The sky was overcast over the next few days before the new term. And it wasn’t because rain was coming. The reason was because all magical creatures had left their preserves, and their homes. It started with the dragon preserves and within hours they had word that all the dragon preserves were empty, then word started to come in that other magical creatures followed suit.
Katy didn’t know what it meant exactly, but she did understand it meant a lot more heartache for her and the ones she considered her family. She kept quiet of the last couple of days of break; they all tried to get her to talk. But they had no luck in the matter. They wanted to know more about what had happened with Solomon. But Katy knew she had said too much. She knew that some things had to be to be kept between the few people who know the truth. She made a mental note to seek out Headmaster O’Cuinn when she got back to school. It was time to find out what everybody else knew about her. She knew she was hypocritical, but she was sick of the secrets, she needed to know what they kept from her, about her. She had thought about sneaking into Edgar’s office, but the vacation trip to Ireland put a knot into that idea.
When they left to go back to school, it was uneventful; it was a lot of the same, except now Deen had recruited Randall to help him try and trick some information out of Katy. And try they did. They even missed Kandi’s treat car, they were saddened by that, but they shrugged it off and continued to badger Katy for details until she did something they didn’t know she could.
“Shut up!” She waived her hand toward them, and it silenced them. Just at that moment Antonio walked up.
“Katherine Lillian Fitz!” Katy knew she was in trouble. “What is the meaning of this?”
“They wouldn’t shut up. I am not going to spill my secrets not until I am ready. There is a lot they don’t know. I don’t know if the headmaster filled in the blanks or not, to you and the Hepburns, but I know I kept lot from Riley, Jerome and especially Deen.” Katy responded.
“Fine, but release them, and I shall see all three of you on Saturday.” Antonio said and walked away, he shook his head as he went.
“What!? Why did we get detentions?” Randall yelled as soon as Katy released him and ran after Antonio
“Sorry Katy.” Deen said, and looked in his bag for a sugar wand.
Katy sighed. “It is okay, I understand.” Katy said and handed him a box of sugar wands. “I promise to tell you when I am ready, but please, just please, let me come to terms with it myself.” Katy said as she put on a pair of headphones to listen to her new music player Riley gave her. He had gotten it for her when they went to Ireland, he figured if lullabies and nursery rhymes could bring her out of her nightmares, than music may be a good thing to have around. It contained a lot of ‘oldies’ that were from the normal world, there were a lot of magical world songs as well, which included John Charles, Stephy and the Goddesses, and Kandi and the Sweets (which Katy found out is how the owner of Kandi’s Sweets made her money to go into business.) The music calmed her down, which with how she let her temper get out of hand was a good thing.
The rest of the trip was quiet and soon they all were sat at their appointed dinner tables, and awaited the start of term announcements. Again they were a bit late. Katy knew the headmaster was again outside deep in a discussion about something. And that something was her. But she just sat and waited for the headmaster to swish in and give the normal announcements, she didn’t even try to listen; she just didn’t have the drive to even to consider listening.
Well he did swoosh in, he did catch her eyes, like every other semester, but his announcements were not the usual ones they had come to expect. “It is my displease to announce that the following classes are being placed on a temporary hold due to the vampires, werewolves, merpeople, giants, and Ondines have left to meet with their tribes, as well as all other, for lack of a better word extra magical beings. The classes on hold are as follows: Spells with Lexis McRaov, Creatures with Orlando O’ Conaill, Healing with Drake Marko, Languages with Sabrina Roux, Martial Arts with Bryan Pratt, Pyrokinesis with Sara Kenna, Divinations with Erin O’Conaill, Arts with Leonardo De Abgal, Aspecting with Aphrodite Egoista, Chorus with Melodia Coker, Physical Education with Dominick Edwards…” The list went on, but Katy and Deen checked out with the a lot of the first years, most first years took those classes, and Katy knew the headmaster would announce the classes by year, there were a lot more first through fifth year teachers on the list but they didn’t affect Katy, so she checked out. She knew now this war was to be big. When the headmaster finished the list, there had been forty-nine classes suspended.
“WHAT?!” Was the collective question, it was going to set a lot of people back.
“Calm down, all of the professors have assured me they will return for next term. Until then the classes are postponed until we can come up with new schedules.” The headmaster sat down and waved his wand, which Katy knew sent the message to the brownies all were ready; and the food appeared. But dinner was very subdued; all were upset because of the hold on their classes.
Katy went up and unpacked then helped Deen, and she caught his thoughts, and sent hers to him. “Meet me after the others go to bed. Midnight. We have something to talk about. Okay Deen?”
“Okay.” Deen told her as Katy left the for her own dorm room.
At twelve oh one Deen met Katy in the hall as planned. “What is going on Katy?”
“Something is up. And not just an upcoming war. I think it is time to show you everything. Come on we will take the hidden exit and go down to our hiding place.”
Deen went and grabbed his winter cloak and followed Katy to the forest where they climbed up a tree house they found last term. “What is up? Why come all the way here?”
“I am going to show you everything and I need you to do the oath not to tell anybody.” Katy explained as she put up the normal protective spells.
“I, Deen Joseph Hepburn, swear the Warlock’s Oath to not breath a word about the events in which are told to me by Katherine Lillian Fitz here tonight until release by her from this oath.” Deen stated as he held his wand to the sky. When he finished there was a gold ring, highlighted with red that wrapped Katy and Deen.
Katy opened her mind and all of a sudden she relived everything that happened from the moment she was taken to the moment she killed Wesley to when she teleported to the village outside the school grounds. The worst part of relieving it was showing Deen what Richard tried to do, what she did to him, then what she did to Wesley when he went to deal the death blow. After she was done, Katy felt drained. She didn’t want to do this, but she was pushed by fate, by whomever it is that controls her existence.
Deen was shocked, he tried to form a coherent thought but he only thought one thing. Katy killed someone.
“Deen…” Katy didn’t really know how to explain why she did what she did. “It had to be done.” Is all she said to Deen.
“They don’t know?” Deen asked finally able to speak.
“I told the headmaster, and of course the Elders…” Katy didn’t want to finish this but she would. “And Rob…” Katy let the sentence die.
“The creepy brownie keeper again?” Deen was shocked.
“Sorry it just seems I can’t keep it from him… he seems so familiar… and I was mad. It just came out.” Katy didn’t know why but she had spilled some of her darkest secrets to Rob.
“I think I should meet him…” Deen tried to think of anything but the fact that he now had proof Katy killed Wesley Solomon. He suspected, but that is different than knowing.
“Deen, just say what you are thinking!” Katy knew what he thought about, but not what he thought about it.
“I don’t know what to think of it… I thought you killed him, I mean I suspected it, but to have it actually proven… it is a little hard to take in. I mean this is huge. You took a life! And all you can say is that I had to be done! And you didn’t even tell me!”
Katy knew Deen was mad, and had known this would lead to a fight. “Deen there is going to be a lot of lives taken in the upcoming war. I can’t really justify my actions, or why I didn’t tell you. I wanted to protect you, I guess… I don’t know. Something about keeping it from you felt like it really wasn’t me there. That it was all a bad dream. That I didn’t kill Wesley Solomon.” Katy hung her head in shame. She felt Deen’s mind close to her before he spoke.
“I am not saying he didn’t deserve to die. I am just saying there is a difference between knowing what you did and suspecting what you did. I knew you were hiding something big, but I didn’t know just how much you were hiding. Riley just ran didn’t he when he found the truth, he didn’t help you. Your own father raised his wand to kill you, your uncle raised his wand to kill you, and you sent his curse back. You deliberately sent his curse back. You could have bound him. You could have called the Guardians, but instead you took what strength you had left and sent the curse back to him. I am just saying it is different knowing the details, than suspecting them.” Deen said as he moved over to sit next to Katy and, even though he blocked her from his mind, hugged her. They just sat there until the sun started to rise, only then did they go back up to their dorms.
Katy didn’t go down to classes that day, she didn’t feel well, she would have gotten the assignments from Deen but of course, that was before she told him the truth. She just didn’t care anymore. She lost him. She felt as if her heart was being torn apart, she knew that, though he would tell nobody, she would have to tell the others soon and they too would run from her.
Before it was even lunch time Antonio was up in the dorm. He demanded to know why she wasn’t in class. “Why are you not going down to classes? Explain.”
She didn’t even block him; she just didn’t feel like it. She felt like giving up. She still wasn’t one hundred percent sure where she stood with Deen, and that hurt her. Only that she lost him. She told a third person everything, and their opinion was the only one that mattered and he blocked her. “I don’t feel like it.”
“That is no excuse.” Antonio walked over to her bed and sat on the edge. “What is wrong Katy Lily?” Katy knew he wanted to make sense of the workings of her mind, and he was worried that he could even push at her barriers, it wasn’t like Katy to let herself remain open for too long. And the thoughts of defeat flowed through him, and it saddened him.
“I told Deen everything… I don’t think it went well… Do you know everything? Did Headmaster O’Cuinn tell you everything?” Katy finally sat up and looked at Antonio
“He didn’t. What do you mean you told Deen everything?” Antonio was careful to hide his thoughts and control his facial expressions he wanted Katy to take her time in telling him. He didn’t want to push her, even though he could look into her thoughts at will at the moment, he didn’t. He didn’t want to abuse her trust; he wanted her to trust him.
“That I killed Wesley Solomon. Don’t act surprised. I know you thought I did it.” Katy said as she looked into Antonio in the eyes, and knew he had thought she killed him, but he didn’t to believe the little girl in front of him killed a person. “I told Deen, he was mad I kept secrets. I don’t blame him. But this is why I did. I have just lost my best friend.” Katy laid back down and covered her head, and cried.
“I am sure you haven’t. I am sure he just needs time to come to work it out in his head.” Antonio tried to comfort her but didn’t know really what to say. He knew if he was a twelve year old boy and the person who was his best friend had told him he had killed somebody he would have isolated himself as well, but then again he never was put in that situation. And he didn’t know what Katy meant when she said she killed him.
“Look, this is what I showed Deen.” Katy opened her mind and took Antonio on the same trip down memory lane that she had just hours ago took Deen, she didn’t give Antonio a chance to block his mind, as she dragged him through her hours at the Solomon Mansion. Then she sat in the silence while Antonio gathered his thoughts, she was sure he would turn against her as well. So she jumped up. “I am going to go get dressed and go to the rest of my classes.” She ran into the bathroom before he could say anything. And when she came back he was gone.
Katy said nothing, didn’t do a thing; she just went to classes and to practice for Eleball. For the next few weeks she avoided being alone with Deen or with Antonio She mostly put her headphones on and listened to the radio or to the music that Riley had bought her. She didn’t want to talk to them, and they didn’t seem to want to talk to her. But appearances can be deceiving.
Kris Charles - Author 