The Stone

Chapter Fifteen

    “I see you have finally accepted me.” Dimitra’s voice came before Celeste opened her eyes. Dimitra floated in front of Celeste, her eyes fixed upon Celeste’s. I-I guess...It’s still not proven, no DNA tests or anything but...” Celeste said scratching her neck. “You can read my work...You have accepted it...When was it, that you finally did?” Dimitra asked. Celeste shrugged, crossing her legs and summoning little lights to float around them. In her dreams, Celeste didn’t have to say what she wanted to summoned. She tried this when she was awake, it didn’t work.
    Dimitra watched her for a while, looking quizzically at Celeste. “I can’t teach you...You know.” She said. Celeste paused with her hand midair and gave Dimitra a confused look. “Teach me what?”
    “Master your skills in the WillowTools...”Dimitra answered simply. “WillowTools? That’s seriously the name you gave your weapons? Why not name them something cooler like, WillowWeapons...er...how would you help me, anyways?” Celeste asked. The lights floated over the private parts of her and Dimitra. “I’ve helped you beforehand...How else have you been able to teleport, or summon? I can help you, and my teachings will stick in your mind...Now’s a better time than ever to learn all of what you can do...” Dimitra explained calmly. Celeste nodded after thinking for a minute. “Will we have enough time each night? It looks like a lot.” She asked. “Of course, we’re in your dreams, your mind. Your dreams can last days while you only sleep hours...” Dimitra said. “But now...it is time for you to wake up...We shall meet later tonight...”

    ERRT! ERRT! ERRT! Celeste let out a groan as she smacked the alarm clock off; then she buried her face into her body pillow. She didn’t remember what she had dreamed about, but she still wished she were still there. With a sigh, she got up, put her school uniform in the automatic press, brushed her teeth, washed her face, got dressed, and styled her hair into her iconic Mohawk.
    “I’ll go to the book shop after school.” Celeste decided as she appeared behind the bush at school. She stepped over it and made her way to the front of the school building. She still had ten minutes before the first bell rang, which was good since she wanted to head up to the library. Just as she turned the corner of the building Celeste ran into Nate, he looked like he was waiting for her; He was leaning against the brick wall with his arms crossed.
    “Hey Cel. Long time no see.” He said casually. Celeste nodded curtly before walking past him and heading towards the doors. Nate’s hand shot forward and gripped her arm, Celeste paused and gave him a look and Nate loosened his grip and slid his hand down to her wrist. “Can we chat?” He asked. “I-I actually wanted to head over to the library...” Celeste said pointing towards the doors. “Awe c’mon, you can always head over to the library during your lunch period, or study.” Nate said. Celeste looked at the doors once more before letting out a sigh and looking back at Nate, putting her hands on her hips. “Wassup?” She asked. “Where’s your book bag?” Nate asked. Celeste gave him a confused look before realizing that she didn’t have her book bag with her. She must’ve left it at home. “Book bag.” She whispered automatically. It was only when her book bag appeared (dangling by its strap in Celeste’s hand) that Celeste looked at Nate, her eyes wide.
    “You’re a summoner.” He said, although he didn’t sound surprised. “Uh...y-Yeeah...” Celeste answered slowly, throwing her book bag over her shoulder. “Because of the WillowStone?” Nate asked. Celeste’s heart leaped before Nate added, “So you’re not a born teleporter?”
    “Oh, uh n-nah...” Celeste answered. The first bell rang and Celeste glanced at the doors once more, seeing Ben and Samantha make their way happily towards them. Ben looked over at Celeste and made the same face he had made before until Samantha pulled his head towards hers and kissed him. “Look, I’ve got to get to class.” Celeste said taking a step towards the doors. “Okay...meet me after school?” Nate asked. “Sorry cant. Therapy.” Celeste answered before heading off into the crowd of students milling into the school building.
    “Hey Celeste! Long time no see!” Cubie said making his way through the crowd to Celeste. “Why are you the second person to say that?” Celeste asked amused. Cubie shrugged before pausing. “Well this is my class, see ya later!” Cubie called. Celeste waved before making her way to history. “No teleporting Nate.” Professor Clay said. Celeste rolled her eyes before making her way to her seat.
    Since she was planning on leaving school early, Celeste decided to head to the library during her lunch period. She wasn’t sure how many times she’d missed her afternoon classes, but she hoped that it wasn’t too detrimental...Maybe she should go to the bookshop after school. It’s safer at least.
    “Hey, what can I do for you honey?” Asked the librarian, Mrs. Levitt, as Celeste approached the counter. “Um, do you have any history books? About- about Lord Dimitra?” Celeste asked. “Give me a minute.” Mrs. Levitt said before typing something on her laptop. She looked over her glasses and peered at the screen. “A-yup. Dimitra, the Life of Our First Lord.” Mrs. Levitt said before pressing on her screen. There was a thump from under the desk and the librarian reached under it and pulled out a rather thick black and red book with the title in golden font. “Will you be checking it out?” She asked. Celeste nodded then gave her her name. Celeste thanked Mrs. Levitt before leaving the library and hurrying to the bathroom and teleporting to the bookshop.
    “And she makes a triumphant return!” Alfred declared raising his hands in the hair. Celeste let out a small laugh as she approached the counter.  Alfred’s smile faded a little when he saw the book in Celeste’s hand. “You summoned it to you?” He asked, looking at her as if she’d just kick a puppy. “Wha- no, this is a different book. About Dimitra’s life...figured I...learn more, I guess.” Celeste shrugged, showing the cover to Alfred, who took it and read over it. He opened it and flipped through some of the pages. “Seems like a load of old tosh to me.” He said as he handed it back to Celeste. “You got that from your school library?” He asked and Celeste nodded. “Yeah, trust me, that’s probably the glossy version of it. School approved books rarely tell the truth. They make villains look like heroes and sinners look like saints.” Alfred said. Celeste gave him a perplexed look.
    “Anyways, here ya go, follow me.” Alfred said handing her the book and walking over to the hidden door. The bookshelves had been pushed to the walls and a blue mat sat in the middle. “S’not much but hey...” Alfred said with a shrug. “Nah, it’s cool.” Celeste said, stepping into the slightly musty room. “Alright, Imma leave the door open cause it gets hot in there, especially during the summer days, and there’s no bathroom so...” And with a nod, he trudged back to his post behind the counter.
    Celeste nodded before opening the book up to the page she had stickied. She reread the pages before setting the book down and letting out a sigh. Then, she held her hand up in the air and said, “Ju-geum!” But it didn’t work. Celeste knew the sword wasn’t going to appear instantly; her words didn’t come out as a whisper. Celeste put her hand down, stretched, wiggled her body around and let out another long sigh. “C’mon Cel, you can do this...Ju-geom.” It was a whisper, but the sword still didn’t appear. With another sigh, she sat down, crossed her legs, and read a different page. She’ll get back to that eventually.
    By the time it was time for Celeste to go to therapy, she had mastered how to manipulate the elements and that small achievement made Celeste feel good about herself. Her happiness was quickly demolished once she got to the building. Janice and the male doctor were standing in the lobby. Celeste ignored them as she signed in. Then she turned and made to go up to the gym where she normally did her physical therapy but the two stopped her.
    “Celeste Archard, right?” The man said. Celeste’s heart leaped as she slowly turned to face the two doctors. “Yeah?” She said, trying to appear less nervous than she was. What did these doctors want with her? “Hello, I am Dr. Pritchard, and this is Dr. Janice, I see that you were notified of the changes in your schedule.” The male doctor said noting her school uniform, which was a white button up shirt and a black skirt. “Changes?” Celeste asked with a confused look. “Y-yes, you’re not doing physical therapy today, you will be with us.” Janice said with a smile. “Why?” Celeste asked. Dr. Pritchard beckoned her forward and they began walking down the lobby, getting onto an elevator. “Just some simple tests.” He answered finally with a smile. Celeste swallowed a bout of air and looked straight ahead.
    Were Janice and Prichard apart of the Specialni Lovci? Did they find out what she could do? Is that why they’re going to experiment with her now? The elevator stopped and Prichard guided her down the colorless hallway, they entered a room that was very similar to a doctor’s office. With a bed, a counter with bottle of stuff and a sink. Janice looked under the cabinet and pulled out a hospital gown. “Please put this on, open the door once you’ve finished.” She said handing Celeste the gown. Celeste wished that they’d stop smiling at her. They exited the room and Celeste hesitantly changed into the gown, throwing her book bag in the corner and leaving the gloves on.
    Once she’d finished, she open the door just as she was told but the doctors weren’t there, so she sat on the bed, dangling her feet, hitting them on the shelves underneath the bed and piking at her leg. After a couple minutes, Prichard and Janice were back with I.V’s, needles and what looked like a basket of cords. Prichard closed the door as Janice began sorting through the cords. “What are you gonna do?” Asked Celeste, leaning away as Janice walked towards her with the cords, Celeste now saw that they had suckers at the ends of them with small needles in the middle. “Oh we’re just taking some blood samples, a little skin, salvia...” Prichard said as if he were mildly discussing how to tie a shoe. “Do you have permission to do this?” Celeste asked, moving farther away from Janice, who seems keen on pricking her with the cords. “Of course.” Prichard said, he grabbed a light from the inside of his coat and examined Celeste’s eyes. “Eye color?” He asked abruptly. “Brown?” Celeste said confused. Prichard nodded before standing up straight and putting the bronze goggles over his eyes.
    Celeste felt Janice prod her with the end of the cord and was happy to see that the small needle had bent. Janice stared at the bent needle utterly perplexed for a moment before shaking her head and trying again with another one. “Tell me, have you experienced anything...odd since you’ve gotten the WillowStone?” Prichard asked.
    Celeste could tell him about her menstrual cycle and how it’s stopped. She did bring it up at her doctor’s appointment, the doctor she had was aware of how specials work and he assured her that nothing was wrong, and lots of specials don’t need a menstrual cycle to procreate. Celeste looked at Prichard and shrugged. “No? Not at all?” Prichard asked, he nodded before writing something down on a piece of paper. “Uh, Dr-Dr.Prichard?” Janice said a note of panic in her voice. Prichard looked up and walked over to them. Janice showed him the assortment of cords, all with bent needles. “And you’re telling me that this is a normal occurrence?” He asked, looking up at Celeste, who shrugged.
    “Do you mind if we take some samples from you?” He asked. Celeste shrugged and Janice let out a sigh, wiping her glasses on her blouse. “Would you pee in this cup for me?” Prichard asked. Celeste shrugged again before taking the cup and heading towards the door. “Up the hall and to the right.” Janice said. Celeste paused and listened in once the door closed, she knew that he just wanted her out of the room so that they could talk about her.
    “I can’t get a needle in!” Janice said in a semi-hysterical voice. “How’re we supposed to get any samples if we can’t pierce her skin?”
    “Calm down Janice, we’ll be able to examine her urine, I’m sure we’ll be able to find something from that.” Came Prichard’s voice. “Ah but that’s not enough! I-I’m sure she’s being hunted, we need to get these samples before...I mean, we’ve only just got permission!” Janice cried. “Yes well, we can’t take her against her will...” Celeste left the door and headed over to the bathroom. Maybe they weren’t on their side. Maybe they were just two doctors who just wanted to be able to examine a “miracle.”
    “Here.” Celeste said handing the cup to Prichard. “Um...C-can I, see one of the cords?” She asked. Janice looked at Prichard, who nodded, before handing a cord to Celeste. With a deep shaky breath, Celeste unbent the needle and poked it in her arm. Janice let out an audible gasp and Prichard crossed his arms and smiled triumphantly. “Promise me this, if you can find a way to rid me of this stone, you will.” Celeste said. “I uh-“Prichard started. “Doctor please? I don’t want this thing! It’s too much of a burden, a-and I can’t find any other way to get rid of it.” Celeste pleaded. “You want to rid yourself of the WillowStone?” Janice asked bewildered.
    “No, I don’t want something that gives me weird dreams and has people hunting me.” Celeste said sharply. And with that, they got all the samples they needed, with Celeste’s help; and in turn, they promised if they ever found a “cure” that they would let her know. This gave Celeste some more hope. It was probably ridiculous to have so much hope, in fact, the more hope she felt, the more Celeste worried about what was to come.
    She had teleported to Ben’s room, to tell him what happened but he want there. There was laughter going on upstairs and Celeste tiptoed up the steps and peeked through the crack of the door. Samantha was there, enjoying a lovely dinner with Ben and his family, they seem happy. So she teleported back home and busied herself with reading her library book. She would tell Ben tomorrow.