***
“So, can you see it?” Marcus questioned as he continued to scan around for unseen enemies. He couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching their every move.
“It’s there, I can see it. The problem is finding a way to get behind the water without having to go under the main falls,” Kevan told Marcus, as she studied the waterfalls.
“And what, pray tell, is your brilliant plan to get us around that?” Kaitlyn whined. “It’s millions of gallons of fucking water crashing into rocks. This is so stupid!” They all looked at Kaitlyn; all she had done since they had gotten to the bottom of the trail was complain about everything.
“Who the hell pissed in your cornflakes this morning?” Marcus barked. “I have been reduced to speaking this base, modern lingo, shit!”
“I didn’t have cornflakes,” she snapped at him. “I had something that looked like oatmeal, and I hate oatmeal. Take the broom out of your ass; you might be able to go with the flow better.”
“Well little Ms. Sunshine, you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, fine, but stop taking it out on the rest of us. We don’t need to suffer through your PMS moods,” Eve yelled at her sister.
“I AM NOT PMSing,” she shouted back at them.
“Enough!” Kevan yelled, stepping in between them. “Stop acting like children.”
“They started it,” Kaitlyn pouted.
“I don’t know what your problem is, Kaitlyn, but I need you to suck it up, and be the sister I know and love, not this crazed bitch that is not you.” Kevan looked at her sister, and she could see something in her face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
Kaitlyn looked at Kevan, and Kailtyn felt her whole body shake. “I don’t know,” Kaitlyn admitted. “I can’t control myself.”
Kevan looked to Joseph, who took a step towards Kaitlyn. “What do you mean, you can’t control yourself?” he questioned.
“That’s just it, I don’t know what is going to come out of my mouth, and everything just rubs me the wrong way. It’s as if someone else is controlling my body at times, and I’m watching but can’t do anything to stop it.”
“Joseph?” Kevan asked with alarm, as she stepped towards Kaitlyn.
“There is no spell that I can sense, but with the way that the magic works here, there might be, but I’m not picking it up.” Joseph informed Kevan.
“Can you can do something that would, I don’t know, isolate us? If someone is using a spell, maybe it wouldn’t be able to work while we figure this out?” Kevan asked.
“Yes,” Joseph confirmed. “That might be useful.”
“Do it,” Marcus ordered him.
“That may be easier said than done,” Joseph told them. “We don’t know if it is a spell, or something else.”
“I don’t care what it is,” Kaitlyn informed them. “I just want it gone.”
They watched Joseph work for a couple a minutes. He spoke some words while drawing a circle around them, and they watched as what looked like an invisible wall snapped into place.
“We are isolated, but we can’t move on with it in place, so we need to find out what is happening with Kaitlyn, and resolve the issue quickly,” Joseph explained.
“When would someone have put a spell on Kaitlyn?” Marcus posed the question, “What has she told them, since she admits lack of control?”
“I haven’t told anyone anything,” Kaitlyn growled at Marcus, and he looked at her and finished his sentence.
“What has she told them unknowingly?” He glared at her. Kaitlyn had to look away, as her cheeks burned with embarrassment. “We cannot carry on; it would be an unacceptable risk to ourselves until we know what is happening.” Marcus looked at all gathered around. “We need to be able to trust all of our team members.”
His tone and attitude raised Kevan’s hackles.
“We can trust Kaitlyn!” she defended her sister, only stopping when Kaitlyn touched her arm.
“You don’t know that positively, Kevan,” Kaitlyn told her. “I love that you want to defend me, but Marcus is right, we can’t risk the rest of you if somehow, someone is using me, which could hurt you. I would never be able to forgive myself if that happened.”
“Kaitlyn, you’re my sister, and more than that, you are my twin. You would never do anything that would hurt me,” Kevan avowed, her eyes never leaving Kaitlyn’s face.
“Kevan, stop. You need to understand. I would never knowingly do anything to harm you, but I can’t control what’s happening to me, and it is getting harder to snap myself out of it when it does take over. We need to let Joseph do his thing so that I don’t put the whole quest in jeopardy.”
“Kaitlyn?”
“Don’t argue, Kevan,” Kaitlyn told her sister. “It’s what is best for all involved.”
“But what is he going to do? What if you get hurt?”
“Stop,” Kaitlyn grabbed her hand, seeing the worry in her face. “We don’t have a choice.”
Kevan stepped back, hating that Kaitlyn was right. She looked to Joseph and Marcus who were waiting for her approval, which she gave, albeit reluctantly.
Joseph turned back to Kaitlyn, and started asking questions. “How long have you felt like this?”
“I’m not quite sure, maybe a couple days.”
“Before we came through the portal, or since?”
“Just since, I would say that it started when we were at the rebel camp,” Kaitlyn admitted.
“Well, that narrows it down,” he told her. “Sit still. I can try a seeking spell to see if you have been spelled.”
“It may not be a spell,” Ronan suggested.
“What else could it be?” Joseph asked.
“Before I did anything else, I would check her for a bug.”
“A bug? You would need a computer, and electricity for a bug to work,” Kaitlyn teased, trying to make light of the situation.
“I have no idea what a computer or electricity is, but for a listening bug, you wouldn’t need either,” Ronan told them. “It attaches itself to the body, uses the body to make it work.”
“And if this thing was on Kaitlyn, someone could hear everything we were saying or doing?” Kevan questioned.
“Are you talking about a real bug? Oh man, that’s just gross,” Kaitlyn told them.
“They would only be able to hear what we are talking about when they are listening. The only problem with a bug is, the longer that they are attached to the body, the harder it is to remove them.”
“Who controls this bug?” Marcus demanded his anger visible around him. “And how the hell would they have gotten it on her in the first place?”
“It’s small, and all they would have to do is place it on your clothes. It would seek out and attach itself somewhere where it would be concealed, and have a supply of blood,” Ronan explained. “I have heard it described as feeling like you have been bit by something common, like a mosquito.”
They all looked when Kaitlyn gasped in remembrance, and she reached towards her right ear.
“What?” Joseph asked, stepping forward while Marcus grabbed her hand.
“Just before the kid ran into camp, I thought that I had been bit by something. It hurt once, and then it was gone. It never bothered me, so I never thought anything of it,” she explained, as she tried to pull her hand out of Marcus’ grip.
“Joseph, check her,” Marcus ordered.
“I have no idea what to look for,” Joseph told him. Ronan stepped over to Kaitlyn, looking at Marcus.
“You hold her, I’ll check for one.” Marcus nodded his agreement, as he pulled the struggling Kaitlyn into his arms. Wrapping one arm around her, his hand holding her head to his shoulder, he pulled her hair out of the way, giving Ronan a clear view of the right side of her head.
“Guys ...” Kaitlyn started.
“Stay quiet,” Marcus ordered her
. Ronan looked, and moved strands of hair for a few minutes before he stopped. Marcus looked at him, taking his focus off the quiet Kaitlyn. A nod to Marcus told them everything that they needed to know. Releasing her head, he twisted until he could see what Ronan was looking at. He wasn’t able to see anything at first, until something caught his eye. There it was, a couple inches behind her ear. It looked like a flesh colored flat June bug. If they hadn’t been looking for it, they likely wouldn’t have ever seen it, but for the faint brown line surrounding the outer edges of its body, giving it’s positioning away. Just as Kevan moved over to look, it shifted. Marcus pushed her away, unsure of what it would do, and looked at Ronan.
“So we know that it’s there. How do we get it off,” Marcus asked.
“I know of only one way,” Ronan told him.
Kaitlyn shifted her stance, as she took in Ronan’s serious expression. “Why do I get the feeling that I’m really not going to like what you are about to tell us?” She looked from Ronan to Marcus, and then back.
“I wish I could tell you it was easy, but it’s not,” Ronan admitted.
“Lovely,” Kaitlyn muttered. “Alright, just tell me.”
“We have to pry it off your skin, and then we have to rip it out, ensuring we get it all, or else it could cause problems.”
Kaitlyn closed her eyes. “I knew I wasn’t going to like it,” she whispered. “It’s going to hurt, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Ronan confirmed.
Kaitlyn looked to Marcus. “Will you help me?” she pleaded with him.
“Of course,” he promised her.
“I know that I won’t be able to stay still, so I’m going to make your day, and get you to hold me, while Ronan gets this thing off me.” Marcus stayed quiet, but nodded his consent. Kaitlyn sagged with relief before she turned to Ronan.
“Just give me a minute,” she told him. Looking to her worried sister, she gave a weak smile. “Don’t look so worried, I’m going to be fine,” she assured them, trying to convince herself, as well. “I love you.”
“I know, we love you, too,” Kevan expressed with a smile.
“I wanted to let you know, just in case.” Kaitlyn paused before a smile spread across her face. “Oh, remember that red sweater that you had that got that huge stain on it?”
“Yeah,” Kevan narrowed her eyes.
“Well, I was the one that borrowed it, and spilled soya sauce on it. I had a date with George Preston, and I looked hot in it.”
“I knew it!” Kevan snapped, “You owe me a new sweater. You make me feel like we’re fifteen, again. We should be past this kind of shit, sheesh!”
Okay, deal! When we get home, I will buy you a new sweater,” Kaitlyn promised. Looking away, she blinked back tears that gathered in the corners of her eyes, before she looked at the rest gathered around. “If something bad happens to me, you can blame Marcus; he’s got broad shoulders, he can take it,” she joked. “But seriously, watch out for each other, and promise me that you won’t stop until you find the grimoire, and get it somewhere safe.”
“Enough of the teary farewells, you will be fine, so stop acting like such a drama queen!” Marcus growled. “Let’s get this over with, so we can get back to the quest at hand, finding the grimoire.”
“Thanks for your sympathy,” Kaitlyn whined.
“You don’t need my sympathy. My luck isn’t that good, which means you’ll be annoying me again in no time,” Marcus whispered in her ear, as he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. Ronan pulled out a knife, making Kaitlyn’s eyes widen with surprise and shock, and she attempted to pull away from him. Marcus grabbed her head, turning her face back against his shoulder, pulling her hair out of the way, exposing the bug for Ronan. He nodded, letting him know that she was ready. Kaitlyn whimpered as the smell of heated metal drifted in front of her, just as Ronan stepped up.