10 Chapter 9
Amy stepped forward and Josh with her. Luna closed the door behind her.
«You absolutely need to leave this place.» Amy said.
Byron looked at Haylee with a bewildered look.
Mark and Selene turned to Byron. They were waiting for his instructions. He was the one who started it all.
Byron turned to the three who had just entered. «What do you want to do to us?»
«We're here to help you.», Josh stepped forward. «We agree with you, all this must end.»
«But there's something you don't know, and it's important.» Luna spoke up. «This city is a trap. Your parents have been deceived. You will never go home.»
«This city is sucking the life out of you. The Keepers need it to survive. You won't last more than five years.», Amy walked over to Haylee. «I don't want to see you die, I don't want to see any of you die.»
«Too many lives have been taken. It's time to put an end to all of this.» Josh said.
«But without us, what will happen to you?» Selene asked. «I don't want to see you die either. We're friends now… »
«We will go back to what we were, spirits. We won't die.» Luna explained, then showed a book. «This was from our mother. Only the true Keepers own them. Josh and I don't have it, but Mom left us hers before she was executed.»
«Executed?», Selene's eyes widened.
«She was your Keeper Selene. She was supposed to take you to West Blackbones, but she decided not to. She was tired of seeing you Magicals die, one after the other. When the Keepers found out, she was punished.»
Josh put a hand on her shoulder. «It happened two years ago, so you have three more left to leave alive.»
«But how?» Mark asked.
«We don't know either. For now we can only tell you the names of the other Magicals. Each Keeper has a sort of notebook where he writes the names of his proteges. Our job is only to keep an eye on you and help the true Keepers.» Amy explained. «We're not real Keepers. They don't tell us everything, because they fear that by growing up with you, we can grow fond of you. And that's basically what happened.»
«Do you know who's the person I arrived with?» Byron asked.
«I'm sorry, but since you usually live separated into east and west, it's not a necessary information for us. We just have to make sure you don't get sentimentally close to other Magicals. You can try look into the Keepers' journals, but I'm not sure.» Amy said.
«Slelene and Mark are an exception and Luna has been tasked with keeping an eye on them. But we generally don't have specific information.»
«They don't trust us.» Luna said.
«And if you want to leave, you absolutely need to find a book.» said Josh. «It's the one with which it all started centuries ago. There it's written how to send us back to the spirit world. If you find it, you will be free. And you will free us too. I don't want to continue contributing to the deaths of innocent young people.»
«You know where to find it?»
«If we knew, we wouldn't be here. We would have freed you long ago.»
Luna sat down on the rotting wooden floor. «Mr. Sparkle took it away when he escaped. He sure used one of the spells in the book to hide from us who knows where.»
«So we have to find him, for you?» Haylee asked. «Who assures us that you are not deceiving us?»
«We are your friends.» Amy stated. «We're on your side, I swear.»
«Mr. Sparkle is the only one who can help you. He is the human being who found the book and summoned us, he's the only one who can put an end to all this.»
«How can he be still alive?» Mark asked.
«Werewolves live for a long time, your friend Byron will know.» Josh replied.
Haylee sighed. «So if we don't find it we'll be stuck here.»
Byron put a hand on her shoulder. «We'll find him and the book.» he said, then turned to the others. «For now, let's just warn others like us. The more we are, the easier it will be to deal with the Keepers.»
«Now it will be better if we split up.» Luna said. «Selene and Mark have screwed up enough already. The Keepers are keeping an eye on you. That beam of light was a warning. They don't know that you have regained your memories yet, but they know that two Magicals, who had to stay away, have found each other.»
«So… what do we do?» Selene asked.
Luna smiled at her. «Don't worry. They don't really care. Your life energy is what they need.»
«So why do they try so hard to keep us apart?» asked Byron.
«Because without your memories it's just easier to keep you at bay. But something must have gone wrong even before Mark and Selene... if they sent him, there must be a reason.»
«Him?»
«Percy… when he's around things get complicated.»
Byron looked at Haylee. I must be the reason…
Luna got up. «However, it's better if you don't stay together too much, to avoid problems. It's late, we better go home. See you tomorrow at school.»
As Luna said, it was late. They all went their separate ways.
Byron waited a bit more. Rachel had to see Haylee with Amy and Selene, only then he could come back home.
When he got back, Carter obviously asked him where he had been.
«I was just getting some air. I get bored staying home all day.»
«You should make some friends.»
«I tried. But the girl next door found herself a boyfriend, and she doesn't even talk to me. And everyone at school ignores me because I'm the new one.»
«I'm sure you will soon be able to make friends.»
Rachel had left early that morning.
From the window, Haylee motioned for Byron to join her.
They had to find Rachel's notebook and find out who her proteges were.
They would do the same with Carter's as soon as he left the house.
Byron knocked and she opened the door immediately. She let him in before anyone saw him.
«Where do you think she keeps it hidden?»
«I think it's in her room… »
«Ok.»
They went upstairs. In the room in front of Haylee's.
They searched every corner, without messing up anything. Everything they moved, they put back where it was.
«It's almost time to go to school. We must hurry.» Byron said.
«I know, but we have to find it. She is my Keeper. She and Percy are keeping an eye on me. She must have one.»
Haylee thought carefully about where it might be. Then she noticed a protruding tile at the foot of the window, under her mother's small desk.
She lifted the tile and found the diary. She took it and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. «Let's take some pictures and put it back.»
«Alright. Hurry up. Look for the ones who came here at least four or five years ago, next to the names are the dates.»
«Yes.», she leafed through the pages until she found the ones with the names of the Magicals still alive. «We still have time for these.»
«Done. Now we need to find Carter's diary.»
«Yes, but not right now. We need to go. Put it back where it was.»
Haylee put down the diary and put the tile as she had found it.
Byron took her wrist and dragged her towards the stairs. She stopped him. «Wait, I left my backpack in my room.»
Byron let the grip go and reached for the door. He nearly tripped over Haylee's backpack. «Hey! It's right here!»
«Ok, I'm coming.»
The backpack was open and Byron's gaze was drawn to a sheet inside it. It was just mathematical calculations but for some reason that handwriting reminded him of the note he had found in his mother's diary. But it wasn't possible. Haylee couldn't have left Blackbones and brought the diary to him. No one could reach the outside world. In her diary, his mother wrote of a barrier that surrounded the entire city. It can't be…
Haylee joined him. He looked at her puzzled.
«What's wrong? I thought you didn't want to be late.»
«Are you hiding something from me, Haylee?»
