Chapter 7- Meeting At the Stone

  Neo

  I'm walking down the hall to first css, my head still reeling with what I had read. I have no idea how I'm going to hide what I know from Jax. I'm an awful liar and I can't keep a secret to save my life. My first instincts are to skip css and immediately tell Rosa. So I do.

  I turn around and head out to the courtyard, a little green space in the middle of the buildings that's only accessible to the overs. No one's out here, it's too cold and there's css. I go and sit by the great stone in the middle of the field. I have to tell Rosa about what I know. And it can't wait until after css.

  I could've easily gone to her room and asked the teacher to talk to her. But instead, I'm going to use my psychic powers. All I have to do is bend and change my mind. It's the only change where nothing outside seems different. But it's also the hardest of the transformations. It's like that feeling you get when you squeeze your eyes shut really really hard. Except constant. Cuz if you open your eyes, then the power's gone. You might think, well why don't you just stay a psychic the whole time? Then you have powers and you don't look like a giant half horse half man. The answer's simple, really.

  It gives me a headache if I stay this way too long. Which is, I guess, why st Wednesday was a disaster.

  Once I can feel that pinch in my forehead, I cast my mind out and hundreds of little lights appear. Each light is a person and they're all unique. If I touch one with my mind, it allows me to do a plethora of things to them. Like read their thoughts, speak in their heads, change their emotions, and even control their bodies. It takes a lot of concentration to do that and while I'm in that state, my body's kinda just left defenseless. I can't fight and be psychic at the same time. It's kinda a bummer actually.

  I sift through the colors until I find Rosa's. I know her aura anywhere. It's kinda like the northern lights, always changing between blues and purples and greens and covered in silvery sparkles like the stars. I prod her mind with mine, slipping into her thoughts like a ghost.

  She's daydreaming. Something about a rabbit stealing her cake and having to teach another rabbit how to bake another one. I can hear the teacher, Professor Jorgin, going on about magic's role in the world wars. I nudge her consciousness to let her know I'm here.

  "Rosa?" I think, sending the words to her.

  Her daydream instantly snaps away. "Neo?"

  "Rosa. We need to talk."

  "Neo, you know I hate it when you sneak into my mind. Can't this wait til after css?" She thinks, mind trying to pull away from mine.

  "No!" I practically shout in her head. Her eyes widen and she growls. "Meet me by the Stone. Now."

  I don't stay to see if she'll listen to me. I tried not to put magic into the request but being in another person's head can be so...tenuous.

  I wait there a few minutes, leaning my back against the smooth rock. There's still snow on the ground but I don't mind it. After a bit, I hear the crunch of footsteps and I look up to see Rosa walking towards me, her hands shoved into the pocket of a very rge jacket. She's got the hood pulled up around her face but I can still see the gre she's giving me. I am definitely going to pay for this.

  "What do you want, Neo? Don't you know what time it is? We should be in css! And why are we outside! It's so freaking cold out."

  I pull her forward and she stands next to me stiffly. "I have something to tell you."

  "I guessed that," she gripes, leaning against the stone. "What is it, then?"

  I pause, wondering where to start.

  "Jax is back," I say.

  She gres at me again. "You dragged me out here in the middle of the period to tell me that your enemy, who always comes back after Thursdays, is back?"

  "No, no," I shush her, shaking my head. "There's more. You have to listen. Please. Come sit."

  I can see that she thinks about ignoring me for a moment. But then she casts a quick little heat spell that evaporates the snow next to me, leaving a dry spot for her to sit in. She does.

  "Well continue then," she says gruffly, leaning into me for warmth.

  I nod and rack my head for how to say this. "I don't think he's been sneaking out for evil reasons, Rose. I...I think he's trying to find his family, his real family. Like he's meeting up with a private detective or something."

  Rosa stares at me bewildered for a moment before breaking out into a loud, gaudy ugh. Her whole body is shaking with the force of it and I feel the tips of my ears (and probably my hair) start to burn pink.

  "Neo," Rosa gasps, taking a breath to calm her chortling. "Do you even hear yourself? Not evil? Everything about Jax is evil. Besides, what proof do you even have that he isn't pnning something?"

  "There was a letter," I say. "He was walking away from me, from some...stupid things I said. And a letter fell out of his pocket. And I....well I read it," I say, the guilt tumbling into my stomach again.

  Rosa rolls her eyes. "Of course you read it. I would expect nothing less from your paranoid mind. What did it say?"

  "Well it started with 'Son' and then goes on to say how it's his father that wrote the letter to him and that he can't say a whole lot of information there but that he knew they would meet and that when Jax was ready he should use the key. I didn't see a key but that might not mean anything. Anyways, then it said that all the answers you need are in the Book of Noibmac."

  Rosa's eyebrows shoot so high they almost disappear in her purple fringe bangs. She's taking me seriously now. Thank Morrigan. "The book of Noibmac? Have you heard of such a thing?"

  I shake my head, the anxiousness in my chest dying away now that I wasn't the only one holding this news. "But that doesn't mean anything. There are loads of books in the Rated R and Up section. We've only been able to steal and read a few of them."

  Rosa nods thoughtfully. "Did the letter mention anything about what he is? What kind of creature? Who he is? Why he's reaching out to Jax now of all times?"

  I shake my head. "No. Nothing."

  Rosa frowns. "I think we should take this information to the headmistress, or maybe even the school board. I'm sure they would be able to find a way to solve all this."

  "No." I say firmly, hitting one fist into my palm. "He doesn't know I know. And how evil can it be to find your family. I mean, hell, I would want to do the same."

  After a moment, Rosa reluctantly sighs in agreement. "But if anything wonky happens, I will tell the authorities."

  I just nod, my mind far away, thinking about a brown haired boy searching for his family.