Welcome to Willowbrook

One heck of a Samhain

October 29
Aurianna's house
Willowbrook
Wisconsin

Danny finished applying her lip gloss and smiled at herself in the mirror. Tonight was the school's annual Samhain Masquerade ball and Danny was amped up for not just the party, but also a chance to put Griselda in her place. Marcie and Ivy walked into her room. "Okay princess, enough with the makeup," Ivy said. "Let's go party." Danny frowned and turned to Marcie, "Remind me again why we don't call it Halloween?" Marcie rolled her eyes, "Because we're supernaturals. And supernaturals don't call it Halloween." For Danny, it was still weird to see Marcie's mismatched eyes or for her to no longer have a scent. Hecate's essence had apparently not come without its extras. Other than her highlights and pink eye, Marcie didn't have a scent and her hearing had increased, although it wasn't good as the others. Her sight had also increased, and she gained the ability to see how powerful people were. Literally see how powerful they were. But opening her 'Hecate's eye' drained her energy, so she didn't do it often. Danny stood up and spun around, "How do I look?" "Like you're ready to kill a sorceress," Ivy said. Danny hesitated, "Do I have to kill her? She's still a person?" Ivy raised a brow, "And a person normally sends shapeshifters to kill their ex-best friend's daughter, and, when that doesn't work, sends a pack of demons to also kill said daughter. Such an awesome person." Danny chuckled, "Okay, I see your point." "Doesn't matter. You'll know what to do when we see her," Marcie said. "Now you ready?" Danny nodded and grabbed her mask, "Ready."

The plan was simple. Earlier in the previous week, Jack had told them that Griselda was planning something big. Because of the approaching Samhain, all supernaturals had their powers increased, and they would continue to grow stronger until Samhain eventually passed. This included Griselda, and she was going to use her powers to magically locate Danny and transport her to wherever Griselda was hiding. Luckily, Samhain also meant both Danny and Marcie would grow stronger too, so once Danny was gone, Marcie would do a spell to find her and both of them would finish off the job. The others would stay behind to cover for them if necessary.

Danny followed Marcie and Ivy downstairs, still feeling nervous about the whole thing. She was about to kill a sorceress, how exactly did one do that? She glanced at Marcie, who had a stoic expression on her face. Marcie was also supposed to free her grandmother from her grandfather's blood pact, but she hadn't said anything on the subject. Danny wondered for a minute what Marcie would do if she had to kill Desdemona. She had a good feeling Marcie would do it with no regrets.

They reached the living room where Cali and Seren were waiting. Seren smiled, "You girls look great." "Thanks Seren," Danny said. Cali looked at her phone and looked up, "Levushka just sent a message. They are all waiting for us at school, except Jackson. He has gone to see Griselda, as well as Courtney." Marcie raised a brow, "Some kind of impromptu meeting?" Cali shrugged, "Both of you are going to see her, you would know then." "If that's it, let's get this show on the road," Ivy said. Danny breathed. Time to go.

*

"Wow," was the first thing Danny said as she entered the ballroom. She didn't even know the school had a ballroom until a few weeks ago when she saw a bunch of vampires carrying decorations. Because the Masquerade ball was done yearly, each faction took turns to organise the event. Last year was the dragon shifters while this year was the vampires. The following year would be the phantoms. The vampires had done a fabulous job, decorating the school in black, gold and red. As per tradition, the western door was left open and there were candles everywhere - none of the electric bulbs were on - in and out of the ballroom. There were turnip lanterns and jack-o'-lanterns, also in and out of the ballroom. And there were all sorts of traditional foods - cakes, cranachans, sowans, barmbracks and champs - with things hidden inside that were, according to tradition, supposed to tell the future. Although, the supernaturals didn't believe in it, they still put things inside for fun.