Alice watches the boys' eyes turn black for the third time since she met them, and she wasn't met with the fear that had previously accompanied the shift. The back of her next tickles as they use, magic vibrating in the air as Pogue lifts up a tree branch and throws it across the clearing. Caleb pulls it back, while Tyler and Reid work together to swirl leaves and snow around.

Alice laughs as she watches, before getting the feeling someone is watching them. Her head snaps to the side, to the treeline, where she's sure someone is watching them. She frowns when she sees nothing, but the feeling persists.

Leaves blowing across her face being her attention back to the boys, who are smiling as they continue playing around with magic.

"Watch this," Reid smiles playfully and Alice smiles back before Reid turns and throws himself off the cliff.

"Reid!" Alice yells, rushing forward as she drops, her heart falling with him. There's a tingling sensation in her fingers as she reaches the edge of the cliff, a tugging in her gut, and then something explodes.

There's a touch to her shoulder as Reid unceremoniously falls onto the ground beside her, and the tingling sensation leaves her.

At the edge of the clearing, a tree has caught fire, and Pogue looks deathly afraid.

"What did you just do?" His voice is hollow as he looks at Alice, both hands planted on her shoulders, forcing eye contact, "No one should be able to take power."

"What are you talking about?" Alice asks, frowning, looking from him to Caleb. Caleb looks hollow, sunken, but as she watches color returns to his face, "What did I do?"

"You took my power," Caleb says, frowning slightly, "Reid went off the cliff, which he shouldn't have done, and suddenly my power was being tugged to you and the tree catches fire. Something happened."

There's a hollow feeling in my chest as he speaks and I resist the urge to look at the patch of trees where I think someone's watching me. I don't know what they mean, but it's got to be bad.

"I felt this tingling all over my hands, this tugging sensation in my gut, and then like, an explosive feeling," Alice says softly, trying to get them to understand, "I don't know what happened any more than you do."

"Something not right," Pogue looks scared more than concerned, "Whatever's going on, it has something to do with you and this second-born descendant thing. And it's bad. You shouldn't be able to use the Power, much less take it from us.

Alice looks at Caleb, "What did you find out about second-born descendants?"

"Nothing much," Caleb nods to Pogue, who lets go of her shoulders, "Just stuff about them being second children and very rare. Typically female since first-borns are always male, the tattoos are natural but the lighting feeling and passing out aren't, apparently. All branches of the four families have had at least one instance of a second-born descendant, and there's only been 6 recorded since The Covenant started."

"So which family do I belong to?" Alice asks, a little scared of the answer. In her gut, she knows which one it is, she's felt it since she sat down on the stone chair and the circle lit up.

"John Putnam," Caleb answers gravely, "It's the only family that makes sense. We don't know anything about him, you're an orphan-"

"And you sat in the Putnam chair." Pogue cuts him off, "There's only one possibility."

"So I'm the descendant of the outcasted family," Alice nods, her head spinning, "A second-born descendant and I somehow managed to find myself back in Ipswich despite not having any clue about my family history." She looks at them, "Doesn't that seem odd?"

"What's odd is you pulling Caleb's power," Tyler comments, "You're not supposed to be able to do that. Even we can't do it to each other."

"I don't know," Alice says, looking between them, "I'm as lost as you are. I don't know what happened, and I don't know if it'll happen again."

"I won't jump off any cliffs anytime soon then," Reid jokes and Alice shoots him a warning glare.

"That wasn't cool Reid," Pogue hits him on the shoulders, "You shouldn't have been showing off. What if you hadn't been able to catch yourself?"

"Just because you've ascended and I haven't doesn't mean I'm useless," Reid fights back, "But I'm sorry for scaring you, Alice." Alice continues glaring. Pogue straightens like he's going to fight Reid.

"Okay, break it up," Caleb comes between all of them, "Calm down. Why don't we all go grab a bite to eat at Nicky's and discuss how we're going to celebrate Reid's birthday in a few days."

"It's your birthday soon?" Alice frowns at Reid. He didn't tell her.

"Yeah, I ascend in 6 days." Reid nods, "You're coming to this one right? You missed Pogue's."

"I had plans up in Maine on Pogue's," Alice looks at Pogue, "But I'd love to come to this one. Keep in mind while you get your power, I'm going to be convulsing on the floor."

"Right, maybe it's not a good idea for you to be there," Caleb nods, "Sara and Kate know about us, but you might be a little bit of a stretch for them. And we don't want to freak them out at the ascension."

"I want to see it though," Alice protests, "I've seen you use and I've seen the colony house. I want to be apart of this, more so that I am as a second-born descendant."

"We'll see what we can do," Pogue smiles and wraps an arm around Alice, "I'll drive you to Nicky's the others can take Tyler's truck.

Alice laughs and Reid watches them, an unreadable expression on his face.

Just inside the line of tree's, Chase smirks. He'd figured Alice was special, but a second-born descendant with the ability to pull The Power was almost unheard of. The Putnam line had boasted a few second-born descendants over the years, but none came close to Alice. And with Reid's ascension coming up, Chase could use this.

He could take their power and finally get rid of the Sons of Ipswich like his dad had always wanted. With the power, he'd stop aging every time he used.

He let himself use a little to take the edge off and Alice's head snapped to him again. He was hidden, completely, so he knew she couldn't see him, but it was annoying that she could sense his power. He wondered what else she could sense. He figured she knew when they ascended, but there must be more to it than that.

He needed to figure it out, and fast. He wanted that power, wanted the addiction to stop and the shaking and the aging. She could do that. He just needed to get close to her, manipulate her. Besides, they were siblings. What brother would he be if he didn't pay her a visit?

Chase watched them drive away with a smile, watching Alice laugh at something Pogue said.

They wouldn't be laughing by the time he was done with them.

Hey hey hey, two updates in one day. I felt bad for leaving you guys for so long, so I may bulk update for the next few days. Just letting you know.