Chapter 58:
I stomped my way through the dorms, making my way to the student parking lot. I waited under the awning, avoiding the rain. I could feel peoples eyes on me as they made their way to their cars. I focused on the rain droplet ripples in the puddles that were all over the concrete ground.
"Ready?" I heard above me. I looked up and Caleb was standing next to me, umbrella already unfolded.
"What are we doing?" I asked, hesitant if I should even be speaking with him. Out of everyone, he was the closest to Pogue. I didn't want to suddenly be in an intervention.
"We need to do some research on our nightly visitors. Thought you'd be able to help get more information." I contemplated where or not I should go but it would be a good distraction from everything. I nodded and we quickly made our way to his car. He was nice enough to open the door for me and let me get into my seat before going around to his side and getting in the driver's seat. He looked at his phone, read a text message and then turned on his car.
"Everything okay?" he asked, like he was gauging me.
"Sarah text you?" I asked back.
"Yeah just said that you guys got into a fight?" he revealed.
"It wasn't a fight. It was more like an un-understanding," I corrected.
"What is an un-understanding?" he asked, confused as he started to back out of the parking lot.
"When people don't understand what they are asking to understand," I muttered.
"Alright. That is a new one," he chuckled. "You want to talk about what happened with Sarah and Kate?"
"Nope."
The drive was in silence which I appreciated. I knew we would talk about the darkling issue when we reached the secret library. The drive went by faster than I thought, and Caleb parked the car. We rushed inside quickly and Caleb used his powers to get the fire going and the lights on.
"What are we looking for?" I asked, placing my bag on one of the tables.
"Anything that can help us figure out who is sending them," he said. "I already pulled as many books as I could, but I haven't had a chance to go through them all." He motioned towards the other table that had the stacks of books that he was referring to.
"I'll take the one on the left," I said. I took the first book off the stack. It was as tall as me. I knew this was going to take us a while. I flipped through the pages trying to find anything that mentioned darkling or anything about sending something to another but there was nothing in the first book.
"Are we the only ones that have been seeing the darklings?" I asked, placing the finished book in its own pile and grabbing another.
"Yes. That is another thing that doesn't make any sense. Why aren't the others seeing them as well?" Caleb answered. He too didn't find anything in the first book.
"Another question to add to the list," I said, plopping down in my seat. The next couple of hours were spent in silence, trying to find out anything we could but there was nothing that we could find. Caleb started to pull books from the shelves hoping one of them would provide some kind of answer.
Suddenly, there was a loud slam as Caleb threw the book he was reading on a new table, starting a new pile of read books. "None of these are any help," he gritted his teeth in frustration.
My own eyes started to burn and words didn't even look like words to me anymore. I shut my book, exhausted from the amount of spells, incantations and Covenant stories I had read through.
"Is there anything in the Damnation about the darklings?" I asked.
"It only gives the recipe and spell to make one. It doesn't say anything else," Caleb explained.
"Okay, let's think about this and break it down. Someone is choosing to do this. They would need to kill someone, correct?"
"Yes," he answers.
"So they kill someone and they...?" I start but then trail off.
"They would have to perform a spell which allows them to harness their souls so they cannot move on. They are able to manipulate the soul, send them as messengers or use them for attacks, leeching power from their creator."
"So the darklings are a front for someone. They are hiding in the shadows using the souls of the dead to do their dirty work. Is that correct?"
"Yes. But the spell is very complicated. It must be done carefully and the intention has to be clear or it can cause problems," Caleb elaborated.
"What kind of problems?" I asked.
"They could attack the one who cast the spell, could be sent to the wrong person, they could just go to the first person they see."
I sighed, rolling this information in my head. "So we are dealing with a homicidal maniac who most likely working at something bigger than just sending darklings," I thought out loud.
"Why do you think there is something bigger?" Caleb asks curiously.
"Why would someone just send darklings. Why go through all that trouble just to attack us. Say they succeed at killing one of us, what would they gain?" This seemed to stump Caleb as much as it did me.
We decided it was best we called it a night. It was a little past ten when we finished putting all the books away. We did a final look around before Caleb shut everything down in the library and we started to make our way to his car out front.
"I know you probably don't want to talk about this," Caleb started. Dread filled my stomach. "I want you to know that he didn't mean it. He was just angry and was feeling hurt-,"
"And felt like I was saying I didn't want him in my life and that he wasn't my brother," I interjected. "So I've been told," I said looking at Caleb.
He nodded understanding. "He has a temper and isn't really good at talking about his feelings when he is angry," he defended.
"And I get that. I really do. Hell, I am the exact same way," I responded, not liking that part of me. "But if he didn't really mean it, then why is everyone else telling me and not him?" I asked.
"He's stubborn."
Yeah, like that's an excuse.
It's been over twelve hours since the fight and he still hasn't tried to talk me.
Maybe he really means it.
"I don't want to talk about this," I said, opening the wet car door.
Caleb didn't push any further. He quietly made his way to his side when something caught my eye past him. A decaying body stood right behind Caleb, in the process of manifesting itself completely. My eyes went wild and Caleb noticed.
"Duck!" I yelled and he listened. The darkling rose its hand starting to call to its power but before it could form its attack, I raised my hand pushing my palm forward. I forced the darkling a few feet back, getting it away from Caleb. The pounding in my head from earlier returned.
"Burn," I growled.
Invisible embers left me and reached it, lighting it on fire. The thing screeched in pain before turning to ash and sticking to the wet ground. Caleb looked at me, covered in sweat and shaking as he leaned against the trunk of his car. I rushed over to him, checking to make sure he was okay. The darkling affected him differently than it did me.
"Are you okay?" I asked, helping him up. He nodded but I could tell he was lying. I sat him in his seat. "Does that always happen?"
"It's like they drain me of my energy when they are around me," he explained. "Do you not feel that?"
I shook my head.
"Another thing to add to the list."
"Look how easily your powers come to you now, Blair. You're so very powerful. The things you can do. Wait till they see."
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Author's Notes:
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story! If you liked it, feel free to give this chapter a vote and/or comment. I would love to hear what you guys think, who your favorite character is, anything you would like to say! Again, thank you for your support. See you at the next chapter!