Heathcliff sighed. "So, are you sure Emily won't be a problem anymore?"
The young woman sitting on the other side of his office shook her head. "I can't say if she is or not. All I know is that I interrupted what she was trying with the girl you're so interested in."
"Keep an eye on her. I can't afford to take any action against her right now, aside from talking with her, so I'll have to let her actions go for now. You can let her know that I'll want to talk with her before lunch, but don't let her know anything of what I'm willing or not willing to do, alright?"
"No problem, Uncle," the young woman replied. "But I was more worried about Nick Sanders. I'm not sure he's up to the task."
"Maybe not, but it's time that I give him a test of my choosing. If he's not able to accomplish the task I gave him, then he's not going to be very useful down the road. I mean, how hard is it to get someone to trust you when they don't know anything about you?"
"Apparently rather difficult," the young woman commented. "I spoke to him about it and he seemed to think that the girl you're interested in was just like any other girl or woman and ignored what I'd been told by that girl that she was finding him a creep."
Heathcliff laughed. "We'll see if he can get around his own short-sightedness. He still might be able to get out of his own way given he has the entire week," Heathcliff said.
"What is your plans with the girl anyway? I mean, I'm fine helping protect her from others, like Emily, who would use their magic to toy with her, but she doesn't seem special in any way to me," the young woman replied.
"I'll let you know that later, just trust me on this that I'm not sure I can open the gate without her," Heathcliff replied, opening a drawer in his desk and removed some papers from it. "I don't know what's special about her, but it's possible that she's considered a friend by a unicorn."
The young woman laughed. "Seriously? I heard about how you got the Heart of the Forest and how the forest was sealed. How could that runt encounter a unicorn?" she asked.
Heathcliff sighed again. "The forest was sealed after the Heart of the Forest was removed from the Unicorn's Forest," Heathcliff said, talking to Shirley as if she was a student and he was her teacher. "No one was guarding the forest during that time, so the unicorn could have left during that time period. We also don't know what effects removing the Heart of the Forest might have on the forest itself, so that could also play a part of how the girl might have encountered a unicorn. Especially with the damage that had been done to the forest."
"How will you be able to tell if she has encountered the unicorn?" the young woman replied, clearly annoyed at being treated like a student.
"The only real way to tell is to ask her, I'm afraid," Heathcliff answered. "I'm not aware of any other way we can be certain of if that has occurred. That's why I have to be so careful with this, Shirley."
Shirley nodded. "I see. If she has met with the unicorn and we ask her, we risk letting her know too much," Shirley mused to herself. Then to Heathcliff, "How do you plan on using her to open the gate then?"
"It's another delicate issue. If we just ask her outright, what chance is there that she'll accept, let alone believe us? If we hand her the Heart of the Forest, what reason would she have to try and use it?' Heathcliff asked.
"If we get her in our debt, would she feel obligated to do what we told her to do?" Shirley asked, her eyes drilling holes into Heathcliff.
Heathcliff nodded, as if it wasn't a clear challenge. "I admit much of this is a pure gamble. I'm not even sure of what I'd do if I was the one trying to get her to work with us," Heathcliff replied. "I'm merely working to try and slowly get her to trust us and consider us as friends rather than enemies."
Shirley laughed. "If you really did, then you wouldn't leave the task we're talking about with Nick, who as you said yourself, is untested. I know how important this is, so why wouldn't you give this task to someone who has proven themselves and test Nick in some other way. I get the feeling that the girl we're talking about isn't someone who trusts easily and that she will pull away from us is she isn't handled delicately."
"Time will tell which of us was wiser," Heathcliff replied, standing up from behind his desk. "But right now, we really need to begin on the preparations for the camp.
"This camp idea is going to be a compete mess," Shirley predicted.
Heathcliff laughed. "You may be right," he admitted. "I couldn't think of what exactly to do with this camp, but it was the only way I could think of to get that girl here. This also may put me out of business if we can't get the gate open. Maybe the fact that I need the help of someone who I haven't been able to guide before has made me make otherwise avoidable mistakes. All we can do is hope that this works out well enough for us."
_
Charlie put her paint roller down. They'd finally finished painting the girl's cabin. Not that Charlie understood why they had been painting it pine green with black trim. The green color was a little out of place in Charlie's opinion, as well as how there weren't any trees that she'd seen on Heathcliff's property. Personally, she would have thought white, yellow, or light blue would have been a better color with any combination for the trim. Regardless, the week was almost over, and Charlie found herself looking forward to the trip they'd been promised at the start of the week, even though she wasn't sure what kind of 'exercises' Heathcliff had meant. She suspected them to be team-building exercises or something along that line but wasn't sure.
Emily had tried a few more times to do whatever she had in mind but seemed to get upset when it was clear her use of her magic wasn't having the result that she thought it should have. Charlie was happy that she wasn't finding herself in the same situation as when she first met her. Although, she did have a couple close calls at first. Mostly because she was still trying to get used to what it felt like to have someone work magic on her.
Though, she did find Emily once arguing with Shirley about Emily's inability to enchant Charlie again, Emily accusing Shirley of directly using her magic to stop her. Shirley denied the accusation after struggling to come up with a response, though Charlie found it very entertaining how Shirley couldn't think of what to reply with, given Charlie knew Shirley didn't have anything to do with that, which is what Emily clearly thought.
The only problem Charlie really had with Emily at this time was that while she suspected what Emily was trying to do, she couldn't pierce Emily's thoughts deep enough to find out, and on the other hand, Charlie wasn't that sure she really wanted to know. Which made Emily more of an annoyance at times and a source of spontaneous entertainment at times too. Charlie probably could pierce Emily's thoughts, but she couldn't be sure if she might cause problems, given when she'd tried before, she was fairly sure that she'd accidentally given Emily a severe headache that lasted for hours.
Shirley seemed to act like a big sister to Charlie, and while Charlie appreciated it at times, she still felt unsure about her. Charlie would like to have a fling with Shirley, if not a full out relationship despite the clear difference in their ages, but didn't expect Shirley to reciprocate the interest, so she kept herself from saying anything to her about it. Though, Charlie did keep track of her when she was around, given how Charlie knew she was up to something, which Charlie had yet to figure out. Just as she was with Emily and Nick. She couldn't be sure that any of the other counselors were up to something in relation to her but couldn't detect anything that would indicate so.
Nick was still the same creep that Charlie had experienced at the start of the week. He acted like he was trying to help, but when Charlie pried into his thoughts with a light touch, she could tell that he had ulterior motives, Charlie was more worried about how he was interested in trying to get her into bed. She could tell that wasn't the main focus he had, but it was on his 'goals for the summer list' that Charlie saw. Though, while Charlie couldn't see all that was on that list, he had in mind to tell Charlie about magic, which Charlie found rather amusing. Which also made her wonder just how many people here, both the counselors and campers would have magic. With how many people here already who knew about magic, she couldn't help but assume there would be a good number of the campers who would have their magic already unsealed.
Charlie stretched as she began her clean-up for the day. It was still early afternoon, but she had finished the tasks that she'd been assigned, so she was planning on trying to take another dip in the pool without a crowd being in or around it at the same time. Maybe even get in a few laps before she had to go anywhere, like dinner.
However, as Charlie started to take her painting supplies to where she had been told to store them after putting on the green light jacket she'd brought with her to protect against the wind that was starting to pick up, Nick appeared. Much to Charlie's annoyance.
"Would you like some help?" Nick asked as he reached for the painting supplies Charlie was carrying.
"I'm good," Charlie replied, moving so he couldn't get a clear shot at taking what she had in her hands.
"You know, you're not like most girls," Nick commented, falling in step next to Charlie, occasionally trying to get the paint supplies from Charlie, which she was able to sidestep each attempt.
"I'm aware of that," Charlie replied, not caring how it might come across. Besides, she knew it was true regardless. Most girls that Charlie knew were a lot more social than she was herself, for one thing.
Her statement had the desired effect on Nick. He couldn't think of what to say in response for a minute. Then, to make sure she kept a step ahead of Nick, she started using her magic to keep track of his thoughts.
Charlie started listening to his thoughts at the same time that he finally spoke. "So, I take it you know just how much more beautiful you are compared to most girls," he said.
If Charlie hadn't already started getting creeped out by Nick and couldn't hear his thoughts, she might actually have accepted what he'd just said. Instead, she laughed. "Seriously? I'm well aware how much other girls compare to me, and how 'beautiful' I am," Charlie replied, using air quotes around the word beautiful. However, she couldn't help but feel a little pleased at the remark. Even if she knew it was just a line and that she disagreed with the statement, it did feel good to hear such things.
What is this girl's problem? Charlie heard Nick thinking. What he said, was different from what his thoughts would indicate. "So, you haven't much chance to really bloom, have you?"
"I guess you could say that," Charlie allowed. She certainly hadn't tried putting herself out there, so she wasn't going to deny that statement.
"Have you ever met someone that you start caring what they think about you?" Nick asked, his smile almost looking genuine to Charlie. Maybe I can get her to accompany me back to my bunk, Charlie heard Nick think to himself, and the images that came with that thought of them doing it nearly made Charlie throw up.
"No, I can't say that I have," Charlie replied, wondering how much she should let Nick dig a hole for himself while trying to keep her sudden nausea from her face.
"So, would you like to see what that's like?" Nick asked.
"Of course," Charlie replied. "I just don't think it's going to happen here at camp."
Charlie smiled to herself as she heard his chaotic questions form in his mind as his mind race to recover from what she'd just said.
"How about this," Nick suggested. "If you come with me, I'll show you something that will completely blow your mind."
Charlie could tell that he was talking about telling her about magic by the feel of this statement with how it affected his thoughts, rather than the vomit inducing fantasy he'd had just a moment ago. So, she decided it would be good to play along and maybe blow his mind with showing him her magic.
"So long as it isn't anything gross or disgusting," Charlie replied, wondering what Nick would consider gross or disgusting. Especially as the idea of doing Nick was rather disgusting to Charlie.
"I promise, you haven't seen anything like this before," Nick said. Charlie heard his thoughts decide where to go: Heathcliff wouldn't mind if I took her to his house to explain about magic.
"Let me finish putting these away and I'll then I'll accompany you to Heathcliff's house," Charlie replied, struggling to keep a straight face with the expression on Nick's face as she mentioned the location he had in mind but hadn't said.
"How'd you know where I was going to suggest?" Nick asked, his tone a mix of offended and confusion.
"Where else would you show me something that I haven't seen before around here?" Charlie asked, innocently, still keeping her laughter in check, barely.
Nick couldn't say anything for another minute, and even his thoughts had come to a screeching halt during that time, which only added to Charlie's amusement. Which she was hard pressed to continue to hide. Fortunately, her nausea was long forgotten at this point.
Finally, he was able to collect his thoughts, admitting to himself that Charlie was very different than any other girl he'd met, which Charlie was pleased to hear from his thoughts, with how his changing opinion was more in line with ways she would describe herself as. "Fine, you're right. It'll be at Heathcliff's house, I have a room he said I could use for this purpose."
"Sounds good," Charlie replied, doing her best to sound and act casual. She did not want to tip her hand too early.
Charlie began walking at her usual pace, not saying anything to Nick, neither of them being stopped by anyone else around, which Charlie didn't really care about. She knew that everyone assumed that she was the only one who didn't have, or at least know about, magic and because of that, they weren't supposed to use their magic at the moment. Not that it stopped anyone, they just did their best to be more subtle about it. Charlie wouldn't have noticed herself, if she hadn't been put on guard from the first incident with Emily, and all that had happened on her first day here.
After they got to where the paint supplies were supposed to be stored, Charlie wondered if she was the only one who brought their supplies back here at the end of each day, as she disposed of the roller core while putting everything else in the place designated for them.
When she was finished, Charlie turned to Nick. "Okay, show me what you want me to see," Charlie said, wondering if she'd still be as entertained by the time she showed Nick that she already had her magic. She could feel the swimming pool calling her and at the moment, she'd really like to be able to answer that call.
Nick took the lead as they started towards Heathcliff's house, which was the farthest building from the supply shed. As they walked along, Charlie noticed Emily looking at Charlie as they were about a quarter of the way to Heathcliff's house, a worried expression on her face. Charlie gave her a thumbs up, not bothering to check her thoughts, assuming that Emily was worried about if she was meeting with Heathcliff. Charlie knew that she didn't really care what Emily was worried about at the moment.
Then as they reached the house, Charlie saw Shirley leaving. Shirley didn't try to stop them, but did give Nick a questioning look, which he merely smiled back in response. Shirley shook her head as she turned away to leave. The incident only fueled Charlie's amusement, to the point where she had to chuckle in order to keep from laughing and giving her game away.
Nick led Charlie in a direction of the mansion that she wasn't familiar with, but that didn't concern her. She wasn't familiar with most of the mansion so it wasn't surprising there would be parts of it that were unfamiliar.
What surprised her was that Nick led her up two flights of stairs and then down another hallway before opening a door. By that point, Charlie was able to stop chuckling and entered the room calmly.
The room was sparsely decorated. It had a table, four padded chairs around it, a light fixture about it, and a vase of flowers in the center of the table.
Charlie tensed only a small amount when Nick closed the door and locked it. She wasn't too worried, given she kept track of Nick's thoughts and could tell that he wasn't planning on anything that Charlie would object to. At least right away.
"So, what it is it you wanted to show me?" Charlie asked, looking around the room.
"Do you believe in magic?" Nick asked, his tone letting Charlie know how awkward he was finding this conversation even if Charlie wasn't listening to his thoughts, which Charlie couldn't blame him for. It did sound a little ridiculous, even if both were aware that magic was real.
"Seriously?" Charlie asked, struggling to keep a straight face. "Isn't that an oldies song?"
"I am serious," Nick answered, taking a seat at the table and indicating for Charlie to sit as well. "Do you believe in magic?"
Charlie didn't sit down, but rather leaned against the wall, one leg lifted up to rest her foot against it as well. She also couldn't help herself but give the second line of the oldies song. "In a young girl's heart. Yeah, I believe in magic. I just don't go advertising it," she replied, trying to sound as innocent as possible. "I mean, mermaids and unicorns are magical creatures, right?"
"Would you like to have your own magic?" Nick inquired. "Magic that you can use however you want?"
"Yeah, that sounds fun," Charlie replied, afraid to laugh, not so much the laughing part, but rather how long she was afraid she'd continue to laugh and not be able to stop. After all, she already had her magic, so the whole situation was just threatening to tear her apart with all the laughter she was holding in.
Nick sighed. Charlie was a little surprised at how frayed his nerves seemed. "Well, if you help us out with something, we can get you access to your own magic," Nick offered.
Charlie considered it. Not so much the offer, but more if she should keep up the charade. Finally, pushing out from the wall, she decided to end the charade after one last bit. "Would you show me what you mean?" Charlie asked, walking over to the chair and sitting down.
Nick smiled broadly, clearly pleased with himself. "Watch closely," Nick instructed, holding his hand out to the flowers on the table.
Charlie watched as he struggled with his magic, muttering words under his breath, which told Charlie that his focus was words. Finally, a flower carefully disentangled itself from the vase and floated over to his hand. Charlie could see sweat beading on his head.
"Oh, that," Charlie said, as if she had been confused with what he'd been talking about. She held out her hand and created her flame rose, but this time made the flame blue.
Nick stared at Charlie stunned. "B- b- b- but they said your seal was still in place," Nick sputtered.
Charlie finally let her amusement flow, her flower disappearing as she did so, and laughed for at least a full minute, her sides hurting from laughing so much by the time she was able to stop.