Here we go my lovelies :D another chapter just for you!

Hehe my exams all started today (and look! I'm still updating! I'm so commited :P) and I finished early, so got to work writing this! Haha

Hope you like. AND I am finally getting into the plot! Isabel is very short this time, but matt makes up for it!


Isabel

I get to Ethan's just as everyone else is arriving. I notice that my brother looks oddly strained, and Dillon looks like he's just seen a ghost, but when I ask them what the matter is, they just shrug me off.

We had decided not to talk about Rob tonight. Mostly for Ethan's sake, but just so we could have a nice dinner without having to discuss him. We are still in a time of peace, and we don't want that to end.

Shaun makes us a barbeque, and we all sit outside in the nice summer air, just talking about school, fond memories of when times were a little more hectic, and just general teenage gossip. However, at the end of the night, we briefly arrange what will happen tomorrow at school. Neriah and I will go as planned, and Matt and Dillon would be waiting, just outside, in case anything goes wrong. We're hoping that Rob wouldn't make a scene in a public place like a school, even over his dead daughter. Every time Rochelle's name is mentioned, surprisingly, it's Matt, not Ethan who gets edgy. Since our talk last night, Ethan's been pretty good. I understand it will still take time, but he's getting so much better. I wish I could know what's on Matt's mind, and Arkarian seems to have noticed something as well, but he tells me not to worry about it. If it's important, Matt will share it with us eventually. There is probably a perfectly good reason why he isn't saying whatever it is. Other than worrying about Matt, I enjoy the evening. Despite the looming presence of Rob in our lives now, we can still find peace just being together, and I have no doubt that we are strong enough to get through whatever is going on.

After dessert, I'm feeling pretty tired. I know that I should just go home, being a school night for me, but I'm not in the mood, and I'm a little apprehensive about tomorrow. It isn't so much that I am worried about myself, but I can't imagine how Rob will react when he learns that his daughter is dead. As much as I dislike him, I still feel sorry for him. He may be a bad person, but he seems to really want to find her, and I'm sure that he will feel it hard. So Arkarian and I walk back to his chambers.

He wraps his arm around my shoulders and I contently lean against him, arms around his waist. He brings his head down and kisses my forehead. It's getting dark, so we walk quickly up to the mountain.


Matt

I get out of Ethan's house as fast as possible. My mind spinning with what Dillon had told me earlier. Rochelle had been trained to alter others thoughts. I can't help but wonder whether it was before or after we went out. What if she has altered mine thoughts? I push these thoughts out of my mind. I trusted Rochelle, even after what she did. Now wasn't the time to question that.

But, if she was one of the only ones with the skill, then who altered her fathers thoughts? She couldn't have, she's been dead for nearly a year. Also, I can't think of any purpose for her to change his thoughts. She hated him with such a passion, that I can't even imaging her wanting to be anywhere near him, let alone close enough to alter his mind. What would she be changing anyway?

I walk for over an hour, and I don't even realize that I have walked to the mountain where Arkarian's chambers are hidden, but I need to talk with someone about this anyway, so I seek out Arkarian's thoughts with my mind, and ask him to let me in. It takes a moment, and I walk down the long dark corridor. I get to the octagonal room, and see him walk in and sit down on one of his stools and produce one for me. He isn't wearing a top, and his hair is dishevelled, and a quick search with my mind tells me why. Arkarian realizes what I'm thinking, and he blushes.

Pushing the thoughts of him and my sister aside, I quickly relay what Dillon told me just earlier. He appears to be thinking hard, but his thoughts, as always, are screened too hard to read. After what seems like forever of silence and thinking, he speaks up.

'Maybe she did alter his thoughts,' he begins, a little uncertainly, 'Maybe she visited him long ago, and made it so he wasn't the cold hearted man he once was. Maybe all she wanted was for him to be a normal father when he got out. Knowing it would seem strange for her to keep contact with him, she just implanted in his head to come looking for her when he got out.'

I pause, letting this idea turn through my head, 'But that doesn't explain why he is out of jail so early. Even if he is a 'changed' man, they still wouldn't let him out on parol after only this short amount of time.'

He nods, knowing I have a point, 'but you said that she was the only one with the power to alter thoughts, who else could it have been?'

I shrug, 'Maybe there's someone else we don't know about. Or perhaps someone else was in on it, and decided to get him out of jail, knowing he would come and look for her…'

'But why?' Arkarian cuts in, 'The only thing it has achieved is for us to get paranoid, and Ethan to be upset. If the Order is really trying to get itself back together, that wouldn't be all they would want.'

I sigh. He's right, as usual. There would be no point in helping Rob out of jail. He isn't really hurting anyone.

'Has it occurred to you that Rob might be working for the Order himself?' I jump, and swirl around to see Isabel standing behind me, not wearing much more than Arkarian. I wonder how long she has been standing there, and how much of this conversation she has overheard. I didn't want anyone to know about this until we had sorted it out, but sometimes there is no stopping that sister of mine.

Arkarian and I just stare at her, stunned by her words. The scary thing is, she may be right, and we hadn't even considered it. She looks at Arkarian, and he produces a stool for her, and she sits down, and just looks back at us.

'It makes sense if you think about it,' she starts, breaking the silence, 'He had his thoughts altered by someone in the Order, maybe even Rochelle. Recently someone from the Order, obviously not Rochelle, has come to visit him. They gave him orders, and sprung him. He was told to come hear, knowing that he would find his daughters friends, us. Obviously we wouldn't suspect him right away, and we didn't really, and therefore he could then transfer information to the Order about what we are doing.'

Arkarian looks at her with awe, but then his blue eyebrows turn down a little, 'That still doesn't explain why his thoughts aren't telling us all of this. If he had a mind block, then I could believe it, but we can read his thoughts. His mind is open to us, and there is nothing to suggest this. It's a great idea Isabel, but I'm not sure it's entirely possible.'

Isabel just shakes her head at him, as if she knew he would say that, 'I never said the Order had to tell him anything. Just tip him off about the whereabouts of his daughter, and get him out of jail. Therefore, he wouldn't have any incriminating thoughts about who let him out. He may not see that as an important thing to think about. After he's been here a while, they can simply find him, and search his brain for anything he knows. They may even be following him, learning everything he does. He doesn't even have to know about the Order to be spying for them.'

I just smile at her. Clearly she has thought a lot about this. I can't find any loophole in her idea, except one, 'But why would Rochelle want to change his thoughts in the first place?'

She just shrugs, but doesn't look perturbed, 'Anger, revenge, anything. She probably thought that if she took out the hate and anger thoughts in his mind, the part that made her fear him, that she could have a normal father again, once he got out. I guess she just wanted to save him from himself. In her mind, I'm sure she thought that she could stop the thoughts that made him want to drink. Because he was an alcoholic wasn't he?' she asks, looking at me and Arkarian, and we nod, and she just gives us an 'I-thought-so' look.

Arkarian and I are pleasantly shocked by how carefully she has thought about this. I am beginning to wonder if Arkarian isn't rubbing off on her. She shivers, and I'm not surprised. She isn't really wearing much, and although the caves are heated, this room isn't. Arkarian opens his arms, and she contently folds herself into them, obviously already much warmer. Having decided long ago not to bring up the subject of their relationship, I try not to look at his arms around her waist, but at how happy she looks.

'Well, if Isabel's right, then we need to find this member of the Order,' I state.

Arkarian and Isabel agree, but we decide it's a bit late to be talking about it tonight, and so we decide to call a meeting of the Named here in the chambers for tomorrow after school. Isabel heads off to bed, and just before I leave myself, Arkarian and I talk about where I have to meet tomorrow to keep an eye on the school. Not only would I have to be looking out for the girls, but I would have to see if there was anyone acting suspicious around Rob. If we were right, then there would be a member of the Order following Rob's every move.

Like? I sure hope so!

Please please review, and I would appreciate some constructive criticism etc…

xox