A Game Of Secrets

Chapter seven

My meditation was over, I couldn’t stay calm a second longer. I opened my eyes and tried to rip a pillow apart with my teeth. It didn’t work out so well, and I only ended up hurting my teeth. I was so angry at myself for my stupid weakness, until I thought: Isn’t that every girl’s weakness? Duh! Of course! Now I can sleep in peace. Just for fun I made the pillow explode, but then I got sad because I no longer had a pillow to sleep on.

Falling asleep without a pillow is easy. But so is waking to Caleb screaming in your face.

“Jade! Why aren’t you at the ball?”

“Wha…?”

“The winter ball! It started at midnight! It’s twelve thirty.”

“Midnight thirty…” I said, remembering something from my childhood; the memory was a little foggy, but I was laughing at my father.

“Jade! You have to be there! Get up.”

I obeyed, and stood up.

“Do you have a dress?”

“What do I need a dress for?”

“The winter ball! Now do you have one or not?”

“Nope.”

“Fine, I’ll make one for you.”

Caleb looked at me, and seemed to be taking measurements. At least I hope that was what he was doing. Then he muttered something I later would swear sounded like “Bippity boppity boo”, and I was wearing a floor-length dark green dress and gold shoes that had heels. My feet were still sore, and these shoes were not helping me at all.

“I do not like green dresses. They clash with my eyes.” I said.

“Ah, your eyes are the color of jade. I never noticed. And the dress looks fine.”

“I am offended! My eyes are my most stunning feature, and you didn’t even notice them!”

“Sorry, I was more concerned on how fast you learn the magic.”

“So we have a deadline, do we?”

“Indeed we do.”

It’s times like this when I remember that Caleb was using me for his mysterious purpose, or, as my dad called it, taking advantage of me. If only it was like my father had thought, but my life had never been that simple.

“I guess I’d better go.”

“Yes, you should.”

I took a single step and it was clear that I wasn’t making it to the eating room without help. Caleb had to practically carry me the whole way. When we entered through the room I immediately saw Tyler. He was saying to one of his buddies:

“… reason for holidays is because all the girls want to dance with us guys.”

“Correction, all the girls want to dance with you.” His friend answered.

“True,” Tyler said.

“Would you mind taking over here?” Caleb asked Tyler, handing me to him without waiting for an answer.

I fell into his arms and tried to stand up, but Caleb had made the shoes with too big a heel. I tried to magic them shorter, but they only got taller.

“Don’t waste your energy,” Tyler recommended. “That dress doesn’t look so good with your eyes.”

“Would you magic them shorter for me?” I said, and glared at Caleb. “At least someone appreciates my eyes.”

“I would, for a cost.”

“I believe I paid up for a different deed, and you didn’t help me there.”

“That was payback.”

“I never got revenge on you for, eh, taking advantage of me.”

“Tyler, what did you do to her?” Caleb asked, he hadn’t left yet.

“Yeah, Ty! She’s just a defenseless girl!” his buddy said.

“See, I am defenseless. And I bet Caleb thinks I’m delicate, right?”

“Delicate? Defenseless? Yeah right!” Caleb said.

“Two against one.” Tyler said.

“Two against two!” I protested.

“Ben doesn’t count; he won’t fight for his opinion like you.”

I looked at Ben, and he only shrugged.

“But seriously, what did Tyler do to you. Did he slap you?”

“Does that sound like something I would do?” Tyler asked Caleb.

“No, I slapped myself.”

“I thought you think before you act!” Caleb said.

“It was a well thought over action!” I said, wishing I had a better excuse.

I remembered something then: disaster of distractions. Tyler was distracting me from figuring out what secrets Caleb has, so I decided to work on my concentration. I observed every detail about Tyler and let nothing distract me. The white of his teeth, the chocolate brown of his hair, the way his tan skin moved when he smiled; nothing was lost to my eyes.

“What are you doing?” Tyler asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re staring at me.”

“She’s got it bad for you, Tyler.” The kid with the power to be able to tell who’s attracted to who said.

“Now tell me, why would I be attracted to him?” I asked the guy. “He’s been quite… what’s the word…”

“Mean?” Ben suggested.

“Distracting?” Someone else said.

“Awesome?” Tyler smiled.

“He’s been questionable,” I said.

“I’ll tell you why you like Tyler,” A girl in a blue puffy dress said.

She took my hand and smeared something sweet smelling on it.

“You have a weak mind.” She said.

“Don’t rub it in.” I groaned.

“Well, it’s easy to see your problem. You like Tyler because… well, a few reasons. First of all, because you like danger, and you can sense he’s dangerous. Second of all because he’s good looking, a no brainer, and lastly, because you have a weakness for-“

“Okay!” I said, pulling my hand away. “I don’t like people looking into my weaknesses.”

Realizing how hypocritical I was being I laughed out loud, and decided to turn my personal power on. Tyler still had no weaknesses, and Tyler’s friends still seemed to have weaker minds than the rest of the room. Then Caleb came running at me at full speed. I turned my power off as he stopped in front of me.

“You used it!” Caleb said.

“Used what?” I said, acting innocent.

“Your personal power! Dang you’re good at turning it off and on fast!” he said.

“Caleb doesn’t know you power?” Tyler asked. “He should know, that way he can teach you things specific to help you grow as strong as you can.”

“Jade thinks I’ll use her for her power.” Caleb said.

“Now, Jade. That is something I would do.” Tyler said.

“Trust me, Jade.” Caleb said.

“Trust you?” I said, laughing, “That’s a good one! Like you’ve given me reason to trust you!”

“Ah, well that is true,” Caleb said, walking off.

“You wanna dance, Jade?” Tyler asked.

“I can’t even walk in these shoes, and you want me to dance?”

“Let’s go.” Tyler said, taking my arm, despite my protests.

After about a minute of dancing I concluded that dancing was boring. You just sway back and forth on the dance floor. Tyler wouldn’t listen to anything relating to stopping dancing. As we dance longer I began to notice a pattern. Tyler would dance toward one glittery star, then another, and each time we crossed under one he would whisper something. We had one star left to cross under, and it was on the other side of the room.

“How about we just grab some punch? It would be quicker to get under that star.”

“Dang you’re good,” Tyler said, shaking his head. He then led me to the punch, stopping briefly under the star.

“So what was that for?” I asked sipping my punch.

“When Caleb walks under a star- well, watch.” Tyler said, pointing out Caleb to me.

As he walked under the star, I saw the glitter cascading down over him, and before he could react, I activated my magic and sent the glitter flying to Tyler. He was covered in glitter. I poured the rest of my punch on his head. The word I said next was quiet, but echoed around the silent room.

“Payback.” I said, and walked out of there, miraculously managing to stay on my feet.

<^>

I don’t know if sleep came easily, but I think it must have, because I don’t remember waiting for drowsiness to find me. I woke up feeling refreshed and energized; ready to run a mile. I had always been a fast runner, and running was something I loved to do. I could run a mile.

“I can run a mile.” I said to myself.

“Good, because you’re going to have to.” Caleb said as he walked into my room.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean that you’re already late for physical training. Get up, get dressed, get to the room where you first ran into Tyler. Move.”

I raced to get my clothes on and pull a brush through my tangled hair. I hated my curly hair because it would never behave itself! I was sprinting down the hall and made it into the room panting.

“Finally!” The teacher proclaimed. “What took you so long Jade.”

I heard someone saying quietly: “Just because she’s the headmaster’s apprentice she thinks she gets special privileges.”

“Caleb didn’t wake me up on time.” I said, suddenly guilty of my good night’s rest.

“It’s not his job to babysit you.” The teacher said. “Now stretch out class.”

As I stretched I thought: it is so Caleb’s job to babysit me! If he doesn’t keep a close eye on me, I’ll just poof away, and never be seen here again. I tried to ignore the fact that I couldn’t transport what-so-ever.

“Jade! You can touch your toes, cant you? And wipe that smirk off your face, or I’ll find out what it’s about and tell the whole class.”

“You can read people’s minds?” I grunted as I touched my toes.

“My personal power is the ability to see what people want most hidden. When I want to anyways.” He said. “Now get ready to run! Today we’re jogging outside.”

Caleb better keep an eye on me. Outside I’ll be as free as a bird! I was about to follow the others outside when someone grabbed my wrist. It was Caleb.

“Don’t even think about it, I’ll be watching.” He whispered in my ear.

“What would ever give you the reason to think I would run?” I asked innocently.

“Maybe he can’t read minds…” Caleb said.

“Enough said.” I replied, skipping off to join the others.

They had already started jogging and were several meters in front of me. Looks like “coachy” wants to see what I can do. I caught up easily, but then stayed to the back of the group, jogging about two meters back. I stayed there until a girl slowed down beside me and said:

“If you can’t keep up you shouldn’t be here.”

Red hot anger blazed in my chest. I’ll show her who can keep up! I picked up my pace tremendously, passing the girl easily. I saw Tyler up by the front of the group so I decided to catch up with him. I was by his side in seconds. He glanced at me and smiled.

“I thought you had somehow cheated our race when you hung back there.” He said.

“Me? Cheat? Sounds like something you would do.” I laughed. I did kind of cheat though…

“Yeah, your right, it does.”

Tyler pointed to a black flag up ahead that was flapping in the breeze.

“We turn around there. I’ll race you back to the school. And I bet my lunch I’ll win.”

“Deal.” I said, and I pushed my limits, letting go of my stored up stamina and putting my all into this race.

I felt a kind of focus I had never experienced before, and it was just me. That’s how I would explain it. It was just me; no one else could distract me. I was just running, no longer racing; to myself I was just running. I kicked open the door and slowed down. Tyler entered a few seconds after me.

“No… Fair…” he panted.

“Fair.” I said.

The rest of the kids came trickling in pretty soon after I had caught my breath. The teacher entered somewhere in the middle of the group.

“It seems I underestimated you, Jade. You can keep up on our jog, but what about in our lessons? You have a lot of catching up to do.”

“I think I can manage.” I told him.

“Good. Partner up and start sparring. Not you, Jade. I still have to show you the basics with a staff.”

I followed him over to one of the walls; it was lined with dummies. He handed me a staff. I grabbed it, placing my hand about a foot away from each other in the middle.

“Not bad. Your hands are perfect, and your stance isn’t terrible.”

I glanced at my feet, and spread them a bit farther away from each other, then looked up for confirmation. He nodded and then grabbed a staff and began teaching me some basic thrusts. He watched me for a bit, and then went to help the others. When I was sure he wasn’t watching me, I tried some spins with my staff and slid my hands closer together or farther apart depending on the thrust to make it flow smoother.

“Very nice.” He said, and I jumped because I hadn’t realized he was there. “I think you can move onto sparring with a partner. Brett, would you mind sparring with Jade?”

Brett came over and got ready spar. I did the same, spreading my legs into the proper stance. He struck without warning, and I blocked. Basically I just blocked his thrusts, trying not to get hit.

“You seem to be very defensive.” The teacher said.

“Jade is not defensive.” Tyler disagreed. “She waits until she sees a chance and then she strikes, knocking you over.”

Despite Tyler’s predictions, I continued to block. Then I saw it- a pattern. Every few thrusts Brett would falter, as if unsure what to do next. Like he prepared a few moves but then had to stop and think for a second. The next time he did this I lunged forward and hit him in the stomach. He wasn’t prepared for this, and faltered again, so I hit him in the shoulder. I continued to lunge and thrust until I swept his feet from under him. I looked to the teacher, noticing we had gathered a small crowd.

“Good, good.” The teacher said. “Most people defend that long without being tired out. But once you beat him, you need to assure he stays down.”

I put my foot on his chest.

“No, I meant sit on him.”

I sat on his stomach and his breath came out with an “Oof”. I crossed my legs in front of me, and my arms over my chest. The teacher chuckled, as did some of the people in my class.

“No, like this.” He demonstrated.

He put one knee on one side of Brett’s torso, and the other knee on the other side. He grabbed my staff and thrust it under Brett’s chin.

“Like that.” He said, handing me my staff.

I copied him, blushing furiously as I did so. I got up as soon as I had it right.

“It looks like we’re about half way through class and I have nothing else to teach you. Do whatever.” The teacher told the class.

Kids walked off chatting, some grabbed books to read, and others went outside to jog or walk. I picked up my staff and walked over to a dummy to start practicing again.





Sorry for the wait and fairly boring chapter! I'm offering no excuse except that I was kidnapped by evil homework. Take it or leave it.

 

The las one was pretty boring, so I posted another! Enjoy!
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Chapter eight

The teacher was coming over to teach me something more advanced, and Tyler was following him.

“Can I please, please, please, please move on?” Tyler was begging.

“I’m not sure you’re ready,” The teacher responded.

“I’m the top of the class; no one else is more ready.”

“Well… Fine.”

“What?”

“I said you can go, be happy.”

“I’ve been begging you for a month, and now it’s all paid off?”

“Leave before I change my mind.”

Tyler left.

“Where’s he going?” I asked.

“He’s moving on early; going to learn how to use a sword.”

“Oh,” I said.

“Don’t get lazy with your stance; you don’t want someone to knock you off balance. Using the staff is all about balance.”

Obediently I fixed my stance and continued to hit the dummy.

“I see you’ve figured out the basics on your own. You’re a fast learner, Caleb was right to pick you.”

“Thanks,” I said, although I was long past wishing Caleb hadn’t picked me.

He began to teach me more advanced moves that used different stances. Also I started to learn to use the staff with one hand. I was pretty bad at that.

“Watch it,” The teacher said when I almost hit him in the face.

“Sorry.”

“I am going to put myself out of harm’s way. You can practice alone until the end of class.”

I did practice. A lot. I didn’t even notice when people started to leave. I just focused on using my staff properly and keeping my stance perfect.

“Looks like someone is working hard,” Tyler said.

Startled I whirled around and almost hit Tyler with my staff. Now I noticed we were alone.

“Jeez, what did I ever do to you?” Tyler asked.

“No need to over react, I didn’t even hit you.”

“Yes, but that was clearly your goal.”

“You startled me, now let it be.”

“Fine,” Tyler said. “Notice anything different about me?”

Although I had already seen the sword that hung by his side I made a big deal of observing him and then said:

“Nope.”

“Come on! See this here? This is a sword.”

“No, it’s a feather,” I said, practically tasting the sarcasm. “No duh it’s a sword.”

“You wanna hold it?” he asked.

“I’m content with my staff,” I said, but Tyler didn’t take no for an answer.

Tyler unsheathed his sword and handed it to me, leather bound handle first. I sighed and grabbed it. And fell over. If the staff was all about balance, the sword was all about… well, unbalance. I wasn’t joking when I said I fell over, to my embarrassment that did in fact happen.

“It’s not that heavy,” Tyler said, helping me up.

I opened my mouth to object, but all thoughts of protest were bound, gagged, and most likely killed off when Tyler put his mouth to mine. Unlike all the other times he’d kissed me, this time I felt a foreign heat fill my chest. I dwelt on the feeling of his lips pressing softly against mine, and lingered in the heat. When he pulled back I felt the heat recede, filling me with longing and disappointment.

“Why did you do that?” I asked.

“You were going to argue, and I don’t want to lose another argument to you, even when I’m right. The sword is probably one of the lightest they have.”

I opened my mouth again to protest, but Tyler kissed me again. For some reason this time I remembered: biggest weakness- boys, and disaster of distractions. Maybe he’s distracting me! Or maybe I’m over thinking things…. But just then Tyler removed one hand from my waist and reached for his sword. But I was way ahead of him. I ducked underneath his first swing and grabbed my staff. His face showed his confusion momentarily, but even a few moments can be precious in a fight. I hit him in the stomach and then swept his feet from under him in a jerky ungraceful movement. I sat on him the way the teacher had shown me. I heard clapping.

“Very nice work, Jade.”

Oh no. How much had he seen?

“I just wish I could have seen the whole fight. I’ll see you two at lunch.” Caleb left.

Thank goodness!

“Can you get off me so we can get to lunch?” Tyler asked.

“I don’t know; I’m kinda comfortable,” I said and gave him my most charming of smiles.

Tyler leaned in to kiss me. The heat flared up in my chest again, but before it could spread he had pulled away. The kiss was quick, and left me thirsting for more.

“Could you please get off me?”

This time, I obeyed.

<^>

At lunch I collected my hard earned sandwich. Tyler tried to sneak past me, but I didn’t forget our earlier bet. I savored the slightly soggy sandwich and made him suffer by eating it in front of him.

“Come on!” Tyler begged. “Will you give me a bite if I get on my knees?”

“Maybe.” I said.

Tyler kneeled in front of me and made semi-convincing puppy-dog eyes. I watched him and finished off his sandwich licking my fingers when I was done.

“Noooooooo! You said-“

“Maybe. I said maybe.”

“May I ask what Tyler did to deserve this torture?” said one of the girls I recognized from the dance.

“He bet me his lunch he would win a race.”

“Tyler doesn’t lose that kind of thing.”

“Well he didn’t win. Jade beat him by a mile.” Caleb said joining us with a sandwich in his hand.

“It was more like a few seconds.” Tyler insisted, eyeing the sandwich.

“Jade, this is yours.” Caleb said, handing me the sandwich.

Tyler made a grab for it, but I managed to get it before him.

“This is my sandwich.” I said.

“Please!” he pleaded.

“We’ll see.”

By the time I had eaten half of the sandwich I was incredibly full. I handed Tyler the rest and before he began eating he pulled off all the tomatoes.

“Eww!” One girl squealed. “She already ate part of that!”

Tyler and I looked at each other, and then we both cracked up. Like it mattered! We had already swapped spit today.

“This is all I get?” Tyler asked when he finished the sandwich.

“Unless someone else is willing to give you any food.” There were no volunteers.

“I’m going to be hungry during magic though!” he complained. Still no one gave him any food.

Tyler sighed and then began walking out of the eating room. All his friends followed him, including Caleb and I.

“Ready for our next lesson?” Caleb asked me.

“No, but does it make a difference?”

“Nope.”

“Didn’t think so.”

“What am I going to teach you today?” Caleb thought out loud.

“Raising the dead,” I told him randomly.

“That’s a little advanced, but okay.” He said, and turned on his heel to go the other direction.

“Is sarcasm lost on you?” I asked.

Caleb chuckled, and kept walking. I rolled my eyes and followed Caleb outside and into a cemetery. It was relatively bright and cheery, though it could have smelled better. I tried not to dwell on the smell. Caleb gave me a reassuring smile which I returned, but inside I was a mess. I didn’t do well with dead bodies. Or bones for that matter. Caleb took a shovel and walked three paces passed the end of the grave and dug a tiny hole. Inside was a box.

“Go inside and fill a jar with water.” Caleb said.

I obeyed without a word. Why he would want me to fill a jar with water didn’t matter, I was just glad to be out of there. But I had to go back.

“Here’s the water.” I said, handing the jar to him.

“Thank you. Now, raising the dead is a lot like lending your life source.” Caleb said.

“You mean giving your life source.”

“No, lending. When whatever you gave life to dies again, the bit of your life that you lent will return to your body. Raising the dead is extremely tiring, and the bigger and more complex the organism you’re raising is, the more tired you will be. For this reason we are starting out with something small.”

Caleb opened the lid of the box to reveal a tiny pile of bones.

“Go ahead.” Caleb said.

“Here goes nothing” I muttered.

I took a deep breath and sent my magic out to the bones. In a few seconds it came back, but the bones remained bones.

“Need a few pointers?” Caleb asked.

“No.” I snapped back.

I took another deep breath and did the same thing as last time. I got the same results.

“You should proba…” Caleb trailed off when I glared at him.

At least I’m getting consistent result, the positive part of me thought. I told that part of me to shut up. Okay, so I needed to lend my life source to this pile of bones…. Okay. New goal. Find my life source. I sent my magic to find it. My magic came back to me with it was a ball of white light. My magic cocooned the light, as if protecting it. I sent it to the pile of bones and it returned seconds later. At first I thought nothing had happened, but then I saw the bones aligning themselves, and before I could shout victory, a small fish was in their place.

“Spectacular work, Jade.” Caleb said, scooping up the fish and putting it in the jar.

“It’s a fish.” I said.

“It’s my fish. I do have a heart.”

“How old were you when it died?”

“Seven.”

“You had a heart. Not anymore.”

“Let’s do something harder,” Caleb said.

“Why was the fish buried here?” I asked.

“My father was headmaster before me. I lived here.”

“Oh.”

We walked through the cemetery a bit, but stopped when we came to a human body. It wasn’t even buried. It was partly decayed and flies buzzed around it. The horrible smell was stronger here and I felt like I was going to puke. Oh god, I couldn’t stay here. Caleb seemed to be saying something, but I couldn’t hear him. All I was hearing was a ringing sound. I took one last glance at the body and bolted. I ran towards the school, stumbling sometimes, and occasionally falling, but always getting back up. The last thing I remember was opening a door.

 

Chapter nine

Ouch. Ouch, ouch OUCH! My head hurt like no other. OUCH!

“We get it, Jade. Your head hurts.” A vaguely familiar voice said.

I groaned and struggled to open my eyelids. I just couldn’t do it; they seemed to weigh a ton- each! My hearing still seemed messed up, which was probably why I couldn’t hear myself talking. Am I talking? I thought loudly. No answer. Good. After receiving that nice little bit of information I focused my energy on raising an eyelid. Just one, I’ll tackle my problems one baby-step at a time. But at that rate I’ll never get to getting out of here, I thought. Well you know what, self? What would you suggest we do? Open your eyes, Jade. A whispery voice said in my head.

“Aaaaaaah!” I screamed, and opened my eyes. It was only after this marvelous display that I realized it was Caleb’s voice, the one that had invaded my thoughts once before.

“Are you okay, Jade?” Tyler asked me.

It was now that I realized the true agony in my head. I grit my teeth and tried not to cry.

“Fine.” I said, as I strained not to sound in pain.

“You look a little pale.” Someone else said.

Now I realized where I was. I was in some kind of dorm, and I was lying on a bunk bed. I was surrounded by boys. This must be the boy’s dorm. Why did I have to choose the door to the boy’s dorm? Well, I guess it was better than staying by that dead body. Oh god, the dead body! Why did I have to remind myself!

“Not just a little, she looks a lot pale!”

“I’m fine,” I said, although I felt bile rising in my throat as I tried not to picture the dead body.

“I’ll carry you to Caleb’s office,” Tyler offered.

“No fair, you always get to be with the girls!” Some guy said.

“I hardly think Jade is in the condition to appreciate anything I do for her.”

The kid mumbled something that sounded like agreement. Boy did my head hurt. I closed my eyes and felt strong arms lifting me off the bunk. I felt secure next to Tyler’s warm body, his rhythmic stride lulling me to sleep. I inhaled his scent and…. Tyler was carrying me. No. Not happening. I snapped my eyes open.

“I can walk,” I said.

“You sure?” He asked, his voice soft and caring.

“Yes.” No.

“Alright.” Tyler gently set me down on the ground, but continued to support my body weight.

“Ahem.”

Tyler let go, and my legs wouldn’t function. I just couldn’t stand up. I felt myself falling, and closed my eyes, ready for more pain. But before I reached the ground, Tyler’s arms were around my waist again, supporting me. I opened my eyes hesitantly, expecting him to drop me, but he was already carrying me, walking towards Caleb’s office.

“I can’t walk.”

“That much is obvious.”

“Tyler?”

“Hm?”

“Thanks. But do not ask what happened before I passed out. Do not.”

“Wouldn’t think of it,” He replied.

Once again I found myself drifting off to sleep, but when Tyler rapped on Caleb’s office door I was awakened.

“Tyler? Oh, Jade. Come on in.” Tyler gently set me down in the chair. His slightly tanned hand rested on my shoulder after he had released me. “So what brings you here, Tyler?”

“Jade couldn’t walk,” Tyler said. I wanted to protest, but what was the point? He was only telling the truth.

“I see. Please leave.” Tyler left without another word. “Why did you run?” he asked me when the door creaked shut.

“I couldn’t stay. The body… I…” I struggled to explain.

“I understand. You found the corpse repulsive.”

“That’s not it. I was… scared.” I hated to admit it.

I watched the way Caleb’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and then came back down. His face showed disappointment. I shouldn’t have felt like I had failed him, but I did. You don’t care what he thinks! I tried to tell myself. And before, I hadn’t. So why did I now?

“Do you know why I chose you, Jade?”

“What?”

“Why I chose you as my apprentice?”

“Because I have a large magical capacity?”

“Yes. But I had other criteria as well. I wanted them to be nervous, and easily frightened. You seemed to give off that vibe when I met you, but after that you were the exact opposite.

“I also wanted them to have a weak mind. Well, you exceeded my expectations there.” I glared at him. “Lastly, I wanted my apprentice to be female,” Now I really glared at him. “Because in general girls are easier to control,” He said, ignoring my glare.

“That’s not true. Look at me, am I easy to control?”

“Yes. You are a little more stubborn than I had hoped, but otherwise everything is going as planned. I know now that you are not easily frightened, but I think that may be a good this after all. The fact that you are scared to the point of running away from a dead body disappoints me.”

“Whatever. I don’t care about what you think.” Saying it out loud didn’t help.

“That doesn’t matter. Completing our lesson before dinner does.”

He doesn’t mean we’re going back outside, does he? Watching Caleb sit down in his desk helped quell my fears.

“Since you are obviously incapable of going back to the cemetery, we will discuss the things that are needed to be taken into consideration when raising a human.”

“So like rules?”

“No. More like warnings. When a human is raised from the dead, they will want to return to the dead. They will want to commit suicide. No one is sure why this is, we can only guess. Humans that are raised are insecure and not good fighters, no matter how they were in their previous life, so an army of dead would be foolish. And… that’s about it.”

“And you were going to have me raise a human?”

“Like I said, they are warnings. Guidelines. They aren’t restrictions.”

I looked more closely at Caleb, but I saw that he was telling the truth. He would have had me raise a human. There was more to Caleb than I had thought.

<^>

Dinner was interesting. I was stared at quite a bit. It was probably because word got out that I had collapsed in the boy’s dorm. Just a guess. I had found out that the meals got better as the day went on. Breakfast: not good, lunch: mediocre, and dinner: absolutely delicious. Tonight we had some kind of fish with a salad. I was really enjoying it. I noticed it got really quiet, and I was about to look up when someone shouted, “Boo!” I spun around in my chair. “Pay-“ I spit my mouthful of fish on Tyler’s shirt. “back,” He finished as the half chewed bite I’d taken slid down his shirt.

“Nice try.”

“That is so gross,” Tyler said looking down at his shirt.

“That’s kind of the point.”

Tyler sat in an empty chair next to me and stared at me. I was very aware of everyone’s eyes, which were also staring at me.

“You don’t have to sit here, you know. You can sit by me,” Tyler murmured.

I remembered wanting to sit by him the first day I came, but now I didn’t want to. I was comfortable sitting up here, and I liked being able to see everything that was going on. More often than not, there was something funny that only I could see.

“Thanks, but I’ll pass,” I said.

Tyler’s response to this didn’t thrill me. He took my unfinished plate of food and began walking back to his seat.

“I wasn’t done eating that,” I called.

“That’s kind of the point,” He replied.

I ran to catch up with him and my meal. Once again, I was more than conscious of the people that stared at me. There was Ben, a girl I vaguely remembered seeing at the dance, and pretty much everyone else.

“Do you have to get your way every time?” I asked Tyler as I took a seat next to him. He made a face like he was thinking about it.

“Yeah, pretty much,” He replied nodding his head.

Tyler leaned towards me, and for a moment I thought he was going to kiss me in front of everyone. But, thankfully, he didn’t. Instead his lips almost brushed my ears and he whispered, “Don’t fall asleep tonight, okay?” Before I could reply, he walked away.

As usual, most of the people got up and walked with him. Don’t fall asleep tonight… What was that supposed to mean? I was honestly a little scared to find out.

“Jade, time to go,” Caleb said. Wasn’t he even a little bit curious to know what Tyler had said to me? “Jade, we have to go.” Apparently not.

The walk to Caleb’s office was silent. Maybe he expected me to tell him what Tyler said anyways. I wouldn’t tell him; it was just too creepy. When we arrived I sat down in my chair, and he sat down in his.

“Show me how you’re transporting is going,” He said. It was an order.

“No.” I refused to obey that order.

He seemed only mildly surprised, as if he was expecting that this would happen at some time or another.

“Then you may not bathe tonight.”

What a lame punishment. Bathing wasn’t a necessity; I could live without it. I shrugged.

“So what do the other students do after dinner?” I asked.

“They have free time until we turn off the lanterns.”

“Why don’t I get any free time?”

“Because you’re my apprentice, and I have to teach you as much as possible before…” He trailed off.

“Before…”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Caleb looked sad as he stared at me. Before what?

“If I’ll find out soon enough, then why not tell me now and get it over with?”

“If you’ll find out soon enough, why not just wait?” He countered. He had me there.

I gave him my best glare before getting up. I attempted to transport to the other side of the room. When I got there, I transported back because I lost my left hand. I was about to transport back again to get my right arm when Caleb asked, “What are you doing?”

“I’m showing you my transporting, duh.”

“Oh.” He had a small smile on his face. He knew I wouldn’t rebel for long.

“Whatever,” I said, and went to retrieve my arm. In turn I lost my leg. It was going to be a long night. Even longer because I wasn’t supposed to sleep.