Two days passed by in silent agitation, but no more was said of the events of that day. Ariel had waited for them to ask. Her cheeks were sore from constant biting whenever someone approached her.

"Do you want some watermelon, Ariel?"

Emily held out a plate of fruit and took a seat on at the garden table, opposite her. Autumn sat next to her. Her body was wrapped in multiple layers of clothing. A single leaf was beginning to curl against her cheek, and Ariel knew it was bothering her. Whenever she thought no one was looking, she would try to flatten it out or cover it by resting her chin on her palm.

"Thanks." Ariel took a piece and ate quietly. Emily and Autumn had suddenly become her friends. She didn't think it was her charming personality that had won them over, but more a sense of pity about her scar. Normally it would have made her angry, but she was letting it slide. She had to behave so the Doc would take her seriously.

She caught Emily looking at her shirt, in the area over her heart. Her eyes quickly flitted away and Ariel's patience snapped. "Stop sneaking glances and just bloody ask!"

Emily and Autumn jumped. "I'm sorry," Emily spoke hastily. "I didn't mean to."

"We want to ask," Autumn said. "But we can't."

"It's not that hard, just open your mouth – "

"We can't ask because you aren't ready to tell us about it." She finished gently.

"What? Can you read my mind? How would you know?" Ariel snapped.

"Because we've all been there." Autumn motioned to Emily. "When Emily first arrived it took her months to before she could tell us what had happened."

"I used to hide in my room, terrified of everyone finding out." Emily offered a timid smile. "I thought it was my secret and I had to deal with it myself. I was also embarrassed. I mean, turning into a mermaid, it's not as fun or cool as they make it out to be in television shows. It's painful."

"I think we're getting off topic here." Ariel muttered.

"What I mean, is that when you are ready to tell us, you will. One day, you'll wake up and you'll want to tell us about it. Until then we will wait." Emily picked at her watermelon. "I'll try not to stare in the future."

"It's fine." Any anxiety that she had been feeling in the last two days dissipated. She still couldn't get used to their kindness. The urge to break the mood and say something callous rose up but she quelled it down.

A cream coloured cat jumped up onto the table, meowing loudly. His blue eyes were focused on the fruit. Annoyed, Ariel shoved him off. "Stupid cat."

"Oh don't be mean to Oscar," Emily gave him a pat as he ran past. "He doesn't mean any harm."

"I don't like cats. They creep me out."

She watched the creature slink across the garden to Samson and Michael who appeared to be in a heated debate. Both were speaking rapid Italian but they seemed to be enjoying the argument.

The Doctor appeared from the side of the house, walking with Mrs. Grimm and a mystery woman. Her long black hair snaked down her long back. She stood an inch above the Doctor, thanks to her long boots, which stopped just below her knees.

"Who is that?" Ariel motioned to the woman.

"That's Amelia," Autumn replied. "She works with the Doctor."

So that's the other curse hunter, she thought. She certainly looked the part with her dark clothing and piercings. Her ears were filled with studs and rings as was her nose and eyebrow. If there had been a lightning storm she would have been a perfect conductor.

The Doc saw her looking and called her over. Leaving the others, she met them near the window of the Doctor's office.

"Morning, Ariel." He smiled. "Allow me to introduce you to my partner, Amelia Bell."

"Pleasure." She thrust out her hand, nearly ripping Ariel's arm off. "Doc's been telling me all about ya problem. Definitely one I've never heard of before."

"That's nice." Ariel rubbed her shoulder, still recovering from the handshake. "So what can you do about it then?"

"Ha! Straight to the point, I like this girl." Amelia slapped the Doc across the back and he stumbled forward, wincing. "I don't know what I'm going to do yet. Gotta do some research and track down the hag that put it on ya, now don't I?"

"Right, and how are you going to do that? She's on the other side of the world."

"Then I'll just go to the other side of the world, won't I? You can do that these days, they have these things 'airplanes' that can fly in the sky!"

"I know what an airplane is!" Ariel snapped hotly. "Don't treat me like an idiot."

"Then don't treat me like one and we'll get along good."

Ariel flushed and didn't say anything. Amelia tapped the top of her chest with a long painted fingernail. "So, this is it then eh? The old ticker? Give us a look then."

Ariel looked around, nervous. There were many prying eyes about and she didn't want to do it out in the open. "Can we go inside -?"

"Why would we do that for? I ain't gonna take it out and flash it about. I just want to get a look at the magic the hag used. See if I can't pinpoint the spell she used."

The Doctor smiled encouragingly. "It's okay, Ariel. No one will see it from where we are. She won't need long to look at it, I promise."

"O-okay." Stepping closer, she pulled out her key and unlocked the chest. Her scar ached painfully as her breathing quickened. The Doc and Amelia stepped closer and Amelia placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's all right, Ariel. I won't do anything untoward. Ya can trust me."

A calmness washed over her and ache in her chest receded. She looked into Amelia's clear blue eyes and a sense of trust and understanding gazed back at her. The sensation was strange, reminding her of when the witch had made her immobile. Only this time though there was no fear – only peace. With less internal struggle, she opened the chest.

"Hmm, interesting. Looks like a few ants got trapped in here though." Amelia leaned in close. Ariel jumped as she ran a finger along the glass, brushing the small bugs out of the chest. Amelia looked up at her. "So ya felt, huh? The magic encased in this is some crazy hocus pocus."

She closed the lid and pushed the chest gently back into Ariel's arms. The feelings of peace were beginning to wear off and Ariel immediately inched backwards, her hands tightening around the chest. The fact that there had been ants in her chest was pushed aside by more important matters.

"What did you just do?"

"What do ya think I did?" Amelia raised a pierced eyebrow.

"You used some sort of magic on me. I could feel it. It felt just like when that witch put the curse on me."

Amelia laughed. "Well now that is interesting! I don't think I've ever met someone who could feel my magic before."

"So you did use magic on me!" Ariel glared at the Doctor. "You have a witch working with you? They're the enemy!"

"Not all witches are bad Ariel." Dr. Grimm lowered his voice. "I have known Amelia for many years and without her help many people would still be cursed."

"Ya can trust me, Ariel." Amelia reached out to touch her shoulder and Ariel stepped back.

"Uh-uh. No more juju touching. You want me to trust you - don't use any magic on me. We got a deal?"

"I recon I can handle that." Amelia snatched up her hand and gave it a rough shake.

"So when are you going to go and look for the evil witch?" Ariel asked, rotating her shoulder painfully.

"Can't do it for a couple of weeks. I've got a case I've been workin' hard for the last six months and I need to wrap some things up so they don't get suspicious, ya know?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea. Just let me know when you are working on my case."

Amelia slapped the Doctor on the shoulder, his knees buckling, and giving Ariel a wave and a wink, she vanished.

"W-what? How did she do that?" Ariel stammered.

"Magic." The Doctor replied simply. "She never hangs around for long. She's currently undercover with the Cursed Crosses, an Italian mob syndicate that's been trying to expand into Britain."

"Didn't ask for her life story, Doc." She would never admit that that sounded kind of cool."

"No you didn't. How is the journal coming along?"

She looked away. "I've written words."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, eyes twinkling. "Words are good. Hopefully they are therapeutic ones." He looked at his watch. "I have to head into town to pick up some supplies. If you need anything, Mrs Grimm will be around."

"No worries."

He headed back inside the house and Ariel moved back to the others. Autumn leaned forward as she sat down. "What did you think?"

"Of what?"

"Of Amelia? She is interesting, no?"

"I guess so. She better not use her magic on me again though."

"She did that to me once," Emily piped up. "I was having a panic attack when I turned into a mermaid a few days after I arrived here. She just put her hand on me and it all vanished."

"Ariel!" They all looked up as Kestral ran up to them. "You have a phone call."

"From who?" Kestral was already halfway across the garden, running into Michael and she latched onto his arm. "Bloody hell," she muttered.

She walked back inside, picking up the receiver lying on the table outside the kitchen. "Hello?"

"Ariel, is that you? God where the hell are you? Some chick just started drilling me with twenty questions about your life. Like I would know if..."

Her sister's words faded in white noise. Anger washed over her, leaving her body trembling. She gripped the receiver painfully. How had she even got the number? The fact she had refused to answer her text messages was a clear message of 'go screw yourself.' As she prattled on about something Kestral had asked her, Ariel could feel a pressure beginning to build in her head from holding her breath. Shakily, she released it. "What do you want, Paige?"

"-oh what? Way to interrupt me. Anyway, I was calling because granddad was worried. He's been nagging me for the last week about why we barely hear from you. I'm not good at keeping secrets. We should just tell him the truth –"

Ariel laughed bitterly the sound coming out in a harsh bark. "Tell him the truth? You mean tell him that some psychopathic witch made me watch as she ripped my heart out when it should have been you! The only reason she didn't take yours is because you never had one to begin with!"

She was met with silence. The pain in her scar was building and she placed her free hand over it, hitting the skin in frustration.

"Ariel..." Paige finally spoke. "You - I never –"

"No. I don't want to hear it. In fact, I could do with never hearing from you again. Never call me again." She slammed the phone, the vibration reverberating up her arm.

Placing her hand on her chest, her nails dug into the wood. She tried to breathe, and push the anger away, but she couldn't bottle it away. It needed to get out. She spun around, slamming her fist into the chest.

"That stupid bloody bi -!"

The words died on her tongue. Oh God. Peyton and Lucas were standing near the foot of the stairs, the expressions on their faces clearly evidence that they had heard everything she had said. If ever Ariel had wanted to find a way to get rid of her anger, she now knew that being humiliated definitely worked.

Her cheeks flushed. She watched as Lucas' eyes glanced from the chest on the table to her hand still covering her scar. It was as if her feet had become glued to the floor in shock. She wanted to run – needed to get away from these people who knew too much, but her body was still in the process of rebooting.

Slowly, Lucas' eyes met her own. Feeling their stare, she suddenly felt exposed and her body finally sprung into action. Grabbing her chest, she spun around the tore out the back door.

She thought she heard her name being called but she didn't stop. She bolted through the garden, eyes blurring. She lost sight of where she was going and let her feet find their own path.

"Oomph!"

Her foot connected with something hard and she tripped, falling to her knees. Through the tears, she could see a blur of blue and green; she was in the bluebell field. The chest was still held tightly against her chest and she lowered it to the ground, resting her hands on the lid. Warm drops hit the back of her hands as she sobbed.

Once again Paige had screwed her over. If she hadn't called, she wouldn't have blurted out those words and Lucas and Peyton would still be oblivious and making googly puppy dog eyes at each other. She was halfway across the world and still making her life hell.

"Why are you sad?"

Surprised, she snorted in shock. The Doctor's son, Ben was standing beside her. He covered his mouth to hide a smile. "You snorted."

"I-I did not!"

"Did too! It was funny. Mum snorts like that when she laughs sometimes. Dad says it's cute."

"Gross," she muttered, quickly wiping the tears away.

"I think so too. It's gross when they call each other cute and hug. Grown ups are disgusting." He shuddered, making his whole body shake.

Ariel laughed through the last of her tears. "Don't ever forget that feeling kid."

"You're a grown up. You probably don't think it's gross anymore." He sat down.

"Trust me. Right now all grown up feelings are the worst." She looked around. "Why are you out here anyway? Shouldn't you have class with Pey –"

She choked on the name, the moment still too fresh in her mind. Ben didn't notice and started pulling blades of grass. "I ditched. Her classes are so boring."

"What were you learning?"

"Maths. I hate it. I don't get it at all. When will I ever need to know about how many chickens some farmer has and how many eggs they have?"

"Preaching to the choir, buddy."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing," she sniffed. "Maths is important though. Not all of it, but most of it is. You'll need it when you're grown up. I can help you if you want."

"But that's ages away!" He threw his small collection of grass into the air. "Why can't I learn it when I'm grown up?"

"Because you'll be too busy dealing with gross grown up stuff to think about learning Maths."

"Oh really? Peyton has been lying to me then."

Ariel felt the corners of her mouth lift a little. "You call her by her first name?"

"Yeah. She said she feels old when I call her Ms Rogers. She is still old though." He had moved on from grass blades and had started a small collection of bluebells on his lap. He lowered his gaze. "Why were you crying?"

She sighed. "I don't really know myself. Put it down to gross grown up feelings."

He frowned. "Yuck. I never want to grow up."

She smiled. "You better pray to Peter Pan then."

He stared at her seriously. "Peter Pan is a fairytale you know."

"So are mermaids and look at Emily."

His brow furrowed as he considered her logic and she thought it was pretty adorable. She wasn't sure how he had found her but she was glad he had. The pain in her scar had faded, and all feelings of anger and humiliation had lowered to manageable levels.

"Benjamin Grimm!"

"Oh no," he groaned. "She found me."

"Who? Peyton?" Ariel started to panic –

"No, my mum."

"Oh." Turning, she saw Mrs Grimm standing near the edge of the clearing, arms crossed. "She doesn't look happy."

Ben suddenly grabbed her arm. "Will you come with me? If you're there she might not tell me off."

Flustered, she looked around. "I-I don't know. I don't want them to know I've been crying..."

Ben tilted his head, examining her face. "I won't tell them and you can't really tell anymore. Your nose looks a little red but you're still pretty."

Ariel let out a laugh. "Well if I still look pretty then I guess it'll be okay."

Relief flooded his little features and he stood up, grabbing her hand. "Come on!"

She quickly picked up her chest and let him drag her over to Mrs Grimm. The woman had a stern expression in place, but Ariel could see the humour in her eyes as she watched her son drag the older girl across the field.

"I'm sorry mum. I only ditched because Ariel was sad. I wanted to cheer her up," he said without skipping a beat.

Ariel glanced at him in shock. Little snitch had sold her out without batting an eye. "I wasn't sad! I just had hay fever."

"You should have said something to Peyton then instead of making her worried when you didn't show up for your lesson." She said sternly. "I'm glad Ariel only had hay fever, though I think sitting in a field of flowers may have exacerbated it rather than relieved the symptoms."

Ariel flushed. Ben tugged her hand. "Ariel said she would help me with Maths. Can she teach me today? I don't get it when it when Peyton explains it to me. Please mum?"

"W-what?" Ariel looked up at Mrs Grimm in horror. "I didn't really mean –"

"If Ariel is happy to do it then I see no problem." Mrs Grimm took Ariel's hand from Ben's and linked their arms together. "Run back to the house and get your materials. We will meet you in the library."

"Okay!" He started running forward but then stopped and ran back, shoving his collection of bluebells into Ariel's hand. "Here."

"Thanks." She smiled. He took off, disappearing around a bend as they took a more leisurely pace. "I'm sorry, Mrs Grimm. I didn't realize Ben followed me out here –"

"It's all right, and please call me Harriet." She laughed. "He's becoming quite the expert at getting what he wants. I will have to get on top of that soon or the next thing I know he won't be studying at all. It was kind of you to offer to help him. Were you good at maths in school, Ariel?"

She nodded. "I took advanced classes in year 12. I didn't have a lot of problems with it so I should be able to help Ben. I did a little tutoring when I was in year 10."

"You sound like quite the academic," she patted her arm. "You just finished school this last year, correct? What are your plans for the future?"

"I..." she tried to think of what it was she wanted to do. Her mind came up blank and she felt a little hollow. "I don't know."

"Oh well that's okay. There's plenty of time to think about the future." They re-entered the garden and Harriet stopped, turned Ariel to face her. She squeezed her arms. "I hope you got your hay fever sorted out. If it ever troubles you again, please don't be afraid to come to me, or Doc. We don't like it when you experience...hay fever."

Ariel nodded, biting her lip. "Thank you. I will remember that."

"Good! Now I hope you don't need long to prepare yourself. Ben can be quite the handful."

"You aren't coming along?"

"Oh no! All that math talk will give me a headache. I'd best stay out here and tend to the roses." She grinned mischieviously and headed around the side of the house.

Ariel shook her head. She could see who Ben was beginning to take after. Moving inside, she headed towards the library. A faint shout of 'I'm nearly ready!' came from upstairs and she grinned.

" - it's so pathetic."

She froze. She recognized Peyton's voice and her cheeks flushed. Was she actually gossiping about what had happened already? Even Paige wasn't that fast. Getting ready to reveal herself and give the teacher a piece of her mind, her next words stopped her in her tracks.

"I know! He just follows me around all day practically panting! I mean I try not to lead him on, but I can't help it if he thinks I'm flirting. He probably thinks every nice girl likes him." She made a shuddering noise. "I'm more worried he'll try to bite my head off if I turn him down."

There was a pause. "No it's true! You should see him, Cassie. He's a monster. Not even a mother could love that face."

Footsteps drew close and Ariel quickly ducked into the shadows by the stairs as Peyton opened the front door and stepped out.

"You evil bi –"

"I'm ready!" Ben jumped down the stairs. He paused when he saw her face. "Are you having gross grown up feelings again?"

She nodded darkly, thoughts of murder beginning to form. "They're bloody gross all right."

So another new character introduced (Amelia is quite fun to write). How are you all keeping up so far? I know sometimes it can be quite confusing to keep up with so many characters. I am trying to keep them evenly paced out so you don't lose track :)

Thoughts on the chapter overall?