Kaden
Schoolsucked.Iguessedspending years cooped up in a dark room with no human interaction, only to be molested or beaten every time someone did come in, made you forget how much you didn’t like school.
I sat through all the first-level classes, watching other students use their talents. I was forbidden to use mine, unless I was in Dr. Grace’s class. Even there, the guards I’d been initially assigned would form some sort of magical forcefield around me as I was told to try out my powers.
Since the unfortunate incident where I’d accidentally sent the electric bolt toward Lysander, I hadn’t lost control of my powers. He kept his distance and refused to do anything other than sit in the back of the room and watch.
Dr. Grace hadn’t asked him to do anything again. I assumed she felt bad for using her powers on him. It was seriously uncool that she had, but I’d never be able to find a way to tell him I thought that. The one time I’d tried to approach him, he cringed like I was about to hit him.
Even after being beaten, I’d never struck back. I wasn’t sure why he thought I would hit him, except, yeah, that time I sent electricity barreling toward him.
I still didn’t understand why or how that had happened. It was almost like someone else did it. I didn’t trust him, and of course, I was sure he had to be a bad person if he made my powers grow inside me, but he didn’t deserve an unprovoked attack. I just wished I could apologize.
We’d been in class three weeks when Dr. Grace asked Lysander to try his power.
He ignored her, and I could tell the woman wasn’t used to people disobeying her. Finally, she stood up and when she did, so did he.
“You will practice your skills now,” she commanded.
Still, he didn’t comply. The entire class watched their battle of wills. Dr. Grace’s expression changed, and I knew she was putting him back under her control. Lysander, who’d been looking away, turned to face her, and we all watched the silent battle between them.
At some point, blood began to pour from Lysander’s nose, yet he didn’t flinch. Instead, he continued to stare the professor down. I stood up, remembering the warning made the day of the electrical bolt that it wasn’t safe for him to absorb energy above his skill set.
Clearly, he was taking on Dr. Bisbee, and that was bad. He really shouldn’t with someone so powerful.
Dr. Bisbee yelled out, “Arrgh,” and Lysander collapsed, twitched a few times, then went still.
“Fuck, you’ve killed him!” I said accusingly.
She looked shocked. “Um, Kathy, go to the infirmary and ask Dr. Wells to come immediately,” she said to one of the women sitting next to the door.
“How could you?” I accused.
She began walking toward him, and I immediately stepped between them. “No! Leave him alone. You’ll have to kill me too.”
I heard some murmurs of assent around the room. Dr. Grace relented, then turned and walked out the door.
Seconds later, the school’s physician rushed in, followed by three students pulling a gurney. I assumed they were his interns.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I think Dr. Bisbee killed him.”
The doctor looked concerned. “Liam, Kelvin, get him on the gurney. Sandra, see if you can use your powers to stabilize him.”
She closed her eyes and began humming. Seconds later, she opened them again, and said, “He’s alive, but he’s bleeding internally. I’ve stabilized him, but he’ll have to have more done than I can do on my own.”
I followed them down the corridor and into the infirmary. Dr. Wells noticed me and asked me to stay in the waiting room. “I’ll have Dr. Aynesworth meet you here after we’re convinced Mr. Phillips will be okay. I’m sure he’ll want a full report from everyone who witnessed the events.”
I nodded and sat down with relief. At least Lysander was alive. I seriously thought she’d killed him. I had to admit he was a lot stronger than I thought when I first met him. I was impressed by the way he stood up to Dr. Grace. She shouldn’t be using her powers on students who stood against her. She’d been nice to me, and I suspected she was the reason I was here, but she was still a bully.
As I sat in the stark waiting room filled with old, uncomfortable plastic chairs that had been there since the building was built in the sixties or early seventies, I thought about Dr. Grace. Why hadn’t she done the same thing to me?
I had often felt the tickle in my head with her presence, but she’d never done to me what she’d done to Lysander. I wondered if it was because my powers were stronger than his.
I assumed she’d feel different about his strength after today. She could’ve killed him, but he stood up to her. That was more than any other student had done in our class, including me.
Chapter fourteen
