Jason
"Lena!" I regained my focus and saw Lena on the stone table. She was shaking and I felt Macon's apprehensiveness.
"Macon! Where is she?" I heard someone scream. Mr. Macon looked at me with desperate eyes and I nodded. I rubbed my hands together while Mr. Macon gathered the rest of his family. They surrounded her and started chanting.
"Macon!" The voice grew louder. I blinked quickly and suddenly everything went grey. I saw the boy and recognized him instantly.
Ethan?
"Boo! Where is she?" I stared at him until Mr. Macon kicked me out of Boo's body and whispered, "I'll take care of him, just help Lena!" I flew back to the room and I heard Boo and Ethan chase me. I phased past two huge doors and saw everyone desperately trying to save Lena. She was wet when I saw her and was sweating like crazy. They kept repeating the Sanguinis Circle chant while I breathed, as Mr. Macon take his ring off.
Ready Jason?
Ready…
I ran and saw my Sheer body fall behind me. I was a ghost within a ghost. I went inside Lena's body and saw her.
"Oh my, who are you, young boy? Are you Macon's little servant?" A dark figure sneered. My skin felt cold and I started to breathe heavily.
"Leave now. This is my only warning." I told her. She laughed. I raised my palms up and a jet of blue light shot from them. She flicked her hand up and a pillar of fire blocked the light.
"If this is all Macon has, a little Sheer boy with a flashlight, then tell him that he's getting more senile than I thought. I have every right to be here; all I want is to see how my little girl is doing." She stroked Lena's hair and I clenched my teeth.
"Macon, do something! It's not working." Lena's Aunt shouted.
"I'm trying Delphine." He looked straight at me and I nodded.
"Sarafine, get out now! Lena is going to die!" I yelled. I noticed that little specks of ice had managed to creep around my body. I was being frozen.
"What are you doing?" I asked, shivering.
"Just letting you die a cold death. And here I'll make you a deal, if you leave right now and tell Macon to not get in my way and maybe join me, then I'll leave. If not, then…"Sarafine tightened her fist and suddenly Lena's body seized upright. Then she grabbed a knife from her back and slashed across Lena's heart. It didn't make a wound, but Lena released a scream that nearly shattered my ears.
"Concentrate!" Mr. Macon yelled. I closed my eyes and almost couldn't get them open again due to the cold. My fingers started turning red.
"Sarafine! Stop it!" I screamed. Sarafine laughed and slashed again, making Lena scream once more.
"One slice for every second you're still here. Oh that was two seconds right there." She cut twice and I was about to explode from the screaming. Then suddenly a burning body crashed into my back and shattered the ice that surrounded me.
Ethan?
I grabbed onto Ethan's body and gave it one last push right into Sarafine. She shrieked, then rose up to the air and disappeared in the blackness. I noticed her left arm was singed. An explosion followed afterwards, kicked me back into my Sheer body and everyone else onto their backs.
I blacked out.
Macon
"She was foolish. She made a critical error. We've learned the only thing we really needed to know," my mother said.
"So you agree with Macon? The boy has power?" I looked up to see Del's face filled with hysteria.
"You were right before, Delphine. There must be some other explanation. He's a Mortal, and we all know Mortals can't possess power on their own," I tried to put a lot of emphasis on "alone," because without Jason, Ethan would have never reached Lena and Sarafine. I glanced over at Jason, who had fainted next to Lena. I prayed that he was ok.
"…It's the boy. I've never seen anything like it. No Caster can come between them."
"So it would seem." I grimaced. Obviously frustrated that I couldn't just tell them what Jason did. The boy might have power, but it was ultimately Jason who saved Lena. However, I had sworn to never talk about Jason with anyone other than Lena.
"I'm going to take Lena upstairs. Larkin, could you grab the boy?" I asked. Larkin nodded as I twisted my ring. Jason's body disappeared and I sighed. Grabbing Lena, I carried her carefully up the stairs.
"Lena…" I whispered, "be safe."
Jason
"I'm sorry Jason. I-I don't know what to say…" I gripped my head and tried to stay warm, but I still felt cold.
"Jason, I truly am sorry. No one should ever have had to endure that. I-I have failed everyone…" I tried to focus on Mr. Macon's face, but it was just full of sadness and guilt.
"It's not your fault Mr. Macon. I'm just not powerful enough to stop someone like Sarafine. If anyone was useless during that, it was me; I couldn't even move my arms…" I told him. He dropped his head into his hands and I went over to grip his shoulder for once.
"Mr. Macon, don't be so hard on yourself. She's safe now, that's all that matters. You need to be strong for her." I said confidently. He looked up and for the first time I saw how this had drained him. His eyes were bloodshot red and the dark circles under his eyes made it worse.
"You…were far from useless Jason. It was selfish of me to send you and almost get you killed again. If you hadn't guided Ethan, Lena might have been dead. I owe you my life once again Jason." Mr. Macon sighed and I chuckled.
"I'm going to have to start cashing in these IOUs."
"Hopefully things will calm down. I can only hope." I looked outside and noticed the date.
"Hey it's Thanksgiving in a couple days. I know you don't eat, but why don't we do something fun?" I suggested. Mr. Macon looked at me skeptically.
"Such as…?"
"Well for starters, it's my birthday tomorrow!" I grinned.
Lena
"Where's Jason?" I asked as I placed a plate of mashed potatoes on the table. Uncle M asked Kitchen and House to prepare for Jason's party. The end result was Ravenwood Manor turning into a huge hotel-like lobby, but covered with party balloons and streamers.
"I sent him back into the ring last night. I want this to be a surprise." Uncle Macon snapped his fingers and a mirror appeared in front of him. He straightened his tie and adjusted his vest. I noticed a hint of sadness.
"Uncle M? Are you alright?" I went over and hugged his waist and he softly gripped my hands.
"I'm fine. I just want everything to be perfect. For the past two years I forgot about birthdays, especially Jason's…" Uncle M murmured. I laid my head on his back.
"It will be perfect. Come on, it's almost time for dinner." I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and he smiled. He twisted his ring and Jason came flying out, with a bright grin on his face.
"Finally! I've been waiting for this all day!" Jason dropped down right onto the Head chair and rubbed his hands together.
"Now, now Jason, don't make it too big of a cast. You don't want a stomachache." Uncle Macon said. I must've looked confused because he said, "Perhaps I never mentioned to you Lena, but Sheers have a different form of casting. They only need to imagine what type of spell they wish to cast. Although unlike Casters, they don't have a specific type of ability, such as your ability to influence the elements or Larkin's ability to shape-shift. They develop new and exotic abilities everyday. Jason what can you do again? I've lost count."
Jason's mouth was glowing gold, which contrasted against his light blue body, and stuffed a piece of steak in his mouth.
"I can shoot light out of my hands, fly, travel to Dark areas, oh and just yesterday, I saw through Boo's eyes. That was cool." He said it so nonchalantly that I wondered if he was trying to block out what happened at Halloween. Uncle M told me everything and I was starting to worry for him.
"So, now you can eat real food?"
"Well, I prayed to the Sheer gods that I wanted to taste again. And since it's my birthday, I consider this my present. I definitely approve."
I stared around the table and noticed two extra, empty seats. I shrugged, then started eating.
House
"Doesn't it feel so good not to work for once? I wish we celebrated birthdays A LOT more." I stuffed two more muffins in my mouth and was about to gobble down a third when Kitchen knocked it out of my hand.
"Mind your manners. Birthdays are a sensitive topic, especially in THIS house." Kitchen sipped her wine. Master Macon and Jason were in a deep conversation about presents while Lena was focused on her food. A little too focused.
"Is there something wrong with Miss Lena?" I asked. Kitchen looked up, then shook her head.
"She's probably thinking about teenager stuff."
"She needs to loosen up, its party time. Just wait till Master Macon sees that I set up the Wii again." I smiled proudly. Kitchen face palmed.
"You know he hates that…that contraption! I don't even know how you ordered it, nevertheless carried it."
"It's called eBay, and if you feed Boo the right type of dog food that morning, he'll do anything for you. Including dragging and hooking up a modern-day entertainment system."
"Well I'm not playing anything except for WiiFit." I pouted.
"WiiFit is for overweight, lazy, unsophisticated—"I stopped when I saw Kitchen glaring at me.
"Uh, great, energetic people. But we have to Just Dance this up. I got the fourth one and already downloaded the new songs."
*Knock, knock*
"Who could that possibly be?" Master Macon started to get up when Lena stopped him.
"I'll get it Uncle M." She practically ran out. I sighed.
"I never thought I'd see the day when I don't have to get the door."
Lena
"Ethan? I-I…" Ethan was standing outside the door with bottle in his hand. I noticed it didn't really have a label.
"Lena I need to ask your Uncle something."
"Is it about the locket again? Cause you know how great that went." I looked behind me to see if Uncle M hadn't appeared right behind me. He would probably burn Ethan on sight, especially on this day.
"Ethan, today's not the best day…maybe tomorrow?" I suggested. He shook his head.
"I need too, please L?" He kissed me and I almost forgot where I was.
"It will only take a second."
We walked inside the dining table and Uncle M and Jason's eyes were both on us.
"Mr. Wate, how pleasant it is to see you." Uncle M said, but it came out more as a growl.
"Ethan? No way!" Jason exclaimed. Ethan's eyes lit up.
"Jason? Is this where you have been this entire time?" They ran to hug, but Jason's body went right through him. Jason blushed.
"Uh, yeah sorry."
"Jason what are you doing here? Are you—"Ethan's eyes widened.
"Yeah I'm dead. I'm a Sheer."
"But h-how did you die?" I knew my Uncle would explode any minute, so I interrupted, "Ethan how do you know Jason?" Jason and Ethan looked at each other and laughed.
"Remember when I told you I collected worms cause I was fascinated by them? Ethan and his friend Link were my partners-in-crime." Uncle M got up.
"This is all very fascinating, but Mr. Wate I have to ask you to leave." His eyes grew dark and the lights flickered on and off.
"Mr. Macon, I'm fine with Ethan being here. He's my friend." I expected Uncle M to ignore Jason, but he just looked frustrated.
"I don't think—"he started, but Jason looked down.
"I'm sorry, I just mean, I want to celebrate my birthday with friends and family. But I guess if you don't like him Mr. Macon…" I almost cracked a smile when Jason played the "it's-my-birthday" card. I thought it wouldn't work, but Uncle M was actually reconsidering. I was going to have to use that one a LOT more.
"Well, I suppose there's no real harm. Alright, Mr. Wate, you can stay." Uncle M swallowed.
"Yay! Now let's go to living room, I think House has Just Dance hooked up!" Jason flew to the living and I started to follow. I grabbed Ethan's hand until Uncle M gripped his shoulder.
"I believe Mr. Wate has something to ask me Lena. Why don't you play with Jason for a while?"
I was scared to leave those two alone, but nodded.
Ethan
"What do you want to ask me boy?" Macon poured himself the wine I gave him. Amma thought it would help ease his temper. It must've worked because he closed his eyes and slightly licked his lips.
"Amma made that herself. She thought you would like it, sir." I said. When he reopened his eyes, he gave me a look.
"Oh, I wanted to ask if it would be alright if Lena came over my house for Thanksgiving. I wanted to ask her as a surprise, but I just wanted your approval first."
"I told you that I need her to be protected. She isn't safe there." He almost walked out when I said, "But I saved her on Halloween. She told me that our Kelting saved her and besides, Amma is there too. She's more than protected there."
"You did NOT save her!" He shouted and everything went dark. They returned instantly and it took everything not to run.
"If it wasn't for Amarie, I would never agree to this, but you may take her to dinner during your Mortal holiday. I expect her to be well fed." He turned and went to the living room. I almost followed, but decided against it. I went home.