November came and went without incident, they had a lot of snow and on the weekends most kids could be found outside, except for Katy. She spent most of her time in the library as she tried to figure out how to open that journal. She only went out when Deen got sick of her being in the library or her dorm room and dragged her outside. One Saturday night she sat on her bed with the journal, she had a weird feeling go down her spine then Starlight jumped on her and started to meow like crazy. Katy took just a few seconds to listen before she jumped off her bed and ran down into the main living room of the Fire dorm and found Deen as he laid there on the floor, he did not move and her insides went cold.
Katy ran over to him and checked his pulse; they had learned to do that in Healing. It was there but it was weak. Katy did not stop to think she did the levitation spell on Deen and ran out of the dorm to the hospital wing when she got there, she found Antonio and Sandra already there. She did not stop to think how odd that was she just started to scream about Deen. “Deen is hurt! His pulse is weak. I found him… Starlight came and got me… he is hurt bad…” Then it hit her that Sandra was there. “Why are you here?” She forgot all about politeness as fear filled her soul with an icy cold feeling of loss.
“Katy!” They all turned to look at her as Nurse Rice rushed to Deen.
“Thank goodness you found him when you did; he is severely hurt just like Tony, poor boys. I will take him to the isolation ward where I have Tony and will be back…. Stay here.” Nurse Rice said and then made a stretcher appear out of nothing and moved Deen to it and Katy watched as he disappeared from the room, she fought the feeling to follow the stretcher.
“What is going on?” Katy asked as she moved her arm and withdrew her wand. “Tell me. Now.” Katy looked dead at them and would not take no for answer.
“We don’t really know. I went to my office and found Tony laying there barely alive. I sent word Sandra, who came right away. We were just waiting for Edgar Hepburn; he is the Guardian assigned to the school. I guess I should go send a message to Jane to come right away as well.” Antonio sighed and then left the room to send Jane the message to come.
Katy felt the coldness inside of her take hold, a feeling of darkness, she did not know if she wanted to fight it, it helped her to stay shut down, but then the next thing she knew she felt like she exploded. And she heard Sandra as she yelled for her to calm down. But before Katy knew it, she was out the door and marched right up to the Air dorms. She would have pounded on the door if she had not seen the person she had searched for… Riley.
“You! You did this didn’t you?” Katy yelled, she threw a fire ball at him, which he barely ducked to miss.
“I don’t know what you are talking about, witch.” Riley responded, he took a defensive stand.
“Don’t you dare lie! I know your orders are to kill me! So, why are you trying to kill the ones I love? Here I am, take me on! Be a man about it!” Katy said as she threw two more fire balls at him which he sucked into a vortex he had created around him.
“Then you should know why!” He said as he shot a vortex Katy’s way.
But she was prepared, she created one of her own and powered it with electricity and sent both right back to him. “Why don’t you tell me why you coward?”
Riley missed the attack and sent a vortex full of rock back toward her. “You are evil! You are going to kill my family!”
“I am not EVIL! You are! Your father is! Your uncle is! I would never kill anybody!” Katy said as she moved out of the way and shot back a molten ball of rock toward Riley.
“I am not! We are not! They are your family as well!” Riley yelled as he barely missed the attack. He was set to send another attack her way when he saw the headmaster as he ran toward them.
“They are not my family! Blood does not bind me! I am my own person! Blood is not what makes family. Blood will not determine my fate. Only I can determine my fate!” Before Katy could throw the ball of power, she had created the headmaster grabbed her, and held her to him with both arms. “Let me go! I am sick of him and his cowardly ways!” Katy screamed as she struggled.
“Katherine Lillian! Calm down! He is not worth being expelled over!” The headmaster yelled at her as he held her to him. “Calm down, please come with me.”
Katy knew it was useless to fight against Headmaster O’Cuinn, so she stopped. “Solomon this is not over!” Katy yelled at Riley then let the headmaster lead her away, back towards the hospital. Only then did she see that Sandra had run after her and had seen what she had tried to do. Only then did Katy feel shame, she had let her temper get out of control.
When they got back to the hospital wing Katy saw that Edgar and Jane were there, Katy felt drained and she could see the fury in their eyes. She did not say anything but let the headmaster lead her to a cot on the other side of the room and only when she laid down did he leave her and walk over to Deen’s and Tony’s parents. Katy never felt more like an outsider then in that moment, she was divided from them; it felt if she was divided from the world.
Katy half-heartedly preformed the spell necessary to hear both the breathing from Tony and Deen in the other room and their parents across the hall. She may not like what she had to hear but she had every right to know what was going on as well. Even if they blamed her, it would be best to know, so she could plan accordingly when she gathered her strength.
“She did what?” Antonio exclaimed, the shock and disbelief in his voice was clear to all. Katy could only guess that the headmaster and Sandra had told them what she had done.
“Good for her,” Edgar said. “Someone needed to do something with that kid, and she is most likely right that he had something to do with this. I mean they were hit by some strong curse. Thankfully, it was not strong enough to kill them.”
“She shouldn’t have done that, made a scene like that. To let her temper, get the best of her. I didn’t even know she was able to do the things she did.” She heard Sandra state.
“Well we know she is powerful…” The headmaster stated.
“But that powerful, it sounds like she could have killed the kid without meaning to. Just think what that would have done to her! Especially with all the lies the Solomons are spreading about her being a great source of evil!” Antonio exclaimed, “I mean she ran from us because she thought they could be telling the truth! That would have destroyed any self-worth she feels about herself, and she doesn’t feel a lot to begin with!”
“I don’t think she would have killed him. She wants answers to badly for that. I know for a fact she snuck back into the Air dorm and found her father’s old journal and has been trying to open it since the Fires won the championship cup,” The headmaster said. Katy was shocked he knew, but then again, he seemed to know more than he let on about her life.
“What?” Sandra exclaimed, “Deen didn’t tell us anything about that!”
“Deen didn’t know for sure, she snuck off, he had a feeling she did but since he didn’t know for sure, he didn’t have to tell you that she had, only that he thought she was going to do it again. Smart kid, we have to remember that when she wants something, she will get it,” Headmaster O’Cuinn continued.
“What do we do now?” Jane asked of them.
“Keep Katy safe. I think Riley took out Tony and Deen to get a chance at Katy. He knew that they were both watching her almost every second of every day between the two of them,” Edgar stated.
“You don’t think he will come back and try to finish…” Jane started but could not finish.
“No, he just wanted them out of the way. And even if he thought about it with Nurse Rice and a set of Guardians here, he wouldn’t be able to get in,” Edgar explained.
“How many Guardians will be at the school now, Edgar?” Headmaster O’Cuinn asked.
“As many as I can spare. There was some serious abuse of magic up in Canada and we are tracking the witches and warlocks responsible but haven’t found them yet, so I am short staffed as it is,” Edgar answered.
“Well, get me a list when you have it, and how they will be arriving, I have to add them to the list of people here, so the magical protection on the school does not expel them out the door,” Headmaster O’Cuinn stated. “Keep me informed.” He then swept out of the hospital wing, and left Katy with Tony’s and Deen’s parents.
Katy kept the spell up for as long as she could, so could listen to them talk about what to about the situation, but she felt too drained to continue and drifted off to sleep.
Kris Charles - Author 