June 25, 2005 – 17:00 (Montreal Time)
Coralis paid for the taxi and as soon as they were out of the car, Lizzy opened the door and ran to them.
"Oh my God! Sebastian told us, I'm glad you made it home okay."
"Let's talk about this inside," said Coralis while Lizzy hugged Audrey tight.
"Yes, of course. Neighbours will witness me being overly excited at seeing my daughter coming back from boarding school. You know how a few months can feel like an eternity," said Lizzy, regaining her composure.
"This is so stupid. They want to work with you guys when they need to, but then turn around and have you arrested for being what they needed. I don't understand their logic," said Molly once they closed the door.
"This isn't so much about logic, I think it's more about an unhealthy amount of fear. I've also read that they want to force witches to register as such if they want to be left alone, so I'm starting to think this is more about control. They see what you can do and want to be able to use it when they think they need it," said Raymond.
"A witch registry is a bad idea for so many reasons. Can you imagine if Sebastian and Blue register? They would never be left alone and the day they say no, they'll call some bounty hunter to deliver them to whoever wants them dead?" said Stephanie.
"Yeah, no, not happening. Luv, don't you dare register to the government if a law like that passes," said Frank.
"I surrender to no one but you, you should know that by now," said Coralis, looking at him while grabbing the drink Lizzy handed her. "That being said, we need to redo the wards here to better conceal the energy signature emanating from them. If someone passes by with a tool sensing supernatural energy, we'd be deep into hellshit. The wards reek of our essence."
"It needs to be our priority," said Sebastian as Louis and Linda arrived.
"I think it is the first time Coralis and Audrey aren't the last ones to arrive," said Louis.
Coralis passed through the back door and stopped to study the backyard, wondering if it'd be a good idea to set up a soundproof ward that would allow them to talk outside without being heard by neighbours, but decided against it as it would be even more suspicious if everyone would see them talking without hearing a single sound.
"I came in prepared," said Sebastian pulling a spray bottle containing a clear blue liquid. "I'm going to make it look like I'm spreading pesticide around the property. It's not a ward, nor a mute-ball, but a kind of screen barrier that distorts the sounds coming from within. They'll hear us, but won't be able to decipher anything, even if they read on lips."
"What is he doing?" said Lizzy.
"Sebastian is afraid of bugs," said Stephanie.
"Very afraid," said Audrey.
When done, Sebastian explained to them what he set up around the back fence.
"What about the neighbour upstairs?" said Lizzy.
"Hmm I didn't think of that one," said Sebastian, looking up, "but I think I have an idea."
Sebastian went to the corner between the fence and the side wall and sprayed the liquid from the ground, where he originally started, up to as far as his arm would reach. From that point, he started spraying horizontally on the wall, going toward the back porch, around it all the way to the other side, and down until he reached the ground again.
"There, made something like a cage of distorted sound. It will dissolve if it rains or during the morning dew," said Sebastian.
"If we get visited by magic police, I get the water hose and wash it off?" said Louis.
"Yes!" said Sebastian, grabbing the beer Frank handed him. "See, Blue, we don't need to overthink everything. Pre-made generic spells like that work just fine and don't contain much elemental essence."
"These wars against everything need to end. Every time I think I stopped one, more hellshit comes and it's putting me more and more on edge to a point where I do, indeed, overthink everything now."
"Andrew's madness isn't helping. He's creating more problems than he is solving," said Sebastian, sitting on a folding chair next to Stephanie. "It got to a point in Europe where the remaining agents are hiding instead of reporting to work."
"Agreed, but can I blame him? Remember a few years ago, before I told the truth to Frank, I considered going rogue against them, and even you tried to talk me into it. During the 3 weeks I stayed away when the war started, I wanted to kill them all. You know I would have gone rogue had I lost him."
"Was it where your mind went at the altar when you said your vows?" said Frank, sitting next to her, remembering her saying she'd lose her way without his love.
"Ooh I remember well what you said, that was beautiful and very touching," said Lizzy.
"Probably, my mind was numb and scattered, and I'm not sure if I made any sense that day. I still only remember bits and pieces from it, from people quoting it."
"Oh, you did make a lot of sense. You may not remember, but we do and clearly, Frank did not forget," said Stephanie.
"Right, and clearly, whatever I said is relevant to the current situation. Andrew went downhill into madness when he lost his mate, but he started his crusade before that. I can't say that I'm against what he does, he's going after those who deserve to be taken out just like I do with the shadows, but he's letting rage control him. Unlike the shadows, he is not stopping at taking out the roaches."
"True, but the agents he killed, were they all corrupted? Elders like Alfredino played you all and aren't above using loved ones as leverage to make people do what he wants," said Sebastian.
"I don't think they were all corrupt. When I worked for them, I often made the elders think I followed their instructions but went against them instead. When I started seeing Frank, I made sure to cover my tracks so they wouldn't find him, but you know most won't do that," said Coralis.
"Are you considering joining him?" said Raymond.
"No. He did ask me to join him at his mate's funerals, but I refused. If I joined him, it would put even more at risk everyone dear to me and I would turn into what I don't want to become. More powerful enemies would kill those I love out of revenge, or use as leverage, and from there, it's a downhill slope to madness."
"I heard at school that he vowed to keep going after those who have contributed to having our people killed in this witch hunt, using it to take down those who stood in the way," said Audrey.
"That was the idea and that's how he got people to join him… but he is taking it to a point I don't want to go," said Coralis.
Later that night, once again Coralis had a nightmare and Frank couldn't wake her out of it. She kept twisting and moving her arms. He went to get a glass of cold water, seeing she was sweating a lot and hoping it would wake her up, but it did nothing when he poured the cold water on her forehead. He started to panic when he saw a filet of blood coming out of her nose.
Suddenly, she woke up and sat straight up. She looked around confused. Holding a wet towel in his hand, Frank kneeled next to her and held her face with his other hand to wipe the blood under her nose. He noticed more blood coming out of her ears.
"What happened? I started to panic when I couldn't wake you out of your nightmare and saw blood coming out of your nose. And out of your ears, now?"
"I'm not sure, it was weird. Two minor demons spoke to me. As usual, they wanted me to join, saying I should work with them. I ignored them and tried to walk away, as usual, but then a middle-rank demon appeared. He said I should train with them to become stronger if I wanted to keep you safe, but wouldn't say against what. We fought. I wanted to kill him, and I think I did, but then I woke up."