by MJ Fletcher
“What does that mean? I thought I was just having headaches.”
“Of course, you’re a powerful one. They must need to keep hitting you with a new dose to keep your perceptions skewed.”
“I don’t understand.” I slid my hand over neck and felt the familiar pain returning to the base of my skull.
“It hurts now doesn’t it? That’s your mind fighting the filter, trying to force you to see the reality of the situation.”
“It is?” My head was spinning and I wasn’t sure what to believe. I did feel like I was forgetting something important. But I just couldn’t think straight. “How do I stop it?”
“That’s the hard part. It’s powerful and whoever is doing it to you has been keeping it going strong. If they do it long enough the headaches will stop and you’ll believe whatever it is they’ve been planting in your head, no questions asked.”
“How’s this possible?”
“It’s rare now but back in the old days it was more common.” She wheeled her chair over to her books and pushed them around till she found the one she was looking for. She picked it up and began flipping through the pages. “Here we go.”
She pushed back to me and handed me the book. It contained drawings of different devices used to control someone’s mind. Skeleton Keys and different objects created by the Impossible Engineers seemed to be the most prevalent.
“Someone is controlling me?”
“Not controlling you, but it can lead to that after enough time. No, right now they are using it to change your perceptions.”
“Why?”
“Now that is the right kind of question?” She pulled her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She was older than I realized, her face weather-beaten and creased with lines. But her eyes sparkled a bright blue and were alive with energy.
“Who are you and how do you know so much?”
“When you get to be as old as me, sweetie, you’ve forgotten more than most people know. As for who I am; these days I’m called Rosalita and you are Chloe Masters.” She leaned back in her seat and she looked at me with a distant expression like someone who was admiring the stars, amazed at how they hung in the sky.
“Do I know you?”
She chuckled at my question and patted my leg. “No sweetie, no you don’t. But I know you, everyone knows about the Masters’ girl who is fighting against the First Kind.” She stood up, walked to the back of the room, opened one of the file cabinets, and began pulling things out. “Now where did I put that mirror?”
“Why are you looking for a mirror?”
“The device they’re using is too powerful for me to break but I have a trick that may help.” She yanked out a silver hand held mirror and lifted it triumphantly. “Here we go!”
“What’s that supposed to do?”
“This.” She walked over to me and held the mirror up in front of my face. I looked into it and had to grab the arms of my chair as everything shifted and tilted. My stomach dropped and my image continued to shift. A glowing circle hovered around my head and as I moved it from side to side the halo followed me, shimmering and changing as I went.
“That’s what’s giving me headaches?”
“You bet it is and they will get worse until you break the device’s hold on you.”
“How do I do that?’”
“That’s the hard part. You need to see through the illusion they have created and have you believing. Can you do that? Can you see through the illusion?”
Dad would be laughing his head off right now at me not being able to see through an illusion. He had taught me since I was a child how to find the trick behind the magic and now here I was struggling to see the truth. I didn’t like the feeling.
“I’ll figure it out.”
“I might be able to help.” She gripped the handle of the mirror and twisted it and the sound of metal gears creaking to life made me smile. I should have realized it was an Impossible Engineer mirror. My mirror image shifted again and inside the halo I could now see symbols floating around. “There we go.”
“What’s that?”
“Each device, whether a Skeleton Key or something else, leaves its signature, the mirror is decrypting the symbols and will be able to tell you the maker mark of the device doing this to you.”
“It’s a start, how long will it take?”
“Not sure, every time is different.”
“Should I come back then to check?” I asked and she smiled and pushed the mirror toward me.
“Take it; you need it more than I do.”
“Really, I don’t know if I can afford this?”
“No charge, sweetie,” Rosalita stood up and smiled at me as she opened the door for me to leave. “Actually, you could do one thing for me.”
“What?” I asked as I slid the mirror into my bag.
“Tell Bodie, I said hello and when you see him remember to go left.” She grinned happily and I wondered if maybe she was on drugs.
“Excuse me?”
“Just remember what I said and I’ll see you soon.” She patted me on the shoulder and closed the door as I stepped out.
Beyond Rosalita being extremely odd, I was feeling better than I had in weeks. I finally knew that I wasn’t simply having headaches but that someone around me, someone I trusted, had betrayed me. Now all I had to do is figure out who it was and what I was going to do about it.
“Is everything okay?” Edgar was sitting on the edge of his sister’s desk while she sat in the chair looking over a map and seemed totally perplexed by it.
“Fine.” I replied my hand resting on the bag feeling the outline of the mirror. I couldn’t believe that Edgar would be the one doing this to me. I mean why would he bring me here? But until I could make some sense of it I wasn’t going to share it with anyone.
“Did she give you something for the headaches?”
“Yup, I think they’ll be gone in no time.” I smiled and tapped my bag. Whoever was doing this to me had limited time. And when I found out who it was, he or she had better watch out... cause all hell was gonna break loose.
Chapter Twenty-three
Status: I never learn.
I brought my energy whip down in an arc slamming into Faith’s shield in a shower of light and fury. She stumbled and I made use of her mistake by running forward, twisting my arm and snapping my whip at her ankle coming in under her shield and knocking her to the ground. I was only a few steps from her when Jackson rushed in from the side, a glowing blue studded mace in his hands. He swung at me wildly and I dropped into a forward roll to avoid the hit.
I sprang back up on my feet and pivoted swinging my whip around in a massive circle. Faith tried to stand but couldn’t quite gain her strength and collapsed once again. The whip caught Jackson in the back and knocked him off balance sending him crashing into Mary who was running to join the fight.
I hadn’t seen Hitch yet but I knew he was around. I figured I needed to risk it and raced toward Faith. She was struggling to her feet once again. I snapped my wrist and my whip wrapped around her waist cinching her arms to her side. I came to stand beside her as she scowled; I smiled and winked at her.
“Boom, you’re dead.” Hitch’s voice came from my side, I knew he was close by but even I was impressed by how quietly he moved. I shifted my eyes and saw him only two steps away from me, his glowing knife raise above his head.
I tightened my one leg and kicked out the side with the other hitting him in the stomach, forcing him to drop his weapon and fall to the ground. He moaned low and leaned over gripping his belly.
“Rule number one; in a fight you can’t only rely on your abilities,” I yelled as I flicked my wrist and my whip dislodged from around Faith.
“Thanks for the work out,” she said rubbing her arms where my whip had been. “One of these days we’ll beat you.”
“One day... but not today.” I laughed as I stepped over and offered my hand to Hitch helping him to stand. His other hand was s
till pressed against his stomach and he flinched and bent over. “You okay?”
Hitch nodded and walked off. I’d actually gotten used to his lack of speech and found it oddly comforting since I was never one for chit chat. Mary and Jackson joined Faith and I as we followed Hitch back toward the Paladin Academy. I hadn’t joined the team but I had been practicing with them to keep my skills sharp. Graduation was right around the corner and Edgar was putting together his final coordinates while I was working on when and where we would be opening the portal.
“Have you made a choice about your apprenticeship?” Faith asked as we walked side by side.
“Not yet, I did call Uncle Archie and leave him a message. Since he has an open position, I thought it might be a good fit.”
“Where is he stationed?”
“London.”
“That’d be cool, have you ever been there?”
“Yeah, Dad’s tour used to hit there all the time. It’s a great city and I’d love to see now that I have abilities.”
“We better get back to the Doorknob Society commons,” Faith said and activated her doorknob, opening a portal to the exact location in Paladin Academy. “We don’t want to get into trouble this close to graduation.”
“Right.” I smiled and shrugged. I was used to getting into trouble. Actually, trouble usually found me, so it didn’t bother me much. The Doorknob Society common room in the Academy was almost a mirror image of DS Manor. Only members of the Society were allowed access and from there we could also utilize DS specific classrooms. I didn’t spend much time in here since it was more like a study hall than a place to hang out. Plus, up until now most of my friends weren’t even allowed in here.
Jackson waved at Faith. “I’ve got to get to class.”
He didn’t look my way as he ran out of the hall. Hitch walked off still holding his stomach while Mary sat down and pulled out a book and started reading.
“I don’t think Jackson likes me.” I chuckled.
“He doesn’t like anyone.”
“Not true, he likes you.”
“Not like that.”
“Right, I see the way he looks at you.”
“Well I’m not interested.”
“You have to date eventually.” As long as I’d known Faith she had only shown interest in Nightshade, I figured it had to do with her ex-boyfriend Jasper being a jerk and a traitor.
“Look who’s talking?”
“I’m terrible at relationships. I figure I’m doing the world a favor by not having another one.”
“You and Slade?”
“There is no me and Slade.” It bugged me to even say it. I had been angry at Slade but I didn’t think I would never see him again. Now I had the feeling that just might be the way it would go.
“Anything else going on?” Faith nudged me and I knew she was asking about the Legend she had helped us to steal.
“Nothing really.” I smiled and Faith shoved her hands in her pockets. I would have liked to been able to tell her more, but knowing someone was controlling me, I couldn’t take the risk.
“You can trust me, Chloe.”
While Faith talked I began to feel weightless as if I could simply float away. It was oddly comforting like snuggling in a warm blanket on a cold night. “I know that.”
“I can help, if you need me?”
“Thanks Faith—” I clenched my teeth to keep from telling her our plan. I might have felt all warm, cozy, and safe but something held me back from spilling it all. My phone buzzed and I stopped walking, wanting to see who it was and the warm feeling dissipated and my head started throbbing.
“Who’s that?” Faith pulled her hands out of her pockets and ran them through her hair.
I yanked my phone out of my bag and saw Gavin’s name on the caller ID. “Sorry I need to get this, we can talk later.” I gave Faith a nod and stepped away tapping the answer button “Hey, Boss Man, long time no hear.”
“Sorry about that, I’ve been dealing with some issues since the truces got called off. Funny, people seem to like me even less now. How is everything going?”
I quickly brought Gavin up to speed on everything that had been going on. I twisted my neck trying to force my growing headache to ease, but it wasn’t helping.
“Let me see if I have this straight; DeAndré ’ Morgan is still hunting you, the First Kind offered you a truce, DS is trying to bring you back into the fold, and your dad has you going to the Tavern at the End of Time. Talk about a lot going on!”
It’s no wonder why I wasn’t going insane. “That about covers it.”
“Well damn, girl, what’s your plan?”
“I’m working on it now. Do you have anything you need me to do?”
“Not at the moment, I just wanted to check in with you. Once you’ve finished with your mission, we need to talk about a few things.”
“Anything I need to be worried about?”
“Nothing you can’t handle.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“How are you planning on hiding the massive amount of power your portal will create?”
“I’m going to mask it using the Paladin Academy.”
“Damn, girl, you have a serious set of stones. Do me a favor and don’t get caught.”
“I’ll do my best,” The shrill echo of the bell blared throughout the halls of the Paladin Academy. “I got class, later.”
“Be safe,” Gavin said.
I tapped the screen ending the call and slid my phone into my bag heading off to class. I pushed through my final two classes for the day, my headache finally subsiding and then headed home. I decided to walk instead of opening a portal. I figured I could hit the Beanery and get a coffee.
The after-school crowd was already there and I slid into line waiting my turn to get my caffeine buzz. I opened my bag and dug around looking for my ear buds. I figured I could at least listen to some music while I waited. My hand brushed up against cool metal and I wrapped my fingers around the handle of the mirror that Rosalita had given me. I’d checked it every few hours the first few days I had it. But lately I’d been checking it before going to bed. The symbols had yet to form into anything recognizable.
“Chloe!” Val tackle hugged me from behind as she arrived for work. I let the mirror slide back into my bag and patted Val’s arms hoping her physical greeting would end soon.
“Hi, Val.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t texted, I’ve just been so busy. I got three acceptance letters for college!” Her eyes sparkled and I smiled excited for her and glad that she might finally get away from her overbearing mother.
“No worries, I understand. Plus you have that boyfriend of yours.” I chuckled and her smile grew wider.
“Edgar is the best. I’m jealous though, you two have gotten to spend some time together. We all really need to get together just like we used too. I miss hanging out with everyone.”
“I agree.” I hated to admit it but I missed hanging out together too. I loved when we all hung in my house ordering take out and watching old TV shows. We had a special group and now it had all gone to hell.
“Is everything okay?” Val gripped my elbow and pulled me out of line and toward the booths at the back of the shop.
“Yeah, why?”
“Edgar told me that you went to some type of Old Kind doctor.”
“Rosalita, yeah, she’s helping me with my headaches and some other stuff.” We pushed into a booth and I slid my bag over feeling the edge of the mirror through the cloth.
“Is it serious?”
“Yes, actually it is.”
“Let me get us some drinks before I start my shift and we can talk.” Val didn’t wait for my reply, she was off and behind the counter filling two large mugs with coffee.
I turned in the booth, flipped open my bag, and pulled out the mirror. A buzz of power crackled around it, which I hadn’t felt before. My fingers deftly moved the gears on the handle setting them in position to be able to vi
ew the halo around my head.
“What’s that?” Val asked as she placed a coffee in front of me and slid into the booth seat opposite me.
If I couldn’t trust Val, then I couldn’t trust anyone. Besides she didn’t have the knowledge to create an IE device. “It’s an Impossible Engineer mirror; it helps to show me what has been giving me these endless headaches.”
“Edgar was right then, something is responsible for giving you the headaches?”
“Not something... someone.”
“What?”
“Someone has been using a device to change my perception, of what, I have no idea. But it’s why I have the headaches. Someone around me is betraying me.”
“OMG, that’s crazy! Why and who would do such a thing?”
“Most likely the person is working for the First Kind.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.” I held up the mirror. “That’s what this might help me find out.”
“How?”
“There is a power signature in the halo the device leaves. I’ve been waiting for this to decrypt it and tell me who made it. That should lead me to whoever is responsible.”
“Do you have any idea who it could be?”
“It would have to be someone close to me, someone who could keep using it continually on me so that he or she could keep the lie going. If I don’t figure it out soon Rosalita says the headaches will go away and I will start to truly believe the lie.”
“Look at it then,” Val urged and pushed the mirror toward me.
I glanced at it. My image shifted and the halo appeared around my head swirling slowly. The symbols moved this time spinning around connecting to one another and swinging around toward my forehead. They slammed into one another time and again changing shape and taking on new forms. The lines twisted and bent to form a new symbol it glowed brighter than the halo and everything else in the mirror dropped away and only the symbol floated in its reflective surface.
I’d seen the image before countless times. I knew it well and the thought that the person who created it could be the one betraying me made me shudder.