{"id":598,"date":"2011-09-07T00:00:24","date_gmt":"2011-09-07T04:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=598"},"modified":"2011-08-30T10:53:28","modified_gmt":"2011-08-30T14:53:28","slug":"day-15-chapter-10-marin-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=598","title":{"rendered":"Day 15 – Chapter 10 – Marin – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI swear to you, Marin, every day I go to check on them, and every day there\u2019s something wrong with them.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know who\u2019s tripping over what or doing what wrong\u2026but something keeps screwing up one or two wards.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I frowned, arms crossed tightly beneath my breasts as I watched the sun start to creep up beyond the trees and broken buildings.\u00a0 Kellin and I stood near the edge of the ravine, near the ward-lines, water buckets near our feet.\u00a0 She\u2019d stopped to check the ward nearest to our descent point, finding the edges of the circle broken and half the herbal components gone.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you think it is?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhat or who<\/em>,\u201d she said, frowning as she fished a piece of chalk out of her pocket along with a zipper baggie of herbs.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s been windy lately.\u00a0 Could be that the herbs keep blowing away, maybe leaves or something are disrupting the circles.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kellin grimaced.\u00a0 \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be so concerned if I thought it was something as simple as that, Marin.\u00a0 I think this is deliberate.\u201d\u00a0 She glanced up over her shoulder at me.\u00a0 \u201cBut who would be doing it?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t know.\u00a0 Jac wouldn\u2019t touch anything like this, and from what Rory said, based on Thom\u2019s reaction to the one he almost tripped over, Thom wouldn\u2019t be screwing around with them, either.\u00a0 Who would?\u00a0 Leah?\u00a0 Stasia?\u00a0 One of the staffers that doesn\u2019t know any better, or thinks it\u2019s voodoo mumbo-jumbo, Antichrist-worthy, demon-summoning evilness?<\/em>\u00a0 I suppressed a snort.\u00a0 If anyone thinks it\u2019s that, they\u2019re not going to like it when we run that copper cabling Rory brought back around the camp and bury it in a ring around us.<\/em>\u00a0 The copper, along with a little sprinkling of salt, would act as a protective circle around our settlement\u2019s perimeter.\u00a0 We\u2019d probably still need wardings, but the circle would certainly help\u2014or so I was hoping, based on some of the reading and practice I\u2019d done in the past.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of course, if I was wrong, it wasn\u2019t like we\u2019d paid for the copper anyway.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I finally shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 How are we going to find out?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 She frowned, shaking her head as she started to clean up and reset the ward.\u00a0 \u201cI guess we just have to be hyper-vigilant about them, so nothing can violate the wards again.\u00a0 They\u2019re supposed to keep us safe.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAnd they can\u2019t do that if they\u2019ve screwed up, not really.\u201d\u00a0 I grimaced, looking around slowly.\u00a0 They had<\/em> stopped the winged creature that chased Drew, Carolyn, and J.T. back here, but not for long.\u00a0 Whatever the three had done to get rid of the thing, though, had worked quickly enough that I hadn\u2019t even managed to realize what I was feeling before it was gone.\u00a0 It was only when Carolyn told Kellin and I later that I realized what had happened at the wardline, what the sound I\u2019d heard was.\u00a0 \u201cWhy do you think Carolyn keeps saying it was something she did that stopped it?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kellin rechalked the marks on the stones, eyes lidded for a moment.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t answer until she was done dumping energy back into the ward, straightening slowly from her crouch after she\u2019d finished.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 Protecting someone, maybe?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I snorted.\u00a0 \u201cWhich one of them, Drew or J.T.?\u00a0 Or someone else?\u201d\u00a0 Hell, I don\u2019t even have a full handle on what happened there.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know who or what she\u2019d be protecting, Kel.\u00a0 The fairies?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cFrom the way the Shakespeare garden looked, I\u2019m not sure they\u2019d have that kind of power.\u201d\u00a0 Kellin scooped up her bucket, looking at me.\u00a0 \u201cYou didn\u2019t sense anything?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t have time.\u00a0 By the time I realized I was feeling anything, it was all over.\u201d\u00a0 I shook my head a little, chewing my lower lip.\u00a0 \u201cI was with Jac and Matt, and they didn\u2019t seem to hear anything, not like I did.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cProbably because they\u2019re not Awake yet.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMaybe,\u201d I said, frowning slightly as we started down the winding path toward the river, where we\u2019d draw water.\u00a0 \u201cHave you talked to J.T. about what happened?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s been kind of avoiding me.\u00a0 What about you?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I grimaced.\u00a0 \u201cSame.\u00a0 It\u2019s weird, that\u2019s never happened before.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSounds like he might be the one Carolyn\u2019s protecting.\u201d\u00a0 Kellin glanced back over her shoulder at me, hitching one shoulder in a shrug.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t understand why, either, but I don\u2019t know what he could\u2019ve done.\u00a0 You have any clue?\u201d
\n\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I thought about that for a moment as we picked our way down the still-muddy path down toward the river, which was still running high.\u00a0 Some of the paths were flooded, and that\u2019s where we\u2019d been getting cleaner water, as the runoff from the ravine flowed down into the river.\u00a0 I finally shook my head.\u00a0 \u201cI haven\u2019t noticed any sensitivity to anything<\/em> in him before.\u00a0 All I know is that he\u2019s never though I was crazy, even when Thom started to think I was.\u201d\u00a0 I shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe that was because he knew there was something going on beyond his perception.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMmm.\u201d\u00a0 We stopped near one of the streamlets flowing toward the river and Kellin crouched down to fill her bucket.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s been jumpy the past few days, too.\u00a0 Watching things that aren\u2019t there.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I snorted humorlessly.\u00a0 \u201cIn his defense, so have the cats.\u00a0 And<\/em> Birtha.\u201d\u00a0 Birtha was one of three full-grown sheepdogs that Paul and Angie had brought back with them.\u00a0 She was a sweet dog, more interested in her newborn puppies than anything, and got along well enough with the mother cat we\u2019d adopted.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kellin\u2019s tone was gentle, but firm.\u00a0 \u201cYou and I know full well that animals are as sensitive if not more<\/em> sensitive than we are to anything unseen.\u201d\u00a0 She finished with her bucket and then took mine.\u00a0 \u201cHow\u2019s your arm?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I rubbed the lingering cold, sore spot on my arm.\u00a0 \u201cStill sore, still cold.\u00a0 No change.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cDid you feel anything when you heard the sound?\u00a0 Or when the radio went?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI was concentrating on something else at the time.\u201d\u00a0 I grimaced, trying to think.\u00a0 I\u2019d had trouble gripping tools right before the radio exploded and Matt was hurt.\u00a0 If I\u2019d felt anything while I was sitting with him and Jacqueline afterwards, I couldn\u2019t remember it.\u00a0 \u201cI might have felt something and not realized it,\u201d I finally said, shaking my head a little.\u00a0 \u201cI need to concentrate on sensations more\u2014I\u2019ve been getting distracted easily lately.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kellin grunted and handed me my bucket.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not really sure any of us can afford that.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I inclined my head and shrugged again.\u00a0 \u201cProbably right.\u00a0 But that doesn\u2019t change the basic facts.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cNot one bit.\u201d\u00a0 She sighed as we started back up the path.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll just have to watch, I guess.\u00a0 Keep an eye on who gets near the wards.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s all we can do, Kel.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI swear to you, Marin, every day I go to check on them, and every day there\u2019s something wrong with them.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know who\u2019s tripping over what or doing what wrong\u2026but something keeps screwing up one or two … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-10","category-day-15"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-9E","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":662,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598\/revisions\/662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}