Revived

(Terribly sorry for the unannounced hiatus. The end of the semester and health issues piled up on me. Still in recovery, but I certainly hope to start posting more regularly soon. Here's a short one to pick up where we left off. Thanks for your loyalty!)

Katy entered her dorm after her last class and swung the door closed. Christian looked up from the television. "Hey, what's for dinner tonight?"

She stopped with her hand on the handle of her bedroom door and her other hand clutching her bag that held the book. Crap, she forgot it was her turn to cook tonight. "Uh… what do you want? We've got those chicken breasts," she said rather hurriedly.

He wrinkled his brow. "You got something to do?"

"Kinda. Some stuff… I godda read for…" She closed her mouth.

Christian blinked. "Well, don't worry about it then. I'll cook tonight."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, no problem. But if you're phone-sexing with Tim—"

"Wh—no! Why would—I don't do that!" she said incredulously.

"I'm kidding! Jeez you're tense. Maybe you should have phone sex." He looked back to the TV and went about changing channels.

She stared harshly. "… Thanks for making supper." Katy disappeared into her bedroom and shut the door. She hopped on her bed and carefully reached into her bag and drew out the thin paperback book. C. She released a breath and moved her thick curly hair over one shoulder before opening the cover.

There was no table of contents. It was all handwritten in the finest cursive that made her squint to make it legible. The pages were faded and brittle and she gave each one a gentle swipe of the pad of her finger to feel it as she turned them. Her guess was half correct in assuming that C stood for Carvalho. This looked to be a journal of known Kishin whose names began with C listed in alphabetical order. Carvalho was the first, so Katy didn't particularly care for what followed his chapter just yet. There was a description paragraph that seemed much more detailed than any information in the books she, Rachele or Kian had looked through and checked out earlier that day. It told of his past and how he became a Kishin. He was apparently reared by a witch named Arachne. That was a familiar name indeed. Lord Death had spent centuries keeping track of her and assuring that she met her deserved demise. It didn't say whether Carvalho was her offspring or her relative or someone who joined her either by his own will or not. All it said was that he was made a Kishin by heavy influence of the Witch Arachne. But this wouldn't explain why William didn't want her to let Kian know. Unless they both knew Arachne and Avetta were affiliated somehow, which was not dismissible. She made a mental note and turned the page.

Here it was—exactly what she was looking for. The word 'followers' was underlined with a list of names under it. A variety of descriptions were paired with each name. She went down the list, reading each one carefully. The first three names were Hartsock, Timbers and McCarty. But all three were marked out with a singular line striking through them. Did that mean they were dead? Katy began to wonder if this was more of a hit list than a journal. The next name was Giriko. Location: unknown 9/12/09; Affiliation: weapon – chainsaw. A chainsaw weapon? Katy had never heard of this before. And he wasn't paired with a meister. Maybe he didn't need one. Next on the list was not a surprise but she still pursed her lips as she read. She wrinkled her brow when she reached the end of his entry.

William Location: North East United States 6/13/07; Affiliation: Carvalho's weapon – zanbato revived 01/19/10.

Revived. Katy sat back for a moment. What an interesting way to put it. Where she might have written 'rescued' this person seemed to have thought 'revived' was a better term. She considered these implications for a moment, and the connections between 'lost and found' and 'dead and alive.' They kind of were the same in this instance. William was rescued, but his soul was given another chance. She smiled a little and ran her finger across his name before she kept reading.

Her heart skipped a beat when she read the next name. The Witch Avetta. It wasn't the name so much that caused her anxiety as it was the fact that her information had been furiously scratched out with force that left a shallow depression in the paper. The once known location looked as if it had changed three times and the finalized consensus was 'unknown.' Her name was not marked out. Dates were written down in the margin of encounters with her and where they happened. But nothing said she had been terminated. She was alive.

Katy looked up and stared through the wall of her bedroom. Kian's murderer hadn't been defeated. Lord Death lied to him. She exhaled a heavy breath and covered her mouth as she thought. This would explain why William didn't want her to tell him about this book. She was certain Death meant to protect him with this false information, but she couldn't imagine Kian taking the truth of this in any positive way. She went back to reading the book. The rest was just as unsettling. There were question marks where names were supposed to be and there was an abundance of 'unknown' for location and affiliation. Helpful information was now scarcely dotted over the next three pages. And all the pages following were completely blank, not even information about other Kishin whose names began with 'C.' Katy sighed and closed the book and picked up her phone to send Rachele a text message.

The next day in class Rachele slid in beside Katy after arriving a few minutes late. She kept her voice low and quiet. "What is it you wanted to show me?"

Katy subtly checked around her before leaning to her bag and slipping out the book and slipped it quietly into hers.

Rachele watched then looked back to her and whispered, "What's that?"

Katy replied in the same tone. "William snuck it to me on the way out of the library yesterday. It talks some about Carvalho's cronies." She met her blue eyes. "Don't let Kian see it."

The ginger furrowed her brow. "Because Avetta's in it?"

She sighed silently as the teacher started the lesson officially. She lowered her chin and whispered even quieter. "She's alive."

For a long moment her friend stared with her mouth agape before they were instructed to get out their books to follow along. Rachele distractedly got out her book and turned pages and it seemed she had nothing else to say. Katy glanced at her several times throughout the class. She was even more unfocused than usual. She shouldn't have told her. She should have just let her read it when she got back to her dorm. She was way behind on her notes as she stared in obvious worry through her paper and Katy knew her mind had not strayed from Kian. Katy simply went on making her own notes more clear so that she could lend them to her friend later before the exam.

Rachele awoke to her forehead being touched softly. She stirred and rubbed her eyes.

"Hey. You feel okay?" said Kian who was crouched beside the couch where she lay.

"Yeah, just tired," she lied.

"Are you hungry? I made some soup. I don't know why. I was just in a soup mood." He shrugged with a grin.

"No, thanks. I'm not really hungry right now. Maybe later." She sat up as if she were rising from the dead.

He frowned and his silver eyes stayed on her as she fingered through her unkempt hair. "Maybe you better just go to bed. Get some real rest."

Rachele moaned a little. "I can't, I have stuff to do."

"Well, just a nap. Not on the couch. In bed where it will be good."

"I won't wake up until the new moon," she joked.

"I'll come wake you up in an hour. How does that sound," he said gently.

She smiled weakly at him. "Thanks." She took up her book bag and went to her bedroom.

Kian closed her door behind her then went back to the kitchen to put the food away. He had planned to clean with Rachele when she got home and listen to his music turned up as they did so. It always helped them keep the rhythm. But instead he popped in his ear buds and lip-synced to the songs that came on as he dusted and tidied without running the vacuum cleaner so as to not disturb Rachele. He picked up a cushion to set on the couch and stopped at finding a book lying in the floor. It wasn't one of his and he knew Rachele didn't have a book that looked like this. Maybe she had taken one from the library. He looked at the front and wrinkled his brow at the letter 'C.' It was a flimsy little thing, just a collection of loosely bound faded parchment paper. Curious he sat down on the couch and opened it. When he saw the name Carvalho, he took out his ear buds in excited anticipation and started to read. Way to go, Rachele!