CHAPTER TEN

It had taken a lot of effort on her part, but Cierra had found a current address for a man named Henry Williams who was around her mother's age. Unable to face the Silver Society after being mortified by the personality-swapping spell, Cierra had decided it was time to take the next step and actually confront him.

She took several deep breaths before allowing herself to ring the doorbell. The man that answered was tall and handsome. One look at his face told her that this was her father.

"Can I help you?" The man asked.

"Mr. Williams?" Cierra asked.

"Yes?"

"Hi... Um... You don't know me," she began. "I'm Cierra. Cierra Denton."

"Is everything alright, Cierra?" He asked, seeing how nervous she was becoming.

Cierra could not believe how wonderful it felt to hear her name on this man's lips. Her father had just called her by her name. "Yes," she said quickly. "I'm just a little bit nervous."

"Why don't you come inside?"

Cierra followed Henry Williams into his house. Her heart sank when she saw pictures of children everywhere. "Are those your kids?" She asked. Her father already had a family. What was she doing there? She was going to ruin his life.

"They're my friend's children, actually," Henry replied. "I'm happy to play the part of Uncle Henry. I don't have any kids. I always wanted them, though."

"Really?" Cierra asked, unable to keep the hope out of her voice.

"Cierra, what is this all about?" He asked gently.

"I... I think..." She sighed. She might as well just say it. She took a deep breath and blurted out, "I think you might be my father..."

Henry studied Cierra for a moment before saying, "Well, how did you arrive at that conclusion?"

Suddenly, the story poured out of her, almost quicker than she could say the words. "Well, see, my mother told me that my father died before I was born, but she never told me his name. When I was little, she got remarried, and my stepfather raised me like I was his own, but lately, I've been wondering about my biological father... So I looked through my mother's diary, and I found your name."

"Who is your mother?" Henry asked, now clearly starting to wonder if what Cierra was saying might actually be true.

"Joan Denton... Well, when you knew her, she was Joan Miller, actually."

"Joanie... My God, you do have her face, now that I think about it."

"Not her cheekbones," Cierra said shyly. She looked at Henry's face and added, "But do they sort of resemble yours..."

Henry took a deep breath. "Well, this is quite a lot to take in. I think we should find out for sure. Would you be willing to get a blood test done?"

"Yes," Cierra replied. "I want to know for sure, one way or the other."

"Good. How is your mother?" Henry asked.

Cierra sighed. "She passed away," she replied. "When I was ten."

"Oh, how terrible! What happened, if it's not too hard to talk about?"

"She died in childbirth with my sister," Cierra explained.

"That's very tragic. I'm sorry to hear it, Cierra. Joanie was a very good woman."

"My stepfather raised me after that." It felt weird for Cierra to call Tyler her stepfather. Even though she'd always known he wasn't her biological father, he had always been "Dad" to her. She felt a pang of guilt about leaving without talking to him first.

"I'm glad that you had someone to take care of you," Henry said.

"So am I... So, how do we get this blood test done?" She suddenly wanted a definite answer.

"Well, I'm a doctor, so I can take you to the clinic I work at and have the lab run the test quickly."

"Alright," Cierra replied. A doctor, she thought. My father is not only a kind, handsome man, but he's a doctor.

"Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?" Henry asked as they got in his car.    

"What do you want to know?" Cierra asked.

"Anything. If you really are my daughter, we have a lot of catching up to do."

"Well, I'm sixteen. I was born on September twenty-third, and like any true Libra, I'm kind of obsessed with balance. I've lived in Salem for my entire life."

"You were in Salem, all this time..." Henry shook his head sadly.

"Yeah," Cierra replied. "It's been an interesting place to grow up."

"It's just... I've always wanted a daughter, and now it looks like I may have had one just a few miles away. Life's funny that way."

"Yeah, it is," Cierra agreed.

"So, what else can you tell me about yourself?" Henry asked.

"Um... I like music."

"Really?" He seemed genuinely interested in that. "What sort of music do you listen to?"

"Classical, mostly," Cierra replied. "I play the piano and write music. I sing, too, but I'm kind of shy about that. Although, my biggest passion is reading."

"What do you read?"

"Everything. I'm a bookworm."

"So am I. Do you only read in English?"

"No, actually. I can read French and Latin, too," she replied.

"Latin? That's not a common language to learn at your age," Henry said with a smile.

"I like researching history and ancient texts. A lot of them are in Latin. I can read Ancient Greek, too."

"That's very impressive, Cierra."

"Thanks. I guess dead languages are sort of a hobby of mine."

"Well, it's a pretty unique hobby to have. I actually know Latin myself, although I've yet to tackle Ancient Greek."

"Really? Maybe that's where I get it from... I mean, Mama wasn't really interested in history or studying or any of that, and she only knew English and a few words of Spanish."

"We're here," Henry said suddenly, parking the car. Cierra followed him into of the office building. Although Cierra was not a very big fan of needles, she allowed the test to be done, and she sat in his office with him waiting for the results.

"So, do you have any pets?" Henry asked, clearly searching for small talk.

"I've got a lot of goldfish. They don't have names, though," Cierra replied.

"What about boys? Are you seeing anyone special?"

"No... I've never really been a social butterfly. I guess I prefer books to people sometimes. I mean, I have friends, but it's this really specific group of friends..." Cierra stopped herself from actually telling Henry who the specific group was. "I don't really hang out with anyone else. Honestly, I've never even been on a date."

"A beautiful girl like you? That surprises me."

"Please, I am so not beautiful," Cierra said, blushing a bit.

"I can't believe you don't see it, Cierra. You have your mother's hair and features, and your eyes..."

"Mama used to tell me that they were as dark as the deepest caverns."  

Henry froze. He closed his eyes and looked as if he might cry. "Joanie used to say that to me all the time," he said.

Cierra had a feeling that the blood test would not need to come back for them to know the answer. This was her father.

"You are beautiful, Cierra," he continued. "You don't have that flashy, fake celebrity sort of beauty, but true beauty, the kind that can only happen naturally."

Cierra felt her cheeks burning. "Thank you," she managed.

"Does your stepfather know that you're here?" Henry asked.

"Of course," Cierra lied. She wasn't sure why she was lying to her father. Maybe she was afraid that he would make her go home, or maybe she was afraid that if she called Tyler and told him where she was, he would be hurt. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Tyler.

"Will you be going home soon?"

"Actually, he gave me permission to stay here for a few days... If you're okay with that?"

"I suppose that would be fine," Henry said. "I'd like to get to know you better."

"Great," Cierra replied. She knew that she should call Tyler and let him know that she was alright, and what she was doing, but for the first time in her life, Cierra did not want to do what she "should" do. She was sick of playing by the rules. She wanted so desperately to find this missing piece of herself, and now that she had found him, she was not ready to let go of him yet. This man might hold the answer she was looking for, although Cierra was not sure what the question was.

~*~

Dylan had quickly become very involved with Serpent's Kiss. He was spending more time with them than with the Silver Society. Normally, he would not have let anything get in the way of his time with the members of the Silver Society, but he could not resist working with a band. This was his dream job. Could this really be his life?

Barry walked into their rehearsal that day and smiled as he exclaimed, "We have a gig!"

"What?" Vynn asked. "How is that possible?"

"We've been asked to play another event in town. It's some community service thing to raise money for one charity or another," Barry explained.

"Wow, Barry, that's nice and specific," Adam replied, rolling his eyes.

"They're a high school group," Barry said. "The Erica Vitti Society. They're hosting a charity event in a few days, and their band cancelled."   

"Wait. Did you just say the Erica Vitti Society?" Dylan asked in shock.

"Yes, why?" Barry asked.

"They're from Bishop High School. They're a very exclusive club, and just between us, they're warlocks in diapers."

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"They are all training to become warlocks," Dylan replied. "Or, most of them are, anyway."

"Well, we need this gig, and it's public. I don't see it as an evil event or anything," Barry said cautiously. Dylan suspected he was more concerned with the money than the moral issues involved in accepting that gig.

"We do need it," Adam agreed, "although I don't love the idea of performing for warlocks. What's their charity? Betrayers United for Power?"

Dylan laughed. "Yeah, that, or the Fund to Resurrect the Eight Spokes Society," he replied.

"Yuck, that would be a nightmare."

"Regardless, it's a gig," Luke said. "Let's just treat it like any other. Besides, it would be good for Dylan to get in a gig with us here in Salem before we go back on tour."

"Alright, so are we agreed?" Barry asked. Everyone nodded.

Dylan felt excitement flow through him. Yes, it was a gig for an evil group, but he had to admit that sometimes the bad guys had better parties. Besides, it was a public event. He doubted much would happen, and even if something did, at least he'd be there to help Jesse stop it.

~*~

There was a lot of work to be done. Lydia, Hugo, and Bianca were barking orders at their underlings. Everyone was eagerly following their instructions, determined to prove themselves in the hopes of earning the favor of the club's leadership. Arthur wondered why Jesse and Tommi weren't there.

"When are you going to indoctrinate- I mean, initiate Tommi and Jesse?" He asked.

"They aren't ready yet," Hugo replied firmly. "Tommi is still unlocking her full potential, but her time will come soon. She will be of great use to us once she understands where she belongs. As for Jesse, we must proceed cautiously. His loyalties are questionable at best."

"Isn't that a reason to tell him the truth and invite him to fully join the rest of us? I mean, you guys said a warlock is a traitor, right?"

"Warlocks are traitors to witches, Arthur," Lydia corrected him. "We're not supposed to betray each other."

"But we do," Kyle said with a smirk. "With alarming frequency. It's about loyalty to power, no matter what."

"Don't worry about Jesse," Bianca said. "He'll come around. Trust me."

They went back to focusing on their preparations. Lydia and Bianca were writing the ritual, because Lydia didn't seem to trust Hugo to do it. Kyle and Zack were charging the candles. Monique and Kendra were blending the herbs and oils they would need. Hugo was barking orders at everyone else, managing to look incredibly busy while he was actually doing very little of genuine substance. And Arthur, unfortunately, had been assigned with cleaning up everyone else's messes.

"This sucks," he mumbled. Then again, it was probably better to clean up than to do things which would lead to harming other people. Arthur didn't really want any part of that.

"What's the purple candle for again?" Zack asked.

"Power," Lydia supplied helpfully. "It will heighten our psychic gifts."

"Right, thanks... What about the green?"

"Abundance and growth," Lydia explained. "I need to lend you a book on candle magick. You'll need to remember these things as you spend more time working with us. One small incorrect detail can throw an entire spell off completely."

"Yeah, like if you use red instead of pink, you'll cast a lust spell instead of a love spell," Bianca agreed. "Trust me, there's a big difference. Lust spells make someone uncontrollably attracted to you, but a love spell creates complete devotion. The person you cast it on won't be able to defy your wishes."

"Herbs are important, too," Kendra chimed in. "There are so many, and it's easy to get confused."

"Last year, I used ambergris instead of angelica, and instead of a purification and banishing spell, I cast a spell that drew every man in the area straight to me," Monique added. "Let's just say that my dad wasn't thrilled with me."

"Do you still have the ambergris spell?" Kendra asked with a laugh. "I could use a little help getting a date."

"I'm your plus one forever, Ken," Monique promised. "You don't need a guy."

Bianca smiled at Monique and Kendra. "Those flower crowns are beautiful, girls," she said. "I'd love it if you make me one."

The best friends had decided to wear matching floral crowns on their heads as they mixed herbs together for the ritual. "Thanks, Bi," they said in unison.

"We'll make you one tonight," Kendra promised.

Arthur had a hard time remembering that Monique and Kendra were warlocks sometimes. With the way they wore flowers in their hair and cheerfully discussed perfectly normal teenage girl things like boys, they seemed better suited to be part of a Wiccan coven that focused on love and light instead of being part of a group that cast dark spells and sacrificed people.

That last part wasn't something that Arthur was supposed to know about, of course. He had barely agreed to and completed his initiation, and he wasn't privy to that sort of information yet. Arthur had simply done the math... Gary pissed everyone off, and then he vanished. Pru never fit in, and she'd died of a sudden undiagnosed heart condition. It didn't take a genius to realize that these E.V.S. kids were up to some seriously dark stuff. Arthur had agreed to be initiated because he knew the only other choice he had would end up with him six feet under.

His father had been thrilled. Amos White had never bothered to pay Arthur much mind, but now that he'd joined the Erica Vitti Society, his dad suddenly seemed to care that he existed. He was checking in more often and even offering words of encouragement. The day before Arthur's initiation, his dad had taken him out to eat at his favorite restaurant and actually had a conversation with him. Sure, it had been about warlocks and the pride he should take in his family's heritage, but it was still progress.

Other than the ringleaders, none of the kids in the E.V.S. struck Arthur as especially evil. Kyle was a bit of a jerk, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for an entitled kid who thought the world should worship him because he had money. Zack was actually a nice kid, and once he stopped talking about football, he was actually pretty cool to hang out with. Kendra was brilliant and Monique was funny, and both girls seemed like sweet little angels outside of a ritualistic setting.

Maybe it's parental pressure, Arthur thought. That was the only reason he could think of for Zack, Monique, or Kendra to become evil warlocks. Perhaps, just like him, they were trying to prove themselves worthy of their parents' affection.

Why do I care? Arthur wondered. His father was practically a stranger to him, yet he'd joined the club at his insistence. Still, now that he was part of the Erica Vitti Society, he understood that the only way out was death.

Way to go, Arthur, he thought. You really got in over your head this time.

The only option he had now was to adapt and prove he was a worthy young warlock or keep his head down and hope they forgot about him.

~*~

Having been informed about the party that Serpent's Kiss was performing at, Alex had decided that everyone in the Silver Society needed to go. Since it was a formal party, they'd need to dress up and preferably have dates, so he wanted to give them some kind of time to prepare.

After receiving this news, Randy had argued back and forth with himself for what seemed like hours. "Just do it, Randy. Asking a girl out isn't that big of a deal," he scolded himself.

He began to dial her phone number, but stopped himself. "I can't. She'd never be interested in me," he said.

He sighed. "Well, I'll never know unless I try, right?" He continued to fight with himself, wondering what she was doing at that exact moment.

~*~

Although Maggie and Lewis tried not to ask too many questions when they agreed to let Timmy stay in Kevin's old bedroom, they were both curious about his past. Lewis had gotten enough answers to help the boy legally, and things were currently going in his favor.

Timmy rarely spoke unless spoken to, and when he did reply to the Ashfords, it was very polite and short. He spent most of his time hiding in his new bedroom. Although he was going to Bishop High School, since Maggie and Lewis had enrolled him in classes, he never talked to any of the other students and the teachers seemed concerned. Lewis had suggested that they have him see a trauma specialist.

Jade had been the one to talk Lewis out of forcing therapy on Timmy outside of what was required to satisfy the legal system. She had assured him that Timmy would talk when he was ready, and until then, they would do better to let him adjust to the fact that he didn't have to run anymore. Since Jade had slowly opened up to Maggie and Lewis the more she got to know them, they trusted that she was right about Timmy.

"He's kind of weird," Beth commented when she was sure that Timmy couldn't hear her.

"He's just adjusting," Jade replied.

"He doesn't talk to anyone, Jade."

"He talks to me and Aideen."

"Yeah, but he won't talk to anyone else."

"It's just going to take him some time, Beth. He's been through a lot."

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Beth asked in concern.

"You're empathic, Beth. Does he feel evil?"

"No, but not everyone does."

"But he lives with you now. If he were planning something evil, you'd sense it."

"I hope so."

Bastet jumped out of Jade's lap. Jade watched the kitten head toward Timmy as he sat on the couch. She curled up in his lap and purred contently.

"See?" Jade asked. "Even Bastet trusts him."

"Alright, I guess I'm just being paranoid."

"You're entitled to be a bit paranoid. It comes with knowing what dangers are out there... But Timmy isn't one of those dangers."

Beth's cell phone began to ring. She picked it up quickly. "Hello?" She answered.

"Uh... Hi, Beth," Randy said nervously.

"Hey Randy, what's up?" Beth asked.

"Um... I was sort of wondering if..." Randy paused.

"If what?"

"If you'd like to go to this party Alex wants the Silver Society to attend..."

"Well, he said that he wants the whole Silver Society to go, so, yeah, I'm going..."

"No, I mean... I mean, do you want to go with me?" Randy clarified awkwardly. "You know, like, on a date?"

Beth blushed. Jade noticed her reaction and wondered why Randy was calling her and what was making her turn colors.

"Sure," Beth said, finally finding her voice. "That would be fun."

"Great! So I'll see you in school and we can figure out what we're doing," Randy replied.

"Okay, great," Beth said. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Randy agreed.

Beth squealed as soon as she hung up. "I have another date," she said in excitement.

"Hopefully it's not with a creep this time," Jade said with a frown.

"It's with Randy."

"Randy? Our Randy?"

"Yeah. He wants me to go to the party with him," Beth gushed.

"I didn't even know you liked Randy," Jade said.

"He's only one of the cutest guys in Bishop, Jade... Not to mention, he's really sweet, and I know he'd never try to hurt me."

"Well, it's probably better," Jade decided. "At least we know the guys from the Silver Society aren't creeps, and they know what to do if you get empathically drunk."

Beth was too excited about her date to be embarrassed by what Jade had said. She couldn't stop smiling.

Jade was relieved to see that Beth wasn't as turned off to boys as she'd claimed to be after her first date had been such a disaster.

~*~

When the Silver Society met next, they realized that Cierra was absent. "She hasn't missed a meeting since I found her," Alex said, the concern evident in his voice.

"I wonder what happened," Jesse commented.

"I don't think that she's been in school, either," Spencer said with a frown. "I didn't really think anything of it, but I haven't seen her in days."

"Cierra never misses school," Aideen said. "But you're right... I haven't seen her either."

"Maybe we should call her," Arnie suggested.

Alex dialed Cierra's phone number. Tyler picked up sounding panicked. "Hello?" He answered.

"Hey, Tyler, it's Alex," Alex said.

"Alex, is Cierra with you?"

"No, she's not. Why?" Alex asked cautiously.

"She hasn't come home in a couple of days. I don't know where she is... Oh God... What if something happened to her?" Tyler asked frantically.

"I'm sure she's alright, Tyler," Alex replied, but now he was beginning to panic, too. "Cierra's a very responsible person."

"Yes, which is why I'm so worried... This is completely unlike her."

"I'll let you know if I hear from her, okay?"

"Thank you, Alex. I appreciate it. I haven't called the police yet because it's Cierra, but now I'm worried she's been kidnapped or something... I should have called them right away."

"I'm sure she's okay, but I'll talk to a friend who works for the police, just in case," Alex promised. "He'll prioritize this for us."

"Call me as soon as you know anything. And have the police contact me."

"I will," he promised. Alex shook his head as he hung up the phone. "Cierra hasn't been home in a couple of days," he said.

"I think we'd better look for her," Aideen replied. "Cierra is basically responsibility incarnate. She wouldn't just disappear. This could be bad."

"Okay, guys, if anyone knows anything, tell me now," Alex said.

"Well, she's been researching like crazy lately," Jade replied. "She mentioned something about looking for someone."

"Who?" Cassandra asked.

"She didn't say."

"Alright, let's end the meeting early. I want everyone to tap every resource you have to see if you can find anything out. I'll see if the scroll will be nice to me today and give me a straight answer."

"Translation... Alex is going to throw the scroll against the wall again, possibly repeatedly," Arnie said.

"Well, you would, too, if you had to deal with the thing," Alex retorted. "Get to it and call me the minute you find anything."

~*~

The next day, Cierra finally worked up the courage to call Tyler. She had been gone for four days. It didn't seem that long. Every moment that she spent with her father was incredible. The blood test had confirmed that she was his daughter. She finally felt like she was whole. She had never realized that she was missing pieces of herself until she met her father. Now that she'd found him, she didn't want to leave, at least not yet.

"Cierra, where are you?" Tyler asked upon hearing Cierra's voice on the other line.

"I'm okay," Cierra replied quickly.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. I just... I had to look into something."

"Your friends are worried sick about you, and so am I."

"I'm sorry. I'm not far, okay? And I'm safe. I just need to deal with some stuff."

"What kind of stuff, Cierra?" Tyler demanded. "You would never do something like this normally."

Cierra sighed. She knew she was going to have to be honest with him eventually. "Mama lied," she said.

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked.

"My biological father isn't dead."

Tyler was obviously not sure what to say. Finally, he asked, "Well, then, where is he?"

"He's in Boston. Dad, believe me, this has nothing to do with you. I love you. You're my father. I just... I want to know... No, I need to know where I come from."

"I understand," Tyler said. "I wish you'd talked to me first, though. This isn't like you. I mean, you're missing classes, Cierra."

"It's only a couple of days, and I know I can catch up. I had to know, Dad."

"When are you coming home?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Tyler took a deep breath like he was trying not to yell at her. "Cierra, you can't stay there indefinitely."

"I'll be home soon. I just need to spend more time with him."

"Honey, if he's in Boston, I'll take you to see him. You can see him every weekend if you want to, but I don't want you there right now. You have school, and that's usually something that is important to you."

"I'm not coming home yet."

"Cierra-"

"This isn't up for debate, Tyler. I'm not coming home yet."

"You... You just called me Tyler." The hurt in his voice was impossible to hide.

"Yes. That's your name, and we're two adults."

"You're a minor. You're not an adult, but you are my daughter, and I'm bringing you home."

"No. I'm not your daughter." She hung up the phone before Tyler could reply.

~*~

"Cierra's lost it," Arnie proclaimed suddenly. His friends looked at him in confusion as they sat in the Commons.

"What? Why do you say that?" Aideen asked.

"She made Tyler cry. She told him she's not his daughter."

"Oh my Gods... Are you sure?" Aideen asked in surprise.

"He was so upset that I actually got pulled to him... Poor guy."

"How could she say that to him? He raised her from the time she was six. Hell, he's been the only parent she's had since she was ten."

"She found her biological father."

"You're kidding... I thought he was dead."

"So did she, but she researched it, and as it turns out, he's alive, Deenie."

"I think she's in danger," Beth said suddenly.

Aideen studied her. "Did you just get a vibe, Beth?"

"It's more than just a vibe. I feel it. I feel it all around her. Arnie got pulled to Tyler, but I got pulled to someone else... Cierra's father, I guess. I don't like what I felt."

"What are you saying?" Aideen asked.

"I think he's a bad guy. He feels... dark."

"Dark doesn't always equal evil," Jade replied, "but I think you're right. I felt it, too. Cierra isn't safe with this man."

"Is he even her real father?" Randy asked.

"I think he is," Jade said, "but I don't think he's this big, strong hero that she believes he is."

"So what do we do to protect her?" Arnie asked.

"We tell Alex," Spencer decided, "and hope to the Gods that we're not too late."

"You saw something, didn't you?" Arnie asked him.

"Not exactly... I mean, I had a vision, but it didn't make sense. All I know is that Cierra was surrounded by darkness, and no matter what we did, none of us could reach her."

"Is she going to die or something?" Arnie asked in concern.

"No, I don't think it's death... Not the normal sort of death, anyway," Spencer replied. "She won't physically die, but if we don't get to her soon, I have a feeling that she won't be the Cierra we know anymore."