Jane-Anne Pearce

"Are we there yet?"

Finn rolled his eyes. "I think that stopped being funny the fourth time."

"I'm just excited," I confessed. "I've been to Oregon, and then Washinton, New York, Michigan, and now California. It's like I'm finally getting to see the world."

"You know there's other countries besides the United States, right?" Finn asked me.

"Um... yeah. I'm half Japanese, remember?" I scoffed. "Will this traffic move?"

"It's just going to take some time," said Finn. "We'll get there soon."

I held the envelope in my hands gingerly, reading over the address that I had practically memorized by now.

509 N Los Robles Ave

Pasadena, California(CA), 91101

"Explain it to me again." I requested.

"An agent was called to a small town, Windermere, on a simple mission. But he disappeared. They sent another agent after him, and when he vanished too, they sent a third. The third agent was actually found dead, with a seal carved into his chest. That's where the legend of the Windermere Coven came from. Even today, there are towns that agents will refuse to touch because they think a branch of the coven is there. We call it a Code Windermere. It's mostly small towns, but sometimes big places like New York or Pasadena." Finn recited.

The Tanakas had assured us that they wanted nothing to do with the coven, but they were still receptive to Finn's advice for them as they started their new life somewhere in Canada.   

"Should I call Carter?" I asked. "Maybe he should know what we're doing."

"If you tell Carter something, you're telling Lena something by extension. And Lena..."

"Would freak out." I finished. "Are you sure you're not just avoiding her?"

"I'm not in the mood to talk about my sister right now," Finn admitted.

"Okay, what about your other sister?" I prodded. Finn shot me a warning glance, and I promptly gave up. "So... what do you think the coven is going to be like?" I refocused.

"I don't know," Finn admitted. "We just need to explain what's going on really calmly. I mean, they probably don't like agents, do they?"

I shook my head silently. "But if I'm with you, they have to know that you're fine, right?"

"That, or I took you prisoner," said Finn.

I gasped dramatically. "Help! The agent kidnapped me!" I put my hand against my forehead like I was giving the performance of my life.

"Oh, please." Finn sighed, turning off the highway.

"What? My performance was great." I defended.

"You should have done theater," said Finn.

"I always wanted to... I guess I just forgot."

"How do you forget you want things?" Finn asked.

"It's easier than you think." I sank in my seat, taking in the California sun. Palm trees lined the street, and I found myself staring. I'd never seen one of them in person before, and it made the world feel like a cartoon.

"So, when we go in there, we're not expected, so we need to make sure that we're polite. No sudden movements, no yuki-"

"No yuki-onna, got it," I told Finn. "I'm a little more worried about you, Agent Matthews."

"That's the next rule," said Finn. "No worrying about me, got it?"

"That's not going to happen. I worry about everything, and unfortunately, you're included in that."

Finn laughed a little, but he was clutching the steering wheel a bit too tight for someone who wasn't nervous. Finn and I always balanced each other out, because he was sure and I was the opposite. But now, both of us were being cast into the unknown. I held my breath as the car glided to a stop in front of a gilded iron gate and a toll booth.

A hand dutifully knocked on the car window, and Finn rolled it down. His other hand tapped his thigh nervously.

"I wasn't expecting any visitors today." the security guard was at least 6 feet tall, and even though I could see some silver hairs, he still looked like he was in good enough shape to take someone down. Even though his demeanor seemed pleasant enough, I had trouble taking my eyes away from the holster attached to his waist.

"We're here about a letter," Finn explained, his voice barely wavering. He slowly and clearly reached his hand in my direction. As I put the envelope in his hands, I realized that they were trembling. Finn handed the envelope over to the security guard, who frowned as he inspected the address.

"I mean, this looks like us, but there's no note inside." the guard looked at us with a more matter-of-fact than accusatory expression.

"We lost it." I lied, staring at the booth so I didn't have to see the guard's expression.

"Uh-huh." said the guard, unconvinced.

"Listen, we really need to see the Winderemere Coven," said Finn. "It's important."

"What do you know about the coven?" the guard asked.

"I know that's the seal," said Finn. "On the envelope." When the guard didn't say anything, a new plan jumped into my mind.

"Finn, I need you to pull my shirt down."

"Huh?"

"Just..." I tried to reach around my back, my hands awkwardly trying to pull the back of my shirt down. Finn seemed to realize what I was doing and angled my shirt downward. I nearly choked on the collar of my shirt, but now my Forbidden brand was completely exposed. Finn quickly let me go, mumbling a small apology.

"I'll shoot them a quick message and see if they're taking anyone in." said the guard, turning back to his booth.

"Thank you," said Finn.

"But it's only for her, unless you've got something to show me." the guard explained.

"Wait." I protested. "It needs to be both of us. I can't go alone, so either you-"

"Jane-Anne."

"No. I need to be there with you, or I'm not going."

"She doesn't mean that," Finn promised, looking over at the guard.

"Don't talk for me." I snapped.

I didn't know why Finn's comment had made me so upset, but I could hear wind rushing in my ears. As I blinked, two worlds flashed in front of my eyes: one, the car I was physically sitting in, and the other, the endless blizzard I've grown to know.

"It's happening again, isn't it?" Finn whispered.

I looked around, trying to focus on a flash of reality that I could hold on to. I looked over Finn's shoulder, at the palm tree growing down the road. I tried to hold the California sunshine tightly within my mind, suffocating the other part of me as hard as I could.

"Is she okay?" the guard asked, although I didn't pay much attention to him.

"Jane-Anne?" Finn asked.

There were a few moments of loaded silence before I felt safe enough to nod. "I think I'm fine, but I'm still not going anywhere without you."

Finn nodded and shifted his weight so he could pull the lighter from his pocket. After a bit of hesitation, he clicked it on and allowed the small pinprick of light to catch on his palm. The small ball of flame danced across his skin for a moment before Finn closed his fist and let it extinguish.

"You could have led with that, you know." the guard pointed out.

"I don't love doing that," Finn confessed. The guard only narrowed his eyes and nodded in response, but he still pressed a button in the booth that allowed the small black gates to pull apart.

"Knock on the door three times, make sure you respect whoever answers, and don't lie. Give them that envelope, and a really good reason why you lost that note inside. Good luck." the guard dismissed.

"Thank you," I said. The guard shrugged, returning to the booth so he could scroll on his phone in peace.

"Are you ready?" Finn asked me.

"Sure." I agreed.

Finn put the car back in drive, and the two of us made our way down a winding road lined with old statues and palm trees before rounding a large porte-cochère that lay in front of what could only be described as a mansion.

Three rounded structures surrounded by Corinthian columns loomed down marble staircases that spiraled into a garden in a way that felt way too perfect to be real. The building itself was a soft peach color lined with gray stone and built all the way up to a flat roof lined with a neat railing. I thought I could see a silhouette up there, staring down at us. When my eyes met the figure, she disappeared so quickly I questioned whether or not she had ever been there. 

"I think we should get out here," Finn suggested, pulling the car into park. I stared at the dual marble staircases for a little longer, but then forced myself to get out of the car and slam the door behind me.

Finn followed me across the stone path that cut through the garden. There were more statues lined up here, several of them depicting Forbidden. I walked past a pair of xiezhi that looked like their eyes were baring into every lie I've ever told. I shuddered and kept walking, choosing to take the right staircase up to the front porch. I walked carefully in front of the tall gray door.

I could sense Finn standing right behind me, almost looking like he was trying to use me as a human shield. "Back up," I ordered him, my fist poised in preparation to knock. Finn shuffled backward as my fist collided with the wooden door.

One.

Two.

Before I could knock a third time, someone pulled the door open. A girl in an oversized hoodie and wide brown eyes stared at us from behind the door. She couldn't have been much older than me, but she still felt like she had the energy of someone much older. She crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side, her short curly locks of hair moving with her.

"Hm." was all she managed to say finally. "Come on then." She waved both of us forward, widening the door for us to come in.

"Um..."

"What?" the girl asked, looking at me. "Is there something you wanted to say?"

"No, but I... should I introduce myself or something?" I asked.

"We'll do that for you." the girl answered, walking into a foyer with a lofted ceiling that looked like it was four floors tall. A large chandelier managed to light the entire place. It was mostly empty inside, with a futon set in the middle of the floor.

"Amy!" the first girl called. "Visitors!"

A girl with a thick curtain of black hair and winged eyeliner swiftly entered the room, but I couldn't figure out where she came from. There were no doors in the room, and when I looked back at the entrance, I realized that that door had vanished as well. There was no way out. More people began to appear around me, blinking into existence at a dizzying rate. Amy approached me, holding a swirling tablet in her hand that resembled the one Sophie Kim had used. This one was a deep blue color, its hypnotizing pattern rippling like the reflection of the night sky on a lake.

"Sit down," Amy commanded. Finn and I sat down immediately, sharing the one futon in the center of the room. "Now, I'm not sure why you decided to seek us out, but I'm not going to ask you. This is-"

"That tablet's from the Society, right?" I burst out inappropriately.

Amy closed her eyes for a moment, irritated at the interruption. "It is, straight from the defectors." I didn't know what that meant, but nodded pleasantly anyway. "We are going to use your memories to determine who you are."

My entire body went stiff. My jaw locked in place, but I still nodded. Finn was shifting anxiously as well, but Amy didn't address it. We were surrounded by a wall of a million faces, all of them blending together as the light got dimmer.

"We just need help." I insisted. "We're trying to-"

"I wouldn't advise talking before we go through the process." the girl who had initially opened the door explained to me. "We help everyone we can, but we need to know we can trust you first. Amy?"

Amy nodded and knelt down next to Finn. She placed the tablet in front of him. When Finn didn't move, she forcefully grabbed his hand and pressed his fingerprint against the blue stone. The lights shut off abruptly, and the swirling blue light of the tablet became the only light in the room. Its stream of blue light reflected against the several eyes of the Windermere Coven as they watched silently.

The blue light began to twist, forming fragments of memories. Finn's eyes were closed, his eyelids fluttering wildly.

At first, the images seemed normal enough. I could see images of an apartment, of Lena, even of Atalka. The light pulsed stronger. I noticed Amy furrow her brows, but kept going. Now the blue light felt more menacing as it drew outlines of what looked like a prison. I could see a boy with long hair, see a door slam, hear screams of pain. The last image I saw was a knife before Amy shut the tablet off.

"He was in the Program." I heard Amy mutter softly from the darkness. "He's from the Agency."

The lights came back on immediately, taking me off guard. Something clocked me in the head, and everything went black again.

A/N: Oh no, visiting the anti-agent group as an agent went wrong, how shocking... Maybe there's going to be a way to clear this up, but Finn has a lot of explaining to do. See you guys soon, aka whenever I have time to edit the next chapter lol.

QOTD: Do you guys think the Windermere Coven is good or evil or something else?