Chapter Ten
"Maybe you're just malfunctioning," Tyler suggested.
"I'm not some old man with bedroom issues," Reid replied indignantly.
This comment bough snorts and smiles from the rest of the guys in the black hummer. They were driving down a familiar dark tree lined road after dropping the girls off at Spencer.
"I'm told it happens to a lot of guys," Taylor added as he flicked his eyes to Reid through his rearview mirror.
"Not to me," Reid curtly answered giving the back of Taylor's head a hard look.
Looking back from the passenger seat, Pogue smiled and said, "It's nothing to be ashamed of."
Reid stared hard at Pogue till he turned back around.
"Just ignore them, you know they are just baiting you," Caleb said quietly, leaning closer to Reid.
But Reid could see a hint of a smile in Caleb's lips. They could tease him all they want, but they wouldn't understand. It didn't happen to them.
"What about now? Is your power okay?" Caleb asked.
Everyone's eyes fell on Reid. After a couple of seconds, he gritted his teeth and flared his eyes. His black eyes focused on the dashboard of the car. The engine started to rev as the car drove faster down the dark road.
"Woah…" Taylor said nervously, lifting his hands from the wheel.
Taylor always got the same way when one of the guys messes with his car. Reid kept his eyes on the dash as the pedal moved underneath Taylor's foot. It slowly pushed down to the floor. Pogue grabbed the seat as the car pushed 120 mph and hooted.
"Okay," Caleb said in a bored voice next to Reid. "We get it."
A dozen different ideas went through Reid's mind but he tossed a look at Caleb, whose face was more serious than his voice, and started to slow the car down. When Taylor got control of the car back, Reid's eyes returned to normal. He likes to push Caleb's line every now and then. Just because Caleb was born first doesn't make him always right. But his heart wasn't in it this time.
"Cute," Taylor mumbled as he flexed his fingers around the wheel.
"So we know that it isn't a permanent thing. Maybe you didn't cast right, or maybe you were just tired," Caleb tried to reason.
Caleb looked over at Reid in time to see him roll his eyes. He knew that Reid pushed the limits and liked to play the disillusioned rebel, but Caleb also knew Reid. He was bothered by tonight, even if he didn't show it on the surface.
"Whatever it was," Caleb added, "We'll find out. We'll start with the book. If that doesn't have any answers then we'll just have to go to plan b."
Reid watched a Caleb gave him a look. It was almost like a pitying look. Like Caleb was just humoring him. Reid nodded his head curtly in reply and looked out of the window. His mind was going a hundred miles and hour. Remembering lessons, stories and readings he did as a kid that might explain what happened. But every once in a while, his thoughts were interjected. An image kept intruding on his thoughts. It was a pair of bright green eyes, looking absolutely petrified as his touched her slender upper arm.
"Come in, Come in," smiled Eleanor.
Georgina was stood outside the manors front door with her hands stuck in her jacket pocket. She felt awkward and knew that her hands would fiddle with whatever was around if they weren't occupied. Stepping into the warm foyer, Georgina smiled tightly and stood aside while Eleanor closed the large door. The elderly lady turned to look at Georgina, who stood stiffly as she averted her eyes.
"I'm glad you could make it so fast," Eleanor said, interrupting the strained silence.
It had barely taken Georgina two minutes to change. She didn't care about her cold skin and tight muscle's, she just wanted to get here. It had taken 17 minutes.
"I just want them to stop," Georgina answered, shrugging her shoulders softly.
Eleanor smiled kindly and gestured to the closed living room door. As Georgina followed Eleanor to the stained glass door, she almost sensed her reverence. Her spin almost straightened and her shoulder tensed. Turning back, she saw the hesitation in Eleanor's face.
"What is it?" Georgina asked quietly.
She didn't like the way Eleanor was acting. Unconsciously, she took a step away, her body primed for running. Her nature had evolved over the years that she was suspicious of everyone. Even her mother's old friend wasn't immune.
"The friend I had to get in contact with is beginning to have suspicions. The research we both did brought up questions about why we were do this. He's here, in fact-"
"I don't know where you're going with this," Georgina interrupted cagily, "But I can already guess I'm not going to like it."
"I think we should tell him."
Georgina closed her eyes tightly. She knew it.
"What do you think is going to happen when he finds out I'm a Pendle," she whispered.
Looking up at Eleanor, she caught a glimpse of concern. But when she saw Georgina watching her, her face quickly masked over to an unreadable expression. She almost laughed. Eleanor was almost as good as she was at hiding her true feelings.
"He's not like the elders. His situation is different-" she stated seriously.
"But can I trust him? Enough that he isn't going to go running to the Elder's the first chance he gets?"
Eleanor gave Georgina a level stare before replying, "What other choice do we have?"
After rubbing a cold hand over tired face, Georgina shrugged her shoulders.
"Fine. Let's get this over with."
Eleanor, looking slightly relieved, stepped towards the closed door. She pulled the doors open and Georgina watched as she walked in. Greeting whoever was in the middle of the room.
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting," Georgina heard Eleanor say.
Pushing her slightly damp, sea salted hair away from her face, she took a deep breath and stepped into the room. She saw Eleanor warmly embracing a tall graying man. Though she couldn't see his face, she had already made her assessment of him. He wore custom Italian leather shoes, in the latest fashion, a top of the line Ralph Lauren suit probably better suited for a younger man but he made it work and an Omaga watch that if she lifted, she could probably pawn for a couple of grand.
As he let go of Eleanor, his eyes shifted to Georgina who stood stiffly by the door. Refusing to come any closer. When Eleanor stepped away, she saw the exchange and smiled brightly to the man.
"Gregory," she said lightly. "I want you to meet my Goddaughter, Georgina."
His eyes briefly flicked to hers at the Goddaughter part, making Georgina think that it wasn't common knowledge she even had godchildren, and he looked back to Georgina.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Georgina," Gregory said politely, nodding his head in acknowledgment.
Georgina didn't reply, she just nodded her head stiffly. He frowned slightly but then seemed to think better and smiled at Eleanor.
"Does she have something to do with your top secret task you gave me?" he asked.
Eleanor took a few measured breaths and answered. "Yes, she does."
"So," he said, "I'm I finally getting to know what all this research I've been doing is about?"
They both glanced at Georgina, one out of curiosity and one out of warning, who had yet to make a move. Eleanor's warning in her eyes told her everything. Don't say anything… yet.
Fine by me, she thought.
"Why don't we take a seat? It's going to be a hard conversation as it is without having to stand on occasion," Eleanor asked as she gestured to the sofa behind them.
"Alright," Gregory replied in an amused tone.
"How about we start with you telling me what you've found," Eleanor asked as they both sat down facing each other.
Georgina walked closer to the roaring fire, one to try and warm herself up, but also so she could her hear the conversation better.
"Well, my research has led me to believe that what you're describing is Dreamspeech. Mostly used to communicate with family during REM sleep. Whether to simply converse between distant family members or an application of teaching children in a safe environment."
Gregory paused and looked back and forth between Eleanor, who was listening intently, and Georgina. She had her back to them, but he knew she was listening just as intently as she stared into the fire.
"But what I haven't found out is why it's effecting your 'friend' the way you have been describing."
Gregory put extra emphasis on the word friend. He didn't know that Georgina was the one he was talking about but he wanted to.
"How do you mean?" Eleanor asked politely. Ignoring the implicated question.
"Well this technique hasn't been used in a very long time. I had to go back in the family's records by about 400 years. What with technology now days, there is no need for magical communication like this one. And from my readings, it is a very low invasive technique. According to the passages, all the dreamer has to do is put up a block, and the speaker can't communicate with them anymore."
"Georgina?"
She kept her eyes on the fire as Eleanor tried to get her attention. It wasn't out of rudeness. She just didn't want either Eleanor or Gregory to see her disappointment. She knows they have worked hard to find information, but from what she has heard so far, it seemed like a waste of time. And she didn't have that much left.
"Georgina-"
"I've tried blocking them out," Georgina answered, interrupting Eleanor. "It was the first thing I did. It doesn't work. They just brush it aside like a piece of cloth."
There was an awkward silence as this new piece of new sunk in.
"Can someone please fill me in? I'm guessing you're the one we're helping," Gregory frowned at Georgina who had turned around to face them.
"Yes. Georgina is the one who is having the troubles," Eleanor answered.
"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "Why are you having this problem in the first place? It can only be used between family members. Why can't you just tell them to stop?"
"It's not that simple," Georgina answered quietly.
Gregory still confused, asked, "Eleanor never said. What family are you with?"
Georgina looked away from the older man's puzzled expression to Eleanor's guarded one.
"Does it matter?" Georgina asked.
"Yes," Gregory quickly replied. He could tell they were hiding something big from him and he didn't like it. "Each family has different uses of power. The Mortlock's are exceptional good at psychometry while the Cornwall lines are good at energy creation. Perhaps if I knew more about your line, it could help uncover the spell itself."
The only sound in the room was the crackling of the logs on the fire. Georgina could tell that Eleanor was going to feed Gregory some more lies to try and delay the enivitable. Maybe it was the power release early that evening, but she wasn't in the mood for more games.
"Maybe if we try to-" Eleanor started to say.
"What's the name?" Gregory said, more forcibly then they expected.
"Gregory, you have to understand-"
"It's Pendle!" Georgina shouted.
Gregory turned slowly away from a stiffened Eleanor and looked at Georgina. She reined herself in from her outburst and shifted from one foot to another.
"My family's name," Georgina said more softly and slightly ashamed. "Is Pendle."
"That's not possible," Gregory said in a hushed voice. "That line died out years ago."
"Not all of it," she replied.
"I don't believe you," Gregory shook his head. "It's not possible."
"I know it's hard to believe-," Eleanor pleaded with Gregory.
"No, no," Gregory snapped, standing up and walked away from her. "It isn't true. It can't be. For one the Pendle line is dead. And two, even if she was a descendant, there is no way an Ipswich elder would willing take one in. It's against our laws."
Gregory was all but shouting at Eleanor. She stood up to face off with him. Georgina could tell it was going south fast. Thinking of one piece of evidence that he will have to believe, Georgina took off her jacket and started to undo her blouse buttons. Sensing the movement, Eleanor and Gregory's eyes meet hers.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Showing you something that we make you believe," Georgina answered.
With the top half of her buttons undone, she pulled back the lapels and showed the two other people in the room her chest. Her tank top covered her breasts but not the scars that covered her torso.
"Oh my god," Gregory whispered softly.
They both saw the large burn scar that took up the skin on her chest. It was the Pendle family mark.
"You're a Pendle?" Gregory asked apprehensively.
As soon as Georgina nodded, his face closed down and morphed into something scary. Fierce eyes, stared back at Georgina. She closed her top and stood her ground.
"Get out!" he demanded. "Get out now."
Georgina, refusing to be afraid, lifted her chin.
"Make me," she replied.
In an instant both their eyes turned black as they squared off with each other.