Rolling storm clouds casted shadows over Spooksville revealing a picturesque view of the corrupt town that lies beneath the warm exterior. How strange that after all these years the weather was still unpredictable as usual. Such concepts as global warming became a more prominent issue throughout recent decades, leaving forecasters unable to give completely reliable information.

Some days would be hot. Other days would be cold.

And today was one of those special occasions where everything seemed to be going horribly wrong with a side of soft served melted ice cream, including the weather that was about to rain upon them. Growing accustomed to problems never got any easier to Seth despite living for over five-hundred years. After he decided to disappear from both supernatural and human society, his life had been somewhat peaceful until now. Empty and full of regret, but uneventful, so suddenly having something to lose again gave him a large amount of anxiety.

The first problem arose this morning while he was hunting for more information about the veil when his scythe suddenly broke in half during a fight with some alphas.

That ruined his mood for the entire day. He had to make a casual retreat and ended up without gaining information either. He was already thinking of ways to repair his delicate weapon when Charlie found him simmering unhappily near the lake at Ivory's school, bringing more bad news along with him.

"Seth? Are you listening to me?" Charlie dipped his head into view. "I said that we're in trouble." He said again.

"I heard you, but now I'd like to unhear you." Seth replied dryly. With his palms against the grass, he lazily tipped his head back to search for the droplets of rain he felt on his bare arms moments ago and sure enough more rain slowly dripped upon his face. "What happened?" He finally asked, his attention returning to Charlie.

He looked deeply distressed while going over some scenario in his head. "My position has been compromised!"

An unsettled feeling buried within his gut upon hearing these words. His gaze narrowed wearily. "What position?" He questioned.

"I was working for one of the most notorious supernatural organizations." Charlie explained with an exasperated sigh. "It was hell to get into, but I managed to keep my position clean for years to gather intel on what's been happening underground."

"I feel like I should be impressed." He admitted aloud with a faint smile. Charlie never ceased to be a reliable and capable person.

"The problem is that you've been a very busy man lately and your reputation is basically... Let's just say you're unwelcomed there." Charlie looked away to study the lake. "They know we're working together. We're on their hit list, Seth. We're practically fugitives now..."

Playing around with the concept, Seth couldn't help but laugh endearingly towards his worried friend. The feeling brought warmth to his chest. He spoke more seriously, his smile not completely fading. "Saves the trouble of finding them. Let them come." He declared. "I'm not afraid of their numbers."

"I knew you'd say something like that." Charlie replied wearily. "You won't be doing anything though with that broken scythe of yours." He finally clicked his tongue, reprimanding him.

His pulse quickened slightly. "How do you know about that?" He inquired with a frown.

Charlie gave him a pointed look as if asking whether he really needed to explain himself.

Losing interest, his shoulders relaxed again. He decided the details weren't too important. All he needed to be aware of was that this organization had been keeping track of his movements for quite a while now.

Was he not hoping for this outcome? Now he could make some real progress, gaining intel from the higher superiors amongst the supernatural. Unexpectedly though, he hadn't anticipated Charlie's involvement nor how the ruckus he was making could ruin Charlie's plans.

"I really had no idea." Seth confessed.

Charlie calmly raised his hands to stop him. "You don't need to say anymore. I know you didn't." He said gently.

"I can't believe that you're a hypocrite." Seth suddenly burst out saying, folding his arms in disappointment. "And to think you were scolding me for keeping secrets. We could have just infiltrated the organization together instead of now dealing with the mess I've made." He released a heavy sigh. How did they manage to backhand themselves this badly?

"Yeah, yeah." Charlie rolled his eyes, lazily sitting back in the grass. "We're just two big idiots. I'm the bigger idiot for waiting five-hundred years for my best friend to return."

His chest felt unbearably heavy. "...I don't think you're an idiot."

"What happened to that girl?" Charlie asked. "Did you find anything out about her?"

"Yes, actually." His thoughts sharpened upon thinking about Ivory's situation. "I don't want to make any baseless assumptions, but after exhausting several theories, we have too many coincidences for them to go unnoticed. At this point, we should assume that she can break the veil like we suspected." He concluded while deep in thought. "My brother particularly seems to believe that she can."

Wide eyed, Charlie's expression flashed with concern. "You talked with your brother?? Are you okay...?"

"Talking is a funny word." He mused, suddenly finding the grass very interesting. "It sounds more like fighting in disguise." He really hadn't expected anything less from Will, but a small part of him was disappointed that nothing changed. What was the saying about how time fixes everything? Seth was one of the few individuals that knew just how much this saying wasn't true, but he supposed that human concepts didn't apply to supernatural beings. Creatures that went against the laws of nature and rationality couldn't have the same logic as mortals.

Releasing an almost soul crushing sigh that matched how Seth felt, Charlie moved closer and patted him on the back. "That must've been tiring."

Seth gave him a faint smile in return. "If I had to rate our family reunion, yeah I'd say this one hit rock bottom." Not their first encounter on similar terms, but least to say an unpleasant one.

"Did anything else happen?"

Considering his question carefully, a smile spread on Seth's face recalling another memory. "Ivory is really an interesting woman. She had my brother at gunpoint faster than I managed to attack him."

"Really?" He asked with genuine surprise. "And she managed to survive?"

"She threw them both off a three story building." He said, hardly believing his own words. "Charlie, I've never seen such determination in a human before. She turned the tables on him in an instant like she knew with such certainty I'd catch her and that her plan would work."

"Three stories? Was the building you once jumped from not taller?" Charlie teased him.

"...Let's not talk about that." His face grew slightly heated. There was a purpose that he jumped, unlike how it might seem, but the flashback gave him mental pain to recall.

Charlie quietly laughed at his reaction.

"Her father was a scientist that researched our kind." Seth informed him, changing the topic.

Charlie seemed visibly shaken by this idea, humor fading instantly. "That's an unhealthy amount of deja vu." He exhaled a nervous breath following his words.

"You okay?" Seth studied him closely.

"Yeah it's just..." He trailed off, not finishing his thought.

Honestly he already knew how Charlie felt having gone through the same traumatic experience together, but Charlie still appeared to be affected by it. Seth frowned a bit at his friend and continued. "The reason I brought that up was because Ivory probably inherited her father's burdens. I think he is the missing piece that bridges Ivory's connection to the supernatural world."

"That makes sense." Charlie admitted, giving his words some thought. "I've never heard of a mortal human gaining the power of 'sight' but if she's not a witch, and that is her only correlation to us, then we'll have to consider that her father's connection is the most probable cause."

"We just need to find out in what way..." Seth contemplated the matter further. "I left her going through her father's research."

"Any leads?" Charlie inquired.

Seth shook his head, dismissing the idea. "Nothing that I haven't already spoken about, but that was yesterday. Maybe she has found something since then."

Clasping his hands together with sudden determination, Charlie's expression brightened, losing any lingering disappointment from before. "With all things considered how we messed up, I'd say we're doing pretty good, much better than I thought."

Admittedly there was some truth in his friend's words, but he still sighed just a little under his breath that his work went to waste. "I still wanted to confirm our intel with one of the superiors that have been hunting her, but yes, we have some idea what to expect."

"How brutal." Charlie commented quietly in thought. "She is still just a young mortal girl. They'll use her and then tear her apart. I know she had your brother by his throat but you better tell her to be more careful." He warned earnestly. "Especially given your fondness for her..."

"I'm trying, but something tells me she's not going to listen." His gaze hardened slightly. If Ivory continued to feel the need to prove her strength, she could get into some serious trouble.

"We really need to work on our communication better." Charlie suddenly grumbled under his breath.

"You think?" Seth asked, hiding a faint smile.

Charlie smiled too while shaking his head, seeming also embarrassed. "Are neither of us going to talk about how we've been chatting in the rain this whole bloody time?"

They were soaked to the bone, but neither of the boys spoke up to complain and grew quiet while smiling to themselves.

"Isn't that a girl resting under that tree?" Charlie pointed out doubtfully. "Is she alright? Who sleeps through the rain like this..."

Seth followed Charlie's gaze and found someone was indeed lying in the rain under the tree where he met Ivory for the first time. His gaze narrowed and his heartrate picked up unexpectedly.

Before Charlie had time to inquire further, Seth was moving quickly.

"Why is she here?" Seth could only think to say and approached Ivory with haste, kneeling to check on her. Her breath seemed shallow and he realized that there was blood leaking through the front of her clothes. The way the rain poured upon her made the bright crimson color look like her shirt had been dyed so Seth hadn't noticed right away.

Hovering over both of them, Charlie inhaled a sharp breath. "She's been stabbed..." He said with disbelief.  "Look at the way this tree's roots are wrapping around her arms." Charlie continued in surprise. "This tree is not ordinary. It's almost like it's trying to protect her."

Seth could barely hear his friend's words. He continued to delicately free Ivory's arms so that they could take her to a hospital. Her skin was cold and wet within his hands. He cursed quietly, rushing his movements.

"This must be the tree of reincarnation." Charlie suddenly spoke again.

Seth pointedly ignored him.

"Seth, do you know what this means?" Charlie continued, both fear and disbelief lacing his words. "Everything began here. This is where it all must end too."