Chapter 27

Even Dean is broken up about Travis' predicament. It's okay Dean the gang will find a way.

The meeting wrapped up soon after that. The kids let Liam's crew leave first. No way did they trust them at their backs -- Pact or no Pact.

Travis reassured everyone that it was going to be all right. It was only his pinky finger and he felt fine otherwise. They had plenty of time. They could do anything they put their minds to, but Kyle wasn't buying it.

Everyone made a plan to go to their mentors first thing. There was an emergency line set up to contact them when school was out. It was set up to protect the magical world. If an enlightened felt their powers getting out of control, or they'd done something to endanger their super secret world, and miraculously the council hadn't found out, they were expected to contact their mentors.

Cam said he would ask Knight to start looking for an antidote right away, knowing how brilliant he was he might just come up with something by the time they got back to school on Monday.

Yeah right . . . school on Monday Kyle thought, no way he'd be showing up at school if his brother had less than a week to live. And Miss Long was for damn sure not getting her history paper now. He knew one thing for certain though if they managed to get in to this deadly library and out again alive they would be the ones making history.

They would also be number one on the councils most wanted list and they might as well join Liam's gang, because their somewhat normal life in San Fran would be over.

Kyle rolled over in his bed as he thought about every possibility and he let his brothers slow shallow breaths while he slept lull him to sleep. Tomorrow he had to find a solution, because there was no F'N way he was going to let Travis go without a fight.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Kyle opened his eyes Travis was already in the shower he could hear the water running through the pipes in his bedroom wall. He rolled over feeling exhausted. When was the melodrama going to stop? He'd only just got his brother back and now he was at risk of losing him all over again.

He needed a vacation from his fucked up world.

Kyle was feeling much more hopeful after getting in to a semi hot shower. He couldn't complain about Travis using up the hot water though, he thought I guess he's feeling a little stiff. He snorted derisively at his sick joke, until he cried.

. . . Let you in on a little secret . . . the shower is the perfect place for a foster kid to cry, because nobody can hear you and he can easily trick yourself into thinking that it's the beads of water from the shower coursing down your face.

When Kyle entered the kitchen after his shower Travis was already sitting down at their small family table eating a handful of bananas. He looked up with a concerned look on his face that made Kyle want to reprimand him for wasting his time worrying about him when his life was in jeopardy, but that would be like asking the sun not to come up.

"Hey Bro, how'd you sleep," he asked awkwardly?

Travis swallowed hard and cleared his throat before answering, "fine you?"

"I'd like to say yes but you know, not so much." Kyle shrugged dejectedly.

"I know dude, but it's going to be okay, I promise." Travis reassured him.

"Here have a banana. It'll make you feel better. "

Kyle smirked and was going to say something really sarcastic when he noticed that the two fingers closest to the pinky on his brother's hand were now stone, so instead he dove for his hand to take a closer look before Travis could pull it away.

"Dude did you see this," Kyle said incredulously pointing at his fingers, "and you're telling me everything is going to be okay. What the hell man!?"

"You can't hide this shit from me!" Kyle whined loudly.

"Oh this," Travis said joking pointing at his fingers, "It's not as bad as you think. If I lose a finger a day that's all right I've got ten of them."

"Come on we're going to Lauren's I'm calling a meeting. The gang needs to know how fast it's spreading."

Kyle grabbed Travis' hand and dragged him out of the kitchen towards the door.

Travis let him pull him along like a belligerent child, but as they crested their front doorway, he asked, "Dude can we at least stop for a breakfast burrito?"

"Trav if it slows down this shit, I'll get you three. Let's go."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kyle called the Boys and Girls club when they got to Lauren's. It looked like he'd be missing some time again. He asked Susan the weekend supervisor to apologize to the guys for him. They wouldn't have a coach to rely on for the big game coming up. He felt really bad for letting them down. They needed someone they could rely on.

Travis called the animal shelter too and let them know he was going to be out for a week or two . Kyle just barely heard their side of the conversation, but he could clearly hear they sounded concerned. They should be. He and Travis had barely missed a day in the last few years no wonder they were concerned. He hated that they might think that they stopped caring.

Lauren had looked surprised to see them at her door before noon. She rubbed sleep out of her eyes and tried unsuccessful to pat down her flyaway hair. She stumbled around for a bit offering them a cup of coffee, which they declined, before going upstairs to shower.

Kyle got in touch with everyone with his magical pen while Lauren got ready for the day. He felt a real sense of relief at how many agreed to be right over even though it was early.

Zach and Quinn were the first to arrive they only lived a few blocks away.

As soon as Zach walked in the door he marched over to Travis and hugged him hard before saying, "We got you."

Those words made tears prick Kyle's eyes, but he quickly swiped them dry before anyone could see.

Travis cleared his throat too showing he was getting choked up as well.

Zach slapped him on the back hard and said, "Sit, relax, I've got breakfast covered." As he motored off to the kitchen. Where he promptly started taking out bowls and flour.

Kyle gagged at the thought of it, but it looked like pancakes were in their future.

By the time the pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon were ready everyone had arrived and Lauren had come down looking fresh as a daisy.

Kyle be grudgingly took a little of the eggs and bacon, he had no appetite, he even managed to only blanch when the plate of pancakes came his way, but he quickly passed them along as he and Trav shared a secret look.

Right after breakfast everyone left a message on the emergency line for their mentor to call them back, including Lauren bless her heart. He could just imagine that convo, he shuddered at the idea of having le Fay as a mentor.

Kyle's and Xander's mentor Erika Steinman was the first to get back to them. Everyone knew their Geography and Sacred Geometry and Iconography teach was long winded, but it was a shock even to him that she kept him on the phone for so long discussing the ley lines. However after the nearly hour long conversation he felt really good about what he had found out.

His hand was cramped by all the information he feverishly wrote down trying to keep up with the knowledgeable dwarf. He couldn't wait to share it with everyone but as soon as he hung up the phone rang again and this time Knight their Chemistry and Alchemy teacher was on the other end of the line looking for either Cameron or Zach.

Cameron fielded the call -- as their resident alchemist -- he'd need to ask him about the possibilities of an antidote as well as what he knew about the library. It turned out he was very helpful as well -- on both subjects.

Helsing their Science and Control and Development Coach was the next to get back to them. Of course Olivia took that call; Marley still hates the guy with a passion. She'd probably cut her own tongue out to avoid a conversation with him – no joke.

Thank goodness Olivia was on better terms with him, Kyle thought he'd hate to lose that valuable resource. The guy had half a dozen doctorates, including a medical degree. If there was something to be diagnosed he could help Knight on that end.

He didn't have much to say on the topic of the Mystic Library, but he did have an astute suggestion when it came to those doused by Liam's concoction. He suggested testing those with the active concoction and those with the dormant one. In doing so they might be able to isolate the poison and create an antidote.

Before Kyle knew it, Travis and Xander were hurried off to the alchemy lab at the school for tests. He crossed his fingers they'd have better luck finding the problem now that the shithead had activated it.

Ms Murakami their biology and Study of Magical Creatures teacher called next but Travis had already gone so Zach filled her in on the situation. She mentioned she'd heard of the library, but knew little about it, but she insisted on going to the lab to see if she could be of any help.

George the Health and Ritualistic Magic and Healing teacher called next and his Granddaughter spoke to him. He mentioned he knew nothing of the library, but he'd go to the lab too to try and help.

When Conte their Spanish and Spellcraft and Magical Theory teacher called, it was nearly time for a late lunch. So Donnie took the call in another room while the ones who remained noisily prepared grill cheese and bacon sandwiches.

Donnie was on the phone for some time which wasn't surprising; Conte is a powerful wizard that has an ancient knowledge of hexes and curses. Donnie told them while heating up his cold grill cheese in the microwave that he said he would head right over to the school.

Lauren joked from the adjacent living room that if this kept up they might as well all go there, but they were still waiting to hear back from a few mentors.

Miss Long their History and Magical History teacher phoned next and apologized for not getting in touch sooner, she tried, but she just kept getting a busy signal. Kyle had to admit the process would have gone a lot faster if they'd stayed in their own homes to receive the calls but there was a comfort and safety in numbers that he felt in their large group, and he guessed the others must have felt the same way.

No . . . he was glad for the company, even when his friends kept milling around each other and talking quietly amongst themselves in small groups like it was a wake. Nope that didn't weird him out at all.

Ray was on the phone with her for nearly an hour as well and when he finally hung up he gave Kyle a hopeful smile which made him feel a hundred percent better.

Adrik Alexeev the Slavic Shapeshifter and their Biology and Transmogrification teacher phoned a half hour later and asked to speak to Megan or Quinn. Megan took the call and wandered off to the kitchen to talk quietly with him while the rest of them lounged around. As a shape shifter himself he might have some insight into a poison that destabilizes a magical creature on the molecular level.

When Megan ended the call and told them that he was heading over to the school as well. Kyle started to feel a lot more confident about Travis making a full recovery. There was no F'N way a teenager could get the better of all these ancient and powerful magical creatures.

Everyone was tidying up to get ready to head over to the school when the strangest thing happened. The phone rang. The only mentor who hadn't called yet was le fay, and frankly no one had expected her to, but when Lauren answered it with a tentative, "hello," and her eyebrows immediately shut up to her hairline they all knew it must be their Math and 4th dimensional physics teacher -- The ancient bitchy Druid.

Lauren left the room to hold the strange and unexpected conversation in the kitchen. When she came back she still looked shocked but there was a glimmer of hopefulness on her face.

They had finished tidying up while she was on the phone and Dom, Xander's ancient butler and Slavic house spirit, had arrived and was waiting for them impatiently outside to transport them all to school in Xan's stretch Hummer.

Lauren wasn't surprised to find out that Knight had called a meeting of all the mentors and the kids in his lab, she'd seen the magical text from Xander while she spoke with le Fay, and she had her purse and her house keys in her hand before she hung up the phone.

As Kyle and the rest of the gang piled into the hummer, he couldn't help but hope that Knight had called the meeting to share the good news that they'd found a solution, but he had an eerie feeling that it wasn't going to be that easy.

I hope you all liked this chapter.

What do you think Knight's going to say?

I hope it's something good?

Tune in tomorrow to find out.

If you like what you've read and want to know more please: follow, vote, or comment. OR all of the above. More importantly if you could share this story with your followers. I'm sure they'll love it too.