Ariel closed her journal,. Casting a quick glance at Emily, who was lost in thought by the window, she stashed it at the bottom of her open suitcase, beaneath a pile of clothes.

The pile had originally started as the clear pile, but had slowly drifted in to the washing pile, and now she needed to resort them out. Looking at the pile, she inhaled sharply.

Not today. Today she had other mountains to climb.

The morning was almost over. After being up half the night with Oscar, she'd slept in, only to be woken by Amelia's unique alarm, telling her she needed to check on Zeke. If she dawdled any longer, Amelia would more than likely send another alarm. Her subtlety left a lot to be desired, if the message was anything to go by –

Do that thing in the office! Get up!

It wasn't the smartest thing to shout loudly in her room, especially since the alarm had woken Emily too. She'd been casting Ariel furtive looks as she scribbled furiously in her journal. Ariel was waiting for her to ask what the alarm meant, but so far she had avoided Ariel's gaze every time she caught her staring.

Standing up, she stretched her arms high above her head, enjoying the odd snap and crack as her muscles grew taut.

"Are you going to do that thing in the office now?" Emily finally asked.

Ariel bit her lip. "Oh, yeah I am."

"What are you doing?"

"Oh nothing really," she looked at her nails, examining a broken cuticle. "Just checking potions and whatever. Boring really."

"Honest," she added when Emily didn't look away. Her eyes seemed to be scanning her soul, searching for lies.

"Is it really such a big secret that you can't tell me?" She asked.

Her voice was filled with hope; hope that Ariel would trust her enough to share this secret.

Guilt washed over Ariel. "I want to tell you, Em, I swear but it's not my secret to tell..."

Her face fell. "It's fine, I get it."

She moved as she spoke, brushing past Ariel and rushing out the door.

"Emily..." she heard the bathroom door close and inhaled sharply. She didn't know what to do. After just getting back on good terms with everyone, she was already stuffing things up again.

She didn't think Emily was behind Zeke's 'accident', and she honestly didn't see the harm in telling her –

'Get off ya butt and check it now!

"Okay! Geez..." Ariel waved her hand through the ball of smoke that had materialized in front of her face and it disappeared with a small hiss.

She passed Michael on the stairs, murmuring a quick good morning. He barely noticed her, his eyes alight with joy and she spied a letter in his hands. Guess his fiance finally wrote him another letter, she thought.

Lucas' voice drifted through the kitchen door as she passed, saying good morning to Samson and her step faltered. She wanted to speak with Lucas - preferably alone - but she felt she needed more time to sort things out with him. If she didn't get to Zeke first she had a feeling another one of Amelia's special alarms would pop up and scare the crap out of her, and then Lucas would undoubtedly ask about what she was doing too and everything would get worse. She decided she would check on Zeke first, then organise her plan of attack with Lucas.

She stepped into the small alcove; drawing out the key Amelia had given her from around her neck, and stopped as she nearly crashed into someone crouching by the door.

"What are you doing?"

Kestral jumped, hitting her head on the doorknob. "What are you doing sneaking up on people?" She countered, rubbing her head.

"I wasn't the one caught trying to peep through a key hole," Ariel said sharply. "You answer first."

Kestral stared at the door, fingers drumming against her thigh. Dark shadows circled her eyes, as if she'd forgotten to take her eyeliner for the last few days. There was a small smudge on the inside of her nose and Ariel figured she actually had forgotten to remove her makeup last night.

Her head suddenly snapped back to face Ariel, making her jump. "What's going on in there?"

"Nothing."

Frustration met Ariel's gaze. "Don't lie. Tell me."

A strange feeling passed through Ariel as Kestral spoke. She didn't know how to describe it, but the phrase 'stepping on someone's grave' sprang to mind. It was wrong and left her feeling cold. She put it down to not liking people ordering her around. Even more since it was Kestral doing the ordering.

"I'm not telling you anything," Ariel snapped.

There was a flash of something - annoyance, Ariel thought but it was gone before she could analyse it.

"Fine," Kestral muttered to herself, as if Ariel had disappeared. "It doesn't matter. I'll find out soon enough."

"What do you mean?"

Ignoring her, Kestral brushed by her and disappeared down the hall. It was no secret that Amelia had been doing something in the Doc's office while he was away. They also knew Ariel was helping her to some extent. So far everyone had been happy to not ask her what they had been up to, but it seemed today everyone's patience had started to run out. Ariel shook her head, pulling out the key.

Opening the door, she slipped through quickly, locking it behind her. Whatever, she thought. Amelia can deal with it when she gets back.

Zeke remained floating in the center of the room. The ball of magic hung above his body, dark and putrid. The scent permeated the air, an odd combination of metal and sour herbs. Ariel only knew it was sour because she could almost taste it when she opened her mouth. The urge to crack a window was always at the front of her mind when she first entered and she gazed longingly at the closed window as she donned the mask and gloves she'd left on the Doc's desk.

In the week she had been wallowing, a noticeable change had occurred with Zeke. His pasty complexion had cleared, a healthy pink glow settling in his cheeks. Where his eyes had once been sunken, though hidden behind dirty glasses, they were now healthy and peaceful. There was a healthy shine to his hair, which Amelia had magically cleaned at some point. If anyone were to look at him, they would believe he was merely asleep and not in a magically induced coma.

Magic was still slowly being extracted, the thin trail beginning to ebb; dribs and drabs now floated through the air, and melted into the orb, like an enchanted lava lamp. Ariel guessed it wouldn't be long before his body would be cleansed and they could wake him up. The uncomfortable feeling she had always felt around him was nearly nonexistent, and she was starting to feel bad for all the horrible things she had thought about him when she first arrived.

Grabbing the folder on the desk, she recorded down all the usual observations Amelia had taught her to do. She collected a small amount of the magic into a tube for testing - testing for what she didn't know. Amelia had never said no matter how often Ariel asked her. Apparently helping didn't include getting to know everything like the others thought.

Placing everything neatly on the desk, she leaned against its edge, staring at Zeke. Even though he was unconscious, she willed him to wake up. She wanted to know who it was that had done this to him, and if it was connected to the murder in town. Amelia was adamant that it was, but with no proof as yet to back her suspicions, she refused to tell Ariel what her suspicions were. She'd gone into a mad rambling spiral last week when Ariel had tried to press her for theories, and all Ariel had been able to determine was that Amelia didn't like to point fingers unless she was absolutely certain they were being pointed in the right direction.

It was good advice to follow, but Ariel would rather know all the theories so she could help as well. Being in the dark on this was more than a little annoying sometimes.

She laughed to herself. Okay, so maybe she could understand how Emily and Kestral felt.

Picking up her bag, she left the office, locking the door. The crystal and the key to her heart's chest clinked against the wood as she twisted the office key and she spun around nervously, worried Kestral or someone might see her coming out and start asking questions again.

She was tucking the chain back down her shirt as Emily walked out of the kitchen.

"Em," she started quickly, worried she would run again, "I really am sorry –"

"It's okay," Emily spoke over her. "Honestly," she added when Ariel started to open her mouth again. "I know Amelia has told you not to tell anyone, and even though it sucks, I respect that you keep your word. It's a good quality to have...as a friend."

Ariel smiled gratefully at the offered olive branch. "Thank you, Em. Just know I really want to tell you. If I was still friends with those girls back home I probably would've told everyone by now."

"I'm glad you aren't like them...anymore."

"Me too," Ariel grinned. "Honestly being a bitch all the time is exhausting."

Emily smiled, glancing back at the kitchen. "Are you going to talk to him?"

"I'm going to try." She tried to sound positive, but her nerves shriveled up any courage she had.

"Okay, well I'm going to go and get my school books. Samson said he'd help me catch up on all the schoolwork I've missed this year." Stepping past Ariel, she gave her a shoulder a squeeze and offered an encouraging smile. "Good luck. If I hear shouting, I'll come and check you haven't murdered him."

"Thanks," Ariel murmured, finding it weirdly funny that Emily was more worried about Lucas than her.

Inching closer to the kitchen door, Ariel froze, her hand raised to push it open. Her tongue felt glued to the roof of her mouth. She'd meant to try and figure out what to say while she was attending to Zeke, but it had slipped her mind, which was now drawing blanks.

The clink of china snapped her out of her mini freak out and she squared her shoulders and pushed the door open.

Lucas stood by the kitchen sink, his back to her as he carefully placed plated in the sink of water. She edged further inside, closing the door quietly behind her, and placed herself between the two exits in case he tried to storm out.

She hesitated for a moment, gathering her courage. "Lucas? Can we talk?"

He jumped, water sloshing over the counter and pooling at his feet. He didn't turn around, but his head disappeared into his shoulders.

"What do you want?"

"I want to apologise," she edged closer, "for everything that's been going on since...since Autumn died."

"It's fine," his shoulders replied as his head sunk lower. "Everyone deals with grief differently, Samson already explained that I shouldn't be so hard on you."

"Oh," she felt a little surge of affection for the reptilian gentleman. "That was nice of him, but still, I was pretty awful."

She stood beside him at the sink, grabbing a tea towel and she started to dry the plates he was placing on the dish rack. Chest aching painfully, she glanced up at him from the corner of her eye. His gaze was fixated on the pan he was meticulously scrubbing. She knew he realized she was looking at him, and her stomach sank as she noticed him starting to inch away from her.

He hadn't forgiven her, and from his behavior, he clearly didn't want to. She didn't want it to, but it hurt.

A lot.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, placing the tea towel back on the rack. Tears stung the corner of her eyes and she quickly turned away.

"Ariel – wait." His hand shot out, grabbing her shoulder. She turned around, not caring her shoulder was drenched and covered in bubbles. She waited, hoping... for what she didn't know. She was just hoping for something – anything to make the ache in her chest disappear.

"Aren't you going to help me finish the dishes?"

Hope flashed to annoyance and she wrenched her arm away. She thought about telling him to do it himself, but instead, she found herself grabbing the tea towel again and she started furiously rubbing the dishes dry.

They continued in silence, the only sounds coming from the kitchen was the clinking of cups and plates as Ariel stacked them on the counter ready to be put away.

As she stacked, her annoyance at Lucas slowly turned onto herself. It was frustrating that she cared so much that Lucas forgave her. She didn't want him to hate her. She tried to reach within herself for what she did want, but it remained beyond her grasp. The ache in her chest deepened and she touched the scar, pressing the tea towel into it deeply as if it would make the pain disappear.

"Are you okay? Is your heart hurting?"

Startled, she dropped the cup she'd been holding and it crashed onto the counter, the handle snapping cleanly off.

"Dammit," she grabbed the pieces carefully, trying not to notice how similar it looked to her real heart. "Yeah I'm fine."

Placing the broken pieces on the windowsill, she reached for another cup as Lucas' hand grabbed her own.

"I'm not angry with you Ariel."

"Really?" She tried to snatch her hand away, but even with the water and soap his grip was too difficult to escape. "Could've fooled me."

"I'm not. It's myself I'm angry at."

She stopped trying to take her hand back, surprised. "Why would you be angry at yourself?"

He stared out the window, and she could see his frustration. Unconsciously her fingers curled into his hand.

"It's just," he sighed. "I'm struggling with something at the moment, and arguing with you doesn't make it any easier."

"I didn't think we were arguing," she protested.

"No, I guess we weren't really," his lips curled. "My brain automatically goes to that word because we usually are arguing."

"I guess," she said quietly. He still hadn't let go of her hand and she gave his a small tug. "I'm sorry, if I've made what you're struggling with more difficult. Can I do anything to help?"

"Actually yeah," he muttered. He started guiding her out of the kitchen, towards the back door. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

Lucas' hand was on the doorknob when an unearthly roar caused them to stop. Lucas immediately yanked Ariel behind him as Michael descended the stairs. Ariel shifted to get a better look and her stomach dropped.

Michael's eyes were a soft red, his features sharper and more menacing. A piece of paper was clenched tightly in his trembling hands.

"You." His voice shook with barely controlled rage. "You killed her."

"What?" Lucas asked, cautious. "Michael, calm down -"

"You killed my fiance!" He roared. Ariel jumped, gripping Lucas' forearm. Michael shook the letter in his hand, the paper tearing.

"Michael, I don't even know your fiance." Lucas gently moved Ariel to the side, into the alcove by the office.

"No, no," he muttered, gripping his head. "You did it, you were standing over her body, I saw it!"

"Michael," Ariel said hesitantly. "That doesn't make sense. We've never –"

Lucas motioned for her to stop talking as Michael's eyes, wide and alight with something unnatural snapped to her. His eyes clouded, his irises clouding over and turning red. His features started to become sharper, as if something was pulling his skin back. His teeth elongated, looking more sinister than Lucas' and his fingers blackened, becoming pointed tips that looked like they could cut through the strongest metal.

In that instant, the Michael they knew vanished. A snarling demonic creature stood before them, and the fear Ariel had felt that night at the drive-in resurfaced.

Before she could blink, Michael charged. Lucas shoved Ariel further out of harms reach as Michael crashed into him. Lucas stumbled back with the momentum, hitting the back door. Glass shattered and wood splintered as he fought back, trying to pull Michael off him.

"Ariel get out of here!" Lucas shouted, shoving his hand into Michael's jaw to stop the teeth which had been dangerously close to his neck.

Ariel watched in stunned horror as Lucas finally managed to gain an upper hand and they fell through the kitchen door. As the door swung shut, shock wore away to fear, and she pushed away from the wall, bolting for the stairs.

She saw the letter on the floor and she picked it up, trying to read it as she started up the stairs. She stopped on the first step.

The page was blank.

Baffled, she turned it over, again and again as if it might make the words wondrously appear. Breathing heavily, she glanced back to the kitchen, wondering what the hell was going on.

The sound of more plates breaking made her jump and she started moving again. She would try to figure it out once she'd grabbed Emily and the others. She hoped Samson and Kestral were close by so she could get everyone out of the house and somehow get help for Lucas before Michael...

No. She shook her head, pumping up the steps. Lucas will be fine!

She crashed into her bedroom door and wrenched it open. "Emily! We have to go..." her voice trailed off. Kestral was standing by the window, with Emily curled up by her feet. She held Emily's hand, stroking it softly.

"What are you doing?"

Note: Hey guys! 

First of all yes I know it has been millenia since I updated XD apologies for that. I sorta fell off the grid for a bit and needed to take a break from everything, especially this story, it was doing my head in.

But I've finally figured out what I'm doing and I think I'm back on track now (I hope). I plan on rewriting this from the foundations once I finish. To those of you I've left waiting, again I'm so sorry! Thank you for sticking with this story and loving it so much that you wanted another update. I'm working hard to not leave such a huge gap between updates. See you all hopefully soon! 

<3