Katy did not bring it up again over the next week; she was focused on the Eleball game. She was sure if the Fire team won it would give her a chance to find that journal without all the guards around. So, as the day came nearer, she did her homework and trained, and that was all she did. After training she would drag herself to her dorm and fall asleep, they had long weekend trainings, and their training schedule started to affect all on the Fire team.
Soon the Saturday of the game came, they were all nervous this was for the championship cup. Deen and Katy were mostly on the sidelines, the game was close, awfully close, when they went into the last quarter, they were tied. That is when Garret decided to put Deen and Katy into the game.
“Look I know you each are great flyers and have great power, but all I need you two to do is distract the Spirit team while I try this new play. Got it?”
Katy and Deen both nodded and fly on up and they flew circles around the Spirit team members. They watched Garret for any sign to change tactics, as the last few seconds counted down to the end and they were still tied. They all knew they did not want to go into sudden death.
Katy saw Garret go to make his move, he did a spell that put up a shield made of the Earth below and then dove down and intercepted the ball. It looked like he was would make it, when a bolt of yellow hit him in the back.
Katy and Deen left their spots and rushed over, Deen caught the ball.
“Keep moving Deen, I will follow you!” Katy yelled at him.
They felt like they moved in slow motion, as they watched the seconds tick off one by one, and they knew they had to get across the goal line. Katy took a second to think and then did something to help Deen along. She used her anger and frustration and created a strong burst of wind and blew him clear across the field right into the goal lines. They had won.
There was a silence then suddenly the silence was full of loud screams and tears. They all went up to the headmaster’s stand and accepted the championship cup and they all proceeded to their dorm to celebrate.
Katy watched as the Earth went to the dining hall with the Airs and Waters, and the Spirits as they went back to their dorms. Katy knew this was the only time she would to be able to make a move, and with only seconds, she performed the invisibility spell and snuck behind a couple of Airs that were going back to their dorm.
Once in she again preformed the basic hiding spells, she went up to the same room that she had overheard Riley and his cousins. She stopped and realized they would be her cousins as well. And that made her sad that her blood wanted her dead. She snapped herself out of the self-pity and started to look for her father’s journal.
She was about to give up, she plopped down on a cloud-like chair and sat there for a moment to think. That is when Riley came into the dorm. She jumped up and ran behind a desk. She knelt, even though she knew he could not see her.
Riley looked around him then tapped his wand against a desk and a secret door opened. Inside was a bunch of journals, Riley placed one on the top of it, and then tapped it again and then left.
Katy got up from where she was and looked at the desk, it was a blackthorn desk. She thought about ways to get into it, and out of frustration she pointed her own wand at it and said “open.” And to her shock and amazement it did. She looked down and saw a bunch of journals each had a lock on it. She went through them and found one that she knew was the one she searched for, the one who had the answers she needed.
She tried to open it, but nothing worked. She glanced down at her watch and saw she had searched for almost an hour, so she got up and ran back to her own. She had to rush back due to the limitations of the spell. She had just entered her room when the invisibility spell dropped. She stuck the journal into her bag; she knew she would work on it later, once Deen was asleep. She could not tell him what she did or that she found it, because if she did it would mean trouble for both of them. And she would not have that, not when she was so close to discovering truth, which was buried within all these lies.
She went down to the celebration that would go strong for hours. She stopped to get something to eat when Deen cornered her.
“Where were you? And don’t lie to me,” Deen demanded.
“I was up in the dorms; you just saw me come down.” Katy knew she lied, and she knew Deen knew as well.
“Katy… you didn’t do anything stupid did you?”
“Nope.” Katy knew what he thought, and he was right, but she was a better actress and blocker, then he was a reader.
“Katy…” Deen knew she had blocked him, but part of him knew she would need to find the truth, one way or another.
“Deen, I promise you I didn’t do anything stupid. Let’s just celebrate our win,” Katy said.
Deen looked at her for a second and then nodded his head. And they went to join the party.
The following days went by quickly. Katy once again had her powers under control and had no more incidents of setting her homework on fire. Nobody really knew what brought about the change, but Katy did, she had the journal and soon she shall find out what really the truth of her existence was, and why her biological family wanted her dead. With the Eleball season done, practice was no longer required but she and Deen still went, they wanted to practice for next year. After all, in the next season they knew Spirit house will be out for blood, well at least for the cup back. And they needed to be prepared for whatever they might bring to the field.
It was the last day of October and since classes cut in half most of the professors just went over last week’s lessons. Except in Herbology, Professor De’ Medici had them plant flower bulbs, and told them to think of it as a promise for spring. Then they went down to the dining hall where they started a great feast and began the Samhain celebrations. The Necromancy professors called upon a ton of ancestral spirits to help celebrate the lives of the ones that have gone before them. There was an altar, created out of photos of the ones that had gone before them and many wrote letters in which they sealed with their power and placed upon the alter. They carved small pumpkins and turnips and placed candles in them and put them all over the castle in the windows to help guide the spirits on their way. They carved jack o’ lanterns to help protect from malicious spirits. Some kids drew family trees highlighting the ancestors that were now only with them in spirit. Katy kept hers remarkably simple there was a single line from her to her mother. Deen said he did not feel like creating a tree, but Katy told him he should. He had a much better family tree to make then her. So, she sat with him and helped him, as he asked his father and mother all about his ancestors. They had fun, then they had what was called a dumb supper later in the evening. Nobody could talk; they had to be silent so not to scare away the spirits that had joined them. There were places set for each witch or warlock from the families that had passed from their mortal life in the last year. After dark they then had a bonfire, in which they each threw a stone, with their own personal markings on it. They were told if the stone survived the fire then it would be a sign of good fortune for the New Year, if not it was a sign of bad fortune. The next day students had dug through the ashes of the fire as they searched for their stone. Katy and Deen went to get theirs and found something quite strange about them. On the outside they seemed fine, but upon further inspection most of the insides of their large stones had turned to ash. They each made a mental note to ask the MacCathmhaoils and Deen’s parents, but put it out of their minds.
Katy had spent what little free time she had alone to try to open the journal and so far, she had not had any luck in the matter. She knew it would be hard to break into, but she did not think it would be any harder than the Prophecy Ball and she figured out how to open that. The only real free time she had was when Deen would go off to bed, so she really did not have a lot of time to work on it, but still she tried every night.
Kris Charles - Author 