A/N: Alright, so yes, I am updating. Finally. It hasn't been for like, what, a couple months? Yes, I know, I'm a bad author, and honestly I have no excuse so... um... just read and enjoy! I'll keep updating when I can. This is really my practice project, the one story I don't have to edit or even spell check (sorry about that, guys. I bet you've come across a few amazing spelling errors) and therefore it often gets placed on the back burner. Anyway, enjoy. And review! Honestly, those reviews make my day. :)

Chapter Five: A New Kind of Education

Madison shuffled down the hallway, staring at each person as they passed. Carrie was walking next to her, rambling, loving the sound of her own voice. She didn't care that Madison wasn't listening. If she asked about anything, Madison could always just read her thoughts enough to give her the answer she wanted.

Everyone passed, streaming to their next class like a river, every one of them leaving a distinct taste in Madison's mouth, an imprint in her mind. There was a time when their thoughts would have driven her mad, but after only a week of Melissa's 'training,' she'd gone from dreading school, to being intrigued by it.

Melissa was scared of other people. Madison could feel it. She didn't say it aloud, she'd hide behind the excuse that they were painful, they were loud, and everyone believed her. Not Madison. She didn't want to let anyone too close to her. She was afraid of loss, of being alone, and so she avoided everyone. Madison wasn't afraid, however. She loved the minds she passed, her fingers itched to delve into every one, but she knew how dangerous that would be. Melissa had told her about Rex's father, about the old mindcasters. It was dangerous, entering other people's minds. But Madison wanted to.

"Maddie, you listening?" Carrie questioned.

Madison turned to her, feeling Carrie's last question like a thread of pepper along her tongue and nodded.

"Yeah, Allison can be pretty impossible. At least you don't have to take lessons with her during Blue Time."

"Yeah, but I still have to see her all the time! Why, of all the people in this freakin' city, was SHE born at midnight? I mean, she's not even..."

Madison tuned Carrie out again, something catching her attention. A light, peaceful stroke along her mind. She looked around, searching for the person reading her thoughts, the taste of vanilla in her mouth. That wasn't Melissa.

Carrie swore fiercely as the bell rang the beginning of class and the hallway seemed to empty in an instant. "Ah, man, I can't be late again! Come on, Maddie, let's go."

"Yeah," Madison mumbled, letting Carrie drag her to class by her sleeve. The pressure in her mind was gone, the taste gone, but the presense still haunted her.

"Nice to see you two ladies decided to join us," Mrs. Abbott sniffed as they ran in and took their seats. "Carolyn, you're late again."

"Sorry," Carrie huffed.

Madison sat back, blocking out the sound as Mrs. Abbot introduced some new kid and then droned on about Emerson. She wondered if she should tell Melissa about what had happened. Madison hadn't felt threatened or even invaded... only curious. And did Melissa really need to know EVERYTHING? She was smart, she was her teacher, but she was not the only one who could do anything.

The closing bell shook her out of her reverie and she stood automatically with the rest of the class, following Carrie, who ran off to her next class at the other end of the school, without much thought, until she felt it again. The same taste, the same presence. She turned around, looking back into the class, and spotted the new kid, a tall, raven-haired boy walking toward her.

"Hey, Madison, right?" he questioned, offering her his hand.

She looked down at his hand in confusion, turned around, and walked away.

"Hey wait!" he called, running back to her.

"What do you want?" she grumbled.

He leaned in close to her, his voice soft. "You don't have to shake my hand if you want. I was scared to touch my first time to."

She froze. She could taste it emanating from him. Vanilla. She looked up at him in shock and he grinned.

"Who are you?" she questioned.

He grinned again and tugged on her sleeve a bit. "A lot more like you than you'd expect. She doesn't know everything, you know."

"Who?"

"Your not so masterly mentor. Don't stay so under her thumb. And watch out when she touches you... she'll get into your mind, mess it up. She's done it before."

"Who are you?" Madison demanded again.

He chuckled. "I already told you, but if you must have a name, you can call me Jason."

"Well, Jason, I don't really know what you're trying to do or what you're doing here, but I'm not too sure I want anything to do with it," she responded as she turned to walk away.

"It doesn't have to be so lonely, you know," he called. "It's not a curse. You ever need to talk to someone who's not a masochistic punk, you'll know how to find me."

Madison continued walking, the taste of vanilla in her mouth, and a strange thrill racing along her spine.

Madison strolled back into her house, tossing her backpack aside, and walked toward her room, her meeting with Jason still on her mind.

"What happened today?" Melissa called as Madison passed the kitchen. Madison quickly concealed her thoughts and walked into the kitchen, feeling the whisp of Melissa touching her mind. Madison tightened her defenses and lightly shoved Melissa's presence away.

"When my dad gets back, he's going to notice all the food you're both eating," Madison grumbled, pointing out the apple in Melissa's hand, her black nail-polished hand reminding Madison of the wicked stepmother in Snow White.

Melissa took another bite and shrugged, her eyes intense. She tried to read Madison's thoughts again, but Madison again pushed her out, her eyes just as intense. Melissa couldn't just reach into her mind whenever she wanted. She wasn't all that much older than Madison, she wasn't some Blue Time Goddess.

Melissa opened her mouth to say something, but immediately stopped herself, her lips one tight line.

Jonathan walked into the room and immediately paused, looking from Madison to Melissa and back to Madison.

"Uh, am I interrupting something?"

Madison broke away from Melissa's gaze and turned to Jonathan.

"Nope," she remarked. "I was just going to take a nap."

She glanced at Melissa again, and walked out of the kitchen back up to her room.

Madison could feel the Blue Time approaching, seeping into her bones. She hadn't gone to sleep like she'd said, had barely done any of her homework, and definitely hadn't gone back downstairs. She didn't need another confrontation with Melissa.

She stared at her cieling, blocking out all of the thoughts around her, yearning for the peace of the Blue Time. She needed to think. She hadn't had her "powers" long, but she felt as if she'd always been a Mindcaster and she was just now starting to learn control. Melissa had taught her a lo, but in a world where the mind was so volatile, could she trust anyone? She didn't like being controlled, she didn't like anyone having power over her, but could she change that? Who was Melissa anyway?

The earth around her shuddered as night slipped into the Midnight and she sighed. Finally, some peace of mind. She could sense everyone traveling to her house, ready to begin lessons again. She searched the city for Jason, wondering if he'd show up. He certainly seemed to know plenty about what was going on, but she couldn't sense him anywhere.

A sharp knock on her door caught her attention and Melissa opened the door.

"You coming down?" she remarked.

"Maybe," Madison responded.

Melissa paused a moment and then stepped further inside. "Alright, what's going on?"

Madison sat up a bit. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're being a brat, Madison. I can't help you if you won't cooperate."

"You're talking about me being a brat?" she demanded.

"I am. Now get up and get downstairs."

"Or what? You're not my mother, Melissa."

"You're risking your life, you know. You don't learn control and you'll do something you'll regret."

"And I'm not going to regret letting you mess with my head every night? Huh? You haven't even been here a week and already you have every one of us bowing to you for knowledge that's supposed to keep all the bad things away."

"You're being stupid," Melissa commented. "Why would I want to mess with you? What could I possibly gain from playing with your mind? The Blue Time is everywhere, why would I go after some random little teenager when I could control anyone I want?"

Madison paused. She had a point.

"You know I'm right. Now come downstairs," Melissa grunted as she left the room.

Madison watched her leave and sighed, flopping down on her bed. Even in the Blue Time she was getting a headache.

"You find anything?" James questioned as Christian and Jessica sauntered back into the house.

"Nope, nothing. The Darklings don't seem to be willing to come out and play after Jess here gave that nasty one a shock with her flashlight."

"We know they're out there, they'll come back," Melissa reminded them as she walked out of the kitchen where Allison was working with Brett to try to refine her sense of metals.

James sighed and leaned on the arm of the big easy chair in the living room. "I want to go help," he muttered.

"Sorry, bro," Christian remarked as he ruffled his twin's hair a bit. "But the little nasties seem to have a taste for your seer-ness."

Madison watched everyone scuttle about her house, delving into their skills, looking at Melissa, Jonathan, and Jessica as if they were Gods. She grunted and leaned against the wall.

Suddenly, she felt someone gently probe her mind. The taste of vanilla flicked across her tongue. She smiled.

Ignoring everyone else, she walked out the front door.

"Madison, where are you going?" Melissa demanded.

"I'll be back soon," she grumbled.

"It's not safe to be out there by yourself," she remarked.

"You're not my mother, Melissa. I'll do what I want," she huffed.

Everyone around them paused, glancing at the two girls as they stared at eachother, Madison's hand on the doorknob, Melissa glaring across the room, her arms crossed.

"We just saved you from being kidnapped, Madison. You really think it's smart to go wandering around by yourself?"

Madison rolled her eyes and walked outside, shutting the door behind her back. She paused. What was she doing? Melissa made sense, why was she being such a brat?

"Hey. I didn't think you'd come," Jason chuckled as he walked across the street and leaned on her fence.

She crossed her arms, doing a fairly decent impression of Melissa. "What do you want?"

"Ouch, why so harsh?" he commented. "Can't I join your little club?"

"You don't feel right," I stated flatly.

"And yet you came out here to talk to me. And you haven't made a move to go back inside. You don't have to be so defensive, you know," he chuckled.

She felt her cheeks turn a slight shade of red.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

"I only want to help you. I went through the same thing, I know what you're going through. I also know how to help you train," he added casually, though his eyes looked up at her intensely. "And I also know that that Melissa girl is not helping you any. None of you are confident enough to come out here on your own, to enjoy yourselves. What is this amazing time if you spend it all studying and hiding in that house? You're all powerful, a new breed of human. Why cower?"

His words rang through her mind like bolts of lightening, every sentence sending a jolt through her.

"You're insane," she remarked.

"I know what I'm talking about."

"How, huh? You didn't come from Bixby, you're as new to this as I am!" she pointed out.

"No I'm not," he argued.

"Oh really, and how are you older?"

He tapped his head. "Because I know. Long ago the mindcasters passed down everything they knew, going from mind to mind. I was trained by one of those mindcasters, and everything he knew, everything every mindcaster has known since the very beginning is right here. Melissa didn't tell you about that, did she? She kept it from you?"

Madison's face went blank. She didn't want him to see that he was right, but he laughed. "You need to work on blocking those thoughts," he replied.

"And what, you can help me?" she remarked.

"I can," he stated confidently. He held out his hand. "Here. Take my hand."

She looked down at his outstretched hand and didn't move. "I may not know everything, but I do know what you could do to me if you had a direct connection to me."

"You trust Melissa," he pointed out.

She opened her mouth to respond and shut it again, words failing her. Why would she trust Melissa and not Jason? It didn't make sense.

"Oh come on, I won't do anything, I won't even control my thoughts. I'll be an open book to you. If I start anything, just pull away."

She looked him over and carefully thought over what he'd said. How could she trust him? She didn't even know him. Then again, she didn't really know Melissa either. What was Melissa hiding from her?

"Fine then," she remarked, taking a few confident steps forward and, before she could stop herself, she grabbed his hand.

She gasped as he flooded her thoughts, a wild rush of emotion, taste, flashes of images and sounds. She saw Darklings swarming around her, heard screams ripping through the Blue Time air. What were these creatures? What were they doing? A brunette boy with thick glasses tried to run, tripping to the ground. The Darklings descended from the sky, searing his flesh. He shrieked, his eyes wide. Terror shocked through her mind, paralyzing her…

She pulled away from him, gasping, beads of sweat along her brow.

"You saw it?" he whispered, his confidence shaken for a moment.

"What was that?" she demanded.

"That's what ignorance gets you," he stated. "That was my friend. He didn't know about Midnight. None of us did. He was killed."

"You're serious?"

"Yes. I only got away because I was rescued by my mentor, taken away and taught how to survive in this world. That's why I'm here. You need to know what to do or all of you are going to end up dead," he responded, his words so passionate, his eyes so intense, that she couldn't help but trust him.

"So, you want to teach me?"

"That's what I just said," he commented with a bit of a grin. "That is, if you can get away from the tyrant."

She smiled and glanced back at her house. "That won't be a problem. We can meet at school if we have to. She won't be suspicious. When do we start?"

He looked up to the sky. Blue Time was only half over.

"We start now. Come on."

He reached his hand out to her and she cautiously took it. There was a buzz of a connection, a sudden closeness, but he was keeping his thoughts in check. He laughed.

"We really have to work on your shielding skills."