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**Ingrid's POV **

I wake from my deep slumber to see Lily snoring right next to me.

Oh god, she sure looks funny with her nest of a hair.

I slowly get up and shove her to wake her up.

She stirs in her sleep.

I mentally wonder how can she sleep like a pig all the time.

"Get up already," I shout hoping she gets up so I can move and go use the bathroom. My voice somehow came out deeper and hoarser than it normally does.

She wakes up and sits straight on her bed as if someone was controlling her; she seems like a robot. Weird!

She stills looks sleepy, but maybe I'm over imagining it. I hurry and rush to the bathroom.

Coming out I see that she was still asleep but was sitting upright straight as if she has no control over her moments. I shake her and try waking her up.

"Liliiii get up. Lilyyy," I half yell.

She slowly gets up from her half-dazed, half-asleep state.

"Are you all right??" I question.

She looks lost, like she didn't even know what just happened to her.

"Mmm, when did I get up?" she says looking around trying to figure why was she sitting in her sleep.

"I don't know, you woke up just a few minutes back when I had to use the bathroom I guess."

"Eh, what? I don't even remember you going there."

" You were half asleep, how would you even remember. Now come on. I'm famished, let's have breakfast.."

I say rubbing my belly and going out through the door.

"You are worse than a pig," she says and reluctantly follows me.

We sit down for breakfast, and Mrs. Potts joins us a little later.

"How are you feeling today, dear," Mrs. Potts asks me whilst checking my temperature.

"A lot better. As long as I don't think about him, I guess I'll be fine." I say, trying not to think about him. 

My sister holds my hand under the table and squeezes it. I look at her and see her eyes have a warm undertone and she is trying to soothe me.  

"What did he even do? Why did you guys end up fighting?" Mrs. Potts asks, curious. 

"Well.."

I could feel both their gazes on me, following every word out of my mouth.

"Go on, we are all ears," Lili says. 

"Well, he asked me to meet him and didn't turn up so when I asked him why didn't he come, he says he never texted. And then he fought about such a petty issue."

"That's weird. He never was like this." Lili says.

"Exactly! So I went to ask him what happened, and he completely blanked out and says he never even texted me."

I almost break down into tears remembering that incident and how everyone was blaming me for how Kevin fell down.

"Shush darling, it's okay. Maybe something happened to him. Everything will be fine," Mrs. Potts who is 'almost,' like an aunt to me says.

My body shakes as tears roll down my face and I distinctly feel the table quiver a little.

I guess Lili also saw it as her grip on the table tightens.

What is going on?

We finish our breakfast silently and Lili asks me out to for a stroll to the park as the weather outside looks perfect which is very rare in Oakdale. It's raining, or it's too breezy. Never sunny with a little wind like it is today.

We ditched the car and walk as it was a 10 minutes walk from our place. On our way, we run into Emily who was apparently heading to our place. 

"Lil, Iddy. I haven't seen you guys since forever."

"Emmmm!!" Lilia says, hugging her.

"Urggh! Em what don't you smoothen your hair?" she adds while trying to free her bracelet which was stuck in Em's dark brown curly hair. It also has a few caramel highlights.

"You know, my mom will kill me if I try to do that, right!" she says, rolling her eyes.

"I didn't even see you at the ball. Where were you? I ask her.

"That is exactly why I was heading over to your place to talk about," she says, her dark eyes shining with excitement. 

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, let's go home, I'll show you," she says linking her hands with us and skipping all the way to her place. Given she is a little taller than me, I had to brisk walk to keep up with her pace.  

We all head to her place. It was a cozy place, not magnificent but big enough with almost as much ancient history as ours. They have trees covering the front making it a little hidden from the outside but it feels cozy on the inside.

"What is it you wanted to show?" Lili asks, removing her jacket and handing it to Em. 

"Well, the reason I didn't come to the ball was because I was at my granny's place and you know how our grandmothers were close back in the day," she asks, making way to the living room. 

"Yeah, I haven't seen her in a while. Where is she?" I ask, sitting by the fireplace. 

The fireplace mantel is beautiful, it is made of stone with hues, and has a rustic look to it. It blends perfectly with their furniture, and the light hues of the wooden wallpaper design on the walls around made the mantelpiece stand out. 

Placed on top of the mantelpiece is their family portrait with elegantly draped oak and magnolia leaves placed in vases on either side. There is a lamp placed on the right side with a beige lampshade and it went perfectly with the stone mantel. 

The glass door set a few feet away from the mantelpiece, which lead to their garden, ensured enough sunlight hit the room. 

"You know how much she loves traveling. She is at our lake cabin and is having one heck of a time. But that is not why I asked you guys to come here." Em says, going to the fireplace. 

"Then?" Lili asks, playing with the flowers placed on the mantelpiece.

"I found this book in my grandma's cabin and it says everything about every family in this town. At least all those who were here since a few decades," she says, picking up a book from the mantelpiece and dusting it. It had a leather cover to it and the corners looked gnawed out. Just like the one we found. 

"Cool."

"Boring," I say, hoping this also didn't contain the spells like ours did. 

Lili and I say at the same time.

"What's so cool about this. Don't we already know everything about everyone over here?" I question Lili.

"Nah-Nah. I don't think so," Em says, and tries to reach for something above the mantelpiece. I set a footstool nearby. I pick it up place it near her. 

"What do you mean?" Lili questions, while approaching Em.

Em gets on the footstool and opens a hidden cupboard above the mantelpiece, taking out a small wooden box, which looked like a jewelry box but an ancient one.

"In the early 19th century, our town apparently killed thirteen women who were believed to be witches by hanging them in the forest right behind your place, and it is believed that their souls still roam free today," Em says. She goes to sit on the wooden sofa and dusts the wooden box.

"Haha. As if," I say not believing a thing Emily says.

"There was also a secret group called 'The Secret Circle' and looks like our grandparents were a part of it and they were safeguarding the tale of those witches."

"What?" Lilia asks, sounding surprised. She follows Em and they go sit on the sofa by the fireplace. 

"That's not all. I even found a few strange looking things at my granny's place." She says taking out an old chain with a beautiful vintage pendant from the wooden box. It has a circle with a design like the yin and yang in the middle and a circle outside that which had seven flowers kinda things protruding outside. (Image given above).

She took out another charm bracelet and a few more old rings. 3 similar rings in fact with the same design as the pendant.

"Cute stuff". I say putting on a ring. It was vintage and something you'd find in my closet, except I don't have one like this.

Lili also follows my action and puts on a ring.

"Well, we could recreate THE CIRCLE," she says putting on one of the other ring.

"Yeah, and we three are the members?"

"Not necessarily, we could probably find a few more to add to the group," she says excitedly.

She always had a thing for this stuff. Her aim for this life was to witness an epic fight scene like the ones in movies, but with magic, obviously.

"Yeah well, it's supposed to be a secret you know. So let's keep it to ourselves for now." Lili says.

"What is it I hear about you and Kevin?" Em asks, abruptly changing the subject.

"How did you know?" I asked, surprised.

"It's a small town word spreads fast and given that he is the son of Mr Reed you guys would have definitely have made the gossip."

"Ugh. Whatever" I say, rolling my eyes.

"Is it true that you guys broke up?"

"What... No!  We just had a disagreement and fought. That's all." I say. I could feel the anger flowing through me ready to burst out. 

"Hopefully that's all," Em says, as if disagreeing. 

"Why do you say so?" I ask, wondering what was she up to. She picks up her phone from the table and fumbles with it.

"Look at this," she says handing me her phone with a photo of Kevin and Becca the town slut kissing.

"That bitch and him. He is so dead." I say. I could feel all the anger rise in me and the temperate around me increase suddenly.

Lili and Emily look at each other panicking and give each other what I can only assume to be panicked looks.

I only see red and am hell-bent on kicking his ass. I yell with fury and try to storm off the place, but these two have me tied down.

All I see was red everywhere and Kevin in it.

"Iddyyyy... you may not want to do anything when you are angry," Em says rubbing circles on my shoulder. It was relaxing, but I couldn't get that picture out of my head.

" Let's discuss, plan, and then do something. Don't get hyped up. Calm down, "

Em slowly leans towards Lili.

"What has gotten into her?" she whispers.

I could hear everything, but it all sounded distant.

"Iddy, maybe they weren't together. Maybe someone..." Lili starts, but I cut her short and ask her to back off.

"Let's ask him and sort it out, peacefully maybe," she suggests, her voice a notch low and in a soft whisper.

"And school starts in a few days, what don't we take some time to calm down and then talk to him at school?" Em says.

"Iddy....." she says shaking me after I don't respond to their ideas.

"Um... Yeah. Okay." I say, agreeing with whatever they told. I didn't pay attention and have no clue what they were telling. I am too focused on Kevin to think about anything else.

"Lost somewhere?" Em questions me and her eyes show that she is concerned. 

"No, it's just that this guy messes up my mind so bad," I say, finally listening to what they were telling. 

I am calm and maybe not thinking about him would help me.

"What even is wrong with you? It's not like you to do something without a plan?" Lili asks, concern lacing her voice. She comes and sits on the handrest of the sofa and places a hand on my shoulder. 

"Honestly, I don't know Lili. It feels weird. My emotions are amok and I have no control over them"

"Is it because of this one guy?" she asks.

"Maybe, may not be. Let's just talk about something else now. Okay?" I ask, hoping a change of topic would ease my pain.

"Ahha," Lili answers, looking at Em, signaling her something. 

"So guys fill me in everything. How was the ball? What did you guys on your trip and what all did I miss." Em asks, rubbing her palms together excitedly. She is always up for gossip.

Lili laughs, rolling her eyes, and says, "Oh god, I missed you."

Lili pushes me and sits on the sofa stretching her legs on the footstool which she oh-so-kindly asked Em to get. Em, being the sweet host, reluctantly brought it after a series of stone, paper, and scissors. 

We sit down while Em rushes off to get some food.

"No gossip is complete without food!" She yells, running into the kitchen. 

 She brings a tray full of food which included a tub of ice cream, sandwiches, popcorn, and my favorite chocolates.

We sit down and start talking about everything and nothing.

"So Mrs. Potts is staying with you guys?" Em asks.

"Yeah, and I wonder where is her nephew at. Never seen him." I say.

"I remember seeing him." Lili chirps in.

"WHAT. When? You never told. When did you...." I yell at her, and I have no clue why I did?

"Might have forgotten. Saw him at that ball," she says, cringing at my tone.

"Oouuuuhhhh. Was he cute?" Em asks. 

She definitely needs a boyfriend.

She was lost in her thoughts and I see a smile form on her face.

"Well, he wasn't bad," she says after giving it a long thought.

"Oh, finally someone who has your attention, Ms. Lilllliiii." Em says.

"I saw him from a distance. He is good looking, that's all. He seemed a little weird though," she says, trying to hide her smile.

"Weird how?" I ask her. My interest suddenly perked up. 

"Not sure, just felt so!" she says, but that blush on her cheeks still evident. 

Em teases her, and I join in. 

My sister never looked more embarrassed than she is now. She definitely has a thing for him, and she didn't even talk to him. Oh, Lili.

She never seen him and there is one other guy whom I never seen -- the guy in the woods.

"Iddy, everything all right?" Lili asks, catching me staring off into space yet again.

"You remember that guy I saw in the woods?" I ask.

"Yeah, I never seen him, but that mess grossed me out."

Em waves her hand in front of us and dramatically exclaims, "Guys, I'm still here,"

Oh god, she and her drama.

"What are you talking about?" she half yells, and stuffs some popcorn into her mouth.

"Well, we - - um Iddy saw this guy in the woods the say she was supposed to meet Kevin ....."

Lili tells the whole story of how we ended up in the woods and how she saw a mess and me a 'creature'.

" You saw WHAT?" she yells, after ensuring she ate all the popcorn. 

"I'm not sure what, but there sure was blood involved."

"Oh shit. This is what my mom was talking about. This is what she meant by blood and bodies," she says, sounding like she just discovered a hidden treasure. 

"What?? Your mom knows about this," Lili asks, shocked. 

"Yes. That would mean the whole council knows about it," Em says, twirling her already curly hair around her fingers. 

"Shit, our parents won't be far from knowing it then," I say, thinking of what to do next.

"Well, let's maybe try to find out what it is before they do."

"Eh, no thanks. I'd rather stay in my home and let the experienced deal with this." Lili says sounding disinterested. She picks up the ice cream and eats a spoonful of it acting as if she wasn't bothered by all this. 

"What happened to your quest for adventure?"

"It died the minute I saw blood and bodies," she quipped.  

"But it's not like it's human bodies, just animal carcass."

"No, unless some official authority asks us about it we were never there," she says, stubbornly.

"Ugh fine," I say, sighing. 

"School begins after this weekend, what are you plans for it," Lili asks, trying to change the topic. 

"Well cute guys and good grades," Em says., sighing. Her eyes say that she was already dreaming of the times to come.

"I think I must make a foolproof plan to get Kevin talking," I say determined. 

We all put our heads to it and decide it was better to keep me far from him for the first few days and then later decide our next move.

We call it a day and make our move to go home. We were walking home, given it was hardly a five minutes walk. We reach home and go to the kitchen directly, given Lili's constant complaints about being hungry.

We were almost near the back door which was by the kitchen, when we spot Mrs. Potts talking to someone around the corner almost hidden in the bushes.

They talk animatedly with a lot of gestures, but they were far for us to hear.

I see Lili also sensing them and stopping in her tracks.

He looks eerily familiar to me.

Monster!

That person whoever that was looks upward as if sensing us and whispers something to Mrs. Potts and disappears without a trace.

Authors note :

HELLO, Anyone there??

I hope there is at least a single soul out there reading this.

If you actually are still here with me, reading this. It means a lot to me.

Do let me know what you think of this chapter.

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UNTIL THE NEXT CHAPTER

LOTS OF LOVE 
    ~VAISHNAVI....