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The Age of Temptation	By : TCardan Category: 1 through F > Covenant, The Views: 14313 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own The Covenant and make no money from this fiction.

Chapter List
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- 2
Disclaimer: I do not own The Covenant and make no money from the writing of this fiction.
Chapter One
Caleb Danvers sat alone on the blue damask sofa, watching the people milling around quietly at his father’s wake. After arriving from the funeral, the crowd of relatives and friends spoke softly to him and his mother, expressing their sympathies. But they really didn’t know what to say. Caleb’s father had virtually been in hiding for a decade, hiding from everyone who knew him, everyone who would know he abused his power too much and everyone who would be shocked that a forty year old man looked eighty.
Even Sarah didn’t know what to say. She had stuck to his side all day in sympathy. Caleb did appreciate that. But now she stood with his friends, the other Sons of Ipswich, talking quietly in the corner. He felt different from them now, separate. He caught their glances at him and he wondered if they felt the same way. He was different now, wasn’t he? He had ascended. And not only did he have the powers that were rightfully his when he turned eighteen, he also had his father’s powers that were willed to him last week.
His father died willing his powers to Caleb so that he could defeat Chase Collins. Caleb wasn’t sure he would have defeated Chase if he hadn’t. Maybe he would have, but it didn’t look good at the time. And Sarah would have certainly burned in the old Putnam barn if he hadn’t been able to end the battle when he did. Even so, no one had ever found Chase’s body, so did he really win that battle? Would Chase ever return?
Auntie Florence made her way to the sofa Caleb was sitting on and sat down next to him with a small groan of effort. Caleb gave her a small smile and wondered how old she was now. Was she eighty five, or maybe ninety? He wasn’t sure, but he was a bit grateful not to have to sit alone anymore.
“Hello, Caleb,” she spoke, patting his hand which rested between them. “Are you holding up?”
“Yes, Auntie Flo, though I’m looking forward to the end of this day,” Caleb returned.
The old woman frowned a bit, looking troubled and as if she wanted to say something further but was not sure whether to do so.
Caleb squeezed her hand in understanding. He knew funerals were difficult and people danced around words and emotions they had a hard time expressing. He didn’t expect the words that did come forth, however.
“I never did like your father.”
Caleb turned his head to gaze at her, stumped. Weren’t people suppose to say comforting things at a time like this?
Auntie Florence just shook her head, looking down at the Persian carpet beneath their feet. “He was an arrogant man, Caleb, and reckless too. He treated everyone else as if he was better than them. Look where it got him?”
Caleb opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t know what he was going to say exactly.
But Auntie Flo’s eyes began to water at that moment and she tore her gaze away from the designs on the carpet to look directly into Caleb’s eyes.
“But, you’re a good boy, Caleb. You’re a good boy.” She patted his hand. “I don’t want to see what happened to him happen to you.”
“It won’t, Auntie,” he reassured. “I’ve always been careful.”
She now carried his hand across her lap and enclosed it in both her hands. “Oh, my dear boy, you are so powerful now, so handsome. Such a nice girl you’ve found.” She glanced over to Sarah across the room. “But life… life gets hard sometimes, Caleb, and you’re going to be tempted to use it at those times.”
“You don’t have to worry, Auntie, I promise,” he smiled softly. “I’ve seen what could happen. I won’t let it get out of control.”
She looked across the room at the other Sons of Ipswich. “But what about them? They will turning eighteen soon as well.”
“We’ll watch out for each other. Don’t worry,” Caleb reassured.
The old woman shook her head, a tear rolling down one dry cheek. “I’ve been so selfish,” she whispered, “so selfish. I wanted them gone. I wanted them away from everyone else.”
Caleb stared at her. “I don’t understand.” Surely she wasn’t talking about his friends? “Who did you want gone?”
“Your father and John Parry,” she confessed, “I hated them both.”
Caleb nodded, not knowing what to say to that. John Parry was Pogue’s father who had died around five years ago, from the same malady of power abuse that Caleb’s father had suffered from. It seemed a bit inappropriate to speak ill of the dead at a wake, however, especially to the dead man’s son.
“I’ve been so selfish,” Auntie Florence cried, with a sob. “I’m so sorry, Caleb.”
“Everyone’s entitled to their opinions, Auntie,” he consoled, not wanting her to have a complete breakdown. “I know my father had faults…”
“But not you, Caleb,” she insisted, shaking her head. “You don’t deserve that fate. The other boys don’t either. I… I think I need to talk to your mother…”
Caleb patted her hands and smiled. “I’ll get her for you. You just relax.”
He sighed as he stood up and look about for his mother. He spotted her in the foyer talking softly to some of her friends. When she saw him coming, she put her arm about his shoulders.
“How are you, darling?” she asked, obvious strain from the day’s events on her face.
Caleb really didn’t want to send her to the distressed old woman, but he did promise. “I’m all right. It’s Auntie Flo - she’d like a word with you.”
His mother nodded and made her way into the parlor where the old woman sat as Caleb accepted hugs and sympathy from the group of women his mother had been talking to. They asked him about school and Sarah and other inconsequential things, making small talk to distract him from his grief.
But all talking stopped at the sound of a slap. Caleb looked in the direction of the noise and saw his mother standing over Auntie Flo, her hand in the air and anger on her face. “How dare you! How dare you!” he could heard his mother saying.
“Excuse me,” Caleb said to the ladies and made his way quickly to his mother. Had she been drinking too much already? They hadn’t been home from the funeral very long.
He grabbed her hand before she should hit Auntie Flo again. “Mother, stop!” Caleb said, putting his arm about her waist and dragging her back a few steps. Auntie Flo had her hands over her face, sobbing into them and saying “I’m so sorry” over and over again.
Caleb’s mother’s angry eyes found Auntie Flo’s son standing nearby. “And you, you knew didn’t you? You knew and you said nothing!”
The man stood silent, guilty. But Florence cried out from the sofa. “Please, don’t blame him. I made him promise not to tell.”
Caleb looked around at the stunned guests. “Please, everyone, may we have a moment? There are refreshments out in the garden. Please help yourselves.” He moved his mother to an armchair and made sure she sat before he closed the double doors of the room behind the guests. Auntie Flo and her son stayed where they had been. Caleb was certain the other guests thought his mother was having a drunken episode, but he knew she wasn’t that sauced yet.
When the doors were shut, he asked, “What’s going on, Mother?”
She raised her arm, pointing at the old woman on the sofa. “She… she… oh! I’m just so angry! She could have saved him, Caleb. All this time she knew and she did nothing to help.”
Caleb felt confused. “How, Mother? How could she have saved him? He abused his powers on his own. He knew what would happen. He had an addiction to them.”
Auntie Florence stopped sobbing and sniffled a bit. “Caleb, how much do you know of our history?”
“All of it, I think,” Caleb replied. He had read all the books, didn’t he?
“Have you ever heard of the Trindells, the Brockhursts, or the Marishes?” Auntie Flo asked, trying to avoid the hateful glare of Caleb’s mother.
Caleb looked off out the window, trying to remember if those names were significant. He shook his head. “I don’t seem to recall…”
“Because those families died out over a century ago, or, everyone thought.”
Caleb sighed, walking over to another armchair and having a seat. Was he going to find out that more of their kind were around? He had just dealt with Chase Collins, a descendant of the Putnams. Finding out about him had been quite a shock.
“Go on,” Caleb sighed.
Auntie Flo looked about the room. “Many years ago, I was compiling a family tree. I know it’s been done many times before, but I found some letters in my attic that seemed to indicate that there was a bastard child of the Marishes in 1902 who left the county with his mother shortly after his birth.”
Auntie Flo cleared her throat and blew her nose before continuing. Her son handed her a drink. “The Marishes of Ipswich died out the next generation and everyone had forgotten about the bastard son who carried their blood. And since he was a boy, it was unimportant at the time.”
“Why would it be unimportant?” Caleb asked. “Wouldn’t he still be a Son of Ipswich if he carried the blood?”
Mark Anderson, Auntie Flo’s son, now spoke up, shaking his head. “The Marishes were a matrilineal line, just as the Trindells and Brockhursts were. Only the females carried the blood, as only the males carry the blood in your line.”
“Mark, let me tell it,” Flo said.
“Sorry, Mother.”
She looked back to Caleb, regretfully. “I did some research, Caleb, with Mark’s help, of course. The Marish bastard went to Boston with his mother. And there they stayed. He had children. But they were all males. That is, until recently. Sixteen years ago a Marish female was born.”
Caleb’s mother made a strangled sound. Was this what she was so upset about? There was a witch about that she didn’t know of? Was this a threat of some kind?
“All right,” Caleb said. “Does she know what she is?”
Mark shook his head. “I don’t believe so.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Caleb replied. “Mother? Why does this upset you?”
“Caleb,” Aunt Flo interrupted before his mother could speak. “Before, when there were still matrilineal families, warlocks did not age when they used their powers. The witches completed the balance of power and there was not the aging problem.”
Caleb sat and stared a moment, his eyes swinging from person to person. Somehow he had missed that part of the history, or maybe it didn’t feel relevant enough to remember because those particular lines were extinguished. Him and his friends had never pondered that things had been different for their forbearers. It just seemed that the limit on power use had always been there because that is the circumstances they had been born into.
“Do you see now, Caleb?” his mother asked in clipped, angry tones. “She’s known for years that this girl, this Marish was out there. She could have helped your father. She could have saved Pogue’s father as well.”
Auntie Flo began crying anew. “They didn’t deserve saving.”
“Why you…” Caleb’s mother began, rising from her chair. Caleb stood and wrapped his arms about her, preventing her from attacking the old woman again. Mark moved closer to his mother’s side, protectively.
“Mother,” Caleb said, “please, sit down.”
“He didn’t deserve it!” Auntie Flo persisted. “But Caleb does.”
Caleb was able to get his mother to sit in the armchair again, but he didn’t move far from her.
“What are you suggesting?” he asked his aunt.
“I made arrangements,” Auntie Florence announced, catching everyone’s interest again. “I want to help you, Caleb, and your friends too.”
“How?”
“I wrote to the girl and her father and told them of an inheritance. That ought to entice them since they don’t seem to be too well off. But I stipulated that the girl will have to attend Spencer if they want to inherit. That will give you boys time do whatever you need to do to get her to stay.”
“Is there really an inheritance?” Caleb’s mother snapped.
“No, but I’m making one for them. And if the other families wish to contribute and make it even more enticing, I would appreciate the help. The Marishes wouldn’t have to find out where the money is really coming from. The point is to get the girl here to stay so that the Sons of Ipswich don’t have to suffer the same fate as their fathers.”
Caleb didn’t know what to think. He never imagined a life where they’d be able to use their powers as much as they wanted without worrying about the consequences. The restriction had always kept them in line. Well, some of them. Reid had a tendency to push the boundaries. Caleb wondered if things were better as they were. How would having this freedom change who they are? Would they become greedy and abusive?
“I don’t know what to think about all this,” Caleb answered. “I think I should talk to the others about it first. This is a lot to consider.”
“What?” his mother said, startled. “Caleb, what is there to think about? Of course we should bring the Marish girl here. Maybe you think you won’t need her, that you can control it. But you just don’t know, do you? And Tyler, Reid, and Pogue? What if they start using too much? Do you want them to die early?”
“No, of course not, Mother,” Caleb replied. He sighed heavily. “Just… give us a few days to digest all this.” He looked at Mark. “And I’d like to see any books you have on the history of the matrilineal families and how they relate to the patrilineal lines.”
Mark nodded. “No problem, I’ll bring them by later.”
“Mother, why don’t you go up to your room and rest a bit. I’ll take care of the guests,” Caleb said. His mother nodded, giving one more scathing look at Auntie Florence before leaving the room.
“Thank you for telling us this,” Caleb said to his aunt, before making his way out to the garden. He walked straight to the group of his friends and Sarah.
Sarah gave him a hug and asked, “Is everything all right?”
Caleb tried to smile. “Maybe, I don’t know yet.”
His friends looked at him somberly, waiting for more.
“We need to meet tomorrow,” Caleb said to his friends. “You know where.”
They nodded, wondering what Caleb had to say after witnessing that drama in the house. Something seemed to be weighing heavily on his mind.
Sarah was curious too, but knew better than to interfere. She hadn’t been with Caleb too long and didn’t feel right drilling him on his personal business. She knew what the boys were and it was still very mysterious to her, but she was content letting Caleb reveal things to her when he felt comfortable doing so. She already realized that she was the only one at the funeral who wasn’t a relative of one of the four boys around her, and she felt privileged that she was let in on their secret as much as she had been. It was a bit frightening when she thought of it, the power they had, but she felt safe with Caleb. He never made her feel threatened.
OOOO
The underground crypt had always been a meeting place for the Sons of Ipswich - as long as any of them could remember. And so it was serving its purpose today in providing them a place to speak in private, surrounded by magical signs, books and other relics.
It was here they could be themselves and talk freely about matters that outsiders were not allowed to know.
They each sat on their chairs, facing one another. On the floor was a large pentagram and their chairs sat on the points. Only one chair was not filled - the fifth chair for the fifth Son of Ipswich. Chase’s chair. But that suited them just fine, seeing that Chase wanted nothing but their powers, and their deaths. Hopefully, Chase would stay gone.
Caleb had spent the last hour telling them of the matrilineal lines and the Marishes. He had outlined many passages in the books that Mark Anderson had brought over last night. He had stayed awake most of the night, reading and learning the parts of their histories he had not known before. And now he shared what he had learned and placed the question before the other sons.
Did they want the Marishes to return to Ipswich? That was now the question.
“I say yes,” Reid blurted, without hesitation. “Do you know what it would mean? We could use our powers all we want. We would be invincible.”
Pogue frowned. Reid was always so anxious to use. But Reid’s father gave up using long ago in order to preserve his life, as did Tyler’s father. But Pogue and Caleb, they knew what it was like to have a father waste away from abuse of power. Tyler seemed to understand, having listened to his own father’s warnings. But Reid… ever the rebel, thought he could push the limits and still get away with it. If any of them needed the Marish girl, it would be Reid.
“We would still have to hide our powers from outsiders, Reid,” Pogue replied. “We are still outnumbered. You haven’t forgotten the witch hunts, have you?”
“Duh, Pogue,” Reid sneered. “I didn’t mean we’d proclaim ourselves masters of the universe. Only that we’d be able to make our lives whatever we wanted them to be, covertly of course.”
“How exactly would it work?” Tyler asked, ever the thinker of the four. “How would she balance our powers? Ritual?”
Caleb shifted in his chair, looking uncomfortable.
“What is it, Caleb?” Pogue dug.
Caleb grabbed a book from the ground that had a bookmark sticking out of it. He opened it up, eyes blackening, and had the book float to each of them so they could see the picture and the passage he had circled.
Reid’s smile grew bigger as he read. “Nice.”
The book then floated to Pogue and then finally Tyler, who said, “We have to have sex with her, at least once every full moon.”
“Hey, it will be like drinking from the fountain of youth,” Reid grinned, “but more fun.”
Pogue sent him a disgruntled glare. “And what are Caleb and I suppose to tell our girlfriends? Sorry, babe, I’ve got to fuck the Marish girl tonight, it’s the full moon. That will go over real well.”
Reid shrugged. “Why would you tell them anything? Besides, if they really loved you, they wouldn’t want you to die young.”
“Or we just continue on the way we have. We just control ourselves,” Caleb said, calmly. He didn’t want to have to cheat on Sarah. He really wanted things to work between them.
“You and Pogue could be good little boyfriends then,” Reid replied. “Tyler and I will get laid every full moon.”
“She could be a total woofer, Reid,” Pogue laughed. “Be careful what you wish for.”
“Hey, there’s always paper bags,” Reid grinned.
Caleb sighed at their joking. He glanced at Tyler who was silently contemplating. “Ty, what are you thinking?”
Tyler shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I just never thought about being able to use anytime I want, you know?”
Caleb nodded. “I know.” He looked around the circle of faces. “Besides, I think my mother will do anything to bring that girl here. She doesn’t trust that we could ever be paragons of control, not after what she went through with my dad. He always told her that he could control it, that nothing would happen to him. But he couldn’t. He didn’t.”
“So it’s settled then,” Reid smiled. “I hope she’s not a dog. Did Anderson snap any pictures of her during his investigation?”
Caleb shrugged. “Don’t know. If he did, he didn’t bring them over last night. We can‘t talk about her and what she’s here for to anyone. She doesn‘t even know she‘s a witch yet. And I don’t want to give Sarah and Kate anything to worry about.”
“She’s going to be ‘the new girl’ at Spencer,” Tyler spoke. “We should just try to be her friend - bring her into our group slowly.”
“You and Reid can do that,” Pogue frowned. “Caleb and I can’t look interested in her. That way the girls will think she’s your love interest, not ours.”
“She better look halfway decent then,” Reid replied.
�@
OOOOOO
A/N Hi everyone. I hope there is an audience for this fiction. I’ve been thinking of this storyline for quite some time. Please review and let me know if there is interest out there. Thank you.
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The Age of Temptation