"We're gonna make a heckuva mess, aren't we?"

"Here, in Almia, reading minds is very rude!"

Protector of Silence

Chapter Twenty-Three - Chemistry Chaos

Kate frowned, staring at the piece of paper with her eyes narrowed.

"Okay so...put the hydrochloric acid in a beaker with...something that starts with an S. Then attached the Pepsi can to...that." With this Kate indicated at the clamp hanging over a huge dish of salt-water on the large desk "...And then put the sprite can in the...is that a T or a J?" She looked at Kellyn "Can you read this?"

Kellyn shook his head.

Who's bright idea was it to let Mr Kincaid write the instructions?

"Who knows" Kate grunted, squinting at the paper again "Boy, the kids in his class should be glad he doesn't write their homework out for them instead of using the computer."

Kellyn nodded in agreement.

It was three days into the new term, and a week and half since New Years. And today was a Wednesday: which meant science day. And this afternoon, it was chemistry. Miss April had handed out some Kincaid-written instructions and told them to follow them. They were supposed to be investigating tin cans, but when you have water, acid, metals, Bunsen burners and salt on the same desk and two kids behind it, the experiment quickly became: 'Who can make something explode fastest?'

...This was where Kellyn was starting to question Miss April's teaching methods.

On the other side of the confused duo, another confussled duo were trying to make sense of the chemistry equipment. Rhythmi was trying to explain things to them whilst letting Sami deal with their equipment.

"Okay, just make sure to keep the saliside away from the Bunsen burner" the blond told the boys.

Keith and Ponte blinked.

"Why?" they asked. Rhythmi rolled her eyes. Spreading her arms wide, she made an exploding noise.

Ponte nodded in understanding, but Keith still looked confused.

"And, er, what about the acid?" he asked.

"Best keep the saliside away from that too" Rhythmi added.

"And the water?" Ponte asked.

"Only if it's hot, but yes" Rhythmi nodded.

"Oh come on! What are we supposed to do with it then?!" Keith complained, waving the saliside pot around in the air a bit too dangerously for comfort.

"Just leave it until I figure it out!" Rhythmi shouted back before turning away from them.

Ponte sighed and pinched the bridge of his large nose. He just wished he hadn't agreed to be Keith's partner for this. However, there wasn't a lot of available choices. Kellyn didn't talk and Kate refused to be partnered up with anyone but the mute. Rhythmi was too bossy and Sami seemed more focused on the window than she was on the experiment. Starlight was always an option, but the partner-less boy was looking rather confused on the end of the row as well.

"We're gonna make a heckuva mess, aren't we Keith?" Ponte asked.

The ginger sighed, staring at the saliside pot in somewhat misery. "Yes Marshmallow-boy, I do believe we are."

Half an hour had passed, and eventually (after receiving legible copies of the instructions) everyone was starting to get the hang of it. Whilst Keith was still having trouble with the equipment and had resorted to writing down the results from the experiments, Ponte was starting to get more confident. He hadn't caused any explosions but had somehow managed to set a tin can, a metal spatula, his tie, his hair and both of his jumper sleeves on fire.

Keith looked up from his results table in his yellow chemistry book and looked over at Kate and Kellyn. Kate seemed to know what she was doing, but Kellyn was looking bored. Then, for no apparent reason, Kellyn looked over at Ponte. Keith watched with interest as the smaller boy closed his eyes, his arms falling limp at his sides and a blank look crossing his features.

After about five rather awkward seconds, the brunet turned to Kate and elbowed her. He then started to use one of the newly learnt skills he had picked up: sign language. He, Kate and Starlight had been at it for nearly a fortnight now in the common room and could communicate in short sentences. Kate frowned and shrugged, turning her palms upwards as she did so to say: What? Kellyn then wrote a message on his notebook paper and handed it to her. She smiled.

"Hey Ponte" she smiled "Kellyn recommends you focus on the experiment instead of thinking of your secret marshmallow stash you keep in the top drawer next to your bed hidden under your socks."

Ponte dropped his spatula in shock, jaw falling. Kate burst into hystrics, Kellyn silently chuckled and even Starlight looked amused. That was nothing though compared to Rhythmi and Sami positively roaring with laughter at the other end of the room. Keith laughed a bit, but was more confused than anything.

"Since when were you telepathic?" he asked.

Now it was Kellyn's turn to shrug.

After New Years, accidently laughed before Star had reached the end of his joke, since I knew what was coming.

Then he smirked.

Oh, and you think of really weird things when you sleep, you know that?

"You read my thoughts when I'm asleep?!" Keith hissed, a cross between scared and furious.

Kellyn grinned innocently.

What was the weird dream about you turning into a Lillipup and relieving yourself on Rhythmi's bed?

Now that was going too far. Keith ripped out the notebook page, tore it into shreads and slammed the itty-bitty pieces in the recycling bin.

"If I ever catch you talking about that again...!" he threatened.

Kellyn's grin never faded.

You think that's the worst? Oh Keith, I have more dirt on you than you can imagine.

Keith snorted with disapproval.

"Look, I don't know if you half-bloods get the concept" he said in a low voice so no one else would hear "But here, in Almia, reading minds is very rude!"

Now the cocky smile faltered on the younger boy's face. Kellyn's head was now hung, his eyes hidden by his hair as his gaze trailed to the floor. Emotionlessly, he turned back to his bunsen burner. Keith snorted, shook his head, and returned to his own experiment too.

As Keith got on with his result-recording, Kellyn couldn't help but notice how serious Keith was acting. By now, the ginger should be running around the classroom juggling test-tubes whilst bouncing a tin can off his head. But he was calmly jotting results down, his brow furrowed. And his previous comment had really stung!

'Maybe I could...no, he'll probably kill me for it... Well, he might not notice. Ponte didn't. So, it's gotta be worth a shot.'

Setting down his water beaker, Kellyn closed his blue-green eyes and focused on trying to gain a connection with Keith's mind. It took longer than normal (it was easier to probe into people's minds when they were asleep), but eventually he found a way in. Almost immediately he was hit with a buzzing noise that reminded him of a cross between bees and television static. Little dots of light zipped around him in confusion, as if the noise drove them nuts, whizzing past him like yellow fireflies. For a second, Kellyn thought he saw a small dark-haired boy of about eight floating, asleep in the darkness, but didn't have time to check. At that moment, the lights suddenly turned and smashed into him, forcing him back. He tried to push against them, but he was easily overpowered. A second, stronger wave of light smacked into him at the same time as a voice screamed:

"GET OUT!"

That was when Kellyn's connection broke. The brunet boy recoiled as if he had been stuck, his unusual eyes snapping open in shock. He felt a shiver run through his body as a dull throb pounded in his head.

'What the?' Kellyn blinked in confusion and shock 'Did something just force me out?'

He looked at Keith. The ginger was helping Ponte with the latest experiment, gabbling away like a madman on sugar rush again, not to mention with massive arm movements. It wasn't him who had screamed at Kellyn. In fact, the boy didn't appear to have noticed the intrusion at all.

Another thing got Kellyn's attention. The darkness, the buzzing sound, the confusion; it all made sense to him now. Something was deeply troubling Keith, troubling him to the point he was barely in touch with his surroundings. And Kellyn couldn't think of anything that would upset Keith of all people that badly. Whatever it was had forced him out before he could get anywhere near the source.

"Hey Kellyn, pass me that beaker will ya?"

Kellyn snapped out of his trance at the sound of Kate's voice. He shot her a smile to show he was fine and handed her the water beaker in front or him. Just after he had though, he heard the voice that had screamed at him say, quite softly:

"Sorry about that, but I didn't think it was right for you to see that."

'W-Who are you?' Kellyn thought. He didn't recognise the voice, but he could sense it belonged to someone higher up the chain than him.

"Nobody. I am not a guardian, nor one of you. I am nobody."

Kellyn was about to enquire what the voice was going on about, but he received one final startling reply:

"I knew your brother."

Thankfully, Kellyn was distracted from hollering in shock by an inevitable explosion on the table next to him. Everyone craned their necks to peer at the 'crime scene'.

Ponte blinked his blue eyes multiple times, the white of his orbs contrasting with his blackened face, Keith's 'good looks' hadn't be spared either.

Starlight looked at a stunned Miss April, sitting at her desk at the front.

"I think we need another beaker on table 3."