Chapter Fifteen
Kurt sighed as he ate the last bite of the chocolate mousse cheesecake that Trent had brought up with their dinner. "Okay, I'm never leaving this place again if they have this every night. I may have to let the seams out of my pants a little, though."
Blaine opened and closed his mouth, remembering they weren't the only two in the room. "Well, private schools do actually care about the quality of the food we put into our stomachs," he said instead.
From the other side of the room, Jeff smirked. "That wasn't what you were going to say. But the food here is to die for." To emphasize his point, he licked the last bit of key lime pie from his fork. Kurt and Blaine exchanged a look at the way Nick watched the blonde boy.
Kurt crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes at the blonde boy. "Right, and I suppose you meant that to be suggestive?" he said.
Jeff just looked at him as if he didn't understand the question. "What?"
"There is no possible way to lick a fork like you did without it being suggestive," Kurt stated, matter-of-factly.
The blonde boy still looked confused and looked to Nick. The darker haired boy just smiled at him with a shrug. "Jeff doesn't always realize what he's doing."
"That's an understatement," Blaine muttered under his breath. The chocolate ice cream on his tray was only partially eaten, as the boy had started to stir it into that smooth kind of way kids often liked to do.
"Are you trying to turn that ice cream into soup?" Kurt asked him, raising one eyebrow.
Blaine smiled at him. "I like the way it feels on my throat when it's like this."
Nick smirked this time. "Now who is being suggestive?"
"Shut up, Nicholas," Blaine growled, stabbing his spoon into his bowl so that it stuck straight up out of the ice cream. "I wonder if Devon and Ethan ever had banter like this," he said then, glancing down at his dessert.
Kurt frowned. "I don't know. If they did, wouldn't Devon have known Ethan was gay?"
"Oh totally!" Nick piped up. "I mean, Blaine has figured out you're gay and he's pretty oblivious too." He smirked at the curly haired witch again.
Kurt frowned as he heard a sound coming from the vessel, which had been sitting in the armchair beside the bed. The sound was almost sad, and made Kurt feel like crying. "Do you hear it?" he asked, glancing at the other three boys. None of them seemed to know what he was talking about.
"Hear what?" Jeff asked, throwing a concerned look Nick's way.
Kurt didn't respond, just stood and moved to the demon vessel, picking it up. The moment he placed his hands on it, the others could hear the sound, too. It was almost like a quiet sobbing, mixed with sad music.
Blaine carefully stood from the couch and approached Kurt, putting a hand on the taller boy's shoulder. "Why does it sound...sad?" he asked, frowning at the demon vessel.
A tear slipped from Kurt's eye, and he had to swallow twice before he could answer. "It's Ethan. He is sad that he never told Devon the truth."
Subconsciously, Blaine reached up a hand and wiped away the tear gently with his thumb. "Don't let it get you down, too, Kurt," he said. "Maybe there's still time. I mean, technically, they are still alive now, right?"
"We have to free them," Kurt said, looking up from the vessel, his eyes locking on Blaine's. They were glowing blue again.
Blaine cursed under his breath and took a hold of Kurt's shoulders. "Kurt, listen to me. You need to calm down. Your magic is getting worked up again."
The auburn haired boy shook his head. "It's not my magic. It's his. He's searching for something."
Blaine inwardly panicked and started looking around the room for something. Nick and Jeff glanced at each other.
"What is he trying to find, Kurt?" Nick asked, all traces of teasing gone from his voice.
Kurt frowned, concentrating, trying to understand. "A small black box. It's about four inches by four inches, and flat. Ethan was going to give it to Devon that night, but he was intercepted by Andrew."
When Blaine didn't seem to find what he was looking for, he swiped Jeff's phone from the boy's back pocket and shot a text off to Wes to bring Jackie as quick as he could. Jeff didn't even notice and both him and Nick had their full attention on Kurt.
"What was in the box?" Jeff asked.
Kurt shook his head. "I…" he blinked, shaking his head, and swayed on his feet, collapsing to his knees.
"Kurt!" all three boys shouted, Blaine dropping down beside him, reaching out to make sure the taller boy was alright. His hand brushed the demon vessel, and suddenly a mild electric shock went through him, knocking him on his butt.
"Blaine!" Nick shouted, turning his attention to his friend as Jeff continued to tend to Kurt. "Blaine, are you alright?"
Blaine frowned, looking down at his hands in shock. "That wasn't Ethan, or Devon. The demon is angry. He was promised a new body to possess, and a soul to torment."
Nick stared at him wide-eyed, for once, at a loss for words. He glanced at the vessel and then at Kurt, and a scary thought crossed his mind. What if the demon was tired of waiting and had decided to take Kurt as he was the most connected to the vessel?
Thad and Wes rushed into the room at that moment, the former going straight to Kurt to examine him. He frowned. "He's not hurt. I think he's only in a trance. Help me get him on to the bed."
Jeff offered to help Thad in moving Kurt and Blaine was still staring at his hands. He spoke to Wes without even looking up. "Kurt said Ethan's magic was...I don't know, taking hold of him? Working through him? I don't know how else to describe it. And then the demon vessel shocked me. We're running out of time. The demon's angry. It hasn't gotten what it was promised."
Wes frowned. "What was it promised?"
"A new body and a soul to torment," Blaine said, still not looking up from his hands.
Thad noticed the way Blaine was looking at his hands. "Were you injured when the vessel shocked you?"
"I don't know?" Blaine said, phrasing it as a question. "I don't see any physical damage, but they feel weirdly tingly."
Thad frowned and moved to examine him, looking at the front and the back of his hands. "I don't see any damage, but something feels...off a little. I don't feel dark magic, or anything malicious, but I think you may have absorbed some energy from the vessel."
"Ethan looked sort of different that night," Blaine said suddenly. "Devon could sense something was off when he went to meet him. But he tried not to dwell on it."
"Are you having a vision?" Wes asked, confused. Blaine's eyes weren't glowing as they usually did when he had a vision.
The younger witch shook his head. "No," he said. "I don't know how I know that, I just do. But there's more. Winston saw what happened. Devon saw him there."
"It almost sounds like he is reading a memory," Nick said.
Wes looked from him, back to Blaine, and then to Kurt. "Is it possible he absorbed some of Kurt's magic?"
Thad shook his head. "I don't know if that is even possible. But if it is, I don't think it is Kurt's power he took in. I think we need to talk to Trent about this."
"What do you mean, it's not Kurt's magic?" Wes asked. "Who else's power could it be?"
"Kurt was channeling Ethan's magic," Nick said. "And Blaine was shocked by the demon vessel. We know none of Kurt's magic is in that."
The older boy shook his head, the headache he'd finally managed to shackle beginning to return. "Call Trent, have him come down and examine both of them."
…
Santana studied the charm Mercedes had just finished. It was a little different than the ones she and the taller witch had made the previous day, having been infused with a bit of Santana's power as well. "I have to admit, we do good work," she said.
"Your power should give it an extra kick of protection. I know Kurt already slipped one of the others to Blaine, but I think the two of them should have one of these ones when we finish them all," Mercedes said.
"I could run these down to them," the Latina said, indicating one of the other three finished charms. "The sooner they have the protection, the better, don't you think? And you don't actually need me here to make the rest, I've already infused all the crystals."
Mercedes nodded. "Good idea. I know Kurt was worried about Blaine, but I think the two of them are the most at risk."
Santana picked another charm, and headed out of the room. As she was making her way down the stairs, a voice stopped her. "Excuse me, young lady, who are you, and what are you doing in the dorms after hours?"
She turned and looked up the stairs to see an older gentleman standing there, frowning at her. She could tell right away that he was human. "I was hired by one of the Dalton Council to tutor his son in Spanish. He was having trouble with masculine/feminine prefixes. Unfortunately I couldn't come earlier in the day because I have Cheerio practice after school. I'm sorry if we lost track of time. I'm leaving now."
The man looked at her for a moment as if he didn't believe her. "Which of the Council members hired you?"
"Mr. Anderson," Santana said, thinking fast on her feet.
"Well, perhaps Mr. Anderson forgot to mention that all visitors must have a visitors' pass. Next time, please stop at the main office and pick one up, and remember that all guests must check out by eight PM."
She gave him her most innocent smile. "Of course. I just need to stop by and drop something off with another student, and I will be gone, I promise."
He let out a sigh. "Very well, hurry along."
Santana smiled again, and began down the stairs again. After a couple of steps, a thought occurred to her, and she began moving faster. Rushing to Ethan's room and entering without knocking.
"I know who Andrew was impersonating!" she said, before taking in the situation. When she saw Kurt laying on the bed, body stiff, she immediately went on the defensive. "What's wrong with Porcelain?"
"The vessel put him in some kind of trance," Wes said. "What do you mean you know who Andrew was impersonating?"
She was still frowning. "Well, I don't know exactly who, but I have a general idea. It had to have been a staff member."
Wes and Thad exchanged glances before the older boy turned back to Santana. "How did you come to that conclusion?" he asked.
"Mercedes and I have been here for the past three days, and have yet to see a single adult other than the lady in the dining hall. I just got stopped on the stairs by a faculty member wanting to know why I was here after hours."
"You know," Thad said, "an adult wouldn't need to sign in when arriving back at the school. Not to mention, any staff members who aren't RAs wouldn't have a reason to be here at night anyway."
Wes' frown deepened, and he wished he had some aspirin for his headache. "What about David's reveal spell? Even if it was a staff member, the spell would have flushed him out the first time he cast it on Friday."
Nick shook his head. "Not if they weren't on campus at the time. Remember, several of the staff left early on Friday to prepare for the midterms starting tomorrow."
Thad's eyes got really wide a moment later. "Oh my Goddess. It's been right under our nose the whole time! The Headmaster was supposed to be out of town for a conference all last week. But I know we all saw him on campus!"
Wes looked startled. "Damn it, Smythe must have been using a suppression spell to make us forget he wasn't supposed to be here!"
"Someone needs to go check on the Headmaster. Make sure Smythe didn't actually do anything to him other than wait for him to leave," Nick said.
Wes nodded. "You and Jeff go do that. And have Beatz come down here and help Thad figure out what is going on with Kurt. In the meantime, Thad, is there anything you can do for this damn headache?"
Nick and Jeff nodded and quickly left the room. Thad moved away from Kurt momentarily. "Give me five minutes," he told Wes.
The older boy nodded and sank into one of the armchairs before looking back up at the Latina witch. He noticed she was clutching something in her hands. "What's that?"
"Stronger protection charms," she replied. "I added some of my own magic with Mercedes' and Beatz' magic. We thought to get these two to Kurt and Blaine right away." She looked at the two boys. "Looks like I might be a little late."
Thad shook his head. "I don't think what's affecting Kurt is dark magic. Nick said he was channeling Ethan. And Blaine seems to have absorbed something, but it's not dark either."
A knock on the door signaled Trent's arrival. "You sent for me?"
Wes pointed to the two boys, not really able to speak much more due to his headache.
"Do you think you can tell what's going on with them?" Thad said, bringing Wes the tea he'd just been brewing.
Trent moved to Kurt first, examining his eyes and where his hands still clutched the vessel. Very gently he pried the other boy's fingers open and took the vessel from him, setting it aside. Once he was no longer in contact with the vessel, his body seemed to relax, and his eyes closed.
"He'll be fine, he just needs to sleep it off. He just absorbed a little too much energy from the vessel." He then moved over to Blaine, who was still rubbing at his hands. "May I?" he asked, reaching out to take one of Blaine's hands, but not touching it without his consent. Blaine just nodded and held out his left hand. Trent took it in his right hand, and turned it palm up, then placed his left hand over it. He concentrated for a moment, and then pulled back, surprised.
"I don't know how, but somehow, some of Devon's essence has been transferred into you."
Wes almost choked on the sip of tea he had just taken. "What does that mean?"
"It means a part of Devon's energy is now a part of Blaine, which might mean…" Blaine cut him off.
"I have some of Devon's memories?" he said.
Wes considered for a moment. "That makes sense, as Kurt is a memory reader. His magic may have accidentally transferred some of Devon's memories to you."
"There is still so much we don't know about Porcelain's magic," Santana said. "Like the fire manipulation."
Trent looked startled. "Sorry, what did you just say?" he asked.
Wes looked momentarily confused, and then it dawned on him that Trent hadn't been present at that time. "Yeah, apparently Kurt is the only child of two seventh children of seventh children, and has more powers than we thought."
Trent frowned. "You might want to make sure this doesn't get out to the High Council. I know your dads wouldn't do anything, but there are witches on that council who might want to take Kurt and experiment on him."
"Why? The Goddess created him the way he is. What is there to study?" Wes asked.
"Because something like him hasn't been heard of before," Trent said. "At least, not that's been documented, so he'd be considered an anomaly in our world. They'd want to learn more."
"You mean the Smythes' lackeys would want to learn more," Santana stated, crossing her arms.
"Them and anyone else on the council who has less than honorable intentions," Trent confirmed.
Wes sighed and picked up the cup of tea, downing it in one swallow, not caring about the hot liquid burning his throat. "I'm not old enough for all of this," he muttered to himself.
…
Kurt groaned as morning light streamed through the window and shone on his face, driving daggers into his eyes and making the throbbing in his head intensify. "Someone turn that light off!" he grumbled.
"Good morning, sunshine," Trent said, sarcastically. "Not much I can do about the light. Thad made you some tea, though. It should help with the headache. He's made a huge pot of it. Seems several of the Circle have had headaches the last couple of days."
"I feel like I've been hit by a truck," Kurt muttered flatly, attempting to sit up, but giving up when it felt like all his limbs were stiff. "Where's Blaine?" he asked.
The younger boy inclined his head towards the bathroom. "Brushing his teeth. Do you want help with the tea?"
Kurt looked slightly guilty. "Would you mind? Normally, I hate asking for help, but my arms and legs feel like lead or something."
"Magic overdose," Trent said, helping him sit up and propping a couple pillows behind him.
Kurt frowned. "What happened? I remember having the vessel in my hands, and then feeling something warm filling my head."
"You told Nick and Jeff you were channeling Ethan and then sort of checked out," Trent said. "The vessel had you in some sort of trance. And when Blaine tried to see for himself what was going on, it zapped him with an electrical shock. He's got the essence of Devon in him now."
Kurt swung his head around to look at him in shock, but almost fell over when it made him so dizzy his vision went black for a moment. "What do you mean?"
"Apparently, after getting shocked, Blaine started saying stuff from Devon's memories. The other guys wanted to know if he might have absorbed some of your memory reading abilities. But he somehow absorbed some of Devon's energy from the shock."
"Does he remember what happened that night?" Kurt asked as Trent brought him the teacup.
"No,, unfortunately," Blaine said, emerging from the bathroom. "Glad to see you feeling better."
Trent just shook his head. "It couldn't be that easy, apparently."
"I do remember that Winston was present when whatever happened that night happened. Which may be why he was murdered."
Trent frowned as he considered the implication. "I bet he sensed the energy from whatever was going on and went to investigate."
Kurt moved to shake his head but then thought better of it. "I'm sure Winston meant well, but going to investigate was probably the worst decision he could have made."
Trent shrugged, knowing the other boy was right. "He wouldn't have realized there was anything dangerous going on, but the surge of power would have made him curious."
"Would he have been able to tell whether the energy was from a positive or negative source?" Blaine asked.
Trent shrugged again. "I don't know. I can usually tell the difference, but not all of us can distinguish that. Winston was the younger brother, so it's possible he wouldn't have developed his powers that far yet."
"But at the same time, we know he could have," Blaine said. "The same way we know that Johnathan's abilities were stronger than Devon's even though the latter was the older brother."
"True," the other boy admitted. "I'd have to ask my grandfather if he knows if Winston was as powerful as my great great grandfather."
"You might not have to," Kurt spoke up. "If Winston did know that it was negative energy, I doubt he would have gone to investigate on his own. He might have tried to bring some sort of back up."
"You have a point," Blaine said, sitting in the chair next to the bed that Kurt had been sitting in when Blaine had been fighting off the dark magic. "So, Winston sensed the energy, and went to explore, and ended up in the library. But what did he find?"
"Something that someone obviously thought he needed to die for knowing," Trent said.
"Let's not get too discouraged," Kurt said. "We know that Andrew must have been involved. And we've figured out there was some sort of demon possession. So Winston must have seen whatever Andrew did and where the demon came from."
Blaine was frowning hard, and his eyes briefly flashed gold as he remembered one of the prophecies he'd had. "The unwanted visitor, the unseen witness, and the demon's master," he muttered to himself. "If Winston was the unwanted visitor and Matthew the unseen witness, does that make Andrew the demon's master?" His frown deepened. "But how would that be possible? As far as we know, Andrew didn't have that kind of power."
"The power to call a demon?" Trent said. "Unfortunately, demon control is not a birth ability. It's a skill that can be achieved through experience in practicing dark magic. But with Andrew being only a teenager, that would mean he must have overloaded his powers."
"If he overloaded his powers, wouldn't that have left Andrew incapacitated, like it did me?"
Trent looked startled. "It would have, which meant he would most likely have been still unconscious when our great great grandfathers went searching for them."
"In which case, Winston wouldn't have been murdered," Blaine confirmed.
They were all silent for a moment as the realization sunk in. "Fuck," Trent said. "There had to be another person involved, other than Andrew." He pulled out his phone and shot a text to Wes, only to have the boy in question walk in a mere few seconds after he hit send.
Wes was carrying a breakfast tray balanced on one arm, a file folder under his other arm as he reached for the phone chirping in his pocket.
All three boys in the room had unreadable expressions on their faces as Wes checked the text. "What?" he said, looking up at Trent and almost losing the grip on the tray.
"What's that file?" Kurt asked at almost the same time.
Wes frowned. "Your class schedule and new student welcome packet. And you have an appointment in forty minutes to be fitted for your Dalton uniforms." He turned to look at Trent. "Now, what's this about Andrew not working alone?"
"A demon was summoned or something that night," Trent said. "Andrew was just a teenager. He wouldn't have had the power to do that. And even if he did, he would have been overloaded, which means he would have been found unconscious and Winston Nixon would have never been murdered."
Wes considered the news. "Fuck."
"That's what I said," Trent replied.
"When is Clarington coming to investigate the library?" Blaine asked.
The older boy shook his head. "I haven't been able to get a hold of him. His valet told me he's out of the country at the moment."
"What reason does he have to suddenly run out of the country?" Trent asked.
"I didn't say he ran, just that he was out of the country. Apparently there was a death in the family."
Blaine narrowed his eyes. "It's awfully suspicious that he suddenly has an excuse to leave the country right after you utilized his abilities, Wes," he said.
"You think he's somehow involved in all of this?" the older witch asked.
"Not necessarily involved," Blaine said, shrugging. "I just think it's a little too convenient that he has a death in the family right after helping here. I don't know, but I don't think he left the country due to a familial death."
Kurt looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe Jackie knows something we don't," he said.
"She'll be here later, she's meeting with the Dalton Council this morning," Wes said. "In the meantime, Kurt you need to hurry up and eat breakfast so you can see the tailor, and then you have to meet the headmaster. And yes, before anyone asks, David will confirm it is the real headmaster this time."
…
"So Kurt was passed out? You never told me on the drive back last night, what exactly happened?" Mercedes said as she and Santana stood at their lockers at lunchtime, trying to get a word in edgewise, without anyone else hearing them of course.
The Latina shrugged. "From what I understood, Kurt got zapped with a little too much of Ethan's magic, and it overwhelmed him, and he passed out. That hobbit of his tried to touch the vessel at the time, and ended up getting a bit of Devon's essence. Samurai Jack didn't seem too concerned, so I'm sure Kurt will be fine."
Mercedes felt like her head was spinning. "Blaine got a bit of Devon's essence from touching the vessel? How is that even possible?" she said.
"I have no clue, that's not my specialty. The Asian dude was getting a headache from everything that went down the past few days."
"I don't blame him," Mercedes said, giving her head a shake and slipping a book she didn't need anymore into her locker. "They'd already been dealing with a lot before we even got involved."
"And we wouldn't have gotten involved if you didn't follow Kurt that day," Santana said.
The darker girl shrugged. "I hadn't planned to go, I was just out for a walk when I saw them drive past me."
The Latina let out a frustrated sigh. "What we need is some sort of dark magic investigator. That would help push this mystery along a bit more," she said, slamming her own locker shut.
"I think they already had one come in," Mercedes said. "While we were driving up to Marysville on Saturday, Trent mentioned that they had to move Kurt's Vow ceremony until later in the evening because someone named Hunter was there examining Blaine."
"Excuse me?" a soft voice interrupted from behind the two girls. "Did you just say Hunter Clarington was in Ohio?"
Mercedes and Santana both startled and turned to see Ms. Pillsbury standing there. The girls glanced at each other. "Unless there's another Hunter, I guess. Why? Is there something relevant concerning his presence here?" Mercedes asked.
Emma Pillsbury frowned. "That family is bad news. There is something...unclean about them."
Santana held her tongue from saying the first thing that came to mind as she and Mercedes glanced at each other again. "My cousin's Circle had him over to examine another of their members," Mercedes said.
The older woman looked concerned. "Why did they need someone examined by Clarington?"
"You've heard of The Dalton Circle mystery, right?" Mercedes said. "Well, it turns out Kurt was the missing link they needed to help solve the mystery and one of their Founders Heirs was being manipulated by dark magic."
The redheaded witch frowned. "I want to meet this boy. I don't want the two of you going out there alone."
"The hobbit seems fine now, Ms. Pillsbury," Santana said. "They moved him somewhere where the dark magic can't get to him anymore, and are keeping him there. He's pretty much fully recovered."
Mercedes nodded. "And we made protection charms."
"Still, I'd feel more at ease if I examined the situation for myself."
"What exactly can you do, Ms. Pillsbury?" Mercedes asked.
The woman just straightened her shoulders. "We shall see."