Chapter 56: 44. Dangerous to Humans

All seven of us were still a bit quiet after I told the others the truth about May Hawthorne, but after another minute or so our club leader finally spoke up again.

"Thanks for that information Cass," Paige said. "With May gone I suppose it doesn't really make much difference now. So moving on, the next thing I had on the agenda was to find out how things are with you? Have your parents made any progress yet with your situation?"

I grimaced, "There's not much progress, but we've learned a lot. So I guess get comfortable and I'll fill you all in..."

There were a few worried looks from the group, but nobody said anything. So I took a deep breath then got started with the little lecture.

"So that thing that's stuck next to my heart is an actual piece of Socha," I explained. "Not something gross like part of her body, but more like if you took some of her soul and distilled it down till it crystallized into something solid? And that was stuffed into my chest up against my heart."

I ignored the grimaces and frowns and continued, "It's meant to act like a beacon for Socha? So when the last ring of protective runes is broken that shard would basically summon her back to Earth. It'd let her evade the banishment and give her a direct path straight into my body. Except it'd be her body at that point, because I'd disappear the instant she took over."

"In fact she probably thinks it's her body from the start?" I added. "Like the rituals she had Nina do basically modified my body to Socha's specifications. I'm just the caretaker keeping the place warm and the lights on till it's ready for her to come back and take over. Which was originally supposed to happen next month."

"Socha's plan was for Brian to kidnap me before my eighteenth birthday," I sighed. "Then he'd do a ritual that would destroy all three rings of containment runes at the same time. Except that plan went out the window when I joined Club Luna and started learning May Hawthorne's flavour of witch magic. I accidentally broke the first containment ring at new years, with an overpowered healing spell? Then the second ring was destroyed last month when I absorbed May's divine magic at the emergency club meeting."

I finished with another shrug, "So now the whole thing's completely unstable? The containment runes weren't meant to be broken a bit at a time, plus my folks are positive Nina made some mistakes when she was copying out all those runes in the first place. Nobody knows what it might do now or next week or next month. And nobody knows what sort of effect it's had on me over the past eighteen years, having that shard of pure condensed chaos goddess embedded next to my heart all my life."

Kaylee asked, "Your moms are going to get it out though right? Isn't that the plan?"

"They definitely want to get it out," I replied. "The problem is they don't know how to do it, and they don't know what'll happen to me if it's removed. Like for all we know it might kill me to take it out? They've really only figured out about a quarter of the runes and sigils and stuff that Socha left behind."

"So that's the Socha stuff," Melanie stated. "That covers the goddess half, what about the demon half?"

I smiled, "The demon stuff is way less complicated, it's almost straightforward?"

"There's no chunk of Nina in me or anything like that. She imbued me with some of her demonic essence as part of those rituals back when I was a baby? I don't know if there was more to it though," I paused and frowned at my little sister, who was watching some kids running around shouting and playing tag or something.

Then I looked at the others again, "My parents asked her not to tell me all the details, I guess they're trying to protect me or something? Anyways, it didn't really change me when I was still a baby? The ritual forced me to stay stuck in my original human form, I was supposed to stay that way until Socha was restored?"

There was a grin on my face as I got to the next part, "Except last halloween I wandered into a magic circle, right? Turns out I didn't subconsciously shape-shift myself into this form like May claimed. My folks are pretty sure what really happened was some weird interaction between the magic circle and all the dozens of complicated and possibly flawed runes in my body. Which resulted in my demonic essence being unleashed ahead of schedule. It was enough that my original human shape was destroyed, replaced with something a lot closer to my true form."

"Obviously it's no coincidence that I look like Nina," I added with a smile. "The two of us really are family, sort of. We don't have a human word to describe the relationship, but she's like a cross between a sister and a mother or aunt to me."

Despite my smile everyone else looked kind of uneasy by the time I finished filling them all in on the situation. While they were all thinking that over I continued enjoying my ice cream cone, since it had started to melt a bit while I was busy talking.

Paige finally asked, "So what's the plan? You're not just going to leave things like they are now, are you?"

"My folks are still working on it," I shrugged. "Their first choice is to remove the Socha shard if possible. Second choice is to replace the missing runes, which will reset things back to how they were last autumn? Both options have risks though. As far as I'm concerned, I'd just leave it like it is now. I just have to keep avoiding magic and I'll be fine."

My friends all looked kind of uncomfortable with the last option I mentioned. Which made sense, since it meant I'd always be one slip-up or mistake away from unleashing a dangerous chaos goddess on the world.

"Nina, do you have anything to add to what Cass said?" Paige asked.

She had a mouthful of ice cream so she couldn't answer right away, but after a half minute she finally responded.

"Um, it's all really really complicated and I'm pretty sure Socha did that intentionally?" she said in her usual shy quiet voice. "Like the instructions she left for me were clear and simple, but everything she did to prepare ahead of time is really complicated. And apparently a lot of the runes and sigils are either super obscure, or stuff she invented herself? So we can't just look it up in a book or online. So um, there's just a lot of research and stuff, it's going to take time to figure it all out."

"Maybe I could help with some of the research?" Kaylee offered as she adjusted her glasses. "That's kind of my thing."

Nina shrugged as she replied softly, "Maybe? You'd have to talk to Cassandra's parents about it."

Brooke asked the demon girl, "How are you doing Nina? I don't mean with the work, just in general? Are you fitting in ok? Are you enjoying staying with Cass and her moms?"

The small shy demon looked equal parts embarrassed and happy as she nodded, "They've all been really nice to me. I've never really had any experience with families before, like outside of stories or shows, but um, I like it. I hope Tanya and Julie don't mind me staying with them."

I added with a grin, "I haven't been able to convince her to come to school with us in September, but I haven't given up yet either. And my folks aren't exactly comfortable with me treating her like my little sister, but I think they're coming around."

"Thanks Cass, Nina," Paige said. "If anything comes up with this stuff where the club could help, just ask ok? We're all here for you."

I smiled, "Sure. And thanks."

"So on to our last topic," our new leader said, as she looked towards Marissa. "Honestly I'm surprised you haven't blurted anything out or tried to take over the meeting already. But I got your text, so go ahead with whatever it is you wanted to say."

The young blonde grinned, "Thank you Paige."

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Then she addressed the group, "You all might have heard about the two people who've gone missing in the last two months? Both of them were last seen in Monora Forest. Larry Duncan, age fifty-nine, was hiking alone early in the morning on Sunday June sixth, and allegedly disappeared without a trace. And two weeks ago on Friday July ninth Alyssa Ross, age twenty-three, was horseback riding with her boyfriend Nicholas Kemp, when she and her horse vanished into thin air."

I noticed she wasn't using her notebook, she wasn't doing her usual showy act or anything. And she was keeping her voice down, talking in a calm casual tone. It left me wondering if she was toning it down since we were in public, or if she was trying to be more serious about this stuff.

"I didn't know about the first one," Brooke responded. "I heard about the second one and thought it sounded kind of fishy? The official line was her horse got spooked and bolted with her, but the boyfriend said he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary."

Kaylee asked, "Did he actually see her vanish?"

Marissa shook her head, "She was behind him while he was leading the way. He was talking, then noticed his girlfriend stopped responding. He turned around and realized she was gone. He didn't hear anything unusual, she didn't call out, there was no sudden noise from the horse, and his horse didn't react to anything. He turned back to try and find his girlfriend, but there was no trace of her."

"Ok," Paige frowned. "Weird and unfortunate, but what makes you think this is a Club Luna thing? Right now it sounds more like a police thing, searching for missing people."

By then we'd all finished our ice-cream cones, though not all of us managed to do that without making a mess. Our ex-leader had apparently taken on the role of 'club mom', since Brooke pulled a bunch of napkins and wet-wipes out of her purse. I tried my best not to smile too much as both Melanie and Nina spent the next minute or so cleaning all the melted ice cream from their faces and hands.

Meanwhile Marissa replied, "A couple things. First, Monora Forest just isn't that big. It's a popular spot for hiking and horseback riding in the summer, and they do cross-country skiing in the winter, but it's only forty acres. It's not big enough for someone to get lost for two weeks, let alone two months."

She continued, "The police have searched it twice right? They didn't find any traces of the two missing people, and they didn't find any evidence of foul play. So apparently the official word is they've stopped looking, because they think these people aren't missing. Like two completely different people both decided to walk away from their lives a month apart in the same place? Seriously though, how do you disappear with a whole entire horse?"

"And the thing that actually makes it a Club Luna incident," the young blonde stated as she got to the main point, "Since the spring equinox there's been sightings of floating lights and reports of strange sounds from the forest. I'll also note, the hiker went missing at around dawn, while the girl and her horse were last seen at dusk."

Brooke sighed, "You're talking about fae. You think there's some fairies lurking in Monora Forest."

"I think it's a possibility we should look into," Marissa responded. "Two people have gone missing without a trace, the authorities are stumped and have given up. I honestly think we should at least take a look at the place."

She added, "Melanie can detect supernatural scents, Cass can see magic, and Nina's our new ringer with the big demonic magic to back us up. Add us four human witches to round out the team, and I think Club Luna's ready to kick some supernatural butt. If necessary."

Brooke and Paige both had slightly-worried looks on their faces, while Kaylee was just frowning. Melanie was watching the others to see what they'd say, and Nina had turned around and was watching some kids playing near the creek.

After a few quiet seconds I asked, "So what's the deal with fae? Are they dangerous? And when you say fairies, are we talking like, tiny people with butterfly wings and sparkles?"

Marissa pointed out, "That Brian guy didn't seem all that tough. Melanie overpowered him by herself, and ok it took a few tries but my magic was able to knock him out eventually."

"Brian's a dweeb," Nina commented quietly, so we knew she was still listening even though she was mostly people-watching.

Kaylee tried to answer my question, "Fae is a catch-all blanket term for a large number of supernatural creatures. Fairies, pixies, brownies, those are some of the smaller varieties. Then there's human-sized ones like banshees and sidhe. The literature is kind of all over the place, so it's hard to know what's pure fantasy versus what's accurate, or what's somewhere in between."

"Mysterious floating lights at dawn and dusk suggests fairies," Brooke added. "Or pixies too I guess, but I'm not really sure what the difference is? And generally, all supernaturals should be considered dangerous to humans. Until proven otherwise."

Melanie pointed out, "That includes the seven of us right? You consider us dangerous?"

"Yes," the tall blonde replied quietly. "To a normal human, we're all dangerous. That's why we keep what we are and what we can do hidden Melanie. So they don't panic and try to lynch us before we have a chance to prove we're friendly."

That brought the mood down in a hurry, so I tried to change the subject. "What's the significance of dawn and dusk? Marissa, you made a point of mentioning that like it was important."

My girlfriend answered, "According to the lore, that's when they can cross over between worlds? In the liminal times, when it's neither night or day. Which means if this is true and we're dealing with fae, those two missing people aren't on Earth anymore. And they won't be coming back. The myths and legends usually don't have happy endings for humans who find themselves in the fae realm."

"Is there any chance we could rescue them?" I asked quietly. "Like go over there and get them home?"

Both Kaylee and Brooke shook their heads. Our former club leader stated sadly, "We'd just get ourselves killed, or worse. Odds are those people are already... Like Kaylee said, there's no happy endings for humans who end up in the fae realm."

"So can we all pick a date and go check out the forest?" Marissa asked. "Let's not go at dusk or dawn though ok? At least not for our first visit. I suggest we aim for a nice safe mid-day hike."

Paige finally nodded, "Ok Marissa. I know some of us have jobs and other obligations, so let's check our calendars and see when's a good day for the seven of us to go have a look."

Everyone dug out their phones, except Nina since she didn't have one yet. It didn't take long to find a date that worked, and we all agreed to meet up for a hike next Tuesday.

"I'll see if I can borrow the minivan," Paige said. "Then I'll just pick everyone up and drive us over there."

Marissa added, "I'll print off some maps of the trails. I already have a rough idea where we want to be looking."

That was it for the club meeting, but the seven of us didn't actually go anywhere right away. We continued hanging out, talking about random stuff and taking it easy. Eventually we got bored of the park so we all headed up to Main Street and took over a couple tables outside a cafe. Everyone got drinks, and we got some food to nibble on as we continued hanging out together.

It was kind of cool, I thought. Like last summer I was a loner, I spent most of my time at home reading or with my parents. Now it was like being part of a gang or something, me and all my friends. And all seven of us were special too. Like Marissa said, we were four human witches, a werewolf, a demon, and me.