A/N- Here it is! The very LOOONG awaited next chapter! So sorry about the huge lapse between updates. I really have no excuse, but I thank all of you who have reviewed or messaged me about continuing. I never forgot and you're support has given me the drive I needed to get this done. Bless you all for sticking this out!

I had so much fun writing this one. I loved Ryder in Moonlight and could just so easily see tearing him apart and having a sass-off with him, that I knew I had to include it somewhere. Also, this is the start of the final few chapters. I wish I could be more specific about when the next one will be done, but I promise I won't take off a year and a half between anymore :(

Please let me know what you think or any theories you might have about what will happen! I love hearing them and it definitely keeps me motivated.

Thank you all so much for reading!

Revelations, Part 3

Nan is one of those people who would talk to an empty room just to hear the sound of her own voice, Veronica realizes. She has been mindlessly spewing forth facts about the Hecate House and its inhabitants nonstop since she left Marla's office. Too bad almost none of the information has been relevant.

In the thirty minutes she has been wondering around the building, Veronica has come to several conclusions: A) There is no real danger from anyone here; B)the whole idea of this place being some sort of coven is ridiculous and she was a total fool for buying into it; and C) if Nan doesn't stop talking soon, she might just have to claw her ears off for a little silence.

There is one good thing about Nan's incessant droning—it gives Veronica a chance to snoop and observe, so that this time through the building, the endless maze of corridors seems a little less confusing, and Veronica can feel her nerves settling down, even while her annoyance levels have been steadily rising. Surprisingly, she has seen very few actual patrons of the House since the lobby. Aside from a few children running down the hallways, a couple of older ladies laughing and strolling around, and the ghostly apparitions of battered woman who seemed to haunt the corridor where the rooms were, there was essentially no one. Nan was quick to explain this away by spouting a vigorous theory about how work was important and leading normal lives was essential to a person's sense of worth.

Just as Veronica was fighting off yet another urge to rip down one of the posters on the wall and bash it over Nan's head, Ryder, who has been complete silent until now, buzzes in her ear. "You know, Blondie Jr., as fascinating as this all is, do you think you could maybe, possibly, do the job you came here to do?"

Veronica wants so badly to tell him to stick it because no one wants to get out of this place more than her, but she can't. And unfortunately, Ryder's right, she has a job she needs to do. So, deciding she needs to push this thing along, she coughs politely until Nan hears her and turns around.

"What is it, dear?" Nan simpers, talking to her like she's a preschooler.

Digging her nails into the fleshy parts of her palm in an effort to remain calm, Veronica bats her eyes and smiles demurely. "Um, excuse me, Nan. But could you maybe show me where the bathroom is? I've had to go so much lately…I'm not sure why."

Of all the endless talking, it never once had occurred to the lady to ask about Veronica's needs. "Of course, Sabrina dear! There's one just down this way," she begins walking rapidly again, swishing her enormous girth at a pace that would have made a sprinter proud, with Veronica trailing behind.

Turning a corner, Nan stops so suddenly that Veronica literally bumps right into her blubbery mass. "Did you say you've had to go a lot more frequently lately?"

Veronica nods slightly, appearing to fidget with the hem of her t-shirt when Nan turns to look at her. A small smile plays on the woman's lips and Veronica knows she's got the woman completely on the hook. Time to reel this fish in. "Yeah, about the last two weeks or so. I don't know, I mean, I think it's just a bladder infection or something. I missed my last period, too, so…" She waves her hand not playing with her shirt and shrugs.

Nan's eyes light up like Christmas at this, and she exclaims, "Oh, my! Sabrina, is it possible… could you be… you know… pregnant?"

Veronica looks down at her stomach and back up, keeping her face a mask of shock and confusion. "Pregnant? Really? I mean, Troy always wanted us to do it without a condom. He said it felt better that way. But he told me he couldn't have kids." She wonders if adding a pout would be overkill at this point.

Nan looks at her like she wants to pull her into a giant bear hug and as Nan's arms reach forward, suddenly Veronica thinks that the pregnancy angle might have been a bad idea. Veronica pulls back as much as possible, awkwardly preparing herself for the inevitable. Luckily, Veronica looks up in time to see that they've stopped at a set of doors marked with bathroom signs, and she says pointedly, "Oh look, we're here."

Nan drops back, clearly disappointed, and says eagerly, "Wait here, Sabrina. I'm going to go find a pregnancy test and we'll see if that's what's going on. Okay?" She places a large hand on Veronicas arm, nearly covering it.

Veronica smiles softly and nods her head. "Okay."

Nan scrambles down the hallway and Veronica shakes her head. That was almost too easy. "Alright Ryder, let's do this." She says to the air.

"You need to find a computer in there that is connected to the internet. Can you do that?" He replies, his voice like a geeky bug in her ear.

Veronica remembers exactly where the learning lab classrooms are and tells him that it won't be a problem. "Daisy Lane, here I come," she chuckles.

"What?" Ryder questions.

In her best imitation of Bogey, Veronica states, "Never mind, shweetheart. You just keep doin' whatever it is you're doin' and leave the thinking to me."

Turning a couple of corners, she comes upon the first set of flower prints and smiles broadly. "Voila!" She exclaims, full of pride for remembering where the hallway was.

"You found something?"

"Yep," Veronica says, with a happy little snap at the end of the word, "the gateway to Hell, apparently." She slips into the nearest classroom and shuts the door, hurriedly moving over to a nearby computer. "Okay, I'm here. Now what?"

The computer boots up with a little chime and she pulls out the lipstick USB that Ryder had given her.

"Just put the flash drive in and make sure the computer is connected to the Net. I'll do the rest." Over the tiny connection, she can hear Ryder doing something involving keyboard taps and electronic beeps. She furrows a brow when a very un-electronic sound of a woman moaning interrupts.

With a look of utter revulsion, she asks, "Um, what are you doing? Are you watching internet porn? I bet you are, you dirty dog!" Veronica snickers as she slides the memory stick out of the base of the lipstick and plugs it in. It lights up immediately and begins flashing intermittently. She scrolls up the screen and clicks on the browser icon.

"So what if I am," Ryder cuts in defensively and Veronica chuckles, welcoming the chance to be herself for a moment before Nan returns.

"Hey, whatever you do in your own time is your own business, but just so you know, I have no intention of listening to you pleasure yourself. Besides, you've got a real job now. You're in."

The mouse on the screen begins to move on its own and Veronica watches with rapt interest and a tiny smile as pages of data fly by.

"Find anything yet, Mr. Hairy Palms?" She asks, reclining in the chair, swiveling it from side to side.

"Shush, Junior. I'm working. This level of genius takes time." He scolds with a soft chuckle.

"Well, hurry it up. Nan's going to be back soon with a stick for me to pee on and I would so hate to have to tell her to shove it up her-"

"Ah! Almost there," Ryder exclaims, "but I'm not finding much. Their records are pretty shoddy. All I've found so far is an employment contract for Lana Echolls for a place called 'Libera'. Seems she started working there about a year after her divorce from Aaron."

"Libera? What the hell is that?"

Ryder taps a few more times and the screen she's looking at suddenly pops up with a picture of a white medical building the LIBERA logo at the top of the screen. She frowns as she reads the description of the building. "Libera is a fertility clinic? Why would Lana be working at a fertility clinic?"

"Don't know, Junior. But that's it on Ms. Lana. All I could find. Why don't you go collect Blondie, Sr., and get yourselves out of there? I'm going to dig around and see if I can get anything else on this place. Right now, it's our only lead." As an afterthought, Ryder chuckles and adds, "unless you want to stick around for the rest of the guided tour. And I know how much you're looking forward to finding out if your boyfriend knocked you up."

"I hate you. So much." Veronica seethes, but her face breaks out into a smile. "Okay, let Beth know it's time."

Veronica grabs the flash drive and shuts down the computer. Just as she reaches for the door, Ryder's voice comes back over the speaker. "Um, so about that last request…"

Veronica rolls her eyes. "What?"

"Beth isn't responding. All the video and audio I have of her is empty. I can't seem to figure out what's going on, but nothing is recording."

"What do you mean?" Veronica says angrily, a small sliver of dread pooling in her stomach that she does her best to ignore. "I thought we were covered. How did you not notice that?"

Ryder sighs in annoyance. "I don't know. It was all working great until you left her alone, and then it just, froze up, I guess. I didn't notice because…I was tracking you. I thought everything was fine with Beth."

Rubbing her brow, Veronica sighs in exasperation. She didn't fail to notice the awkward pause and suddenly she knew exactly what happened. "You ass! You got distracted watching porn and now Beth might be in trouble!"

Ryder titters nervously, and Veronica swears she will find a way to tear his manhood from his body over the phone line if she has to. "Look, I'm sure it's fine. Just go back and get her yourself."

Fuck. Beth's been out of contact for a half-an-hour and no one has noticed. Anything might have happened. "Fine, but if you lose contact with me, you send in your guys. Understand?"

Ryder agrees and Veronica throws open the door. Immediately, she runs face-first into the chest of a very elderly lady, nearly knocking them both to the ground. "Oh my god," Veronica exclaims, "I am so, so sorry." Scrambling to her feet, she holds out a hand to the old lady to assess the damage she's caused when her hand is snatched up and she stumbles forward with it.

"Hey," she yells, but the frizzled-haired woman who has grabbed her holds her hand tight, staring down at her palm. Silently she traces over it with her finger as Veronica tries to pull away.

"Don't," the lady commands with surprising strength, tugging the hand back again. She looks up and something deep in the woman's charcoal eyes steels Veronica's breath away. "Your life line is broken," she mutters cryptically.

Confusion and anger manage to snap her back to reality. Glaring, Veronica manages to get her hand back as she says, "Okay. Um, I'm not really interested, so I'm gonna go…" She tries to push past the older woman, but is frozen in place by a dark hand upon her chest.

"Your life line is broken," she repeats, as if expecting Veronica to understand.

Sensing that the old lady might be crazy but probably isn't actually dangerous, Veronica shakes her head and says, "Okay, I'll be sure to take care of that. Now, I've got to-"

"You," the woman taps Veronica's chest with a bony finger and a powerful force behind it that takes her by surprise. "You need to fix it. Your line has been broken by great tragedy once before. It shattered you into pieces. But your head line crossed it then. Look," she says, as she reaches down before Veronica can stop her, and snatches up her hand again, holding it palm up so that Veronica can see. She moves her finger to indicate the lines she's referring to, and Veronica can't help the little tickle of interest she feels watching her.

Tracing across the deep ridge in the center of her palm, the woman stops at a junction of another ridge ascending from the base upwards and points, "Here. You overcame your tragedy by cutting off your heart line. " She continues to move her finger along, stopping when the line forks outward in two distinct directions. "But this, this is a new tragedy. One you have yet to face. It is crossed by your heart and your head line." She indicates the line leading downward in the middle of her hand. "A very powerful line for you, I think. This means you have a great love in your future. True love. Not everyone has this. But here, it leads up to your Girdle of Venus. Very unusual. My dear, your lover is in peril, unless…"

Despite herself, Veronica is captivated by the old woman's words and she feels overcome by the need to hear what she is going to say, even if she thinks Miss Cleo here is a little bit nuts. "Unless what?"

"This, here," she points to slight feathering of lines, "this is your Simian Crease. It's completely unbroken, meaning you have a great force of will about you. You are single minded to a fault. See how this line crosses all the others and ends here, at this fork in your heart line?"

Veronica nods in response, wondering why her throat has gone dry and she can hear her heart beating in her ears. There is something within her that just resonates with the truth of this woman's words. Something she never knew existed. For a single moment, she finds that she wants to believe.

A heavy, deep stillness hangs all around them. The silence feels pregnant with possibility and meaning.

They lock eyes again, this time, Veronica can read the years in the creases of the woman's face. She can read the pain and joy, the wisdom and folly. She's drawn in by all the stories waiting to be told in her dark brown orbs. "You, my dear, are a force of nature, someone to be reckoned with. But this," her voice quiet and graveled with age, she taps a crease near the joint of her fingers, "this is your girdle. It holds you back."

"What's that supposed to mean? I need to stop wearing a belt?" She quips half-heartedly. Inside, her pulse beats erratically and her thoughts feel jumbled.

Veronica expects a smile at the least, but the woman's dark gaze remains deadly serious. "You have great wit and cunning. And an astounding ability to lie, even to yourself. Here," she plants her bony finger squarely at the center of Veronica's palm, "after the last break, it has taken over all the other parts of your life line until you can barely notice the difference."

Veronica finds herself remembering all the lies she's been telling lately in the name of getting to the truth. It hurts.

She can feel her breathing go shallow as the old woman tightens the grip, digging her nails slightly into the meat of her palm and looking up into her face. Their eyes meet and Veronica goes cold, as her entire being seems weighted on the woman's next words.

"You, my dear, have been lying to yourself for so long, you don't even know the difference. But it is going to destroy you and the one you love. You need to see the truth. You need to tell him the truth, before it's too late."

….

"What do you mean evil?" Beth says carefully, as a growing dread creeps through her limbs. Her mind is flashing quickly through all the revelations of the last few days and she can't help but focus on the biggest one of all: the kid who looks just like Josef – Logan. Did Lana have something to do with his birth? How was that possible? Even if Lana had 'magic abilities,' she couldn't just make a kid appear out of nowhere? And what about all the hospital records her and Mick had found? Were those all faked, too. Highly unlikely. Just what was going on?

Before Marla can respond, the office doors crashes open with a bang and Beth very nearly jumps right out of the seat. She was already on edge from all the questions stirring within her in the air. Beth swings around to see Veronica standing slightly outside the door and draws a quick intake of breath. She is absolutely shocked by Veronica's appearance. If she didn't know better, she'd say the girl had seen a ghost.

"Veronica?" Beth asks, completely forgetting about her alias and then realizing that Marla already knows her real name anyway. She rushes from the chair when the girl doesn't respond and pulls her out of the office with a confused look back towards Marla, whose face remains unreadable.

Once outside, she places her arm on the girl's shoulder and is shocked by the clammy trembling of her skin. "What happened?" She whispers.

Swimming up from whatever state she's been in, Veronica lifts her watery blue eyes towards Beth and sets her jaw. "You're okay? Ryder said he couldn't get a hold of you." Her voice is shaky, and Beth can tell how hard she is trying to keep it steady.

"Yeah, I'm fine…but what about you? What happened to you?" Beth is dying of curiosity and not a little fear for what might have befallen this girl.

Before she can get her answer, Veronica breathes in and rolls her shoulders back. She tries to smile. "I'm fine, just…um…sorry, I got a little carried away. That Nan had me coming out of my skin." As she speaks, her eyes drift away and scan the hallway behind her absently. Beth has spent enough time questioning people to know when she is being lied to, but this is Veronica, a girl that is just barely trusting her as it is, and she decides not to push it. If Veronica wanted her to know what was wrong, she would tell her.

"Oh, okay. I'm just finishing up with Marla, but I've found out so much. She's been amazingly helpful," Beth says before realizing that there was no way she was going to be able to explain anything she learned.

Veronica's eyes grow a little more focused and her smile a little more genuine as relief settles into her features. "That's great! Ryder got us into their computer system, but we didn't find much yet."

Beth looks over the still pale girl one more time, mentally arguing about whether to ask her one more time if everything is okay, and sighs. "Come on, I just need to finish up and we can get out of here."

Veronica trails behind like a ghost and finds a seat next to Beth's. Marla hasn't once taken her eyes off the girl since her arrival and Beth wonders at the frown on the woman's face and what it could mean. Did Marla sense something about Veronica? Does she know what happened to her?

"Marla, I can't thank you enough for helping us out," Beth begins, leaning closer to the desk to shake the woman's hand. Marla breaks her stare with Veronica enough to smile at Beth and accept the hand. "We need to get back and track down Lana before she can do anymore damage."

The woman returns her gaze to Veronica, who is staring at nothing on the far wall, the hazy, worried look back on her face. Suddenly, the woman stands and comes around the desk so quickly, Beth doesn't have time to react. She grabs Veronica's shoulder and lowers herself so that she is eye level.

Veronica's eyes goes from shock to anger in a flash as the woman basically forces her to look up. "Dear," Marla states firmly, "something happened to you, didn't it?"

Veronica's eyes narrow and Beth can see her jaw clenching as she scoots closer in, preparing to pull her away if needed. "I don't know what you're talking about," she scoffs. The shutters are up in her eyes and her entire body says 'closed for business'.

"Yes you do," Marla argues as tenderly as possible, still scanning the girls face like a doctor searching for signs of illness, as her dark eyes pin the girl down, just as she had to Beth earlier. Suddenly, she pulls back, bones creaking, and stands straight. "But I won't force you to tell me. You can have your secrets for now, I sense you need them." Marla tilts her head and looks directly at Beth, even while speaking to Veronica. "But you need to open up to someone, girl. I fear for you if you don't." She sighs heavily and returns to her chair. "I know there are questions you have about things you might have experienced here. I know the answers you are searching for aren't going to be what you want to hear. But I sincerely hope that for your sake, you aren't stubborn enough to refuse to accept the truth when you see it."

Puzzled and more anxious than ever to find out what happened to scare such a tough girl like Veronica, Beth asks, "Please, Veronica, Marla's a friend and she just wants to help. As do I."

Marla rests her hands on the desk. "If you are worried about others hearing, I assure you that our conversation will be completely confidential."

Frowning, Beth remembers what Veronica had said about Ryder not being able to get a signal from her. She wonders if this wasn't something like the supposed 'vampire force field' that surrounded the building. Lost in her own tangent, she fails to notice when Veronica jumps from the seat and very nearly bolts for the door. At least it only takes a second for Beth to come around and run after her, calling her name.

Spinning on her heels with a vehemence that takes Beth by surprise, Veronica shouts, "Don't, Beth! Just don't! I want to get out of here. I want to go home. I-" and then, she was falling apart, chest hitching, eyes bright with tears. What the hell? Beth thinks. This girl was not the type of person who broke, who lost control, that much she knew for certain. What was she supposed to do? This was way outside her comfort zone.

Almost as soon as it began, it was over and Veronica was back in control. Drawing a breath, she looks up at Beth and asks, "Do you think I'm a liar?"

What? Vaguely aware that her silence was sending the wrong message, Beth stutters and says, "No, Veronica. I don't think-"

"-Don't…don't do that….don't try to placate me. Just, when you look at me, when you speak to me, do you think that I'm lying to you?"

Her expression was such a mixture of hurt and anticipation, Beth honestly didn't know what the girl was more eager to hear. Tucking back a loose curl of her hair, Beth sighs heavily. "Veronica, I know I don't know you well, but I feel like you and I share a very similar personality. I know you keep things hidden. I know you do it to protect yourself. But I don't necessarily think that makes you a liar." She does her best to keep her words soft, her tone gentle, and it seems to have the correct effect because Veronica's whole body relaxes.

"Look," Beth continues, finally feeling that she has earned the right to offer a comforting hand to the girl, "I don't know what set you off, but if you ever want to talk, I'm willing to listen. And believe me, there's nothing you could say that would make me think less of you."

Standing there like a mannequin, Veronica blinks rapidly in succession before the moment is over. "Okay," is all she says. "Can we get out of here? I've had my fill of this house of horrors."

"Sure. Let's go home," Beth replies.

….

As she watches the two ladies leave, Marla twists the chain of her necklace around her neck and sighs. She can recognize the look of someone whose come face-to-face with the impossible a mile off. She wonders what secrets were revealed to Veronica and whether they have any bearing on the situation with Lana.

Lana. A name she'd love to never hear again. Nothing but trouble, that woman is. Nothing but a whole heap of trouble.

Striding back to her desk, Marla glances down at the notebook containing her dreams. With a slightly shaky hand, she turns the page from the strange mass of words she had shown Beth.

In front of her is a mess of a different kind. The page is nearly black with writing, tiny script and large loops. Death. Death. Death.

In the center, the letters break off and reform one word: Neptune.

Before she can talk herself out of it, Marla reaches over and grabs a set of car keys from a nearby drawer. Maybe it's time she went and paid her old friend a visit.

...

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