Chapter Nine

It looks like my plan is working perfectly. That fool of a spy, Rose, thinks that I am actually the one who fuels her power, when I am only using her to get Eli back. If I can't have him, I will have his power. Capturing his parents and Crystal is just a part of my plan. Having those three in my pendent will allow me to pull his power right out of him. Too bad it will destroy him in the process. But he is a traitor; who needs him? His lightening power will go great with my shadow powers, and increase my range of abilities.

Now, to contact Rose and see what is happening.

"Rose, what have you observed, and it better be important," I demanded. "Well, everyone hates me. And Eli's state of being right now is forcing him to draw away from everyone so he doesn't hurt them. So I guess the transformation he is having is a bad one. Also, Zirc and Taylor are inseparable," Rose responded. "Good girl. Now I want you to try and separate Taylor and Zirc," I commanded. Rose simply replied: "Okay, but I hate hurting people."

"You will do as I say or your powers will be lost, and you will be just an ordinary person with nothing. I know how much you hate that!" I warned her. "Now, I am going to send some more power your way to boost yours. You probably won't feel it right away," I said. "Yes sir." Her usual response.

After my chat with her I sent the evil power, but not for her. It was for Eli, to increase his transformation. Now we will see how he deals with the emotions and the feelings he got by doing evil tasks.

When I woke up this morning, I felt different. Like I did years ago, when I was the way I am now. Everything was getting to me. After breakfast I went outside to see what was going on. Isaac was trying out his powers again and was unsuccessful. I remember the other day, he was trying to make a tornado and succeeded, but he ended up lifting himself up in it and it carried him out into the ocean where it died and he was dropped. If Zac hadn't been there to make a wave to bring him back, he would have had a long swim.

As I watched him fail at it again and again, Tay and Zirc walked by. They were doing their usual whispering. Then, all of a sudden, Taylor got angry at Zirc. He started yelling at her and pushed her. When she fell I could see the hurt in her eyes, well, anyone could have. I got so angry I threw this huge lightening bolt at Tay, but he absorbed it. When he was about to throw it back, I called a weapon I hadn't used in years- my lightening saber. It is a weapon of metal charged with the powers of lightening. As he threw the bolt he had created I held the sword in front of myself. It blocked his attack totally. I then went to attack him.

I held the sword high and was going to slice him with it when about ten blasts of fire hit me. It threw me far, and hurt as well. It got angrier and angrier. As I got up to attack again I heard Zirc say, "I dare you Eli." Her eyes were as dark as mine. I just put the sword in the pouch on my back and left.

I climbed my favorite tree and heard someone below it. I listened, only to hear Rose. She said, "I can't believe it was so easy to make Tay so angry toward......" She was cut off by my sword being held across her throat. "If I were you I would take that spell off of Taylor, now!!! And I dare you to do something to hurt my sisters, the Hansons, Maeve, or Dermott again. Or my sword won't stop the next time," I said, enraged.

At lunch I had to tell everyone of my decision. I looked at them, afraid to see their reactions. "I have something to say. I have decided to leave for awhile. It looks like I can't control myself any longer. I have tried, but I have failed. If Zirc wouldn't have stopped me, I would have torn Tay to shreds. I must go, but I will return," I said. Silence filled the room.

"You what? Eli, no! Please, we can work through this. You left us once and you returned evil. If you do it the same it will happen again!" Zirc exclaimed. Lana looked sad, angry, confused, and fearful. So she just vanished without a word.

"I am sorry Zirc and Lana. But I must. I could hurt someone, or worse. I am leaving Dermott here as well; in the hands of Isaac," I said. Then with that I connected the two until I return. Then I left the room. But before I could get to the stairs, I heard someone yell, "Wait up!" I looked to see Taylor.

"Eli, I know we have had our differences, but I don't want you to leave thinking I hate you. I actually admire you. I mean, you work so hard to control yourself. Yes, you have a slip up once in a while, but everyone does. I just don't want any hard feelings left while you are away. Okay?" he told me. Before I could reply he was back in the dining room with the others.

At the last minute, I decided to do something I didn't really want to do. 'It's for the better,' I told myself, as I prepared a spell. Knowing my sister as well as I did, Lana was sure to try and follow me. I cast a holding spell on her to keep her here, where she will be safe. I would deal with her outrage with me when I get back.

I am now on the ship. I don't know where I am headed. I really don't care, as long as I find someone that might help me.

When Eli told all of us that he was leaving, fear engulfed my body. How was I supposed to stay here without my big brother? I mean, he was one of the best things in my life, and I had no idea how I was supposed to live my not so livable life without him. When he told us, I just felt like going into a place where no one could find me. So I felt my body disappearing into nothing, and then coming back into the one place I feared, but the one place I also loved. Medwin's pendent.

I immediately looked around at my surroundings, and saw that this place was just as bleak as Medwin. I softly called out for Crystal, even though I seriously doubted that I would be able to make contact in this battle field of nightmares. I heard a soft cry, and as I turned around, I felt a pair of arms embrace me. I didn't know this person, but I sensed that she was a very important person in my life.

"Lana? Is that you?" the sorceress asked me. "Yes, I am Lana. Why?" "Because I'm your mother. And I would like to ask you, why in the world are you here, my dear?" the woman asked.

"I, um, I'm, uh, kinda..." I stuttered. This woman was my MOTHER?! The person who had loved me from the start? "Spit it out, dear." she said in a soothing voice. "I'm well, Momma, I'm dead." I said. The reaction on her face was too much. A giggle escaped my lips before I could take control of it. "Well... That's certainly a surprise..." The next thing I know, she fainted.

Lana was cool. But I hated to see her upset, and whenever that happened, I tried my hardest to make her happy again. This time, though, I had no idea where the heck she was. Probably somewhere where she could be alone. I decided not to drill on the fact that she wasn't there, and tried to concentrate on working my new power.

"Water... Come on, rise.... I did this before... I can do this..." I whispered to myself. Water was fun, but it still hadn't sunk in that I was able to do this the rest of my life. It was just sooo hard, but fun at the same time.

"Yes!" I yelped as I saw the huge wave coming towards shore. "Well, that's a start." someone, a female, said behind me. "Rose, what do you want?" I whined. "I'm trying to work here, ya know. Hint hint, get the hint?" I sang a little ditty that I learned from Taylor years ago. "Yes, yes, but I'm not budging." was what the poor girl TRIED to make rhyme.

"HA. Wanna bet?" I said, grinning evilly. "Sure. You're on." Rose replied, putting her hands on her hips. "Ok...... Try to master... THIS!" I yelled, as a huge 6 feet tall wave came towards shore. "Um, YIKES!!" Rose yelped, jumping off of the rock she had settled herself upon.

"Haha! I win!" I said, doing a little dance on the shore. "Oh yeah? You haven't seen what I can do yet, have you?" I gulped down a whole lot of air then. I didn't know what kinds of powers she possessed. "Look at those two deer over there, in the forest clearing. Well, take a good notice on how they hate each other." So as I was looking, I heard Rose's fingers snap. The two deer were instantly fighting.

"How did you do that?" I asked, in wonderment. "Who says I did?" With that, Rose flung her long hair out of her eyes, and did an about-face. "Well, see ya later, ZACHARY."

From then on, whenever I was around Rose, she scared the living daylights out of me. I didn't like her, and I had a feeling, no one in the house did that much, either

I didn't know what was happening to everyone. The house was too complicated now. And unfortunately, with my powers for sensing emotion, I was stuck in the middle of it all. Torn between feelings of love and hatred, of confusion and loneliness, of good and evil, of happiness and sadness. My head began to ache for hours every day, and it's all started since Rose arrived.

Rose. Just thinking about her, hearing her name, makes me cringe inwardly. I'm not sure what's up with that poor girl. A sorceress of love, powered by evil. It was almost funny, until you got down to the straight edge. Why was she here? What did she want? What was she trying to do?

Sighing, I shifted over onto my side. My bed springs groaned under the weight, and my eyes fluttered shut. I slowly began to drift off into a peaceful sleep, trying to rid myself of the surge of emotions I kept receiving. When I was almost gone, I felt a shiver run down my spine, as if I was being watched. Sitting up, I glanced over at the door. Rose stood there, frozen, caught like a mouse in a trap.

"What do you want, Rose?" I asked her tiredly. My eyelids were drooping, and if I didn't get sleep soon someone was going to get hurt. Rose tentatively stepped into my bedroom, her long hair falling like a velvet curtain around her innocent looking face.

"Zirconia, I just wanted to ask if you were ok. I know you've been having a hard time recently, plus I saw your fight with Taylor this morning. Why did he push you? What's going on?" I couldn't help but laugh. Rose has sent everyone mixed messages, and right now it was obvious she was in her "I'm totally innocent and want to be your friend" mood.

"Rose, come have a seat. Let's talk," I offered. The only way I could possibly find out what the hell was going on was to become her friend, or at least pretend to be. Besides, no one else in the house besides Maeve had even made the effort, and with Taylor angry at me, I really didn't have anyone to go to when I needed to talk. Eli had left, due to his sudden transformation back to his evil side; Caly was gone for who knows how long; Maeve wouldn't really understand; Lana and Zac were too caught up with each other; and Ike. . wait. I had almost forgotten about Ike. And he probably needs to talk to someone now. All he's done recently is mope around, and practice his new power. I made a quick mental note to find him later, and tuned back in to Rose.

She had walked across the room and seated herself gingerly on the end of my bed, practically falling off. "Come here, girl. I'm not going to bite," I joked. Rose smiled a little, and moved closer.

"Ok. So you want to know how I am?" Rose nodded soberly, her face cleared of any readable emotion. "I'm pretty crappy, to be honest. This morning I was just talking to Taylor, and we got in the stupidest fight. Then he almost seemed like a little kid, pushing me and everything. It was so odd. Plus my power is working way too much overtime, since everyone's emotions are so strong.

"Emotions? What? What are you talking about?" Rose sounded slightly frantic. "Yeah, emotions. Not only am I a fire sorceress, I can read emotions and feel emotions. Not just mine, but other people's." That was the best explanation I could think of off the bat, and the simplest.

"Oh. Gee, well, so, uh, you're saying that everyone is, um, really emotional? Or their feelings are just super strong?" Rose was fidgeting, shifting nervously from left to right. It was a funny scene, almost seemingly like she needed to go to the bathroom. "I'd say their feelings are just super strong," I informed her. Rose's eyes grew big, and I thought I saw small beads of perspiration form along her brow. "Interesting," she said, trying desperately to stay calm.

"I've got to go," Rose said, standing suddenly. She ran out of the room, down the stairs, and I could hear the front door slam shut as she ran out onto the sandy beach.

"I wonder what that was all about," I said to myself with a small laugh. Before I knew it, though, I was drifting off to sleep.

"Hey Isaac, can I talk to you?" Remembering what I had told myself earlier, when I had woken up from my two hour rest I hurried off to find Ike. It hadn't been a hard task, he was sitting in his room, staring out the window. Dermott was in his cage, chirping loudly. At the sight of that I entered without permission, and opened the door. Dermott happily flew out, and then out the open window. Isaac gave me a steely glare as I stood there, looking at him.

"Great. Now I'm gonna have to find him," he complained, standing. "No, you're not. Dermott always comes home. Don't worry about it, he'll be back," I assured him. Isaac flopped back down on his bed, his hair falling into his face. "How's it going, Ike?" I asked him softly. Isaac stared up at the ceiling blankly. I joined him on the bed, sitting beside his legs.

"Horrible. I miss Caly. I need someone to talk to. Eli's gone now, and Taylor and you are too caught up with each other to notice anything else anymore. The only people left are either 12 years old or triple my age, and they wouldn't really understand." My heart thumped painfully, mainly because his own pain was so strong it was overwhelming me.

"Ike, I'm sorry. I can't do anything about Caly or Eli being gone, because I wouldn't mind having them back myself. But if you ever want to talk to Taylor, or even me, just tell us. We don't have to be together all the time, we simply are because we have nothing better to do! But I don't want you to just sit here all day, feeling sorry for yourself, and I know he wouldn't either." Isaac sighed as I finished, and closed his tired eyes.

"Thanks Zirc. I understand that, but still. . ." "What?" I pressed, determined to get him to cheer up. "It hurts when I see you guys together. It hurts because I remember how happy Caly and I used to be when she was here." My heart went out to him then, as I could totally understand what he meant. "I know it. When I see Zac and Lana laughing, talking, having fun- well, it reminds me about how close Caly and I were. She was my best friend. We told each other everything. And she asked me to take care of you, Ike. She wouldn't want you sitting here all the time, moping and wondering how she is. She'd want you to get out, to live a little. Have fun, do stuff."

Isaac looked up at me, a small smile forming at the corners of hs mouth. "I know you're right, but I'm never going to stop missing her. Or loving her," he declared. I smiled warmly, and wrapped my arms around his torso. "You're too sweet, Ike," I told him. We embraced for a long time, and I know we were both thinking about Caly. Once we had pulled away from each other, I could tell he was feeling a little better. "Thanks, Zirc. Now I can see why Taylor loves you so much."

At the mention of Taylor, my smile fell. Isaac noticed, and could instantly tell something was wrong. "What happened?" he questioned, his brown eyes open and caring. I told him about our fight, about how stupid it was, and about how we hadn't spoken nearly all day.

"I'll go talk to him, ok? While I'm at it, I'll work on my power a bit," Isaac told me. We stood, and exited the room. As he headed off to find Taylor, my head began to throb gently. Even though that problem was out of the way, I still had many more to figure out.

After Eli had heard me talking to Medwin about them, I figured I better watch my back. He really startled me though. If Maeve ever finds out what I'm doing here, I could really be in for it. Last night Zirconia tried being my friend. I think it worked too. But when she started explaining her powers, I was afraid she might know what I was really doing here, so I ran away. I ran out of the house and onto the beach, and just ran.

After about a mile I felt like someone was following me, so I turned around. Standing there was a boy about my age, or maybe a few years older. He just stood there staring, so I walked up to him and asked him what his name was. "Shane," he softly replied.

"Hi, I'm Rose," I replied back with a smile. He grinned and asked if he could walk with me. As soon as we started walking, I started telling him my life story. He seemed interested, unlike others who had ran away when I had tried to talk. He took my hand as we kept walking on. It felt so good to have someone to talk to. If I had tried to talk to Lana or Zirc about what I was doing, my head would have been blown off. He totally understood everything I was saying. I was starting to wonder if he was a sorcerer. I didn't dare ask him though, because I had been brought up to understand that if you asked someone something they might lie to you.

I then asked Shane how old he was. After a moment of silence, he hesitantly replied, "Thirteen." I told him that I was 12. "I know," he said. "But how do you know how old I am?" I asked him with an astonished look on my face. "Because I'm the sorcerer of time," he said with a grin. "Oh, I understand," I said.

In the distance I could hear a slow song being played by a small orchestra. We started dancing, my head laid on his shoulder. As we walked back, I realized how dark it was. I hadn't even noticed before how dark it was. I looked down at my small watch. It read 11:49. I told Shane that I needed to get back home. He said to me, "No you don't, I've stopped time for us. It's not really 11:49, it's 7:23." I smiled, but we turned around anyway.

He took me back home, and I introduced him to Zac. He had this Who-is-he?! look on his face, and then he sent me a telepathic message that said, "Rose, who the heck is this kid?" "I'm Shane," Shane responded before I had a chance. "Oh my gosh, how'd you hear me?" Zac asked. "I can hear telepathic messages; I'm a sorcerer myself," Shane explained.

When he left I went to see Zirc, so I could apologize for running out on her like that. I went to her door and knocked. She answered it and smiled. "Hm..what do you want?" "Well Zirc, I wanted to apologize for running out when we were in the middle of talking," I told her. "Uh huh," she said.

"Guess what!?!" I said, walking over to where she was standing. "I met this kid, his name is Shane, he's 13 and, well, he's soo sweet!" I gushed excitedly. "Oh, that's nice," Zirc replied unhappily. "Oh, I'm sorry, Zirc! I forgot that you are fighting with Taylor, will you forgive me?" I said. "Of course," Zirc responded. "It's not your fault."

I told Zirc that I was going to bed. "So soon?" she asked. "Yes, I've had a long day." "You were only gone for a little while though," Zirc said with confusion. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Shane's the sorcerer of time," I explained.

After that, I left, calling out a goodbye over my shoulder. I got into my night clothes, looked at my picture of me and my mom and hopped into bed. I had altogether stopped writing down what I needed to do the next day, after Eli heard me talking to Medwin. My eyes wouldn't stay closed. Finally two hours later I feel into a deep sleep.

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