CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Two days had passed without any word  from the warlocks. It seemed like half of Salem had gathered behind Bishop High School as the graduation ceremony was being held. The entire Silver Society was present. Kurt stood beside Cassandra, holding Solstice in his arms. A spell kept her safe from germs a newborn shouldn't be exposed to, and she didn't seem to care about the crowd. Tommi stood with Jesse. Arthur, Jeremy, Kit, and Maya had come to support their friends. Skip, Susie, Shooter, Johnny, Danny, Clarissa, and Courtney had come, and Mark was there with Kevin and Nyxie to cheer Beth on. Darla Schwartz was crying tears of joy and pride as the graduates started walking across the stage. Corey had Joey in his lap as he cheered loudly for all of the graduates. Most of the lycanthropes had come out to show their support. Annabella had brought most of the witches with her to celebrate Katie's big day. Even Jacob was there, which wouldn't have been possible if he hadn't asked the witches to cast a spell to make him immune to the effects of the sun for a day. He was concerned that trouble might show itself and wanted to make sure he could be there to assist despite the sun's return.

Judy had come to support the last of Spencer's friends as they graduated from high school, something her son would never be able to do. Danny had somehow convinced Skip to release Chester into his custody, but Chester had decided to keep Judy company. He was still a bit reluctant to warm up to Danny. Faith and Merrick sat behind them, hiding in the crowd and hoping that no one noticed their presence.

Also hidden from sight was Rikki, who shared Jacob's concern that something was going to happen at the ceremony. In addition to that, she wanted to be there to see Camelot graduate, especially since his father couldn't be present thanks to people that she'd trusted.

As the last graduate walked across the stage, everyone cheered. People began to hug each other and celebrate. Everything was perfect... Until the banshee began to scream.

Everyone froze as even the mortals heard the sound. Then, the chanting began.

"Vivat Octo Orti! Long Live the Eight Spokes!" A crowd of people wearing black cloaks cried in unison. At the front of the crowd stood Bartholomew Bryce and Erica Vitti.

"Hello, Salem," Erica said with a pleasant smile.

"We have returned!" Bartholomew cried with delight.

With that, lightning began striking around the crowd. Shooter tried to absorb the electricity to help, but he could only take in so much energy without destroying himself, immortal or not.

The Eight Spokes Society began flinging magickal attacks around in unison. That was when Cedric Becker's voice proclaimed, "Now!"

The Erica Vitti Society entered wearing red cloaks. They started countering the attacks from the Eight Spokes warlocks. Amos White led the E.V.S. with determination.

"Dad..." Arthur said in surprise.

"We're here to stop this," Amos said. "You can trust us today."

Arthur nodded. "Let's do this," he replied. "Rebels, the E.V.S. are our allies today."

"Red cloaks good, black cloaks bad," Ronnie said.

"Got it!" Donnie added.

"Let's put an end to this before it gets out of hand," Jeremy said.

Camelot ran to their side. "I'm with you," he said. "If you'll have me."

"Welcome to the warlock rebellion," Arthur said. "If I ever get around to making membership cards, I'll make sure to save you one."

"I cannot stand you people," Chad said, "but I'm with you today."

Kelly took his hand and added, "We all are."

Rico, Renee, Daisy, Gabby, Bev, and Addison joined them with determined expressions on their faces. Reid looked torn as he watched his parents fight with the Eight Spokes warlocks, but he finally took Addison's hand and said, "Even me."

"Guys, follow me!" Alex said to the Silver Society. They gather around him and set their plan in motion. Everyone knew what their role would be, but they'd have to adapt based on what the Eight Spokes warlocks threw their way.

"Witches, you know what to do!" Annabella said.

"Alright, guys, we're on bodyguard duty. If they're in black cloaks, don't hesitate to maul them," Trent instructed the lycanthropes.

As someone tried to attack Susie, Gigi protected her mother by throwing glittery explosions at the warlock who was responsible. "Yes, Queen!" Chad cheered. "Hit them with everything you've got!"

Jacob quietly commanded the vampires who were present. Everyone tried to focus on whatever task they were best suited for.

Kevin began teleporting people to safety as the warlocks tried to attack them. Nyxie kept freezing individual warlocks in time so they couldn't cast whatever wicked spell they'd come up with. Beth split the atoms of anyone who got too close to her or the people she was trying to protect.

As Randy telekinetically flung one of the warlocks into the back wall of the school to keep him from hurting one of the younger girls in the crowd, Bartholomew attacked him with a sword. Before Beth could react and try to protect him, Jeremy jumped in between Randy and Bartholomew. The sword went straight through Jeremy's chest.

Maya screamed in horror as Randy caught Jeremy in his arms. "Jer... Oh God, Jeremy..." He said softly.

Jeremy looked at him and said, "Keep fighting."

"I will," Randy promised.

Jeremy turned his head to face Maya. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I love you."

Maya started crying as she kissed him. "I love you, too," she said.

As Maya sobbed harder, the birds in the sky began flying above her head and making mournful sounds. Jeremy closed his eyes. They didn't open again.

"No!" Arthur shouted.

"Arthur... You can't let this distract you right now. You can grieve your fallen friend later," Amos said.

Arthur sighed, but he started to fight again. As Randy looked at Jeremy's body, he whispered, "More weight..."

Ro and Aurora wrapped Maya in their arms and tried to comfort her while Kit wrapped water around them to repel any spells the Eight Spokes Society sent their way.

"We're with you, Maya," Deanna said. "You're not alone."

Maya sniffled in response. Ava came running toward her and wrapped her arms protectively around her younger sister. "I've got her," she said. "Keep fighting, girls."

Bartholomew had a bigger target in mind than Jeremy. He moved toward Annabella. "A Liggman," he said with a laugh. "How interesting. I cannot kill Agatha, for she is long dead, but I can make her descendant pay for her actions!"

Johnny moved protectively in front of Annabella. Bartholomew barely acknowledged him. Instead, he raised his sword and brought it down toward both of them.

As only an undead vampire could do, Jacob moved in front of them too quickly for anyone to even see the motion. The sword came down on his neck. Aideen watched in shock as his head was severed from his body.

"Jacob!" Annabella cried. Johnny quickly pulled her into his arms and moved her to safety.

"My Gods..." Clarissa whispered in horror as Courtney covered Angelina's eyes to keep her from seeing Jacob's decapitated corpse. The vampires flew into a frenzy and began to attack the warlocks.

Seeing how bad the situation was becoming, Aideen knew that she needed to act. She turned toward Camelot. "I need your help," she said.

"Mine?" He repeated.

"Yeah. And Rikki's, too."

Rikki looked startled. "You do?" She asked.

"You pack a hell of a punch, even if you usually use it for the wrong reasons. You've had two days to recover... How is your magick?"

"It's back on track," Rikki replied. "Chad did a spell to help me rebuild my strength."

"Good. I want you to focus on Bartholomew. Camelot, I need you because he's related to you. I have to cut you."

"Do what you need to do," Camelot agreed.

Aideen nodded. She slashed Camelot's hand open, drawing a decent amount of blood, but not enough to do any real harm to him. As she touched it, she took Rikki's hand and tapped into her energy. Finally, she turned toward Bartholomew.

"Every immortal has a weakness," she said. "Chase Bryce's blood was used to set you free, but it also bound itself to you. Now, the blood of his son will be your undoing!" With that, she used Camelot's blood to draw a pentagram on her hand. "By the blood of your kin, the magick of the one who ensured your eventual return, and the power of the Reapers, I strip away your immortality!"

Bartholomew screamed as his immortality was ripped off of him in an instant. The power of the spell was too much to contain, so Aideen sent it to someone else. "Shooter, convert it!" She shouted.

Shooter absorbed the spell and converted it into pure energy before sending it into some of the people who had been severely injured by the various attacks being flung around. The shattered spell turned into healing energy and began to strengthen them.

"This is not possible!" Bartholomew insisted. "You are an insignificant child!"

Aideen glared at him. "Who the hell are you calling insignificant or a child, you old bastard?" She demanded.

"Don't worry, Deenie," Evan said as he fired a shot into Bartholomew's chest. "I'm here to defend your honor."

"As sexy as that was, he's still alive," Aideen pointed out with a laugh.

"I figured someone else might want the honor of actually killing him," Evan replied with a shrug.

Randy moved closer to them. "He's mortal now?" He asked.

"Very mortal," Aideen replied as she realized how much blood Bartholomew was losing.

With her daughter strapped to her chest, Cassandra had been battling warlocks with her usual ferocity. If anything, having her daughter with her only made her fight harder, living up to her slaying machine nickname. Now, she approached them and said, "Then let's finish the bastard off."

She put her hands out with her palms facing toward the sky and focused. Josh, if you're with me now, I need to borrow something, she thought.

Josh's sword appeared in her hands. Cassandra smiled to herself. She could have used her own sword, but this felt right. She raised Josh's sword and ran straight at Bartholomew, stabbing him in his heart.

He looked at her with pain in his eyes. "You tried to take everything from me," she said. "You can't break me, asshole... But I can break you." She pulled the sword out. Bartholomew's chest caught on fire, and this time, she knew the damage couldn't be reversed. Satisfied, Cassandra stepped aside. "This is my brother's sword," she explained. "It can destroy souls. When he finally dies, his soul won't come back."

They watched Bartholomew scream and try to put himself out for a minute, but he was too weak from rapidly losing blood. It wouldn't be long before he died. "Do we give him the dignity of dying on his body's own terms?" Evan asked. "If you prefer, I could shoot him in the head and put an end to this right now."

"No," Randy said. He turned toward Bartholomew and added, "This is for Jeremy, you son of a bitch!" He waved his hands and used his telekinesis to snap Bartholomew's neck.

Bartholomew's body collapsed on the ground. To Aideen's great amusement, his body quickly aged and turned to dust.

"Cool," she mumbled.

Alex was using every psychic ability he had at once. Considering he was an all-around psychic, that meant he was expending quite a lot of energy, but it didn't matter. He knew he had to keep track of what everyone else was doing in order for their plan to succeed.

As Courtney, Angelina, and Clarissa were swarmed by warlocks, Alex shifted his focus for a moment and ran to their side. He cast the strongest spell he'd ever cast in his life. A protective circle of magick wrapped around them as Alex began to fight against the warlocks. He took them out swiftly before looking at the Phillips women.

"Is everyone okay?" He asked.

"Yes," Clarissa replied. "Thanks to you."

"With Jacob dead, someone needs to calm the vampires before they get themselves killed. They're being reckless."

"I'll do it," Courtney said. She began to focus her energy. Her light magick filled the area and began wrapping around the frenzied vampires. Most of them started to calm down and focus.

Alex shifted his attention back to the Silver Society. Melissa was using her athame to attack the spirits of the fallen Eight Spokes warlocks who were trying to cause trouble even after their deaths. He was impressed with how easily she handled the task, almost as if she weren't expending any energy or making any real effort. She seemed to be enjoying herself.

Suddenly, Katrina snuck up on Melissa. "Melissa!" Alex shouted in warning. "Behind you!"

Melissa turned around, but before she could even do anything, light burst from inside of her necklace. It was pure sunlight, and as it touched Katrina, she screamed in pain. Her flesh began to burn. She tried to run, but Melissa grabbed onto her, and the sunlight grew stronger. In under a minute, Katrina burst into actual flames. She was killed almost instantly.

"Thanks, Mom," Arnie said as he witnessed this. He quickly ran to Melissa's side and kissed her before resuming fighting against the living warlocks while Melissa focused on the spirits. Arnie was putting all of his skills as a slayer to work, striking down warlocks quickly without missing anyone he targeted.

Suddenly, Archibald sent a spell flying at Arnie. He didn't have time to dodge it, but Alex ran to his side and deflected the attack. "Thanks, Alex," Arnie said.

"Anytime, Kid," Alex replied.

Just as Archibald turned his attention to Arthur and Amos, Ronnie and Donnie jumped between him and his targets. They raised identical attacks in the air.

"It's not personal, Dad," Donnie said.

"It's just business!" Ronnie added.

Together, they unleashed their spells. Archibald was struck dead in an instant.

"You saved us," Amos said in shock.

"You happened to be standing next to our fearful leader," Donnie replied.

"And we're not losing any more friends tonight," Ronnie added in a determined tone.

"You guys just killed your father," Arthur said.

The twins shrugged. "We never really liked him anyway," Ronnie replied.

"And technically, he tried to kill us first," Donnie added.

Mr. Ko approached them, and they braced themselves for an attack, but he put his hands up in surrender. "Amos," he said, "I've decided to stand with you once more. This is getting out of hand."

"It's about time, my friend," Amos replied with a smile.

"Have you seen my son?"

"He's watching over the Vitti descendants," Amos replied, motioning toward them.

On the other side of the battlefield, Cierra took Rikki's hand as Erica approached them. "We're in this together," she said.

"Together," Rikki agreed.

Erica smiled at them. "It is so lovely to see my descendants bonding with each other," she said. "If you girls serve under me, we will be unstoppable. Our family legacy is one of great power."

"Power is worthless unless you have something to fight for," Rikki said. She looked at Camelot and Addison before smiling at Cierra and adding, "And I finally do."

"You would betray me?" Erica asked in surprise.

"We're warlocks, Erica," Cierra said.

"It's what we do!" Rikki added.

Together, they began raising the energy they needed to destroy their ancestor once and for all. Chad joined them, lending strength to both of them as he called upon his abilities as a Reaper. "Okay, ladies," he said. "Let's do this!"

"You are the guardian of my bloodline, Chad Ko!" Erica said harshly. "How dare you stand against me?"

"My job is to protect the Vitti bloodline, Lady Erica," he replied. "And right now, the only way to do that is to stop you from destroying the future of that bloodline."

Together, Cierra, Rikki, and Chad sent the most powerful spell they could conjure at Erica. She tried to deflect it, but her attempt failed, and her body exploded in a burst of power.

"Is she gone?" Cierra asked.

"Not yet, girlfriend," Chad replied.

Sure enough, Erica's spirit lingered. As she was about to attack them, Cierra took Rikki's hand and raised her free hand toward Erica. Rikki followed her lead. Together, they pulled Erica's energy into themselves. Chad watched in fascination as Erica rapidly faded from sight until only a small piece of her spirit remained.

She shook her head before smiling sadly. "Well done, my descendants," she replied. "You have made me proud after all."

With a final tug on the last of her energy, Cierra and Rikki destroyed Erica's soul. Chad smiled at them. "You did it," he said. "She's gone for good this time."

They didn't have much time to celebrate, however, as something unusual happened. The world began to shake. Fire burst from the ground.

Rachel opened a portal. "Erica has fallen. Salem is burning. We must return home," she said. Wes and Renata followed her into the portal and vanished from sight.

"What the hell is happening?" Danny demanded as the fire grew stronger and the roof of Bishop High School started to crumble.

Suddenly, there were twice as many people around. "The barrier!" Joey shouted in alarm. "It poof! Gone!"

"The barrier has been destroyed," Chester confirmed in horror. "Mirror and Valley have completely collided, and neither one can exist in this state. Everything's going to implode!"

"We have to fix this," Faith said.

"Yes, but how?" Merrick asked.

"With help," Tommi and Mirror Tommi said in unison.

"We've got this," Jesse and Mirror Jesse added.

"I don't understand... I broke the spell," Cierra said. "The balance should have been restored once the eternal night ended."

"Too much damage had already been done," Faith replied sadly. "With the In-Between collapsing, it was only a matter of time before the dimensions collided."

"You three, join hands," Mirror Tommi said.

"Working together, you can guard the balance between the worlds," Tommi added.

"There is no balance," Chester pointed out.

"You can become a temporary balance, like the two of us did when the In-Between was collapsing," Mirror Tommi explained.

Faith nodded. "It might work," she agreed.

"Jesse, you and I are guardians to the balance. It's why we can walk all of the dimensions freely," Tommi said. "I need you to take my hand... And Mirror You needs to take Mirror Me's hand... And I'll take her other one."

"I assume you have a plan?" Jesse asked.

"We do," Mirror Tommi replied.

"We're with you," Mirror Jesse said.

They all joined hands before Tommi said, "Jade! We need Joey!"

Jade came running over with her son in her arms. "What do you need?" She asked.

"Joey is the guardian of all of the dimensions, not just Mirror and Valley," Mirror Tommi said. "He can choose new guardians for the balance."

"We want you to name Chester, Faith, and Merrick as guardians," Tommi added. "That way, even when this is over, they can walk any realm they choose without consequence. They'll be safe... Assuming we succeed and any of the dimensions still exist."

"You mean they won't try to kill us just for existing anymore?" Merrick asked.

"You mean I can see my mom without worrying about them coming after us?" Faith added.

"And I can actually try to get to know my family?" Chester asked.

"Yes to all of that," Mirror Tommi said. "But stop asking questions. There's no time."

"Joey, can you do it?" Tommi asked.

"Yes," Joey replied. "I do it." He closed his eyes before crawling between the circle the three children of the In-Between had formed and sending magick toward them.

"That feels... Nice," Faith said with a peaceful smile.

"I feel stronger," Merrick added.

"We're ready to do our job now," Chester promised.

"Alright, guys... Focus on protecting the balance. The rest of us have a fight to finish," Jesse said.

"Let's do this," Mirror Jesse added.

Jade realized the remaining members of the Eight Spokes Society were still attacking. "Alright," she said. "Time to show these warlocks how the devil worshippers do things."

"What do you mean?" Jesse asked.

"Let's just say that I know a lot of dark spells of my own," she replied. With that, she began casting what Jesse recognized as a massive death spell. She sent it at a group of ten Eight Spokes warlocks. Jesse was impressed as they hit the ground in unison, dropping dead without so much as a cry of pain.

"Damn... Remind me not to ever piss off your Jade," Mirror Jesse said with a laugh.

"Alright! If you're hurt, come my way!" Dylan said. "I've got an army of healers and we're ready to save some lives!" He led the healing efforts as everyone who could made their way to him.

As Bishop High School began to completely collapse, several people were about to be crushed. "No!" Beth shouted. She put her hands up and a powerful shield sprang up around the people who were in the path of the debris.

"Whoa... I didn't know I could do that!" Beth said in surprise.

"Keep it up, Beth!" Jade said.

Beth nodded. As she kept her shield going, Timmy said, "You can do more."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You're at full power now, Beth. You're finally ready to do everything the Goddess in you can do." He took her hands in his own and said, "Keep the shield going with one hand, and split the atoms of the debris with the others. Once it's all gone, you can release the shield."

Beth focused and began doing what he'd said. She was amazed to realize that she could wield both powers at once. It was going great, and she'd nearly finished when someone marched up to her and said, "Nice work, but I'll take over now."

Beth didn't have time to react before her Mirror self waved her hands and tried to split Timmy's atoms. Before she could kill him, Jade jumped in front of him. Beth screamed as Jade's atoms split apart in one violent burst of energy.