Psi Another Day (Psi Fighter Academy) Page 8

  “Nicolaitan?” I looked back and forth between Andy and the Kilodan. “The leader of the Walpurgis Knights? He’s the one with the skull mask? He killed my parents? And he’s back?”

  “Yes,” Andy whispered.

  “You knew?” I was suddenly livid. “And you didn’t tell me?”

  Andy’s eyes narrowed. “We weren’t certain that he was back until you saw the skull mask in Elmo’s memory. And I didn’t tell you Nicolaitan murdered your parents because—”

  “You want me to find him,” I said. “I’m on it.”

  “Because I knew you’d say that,” Andy said.

  “No, we do not!” The Kilodan pointed a gloved finger at Andy. “See, I told you this would happen.”

  “Look, Big K,” Andy began. “I—”

  “Big K? What am I, a bowl of cereal?”

  Andy bowed deeply, and spoke in Darth Vader’s voice. “Forgive me, my master.”

  The Kilodan turned to me as if to say, Forget you saw that. Then he let out a long, electronically altered sigh that sounded like a deflating whoopee cushion, and became his emotionless old self again. “Andor is the reason I asked you to get involved at your school. He believes you are ready. I, however, do not.”

  I glanced at Andy and was suddenly filled with affection. Andy believed in me. Andy stood up for me. Andy supported—“What do you mean, you ‘do not’?” I said, spinning toward the Kilodan.

  “You are headstrong and impulsive.”

  “And?”

  The Kilodan slowly placed both fists on his hips. “I do not believe you are ready to do battle with a Walpurgis Knight.”

  “Who said anything about fighting a Knight? I thought I’d just have to find Nicolaitan, and you’d take it from there.”

  “It is not possible to simply find a Walpurgis Knight. Once he or she has been found, you will be drawn into battle whether you want to or not. Especially when the Knight is Nicolaitan.”

  I was suddenly very uneasy. “Okay, I’ll stick to Mason. He’s our key to finding the skull guy and Mr. Smelly, right?”

  “The man who wears the skull mask is closer than we originally thought,” the Kilodan said. “We believe that Nicolaitan has placed an apprentice in your school.”

  My jaw nearly bounced off the floor. No words came to me. No arguments. No witty comebacks. How was this possible? “One of my teachers is a Knight?”

  “Or a student.”

  “One of her teachers is a student?” Andy slapped his palms to his cheeks.

  I smacked him. “This is serious!”

  “The man in the skull mask knows too many details about your school. He knows when the children are vulnerable. He has to be an insider. And he is sloppy, so I feel he is inexperienced. A mature Knight would never have been seen by Munificent, or anyone else. I believe that the apprentice is the man Police Chief Munificent saw. As much as I hate the thought, you are our best hope for finding the man in the skull mask.”

  “So, are you saying the man in the skull mask is, or is not, Nicolaitan?”

  “Yes to both,” the Kilodan said.

  “I am so confused.” I shook my head with my mouth wide open. “How could a Knight be right under my nose without me seeing him?”

  “Stealth is the nature of both Psi Fighter and Walpurgis Knight. Ours by skill, theirs by lies and deception. You are right under his nose and, as far as we know, he has not detected you, either.” The Kilodan turned and pulled a dusty brown book from the massive bookshelf. He handed it to me. I took the book from the Kilodan and noticed that his hand was trembling. I glanced up into his face, though I saw nothing but the emptiness of the mask. The mask looked down at me, and the Kilodan placed his hand gently on my cheek.

  “I’m always here for you, Rinnie. But I don’t always know when you need help.” He turned to Andy. “This goes against my better judgment. Protect her.”

  “You know I’d die for her,” Andy whispered.

  “I know. I’ll probably kill you for talking me into this.”

  I laughed and examined the book. A silver hasp held it closed. The leather cover was badly worn, but the silver embossed letters were still readable: The Book of Lore.

  “What’s this?” I asked, opening the book.

  The Kilodan folded his arms. “It will help you to understand what you’re agreeing to.”

  Chapter Seven

  The Book of Lore

  The day took forever, but school finally finished. I sat with Kathryn in the Greensburg Library, The Book of Lore open on the table in front of us. The place was vacant except for the librarian, who had sent us into a small room behind her desk. We needed privacy, and the Greensburg Library was one of the few safe places above ground I could discuss things with Kathryn.

  “So let me get this straight,” Kathryn said. “We’re having Watusi Night at our school and that book is going to teach us the dance steps.”

  “Walpurgis,” I whispered.

  “Gesundheit. Why are you whispering?”

  “Because we’re in the library. You’re supposed to whisper.”

  “That’s only in old libraries.” Kathryn waved her hand in dismissal. “Modern libraries are different.”

  “Shhhh!” the librarian hissed, shaking her finger at us.

  “This place is two hundred years old,” I told her.

  Kathryn lowered her voice. “So is the librarian. Why don’t they have a Cone of Silence or something? Now, tell me about this Wisconsin Knight dude, who apparently dwells within the very halls of learning of which we have grown so fond. And why do you think it’s not a chick? Why would you assume women can’t be great warriors? That’s discrimination. I mean, this is the twenty-first century, isn’t it? I actually find myself in mild shock that you are not more progressive in your thinking, Lynn Noelle.”

  “I don’t know. I never said it was a guy. I suppose it could be a girl. You know everything about everybody at school. You tell me.”

  “Gotta be a dude,” Kathryn said.

  “But you just said—”

  “Everybody knows knights are guys. Chicks don’t carry swords. Too hard to accessorize.”

  “Joan of Arc. What about her? She carried a sword.”

  “And look how well that turned out for her. So this ratty old book will help you find the bad guy, huh? What is it? Combating the Forces of Evil for Dummies?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Well, read on!” Kathryn said.

  I unhooked the silver hasp and opened the worn leather cover. A musty smell filled the air. The only thing on the first page was a handwritten note. I read it to Kathryn. “This memory will be passed through time from Kilodan to Kilodan.”

  “Groovy. A hand-me-down. Wait, does that mean you’re the next Kilodan? Or is this a loaner? Who do I have to talk to? You’re a shoe-in for this promotion, girl. I’ll take care of it. I’ll tell them everything I know about you.”

  Suddenly a soft voice spoke from the doorway. “If you can’t keep your voice down, the entire world will know everything you know about her.”

  Kathryn jumped. “Where did you come from?”

  I laid my head down on the table with a clunk.

  “My mother,” the librarian whispered. “Thirty-four years ago. Not two hundred.”

  “Kathryn, Mrs. Simmons,” I said into the tabletop. “Mrs. Simmons, Kathryn.”

  Mrs. Simmons patted the top of my head. “Sit upright, please. I know very well who Miss Hollisburg is.”

  “How did you get from your desk over there to my blind spot over here without me seeing you move?” Kathryn asked.

  I suppressed a giggle. It wasn’t often that I saw Kathryn flustered. “It’s what we do.”

  “We?” Kathryn looked from Mrs. Simmons to me and back. “You mean she’s a—”

  “I am like you,” Mrs. Simmons said to Kathryn with a smile. “I help people keep their secrets. I guard friendships. We know the things we know because we are faithful and trustworthy, you a
nd I. I know that you would never purposely reveal your friend’s secrets. It is my job to make sure you don’t reveal them accidentally. So please keep your voice down. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Crystal,” Kathryn said softly, as Mrs. Simmons returned to her desk.

  Kathryn patted my hand, gazing wide-eyed at me. “So, somebody besides me knows about the Psi Fighters and all their great adventures? And you were planning to tell me this when?”

  I chuckled softly. “Kathryn, she’s a Whisperer.”

  “A Whisperer? What kind? Dog? Horse? Ghost?”

  “The Whisperers sort of manage the outside world for us. Mrs. Simmons runs the library, and helps me when I need privacy. Like now. She doesn’t know what I do. And you, missy, you know nothing about the Psi Fighters, except that they exist. You know my secret because you’re my best friend, and the Kilodan allowed it. I mean, it took forever for him to say yes. He thinks you’re good for me.”

  Kathryn stared off into space, slowly shaking her head. “And here I always thought I was like your Alfred, your loyal butlerish person, the only one you trusted because I had changed your diapers and raised you from an infant while your parents were off being zillionaires. I never realized I was subjected to bureaucratic approval. I suppose they had to do a background check or search my dental records?”

  “No, they probably scanned your mind when you weren’t looking.”

  “Okay, I can live with that. Now, back to this promotion. If you get to be Kilodan, do I get a raise?”

  “You’re not my butler.”

  “Good point. Could I be a Whisperer?”

  “Not possible,” Mrs. Simmons said from her desk.

  Kathryn threw her hands in the air. “Why not?”

  “Because you would need to whisper!”

  “Oh…okay, gotcha. Tell you what, Rin, here’s the plan—you start on that old book while I do my algebra. If you find anything interesting, let me know. Quietly.”

  “Good plan.”

  I read in silence for several minutes, only once allowing myself to wonder whether the book was anything more than a loaner, when I found something. “Oh, this is cool.”

  “What?”

  I continued to read in silence.

  “What?” Kathryn repeated.

  “It’s about the Knights. It says they are masters of the mistaken impression.”

  “We talking bad guys or politicians?”

  I did a mental eye roll at her. “They’re liars. They use little bits of truth to make big lies seem honest.”

  “Okay, they’re politicians. I don’t see where you’re going with this.” She flipped a page in her book.

  Kathryn was not being as much help as I had hoped. I went back to reading in silence. Then I saw something that sent chills through me. “I think this is why the Kilodan didn’t want me to be involved. Oh, this is awful.”

  Kathryn closed her math book and leaned toward me. “Speak.”

  “It says that once you defeat a Knight, he has to be destroyed. Kathryn, I can’t do that.”

  “Tad harsh, isn’t it? Why not just lock them up like normal criminals?”

  “Knights aren’t normal criminals. Jails can’t hold them. They’re too powerful.”

  “Send them to therapy, then. Oh, gimme that thing.” She snatched the book right out of my hands. After a minute of silent reading, she jabbed a finger into the book. “See, right here’s your answer. Do a Memory Lash on him!”

  That got my attention. “Huh?”

  “It says right here, a Memory Lash will change a Knight in ways only someone who has experienced it can comprehend. Remorse will consume him until he is incapable of performing the dark acts of the Walpurgi. See, there’s your answer.”

  “Oh, joy,” I mumbled.

  Kathryn spread her hands wide. “The Memory Lash makes a Knight stop being a Knight. I would think that’s a good thing.”

  “It would be, except that I hate the Memory Lash.”

  “That’s cool. What exactly is a Walpurgi?”

  “That’s what the Knights call themselves.”

  “Awesome. And a Memory Lash would be…”

  I scowled. “It is the cruelest weapon I know. It makes you remember things. The meanest things you ever did.”

  “Big whoop. Unless you’re, like, a masochist, how’s that a weapon?”

  “The Lash twists your memories. Say you beat up a little kid just for the fun of it.”

  “That would be my brother,” Kathryn said. “The little dweeb deserved it, and I have fond memories.”

  “You would remember the kicking and the punching and the crying exactly as it happened, but you would be the victim instead of the bully. You would feel what he felt. If he were in pain, you would hurt. If he were scared, you’d feel the terror. If he were screaming for his mommy, you would be screaming. The worst part isn’t the pain, though.”

  “No?” Kathryn’s eyebrows drew together. “What could be worse? I pummeled the little twerp.”

  “The remorse. The Lash makes you really understand how your victim felt. You just want to take it back, but you know you can’t. Ever. And you’re filled with such miserable regret that you want to die. One time, when I was little, I got mad at Susie for ripping the head off my doll. I smacked her little bum hard.”

  “So? I smack my brother all the time. It’s therapeutic.”

  “Kathryn, I don’t think you have any idea how hard even a beginning Psi Fighter hits. Every time we practice the Lash in class, I remember it.” I closed my eyes. “How the tears ran down her little face. How she opened her mouth to cry, but nothing came out. How she put her tiny hands over her diaper, and started running in place because it hurt so badly. Her whole body shook. I bruised her. Kathryn, I chose a stupid doll over my own sister.”

  “You were little,” Kathryn said. “You didn’t know any better.”

  “I knew what I was doing,” I growled, hating myself more with every word. “Every time I have to remember it, I want to hug Susie and tell her how sorry I am, and then punch myself in the face for being such a jerk.”

  Kathryn touched my hair. My cheeks were soaked with tears. She hugged me, and I buried my face in her shoulder, sobbing silently as she stroked my hair.

  “Hey,” Kathryn said softly. “I didn’t do a Memory Lash on you.”

  I hiccuped, and we both laughed. “I know. Sorry. I’m okay now.”

  “You don’t look okay.”

  “I am.” I laughed again. “This is the change The Book of Lore is talking about. This is why I am so protective of Susie. I will never hit her again. I’m not capable of it. And the thought of anyone else touching her terrifies me. That’s why I have to find this apprentice. As long as he’s free, my little sister and the Psi Fighters will never be safe.”

  “Back to work, then?”

  “Back to work.”

  “Okay, your Kilo-dude thinks the masked minion we’re looking for is either a teacher or a student, right?”

  “Masked minion?”

  “Faceless fiend. Diabolical devil. Bad guy. Don’t you speak Superhero? Now, let’s put our astute little minds together and narrow down the options. Teachers first. After considerable consideration, we conclude it’s not a teacher. End of story. Now, students—”

  “Why isn’t it a teacher?”

  “The Kilo-dude said it was somebody inexperienced. That means kid.”

  I laughed. “He meant inexperienced in the Mental Arts.”

  Kathryn puckered her lips and squished her eyebrows together with both hands. “Okay, the problem there is that all of the teachers are inexperienced. Could be anyone. Except Mrs. Bagley. She’s too awesome.”

  “True. Or Dr. Captious. He’s too short.”

  “Maybe he’s a Knight Light. Get it?”

  I buried my face in my hands and moaned. Not even Andy would have tried that line.

  “Don’t forget, Rin, he has a connection to Mason.”

  “Yeah, but if Cap
tious was a Knight, he’d brag about it along with all his other amazing talents.” I shot my hand in the air. “Ooo, ooo, I know! Miss Jackson!”

  “The Diva of Dodgeball? Rinnie, just because you have a personal vendetta against the woman doesn’t qualify her to be a supervillain.”

  “Does, too. I can still feel the welts on my liver.”

  “Give it up, Rin. You were right all along. The Knight-in-training can’t be a teacher.”

  “You said that, not me.”

  “Just trying to make you feel good about yourself. Okay, let’s talk students. Tons of them have connections to Mason. Like the Red Team. Too obvious. Tammy loves the spotlight. Not exactly cloak-and-dagger, is she?”

  “Art Rubric. Also too obvious. I mean, he has a nasty streak a mile long, but he’s so whacked out on drugs, he could never be a Knight. What about Chuckie Cuff?”

  Kathryn’s face went deadpan. “Seriously?”

  “Okay, that was a stretch. Leave no turn unstoned, as they say. And Chuckie is rarely unstoned. Wow, we aren’t getting anywhere, are we?”

  “Not yet, but riddle me this, Batman—if the apprentice just showed up at school, wouldn’t his alter ego also have just shown up?”

  “Not necessarily. The point of having a secret identity is that it’s secret. People who have known me my whole life don’t have a clue.”

  “That’s good, because Egon is the only new kid at school.”

  Suddenly, the unthinkable hit me. “You said he moved here to train. Oh, Kathryn, you don’t believe—”

  Kathryn did a lip curl. “Only one way to find out. Fortunately, I watch plenty of crime dramas. Let’s build a profile.”

  “I’m a Psi Fighter, not a profiler.”

  “Follow my lead, girl. Profile me your average Knight.”

  I shrugged. “Well, Knights are like Psi Fighters. They do what we do.”

  “Itemize, please.”

  “They’re highly skilled martial artists.”

  “Strike one.” Kathryn popped a finger in the air. “Not looking good for Egon.”

  “There are plenty of really good martial artists in the world. That doesn’t make them Walpurgis Knights.”

  “Rinnie, when you build a profile, you don’t shoot down the facts. Now, item number two.”