Silence filled the room, an almost physical feeling that made Zoe sweat, as she felt her mentor's eyes on her. It stretched on and on, and she struggled to keep her eyes on the ornaments, where the cloaked spectre's eyes would be. Her hands started shaking, her stomach filled with dread and doubt. Finally, a thin gloved hand reached up, pulling the hood back from a bone-white face and hair so black as to look blue. The bandana was removed next, with a simple tug that unraveled it, showing a strong, sharp face that couldn't be more than four years her senior. The girl in the black cloak looked at Zoe with sad bluish-black eyes, and echoed her own words back at her, slowly and softly. "Do you think what you did was right?"
Zoe gulped audibly, and whispered, "No. It wasn't. I'm so sorry."
Her mentor smiled, an empty, weary expression that highlighted the stark white angles of her face. She didn't speak for a long moment, then said, slowly, "Go to the library, or the Internet. The library will probably be more useful. Look for any mention of the Sidhe." Re-tying the bandana and lifting the hood up, she turned and left, disappearing from sight so thoroughly that Zoe would not even remember her mentor been there, though she would remember the conversation. She stalked out of the house, past Zoe's mother who showed no sign of noticing her, letting up on the shroud once she was standing safely outside.
None would notice her but those mystically charged enough to break through the magic inlaid in her cloak, and she was reasonably sure there was no one like that in such a small town. Even Zoe wasn't yet at that level... she had one last hurdle.
This is so unlike her. I can't see why she'd do something like that, but... I didn't feel any alterations or recent intrusions. She sighed, turning her attention away from her inner sight and staring intently at the inside of her hood. The pressure of the spell faded from her mind, but she felt another pressure, something almost foreign; it had been so long since... since someone had watched her! Her inner sight returned with a whispered oath, and she saw a familiar, puzzled face walking up to the house, staring at her.
