Witch in Hiding (#1 in the Witches Trilogy) (EDITING)

Twenty-Three: Run and Hyde

With promises of a combined training and warnings to dress "smart-casual", I turn up at the address Jess sent me and find out it's a three-star hotel. I call Jess. "Uh, you sure this is the right place?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Come into the lobby, take the lift to the lowest floor, and then through the door down the stairs marked with 'authorised entry only'. Mel got us a room."

"We're authorised?" I ask incredulously, gazing up at the hotel facade.

"Just get in here," Jess says with unusual impatience. "You're already late."

The 'room' Mel got for us is actually the basement. She assures us the hotel is also owned by magical creatures, like the paintball range, and that we won't be disturbed or found out.

My friends are already there when I walk in, sitting around a card table with some snacks. De gets up when she sees me, brushing crumbs off her jeans. "Good, you're here. We can start."

"Absolutely." I reply, although I'm not so sure what they have in store for me. "Um, just to clarify, start what, exactly?"

"Telepathy." Jess stands up and walks briskly over to me.

"Van, I said give me those."

"No, I said I was going to do that! You go do your teaching!"

"Guys!" Jess says sharply. "Shut up and come on." What's up with her? Everyone falls silent, and she nods curtly. I shoot a concerned look at De, who looks grim and shakes her head warningly at me, almost as if telling me to play by Jess' rules for a while. "I—" she stops as her phone goes off. Her jaw tightens. "I've got to take this. Be right back." She slips out of the room, pressing her phone to her ear, and I take the chance to interrogate De.

"What's with her?" I whisper.

De looks uncomfortable. "Maybe I should let her tell you..."

"No way, she'll rip my head off. Hurry, before she gets back!"

Deanne sighs in defeat. "You know Jess is a ghost, right?"

"Like I would forget."

"Well, she's not just a ghost. I mean, she is a ghost, but inside she's something more than that—a wraith. Whatever you want to call it. It's sort of her alter ego. Like Banner and the Hulk, you know? In her wraith state she's crazy strong, but she starts losing all sense of who's on her side and who's not. A completely different person takes over."

Digesting this slowly, I say, "but she can't control it?"

"She should be able to." Deanne says. "She's dealt with it since she was six. But the wraith gets harder to control under pressure or danger and... she's going through a lot right now, so her control's slipping. But she's seen what damage the wraith can bring, and she doesn't want to let it take over unless there's absolutely no other choice. She's fighting it as we speak." Deanne takes a deep breath. "Go easy on her, Vinni."

The door cracks open, and Jess returns. I step away from De, acting casual. "Okay," Jess says, her voice rather brittle. She hands me her phone. "Here. Try to send this list to Deanne one phrase at a time. No speaking, remember, telepathy only." I look down; the sentences are simple phrases, like "the cat sat in the hat" and "all the world's a stage". They're simple enough, but I have to now transmit it to De.

"Just do it like you're speaking," Mel suggests. Project with your head.

I jump. I've never experienced her telepathy before—it's less creepy than I would imagine, just her voice in my head, almost as though I imagined it. "Okay." I calm myself down into a focused state. Breathe in, breathe out.