CHAPTER SIX

Beth stared in horror at Aideen's corpse. "No!" She shouted. "Oh, God, this is all my fault!"

The male warlock ran, leaving the female warlock's corpse behind. It seemed Aideen had managed to kill her.

Jade opened her eyes, finally coming around. The spell she'd been unexpectedly hit with had broken when the female warlock died. Arnie's seizure also ended. He and Jade sat up at the same time.

"Beth?" Jade called.

Beth was sobbing hysterically, and now stood inches away from Aideen's corpse. "It's all my fault," she cried again. Jade hurried to her side.

"No, it's not," Arnie said, walking toward her with Cassandra.

"How the hell are you so calm?" Jade demanded.

"She'll be fine," Arnie replied.

"What?" Beth asked. "She's dead, Arnie! How is that fine?" She buried her face in Jade's shoulder.

Jade held her, not knowing what else to do. Jade was used to witnessing horrific deaths, but Beth was sheltered. This was probably too traumatic for her to process.

"She'll be back," Arnie insisted. "She always comes back. I hate it when she's decapitated, though. Part of me is always scared she won't be able to fix it this time."

"Is this part of her daily routine or something?" Jade asked in confusion.

"Aideen dies pretty often. You get used to it. The bad guys get a thrill out of killing her because each one wants to see if they'll be the one that keeps her dead."

"But decapitation is impossible to resurrect someone from," Jade said with a frown. "I mean, I'm pretty skilled with resurrection, but I can't reattach someone's head, and I've never met anyone who could."

"Aideen reattaches her own head," Arnie explained.

"I've always been told that it's the one way to guarantee keeping someone dead."

"It usually is, but Deenie's different."

"She's going to be angry," Cassandra said. "She hates being decapitated."

Jade watched in fascination as the flesh on Aideen's neck suddenly began reforming and slowly mending itself. Her head reattached itself neatly to her body, and after a couple of minutes, there was not so much as a scratch on her neck.

"Oh my Gods..." Jade said in surprise.

"I told you she'd be okay," Arnie said, but it was clear he was relieved.

Aideen's chest began to move up and down as she started to breathe shallowly. Soon, her breathing evened out, and her heart began to beat again. Beth was still in shock, but everyone else watched Aideen in silence. Finally, after another minute, Aideen opened her eyes.

"My head hurts..." She mumbled. "I hate it when that happens."

"Welcome back, Deenie," Arnie said. He immediately pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thanks," Aideen said. "Ease up, Arn. I'd like to keep being able to breathe again."

At the sound of Aideen's voice, Beth seemed to snap out of her shocked state. She looked at Aideen in confusion. Her eyes widened, her already pale skin completely drained of color, and her eyes became unfocused. Jade caught Beth as she fainted.

"Ooops," Aideen said with a shrug. "I have that effect on people sometimes."

"How did you do that?" Jade asked. "Are you immortal?"

"Not exactly," Aideen replied with a mysterious smile. "That's a story for another day, Jade. Do you mind telling me why the warlocks were after you two?"

"They weren't after me," Jade said. "They're after Beth, and she's got no idea why that is. I took a bunch of them down with death spells and smiting, but they flung a spell at me and knocked me out. I didn't see it coming. How did you guys know we were in trouble?"

"I got pulled to Beth," Arnie explained. "It was so strong that I ended up bleeding. Deenie had to pull me back."

Beth opened her eyes. "I... What happened?" She asked in confusion.

Jade released Beth, but stayed close to her to make sure she didn't faint again. "I'm not dead," Aideen said gently. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

"Your head..." Beth stared at her. She was trembling.

"It's attached again." Aideen saw the confusion in Beth's eyes and took Beth's hand in her own. She pressed it to her neck and traced the area where the sword had hit. "See? It's all better now."

"How did you do that?" Beth asked in wonder.

"It's a special skill of mine," Aideen replied.

"I'm in," Jade said suddenly.

"What?" Cassandra asked.

"I want to join the Silver Society. You guys are the real deal, and if you hadn't shown up tonight, we would have died." Jade looked at Beth. "Beth? Do you want to join? You don't have to."

"Do you really think they can be trusted?" Beth asked.

Jade sighed. "I don't trust anyone, Beth... Not fully, anyway. I do, however, think that they've proven they're trying to help, and for now, that's good enough. Besides, my vibes are telling me that this is the path I'm supposed to choose. That doesn't mean you have to choose it, though."

"I told you, I don't feel like anyone understands me, but they seem to. If you're doing this, so am I," Beth said with determination.

"Okay then." Jade looked at Aideen. "How do we go about telling your leader we want in after all?"

"By turning around," Alex replied, appearing behind her.

Jade jumped at the sound of his voice and spun around. "How long have you been standing there?" She demanded.

"About twenty seconds. I had a bad feeling. I figured I should check it out. Welcome to the Silver Society, ladies." He eyed the cuts on Beth's arms. "I can get that healed for you."

"Arnie can't do it," Aideen said immediately.

"Why not?" Arnie protested.

"You'll just take the injuries on again, dummy," Aideen replied, adding just enough affection to the last word that it was clear she wasn't trying to insult him.

Realization dawned on his face. "Good point," he admitted.

"I'll take her to Dylan," Alex said.

"Not alone," Jade said firmly. "Where she goes, I go. I said I'd give you guys a chance, but that doesn't mean I trust you, especially not with Beth."

"You're really protective over her," Arnie said. "Are you sure you just met?"

"Karma works in funny ways," Alex said. "I'm sure these two have a history. Of course you can come along, Jade. I would expect no less from you." Alex guided Beth toward his car. The others followed.

"Do you need us to go along, or can we go home?" Aideen asked Alex.

"I was thinking you could keep patrolling, actually, unless something happened?"

"Aideen died again," Arnie said.

"Shut up, Arn," Aideen said sharply. She looked at Alex. "I'm fine," she insisted.

Alex shook his head. "Never mind. Arnie, see that Aideen gets home, and you should stay with her and rest. You're too worn out from the empathic attack. Cassandra, it's up to you if you want to keep patrolling or not."

"You know I never stay home," Cassandra said. "Not when there's work to be done."

"Okay. I'll see you kids at the next meeting."

"Alex, you know I hate it when you call me kid," Cassandra said sharply.

"I call everyone kid, Cassandra. Sometimes, I forget to avoid it with you."

"I'm eighteen. I'm not a kid."

"I know. I'm sorry. Old habits die hard."

Cassandra walked away without another word. "Later," Arnie said, following her.

"Goodnight, Alex," Aideen said as she walked away, too.

"Okay, get in the car and I'll take you to Dylan's house. He's a very strong healer," Alex said to Beth and Jade.

Beth and Jade sat in the backseat of the car. As soon as Alex turned the car on, loud rock music came blasting over the speakers. He turned it down a little bit.

"Sorry," Alex said. "If you hate it, I can put something else on."

"It's not bad," Beth said.

"Jade?" Alex asked. Jade shrugged. "Alright, it stays." No one spoke for a few minutes, until Beth couldn't stand the lack of conversation any longer.

"I don't know much about any of this," Beth admitted. "I don't even know what attacked us."

"Your attackers were warlocks," Alex replied.

"But some of them were women," Beth said in confusion.

"A warlock is a witch turned traitor. It has nothing to do with gender. It means 'oath breaker,'" Alex explained.

"Oh..." Beth considered his words. It was clear to Alex how overwhelmed she was.

"Okay, Beth, let me break it down for you," Alex said patiently. "The local bad guys consist of the following groups; First, there are the warlocks. Witches, and I don't simply mean Pagans, but witches who are very advanced with their magick, are generally apprenticed to an elder for a set period of time before being initiated into a coven. A warlock is someone who breaks the sacred vows of the coven by betraying them. Basically, warlocks are witches who turned evil. Are you following?"

"I think so..."

"Alright. Next, we have devil worshippers." Jade stiffened, but said nothing. "They are not to be confused with Satanists. Satanists are followers of a religion started by Anton Le Vey, and they basically don't actually believe in God or a devil or any of that. Devil worshippers, on the other hand, believe in both very strongly. They take a lot from Paganism and Christianity and flip it around, hence the inverted cross and inverted pentagram being two of their symbols. They sacrifice animals and even people for dark purposes, such as summoning demons. They kill fairly frequently, and are usually very skilled at covering it up, but they don't always bother to do it. They sometimes draw too much attention to themselves because of this."

"How can they cover up murder?" Beth asked.

"They smite a lot of the bodies."

"Smite? What does that mean, anyway? I keep hearing people saying that word."

"You know how it is said that when God gets angry, he strikes people down? Smiting is essentially based on that concept. It's a blast of strong energy that destroys whatever it hits."

"Wow. That's kind of... scary."

"Yeah, it can be. Some entities are easier to smite than others, but smiting objects, like a dead body, isn't difficult at all. Anyway, the devil worshippers don't cause too much trouble in Salem except during their holy days. Even then, they're afraid to cross the witches. This is witch territory and they know it, so they mainly practice in Boston and Cape Cod. Of all of the local bad guys, the devil worshippers are the least active here in Salem. Next, we have the vampires."

"Like, real vampires?" Beth's eyes went wide.

"Yes. There are different types of vampires. There are the normal, every day sort, who are called day walkers. They're not much stronger than your average mortal, although their psychic abilities are greatly awakened. They feed off of blood, but as the name suggests, they can walk during the day. They are difficult to spot unless you're used to searching for them, because for the most part, they're skilled at blending in. They act and look like anyone else. Then, there are the Uanie. They're much stronger than the day walkers, and have generally proven their loyalty and earned a place of respect among the vampires. The Uanie are very close to immortal. The strongest of them are actually immortal, but they can be killed if you know what you're doing. For the most part, they tend to be quite intelligent. They can glide like the undead, and can be in multiple places at once."

"How do they do that?"

"They have the ability to split their bodies." Seeing the skeptical expression on Beth's face, Alex quickly added, "That isn't as impossible as it sounds. There are three other types of entities that can do it. One type is a deity. When a God or Goddess incarnates, they have the ability to split their body, which is sort of like cloning themselves. The second type who can do that consists of the descendants of Vishnu."

"But you said..."

"Yes, I am a body splitter. I can be in up to five places at once. The last group that can do this is made up of the Reapers. They're vampire and demon royalty, and are better known as the Grim Reapers."

"Wait, that's what Aideen is, isn't it?" Jade asked. "That's why she was able to come back from being decapitated... She's a generation of Death!"

"Yes, she is," Alex replied. "Reapers are another of the vampire groups you'll see around here, but most of them work for the Light. There are a few Reapers who are evil, and they are some of the most dangerous entities you'll ever encounter. The final group is the undead vampires. They're the type of entities you most likely pictured when I mentioned vampires, Beth. They can't walk during the day, and they are almost always disconnected from their souls. They need blood to survive and must feed nightly. They tend to have been around for centuries. They are extremely dangerous. Not all vampires are bad. Most of the ones you'll find in Salem are good guys, although a few of the braver bad guys do challenge us at times. The final group of bad guys are the corrupt slayers."

"What do you mean by corrupt?" Beth asked.

"These slayers are power hungry and choose power over honor. They are not above killing the good guys or looking the other way when the bad guys are doing it if they stand to gain something from it. They tend to organize assassinations fairly often. On occasion, if things are really out of hand, they will work with the good guys, but it's rare. Not all slayers are corrupt, of course, and the non-corrupts are the ones who keep things safe for everyone else. They, along with the witches, patrol the bad guy hot spots nightly to keep casualties as low as possible and try to make sure that evil doesn't get to take over Salem. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the slayers are corrupt. There are over nine hundred corrupt slayers who work in Salem and are on the Salem ranks, even though the town's pretty small. Most are from the greater Massachusetts area. There are barely two hundred non-corrupt slayers listed on Salem's ranks. Cassandra is at the very top of the list, followed closely by Arnie and me. Some of the other Silver Society members are also slayers, and they all rank above twenty. Aideen opted to be unranked recently because her skills are unique amongst the slayers and she didn't want to constantly focus on proving where she stood versus everyone else, but she was always in the top five for the time she was ranked."

"That's impressive," Jade said. "I knew a few slayers in New York, and I know it takes a lot to break the top twenty."

"It definitely takes some serious dedication," Alex agreed. "Now, back on point... The warlocks who attacked tonight weren't the strongest. You were lucky."

"I don't get it. Why are the warlocks after me?" Beth asked.

"I don't know," Alex said. "We're going to do our best to figure it out, though." He parked the car in front of a house. "This is Dylan's place." He got out of the car. Jade and Beth followed him to the front door. Alex rang the doorbell.

A minute or so later, Dylan answered the door wearing plaid pajama pants and a Ramones T-shirt. "Hey, Alex," he said, stifling a yawn. "And ladies... What can I do for you at this hour?"

"Sorry about the time, Dyl, but I figured you'd be awake," Alex said.

"I was just about to go to bed. I wasn't on patrolling duty tonight and I thought I'd try doing that sleeping thing that the normal people talk about."

"Beth needs to be healed. I'd have done it myself, but something tells me I'd have gotten pulled to what happened."

"No problem. Come on in." Dylan led them into his living room. "You want drinks or food or anything?"

"I'll take water," Alex said.

"The same," Jade added.

"Beth?" Dylan asked.

"Do you have any soda?" Beth asked.

"Always. Caffeine is my friend. What's your preference?"

"Orange?"

"Sure thing." Dylan walked away. He returned with the drinks, then sat beside Beth and studied her arms. "That's nasty. Who attacked you?"

"Warlocks," Alex said. "Using spells. I guess they must have called some sort of demonic animal to attack her."

"Looks like it." Dylan focused his energy on Beth's wounds. In seconds, they began to mend and vanish.

"How did you do that?" Beth asked when the last cut vanished.

"I'm a healer, remember? And those were easy," Dylan replied. "Next time, give me a challenge!" He laughed before adding, "On second thought, don't. I don't want you to get hurt again."

"I barely even feel the pain now."

"You won't feel it at all soon."

"Thanks, Dylan."

"No problem. This is what I do." He smiled at her. "So, ladies, does this mean you're joining us after all?"

"We've agreed to try it," Beth said.

"That's great! Welcome to the madness!"

"Thanks," Beth replied with a smile. "So, do your parents know about your abilities?"

"Yeah, but they're dead, so it doesn't really matter," Dylan replied casually.

Beth looked at her shoes awkwardly. "Oh, gosh... I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be. They sucked. They were corrupt slayers. The non-corrupts killed them two years ago. I ran away because I didn't want to be put into foster care, and I ended up getting taken in by the Unit. Do you know about the Unit?"

"I explained that to her," Jade said. "They tried to recruit me... And I'm going to say yes."

"Good choice. The Unit saved my butt. It's thanks to them that I'm emancipated."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"And you live alone? How is it?" Jade asked.

"It's awesome... It gets lonely at times, though," he admitted. "I like the freedom, but I miss having someone to come home to, even if it was someone I despised."

"You should get a pet," Alex suggested.

"I might just do that," Dylan replied.

"They said they could help me get emancipated," Jade said.

"Do it. It's worth it," Dylan replied. "And if you ever get lonely, Casa Dylan is always open." He offered her a warm smile.

"Thanks for the advice," Jade replied.

"Any time."

Jade wasn't sure why, but she liked Dylan. There was something about him that made him easy to talk to.

She realized that she was beginning to feel as though she was making friends, which scared her. She hadn't let anyone in since the few friends she had allowed herself to make in New York had died. Now, there were two groups that wanted to invite her to join them, and she found herself desperately wanting to be part of them and completely terrified at the same time.