by Holly Hook
After what felt like minutes, but was only a few seconds, Alyssa wrapped her arms around me from behind. I raised my hand to swat her away.
And then I remembered.
The conference room was full of the authorities.
I let go of Principal Penguin. Seething, he grasped his neck as blood trickled between his fingers. The closed door to the conference room loomed ahead.
Inside, a man asked if they should check on the progress of things in a hushed whisper.
And I had to run before the principal figured out who had done this to him. He leaned over, gasping and facing the floor.
Alyssa pulled on my arm. She gave me a serious glare.
We ran.
The corner was right there, and we bolted around it as Principal Penguin let out a loud curse. The door flew open to the conference room and feet stormed out. Leather squeaked. Someone pressed the button to a radio, which crackled, to call an ambulance for the guy. Alyssa dared to look back. Even she must be able to hear the commotion now, but at least the corner hid us.
And she didn't let go of my arm.
What had I done?
We passed the main bathroom and continued past the cafeteria where Maisha was wondering where we'd gone and what we would have for lunch. I let Alyssa lead the way. We got to the art hallway, the most distant and quietest part of the school, and ducked into the storage room.
The scent of paints and cleaners surrounded us as Alyssa closed the door. The light stayed off, and now I could see every detail of the room in gray glory.
Alyssa reached for a roll of paper towels and tore one off. She handed one over.
“What's this for?” I asked.
“You need to wipe your mouth.”
“Um...oh.” I took the paper towel and wiped, wadding it up and sticking it in my pocket so I wouldn't have to see what was on it. Turning away, I let my head fall to a metal shelf. “I bit the principal. My mom will kill me.”
“He didn't see you,” Alyssa said. “If we're lucky, he'll blame me. I think there were ATC agents in that conference room, waiting to jump me.”
At least my stomach had stopped cramping. “I heard them in there. They had guns,” I said. “That's why I attacked Penguin. I didn't know what else to do. Now they'll search the school for us.”
Alyssa sighed. “You're right. I bet they have more agents outside. The school didn't forget me as much as I hoped.”
I remembered the newscast from last night. Richard Grimes had bought the company. He had brought new life, and he believed he could cure Abnormals. Thoreau had just used the ATC as a political tool and to gather his forced army in secret. This new owner believed in its philosophy. And now they knew Alyssa was here. They had figured out her fake identity.
There must be tons of agents outside the school, waiting for us to leave.
Another rumble of thunder followed. It was fitting. The rain remained loud. If vans had pulled up, I wouldn't have noticed.
“I bit the principal,” I repeated.
“Hey. I stabbed the assistant mayor once.” Alyssa said. Her face fell. “In my living room. Oh. That's how the school figured out who I am. They've got my old address on file.”
It seemed like something she shouldn't have missed. Alyssa wasn't stupid. She had come here, knowing she might not make it through a full day. And now chaos had descended on the school. I had done my part to make all Abnormals look bad.
The siren of an ambulance sounded. They were taking Principal Penguin to the hospital to get checked out. At least he might not be infected. The chances were low.
And then the speakers beeped over the entire school.
“Attention, all students and staff,” one of the office ladies said. “Please stop what you are doing and file out the nearest exit in a calm manner. We have canceled classes for the rest of the day. This is not a drill. We have had a vampire attack, and ATC agents are on site.”
The school went into uproar. I cupped my ear to listen. Even though we were miles from the cafeteria, I could hear trampling feet all making for the exit, along with the sound of nervous chatter. Trays fell to the floor and cell phones beeped as people texted each other.
“Janine,” Alyssa said. “They'll think it's me. You don't have to stay. Get out with the others.”
“What?” I asked.
“Xavier can get me out. I have to text him and tell him to find me in the storage room.”
“Will he know where it is?” I asked. Xavier could Transpose without a problem, but there was a catch. He had to visualize where he would land, without error, or things could get awkward and sometimes involve girls' bathrooms.
“If they don't see you with the others, you're a suspect,” she said. “I can't leave. There will be ATC all around the school. They know I'm dangerous.”
I saw her point. In other parts of the buildings, people banged into double doors and pushed them open. Someone blew a whistle, trying to keep order.
“But I'm the one who did it,” I said. “And I'm strong. The god blood is still having an effect.”
Alyssa gripped my shoulders. “Get out.”
“My Turning isn't your fault. The mayor set it up. Don't go down for me.”
“Xavier will Transpose me out of here. I have to get to a place he recognizes.”
“That's the conference room,” I said. As far as I knew, that was the only part of the school he had ever visited, other than the parking lot.
“I'll get there,” Alyssa said.
“But it's full of agents,” I said.
“We've fought them before. Go.” She shoved me towards the door.
There was no arguing with her. She would not set her escape plan into action unless I was out of the school.
I opened the art room door and hoped that Alyssa could get a phone signal out of there. The sounds of fleeing students and teachers intensified as I ran down art hallway at Normal speed. I peeked outside.
There were about a dozen ATC vans parked in the lot, lined up where the buses parked. They had all kept their black boxy look with the new owner even though they didn't have the familiar three letters on the side. People already filed out and around them, forming lines as they did with fire drills. Rain poured down, and shrieks from many of the girls followed.
But at least the sun wasn't out. I was safe to go outside.
I pushed open the art hallway door and glanced at the art storage door, which remained shut with the light off inside. Alyssa pressed the buttons on her phone, asking for help from her boyfriend. He could Transpose into the school and get her out, but that was only if he landed in the right place. I hoped that the ATC agents had left the conference room and that they wouldn't recognize him.
At least I could listen.
The rain beat against my skin as I ran over to join the others. Two ATC agents milled around the vans, and one of them scrutinized me as I approached. I hugged myself, pretending that the cold rain bothered me. “Where do we go?” I asked the guy in the black vest. I sounded as meek as I could.
“Over there,” he said, pointing past the van behind him.
“Thank you.”
My best friend was still inside the school. I knew she'd text me as soon as she was out. A happy face, or something.
After today, we wouldn't be sharing any classes. Alyssa had made it until lunch. That was all. Neither one of us had expected a smooth transition back.
She had come back to school because of me. Alyssa never should have tried.
But I might have bitten someone, anyway.
The other students had lined up in the parking lot, and I spotted Mr. Connors over at the edge, standing between the throng and the school. I ran over to join them and stood next to a bunch of cheerleaders who shivered and hugged each other. A pair of paramedics led Principal Penguin out a set of double doors—the ones near the conference room—and towards the back of an ambulance. He was waddling, at least, with a large bandage on his neck. People stared in shock. Tons of speculati
on went up.
And more ATC agents patrolled around the periphery of the school grounds. They held devices that looked like tasers. Alyssa and Xavier had told me all about the horrors of those. Once shot, and you were down and helpless. Sure, I had god blood on my side, but the tasers could pretty much stop anybody. They even worked on demon barons.
At least the rain was washing everyone's scent out of the air. I couldn't smell much of anything.
But I could hear if I strained.
Alyssa opened the storage room door.
“Don't,” I muttered.
She bolted down the art hallway, going for the conference room.
On the other side of the school, ATC agents fanned out. They were talented men and women, judging from the way they moved. A few teachers closed doors inside. Someone flushed a toilet. Another agent kicked open stall doors. Alyssa made her way closer to the cafeteria and paused somewhere near the office.
The air fizzled and crackled in the conference room area, which was close to the doors the where the ambulance had backed up. I imagined Xavier's column of magenta fire appearing among the long table and the chairs where parents and teachers met. He was here, and no one was attacking him. The agents had left the room, then.
I wondered if he could take out all these agents if he needed.
I tensed, waiting for fireworks to sound from the school. The agents around the periphery continued to patrol. I clenched my fists, glad that Maisha hadn't found me yet. She was over by the chess club, tugging on the sleeve of a guy I didn't know.
“Things will be fine,” I told myself. I hadn't gotten caught. Alyssa would get out. Xavier the new god could stop the ATC.
She bolted down the Lit hall, past our first class. Her footfalls were quiet, and I lost track of her as she ran away from me. Xavier's footfalls were easier to hear than hers. He opened the conference room door. The two were almost in the same wing now. Two agents had gone into the office, leaving the way clear for Alyssa to sneak forward.
But then several agents by the cafeteria picked up the pace as if they had detected Alyssa.
Their footfalls were also quiet. Graceful. I had to strain to the max to hear them.
They were not human.
I had smelled nothing from the conference room.
It couldn't be. Only Normals could join the ATC. Richard Grimes wouldn't hire—
I eyed the black vans that had pulled up to the curb.
None of them had the familiar three letters on the side as the normal vans had. With my new vision, I picked up aftermarket hubcaps, ordinary license plates and even a taillight that looked burned out. The ATC always took pride in its appearance. This wasn't like them.
And then I eyed the agent standing by the vans, watching the doors.
He paced back and forth with quiet grace, more than any Normal should.
These weren't real agents. They must be Bathory's people.
And I would have to go back inside and find Alyssa and Xavier before it was too late.
Chapter Eleven
But the question was: how?
The rain masked that the fake agents didn't have scents. They had this school surrounded, and Principal Penguin had called them. Maybe he had even expected Alyssa to be here. He might even serve Bathory herself.
They were after her. Though the principal was Normal, he was helping them.
All guilt I had about biting him vanished. Maybe he deserved it.
The paramedics closed the ambulance doors. Alyssa must have detected that she wasn't dealing with Normals, because I picked up the sounds of her ducking into a classroom and barricading it with a heavy desk. That might buy her time, but not much. She had no weapon. Alyssa couldn't defend herself well without her sword. A meter stick wouldn't do her much good, either. I hoped she could grab a flagpole, but the school had banned those years ago due to the pointy ends. They didn't want students stabbing each other with them.
I had to go in there. I wouldn't stand by and watch while I had this strength on my side. What about speed? These fake agents had tasers capable of taking me down. I had seen it happen to Alyssa, and it wasn't pretty.
And how was I going to get back into the school?
I wasn't stupid. Even though I was stronger than before, there must be at least two dozen of these fake agents in the building. Time was running out. If Alyssa could reach Xavier, all would be great. I wouldn't have to fight these guys. Or Xavier could just use his godlike powers to blast all of them away.
I listened. Rushing into things wouldn't help. Xavier would try to use War Magic against the fake agents, hands down.
Someone shouted at Xavier to freeze.
The air inside the school fizzled and a magenta flash appeared in the doorway that Principal Penguin had left a minute before. The principal jumped and held onto the side of the ambulance, shouting an unprofessional curse as War Magic flared inside the building. I heard it strike one, no, two agents and throw them back against the wall. Xavier didn't waste time. His heavy footfalls hit the floor as he ran through the school. He was brash, just as his younger sister always said.
I tensed. People around me shouted. No one had missed the new developments inside. People asked if the ATC had new stun weapons or if a bunch of Abnormals had attacked the school.
A door burst open inside. Another fake agent told Alyssa to put her hands up.
I tensed.
She ran through another door and back into the hall. Something struck the wall. A taser, maybe. I heard her bolt down the cafeteria stairs. She closed the doors behind her and she stood against them. The agents almost had her. No one could hear that except for me. Even the fake agents outside didn't turn their heads.
"Back!" the fake agent by the vans ordered us. He trained his sunglasses on the crowd and waved us away from the school. "We don't know what that explosion sound was. We want none of you getting hurt."
The guy had filed teeth. I could see the marks.
He used a disguise, too. He was one of those Imposters that Trish didn't like.
I was seeing her point.
"What's going on?" Mr. Connors asked.
The fake agent wouldn't answer him. "Back!"
Inside the school, someone struck Xavier with a taser. That was when I learned that gods couldn't even resist its power, because I heard him go down, cursing, as ten thousand volts ripped through his body. People outside continued to freak out. I pushed against others as the crowd shifted towards the far side of the parking lot. The fake agent advanced, staring at the cheerleaders who sheltered me from his gaze. I could now see his eyes behind his dark lenses. They were red—and hungry.
He wasn't paying me any attention. The War Magic from inside had distracted the other agents. They ran around the school together, leaving the conference room door open. None of them wanted to go through that after what happened.
The other agents had run into the school.
Inside, one of them tased Xavier again, as if he weren't already down. They weren't taking any chances with the guy.
Another two agents pushed against the cafeteria door that Alyssa was trying to keep closed with her body. She was failing and had no weapon.
I ran the moment the crowd control agent looked away from me.
No one shouted at me. I ran faster than I had managed before, and I must have been a blur to the other students standing in the driving rain. It acted as my cover.
I ran inside the school, glad to be out of the water, and stopped by the conference room. I could still smell the fast food scent of Principal Penguin lingering in the hall, but it did nothing to make me hungry. He caused this. I might have made things worse by attacking him.
And the thought was gross now, anyway.
No one stood in the hallway that Xavier had stormed down moments before. The air held fading, tingling magic. A bunch of lockers had opened and one row had fallen. A pair of black boots stuck out from underneath it. It was no wonder the outside agents didn't want to burst through t
his door. Xavier was scary. I was out of sight of everyone outside, and the rain drove down harder than ever. People screamed, but the fake agents ordered everyone to stand back from the school, away from shelter. The real ATC wouldn't have done that in a dangerous storm. The wind picked up, and even I had some trouble seeing through the rain to the others. It was as if nature had cast down a curtain to prevent everyone from seeing what was happening.
I didn't like it.
I followed the destruction, staying quiet. Around the corner, another one of the fake agents zapped the fallen War Mage with another ten thousand volts. I caught the stench of burning hair. Xavier screamed again.
"Do we need to zap him this many times?" a female agent asked.
"He's dangerous," a man said. "The Mother wants him incapacitated. Then we need to check on Eric."
I had a feeling Eric was underneath the fallen lockers.
"We have Infernal Iron for that."
That confirmed my suspicions. These agents were with Bathory, and now she wanted Xavier for some strange reason. I had the sense it was because his blood had such amazing properties. Why wouldn't she want god blood?
I crept forward, tense, thinking of what it would be like if she got ahold of it. She was already the strongest vampire.
Another zap.
Xavier cried out in agony. "That's enough!" he shouted. "Where's Alyssa?"
Further inside the school, Alyssa continued to hold the door shut. An agent kicked at the door.
Chains dragged against the floor by Xavier. I had seen Infernal Iron before, and Bathory would have access to it, having once been Thoreau's greatest ally. It had chained Xavier before, and I knew I had no chance of freeing him from it.
But, I knew there were two fake agents around the corner, and they didn't know I was coming.
I searched the hallway for a weapon, any weapon. I thought of opening a door to a classroom and looking for something, but that would create noise. These agents would hear a door, no matter how quiet I was. And then they would turn that taser on me. They'd take my friends away.