Vesper Revealed

Vesper was at a loss to explain what had happened, but to her, it seemed as if the entire power of the stone had somehow entered Edith and it frightened her on a deep visceral level. Every fiber of her being compelled her to flee. Why Edith’s eyes glowing confused her. What did she mean when she said she had been naughty?

Rounding the turn outside the ritual room, she scaled the stairs to the main floor two at a time. First she quickly sloughed off the ceremonial garb and put on her regular clothes before hurrying up to the second floor and to the Cerys’s room. Grabbing the handle, she barged in without bothering to knock, startling the dark hair girl awake. “You need to come with me,” she urged, tone low but insistent.

Sitting up on her bed, “I don’t understand,” replied Cerys, a puzzled expression on her face.

“Things are happening. I know of your relationship to Agnes, I’m on your side. You need to leave now!” Vesper stated.

Cerys’s eyes narrowed, “I don’t know what you mean,” she defended, feigning ignorance. Was it all a trick to ferret out those sisters whose might be sympathetic to Agnes? Perhaps a test?

Glancing down the hall, “I do not have time for this game right now. If you want to survive you need to get out right now!” she hissed. “My car is parked out back, but you need to hurry.”

Cerys hesitated.

“Suit yourself,” Vesper growled before turning and moving further down the hall.

After Vesper left, Cerys clambered out of bed and closed the door. There was something truly terrifying in the older woman’s urgency. They knew she had saved Cam. Was her life now forfeit? Getting quickly dressed, she gathered her phone and purse. Exiting her room, she hurried downstairs, ducking out of the house.

Leaving Cerys’s room, Vesper went next to Harmony’s room. Given the girl’s relationship with her brother, Agnes and the others had identified her as a potential recruit. Walking into Harmony’s room, she stopped short when she saw the girl and her roommate Acacia seated I each of their respective beds.

Pulling the blankets up high, “You startled me,” Acacia said with a smile.

Ignoring the bespectacled girl, Vesper looked at Harmony, “You need to get dressed and come with me right now,” she stated, voice brooking no argument.

Nodding, Harmony got off the bed, “Do I need my shoes?” she asked.

Vesper nodded.

“How did everything go with Kent?” Acacia asked.

Vesper’s stern gaze silenced any further questions from the girl.

Slipping on her running shoes, Harmony joined Vesper at the door. “Is everything okay?” she asked, daunted by the older woman’s demeanor.

“Come on,” Vesper commanded, practically dragging the shy girl down the hall by the arm, leaving Acacia with a perplexed expression on her pretty face.

“Am I in trouble?” Harmony asked, not resisting.

“Shush,” Vesper said, guiding her out the back door to the area near the lane where she had parked. Cerys was standing there, usually placid face awash with uncertainty.

Striding across the expanse of the backyard, Vesper unlocked the car, “Get in,” she urged, getting behind the wheel of her little four door metallic blue Toyota Camry.

Cerys climbed into the front passenger seat while Harmony got in the back behind Vesper.

Starting the car, “Text Agnes and tell her Edith Frost knows about my involvement. Tell her something happened to my weeping stone and also tell her Sabina is at the house too,” she instructed, putting the vehicle into drive and hurrying away from the house.

“What’s going on?” Harmony asked meekly.

Thumbs dancing across her phone, Cerys paused to look at Harmony and then Vesper, “I didn’t realize she was situated,” she stated.

“She isn’t,” Vesper replied.

Brow raising, “What?” Cerys questioned.

Without bothering to look at the confused girl, “You know what happened to Cameron Crawford and Oliver Haynes, right?” Vesper asked.

“Yes,” Harmony admitted.

“That’s what they have in store for Linus. That’s your brother’s name, right? Linus?” Vesper asked.

Nodding, “Yes,” replied the young woman. “But.”

“But what?” Vesper queried.

Harmony frowned, “She killed Cam,” she accused.

Turning sideways to look at the girl, “No, it only appeared that way,” Cerys interjected, explaining the ruse to get him safely out of the house.

Shaking her head, “I don’t understand,” protested Harmony.

Shifting her gaze to Vesper, “I have to agree. I don’t know what’s going on,” Cerys added.

Vesper did her best to recount the circumstances surrounding the disintegration of the weeping stone and the effect it had on Edith. She included the threat surrounding suspect loyalties.

Shaking her head, Cerys frowned. “We are nowhere near ready to buck the inner circle. Especially without your stone. We are so done for,” she lamented.

“Given what happened to Edith, there was no other way. I don’t think we would have got out of there,” she offered, taking a hard right at the intersection.

Cerys frowned, “Where are you taking us?

“I need to get my son, he’s with Teagan right now,” stated Vesper, an edge of concern in her voice. While she liked Teagan, the girl’s leanings definitely aligned traditionally.

Arriving at her place, nothing seemed amiss. She had Cerys and Harmony wait in the vehicle while she went inside. She found Teagan curled up with Aventus in his bed. Gently rousing her, “I’m home now,” she said.

“How did it go?” Teagan asked, sitting up, stretching and unleashing a big yawn.

“Good. Here?”

She smiled down at the slumbering boy, “He’s always good,” she replied. “It’s pretty early, but do you mind if I go?” she asked.

“No, you can go ahead if you like,” Vesper encouraged, giving the girl a warm smile. “Here let me get you some money,” she offered.

After paying Teagan for babysitting, Vesper saw her off. Hurrying, she woke Aventus and got him to change from his pajamas into proper clothes. Despite his grumbles and protestations, he complied in short order after she promised to hit a McDonald’s and get him an egg mcmuffin

Getting him out to the car, she honored her word and took him through the drive thru before driving over to the house that Agnes used as her base of operations.

Pulling up to the curb, “Wait here,” she urged. Getting out of the car, she walked up toward the house. The front door opened, and Vesper stopped dead when she recognized the woman standing backlit in the open door. To her horror, the figure was none other than one of the Omega Pi’s inner circle, Elder Sister Mathilda Featherstone.

Motioning with her hand, “Hurry yourself girl. You might as well bring the others as well,” ordered Mathilda, whom everyone called Tillie, the expression on her timeless face stern.

Vesper felt paralyzed. There was no way she could feasibly combat a sister from the inner circle. Tillie possessed a very strict reputation, tightly bound to adhere to the tents of the sisterhood. Had she been outmaneuvered?

Snapping her fingers, “Enough dawdling,” issued Tillie, tone reproachful.

Feeling defeated, Vesper lowered her head and smiled wanly.

Samantha Haynes appeared behind to the left side Tillie, “Vesper,” she said with a friendly smile. “Come,” she invited.

Relief surged through Vesper. Turning, she motioned for the others in the Camry to join her.

Aside from Tillie, Sam, and Agnes, there were two other surprise Omega Pi alumnus in attendance, Vesper recognizing only one of them as Eugenia Heatherington. Vesper relayed everything she could about the ritual and the effect of the stone on Edith. Agnes conceded things were unfolding very rapidly and that Oliver and Thomasin would arrive at their destination very shortly.

While Vesper was included in the gathering of senior sisters, Cerys and Harmony were not. Left to her own devices, Cerys decided to see if she could find Cam.