The Tales Of Crowboy The Incredible: Of Ink and Power

Chapter Fourteen

My crush on Owen was dumb. Simple. I had gotten super attached to him emotionally after Caitlin left, and she was my closest friend and he was her boyfriend and it was just....comforting. And then, a couple months ago, it happened again. Not Caitln leaving, but me finding comfort in him. And then we just ended up spending more and more time together more and more often. And then, bing bam boom, I realised, ah shit, I actually have a really huge fucking crush on him.

Am I going to make a move on him? No. Absolutely not. But I might tell him. So far, it's been months and months and months and those feelings have just managed to grow and grow and grow and grow, and everyone keeps saying it'll be better to just, you know, tell him. But yes. I hope that entertained you enough, because it was good for me. I got an extra like, two hundred words from it. HEHEHEHE. But anyway, back to the present, where I was sitting in Owens car as he tells me something that I can only imagine is him admitting to killing a person.

"I don't know everything." Owen breathed, and swipped his hand over his hair. "I still go to school, and I lose my magic, and I mess up a little and I don't know what I'm capable of. I need to make you painfully aware of that, alright?" I nodded fervently. "Do you remember the day when I told you I was a Celestial?" Do I remember it? God, it was one of the most painful days I've ever experienced. Owen put me into some sort of mental void, where I relived and rememberd all my memories. It was horrible. But it was the only way to forcefully make some develop as a Celestial quickly. "Do you remember it? It was only a couple months ago?" Four, to be exact. I nodded.

"Do you remember how you, me, Eddie, and Griffin passed out?" He left out a name. I'm glad. "And we still don't know why that happened, because you and Eddie weren't chipped and Griffin and I didn't malfunction." Ew. That makes us sound like robots. "And do you remember how I fell on top of you when you woke up." Oh yeah. That time where Owen almost kissed me, not because he wanted to, not because he was madly in love with me, but because he lost his balance because I hit him.

"I remember." I said, not wanting to scare Owen away with an aray of words. This was him talking time.

"You know that I have mind related powers? And how I have a little bit of a connection with you, because I'm your guardian. Well, both of those mixed together can be..... a bit strong. And so, when I fell, I got a bit startled. I think that when I passed out, my magic did a factory reset sort of thing. And so, mix that with the other factors of my magic, and being very startled, I formed a brain link with you." I sucked in my breath. "Yeah, it's almost exactly what it sounds like. If you've picked up on why I've been distant lately, because I have. I've been working on how to get rid of it with my Mentors, but I think it's gotten better."

"So you know like, everything that I think." I froze. He knew. He knew everything. Oh my fucking Gods. My biggest fear has come true. Someone, no, not even someone, OWEN CAN READING MY FUCKING THOUGHTS!

"Mostly. There are times where I can tune it out, or when you try to really concentrate on something then everything shut downs. Plus, sometimes you hid your thoughts. It's strange. Most of them random stuff I hear, like table or bread. I have it with Caitlin, too, by the way. But with Caitlin it's not as strong cause she knew about it, plus she knows charms to keep her thoughts hidden." Hmmm.

"So, in a way, you always knew?" I asked, slowly, trying to keep my voice under control.

"In a way. I heard you talking. Like, yesterday, I heard you talking to the people in your head. I didn't hear them, but I put everything together. But I knew you were powerful from the moment I sensed you." I think that was Owens form of trying to say he loved me without actually saying the L word. "I've had....history with the last Crow." That's strange. The last Crow died when he would have been two. How did he have history with them? I opened my mouth to ask questions, but Owen looked sad. I should have changed the subject sooner. I'll just ask questions now.

"Can you hear my thoughts right now?" I asked. Owen started to nod, but then stopped and thought about it.

"Not really. When you get stressed out, the anxieties get louder than your real thoughts. So, I can hear your anxieties, yes." FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK HE KNOWS I LIKE HIM HE KNOWS I LIKE HIM HE KNOWS I "But right now, everything is going to fast for me to make anything out." Oh. Okay. Good. Good good good.

"Did you say there were charms? To like, protect my brain from you reading it?" I said, trying to calculate my words.

"Yes," Owen started, but he held up his hand to keep me from talking, signaling there was more to say. "But I don't know if I want to teach you, though. Not yet." He added quickly in response to my look of shock and disgust. "I don't know if your ready to be on your own, you know, without the guardian mind reading."

"Explain please." I blinked.

"Yeah, that makes sense you need a little clarification. So, basically, mentor mind reading only comes into play when a fledgling experiences a great emotion, wether it be panic, anger, jealousy, or fear. When that happens, I can hear your thoughts in the back of my mind, only whispers. Now, it's like your speaking right next to me, all the time, 24/7."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful, doesn't it. Just me. All the time." I teased, and tapped on his hand. His veins were very veiny.

"Anyway, schools going to start. We have to go." God damn, he was closing off. Fucking hell. I still had questions I needed him to answer! But Owen was almost basically out of the car, and I really didn't want to make him angry.

"Fine." I said, and climbed out of the car. "What class to we have first?"

"7th, I think." Joy. Science. "Speaking of classes, I need to talk to you about something. It's not important, but I want your general opinon on it before I continue doing paperwork and stuff like that for you." Oh. I see.

"You have to do paperwork for- you know what? I'm not even going to ask right now. But sure, shoot away. It's not like you litterally just had a better chance to do it in your car, where we were seculded and weren't walking, but sure, go ahead." I was laughing and joking, yes, but that was to hid the panic dripping into my voice and pervading into my brain.

"We need to start you and Eddie with classes together again. AND BEFORE YOU GO CRAZY, THAT ISN'T THE NEGOTIABLE BIT! You should have been starting those months ago. But, I need to know if you would feel comfortable with Zia there."

"I-" I opened my mouth to say no. Never. Not in a million years would I want to see Zia or Eddie or even... But for whatever reason, my tounge wouldn't let me.

"Zia doesn't have to be there, you know." Owen reminded me, which helped me breath a little easier.

"Where has she been?" I asked.

"She was being monitered by the Court up until a month and a half ago. She reached out to me around two weeks ago. Zia's been training with Eddie and Griffin for months, while you've been in bed. We're behind. I know how much you hate that." Owen said, trying to egg me on. But I didn't want to do that. I wanted to shut down and not talk to him because I was angry at didn't want to do this.

"I don't want to do this." I sputtered out through clenched teeth.

"Felix." Owen ordered. "Look at me." I didn't. My eyes stayed glued to the gravel on the parking lot. I had to keep walking, and getting to class, so maybe then I could forget and maybe then everything would never had happened. "Felix, it's not going to happen again. Her family is dead. You're safe. We've all taken precautions."

"I.....fine. Can you just give me a few days to think about it?" Caving in felt like muscele memory at this point.

"Okay, buddy. Think it over. For now, we gotta get to class."