AN: Chapter 18 was reworked, so please go back and re-read it, if you haven't already, and then continue with this one. I am trying to make it less confusing. This chapter really clears some stuff up (!)—hopefully…

Disclaimer: All of the original and familiar characters are property of Meg Cabot and her series The Mediator, but the plot and new faces are property of me.

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Chapter 19

I mope around my room for the remainder of the afternoon. Being grounded sucks. I catch a nap and rub some more lotion on my rash. It's really improving! Sometime around six, David knocks on my door and tells me its dinnertime.

I saunter down the stairs and take a seat at the table making sure I cast my gaze down at it. I notice my mother's seat is empty. Realizing that, I look over at Andy who is placing some stuff on the table.

As if reading my mind, Andy answers my question, "Your mother is filming a late interview; she'll be back late."

"With who?" David asks and I shoot him a thankful look.

"A person at the morgue. Some person that examined Father Dominic's body."

Dr. Jacobs.

Andy is still talking, but I block it out and let my own thoughts wander. We say grace, but I'm only half listening. I put some food on my plate, but barely eat it. Max gets most of it. God, I love him so much.

After dinner I excuse myself quickly, making up some excuse of homework. Once in my room I pace quietly, all the while thinking.

Would Dr. Jacobs let anything silly slip? Because if he did Jesse and Paul would find out and they would be in enraged with me. Would my mother take him seriously if he did? Probably not.

The phone rings, but I can't answer it; you know being grounded and all. The ringing stops and after a moment I hear someone yell my name from downstairs. I poke my head out my door and yell down, "What?"

"It's CeeCee!" Andy yells.

"But I'm grounded!" I yell surprised.

"Well, she says it's important; school stuff. Some group project you guys have."

I smile at CeeCee's brilliance. "Thanks!"

"Do you guys have to get together or something? 'Cause if it's for school you know she's always welcome to come over here." Andy yells this up and I tell him I'll let him know.

I close my door and pick up the extension in my room. "Got it." Andy hangs up.

"Hey," CeeCee says.

"You rescued me from jumping out of my window!" I say quietly, not wanting anyone to be able to hear our conversation, because it's not about school.

"Well I'm glad. Simon, I have been thinking about this whole thing, you know the thing you told me about at lunch."

I go, "uh-huh."

"And I think I might have it figured out, but you just have to tell me if it's possible, because obviously I don't know everything about 'shifters'."

"Okay, what were you thinking?" I ask frantic to see if it's plausible or not, because I certainly don't have any ideas.

"So, Jesse and Paul have 'switched personalities' right? And this demon said something to you about how you shouldn't play with people's emotions, and Paul had said the same thing to you, right?"

"Yes, yes," I say and look out my window nervously as if someone is there.

"Well, what if Slater could do something like that. I mean, I think I remember you telling me that he had threatened to do that before you brought Jesse back, right? And so what if he isn't over you? What if he did switch his and Jesse's personalities, so Slater could have you to himself in Jesse's body? I know he would do something like that, but is he capable is the question."

"Yes, Paul is capable of doing that." I pause and think about how Jesse and Paul have been acting so strange lately. "But how did he?"

"You're the shifter, Simon!" CeeCee yells exasperated. "I've looked up some information on it."

"What did you find?"

"Some weird Latin texts…the main words I picked up were, 'protector', 'Forgotten Dagger', 'kill', 'personality', 'ritual', 'demon', and that's about it."

I sigh. I would never be able to read those; I would need Father Dom. "I don't like that sound of that. I don't like the sound of that at all."

"Me either. And I can't get any of the online translators to translate the entire document, it's pretty long." CeeCee pauses. "Do you think you could get Father Dominic to read it to you?" She asks timidly.

It's actually a good idea, but I don't know how I would get the documents. CeeCee interrupted my thoughts.

"Oh! I almost forgot. I looked up your demon's name."

"Yeah?" I ask excitedly.

"Yup, and it kinda fits his personality. 'Seirios' is the Old Greek term for burning or scorching."

I snort. It's so ironic. "Wow." Wait, didn't Father D, like tell me that?

"I know, right?"

"So now I know who he is. I wonder if I can call him…I mean I am a shifter after all."

"Who knows," CeeCee says.

"Paul would."

"Do you think he is a friend of the Devil's?" CeeCee asks in a whisper.

"It wouldn't surprise me," I told her.

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After some more girl talk and shifter talk, I hung up with CeeCee and started thinking about her theory, and then more I thought about it the more it seemed possible. Why not give it a shot; it's better than anything I would have been able to come up with?

I go downstairs to see if Andy will let me on the computer for just a moment, so I can print off that document, CeeCee promised to send me. I would just claim that she photocopied something in the library after school and I needed to see it.

"Hey," Andy said while looking up at me while I entered his office. "Does CeeCee need to come over?"

"No," I say, "but she did send me an e-mail containing a source I need."

"Say no more," Andy said and then granted me ten minutes to get online and print it out.

Once I finished (it had been ten pages!), I go back downstairs to tell him that I am off. He smiles at me and tells me how happy he is that I'm doing some homework. I smile and make my excuses to get out of there. Now that I have the document I need Father Dom.

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Up in my room again I pace thinking if I should do it tonight or not. I wonder if I should wait until I'm ungrounded. Should I call Paul or Jesse?

No, I'm going to do it. I call Father Dominic, and a moment later he materializes in front of me.

"Susannah," he says somberly to me.

I decided to cut right to the chase. There's no need for pleasantries. "Father, I think I have some clues. But I need your help in reading some Latin to me."

"What is it?" Father D. asks and I show him the ten pages I printed out. It's all cursively Latin too, I know I can't read it, so I expect him to have a hard time figuring it out too. Of course, I was wrong.

Father is speaking Latin at a mile a minute, and I can't keep up, much less understand any of it. After a couple of sentences, I speak up. "Wait a second Father! I need you to read it to me in English. I need to know what this says, because it will help me realize why you were killed."

With that Father Dominic looks up at me in surprise. "You didn't think I had forgotten about you, did you?" I ask him while smiling.

There are tears in his eyes and he smiles a sad smile back. "Thank you, Susannah," he says quietly and I lean over and give him a hug. When I lean away, he looks uncomfortable but grateful. Then he starts translating the Latin for me. He's pretty fast at it too.

"If you wish to switch your personality with another, there are careful guidelines you must follow. First, your prey has a protector—everyone does—this 'protector' is someone you must get rid of for the ritual to go smoothly. If you fail, then consequences will take affect after the full moon."

The full moon…that was tomorrow night. Hmmm, what if Paul did something wrong, for once in his life? It was a big leap, but I was willing to gamble on it.

"Second, to get rid of this so-called protector, you need the Forgotten Dagger. It can only be acquired through a high-ranking demon, who will 'get rid of' the protector for you. The protector must not only be gotten rid of, but be forgotten. This is where the Dagger comes in. It will kill your prey and make it so that they never even existed, even to God. The only one who remembers them is the person who slays them."

That was in the thing that CeeCee looked up on Saturday!

"Third, after ridding yourself of the protector, you can move onto your prey. You must get him into the same room as you and bind him with nine feet of hemp rope. After you have done this, you will light the blood-red colored candles laid out in the shape of a pentagon and say the words below."

Father says some stuff in Latin that I have a hard time figuring out. When he is done, he looks at me.

"What did it say?" I ask.

"Nothing of importance. You had to say it in Latin anyway, but there aren't any clues in that."

"Okay. So what do you do next?"

"After incanting the verses in Latin, you must prick the palm of you and your prey so that you can switch the blood that runs through your body. This must be done with the Forgotten Dagger. After this is done, you will say the verse below to render him unconscious. Then the task is done and when you and him wake up your personalities will have been switched." Father D. shivers as he reads the unconscious verse. It has to be bad. Damn.

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We are quiet for a couple of minutes, and then I hear someone stomping up the stairs and knock on my door.

"Suze!" It's Jake. What is he doing here?

I go over and open up the door. I smile up at him and am in the middle of saying, "Hi" when he grabs my arm and says, "Come on."

I throw Father Dom a look over my shoulder; he gets up and follows us. "Slee-, I mean Jake, what are you doing? Where are you taking me?"

"I asked Dad, and he said that you and I could go to the library for your project." He looks down at me, and I just know that Jesse has something to do with this.

"Okay," I say casually, but inside I'm shaking. Oh my God! I don't know if I'm ready to face Jesse, or should I say Paul after what I just found out. And the whole sex thing…I shudder, and then I feel Father Dom place his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry," he says to me. "I'll be there the whole time."