*Rose P.O.V~ 4 months later*
I looked up from the physiology book I was supposed to be reading when I felt my forehead hit the book. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and glanced at my watch. 2:30 a.m. I had fallen asleep while I was supposed to be doing my homework. I checked my essay on the human body and its functions before placing it on the book and then set my alarm clock to set off at 5 sharp. I closed my book and then went to bed. I felt like I had barely fallen asleep when my alarm clock went off. I groaned and turned it off. I got out of my bed and went to my desk. I rubbed my eyes and opened the textbook. I started writing and finished the paragraph summary in 20 minutes. I put that paper in my binder and then started on my Japanese homework. It was finished in 30 minutes seeing that having a friend who was a magical crime fighting girl who spoke Japanese was handy.
It was 5:50 when I finished and I went to my dresser. I gasped when I saw that I had bags underneath my eyes. I grabbed some of my vials and made a foundation make-up. I placed it underneath my eyes and saw that it hid them perfectly. I took out a lime green shirt and a jean skirt. I put on my jean sweater and put my hair in a high ponytail. I had trimmed the tips and put some blonde on them. I fixed my bag and headed towards the bathroom.
I finished brushing my teeth and headed downstairs. Everybody was already there except for my siblings and Sandry. Sandry had started living with Calvin and the rest when Calvin insisted on her not living alone. She helped all my siblings in our research but I decided to take it upon myself to find the Gate faster. I grabbed a piece of toast and spread some Nutella on it. I ate it slowly then drank some orange juice. I washed the cup and placed it in the rack. I turned and was about to walk out of the kitchen when Odd placed his hand on my arm. I turned to look at him.
"Is that all you're going to eat?" he asked me..
"I'm not that hungry right now. Besides, I need to get to the school before class starts. I have to turn in the English paper that was due yesterday," I told him.
"Rose. You've been eating breakfast less and less. You even skip dinner every other night. What's going on?" Jeremie asked me.
"Nothing's been going on," I said rather quickly. Damn. Why am I moodier than usual?
"Whoa. No need to get defensive. We just want to know what's wrong," Ulrich said.
"I'm not defensive. I'm just in a rush," I told him.
"Alright. Wait for one of us though. That way you won't walk by yourself," Odd told me as he let his arm drop.
I simply nodded and went to get my bag. I swooned slightly as I was headed out of my room but then righted myself. I went back downstairs and saw that Sissy was going to walk with me. We left after we kissed our respective boyfriends good-bye. Once we got to the school I told Sissy that I needed to go to the restroom. I went to the restroom and made sure no one was there before I went into the stall and locked it behind me. I leaned against the door, pulled up my jacket sleeve slightly and took out a small blade I kept between my compact disc. I placed the blade above the recent cut I made yesterday. I was making the thin cut when someone banged the door open. I jumped and made the cut slightly deep. I bit my lip and quickly hid the blade and wiped the blood. I put a small piece of cloth over it and rolled my sleeve down.
I walked out of the stall and saw that it was Emily Young who had walked in. I smiled at her as I passed. I saw her glance at my wrist, which was held at an angle, and her eyes widened. I walked out of the restroom and went to my English teacher's class. I turned in the essay and then headed to the nurse's office. Yolanda gave me a band-aid when I told her I accidentally cut myself on some glass. At least the cut was to the side of a vein. If not, then Yolanda would have thought I was lying (which I was) and actually cutting myself willingly (which I am).
I made it to Mrs. Hertz's class a minute before the bell rang. The first two classes passed in a blur and by the time it was passing period, I was stressed out. I told the others that I was going to the restroom. I made it there and pressed the surrounding skin. I left and went to the 3rd class of the day. We were all outside in the Quad Area when Emily came up to us.
"Rose? Can I talk to you?" she asked me.
I nodded and we walked a few feet away from the others.
"What's up?" I asked her.
"You cut yourself. Why?" she asked.
Straight to the point, huh? I thought
"I do. And?" I said as I crossed my arms.
"Is it because of stress?" she asked me.
"No,"
"Problems?"
"Nope,"
"Odd? Is it because of him?" she inquired.
"What?" I said incredulous.
"Is it?" she asked again.
"No! Why would you say that?" I asked her.
"Well why is it then?" she asked me.
"None of your damn business," I snapped at her.
I turned around and walked back towards the others.
"What di- does Emily want?" Odd asked me.
"Does?" I asked as I turned around.
Emily was right behind me. My expression hardened.
"What I want, is to know why Rose was cutting herself this morning," Emily said as she stared at me.
"What?" the others said shocked.
"Is it true?" Odd asked me.
"No! Why would I be cutting myself for?" I said.
"Check her left wrist," Emily stated.
Odd grabbed my wrist and pulled my jacket sleeve up to reveal the band-aid. He pulled it to the side to reveal the angry red swelling underneath that. Odd's hand gripped my wrist tight before he looked up at me.
"Rose. Why are you cutting yourself?" he asked me.
"Just," I said.
"Why? You have to have a reason," Aelita said.
"None of your business!" I yelled out as I jerked my hand away from Odd's.
I turned around and had just started to walk away from them when my vision became blurry. I heard and felt my handbag drop before everything went black.
*Jeremie P.O.V~ Quad Area*
We watched as Rose and Emily talked.
"Wonder what they are talking about," Ulrich said.
"Probably about Odd," William said.
"I don't think it's about," Aelita said.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Rose looks agitated. Look," Sissy said
We all looked and sure enough Rose had her arms crossed and she looked angry. She then snapped something at Emily before she turned around and walked over to us. Emily followed behind her. Once Rose was in front of us Odd asked her what Emily wanted.
"Does?" Rose asked as she turned around.
When Rose saw that Emily was right behind her, her expression hardened.
"What I want, is to know why Rose was cutting herself this morning," Emily said as she stared at Rose.
"What?" the rest of us asked shocked.
"Is it true?" Odd asked Rose.
"No! Why would I be cutting myself for?" Rose said.
"Check her left wrist," Emily stated.
Odd grabbed Rose's wrist and pulled her jacket sleeve up to reveal the band-aid. He pulled it to the side to reveal the angry red swelling underneath that. Odd's hand gripped her wrist tight before he looked up at her.
"Rose. Why are you cutting yourself?" he asked her.
"Just," Rose said.
"Why? You have to have a reason," Aelita said.
"None of your business!" Rose yelled out as she jerked her hand away from Odd's
She turned around and had just started to walk away from us when she stopped walking. Her book bag fell from her grasp as she fainted.
"Rose!" Odd yelled out panicked.
We ran towards her. Jim came up to us and asked us what happened.
"Rose just fainted. We don't know why," Aelita lied.
"We should get her to the infirmary," Jim said as he picked Rose up.
We all walked behind him when I noticed that Odd was walking behind us. I grabbed Ulrich and William's arms, forcing them to stop. We walked with Odd.
"What's the matter?" Ulrich asked him.
"I can't be close to Rose, right now," Odd said.
"Why?" William asked him.
"I had the urge to heal her right here. But I know that by doing that, I'll expose the secret," Odd told us.
"We'll help you control the urge to heal her," I said.
We walked into the infirmary only to see that Yolanda was on the phone.
"What's going on?" Odd asked.
"We have to transfer her to the hospital." Yolanda said.
After a while the ambulance pulled up into the front of the school. Rose was placed on a stretcher and they put her inside the ambulance. Odd climbed in, seeing as Odd is her boyfriend. Everyone else, minus Calvin and the rest, went right after school. We all stood up when the doctor came out.
"Are you Rose Mendoza's friends?" he asked.
"Yes. What's wrong with her?" Odd asked.
"The cut on her wrist missed the veins but it's her weight that concerns me. Has she not been eating right?" the doctor asked us.
"Well, her brother recently moved to France with his wife and their sisters. I think she hasn't been eating right, trying to help her brother win custody of the younger sibling from foster care," I lied.
"And who is her brother may I ask?"
"Calvin Mendoza," Aelita told him.
The doctor looked around before leaning in towards us. "Are they, by any chance, part wolf and part witch?"
"H-how do you know?" Yumi asked shocked.
"I'm in on the secret. My… mate…is from the Fairy Clan. I know she is alive and hoping that the twins and their sisters come back to save them," he explained.
"I'm Doctor Mendez, by the way," Dr. Mendez added.
"Odd Della Robbia. So, Dr. Mendez, why does Rose's weight concern you?" Odd asked.
"A girl like her must weigh around 120. She weighs 90. On a girl as fit as her, the weight change isn't notable, but there are ways of knowing if they are loosing weight. The most common symptom is mood swings. Depending on their Clan, they either get defensive or emotional. The most severe symptom is cutting themselves to relieve themselves from the stress or… dammit!" Dr. Mendez said.
"What is the matter?" Odd asked.
"Are they searching for the Gates?" Dr. Mendez asked us.
We nodded and Dr. Mendez clenched his fist.
"I believe the reason for Rose's problem is due to use of magic. I think that she is trying to find the Gate through dark magic," Dr. Mendez said.
Just then his pager started beeping. He looked at it and turned around.
"I'll be right back," he said over his shoulder.
A few minutes had passed when Odd suddenly grabbed his head.
"Odd? Are you okay?" Sissy asked him.
"Rose… dark… get Calvin!" Odd said as he looked up.
His eyes were dilated. There was hardly any of his iris showing.
"Call Calvin… something is wrong with Rose," Odd said.
"No need to call me, I'm right here," Calvin said as he walked over to us.
"What's wrong with Rose? And why is Odd acting like this?" I asked.
"The dark magic is slowly taking over her, but her wolf gene is fighting it. Odd is acting like this because they are connected by their aura," Calvin explained.
"Huh?" William asked.
"The aura that surrounds both of them is the same color. Because of that, they are connected through their soul. When and if they get married, they will have a link that cannot be broken. I'm going to talk to the doctor. Perhaps I can take the magic away" Calvin mused.
"No… let me help her," Odd said.
"Alright. Come on" Calvin said as he helped Odd stand up.
They walked around the corner of the hall and went to the information desk. Calvin said something to the lady and she called the doctor. She told him whatever Calvin had told her and she told them something. Calvin nodded and they left. We were all sitting there talking to each other when the lady came up to us.
"Rose is alright. You can go in and see her. She is in room 402," she told us.
"Thank you," Aelita and I said.
We walked to the room and opened the door. Rose was asleep and her left hand was being held by Odd. Calvin had his hand over her right hand. Both boys looked up when we entered.
"How is she doing?" Yumi asked.
"Fine. We managed to take the dark magic out of her system, but she'll be tainted" Calvin said.
"Tainted?" we all asked.
"She was a White witch. Now because she used the Dark Arts, she is now a Gray Witch, a neutral one. She is neither pure good nor pure evil," Odd explained as he glanced at Calvin for confirmation.
Calvin nodded.
"Gates…" Rose mumbled.
"Rose, are you still searching? We need to work on this together," Calvin said as he traced the lines on her palm.
He frowned. He placed his whole hand on top of her's and he paled.
"The Gatekeeper…" he whispered in awe.
He jerked his hand way at the same time Odd did. Rose's body lifted off the bed.
"What are you doing? She won't be able to handle that much magic!" Calvin said.
"She has put her life at risk by asking me to do this. It is her fault if anything happens" a man said.
Rose's body glowed so bright, we all had to cover our eyes. When the light died down, Rose was lying on the bed. The heart monitor was beating really fast. Calvin lurched forward and grabbed Rose's shoulders. A white light surrounded his hands and traveled up his arms. Soon both twins were surrounded in the white light. It died down and Rose opened her eyes. She pushed Calvin out of the way, swung her legs over the side of the bed and ran towards the bathroom. She barely made it before we heard her throwing up. Calvin clenched his hands and winced. Sissy, Yumi and Aelita went to check on Rose while we all stared at Calvin.
He unclenched his hands and I caught a glimpse of the marks his nails left. They disappeared almost instantly. Rose, Aelita, Yumi and Sissy came back into the room. Sissy helped Rose sit down on the bed. Rose lied back down.
"What happened?" Odd asked her.
"I… contacted the Gatekeeper. I asked him to… give me some of his power… to locate the gates. I didn't think my body would react the way it did. I feel all shaken up and weak," Rose told him.
"What did you expect? To feel energized? The Gatekeeper's powers are deadly to the normal Clans folk, but to us? It makes us either throw up or any other form of relieving the amount of magic inside," Calvin retorted.
"Well you don't have to get mad at me! I was the one that wanted to use the power," Rose snapped at him.
"If I hadn't taken some of it, you would have died by the sheer amount of it," Calvin told her.
Rose simply looked away. Dr. Mendez walked in after a minute and checked Rose. He told her to talk to him or his secretary, if she felt stressed out or if the dark magic came back. Rose thanked him and changed back into her clothes by snapping her fingers. We all walked back to the Hermitage. Rose was going to open the door when she tensed. Calvin did too and both of them turned towards the backyard.
"The Gate…" Rose said.
Both of them walked towards the backyard. We glanced at each other before following them. Sandry and the rest of the girls were sitting in the backyard. They looked up from the books they were reading when they heard us. Rose and Calvin went to the door that leads to the sewers. They placed their hands on the door. It glowed and faded to reveal a multi colored portal.
"The Gate… has been here the whole time?" Molly asked.
"No. The Gate recently moved to this place about 5 months ago," Rose said as she lowered her arm.
"We can go now or later," Calvin added as he lowered his arm as well.
"I believe that Dr. Mendez would like to see his… mate… again. And we did say that Sam, Herb and Nicolas could help us," Rose mused.
"And we need more allies." Sandry added.
"We can go in a week. We can ask our families to help," Odd said.
"No! Do not ask your families, conflict will be the only thing that comes out of the knowledge," Rose, Molly and Sandry cried out.
"Just like with Mikayla," Calvin stated.
All three girls nodded.
Rose lifted her arm and was about to place it on the portal when she gasped. At the same time, my laptop started beeping. I took it out of my bag and saw that there was an activated tower in the forest sector.
"Activated tower in the forest sector… but how is it possible?" I said.
Everyone shrugged. Rose started to chuckle, which caused us to look at her.
"Fools. Who else would it be?" Rose said as she turned around.
Her eyes had X.A.N.A's symbol only it wasn't tinted black, but red.
"I'll enjoy breaking all of you. Especially dear Rose," a snobby voice said through Rose.
An 18-year-old girl appeared in front of Rose. Rose fell to the ground in a heap.
"Oops." the girl said as she looked down at Rose.
"Kathy. What are you doing here?" Hope, Faith and Molly snarled out.
"To kill you of course," the girl- Kathy- said.
Her hands glowed and she sent an orb towards Molly and one towards me. I managed to get out of the way but was hit in the back with another one. The last thing I heard was Aelita and the others calling my name.
