people, but I could never have gotten Dan, arguably my nemesis at school, to act like my best friend, especially for such a long period of time. That kind of work required a mojo far, far beyond what I had. But why would such a powerful…being need to remain in the shadows? And how did so many creatures, both good and evil, suddenly know every little detail about me? The pwca had known all about my interaction with Stan the night before, as well as enough of Stan’s personality to play him flawlessly, to say nothing of knowing that I was carrying White Hilt that day. The owner of the mysterious voice knew all about my previous incarnations. Was there any corner of my life, no matter how small, that was truly private anymore? I feared I knew the answer to that one.
I didn’t know whether I entirely trusted the voice yet, but it had one thing right: I needed more allies. Someone I could trust more than anonymous voices or old enemies suddenly turned into friends. When I got home, I let Mom fuss just a bit, then sang her to sleep. Then I paid a call at Stan’s house, put his mother to sleep, and told him everything, every secret, every relevant scrap of information, from the moment I could remember my past lives until today.
CHAPTER 5: LIFE CHANGES
To say that Stan was skeptical would have been a gross understatement. Even though he had proposed the reincarnation idea himself just yesterday, he had done so only because he could not think of any other rational explanation, and perhaps also because one of the students on his science Olympiad team was both scientifically minded and a firm Hindu believer in reincarnation, making the idea seem more respectable to him. But reincarnation was one thing, outright magic quite another. He did me the courtesy of not laughing in my face, though he questioned every detail. He would have made a great investigative reporter, but right now I needed my friend, not an interview.
“Stan, even you have to admit that science can’t explain everything.”
“Yet,” he added pointedly. “That doesn’t mean there is no scientific explanation for those things. It just means we haven’t found it yet.”
I sighed inwardly. I couldn’t really blame Stan for being who he was, and he was a born scientist. What would you expect from someone who finished the highest level high school math and science courses by the end of freshman year and now took special online college courses in both subjects as a result of some deal between UC Santa Barbara and Santa Brígida High School? I bet the powers that be at UC Santa Barbara thought they could recruit Stan and students like him that way; if so, they obviously didn’t know Stan’s parents.
I glanced nervously at my watch. In theory, I could keep his mother asleep for as long as I needed, but his father would be home soon. The more people involved, the more complicated keeping them asleep would become, and I was already feeling spread thin to the point of transparency. At the same time, I didn’t feel as if I could just leave Stan as things were. I wanted, no, I needed him to believe me. Well, there was not too much question about the best way to shake that skepticism.
“‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’ What would science have to say about this?” With that, I pulled out White Hilt, realizing with a sickening jolt that I had forgotten to clean the blood off. The blood… No, I wasn’t going to let myself be distracted by anything. I grasped the hilt firmly, and the blade was engulfed in flames.
Stan’s eyes widened in shock, and he pulled back as far as he could.
“Tal, damn, are you trying to burn my house down?!” I hadn’t meant to frighten him, but I had never seen him look so scared. I got another jolt when I realized his face looked almost like that of the pwca as it had been burning. I willed the blade to return to normal, and it did.
“What the hell!”
I didn’t know whether I entirely trusted the voice yet, but it had one thing right: I needed more allies. Someone I could trust more than anonymous voices or old enemies suddenly turned into friends. When I got home, I let Mom fuss just a bit, then sang her to sleep. Then I paid a call at Stan’s house, put his mother to sleep, and told him everything, every secret, every relevant scrap of information, from the moment I could remember my past lives until today.
CHAPTER 5: LIFE CHANGES
To say that Stan was skeptical would have been a gross understatement. Even though he had proposed the reincarnation idea himself just yesterday, he had done so only because he could not think of any other rational explanation, and perhaps also because one of the students on his science Olympiad team was both scientifically minded and a firm Hindu believer in reincarnation, making the idea seem more respectable to him. But reincarnation was one thing, outright magic quite another. He did me the courtesy of not laughing in my face, though he questioned every detail. He would have made a great investigative reporter, but right now I needed my friend, not an interview.
“Stan, even you have to admit that science can’t explain everything.”
“Yet,” he added pointedly. “That doesn’t mean there is no scientific explanation for those things. It just means we haven’t found it yet.”
I sighed inwardly. I couldn’t really blame Stan for being who he was, and he was a born scientist. What would you expect from someone who finished the highest level high school math and science courses by the end of freshman year and now took special online college courses in both subjects as a result of some deal between UC Santa Barbara and Santa Brígida High School? I bet the powers that be at UC Santa Barbara thought they could recruit Stan and students like him that way; if so, they obviously didn’t know Stan’s parents.
I glanced nervously at my watch. In theory, I could keep his mother asleep for as long as I needed, but his father would be home soon. The more people involved, the more complicated keeping them asleep would become, and I was already feeling spread thin to the point of transparency. At the same time, I didn’t feel as if I could just leave Stan as things were. I wanted, no, I needed him to believe me. Well, there was not too much question about the best way to shake that skepticism.
“‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’ What would science have to say about this?” With that, I pulled out White Hilt, realizing with a sickening jolt that I had forgotten to clean the blood off. The blood… No, I wasn’t going to let myself be distracted by anything. I grasped the hilt firmly, and the blade was engulfed in flames.
Stan’s eyes widened in shock, and he pulled back as far as he could.
“Tal, damn, are you trying to burn my house down?!” I hadn’t meant to frighten him, but I had never seen him look so scared. I got another jolt when I realized his face looked almost like that of the pwca as it had been burning. I willed the blade to return to normal, and it did.
“What the hell!”
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