- Someone is trying to dissolve the Sons of Ipswich. When Caleb's essence is separated from his body, it is up to a girl named Sam to convince the remaining Sons that she can see and hear him. Together, they have to find and destroy whoever is responsible, before it is too late for them all. -

This is my first Covenant fic. I think everyone is pretty close to being in character. I hope this is something fresh. Let me know what you think!

Caleb walked across the parking lot, skimming one foot over the wet pavement and sending water drops flying from the soles of his Converse. He hefted his bookbag back in place and raised his eyes to the moon that hung heavily over the trees. It was unseasonably warm for March in Massachusetts, and Caleb dabbed at his forehead with his sleeve, huffing out a breath against the humidity.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned, raising a hand to shield his eyes against the harsh orange light of the street lamp. He squinted his eyes against the darkness and saw a figure standing on the edge of the light.

"Hello?"

The figure remained motionless and Caleb was suddenly nervous. He turned back to his car and unlocked it, glancing back over his shoulder uneasily. He got in his car and sat down, inhaling slowly and flicking his gaze over to where the figure still stood, watching him.

He moved to start his car, frowning at the small bunch of dried flowers that was stuck beneath his windshield wiper. He got out of the car and picked up the flowers, turning to the shadow that lurked beyond the light.

"What's this?" he asked, holding up the flowers. He heard a voice, faint on the wind, but he was sure the person was saying something. He started forward, taking one step before his knees buckled and he fell unconscious.

Caleb woke a short while later with rain splattering on his face. He sat up and shook his head, trying to clear it. He ran a hand over his face and stood, struggling against a wave of dizziness. His t-shirt clung to him like a second skin, and his jeans were sagging on his hips. He was cold and felt…odd. He braced his hands on his knees and concentrated on his breathing, letting the cool rain pelt the back of his neck.

He looked to the left and straightened. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me," he croaked. His mustang—his pride and joy—was gone, along with his bookbag and whatever else had been in his car. He bit out a curse and ran unsteadily through the rain, heading for the dorms.

There were still a lot of people milling about for it to be so late, but Caleb didn't question it. He spotted Pogue, Reid, and Tyler at the edge of the crowd, leaning against the steps.

Caleb was still several feet away when he shouted over to them. "Somebody stole my friggin' car! Right out of the parking—Hey," he called when no one even turned in his direction.

He closed the distance between them and crossed his arms, listening.

"Look, I'm going to the hospital," Tyler was saying. "You guys can do whatever you want."

"What's up?" Caleb asked, wondering why Tyler had to go to the hospital.

Reid hopped onto the concrete banister as Tyler made his way to the SUV in the lot across the street.

"Ok, seriously, what's going on," Caleb asked slowly.

"This is fucked, Pogue," Reid said, ignoring Caleb completely.

Pogue nodded, clenching his jaw. "Come on, we'd better catch Tyler if we're gonna ride with him."

Pogue and Reid started across the street and Caleb rushed after them.

"Pogue," Caleb called. "Pogue!" he said more forcefully, reaching out to grab the other boy's arm. His hand passed through without resistance.

Pogue shivered and turned, glancing back toward the now empty street.

"You ok?" Tyler asked, staring at Pogue as Reid climbed in the passenger seat.

"Yeah," Pogue said absently. There was nothing out of place in their surroundings, so he shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go."

Caleb, still speechless, watched the other boys ride off as a feeling of dread began to build and rest heavy in his stomach. He stared at the hand that he had used to try to grab Pogue.

"What…the…" he let the expletive trail off, raising his eyes once again to the fading taillights.

Pain in the Astral Projection

2 Weeks Later

"Have a nice day, Samantha."

"Thanks Mr. Linderman. You too," Sam called, waving to the older gentleman behind the counter.

Sam whipped out her sunglasses and put them on, shading her eyes against the afternoon light. She'd been in town for a few months, attending her senior year at the local public school.

The change from a New Orleans public to a sleepy New England public was a serious culture shock, but Sam thought she had adjusted very well. She missed her friends, but some of the black-clad Pagans from Salem reminded her of a portion of her old classmates. For Sam herself, she preferred a less noticeable appearance, which is why she opted for loose jeans and band t-shirts most of the time.

Sam stepped out of the little corner store and popped the trunk of her Jetta with her remote. She narrowed her eyes on the guy lying across her hood, resting his back against her windshield.

"Hey, can I help you?" she asked.

Caleb was waiting for his mother to come out of the pharmacy when he saw the girl come out of the store, but he didn't pay her any attention. It wasn't like it would make a difference if he did. So he didn't look over, he just resumed his sitting and waiting.

"Hel-lo? Are you rude and hard of hearing?"

Caleb did look over then, hoping to see a fight or a scene of some kind to break up the monotony of being invisible. What he didn't expect to see was the girl looking directly at him with a peeved expression on her face.

He sat up slowly, bringing his legs over the side of the hood and leaning forward, peering into her face. He glanced behind him, making sure there wasn't anyone standing nearby that she could be talking to.

"Are you talking to me?"

She leaned in, mimicking him, and lowered the volume of her voice to match his. "Yeah," she whispered, nodding. "Get off my car."

Caleb's face split into a wide and sincere smile, and he clapped his hands together.

Sam jumped at the young man's sudden excitement, arching a brow and readjusting her grocery bag. "Ok, yay. I'm glad you're excited. Get your ass off my car now." She moved to the trunk and put the groceries in it while he hopped off her hood.

He chattered happily, something about being quiet for two weeks or something, reaching out for her as he went around a parking meter—

No, not around a parking meter. Through a parking meter.

"Well, dammit,"" Sam groaned. She held up her hand, stopping his happy advances, before dropping it to her side and looking around for any onlookers.

"Look, I didn't know that you didn't have a body when I told you to get off my car," Sam said. She went around and opened her door, sliding behind the wheel.

"You're the only person that can see or hear me. I need your help," Caleb said, standing beside her car.

"I'm sorry, babe. I can't help you with whatever unfinished business you have so that you can cross over."

"But I'm not dead," Caleb said. "I've been…I dunno—cursed or hexed or something."

"I'm sorry," Sam said, shutting her door and driving off.

Later that night, Sam lay in bed snuggled deeply into her blankets. She turned over to get more comfortable, opening her eyes to flick a glance at the clock. She screamed, shocked to find a pair of dark eyes staring back at her.

"Sshh…calm down. It's ok," Caleb said, backing up and raising his hands.

"Jesus H. Christ!" Sam hissed, closing her eyes and trying to get her heart rate to slow down. "What the hell are you doing here? How'd you find me?"

"Sammy Jane, you ok?" Sam's mom asked sleepily as she opened the door.

"Yeah. Nightmare. It's fine," Sam said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, mom. I'm ok."

"Ok, honey. G'night."

"Night, mom." She waited for the sound of her mother's door to shut before she pinned Caleb with a hot glare. "How did you find me?" she repeated.

"You have a school sticker on your car. I went to the school, checked a yearbook, no you. So I checked the files for the new students and low-and-behold, there you were. Ms. Samantha Jane McGovern, transferred in from The Big Easy."

"That must have taken you hours," Sam said, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, well. I don't really have a very active schedule right now." Caleb said.

Sam lay back down and rolled over, throwing her cover over her head. "Well I do, so I'm sorry you went through all the trouble for nothing."

"I'm not dead," Caleb told her. "I'm in a coma."

"That must suck, but what am I supposed to do about it?" Sam mumbled from beneath her blanket.

"I don't know. Help me somehow? You can go talk to my friends," Caleb said.

Sam grunted, obviously finished with the conversation.

"I can stay here and annoy you forever, lady. Either you can agree to help me now, or you can agree to help me later, when your sanity is hanging by a thread."

Sam was silent, so Caleb stretched out beside her on the bed and propped his hands behind his head. He smiled when she stiffened, then thought of the most effective way to drive someone crazy.

Two hours later, after enduring Caleb's a'cappella renditions of mullet rock and annoying songs, including Renegade by Styx, the theme from Fraggle Rock, and Where It's At by Beck, Sam was nearly at her wit's end.

"Uh oh, here we go, turn up the radio! C'mon everybody, to the Nth degreeeee!"

"Alright! For God's sake, just shut up!" Sam hissed, tossing her blankets aside. She blew a lock of light brown hair out of her eyes and sighed. "Real original idea. Is Ghost like your favorite movie or something?" she demanded, waving her hands.

Caleb shrugged. "My mom used to watch it all the time when I was a kid."

Sam was silent for a long moment before she sighed again, dropping her hands to the mattress. "Ok, fine. If I agree to talk to your friend, will you please just let me go to sleep?"

"Cross my heart and hope to…" Caleb stopped, laughing nervously.

"Don't go there," Sam said, rolling over.

"I don't plan on it," Caleb said, standing and falling across the loveseat on the opposite wall.

Caleb checked the clock on the bank across the street. Sam was supposed to meet him in this alley at 6:30 and it was now 7:13. He had found her after school, and after answering her questions—including whether or not the Sons of Ipswich were really made up of witches like the local gossips claimed—she had agreed to meet him down from Nicky's. He had told her the truth about all of them, and he prayed he hadn't made a mistake in doing so. He raked a hand through his hair with a curse as he looked at the clock again.

"Nice language," Sam said, stepping into the dank alleyway. "Think I dumped you, Sir Nicholas?"

Caleb stared at her confusedly, blinking slowly.

"Oh, come on," Sam said, running a hand through her short hair. "Sir Nicholas. Nearly-Headless Nick? One of the ghosts in Harry Potter, hello?"

"Yeah, I'm not a big Pott-head," Caleb said. "I prefer reality to fantasy."

Sam shrugged and leaned against a building. "So?"

"So, you're late. Pogue, Reid, and Tyler should be at Nicky's by now."

"How do you know they'll go tonight?" Sam asked.

"Because, they go every night. It's pretty much the highlight of our social calendar," Caleb said dryly.

"Ok. So tell me again why this friend of yours is going to believe me when I say you told me to talk to him? You know, with you being in a coma, and all," Sam asked pointedly. She ran a hand through her hair again, a sure sign of her nervousness. "I mean, do I just say take the Sixth Sense route and say 'I see semi-dead people'?"

Caleb smiled indulgently. "Relax. This isn't the strangest thing we've come across, trust me."

"Isn't the stra-just what exactly were you into when you had a body?"

The sound of Caleb's laugh filled the alley, reverberating off the walls of the surrounding buildings.

"You'll be fine," he assured her. "Pogue would be the best to talk to. He'll be the one in the leather jacket and eyeliner."

For some reason, that did very little to sooth Sam's nerves.

"Alright, I'll go with you," he said.

She shivered as Caleb's hand past through her shoulder and tossed a glare back at him. He followed her down the street and into the dimly lit tavern.

"Over there," Caleb said, pointing to where his three friends sat. "Reid's the one in the beanie, Pogue's got longer hair," he pointed, yelling over the music and noise. "Tyler's the youngest. He's the one that looks like he's going to run away any minute."

Her gaze flitted over each boy as he pointed, and she arched a brow at his description of Tyler. The boy looked uncomfortable in the crowded corner, huddling back into his jacket as his blue eyes scanned the other groups nearby.

"You ready?" Caleb asked. Sam gave a brief nod. "Go on, then."

She weaved through the crowd until she got to the back table. The blond boy flicked his eyes over her—hesitating on her breasts, she noticed—before turning his attention back to Tyler.

Sam leaned down and tapped Pogue on the shoulder, stepping back when he whipped his bottle-green gaze around on her.

"Hi."

"Hey?" Pogue said, looking puzzled. "…Something you need?" he asked when Sam didn't say anything.

"Can I talk to you? Um, over there?" She pointed to the empty doorway that led to the restrooms.

Sam made her way over as Pogue stood, taking off his jacket and draping it over the back of his chair. "Reid, watch my stuff," he said, shrugging at Tyler's questioning look.

She watched him approach, noticing the confident way in which he carried himself. He waved to someone as he passed, and Sam noticed how defined his biceps looked. He appeared to be fit…and strong.

All the better to break you in half when he thinks you're a freakin' nutbar, she thought.

"Do I know you?" Pogue asked as he reached the mousy girl waiting for him.

"No. I just moved here. Well, it was back in December, but—"

"You're rambling," Caleb interjected from behind Pogue.

"—oh. Anyway, no, you don't know me. I'm Sam," she said, holding out her hand. Pogue shook it, smiling and looking amused.

"Pogue," he said. "So what can I do for you, Sam?"

"I was told to come talk to you," Sam said, ignoring Caleb's waving hands.

"That's entirely the wrong approach!" he exclaimed quietly.

"To tell me….?" Pogue prodded.

Sam's eyes widened as her gaze flicked from Caleb to Pogue and back again.

"To tell you what happened to Caleb," she blurted.

He knew his best friend, and when Caleb saw Pogue straighten and saw the muscle in his jaw clench, he knew what was coming. He sighed and buried his face in his hands, waiting for Pogue's reaction.