Something Stolen, Something Found (The Magic Catalyst Chronicles Book 1)

by Jacie Douglass

  “I’m good, school was school like,” I say, leaning back in my chair. “How are you Doctor?” I ask, more to be polite than anything. It’s not like she’d give me an honest answer.

  “I’m doing very well Emilienne. Thank you for asking. Now you said that school was school like. Does that mean it’s going well? Are you enjoying your classes?”

  I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Well since it’s only the second day of school, it’s a little early to tell. And of course there’s the fact that I’m back in high school instead of Stanford… I suppose its fine. I only have five classes, all electives since I’ve already finished all my core requirements and this is just an audit.”

  “Now Emily, you know I made this recommendation in your best interests. After everything that’s happened, look at is as a chance to rediscover yourself and decide what you want to do next, without the pressure of achievement based classes.”

  “I know Doctor,” I’m aware that I’m just being argumentative at this point. After one day in school, I agree it’s probably better that I’m here. I just refuse to admit the point. It’s the principle of the thing. It should have been given to me as an option, not an already decided fact.

  “So have you made any friends yet?”

  “I’ve met a couple nice people in class,” I tell her, not really wanting to talk about school.

  “Any boys?” she probes, and I can’t help but laugh. It’s like she’s obsessed with my love life. She spent hours wanting to talk about the break up with the Sleazebag. Like there was anything to say about that. The guy was a jerk; no explanation should have been needed.

  “No, no boys,” I reply, once I get my laughing under control.

  “Come now,” she says with a doubtful expression. “There must be at least one or two promising fellows on the island.”

  “Oh I’m sure there are. But with everything that’s happened this year, and coming up with a plan for the future. Well dating is just not on my radar.” I explain, hoping to end this topic of conversation.

  “Well you shouldn’t close the door Emilienne. You’re only young once.” Umm that’s weirdest advice she’s given me yet.

  Forcing a smile, I nod, “Of course. I’ll think about it.” Please let this be the end of this topic, please, please, please.

  “And what about the island? Have any memories surfaced since we last met?”

  “Nope, not a thing,” I shrug. “But I wasn’t expecting anything either.”

  “Well don’t give up,” she lectures again. “You never know what will trigger a memory.”

  Again I flash a false smile. I’ve given up remembering anything, but it doesn’t seem to do any good to tell her that. It’s been two months now. It’s easier to accept that they are gone for good, than to keep hoping and being disappointed. I hear the ten minute warning chime go off on the video call and cheer internally. I know they think I should be talking about my emotions more, but really I’ve pretty much said everything that could be said on the topic of the “incident” and its aftermath.

  “Well, that’s all our time for today Emilienne, unless there is something specific you’d like to discuss.”

  “Oh no, I’m good.”

  “Well then, we’ll talk again next week at the same time.”

  “Sounds good, thank you!” I grin happily as I disconnect the call. Ok so I’m mostly just happy to be done with that for the week. But hey, whatever works.

  I dig my book out of my bag and throw myself on the bed. Finally, some quality time with my book.

  Wednesday, August 26th

  ∞

  Wednesday morning goes by quickly. I finally break down and agree to sit with Sebastian at lunch (and I finally remembered his name, yay me!), after being subjected to his puppy dog eyes for the entire hour.

  Mr. Morison finally got to me for chorus placement. Apparently I have an off norm range, whatever that means, and so he decided to put me with the Altos. Since that’s where Shy Girl was placed, that’s fine with me.

  We get the entire hour in creative writing to finish up with our partner, or partners in my case. Our stories came out pretty good, better than I expected actually. The Vampire’s point of view as the villain was actually pretty amazing. Of course he just looked at me when I told him that, but his energy wasn’t nearly as invasive today, so I’m taking that as a win.

  Sebastian somehow managed to be waiting outside the door when I get out of class.

  “Sprite!” He yells, drawing the attention of half the people in the hall. I just shake my head, suppressing my laughter, and head towards the cafeteria. He quickly catches up, throwing his arm around my shoulder. I can feel the joy radiating from him, and I can’t help but smile. He keeps up a constant stream of chatter as we walk. Telling me about everything from what to avoid eating in the cafeteria to who’s hooking up with whom or is it who.

  Before I know it we’ve arrived. He opens the door and motions for me to go first. I smile and roll my eyes at him as I step inside. I only make it a few steps before the energy in the room starts pressing in on me. My heart pounds in my chest and I freeze, unable to move or think under the weight of it all.

  “Are you ok, Sprite?” I hear Sebastian asking from far away. The longer I stand there the heavier it gets.

  “I can’t do this,” I breathe, my voice shaking. “It’s too much… too many…” I spin around, almost slamming into to someone entering. I push past him. I have to get away.

  I’m running down the hall, dodging out an open door into the parking lot. I don’t stop moving till I get to my car. Leaning back against the door, I try to catch my breath. Closing my eyes, I let myself slide down till my ass hits the ground. I rest my head against my knees, taking slow deep breaths while I try to rebuild my wall. I envision it pushing the lingering heaviness away from my skin and into the earth.

  “Hey, are you alright?” a familiar deep voice asks. Startled, I turn my head to see the Vampire sitting down next to me. Damn, I wish I could remember his name.

  “Yes,” I try to say, but it sounds more like a croak than a word. I clear my throat and try again. “Yes. I’m ok now… I just… needed some air…” And that excuse sounds lame, even to me.

  “Emily! Sprite! Where are you?” Sebastian yells for me, but my legs feel like jelly, and there’s no way I can yell right now.

  “We’re over here, Bast!” The Vampire calls back, standing up and waving. I close my eyes again and focus on the mental image of the golden bubble around me. Sebastian and the Vampire are talking in whispers nearby, but no words register. Warm hands touch my knees, and I open my eyes to find Sebastian crouched in front of me.

  “Hi Sprite. Are you ok?” Sebastian’s concern bleeds through his voice. I nod in response. His green eyes move over my face, serious for once. “You scared me back there. What happened?” Guilt and embarrassment hit me equally and I can feel the heat in my cheeks.

  “I’m so sorry,” I whisper, ducking my head. “I didn’t know.”

  “Hey, hey, you’ve got nothing to apologize for. I’m just worried about you. What didn’t you know?”

  I take in a deep breath. “That the crowd… All those people… It was just… too much… too overwhelming…” I stumble, trying to put together a way to explain that doesn’t make me sound completely crazy. There is no way I can express the feeling of that room. “I’m not good… with crowds.” I can see the Vampire still hovering near by listening in, but I keep my attention focused on Sebastian. My heart rate is finally almost back to normal and I feel like I can breathe again.

  “It’s not your fault, Sprite. If I’d known, I would never have pressured you to come,” he tells me. I cover his hands with mine, lightly squeezing.

  “You had no way of knowing. I thought I’d…” I scramble for a rational explanation. “That I’d conquered my fear of crowds. I hope I didn’t run anyone over when I left.” I smile, trying to lighten the mood. “But I’m good now. Thanks for coming to check on me.�
�

  Flashing me a smile in return, he stands up and offers me his hands. I take them and he easily pulls me to my feet and into his arms. Hugging me tightly he rests his forehead against mine.

  “No hit and run victims today,” he reassures. “Next time we can meet somewhere else. Somewhere a little less crowded. We can work our way up to fine dining in the cafeteria.

  “Next time?” I ask tentatively. “You sure you want to be seen with the crazy new girl?”

  Sebastian scoffs “Of course I’m sure. I’m not letting you off the hook that easily.” He winks. “As for the rest of the school, well they’re the ones missing out. By the time they figure it out, I’ll have you so completely charmed; you won’t even notice anyone else.” I can’t help but laugh at his confidence as he says the most ridiculous things. With a final squeeze, he releases me and steps back. “Now come on, lunch is almost over. Lemme walk you back.”

  “Alright,” I smile, grabbing my bag. I look around, realizing for the first time that the Vampire’s gone. “Oh, what happened to your friend? I didn’t get a chance to thank him for checking on me.”

  “What friend?” Sebastian asks, draping his arm over my shoulder again. I must be getting used to it, cause I’m not flinching or freezing anymore.

  “Uhhh, you know. The guy who helped you find me. Long hair, moody, looks like he should be on the cover of a vampire romance novel.” Sebastian looks over at me, a slow smile curling his lips.

  “You don’t remember his name, do you Sprite?” He laughs, bumping me with his hip.

  “Hey, I warned you I was bad with names. I only remember yours because you keep texting me and reminding me.”

  Sebastian laughs harder. “And my plan works too! So I’ve got no complaints. And the cover boy for vampire romance novels is Jared.” He says with a snicker. “Now tell the truth, Sprite. I’m the only person on the island whose name you know, aren’t I?”

  “I plead the fifth.” I respond, sticking, my tongue out at him.

  “Ha! I knew it!” Sebastian moves away, doing a little victory dance, before grabbing the door. “Remember this moment, Sprite. This is just the first of many memories I’ll help you make.”

  Thursday, August 27th

  ∞

  I glance at the clock, ugh twenty minutes more to go. I should have taken something other than creative writing. We’d turned in our group project first thing, only to be given a worse assignment. Between the annoying assignments and the constant black cloud over Jared’s head, it’s all I can do to sit here for an hour. The only upside is that I’ve finally started to remember his name. I had hoped that after the disaster at lunch yesterday, he might come in today with a better attitude, but no such luck.

  I can feel the Tank sneaking looks at me, but I pretend to be focused on our lame assignment. “Write a minimum of one page about your best childhood memory.” Ugh, are we five? Not like I have anything to write about anyways. But I’ve managed to fill a page with a bullshit story inspired by the happy family TV shows I watched in the hospital. It’s all about the day I went to the Zoo with my parents. I even had my PoS Father take off work to come with us. Like that would ever happen. No way would he ever skip a day at the office for family time. He couldn’t even find his way to the hospital without his work lackeys. But hey it’s my story, so miracles can happen. And I made my required word count with monkeys flinging poo and hitting my Father’s suit, you can’t beat that.

  I check the clock again, fifteen minutes left. Sighing I flip to a clean page in my notebook and start doodling. Jared turns to glare at me.

  “Do you mind? Some of us are trying to concentrate.” He growls. I swear he has to be part dog or wolf or something for as often as he’s growling at me. I roll my eyes, and keep doodling, refusing to look at him.

  “I’m not stopping you,” I whisper back, glancing over to make sure the teacher isn’t paying attention, before looking at him.

  “You’ve sighed at least twenty times in the last ten minutes,” he grouches, narrowing those beautiful blue eyes at me. It’s not fair that such an asshat has such pretty eyes. That color and those long dark lashes, ugh. I’d kill for eyelashes like his.

  “Wow I hadn’t realized you were keeping count for me. I’m Soooo sorry to have disturbed your deep thoughts.” I snark back. Sure, I probably could have been nicer about it. But his irritation was constantly prickling against me and I was tired of it. I had no clue why this guy was always in a bad mood, but he didn’t need to take it out on me.

  “Don’t mind Jared,” the Tanks deep voice whispers. I look over to see him leaning towards us, a brilliant smile curving his full kissable lips. Woah, where did that come from? I need a boyfriend like I need a hole in the head. Do not need to be thinking about kissing the hot guys. “He didn’t get enough coffee this morning.”

  “Do you think it would help if I brought an extra thermos full tomorrow?” I offer without thinking and the Tank laughs. A deep, rich sound that has chills running down my spine. The Vampire’s irritation cranks up higher and I catch flashes of dark blues and reds swirling around him from the corner of my eye. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, hoping to clear the effect.

  “Emily, are you ok?” the Tank asks, concern clear in his voice.

  “Clayton,” the Jared warns. His anger slams into me like a wave and I flinch in response. Trying to reinforce my mental shield, I ignore both of them. I take slow deep breaths as I envision the shield around me growing. These two are going to be the death of me. Maybe I should just ask Mr. Christy if I can change desks. Of course that would mean taking someone else’s desk, which he probably won’t let me do without a good reason. Bleh. Assigned seats are the worst.

  “Go back to your writing, Jared.” The Tank bites out. A large hand settles on my arm and the anger seems to retreat as the Tank’s steady protective energy envelopes me. “Seriously Emily, are you alright?” I try to focus on my breathing, but his hand running up and down my arm is seriously distracting.

  “No, I’m good,” I finally manage, giving him a halfhearted smile. “Just a headache coming on. I’ll take something for it at lunch.” The bell finally rings and I sigh in relief. The Tank’s hand falls away but my arm still tingles from the contact.

  “You should go to the nurse’s office if it’s that bad. We don’t mind walking you down there.” I crack open on eye to see the Tank standing over me with a worried expression. Jared shifts restlessly behind him, but surprisingly enough doesn’t argue.

  I wave him off with a weak smile. “If it gets worse, I’ll go see her. I should be fine in a little while though.” I grab my bag and quickly shove my stuff inside. I can feel both of them staring at me, but I don’t look at them. The pressure of their attention finally lessens as they move away. Jared pauses in the doorway to stare at me for a moment with an unreadable expression, before finally disappearing into the hall. I hurry out of the class, and head towards my locker. There is no way I’m going to the nurse’s office. There isn’t anything she can do for me.

  After a quick stop at my locker to unload my books, I head towards the lunch room. I’m still debating if I really want to try my luck again around that many people. Finally deciding to skip it, I turn and ram straight into a hard chest. Familiar sparks of heat roll over my skin as hands grab my shoulders.

  “Hey steady there.” Sebastian says.

  “Shit, sorry Sebastian,” I mumble, stepping back.

  “No worries, Sprite. I was just looking for you. I thought you were going to stand me up again.” Heat rushes to my cheeks, realizing I was about to do just that. Looping his arm over my shoulder, he tugs me close. “I can tell you’re having second thoughts about it, but never fear, I have a plan!” I can’t help but laugh at his super hero impression. Something about Sebastian’s energy lifting my mood immediately, with his ridiculous nickname and easy manner. Guiding me down the hall, he flashes a sly smile. I raise an eyebrow as we pass the cafeteria door. At the far end of the hall
he stops and opens the door to the courtyard with a flourish. “Right this way, Mademoiselle.” He says with a terrible French accent and a mock bow. Tucking my hand in the crook of his arm, he leads us into the mostly empty courtyard. “We’ve reserved the best table in the house for your party.” I laugh and roll my eyes at his silliness.

  “You are crazy.”

  “Maybe,” he winks, leaning in to whisper in my ear. “But you love me anyways, dontcha Sprite?” Gasping, I drop his hand and stop walking. My face burns and I consider trying to make a run for it. He turns to me with an angelic smile. “It’s ok Sprite, you don’t have to say it yet.” With a wink, he grabs my hand and pulls me along behind him the rest of the way across the courtyard. What the hell? “And here we are.” Before I can even process what’s happening, I’m sitting on a bench next to him, his arm around my waist. Seriously… What the hell? Shaking my head, I realize we’re not alone. Looking around I’m surprised to see the Tank sitting across from Sebastian. He’s already halfway through with his food, and looks up with a grin.

  “Hey Bast. Hey Emily, if I’d known you were joining us, we’d have waited for you after class.”

  “Oh,” I shrug, digging in my bag for the granola bar I’d thrown in there earlier in the week. “It’s ok, I didn’t know either.” I take a bite, figuring it’s safer to have my mouth full. At least if I’m eating, I can’t answer any questions. Movement catches my eye, and the Rock Star from Chorus sits down next to the Tank. He gives me a curious look, then pulls out his phone and ignores everyone. His magenta hair looks even brighter outside in the sunlight than it had in class.

  “Alright Sprite, looks like you already know Clayton. And Mr. Silent over there is Samil.” Sebastian tells me, using his free hand to pull out his phone out. Oh yay, that’s right; the Tank’s name is Clayton. “Samil, this is Emily.” The Rock Star looks up from his phone but says nothing. He slowly looks me over before his eyes meet mine. Piercing hazel eyes that seem to see straight through me, eyes I’d never forget. Holy crap, the Rock Star is Mr. Mystery from the library. I shift uncomfortably under his appraisal, before forcing myself to look away. What is it with this place and incredibly good looking guys? Seriously, these guys should be out modeling, not wasting away on this island.