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(XLII.) - Part One

"They might. You're not sure."

"I am. They killed Phillip, they also killed my dad. And with the way they do things, they make the deaths look like natural accidents." She paused, her brain's cogwheels shifted. They created natural situations to cover up the murders.

"Jessica?" He snapped his fingers. She blinked out of her thinking daze.

"What?"

"I'm not interested in your hiking game."

"It's not a game. And it's not a hike."

"Whatever it is, I'm not getting myself involved. I can handle myself. You might have to look for another psychic to do this with you." The Siamese cat walked up to him and curled at his feet.

"It's not just any psychic, Jonathan. It's psychics like me. Psychic people that know about Skeleptia." She paused to gauge his reaction.

His face was blank, but his body had tensed.

"What do you know about Skeleptia?"

"That you shouldn't toy with it. It's not a child's thing."

"I'm not a child," she grumbled.

"Are you eighteen?" She shook her head. "Then, you're a child. No argument."

"What's the essence of practising Skeleptia?" At that point, the cat stood up and approached her feet. She glared down at it. It snarled back at her, baring teeth. "Take your ugly cat away from me."

"If you're here to insult my cat, then leave."

She looked up to see that his expression had hardened. His lips were in a very thin line. Imaginary thunderclouds rumbled above his head. "You don't have to overreact. It's just a dumb cat. Besides, I was only saying the truth. It is ugly."

"Do you always say what's on your mind?"

She hesitated before answering. "No. Not all the time. Only when it's necessary."

"Well, it wasn't necessary right now to call my cat ugly, so leave."

She blinked at him. "You're gonna seriously send me away because of this?"

"Yes. Come here, Oscar." The cat pranced towards its master. "Leave, Jessi—"

"Enough!" She got to her feet and began to walk away. "You don't have to repeat yourself. I'm leaving already." After she'd crossed the threshold, she banged the front door.

Damien hurried up to her with an open umbrella since it was raining. She got into her Lamborghini, and the butler drove her home.

So much for finding answers.

*****

"Is this the place?"

Eric set down the large duffel bag he'd been carrying, on the forest soil. He took a good look around. "Definitely." He pointed to a distance. "There's the lake."

Logan spotted it and nodded. "Let's go in."

"Not like that," Eric said cautiously. "We don't know if he's an illusionist or Omni. We have to approach carefully. There could be some energy barrier around."

Logan hitched up the strap of his backpack higher on his shoulder, and followed Eric closely at his flank. They'd decided not to go in wolf form, but in human skins and with their scents hidden. In case of any surprises.

The whole forest was eerily silent, which was unusual. The boys couldn't hear even one bird's chirp. Or get the whiff of a wolf's scent. Clearly, this was revolvers' territory instead. The place reeked of magic. Strong magic.