helping Gwen get caught up on some things." Which wasn't a total lie but had nothing to do with me standing in the Browns' hallway that afternoon.

"Well, it's very nice of you to help her," Mrs. Brown said in a way that made it clear she was happy Gwen had a friend. 

"We're going to work in my room," Gwen said. 

Mrs. Brown hesitated just a moment, before smiling and saying, "Alright. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you," I added.

"So, this is my room," Gwen said once we were inside, settling on her bed.

I understood immediately why Mrs. Brown had hesitated when Gwen said we would be working in there. Her room was tiny and crowded with racks of canvases and other painting supplies.

"Lilian used it as a storeroom before I got here," Gwen explained, adding, "She's offered to move all this stuff out, but I actually kind of like it."

"Is this one of hers?" I asked, my eyes drawn to a painting on the easel.

"No," Gwen said. "That one's mine."

I remember her face as she said it, the way her eyes searched mine, looking for my reaction. I remember the painting... one figure, alone in the crowd. I thought about her smile that never touched her eyes, those beautiful eyes that I had thought were a little lost and alone. That was the moment when I understood... truly understood, without being able to put into words... how lost and alone she really felt. 

I took her hands and pulled her to her feet. I looked into those sad, lonely eyes.

"Gwen," I said.

There were so many things I wanted to say, and I couldn't think of the words. I just stood there, holding her hands, looking into her eyes, feeling some feeling I couldn't... or wouldn't... name. Something so intense, so powerful and deep that it frightened me.

I don't know what might have happened...

... but what did happen is that we were interrupted.

"Tell Mortimer I'll bring her home," Mr. Brown's voice came through the walls. 

"Gwen. Cas. Could you come out here, please?"

You see, I hadn't actually told anyone that I was going to Gwen's after school.