Disclaimer: The Night World is the property of L.J. Smith.
Part 11.
Psyche hung up the phone and returned to Truth's bedroom. She felt a lot better knowing her mom was on the way but she still wanted to talk to Truth alone. She knew her girl and she felt fairly confident that Truth wasn't being exactly truthful about how she was feeling. She could be wrong of course but the Truth she knew would not react quite so passively to what was going on and Psyche desperately wanted to know what was up.
Emma and Midir were sitting beside Truth's bed looking sympathetic and trying to help. Psyche had to get rid of them some how and she felt sure Emma would be reluctant to leave Truth.
"Why don't you guys go downstairs and wait for my mom. She'll need someone to let her in and help her with her stuff," she suggested.
"You can do that can't you Midir," Emma said.
"Sure no problem," Midir replied with a smile.
Psyche sighed, time to try plan B.
"You know Truth's parents will be home soon and I don't think they'll be happy about finding a stranger alone in their house. And we're going to have to try and come up with some sort of explanation for them. Emma I think maybe you should go with Midir and maybe you can think of what to tell them too."
"Yeah, you're right Psyche; I didn't even think of that. I'm glad you're here," Emma told her smiling brightly.
"Finally," Psyche muttered when Emma and Midir eventually left the room.
"What are you up to?" Truth asked.
"I wanted some time alone with you," Psyche informed a very confused looking Truth. "And don't look at me like that. I know you're not telling the truth Truth."
"Truth Truth, that's funny," Truth said with a grin.
"No changing the subject," Psyche snapped. "How are you really feeling? And none of that, I'm not in pain; I'm fine with everything crap you've been feeding Emma. I wanted the truth."
"If I say you can't handle the truth are you going to hit me?" Truth asked.
"Hell yeah. Anyway that's not me that's Emma."
"I think Emma could handle it," Truth said softly, "I just don't want her to have to. She's been through way too much this last week or so, I don't want to add to that especially after today and the way everyone treated her."
"I'm not going to apologise for that Truth, she deserved it."
"She's your friend Psyche. I don't understand how you can treat a friend like that."
"We're not here to talk about me or Emma, we're here to talk about what's going on with you. How do you really feel?"
"I didn't lie exactly. I'm not in pain really, except when I cough and it feels like my lungs are being torn out with a hot poker, but other than that no pain. I'm also extraordinarily pissed off that someone would do this to me and I don't have the energy to be pissed off and that pisses me off even more. I mean I'm angry and I feel like throwing things and kicking things but I just don't have the strength to and so I just don't bother. I think I've worked out how Beth in Little Women was so great she just didn't have the strength to do all the screaming and yelling and violence she wanted to."
"Why didn't you say this stuff earlier?" Psyche asked.
"Because," Truth replied softly, "we both know why this happened to me. Emma and Midir know too and I'm sure they feel guilty as hell about it and I'm not going to make it worse by complaining to them about how terrible it is, that's what I've got you for."
"Truth," Psyche said giving her a hug, "sometimes you're too good for your own good."
"And sometimes I'm just stupid. Anyway I'm not good or anything like that, I'm just biding my time until I feel better then it's all coming out. The anger and all that good stuff, I'm not sure you'll want to be around for that."
Psyche smiled, "Well that's the Truth I know. I was beginning to worry the spell and changed your personality to make you nice and sweet all of a suddenly."
"Ha, ha," Truth said softly, "no such luck."
Then she collapsed in a coughing fit. Psyche looked on helplessly as her friend's face contorted in pain. How the hell had Emma and Midir missed this, how could they believe her when she said she wasn't in pain when it was so obvious on her face? There's none so blind as they who will not see she supposed.
Midir looked on silently as Emma kicked the wall a couple of times taking out her frustration.
"This is all our fault," she said, "if it wasn't for us, none of this would be happening to Truth. If only we'd kept it hidden or something, she'd be fine now and none of this crap would have happened. Who would do this to her? Who?"
"I don't know," Midir said softly, "I really don't. I was so sure it was Psyche and now."
"Wait a minute," Emma cut him off, "you thought Psyche did this."
"Yeah," Midir replied.
"Why on earth would you think that?"
"Because of what happened last night," Midir told her.
"What happened last night? Psyche may have been angry with us but she would never do something like this, she's not capable of doing something like this to anyone, least of all Truth. I told you, Psyche would never harm anyone intentionally, I know her; she wouldn't do this."
"I know that now, but come on Emma you don't know Psyche would never harm anyone ever, you can't know that. However much you may want to believe in your friends you can never know everything they are capable of or everything they've done. I mean I'm your soulmate and you don't know everything about me."
"Well," Emma said with a smile, "I've got the time if you've got the crimes."
She saw the sad expression on Midir's face.
"Come on Midir that's not how I meant it. I just meant I want to know all about you and I'll make time to do that. We've got all the time in the world right?"
"Right," he said pulling her into his arms and kissing her, "I'm sorry this happened to Truth."
"I know you are," Emma replied, "and I know you're going to help us find who did it too."
"And then what?" Midir asked, "What do you think you're going to do to them when you do find out who's done it."
"I don't know," Emma said softly.
"Maybe you should think about it," he replied, "revenge might seem like a good idea now but in the long run I'm not so sure it's what you want."
"I'll think about it," Emma promised.
Psyche walked around Truth's bed tucking in blankets and puffing up pillows. Basically just keeping her hands busy, it helped her feel useful even though she wasn't really doing anything. She heard the crunch of gravel as a car pulled into Truth's drive and looked out the window.
"It's my mom," she told Truth, "I'll go down and bring her up. She'll know what to do, she's the best."
Truth smiled at the pride in her friend's voice. She wished she and her mother had the kind of relationship Psyche and her mom did. Truth loved her mom but what Psyche and her mom had was something different; they had something really special and Truth was envious of it.
Truth didn't know if it had something to do with them being witches or just because Psyche's mom had brought her up on her own; they were really good friends and Psyche admired and loved her mother more that any other person in the world. Truth could definitely understand it, Psyche's mom was one of the nicest, strongest and most understanding people she knew and just knowing she was here actually made her feel a little better.
Emma opened the door and smiled brightly at Mrs. Ahern.
"Hello Emma," she said, "how's the patient."
"Not great," Emma told her, "but I'm sure you can change that."
Mrs. Ahern smiled widely, "It's wonderful to see such confidence in my abilities. Hopefully such confidence is merited."
Psyche came flying down the stairs at that moment.
"Hey Mom, is there anything I can do?"
"Sure Psyche, will you get the box from the back of the car for me?"
"Sure, I'm on it," Psyche said going out the door.
Emma led Mrs. Ahern into the kitchen where Midir was sitting absorbed in the floor tiles.
"Oh hello Midir, I didn't know you were here," Mrs. Ahern said cheerfully.
Emma looked on with surprise, "I didn't know you knew each other."
"We've known each other for a while," Midir told her, "Mrs. Ahern was the one who organised it so I could come to Glenalta."
"What?" Psyche demanded from the door dropping the box that she was carrying. "What do you mean she organised it so you could come here? What does he mean Mom?"
"He means I arranged things here for him," Mrs. Ahern told Psyche.
"Why would you do something like that?" Psyche asked her voice rising in anger, "Why would you bring someone like him to Glenalta?"
"For the exact reasons the pack set this place up for in the first place," her mother replied, "because he was running from the Night World and needed someplace to hide and of course because Daybreak asked me to."
"What?" both Emma and Psyche exclaimed in surprise.
"Because Daybreak asked me to," Mrs. Ahern repeated for them, "now where's Truth? I'm not going leaving that poor girl to suffer just to answer stupid questions."
"She's upstairs," Midir told her, "I'll take you to her if you like."
"That would be great Midir since my daughter and Emma seem to be temporarily dumbstruck, thank you very much."
When Midir and Mrs. Ahern left the room the two girls just stared at each other, each wanting the other to clarify that they had indeed heard what they thought they'd heard.
"I don't believe it," Psyche said, "Midir Boyce and Daybreak. It's not possible, no way."
"Why didn't he tell me?" Emma said to herself.
"Why didn't she tell me?" Psyche added.
"Do you believe it?" Emma asked her.
"Do you believe it?" Psyche asked back.
"I don't know," they both replied at the same time.
"So," Mrs. Ahern said to Midir as they climbed the stairs, "Why are you here?"
"Well," Midir said and much to his disgust found himself blushing, "well Mrs. Ahern it's like this."
"Wait first of all Midir I've told you often enough, my name is Airmed and I want you to call me that okay."
"Okay," he replied then continued, "It's like this Emma and I are, well we're soulmates."
"Soulmates," Airmed said thoughtfully, "I heard they were making a come back. Jeez I make it sound like some old rock group or something. That's great Midir, I'm really happy for you and Emma. You needed to find someone nice especially when so many people here won't accept you. I take it Psyche and the others weren't too impressed."
"You take it correctly," Midir told her.
"I'll try and talk to her," Airmed said, "but I'm not promising anything. That girl is stubborn as Hera."
"You don't have to do that," Midir argued.
"I know but I want to so no arguing."
"Okay," Midir said as they walked into Truth's room.
Emma and Psyche were still trying to work out exactly what was going on when Midir came back down the stairs.
"Your mom wants you to help her," Midir told Psyche.
"Right," Psyche said leaving without question much to Midir's surprise.
He sat down beside Emma and put his arm around her. She snuggled into the crook of his arm and sighed happily.
"You should have told me," she told him.
"It didn't seem important," Midir replied.
"Not important that Daybreak organised you coming here? I consider it pretty important."
"Why? It doesn't change anything, I'm still the same person," he said.
"I know, I guess I just feel I should know stuff like that," Emma replied, "I'm supposed to know everything about you and sometimes I feel like I don't know a thing about you."
Midir quirked his lips slightly, "You don't know everything about me," he agreed, "but you do know a lot about me. I need my secrets Em everyone does, even you. Someday you will know all there is to know about me and it will be better that way, finding everything out gradually otherwise we'd get bored of each other way too quickly."
"I guess you're right," Emma said gently, "So do you think they can cure Truth?"
"Yeah I do," Midir replied, "and maybe when they're done Airmed might be able to give us and idea of who did this."
"I hope so," Emma said with a hard tinge to her voice.
"You still want revenge," Midir said softly and Emma couldn't help thinking he felt a little disappointed in her.
"No," she corrected, "I want justice and I will get it. Truth will get it."