A harsh breeze whipped Fable's hair all around as she walked down the sidewalk, lit by the occasional lamppost and the moon high above. She could feel eyes on her, but it didn't unnerve her. She knew who it was. Kenny followed her from the rooftops while she wound her way from the coffeeshop to her house. It had become routine for the pair, ever since the run-in with the goths. And so far, that had been it. Until that night.

Sensing a presence up ahead, Fable slowed and peered beyond the shadows of buildings to see a tall, lean figure. At first, she thought it was Kenny coming to tell her something, but as she stepped cautiously closer, she caught a whiff of familiar cologne. "Lucy? Where have you been, I've been trying to get a hold of you non-stop!"

"Sorry, Fable, I've been, uh, busy." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. They hugged briefly, more so to break the tension than out of any family-love, then he pressed something into her palm. "Here. I thought this might help. Be careful, okay?"

He walked away from her without any other words and did not turn around as she called out his name. Deciding not to run after him, Fable examined what he had given her just as she heard the familiar swoosh of a cape behind her. It was a book, not a very large one but a very old one, with a leather cover and torn pages. Magic buzzed around her hand, fueled by the presense of the old tome.

"What was that about?"

"I don't know. It seems harmless, I think it's to help us out. C'mon, we gotta get back home."

Fable had to resist the urge to paw through it in one night and, as a result, had a pitiful time sleeping. Luckily, it was a Saturday which meant she could catch up on sleep later. As soon as she woke up, she sent a text from Kyle's phone to Cartman and Kenny telling them they were meeting at Cartman's house for lunch. That gave her enough time to find a few spells in her mother's book in case it was cursed. She'd had enough of curses, thank you.

Kyle admirably helped her with her research before they drove to his boyfriend's house. "Why the hell does it always have to be my house you decide to nerd up?"

"Because your house is the only one with enough privacy dumb ass," sneered Kyle as he shoved past Cartman. "We need to commander your room."

Fable smiled apologetically even though Cartman didn't really care, and followed the bickering pair up the stairs. Seeing Kenny lounging on the bed eased some of the tension from her shoulders and they shared a smile while Fable set both books on the floor.

"What's all this?"

"I need to have some counter spells ready in case this thing is evil." She made a face. "We never get a break, do we?"

"Seems not. Alright, while you're doing that, little witch, we'll give a progress report." Kenny smirked at her, hiding most of his unease. He still didn't trust her brother and this had cult written all over it. "Cartman, any luck on graffiti?"

Cartman paused mid-banter to glance at Kenny, a smug smile lighting up his features. Kyle shook his head with a soft smile. "Actually, yeah. You were right, it was that bitch Red, but word has it, she wasn't alone. Some guy who no one can seem describe in the same way."

"Weird. Is there anything that was the same in each story?"

He thought then shook his head. "Not really. At first I thought it was just gossip gone wrong, but then it started getting crazy. One person said she was with a shadow. A fucking shadow."

Kyle frowned, looking towards Fable. She had the most magical knowledge of the four but she was busy trying to open the book. It didn't seem to want to budge. "Uh, problem?"
"I think it's locked magically." Frowning, she placed it in front of her once more and just stared, like that would get it's pages to spring open. After a heart beat of silence, her face lit up and she snatched up the spellbook and pawed through it. "I have an idea. Cartman, got a knife or a pin or something sharp?"

He grunted and ducked out of the room, returning shortly with a razor blade and rubbing alcohol. "Here."

It was an insane idea, but Fable finally found the page she was looking for and set it to the side of her, eyes filled with excitement. "Thanks." She took the razor and set the green liquid aside for afterwards.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kenny asked sharply, sitting up from the bed to look at her with wide eyes.

"Trust me." Fable didn't even spare him a glance before she set to work, reading the latin scrawled on her mother's pages briefly.

She winced as the razor blade nicked her thumb and quickly smeared the ruby drop of blood on to the cover of the locked book. The red smear sizzled then evaporated completely, a popping sound echoing softly in the quiet room. Grinning triumphantly, Fable flicked open the book to the first page and applied alcohol to her small wound. The boys crowded around to peer at the brisk, dark handwriting on the pages. It was similar to her mother's book, but without the artistic drawings.

"Can you read that?" Kyle asked, narrowing his eyes at what appeared to him to be scribbles.

"Yeah." Kenny answered almost automatically, looking over Fable's shoulders at the words. He saw Cartman and Kyle glance at him but paid them little mind as Fable read.

"Demons have entered our world, under the command of Cthulhu's chosen ones, and are wreaking havoc on my people. This town will not survive if I sit idly by and let my powers go to waste. Thus I have gathered up witches from other towns, pleading for them to shed secrecy in an effort to save what humanity is left. I have dubbed this small council of brave women the Supreme Witches Court. Tonight, we held our first meeting under the glorious glow of Lady Moon and have divided our duties evenly. I have been charged with the responsibility of finding means to send these demons back from whence they came. But we know so little about them. With encouragement from my fellow witches, I will seek out and capture a demon and record my findings here."

Silence hung on Fable's last word, broken only by her winded sigh as each teenager shared a look. It seemed that with each turn of events, they were being given more questions than they were answers, leaving all frustrated and mentally drained. But each one was as stubborn as the last.

After a long while of digesting this new piece of the puzzle, Kyle finally asked the question they had all been dreading. "What does this mean?"

Even Fable had no answer. "I don't know, my brother gave it to me."

"Keep reading, try and figure out as much as you can. I'll go through your mother's book and see if I can connect it to Cartman's problem."

Fable handed over the larger book before flipping the page of the new mystery. She began reading again, Kenny still peering over her shoulder.

I caught one. I have burns over the majority of my arms, but nothing a simple healing spell won't fix. Having been the first one in months, I am overjoyed to have the specimen locked away safely. It appears that the humans' superstitions over demons are not completely accurate. Crosses and other objects of worship only empower them, especially those depicting their Jesus hurt or dead. Yet places of worship seem to hinder their powers. Our own symbols do well in sapping their strength but do little physical damage. It seems silver is the only true way to deal any lasting blows and many spells involving silver seem to have similar effects. Perhaps, with this information, I could concoct a spell to place over the town to force demons to the outskirts. Until then, I continue to experiment.

Frowning, Fable flipped towards the end of the book. Her brows wrinkled when she realized more than half of the pages were left blank and she flipped to the last written entry, reading.

Armaros says he feels them approaching, surrounding us. He pleads with me day after day to flee with Brigid, but I cannot leave him. I musn't leave him. It will be my work that he will face here alone and, no matter how strong he claims to be, he will not be able to survive. I have never felt so hopeless until now. I have prayed and prayed to the Gods for guidance but they have remained silent. I wonder, is it because of Brigid? She is not the abomination they make her out to be. She has made me proud with all her progress in witchcraft and her father has expressed his amazement over her strength. I cannot leave my family, I refuse. But I'm afraid that means turning against the Supreme Court.

Something wasn't sitting right. Kenny shifted behind her, a matching frown creasing his features. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know. Hey, Kyle, could I see your phone?"

The ginger glanced up from his own work. "Sure, what for?"

"I need to figure out who Armaros is." She stretched to get his phone when Kyle stilled. "Ky?"
He looked stricken. "That's a fallen angel. In the Book of Enoch, he pledged himself to the Grigori, Watchers, with 200 other fallen angels."

"So, a demon?" Eric asked, glancing between the three curiously.

Fable dumbly looked back at the text, realizing what she was holding in her hands. "...This witch fell for a demon and had a daughter. Half witch and half demon." Silence ensued as each teen absorbed the new information. "How the hell did Lucy know about my mother?" She hissed, suddenly furious.

"Who cares? We may have some answers now." Cartman pointed out.

Kenny shook his head with a sigh, "The last passage describes the family fleeing. We don't have much information on the child."

"This is hopeless." Defeated, Fable closed her new book and ran her hand through her curls. Kenny gently rubbed her back in an effort to soothe her fraying nerves while Kyle and Cartman mulled over what to do.

He glanced down at the book Fable was currently glaring at when a memory suddenly popped up. "Wait. I recognize that book, it was in Henrietta's room when I broke in years ago." Taking it from her, he examined it closely. It smelled like smoke and coffee. "If the goths had this…"

"They may have more." Fable finished, looking over her shoulder to grin at him.

"They aren't just going to hand it over, though." Kyle decreed, earning eyerolls from his friends. "What? Oh, no, you aren't going to steal them, are you?"

"Consider it more of borrowing without notification." Cartman grinned, wrapping his arms around the redhead's waist and pulling him close. "So, for obvious reasons, Kyle will not be in charge of the mission. You two need any help?"

Fable couldn't help but light up with happiness when it was obvious she was included. "No, I think Ken and I can do it. You two need to keep working on that shadow person." Reflecting on their problem, she recalled a few spells she had done for fun when she was hiding up in her room. "Check out glamour spells. They're near the front, they distort or change a person's appearance."

Nodding his thanks, Kyle began leafing through the pages once more while Kenny helped Fable stand. He was already formulating their plans for this evening. "Fable and I are going to go for a walk, scope some things out. Maybe stop by the breakfast place and see if we can figure out which house would be best to hit."

They were halfway out the door when Cartman called after them, "Don't forget what I said, Kenny!"

If he could severely hurt his best friend, Kenny would have.

AN: I'm sorry my updates have been so sketchy. I have been very busy with work and school and other junk, but now, with summer coming, I'm hoping to wrap up this story by August. Thank you all for sticking with it! The Yoshinator: Yeah, the first part was kind rushed. I'm thinking of going back and either adding it or cutting it out all together. I haven't decided yet. But thank you for reading and giving me feedback! MissRai: GAH! Thank you so much ^^ I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please, tell me what you think of chapters to come! To all my readers: Happy Mother's Day and have a wonderful month of May! (Or whatever month your in when you read this.) Love, Alizarin.