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Donnie and Sylvia waited in the cemetery until after the time when the bwitches might have made good use of the night.  The decision was made for people to call it a night.

Sammy's folks took her home and she spent the night in her own bed, with a Police car out front for protection.

Plans were made to get together for a late breakfast and discuss things.

OOC: We can scrap the breakfast if no one wants to do it.  I'm just the GM here :)

[I'm good with scrapping breakfast.]

Alone with Donnie, and his entourage, in an abandoned and desecrated cemetery, Sylvia spends a good part of the night shoulder-to-shoulder with him.  As her pique over the witches having eluded them again fades, she makes occasional conversation--tossing around the kinds of deep questions that run through one's head when the world's gone quiet and dark and sleep isn't an option.  She asks Donnie what his plans are after high school and tells him a little more about her mentor, Smith, with the admonition that Donnie has to keep Smith's secret or the people looking for the self-committed Mentano patient will find him.

By the time breakfast comes around, she's almost asleep at the table, head lolling against whatever comfy surface presents itself.

Megan slept in a bit, having spent much of the night either sitting around a cemetery or on the roof of a hospital (at least it was with John).  After showering and getting dressed in a pair of AG jeans and her Bejewled diamond hoodie, she made her way over towards John’s to meet up with him so they could go to where everyone was planning to go for breakfast.

John looks like he's had a full night's sleep and is ready for the day.  He's dressed in his standard jeans and t-shirt, with a blue jacket on over it.  He never seems to be dressed for the weather, but always seems comfortable.  After a good morning hug and kiss the two head for the diner where they were to meet the group.

Mrs. Jameson drives Sammy to see a doctor first thing in the morning, before regular office hours; it was the only way the doctor agreed to release the stubborn girl the night before.  After getting the all-clear, Mom takes her to buy a disposable phone to use until the other one is found.  Then she's dropped off at the diner with some cash and the admonition to "at least try to take it easy today."

Elrod is waiting for her in the parking lot.

Sarah slows down her pace as she gets to the diner.  Her breathing slows down as she walks the last half block.  She pulls the headphones out of her ears and tucks them into the pocket of the hoodie with the mp3 player.  Sarah finds the rest of the group securing a large round table.  It must be some sort of superhero knack that they usually got a table big enough for the lot of them. 

She walks into the diner smiling and joins them.   
"Good morning!  Another beautiful day in Chicago and we're all still in one piece!  A nice run over here from home has got me ready for the day."  Sarah smirks and adds, "That and the two cups of coffee I had this morning.  Mom was half-awake and let me make it.  I think I heard Dad swear when he took a drink." 

She finds a cozy spot and picks up a menu.  "I could use some cholesterol to top it off.  A bacon egg and cheese.  Ooh.. or maybe one of those waffles with strawberries, or the challah bread french toast."  She glazes over a bit at the sight of all the delicious choices.  Breakfast should be every meal! 

As they made their way to the dinner, Megan and John talked a bit more about the sightseeing he wanted to do in the city over the next few days.  After arriving at the diner, they got the biggest table they could get, not entirely sure how many would be showing up, just before the others started arriving.

Megan was looking over the menu as Sarah arrived.  “Hey.”  She said with a smile to her old friend.  “A run in the morning is usually nice, though, I did plenty of running yesterday, so we just took our time walking here.”  She grinned.  Glancing through the menu, she sighed slightly.  “Do they have gourmet salad?”

Sammy's mom thanks Elrod again for all he did yesterday, invites him to dinner sometime soon, and drives away.  Sammy gives her not-boyfriend a tight hug, and walks hand in hand with him into the restaurant.  "Mom asked me to ask you what you want for dinner.  She's a pretty good cook, so don't be afraid to speak your mind and ask for something you'd really like.  She and my dad are both really grateful that you were around to back me up.  So am I."

Kel spent the rest of the night walking back towards Oak Park, and then making a quick patrol and looksie around the town before going back home.  He strolls into the diner casually late and says, "Hey guys."  As he sits down.

"No problem."  Elrod stops before they go inside.  "I get the feeling that you and the gang are all sort of involved.  I don't want to crowd them.  Maybe I should just pick you up later so you guys can have some time to chat about things that might be sensetive."

A disappointed expression passes over Sammy's face.  "Sure.  I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or like you're making other people uncomfortable.  I'll see you later El."  She squeezes his hand, stands up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek, then turns away.  Hands shoved deep into the pockets of the oversized, well-worn, very heavy and comfortable Bears sweatshirt that she borrowed from her father's closet, she goes into the crowded diner, picks up a discarded newspaper off the counter, and looks around for the others.  She slides into a seat that leaves at least one empty chair between her and anybody else, murmurs a general greeting and picks up the menu.  The waitress comes around with drinks for the others and takes Sammy's order.  "Oatmeal, a bowl of fruit, and a glass of skim milk please."  She starts to read through the paper.

“Hey Kel.”  Megan said when he had arrived at the table and taken a seat.  When Sammy came in, she looked over at the other girl, giving her a warm smile.  “Hey Sammy, you feeling better?”  She asked.

When the waitress came for their orders, Megan also ordered a bowl of fruit, along with low fat yogurt and bottled water.

Kel orders a shortstack, sausage, and eggs, with some orange juice.  He looks over everyone and says, "So what's the story, if there is one?"

Sammy replies to Megan's greeting with a shrug.  "I'm fine.  I just have to avoid being gassed, smoked, or kidnapped for today to be a much better day than yesterday.  I'm going to  do my best to pull that off.  And I think El might be getting freaked out by going out with somebody like me.  He said he felt weird coming in here, like he'd be cramping our style or something, but I'm wondering if he isn't just overloaded by reality and in need of a break.  He was right there for me all day yesterday, and that's saying something.  Its a hell of a lot to ask of someone who is just dating you, not really boyfriend-girlfriend yet, or anything like that."  She sighs.  "Anybody got a pen?  The person who left this behind didn't do the sudoku."

John hands Sammy his pen, "Maybe he's just trying to respect our privacy.  He doesn't strike me as the type that would be made uncomfortable by hanging around with anyone, even if the label 'freak' were applied."

Megan nodded at Sammy’s comments about how she felt and the things that she wanted to avoid today.  “Yeah, avoiding those things would be a good thing.” 

When John replied to Sammy’s comments about why Elrod had not want to come in.  “Yeah, El has never seemed like the type to get too hung about things.”  She then glanced over at John as she smiled and added, “but ‘freak’?  Well, you can call yourself that if you like, but I sure won’t.  And I don’t think it applies to any of us.”

"Well, the dictionary defines freak as any abnormal phenomenon or product or unusual object; anomaly; aberration.  So, as much as I hate to say it you fit the definition dear."  john smiles and nudges her shoulder with his, "I wont hold it against you though."

Megan looked over at John and crinkled her nose slightly as she smiled.  “Well, just as long as your talking about my powers.”

She then looked back over to Kel and shrugged.  “Well, I think Sammy can explain things better than most of us, least those of us here, as she was the one who was there with the witches.  As for what to do next...well, isn't that what we are here to talk about?”

Donnie looks over from where he is sunk into the cushions of the diner corner table, hair mussed despite newly scrubbed. "Salad? For breakfast? Heresy, I tell ya."
He orders the same as Kel, with an extra order of bacon.

"Glad to see you are doing better Sammy. I hope us freaks don't put a wedge between you and Elrod. Ditch us for a week or something if there's trouble. We'll get over it." He digs out a pen and hands it over to her.

He taes a sip of coffee and grimaces. "Ugh." He turns animatedly towards the rest of the diner, pretending to hold a microphone. "We've secretly replaced Donnie's coffee with Folgers Ground Sweat Socks, Let's see what happens.."

Sylvia, blissfully semi-conscious, lifts her head from whatever shoulder she's got her head on--

Donnie's?  Jon's?  Kel's?  Probably Sarah's.

--and mumbles, "Flavor crystals are a superhero origin waiting to happen."

"I don't think El thinks we're freaks, or even cares if we're freaks," Sammy says, randomly picking up one of the pens that has been passed to her while intently studying the puzzle.  "If he does, if anything that's a bonus feature.  As for what happened last night?  My memories aren't really clear past the point where they plunged the dagger into my beating heart and captured my screams in the crystal bell they had suspended over my body."   She fills in some of the Sudoku blocks.

Donnie freezes in midmotion, slopping coffeee on the paper placemat in front of him. He glares at Sammy (who is ignoring the world as she works on a sudoku) "That's totally mean, Sammy. I'd feel terrible if you are now a sudoku-loving heartless zombie waiting for the right moment to leap on one of us and eat our brains. Totally uncool."

"Don't be silly," Sylvia says, sitting upright and rubbing her eyes.  "Breakfast is supposed to be the biggest meal of the day."

Megan looks a Sammy a moment and then focus back on Kel as she states, “well, anyway, Kevin now knows that Rob is somehow connected with the witches, as Colin had me have him run a trace on Rob’s cell last night.  But for now I have told Kevin not to do anything about it till we learn more.”

Not looking away from her puzzle, she oh-so-softly mutters in response to Donnie "Like you'd really care."

She looks over at Megan.  "Kevin?  Oh -- you mean Detective Kiernan.  I saw in the paper that he's getting married in a few months to that Eagle Force Captain, you know, the one from Chicago, Justice.  Justice Family Justice.  Apparently they've been engaged forever and finally set a date.  Never mind, you want me to tell Kel what happened to me last night."

She deliberately lays the puzzle down on the table and very carefully centers the pen on top of it.  "I was kidnapped, Kel, from my hospital room.  They got in, drugged me, wrapped me up in some blankets, and dumped me in a laundry cart.  They rolled me out to their car and drove me to the Blackstone building.  They took me to the roof, where I woke up after a while.  I could hear them practicing something with a boy.  I wiggled out of the blankets enough to see what was happening.  They were doing a ritual, and the boy was in the middle of it.  I lifted him up out of the circle in an attempt to break what was happening and to keep it from focusing on him.  Then a bunch of stuff happened; there were voices in the wind, voices that said something about djinn and deserving what you ask for, and a flash of light which blinded me.  That's when the screaming started.  Mine, to be perfectly clear.  The boy came over to check on me, and he seemed angry at what the witches had done to me, so I told him about some other things they had done -- I think I overlooked some things, and didn't put two and two together on others -- and he said that if this was true, they would pay.  They tried to reason with "Rob", saying they needed me as a witness for the ritual, and that he could believe them or believe me, who was only repeating the lies Donnie told me.  The witches left.  I still couldn't see right, so I couldn't really stop them.  Then he called 911 and got help for me, and he left.  Later, back at the hospital, Colin and Sarah figured out that he was Sarah's friend Rob.  I like the version where they plunged the dagger into my heart better.  Its a lot less ambiguous."

Sylvia has some water, hoping the hydration will knock the sleepies out of her.  "If Rob's awake, can we call him?  Maybe he'll explain what's going on with the witches, what they told him."

“Really?”  Megan asked as Sammy mentioned Kevin’s upcoming wedding.  “I’ll need to find out where their registered so I can get them a few china settings.”  She then turned back to the matter of the witches.

“So now in addition to the other stuff they could be charged with, the witches have committed kidnapping, and possibly can be tied to the kidnapping of the girl they had those imposters take with them to the cemetery last night.  They had taken her from the hospital as well.”  Megan said, getting serious once more. 

“I would also like to know where they got the drug those girls at the cemetery were using.  It was exactly like what Spark had given to those Speedfreak imposters, which raises the question if the witches have some connection with him, or maybe with whomever provided Spark with the drug as well.”

From the window they see Colin arrive on his bike. School may be out, but he still has to deliver his papers, so he already had breakfast. He has a newspaper folded in his pocket, and a worried expression on his face.
As he gets in, he looks at them as if to check if they're all there. Then he takes a seat.

"The witches haven't woken up this morning."

Sammy shrugs.  "Maybe they're sleeping in?  They had a busy night."   She continues to work on the puzzle.  "Or maybe they finally got what was coming to them."

Kel nods when Sammy tells her story, "So Rob had them perform some major hoobajoob, alright.  Why would they pick you, they could've grabbed anyone."   He turns to Donnie, the resident magic expert, "Right Donnie?"  When Colin enters with that worried expression, Kel says, "What do you mean Colin?"

Donnie waves at Colin as he joins the group and scrubs at his face with one hand, looking longingly towards the kitchens where they were whipping up the breakfasts.
He answers Kel's question. "Well, Sammy mentioned voices in the wind and a Djinn. Djinns are air spirits from the Middle Eastern mythologies, so perhaps they needed Sammy there as a focus, since she is herself a wind and air controller. Again, the bwitches have taken someone to act as a focus for one of their spells against that person's wishes. What I am concerned about is how they got into Sammy's hospital room, managed to drug her, and sneak her out of the hospital. It makes me wonder if there wasn't someone on the inside to help them with the drugging her up and stuff. Hopefull the cops can figure out that angle. The powers the witches use cannot be harmful, so they are being quite clever about the usage of them. Nothing thy did last night was directly harmful to anyone. Just illegal and against the law."

"Could be Elrod," Sylvia says, without meaning anything by it.

“Yeah, the kidnapping is a pretty serious crime, so that alone is enough to put them in a lot of trouble.  And Sammy can testify that she saw them on the roof if needed.”  Megan added, not really able to comment about Donnie’s comments about why they needed Sammy and not someone else, as magic was well outside her area of expertise. 

When Sylvia blurted out Elrod’s name in relation to the witches having inside help, the blonde girl gave her a puzzled look.  “Why would Elrod have anymore access to the hospital than the witches?  Not to mention there are no reasons to suspect Elrod.”

"I dunno.  It just seems like Elrod's always with Sammy--except when we're around.  It's kind of suspicious behavior, not wanting to hang with your girlfriend's friends.  I mean, even if he's not a villain, he probably has commitment issues."

“That’s not true.  He was with us at the club when we were listening to Seth play.”  Megan stated, not bringing up how Sammy had to leave though, due to Sylvia and Donnie’s fight.  “If anything, he was more surprised I was hanging out with the group.  I think this has more to do with the fact he now knows Sammy has powers and does not want to make us uncomfortable to talk about things we might be hesitant to do if he were here, though he seems to have pretty much figured out we probably all have powers as well.”

"He'd have to be pretty stupid not to put two and two together, and no one that cool could be that much of a moron, right?"  Sylvia thinks it though.  She was being glib, but she runs through the facts in her head.  "I don't think the witches needed any help to get into Sammy's room and abduct her.  I'm starting to understand that, with the exception of Colin here, most, um--"  Oh god.  Gamer-ness is contagious, like mono.  "--magic-users seem to have a lot of versatility, provided they have some time to plan.  A spell of invisibility, a spell of charming.  They could easily have put up a glamour that made them look like nurses.  They could have wheeled Sammy out in plain sight, or in a laundry cart.

"I really think Rob's the guy we need to talk to.  He has the answers.  He says he's trying to do the right thing.  Even if this is all a big misunderstanding and we've somehow found ourselves on the wrong side of the fight, he can clear things up.

"Could someone call him?" she says, looking hopefully at Sarah and Donnie.

Sammy starts stewing when Sylvia mentions that Elrod might have commitment problems.  Like that purple elf has any right to talk!  She clenches her teeth and keeps grinding away at the puzzle.

When Sylvia finally stops blathering about Elrod being a suspect and his not being that much of a moron and starts making noises about glamours and charms and somebody calling Rob, Sammy speaks.  Evidently she's a little upset.

"Elrod did not have anything to do with this.  He was scared for me when I went missing.  I could see it in his face when he saw me after the police brought me back.  So quit talking about him like he's evil just because he doesn't call me his girlfriend or because he chose not to eat breakfast with me this morning.  He was there every step of the way for me yesterday, not because he had to be or because he needed a favor from me, but because he wanted to be.  That goes a long long way in his favor, so please leave him alone, okay?  He's not the bad guy here."

Sylvia gives Sammy a bleary look of concern.  "Sorry.  I was just kidding around.  Elrod seems okay."  She chews on the inside of her lower lip for a second.  "Thing is, I've gotten a few opportunities to talk to Logan Darklighter.  He hints that he knows more than he'll tell me about what's been going on at school, and one of the things he said is that there's someone out there who thinks he's a mastermind but isn't."  She wrinkles her nose.  "It's like talking to Lecter, only I'm not sure Logan's as bright or in-the-know as he thinks he is.  Regardless, over and above all the factions of evil at Oak Park High, there's someone coordinating them.  It's gotta be someone like Elrod, you know?  Someone with connections.  Logan says it's not him, but he could be lying."

“I don’t think all the stuff at school is coordinated by one party.  Some might be, but Fern sure seemed to be acting on her own, for her own agenda.  So was the photographer, other than the fact he had an invisibility device that he had to get from somewhere.”  Megan replies, not so sure they should fully trust what Logan had said.

“I am sure there are more people at the school that have connections that just Elrod.  Dave has quite a few, so does Greg.  The night I brought Katie back Greg showed me surveillance footage of Spark the police had obtained.  I think everyone of us here has some connections as well.”

Sylvia has the feeling she's being misunderstood, perhaps too literally interpreted.  She struggles to break it down.  "I'm not talking about Elrod specifically.  It's just that I figure a guy like Logan doesn't say things like that without thinking, at least, they're true.  I mean, isn't part of the pleasure of dropping mysterious hints the fact that you know something, or think you know something, someone else doesn't know?  Logan's quite likely an old-fashioned sociopath, but I don't think he's bullshitting me.  I think he gets his kicks out of dangling clues, so I have to at least consider the possibility that he might be telling the truth, see?"

She shakes her head.  "It's unimportant.  If no one's going to call Rob--hint, hint--I should probably get home and get some sleep.  I'm feeling grumpy and antisocial, and my silverware is sticky."  She holds up her butterknife between her forefinger and thumb.

"What I mean is that tonight they went to bed, at around 11 pm, and somehow this morning they couldn't wake up. They're all in a coma now."

Colin remains silent for a while, lost in his thoughts.

"Is this what they really deserve? We should talk with Rob, and see if it was him."

Megan turned to look at Colin as he mentioned the witches being in a coma, a surprised look on their faces.  “How did…never mind.  A coma?”

She was quite a moment then said, “haven’t you all been talking about how things with magic can come back and be repaid on you many times over?  Maybe this is that.  I mean, they have done some very serious things, though a lot of it was not with magic I guess, but maybe it all somehow was repaid on them?”

"Maybe it's astral projection," Sylvia says.  "Maybe this is their new means of pissing us off."  Her brow furrows as a suggestion made in jest settles in with more weight.  "Seriously, if they were, like, wandering around ghost-like, would you guys know?"  She's looking at the magic types.

"Good!" Sammy spits out.  "If this is the only way of keeping them from meddling around in others' lives, I'm  glad they're shut down.  The only question left is if Rob did it, or if the Universe intervened.  We should go to see Rob rather than call him if you want to talk to him about all of this.  Its easier to lie over a phone than it is in person.  He owes me answers even if nobody else is willing to confront him face to face.  Just tell me where he lives." 

The food is delivered to the table, and Sammy digs into her oatmeal and fruit with fierce determination.

Sylvia lets out a little groan of exhaustion.  "Then we'd have to actually, like, go there and sit there and. . . ."  She whimpers.  "Phone, wireless technology, instant gratification."  But it's the whinging of a tired teen--no more, no less.  "Yeah, okay.  Rob's house, ASAP."

"You don't have to go," Sammy says.  "I will go alone if I have to.  Just tell me where he lives."

“At least some of us, if not all of us, should go in case he actually turns out to be dangerous.”  Megan replied, in part because of the way Sammy was sounding.  While she could understand the other girl’s frustration after what had happened yesterday, Sammy was acting a bit too intense, which could lead to trouble.

"Oh, no.  You don't understand.  I have to go.  If this is really how it ends, that the witches just karma'd themselves to death, I have to be there for the sake of closure."  She puts a slice of lemon from her iced tea into her mouth and puckers, looking a little like a granny doll carved from an apple.  "If they're in comas, I want to see them.  I want to see if I can reach them.  I want to know they got what they deserved."

Donnie looks shocked at the news of the bwitches being in a coma. Somehow, he wanted revenge against them and to halt their abuses, but the thought of them actually in a coma shakes him. He shares a worried, pensive look with Colin. Though it warred with the relief that shivered through Donnie's body, Donnie was wondering if his sensitive friend was thinking the same thing, that they ought to go look at the girls to see if there was anything they could do.

At Sylvia and Sammy's fierce satisfaction at their condition, he silently amends to himself Well, maybe without telling the girls.

"Maybe we should all go see Rob. Everyone here has abilities or reasons to go with, so why don't we do like we did last time, with some of us down the block and stuff just in case he freaks out."

"Yes. Unless they really went out of their way to make it sure we didn't.

I'm coming. I should have talked with Rob a long time ago. I definitely should now."

Silently, he hands Donnie the newspaper, open at an article that reads:

Donnie reads the article and sighs a shuddering breath.

Sylvia has not yet relinquished her girlfriend sense (like spider-sense but, you know, sensitive to guilt, secrecy, and flawed hygiene instead of danger) and gives Donnie a look.  She doesn't say anything, but suddenly there she is in his head.  What's that?

Megan looks over at John, giving him a sly smile and a nudge as she says.  “Looks like we will be down the block again in the bushes waiting to rush in if needed.”

Sylvia, in Donnie's head, grimaces.  Eeyech.  They move so fast, like, five minutes in the bushes could be a whole honeymoon.  She's just jealous, most likely.

Donnie jumps and shies away from Sylvia a little bit. He closes his hand around the article and shakes his head. Not now, ok? Later I'll tell you about it.

Sylvia nods a little bit in Donnie's direction, content to wait for the full report later.  It's secret boy stuff, apparently.  Maybe even magic secret boy stuff.  She's only a little hurt that two of her best buddies are keeping a secret and not letting her in on it.  She hopes it's just something they're too embarrassed to share, like porn.  Newspaper porn.  Maybe lingerie ads.

"I can do that."  John says with a smile.  When the food was delivered John began to eat very conscious of his surroundings.  It seemed he looked around the room almost as much as he ate.  He'd mentioned to Megan that it was to keep from sucking down the food at full speed.  something he had trouble with when he'd been using his powers regularly.

Megan’s smile widened slightly at John’s response, and then she turned to eating her bowl of fruit and yogurt, feeling a bit of sympathy for him as she saw him looking around a lot.  Things were not always as easy as it seemed, John with the calorie requirements that such frequent use of his powers placed on him, and her with her still somewhat distorted sense of time.

Sammy inhales her food, chasing it down with one long swallow of her milk.  "I'm done," Sammy says, "Check please!"  She pulls some cash out of her pocket and dumps it on the table by her plate.  "Can we go now?"

"I'm there," Sylvia says, paying her own share.  Loopy as she is, she climbs over the booth back and into the unoccupied booth behind them--indoor slow-speed parkour--and stands near Sammy.  She hasn't yet worked out how she's getting there, to be honest, but the spirit is willing.

Donnie eats steadily and methodically, ignoring the rest of the impatient people. What's the use of having good food if you shovel it down like a pig in a trough?

His extra plate of bacon is surreptiously handed over piece by piece under the table. Those near can hear crunching and occassional chirps of happiness.

Colin follows the girls and waits for Sarah. As she get there too, he takes a moment to look into her eyes.

"How are you today, wondergirl?" he whispers to her, with a bit of concern in his voice.

Megan watched as Sammy quickly ate and seemed impatient to get going.  Sylvia was right behind her, though Donnie seemed in no hurry to rush through his meal.  Knowing John was trying to keep from eating too fast, and herself trying not to inadvertently start to do the same, the blonde teen just kept eating at her normal pace.  “Do you know where Rob’s house is Donnie?”  She asks.  “We can just catch up with the others if you do.”

"Yup. My mom has dropped me off there a couple times back when Rob was still gaming with us."

He finishes up the plates of food and wipes his mouth with a napkin, tossing ot down on the plate afterwards. He counts out some money and gathers together all the loose dollar bills and change the other impatient people had left on the table. He tallies up everything and adds a few more bills of his own to cover the tips that others had skimped on.

Megan nods, and finishes her food along with John and Donnie.  Then she takes out some money for her part, along with a very generous tip and adds it to the pile.

Sammy is totally confused and totally frustrated.  Wasn't it just yesterday that these very same people were so eager, desperate even, to get the witches?  Wasn't Donnie the one with the vendetta?  And now...  what the hell?  She knew she had put in enough for her meal and the tax and the tip.

"I'm going to wait outside," she says.  "I need some fresh air.  Its stifling in here."  Biting her lower lip, she quickly exits the diner and moves away from the door.  She sits down on the curb and rests her head on her knees.  Last night on the way home, her dad had half-jokingly offered to send her to live with his sister in Virginia, far away from here and all that was happening at school.  It didn't sound like such a bad idea right now.

Sylvia hovers near the table for a second, watching Sammy's exit.  Sammy's emotional, and has every right to be, given that she was just put in the hospital by a crazed band geek and then abducted from that selfsame facility by the witches.  Numbed by sleeplessness, Sylvia wonders if she should follow--there's a fifty-fifty chance of getting snapped at for the trouble, she figures--and in the end she goes after Sammy, sinking down onto the curb beside the weather girl when she finds her.  "I hate it when we get together in a big group."  Sylvia offers the confession tentatively, just trying to find some common ground.

Kel eats silently, the girls were in a coma which he wanted to investigate on his own, and they were going to track down Rob with a fairly simple plan.  All seemed right in the world for the moment.

“Well, shall we get going as well?”  Megan asks those still at the table, looking from Donnie to Kel and settling her gaze on John.

Sammy's face remains buried in her knees.  Her muffled voice replies, "Me too. I don't know why I even bother."

"Why you bother hanging with us?"  Sylvia's unsure, but willing to listen.  She hovers a hand over Sammy's back and then lets it land.  Mitzi makes everything better with her uncomplicated maternal sympathy, and Sylvia can at least try to imitate her mother's example.

Colin tentatively takes some steps in Sammy's and Sylvia's direction.

"Uhm... Is it all right?"

"Ooh, look, it's half of reason number one."  Sammy's head raises up and she gives a wobbly smile to Colin.  Her eyes are suspiciously glittery in appearance, but there are no tears on her cheeks.  "It's all right, Colin.  I'm just feeling a little blue, its no big deal.  Are we ready to go?"

The sound of a familiar whistle draws a glance form Sammy.  Elrod is walking towards her from his car, which has ben sitting in the parking lot.  "You look a little blue. "  he says as he gets cloers, "Maybe you need some resesitation. "  He comes over and squats down to give her a hug.

[Megan]

"Let's go then."  John says, tossing a pile of cash in the pot.  "Let's see if this thing gets any more complicated."

Megan frowns.  “With our luck?  Probably a lot more.”  She then heads outside with John to catch up with the others.

Sammy leans into him, soaking up reassurance from his embrace.  "You sat out here the whole time?  And here I was thinking I was the biggest idiot in the parking lot."  At face value the words are not complimentary, but they're said with a great deal of affection which is more indicative of their real meaning.  Somebody gives a shit about me! Thank you.

Reluctantly she pulls back from him, still touching, but shifting the focus of the moment.  "I need to face Rob to finish last night's business.  He won't hurt me, I'm almost completely positive of that.  I just need some answers.  Will you take me there?"

"A little slow on the draw, but other than that I'm okay.  How about you?" replies Sarah.  "I'd better get another cup of coffee for the road."

Megan and John arrive at where the others have begun to gather around Sammy.  “Well, who’s going to lead the way?”

"Heh, not hardly."


"Sure.    I've only got a two-seater though.  Dave's on his way though, I ordered some doughnuts.  He delivers."

"I'd ride on your shoulders if you knew where to go and that was the only way to get there.  The two seater is fine by me."  She starts to get up to head towards El's car, then stops.  Resignedly she says, "Oh.  Right.  Doughnuts.  Dave."

About five minutes later Dave arrives in his new ride.  It's a dark blue full sized van with seating for 7 passengers.  He delivers a dozen assorted doughnuts and a quart of milk to Elrod, but it's obvious that some of the doughnuts are missing.

Dave is very familiar with Rob's house and agrees to give people rides.  He puts Colin's boke on the rack on the back of the van.

It doesn't take the crew long to get to Rob's house.

OOC:  Who is going to the door?

“No thanks.  New ride looks great.”  Megan said as Dave offered a doughnut as she climbed in to sit in the back of the van with John.  “It’s kind of nice to ride for a change.”  She said to him with a smile.

Once they stopped near Rob’s house, Megan let John figure the best spot for them to wait at to be able to observe and respond quickly if needed.  “We will be only a second away.”  She said to those going to the door with a grin as she followed after her boyfriend.

OOC:  Sammy wants to go to the door.

Sarah reaches into Elrod's car, snatches a glazed and walks up next to Sammy.  "Said I wanted to talk to him when he woke up.  Probably best to come bearing gifts."

It's awkward, but Sylvia falls silently, and somewhat apologetically, in step behind Sammy and Sarah.  It's where she can do what she does if she needs to do it.

"Since I was the one accused of spreading lies, I ought to be there too."

Donnie joins the girls, hands shoved into his light jacket pockets.

Those that go to the door knock.  It's a few seconds before Rob's mother answers.  she smiles and says a warm hello to Sarah, then goes to fetch Rob who hasn't gotten out of bed yet.  He's really taking advantage of these few days off.

A couple of minutes later Rob shows up, wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt.  He's rubbing the sleep from his eyes and he looks like he just woke up.  "Yeah?"  he says with a yawn.

Sammy would really like to be able to put on a tough facade right now, but she can't.  The expression on her face is a mixture of hurt and confusion, and the result is she appears to be a bit vulnerable.  "Hello, Rob.  We'd like to talk to you.  Can we go someplace where we can speak privately?"

Rob's face drops some, and he looks at Donnie.  "The last time this happened Colin, Donnie, and Kel killed some kid.  Can't we talk right here?"

Sylvia turns a look of shock and concern on Donnie.  "What?"

Sammy twitches, startled by this piece of news.  She keeps herself from looking over at Donnie to see his reaction, and is somewhat gratified that Sylvia seems surprised as well.

She reaches out her open right hand in a peacemaking gesture.  "I don't know anything about that, but I'm going to find out real soon now, I promise.  If you really think we need one, I'll declare a truce for the duration of this conversation.  Unless you break the deal by attacking first, I'll put my honor on the line and promise to do my best to protect you from any unprovoked or otherwise unwarranted attacks.  I'm not here to beat you up.  I just want answers about some things that have been happening.  Fair enough?"

"I don't mind sitting on the porch.. it's a nice enough day.  They didn't kill that kid though.  He was possessed by a demon that ate him up from the inside.  When the demon took off there was nothing left.  The reason I'm here is that I'm worried you might be getting into the same trouble.  I don't want to find an empty shell that used to be my friend... even if you don't want to be friends anymore.  We didn't come looking for a fight or anything Rob.  We just want to talk and figure some things out.  Maybe we've all got our heads screwed on backwards and you can help us see some sense."

She holds up the donut with a smile.  "I brought breakfast?" 

The look Sylvia shoots Donnie is a split second of pure hurt, but if she has anything to say about it, she keeps it to herself.

Leaning up against a tree at the spot where John had picked to wait, Megan looked over at him.  “Anything exciting happening?”

Donnie looks steadily at Rob, but a flush creeps up his neck at Rob's flat statement of the death of the demon-possessed rapist. He sees Sylvia's look, but refuses to acknowledge it, his teeth clenching and unclenching.

He waits for the peacemakers to talk and keeps his mouth shut until necessary.

Colin has kept himself in the back and is caught by surprise when Rob speaks up.

How the hell does he know?!

He looks down in shame, trying to find out some words to explain, but Sarah is faster.

"Rob, you're not a demon. Not even close. And he started it. Even then, we only wanted to talk."

He finally looks up at Rob, with his shimmering eyes.

"How do you feel today?" he asks, checking his aura.

[Megan]


"Ah.  I'm not sure."  John says, "Something about Donnie, Kel, and Colin killing a kid that was really a demon."

[On the Porch]

Rob looks at Sammy's hand, then back at her.  "Ok."  He shakes her hand.  A moment later he steps out onto the porch and sits on the step, waving a hand at the offered doughnut.  "No thanks, trying to cut down on the sweets.  So, I'm not sure what help I can be but if I can answer your questions I will."

[Colin]

Rob has a pair of bright wings, like the head witch had.

Colin looks at the wings, and then back to Rob's eyes.

"My first question is how you feel. You've changed, and you know it."

Megan gave John a surprised look before scowling some.  She read the paper pretty regularly, after all, it was pretty easy when it only took you a fraction of the time it normally would.  “That sounds like Leland Palmer, one of the rapists that we had that argument about last week.  When Colin said he didn’t know anything about how he died, only that he was dead.  There was an article in the paper about it today, how he had been killed in self defense by some paranormals.  It sounds like Colin lied to us.”

"I'm sleepy, but otherwise I'm okay."

Kel who has been casually hiding up in the tree above the love birds drops down unceremoniously, "If that's what the paper said, it was lying.  I was there, and well, he was possessed shot lightning and fire, whole sha-bang."

"We could go get some coffee?  I'd like another cup.  One more and I'll get that shaky feeling and the world looks all crisp and photo-shopped," says Sarah.  She takes a bite of the rejected donut and asks, "Can you tell us what's been going on lately?"

Megan looked over at Kel as she replied.  “If that’s what happen, then the paper didn’t lie.  It mentioned his being possessed, and if that is what happened, then it sounds like self defense.  But that isn’t really the issue, the fact is Colin lied about it a couple days later when I had asked what we were planning to do about the rapists at lunch and Dave announced that Leland was dead.  After tripping over his words a bit, he stated that there would be times he couldn’t tell us things that he learned with his abilities, but, stated that this was not one of those times, and he just didn’t know anything about it.”

Kel nodded and said, "Weird, Colin's a nice guy.  I guess he just still has yet to really accept the fact that he's responsible.  He just might not want you all thinking that he's some murderer.  As for the article, did it say we were defending ourselves, 'cause as I remember it, we asked to talk to him and then he shot lightning..."  Kel shrugs as he stands there.

Megan gives Kel a somewhat strange look.  “Self-defense means that either you were being attacked with serious physical harm or were being threatened, or had really good reason to think you were being threatened, with imminent serious physical harm Kel.”

"The girl that cast that spell on me came to talk to me, asked for my help with a ceremony.  They explained they were going to give me something, in exchange they wanted me to Protect them from someone.  They weren't sure who it was that they needed protection from, but I agreed to help them.  Right after the ceremony Samantha explained they'd kidnapped her.  I was pretty mad about that.  They said some stuff, I don't remember what lie they were telling.  Anyway, I came home and went to bed."

Kel shrugs, "I never thought Colin was that intimidating of a guy.  I was hiding, as was Donnie, so I don't think there was any reason for him to consider Colin a threat."

Megan sighed and put her head in her hand.  Then she looked up and gave Kel a shove.  “You doofus.  The paper meant you guys were acting in self defense!”

Kel gives a loud "Ohhhhhhh!" and then shrugs, "So what's the problem, that Colin lied, I mean really, I lie all the time."

Megan looked at Kel like she could not believe what he just said.  “What’s the problem?  Colin lied to me about something important, a case he had asked for help from all of us on, at least initially.  When I ask to follow up about what we were doing, he did not feel the need to tell me of the major development that had resulted in one of the bad guy’s deaths.  Either he doesn’t think he can trust me, or felt I did not have a reason to know.”

“It all means that I have to wonder if I can trust him, or you.  And if I can’t, then I really have to question whether I should continue to be involved in this with you all.”

Sammy takes up a protective position near Rob, leaning up against a column on the porch.  Very quietly she asks, "What did they give you, Rob?  Another snake creature like the one at the Janush party?  I didn't include that last night when I was listing their offenses;  I didn't know that was their doing too, until Sarah and Colin filled me in.    I heard a voice say something about djinn?"   She hasn't been able to look at Colin or Donnie since the revelation about them killing someone was confirmed by Sarah.

"So... What was it you got out of the trade?  And why are you mixed up with them in the first place Rob?  They have a record of playing fast and loose with other peoples lives.  Colin's, Sammy's, mine... All of us in one way or another.  A lot of other kids have been hurt by these girls.  They're hiring thugs and supplying them with superman.  You are mixed up with seriously bad people.  They aren't shoplifting at the mall Rob.  They are risking lives and they don't seem to care who gets hurt."

Sarah looks with worry at average Rob and wonders how she missed the beginning of all this.

"No, Sammy, it's not a creature like that. It's something different. It's not going to hurt Rob. Not anymore than you could hurt yourself I think. It may take some time getting used to it, and learning to use it the right way though.

Rob, do you think they wanted you to protect them from us? And... Did you do anything to them? Did you wish anything upon them?"

Kel nods at Megan's words, "I see what you mean." He shrugs, "I hadn't realized Colin had kept it so secret."

Sammy examines Colin's face.  Her instincts tell her to trust him, but the revelation about him, Donnie and Kel makes her wonder what else he is keeping secret.  "It's not going to hurt Rob, not anymore than I could hurt myself?  What is that supposed to mean?"

Colin's face shows little more than sadness.

"I mean that it's like a power. It doesn't hurt you, but I guess it could hurt you if you do something stupid with it."

"That... that is what the voice I heard said.  Meno?  Meno.  Remember, the voice in the wind?  It said  'You have asked for this power.  Use it wisely, and remember that the world is a balance of events and motives.'  But if he asked for power, then the other part..."  She whispers to herself ''comforted to know not all the children of the Djinn are gone from the world'.  Me?

"I still don't get why they needed a witness, why I was needed."  Sammy closes her eyes and bangs her forehead repeatedly against the porch column.  "What kind of powers did you get, Rob?  I've got the horrible feeling that I have somehow been set up to be your judge.  In which case...  you need to answer Colin's questions.  Do you know what the witches are doing this morning?"

[On the Porch]

"No Colin, I didn't do anything to them.  Did you?"  Rob looks up at Colin.  "They did something pretty horrible to you, are you sure you didn't wish something bad on them?"

Rob looks out into the yard, and then around at the assembled people.  "The way they explained it to me, I would be asking for the power to change the world.  They didn't go into too much detail, but they sugar coated it with words like popular and respected.  I knew they were trying to play me, but I figured it couldn't hurt to go along with it and see where it took me.  As for what kinds of powers I have.  Well, anything I want I guess.  I'll figure it out as time goes by.  the only thing I know for sure is that I know stuff now, stuff I shouldn't know.  The wind whispers it to me, or I dream it."

Rob stands up and puts a hand on Sammy's shoulder.  "He was talking to you Djinn.  The People of the Air."  Rob smiles, "They said they needed a witness, but what they really needed was a sacrafice.  Only Meno wasn't about to sacrafice you.  So I guess he took something else."  He goes over to the door.  "Anythign else, or can I go back to bed now?"

[By the Tree]

"I have the feeling that Colin was afraid of what we'd think.  After the arguement that you guys had over some of you going out on patrol alone he probably thought that this little incident would make more friction.  I don't think trusting Colin is an issue, we all have things we need to do our own way.  You of all people should understand that Megan."  John's voice is somewhat distant, as he's still focused on what's happening on the porch.

“So lying about knowing anything about it is a better solution?”  Megan replied.  “I don’t agree John.  He should have been more afraid what we would think if the truth ever came out and we found out he lied.  I do think it’s a matter of trust, and I am wondering just how much I can trust Colin now if he is going to flat out lie about what he knew about an incident where someone died, let alone his involvement in it, regardless of the circumstances.”

Something inside Sammy lurches badly when she hears the word 'sacrifice'.  She looks very pale.  "Umm, yeah.  There is something else.  You say you didn't do it, and I'm choosing to believe you.  I don't know who or what did it either, but... those girls?  All of them are in comas this morning.  Unresponsive and hospitalized.  Maybe they were what was taken instead.  Don't wind up like them, okay?"  She steps off the porch.  "I have to excuse myself for a moment.  Please, continue..."  She walks down the street to where Elrod and Dave are parked, smiles a sickly smile at El and says "They intended to sacrifice me last night.  Remind me to thank the universe for the save."   Then she drops to her knees and vomits her breakfast into a storm drain.

"I am so not any less confused now," says Sarah.  She takes another thoughtful bite of donut.  "I just want to know one more thing.  Are you still Rob?  Do you still go brainless when a hot girl walks by?  Do you still play first person shooters and roleplay a sarcastic gnome on Saturdays?  Does dropping Mentos into someone's Diet Coke still amuse you?  Is what makes up Rob still in charge in there?  If I prick you will you bleed.  If I pants Dave at lunch time will you still spray milk out your nose?"

Elrod holds her hair back.  When she's finished, Dave offers her a bottle of water.

"Yeah, I'm still Rob.  Just like you're still you now that you have powers, or Colin is still Colin.  It's the same thing I guess."

"You'd better be.  If I find out different you'll be hanging by your underwear from the school flag pole and I don't care what you can do," says Sarah with more bravado then she is feeling. 

Please be okay Rob.  I don't want to lose anyone.

"Of course I am. I never wanted anything bad to happen to them. I only wanted to stop them from hurting anyone else. I thought binding them would have been enough, but it wasn't.
What happened to them now... it's not right. Rob, if you can talk with Meno, please ask him to let them go. This is too much even for them."


"So this is how you know what you know. I was about to ask. that's pretty much it, Rob, but there's a clause. You have to keep being worthy of the power you were given. Remember what Meno told you."



"Just a little thing. I would have told you before, but Dave told us you didn't want to see us, and especially me. I'm sorry for what happened at the party. I had no idea what my powers did back then, and I did something stupid. I never meant to hurt you, and after I learned something about them I kept thinking if I could do anything to help you. Now it looks like you found help somewhere else. Still, if you need some friends, if you need help figuring things out, we'd be here for you."

He looks like he's about to say something else, then thinks again.

"Rob, if you can do anything for those girls, please help them. I was too late to help Leland. Maybe it's not too late for them."

"How do you know it's too much?" Sylvia asks.  There's a dull, cold expression on her face as if she's doing her best not to evaluate things, anything, through the filter of her feelings.  "How do you know what they wanted, what they would have done if this Meno hadn't punished them?  What they might still do if they could?  Not everyone deserves forgiveness, Colin."

"I think that they should be allowed to realize why what they did is wrong, that they should be allowed to change. I don't want to be their judge. How are we supposed to tell what can be forgiven and what can't?" Colin asks, though his voice is sad, and the question isn't really for Sylvia.

"We just have to do the best we can Colin.  The witches had a choice every time they cast a harmful spell.  They had a choice before they kidnapped Sammy and before they used you as a crystal ball.  How many more chances could they be afforded before they killed people?"
Sarah shrugs and pops the last of the donut in her mouth.  She waves to Rob and heads over to check on Sammy. 

"Are you okay?"

"Society judges.  Only people who understand something can judge other people on it.  They abused their power they had, they hurt people, they lied, and they didn't care about anyone but themselves.  Just how far does your compassion go Colin?  Would you be this forgiving if someone did something to Sarah, or your mother?  I don't think so.  You have lines that you don't want people to cross, and lines you'll cross if you're wronged that other people wouldn't.  We all do."  Rob's voice is tired, and he finishes by going into the house.

Donnie nods to Rob as he turns to leave. "Peace to you, Rob. What you have gained is far more than they realized, and they have paid for their mistake. They intended to use you as they have used others, but Meno has decided their days of leeching his/her/its power were over. Take care, and call me if there is anything you want to talk about."

Donnie bows his head and reaches tentatively out for Sylvia's hand.

Sammy is sitting on the curb, wedged between Elrod and Dave.  El has his arm around her shoulders and Dave is holding a bottle of water for her.  They'd offered to let her sit in one of the vehicles, but she wanted the feel of moving air on her face.  

"Thanks, Sarah, I'm okay.  It just hit me that they no-kidding wanted to kill me last night, and would have if something hadn't intervened.  I think they were taken as the sacrifice instead of me.  The whole idea just shook me up some, that's all.  Its been a tough 24 hours."  She takes the bottle of water from Dave, takes a long swallow, and hands it back to him.  

As first Sammy and then the others move away from Rob’s house and over to where Dave and Elrod were waiting, Megan shrugged slightly.  “Well, I guess that’s it.”  Though she waited to hear if John had heard much more, then she asked him, “shall we see if there is anything more we might do now?  And if not, did you want to try to get to the sightseeing?  Or just taken in a movie today and save the sightseeing till tomorrow or Friday when we have the entire day free?”

Sylvia gives him a hard look, a fierce look, a look that might be angry if it weren't so remote.  She takes his hand, even gives it a squeeze.  If it's her support he wants, she can give him that, but something's wrong.  He's wronged her.  And when she's got some time to think and a few hours' sleep, she'll figure out why she feels so misused.  "It's out of our hands.  It always was," she tells him.  "And you know, I don't really care about penance or forgiveness or second chances.  All I know is that they kept hurting us, and we're better off with things as they are."

As they walk back towards the ret of the crew, Donnie shakes his head. "They aren't suffering Sylvia, but their parents are. I saw my not-mom, the one from the reality where the thugs killed me? She was hollow with grief. All over the city, moms and dads are sitting next to their comatose daughters, crying and wishing there was something they could do. I hated the bwitches, hated living in fear of what they'd pull on us next, who they'd pay off to attack one of us. But their parents are suffering for their decisions, and it's partly my fault. I bound them with the charm, and kharma finally caught up with them. The thrice-fold rule: What misery you wroght, comes back threefold. Part of me is happy and satisfied, but I still feel guilty."

"Let's see if the crew plans to do anything else today.  If not, a movie sounds good.  We can get an early start tomorrow, see some sights and get some lunch."

"Is it really a choice when you don't know what you're doing? When you don't know what consequences i's going to bear? I just wish they could have been stopped before it came to this."


"I don't know. I hope I never know. But I also hope I would. Sometimes, forgiveness is the only way to heal."


"You shouldn't, Donnie. Sarah's right about that. You did the best you could."

Unlike me. I should have foreseen it. We shouldn't have just bound them, we should have explained why we did that, why it was for their own good. Maybe this could have been avoided.

Colin sighs deeply.

I'll let Chris and Blaire know what happened, and next time I'll try to remember that saving the day is not enough.

“And don’t forget we are hitting the art galleries tomorrow night.”  Megan added with a smile as they walked over towards where the others were gathering.  “You okay Sammy?”  Megan asked with a concerned look.  The other girl seemed somewhat pale.

Sylvia shakes her head, staring at the ground ahead of her.  "Their parents don't deserve to suffer, but imagine what kinds of parents they'd have to be.  Not bad people necessarily, but numb, or blind, or empty.  Their daughters decided they had a right to take whatever they wanted, and damn the consequences.  Imagine what we would be if we made the same choice."  She looks up at him.  "It's not that we're innately good.  It's that someone loved us and taught us how to love.  I mean, think about it.  What keeps us from doing the same?"  Her stare almost pierces.  "What keeps us from killing?"

Colin feels that things are getting tense, and that's his fault too.

"Ourselves. We could, but we don't. And no matter what Rob said, Donnie didn't kill anyone."

"Who was it?  You?"  Was it you, Saint Colin?

Colin doesn't look guilty anymore, but only tired and sad.

"Leland was dead way before we met him. But it was me. I put an end to what was left of his life. I was trying to save him, but it was too late."

"It was too late for Leland, but it's not too late for the witches?"  There's a dangerous conceit in that, she thinks.  Who made Colin judge, jury, and executioner?  "I'd accept that without question except that you did this thing and then kept it a secret, even lied about it in a way."  For whatever reason her eyes are on Donnie, even as she addresses Colin.  "Ask yourself why you didn't tell us.  Guilt, I'm thinking.  Fear?  A kind of hypocritical mistrust?

"I don't blame you for what happened to Leland," she says, shaking her head and looking at the ground as they walk.  "I would have done the same.  But I've been asking myself lately what we are to one another.  For friends, we treat each other like crap."

"Yeah.  I'm just a little shook up.  I thought the witches only wanted a witness last night; they were really after a sacrifice.  It was supposed to be me, but the power took them instead.  That's why they're all in comas."   She wipes at her face with her hand.  "Its a lot to process."

Megan’s jaw dropped slightly as Sammy reveled that the witches had taken her last night to use as a sacrifice.  “I would imagine so.”  She replied quietly.  “I’m glad that their plans didn’t work out Sammy, and that you’re alright.”  She was still a bit stunned.  For all that had happened so far, that might well have been the closest any of them had been to being killed, particuarly as Sammy had been helpless when the witches had taken her from the hospital. 

The blonde teen glanced over at the sounds of Colin, Donnie and Sylvia approaching, it sounded like there was a tense discussion about something, and Megan wondered if it was what happened with Leland.  The last thing she wanted right now was to get in the middle of something like that.

Donnie drops Sylvia's hand. "You weren't there. You have no right to judge, Sylvia. How do you think it has been, huh? To think, even possibly, that you caused the death of someone? Colin is right. All he did was try to seperate the demon from the host, but there was nothing left. Imagine the horror, of your best intensions and effort leaving a pile of ash on the sidewalk where someone who had moments ago been flinging flame and thunder at you? Besides, you have secrets, don't you? Things you don't tell everyone else about?" After her recent revelation of the murderous mental patient and confidant at Mentano, the comment was meant to strike home. "After the verbal lashings that seem to spin out of control whenever people get a wild hair up their ass, I would avoid talking about it too, if things were unsettled. Which is one of the reasons I didn't talk to you about it. There was an investigation, and we were waiting for results. Simple as that.

"I tried to banish the demon, like I did with the snake spirit. I tried to get it out of Leland. But the demon had eaten him from the inside, and there just wasn't enough of Leland left. I was trying to save him."

Pain is evident on Colin's face as he says this.

"I haven't tried to save the witches yet. I just learned about them."


"I didn't tell you that I planned to face him, because you don't know what they did to those girls. Not as I do. It's just here, within myself, it's like they did it to me. I-I just couldn't bear the thought of any of you girls getting anywhere near him."

He sighs deeply.

"And after that, I... I just didn't know what to say. How would you feel if you accidentally killed someone? It took me days for even get to grips about it. And there was an ongoing investigation, I wasn't exactly free to talk about it. Mrs. Palmer could still sue me for wrongful death, as far as I know.
I-I just wasn't ready to talk you all about this. Isn't that something you can understand?"


"I'm sorry if you feel like that. Believe me, I didn't mean it at all. We've just been though a whole lot of crap lately. I hope it was just a bad week."

Megan looked back at Sammy as the three drawing closer were still going at it.  “If there is nothing much else for the rest of us today, John and I were planning to go see a movie.  You and El think you might be up for joining us?”

She could talk, dispassionately, about ethics with Colin all day.  Only Donnie can dig up this strange, irrational anger, as if, in something he's done or not done, he's violated some compact between them.  "I don't care.  I don't care about Leland.  He got what he deserved.  But you're the one who gets so angry.  You're the one who thinks I keep secrets.  You're the one who says we can't do that."  She looks away, clamping down on her emotions.


She shakes her head, as remote as if she's viewing things from an astronomical distance--everything diminished as if it were a point of darkness against a field of light.  "You're right.  It was just a bad week.  Everything's fine.  Business as usual.  I'm overreacting.  I'm tired.  I need to go home."

"I'll call you later when you wake up." Colin offers.

She wants to tell him not to.  He's not Saint Colin anymore.  She doesn't need his fallible guidance, and all the comfort she needs can be found in the distance she keeps from him, them, and everything.  "Yeah, sure," is what she says.

Elrod looks up at Megan and John.  "Ah, I'm gonna say I'll call you later, if T-Bone is feeling better.  Cool?"

Megan gives Sammy a sympathetic smile and then nods to Elrod.  “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Kel noticing that there is nothing for him to take care of, carefully slinks away.

Sammy nods mutely in response to Megan's suggestion of a movie.  Maybe.   She watches Colin, Sylvia, and Donnie approach, beginning to level accusations and   assign guilt.  As much as she'd like to avoid the rising emotional storm, she chooses to stay.  She has some questions of her own.

Colin realizes that something has broken between him and Sylvia. He hopes he will be able to mend it. He's got to give her time, though.

As they walk back to meet the others he notices how pale Sammy looks, and looks at her and Elrod with concern.

"Is it all right?"

Sammy nods.  "A lot has happened to me in the past 24 hours.  I was okay until Rob told me that the witches didn't want a witness, they wanted a sacrifice.  It could have been me in the coma this morning, or me in a morgue.  All of it left me feeling a little nauseated."

She looks at Colin, then Donnie, then back at Colin.  "But what about you guys?  What's this about you killing some boy?"  Colin gets the distinct impression that this news also contributed in no small way to her sickness.

Colin sighs, and he sits down on the side of the road.

"There was something strange about one of... those guys. The way the second girl, Samantha, remembered him, was strange, as if he was a monster. He looked somewhat snakelike, and I thought it could have been a spirit like the one that the witches summoned within Rob. And after helping Samantha, I got this."

He points to the black marks on his arms.

"I asked Donnie what it is. It's a magic symbol, a sort of protection, but also a tool to show what is hidden, to bring it to the light. It has been given to me so I could deal with him.

It wasn't a spirit. It was something much worse. Somehow this boy, Leland Palmer, summoned a demon within his body. He was possessed, and eaten from the inside. That is why he and his fellows hurt those girls too much. He fed on their sufferings as well.

I had to meet him, to see what he was. I asked Kel and Donnie for some help, so they came with me. We drew him out of his house, and I confronted him. I asked him why. I couldn't see his aura, so I knew he was hiding something, and I used the Eye on him. This blew his cover, and got the demon out. He got really angry, and he threw a lightning bolt at me."

Colin lifts up his hoodie and his shirt, showing them the burns it left on him.

"It blinded me, and knocked me out for a moment. Then I couldn't see anymore, but I know what it was trying to do. It was summoning a storm of fire to incinerate us all. So I banished it. I reached out to take the demon out of the boy and send it back from whatever hell it came from. I was trying to save him. But it was too late. The demon had already eaten away too much of him. When we met him, Leland was alive, but his soul was already gone. I took the demon out, but all that remained of Leland was some ashes."

He remains silent for a while.

"The other boys were likely somewhat under his influence, but probably they've already been arrested now. I made sure at least one of them would confess. But there's more. There's another girl, but the police hasn't found her yet, so I haven't been able to help her yet. I hope Chris calls me with news about her any moment now. And..."

Colin's face is twisted in rage for a moment, as he clenches his fists.

"The PCD found a book in Leland's room. A book of black magic. The one that was bought by Vandross. The one that features the spell that caused Rory's death."

He takes a deep breath.

"This means that either Leland was Vandross, and I doubt it, or that Vandross is responsible for what happened to those girls too."

(ooc I don’t think most of us knew about the second girl either)

Megan had considered just asking John if he was ready to go, but she stayed anyway, listening to what he had to say.  She had not really been bothered by the fact Colin and the others had gone to do this on their own, without telling her, other than it involved something they had all been working on together.  And while a death was a terrible thing, if the PCD was calling it self defense, then she far preferred that it was Leland dead rather than Colin, Donnie or Kel. 

From what Colin said, it sounded like self defense was not even the right thing to call it, for the demon had destroyed the boy already.  But that was the problem.  Seeing as he had lied to her about what he knew about Leland’s death last week, it was no longer going to be a case of just accepting everything Colin said anymore.  It seemed like he was being honest, this time, but it might be awhile before she just instantly trusted everything he said.

“Great, more magic.”  She mutters. 

Sammy sits and listens to what Colin has to say.  After he is finished, she stares sadly at Colin's face for what seems like forever.  Then she sighs, and says simply and sadly, "Okay.  It must have been awful, hunting Leland down, then keeping this terrible secret.  I wish you had felt like you could trust me to back you up. It's hard to be friends with somebody when you know they don't trust you with the important stuff, or will ignore you unless you happen to have something they want.  A friend should be someone you want, who wants you too, not someone you settle for."

Looking up at John, Megan quietly said, “well, it would appear there is little we can do.  I really feel its time to go.  If they need us, they can call.”

"Look, lots has happened in the last few weeks, a lot of it awful, terrible and cruel. I think it's wearing us all down, making us snappy, suspicious and sometimes withdrawn. I felt that the whole Leland thing was something best left in the hands of the PCD. Colin did nothing wrong, nothing he was not born to do. If Kel and Pip had not attacked Leland, he would have killed Colin. If I had not blinded him, he could have killed Pip or Kel. Well, maybe not Kel, but definately Pip. If Colin hadn't tried to banish him, it all could have ended up much worse. I stayed with Colin until the police came, because I didn't want him to be alone to take the guilt of the world on his shoulders like he always seems to do. I was stubborn, and for it now I am down in another police report. The PCD already know about my dragons, so I didn't think it was too much of a big deal to stand by Colin over it."

Donnie looks away into the settling dusk, eyes shining.

"Leland killed himself when he let the demon in. In truth, it was suicide, and because of his act, many kids have suffered. The girls who were the victims, and the foolish boys who let themselves be swayed by the demon's charm, and all the parents of everyone." He looks at Sylvia. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just didn't want to break the fragile thing we have become. I didn't want you to think I was horrible enough to kill someone. Not after I lost control that one night.

John nods.  "If you need us you have the numbers."  He starts to head off with Megan.  "Let's see what's playing downtown, try to relax some."

“Relaxing sounds good to me.”  Megan says with a smile.

Sylvia looks at Donnie, just looks at him with the soul-searching gaze that will get deeper and more discerning as the years wear on.  She thinks of the company she's been keeping lately--the penitent Smith, the conscienceless Logan--and has to rethink her anger as well.  She steps in closer and almost whispers.  "I trust you to do what needs to be done.  I trust you to do good and, when you can't do good, to do right.  But if you think you can't trust me, then you don't know me, and what we are isn't real.  You follow?"  She's dead serious, laying out the truth of them as she sees it.  Her expression softens a little, but there's still something so intense and adult about it, as if she's put away all her little-girl affectations to get this one very important point across.  "If you're too afraid to tell me the truth, then you aren't brave enough to be my friend, or anything."

It sounds like a termination, but there's a question in her unwavering stare:  Is it in you?

Emotions flicker across Donnie's face. It's hard to watch; sadness, anger, fear, determination.

He nods his head.

"I trust you. I really do. I never had friends like you all, and I'd do anything for you. It wasn't that I didn't trust you. To help Darla and Samantha, those girls, I had to share their pain, to help them bear it. I can feel what happened to them. I didn't tell you girls, because I couldn't accept to put you in danger, to put you within a mile of that monster.
And after what happened... I was afraid. Not of what you might think, but of what I was thinking of myself. I had to really think about what I am, and what I will do. I would have told you all as soon as I was ready. Probably as soon as this story was over and I realized if I passed this test.

The last thing I wanted to do was to hurt you all. It's just that, if I let myself go, I could do so many things, it would be so easy to lose control. I have to have a firm grip on who I am, and on what is right. I had to deal with this on my own for a while. I'm sorry."

She gives him a smile as steadfast as her stare, just a slight curve of her lips that says more than that she's happy or that she forgives him.  It's like a promise.

In the more vivid world between them, she steps forward and gives him a kiss as sudden and sweet as love.  The coltish uncertainty is gone.  There's no desperation or yearning in her embrace, only the kind of strength that the best and most selfless love gives us.  "There are a lot of illusions in the world," she tells him in an intimate, liquid whisper that goes straight from her lips to his ear, "and the illusions people cast about themselves are the most complicated.  I want to believe in what I see in you.  I want to believe in your strength and your gentleness and in that I mean something to you.  And because I want to believe so badly, you can hurt me like no one else can."

"It goes both ways, doesn't it?" she says, and here she blinks.  Shyness flits across her face, but she keeps her eyes on his in earnest.  "Don't be afraid of me.  I'll always do my best by you.  I can't help it."

Sammy processes his words, recognizes the sincerity in Colin's voice, and accepts his explanation for what it is.  But still, trust was broken and she's been hurt by this and other events, and she is emotionally stepping back from Colin, from the team.  You can almost imagine the foundation of a fortress being laid around her, one brick at a time.  Maybe she'll remember to build a gate.  "OK, Colin.  You did what you had to do to protect yourself.  There's nothing to forgive, so I won't bother to offer it."

Colin looks around, and he can feel it. Some of his best friends are backing away from him. He can see it in their eyes.

They don't understand. All I wanted was to protect them.

For a moment he feels really, deeply sad.

So this is how it will be. They're special like me, but my world is different from theirs.

He turns to look at Sarah.

She's the closest to me, but she too doesn't feel she can fully trust me. What am I becoming?

"Well, I guess we're done here. I'd better go."

He takes out his bike from the back of Dave's new van, and he cycles back near Sarah.

"Would you still like to come over for dinner?"

Sarah looks startled.  "Is that tonight?  Oh wow, I totally forgot with everything else happening. "

She nods her head and takes his hand, "Yeah, I would.   I've got an errand to run and I want to get in some more exercise.  Then I'll be able to come over for dinner.  If anything interesting comes up give me a call?"

She gives his hand a squeeze and smiles, "Can I bring anything over?"

From behind the safety of the growing invisible wall, Sammy says, "Leaving sounds like a good idea, but there's one more thing.  Donnie, I'd like to borrow the help of the dragons later.  I want to find out what they know about the Djinn.  Children of the Air was the other name.  I can try to look it up, but it seems that this way might be faster.  It doesn't have to be now, but soon would be nice.  I want to know what I am."

She turns to Elrod, who is still inside the wall.  "I'm ready to go.  How does California sound to you?"

Sarah glances at Sammy, "Got a second before you hit the coast?  Or I can just IM you when you get to the beach."

Sarah's given a seat on the wall, not in, not out.  "Sure.  Unless you want to come along.  It's a big state."

"Ok."


Colin looks at her, with those eyes that really mean how wonderful she is for him.

"Your smile would be enough. But anything else is fine too."

Sarah smiles at Colin and gives him a hug, "Well then consider that an appetizer."

She kisses his cheek and waves before zipping over to Sammy.

She speaks softly, "I just wanted to ask you something before you changed your address to Anywherebuthereville.  What was the name of the band kid with the killer crush on Megan?"

"The one who sent her the flower?"  Sammy cringes as yet another realization strikes her.  "Crap.  Everything was so jumbled yesterday and last night, but I remember now; somebody said something about it being a band kid who gassed the room we were in.  You think it was him?  What did you guys do with him?  He was dragged out of the school, away from the smoke, right?  Was he turned over to the police or to the EMTs?"  She thinks of some poor deluded boy, one of her band brothers, in lock-up or with his parents yelling at him for being an idiot.  She doesn't like the thought.

"Tim was pulled out in one piece.  He's not in jail or getting yelled at.  Nobody handed him to the police.  If anything he's probably getting more hugs at home than he wants.  Most of us are after what happened.  I felt really bad about what happened to him.  These powers that are flying around the school are getting too many regular kids into trouble.  I just don't want him beating himself up over what happened.  I wanted to go talk to him and ... fix things."   Sarah tells Sammy. 

"He was drugged and couldn't control his actions...though I am kind of curious where he got the gas."

Sammy is angry at herself.  "With everything that happened, I forgot about him.  Forgot!  I lumped everything under "the witches did it."  I've been sitting here feeling sick and scared and shut out and massively sorry for myself, while Tim -- Tim McFane?  I thought so -- is probably feeling even worse.  He probably thinks he came close to killing me."   She slams her fist into her thigh and swears colorfully.
 
She stands up.  "I know where he lives.  Its not too far from my house.  He needs to know this wasn't his fault."

Colin returns a quick kiss and cycles away.

Sometimes he likes to go really fast, so the wind in his ears is so loud he can't hear anything else, and he feels in a different world. This is one of those times. He goes to the hospital where Chris told his the witches have been admitted. He has to see with his own eyes what has happened to them.

Sarah nods to Sammy, "That was my thought.  He doesn't deserve to bust himself up over this.  Can I catch a ride with you then?"

"Two seats, so you're gonna have to sit in T-Bone's lap."  Elrod says, then leans in closer to Sammy.  "If you're serious we can be on the coast before the dark.  We have a beach house in Santa Monica, really nice view of the sunset from the back deck."


[Colin]
As Colin races down the street on his bike he sees the blackbird winging along above him.


You just learned an important lesson.  Not everyone wants to be protected.  Things will make sense and get easier as you grow older and wiser.  Just remember, older doesn't necesarily mean wiser and wiser doesn't necisarily mean older.

Sarah says, "Oh... the car... right."  I was hoping for another flying lesson.  Shucks.

"That's okay... I can just head over there on my own or Dave can probably swing me by in a while.  You know, cause he doesn't have anything better to do than chauffeur me around, oh and fetch donuts for you."

"Wait, El.  Are Sylvia and Donnie going?  I can give the address to Dave."  She stops and gives Sarah a suspicious look.  "But you already knew that El had the two seater."

She turns back to Elrod.  "I've never been so serious about getting away in my life.  If I thought my folks would let me go... "  she sighs.  "But we have to take care of Tim first.  I don't want him ripping himself to shreds over this.  If he sees me and sees that I am not mad at him, that should fix things.  Then I can run away all I want to.  Maybe not California, but there's an island I know of with a decent fire pit."

Colin weighs his guide's words.

Then I hope I get wiser before I get too old.

I'm going to check on the witches. I'm not sure they deserve help, but I'm not sure they deserve to be in a coma either. Do you know if Meno really took them as a sacrifice? Is there anything that could be done for them?

"I have an idea, why not go with Dave.  I need to run an errand and make a couple calls.  I'll link up with you guys when you're done saving lives.  Cool?"

Dave nods, "I drive therefore I am."

[Colin]

Power has to come from somewhere for these things.  If the witches planned to sacrafice your friend, and Meno chose not to take her I doubt he would have  done this to them.  Maybe it's something else.  Let's see what you can see when we get there..

Sammy gives Elrod a quick hug.  "I'd rather be going with you," she whispers.

"OK, let's go.  I call shotgun."