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Thanks to Gothic Girl 3000 and La Belle Morte and Medusa Sparrow-Descouedres for Reviewing.
Morgans POV:
I tapped my nails anxiously on the desk, sighing as I stared down at the assignment I had to do. Plus, I had to learn the "I have a dream," speech, by Martin Luther King Jr.
The battle was only three days away, but my parents had told me that in my spare time I had to study, and do my homework for school. My only argument had been, "Mom! It's a battle that, if we lose, could destroy the whole world, including me and you, and you want me to do homework?" Mom had only shaken her head firmly, demanding 'that is no excuse for slacking, young lady'. I rolled my eyes, thinking about it. Trust my Mom to tell me to do homework when the world is about to end.
"Hi, love." I looked up to see Callum leaning against the door, a smirk on his face.
"Excuse me, I know it's your room as well, but I have work to do!" I huffed.
"Relax, Morgan." Callum walked over to the desk, and picked up my homework diary, flipping through the pages.
He raised his eyebrows, cheerfully. "All this homework for after the holidays? Your school must be slave drivers."
I groaned, resting my head on my arms. "Don't remind me."
Callum's eyes sparked. "A full-detailed assignment on the Industrial Revolution? Why didn't you tell me before? I could have helped you. I wasn't exactly a truant student when I went to school."
I raised my head. "You'll really help me?"
He grinned. "Didn't I say that?"
I laughed. "Thanks!"
"Anything for you, pet." He ruffled my hair, and I ducked as I pulled away, laughingly.
"Hey! I'm not a child!" I protested. "And I have homework to get back to!"
"Give it a rest." he pulled me towards him, but I pulled away, and I grabbed my textbook, holding it against me like a shield.
"Don't, not if you want some GBH." I warned him.
He sat on the chair, trying to look innocent. "Okay."
I flopped on the bed, and then sat up sharply. "I've had another one of my insanely random thoughts. What exactly do you turn into as a shifter, anyways?"
He grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."
"Go on." I persisted.
"A hawk." He said.
I widened my eyes. "My favourite bird."
"Somehow, I didn't think you liked animals. Especially things that fly." He was referring to one occasion when I had literally been on the verge of hysterics over a housefly that had seemed unusually large.
"Hey, how was I supposed to know it was pregnant? That was serious, you know. Because of the whole thing with the old powers awakening bit, there are a lot of weird creatures and insects and birds that are injuring people, and you get rogue shifters as well, don't who don't follow the House of Shapeshifters." I argued.
He shrugged. "You still don't like them."
"Ok. Now I can't be bothered to do my homework." I flopped down on my bed with a sigh.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
I sat up and looked at Callum. He walked over to the door and opened it. It was Mare. Callum went out as she came in, closing the door behind him.
"Hi." Mare said.
"Hi." I smiled. I liked her. She was cool and we'd become great friends over the month.
"So, I was wondering, are you going to fight?" she asked.
I grinned. "I have a feeling you've bet on me."
She smiled. "Not exactly. But what would we have to bet?"
I nodded. "That's a good point."
"So, are you?" she continued.
"Yeah. Otherwise, my Mom would have kept me at home." I saw something pass over her eyes, and then with a start, I remembered that her Mom had died when she was little.
"Oh, I'm so sorry -" I began to say, when she cut me off.
"No, it's okay. Fine." she smiled at me, and I smiled back, hesitatingly.
"So, um, was there any particular reason you wanted to come talk?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Just a spur of the moment thing."
I wavered, feeling shy. "Could I ask you something?"
"Sure. Go ahead." she prompted encouragingly.
"Um, you know, when you first met Ash, what was it like for you?" I fiddled with a stray lock of hair, twisting it around my finger. It was a gesture that I had become familiar with, that I did when I became nervous.
"It was like… a pink haze, but I hated him, so it kinda hurt. And there was electricity." she recalled.
I frowned. "But… didn't you feel like you were sinking into his mind?"
She shook her head. "It's different for different soulmates. They eventually all feel the same reactions later on, but at first, depending on the state of their being, they experience different sensations." Mare explained.
I nodded. "Oh. Thanks."
She smiled. "It was ok."
She got up to leave. At the door, she stopped, a question on her face.
"What happened when you realised you were soulmates?"
"Our minds connected." I said.
"Okay." I watched her leaving the room, and then crossed over to my wardrobe.
Opening the double doors, I heaped my clothes to one side, pulling out a small footstool with a mirror carved onto the top, along with chalk, incense, a candle, and two different bowls, one made of clear glass which was to be filled with water, and one baked from clay. I guessed I had a little time to myself before anyone came.
I drew a circle softly in the middle of the room, marking 4 points around it, and put the incense, candle, and two bowls on the four points. Then I put the footstool in the circle, sealing the circle with the chalk and channelled it by invoking the four elements, sitting cross-legged next to it, my back facing the window.
I muttered a spell, and the mirror grew hazy, and then it rippled, like dark black liquid speckled with stars. The light was sucked into my eyes, and then the mirror cleared, and I saw a vision of my Mom, my Dad and my sister, sitting at the table. Satisfied, I was just about to change the image when I heard a noise from the doorway.
"Predicting the future in a mirror made of obsidian is a little like dark magic, isn't it?"
I glanced up sharply, my eyes still full of the black sky and stars, and saw Callum leaning against the doorway. My breath came out in a hiss. I hadn't realised he had been standing there. I had been totally focussed on what I had been doing.
I had just made a very big mistake.