She listened intently just the same, curious to find out more about this boy and who he was. The only word she heard clearly, was Fazendiin. She guessed that Colby was trying to block her, but had let his guard down for a brief moment. After hearing this one word, his voice vanished.
She sat up and grabbed her journal, writing down the name. Where had she heard it before? It sounded familiar. “Stupid brain!” she belittled. “If Colin were here,” she did not finish.
Nona pawed her face gently. “Don’t do this to yourself, it will not help fix anything.”
Meghan nudged Nona’s face under her chin and lay back down.
Sleep came quickly. And so did morning.
Meghan awoke to Nona tapping her face.
“Go away,” Meghan grumbled.
“It’s morning and you have schoolwork to finish.”
Meghan gurgled a few choice words before getting up, dressing, and finishing the assignments that needed to be turned in that day during school. She hastily went down to breakfast, which was served promptly at eight, which was followed by the start of school at nine.
Meghan ate quickly, sucking down her juice, hoping to squeeze a few minutes in the library before classes started. Juliska paid no attention as Pantin Hollee had joined them and they were discussing meetings for the day. Things were getting crazy as the last of the preparations were arranged for the next group’s return. Meghan had not been paying attention to their conversation, so when it seemed they were laughing at something and Juliska asked her a question, Meghan had to apologize and ask her to repeat it.
“I was just wondering,” asked Juliska in a humorous tone, “if you've just so happened to have any useful visions, regarding the upcoming arrival?”
“Oh, sorry. No,” replied Meghan. Ever since her faked vision, about the field of pyres, Juliska often hoped that Meghan would have more timely visions regarding upcoming events.
“Not to fret,” Juliska insisted. “I think we have everything covered. Balaton to fight off any Scratchers, enchantments to hopefully shield us from the Grosvenor,” Juliska said to stave off any concerns Meghan might have, when in truth, the arrival was the last thing on her mind.
“Grosvenor,” Meghan murmured, dropping her spoon.
“Sorry, what?” Juliska looked her way.
“Oh, um, nothing. Just remembered something I’d been trying to remember all night, for a school assignment.”
“Well, glad to help jog your memory,” said Juliska. She wore a strange smile as she spoke.
Meghan made her excuses and left.
Two things were prominent in her thoughts as she scurried away.
One: she remembered where the name Fazendiin came from. Jurekai Fazendiin was the creator of the Grosvenor. But what this had to do with the boy, Colby, she had no idea.
And two: was it a coincidence that Juliska, again, just so happened to bring up the very subject she was trying to think on? She swept the thought away, disavowing it as coincidence, and nothing more.
She hastened toward the school, today Nona tagging alongside as Jae had not been doing so. Upon arrival, two Balaton popped out of nowhere, running toward a dust storm of kicking feet and swinging fists. It looked like a couple of schoolboys had gotten into a scuffle. In seconds, the boys were split apart.
When the dust settled, Meghan looked on in shock.
Jae Mochrie! In a fight!
She tried to make eye contact with him but he pretended not to see her. His hair dangled in front of his face, hiding his eyes, but she saw what looked like a cut on his lip. She started toward him but stopped when someone else jumped in front of him.
“Don’t start, Darcy,” Jae spit out.
She stood, arms folded in a scolding posture. “You need to be more careful, Jae.”
“Whatever,” he jeered hotly.
Darcy grabbed him by the arm, which Jae yanked away.
“Ah, c’mon, Jae. I was only pokin’ fun,” Darcy slung at him. He stopped, sighed, and Meghan watched as Jae’s scowl twisted into a chilling grin. Darcy sauntered away and much to Meghan's surprise, Jae trotted along after her, away from the school.
Meghan slammed her mouth shut, realizing she had been gaping with it just hanging wide open. “What the heck is happening?” she spoke in a coarse whisper. “Is everyone on this island going crazy?” Meghan continued ranting. “First, Ivan gets all nice, and now Jae is acting completely mean. It’s mental!” Meghan glanced down at Nona. “Maybe they switched bodies?” she suggested with an edge of sarcasm.
“Interesting theory,” her catawitch mused over the possibility. “I’ll see what I can find out while you're in school.” Nona bounded away toward the direction Jae and Darcy had taken.
Meghan scrunched her eyes closed hoping that when she reopened them she would suddenly find herself somewhere else, anywhere else. But upon opening them, students were streaming by, heading to school. Can this day just be over already? She wished she could skip classes, but that would be a mistake. “Okay, just get it together,” she mumbled, heading toward the school again.
Just before she reached the entrance, an ominous scream echoed nearby.
A foreboding shadow grew overhead.
The Balaton popped into view again, ordering students or anyone close by into the school. Meghan raced alongside other scurrying students as an announcement rang across the island, “Attack imminent! Remain indoors!”
Nona came charging back running alongside Meghan. Once inside, they were directed into an assembly room, and waited for what seemed like hours for any news. The teachers would not allow them near any doors or windows. Nevertheless, enough sound seeped through the walls, enough to know it was a definitely a Scratcher attack.
Meghan did overhear one of the teachers explaining to another teacher that they had expressed this very concern in their last zone meeting: wondering if any Scratchers had managed to stay behind and survive on the island after they had abandoned it so many years before.
I guess you got your answer now, Meghan shouted in her head. So much for the magical protection covering the island. It had kept this menace locked in. Sure did wait long enough to show its ugly head.
Meghan overhead students talking about the Scratchers and how they wished they could kill one, like that one kid did from that one group. What was his name… Colin Jacoby.
She crept to a corner and ignored their stares, which cried out, If he could do it, could she? She was keenly aware this was not something she could accomplish. Although now had her suspicions as to how Colin had done it. Or she should say, how Catrina had done it. She is a Projector after all.
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, a Balaton entered the school and advised the teachers it was once again safe and recommended the students be sent home. Classes were postponed for the day (best news ever, decided Meghan) and students began hastening out of the school to check that no one in their families had been injured, or worse...
Meghan made her way to the entrance where the Balaton was speaking with one of the teachers. “Far as we know, just one injury,” he was saying. “Not life-threatening,” he was sure to clarify.
“Who?” asked the teacher. “Who was injured?”
“Young man, name of Jae Mochrie,” he informed her.
Meghan’s eyes popped open wide.
“Didn’t see it myself, but apparently he fought one of’em, gave it a thorough magical beating, or so I've been told.”
Meghan raced out of the school and directly to the hospital, which is where she assumed Jae would be. Sure enough when she walked in, she saw Sheila and Mireya, who had just arrived as well. After a quick hello, she followed them to Jae’s room. It was surprisingly full.
A couple of Balaton were there, questioning him. His family was there. Billie Sadorus had heard and stopped in to wish him well. She nodded at Meghan, smiling and leaving as her brother Garner stepped into the room. Billie nodded to him curtly. He responded with a clipped nod of his own. Meghan steppe
d to the side trying to avoid his glower, but he ignored her presence and strode to the bedside.
Meghan waited near the back, for a moment to see Jae, but people were filing in and out for the next hour. Once, briefly, a straight line opened up between her and Jae, so she shot him a quick wave through the crowd.
He did not return her gesture, appearing uncomfortable and annoyed by the many visitors. She decided to stay near the back until the right moment to approach him and while waiting, found it impossible not to overhear the various conversations taking place.
“They say he nearly had the beast down,” one man spoke while exiting.
“I heard he jumped onto its back,” another one said.
One of the Balaton approached, shaking his head. “No. No. You've got it all wrong...” they left the room in a heated discussion. Garner tagged along, apparently eager to hear what had really happened. Meghan wondered why he was suddenly showing interest in Jae Mochrie.
“It’s like everyone's suddenly got split personalities,” she mumbled under her breath.
Slowly, the excitement waned and the room began to empty. The only voice booming around the room, a boastful Irving Mochrie, speaking to the one remaining Balaton.
“A proud day! Yes, of course! Proud as a father can be!” he was saying.
Meghan assumed for sure Jae would be smiling as his father said this, but instead, Jae just stared emptily out of the window.
There was a gash along his right arm, which was already healing with the aid of some sort of magical goop, and a black eye to go along with his cut lip. He glanced and caught Meghan’s eye.
She saw nothing there, just empty space… Jae was missing somehow. He tilted his head away from her, to what she could only assume was obliviousness or annoyance at her presence. It left her in such a sickened state she left without another word.
CHAPTER 40
Catrina Flummer sat comfortably, listening intently to every word Jasper Thorndike and Colin discussed. She wanted to take in everything about being a Projector. Everything that could help her, help Colin.
With each new discovery about his potential, she could see flashes of emotion racing across his face. Having only been introduced to the magical world less than two years’ prior, Colin was now finding out he was a potential threat to everyone and everything in the magical and non-magical world. She could not imagine how this was making him feel, other than completely overwhelmed.
“We discovered, many long years ago,” Jasper was saying, “a way to manage our powers. And this method worked very well for a very long time. The books, that we call Magicante, are a Projectors best friend… that’s a bad way to explain it,” he said, rephrasing it. “It’s a much deeper relationship than that.”
“What do you mean exactly?” asked Colin, now wearing his intrigued face.
“The books were created by the Projectors of old, as a way to store extra power. They were, in essence, a second soul. They became a part of the Projector. The book and the magician became one and the same.”
Colin nodded that he understood and for Jasper could continue.
“The main problem with being a Projector is that anything you can think of, you can do…”
There’s his worried face again, Catrina noted silently.
“It’s like this, Colin. Our minds have a constant stream of thought. Imagine those streams of thought becoming real, happening in reality as fast as you can possibly think them.”
“So why isn’t that happening to me now?” he asked. He gazed around the boat expecting some terrifying or freaky thing to happen.
“It is not happening to you now because you’re not sixteen yet. You could, if you wanted, wish something into being right this moment. However, right now, you’d have to focus to make it happen. Once you reach maturity, it’s as simple as a whim.”
“I have whims all the time,” Colin spoke, his voice distraught.
“And we’re back to I’m going to end the world again,” Catrina muttered, wishing she could do more to help.
Jasper tapped Colin’s leg. “This is why the Magicante was created. The book serves as a storage facility for that stream of consciousness. It also serves as a filter, keeping what might be valuable and tossing what is… well, crap. Which is a lot.”
Colin sighed. In relief, Catrina hoped.
“I get that the book serves as storage for all the crazy, uncontrollable thoughts that might pop into my brain,” said Colin, “but can you tell me why these books are so popular? Since you sold me that copy during the Blue Moon Festival back in Cobbscott, which I wish I hadn’t left behind, I’ve been attacked and nearly killed. Why do people want it so badly?”
“Because of an unexpected side effect. We had believed that once a Projector had died, the book would essentially cease to exist as well. This, however, did not happen. Once a Projector died, the book became a living dictionary of their accumulated knowledge, in essence becoming its own being. Once the connection was permanently broken, the second soul continued to exist. It did not have the Projector’s power by any means, but the knowledge alone…”
Colin nodded.
“More understanding,” muttered Catrina, hopeful that Colin was again finding his confidence.
“So with these books acting like a second soul, how is it that Projectors went bad? What happened exactly? How do I make sure it doesn't happen to me?”
Jasper contemplated his words before continuing. “By not being a fool!” he finally spoke vehemently. “Basically, what it comes down to is good old fashioned arrogance.” He took a deep breath and explained. “There was a small group of Projectors that believed they could do it better. Thought they could manage their powers on their own. This, over time, changed to why should we do it better? We are better. And people should know it.”
“Like so many times before,” Catrina quipped dolefully. “Power. Greed. Desire to have more than everyone else. It has taken over many once pure hearts.”
“That it has, Miss Flummer. That it has,” agreed Jasper. “Which gets us to the heart of it all. You have to want to be good. Pure and simple. You must lead a life of honesty and simplicity. Any desires you have can become your greatest enemy. The smallest desire, if nurtured, can take down an entire world… you must let go of these things and live in the moment. Never regretting your past, never desiring for the future. Always, always, in the present.”
Colin swallowed as if attempting to down a dried up biscuit.
“Colin, you can do this,” said Catrina, seeing his confidence crumbling again.
“But I am capable of bad things,” he reminded her, standing and pacing in circles. “Look what I did in the E-Valley!” he reminded hotly. “I killed that Scratcher without a second thought to the consequences it might have! I destroyed the Goblin King and half his goblin minions because I felt like doing it! I felt like they deserved it.”
“No. You did those things because I told you to,” said Catrina, lowering her head.
“Yes, I suppose,” agreed Colin. “But it doesn't change the fact that I wanted to do it. I wanted that Scratcher to suffer. I wanted it to pay for its crimes. I wanted to prove to Eidolon that I could beat him.” He felt a rush of both fear and excitement at this admittance.
“Colin, I knew what you were before we even met,” admitted Catrina mournfully.
His breath caught.
“I didn’t have the courage to tell you. And this was wrong of me, but I knew it would be vital for you to know what you are capable of...” she gazed at him meekly, a thousand apologies would not be enough. “I see now that was probably not a smart idea.”
Jasper nodded. “No. Understanding what you are capable of, and the consequences thereof, is how we learn. The fact is, Colin, you are bound to mess up. Possibly severely. But the good news is, nearly anything you mess up can be fixed.”
Colin’s head was a whirlpool of confusion.
“Colin, look at me,” ordered Jasper. “I am living proof that it is
possible to overcome your condition. You can live a fairly normal life.”
“This is normal?” Colin waved his arms around aiming at the boat.
Jasper chuckled. “This isn’t my only home.”
“Okay. So where do I begin?”
“You’re going to make a book,” said Jasper. “Your own Magicante. Once your book is created, I will perform the ceremony that turns the book into Magicante, thus binding you and the book together, forever.”
Colin nodded okay. “So how do I make a book?”
Jasper stood up and motioned for Colin and Catrina to follow.
CHAPTER 41
Freyne Rothrock waited impatiently for his guest to arrive. When he heard footsteps scratching along the rocky ground, he called out, “Did you bring them?” His impatient voice ravaged into the silent night like a jagged knife.
No one answered, but the footsteps grew louder and closer.
“Did you bring them, Voskvol?” Freyne demanded, this time, his voice held a sharp edges of unrestrained desire.
The one named Voskvol approached, wearing a heavy cloak. A hand stretched out and opened. His palm was empty and an eerie smile slipped across his face. “Did you really think I would be that stupid, Freyne Rothrock, the ninth of us?”
Freyne returned Voskvol’s smile with a jeer of his own, before answering. “Never doubted for a moment, Romul Voskvol, the sixth of us... since you’re so particular to remind me that I was the last Grosvenor to be created.”
Voskvol slipped the hood off the back of his head, revealing his gaunt face. It looked as though a thin layer of leather had been poorly glued over his skin. A scraggy scar slit across his face, eye to chin.
Freyne slipped his head cover off as well. The bright moonlight made his aged skin look pale and thin and his face and neck were lined in popping bluish streaks.
“Tell me again, Freyne, about your plan,” spoke Voskvol. “I want to hear it from your own lips.”
The Map, The Dagger, and The Vampyres (Fated Chronicles Book 2) Page 37