Spellbinder Notes (Day 12)

Species (according to Ursa):

12) SecondDeaths and Pipers

- SecondDeaths

o People of an species who have been brought back from the dead

o They possess no soul

o Brought back to life by a piper

o SecondDeaths are not zombies

o They look and act like normal people

§ Only few can tell a SecondDeath at first sight

· MagicTellers, Morgrifs, Pipers

§ They do have some abilities normal people don't have

· Harder to injure

· Faster to heal

· Stronger instincts about danger

· Some have prophetic dreams

o ? – if they don't possess a soul, are the same person as before they died or something/one different?

o Live as long as Piper lets them and/or long as Piper lives

o ? – do they have memories from before they died?

o ? – do SecondDeaths know they are SecondDeaths?

- Pipers

o Creatures with power to call back the dead

o Peter Piper story is about a real Piper bringing back kids who died

o Bring back and control SecondDeaths through a musical instrument

o Pipers are very difficult to find (loners)

o Bring people back for a variety of reasons

§ Paid to do so

§ To have helpers/workers

§ Felt like it

· ? – what kind of reason is felt like it?

o No one has ever seen the face of a piper

§ Wear full body and face coverings

· Think ninja suit!

Even with just a few hours of sleep, Chenoa and Gabby felt wide awake and alert in the morning. The secret, that they now kept between the two of them, bonded them even stronger than before. Gabby asked whispered questions all through breakfast and the bus ride to school. Chenoa displayed her new abilities discretely with small tricks, such as levitating objects, making a rose out of paper, and other such parlor tricks. Being able to share with Gabby made Chenoa feel so much more relaxed that she could hardly believe it was a Monday. Even Chris Downy's normal antics didn't bother Chenoa as she picked herself up for the hundredth time after tripping over his backpack once again. She merely beamed at him and kept walking.

Chris frowned so hard that Nick said Chris's face would get stuck like that. The morning just didn't feel right to Chris without Chenoa yelling or arguing with him about something. Scowling, Chris followed Gabby and Chenoa into school with Nick beside him, laughing at his friend's foul mood.

"You really need a hobby," Nick chuckled as Chris obsessively watched Chenoa unpacking her back pack into her locker. "Seriously man, this cannot be healthy for you."

"Shut up," Chris growled, slamming his locker shut and trying to take off after Chenoa to pull her hair or do something to get a rise out of her.

A man stepped into his way though, blocking him from his goal.

"Young man, could you help me?" the stranger smiled jovially.

Still following Chenoa with his eyes, Chris craned his neck around the man to see Chenoa slip into her first period class. Damn it.

"What?" he snapped in a foul mood.

He turned his face up to look at a man, who made his skin crawl. His skin did not crawl because the man was ugly or even familiar but because the stranger was so good looking, so perfect, it seemed unnatural. Taking a step back, Chris swallowed hard. The man was grinning at Chris so broadly that his eyes were mere smiling slits.

"I am supposed to be substituting here today but I don't know where the class is," the man said, laughing at himself. "Would you show me where room 612 is?"

"Uh," Chris couldn't look away from the man's eyes. "Sure. That's actually next to my first period."

"Wonderful. I am Mr. Alia-Dei."

"I am Chris…Alia-Dei?"

"Yes, it's Latin."

"Oh. This way."

Chris turned and headed down the hallway towards his class. Mr. Alia-Dei followed closely. Nick watched his friend disappear around the corner, puzzled by the new substitute. Nick blinked twice at something odd. He was sure his eyes were playing tricks on him. As Chris and Mr. Alia-Dei had turned the corner, Nick was sure he had seen Chris's shadow lengthen in the light from the window at the end of the hall, but Mr. Alia-Dei had no shadow at all. However, when Nick blinked, the two had disappeared around the corner, so Nick could do nothing but believe he had mis-seen and head to his own class.

Chenoa and Gabby enjoyed their first half of the school day, passing notes and giggling about the possibilities of Chenoa's powers, even if they would never use them in such ways.

"Oh, could you turn Mrs. Wilkens into a toad?" Gabby asked eagerly as they left the cafeteria after lunch.

"Theoretically but that would be hard," Chenoa said, trying to sound serious, but failing. "That would be a big change."

"Have you seen Mrs. Wilkens? It wouldn't be that big of a change."

Both girls burst out laughing as they headed up the stairs. Mrs. Wilkens was their math teacher and neither of them were a fan of her. She could be nice, but, overall, she was stuffy, pompous and seemed to prefer the male students to the female. She was one of the teachers who was always giving Chris and his friends breaks on tests and assignments. That day they had a test too, which neither girl had studied too much for.

"Could you make us really smart so we could pass this test?" Gabby said with a groan as they drew closer to the math classroom.

"I wouldn't know how. I'm still at the basics, remember? My big accomplishment is turning a stick into a living stick that can whistle."

"Really?"

"Trust me, it's not as impressive as it sounds."

"Maybe to you, but…"

"Hey, Chenoa!" a voice interrupted.

Turning, Chenoa groaned to herself this time to see Chris Downy running down the hall towards her. Both girls stopped and waited as Chris waded through the crowd of people. Panting he caught up and gave a little wave.

"Hiya," he smirked, his eyes appraising Chenoa.

"What, Chris?" Chenoa inquired huffily.

"On your way to math class?"

"It is fourth period. That is where we usually go."

"Are you ready for the math test?"

"Why do you care?"

"I was just curious about if you studied or if you were as stupid as you look."

"Excuse me?"

"Come on, Chenoa, you are horrible at math. I have seen it. If you didn't study, you are going to be screwed on this test."

"Thanks, Chris, for your vote of confidence."

"Hey, someone has to be honest with you, Chenoa. You can't get by on that pretty face of yours, especially since it isn't all that pretty."

Gabby grabbed Chenoa quickly as she saw her friend lunge at Chris. Dodging quickly, Chris chuckled as he escaped from Chenoa's reach. Feeling relieved, Chris turned and ran down the hall to class. He finally had gotten a rise out of Chenoa. Struggling for a moment, Chenoa growled and wished she could turn Chris Downy into a toad.

"He just says that stuff to get you upset," Gabby said as Chenoa finally calmed. "He thinks you're funny when you are mad."

"How do you know?" Chenoa snapped, trudging down the hall.

"Nick told me."

"He did? When?"

"Long time ago. It didn't seem that important to tell you. You were going to get mad whether you knew that or not."

"That's probably true…am I funny when I am mad?"

"Sometimes. But Chris takes it too far. It's not funny when he trips you or insults you. Teasing you is one thing, but he doesn't know the limits."

"I don't find it funny."

"I don't blame you there. If I were you, I would hit him too, but, since I'm not you, I have to restrain you. Your dad would kill you if you got kicked out of school."

Sulking, Chenoa knew that this was true and, since she had just gotten Papa Bear talking to her again, Chenoa didn't want to risk ruining their relationship. Taking a deep breath as if she were about to jump into a pool, Chenoa reached for the class door handle.

"Let's take this stupid test," Chenoa grumbled, leading the way in.

Half an hour later, Chenoa had her forehead scrunched in concentration. The problems weren't extremely difficult; it was just that Chenoa didn't have a head for numbers. History had always been her thing. Give her a war or revolution any day over math problems. Gabby seemed to be focusing hard on her test as well. Gabby was the poet of the two and found math to be too black and white for her preference. She always claimed she liked this with "color." As Chenoa tried to calculate the number of problems she could get wrong in order to pass with a C, a noise from the hallway momentarily distracted her, causing Chenoa's head to pop up from her test.

A loud bang and someone yelling caused everyone to look at the door. Confused, Mrs. Wilkens briskly walked to the door and opened it. She opened her mouth to ask for silence because there was a test going on when she stopped. Tilting her head to the side, she seemed perplexed and surprised. Opening her mouth again, Mrs. Wilkens found her voice catching in her throat as she suddenly seemed to realize something before slamming the classroom door shut. She quickly locked the door and yelled for everyone to get in lock down position. Startled no one moved as she dashed to her desk. Grabbing the phone, she repeated that everyone should get in lock down position immediately. Her fingers clumsily punched in the office code and, when it finally was answered, she yelled into it, "Lock down the school! There are armed intruders! Lock down the school!"

Scrambling now, all the students headed for the farthest corner from the classroom door. Friends clung to each other as boyfriends and girlfriends huddled close. Mrs. Wilkens ran over to her students and stood in front of them as if she could form a protective shield around them with just her body. Chenoa and Gabby had been the first to move so they were squished in the back corner of the group. They held hands, squeezing so tight their hands were white knuckled.

No one spoke for what seemed like forever. There were no more sounds from the hallway, but no one moved. Chenoa could feel a tingling in the ends of her fingers and toes as if her powers wanted to get out of her. She clenched her fists and curled her toes in her boots. Chenoa had chosen to wear knee high, laced up combat boots that day. They were more fashionable then practical, but she was glad she hadn't worn sandals. All through her mind Chenoa pictured a mentally disturb kid or adult bursting through the door and shooting them all just like in all the news reports she had seen. Why her school? Why had the lunatic decided to shoot up her school?

Of course, none of them had heard gunfire yet, but that didn't mean anything. Mrs. Wilkens still stood protectively in front of her students, though her body quaked. She was willing to die to protect them. They were her children, and no one was going to hurt them without going through her first.

As if in response to Mrs. Wilkens's thoughts, the door blew backwards, off its hinges and crashed into her desk. Everyone covered their mouths to stifle their screams as five people walked through the door…if they could be called people.

The first two "people" were average height with skinny bodies like ferrets. The one on the left wore a black suit fitted to his body with a white button up shirt, the top four buttons undone. He wore a black skinny tie, though it was loose around his neck. Everything about the man was delicate from his fingers to his toes, yet he appeared very agile. The man's face was sharp with a small nose, pointed chin, and angular pink eyes. He had soft, shaggy brown hair and large, fuzzy bunny ears poking from the top of his head.

The man standing next to the bunny-man was ghostly white with pure white, like primer paint, skin and hair, which had been cut to look like a weird 80's shag-mullet cut. He wore a tight black outfit that was covered in buckles, totaling seventeen buckles. His lips and eyes were solid black, with white irises. Thick, knobby horns grew out of either side of his head, just above his ears. The horns, alternating between black and white, went out about seven inches before curling up and back in. The white man had his hands buried in the pockets of his pants and seemed bored.

Behind the two men stood three more, even stranger than the first two. The one on the left also had horns growing from his head, but they were cast iron black and grew from the top of the man's head backwards, making a small wave as they reached the back. His hair was fiery orange and his eyes a mischievous green. The orange haired man wore a plain black t-shirt under a black leather jacket that reminded Chenoa of Fonzy from Happy Days. He completed the outfit with black jeans, though the jeans didn't hide that his hindquarters were that of a goat or some similar animal.

On the right was a figure whose gender could not be identified. The figure wore a simple outfit of black baggy pants with a black shirt that was mostly covered by a large, ragged, maroon hooded wrap that hung around its shoulder and head. The hood had a pointed end that seemed to have been pulled a few too many times, for it was elongated and misshapen. Under the hooded wrap was a plain cut theatrical mask, with large eyes holes cut with a curved flare on the outer edges and a small downward line for the mouth.

Finally, in the middle of the second row was, what Chenoa could only assume was a man. He was wrapped in heavy winter clothes, all black like the rest. He had his arms folded across his chest with his hands buried under his arms. He stood six feet seven inches easily and was thickly built even without the extra layers. His face was flat with a large, smiling mouth, exposing sharp, metallic white teeth. The man's eyes were sharp, side-ways diamond shapes that blazed fiery red as if there was a real fire burning in him. There was no sign of a nose on his face; his skin was clay red with hints of burnt black along very visible cracks in his skin.

"Do you think they are wearing costumes?" Gabby dared to whisper into Chenoa's ear.

"I don't think they are," Chenoa replied in a cautious voice.

"Then they aren't human," Gabby gulped.

"My guess is they are from the other realm."

"That must mean they are here for you, Chenoa…"

"Let's get this over with," the large man, who was bundled as if it were midwinter, barked to his comrades, his voice deep and booming. "I am freezing!"

He pulled his hands out from under his arms and blew onto them. Sparks flew out on his breath, heating his hands momentarily, causing his hands to glow like embers. Gabby gasped in surprise, but quickly ducked down as the fire-breather looked her way. Chenoa knew instantly that man must be a Firedweller. He scanned the group of teenagers with a scornful eye.

"We must be careful and find the exact one we are looking for," the masked person sighed, its voice willowy and soft.

"We could always help ourselves," the bunny man grinned, eying the group greedily. "Whichever ones aren't the right one, we could just sell for extra money. It has been a long time since humans have been in our realm for purchasing."

"We are not here to find slaves," the masked person corrected, a bit of annoyance in its tone. "We are here to find the one."

"Who says we can't do both?"

The bunny man nimbly sprinted to the group, his ears twitching eagerly. Mrs. Wilkens attempted to block her students from him, but he looked at her in confusion.

"You are too old to be of use," he laughed as she trembled in her defensive stance.

In a flash, he had leaped up into the air, landed on top of Mrs. Wilkens's head, and jumped straight into the group of teenagers, who all yelled and split into two groups. Mrs. Wilkens flew forward from the force of the bunny man jumping off her head. Yelping in surprise, Mrs. Wilkens stumbled to stay on her feet. The white man grabbed Mrs. Wilkens by the arm to stop her from falling. She looked up at him in fear and apprehension, though he did not look at her. He watched the bunny man.

"Velveteen," the white man said warningly. "You heard the Whisperer. Leave the human children alone."

The bunny man turned to his companion and his ears drooped as his lower lip trembled.

"But Grey!" he whined, his whole body now hunching over. "It's not fair."

"Velveteen, don't whine…"

Sniffing deeply, Velveteen, the bunny man, closed his mouth tightly, those his ears still drooped and his lip still trembled. Rolling his eyes, Grey, the white man, sighed and looked back at the masked figure.

"Whisperer, may he please just look? I promise he won't take any with us," Grey requested.

After a moment's pause, the Whisperer nodded slowly. Velveteen jumped up and down with joy for a second before turning back to Chenoa's classmates. Chenoa and Gabby slowly inched towards the wall behind them. It was the same wall that ten or more feet away held the door. They held hands still, praying no one would notice them.

"Ooh, this one is pretty," Velveteen was saying with delight as he edged around Pam Parkinson. "Such a lovey coat!"

He stroked her hair as she forced herself not to scream. In blink Velveteen was examining another student, male this time, commenting on his good physical shape. Velveteen acted like a kid in the candy store, overwhelmed by his options. Only Chris and Nick noticed Chenoa and Gabby slipping slowly to the back of the group. Neither of them said a thing. Chenoa reached back to feel the wall beneath her fingers, to find her fingers touching cloth. A chill ran down her spin as Chenoa looked up into the face of the orange haired man. He stared down at her, unsmiling. Weakly, Chenoa smiled at him, hoping to crack the serious look on his face. She had not even heard him move.

"May I ask where you were going?" he inquired, his voice rich and earthy, his tone solemn.

"Uh…the bathroom?" Chenoa tried lamely.

"Hmmm."

The man did not seem amused. There was a rush of wind and Velveteen was standing next to the man, staring down at Chenoa and Gabby. He was panting now from excitement.

"What have you got, Pan?" Velveteen chirped curiously.

"My name is Puck for the millionth time," the orange hair man growled.

"Pan would be better for you though."

Puck shot Velveteen a chilling look that totally bounced off him. Velveteen was too busy grinning at Gabby and Chenoa. Darting around them, Velveteen studied them quickly from a distance and then up close. Gabby shrieked as he seemed to climb on her, weightlessly balancing on her shoulders, his hands running through her hair. Then he was balanced on her back as his small, sharp nose sniffed her. His ears twitched in excitement.

"Oooh she smells of spells!" he giggled, sniffing her again.

"Really?" Grey was suddenly there, standing next to his invasive friend.

Grey leaned down this time and he too sniffed Gabby. Holding her hands up in protest, Gabby tried to create space between her and the two men, but Grey grabbed her arm in a blink and held on tightly as he sniffed her neck and hair. Nodding, Grey turned towards the Whisperer.

"She does smell of spells," he concluded.

"Then take her to the TruthSeeker," the Whisperer ordered.

"No!" Chenoa bolted in front of her friend. "You can't take her!"

Gabby clung to Chenoa's shirt, trembling in fear. Grey and Velveteen looked at her as if she had spoken another language. Puck, however, approached her, his eyes locked on hers.

"Why can't we?" he asked, finally smiling.

"She hasn't done anything wrong," Chenoa said boldly.

"Who says we are looking for someone who did something wrong?"

"Uh…"

Chenoa didn't know what to say. All she knew was that she couldn't let these things take Gabby. Who knew what they would do or who they would take her too.

"You smell good," Velveteen groaned from under Chenoa's view.

Blanching, Chenoa glanced down to see Velveteen inhaling her shirt. She had been so focused on Puck that she forgot about Velveteen or Grey. Velveteen knitted his fingers into her shirt and took another deep breath. Moaning a sigh, Velveteen stood up a little straighter, taking another breath of her scent.

"You smell like home," he moaned, nuzzling into her neck.

"Velveteen, stop nuzzling the human!" Grey ordered, yanking his friend off Chenoa.

"No, Grey! Smell her! She smells like home!" Velveteen whined, pointing at Chenoa. "Smell her! Smell her!"

Rolling his eyes, Grey leaned forward and took a quick whiff, but he stopped mid-breath. His white irises grew big and he let go of Velveteen to take hold of Chenoa. Lifting her off the ground to reach his level, Grey took a huge breath in. Holding it, Grey closed his eyes in pleasure.

"This girl does smell like home," Grey murmured gently, his whole body suddenly relaxed.

Rough hands pulled Chenoa from Grey, making Chenoa gag as the collar of her shirt choked her. Puck held Chenoa now in his grip as he lowered his head to her neck and took a breath himself. Holding his nose to the part of her neck that met her shoulder, Puck took his turn to sigh, "Home…" His lips ran across Chenoa's flesh as Puck took a second breath in.

"I wanna smell her!" Velveteen complained, sitting on Chenoa's head.

Startled, Chenoa screamed at his weightless presence on her head. Swatting at Velveteen, Puck growled, pulling Chenoa to his chest. Velveteen easily avoided Puck's hand, landed effortlessly on Chenoa's back like a monkey. The two men had their faces inches from each other when Chenoa felt her body being ripped from Puck's grip. She felt like rag doll being pulled around. Yet this time no one held her. She floated, suspended in mid-air. Freaking out, Chenoa spun and twirled around, looking for who was doing this to her. The Whisperer approached her calmly, its hand in the air like a puppeteer.

"Enough," it said smoothly. "Take both humans to the TruthSeeker."

Grudgingly Grey took hold of Gabby, pushing her forward. Puck approached the Whisperer and bowed. Tilting its head in acknowledgement, the Whisperer lowered its hand and Chenoa felt herself being lowered to the ground. Tenderly, Puck grabbed Chenoa's right arm, just above the elbow, pulling her close. Grey and Puck pushed the girls toward the classroom door when there was an outcry from the group being left behind. Chris and Nick had been trying to sneak up on Puck and Grey in order to help the girls when the Firedweller had grabbed them both by the scruff of the neck.

"This whole group seems to be full of volunteers," he chuckled, though it sounded more like a bark.

"Let us go!" Chris shouted, swinging his arms around crazily.

His fist clipped Nick, who swore at him to stop moving. This only caused the Firedweller to laugh more along with Velveteen and Grey. The Whisperer approached the boys and examined them closely. After a moment, the Whisperer nodded its head in agreement.

"Yes, they shall go, too," it stated firmly. "They rest shall stay. I will watch them until the time to leave comes. Tell Ark where I am."

"As you say," the Firedweller bowed deeply before throwing the boys over his shoulders.

Both boys groaned in pain as they hit his rock like body. Walking forward, all four creatures left the room, leaving the Whisperer with the frightened class. The odd group made its way down the hallway as other mismatched groups appeared from other doorways. Chenoa recognized many of her classmates in the clutches of creatures she had never even dreamed of. Some looked like other Firedwellers; others seemed to be human-animal hybrids like Velveteen was, but much fiercer. One large man carrying two juniors had the head of a grizzly bear that blended into a large, robust male body. Others appeared like Grey, humans with horns and abnormal skin and eye colors. It was overwhelming.

"How can you smell like my home?" Puck inquired in a whisper as they walked.

"What?" Chenoa started, regarding seriously.

"How can you smell like my home?" Puck repeated, his eyes focused straight ahead.

"I don't know…maybe it's in your heads…"

"I would know that smell anywhere…what are you?"

"What do you mean? I am human…"

"Maybe that is what you believe, but no human could smell like my home."

"Why?"

Puck never answered for all the groups came to an abrupt halt. All the escorts focused straight ahead as a familiar man walked out to the front of the group. Chenoa recognized the man's bird like features immediately. It was the man named Ark from the mall. Simultaneously Chenoa felt relief that she had not killed him and dread that he was alive. Ark surveyed the group for a moment, his eyes registering Chenoa, but nothing more.

"Welcome to our gathering," he said pleasantly. "I am sorry for the inconvenience, but we shall leave most of you soon after we run a few tests."

Test? Chenoa and Gabby looked at each other. Gabby had recognized Ark from the description Chenoa had given her just the night before when Chenoa told Gabby about the incident at the mall. What was going on?

"We just need to see who will be our guest of honor for my master's homecoming," Ark continued. "I promise it should not hurt."

Snapping his fingers, Ark locked eyes with Chenoa as a final man appeared. The man wore black pants like the rest with a black shirt under a dark gray sweatshirt that fit loosely and was worn thin. Both wrists were wrapped in medical tape as if sprained. Yet the tape was also wrapped around his neck and up onto his face. Black hair hung down in layers around his face which was a strange sight indeed. Aside from the tape that wrapped up his neck and the lower half of his face, the man wore a black leather muzzle. It covered his face from his jaw and over his nose, stretching up over his left eye, although a hole had been cut for his eye. The only visible part of his face was his right eye and a two-inch diameter around it. His right eye looked as if he had heavy eyeliner around it with long dark eyelashes. The irises that glared out at them were neon blue with sharp cat like pupils. What skin was visible was a gray white color.

"What the hell is that?" Chenoa heard Chris gasp.

"I think that's a who, not a what," Nick replied, though he sounded unsure.

"Osiris, are you ready to start?" Ark asked the new gentleman.

Osiris nodded his head, his eyes never blinking. Ark clapped his hands and Osiris exited to a room directly behind them. Slowly kids were forced up to Ark before disappearing into the room with Osiris. Their length of time in there varied but in the end they were carried from the room, unconscious, to somewhere else in the school. Fear gripped Chenoa. She didn't want Gabby or Nick or even Chris to go into that room. Whatever Osiris was doing to the other kids she didn't want to happen to them or herself.