Rewritten

Chapter 17: The File

Dr. Lena Dalton An English scientist and researcher, widely known for her experimentation and research into rewrites.

The weekend of the conference came sooner than expected, the sun beaming happily into my room. Happy was the last thing I felt so for a moment I lay in bed, not wanting to move. Unfortunately my phone didn't agree, and I picked it up, still half-asleep. "Hello?"

Connor chuckled. "I'm outside, Fee. Your dad isn't in, or at least he hasn't answered the door, so..."

"One second." I eased out of the bed, my half-closed eyes meaning that I didn't even notice my diary was on the floor. A second later, I hit the ground.

I'm sure all Connor could hear was a string of expletives as I proceeded to curse in a way that would have made a sailor proud. It was safe to say that I was wide awake now, and my face had the markings to prove it.

"Pissed off you has a mouth on her," Connor said with a grin, his eyes noting my scowl when I opened the door. He lowered the phone from his ear, following me through to the living room. "I didn't realise you even knew half of those words."

"Yeah well, I'm just full of surprises."

He took me in - bed head, pyjamas and all - and smiled slightly. "That you are."

The longer he stared at me, the more Art's words came to mind. I shook my head, not wanting to think any more. "Okay I'll be down in five." I could feel his eyes on me as I trailed up the stairs.

In my room, I dashed about like crazy, packing things away. Without a second thought, I dropped the paper from Marcus on the dresser, planning to pick it up when I was done. After the revelations Art of last night, I had been up for hours, skimming through the diary. Of course it was useless - if I came from a different reality entirely, one that now didn't even exist, then the person who had written this had nothing to do with what had happened.

I had hoped, though, that there would be something. I studied the book in my hand. The current diary was dated for this year. Maybe I needed to look back further, find the point where everything changed. Carefully, I lifted the floorboard that hid the books. I had a diary for each year, and been filling them in since I was seven. Who knew how far back I'd have to go?

"Fee?"

I hastily covered the book with the floorboard, then peeled back the carpet over it. It was just in the nick of time - a moment later, Connor stuck his head around the door. "Are you okay? I heard weird banging and wanted to see if you were alright."

"Fine" I tried to be subtle as I brushed the dust off of my pyjamas, but I could tell I wasn't fooling him. Not that it mattered. When I looked up, he was staring intently at my drawer. "What is it?"

"Isn't that normally somewhere else?"

I forced a laugh. "Well I did fall into it this morning." With a roll of my eyes, I shoved him out the door. "Let me take a shower, or we'll never leave."

"You've been up here twenty minutes."

"Oh, right." I smiled at him. "Sorry." Before he could protest, I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and finally got rid of him. Back against the door, I gave my room a final scan to ensure it was hunter friendly...

...and promptly went pale when I saw that the paper Marcus had given me was on the dresser table. Praying Connor had missed it, I tucked it in my hand and went to shower.

*****

Entering the Guild was far easier this time around. There was no leering Grant to stop us, and no Jack Dalton to anger Connor on the way in. In fact, entering the building was almost too easy, but I ignored that feeling. Despite being here with Connor, this was no date.