Lost

Darkness seemed to fall quickly.
They couldn’t go home or to the shop or anywhere, Claire knew all the places where the reapers would go to ground and so they had kept going until ducking into an underground station. It was easy enough to slip into the tunnels, there was nothing there that could hurt a reaper and soon Matt had strong-armed a door that led into a maintenance room. Lilith and Dani sat on the floor, the others on boxes and desks as all of them played back the day in their minds.
“That place stank of old magic.”
Syn rubbed a hand over his eyes and looked at Lilith.
“She never would have turned on us without it. Is this what your vision meant?”
The dark haired witch nodded slowly, not quite sure how but it was all too obvious now what the witches burning part was all about. Raven quietly blanketed the capital in fog, mystical for those initiated and impenetrable for those not. She knew that there was now a mortal enemy to combat as well as Gerard.
“We have to go to ground Jimmy, the police and army are looking for us.”
Jimmy had his head back against the wall, his eyes shut as he tried to think of a way to keep them safe until they could break whatever hold Gerard had over Claire. He knew that Zacky was near breaking point, Stef and Johnny had him sat between them and he was huddled into the blond girls embrace.
“We need to split up.”
Matt and Johnny stared at him in disbelief.
“What?”
Jimmy opened his eyes, he was met by a wall of questioning faces and felt his love for them all painfully deep in his chest. It was too soon to go through this again, to be forced into fighting one of his own and he wanted it done and Claire returned to them.
“We need resources and a place to hide. We will find all of that quicker if we split up. Johnny, you and Stef take Zacky and go hunt down weapons.”
Zacky pulled himself to his feet and nodded, the determination and focus back on his face as he forced the fear for his woman back. Johnny was already thinking of several places that could help them and his own stash of plans that he never told anyone about, not even Stef. He too had been scarred by the past and trusted no-one, not even his friends.
“Matt, take Dani and go hunt down the mystics. Dr Dee and whoever else you can find before Gerard rounds them up. The vision said they will go public and it makes sense that they would try and use more than just Claire’s magic against us.
Dani glanced at Lilith, a wordless be careful going between them. They both knew that iw would take a lot to stop the level of darkness they had felt in that basement and Dani had an awful feeling in her stomach that there would be casualties. Matt had his arm wrapped around her waist, grim faced as he took in his boss.
“What about you?”
“Raven and I will go back to that building and do recon, see what we can find out. Which leaves Syn and Lilith to find us accommodation and whatever the witches need to get Claire back.”
Lilith smirked at Syn, the old love of chaos surfacing between them. He had a couple of places in mind that they could fortify against whichever attack came first and he wanted to be out there hurting something. Syn shook the dust off his sleeve and looked around the room before looking back at Jimmy.
“You have a plan?”
Jimmy grinned, his blue eyes sparkling.
“Not a clue but I am guessing…..”
He looked at Raven who had been studying Lilith for the last five minutes.
“Lil, you and Claire are linked more than any of us. Did you know about the fire?”
Lilith shook her head, a distant memory starting to spark.
“No. She never had that although we had never tapped too deep into what she could do. Claire was always the more sensible one.”
Raven started to pace as Zacky looked up, his face pale.
“There was one time wasn’t there Lilith? When you were kids and that boy tried to rape her. She burned the house with him and his father in it.”
The other witch glanced at him, unsure.
“That was a spell….that I knew, she never practised it.”
All of them were focused now, trying to piece together what had happened . The room was cramped and too small for the normal drinking and pacing but it didn’t stop Matt and Jimmy from trying. Lilith say cross legged and thought back, she had never actually shown Claire the fire spell, that had come from within and from considerable pressure. Something buried very deep. An idea had crept into her head but she knew the others wouldn’t like it.
“I need to try a séance.”
Syn looked down at her with an irritated sigh.
“Claire’s not dead.”
“No but Peg is. She said that Claire and I were reincarnated souls from before the burning times. Maybe if I can reach her, she can help us.”
Dani nodded, the idea made sense which mollified Matt a little. Jimmy still looked a little suspicious as Syn leant out a hand and helped Lilith to her feet.
“Is it dark magic?”
Dani and Raven dropped their heads, Stef following suit when she saw their hidden grins.
“No, not at all.”
Lilith attempted her most innocent face, Jimmy not buying it for one minute but prepared to risk anything to put this right. There was a flurry of activity and good byes, all of them now restricted to communicating by text on the phones that Johnny had hard wired. They wouldn’t be found by mortals that way and they couldn’t risk magic. The short trip back to the surface was silent and the split almost painful as each group headed in different directions, the night soon swallowing them up.
Lilith and Syn walked hand in hand, silent but visible. Neither had any intention of hiding, if trouble wanted them then here they were. It was a clear and cold night, the streets pretty much empty as they head down into the city.
“Going to the shop is a risk.”
Lilith kissed him deeply, her lips hot against his.
“I know but there is stuff there we will need. Including hard cash.”
Syn giggled, he liked the idea of bribery and also knew about the weapons cache under the floor in the back room. He picked her back up in his arms, kissing her a little more roughly as his desire rose. Syn had always enjoyed it most when it was just the two of them on the hunt, no need to hold back and conform to the somewhat lax rules.
Lilith knew he wanted her, his hunger for her body never ceased but even she wasn’t about to risk that when they could get a fireball up the ass for their trouble.
“C’mon, lets do this and get to this hiding place of yours.”
Syn smirked and took her hand, the two of them soon arriving at the back of the shop. All seemed quiet, nothing had been disturbed as Lilith filled two boxes with ingredients, books and supplies. Syn shouldered that burden, demon strength coming in handy as he tried not to smell some of the contents.
“Under the floor, bring the rifles and that rucksack.”
Lilith did as bid, gathering up the arms and pulling the rucksack on as Syn contemplated whether to tell her it was full of grenades or not. It seemed strange to be in the shop without Claire and Lilith felt her anger rise at the memory of Gerard’s triumphant smile as they ran.
“Will we get her back Syn?”
He placed the boxes on the counter and lifted her chin, staring into her eyes.
“Yes and this time I will rip that fuck limb from limb. Now come on, you will never guess where my little hiding place is.”

Notes