CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The fact that, even after so many years, Jade always ran to one of two spots when she was upset probably said a lot about her. She currently found herself in Gallows Hill Park trying to calm her nerves as a storm began to roll into Salem.

She stood in her favorite spot, hidden from the path, and tried to process the fact that she'd touched Spencer. It might not be his original body, but it looked and felt just like him. The only difference had been his eyes, and when she'd touched him, the real Spencer had been right there, just behind the dark magick that was controlling him.

She thought her grief was under control after all this time, but she should have known better. Grief was a spiral. Over time, it wound outward, and the pain seemed to lessen, but the most random things could make it wind back in and feel as fresh as ever. It was a never-ending cycle.

As it started to rain, Jade finally allowed herself to cry. She stared at the sky and demanded, "Why?" When she received no answer, she elaborated. "Why did it have to be him? What the hell, Universe?"

She raised her arms upward and let out a primal scream before sinking onto her hands and knees as she sobbed. She realized after several minutes that she wasn't alone.

"Hey, Green," River said softly. He wrapped her in a tight hug. Even though he was a spirit, Jade could feel his arms around her.

"I'm not doing so great, Blue," she replied.

"I noticed. Since Spencer's a bit indisposed, I thought I should check on you."

"Why does this keep happening? I thought we were supposed to get a break from the majorly traumatic events after we won our big battle, but guess what? We just have different trauma now. Do you know how much it sucks that, even though our mission is done, every last one of us who has died so far did so horrifically? Not one of them had an easy death. And now, people are trying to murder Beth's unborn child and Spencer's being controlled by a bitchy teenage warlock, and I'm probably going to have to kill him, and, just... Why, damnit?"

River whistled. "Is that everything?" He asked.

"I don't even know anymore," Jade replied.

"Easy, Green," he said soothingly. "Just take a deep breath." He rubbed her back gently.

"Spencer's alive, but not really," she said. "Just like you were. It's bad enough that I had to destroy his body when he was raised as a zombie, and that I had to kill you when Lucifer resurrected you under his control, but now it's happening all over again with Spencer. I can't do this again, River. I can't." She shook her head.

"You won't have to," Arnie said softly as he stepped into view. He sat down beside Jade, squeezing her hand and not letting go. "Not this time."

"Arnie-" Jade began.

"I'm sorry to interrupt. I can't see River, but I heard you talking to him... You don't have to kill Spencer, Jade. He wouldn't want this to fall to you." Arnie took a deep breath and said, "I'll do it."

"Arnie, I can't ask you to do that."

"You aren't asking me to. I'm volunteering. If Deenie was still here, she'd have done it herself, but since she's not, this is my job. He's my best friend. I'll save him."

"I can handle this."

Arnie looked at her sympathetically. "I know you can, Jade, but you shouldn't have to." He hugged her then, knowing she needed it. "Spencer would want me to take this burden off of your plate," he said gently.

River smiled as he watched them. "You're in good hands, Green," he said. "I'm going to go check on our mini person."

"He's not so mini anymore, River," she replied. "He's older than you are." Fresh tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

"But he's still cute," River replied. "Don't cry too much, Green. I'll see you soon, okay?"

She nodded. River left, and Jade leaned against Arnie, letting him help her process her pain. It definitely helped having empathic friends sometimes.

Arnie didn't say anything as she cried on his shoulder, and when she was finally calmer, he simply said, "Come back to my place tonight. I have ice cream in the freezer... Rocky Road and Chunky Monkey."

She managed to offer him a genuine smile. "Sure, Arnie," she replied. "That sounds perfect."

~*~

When Angelina woke up, she was confused. It took her a bit to remember where she was. I've really made a mess of things this time, she thought. She listened to her surroundings to make sure she was alone before she dared to move.

Cautiously, she explored the bedroom. It had a decent amount of ritualistic supplies, and although they were intended for warlock rituals, it was possible that she could work with some of it. Witches and warlocks might be very different, but magick was magick, and the basics remained the same.

She found a package of sage incense. There was nothing to light it with, but Angelina had no issue calling on the Elements and she was able to burn it. She began waving it around the room, cleansing as much of the negative energy away as she could while she inhaled the soothing scent.

Her mind cleared and she felt calmer as she allowed the sage to do its job. Alright, now think, Angelina, she told herself. There has to be a way out of this situation.

She continued to search the room. She found a notebook and a pen, and she started taking down the names of the herbs she could identify. If she wrote down their magickal properties, she might be able to come up with a spell to help her escape.

She sensed something calling to her from the closet. She hesitated for only a moment before deciding that things couldn't possibly get much worse. Cautiously, Angelina opened the closet door. What she discovered was a shock.

"Aunt Deenie?" Angelina whispered as she spotted her spirit standing inside.

"Hey, kiddo," Aideen replied with a sad smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"Luigi blocked the living from this place, but he can't block me." She shook her head. "You really got in over your head this time, kiddo."

Angelina flung her arms around the spirit of her aunt and started to cry. "I'm sorry! I didn't know who he was... I never would have helped him if I realized-"

"Shhh, Angelina... It's okay," Aideen replied soothingly. "It's not your fault. Court should have told you once you were old enough to understand."

"I'm scared, Aunt Deenie..."

"I know. That's a good instinct... But don't let it shut you down, okay? You can get out of this."

"Does that mean that you have a plan?" Angelina asked hopefully.

"It means that everyone's looking for you, and I'm going to help them find you... In the meantime, take this."

Aideen held her hands out. A ghostly flame formed in them, slowly becoming tangible. Angelina could feel the heat as a sunstone heart formed in the flame. She wrapped her hand around the very solid talisman and felt stronger immediately.

"That's an impressive trick for a spirit," Angelina said softly.

"You know Reapers break the rules of what is and isn't possible, especially this Reaper," Aideen replied with a laugh. "You should be used to it."

"I miss you, Aunt Deenie," Angelina said softly.

"I miss you, too," Aideen replied.

Angelina started to cry again. "You died to save us and now, you'll never meet Roxy, and-"

"Yeah, don't get me started on that," Aideen said sharply. "Apparently, no one thought it was necessary to tell me that she existed until Arnie identified her... I'm still furious about that."

"They covered it up on the other side, too?"

"It seems that way."

"But... Why would they do that?"

"I wish I knew, kiddo... Let's get back on track. The sunstone will calm your fears, give you strength, and protect you. Keep it on you and he won't be able to hurt you."

"Thanks, Aunt Deenie..."

"Just stay strong, Angelina. Help will find you soon, I promise."

"I'll be brave," Angelina promised. She paused before asking, "Should I tell anyone anything?"

"Give Arnie a hug for me... Mom and I talk pretty regularly, so I think we're good there... But tell your mom something for me, kiddo... Tell her it's not her fault."

"What? This situation?"

"Actually, this situation is partially her fault, but I understand why she handled it the way she did," Aideen replied. "I'm talking about what happened to me. Court still blames herself, but it's not her fault. Not even slightly. It was my time, and I made a choice. I don't regret it."

"Not even now that you know about Roxy? I mean, if Evan hadn't lost you both, he might still be here."

Aideen sighed. "Yeah, trust me, I flipped out on him for what he did, but Mom's right... It was Evan's time. I can't really fault him for going out on his own terms. Sitting around and waiting for someone else to kill him wasn't his style." She shook her head. "He's still a jerk, though." She laughed to show that she wasn't really angry at Evan anymore.

Looking into Angelina's eyes, Aideen added, "I don't regret my choice, Angelina. Saving the three of you was the only choice. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

As they both heard movement outside of the room, Aideen said, "Keep the sunstone in your pocket. I'm going to get you some help. Just hold on a little bit longer, kiddo. I love you."

She vanished before Angelina could reply. The bedroom door opened just as Angelina closed the closet door and threw herself into lighting more sage incense.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Luigi asked as he entered the room.

"I'm still a little bit tired, but I feel better today," Angelina replied. "I hope you don't mind the sage... It's soothing."

"Not at all, darling. I'm making breakfast. Join me when you're ready." He smiled at her encouragingly, so Angelina forced herself to smile back.

When he left her alone, Angelina clutched the sunstone in her hand. "Be brave," she told herself. "You're going to get through this, Angelina... It will all be over soon."

~*~

That afternoon, after Joey had explained the need for the blood ritual to the others, everyone who needed to had allowed him to take some of their blood. He had one vial for Jason, Solstice, and Echo, and two vials for Danika and Roxy, which covered Jesse, Cassandra, Melissa, Cierra, Alex, Aideen, and Evan. Solstice hadn't been thrilled with giving Joey her blood knowing that it would end up in Chad's hands, but after seeing what happened to Spencer, she wouldn't risk her mother facing a similar fate.

Joey now found himself pacing the mansion as Chad and Danika worked the spell in their sacred space. Joey could feel their magick, but he wasn't completely certain what the spell entailed or how long it might take. He continued to pace nervously, certain he was going to have an anxiety attack if he didn't get answers soon.

"If you wear down the floors, Chad will kill you," a voice said, making Joey jump.

He recognized the new arrival. "Hi, Kelly," he greeted her awkwardly. It didn't entirely surprise him to see her there. If Chad would trust anyone with a key to his mansion, it was probably Kelly.

"I need to speak to him, but it feels like he's working some pretty intense magick," Kelly explained. "What are you doing here?"

"He's helping me with something," Joey explained vaguely.

Kelly nodded, not pushing for further answers. "I guess I can come back, but this is pretty important..." She sighed.

"What's wrong?" Joey asked.

"It's warlock business, technically."

"Oh... You just seem... Upset."

She shrugged. "I'm mildly bothered. It's fine."

Chad and Danika came upstairs then. "Kel! What a surprise," Chad said as he spotted her. He hesitated before adding, "What's wrong?"

Kelly looked at Joey and didn't reply. "Joey's good with secrets, Kel," Chad reassured her. "You can speak freely."

"We've got more missing warlocks," Kelly replied. "You're not going to like the list."

"Just rip off the bandaid, Girlfriend," Chad said with a sigh.

"Juniper Garcia went missing this morning."

"That sweet little old lady? How unfortunate," Chad replied. He paused before adding, "You said warlocks, Kel. Plural. Who else?"

"Before they took Juniper, they got Cedric Becker."

"What?" Chad demanded. "Cierra might just resurrect herself to handle these fools personally! She was close to him."

"Dad, we have to help him," Danika said with tears in her eyes. "Cedric's such a good guy..."

"We'll do everything we can, Dani," Chad promised. "Are there any more, Kelly?"

Kelly sighed. "Donnie," she replied.

"Oh, hell no! That's two of our chapter members missing now! Addie needs Reid, and no one gets to kill either of those twin idiots except for me."

"Is Ronnie okay?" Joey asked.

"Ronnie's a basketcase. Maya actually reached out to Arthur and asked him to contact the warlocks and let us know, because Ronnie was too busy having a meltdown, and Deanna's been sparking like crazy. If Donnie dies, we might have a situation like we had when Shooter caused that three day blackout."

"I can help Dee," Joey said quickly. "I've helped Shooter with his misfiring before."

"Be careful, Joey," Danika replied. "Misfiring caused by grief is a lot stronger and more dangerous."

"I know, but she's one of my mom's closest friends. I have to try to help her get through this."

"Melanie must be freaking out about her dad," Danika said.

"Wait... Isn't Melanie one of Bonnie's E.V.S. kids?" Chad asked suddenly.

"Yeah, she's the club's secretary," Kelly replied.

"Why would Bonnie have the father of one of her highest-ranking chapter members kidnapped?"

"You think Bonnie's behind the abductions, too?"

"Someone who calls himself Judas is... And Rikki thinks he's working with Bonnie."

"Maybe she doesn't especially like Melanie?"

"Then why hasn't she had her killed? I mean, that's what the E.V.S. does, Kel, aside from our chapter."

"The Becker family is respected, so killing Melanie would be a last resort... But it is odd that Bonnie would allow Cedric to be kidnapped." Kelly paused thoughtfully. "I'll look into it and see what I can find out," she promised.

"You put that expert sleuth nose of yours to good work, Girlfriend! We need answers," Chad decided.

"Chad, there's something you should know," Joey said suddenly. "Luigi Osinini-"

"Is Courtney's baby daddy and is back and no doubt more evil than ever? I heard," Chad replied, motioning toward Danika.

"We can't find Angelina," Joey said, feeling lost.

Chad let out a dramatic sigh before asking, "Kelly? Could you please get us a list of every property that Luigi Osinini was ever connected to, as well as a list of his top warlock contacts?"

"Give me an hour and a half," Kelly replied.

"Wait, really? You can get the information that quickly?" Joey asked in surprise.

"Kelly is very good at what she does," Chad replied. "She's got this. Now, stop asking me to help you and your friends, Joey. I'm not responsible for you. I'm only assisting because Danika will most likely be in more danger if one of you dies prematurely."

"Dad... She's still alive, right?" Danika asked. "I feel like she is, but... Is that just wishful thinking?"

Chad softened immediately. "She's alive, Dani," he promised. "I'm a Reaper. I'd know if she wasn't."

She hugged him tightly. Chad held her as Kelly ruffled Danika's hair affectionately. Joey knew that it was time for him to leave.

"I'll touch base with my mom and then go check on Deanna," he said. "I'll call if anything happens, Danika. See you later. Thanks, guys."

"Go on," Chad replied. "I'll be in touch."

Joey left through Chad's front door, exiting the house the traditional way before opening one of his doors to go home. He had a feeling there wasn't any time to waste.