Chapter 6: The Sorceress

Robert Chase observed his daughter Erin as they ate their breakfast. She had hardly eaten anything, her fork idly moving around the scrambled eggs. She had said maybe two words to him the entire morning. It was so unlike the zesftul, full of life personality of her.

He took a sip of his orange juice, then said, "Is it okay with you if we skip your allowance this week? Maybe even the rest of the month?"

Erin quietly nodded, her eyes staring down at her eggs. She clearly was paying no attention to him. The Erin he knew would have protested the lack of allowance until she was blue in the face, and probably after that point.

Robert sighed and let his glass down. "Erin?"

She didn't respond.

"Erin!" he nearly shouted. She started and looked up at him. He stared at her worriedly. "What's wrong with you, you're a million miles away!"

"Nothing," she quietly answered. "I'm fine."

Her father frowned. "Are you and Samantha fighting? She hasn't been over much lately."

"No, dad," she told him. Her face was emotionless. "I'm fine."

She stood up, collecting her backpack for school. Robert stood up as well, walking with her to their penthouse door.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" he offered. "I love you more than anything, sweetheart, and I'll always be here for you."

Erin slowly nodded her head. "I know."

He held the door open for her and watched her as she walked slowly down the hall to the elevator. He knew something was wrong when she didn't hug and kiss him goodbye before she left for school. With the way she was acting, he had a nagging suspicion what was wrong with her, but he needed proof. He closed the door and made a beeline for her bedroom. He found the shirt that she had worn last night, pleased that the maid hadn't arrived yet, so the laundry wouldn't be done. He held the shirt in his hands, focusing on the clothing. His eyes grew dark, ebony pools of liquid shadow that replaced the whites of his eyes. He felt an electric current leap from the shirt, passing along his body.

"Magic!" he growled, dropping the garment to the floor. He stared at it, his mind racing, trying to figure out who the hell had cast a spell on his daughter. He would need to call in a couple of people he knew that were skilled in the occult, hopefully they could identify the caster. And then, he silently mused, they would answer to him.

Samantha groaned in exhaustion as she finally rounded the corner to the street she lived on. She was really regretting living close enough to school to walk there and back, she would have much rather been able to ride the bus home today. She had been out extra late with Blackbird last night, since she had promised she would spend the next couple of nights with Erin. As a result, she was very tired from lack of sleep.

She wouldn't even be able to catch a nap, she inwardly groaned. She had a ton of homework that she just had to do if she wanted to get ungrounded anytime soon.

She finished the last leg of her walk home to her house and trudged up the front steps. Her mom's car was in the driveway, so Samantha knew that she was home. She opened the front door and stepped inside. Sure enough, her mom was there, talking to someone on her cell phone. Abby smiled at her daughter as Samantha came up and kissed her cheek.

"Okay, she's here now so I'll let her know," Abby said to the person at the other end. Samantha looked at her quizzically as she set her backpack down and went for the refrigerator. She grabbed a Diet Pepsi as her mom finished up her phone call. "I'll talk to you later then. Take care. Bye."

"Who was that?" Samantha asked, popping open the can of pop and taking a sip.

"Your father," Abby told her. "He wants to have you this weekend."

"Mom, I can't," Sam told her, thinking of her plans with Blackbird. He was supposed to be taking her to meet his teammates in Team Supreme. "I have plans."

"Well, it's his weekend to have you and he actually has a free weekend from work for a change." Mike Stewart, Samantha's father and Abby's ex-husband, was a lieutenant on the NYPD, which kept him frequently busy during the weekends he was supposed to have visitation with his daughter. "And besides," Abby added with a raised eyebrow, "how can you have plans when you're grounded?"

Samantha sat down at the kitchen table and brushed her hand through her long blond hair. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about that. I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with Erin because I've been grounded. And I was wondering if I could spend the weekend with her so that she can help me get caught up on my homework. Please?"

Abby started to say something, but Samantha quickly added, "She's kind of mad at me right now. We're fighting a bit and I was hoping spending the weekend with her would patch things up."

Abby frowned. She could definitely see where Samantha was coming from and why she wanted to be able to have her punishment lifted just for the weekend. If it had been any other weekend, Abby probably would have told her daughter that it was fine. But the fact that Mike had some time off from work to spend with Samantha was a rarity.

"He's your father," Abby reminded her. "And he doesn't get to see you that much, Samantha." Samantha scowled and looked downcast. "I'll tell you what, kiddo. Next weekend, I'll let you spend time with Erin. But I really think you should spend time with your father this weekend."

Abby glanced at her watch and moaned. "I've got to going, I'm going to be late." She hurriedly grabbed her car keys and cell phone. "I've got an interview lined up for a piece I'm doing."

Samantha stood up and kissed her mom goodbye. "I may not be home until late," Abby told her. "So do your homework and then the rest of the night is yours, but remember..."

"No going out and no friends over," Samantha finished for her, still disheartened by her weekend plans being dashed.

Abby nodded and kissed her on the forehead. "Cheer up, kiddo. You'll have fun with your dad. There's money on the counter for dinner if you want."

After her mom had left, Samantha slumped back down into the chair and buried her head in her arms. She hated lying to her mom like this. About why her grades were slipping, about where she really wanted to go this weekend, about sneaking out at night. She couldn't just tell her mom that her only daughter was a costumed hero, either. She would freak out if she knew that Samantha was out there, risking life and limb fighting criminals. So far, other than Jack Foxx, she hadn't fought against anyone with superhuman powers, which would make them really dangerous. But she knew that it was likely a matter of time before she was. Especially with her new relationship with Blackbird, who was affiliated with one of the premier costumed heroes. He had told her that he had become Blackbird when he was just a kid and that, alongside his mentor, he had fought against countless costumed villains. He put his life on the line nearly everyday, fighting against such criminals, and Samantha knew that someday, she would very possibly find herself doing the same thing.

Which would cause her mom to go ballistic.

She groaned in frustration and unclipped her cell phone from the waistband of her jeans. If she couldn't go out this weekend, she'd have to call Blackbird at the number he had given her to let him know that their plans were put on hold. She hoped he wouldn't be too upset. And she wanted to call Erin too. She hadn't said a word to her at school today, which upset Samantha to no end. Samantha badly wanted to talk her best friend, to try and find out how she could smooth things over with her.

"Don't worry about it," Blackbird told her. "There's always other weekends."

Samantha smiled. She was so glad that he was so understanding about their plans getting the plug pulled on them. "Thanks, sweetheart, I appreciate that."

"It's okay. Listen, I have to go. Some of the other team members and I have gotten a lead on where the Raider might be hiding since he escaped prison last week. We're going to check it out now."

"Okay, no problem."

"Go spend time with your friend," Blackbird reminded her. "I'll see you as soon as I can."

"Bye. Be careful." Samantha ended the call with a beep from the cell phone. She wished she could be there, she missed him so much. The days she spent without him were so long, she was always looking forward to when night would come, so she could sneak out and be with him. And now, knowing that she wouldn't be able to see him for at least the next few days, she was really saddened.

Hitting a button for speed dial, Samantha called Erin's cell phone. It rang a few times, then Erin's cheerful voice greeted her.

"Hi, I can't come to the phone right now. Deposit a message into my voice mail and I'll call you back as soon as I can. Buh bye!"

Samantha waited for the tone to sound, then spoke. "Hey Erin, it's me. Where are you at? Listen, please call me back as soon as you get this message. It's really, really important, k?"

Samantha ended the call and stared at the phone with a scowl. Erin always took her cell phone with her wherever she went. Where could she possibly be that she wasn't answering?

Erin had not gone home after school. She had walked to the magic shop owned by Cassandra Black, quietly taking a seat at a table in the corner. She watched her mistress for the rest of the afternoon and evening as she talked with and rang up customers. Cassandra never said a word to her the entire time she was there. She would look over at Erin occasionally, her dark eyes locking with Erin's brown eyes. Erin would feel herself swoon when their stares met, her heart crying out her love and devotion for this woman.

Finally, after night had fallen over Manhattan, Cassandra turned the sign in the door to indicate that the shop was closed. She locked the door, turned out the lights downstairs and without looking at Erin, she commanded, "Come with me."

Erin immediately stood up and followed her, eager for a chance to be close to her mistress at last. She had been waiting for this moment since she had left last night. She just wanted to be as close as she possibly could to her mistress, to bask in her presence, to hear her utter just one syllable.

Cassandra smoothly climbed the stairs and entered her bedroom, Erin trailing right behind. Cassandra wore her traditional black dress, this one more modestly cut than her others since she spent the day dealing with customers. Cassandra's feline familiar, Obsidian, was stretched out on the canopied bed. When he heard Cassandra enter the room, it stretched itself to awakeness and jumped off the bed, coming over to rub against her legs with a purr.

Cassandra reached down to stroke the cat. "Sit on the bed," Cassandra instructed Erin as her fingers ran through the cat's fur. Erin immediately complied, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Find Lightburst," she told the cat. "If she is with that boy, then return. If she is not, observe her until morning."

The cat meowed and padded out of the room. Cassandra watched him leave, then turned her attention to her guest.

"Will your father notice your absence?" she inquired.

"I don't think so," Erin replied. "He is usually out late at night."

Cassandra laughed slightly. She knew who Robert Chase was, and she knew that Erin didn't know everything about her father. She had plumbed the depths of Erin's mind, heart, and soul the night before. She had seen all of her memories, had felt all of her emotions. Erin did not have the slightest idea what her father was. On the other hand, using his daughter was very risky for Cassandra. If he should find out she was manipulating his daughter, much less enthralling her with her spells, than she would be facing a formidable foe.

But it was a risk she was willing to take. Erin would prove to be an invaluable tool in her plot.

"Tell me about your feelings for your friend," Cassandra said, pacing slowly about the room. "I know that you love her."