“We were so worried about you,” Morgan frowned.
“No need to be, Mo.” I quickly held up my forearm and wiggled my fingers into a soft fist. “I had everything under control.” A fresh smile found my face and her cheeks flushed with pink surprise. It was a sweet moment between us but it didn’t last for long.
From down the hallway an unwanted voice chimed in as she walked up. “Yeah, right.”
“Felicity,” I grumbled. My academic archrival and all around pain in my butt had joined our small group, and she had brought her miserable pout.
“You’re lucky I was there to bail you out, Lucas.”
“Are you serious?” I snapped back.
“Do I look like I’m joking?” she smirked. Her arms locked across her chest like an I-told-you-so shield. I was in no mood for her this morning.
“For your information, Evilicity, we made it home despite you!”
“Don’t call me that!”
“It was your fault we were there in the first place, Evil!” I scooped up her hand that still wore the ring. It was dull and looked like it had no more power within it anymore. “You wished us there, remember!”
“Yes,” she seethed, and snapped her hand back.
“Soph and I saved you! Soph and I wished you back! Remember that, Evil?” I announced to all the other students roaming the halls. Felicity began to tremble with anger. Her hands balled into fists at her sides.
“My name’s Felicity!” she roared. With a shove and a huff of toothpaste flavored air, she pushed past me. She stomped all the way down the hall and disappeared around a corner.
Erupting in a chorus of laughter, Roland, Morgan, and I clutched each other for balance.
“Only Felicity Campbell would take the time out of her first morning back to try and get a rise out of you,” Roland said, shaking his head. I stared past him toward the direction she had fled and for a split second I felt bad. I shouldn’t have pushed her buttons like that. Felicity experienced the same terrible nightmare I had. She just didn’t have the proper tools to handle it. Tracing the lines of the markings on my forearm with my eyes, Morgan sensed my mood had changed.
“You all right?”
“Yeah, she just rattled me a little,” I sulked.
“Why’s that, Lucas?”
“I don’t know.” I turned away from Morgan and Roland just as Olivia walked through the front doors of the school. Her eyes locked onto mine instantly and we both smiled at each other. I stepped forward in her direction but was halted in my tracks as the other members of her band ran up to her, shifting her attention away from me. Gwen, Linda and Sarah pulled her back outside in a hurry. One of the girls insisted Olivia check out the new sound system in her car, or something. It happened so fast that I barely heard all the details.
Roland tried to ease my worries. “You know, Luc, Olivia had the worst time while you were…umm…away.”
“She was just worried about her little sister,” I pouted.
“Yeah, but she never gave up on you.”
“Really?” I asked, softly.
Nodding my way, a goofy smile ripped across Roland’s face. “And neither did he.”
“Huh…” It was all I managed to get out before I was engulfed in a wall of muscle and blonde hair. Taylor had run up behind me and scooped my average frame up in the air in a massive bear hug.
“Lucas!” he shouted. Three powerful shakes later he set me back down and spun me his way.
“Big Country!” I teased. He cocked his head sideways at his hated nickname. “I’m just messing around, T.”
“I know.” Quickly, he diverted his attention to a wide-eyed Morgan and scooped her up. “Morning, Morgan.”
“Good morning, Tay,” she cooed back, before she lifted herself up on the tip of her toes and kissed him slowly and sweetly. Roland turned from the public display of affection. He was proud that his sister and good friend had been dating, but he still refused to watch it.
“Well, things may be a bit off with Olivia and I, but it’s good to see you two are still going strong,” I smiled toward Morgan. She blushed and slid her hand inside Taylor’s. “What have I missed in my absence?”
“You and Olivia? Are you two okay?” Morgan asked, politely ignoring my question.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter…” I trailed off.
“Not so fast, Luc, we all need an official update. What happened to you? How’d you get back? Details, we need details!” Taylor joked. During my eventful homecoming yesterday, my parents grounded me and that meant no visitors and no calls in or out. I knew my friends would have a thousand questions.
“Yeah, spill it,” Morgan added, eagerly. I looked around us to make sure there wasn’t any prying eyes. I leaned into my small circle of friends and felt safe. My right forearm began to tingle and I carefully brought it up and into the middle of the circle for them to witness my newest trick. The dark lines started to glow below all our eyes when the school’s bell rang with the tone of a incoming announcement.
“What gives? We still have like five minutes before the first bell,” Roland grumbled.
“Shhh! It must be important!” Morgan cut him off. We all turned our eyes to the closest speaker bolted to the wall.
“ATTENTION ALL FACULTY AND STUDENTS. A MANDATORY ASSEMBLY WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE SCHOOL’S AUDITORIUM IN FIVE MINUTES. NO EXCEPTIONS. THANK YOU.”
“Assembly?” I asked, out loud.
Roland and Morgan spoke in unison, “Weird.”
“Agreed,” I whispered. My arm returned to normal but a faint itching sensation creeped below my skin. It felt as if Ripley was uneasy. I tried to ignore it.
“I wonder what’s going on?” Taylor inquired.
“I guess my story will have to wait until lunchtime.” I smacked Taylor on his large back and hurried to my locker to put my backpack away.
Two minutes later I found myself tucked into my seat at the back of the auditorium. Roland sat next to me surfing the web on his touchscreen tablet, furiously looking for any hint at what this impromptu assembly might have in store for us. His conspiracy theory paranoia loved this kind of stuff. Taylor and Morgan sat snugly together a few rows in front of us. As Roland wildly scavenged his favorite pages for answers I searched the sea of students for Olivia. Halfway across the auditorium she sat already looking my way. Her face looked annoyed that it took me so long to find her. I waved her way and she smiled. One of the girls in her band shot me a dirty look and spoiled our moment.
Suddenly, Principal Garner took the stage and the restless mass of teenagers quieted slowly. Apparently, I wasn’t the only Desert Vista student worried about this morning meeting. With a tap of his finger to the top of the microphone and a clearing of his throat, Principal Garner started the assembly.
“Good morning, students and faculty. I’d like to take a moment to thank you all for the timely manner in which you found your seats. I know this is a little out of the ordinary but today is a special day. A great day for our school, actually. The National Board of Education has sent us one of their most decorated, and distinguished representatives. We hope to advance our grades this semester and take the reins in the upper echelon of American education. Please, give a warm and heartfelt welcome to Ms. Scarlet Strickland.”
With the stride and confidence of royalty she glided across the auditorium’s stage. Tall, lean and ridiculously attractive, Ms. Strickland commanded the full attention of the young audience. Wrapped in the most expensive attire, her curves were accentuated by a perfectly fitted skirt and blouse. A section of boys gasped as she surveyed the crowd with her intense silver eyes behind thin rimmed glasses. Intelligence swirled inside of them filling her physical features with unbelievable radiance. Her hair was long and platinum blonde. It was tightly pulled back in a bun on the top of her head without a single hair out of place. No one applauded her arrival, they all just stared up at her. Slowly her head turned toward me at the back of the large room and a small smile curved up f
rom the left side of her lips. Roland swallowed hard and whispered in my ear.
“Dude, she’s looking directly at you.”
“No she’s not,” I said, without moving my lips.
“Yes, she is.”
Just then, from the row in front of us, Taylor and Morgan twisted around with wide stares.
“Do you know her, Lucas?” Morgan asked, in a confused but soft tone. Taylor raised a curious eyebrow but said nothing. I shook my head no and slid down in my seat a little. From across the auditorium Olivia looked my way. Her face filled with worry. Her mouth in a hurtful frown. I pulled my eyes from hers and hoped that wasn’t jealousy she was wrestling with.
Finally, Ms. Strickland nodded to Principal Garner and walked off the stage without one word. Everyone in the audience was either still staring at me or watching her strut away and out the doors of the auditorium.
“This school just keeps getting weirder and weirder, my friend,” Roland laughed, nervously. I ran a sweaty hand through my hair and sighed…
“Agreed.”
LEVEL 06
MZ. HYDE
Biology II (Ms. Strickland’s Class)
“No, Olivia, I’ve never seen her before,” I sighed.
“Well, she sure looked as if she knew you,” Olivia grumbled. With a squeak of my desk as I settled into it, I ran my hand across my tattoo.
“You’re just being paranoid.” Whoops, I shouldn’t have said that. Her face scrunched together and her violet eyes pushed into me. For a second, I missed the real color of her eyes, brown. She was still hiding behind her favorite shade of contacts.
“I’m being what?”
“I didn’t mean…”
“You said paranoid!” she snapped.
“Never mind.” I shrunk down in my seat and looked away. Olivia folded her arms and turned away from me.
Silently, Ms. Strickland entered the room as if she was floating along the ground. She walked confidently but with no sound. It was weird, her expensive high heeled shoes should have made all kinds of noise on the dingy tiled floor of the classroom, but they didn’t. Very weird. As the entire class sat up in attention and quiet curiosity, she slowly surveyed the classroom. Her serious eyes locked onto each individual student for a brief moment from behind her thin eyeglasses. She saved me for last.
“Ruh roh…” I barely whispered, as her glare fell on me. My right arm began to tingle as if it had fallen asleep. I looked down at it to make sure Ripley wasn’t about to make an appearance. Apparently my magical protector didn’t trust her either. In my head, I whispered…
Settle yourself, Ripley.
The sensation in my arm fell away leaving only a faint itching. My other hand caressed the lines of the tattoo and Ms. Strickland watched intently. Quickly, I placed my arms under my desk. She stepped forward and brought up one hand in front of her face. Inside her well manicured fingers was a thick Biology book. She let it dangle in the air for almost a minute as everyone watched in confusion. Finally, she jerked the book upward before aggressively slamming the book to the floor in a thwack that reverberated along the floor. Most of the students jumped in their chairs, clutching for the ends of their desktops. I was too scared to move at all.
“No more!” Ms. Strickland roared. I looked over at Olivia as she reached for me with her eyes. I nodded softly and turned my attention back to the front of the classroom.
“No more,” Ms. Strickland declared again. “As of right now, no more books. They’re useless. I want each and every one of you to follow my lead.”
Olivia spoke for everyone else. “What?”
“Ms. Weaver, I said get rid of your book. Now.” Ms. Strickland’s voice grew more intense. “Pick it up. Drop it on the floor. Now.”
Olivia lifted her book from the top of her desk and paused. “Why?”
Ms. Strickland stepped over to Olivia’s desk and studied her defiance harshly. “Because those books are useless. A waste of time. A waste of your brainpower, my dear.” With a thud Ms. Strickland snatched Olivia’s book from her hands and tossed it over her shoulder. It slammed into the empty whiteboard in a crash, knocking colorful markers and magnetic clips to the floor. Olivia’s book followed swiftly with a soft slap to the ground.
“What the hell?” Olivia freaked out.
“Anyone else?” Ms. Strickland asked the room. Instantly, every student grabbed their books and tossed them to the floor. Every student except one…me. Ms. Strickland grinned slightly at the fresh anarchy. Her face turned my way, leaving Olivia in her shadow. Just before she walked over to me she said over her shoulder, “I’ll see you in detention, Ms. Weaver.”
Olivia looked on in disgust as Ms. Strickland slithered over to me.
“Mr. Ryan, I’m waiting.”
Slowly, I pulled my book from the depths of my schoolbag and held it out in front of me. “Here you go.” She stared at me long and hard before reaching for the textbook. Her fingers locked around it like a vice and she let a crooked smirk paint along her lips.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Her hands opened the book and flipped through a few pages. A single piece of paper slipped from the middle of it and danced through the air like a feather floating to the ground. I reached for it but was a half-second too slow. She ripped it from the air in a blinding speed. With her other hand she placed my book onto her desk just an arms length behind her. Her other hand pulled my paper up to her face. As she studied the outline of ink I had scribbled onto the paper I waited for her to comment on the drawing. She said nothing and folded the piece of paper into a small triangle and gently placed it back on my desk. It reminded me of a paper pyramid. Ms. Strickland stepped back to the front of the classroom and addressed everyone as I stared down at the familiar shape in front of me.
“You’ll work tirelessly. You’ll study relentlessly. You’ll learn more this semester than you’ve ever done before. But, you won’t do it with any silly textbooks. Biology is the study of life,” she echoed everywhere. “Trust me, when I’m done with all of you, you’ll be free.”
“Huh?” I huffed, aloud. Ms. Strickland walked to the door and opened it with a smile.
“Now, who wants to study some life? Follow me,” she ordered. As if being controlled the whole class stood up eager to follow her. Swiftly, she turned back to Olivia and I. “Everyone except Ms. Weaver and Mr. Ryan. You two can stay here until the end of the class hour. And Mr. Ryan, you may join Ms. Weaver in after school detention later today.”
Even though I liked the idea of staying behind with only Olivia, and I was already sentenced to plenty of detention, I couldn’t resist asking, “What for?”
Ms. Strickland waved for the class to leave. She patiently waited as all the kids filed out the door. Finally, she looked down at the folded piece of paper on my desk and nodded. “You know why, Lucas.” And with that, she disappeared out the door, leaving a wide-eyed Olivia confused and angry.
“Lucas, what was on that paper?” Olivia asked, softly. I pulled the triangle toward me and gently unfolded it and handed to her.
“A drawing.”
She pulled the paper to her eyes. and asked, “Of what?”
I looked over at her worried, and whispered, “A dragon.”
Olivia admired the sketch for a moment and then turned her attention to my arm where Ripley hid from the world.
“Lucas, I don’t like her.”
“It’s okay, she doesn’t seem to be too fond of us either,” I teased. “At least I’ll have some company in detention today.” Olivia smiled and slowly stood up. She removed her cell phone and swiped the screen.
“I think I’ll check in with Soph. It’s her first day back to school, too. Hopefully she’s having a better day than us.” She handed me back the crinkled and creased paper and began clicking a message on her phone. As she made her way to the windows of the classroom, I placed the drawing into my bag and tried not to overthink the last ten minutes of the day.
Just as my eyes fogged over in distant th
ought, the pages of my opened textbook along Ms. Strickland’s desk began to flip back and forth. I watched eagerly as they danced one way and then another. Slowly at first, but then more violently as if there was a wild gust of wind ripping through the room.
“Hey, Olivia, are you seeing this?” I called out, but she never answered back. Cautiously, I stepped toward the desk, unsure of what I was seeing. Once I reached the desk the book settled back to normal, the pages still and silent. I reached out and closed the book. It was cold to my touch.
“What’s going on?” I mumbled, to no one. Just then, the book started to slide along the surface of the desk as if something was underneath it. I looked over at Olivia who was still typing away on her phone, oblivious to the situation. When I looked back down at the book, it stopped moving. I held my breath and placed a nervous hand along the cover. It felt normal again.
All right, Lucas, quit freaking out. Just pick it up. Slowly, I let my fingers wrap around the spine and timidly lifted it up. I was sure there would be something strange waving up at me from the desk but there was nothing. I closed my eyes, wondering if I was going crazy. When I let them open again there was still nothing. A relieved sigh shot from my lips and I turned to talk to Olivia again, but when I did, something caught my attention from the furthest corner of my vision. It was small and creepy and on the back of the book I held in my hand.
A two inch long, snake-like creature slithered across the surface before spinning itself into a tight little coil the size of a quarter. It stared up at me from the middle of the cover. It was dark purple and had three rows of red eyes. It quivered in place watching me intensely. Before I could process anymore information, four pointy appendages emerged from its head and stabbed themselves into the surface of the book. It began to hiss with a sound that reminded me of air escaping a flat tire. With a snap, it launched itself from the cover and shot directly at my face. Its evil little eyes glowing with rage.
Lucas Ryan Versus: The Return Page 4