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────── ★★★ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟖
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐄

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It was the day after Halloween and the children of Hyperion Heights were still excited about the candy they received. The Thorne woman happily walked around the park on her patrol as she listened to the passing kids discuss where they scored the biggest candy bars. A small smile soon formed on the blonde's face at the sound of their happy laughter before her attention turned toward three kids sitting on one of the benches in the distance.

The smile on the Purest Heart's face slightly faltered as she watched Lucy, Fletcher, and Dawn whispering among themselves. She'd never seen more serious looks on the usually joyful and energetic group. Everly wanted nothing more than to rush over there and join their conversation. But she knew she couldn't. It would draw too much attention to herself as well as the three of them.

Everly forced herself to look away from the young trio and toward the water in the distance. Her eyes instantly fell on a couple of kids exchanging candy on the sandy shore before they moved toward Katherine, who was sitting on a bench watching Will play with Knight. When she finally turned back toward the park, the Thorne woman jumped back at the sight of two pairs of eyes staring back at her.

"What're you two doing here?" Everly questioned her children as they continued to stare up at her with smiles on their faces.

"We're trying to come up with a plan to get Uncle Henry to remember everything and we thought you could help us," Fletcher responded while he bounced up and down on his feet then he gestured toward the bench they were previously sitting on, "Lucy wanted to stay too but...you know how that is."

"And maybe we can even get Dad, Roland, and Cassie to remember everything," Dawn added as the smile on her face slowly grew.

"Roland's already awake," Everly said without thinking, causing the excitement in the twins' eyes to double before the former found enough courage to ask the one question that has been haunting her, "but how do you two remember?"

"We didn't at first. We were trapped in their fake world like everyone else," Dawn explained before she glanced over at the twin and sent him a small nod, "that was until we ran into Alice one day and she gave us these."

The Thorne woman kept her eyes glued to the twins as they pulled out the necklaces they kept hidden under their shirts. Everly's blood instantly ran cold as she stared at the matching pieces of jewelry. The exact same ones that she and Felix gave to them the day they were born.

Her eyes stayed glued to their necklaces for a moment longer before she looked back up to meet their eyes. "Alice gave you these?"

"Yeah! She has a bunch of things from everyone's real lives!" Fletcher exclaimed then he forced his sister to turn around to dig through her backpack and pull out three small boxes, "she also gave us these."

The Thorne woman hesitated as she stared at the boxes her son was holding out toward her. The twins watched their mother with anticipation in their eyes as she slowly reached forward and took the objects from the Thorne boy's hands. Everly glanced up at her youngest children one last time before she looked down at the plain white items in her hands. A small sigh passed over her lips while she opened the lid of the first box before she became a statue. Silence surrounded the three of them as she stared down at an item she never thought she'd see again.

It was her bracelet.

"The other boxes have Cassie's necklace and Dad's bracelet. We thought you should be the one to give it to him," Dawn said, breaking the silence and bringing her mother back to her senses, "she couldn't find your necklace yet but she promised us she'd keep looking."

"The necklace isn't important right now," Everly told them as she placed the leather bracelet on her wrist and the other two boxes in her bag, "what is important is that we might have a way to wake more of our family up."

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After dropping the twins off at the grocery store, the Purest Heart got back into her squad car and began to make her way back to the police station. The Thorne woman drove toward her destination with nothing but her thoughts to fill the silence. Every now and then, Everly would glance down at the boxes on the passenger seat, wanting nothing more than to drive home and give the necklace to Cassie.

When she finally reached the police station, the blonde woman gave her report to the sergeant and went to change into her normal clothes. Everly said her goodbyes to her peers as she made her way out of the building and toward her Jeep. Just as she reached her car, Everly received a text from Sabine telling her to meet the latter and Ella at Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack. A small sigh passed over the blonde woman's lips before she started her car and headed toward her next destination.

Everly was surprised when she managed to find a parking spot near the front of the decently busy restaurant. As soon as she turned off the engine, she hopped out of her Jeep and walked inside. The Thorne woman just stared at the small line forming at the register before walking past them and toward the two familiar voices in the kitchen. The Purest Heart instantly found Sabine and Ella standing around the island in the middle of a heated conversation.

"Wait, you wanna run your guerilla pastry operation out of here?" the Mills woman questioned, only to receive a small nod from her friend in response, "no way. Louie-"

"Louie is at a regional managers convention trying to get lucky with Cluck's on Sixth. He will never know," the curly-haired woman retaliated while ignoring the panicked look in Jacinda's eyes.

"I can't invest in any more of your crazy schemes."

"I can. I always love getting involved in your crazy schemes," Everly stated, making herself known as Sabine looked between the two of them with a confused look on her face.

"What crazy schemes?" the brunette woman questioned, just for the two women in front of her to exchange a look then their attention fell back on Sabine, who had a look of realization on her face, "okay, that's fair. But this...this is not one of them."

"You're a dreamer, and I love you for it, but I need a job, Belfrey off my case, and a real plan to get Lucy back," Ella told her best friend before gesturing toward the flour sitting on the island next to her, "this is too risky."

"But it's for Lucy...and she's exactly the reason why you need to take this risk," the Thorne woman stated, drawing both of the women's attention toward her before she continued, "you need to change the rules of the game, Jacinda. Because if you don't change them, you'll never win."

"Jo's right, J. We owe it to ourselves. We owe it to Lucy. I love that girl like she is family, and when you love someone, you fight for them," Sabine continued as the smile on her face grew when she noticed the gleam in her friend's eyes, "come on. Let's make her proud."

"Okay. I'm with you."

Their laughter cut through the silence of the kitchen as the mastermind pulled her two friends in for a tight hug. After they ended their moment, Everly and Sabine slipped on aprons and began to look over the ingredients set up on the kitchen island.

"With a little bit of sugar and spice and everything nice, we are going to show that woman who is boss," the curly-haired woman told them before she picked up an egg and began to work her magic.

Hours passed of Everly and Sabine baking in the kitchen while Jacinda manned the front counter. It was like the two women in the back were a well-oiled machine. While the master baker put the ingredients together in a mixing bowl, the Purest Heart would flatten out the dough she made and cut it into the shape she was instructed to do. Then they would both roll the dough into the perfect beignets and place them in the fryer. Finally, they would top the finished pastry with a blanket of powdered sugar.

After placing the finished beignets into their bags, Everly and Sabine grabbed handfuls of them and went to join Jacinda upfront. A small smile formed on the Thorne woman's face at the sight of the line going out the door before her attention was drawn to the Mills woman when she began to speak.

"Where is everyone coming from?"

"Uh, I billed out venture as a one-time-only pop-up on the GetGrub app," Sabine explained before placing the bags in her hands on the counter, causing smiles to appear on all three of the women's faces, "Mom always said, 'nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd.'"

"Amazing! You're really doing it," a new voice exclaimed, drawing the trio's attention to the sound to find Lucy racing toward them, "I saw your pop-up ad on my ballet instructor's phone."

"What I won't be seeing is you if your grandma realizes that you are here," Jacinda responded while looking around the shop as if Lady Tremaine was about to walk through the door.

"Don't worry. I told Grandma ballet's going late so I could come be a part of your dream," the Mills girl explained to the three women standing in front of her before she dug through her backpack and pulled out a stamp, "in fact, I have a small addition to it."

The three of them watched as Lucy dipped the object in her hands into a pad of ink before pressing it onto one of the white bags. When she lifted it away from the paper, a firefly was sitting in the center of it. The Mills girl looked up at them with joy in their eyes, only to find them staring back at her with blank looks on their faces. A small sigh passed over her lips at the sight of their confusion before she explained her thinking.

"When we would make beignets, Sabine would tell me when she was my age, she was so poor she couldn't afford stars to wish on...so she wished on fireflies."

While Jacinda and Sabine continued to talk to Lucy about her stamp, Everly stepped to the side after her phone kept going off. Concern flowed through her veins as she walked back into the kitchen before pulling out her phone to see four texts from the Hood boy.

ROLAND:
I don't wanna worry you
but Cassie's freaking out
over a nightmare she had.

Now she's screaming about
a wolf in danger.

She tried to get out of the
apartment to look for the
wolf. I'm guarding the door.

Something else is happening
but it's probably best not to
say it over text.

You need to get home. Now.

A wave of panic waved over Everly as she reread the texts over and over again. Her mind raced with a million different thoughts while she just stood in the kitchen with her phone tightly clutched in her hands. As soon as she snapped out of her daze, she shoved her phone in her pocket and sprinted out the door, ignoring the shouts from Sabine and Ella.

Everly drove faster than she probably should've been with the thoughts of her eldest daughter bouncing around in her head. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she thought back to the first time Cassie realized she had magic. The first time she had to live and fight through a nightmare on her own.

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Everly and Felix sat side-by-side against a log with their three-year-old daughter fast asleep in her father's lap and Roland sleeping on the grass next to them. The sounds of the forest were the only things that cut through the silence as the couple watched the stars shining in the sky. This was how Everly and Felix wanted to live with their family. Surrounded by peace and happiness.

However, that peace was soon interrupted by their daughter's quiet whimpers. The Thorne man ran his fingers through Cassie's hair in an attempt to soothe her before her whimpers turned into shouts and then into blood-chilling screams.

Everly sat up so fast she almost knocked the log out from under them before she tried to shake her daughter away. But when Cassie finally opened her eyes, the panic within the Purest Heart only grew.

They were glowing bright pink.

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As soon as she parked her car, Everly grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and sprinted into the building. She felt the boxes banging against her hip as she climbed the stairs before she finally reached her apartment. The Thorne woman grabbed her keys to unlock the door before she went to push it open, only for it to stay sealed shut.

"Hey! It's me! Open the door!" the Purest Heart shouted as she banged on the door of her apartment until Roland pulled it open to let her in.

The Hood boy slammed it shut once Everly raced past the boy into the living room and locked it once again. Before Everly had a chance to ask where her daughter was, Roland gestured toward Cassie's room. The Thorne woman didn't hesitate to rush in that direction before she pushed the door of her daughter's room open. Panic flowed through Everly's veins at the sight of Cassie tossing, turning, and thrashing on her bed with a pained look on her face. Her eyes stayed glued to the Thorne girl as she reached into her bag and pulled out one of the boxes Fletcher and Dawn gave her.

"Cass," the Purest Heart called out to her daughter as she walked closer to the bed, "Cassie, I need you to wake up. It's just a dream. Remember, you're in control."

As soon as the last three words escaped Everly, Cassie's eyes flashed open to reveal a familiar pair of glowing pink eyes. The terror within the Thorne woman multiplied as she shouted Roland's name while reaching into her bag and pulling out one of the white boxes. When the Hood boy entered the room, the panicked look on his face transformed into shock before he looked over to meet Everly's gaze.

"I need you to hold her down while I put this on her," the Purest Heart told him after she pulled out a dreamcatcher necklace.

The only response she received was a nod from Roland before he rushed forward and restrained Cassie to the best of his ability. Once her daughter's movements were limited, Everly sped forward and secured the piece of jewelry around the Thorne girl's neck. Cassie's thrashing stopped as soon as the clasp was fastened. The Purest Heart instantly pulled the Hood boy off her before the two of them just stared at the teen lying in front of them. It wasn't long before her eyes flashed open once again to reveal them back to their natural shade of brown.

A relieved sigh passed over Everly's lips as she watched her daughter push herself up into a sitting position. Cassie's eyes scanned the room for a moment as if she was trying to remember where she was before her eyes landed on her mother and Roland. But their relief was soon transformed into shock when she spoke her next words.

"Where's Lucas?"

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