CHAPTER FIVE

The slayers didn't gather for mandatory meetings often, but this one was important. Solstice stood with her father and Corey Shaw at the front of the woods as everyone settled in.

"Thanks for coming, everyone," Kurt said. "We just received some alarming information from Skip regarding several disappearances and at least one murder."

"Who was murdered?" Dylan asked.

"Rudy Ashton. The warlocks are up in arms because it looks like a slayer did it," Solstice replied.

"Rudy was a good guy," Kevin Ashford said. "There's no way one of us did this."

"Could it have been corrupts?" Randy asked.

"I don't think they would have killed him, either," Corey replied. "Rudy was pretty neutral. Everyone got along with him, and he never judged anyone."

"So why do they think it was a slayer?" Logan James asked.

"They found a stake plunged into his chest," Kurt replied. "Also, the physical beating he took was from someone very well trained in hand-to-hand combat."

"He wasn't a vampire," Rosary Gellar pointed out. "Why would a slayer, or anyone, stake him?"

"To cause him pain," Clarissa replied. Although she'd retired from slaying to raise her daughters, she'd gone back to it after they moved out of her house. "This person is sadistic."

"I think you're right, Grandma," Angelina said softly. "I can feel what Rudy endured before he died. Whoever did this to him took their time to maximize how much pain he'd be in."

"You said people were missing, Kurt," Arnie said. "Who disappeared?"

"Reid Lyons is confirmed as missing," Kurt replied. "Reports are starting to come in that other warlocks haven't been seen in up to a week."

"You brought us here over a bunch of warlocks?" One of the older slayers, a man named Drew Percy, asked. "Who cares? Someone's doing us a favor."

"Rudy was a good man who took care of our community," Solstice pointed out. "I'm not a warlock fan, but he proved he could be trusted. Even if he wasn't a good person, the fact is that people are vanishing, and we need to know why. Besides, the killer tried to frame the slayers. We're already involved whether we like it or not."

"Solstice is right," Echo said. "We need to figure this out... And if the missing warlocks are still alive, we need to save them."

"Save them?" Drew repeated. "There are better people who need our help."

"Look, most of the warlocks suck, but some of them are good people," Lyric said.

"Like Arthur and Ronnie and Donnie," Jagger added. "It's not our job to judge people."

"It's our job to keep all of Salem safe," Lyric finished.

Dylan looked at his children with pride. "Out of the mouths of babes," he said.

"I refuse to go on some warlock rescue mission," Drew said firmly.

"Then you're on patrol duty... At the Joshua Ward House, every night until this is resolved," Solstice replied.

"What? That is not an assignment for a seasoned slayer!"

"Well, since you're acting like you're barely of ranking age, I'm going to treat you like you're barely of ranking age. Go do your job. We don't need you here, Drew."

He glared at her before storming off like a teenager throwing a temper tantrum. "Does anyone else want to object?" Solstice asked. No one dared to speak. Her father smirked in amusement. "Alright. I'll give everyone their assignments. If you find an abducted warlock, get them the help they need. I'll give you all a copy of the list of who we need to look out for."

She passed out the list. There were currently six names on it. Only Reid had been confirmed as missing, but Solstice had a feeling the rest weren't just out for a stroll and not answering their phones.

Arnie frowned. "Dimitri Mikhailov..." He read aloud.

"Yes," Solstice confirmed. "The oldest son of the infamous Katrina. The one who walked away from the warlocks after his mother was killed."

"Who would even know to report him missing? He cut them off."

"His kid brother, Blake, is in the current E.V.S. at Conant High School. He's the only warlock Dimitri still associates with. Blake can't reach him."

"Dimitri Mikhailov... Reid Lyons... Jezebel Horner... I don't know the other three, but the first three are all warlocks who turned good," Logan said. "We need to find out if that's the pattern here."

"We can ask Arthur," Dylan said. "We know he's trustworthy."

"Alright," Corey said. "You guys work on that. If someone's going after the good warlocks, Arthur, Kit, Ronnie, Donnie, and Chad are at the top of the list."

"Chad would kill you if he heard you call him good," Kurt replied with a laugh.

"Come on... We all know Chad's not as evil as he pretends to be. If he wasn't so powerful, they would have killed him by now."

"I kind of like Chad," Echo said. "He's funny."

"His bitchy banter is seriously on point," Lyric agreed.

"I think he secretly cares about people very much," Angelina added.

"We're not here to discuss Chad's status as good or evil," Solstice said. "Your assignments are on your lists. Go do your jobs." She walked away.

"Why is she so blindly hateful toward all warlocks?" Jagger asked. "Some of them aren't so bad."

"Warlocks were the ones who made it possible for Cassandra to be ambushed and killed," Arnie replied sadly.

"They were the driving force behind it," Kurt added. He looked like he might cry. "Cassie practically got ambushed once a month and she was always fine, but the warlocks organized an army of their people, corrupt slayers, vampires, and devil worshippers from across the East Coast to finally take her down." He took a deep breath. "Excuse me. I should check on my daughter." He walked away.

"Arnie... Did you tell him about Evan?" Randy asked softly.

"No," Arnie replied. "And this isn't the time. He's hurting enough."

"Arnie's right," Dylan said. "It would be cruel to tell him right now."

"Alright, guys. You heard the Boss Lady," Corey said after a moment. "Get to work."

~*~

Laughter echoed through the house as Deanna and Donnie Pierce attempted to put their children to bed. Declan, their youngest, was chasing his sister, Delilah, around the basement.

"You two have school in the morning," Deanna reminded them. "Come on! It's time to go to sleep!"

"I want a story!" Delilah said.

"Delilah, you're twelve," Donnie replied with a laugh. "Haven't you outgrown story time yet?"

"Never!"

"Story! Story! Story!" Declan started chanting. The ten-year-old could keep that up for hours and his parents knew it.

"I guess we'd better give them what they want," Deanna said with an indulgent smile.

"Okay, sit down and listen," Donnie agreed.

Both kids sat on the couch. Deanna sat between them, perfectly content to listen to Donnie's soothing voice.

"Once upon a time, a pirate walked into a bar-" Donnie began.

"Honey, I think the kids are still a little young for bar stories," Deanna reminded him.

"Right. Once upon a time, a pirate walked into a library. He walked up to the librarian and said, 'Arrrr! I need something to take me mind off of me scurvy!'" Donnie said, dramatically impersonating a pirate with a Scottish accent.

"The librarian smiled at the pirate and said, 'I have just the thing!' She handed him the biggest book he'd ever seen," Donnie continued. The librarian had a British accent. "The book was called Fantastic Escape, and it was full of adventure, action, and even a bit of romance." He winked at Deanna. "When the pirate opened the book, he was stunned to realize that he'd been transported to a magickal island!"

"Cool!" Declan declared.

"Then what happened?" Delilah asked.

Donnie opened his hands. Light manifested in the room. Shadows danced on the walls, acting out the story as Donnie told it. Deanna couldn't help but be as enchanted as their children any time Donnie cast that spell.

"The librarian wasn't a librarian at all... She was actually a princess, trapped in a magickal sea kingdom by an evil kraken. Only a man with great knowledge of the sea and a pure heart could set her free," Donnie continued.

"Did he save her?" Declan demanded.

"The pirate fought the kraken and made it into the castle, but he couldn't kill it on his own. In order to free the princess, he realized the two of them would have to work together. It was the princess's knowledge of science and magick that told the pirate how to destroy the kraken once and for all. Finally, the princess was free!"

"And they lived happily ever after?" Delilah guessed.

"Of course they did," Deanna replied. "That's how all good romances end!"

"And then, their children went to bed and had the sweetest dreams ever," Donnie said. "Go join them."

"Goodnight, Dad. Goodnight, Mom," Delilah said.

"Night!" Declan added as the two ran upstairs.

"Alone at last," Donnie said as he wrapped his arms around Deanna and pulled her closer.

They were in the middle of a kiss when Aurora Geffy's astral form appeared in front of them. "Don't let me interrupt," she joked.

"What's up, Aurora?" Deanna asked.

"Ro asked me to warn you guys that warlocks are going missing. The slayers are on it, for whatever reason, but she was worried that Donnie and Ronnie might be on the hit list."

"That explains the emergency meeting we ditched," Donnie replied. "I'll tell Ron."

"Sorry for just projecting in, but I didn't want the girls to hear me talking about this," Aurora apologized. "Lilith and Pandora are freaking ninjas, I swear! They hear everything. It's impossible to keep secrets from them."

Lilith and Pandora had been born a week apart, with Lilith being the older of the girls. She was biologically Aurora's, while Pandora was biologically Ro's. Both women had decided to try to get pregnant to increase their odds of having a baby sooner. As it had turned out, they'd both conceived around the same time. Deanna could hardly believe the girls were nine already.

"It's okay," Donnie replied. "It's not like we were naked."

"Yeah, I don't need to see that," Aurora agreed with a laugh. "I figured I'd come here because whenever I project to Maya, all of the animals in the house go crazy."

"Including my brother," Donnie joked. Ronnie and Maya had been married for nine years. They'd gotten closer after Maya lost her first love, Jeremy. Eventually, friendship had turned into romance, and Maya had opened her heart again.

"Let's call them," Deanna said. "Thanks for the head's up, Aurora!"

"Anytime, Dee," Aurora replied before vanishing.

"Alright... Time to call my bro," Donnie said. Deanna could sense how nervous he was.

"Are you okay, Donnie?" She asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "I just have a bad feeling about this."

~*~

Echo had been assigned to her favorite place in the world, Pickering Wharf. Even though it was where her mother had been killed, it was also where her parents had met, and for Echo, that made it the most sacred, magickal place in the world. She always felt closer to her mother there.

As she looked around for signs of trouble, she saw nothing, but the fact that she started bleeding as she got closer to one of the more secluded areas told her that something was wrong.

She could smell blood in the air. As a wereleopard, her sense of smell was powerful, and she knew if the person who'd lost the blood wasn't dead, they were about to be. She did her best to put her blocks up before approaching the source of the blood.

The man was barely breathing. He looked at Echo with fear in his eyes. "Easy," she said gently. "It's going to be okay." She started to carefully heal him.

When he was stable enough that she was pretty sure he'd survive, Echo pulled back. "What's your name?" She asked.

"Dimitri," he replied weakly.

Wow, I already found one of them! Echo thought. That was easy.

"Dimitri, who did this to you? Are the others still alive?" She asked.

"Some of them are," Dimitri replied. "The man who took us is a mystery. He never wears the same form twice. He calls himself-"

"Judas," a voice said sharply. "Dear Gods, he's back..."

"Rikki Henley..." Dimitri said in surprise as he stared at her.

"Who's Judas?" Echo asked.

"A traitor to the Light, and a serious threat," Rikki replied. Her dark skin had paled a bit, and she looked very upset. "He mentored me when I was a teenager and sent me down a very destructive path. He hasn't made himself known in the last fifteen years."

"That doesn't sound good," Echo mumbled.

"What is Judas after?" Rikki demanded of Dimitri. "Tell me what you know!"

"He is draining warlocks of their magick," Dimitri replied. "He stores it in jars. I'm not sure what he intends to use it for."

"Is Reid Lyons alive?"

"He was alive the last time I saw him... That was a few hours ago, I think."

"What shape was he in?"

"Reid runs his mouth. Judas doesn't like that. He's already taken several beatings and endured a lot of torture. He's not going to last long."

"Can you tell us where they are?" Echo asked.

"It was strange... It was almost as if we were in a different realm."

"Like Mirror?"

"No. Mirror is a dimension... This place is just a different plane of existence. It's not the astral plane, because we were physically there, but it's a similar concept. He called it Purgatory, but that's not what it was."

Rikki began healing the last of Dimitri's wounds. She placed a talisman around his neck. "You need to go into hiding. If Judas believes you survived, he will come for you. This talisman will cloak your life force, but you can't let anyone see you," she said. "Echo, you cannot tell anyone about Judas. It's too dangerous. Lives will be in danger if you do, including your father's. Don't take Dimitri to the Unit. Have Shooter meet you behind the sanctuary. He can't get into the house, so stay outside. I trust him to get Dimitri to safety."

"Why do you trust Shooter so much?" Echo asked curiously, knowing Rikki had serious trust issues.

"I worked with him once, to free the Siren of Salem from servitude to my family. Besides, even if I hadn't worked with him directly, Cierra trusted him completely. That's good enough for me."

"Alright. Come on, Dimitri. We should hurry," Echo said. She led Dimitri away and hoped they'd make it to the sanctuary without running into any trouble.