Witch hunters had broken into the Blake house and had killed Cassie's grandmother Jane.

Every one was at her house for the wake.

Cassie was walking around in absolute numb, barely noticing the condolences of the people around her, barely able to give so much as a smile.

I walked toward the door, walking past Diana as I did, seeing Jake walk inside. "Hey."

"Is it true?" Jake asked. "Witch hunters did it?" 

"That's what Blackwell said," I told him. 

"We can't just sit here and let them get away with this," Jake told me, loud enough that it was drawing attention from the other people. 

I looked from the people looking toward us to Jake, putting a hand on his shoulder. "And we won't. But right now, there are sad, fragile, old people here." I lowered my hand ot my side. "Let's not give them a heart attack with angry threats. What you need is something to take the edge off. What I need." 

I held up a bottle for him to see.

"What is that?" Jake asked.

"Just a bottle of pharmies that gives bursts of happiness, and if anyone nees a burst right now, it's us," I told him. 

"Where did you get it?" Jake asked.

"I found it in with my aunt's stuff when I was going through the house," I answered.

"Didn't your aunt die?" Jake asked.

"Yes, thank you so much for the reminder of the family that I literally no longer have," I told him.

"Sorry," Jake told me.  "So does this mean that you're actually trusting me again?" 

"Honestly, I don't think I ever stopped," I told him. "I was just mad and surprised and--"

"Hurt?" Jake asked.

"I don't get hurt, Jake," I told him.

"Okay, I'll pretend like I believe that," Jake told me.

"Let's just say that Cassie's scheme yesterday to get us to go together so we could get over what happened actually worked," I told him. "So what do you say about going over to your place and taking the edge off?" 

Jake smirked.

I smiled.

At Jake's house in his room, he stood behind me, shirtless, pulling off my shirt. "This kind of grieving is more my speed."

"Sure it is, Romeo," I told him sarcastically, turning to face him, kissing him, turning to where his back was to the bed. 

"You're the one who likes to pretend you don't get hurt," Jake told me, his hand on the small of my back, pressing me closer to him. 

I pushed him onto the bed. "So do you." I knelt over him. "Say hello to the least painful way to grieve." 

I pulled out the bottle, opening it, looking inside in shock, my mouth opening slightly.

"What?" Jake asked. I poured the crystal into my hand. "Is that . . ."

I dropped the pill bottle, holding the crystal in my hand, smiling. "My family's crystal." 

In the abandoned house, Jake and I walked up to the attic where Blackwell, Cassie, Adam, Melissa and Faye were. 

I smirked, holding up the crystal for them to see. "Six down, one to go." 

Blackwell took the crystal. "Where did you find this?" 

"In a form of pharmiceuticals," I answered, taking the crystal, falling back into the chair behind me. 

"Okay," Cassie said awkwardly. "So, now, we just have to find Adam's family's crystal."

"But it didn't appear on the map," Adam told us. 

"It must be cloaked," Blackwell told us. "Adam's grandfather could've spelled and hidden it before he died."

"What if we can't find it?" Cassie asked. 

"We have to," Blackwell told us. He looked at Adam. "Maybe your grandfather left a clue that might help us figure out his cloaking spell or at least give us an idea of where he hid it." 

"I could look," Adam told us. 

"Yeah, but even if we find it, Faye's crystal doesn't work," Melissa told us.

"I know a spell that can recharge it, but we need the whole Circle," Blackwell told us. "You find Diana. let's meet back here tonight. Adam, we need that seventh crystal. We can't make the crystal skull or protect ourselves without it." 

Adam nodded.

"So what part of 'We need to recharge the crystals before the witch hunters kill us' doesn't Diana understand?" Faye asked. 

"I'm sure she has her reasons," Cassie told us.

"Oh, like what?" Faye asked. "Buying more push-up bras? Brushing up on her Aussie accent?" 

"Or how about not trusting Blackwell completely?" I asked. "I mean, hey, it's not such a leap. The guy's known to do the deep, dirty and dangerous."

"Tricia, give it a rest," Cassie told me.

"No, she has a point," Diana's voice told us, making us turn toward her as she walked up the stairs toward us. "Let her say how she feels. It's not the first time, and it's certainly not gonna be the last. Besides, it's actually something that I can agree with her on."

"Thank you," I told her. "And where the hell have you been?" 

"I've been dealing with something personal," Diana told us. 

"So have we," Faye told her. "Personally, I don't want to die." 

Faye put her dead crystal on the table in front of us, walking toward a chair to sit down.

Diana walked toward us. "John Blackwell is my father." 

"Since when?" I asked. 

"What are you talking about?" Jake asked.

"I found out at the mine," Diana told us. "I couldn't get in, like Cassie, because we're related."

Faye looked at Jake. "Your grandfather was right. And she's the one." 

"We don't know if this Circle has two of three," I told them. "Just like we don't know if the other two Circles have two or three." 

"How is this fair?" Faye asked. 

"Right about what?" Diana asked. "What is Tricia talking about?" 

"He had a theory that Blackwell had more than one child in our Circle," Jake told her. "And that using the other two Circles, they would create a Balcoin Circle. A full Circle is seven. We don't know how this is going to end."

 Diana looked at Cassie. "Why didn't you tell me?" 

"He had a lot of theories, most of them crazy," Cassie told her. 

"But not all, apparently," Diana told her.

"And according to my mom's journal, Blackwell might have had something with her, too," Faye told us. Cassie turned to face her. "Your daddy got around." 

"And this is the guy we're supposed to be trusting to save us from the witch hunters?" I asked.

"He's saved us from them once," Cassie told us. "We'd be dead if it weren't for him." 

Wind started to blow through the house. 

"What the hell's going on?" I asked.

The table next to us started to shake, everything rattling, things falling.

"Cassie, are you doing this?" Faye asked.

"No!" Cassie told us.

The table started to spin chaotically everything except for the crystal falling to the floor.

Diana, Cassie and I backed away toward Jake and Faye.

"What the hell?" Jake asked.

"The crystal," I told them.

The table stopped spinning. The crystal was disappearing into the table like quicksand.

Jake tried to grab it, but it was too late. He looked under the table. He stood, looking at us. "It's gone." 

Cassie was picking up the things that had fell on the floor.

"We got totally out-magicked in our own magic house," Faye told us. "Unbelievable."

Jake walked into the room. "It was witch hunters. There's ash around the whole house." 

"But the crystal was stolen using magic," Diana told us.

"It must've been the traitor witch," Cassie told us.

"And why would the traitor want it?" Diana asked.

"To give themselves more power," I answered.

"Or to stop us from putting together the crystal skull," Jake added.

"We have to get it back," Cassie told us. 

"How?" I asked. 

"Isaac," Jake told us. "I can talk to him."

"Really?" Faye asked. "Is a witch hunter the best guy to help us steal something back from witch hunters?" 

"I know Isaac doesn't believe in what Eben's doing," Jake told us. "Demons, using magic. Those are the things he dedicated his life to stop." 

"Why hasn't he stopped Eben?" Diana asked.

"Maybe Eben's too strong," Jake answered. "If I can convince Isaac we can stop Eben by putting together the crystals, maybe he'll help us get that crystal back. Anyone have another idea?" 

"I think it's worth a shot," I told them. 

"Okay," Cassie told us. "I'll run it by my father." 

I rolled my eyes.

"No," Diana told her. Everyone looked at her. "We were a Circle before he got here, we can handle this on our own."

"Maybe we don't need Blackwell on this one," I agreed. 

Jake nodded. "Isaac would never trust him." 

"Maybe Isaac's smarter than we are," I told them.

Cassie glared toward me.

I knew she was getting tired of me doing that, but I didn't care.

In the middle of the woods, Cassie, Diana, Jake, Faye and I walked toward the meeting place.

"No Isaac," Diana told us. 

"Unless they're here, and this is a trap," Cassie told us. "They're just waiting to kill us." 

"That's not who Isaac is," Jake told us. "Trust me." 

I looked ahead of us to the guy walking toward us. "Who the hell is that?" 

"Ian," Jake answered. 

"The last time one of your buddies showed up, he had a demon inside him," Cassie told him.

"Just let me talk to him," Jake told her. "We have no other way to get answers."

Ian continued to walk toward us.

"Jake," Ian said. 

"Ian," Jake said. "I'm sorry about Samuel. It was a senseless death." 

"Is that why you called?" Ian asked. "A condolence card would've been fine." 

"I called Isaac," Jake told him. "Why are you here?" 

"Because Isaac's dead," Ian answered. 

"What?" Jake asked.

"Eben killed him," Ian told us. 

"He's lying," Cassie told us. He looked at Jake. "He's messing with you."

"I know you," I told him. "You wore a pid mask on Halloween. You chloroformed me." 

"You took us to a boat yard and tried to burn us," Faye told him. 

"You called me," Ian told us. "What do you want?" 

"You know where my house is," Cassie told him, stepping in front of him. "You killed my grandmother." 

"Cassie," Diana said.

Ian shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about." 

"More lies" Cassie said. "You're a murderer." 

"And what does that make you?" Ian replied. "You killed Luke. You lit him up like a tor--"

Cassie glared at him, lost in the dark magic.

Ian grabbed his throat, unable to breathe, sinking to his knees, falling to the ground, coughing, gasping for breath. 

Jake stepped forward. "What--what are you doing?" 

"Wait, Cassie!" I told her, stepped next to her. "Stop! Cassie! You're going to kill him. Cassie, stop! What are you doing?"

Diana stepped next to us, both of us speaking together. "Stop!" 

Cassie was pulled out of the trance, no longer using her magic.

Ian coughed, gasping for breath, able to breathe again.

Cassie looked from us to Ian.

We gave her a guarded stare back.

Cassie walked away angrily. Diana followed her. 

Ian stood, blood on the side of his face. "Keep her the hell away from me!" He looked at Jake. "These are the witches you left us for? You're pathetic, Jake."

"Why did Eben kill Isaac?" Jake asked.

"Because Isaac turned on him," Ian answered. "Isaac believe that all magic was rooted in evil. He hated that Eben was using it."

"The magic Eben got from the witch traitor," Faye said.

Ian nodded. "After the witch helped Eben summon the demons, he was no longer useful. Eben told Isaac to kill him, but Isaac didn't. The witch escaped. Eben killed Isaac as punishment."

"Who was the traitor?" I asked.

"Never found out," Ian told us. "I tracked the witch to Chance Harbor. I lost him. With any luck, he's here to kill all of you." 

"Maybe we should get Cassie back here, huh?" I asked.

"Look, I only came here out of respect for Isaac, all right?" Ian asked. "I know how close you were." 

Ian turned around, walking away, leaving.

Cassie walked toward us incredulously. "Hey! What the hell? He can't just leave. That's it? What, you're just letting him walk away?"  

"We got what we needed," Jake told her. 

"What?" Faye asked.

Cassie turned to face us.

"We know the traitor wasn't bringing the crystal to the hunters, which means he was on his own," Jake told us. "We can track it and bring it back." 

"Wait," Diana told us. "If Isaac turned on Eben, maybe Ian and the others who were loyal to Isaac can be convinced to turn, too." 

"A truce?" Cassie asked. "Really? Don't you remember how that worked out for our parents?"

"Maybe annihilation isn't the only way to stop this war," Diana told us. 

"Let's just find the crystal," Jake told us. "Putting together the crystal skull gives us leverage either way." 

We started to walk back in the way we had came, leaving. 

We went back to the abandoned house.

"Even if we find it, how are we going to get the crystal away from the traitor?" Faye asked.

"There's five of us and one of him," Jake told us. 

"Oh, and I forgot, we've got the dark magic super twins on our side," Faye said.

"Hardly," Diana told her.

"What does that mean?" Cassie asked.

"Even if I have dark magic, I'd never use it," Diana told her. "We're very different people." 

"Oh, come on, Diana, at least try it," Faye told her. "Destroy something."

"Let's just concentrate on finding the crystal, okay?" I asked.

We each looked at the map with the crystal locator spell, focusing. 

Four of he crystals were here, so four lines made of stars pointed toward the abandoned house on the map. 

The other line moved counter-clockwise on the map slowly. 

"It's near Hudson Fields," Jake told us, looking toward me with a knowing smirk.

I glared toward him.

"Where is that?" Cassie asked.

I looked from Jake to Cassie. "Uh, the creepiest place on Earth."

After dark, we pulled up to the amusement park, all of us getting out and walking toward the entrance.

"This is Hudson Fields?" Cassie asked. 

"Are you sure he's even in there?" Diana asked.

"The crystal definitely is, and that's all we need," Jake told us, walking toward the entrance.

I looked at Cassie, Diana and Faye. "I've had at least a dozen nightmares start this way." Jake opened the gate. I pointed at Faye. "And most of them involve you."

"Come on," Jake told us.

"Okay, but if I run into any kind of clown, I'm so out of here," I told them, walking inside.

"Tricia," Jake said.

We walked inside.

Calliptoe music played from the speakers as we walked through the dark park. 

"If we live, remind me to download this song," I told them. "It'd be perfect for my 'running for your life' treadmill mix." 

Metal clanged.

Faye, Diana, Cassie and I screamed.

We continued walking forward.

"Let's split up," Jake told us. "Find him faster." 

"I'll go with Faye," Diana told us.

"As much as I would hate coming in between the Blackwell sisters, I also don't want to stand in between the budding romance of Jake and Tricia," Faye told us. 

"Fine," Diana said. "So that means, Cassie, Faye and me." 

"Wow," Cassie said sarcastically. "Your enthusiasm is overwhelming."

Faye, Diana and Cassie walked away.

Jake looked at me. "Check some rides?" 

"That sounded a lot more romantic when you took me here two years ago,"  I told him. 

"I really doubt I had romance on my mind back then," Jake told me. 

"Oh, yeah, okay, I'll pretend that I believe that," I told him, using the words he had used against me at the wake. 

Jake looked at me.

I smiled, walking forward.

We heard Diana, Cassie and Faye scream, turning toward them.

"False alarm," Faye told us. "Just a disgusting rat." 

I laughed. "Scooby, Shaggy and Freddy are such scaredy-cats."

I looked at the scary painted clown on the wall with cracked, broken, sharp teeth, his tongue hanging out, his face scrunched up evilly like he wanted to kill you, hair straight out and poofed like Einstein. 

"You do remember our date here, right?" I asked.

"Red dress," Jake told me. "Of course I remember." 

I smiled, turning toward the right. 

And screamed once in shock when I saw an even scarier clown than the one painted on the wall, a cleaver in his hand, blood covering it. 

Jake wrapped his arms around me waist, laughing. "Seriously? This still scare you?" 

"Clowns?" I asked. "Yes. Their painted-on faces, their freakishly large feet." I looked at him. "Because let's not forget the time that you, Nick and me came here for my sixth birthday." 

Jake chuckled. "Oh, how could I forget?" 

I pointed to the tilt-a-whirl behind him. "You guys locked me up in a box and putting it on the tilt-a-whirl, and when you opened it, there were those stupid clowns with blood on their faces and knives in their hands."

"They weren't real," Jake told me.

"I was six," I replied. "You two wanted to scar me for life and you got your wish." Jake smirked. I looked behind him to the guy sitting on the tilt-a-whirl. "What's that?" 

Jake followed my gaze. "Hey." There was no answer. "Hey!" He walked closer, opening the gate, walking in, turning to look at his face. "Ian." He felt his pulse, looking at me. "He's dead." 

"Let's turn on the power," I told him.

We focused on the power, using magic to turn it on.

The tilt-a-whirl started to spin, a dead body in every other seat, their throat slit. 

Diana, Faye and Cassie ran closer. 

"Oh, my God," Faye said. "Who are they?" 

"Witch hunters," Jake answered. "I guess the traitor witch is looking to kill them and us." 

We separated again.

"So now the traitor witch will just kill anyone?" I asked. "What happened to him? He's more messed up than you were." 

"Let's ask him about it after we get the crystal," Jake told me. We slowed to a stop, looking at the blood on one of the plastic animals. "Blood." 

I looked at the beam in front of us, which was also stained in blood. "Jake."

"Let's follow it," Jake told me. "Stay close." 

We followed the trail of blood into the haunted mansion.

I looked around at all of the "dead" bodies with the blood on their faces. 

"I don't hear anyone," Jake told me.

"Good," I told him.

I edged around a creepy clown, walking forward, around the corner. 

Jake followed me. 

A clown suddenly launched toward us from the window, squealing on a recording.

I screamed.

The clown laughed manically, evilly.

Jake held me, smiling in amusement. "Guess we really did scar you for life. I call that a success."

I looked toward him in annoyance. "Worst. House. Ever. I think it's safe to say that I'm never coming back here again." 

Jake pointed ahead of us. "Look, a door." 

There was blood on the door.

We walked down another hallway.

I was looking around for any more hidden windows or clowns so I wouldn't scream like that again.

"Something's not right here," Jake told me, looking behind me. "The sway." We walked toward the sway. Jake picked it up. "This is what transfers power from witches to mortals. It's called a sway. This is definitely where the traitor witch has been hiding out." 

I looked through all of the papers on the table in front of us, revealing a picture underneath, picking it up, turning toward Jake. "Jake."

Jake walked closer, looking down at the picture of Jake, Nick and me. "Why would the witch have a photograph of you, me and Nick?" 

"You don't think . . ." I trailed off.

Jake looked at me, not answering.

There was no way.

I had seen his dead body, been to his wake, I had tried to kill myself at his wake.

There was no way that Nick was alive.

And even if he was, he wouldn't be the traitor witch.

He wouldn't do this to his own friends and family. 

It couldn't be Nick.