do you believe in magic?

As soon as they were out of earshot, Fiona started speaking in hushed whispers. “I swear to all things holy, I did not mean to turn him into a five year old,” she began. “We’ve been playing around with my magic for a while, just to see which spells work and which ones don’t. And they were just, like, minor spells, nothing big! And then I ran into this one, and it had a red mark on it. Most of the spells with red marks didn’t work, but I figured I’d try this one. It said it was a de-aging spell, but I thought it would be a dud, just like the others! Next thing I know, Liam’s five years old again and trying to scratch my face off!”

As Katie and Fee left the room, Allison picked up a piece of paper herself and took a seat at the table.  “I think I’ll draw too,”  She said, lifting a pencil and letting it drift over the page.  After a few moments, she asked, “What are you guys drawing?”  She didn’t ask in a way that was demanding or insisted either of them answer her; she didn’t know Chloe’s story and didn’t want to distress her any further, and she certainly didn’t want to do anything to set Liam off.  She did want to talk to both of them, but unfortunately, she needed to talk to both of them about something very different.  

She could only hope that Fee and Katie could reverse…whatever this was.  They’d dealt with age regression once before, but even then, Derek had been a teenager, not a toddler.  And they hadn’t been able to fix it; it had worn off on it’s own.  But was this going to wear off for Liam?  And if so, how long would it take?

Allison was good at keeping concern off of her face; her expression rarely gave away her emotions.  It wasn’t comforting to people she was supposed to be helping if she looked concerned; it wasn’t good business to look afraid in the face of danger.  Her expression was only friendly and curious as she asked her question, but she couldn’t keep the worry out of her mind.  They had to figure this out.  What had happened to Derek had been awful; he had thought Cora was Laura; he had thought she was Kate.  The implications had been awful for them both; for all of them.  Having Derek not know or trust that pack had been hard, and it hadn’t been easy for him, either, especially after he saw his old house.  But on a tactical side, their only benefit had been that Derek was an adult; there was no one they had to hide him from.  The important people in his life all knew.  But with Liam…how could they hide this from his parents?  From school?  Their best bet would be inventing an event he had to go to, or saying he was crashing at Mason’s or Scott’s.  But the length of that cover was limited.

It took her a while just to recognize that Allison was even addressing her; once she did, the blonde shrugged in reply. Without a specific subject (which was the majority of the time), Chloe had no clue what she’d be drawing before she did it. Right now, it was shaping up to be that place, and the corners of her mouth tugged down because of it. But, speaking of which… “I drew your brother,” Chloe announced suddenly, flipping through a collection of drawings before landing on a portrait of Liam at his kitchen table, drawn entirely from memory the night she’d gotten to the house. The image was black and white—plain pencil—and in excruciatingly realistic detail. Satisfied with the final result, she held the open pages of the sketchbook towards Stephen with a small smile. “There.”

Her nose crinkled at the sight of the boy, half curious and half confused. Nothing Liam had said the first time they’d met hinted towards any other siblings, but anyone lying for no real reason didn’t seem to make much sense, either. Still, Chloe didn’t say a word about it, which was somewhat of a feat for the girl’s general lack of a filter; it probably wasn’t her place.

“I’m drawing all of us,” he announced. He then went into detail about who he was drawing, and why they were standing as they were. He made sure not to say the words pack, wolf, banshee, psychic, or witch. He couldn’t remember everything, but something told him not to say those things.

The worrying part was that he could hardly remember names. They were slipping away – names, memories, voices, faces – were slipping away by the second. It was starting to hurt, trying to remember everything. He knew these people were important to him. They felt like… like they were his family, but also deeper than that.

So… Who were they?

She had to bite her lip, as she continued to gather items for food. When Derek had been reverted to his younger self, he had lost his memories of the past ten years. None of them had been his friends. His parents were still alive. Cora was Laura. Allison was Kate. How long would it be before Liam lost his memories, too? When he opened the door, he had struggled to place Chloe’s scent, or to remember her name. How long would he remember them?

Turning to Chloe, she smiled as well.  “It’s very nice to meet you, Chloe.”  She said.  Despite the fact that there might have been something going on with her, Fiona didn’t elaborate, and Katie seemed to be trying to cover just in case, so Allison didn’t press the issue.  “We can definitely give Liam a message for you,”  She agreed.

Despite the fact that she was relieved that no one was seriously hurt, it didn’t mean that all was well.  Liam was age-regressed, and though he seemed to remember enough right now, how long would that last?

All of the girls, plus Liam’s younger brother, were looking away from her, to each other, and back again. Which was fine, normal even, when she did it — but as she learned, not so much when most people did. Lack of eye contact meant they were either hiding something, or didn’t want her to be there, even though their words said otherwise. Warily, Chloe scrunched her nose at the offer to leave a message, shaking her head and ducking down to pick at the wrapping on the other sandwich instead. It was all incredibly confusing, and she’d much rather not have this visit end up with a headache (or setting the Dunbars’ kitchen on fire). She took a small bite of her sandwich, and slid the strap of her bag down her shoulder in order to reach into it.

Then he paused. What were their names again? He slowly bit into half of the sandwich, tuning out the world around him as he tried to put names to faces. They were all familiar faces. The older three girls were so familiar, it was as if they had always been in his life. But he didn’t remember them. He remembered the other girl even less so. But he knew that he knew them. What were their names? F… Fin… Fiona! Fiona, and… Allison? And Katie! And the pretty girl who gave him the sandwich was Chloe! Even when their names finally came to him, he couldn’t remember how he knew them. He just knew that he did. Fiona, Katie and Allison smelled like home. They felt like home. But Chloe was more distant. She was… different.

His head starting to hurt from the intense thinking, Liam took another bite of his sandwich. He observed the older girls before him. Allison, Katie and Fiona seemed to be constantly exchanging glances, as if silently sending messages back and forth. It took him a moment to realize that it was about Chloe. She didn’t know about this; about them. She wasn’t aware of the supernatural and… and he wasn’t really five years old, was he?

What? That’s insane, how does someone not want to be related to you?

Of course I think she’s cute! She’s obviously cute. Have you seen her? [He stops himself there, a blush on his cheeks as he takes in what he just said. He’s such a loser.] 

Yeah, I have.  And apparently, your cheeks, have, too!  So you do like her!

Now, do you, or do you not, totally think she is cute?

The witch turned around, her eyes falling on Liam. A five year old Liam. “I’m sorry, buddy,” she apologized sincerely, leaning down to pick him up. Liam was awfully small for a five year old. Fiona had been a babysitter back in Ipswich, and still volunteered to watch over her neighbors’ kids sometimes. Most five year olds were a bit taller than Liam was now, but he sill seemed pretty healthy. A bit angrier, if his initial meltdown had been any indication. He hadn’t hurt her, but she had been afraid that he would accidentally do so. He was still a werewolf, and she knew that she couldn’t risk him biting her or scratching her.

Easier said than done.

“Let’s go get something to eat, okay,” she said, directing it to Liam, but looking to the girls in front of her. She threw them a look that said, See what I meant?  “Come on, we can make sandwiches and, um… talk about this. At length, probably.”

Perching Liam on her hip, she lead the girls into her house, trusting whoever was last to close the door behind them. She walked into Liam’s kitchen, setting him down at the table. His head barely showed over the table top, and his feet didn’t even begin to touch the floor.

As the rest of them started heading for the kitchen, Chloe paused once she had just barely passed the threshold, slowly holding up the paper bag and pointing to it with her opposite hand.

He allowed himself to be sat down, moderately oblivious to and completely unfazed by his friends gawking at him. Just as he was about to request PB&J, Chloe held up the bag that she’d been holding. “I’ll take Liam’s,” the five year old said, turning in his seat to face her. He blinked at her, realizing that Fiona probably hadn’t called her, too. “Why’d ya come over, anyway?”

He then looked to Allison and Katie. “Fee did a stupid thing,” he sang, teasingly. It was something that fifteen year old Liam would never do – he’d bite it out, maybe, accompanied with a fierce glare and glowing eyes. But five year old Liam said it with a grin and a giggle. It was so weird being five years old again. His emotions changed by the minute. One minute, he was angry with Fiona for turning him into a little kid, the next he was ecstatic, then he felt like crying, then he was angry again, and happy again.

He remembered these feelings from when he really was a little kid. Before anger started to dominate his every emotion, he’d had extreme mood swings. They were much calmer this time around; probably because he had years worth of practice on controlling them. Even so, the changes from happy to moody were going to wear him out soon enough. As long as he could play before then… He shook his head, forcing that thought away. He wasn’t really five! He needed to stop thinking like he was!

Upon realizing that Chloe didn’t know about magic, and thus wouldn’t believe that Liam was actually Liam, the boy looked to the older pack members. Seeing as Fee had gotten him into this mess, he looked between Allison and Katie. Would they explain things to her? Or would they make up some story? Suddenly, he remembered something.

“I’m Stephen,” he announced after a moment, looking at Chloe. “Liam’s my cool big brother.” Stephen had been Liam’s imaginary fried when he was younger. When no one else wanted to play with the destructive freak – his eyes fell to his lap, the cruel name hurting worse now than it had just a few hours ago – Stephen hadn’t minded. Stephen always wanted to play with Liam, no matter how angry he could get. Before Mason, Stephen had been Liam’s best and only friend. 

Okay, so Chloe was clearly not dumb, and also clearly had magic, so there was a chance she would piece this all together.  But there was also a chance that she would accept their story and move on.  Either way, Katie knew they had to figure out what in the world happened to Liam-- and how to reverse it.  Even as she turned back to Liam-Stephen, she was mentally flipping through her grimoire.  Holy fishsticks, what were they going to do?!

There’s nothing! She’s just, um… a friend. …That sounded fake, even to me. I mean it, though! I mean, even if I were into her, she’s definitely not into me. I turn into such a dork when I talk to her. Like, an even bigger dork.

Well, I would’ve guessed that she is totally into you...

Nothing is up! And of course I like her. N-not like that! She’s awesome. I just.. we’re not… there’s nothing to spill.

Mmhmm.  I toootally believe you.

Listen, it wasn’t like Fiona didn’t know better. She did, really. She’d been told, time and time again, to be careful with magic. After the Prom fiasco, she and Katie had been reluctant to even attempt to use magic. It just felt too dangerous, especially after what had happened to them and Riley. It had taken them both months to want to try it again. But once they started, they didn’t want to stop. Magic was in their very essence, and refusing to use it had been nearly impossible.

Two years had passed since Prom, and they were still a bit cautious. Cautious, but experimental. They knew there were risks, and they knew not to push their limits. If they were to use magic, they would have to be wise about it, and practice big things before they did them. Practice and, most importantly, talk to the pack before they did the thing.

No second guesses on which one Fiona skipped over.

It was nothing short of a blessing that Liam’s parents were working graveyard shifts tonight. Liam’s dad was held up at the hospital, and though Fee had no idea what it was his mom did, Liam had assured her that she wouldn’t walk in any time before the break of dawn. This had created the perfect setting for some magical mayhem – safe, careful magical mayhem.

This, quite clearly, was not supposed to happen.

She sped towards the house, thankful that the streets were relatively empty.  Her mind raced on the entire drive, but she forced herself to quiet it; panic wouldn’t help, but preparation would.  She mentally ticked off the things that she had in her car should they need them, and braced herself for whatever type of scene she was about to walk into.  Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

A year or two ago, he would’ve been upset. Not enough to hurt her, but definitely enough to give her a piece of his mind. Twenty minutes ago… well, twenty minutes ago, he would’ve still been in this same damn position.

He sat on his bed, arms crossed over his chest as he listened for her heartbeat. He was pissed at her, sure – the claw marks on the back of his door were evidence enough — but he didn’t think it was wise for her to be out there alone. It was Beacon Hills, for crying out loud. Being outside and alone often meant being attacked, just for existing. And, yeah, he knew Fiona could take care of herself, but he still would’ve felt better if he was out there with her. After a huge spell like the one she’d just performed – stupid, stupid, stupid spell – who could even say how much magic she had left?

That, and there was one other huge problem.

He let out a growl, fed up with having to wait. Climbing off of his bed – carefully, mind you – he made his way to the door. Fiona had given him strict rules to stay inside, and though he hated to be disobedient, he couldn’t just sit here all day. What did she expect? He opened the door – with more difficulty than he would ever confess to – and exited his room, gently closing the door behind him. He had to pause for a moment to listen for her. Where was she, anyway? Outside. Why was she out there?

It took far too much time for him to get down the stairs – ooh, she was never going to hear the end of this – but he eventually reached the last step. Once he reached the bottom step, he ran the rest of the way to the door. Thank god, he could still do some things. Feeling a bit more triumphant than strictly necessary, Liam opened the front door. He was lucky enough to have one of those knobs that just had to be pulled down, instead of twisted. It was a lot easier to open the door this way.

She parked-- fine, badly, but whatever, she wasn’t like, on the street-- and bolted up the steps, freezing at the sight that was before her.  Okay, she knew Fee would be there.  And she had fully expected at least one other pack member, and it totally made sense for it to be Allison.  What she hadn’t expected was Chloe, and what she really hadn’t expected was Liam.  At least, this Liam.

I know. I’m really lucky.

W-what? Nothing! Nothing is up… with… us. At all.

We’re really lucky to have you, too!

Okay, now I know something is up!  Spill, Liam!  Do you like her?

Yeah, it… wasn’t the greatest time. But I’m here, now. And I have this – this pack, and I have Sandy, and… it’s cool.

You’ve always got this pack.  

Speaking of Sandy...what’s up between you two?