Chapter Text
Tonight, Halloween. It's Adam's favourite time of year, the one day he can be true to himself without fear of being figured out. Normally Adam love's to party the night away at his annual Halloween bash but tonight he can sense a haunting feeling in the air, he's alert and on edge, something feels off but he can't quite put his finger on what. He's searching, scanning the room for something out of place when his eyes landed upon a woman stood staring at him, standing out from the crowd due to her lack of costume. He studied her face noticing the freckles across her cheeks and despite the purple hue of her hair that seems to be glowing he knew under the dye she was a redhead like him, he noticed her lips were cherry red as he felt the electricity between them from across the room, consumed by her gaze he felt they were the only two people in the room as he became locked in a trance. Tommy Joe walked into the room looking around when he noticed Adam stood in the centre of the room he was looking across the room but at what he couldn't make out, he grabbed two glasses and topped them up with tequila before walking towards him. The closer Tommy got the more he could tell something was wrong, Adam was staring unmoving at something or someone, he looked over at where Adam seemed to be looking but saw no one “hey, Adam you okay?” Adan hadn’t noticed the small blond approaching or even reacted to him speaking he was too engrossed in her ocean blue eyes, questioning the similarities they shared. Adam watched her intently as she winked at him breaking the eye contact and the trance before she slipped into a group of people beside her. Tommy placed his hand on Adam’s shoulder pulling him back to reality “Adam, are you okay” he shook his head as he pulled from the smaller man's grip to scan the room “did you see that woman, do you know who she is?" Tommy shrugged as he looked at the spot Adam was so focused on before “I didn’t notice anyone before no, maybe it's a trik of the mind" he held out one of the glasses "you need to let loose and relax, drink this, it'll be first one I'v seen you have” Adam shook his head as he pushed the drink back towards Tommy “I can’t, something not right” he paused slightly as he turned to face him and spoke in a hushed tone "I can feel it in here" Adam pointed to his head the same signal he always used when talking about his secret abilities. Tommy rolled his eyes as he pushed the drink forwards “tonight is the only night you get to be yourself, I know how much it means to you, forget about spells for once and drink” Adam felt the anger inside of him as he looked at Tommy, he was the only mortal he trusted, the only one he had told that he was a witch and here he was talking about it in front of the whole party like it was nothing “I said NO” he pushed the glass away more forcefully than intended causing the contents to spill down Tommy's front and the glass to slip from his hand shattering on the floor “what the fuck is wrong with you” Adam felt the eyes in the room turn towards them as silence descended upon the room the atmosphere becoming thick and claustrophobic "I-I need air” Adam quickly pushed his way out of the room and in the direction of the front door to free himself from the suffocating atmosphere he had created
Adam found himself outside on the drive, it was deathly silent as he looked around for someone. His inner instinct told him he wasn’t alone as he heard a branch break behind him, he turned quickly to see a cat walking towards him and for a moment he could have sworn he heard a voice, he ignored it as he saw Pharaoh running towards him “Pharaoh back in the house now” Pharaoh walked over to the cat and Adam could have sworn they were communicating “Salem I told you to stay home!” Adam looked up to see a woman with flame red hair, it was the woman he saw earlier but how did she change her hair so fast. She was looking at the cat as he meowed at her “I don’t care if you were worried what he might do, I told you that I had to come here myself, go home!” Adam looked at them both confused as the cat turned back to Pharaoh meowing “I don’t need him to watch me either go home!” Adam watched the cat turn and run down the drive. He looked back to the woman as she stepped forward “who the hell are you and what is going on!” Pharaoh barked and growled at the woman as she walked closer “don’t you take that tone with me, remember who nursed you both back to health!” Pharaoh looked down before walking away from them both “Adam darling its time...” she walked towards him as he looked at her “who are you and what do you want with me” he was conflicted, his heart was telling him to trust this woman but his brain was telling him to run, he backed away slightly causing her to stop “you don’t remember me do you?” Adam shook his head as he ignored her question “did you just have a conversation with my dog and a cat?” She raised an eyebrow as she looked at him “you don’t remember anything” she paused slightly “do you even know what you’re capable of?” Adam shook his head as he looked at her refusing to answer her questions “who are you!?” She looked up at him as they heard the front door open “Adam what is going on?” Adam looked up at the door seeing Tommy looking down at them both “go back inside Tommy” he pushed his hand in Tommy’s direction making him move back into the house, as he pulled his hand back the door slammed shut and locked, he watched for a moment as Tommy tried the handle frantically to get out to him. Adam turned to see the woman jumping the wall into the woods “no come back” he needed answers, who was this woman, what was it time for and was she a witch like him. Adam ran over jumping the wall and following her into the woods, he thought of a spike and hammer and they appeared in his hands “nail a spike into a witches footprint” he stopped placing the spike on the damp ground before smacking it with the hammer, he heard a scream in the distance before he got up and ran towards it “what did you do to me!” Adam looked at her seeing blood around her foot as tears rolled down her cheeks “I had to stop you and I read in one of my books that if you put a spike in a witch’s footprint she becomes rooted to where she stands” she started tugging on her leg as she looked at him “take it out please, just take it out!” Adam looked down the path envisioning the spike in his mind, he imagined pulling it from the ground as he lifted his hand, she fell to the floor as the same black cat appeared beside her hissing at Adam “Salem stop, he doesn’t remember us” the cat stopped and looked at her meowing “no he doesn’t know, I know you warned me about this and I didn’t listen” Adam watched her talking to the cat like she understood what it was saying to her, he was becoming more and more confused by the second as looked down at her speaking in a demanding tone “who are you?” She looked up at him noticing the confusion on his face “my name is Phoenix" she paused as the cat walked over sitting beside her "and this is Salem my familiar” Adam looked at her as she rubbed over her foot healing it “how do you know me” he paused as he thought about what he said “no wait, how did you find me? I cast a cloaking spell on myself to hide me from other witches” she nodded as she looked at him “yes, I admit it was hard to find you but I can always track you down, we are bound together, Adam. We had an inseparable bond” she paused hesitating slightly “that was until the accident” Adam shook his head as he looked at her feeling his anger and confusion bubble up inside him, he felt himself snap as he let the anger out “what accident, what are you talking about!?” A small bush beside them caught fire causing Adam to pull his hands into himself, he started reciting the same words to himself “just stay calm and breath!” Phoenix shook her head as watched on, she had no idea it had gotten so bad, she stood up blowing in the direction of the fire putting it out quickly before it caused any damage. Phoenix looked back at Adam to see he had huddled into himself and was taking deep breaths to calm down “when did it get this bad” she walked over thinking about the day he went missing and instantly regretted leaving him alone that night “it’s okay, it will get easier now, I can help you” she took his hands in hers forcing him to open up a little “I can help you control your magic again, just like I did before” he shook his head again looking at her “I don’t understand any of this, what happened to me” she nodded as she looked at him forcing eye contact “I know you don’t and I don’t understand everything either, it still scares me but I know that with you by my side we can work it out together, I can help you control your magic and maybe help you remember who you are” Adam pulled his hands away as he looked at her, shaking his head “I don’t know, the last witch I trusted tried to hurt me. She had me locked away, I only escaped when she left me alone one night” she felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked at him, he was talking about her but he couldn’t know that, not till she had helped him. Phoenix nodded as she looked at him “I understand you need some time to think about it, if you decide you want my help call out for Salem and he will bring your message to me” Adam nodded as he looked at her “I, I need to go back to the party, I’ll think about what you said” she hesitated slightly wanting to take Adam in her arms and hold him, Adam start walking away and she turned watching him leave, when he was out of sight she bent down and picking Salem up.
Salem looked up at her questioningly “are you really going to let him walk away, after everything you have done to find him” she raised her eyebrow as she looked at the cat in her arms “you know better than to question me, I know what I’m doing Salem! Adam will call out for you because part of him is still screaming for my help, I can feel it when I look in his eyes” she paused slightly as she stroked Salem’s head “that’s why he didn’t hurt me like he did poor Alistair” she could feel the annoyance from the cat as she sighed and dropped him to the ground “look Pharaoh is still weak, I need you to watch over them both and protect them from harm until he is ready for my help” he turned looking up at her “you are my master, it’s you I should be protecting” Phoenix looked down at him with a more stern look “I’ll be fine on my own, now do as your told please” Salem turned and sauntered towards the house without looking back “and don’t let him see you Salem! That is not a suggestion its an order!”