(A/N: I know I took long to update. Thanks people who reviewed! I know it's short, but next chappy will be longer, promise.)
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CHAPTER 16
BLACK-OUTS AND TRIPS TO ROME
"Okay. So let's go over it again." Paul said. "You, Jesse and I will each split into two bodies. Basically, there are two versions of us. The real us have to go to Rome, because the other us is not very reliable. But everything should go fine." He said, seeing the look on my face. "This is really easy; it just shouldn't be tried by beginners. But we are all shifters, so that will work. So, in two weeks we will be flying to Rome,"
"Where your auntie lives." I said.
"Correct. First we have to find out where the basilica is, but it should be easy to find."
"During the day, we will watch out for security cameras or if we see anything unusual. Then, that night"
"We will break in and search the place. Remember, there is a brick behind a tapestry that loosens. When you take it out, there is a little space. It should be in there somewhere." I finished.
"Jeez. That bible must mean a lot to him. Really really a lot. That's kinda cute."
We all turned to look at Rachael.
"What?"
None of us answered, and directed our attention back to what we will be doing in Rome.
Paul was the first one to speak.
"So, we all know what's gonna happen?"
We all nodded. "Okay. Well… its only 10, I promised to get you home before 11:30… and if you get home this early your mom might become suspicious that it doesn't have anything to do with an English project. So… what do we do?"
"We could rent a movie?" Rachael suggested.
Which is how, Rachael and I ended up, half an hour later, watching Pretty women with rapt attention.
Paul and Jesse had retired to some place else in the house, agreeing with each other that this was a "girls movie." Jesse had groaned when he'd seen what we had come back with, 10 minutes later.
"She's made me watch that movie 3 times already."
Paul had only laughed, and since he had never seen it, sat down beside Rachael, for the first 10 minutes. However, when Richard Gere had ordered strawberries and Champagne, he somehow "understood Jesse's pain and couldn't believe I had been so cruel."
And even my comeback of how Jesse wouldn't let me read a book or even listen to my walkman during Jaws didn't impress him much. Instead, he looked horrified when I voiced it.
So, in other words, it was just me and Rachael watching Pretty Women, while Paul and Jesse were probably playing racing car games.
However, when I got up to make popcorn, I saw that they were not playing computer games. Instead, there was an eerie glow about the room, and when I peeked in; I saw that Paul was tutoring Jesse about shifting. Not wanting to miss out on anything, I knocked, and entered.
Paul and Jesse didn't seem surprised to see me.
"Pretty Women already bored you?"
"No. I was actually on my way to make popcorn, but it looked like you two were doing more interesting stuff."
"What isn't more interesting than Pretty Women?" Jesse asked laughing.
"Jaws, that's for sure."
Jesse's facial expression turned to mock outrage.
"Excuse me?"
Paul was watching all this unfold with a sickened expression on his face.
"Um… I'm going to check up on the popcorn for you Suze. See if the movie has gotten any more interesting."
I watched him close the door and he winked at me. I winked back. I knew he was looking for an excuse to be alone with Rachael, but at the same time he was giving me and Jesse an excuse to be together as well. I, however, had other plans in mind.
"What were you and Paul doing just then?"
"He was just teaching me some shifter stuff." Replied in answer to my question.
"Such as..?" I persisted.
"Actually, materializing. It turns out that you can be alive and materialize anywhere else in the world, not just while you're dead."
"Really?" I was eager to learn more. "How?"
"Well, he's only shown me how to move small distances. Like from one end of the room to the other."
"Jesse, answer my question please." I interrupted, quite rudely, even to my own ears.
"Well, you like, close your eyes, and you have to concentrate really hard on that spot. And you have to like think of something very happy at the same time, and pretend you are in that place and… It's really hard to explain. Just try it."
I focused hard on my bedroom, back at home. I was sitting at my desk, doing my trig homework, and Spike had just walked in through the open window. A voice was sounding in my head. "Jesse" I said softly. "If you want to go back, now is the time before it closes up again. Jesse looked at the hole, then at me and then back at the hole. "No thank you querida, I think I want to see how it all ends."
I opened my eyes, which were now brimming with tears, and to my utter astonishment I saw that I was in fact sitting at my desk, staring down at my trig homework in amazement. I heard a pounding on my bedroom door.
Shit! I quickly thought of the room I was in with Jesse, how the rooms walls were a pretty sky blue colour, and that the room was surprisingly cool, compared to the cosy warmth of the living room, where Rachael and I had been watching Pretty Women. I thought of Jesse's amazing brown eyes, and all of a sudden realised I was staring right into them.
Paul and Rachael were in the room as well, Paul looking at me with an air of proud amazement.
"Suze that was AWSOME! That was beyond awesome! And you travelled so far and on your first try as well!"
I blushed, feeling overwhelmed by the compliments. I looked back at Jesse, and saw that his eyes were shining with the same anticipation that Paul's had been. His lips were parted into a grin, and I wished I could reach out and kiss them; before everything went black before my eyes, and I fell silently to the floor.
(A/N: Sorry for leaving yet another cliffy! Please don't kill me! Break is coming up, so that means I'll have time to update soon! )