A/N: Thanks for the reviews =] Sorry it took me so long to update. I've had some assignments due (with one still to go) and I just caught the flu. Trying to write with a fever is hell. So that's my excuse for the drop in quality for this chapter. Hopefully I'll have recovered for the next chapter, cuz that's when things really heat up. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Covenant. Nor Romeo and Juliet.

IN MY DREAMS

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – OF THESE TWO FOES

Reid Garwin knew something. Or he'd done something.

Rachel had no idea what that something was, but she knew he was keeping it a secret and her curiosity wouldn't let her just drop it. She roamed the hallways. Technically she was lost. Rachel had just finished her Monday classes and was looking for her Math professor's office. But, really, what she wanted was to bump into Reid again.

She couldn't pinpoint why, exactly. It was easy to hate him, to argue with him whenever he was around. But something inside her was drawn to him. She wanted to see him, but she couldn't come up with a proper excuse.

Rachel walked by an empty classroom, pausing when she heard a familiar voice.

"You're not being fair to her. Kate deserves to know the truth." It was Sarah. Rachel stepped back, standing by the doorway out of sight but within earshot.

"I can't tell her." Pogue. "She'd never look at me the same again." What was going on?

"She loves you. It might frighten her a little at first, but she'll get over it."

"I'm not telling her. I'm not putting her in danger." Danger? Rachel held her breath, leaning closer to the door. She could feel excitement bubbling inside.

"What do you mean? I know the truth, and I'm fine."

There was a pause. Rachel wanted to rush in and demand to know what they were talking about. As it was, she stayed still, trying not to make a sound.

"Look, Caleb…he was being really reckless when he told you. He put you in a lot of danger. You could've been killed that night."

Rachel's heart hammered violently. What was going on with these people? Maybe Aaron had been right all along. Sure, they seemed nice on the surface, but who were they really?

"And you'd rather her not know?" Sarah continued. "What happens when the next Chase Collins comes along? Kate will just fall for it all over again, and not even realize that she's making the same mistake."

It sounded as if Pogue was moving to leave. Rachel could hear heavy footsteps on the wooden tiers. She turned to scurry away as well, but Sarah spoke again.

"You know she could find out so easily. All she'd have to do is look up that Chronicles of Paganism book in the library, and really read it this time. If one of you guys slips up in front of her just once…well, she's not completely blind. Wouldn't you rather her find out from you?" Sarah sounded upset. Rachel waited for Pogue's answer but there wasn't one. His footsteps started again and Rachel almost fell over herself trying to get away.

As soon as she found the main hallway, she stopped. Danger. Killed. Chase Collins. Chronicles of Paganism? Library… Before she knew it, Rachel found herself in the library, combing through the high steel bookshelves with a reference number scribbled onto her palm. The title had been easy enough to find in the computer catalogues and within minutes of eavesdropping on their conversation, Rachel had an old brown leather-bound book in her hands.

Sitting crossed legged between two library bookshelves Rachel flipped through page after page of…strangeness. At first it seemed as if the book was just about local history. She'd never been interested in the Salem witch trials before; the only thing she'd heard of it was from watching The Crucible in ninth grade because she didn't want to read the play for Lit.

And she'd been right not to read it. The witch trials history was boring. The Chronicles read endlessly of people who'd been accused of witchcraft and tortured until they confessed. It all seemed kind of repetitive in Rachel's opinion.

She turned the page and blinked. There was a woodcut picture of a scary looking man. The name "John Putnam" was printed beneath it. Rachel skimmed through the passage above it and just found another accusation story. Underneath the caption, however, was something else entirely. Her eyes went straight to the second line: "…Danvers, Sims, Garwin and Parry…"

Garwin? Reid Garwin. And Caleb's last name was Danvers.

Rachel stood up quickly and pushed the book back onto its place in the bookshelves. It was local history. So their families must have lived in Ipswich for generations. What was so wrong about that?

Except some things didn't seem to fit in quite so nicely. The conversation she'd overheard between Sarah and Pogue, for one. They'd spoken as if their big secret was dangerous, as if having anyone find out, even Pogue's girlfriend, would mean a life-or-death situation.

Rachel stared at the brown leather spine for minutes, trying to make sense of her thoughts. No. It was just nonsense. It was religious zealots who wanted to make money from men and women who were a little odd. It was over three hundred years ago. And it didn't mean anything. Rachel left the library in a hurry. She felt as if she'd just watched a creepy horror movie and every corner she turned might hold a scary serial killer.

--

"What's wrong now?"

Reid looked up from his dinner plate. He'd shredded his chicken with the back of his fork and stirred it into his mashed potatoes. The whole table looked from Reid to Kate, who'd asked the question.

"Huh?"

"It's about Rachel again, right?" Kate asked. Pogue frowned, glancing back at Reid. The blond boy rolled his eyes.

"No," he said curtly, scooping up the chicken-potato mix onto his fork and stuffing it into his mouth. Sarah winced.

"Rachel, again?" Caleb had just found their table, sliding in next to Sarah.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" she asked as he pecked her on the cheek. They'd all been long used to his absence at dinner. Caleb usually spent the evening with his mother and met the group before homeroom began the next day.

"Mom went to sleep early," he said quietly. Reid lowered his eyes. That usually meant Mrs Danvers had gone through an entire bottle of whisky for lunch and hadn't been awake when Caleb got home.

"Well at least you can have dinner with us," Sarah said when no one else spoke. Caleb smiled at her and started his dinner.

"So what's the issue with Rachel now?" he asked.

Kate answered before Reid could dismiss the question. "Reid's still hung up on her."

"I'm not hung up on her," he said moodily. "I was never hung up on her."

"Then you won't care if I said that it's obvious she's into you?" Kate asked, her expression angelic and mock-innocent.

Reid became alert immediately. "What?"

"Oh, yeah," Sarah agreed. "Rachel likes you. She's always looking at you, and after what happened at the dance…I mean, she defended you from Aaron." Caleb, Pogue and Tyler stared at the girls, dumbfounded. They, like Reid, hadn't even realized that Rachel had done that. The boys had simply been focused on the fact that Reid and Rachel had argued. And that Aaron Abbot was, as always, being a jackass.

"So then why is she always so angry?" Reid asked. It seemed every time he spoke to her it ended with her storming off. The girl had a knack for it.

"There's something else going on, obviously," Kate said.

"Maybe she doesn't like blonds," Tyler jested. Pogue and Caleb grinned at the joke but Reid ignored them.

"Something else?"

"Yeah." Sarah nodded. "She's got issues. Like…maybe she's had bad experiences in the past. Or maybe her parents are really strict."

"Maybe she still has a boyfriend from wherever it is she moved from," Pogue suggested.

The table was silent for a minute. Reid frowned down at his half eaten meal. Did Rachel still have a boyfriend? It might make sense. Perhaps that was why she was constantly pushing him away.

"You know," Reid said, "she did say something about California. Like she missed it or something."

"Either way it doesn't matter," Caleb said. "You should stay away from her." Kate looked at him curiously. "It'd only cause more trouble with Aaron."

Reid nodded. He didn't care about Abbott. It didn't matter to him what the guy would do. But there was a different kind of warning in Caleb's eyes. He knew how hard it was for Sarah to keep the secret. And how hard it was for Kate not to know the secret. They'd both been put in a lot of danger since they'd joined the group. Could he really put Rachel in that position?

--

"There you are."

Rachel looked up from the book spines before her. She'd returned to the library after dinner to finish off her Physics assignment. It was almost midnight and she should have had all her work done, but all she'd been able to think about was the Chronicles book.

"Hey Josh."

"It's getting late. Come on."

She shook her head. "I can't. I need to get all this done first." She held up her assignment sheet.

"Do you want me to stay?" he asked.

"No, it's okay. Go get some sleep. I'll see you in homeroom tomorrow." For a second she thought he would protest. But then he just shook his head and waved goodnight. Things had changed between them. Josh was beginning to realize that friendship was the only thing on the table, and he started to relax around her.

Twenty minutes passed silently, and Rachel thought she'd made progress. And then the lightning started.

She ignored it until the thunder came. A loud boom sounded and she jolted, dropping a library book. Don't be stupid, it's just a storm. She glanced at one of the large windows and frowned. The trees outside swayed violently and heavy raindrops sounded like bullets as they hit the glass.

Just rain, Rachel reminded herself. She returned to the tall bookshelves, a new list of titles in her hands. All of a sudden, she was very aware of how alone she was. She and Josh had been the last in the library, and not it was just her.

As she pulled a book from the shelf, glass shattered. Rachel lurched back, her heart pounding. Peeking around the bookshelf, she saw one of the frosted windows across the library had broken. Shards of glass scattered near the study desks and rain began pouring into the library.

Rachel stood, frozen and staring at the broken window. It wasn't just a normal storm. The wind picked up and papers began flying about. In a matter of minutes, books were being tossed around the large library hall. She couldn't see how it was possible, but it seemed as if the storm had entered the library.

Rain and wind threw the chairs and tables around. More windows shattered. Rachel ran for it. She darted for the bookshelves to retrieve her book bag. A strong gust of wind came, and the tall steel bookcases began to tilt.