1-08

"This is a lot more than I expected," I muttered, trying to rub away the fatigue in my eyes for the sixth time. It was five-thirty in the morning, with the sun just starting to move over the horizon, the air cold and crisp and in front of us, what before had been a meadow, was now filled with tents and some running kids.

Counting them off, there were at least a fifty if not more of them, enough that I suppose it meant good security on our part that we'd noticed them come in and setup their little dwelling just within the town's borders. Tyler, Mason, Brady and Jules stood beside me watching it all as it played out, the probably even listening in on the conversations that were shared between the people on the camping grounds.

Jules hummed. "We knew word had spread but not by this much, believe me," she said. I could hear it in her tone, but looking at her I could also see it, that she was happy about all this.

"I'm not sure how comfortable I am with all this," I said, looking back at the entire cast. There was a shift in those whose nature had been activated, a few even looking in my direction, their expressions shifted into something almost ugly. Looking back at the wolves that were beside me I could see a glimmer of the same general sense of emotions.

With a sigh I pulled in power and said a quick boundary spell, building something that would make sure no sound got out.

"Nothing against wolves," I said. "But this many wolves together is just calling for trouble."

"You mean Klaus," said Tyler.

I nodded. "He's coming and if we lose then it's putting a lot of these wolves in danger of experimentation," I said, letting a shiver pass through me because now that I said it, it was more real. I could picture the droves of people around me dying because Klaus hadn't gotten the perfect mix of his hybrid equation yet.

"Except that that's why we have you here," said Mason. I looked in his direction. "We've been speaking to the Pack Leaders," he continued. "Trying to figure out how this dynamic might work, how things will play out until we're sure we can turn a large amount of people into hybrids without the danger and one of them had an aspect of magic that we could use to our advantage."

"The thing is," said Jules. "It sounds a little too good to be true."

"In what sense?" I asked.

"In the sense that it gives us exactly what we want," said Tyler. "When packs merge, they get the special abilities that each bloodline in the pack might have."

"Werewolves have special abilities?" I asked and I realised too late that this went counter to what I should know. Looking at the four of them, I could see that they noticed. Whatever, if that was the case then I could just tell them that my ability didn't work like that. From the outside in, I'd already been pretty vague on how my ability really worked.

"Yeah," said Mason. "My bloodlines makes it so that I can smell emotions."

"Damn," I said, and I meant it. "I missed that." At their expressions I added. "Your father once said something along those lines but I just grouped it together with the whole super senses things. Bodies excreting certain hormones when it's scared or something to that effect?"

"Anyway," Jules continued. "They thing we can use that as a sort of loophole to become hybrids. People either join Tyler's pack or we marry into the thing."

"The girl who told us about this theorised that it would be easier for my brother and me since we're from the same bloodline as Tyler in the first place," Mason added.

"Which makes you the perfect guinea pigs," I said. "I'm surprised that you didn't already test this out before getting in touch with me."

"I really don't want to die," said Mason. "And Carol wouldn't let my brother do it. So we're stuck waiting for you."

I let out a sigh, running a hand over my hair. "I don't know," I said. "I'm not used to saying that often where magic is concerned but I don't know. I haven't been thinking about this more than a few seconds and in that time my memories haven't come up with much. So we'll need fail safes in place to make sure you don't die in all of this."

"Let's get it started then," said Mason. "We've got supplies for a linking spell grade power source—"

"What?" I said interrupting him. "The way you're speaking has me thinking you know the specifics of the spell I'm going to use." There were looks shared between them. "You're hiding something from me. Bad because it gets me thinking you don't trust me, that what you're doing might mean ill for the greater populace and which in turn means I have to probe over everything you're doing."

"No," said Tyler. "It's not that…It's just. There's another person like you out there," he said, gesturing between the tents. "They're the reason so many wolves got together in the first place. Trying to hide people from Klaus."

"Not another witch but a clairsentient," I said. Equal parts excitement and unadulterated horror ran through me because for the first time I didn't really know what this meant.

Questions rose through my mind: Was the person really clairsentient or were they like me, from another universe? And what did that mean when one more person could be reborn? Were the others?

"I'd like to meet them," I said.

Expressions were shared, a lot information passing through them than I could track before Brady gave a sigh and walked out beyond the lines of my wards. More thoughts were passed through me and the fear was starting to win out. I'd thought about other clairsentients when Mr Martin had let that slip, but I hadn't really devoted much brain time to it. But now that it was this close what could I think?

"You're going to get side tracked aren't you?" Tyler muttered under his breath. "You're going to focus on her instead of this?"

I absently shook my head. "Caroline," I said though still focusing on my thoughts. Another clairsentient and this close. Someone who'd watched the series and was now leaving through it.

The name must have pacified him because he didn't say anything until I saw Brady return with a short girl walking beside him. I took her in as she walked: Skin with an olive tone to it, hair dark and curly and when I tried to find when she fit into the race spectrum I couldn't quite tell.

There was silence shared between us as we looked at each other, I couldn't quite read her beyond the fact that there was a confusion there. Confusion about what was harder because I couldn't apply context to the entire thing. A test was needed which meant that I should say something.

Okay, but what?

Break this down. What do you need to know? What do you need to share that others don't want to find out? Was she clairsentient in the real sense of the word or was she like me?

The answer came much quicker than I thought it would and I said, "I'm Micah Bennett."

There was a flicker in her expression, a small confusion that touched even her features.

"Yeah, I think we're the same," I said. "Which is far stranger because…" I looked around. "Can we speak at some point? I have so many questions, like… Yeah. Can we speak because I've got school I've still got to go to."

"You still go to school? Above everything that's going to happen?" she asked me, affronted.

"Yes. My dad is big on that and I've ensured that I'm not the only head working towards this. Put people in place through manipulation sometimes working with the natural occurrences." I could see in in her eyes that the explanation didn't sit too well with her. "I feel like you want me to defend myself to you."

"Morally you should," she said. "Looking at it, the standing that you have, you should have achieved more. You're a witch, your ripples should have…"

"Okay, I'm going to stop you because I can feel that we're starting off on the wrong foot. I've just woken up and I have school, I've got things that I've got to do and defending them isn't something I'm willing to do. Let's table this because more than likely the council is going to be on my head about all this."

I broke the link with the spell and took a breath, calming a part of me that still wanted to go for the jugular, wanting to peak apart what she'd really done and the danger she'd put the wolves by bringing them here. But I pushed myself away from doing that, instead putting myself in mind to speaking about this with Professor Shane later today.

"Let's discuss this later," I said to the wolves I was used to. "Jared and I have some stuff to go over before school, and since I'm awake I'd rather spread that displeasure around. Tyler, you'll drive me?"

"Um…I can't. I have things to discuss. The deeper parts of how the ritual works on the broader sense."

"I'll drive you," said Brody. "I don't mind."

I don't mind too, I stopped myself from saying.