Boston, MA

The walk home doesn't take too long as student halls in Boston aren't too far from the campus. Massachusetts State has great accommodation and, whilst it took a bit of getting used to, Boston itself is just a great place. Lena and I at first had tried going to the same college, but at different campuses, around two hours away from each other. After a few incidents culminating in some burnt drapes, a dazed roommate and a run-in with the Amherst Fire Department, however, she'd ended up joining me in Boston and just transferring to go to college together with me on my campus. Despite both our families initial disapproval, the first couple of months have gone by fairly swimmingly. The odd light fixture bursts here and there but Lena is learning to control her powers at a faster rate than ever, so these incidents should (mostly) be a thing of the past.

The hustle and bustle of Boston and Massachusetts in general has been amazing since we moved here from Gatlin. It's nice knowing things about yourself here before other people. It was a bit daunting at first, but I'm just happy to be out of there, especially now with Lena by my side. It was so inhibiting, and all the excitement in my life before me and Lena could finally be together made me forget that fact. And for that reason, Boston is so much better. It's not like I don't miss home sometimes, far from it. There are things that I'll always miss about Gatlin, no matter where I go. But I'm comfortable here, Lena is comfortable here. And after almost breaking the world, even Boston seems small. I have so much I want to do, so many more places I want to go. The world is your oyster, literally, and I'm coming for all the pearls I can find.

With the work I have to do and the non-existent job that I'm currently looking for, however, I have precious little time to engage in such frivolities. Once we get in, the gravitas of the situation hits me. The urgency of which we need to contact Marian. This could be such a significant discovery. Not in terms of research, but in terms of what this could mean for the Caster community in general. If there was a way for people to Kelt with anyone, or at least not just with the person they share a special bond with, then it could inadvertently lead to a lot of bad happening. There could be good as well, but that's neither here nor there. The call to Marian must be made, that's the most important thing. Even if she doesn't know what's going on, she can offer a kind of hypothesis or even just a guess based on more information than either me or Lena know.

I know it's a necessary point of reference, but I feel really bad for using Marian just for something like this and not talking to her properly beforehand. I'll use this call to catch up with her as well, but a part of me just feels really guilty for not having done so sooner. Especially when I think about how close her, and my Mum were. As I snap out of my thoughts back to reality, I see Lena walking over to the far end of our room. She retrieves the post-it Marian gave us, with her number scribbled in her unmistakable handwriting on it that we had pinned to the noticeboard in our room. She hands it to me, and I hang on to it for a second before starting to dial the number into the keypad on my phone. Before I can dial, she grabs my hand.

It starts ringing and we wait, bracing ourselves for the moment she picked up. 30 seconds went by with no answer. I was about to press the button when I hear someone pick up.

'Hello' Marian says rather hurriedly.

'Aunt Marian' I say as I put the phone on speaker. 'It's Ethan. Ethan and Lena.'

'Ethan' she says jubilantly. 'How are you both? How's Boston?'

'We're doing well' I begin. 'It's been a bit of an adjustment from Gatlin, but for the most part it's been great. How have you been keeping?'

'I've been busy' she says. 'When I think I have some free time or just time to relax, something or other comes along and it's just been very hectic.'

'I hear you' I say. 'College work can be a bitch sometimes. For Lena too, although she seems way more built for this than I am. She's always been the more academic one, especially now she's showing off her creative writing and poetry to everyone.'

I look over at her and she smiles and wrinkles her nose at me.

'I don't doubt that' she chuckles down the line. 'How's your course going?'

'Yeah it's going good' I say. 'Not as good as Lena, but still good.'

Lena laughs in the background.

'Well it's good to hear from you nonetheless' Marian replies. 'To what do I owe the pleasure? I'd love to assume it's the case that you were just calling for a good old-fashioned catch-up, but we both know when it comes to you two it's never simple.'

I feel guilty as she says this. She saw right through me. Of course she did, she's one of the smartest people I've ever known.

'Well' I say sheepishly as Lena stifles another laugh and moves closer to the phone. 'Something unusual happened.'

'Mortal unusual or Caster unusual?' she asks matter of factly.

'Caster unusual' Lena replies.

'I was hoping it wasn't that' Marian responds. 'What's happened?'

'Me and Lena were Kelting earlier' I begin. 'And then we heard another person's voice, two of them.'

'That is peculiar' she says. 'But you've experiences this before, with Link and John and Sarafine.'

Lena's face drops at the mention of her mother. I push her hair back behind her ear and she manages a weak smile.

'Yeah, but this time it was another couple. They seemed to share a similar link to the one me and Ethan have' Lena says. 'And I think I know the person was. It was Cassie Lexington, a distant relative of mine who I haven't seen in over a decade.'

'Well' Marian says, putting something down and probably giving us her now undivided attention. 'That certainly is unusual. I've never heard of something like this. Your story was always thought to be unique, a one in a million so to speak. If there's others wit even remotely similar stories, it could signal one of the biggest changes since the New Order was Binded.'

Marian was starting to sound less like my aunt-in-all-but-blood and more like a Keeper, the Caster librarian tasked with safeguarding, but never affecting, the knowledge of the Casters. It was clear her brain was whirring.

'I'll need some time to research' she replied. I could hear her rummaging and scribbling down notes. Some things never change. 'As it happens, Thanksgiving is in a couple of days. I'll contact Liv and get back to you then. In the meantime I'd suggest you get in contact with Emmaline and Macon. I'll bet they have more on-hand knowledge about this than most other people in the Caster world.'

'Will do' Lena says looking relieved.

'Don't be worried' she says comfortingly. 'It doesn't seem malicious for a change, so this could actually be a good mystery to be solved.'

Lena's ears prick up at the words 'good mystery.'

'This could be fun' I say.

'Fun indeed' Marian replies. 'Now I have to go, lots to do and seemingly research to dive into. Talk to Macon and I'll call you in three days' time. Take care.'

'You too' we say. 'Bye!'

Marian hangs up and I put my phone down.

A good mystery huh? Up for it?

She puts her arms out in front of her as her hair starts to blow in the Caster breeze I'm so used to seeing.

Naturally.

'Really?' I say aloud, fake gagging. 'Of all the Caster puns you could've come up with you pick that one?'

'Hey, you've come up with worse' Lena hits back playfully. 'Remember when my friend was talking about her chemistry work, and you spent all afternoon calling a catalyst a Cataclyst.'

Oh yeah. I smile as I remember.

I guess we're even then.

Well we're not odd.

I groan. Loud.

You certainly are. I'm not.

'No more please' Lena says. 'I'm begging for mercy. Let's just call Uncle M and Gramma and get to the bottom of this.'

'As you wish' I say, and she fires up her own phone and picks Macon from the contact list.

Claxton, GA

The delivery man arrives and delivers us our three helpings of Sammy's Southern Fried Special which, in reality, is just our local rip-off of KFC. Wilbur slips him a five as he leaves, and he smiles before riding off on his motorbike. I remember Wilbur's generosity towards people. He wasn't super rich but was well off enough to be generous to others. His green eyes glinted in the front room as we started to eat.

'Enjoying the magic kitchen?' Wilbur asks midway through a drumstick.

'Haha' I reply dryly. 'It's great. Haven't had it for a few weeks.'

'Cassie?' her uncle asks.

'It's very nice Uncle' she says.

It tastes like feet.

Tell me about it. If there were any other options I wouldn't have eaten this as much as I have in my life, believe me.

I don't doubt that.

The chicken is quickly consumed, as is the large amount of coleslaw and chips we ordered as sides.

'Thank you for that' I say as we finish the food. 'It was delicious.'

'No it wasn't' replies Wilbur slightly chuckling. 'It tastes disgusting. Would've been better if it was still alive.'

Cassie laughs as I look at him bemused. 'So why did you?'

'Order it?' he enquires. 'Because I fancied some bad chicken. Sometimes things can't be explained, you just feel like it and you do it. Impulsiveness is a quality that is all too often looked down upon, and yet it can provide you with the greatest insight. Such as Cassie's decision to reinstate your memory and bring you here tonight. At first glance it didn't seem like the smartest idea, or the best course of action.'

I glare at him with a downcast face.

'But' he continues. 'On further inspection, it provided us with an opportunity that otherwise wouldn't have been discovered. So it's turned out to be a good decision. Even if I still believe you should have come to me first.'

I smile a little bit and look at Cassie who is beaming. She moves back over to me and snuggles next to me on the sofa, her head on my shoulder.

Wilbur notices this and he suddenly looks like he's just remembered something. He reaches next to his chair and pulls out a small but bulky object, wrapped in paper.

'I thought' he says as he gives it to Cassie. 'You could occupy yourselves with a movie until the family get here. Go ahead and open it.'

Cassie unwraps it carefully, making sure not to rip anything. Her face lights up when she realises what it is. She pulls it out and smiles brightly as she gives it to me.

'Back to the Future VHS' she says excitedly. 'Thank you so much Uncle!'

'You shouldn't have' I say, my own excitement rising.

'Oh in that case I'll take it back' he says and motions to take it from Cassie. She jumps out the way and laughs.

'That won't be necessary' she says and grabs my hand. 'Let's go watch it.'

I look at Wilbur and he just nods. 'I'll let you know when the family arrive.'

'Perfect' I say and nod back at him.

Cassie gets off the sofa and hugs him before grabbing my hand and dragging me out of the living room and upstairs towards her bedroom. She runs up the stairs with my arm and me in tow. It's obvious she's excited to watch it with me, as am I after remembering just how special the movie is to us. The very first time we met, over a year ago, I had been wearing a faded t-shirt with the Back to the Future poster on it. It was the first movie we had watched together, then number two became the second and number three the third. She loved all the films in the trilogy, but her favourite by far was the first one. There was something about them that she just seemed to like. She had always told me she didn't know why, but I know she's lying when she says that. There is a reason, she just won't tell me. I'm sure I'll find out.

We make it to the top of the stairs and head up the landing to her room. She opens her door and brings me in. It's exactly as I remember it. The picture of us together that I got her for her birthday is next to her bed in the same place I remember it being in. It's not a complete mess, but neither is it tidy. Everything has it's place, but that place could either be folded neatly in a drawer or sprawled out on her bedspread. As soon as the door closes, she turns and pushes me up against it and kisses me with a vehement passion I've never felt before. The intensity takes me aback as I push back into it, the room slowly becoming hot. I'm knocked out of my thoughts as the only thing on my mind is the explosivity of it all as we continue to kiss. She bites my lip a little bit, but not enough to draw blood as I push off the door and swivel round so that she's now pressed up against it.

We both pull apart to catch our breath and look into each other's eyes. All I can see is fire in hers as she pulls me back in and we continue our embrace. She jumps up and wraps her legs around me as I pick up her weight, slide my hands down her body, and take her over to the bed, not once breaking the kiss. I put her down and she just looks up at me, a hunger in her eyes I don't ever remember seeing before. I think nothing of it, caught up in the heat of the moment as I lean myself down and continue to kiss her from above. It doesn't feel like I'm in control as I just continue to embrace her. Eventually, a moment of clarity hits me, and I stop.

'Wait' I say.

'What?' she asks. 'Is something wrong?'

'No' I quickly answer. 'I just...' My every instinct is telling me not to say what I want to say, but I ignore them. 'I don't wanna do something we might regret. I know we've never been able to do this before, but I don't wanna rush it, I wanna enjoy it properly. Right now, I just wanna enjoy your company again if that's okay.'

'I understand' she says and smiles. If she's disappointed, she's hiding it well. She gets off the bed and goes over the collection of items on her floor and puts the VHS tape into the player directly beneath her TV. She excitedly gets it ready, pressing play and turning on everything. She looks back at me with a smile as we get ready to watch our favourite film for the 457th time, knowing for sure that it will be as fun as the first 456.