Trefoil (13 page)

“You know you have been nothing but mean and rude for the last two days Kellan.  If you don’t have anything to contribute maybe you should just go away.  I don’t have the energy, or even the patience to deal with you right now.”  Meckenzie went off on Kellan like she had never done before in her life.  Meckenzie had always been the patient one, taking the hits, taking the jabs, and taking Kellan’s foul mood and just loving her no matter what, but Kellan had pushed her too far this time.

“I wouldn’t be here if Isabel hadn’t insisted that I be.  I have no urge to participate in any discussions about fairies or a fairy war.  I just want my life back.”  Kellan had begun yelling.  “This is stupid.  I want you all to know now that I’m not going to Aquanis
,  I
am staying here.  I’m going to college.  You can all go run off and fight a war.  Get yourselves killed.  I’m not going.”

“Kellan, just relax.  No one is going anywhere right now.  We are just trying to keep ourselves safe.  You are going to have to learn how to deal with your powers just like the rest of us.  If you don’t, you are going to have a hard time having a college basketball career.  It wouldn’t be good for you to go exploding into a giant on the court.  For now, just put your anger aside.”  Taggart’s words fell on deaf ears.  Kellan was having no part of it.

As she stood up to leave, Isabel stood up too.  She started mumbling something under her breath.  Gradually she got louder and louder.  Isabel was pointing her hands and words at Kellan.  Isabel was casting a spell, a spell that none of them had heard before.  A spell was causing Kellan to have the most frightened look come across her face.  Kellan couldn’t move.

Isabel stopped her spell.  She slowly made her way to Kellan and gently pushed her back into her chair. 

“Now I want you to listen to me.  You kind of have to listen to me because you can’t talk or move right now.  It’s only temporary, but you need to hear something.  You don’t have any control over your life anymore.  It’s unfortunate that it has happened this way, but it is what you have to deal with.  It’s more than anyone should be asked to deal with, especially a child such as you.  You have been given these gifts to help all of Fae kind.  They are a great responsibility.  The idea that you can control them in the human world is a frivolous one.  Kellan, you have too much of a temper.  You are a spoiled child and thus you will listen to me.  You will go to Aquanis.  You will fight this war, and you will stop harassing your sister, it is counterproductive.  So if you will calm down and stay here and listen to what we have to discuss I will let you go.  If this is something you think you can do then blink twice.  If it is not, I will keep you like this while we continue our conversation.  So what do you think?”

Kellan didn’t do anything at first.  She stared hatefully at Isabel.  Kellan’s temper was going to be the end of her.  Meckenzie had always thought it would benefit her, but now Kellan appeared to have met her match.  Isabel was not backing down this time.  Isabel turned to go back to her seat.

“Okay, since your sister seems to be attentive, let’s talk about this boy.”  Isabel redirected the conversation back to Ty.  “I think he is Fae.  I felt it when he walked in the house.  He is powerful too.  I am pretty sure that he is here for you three.  I can’t say I know who he is, but he is definitely Fae.”

“Really Meckenzie what was up with the kiss?”  Taggart asked again.  “You almost passed out afterword.”

“I had a vision.  The buzzing started when he walked in the door.  Then he touched me and it intensified.  When he kissed me, I saw him in the park talking to two other people.  They were looking at the house and I felt such malevolence that when he stopped kissing me, I almost fainted.”

“Did you hear anything that they were saying?”  Isabel asked.

“No, it was just some gesturing and then a brief flash of the house and the deep feeling of hatred.  I was sure he was going to try and kidnap me tonight, or worse, kill us all.”  Meckenzie shivered at the last statement.  She really hadn’t allowed herself anytime to work through that moment in the foyer, she had just marched on to the rest of her evenings tasks.

All of sudden, Isabel looked at Kellan.  She had been sitting paralyzed and mute, but now she was starting to move a little bit.  Isabel stood up and began casting another spell.  Meckenzie couldn’t tell if it was the same one or not, but Kellan once again looked like something was wrong.  Kellan was scared, that much Meckenzie could tell. 

When Isabel finished her spell, Kellan was completely mobile again.  Her eyes darted from Isabel to Meckenzie and Taggart sitting across from her.

“I’m glad that everyone thought it was okay that she paralyzed me.”  Kellan was almost in tears.

“Look Kellan, you just needed a time out.  I won’t do it again if you promise to cooperate with us.”  Isabel pleaded with Kellan to understand reason.  Meckenzie couldn’t say she would have reacted any different if someone had cast the spell on her. 

“I think we have all had a long day.”  Meckenzie interjected.  “I still have to go have my little dream conversation with Morgan.”

Both Taggart and Kellan whipped their heads around to look at Meckenzie.

“Morgan?”  Taggart asked.  “What are you talking about?”

“Well, yesterday, I came upon a new gift so to speak.  I can communicate with Morgan; she is part of the Morrigan.  She and I are set to have another conversation tonight.  It is a way that we can communicate with Mom without having to use the courier.”

“Great, Meckenzie gets another cool power, and I’m still she-hulk.”  Kellan was openly crying now.  “I’m going to bed.”

With that Kellan stormed off.  Meckenzie thought it was probably for the best since everything seemed to set Kellan off. 

“What do we do about her?”  Taggart asked.

“I don’t know.”  Meckenzie felt hopeless.

“Give her some more time.  I’m sure it will get easier the further along we get.”  Isabel tried to stay positive too, but there was a look in her eyes that said she wasn’t sure either.

“Do you mind if I watch you sleep?”  Taggart said out of the blue.

“What?”  Meckenzie looked at him dumbfounded.

“Yeah, I want to see what happens when you do this dream communication.  See if your body does anything out of the ordinary.”

“It might not be a bad idea to have someone in the room with you.”  Isabel added.

“Okay, but let me get ready for bed and then I’ll come get you.”  Meckenzie felt weird having someone watch her sleep, but she knew that Taggart’s curiosity would only be abated by watching her sleep.

They all headed off in their separate directions.  Meckenzie was so tired from her day, she didn’t know if she would even be able to do this.  Well, only one way to find out she thought.

Chapter
16…

As Meckenzie showered away her day, she thought back to only a week ago when she had just been struggling with sleeping due to her reoccurring dream.  In hindsight, Meckenzie saw
that,
she was so lost then, without any idea as to what it all meant.  Over the course of the few short days, she had gotten more information than her mind knew what to do with. 

She brushed out her hair, staring at her reflection.  Meckenzie felt she looked like a different person.  There was some knowledge in her eyes that said she had lived, or maybe it was just the exhaustion she saw around her eyes.  Meckenzie had only this evening gotten her first kiss from a boy and it seemed to be the worst experience of her life.  Meckenzie knew that the revolting feeling she had received in the vision, that had accompanied the kiss, was going to be how she remembered her first kiss for the rest of her life.  It was really disappointing.  Meckenzie had always imagined her first kiss would be something wonderful.  Some magic moment in time that stopped her heart and gave her butterflies.  While her heart had stopped, it was not from the kiss, it had been from the vision.  The vision of Ty staking out her house with two other people and the feeling of hatred was so strange it had made her feel nauseous. 

Meckenzie laughed as she realized that all things she had wanted from her first kiss had happened with her kiss with Ty.  Heart stopped.  Check. 
Funny feeling in her stomach.
  Check. 
Dizzy, breathlessness after.
  Check.  Yet there was something glaringly missing. 
The attraction.
 

Meckenzie got dressed for bed and made her way out to the sitting area that she and Kellan shared.  She hadn’t expected to find Kellan sitting there waiting for her.  Meckenzie hoped that Kellan wasn’t going to start anything.  Meckenzie had just cleared her mind with a shower and was ready to relax into a dream state so she could talk to Morgan.  The last thing she needed was to have Kellan start something right before bed.

“Look,
” Kellan
started off very timidly.  It wasn’t really in Kellan’s nature to be timid.  “I know that none of this is your fault.  I know you didn’t start this.  I just can’t understand why you are so okay with it.  Why do you just go along with everything that Isabel says?”

“Kellan, I’m not really in the mood for this.  I am tired and I have to do this thing.  I don’t know why I’m just okay with it.  I never really thought about not being okay with it.  I am just trying to make it through the day.  It would help if you would lay off of me for a while.  You are right I didn’t cause this, but if you keep coming after me and Taggart the way you are, you might not have anyone left to help you get through it.”  Meckenzie had really had enough of Kellan’s whiny attitude.  She wasn’t in the mood and she wasn’t going to take it anymore.

Kellan didn’t even look at Meckenzie as she got up and went back into her room.  Meckenzie thought she heard Kellan start to cry, but she didn’t really have time to deal with it at this point. 

Meckenzie decided she didn’t want to go running all over the house looking for Taggart, so she sent out a mental message to him. 
If you’re ready, I’m so tired I can barely stay awake.  Come up to my room.
  She didn’t even wait for a response; she just headed back into her room and got into bed.

Taggart was up the stairs in a minute flat.  He had the biggest smile on his face.  He really was taking this better than the rest of them.  Meckenzie just felt tired all the time, but Taggart always seemed to be happy.  Actually, excited was a better way to describe his attitude about this whole situation.  He was just so curious about everything, that he got excited anytime anything new happened.

“Okay, so how does this work?”  Taggart asked.

“I’m not all together sure.  Last time, I just fell asleep while thinking about the Morrigan.  So this time I’m going to try and fall asleep thinking about Morgan specifically.  I think it’s best if we turn off the light, but leave the bathroom light on, so you’re not in totally darkness.”

Taggart turned on the light in the bathroom and moved a chair next to the door.  He then walked over and turned off the light to the room.  Meckenzie waited for him to settle in,
then
she closed her eyes and started thinking about Morgan.  It was going to be hard not to think about her mom during this.  She really wanted to talk to her, but she was happy she at least had Morgan to communicate with.

Meckenzie was running through the questions that she wanted to ask Morgan and the next thing she knew she was sitting in front of the mirror again staring at her.  It was so surreal to see this girl staring back at her. 
This girl, Morgan, who was now expected to enlighten and lead a people through her Goddess.

“Hello Morgan.  Do you have a password for me?”

“Yes, your mother said that we would be using a password from now on.  That was a great idea by the way.  The password is Dr. Seuss.  Who is this Dr. Seuss?  Your mother just laughed and said it was someone from your childhood.”

Meckenzie knew that her mother would remember that Dr. Seuss was her favorite author when she was a child.  She still had many Dr. Seuss books on her bookshelf. 

“He was a children’s author, my favorite as a child.  Do you have any other news from my mother?”

“She believes that there are several spies in New York City looking for you.  She thinks that you and your siblings should be really careful.  She is hoping that she can find out in the next few days who some of them are.  She doesn’t have any names yet.”

“Ask her if Ty Rabe is familiar to her.  He started at our school a few days ago and has taken an interest in me.  I’m not sure if that is his real name, but that is all I have.  I am supposed to go out on a date with him tomorrow night.  It is sort of a fact finding mission.”

“Meckenzie, do you think it is wise to go out with someone that may or may not be out to get you?  I will talk to your mom.  I’m supposed to tell you to retrieve the necklace from the bank.  She said you would know what I mean.”

“Yes of course.  We have been meaning to do that, but with all that has been going on, we got sidetracked.  Isabel wanted her to know that the thing she sent got here and is working out great.  I don’t know what that means, but she said mom would.”

“Okay, I’ll remember that.  She wanted to know how each of you is doing.”

“I’m doing well.  Just trying to get the hang of my gifts and learning all of this new information about myself and my family’s history.  I think Taggart is doing the best.  He finds everything very curious.  He was always the inquisitive one of the three of us.  He is reading any book that Isabel gives him.  He also is trying to keep the peace with Kellan.  Kellan is taking it horribly.  She blames everyone for what is going on.  She just wants her normal life is what she says.  I would say that is out of reach.  She loses her temper and grows almost twice her size.  She doesn’t seem to want to deal with anything.  Her only recourse is to lash out at Taggart and me.  She knocked Taggart out while we were doing defensive training.  Kellan has gotten so strong that one good punch and she might be able to kill someone.”

“Your mom was also wondering how your father was?”

“Did she really ask about my dad?”

“Yes.  She seemed really worried.  She told me I had to be very secretive about it, because she doesn’t want anyone finding out who he is and using him against her, or you guys.”

“He seems to be growing grayer by the second.  He has taken it really well, considering.  I think he always knew something was up.  It helps that he just wants what is best for us and wants to protect us.  He may change his mind when it comes time for us to go to Aquanis.  Do you know if he can come with us?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll ask.  Is there anything else that we need to discuss?”

“I just want mom to know I love her.  I miss her.  I hope to see her soon.  I think we should wait a couple of days before contacting each other again.  So how bout in three days we will try this again?”

“Okay, same password or do we need a new one?”  Morgan asked.

“How about we try a new one.
 
Any suggestions?”

“We can use my name before I became Morgan, Alia.”

“Okay.  See you in three days.”  With that Meckenzie thought wake up, and she was suddenly awake lying in her bed.  It was dark except for the light in the bathroom that silhouetted Taggart sitting in a chair staring at the bed.

“Hey.”  Meckenzie said.

“That was interesting.  You talk in your sleep when you do that.  So I got one side of the conversation.  Thanks by the way, for thinking that I handle this best of the three of us.  I don’t necessarily think I do.  I just try to keep smiling, keep positive.  I happened to bring a notepad, so I took notes of your conversation in case you forgot anything.”

“Thanks.  I still can’t believe I can do this.  I am really worn out though.  So if you don’t mind, I’d like to go to sleep now.”

Taggart started to make his way to the door.  “Do you think Kellan will come around?”

“I don’t know.  I kind of told her off earlier.  I told her if she kept coming after us like she was, she might not have anyone left in her life.  I know it was harsh, but I’m just so tired of her whining about this.  I expected her to take it better I guess.  She is always so tough, so strong.  I just can’t understand what is causing her to be so angry all the time.”

“Really?
  You can’t figure out why our willful temperamental sister is angry about everything that is going on.  You have these fantastic powers. 
Powers that you are using on a daily basis.
  Powers that allow
s
you to communicate in a roundabout way with mom and Kellan has some speed, strength and agility.  I would think she feels cheated.  Not to mention she feels like she turns into a monster every time she does that growing thing.”

“I never thought of it like that.  I thought her gifts suited her.  Kellan has always been athletic.”

“Yes, but now she is thinking has she always been athletic, or have the powers always allowed her to be good at sports?  She is just confused and scared.  We have to be even more supportive of her now.”  Taggart was always the level headed one.  He had such a genuine heart and love for his sisters.  He had never complained about being the only boy when they would play as kids.  He had just gone with the flow even when they had made him play girl games. 

“Okay, I’ll try to be better.  I really do have to go to sleep.  I have had a long day.”  Meckenzie could think of nothing sweeter than sleep.  Taggart flipped off the bathroom light and made his way out of her room. 

Meckenzie rolled over in her bed and closed her eyes praying for a dreamless sleep.  She just wanted to wake up in the morning and be well rested for yet another trying day that lay ahead.  She knew she would need all her energy to get through the school day and the date with Ty.  Meckenzie thought of Jeff coming on the date with her and she smiled as she drifted off to sleep.