Elena
Nori is from the Hira clan, Eevie muttered. She seemed lost in thought, but I didn't know what that meant. Was it a good thing? A bad thing? Did she know who is family was?
Is that bad? I finally asked. After a few moments, Noel finally pulled his shirt down and buttoned up his pants, but he didn't say anything.
It's not really go or bad per say. I'm just surprised. The Hira clan is a very prominent clan in the demon realm. They have a strong hold over their land. I can't imagine what his motivation would be to bond with a human, Eevie explained. Unless he was trying to escape something... Was she wondering if he was her soon to be fiance? Was he as desperate to get out of the marriage on his end as she was on hers?
I didn't want to voice my opinion and upset Eevie, so I kept my mouth shut and let her think. I thought I had stayed quiet too long and glanced up at Noel, "Thank you for showing us. Eevie kind of guessed from lunch today, but I'm glad we got to have a better look," I admitted. It had been kind of nice to see his abs, too, I reminded myself.
"I thought it'd be only right," Noel nodded. If he was waiting for us to confirm which clan Nori was from, he didn't let on. And Eevie hadn't told me to tell them she had it figured out, so I had kept quiet myself.
We'll do our half of the bargain on the roof. And tell Noel to bar the door. Eevie ordered, and I relayed her message to Noel as we headed up the stairs. But before we left the room, Eevie had me grab one of Austin's shirts from his closet and stuff it into my bookbag. Noel gave me a weird look but didn't say anything.
Why do we need to bar the door? I asked. And why did you have me steal Austin's shirt?
I haven't been able to sense Austin and Alexa lately, and I don't want Noel's roommate walking in in the middle of the spell. If we bar the door, he can't find us out unless he barges through the door. And I have another spell we can do to keep away from prying eyes. The shirt will come later.
Once we were on the roof, Noel found a wooden plank he stuck between the handle and the ground to wedge the door shut. I beckoned Noel to sit in the middle of the roof with me. No one from the ground level would see us if we sat down.
Eevie and I switched, and she started rummaging into my bag for the things she would need. We had surprised Noel by the switch, and he started to ask us what we were doing, but she shushed him with a finger to his lips and did the zipping her mouth shut motion. Noel must have taken the hint because he stayed silent.
Setting up a candle between Eevie and Noel, she poured a handful of salt into her hand, chanting "Invisique. Phasmatos radium calaraa, Phasmatos radium calaraa." Then, throwing the salt into the candle's flame, she glanced at Noel.
"We are now free to speak," she said.
"What did you just do?" he asked curiously. Nothing looked out of the ordinary now. I couldn't even tell what she had done.
"It's a pretty basic cloaking spell. No one can see or hear us as long as this candle stays lit. It's a precaution in case someone gets through the door or is elsewhere nearby," she explained as she dug around in her bag for a notebook and a pen.
"You don't think things are normal here, either?" Noel asked.
She glanced up from the notebook. "Not at all. Something's off, and I've felt it for awhile, but I just thought it was me getting acclimated going between realms or something, but it's more than that. I know Nori's sensed it, too."
Nori was suddenly sitting in front of us. "Do you feel something's off with Alexa and Austin?" he asked.
"Quite so," she nodded.
Eevie
What's off about Alexa? Elena asked seriously.
"I don't know about Austin, but Alexa has some unusually odd hours. We've hardly seen her at all the last couple of days. And lately, I haven't been able to sense them as readily. I thought it was me having my guard down, but I don't think that's necessarily the case anymore," I told Nori.
He nodded in agreement, "Same with Austin. Today at lunch, I didn't notice them until they were right behind us. I was hoping you could send a message to my sister and she could look into this school from her side. I don't think this is an ordinary school."
I agreed with him. "I can send her a message easily. I just need something of hers."
Noel dug in his pocket and pulled out a trinket of some sort. I passed him the notebook and pen and instructed him to write out his message. When he was done, he tore out the page and handed it over. Holding the note and his sister's trinket in the same hand, I chanted, "Prend ce message ce au le centre se levant." The note burst into flames in my hand. When it stopped burning, the note was gone. The trinket lay in my hand unharmed, and I handed it back.
"She received it?" Nori asked.
I nodded my head, "Yes, she will have received it. I want to try something else," I told Nori as I dug around in the backpack again and took out a shirt I had Elena pilfer from the boys room.
"We were wondering why Elena stole that shirt," Nori mused.
"I want to do a tracking spell to see if I can't locate Austin right now. Or get some sort of vision. If we want to do a locator spell, that'll be a bit different and lot more serious. This spell should be easy."
Thankfully, i found a hair of Austin's on the shirt, which also happened to be an ingredient of the spell. The last ingredient was a drop of my own blood to seal the deal. Using one of my sharp nails, i pricked my finger and added a drop of blood to the shirt as I stood up and let the wind blow through my hair. I needed the fresh air. It helped me concentrate.
"Phasmatos Tribum Nas Ex Veras. Phasmatos Tribum Nas Ex Veras," I repeated the spell a couple more times. I could feel the other side pushing back. Austin was resisting my spell. He had some sort of ward or charm up. I doubted he was a witch himself as I would have been able to sense that, but a witch could have given him a charm to protect him from someone like me.
Pushing harder, I repeated the incantation one more time. As I finished, it was as though I had been electrocuted, and I crumpled to the ground. I was out for maybe three seconds. Nori was shouting my name over and over again, and I could hear Elena in my head moaning. She had felt the shock, also.
"Eevie?" nori was at my side, holding me to him. "Are you okay? Talk to me."
Dazed, I let him sit me up and held my head in my hands. "Austin has a charm. An amulet or something that wards off all witchcraft. When I pushed too hard, it shocked me. But, when i pushed harder, I got only one image, and all i saw was darkness. Maybe a brick wall or something? But I don't know. IT was just really dark.When I tried to focus on the wall, that's when I felt the shock."
Resting my forehead on Nori's shoulder, I enjoyed his arms around me for the moment. If only I could stay there. "Austin isn't a normal college kid, that's for damn sure," I muttered.
