CHAPTER SIX » CONNECTIONS
"We think they've got some kind of connection. Not just like a normal connection, you know. Something more."

☽

Venus' house didn't look any different. It was incredibly organised, and there wasn't a single thing out of place. I was too afraid to even touch anything. Of course, things looked different than they did a few years ago. Yet, everything felt the same.

"Michaela and my parents are out at the moment," she explained as both Brett and I stepped inside, taking in our surroundings. "What can I help you with?"

"I– uh– we just thought we'd pay a visit," I said, my mind elsewhere for a moment. Brett and I shared a glance.

"You know, we just wanted to see if you guys were settling back in okay and stuff," Brett added on, as I nodded along, flashing Venus an innocent grin.

"We're doing well, thank you," she said with a bright smile, looking towards an open door. "Can I get you anything to eat? Drink?"

"We're okay thanks," I told her, earning an annoyed look from Brett. Despite my answer, Venus seemed to head towards her kitchen.

"Are you sure? We've got this amazing cake that we still haven't finished–"

"Bec, I'm starving," Brett whined as I rolled my eyes, beginning to follow Venus into the kitchen.

"Food later," I said quietly, walking closely beside him. "Stick to the plan."

"Yeah, well, I think the plan kinda sucks," Brett hissed bitterly, holding his head up high in mock annoyance.

"Yeah, well, I think you need to suck it up," I bit back, shooting him a glare before stepping into the kitchen. Venus turned around to face us with a sickly sweet smile on her face, one that I hesitantly returned.

"So," she started, dragging out a chair from underneath the table. I winced at the unattractive sound of the chair legs scraping against the floor. She lifted her head up again, the smile still plastered on her face, but there was an unpleasant undertone to it. "Why are you guys really here?"

~

Lying. I became very good at that, especially around age twelve. And I always liked to blame the skill on Scott and Stiles' influence.

Truthfully, many, many sticky situations have been avoided – all because of my somewhat scarily good talent of coming up with the most believable, bullshit story I can think of.

So whilst Brett made an excuse and went snooping around upstairs, I told Venus a long tale about life in Beacon Hills once she'd left, and what it was like to have her back. Much to my relief, she seemed to fall for it.

"You know, my family should be back soon," she told me. "You should stay a bit longer, I know they'd love to catch up with you."

"Oh, I'd love to see them again too. But we'll probably get going soon–"

"No we won't." I swivelled around in my seat, turning to face Brett who was holding quite a large book in his hands. It was thick, and looked like it had thousands of pages. It had a dark, leather cover, and was bound by a brown strap. I watched him in confusion as his jaw clenched, his eyes set on Venus. "You wanna tell her or should I?"

"Tell me what?"

Venus let out a heavy sigh, dangling her feet down from the chair before stepping down with a small hop. She stood a distance away from Brett, her eyes focused solely on the book in his hands. It all seemed to happen in a flash; she held her hand out, then there was a moment of silence, then the harsh the sound of something slicing through the air.

I blinked quickly, my eyes fixed on the book that was once in Brett's hand, but was now in hers. "What in tarnation–"

"Surprise."

I watched Venus in a stunned silence, my lips still parted in shock. Brett's eyes briefly flashed a smooth, golden colour, and I turned towards him, giving him a cautioning look. My gaze flickered down to his hands, which were curled into fists. I could feel the boiling frustration emitting from him and took a quick step forwards, placing my hand on his bicep.

"Brett," I started, keeping my voice steady. "Relax, okay?"

"I'm not gonna hurt either of you," Venus said calmly, as I turned my attention back to her, narrowing my eyes.

"Why did you come back to Beacon Hills?" I asked, straightening up slightly. "Why are you here?"

"We haven't got some kind of ulterior motive, Becca," she said, a hint of amusement in her voice. "We came to help."

"You know about the Wild Hunt?"

"Of course we do," she responded, taking a step towards us. "We're the only ones who can stop them."

"I don't understand," Brett said slowly, as if he was still trying to process everything. "How the hell are you supposed to stop them?"

"My family, we come from a long line of witches–"

"Oh my god," I groaned, running a frustrated hand through my hair. "Venus, no offence, but would you please cut the bullshit and start actually talking."

Brett placed a hand on my shoulder and I glanced up briefly, knowing the look in his eye was telling me to relax. But I couldn't, I couldn't relax. This was insane.

"This–" she held up the book in her hands. "–contains thousands of spells."

"And let me guess, that book is going to save Beacon Hills," Brett said with a sarcastic scoff, rolling his eyes. I would have hit his arm, or shot him a glare that made him shut up, but an uneasy feeling swept over me, taking control instead.

The room swayed.

"No," she dismissed harshly, placing the book down on the table with a thud. "Not for the Wild Hunt. We don't need spells. Not when we can manipulate the elements."

My vision blurred.

"What do you mean?"

An agonising, twisting pain ruthlessly jabbed at my head, like needles pricking at my skin one by one. My hands flew to my forehead as a pained gasp escaped between my lips.

"Bex–" Brett gently gripped my arms, steadying me slightly. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes momentarily in hopes that I'd regain balance.

Lightening.

"What's happening?"

Glass smashing.

"What's happening?"

Ghost Riders.

I was on my knees, Venus' face in front of mine, her eyes searching mine, hands touching either side of my face.

Screams.

There were two Venus' now. Three. Four. Five.

"Mason!"

Someone was saying my name too, the names were echoing, bouncing around my skull. But I couldn't quite hear properly. It felt like I was underwater; drowning.

"Liam! Liam!"

The pain became unbearable.

I squeezed my eyes shut, begging it all to go away. Go away, go away, go away. But I couldn't think. I couldn't see. I couldn't breathe. I wanted to scream.

"Becca!"

Along with a sharp intake of breath, my eyes burst open. I placed a hand on Venus' shoulder to steady myself, as she watched me with concern. There was a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, a feeling I still couldn't shake.

"What happened?" I heard Brett ask as I glanced around my surroundings, trying to gather myself together again.

Liam and Mason are in trouble. Liam and Mason are in trouble. Liam and Mason are in trouble.

"Her powers, they're so– so strong," Venus commented, her hands falling from the side of my face again. She didn't shift her gaze, she just continued to stare at me, as if I was some kind of abnormality.

"Liam and Mason," I blurted, grabbing the side of the table to pull myself up. "They're in trouble. We've gotta go."

"Woah," Brett was immediately by my side, steadying me, much to my annoyance.

"I'm fine."

"That wasn't fine," Venus said, slowly rising from the floor. Her eyebrows were drawn in confusion, and she was still studying me in a way I didn't like. "Have your visions always been this strong?"

I didn't respond.

"Only recently," Brett spoke up instead, answering for me. "They've been worse since we came back. And they're much worse when they contain certain," he paused, eyeing me. "People."

Venus frowned. "Certain people? You mean Liam?"

"Why does everybody always–"

"We think they've got some kind of connection. Not just like a normal connection, you know. Something more, something supernatural, something–"

"That binds them together," Venus finished, whilst I stared at Brett, completely stunned.

"First of all, we?" I questioned, wondering why the hell nobody had mentioned these theories to me. "And secondly, Brett, next time would you keep the conspiracies to your damn self."

"Sorry."

"And you said they've been worse since you came back?" Venus continued, looking between us both. "Where did you go?"

"We went away for a while," I said with a wince, placing a hand on my now pounding head. "Look, it doesn't matter. What matters is–"

"Liam and Mason," she finished for me with a nod. "Where are they?"

"I don't–" I cut off, racking my brain to try and remember. "I don't remember Dammit!"

"You didn't see anything?" Brett questioned, his tone much softer. I shook my head, placing my head in my hands as I desperately tried to picture the vision in my mind again.

Venus reached for the book, flicking through the pages with a slight franticness to her actions.

"What are you doing?" Brett asked, the both of us sharing a wary look.

She didn't respond. "Vee, what are you doing?"

"Got it," she practically whispered in triumph, setting the open book down. She glanced up at me. "Becca, I'm gonna need your help."

"Me?" I asked, glancing from Venus to Brett, then back to her. "Why? Why me?"

"I've never done this before," she said, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "I mean, I tried it once but it didn't exactly work. So I'm gonna need to channel your powers."

"No way," Brett immediately dismissed, turning to face me. "You trust her?"

I sighed, our stares lingering for a moment. I didn't know Venus as well as I thought I did, but a large part of me still trusted her. And the most important thing was saving Mason, and Liam. "There's no other option."

"You're gonna be fine," Venus said calmly. "I know what I'm doing. I just– my powers aren't quite strong enough yet. But with yours– we can do it. We'll find them."

"All right," I gave in, nodding. "Let's do it."

"There are, like, a million ways this could go wrong–" Brett pointed out, probably quite truthfully. This could go wrong, and I didn't really know what I was letting myself in for. But did I care? Not really.

"You're right," Venus said, rolling up the sleeves of her shirt. "That's why you need to stay here. Becca's powers are borderline out of control," she pulled open a kitchen draw, rifling through it. "This could go wrong."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Brett asked as we both watched Venus, who pulled out a set of matches. Within seconds, she had struck the match, lighting a few of the candles on the table.

She glanced towards me. "Take my hand." I obliged, holding it tightly as she leaned over to look in the book, beginning to mutter something.

"Venus–" Brett snapped, his voice becoming deeper. "What the hell am I supposed to do?" My heart thudded harshly as I desperately tried to steady my breathing. "Vee!"

Everything came to a pause. She looked up at him, answering as if it wasn't such a big deal. "All you have to do is get through to us."

And before Brett could respond, before I could react, she began muttering her spell.

❥

A/N

Revelations, revelations, revelations.

Liam and Becca still have some kind of connection, hmm.

Also despite it being quite a common storyline, I've always really wanted to explore witchcraft in my writing. So it was always the intention to have Becca and Venus' powers be able to link in some way, and it's something I'm very excited to explore now.

Sorry for taking forever to update, and for the lack of Becca and Liam at the moment. This is going to be a very slow build up of their relationship again, but I promise you it's worth the wait.

Thanks for reading ☺