Read Online Mage Catalyst by Christopher George - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Christopher George
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I’m sorry already!” she snarled back, despite the fact that she actually hadn’t.
We sat in silence, staring at each other. My anger kept me silent and I’d like to think her guilt kept her quiet.
“Thank you,” I murmured when my anger had subsided.
“For what?” she said defensively, her arms folded across her chest.
“Well, for not letting me die for one, and for your grandfather’s treatise for two,” I said. “Can I have your proper number this time?” I asked.
“You didn’t like the pizza?” she laughed.
“You use that place a lot?” I replied, dumbfounded. I had just thought she had picked a number at random.
“Yeah, they stiffed me on a pizza once,” she continued.
Amazingly, she made no move to leave and I was able to ask her more questions. She was a little more open with me now. I wasn’t sure if she’d decided that she could trust me, but she was a lot more forthcoming with answers about her life. Renee refused to discuss anything further about the mana though, imploring me to read her grandfather’s writings, saying it would explain it far better than she could, but we chatted long into the night.
“So you didn’t answer me earlier,” I said as the night drew to a close. “Can I have your real number this time?”
“No,” she said.
“No?”
“I’m not going to give you my number today – that would be too easy.”
“Easy?” I was becoming a parrot.
“If you can find me again, I’ll give it to you.” She smiled. “And I’ll know that you’ve understood my grandfather’s work.”
“How am I supposed to find you?” I asked in desperation.
“Read my grandfather’s work!” Renee repeated smugly. “See you soon, Twitch!” she said as she walked away. “Don’t keep me waiting too long.”
I just stared at her with longing.
“Oh, and keep that disk safe. I want it back when you’re done.”
CHAPTER THREE
I didn’t sleep well again that night. I twisted and turned in my sleep, unable to switch off. Renee’s words repeated over and over in my mind: “I see you haven’t fried yourself yet.”
I could have died. I wasn’t prepared to use the mana until I knew how to use it properly and I couldn’t learn to use it properly until I read the information on Renee’s disk. Unfortunately my dad’s computer didn’t have a three and quarter inch drive, neither did my laptop. The only place I knew that still had them was the computers in the school library. I’d have to wait until Monday. I hate waiting.
After three days without using mana I began to feel my temperature rising. I still wasn’t sleeping properly and my dreams were troubled. The whole experience had introduced me to a new concept – being eager to get to school. This was a new feeling and one that I didn’t like.
I left for school very early on Monday morning, leaving a note for Tony or Garry on the front door telling them that I’d gone ahead to finish an assignment. I’d hoped to catch a half hour or so in the library where I could look at the disk uninterrupted. The library is always open before school, so that kids can finish homework before class. I tore into the school at high speed, kicked open the doors into the library and burst inside. I ignored the outraged expression on the librarian’s face and her indignant demand to slow down and settled down in front of a computer terminal. After logging into the system I hesitantly placed the disk into the slot and waited for it to load.
The discordant sound of the floppy disk loading was unusually loud in the quiet library. I looked around guiltily but the librarians had gone back to their morning duties. There were about a half dozen documents on the disk and I selected the one entitled “Basic Principles”. That document seemed like the logical place to start and it also had the earliest creation date.
It was a large document – very large. This was going to take some time to work my way through it all. I tried
We sat in silence, staring at each other. My anger kept me silent and I’d like to think her guilt kept her quiet.
“Thank you,” I murmured when my anger had subsided.
“For what?” she said defensively, her arms folded across her chest.
“Well, for not letting me die for one, and for your grandfather’s treatise for two,” I said. “Can I have your proper number this time?” I asked.
“You didn’t like the pizza?” she laughed.
“You use that place a lot?” I replied, dumbfounded. I had just thought she had picked a number at random.
“Yeah, they stiffed me on a pizza once,” she continued.
Amazingly, she made no move to leave and I was able to ask her more questions. She was a little more open with me now. I wasn’t sure if she’d decided that she could trust me, but she was a lot more forthcoming with answers about her life. Renee refused to discuss anything further about the mana though, imploring me to read her grandfather’s writings, saying it would explain it far better than she could, but we chatted long into the night.
“So you didn’t answer me earlier,” I said as the night drew to a close. “Can I have your real number this time?”
“No,” she said.
“No?”
“I’m not going to give you my number today – that would be too easy.”
“Easy?” I was becoming a parrot.
“If you can find me again, I’ll give it to you.” She smiled. “And I’ll know that you’ve understood my grandfather’s work.”
“How am I supposed to find you?” I asked in desperation.
“Read my grandfather’s work!” Renee repeated smugly. “See you soon, Twitch!” she said as she walked away. “Don’t keep me waiting too long.”
I just stared at her with longing.
“Oh, and keep that disk safe. I want it back when you’re done.”
CHAPTER THREE
I didn’t sleep well again that night. I twisted and turned in my sleep, unable to switch off. Renee’s words repeated over and over in my mind: “I see you haven’t fried yourself yet.”
I could have died. I wasn’t prepared to use the mana until I knew how to use it properly and I couldn’t learn to use it properly until I read the information on Renee’s disk. Unfortunately my dad’s computer didn’t have a three and quarter inch drive, neither did my laptop. The only place I knew that still had them was the computers in the school library. I’d have to wait until Monday. I hate waiting.
After three days without using mana I began to feel my temperature rising. I still wasn’t sleeping properly and my dreams were troubled. The whole experience had introduced me to a new concept – being eager to get to school. This was a new feeling and one that I didn’t like.
I left for school very early on Monday morning, leaving a note for Tony or Garry on the front door telling them that I’d gone ahead to finish an assignment. I’d hoped to catch a half hour or so in the library where I could look at the disk uninterrupted. The library is always open before school, so that kids can finish homework before class. I tore into the school at high speed, kicked open the doors into the library and burst inside. I ignored the outraged expression on the librarian’s face and her indignant demand to slow down and settled down in front of a computer terminal. After logging into the system I hesitantly placed the disk into the slot and waited for it to load.
The discordant sound of the floppy disk loading was unusually loud in the quiet library. I looked around guiltily but the librarians had gone back to their morning duties. There were about a half dozen documents on the disk and I selected the one entitled “Basic Principles”. That document seemed like the logical place to start and it also had the earliest creation date.
It was a large document – very large. This was going to take some time to work my way through it all. I tried
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