Who: Sebastian and James Where: The McCarthy House When: Night, Thursday, Dec 7 Status: Complete
The clock struck midnight as Sebastian sat up in bed and threw the covers aside to hunt down his shoes in the dark. While his eyes were open, the mind behind them was still fast asleep, unaware of the intruder that had taken over, who was still learning her way around his house. The body might not be hers full time, but when it was she felt the cold, and it was far too cold to go out in the boy’s nightclothes. Sebastian pulled on his clothes in perfect silence, then grabbed his jacket and keys before heading for the stairs.
She only had so much time, the witch that had taken over his mind, and if she didn’t get him back in bed before dawn, then things would become complicated. The more people she encountered, the more questions they would ask. It was too soon for that. She had far too much to do and the boy had absolutely nothing she needed, not even an athame. But he could get one. He could get everything she needed and was strong enough to perform the ritual. With her magic, his, and the Kelly girl’s, it was only a matter of time before Baron pushed the McCarthy boy out of his body for good. Until then, he would sleep.
Unless she needed him, of course. The only danger there was that he might remember some things. If he slept through her nightly outings, he would be none the wiser, but if she woke him… It was something she hoped to do only if necessary. Sebastian knew things she couldn’t know and that could be useful. And he didn’t appear to be strong enough on his own to force her out, especially if he didn’t know she was there. Baron hoped to keep a lid on that as long as possible.
Quietly, Sebastian crept down the stairs and towards the front door. The house seemed asleep, as well as everyone else within. It was only when he opened the door that Baron was caught off guard, a constant beeping starting up that she didn’t know how to stop. A blinking red light caught her attention and she moved to the control panel, cursing when she realized she couldn’t turn it off without accessing Sebastian’s mind. So much for keeping him asleep. He was sluggish when she woke him, but all it took was one look at the control pad for him to think of the code, and then she knocked him out again, in and out so fast he probably wouldn’t remember it. Sebastian entered the alarm code, then sighed when it went quiet again, quickly heading back towards the door.
In the time it took Baron to wake Sebastian and get the code entered, James had woken up to the noise and come down to investigate. As he hurried down the stairs he groggily centered himself and built up a charge of electricity in his hand, just in case. He didn't need a gun when he could disable a person with his magic alone but he wasn't going down there unprepared either. Something - or someone- had triggered the alarm and he wasn't taking any chances.
When he saw it was Sebastian he let it fade away as curiosity and irritation built instead. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked sternly, hitting the light switch on the wall next to him to get a better look. It didn't take a genius to figure out he'd just barely caught Sebastian on the way out. "You woke up the whole damn house. Where do you think you're going?"
Sebastian squinted as the lights came on, glaring back at James. Baron could sense his power immediately, was drawn to it, but he wasn’t her of her blood. A shame, that. He was far stronger than Sebastian and would’ve been a much more suitable host, had he been a descendant. Instead, he was just in her way. Instinct was to kill him, just set him aflame there in the entry hall, but that would garner far too much attention. “Out,” Sebastian answered sharply. “I’ll be back later.” The boy was of age. A man, even if a young one. That should be reason enough, by her estimation.
Something felt off but then again it was past midnight and James had been sleeping for all of an hour when the alarm went off so it didn't seem too unusual that things felt weird. Sebastian was not being himself though. Out? "It's a school night," James grumbled as he checked his watch. "Get back to your room." The sneaking out part wasn't that unusual, his kid was a teenager with a boyfriend no less, James could expect him to act like an idiot but his reaction to being caught was unlike him, maybe this whole coming out business had sparked some rebellious streak in him. The very last thing James needed right now.
Sebastian’s lip curled up in annoyance, a natural reaction to being told what to do, by a man no less. If this weren’t the boy’s father, Baron would have taught him a lesson, but she needed things to proceed smoothly. There was too much to do and it would be far harder to accomplish if the McCarthy family were on high alert. Instead, she summoned her powers on persuasion, magic far more complicated than anything the boy would know, but something she’d mastered long before her death. “You should let me go,” he said, stepping closer to James and looking directly into his eyes. “Go back to bed. I’ll be back before morning.”
Abigail Baron was a powerful witch but she had two things working against her tonight, the first was that she was working through an inexperienced teenage boy, the second was that she was trying to use her magic on another powerful witch. James stared at his son blankly for a moment, barely able to believe the gall he had to try to use persuasion magic on his own father. "You... are in a world of trouble right now," he said through gritted teeth. He had done a lot of things himself when he was a stupid teenage boy but this? "You close the goddamn door and you go to your room. We'll be having a conversation tomorrow."
It should have worked, Baron thought, and internally she raged that she’d failed. Either the witch was stronger than she thought or she was a little out of practice, but this was not how she’d seen the night going. Sebastian glared back at James as the old witch weighed her options. She could wake the boy up now and let him deal with his father, or she could put him back to bed. The later seemed like a better plan. If he woke now, he’d be confused and more likely to realize something was wrong. If confronted about it later it would be less obvious. With a sigh of resignation, she shut the door. “Since you insist,” Sebastian said, stepping back towards the stairs. “Tomorrow then.”
"This is not over," James said and bristled as he watched him go, then stalked to the front door to make sure it was locked and to re-set the alarm. He wanted to go upstairs, wake Brianna and rage about this but reason won out. If she knew her son was trying to use magic on them her already shitty outlook on magic would get worse. James couldn't help but wonder if Sebastian had ever used such magic on his mother, she wasn't experienced, she might not pick up on it. It only pissed him off more and he wasn't really sure how to deal with this mess. Being the parent of a teenager was hard enough without magic being involved, that was for sure. He wasn't going to be able to sleep just yet so he listened for Sebastian's bedroom door to close, then stalked off to the game room. He might not stay there for long or even play anything but there was no way he could go back to bed this angry so he needed to cool off.
Sebastian climbed the stairs, stripped off his clothes and climbed back in bed like nothing had happened. As much as it annoyed her to have her plans put off for a night, she’d learned a few things in the process. James was to be avoided going forward, and the alarm needed to be disabled before she could leave the house. These were simple mistakes and not ones she’d make again. The boy would have to deal with his father in the morning, but it was highly unlikely that he’d realize what was truly going on. She couldn’t risk another slip-up though. She’d have to be more careful going forward if she wanted to see her plan through to completion.