Scarlett Morgan - (Prologue)

As the sun begins to set on the quaint town of Moor, Lily finally pushes open the front door to the local coffee shop, the little bell above her head jingling to announce her arrival. Inside, her friends are already huddled around their usual table in the corner, empty mugs and plates scattered in front of them. Alexis is leaning against the counter, clearly not expecting any more customers for the night.

"Hey, look who's finally here!" Jason calls out, his signature smirk plastered across his face. The blonde dropout leans back in his chair. "Thought you'd ditched us for something better, Lily."

Lily rolls her eyes, plopping down into the last empty spot in the booth. "As if. Mom just needed some help with the new shelving in the living room. You know how she gets with her DIY projects."

"Ooh, manual labor," Jason teases, nudging her playfully. "Careful, you might end up with some actual muscle tone."

"Ha ha," Alexis deadpans, swiping his half-finished muffin in retaliation. "You know you still owe me for the last 10 of these right?"

"What? I thought they were on the house!" Jason whines, throwing his arms out to the side.

"Yeah, on game nights only dude... Not every other day of the week you're in here." Alexis sounds frustrated, but looking at her face, Jason knows she's just messing around. So instead of fighting back, he just waves her off, turning his attention back to the table as she throws the muffin away.

As Lily settles in at the table, and the mood lightens up again, the friends descend into good-natured bickering, Lily feels the stress of the day starting to melt away. There's something so comforting about this easy back-and-forth, the way they can all rag on each other without any real bite behind it. Back before she moves to Moor, she'd never been so comfortable with a friend group of her own...

Alexis, noticing Lily's empty hands, gestures towards the counter. "Want me to whip you up your usual, Lil? I know you're probably dying for some caffeine after dealing with that shelving project."

Lily smiles gratefully. "Yes, please. Extra shot, if you don't mind."

As Alexis busies herself behind the counter, Jason leans forward, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "So, Lil, word on the street is that Bree's been talking shit about you again. Apparently, she saw you and David getting cozy at the library last week and now she's convinced you two are secretly dating."

Nearby, David blushes, almost spitting out his drink as he looks away from Lily.

Lily groans, burying her face in her hands. "Oh my god, seriously? We were studying for our chem final... Isn't she supposed to be some 'social media star'? Why is she so obsessed with my life?'"

"Because she doesn't have one of her own," Alexis chimes in, setting Lily's steaming mug in front of her. "That girl needs to spend less time worrying about other people's business and more time working on her own sad excuse for a personality."

"Hah... yeah..." David mutters. "Why would it matter if we were dating anyway? We're adults now, she needs to grow out of highschool..."

Just then, Lily's phone starts buzzing in her pocket. She fishes it out, frowning when she sees Scarlett's name flashing on the screen.

"Hang on, guys, I gotta take this," she says, standing up and moving towards the back of the shop for some privacy.

"Scar, hey, what's up?" Lily asks, a hint of concern creeping into her voice. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine," Scarlett says dismissively, her words rushing out in an impatient stream. "Listen, I need you to tell me where the key to Grandma's attic is. It's important."

Lily's frown deepens, her forehead creasing in confusion. "The attic? Why do you need to get up there?"

"I just do, okay?" Scarlett snaps, her tone sharp and irritated. "I've got some stuff I need to look for. Just tell me where the damn key is."

Lily sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Okay, fine. It should be in the kitchen drawer, with all the other spare keys. Is everything okay? What are you looking for?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," Scarlett says brusquely. "Thanks, gotta go." And with that, she hangs up, leaving Lily staring at her phone in bewilderment.

Shaking her head, Lily makes her way back to the table, sliding into her seat with a sigh. Her friends look up at her expectantly, curiosity written all over their faces.

"What was that all about?" Alexis asks, her head tilted with curiosity.

"Who knows," Lily shrugs, wrapping her hands around her warm mug. "Scarlett needed to know where a key was, for some mysterious 'stuff' she needs to look for in our grandma's attic. Your guess is as good as mine."

Jason leans forward in his chair, folding his arms out onto the table with a grin. "Maybe she's finally taking my advice and becoming a witch!" His eyes wide, he looks at his friends staring back with enenthused expressions. "What? She's totally got that vibe, and she's always bitching and moaning about everything being too boring around here!"

David snorts, nearly spitting out his coffee. "How does 'becoming a witch' help her out there?"

"Witches are always up to cool shit. They brew potions, curse people, tons of stuff!"

Alexis laughs, finally sitting down with the group. "Hah, you have a point, sure would beat moping around town all day at least."

As her friends launch into increasingly wild speculations about Scarlett's possible attic adventures, Lily can't quite shake the feeling of unease in the pit of her stomach. Scarlett's always been impulsive and unpredictable, but something about this feels different somehow.

But then, before she can talk about her feelings, Alexis draws her attention back to the group, cracking some joke about Jason's latest attempt to impress the new girl at the gym. "Then, he dropped the dumbell on his toes!"

"H-hey!" Jason blushes. "That was heavy as shit, besides she was probably a lesbian or something, I think she said that later..."

As the sun sets over the mountains, and darkness encroaches over Moor, the coffee shop stays lit, ready for the group's weekly game night, just like every week...