As Perceived by Crystellen Treasure 5

“Yes,” Mom interrupted.  “I do.  My dear daughter, I know you want to protect us, but you’ve gone too far.  If Losten meant us harm, he wouldn’t have said anything to your sister about her tail.  He would have followed her back here or grabbed her, not eat supper with her family.”  She sighed.  “I assume your mind probe proved this?”

I glanced down at the floor.  “I couldn’t figure out how to probe deep enough.  So, I, I,” I paused, “I faked a bridge accident to see if I could force him to tell me he was Manicotti.”

My sister went ballistic and gave me a hateful expression.  I didn’t pay much attention to what she said, but I figured now was not the time to tell her she should thank me.  I muttered something about how he didn’t seem to know who the Manicotti were and that he had conflicted thoughts for my sister.  I wish I had known how to conduct a better mind probe, that way I could have searched deeper into his thoughts.  However, he didn’t know who the Manicotti were, so unless they had somehow erased his memory, he seemed clear of that charge.

As Emerys spoke, it occurred to me that I knew more about how Losten felt towards her than she did.  Over the last couple months, I’d heard her tell Cat that she didn’t know how this guy felt towards her.  A feeling of empowerment washed over me.  Emerys would have loved to know what I knew.

As Perceived by Crystellen Treasure 4

In the kitchen I searched for our boxes of instant tea.  I didn’t drink the stuff, but Mom and Grandma drank enough of it that we ought to have some in here.  In the cabinet over the sink, I found a box of chai tea, grabbed several packets, and ran back to where Losten laid.

I turned to Mom.  “What if he eats the dried tea leaves?  Maybe that’ll help?”

Before she could answer, Grandma walked into the room.  My thoughts raced too much for me to hear everything she said, but she instructed Em to pour the tea packets in Losten’s mouth.  Before she left the room, she and Mom had another spat about how she had poisoned Dad years ago.  Somehow I knew this wouldn’t be their last.  I loved Grandma, but I wish she lived with our cousins instead of us.  But, she would probably say we lived with her, since she had lived in this house long before I was ever born.

A while later, Mom turned to me and asked why I poisoned Losten.  Do we really have to go through this again, I thought.  Didn’t I already explain this once to you?

Emerys and I had an exchange before I blurted out my thoughts.  “I was trying to protect us!”  “You just brought him here, with no idea who he was.  He could still be Manicotti for all you know.  Someone has to protect us.  Didn’t you think it a little coincidental that you saved the same guy twice?  That the guy you pull out of a car just happens to offer to tutor you in math?  How many other guys at school offered to tutor you?  And, he just happens to see your tail?  You think all of this is coincidence?”

Emerys glared back at me.  Why didn’t anyone appreciate what I had done?  Losten just happened to be saved by my sister and just happened to learn our secret.  Why was I the only one who had found that too coincidental?

As Perceived by Crystellen Treasure 3

A knock on the door interrupted my nap.  Before I could get off my bed, Mom barged into my bedroom.

“Young lady,” she said, “come with me.”  She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me off my bed.

I hated it when she called me “young lady.”  Most days she said I didn’t act like a lady, so when she called me one, I knew I was in trouble.

When we reached the steps, she still hadn’t let go of my arm, so I stumbled down the stairs behind her.  In the living room, my sister’s love interest Losten laid on the sofa.  I stood beside Mom and glanced down at the coffee table.  At least it shielded me from my sister’s unpleasant stare.

“How much cassidium did you give him?” Mom asked.  “How many drops?”

I glanced at Losten.  He laid before me in misery.  I hadn’t quite intended him to be that uncomfortable, though I knew it was a possible side-effect.  I glanced back at the floor.  “Drops, I dunno,” I replied.  “One or two tablespoons in his tea yesterday.”

Mom said something that I barely heard.  Instead I stared at Losten, who appeared to be in a lot of pain.  Had I given him too much cassidium?

He moaned. 

His cheeks looked flushed.  Even the Manicotti didn’t deserve this.  On second thought, they probably did.  However, what I had done seemed a little inhumane, even though the situation had justified it.

Mom said something about how he might die. 

Could someone really die from cassidium poisoning?  Why hadn’t somebody mentioned this before?  All I wanted to do was protect my sister and my family, not kill him.  I pulled free from Mom’s grip and ran to the kitchen.  Perhaps there was still a way to save him?