FicWad

Kara

So far, school was going okay. Sure, the bell hadn’t even rung to start the school day yet, but, hell, if the time before school is good, it should count for something, right? I pulled into our typical parking lot, and Jake shot out of the car and into the horde of his fellow football players as usual. I sat in the car until the urge to get to class on time overcame me and I hopped out. Just as I get to the top of the front steps, I hear a squeal and get tackled from behind. “Kara! Oh my God, you’ll never guess what Alex did to me this morning!”
A grin stretches across my face as I pry myself out of Mira’s embrace. “Nice to see you too,” I laugh.
“Yeah, it’s a pleasure as usual, whatever. Anyway,” she continues, and I laugh at her enthusiasm.
But I interrupt her. “How much coffee have you had today?”
Her eyes widen and she snaps her fingers. “Damn it! I left my coffee mug on the counter…” she trails off, her silvery blue eyes pleading with mine. I cut her some slack and a travel mug appears in her hand, so fresh its steaming. She grins. “You’re the best, babe.” After a long slurp, she pulls me into the school with her. “Anyway, as I was saying, you’ll never guess what my brother did to me.” She didn’t give me time to guess as she plowed straight into the gruesome story of how he woke her up early and pressured her into being ready early only so they could get here early.
“But you don’t need to put on all that makeup,” I insist as we arrive at home-room: Ms. Clumpy’s class, History of Abnormalities. “You look amazing without it.”
Mira pouts her bright red lips. “But I love it; brings my personality right out!”
“Is that personality some sort of punk-emo freak?” Says some high soprano voice snidely behind us. I look up, only to narrow my eyes menacingly at Nadine Meriwether, the cruelest – and consequently, the most popular – fairy and girl in the school. For some reason she hates both of us. Whatever.
“Technically,” I say in a calm scholarly voice, “we are all freaks.”
Nadine crinkles her nose. “Ew, bookworm, stop talking to me; I don’t want your nerdiness infecting me.”
“Go screw yourself,” Mira shoots back, eyes ablaze.
Nadine’s laugh rings out sharply. “Unlike you, I have people who will do that to me willingly.”
“Thanks for sharing,” I said brightly, “but we don’t want to hear about your after-school job.”
Two bright patches of pink flared on her already pink cheeks. “Watch your mouth, Frost. I can make you regret this conversation.”
“Like I care.”
Nadine storms off to her seat at the front of the room. Mira and I look at each other and gag in unison.
Alex slides into the seat in front of me, five minutes before the final bell. Mira growls. “For someone who’s so concerned for being early, you’re cutting it pretty fucking close.”
Alex turns in his seat to face us. His eyes meet mine briefly before flickering to look at his twin. “Coach Wrigley wanted to talk to me about baseball scholarships.”
Mira shook her head stubbornly. “I don’t care about damn sports; hell, the president could have been talking to you and I wouldn’t care. If you wake me up ten minutes early for a reason, I expect you to fulfill whatever shitty reason you give me.”
Alex smiles, “Fine. You win Kitty Cat.” He looks at me. “Nice shirt,” he approves before spinning back around. A stupid grin gets stuck on my face.
Kara’s in looove! Mira sings in her head. Kara’s in loooveee with my Aaaaaleeeex! Another one of my powers: I could read the minds of those I was close to. I could also place thoughts into another’s mind; I could do that to anyone.
Of course, I wasn't close enough to Alex, so I couldn’t read his mind.
Damn. It.
Riiiiiiinnnnnnnnng! Jake slides into the seat next to Alex, which is coincidentally in front of Mira. She plugs her nose. He smells like dog, she complains. This freaking sucks.
Suck it up and be a strong cat. Don’t let the dog chase you up a tree with his big, bad smell, I snicker back to her. She’s about to tell me something else, but Ms. Clumpy waddles up to the front of the room then, clearing her throat and smoothing down her bubble-gum pink hair. Her green horn-rimmed glasses are still slightly cock-eyed, but, as usual, the elf doesn’t mind. She waddles because she’s three feet tall and, well…chubby.
“Finals are coming up!” She squeaks, clapping her hands together. “Do you know what that means?” Our class is less than enthusiastic. Crickets chirp and Clumpy frowns at a warlock in the front. “Mr. Smith, I do not appreciate your sound effects.” He shrugs, but the chorus of chirps cease. Ms. Clumpy’s smile brightens once again. “It means graduation is coming up! Some of you may be heading off to live your life with the Mortals! That means we need review review review!
“Quick, what is an Abnormality? Nadine!”
She tosses her pinking blonde hair over her shoulder and says: “It’s like, any creature that’s not normal and has an unexplainable power or magic of some sort. Fairies are one example, like moi.”
Fairies are different that faeries, just to clarify. Fairies are the typical wish-granting flying things you see in those Disney movies, while faeries have a single power, wings, and worship the Light or Dark to gather their life energy; they can live indefinitely while fairies have a century, maybe two if they’re lucky. Faeries look pretty normal, and their wings are definite things that are always with them. Fairies have wings that fade in and out of existence when needed and their entire being takes on one solid color – that means eyes, skin, hair, wings – everything. Nadine was all pink, something that was way too fitting.
Clumpy had already moved on to the rest of her lecture. “Correct. Now, who created the first Abnormality, and what was it? Let’s see, who should answer?” In a typical fashion, I snapped Mira, Jake, and Alex to attention, just in case none of them realized a question could come their way: Clumpy wants to know who created the first Abnormality and what it was. Pay attention!
Of course, Alex already knew what was going on. He had been calmly reviewing notes during the course of class. Mira had been doodling, as per usual, and I’m pretty sure Jake was flirting with a pixie who sat in front of him…
“Kara, would you care to answer?”
My pencil stops tapping on my desk – a habit I’ve picked up during class – as I breeze through the answer: this was common Abnormality knowledge. “Mother Nature and Father Time created the first Abnormality soon after they created the first Mortal because they realized that there were some things that needed doing and protecting in the world that their original fragile creation couldn’t do. So they created sorcerers and sorceresses of that time, who later became known as the Ancient Ones.”
Clumpy beamed: she loved me. “Correct. Now, as you all know, the Ancient Ones started off as good people. They helped raise successful crops, create helpful technology, and even became national leaders. All was well for a few centuries.
“However, right around the time of the Black Plague, the Ancient Ones were beginning to feel ignored. They argued that the Mortals were ungrateful of their aide, and no longer believed in them. In retaliation, the Ancient Ones started the Black Plague, killing thousands, and Mother Nature and Father Time could do little. Eventually they were able to stop the spreading of the Plague; this angered the Ancient Ones, who now felt that they were second best to the Mortals.
“They kept quiet for several centuries more, but they slowly gathered their grudges against Mother Nature and Father Time, who realized that they needed more Abnormalities on the Earth to take up more responsibility. Eventually, the Ancient Ones were forgotten, and the variety of Abnormalities that we know now took over, erasing the Ancient Ones from everyone’s mind. New sorcerers and sorceresses were created, ones with a less spiteful mind.
“Not surprisingly, the Salem Witch Trials are right around the time when the Ancient Ones showed up once more. They put fear and paranoia into the minds of everyone, and before you knew it, thousands of more innocents were killed, including several hundred Abnormalities. Then the Ancient One had to be destroyed once and for all, and they were, in Contritio de antiquis, or the Obliteration of the Ancient Ones. They haven’t been seen since.”
A fiery orange dark-skinned fairy raised her hand. Ms. Clumpy called on her reluctantly. “Yes Riana?”
“Um, like, aren’t there rumors that the Ancient Ones are still around? Everyone says there’s gonna be another Uprising and –”
“Riana!” Ms. Clumpy looks peeved. “Those are strictly rumors. You know that there is no possible way that the Ancient Ones survived the Contritio de antiquis: Mother Nature and Father Time personally came from Paradiso to battle alongside us. The. Ancient. Ones. Are. Gone.”
“Whatever.” Riana rolls her eyes and files her nails.
A knock sounds at the door and Mr. Rill, our haphazard Potions teacher from next door, pops his head in, looking ashamed. “Um, Glenda, do you think you could…?” The class snickers and Ms. Clumpy shoots us a venomous glare.
Facing the poor wizard at the door, Ms. Clumpy clasps her hands in front of her and nods curtly. “I’ll be right there, Merlin. Give me one moment.”
He looks relieved. “Of course. Thank you Glen.” As he leaves the room, I can see smoke trail into the hallway, followed by a string of curses. The class snickers again.
Poor guy, Mira thinks. He can’t help that he’s blind in one eye and has a license to deal with potentially fatal liquids.
I smirk, nodding slightly.
“Okay, class. I know this isn’t ideal, it being the first day back and all, but…” Clumpy looks at her watch and frowns, muttering, “He couldn’t have blown something up closer to the bell?” She looks up and gives us a sugar smile. “For the next half hour I expect you all to be silently writing a two page summary on the Contritio de antiquis and the events that led up to it; I want the consequences also. If you use any sources other than your notes, I expect a bibliography. It will be due at the beginning of class tomorrow.
“I expect you all on your best behavior. Have an exceptional first day back. Now, Mr. Smith, Miss Tate, and Miss Wren, please follow me to Mr. Rill’s classroom: I’m going to need your help. Mr. Darris, can you please run to the front office and retrieve Nurse Williams? I have a feeling this is going to be a toughie.” The four students exited the classroom with Ms. Clumpy at their heels. When the door was firmly shut behind them, the classroom erupted into separate conversations. Desks were pushed together, other seats were created, and a few more students trickled out to God-knows where.
Mira and I head to the spare space in the back of the classroom where I conjur up two beanbags and we plop down happily. The guys talk of something that sounds suspiciously like sports.
“Girl, I swear, I was about to fall asleep! If I wanted to hear all of that mumbo jumbo, I would have paid attention the first time! I mean, seriously! The finals are multiple choice anyway – I don’t need any more studying time!”
I laugh at her cockiness. “Mir, you realize that only half of the test is multiple choice, right? The rest are short and extended response answers that require a thorough understanding of everything that we’ve learned so far these past four years.”
Mira visibly pales, if that’s even possible. Alex turns to us and smirks. “You wanna take back that whole ‘no studying’ thing there, little sis?”
Mira sticks her tongue out at him. “Shut up; just because you’re a genius and I’m your twin doesn’t mean I automatically have to smart too. And it’s a three minute difference! Hardly counts as being older than me.”
Alex grins. “It’s three more minutes than you’ll ever have.”
“Screw you.”
He just shakes his head and turns back to his sports conversation with Jake.
Mira sighs at me. “I don’t know what you see in him.”
I kick at her lightly, praying nobody heard her whisper. Just because he’s your brother doesn’t mean he isn’t nice. Or hot.
Mira scowls at the back of Alex’s head. “He can be an ass.”
I laugh. “He’s his brother; he has to be an ass to you. Besides, at least you don’t have Jake.”
“But he’s not your brother!”
“Might as well be.” I brighten, pulling out the video camera from this morning – it’s still in my back pocket. “You have to see this. Jake’s wearing –”
His head snaps up and his eyes narrow at the camera I now hold in my hand. “Kara,” he growls, sounding very wolf-like, “you wouldn’t dare.”
I pause, tilting my head to the side, considering. Then I press play. “Yes I would!”
Mira grabs the camera from me and darts out of Jake’s reach, eyes glued to the screen. She buckles over laughing, still dancing just out of Jake’s fury. “Oh my God, this is hilarious! The dog’s in bunny pajamas!”
He flushes a deep scarlet red, finally taking the camera from Mira. He holds it high above his head, way out of her reach. A determined look settles into her blue irises. Suddenly, she springs onto Jake’s back and climbs onto his shoulder, once again taking hold of the camera. Then she jumps lithely off and darts back to my side, sliding the memory card into my palm. I hide it in my back pocket.
When Jake comes storming over, Mira tosses the camera to him flippantly, sending me a sideways grin, while Jake looks at the two of us suspiciously.
Alex comes over and mouths to me where is it? He knows we wouldn’t just give Jake the video, which becomes evident seconds later when he asks menacingly, “Where’s the damn memory card?” His eyes pin to Mira, who’s lounging casually on her silver beanbag, looking as innocent as can be. “Mira? What did you do with it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, dog.” She grins hugely and sprints across the large classroom and away from a very irritated Jake.
“Where did you put it?” Alex eyes me curiously before going back to watch the chase between cat and dog. He unconsciously forms a fireball in his palms and tosses it back in forth; he can control the basic elements of fire, water, earth, and air, fire and earth being his two strongest elements.
“Not telling,” I say, wincing as Mira lands a good kick behind Jake’s knee.
“Really?” This time he looks me square in the eye, carefully examining my face. “Did you put it in your pocket?”
My lip twitches nervously. “No.”
“Liar!” The fireball diminishes as he takes a step closer to me. I spring up and try to get a running start, but Alex grabs a hold of my arm. I do this twist move that Coach Wrigley taught me and his grip releases. He’s grinning.
Just as I’m about to take off again, Nadine steps in between us, he magenta eyes locked on Alex. “Hey Alex,” she purrs, voice dripping honey. “Do you think you could help me with my essay? I just don’t get the whole Contritio de antiquis thing.” Her small hands have his shirt in their vise-like grip.
He pries her fingers away, taking a step back. “No thanks, Nadine. I’m a little busy.”
She pouts. “Please?”
“I said no.” His eyes are unwavering and absolute.
She stomps her petite little foot. “Why not?”
Alex takes another step back. “I don’t know,” he says, pondering, tossing another ball of fire back and forth. “Maybe because you harass my sister daily? Or, oh, here’s a good one: you already have a boyfriend, and it’s very obvious you don’t want me for studying purposes.”
Her smile is too bright. “Oh, I want to study something all right.”
I snort and she turns on me. Alex is wide-eyed. “Nobody cares about you Kara. So fuck off. It’s not like you have a chance with any of the guys here, especially the one you really want.” She turns to Alex and sends him another award-winning smile. “Alex.”
I am horror-struck. The bell rings and I run to my desk, shoving my things in my bag and bolting out of the room.

Alex

Nadine tsks sadly at Kara’s retreating figure. “Poor thing; she’s way out of league here.”
Mira suddenly appears at my side, glaring at Nadine. “What the fuck did you do Nadine? I swear to God if you hurt Kara…”
Rolling her eyes, the fairy says, “I was just telling her how your brother is a poor choice as a crush; way out of her league.”
The next thing I know, I’m pulling my twin off of Nadine, who now has blood gushing from her nose. “Mir! Calm down!”
“Yeah Mir,” Nadine snaps, standing up. “Calm down.”
I bare my fangs at Nadine and she stumbles. “Go away.”
She sprints out of the room, leaving me and my sister alone. Jake already left to see if Kara was alright.
Mira shakes herself off, shooting me a look. “You could have said something instead of just letting Kara leave the room in freaking tears.”
“I…”
She shakes her head, feature softening. “You know, you could tell her you like her back.”
I run a hand through my hair, contemplating. It still shocked me that Kara could have a crush on me. I’m was a vampire for Christ’s sake! And she was an Immortal; an Immortal with the beauty to match her brains. I could stare into her eyes all day.
“Alex, this may come as a shock to you, but I never told Kara that you liked her; just like I never told you she liked you. I have my boundaries between sibling secrets and friend secrets. I probably should have said something to each of you, but I thought one of you would suck it up and just do something. But she had it set in her mind that if you liked her you would say something, and you have it set in your mind that she’s too good for you. Here’s a newsflash: both of you are pathetic. So for the love of all that is holy, ask her out already!” Mira gave me one last knowing look before throwing her backpack over her shoulder. “Do it before Nadine fucks with her any more, please. Kara’s strong, but she can’t handle Nadine perfectly all by herself. Hell, I don’t think anybody can.”
The next class was starting to trickle into the classroom. I grabbed my bag and ran to P.F.E., Kara’s crumpled face the only thing I could see the whole way there.

Jake

Kara’s hair was flying behind her in angry streams as she dashed down the crowded hallway. While she wove through the crowd deftly with her smaller frame, I barreled right down the center, practically shoving people to the side. “Kara! Slow the hell down!”
Of course, she goes faster, almost disappearing from my view altogether. Be-fore I know it, she’s ducked into the girl’s bathroom. I punch the door open casually. “If there are any chicks in here that aren’t named Kara Frost then leave.”
Kara’s locked herself in the handicap stall. “Kara, get the fuck out of there.”
“Screw you, Jake.”
I kick at the door and it shudders to the ground. Her big green eyes seem to get even bigger when she sees what I’ve done. Suddenly she’s made herself a metal box by the sink to hide in.
“I swear to God Kara, if you don’t talk to me then we’re both going to be late to class, and I know you don’t want that. You aren’t a rule-breaker. Face it.”
I can practically see her mind gears spinning and the thoughts flash through her mind in a rapid succession. “Coach Wrigley loves me; he won’t care that I’m late to P.F.E.”
Shit, I forgot about that little detail with Kara; all of the teachers loved her, since she did so well in all of them. Yeah, as some of my football buddies say, “Girl’s got the looks and the brains. And if ya mess with her, she can still kick her ass. All she needs is some God damn confidence.”
That’s when I punch them and tell them to leave her alone. Because honestly, Kara didn’t give a damn about anything but getting back to the life she left behind. There was where she was the girl who could be anything and anyone she wanted.
Really, Kara just missed the concept of normalcy. When she found out she was an Abnormality, her entire world of logics and rationality was destroyed. I think that she thinks if she learns how to act normal again, things will be normal again. Even though it won’t; it never will be ever again.
“Please, Kara. I just want to help you.”
The box disappears and she looks at me, eyes narrowed, arms crossed, stopping her from quivering. Fuck, Nadine must have done something real bad.
“My life was perfect. Then Nadine pops in and tells me I’m not good enough for him. For anyone. And then, as if it weren’t enough that she told Alex I liked him, she gave me this!” She throws a piece of paper to the ground and grinds it against the floor with her shoe. Tears make her eyes shine. Slowly, I pick it up and unfold it. It says:

Dearest Kara:
I hope you’ve enjoyed your fantasies of Alex and have entertained a happy life for yourself long enough. It won’t be that way, you know that, right? Especially now that I’ve learned something very interesting about you. Little miss perfect wants to go back home and fool the world into thinking she’s normal? Yeah right; like I’m going to let that happen.
You may ask yourself why. That’s the right thing to ask. With your flawless grades and perfect life and perfect solution to everything, even a chance with one of the hottest guys in school, you’ve gone over your happiness limit. While I slave away to achieve what you just have, all you do is sit there and don’t do anything with it! It’s not fair.
So I’ve been to the office and found your personal records. Last week I visited your parents’ home as a “representative” of Alternate High School. Your parents are shocked to know that you’re having some troubles. I mean, how could you purposely set half of the school on fire and terrorize the locals? You’ve proven to your parents just how unfit you are to return home. I’m so sorry, Kara. Have a nice life as an Abnormality like the rest of us!
Love Always, Nadine

I don’t know what to say; I don’t think she does either, because she rips the paper from my hands and shoves me aside, anger back. “Just leave me the fuck alone, Jake.”
By the time I register that she’s gone, it’s too late. Someone else storms in. “What the hell just happened Jake? What did you do?” Mira’s icy eyes are furious. Her teeth are bared at me, lips curled in a snarl, arms forming claws at her sides.
If Mira wasn’t a cat, she’d be pretty hot. And that’s saying something coming from me. We’re supposed to hate each other. “She’s seriously just had her life royally fucked by Nadine; I can’t fix it.”
Her lips morph into a ferocious smile. “I guess it’s good I broke her nose then, huh?”
“You what?”
Mira shrugs and leaves the bathroom without another word.
I swear and grudgingly go to Potions 104.

Alex

I’m seriously beating the shit out of this punching bag in an attempt to release all this frustration. That’s why I don’t notice Kara walk in until she’s already scurried past me and grabbed a quiver of arrows and a bow, darting off to the targets.
Damn it. I wanted to talk to her, tell her…what? Was I really going to ask her out? She’s smart. The only thing she’d think was that I was asking her out of pity, which I wouldn’t be. No: it was best just to give her some space.
At least I thought was what would best. But one look at me puffy red eyes and tear-stained face and I was at a loss for what to do. Was me knowing really that bad?
She started shooting arrows with such force and accuracy that after a moment, everyone had dropped what they were doing to stare. When she realized what was going on she stopped, turned to face the rest of the class, and asked fiercely, “Is there a problem?”
Conversation slowly begins to trickle back and everyone goes back to their activities. From the corner of my eye I see Kara throw down the bow and take up a punching bag a few down from me. And let me tell you, I thought I had a lot of frustration to let out. She beat it down so hard, gave it so many kicks and punches, that it collapsed to the ground, despite it being double her size. Coach Wrigley walks over to her and mutters that it may be best if she just use the treadmill the rest of the period. She huffs and hops on, turning it on to a dangerous speed.
This is just too much. I leave the bag and get onto the treadmill next to Kara. Her gaze remains resolutely on a spot ahead of her. Pound pound pound her feet go against the belt. She looks pissed.
“Kara?” I start carefully, matching her pace on the treadmill. She dutifully ignores me, but I know she heard me, and I’m determined. “Kara, will you listen to me?”
Fuck off. I look at her sharply, shocked by her cold tone, ready to call her out, but there are tears on her cheeks. She pushes her chocolate curls out of her face and continues to pump her arms and keep the insane pace she’s set for herself.
“No.”
She stops the treadmill and slows, looking at me carefully. “Why won’t you leave me alone? I don’t want your pity.”
My treadmill has already been stopped. I stare at her, mouth agape. “Excuse me, you think I’m trying to talk to you out of pity?”
She nods, jaw locked, but eyes dancing in indecisiveness.
“I don’t –”
“Alex!” Oh shit. Not her again.

Kara

Nadine’s voice cuts through me like a knife and I wince. Then I’m confused: since when did she take P.F.E. second period? Alex seems to have a what the fuck expression permanently etched on his face as she saunters over and leans against his tread. Her gaze meets mine sharply and I realize I hate her. Deep down in my gut, I know it’s true. This girl, this pink girl, is a bitch, and I hate her. So I do the only thing I can think to do.
I give her the finger and walk away, in the mood for some hand-to-hand combat. Of course she follows me, clad in her pink shorts and tank all cocky and whatnot. So I take a swing, hitting her in the jaw, putting all of my frustration and anger at her in that one punch, determined to start and end it with the blow.
But once we got started, there was no stopping us. Nadine snarled, whipping out her wings. “It’s on, Frost.” And, for the first time in over a year, I saw Nadine’s powers in action. Two orbs of pink shimmering material appeared, one on each palm. Her body was swathed in the same glittering stuff, giving her a classic Disney tale fairy look. I knew what would happen next. She would simply wish for something to happen to me, and it would.
I jumped and grappled her ankle, which hung right above my head. “Get the fuck off of me! Utinam solum ceciderit ... dura!” Did I mention the fairies speak their wishes in Latin? Yeah.
I slam towards the ground, cringing for the impact that never came. Alex catches me and I breathe out a huge sigh of relief. Thank God he realized that she wanted me to fall to the ground hard.
Quickly hopping out of his arms, I materialize a nice heavy weight in her hands. So heavy in fact, that she topples to the ground, landing flat on her butt. No one dives in to catch her.
“Utinam istoc puto dolor meruisti.” A scream ripped through me as I collapsed to the ground with the pain Nadine wished upon me. It felt like a thousand searing knives were cutting me apart slowly, piece by piece. I wanted to curl into a ball but it hurt to move, I wanted to stay still but a strange twitch had settled into my bones. I was gasping for breath by the time Coach Wrigley had finally come over.
God, just kill me now. I chanted the plea over and over in my head, blocking out all my other thoughts, except for the ones of pain: there were no blocking those.
“Kara?” Alex was kneeling next to me, his eyes wide with panic. “What’s going on? What did she do to you?!”
“Nadine, I demand you stop this wish right –”
“Utinam te nescire,” she hissed, wishing for him to be ignorant. Suddenly, Coach’s face was passive, and he turned to the class and shooed everyone to the locker rooms. Many didn’t wish to comply.
“Utinam audiret Wrigley Coach,” Nadine said frustrated, wanting them all to listen, which, of course, they now had to.
Kill me God. Nadine takes a step closer and a wall of fire springs up between her and us. Alex has fury in his eyes. That’s the last thing I see before my eyes slip closed and I black out.

Mira

So there I was in Calc, minding my own business, actually trying to pay attention for once, when Kara’s faint whisper of a voice enters my head.
God, just kill me now. I grip my pencil tightly, knuckles turning white as I feel her presence in my mind falter and disappear. Is something wrong? Should I really risk it?
Before I really think it through, my hand shoots up mid-lecture. Mr. Morris, a wraith, shoots me an annoyed look. The room’s temperature drops lower, if that’s even possible. I pull my sweatshirt tighter around me. “Yes, Miss Kader?”
Clearing my throat, I mock-whisper, “Can I use the restroom? It’s a…um…emergency.”
His translucent eyebrows shoot up and he floats closer. “Oh really? Is it the same emergency that happened the week before last?”
I give him my best serious look. “Sir, you realize that when a girl says she has an emergency, it’s like, illegal to dent her bathroom privileges, right? You could, like, lose your job.”
He frowns and the room drops another five degrees. Some students shoot me venomous glares. “Just go, Miss Kader.”
“Thanks!” I grab my bag and sprint down the hall, trying to figure out where to go when Kara’s whisper enters my head again. Kill me God. A shot of the most agonizing pain is accompanied with it and I almost scream. I know where to go.
Pounding down the stairs, taking a sharp left, colliding with – holy shit, what the fuck? “Watch where you’re going, asshole!” I say to the offender, looking up to a pissed off Jake. I shove him aside, already knowing that he heard Kara too. We separate at the locker rooms.
The girl’s locker room is packed, but eerily silent. The girl’s don’t even look at me when I barge in. Their faces are expressionless and blank, like a zombie. Deciding against any form of questioning, I ignore them and head straight for the gym, unprepared for what I’ll face.

Jake

If one more bad thing happens to Kara today – no, in her life – I’ll shoot somebody. No one deserves the kind of pain and suffering I see right now.
Not a one.

Alex

I face Nadine, balls of fire so hot in my palms that I can actually start to feel their heat. She looks back at me, barely hiding her fear as it spreads, encircling her, mere inches away from scorching her precious self. The building quivers, and pieces from the ceiling begin to fall down, crashing all around us, narrowly missing Nadine several times. “Stop!” I hear here screech. “Desine!”
“You first,” I growl, letting the anger course through me.
“Kara!” Mira screams from behind me. “Alex!”
“What the fuck is going on?” I hear Jake yell almost simultaneously.
“Oh God,” Kara moans softly. “Just make it stop.” Sparing a second to look down at her, I see tears falling down her cheeks, the pain in her eyes unbearable to view for too long.
Light bulbs burst from the ceiling, leaving only the fiery red glow of the flames as a light source. The ceiling still shakes. Smoke curls from the walls.
Mia and Jake huddle around Kara, who’s seemed to have passed out again. My heart breaks. “Nadine,” my voice is somehow calm, “leave Kara alone now. Or the flame might accidently go out of control.”
A sick grin creeps onto her face. “Utinam esset hinc.”
“No!”
Nadine had disappeared from sight, and Kara was still out, convulsing in pain. My fire reared up one last time before everything diminished: earthquake and all.
“Where’d she go?” Jake rumbles, flickering in and out of wolf form. Mira’s still kneeling over Kara in a panic.
I look around me at the gym, taken aback by the damage. Half of the roof has fallen to the floor, revealing an ironically beautiful sky. Everything – the walls, the equipment, the floors, the doors, the remainder of the ceiling – was scorched black with soot and ash. All except for the wide semi-circle in which Kara and I had huddled and the miniscule circle in which Nadine had stood.
Nadine. Damn her and her wishes. She should go to hell. What the fuck was her problem, anyway?
“We need to get her to Nurse Williams now. And talking to Headmistress Chambers wouldn’t be a bad idea either,” Mira voices, a thinly veiled tone of panic threaded into her voice. Without another word, I tuck Kara into my arms and the four of us rush down the hall.