Location of Thread: Residential Area - Hanaway Home Tag Line: Self discovery might be good for some but not for others. Characters Involved: James & Aurora Hanaway Played By: Josh Holloway & Elle Fanning
So, with Rori's revelations earlier, she knew that she was going to have to talk to her dad about it. It was the idea that not only was she a witch but fae too, could only mean that her dad was fae, as it had been evident that her mother was the witch, what with the Campbell connection. She had a feeling that her father wouldn't find it as exciting or as fascinating as she did however. But that was it, Rori had always been intrigued by the occult, paranormal and supernatural things, so right now, as much as her initial reaction was eerie, she was living a total high. The best of it all, was that she had a werewolf as a boyfriend, and he just looked a lot like Jacob from Twilight when he had changed shape. At least she didn't have a stupid sparkle in the sun vampire competing for her affections, she thought. That was the one thing about that movie franchise that tickled her, what vampires sparkle in the sun? True there was plenty of variants through movies and books but sparkle? Ludicrous, she'd been Team Jacob all the way and now she had her very own Jake and he was a wolf, how thrilling was that? Jake had walked her home and had kissed her goodnight before she opened the door and made her way into the lounge room.
James was sitting on the sofa with a furrowed brow. For he too had learned a lot of things about the town with which they were currently living. He had also found out from the spirit that was Georgina that he was a fucking faerie, even though he had no idea what that meant and that he hadn't seemed to have any sort of powers. He was struggling with it and was beginning to think that it was a crock of shit and that the stupid spirit was just winding him up. Surely if he and Rori had been supernatural creatures, they would have known about it by now? He'd like to think so, but then, why else was he drawn to come to this community otherwise? Maybe that meant something? However, he hadn't known about it when he took the job. Damn, this was very frustrating, he rubbed at his neck and sighed gently as he heard the lounge door opening, knowing that was Rori returning. “Hey sweetheart, how was your evening?” He asked, he was glad that she had made friends so easily and in particular Jake, he thought he was a lovely young lad. Being very particular about who his daughter dated and hung about with, this was praise. She smiled, “Good, great, amazing in fact.” She was grinning from ear to ear and flounced into the huge plush sofa. Her reaction made James take notice and he became more alert, “That's nice to hear, but being your dad I don't really need to know all the deets, so long as you're being careful.” He winked followed with a chuckle, and Rori's face exploded bright red, she hid behind her hands. “God, you can be so embarrassing dad.” This made him laugh all the more, for having been a single father bringing up a beautiful daughter, he felt that he had done very well, as in, not being the strictest father in the world.
Rori ended up joining in with the laughter, it was too easy not to, she knew that he was just teasing, it was just that he was so good at it. “For your information it was nothing like that actually, all we've done is kiss so far and that didn't happen for a few nights, it was all kisses on the cheek. I'm a good girl.” James grinned and leant over to squeeze her hand gently. “I know you are sweetheart, I'm only teasing.” Even if their relationship did take the next step, he knew that she would be careful, because he had taught her to be. Rori hearing that thought, smiled, it was nice to know that he trusted her, not that she would say she had heard him thinking that, though, she was going to have to be honest about that eventually. She might have to learn to deal with that power, so as to tune out of it and not be listening in to people's thoughts all the time. She didn't want to be that nosey person, even if it was kind of out her control, but she wanted to know if she could control it. That got her to thinking if there was any other fae in the town, or was she and her dad the only ones, as she couldn't learn it from him as it would be all new to him as well.
“So, what was so amazing, or is that something that I really would rather not know?” This time he said in such a way that he was just being a nice caring father and not teasing. Rori smiled and sighed gently, “It's not that you'd rather not know, it's that I don't know how you would take it.” That got him even more intrigued and he sat forward some more, “Sooo.” He prompted, and raising his eyebrow, “You going to fill me in? You won't know how I'll take it until you actually say something kiddo.” He added, and winked. Well, to be fair, her dad was always good to talk to, but this was way out there. Not every day after all that you say to your dad that you found out you're part of a Witch Coven and also might be a fairy. How do you say that? She opened her mouth and then closed it again. “Whatever it is, it sure as hell can't be as bad as what I found out earlier.” He said and frowned, and this got Rori intrigued now. “Why, what did you find out? You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine.” James laughed and shook his head. “No way, you spill first and I might tell you about mine, I'm the adult here remember.” He chuckled. She knew that there was no way she was going to get away with this, she would have to spill first. “Fair enough I guess. Did you know this house had a basement, like a massive basement?” She started, and James shrugged, “Not particularly but most do.” Was that it, was that her big news? That was hardly exciting he thought, which Rori read.
“Right, well, there is, Jake and I went exploring earlier. There's a door to it in one of the hallways, it's huge and it's full of, of, markings on the walls and ceilings and it has a couple of chests, some of them contain some very, very, weird, weird stuff.” James raised his eyebrow and furrowed his brow once more, rubbing his chin with his fingers, “Weird how?” She definitely had his attention now, but how should she say it? What should she say? How much should she tell him? “Things like a very old map that, moves?” As she said it with a question, she also wrinkled her nose as she knew how daft it sounded, “A scroll, a very old scroll that had some very very fascinating information on it.” Right, well, that was interesting enough, but, wait, did she say a map that moved? “Rori, did you take something tonight? Like drugs for the first time? Maps don't move.” Rori rolled her eyes, “No, I did not take drugs. I'm telling the truth, this one does.” He wasn't convinced and Rori knew it wasn't flying. “I also found a spell book, it's called a grimoire and listen to this, it only opened to my touch, when Jake tried to hold it and open it, it slammed shut on him.” Right, this was definitely getting quite worrying now. “What are you trying to tell me Rori?” He asked, already knowing what she was going to say, after all, hadn't he found out earlier that his daughter was a witch despite not really wanting to believe it. “I'm a witch dad and Jake thinks I might also be half fae whatever that is and that can only mean that you're fae as mum was definitely the witch, her name was Campbell and it's all about the Campbell Coven, I think this was an old witches coven house dad, one that belonged to the Campbell Coven.” There, it was out and it wasn't just as hard as she first thought it might have been. He had taken it well so far, or so she had thought at least.
James sat with his head in his hands, he had hoped none of it was true, but with Rori's confession it seemed that it was. While he was sat like this, Rori began to think of her own, he clearly wasn't happy with this, or he wasn't taking it well. What if he wouldn't love her any more because she was different to what he had known. James sat up then, “Rori, how could you say that?” She shifted her eyes from side to side, “Say what?” James narrowed his eyes, “Say that I might not love you any more because you are different.” Of course, he read her thoughts, just like she knew that he might be able to do so. “I didn't say it out loud, I said that in my head, you read my thoughts, just like I can read them too.” Holy fuck thought James, that's just great, how could he think about what he had learned over the past day or two about Georgina Campbell and the code without her hearing? “What code dad, and Georgina Campbell? That has to be a relative then? Who is she?” Fuck, fuck, fuck, he thought, sighed, rubbed at his neck, this was going to be one long conversation and he wasn't sure he was ready for it right now. “Can I tell you tomorrow sweetheart? I'm beat, I need some sleep and you should too.” Rori knew not to argue with him when he was tired and to be fair, after the revelations of earlier, she was tired too. She nodded her head, “Sure dad. Sleep well, love you.” She bent to kiss him on the cheek, “Love you too kiddo. Sleep tight, don't...” Rori finished, for him, “...let the bed bugs bite, I know.” Still the same relationship and she loved him for it. She then made her way to her bedroom.
Location of Thread: Residential Area - Hanaway Home Tag Line: Self discovery might be good for some but not for others. Characters Involved: James & Aurora Hanaway Played By: Josh Holloway & Elle Fanning
Both Rori and James had a fitful night's sleep. Both tossing and turning for varying reasons. With James it was worry over what they had both found about themselves since coming to Pandora. He was worried about what it could mean for them and more importantly, he was annoyed that Carolyn never thought to tell him that she was a witch and that their daughter therefore would be too. Then there was himself, he was a faerie and he had no idea why. Surely that meant that his parents were fae and why hadn't they told him about it? For him it was like he had been shielded somehow. Had his parents gotten a spell put on him so that he'd never know about what he was? He certainly didn't have any powers, until he had managed to read Rori's thoughts and that was by pure accident. What kind of world had he brought his daughter into and was it one that he wanted to keep her in? Maybe they might both be a lot better if they were to just leave and forget they had ever come here.
However, he didn't think that would fly with Rori. She had already made some connections, and one in particular he knew she'd not be happy about leaving and he had dragged her away from the life she had previously always known. It wouldn't be fair to uproot her yet again. Then when morning came, he was going to have to tell her about the code and her great grandmother. He wasn't even sure if he was ready to tell her about that but he knew she'd not let him away with it. Every time he looked at the clock at least another hour had passed, it was a long night and yet it went in really quickly at the same time. He was not looking forward to this discussion with Rori at all.
Rori on the other hand, she hadn't been able to sleep due to sheer excitement over her discoveries. She was a witch, she was a part of the supernatural world she had always loved reading about and watching on television and in movies. She had her very own Jacob in Jake and a wolf to boot. Then there was his friends, that now she thought back to that day and the funny seating positions some had, that they had to be wolves too. He was part of a pack and that was even more exciting. The mysterious moving map and the scroll that told about the gated town, and how it seemed like they were unable to leave, apart from the fact she had been able to. That got her to wondering why she was able to leave but Jake was pushed back. Was it because the spell had been carried out by a Campbell witch which she was one of? Yet, if it had anything to do with keeping the supernatural inside, then being half fae, then surely she should also have been stopped from going out? Her mind was on fire thinking of all the possibilities. Plus what kind of spell was that strong if none of the Campbell witches had been in Pandora until her arrival? Was it powered by some sort of source and if so, what and where was it? Would she be able to break it for the community? If she was powerful enough to do it, could she be opening a can or worms and causing even more trouble?
She wasn't sure, but all she knew was that she had a whole new life and a whole new adventure to look forward to and she was going to enjoy every single moment of it. Each time she looked at the clock another hour had ticked by. She was tired, but wide awake at the same time. She also wanted to know more about this Georgina Campbell and what it meant for her. She couldn't wait until she could talk to her father properly about all of this.
**** The Morning ****
James was sat at the breakfast table having made them both pancakes and syrup and was trying to read the paper, but kept yawning. He was so damn tired through lack of sleep the night before. As he glanced across at Rori, her hair was sticking up all over the place and she looked like she hadn't slept a wink either. “Guess you had a bad night's sleep as well kiddo?” He asked and Rori sighed gently and followed it with a shrug, “You could say that, too much going through my head to be honest.” She grabbed a plate and some pancakes and started playing around with it, usually she'd have at least one devoured by now, but she was so tired, she wasn't even sure she was that hungry, or maybe it was just the butterflies in her stomach over what she so desperately wanted to talk about. James noticing that she wasn't even attempting to eat, sighed and shoved his own plate to the side. “You want to talk? Let's talk. What do you want to know?” He took a long swig of his coffee, he was going to need something to get through this conversation.
Rori pushed her plate aside too, “Sorry dad, just worked up too much to face eating right now. Maybe later. What was that about a Georgina Campbell and a code?” She asked, desperately wanting to know but also thinking that her father would probably do what he could to avoid telling her exactly everything. “Georgina Campbell is your, or more to the point, was, your great grandmother on your mother's side. She came to us, well, when I say came to us, that is to say Sam used her powers to call her to us to talk to us about a notebook I had found with a lot of broken information and the book belonged to your great grandmother.” Rori was intrigued, and she drank some of her own orange juice, she wasn't into coffee, yet. “Wait, Sam? Who's Sam and what powers? Is she a witch too?” She needed to talk to someone who was going to help her with her powers, to learn how to use them properly. James smiled and nodded, “Yeah, Sam's a witch, found that out by accident. She's real nice though. So she called Georgina's spirit and she told us about the book that had some code in it. It was basically a list of names with species and possible deaths written in this code. The town has had a lot of mysterious deaths. But I suppose that's what comes with a town full of supernatural creatures. Since you know you're a witch, you might as well know the full truth.” Rori smiled and nodded her head, she probably knew more than her dad even realised. “Well I know Jake is a werewolf and that his mates at school are probably wolves too, not that he confirmed that, but they had some weird sitting positions at lunch.” She began to laugh then, remembering the way one of them had sat on the table and the other on the windowsill, just like a dog would.
She then went back to the great grandmother, “And so this Georgina, my great grandmother, obviously dead if Sam had to call on her spirit. Did she look nice? Did she sound nice? Would I have liked her to do you think?” She had completely avoided the topic of the deaths, being far more interested in her own heritage. James shook his head, he was puzzled, it was as though he hadn't mentioned anything about weird deaths at all. “Hard to tell, she was a spirit Rori, she was almost see-through. She was very abrupt, old fashioned in a lot of her speech. Rori, did you not hear what I said about the deaths? I'm not sure that this is the right place for us after all. I know, I dragged you away from your previous home and you are building friendships here, but I think we were safer where we were.” He was worried sick about what staying in Pandora could mean for the both of them. He had always said he would protect his daughter with his life, but staying here was going to make that a very difficult job, of that he was certain.
Rori rolled her eyes and sighed, “I heard, but that doesn't mean that its a dangerous place to live dad. It could just as easily be one person that hasn't been caught yet and you'll catch them. I know you will. Maybe people have taken their own lives, have you not thought of that? Maybe they haven't been getting murdered at all. Anyway, I don't think we'll be going anywhere.” She said flatly and James raised his eyebrow and frowned, “What makes you say that about not being able to leave Rori?” That was quite disturbing to be fair. “It seems that there is some sort of spell that is stopping supernatural creatures from leaving, though I was able to get out of the gates. When Jake tried, a force sent him flying backwards.” Now that was very interesting thought James. It reminded him a bit of the song Hotel California by The Eagles that he loved, how you can check out any time you like but you can never leave. “Are you telling me, that there is some sort of spell or force in place that stops us from getting out of the community?” Rori shrugged, “We think so, but it doesn't explain why I was able to. I was wondering if it was because I was a Campbell witch but then I am also fae, so I don't know if it was just a blip.” Meaning, if she tried to leave again, would she be sent back by the invisible force like Jake had been last night?
This was interesting indeed. It made him wonder if anybody in the community realised that they were, well, for want of a better expression, trapped? Or had they never thought to leave? “So, you were able to leave but Jake was sent back by some invisible force? Did you ask him if he had ever left?” He asked, knowing his daughter was clever enough that she probably had. She soon confirmed that fact, “I did, and he said that he had never really given it any thought. So of course it prompted him to try and that happened to him. I do wonder if everyone has just been here and not thought anything of it. I mean, we're not exactly near a beach, what if we wanted to go to the beach on a nice day? Would we not be able to leave to go?” James got up from the table, he wasn't hungry enough to eat right now and he was shattered, thank god it was the weekend and he had no work today. “I'm going to get showered, then you can do the same and we're going to go and investigate this further. Might introduce you to Sam, as it's pretty clear that you're determined to live here regardless.” Rori clapped her hands together in sheer excitement. “Oh yay, and no, I definitely do not want to leave.” James thought as much, but it just meant that he was going to have to be even more protective of her than ever before. He wasn't happy about her living in a place that had a lot of deaths, but at least she had a wolf for a boyfriend and she was a witch, so she could probably protect herself more than he could now to be fair.
Location of Thread: Residential Area - Hanaway Home & Outside Tag Line: Awakening your powers. Characters Involved: James Hanaway & Aurora Hanaway with Sam Austen Played By:
As James was showering, he had been thinking about how excited his daughter was at her new found persona and powers. Given how wary she had been about the name of the town when travelling, she couldn't be acting any more different about it now. How could he even think about taking her away from it? Plus, hadn't he already told John that he wouldn't leave? That was before he realised that his daughter was a supernatural being herself. Then he immediately mentally slapped himself, as wasn't he also one? The was going to take some getting used to. He still couldn't quite believe that he was a god damn faerie. Yes, he did have the right spelling now, as he had researched it. Because Georgina had said fae, he had looked into that, and that's when he got the full correct spelling of it. Somehow he felt a little better than the flower fairy he thought it was. He had been imagining himself making fairy rings in their garden, sitting on a toadstool with a bunch of fairies braiding his hair. Still it was going to take some time to fully embrace what he was.
Rori on the other hand when she had been in the shower, was getting really excited at the idea of meeting Sam. She wondered how many other witches were living in the community and what the presence of another Campbell witch could mean for it. She especially wanted to know if she could have the power to lift the spell that the town seemed to be under. Would Sam know that they were all more or less trapped here? Had she ever thought about leaving? Jake hadn't after all until she spoke about it. It had almost been like she had woken him up to the idea of leaving Pandora. How many of the other residents were like that? Had none of them ever thought about leaving? It was a whole new world for her and she was desperate to explore it.
Now that they had both showered and gotten dressed, Rori realised that she was actually hungry after all, and grabbed the abandoned pancakes and began to nibble on one of them. “Forgot how lovely these were, sorry about earlier, just wasn't in the mood to eat I guess, but my stomach is telling me different now.” She giggled a little and James ruffled her hair slightly. “No problem, a lot on both of our minds to be fair.” He didn't bother with anything, as he had eaten a little bit before he had discarded his plate, so he felt satisfied enough. “So are you ready to head to the gates to see what happens with me?” If it was a Campbell thing, then by rights he wouldn't be allowed to leave either. Rori smiled and nodded, “Yeah, just hope that you don't get blasted as far as poor Jake did though.” Even though Jake had been fine, he had explained about his quick healing process, her dad wouldn't have that. Then again, she was pretty sure that Sam might be able to concoct a healing potion for him if necessary. That was something that she wanted to get to know all about and be taught.
So they both headed towards the gates, preferring to be on foot to get the fresh air. The gated town did take up a vast area and it wasn't always easy to get anywhere by foot unless you wanted an extremely long walk, but if you enjoyed a walk, some places were easily reached by foot. It took them the same length of time it had taken her and Jake yesterday to reach the gates, about fifteen minutes give or take. “I'll try first again.” James smiled and nodded, and so she used the fob on her keys and like yesterday the gates opened slowly. She stepped out and walked through like she had done before, nothing, no bounce back. “Same again then, no issues for me and yet if it's a supernatural thing, then surely my fae side would stop it?” That's why she was certain that it was the Campbell blood within her that was keeping her safe. After all, how had they left when they were originally here if all supes were unable to leave? Obviously they had made it that they were fine to leave whenever they wanted to. Sneaky. “My turn then.” James said and slowly made his way forward, but the minute his foot went through the arch to step out, an invisible force like the day before sent James flying back, quite a distance and he fell with a thud on the paving and let out an involuntary yelp as he did so.
Rori ran towards him, “Are you okay dad?” She asked, but all she got was a grumbling moan that was inaudible. However, slowly he began to move, and sat up, and put his hand to the back of his head and when he brought it forward it was covered in blood. “Ow, hadn't expected it to be quite as forceful as that.” Rori was fussing over him, hugging him and now she was crying. “I don't know what to do to help.” She said, as she tried waving her hands and snapping her fingers, but nothing was happening. She didn't have the book and didn't know magic off by heart. “Rori, hush, stop crying, I'm fine. Look, take my phone, call Sam, ask her to come. Tell her to bring some first aid supplies.” Rori stopped crying, nodded her head and called the number on the phone for Sam Austen.
After a brief conversation, Sam said that she was on her way and sure enough another ten minutes or so later, Rori saw a lovely brunette running towards them. “Whoa, what happened here?” She asked as she bent down to James's level and seen the blood at his head. “Long story, fancy fixing me up and then we'll fill you in?” Sam nodded, “Of course, of course.” She had brought her first aid supplies, but somehow, the gash on his head was going to need more than what she had brought. It would ideally need stitches she thought. “I think you really need to go to the medical centre with that, I mean all I can do is bandage, but the blood will seep right through. I did bring this with me though in case it was needed. Drink it, it'll help.” She brought one of her special tonics that helped with pain and blood clotting. James took it from her and screwed up his face at the taste. “God woman what's in this?” She laughed behind her hand, “You don't want to know, but it will help, trust me, just down it.” So he did as he was told, and almost immediately the pain ceased, but he still felt a little woozy from the blood loss. Sam looked at his head, “Well, the blood flow is ceasing as well now thankfully. Do you think you can stand?” She looked at Rori, “Want to grab one side and I'll get the other.” She nodded and ran to one side and hooked her hand through one of her dad's arms, and Sam did the same thing. “Gently does it, one, two, three, up.” And James shakily stood to his feet. “Well how foolish do I look, big strapping six foot guy with two women holding him up.” He chuckled, and Rori and Sam joined in with laughter of their own.
They took him to the medical centre and an hour later, he was out and all patched up and feeling a lot better. “Thanks Sam, for coming to my rescue.” She grinned, “Of course Mr Handsome Sheriff.” Rori watched this exchange with raised eyebrows. Her dad had tried dating a few times in the past, but none of them had lasted the pace, but something about this told her that maybe Sam was the one that was going to capture her father's heart for good. If she was, she'd be happy. “Do you want me to go?” She politely asked grinning, and James slapped her playfully on the arm, “No, I want you to meet Sam anyway, so don't be daft.” Turning to Sam, he smiled, “You might have already guessed, but this is my daughter Aurora, she gets Rori though.” Sam held her hand out to Rori, “Well it's a pleasure to meet you Rori and I can tell you're a lot like me, your aura gives it all away.” Rori grinned, “If you mean witch, then yes, I am, also half fae apparently.” She looked at her dad when she said the latter, and James shrugged, “Apparently so, only just found out, had no idea we were, well, what we were.” Sam laughed and nodded, “A lot of people do find out by accident, so Rori do you want to talk about all things witch, powers and potions? I'm quite in tune and been doing this for over twenty years.” She could tell by the look on Rori's face that was exactly what she wanted. “Well, I was going to introduce you both later, until this happened. I thought you could give her some guidance.” James said and Sam smiled, “It would be my pleasure, but what happened here?” James had forgotten about that. “Still a long story, got time for a coffee?” Sam nodded her head.
“Sure, alright in at the shop? I'm sure Rori would like to have a prowl while we talk?” Rori grinned, “Sounds good to me.” She laughed, and so they all made their way to Magical Remedies. Once inside, Sam poured James and herself a coffee each and a soda for Rori and took them through to the back of the shop after keeping the closed sign up. “So, what happened out there, you don't get a knock to the head like that for no reason.” James sighed, and looked at Rori and then back at Sam. “I might let Rori take the lead on this if that's okay, she and Jake discovered something.” Rori was actually quite shocked that her dad was going to let her tell Sam what had happened, but in fairness, he was right, it was her and Jake that had made the discovery about the town and the whole being trapped here thing.
Rori smiled and took some of her soda before starting, “Well, Jake and I went on an exploration of the house. You know how big it is and we hadn't really been through it all yet. The basement is like nothing I have ever seen in my life. We soon realised after finding some unusual things, such as a map that was moving, and a grimoire that would only open to my touch, that it was the old Campbell Coven house. It was quite funny with the book, it wouldn't open for Jake and in fact after I had opened it and he went to touch it, it slammed shut.” She giggled a little at the memory, especially given the fact that he had been so affronted by it. Sam found this all very interesting, but what did it have to do with the knock to James's head? “Wow, really? I'd love to come and see it one day if that would be okay?” Rori grinned and James nodded his head, “Of course you can, any time you like.” This made Rori really happy, there was nothing more exciting than the thought of Sam coming to her house and the both of them learning spells together etc., “So, I then found this old scroll that said something about the town being here to keep the likes of us in here, so that non supernatural beings outside would feel safe. When I spoke to Jake he said that he had never thought to leave before. So we went to the gates like dad and I did today to try it. Jake got sent back with some sort of invisible force. He was fine though as he has some sort of quick healing powers. I was able to get through fine. So dad and I went again today, to see if it would happen to us. As you can tell dad didn't get through but once again I did. I'm now thinking that because the Campbell witches set up the spell, it means that I'm allowed to leave but others aren't. Are you aware of anything like that?”
Now Sam really was intrigued. In fact, she was quite puzzled, because like Rori said about Jake, she had never thought to leave Pandora. Why would she? She had everything that she needed right here. “I did not know of anything like this. Like we have all we need right here. We don't really need to leave to be fair.” Sam was saying the exact same thing that Jake had. “Have you never thought about going to the beach or anything like that?” Rori questioned, saying the same thing that she had to Jake yesterday. Honestly, Sam hadn't, but now that Rori had brought it up, it might be quite nice to go to the beach. “I haven't thought about it, but now that you mention it, it would be nice to go. So are you telling me that we can't leave? None of us? Well, apart from you it seems, because you're of Campbell blood I bet. I'm also going to assume that we're all the same, that none of us have thought to leave. Oh Rori, looks like you might have woken something.” Rori bit on her bottom lip, unsure how to take that, not that Sam had been mad when she said it. But the idea that she might be causing some sort of town outcry was a bit worrying to say the least.
“Do you think there's something we could do about that? Like, could Rori lift the spell?” James asked, and Sam sighed gently, giving a small smile. “It's quite possible, when she has learned to hone in on her powers properly. Thing is though, a spell as strong as that has to be, can't just be a verbal one. There has to be some sort of hex at play. As in something hidden in Pandora somewhere that is powering the spell, especially given that none of the Campbell witches have been here for a long time. I'm happy to help Rori find it and I'm then happy to help her with her powers and see if we can't find a way to break it. I mean it almost sounds to me like we're prisoners in our own little world and I'm not sure how I feel about that.” Yesterday Sam was just a shop owner, creating potions for the people of Pandora, she was happy. Today, after Rori's confession, she was restless, and wanted to know more about this spell that they were supposedly under. “I'm guessing that John or Rachel doesn't know about this, or anyone else at the station?” James and Rori both shook their heads, “No, right now, it's just us and Jake, though I think Jake was going to talk to Nick to see if he could leave or not, because he's apparently different from us all.” Rori shrugged, not really knowing what that meant, “Nick is a Nephilim, half angel, half human, if anybody else is able to leave Pandora under this spell, it would likely be him.” Rori opened her eyes wide, “Wow, that's really something else.” This just got more and more exciting to Rori, while it was getting more and more worrying to James.
Sam soon spoke again, “It's possible whatever is powering this spell, might be within the confines of your home, do you mind if I go in search with Rori at some point and see if I can't manage to locate it?” Somehow James felt he would be met with a frosty reception from Rori if he were to say he did mind that he wanted Rori to have nothing to do with any of this madness. But he couldn't. She was this madness, so was he. “That's fine. It would also be a good opportunity for you to help Rori get in tune with her powers anyway. Whenever it suits you, it will be find with us.” Sam smiled and clapped her hands together, “Settled. We'll get to the bottom of this soon and Rori, I'll get you using your magic in the best way possible. You don't always need a spell book, there are easier ways to do magic. But I think we will leave it for another day, I think your dad should really get some rest for that bump to the head.” James finished his coffee and Rori her soda, and they both got up to leave. “One thing before you go, Rori, how would you like to work in the shop with me at the weekends and any time school is out? It would be nice to have an assistant and I can teach you potions when we have no customers.”
Wow, she hadn't expected that, that was so exciting, she looked at her dad expectantly, eyes wide, and how could he say no to that? She might as well get used to what she was he decided. “If Sam is happy with that, then I am too.” Sam grinned, “That's settled, we'll start next week.” With that, she stood up and wrapped Rori in a hug and then James, following it with a kiss to the cheek and then wiped her lipstick mark away, “Get some rest, and I'll check in on you tomorrow.” James turned smiling, “I will and thanks for your help.” He returned her kiss, only he made contact with her lips, only briefly, but as he did so, Sam's heart raced a mile a minute as did his own. There was a definite mutual attraction going on and it was wonderful, he thought. He then grabbed Rori's hand and they both made their way home.
