The coven arrives at the park nearby to the Mills house, where they are hoping to hide the car and then sneak through onto the Mills property. As they arrive, they realise that the harley and the witches' car are both parked in the forest. Skin's hopes of slashing the tires are foiled when he realises that the car is obviously shielded. Candy runs off ahead in her catform to distract the dogs, and the other four follow slightly behind. i'm not screwing with shields anymore... last time hurt enough -skin
As she arrives, she discovers that the biker and the witches are already at the back of the Mills house. The biker has his rifle slung over his shoulder, and one of the witches is on her knees, retching loudly. The oldest is watching the house intently, while the third witch seems to be out of focus, scanning the house in the astral plane. Candy soon discovers the source of their concerns: the two dogs are spread across the garden at the side of the house, still alive despite their innards making pretty patterns on the lawn. Candy is startled and runs to find the others. A scream from the house makes her realise that the revenant must be inside.
Meanwhile, Skin, Kevin and Peri are trying to sneak around to the side of the house. The biker hears Skin and aims his shotgun at the area where he is hiding, stepping forward purposefully. Realising that things have got out of hand, Candy morphs back into a naked, attractive, fourteen-year-old girl and steps out of the trees, suitably distracting the biker. While she has his full attention, she explains that there is a revenant in the house and he is in over his head. Then Skin steps out and claims that they found the bottles and have a right to claim them. Hearing all of this, the biker decides that he never really wanted to take the job in the first place, slings his rifle over his shoulder and begins to leave. Skin begrudgingly loans Candy his jacket to cover up.
This infuriates the witches. The witch who was bent double now rises and begins to chant. Skin starts casting in response, following her eyes up to the treeline. The older of the three walks up to him and tries to stop him casting, only to have her fingers nearly removed by his knife. The witch finishes her spell, followed immediately by Skin's, which sets the tree that she was looking at on fire.i was trying to protect my coven. i din't know what she was doing. she couldn't control a puppy the stupid bint -skin
From the tree steps a being of living flame: a fire elemental. It begins to head for the house, and Candy decides to cut her losses and escapes into the forest. As the elemental passes the dogs, it sets their mutilated bodies on fire, yet they still do not die. To add to the level of horror, the revenant makes her appearance from the house, walking straight up to Kevin to tell him that the house has been secured and she will now leave. At this, the witch who was spiritwalking through the house returns to her body and stares fixedly at Kevin. The revenant disappears, allowing Kevin to realise that the elemental has turned its focus onto him while the ghost spoke to him. He spins and runs, soon overtaking the biker, who curses under his breath and turns back to the house. The biker appears and begins to drag the elementalist away, but Skin realises that only she can banish the elemental. He runs after them, grabbing the elementalist. She wraps her legs around his arm, and neither of them notice that the elemental has suddenly become even more enraged. Screaming at her to dispell her elemental, Skin wrestles her to the ground. He is about to do her some serious damage when the barrel of a rifle is pressed solidly into his chest, and the biker forces them both apart. While this has been happening, Jean-Marie has been alerted to trouble by the appearance of Kevin at the car, and has begun to head for the house. Peri, who has remained hidden, is also inching her way around the action towards the Mills house. As she passes the cooking, grotesque remains of the still-living dogs, she leans down and pats one on the head. why do i always end up at the business end of a shotgun? just cos i know what's happening i get the buckshot? -skin
Skin steps away from the elementalist as the fire elemental looms dangerously close. He runs into the forest, followed swiftly by the biker who is dragging the third witch with him. The older witch stays to help her fallen sister. Behind them they hear terrible screams and frantic chanting as the fire consumes its summoner and half the forest with her.stupid elementalist. just wait till i get the power. i'll show her - skin
Peri and Jean-Marie have reached the house during all of this. Jean-Marie kicks in the cellar door and they soon find the trapdoor to the hidden room. Jean-Marie manages to lever the stone slab aside, and they descend into the dark. The bottles are easily found, glowing as they do to those with the Gift. Jean-Marie takes the opportunity to steal two very valuable mundane bottles while they are there. He packs two of the magickal bottles into a carry-case, and Peri takes the third to be safe. Realising that they cannot escape through the back, they bolt out of the front, past the guardhouse (which has recently been the scene of more of the revenants creative work) and out into the street.
The five of them meet at the car, where Skin is sitting with his legs out of the door, steam pouring off him as he is finally given the chance to dispell the essence he drew. The biker has already slung the last witch onto his bike and roared off into the night. They briefly argue about where Candy is, before Kevin calls her on her cell. She is already walking home. The pick her up outside the !McDonalds? where she has compulsively bought food. Then they take the bottles back to the estate, where they will be safest.
Skin and Peri stay over at the estate that night. Kevin goes home to find that his studio has been broken into. Candice finds the same thing, and also realises that she is under surveillance. She escapes in her catform to the estate, where she bursts in to Jean-Marie's room in the middle of the night, naked. After he has given the order to his bodyguard to take care of the man outside who is obviously trying to tap the phonelines, Jean-Marie takes advantage of Candy's vulnerable state...to play dress-up.
Peri is woken by shots in the night, and shakes Skin awake. They are assured by the bodyguard on his return that the house will be secure for the night, and they all collapse back into a fitful sleep. i like being woken up by a girl on top of me while another parades close by almost nekkid - skin
Breakfast proves interesting. Kevin arrives with his 'friend', who he announces is an angel named Saziel. The angel makes them an offer: he can either protect the bottles for them or give them enough power to protect themselves, for the price of a bottle. They give him one bottle, and watch as he uncorks it and drains it. In return, they find knowledge come unbidden into their minds, as if it had always been there. Saziel has visibly grown in stature after drinking the first bottle. The five realise that this is a better deal than they are likely to get anywhere else, especially when Saziel admits that their fates are now intertwined. If they are hurt, so is he, and vice versa. He is bound to protect them, and they him. The best way to do this is to give him the other two bottles, and they hand them over after a lot of consideration and weighing of odds. As he consumes the last bottle, wings burst from the back of his suit and unfold gracefully in the air, blocking the sunlight for a moment. They are not the wings of an angel, but an oily leather like those of a bat.
It is too late to turn back, though, as the coven has already felt themselves imbued with more power than they had ever hoped to gain. As they look at each other, they see that they have changed physically too: they all have a brightness about them, a beauty that echoes that of Saziel himself. There is no doubt now that their fate is irrevocably joined to that of the fallen angel.
The weekend passes by uneventfully. They discover that one woman was killed in the forest fire, and another is critically injured and in the intensive care unit. The Mills were found locked in their own bedroom.
School on Monday is interesting, as they immediately stand out amongst the other students. They have become, overnight, the group everyone wants to be a part of. we now have the power and the looks. we rock! life is going to be fun from now on. -skin
They are distracted from their triumph by the arrival of a new boy. To them it is painfully obvious that he has burned out. There is an aura of incredible power about him, but he is physically a wreck, barely skin and bone, the little that is left of his hair hanging limply over his shadowed face. His eyes are deep-sunk and haunted.
They can't resist going over to talk to him.