Mountain of The Moons • Book 1

Chapter 21

We walked back to the Dojo and things were quiet. Not a sound other than the wind and the crunch of our shoes in the snow had followed us back that night. No one seemed to be in the mood for conversation in that moment. Frankly, I wasn't sure I wanted to talk much either.

I walked up the stairs to the Dojo and I was thankful when I felt the warmth again. I saw that the Dojo had now been made into a large sleeping room. Mats and blankets were laid out everywhere and I watched as everyone went to their respective mats and I felt sort of bad that I got to sleep on a nice mattress while they slept on thin mats. I knew the reasoning why, but that still didn't make me feel any less guilty.

I took off my heavy coat and hung it on my arm because though it was too cold outside to not have it, it was much too warm inside to wear it. I was about to go down the hall to head upstairs into the attic where I had stayed the night before, but I was stopped. I saw Jun walk in from behind me and went straight to the hallway without even taking off his coat or talking to a soul.

I heard foot steps at my side following me and I twisted around to see Uba rushing up at my side. She seemed to wear her typical soft expression but it felt a little less forced. She gestured for me to follow her and I did as we walked to the halls. She stopped about halfway down and it was a little hard to even see her. The only light was coming from the lights in the Dojo.

"Is everything okay?" I asked in a soft tone.

"Everything is fine dear, I got the results from the nurses today, but with the funeral and everything I didn't have a chance to catch you." She said softly.

"I understand, what did the results say?" I asked anxiously.

"There was a concerning amount of Wisteria found in your blood." She said gently. "She's going to take some more samples over the next few days, but until we know who's doing this you must be careful. Be aware of everyone and everything around you." She said and I nodded.

"I really don't know who could be doing this. I don't come into close contact with many people. I spend most of my time with Jun." I said shrugging my shoulders.

"I wish I had answers for you, our hope is that maybe this divide with you and the other students is keeping your contact with whoever is doing this to a minimum." She said looking to me with very worried and tired eyes. I hadn't even thought about it but I'm not sure how much sleep any of the Masters were getting if any with all of this going on.

"If there really is Wisteria in my system what could happen to me?" I asked in a low tone.

"Dear we shouldn't focus on the what ifs, not at a time like this." She said shaking her head.

"I already feel like I don't know enough about all of this. If they could be controlling me with this stuff I need to know what I'm up against." I said honestly.

"Wisteria was said to be powerful enough, if enough was in the subjects system, to drive them to murder. With a simple auditory cue or manipulation they'd have the ability to alter your consciousness. Things like sleep hypnosis or classical conditioning could be used unbeknownst to the victim.

They could make you feel as though you wanted to do things you really didn't. It's not a perfect science and you do have the ability to fight it, but without knowing who is influencing you it's hard to prepare yourself. If your father used any of those techniques, then anyone with the cues such as code words or gestures could use them against you." She said and I took it all in.

"What if the Wisteria was gone? Say we find out who is doing this and we keep it out of my system, would I still react to those cues? Could they control me forever?" I asked worriedly.