Cognoscente
AN: I decided to update this before I retreat into my underground bunker to hide from the HP7 spoilers. Hope you like it and thanks for the reviews!
6.
"What do you mean, 'gone'?" Catty asked over the clothing rack as she rifled through some mark downs, an intense look of concentration etched on her face.
Serena stood to her side, her face pale and her fingers continuously flexing uncomfortably, "He left a note." Her voice was a bit raspy, and her friend didn't miss it.
Today was Saturday, three days after discovering the note, and despite Serena's desolate mood, she had been dragged along with the other Daughters for an impromptu shopping spree at the markets. Vanessa and Jimena had gone back to try on some things, so for the moment it was just her and the time traveler.
"Are you sure it was from him?" Catty questioned shrewdly as her hands landed on an embroidered vest. Absently, she pressed it up against herself and shifted a bit in front of a mirror.
Serena nodded, her mind far too distracted to realize that her friend seemed rather preoccupied herself, "It was his handwriting." She cringed, and finally admitted, "I told him about Jimena's vision."
Catty's fingers fell limp, and the vest clattered to the ground as she turned to face her friend. Serena was a bit surprised to see genuine anger in her eyes, "You told him?" She asked crossly.
She blinked, "Of course I told him. He has a right-"
Catty paled, "No, Serena. He doesn't. Jimena gets visions for our protection, and when you give the enemy-"
"He's not an enemy!" Serena yelled suddenly, loud enough to attract the attention of several people in the area.
Of course, Jimena and Vanessa chose that moment to show up, several garments draping over their arms as Jimena placed her hands on her hips and stared at the pair pointedly.
"What's going on?" She asked sharply, glance darting from Catty to Serena.
"We could hear you from the fitting rooms," Vanessa admitted worriedly.
Catty stared at Serena, who still seemed a bit frazzled, and looked at Jimena, the now proclaimed leader of the other three girls, "Nothing." She mumbled, absently going back to looking at clothes.
Jimena obviously didn't buy it, for she rounded on her best friend, "Serena?"
She swallowed thickly, and for a moment it felt as if her tongue had lodged in her throat. She inhaled and calmly faced Jimena and Vanessa, "Stanton…" She shook her head, "Forget about it." She said a bit bitterly.
Vanessa seemed to pick up on the tension immediately because she quickly took up the role of pacifier, "Serena, what's going on with Stanton?"
Serena bit back the nasty comment that was building in her mind and instead plastered on the best fake smile she could conjure, "Nothing is going on. I'm just tired, I've had a lot of schoolwork." She lied through her teeth, and it was obvious that her closest friends were too wary to press her for more information, even though Catty was scowling at a perfectly innocent skirt.
Jimena continued to glare at Serena, yet she didn't say anything, not wanting to badger Serena even if she thought it would be for her own well-being.
"Well," Vanessa cleared her throat awkwardly, picking up two slinky dresses, "Which one should I wear for tonight's concert?"
Immediately the awkwardness was dissolved into a false sense of security as Catty quickly put in her input, Jimena slowly contributing as well. Only Serena remained silent as she stared at the floor.
Her friends didn't trust Stanton. They wouldn't be willing to help her look for him as much as she hated to admit it. They were like sisters, but her boyfriend was something they could never see eye to eye on. Not that the telepath could blame them, Stanton had betrayed their trust before, and had never fully earned Jimena's or Catty's to begin with. Serena was on her own if she was going to start looking for her boyfriend.
Would she look for him? The note he had left behind was cryptic, only saying some asinine apology and a scrawled signature. It left no clues…no feelings. She had to consider the possibility that Stanton didn't want to be found.
The concept made something twist in her stomach. Why would he run from her? Because of Jimena's warning? But that wasn't like him. Something was going on, something much grander than Stanton had led Serena to believe and she could feel her doubts festering inside of her mind.
However, they were easy to push aside when she thought about what Stanton had given up for her. He had sacrificed his hope to save her from Lambert, risked his life just to be with her. If he was running, there was a damn good reason for it. She couldn't lose faith in the immortal Prince that easily.
"Serena?" Vanessa prompted from her unusually silent friend.
Serena looked up, and the three girls saw something dangerous flicker in her eyes before it was replaced with a fake smile and false cheery tone, "Nothing. You should wear the purple one."
Vanessa blinked slowly, before a hesitant smile crept up her face, "You're right, I like this one better." She then proceeded to engage Catty in a conversation about Michael's latest water polo match, the latter girl sending Serena a suspicious look.
Jimena also picked up on the uneasy vibe around Serena, "What's bothering you?" She pressed.
Serena grinned, "Nothing."
The ex gangster continued to eye her, "You're not planning on doing something stupid, are you?"
She faltered a bit, but tried her best at giving a nonchalant shrug, "Not unless you count trying to get Colin to put down the surfboard and help me clear out the garage this afternoon."
A wave of uneasiness flickered over Jimena's face, before she plastered on her own fake smirk, "I'll come over later to help you. Don't want to trust Colin to be reliable," she joked about her boyfriend.
Serena smiled, "That'd be a lot of help, thanks."
"It's nothing," Jimena said.
"It's a date. Just you, Colin, and the inevitable third wheel," Serena said liltingly.
Jimena gave a forced chuckle and then joined in on Vanessa and Catty's conversation.
She was relieved that Jimena didn't seem to intuitively pick up on Serena's thinly veiled lie.
Serena wasn't planning on being home by the time Jimena got there.
She was going to go look for Stanton.
---
"Absolutely not," the young man said as his eyes zeroed in on the sketchpad lying across his lap.
"Why not?" Pouted the girl to his side, cradling her cheek on her hand.
"It's the equivalent of a bleeding person swimming with sharks," he continued, carefully shading in the image of a crying little girl feeding ducks.
"Zahi it's not going to be that bad. Besides, you need to get out more." She pressed peering over his shoulder to watch the work in progress.
"Morgan, that area of town is infested with Followers, do you really think so little of my intellect?" He drawled as the finishing touches were placed on his drawing.
She huffed, leaning back and tapping a foot impatiently against the ground, "Why are you scared of them?"
He actually looked up from his work to send her a deadpan stare that seemed to convey his irritation at the statement louder than any words could.
Her nose wrinkled, "Fine. You have every right to be a chicken shit-"
"There's really no need for such a crass term."
"-but the fact remains that you won't be able to cower in the background forever. Sooner or later some cocky shit Follower with something to prove is going to look for the once almighty Zahi in order to stake a name for himself," Morgan countered.
He arched a slender eyebrow, "For a novice, you seem to pick up on the intricate politics of the Followers quite easily." He commented drolly, obviously not taking her bait. "We were enjoying a peaceful afternoon, why do you insist upon ruining it?"
She snorted angrily, crossing her slender arms over her chest and looking the other direction. After a few seconds of stretched silence, she finally muttered, "I don't want to go alone."
Zahi once again turned to face her, "Pardon me?"
She rolled her eyes, embarrassed but hiding it behind attitude, "I was invited by an immortal. They expect me to show up and I don't want to go there alone."
He pursed his lips, "Who invited you?"
"Yvonne. She says I have potential, whatever that means," Morgan said, nervously twisting a tendril of honey colored hair around a delicate finger.
He turned back to his drawing, "I don't think you should go at all." He suggested calmly, "The Fourth Wall is a dangerous club, far more so than The Dungeon."
"You think I don't know that, Zahi?" She said, anxiety making her slightly short tempered, "But you can't flat out refuse someone as strong as Yvonne. She's expecting me, and if I don't show I'm ruined."
"If you show up with me, you'll be in even more trouble," he commented blithely, flipping the page over and starting on a new work.
"Not if they think I'm trying to convert you."
He chuckled, "The truth emerges at last."
Morgan's voice picked up an extra few grams of sugar, "Zahi, it's really a win-win situation. Followers will back off if they think you're with me, and I'll get some protection and credibility."
The lead of the pencil snapped off as Zahi applied too much pressure, "You seem to be forgetting that I was getting along quite fine before you came along, Morgan."
"You call this fine?" She said condescendingly, "You're wearing hand-me-downs from some Salvation Army store and they reek. You do nothing but mope and hide out, hoping that no one will notice you as you draw your quite frankly depressing pictures."
"…Surely your flattery knows no bounds."
She made some indeterminate noise of frustration, "You're impossible, you know that?"
He smirked, "I'm not the one who's stubbornly pestering a person who does nothing but mope."
When he suddenly felt her lean against him, his breath faltered and the hand on the pencil went slack. Her fingers began to play with the longer hairs at the back of his neck as she murmured into his ear.
"Please, Zahi? Just go with me. It won't kill you."
Gingerly, he placed his hand over hers and removed it, "That's precisely what I'm afraid of Morgan."
She scowled, "You know, any other red-blooded male would have been putty by now."
"Someone's slightly egotistical."
She snorted, as her blue eyes stared at the ground and she gave a breathy sigh, "What if I promised no tricks?"
"I would find such a promise unlikely," Zahi muttered as he began to sketch the outline for a bird with broken wings.
"What if I meant it?"
Suddenly, the entire tone of the conversation shifted and Zahi once again made eye contact with the teenager. There was honesty in her words, and he was, needless to say, shocked.
"Why?" He posed carefully.
Morgan began to pick at her fingernails as a sign of nervousness, "I like you Zahi. Really, I do. And…I don't have anyone else."
He scoffed, "So I'm just a last resort then?"
She glared at him, and Zahi was slightly taken aback by the sincerity in the action, "I'm not the only one using a Plan B, Zahi. I know why you let me hang around."
He felt the tinniest bit of guilt at that declaration, knowing it was true. He sighed, and flipped the cover of his sketchbook closed. "Why am I suddenly regretting getting coffee with you on Wednesday?"
She smiled, "You're impervious to my charm, Zahi. Admit it."
He shook his head, "I'll go for an hour. After that I can't guarantee my own safety."
She positively beamed at him, and Zahi saw a flicker of the bubbly girl she used to be before he converted her. After only a second's hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him. "Thanks Zahi!"
He sighed sadly, before half-heartedly returning the embrace.
---
Next: Serena and Zahi interaction! (Readers: FINALLY!)