Mutant Academy (The Fundamental Society Book 1)

by Yumoyori Wilson

  Part of me was enjoying the magical moment with Pete so intently that I wanted to postpone the search for Maddie. But deep in my heart, I knew that the window of opportunity of finding her alive was dwindling. I needed to find her. I owed her that much. But I was thrilled that Pete would be by my side every step of the way.

  21

  Pete

  As we climbed onto the boat, I had an unsettled feeling about the journey across the sea. Sure, it was true that we were allowed to come and go from the school as we liked. We were adults. No one was going to stop us, but we were on our own once we stepped foot off the campus.

  We didn’t have to be watched over, and the school was for the free and unburdened. It was something that Headmaster Atticus had lived by for a number of decades during his reign at the top of the school.

  But I was still unnerved by what lurked inside the treacherous waters. We had never experienced a problem before, but now we were carrying precious cargo. I felt like I had a responsibility to keep both Tara and Megan safe in the boat.

  “Are you sure you want to go through with this?” I whispered to Nick and Liam when they came to stand beside me at the bow of the ten-seater speed boat.

  “Why?” Liam frowned and gave me a wary glance. “Are you thinking about bowing out on us? You’re the driver. You’ve studied the sea the most. We need you.”

  “I’m not going to leave you hanging,” I assured them. “I just…” I trailed off and glanced at Tara.

  She was smiling as if she were hopeful about the prospect of this adventure. She was discussing something with Megan, although she was sitting too far away from me to be able to tell what she was saying.

  Nick noticed me gazing longingly at Tara.

  “We are doing this for her,” he whispered.

  I made eye contact with him. “It’s extremely dangerous out here at night when we can’t see anything.”

  “We have a fog light on the front of the boat if we need to use it,” Nick countered.

  I gave him a sour glance. “Just to add more attention to us?”

  Liam rolled his eyes with a frustrated expression. “We need to do what we can to help her. We want her to trust us.”

  “We won’t have anyone to help if something happens to her,” I argued.

  “Don’t you dare even think it,” Liam said.

  I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Fine. We’ll get underway. But if something terrible happens, don’t blame me.”

  “Stop being such a worrywart,” Gabriel said and slapped me fondly on the back as he approached us. “We picked you for a reason.”

  “You picked me?” I wrinkled my forehead and stared at him.

  “Sure,” he said with a grin. “You’re the group nerd. You are the one who has researched these waters the most and you are the one who knows how to operate this fine piece of machinery the best in order to get us across.”

  I groaned. “I wish you wouldn’t call me a nerd.”

  “What would you prefer?” Gabriel asked.

  “Um, I don’t know, how about my name, Pete?” I said sarcastically.

  “Fine,” Gabriel muttered, but he had a playful expression on his face. I knew the guys respected me. We just liked to give each other a hard time every now and then.

  Liam and Nick gave me a sympathetic smile. “We appreciate you doing this for her. Just remember, she’s the one we need to protect and defend.”

  “So, what? We’re just supposed to leave her friends in the dust?” I asked.

  “No, that’s not what we’re saying at all.” Liam shook his head.

  “Just know that we might come across some issues and we all need to be prepared,” I said.

  Liam and Nick began pulling life jackets out of a storage container on deck. “We are ready for anything and everything.”

  I cranked the engine of the boat. It was a loaner that students were allowed to use at their leisure as long as they signed it out at least twenty-four hours in advance. That was part of the reason we hadn’t been able to leave as soon as Tara had requested, but here we were, all on board and ready to go.

  Everyone except me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I had an anxious feeling about this trip, almost as if I had some underlying ability to predict that something bad would happen.

  I shook my head and took a deep breath. It was too late to back out now. I just prayed that the robotic sea monsters under the surface of the water would be far away from our boat.

  It would be a nightmare to cross paths with them.

  “You look worried.”

  I glanced over my shoulder, briefly startled by Jude’s comment.

  He was staring at me, inspecting. He wasn’t even blinking.

  “I, uh…” I trailed off.

  Jude plopped in the seat next to the captain’s chair where I sat, steering the boat away from the school.

  “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

  “What are you, my therapist now?” I chuckled and kept my eyes on the open water.

  “Well, as our captain, it affects me if you aren’t in the condition to drive the boat safely.”

  “I’m fine,” I fired back and gave him a side-eye glare.

  Jude gave me a playful smirk in response. “You look perturbed.”

  I let out a sound that was supposed to be a scoff but came out as more of a snort. “How can you not be a little uneasy about this trip?”

  Jude casually shrugged. “We’ve made the trek a thousand times before.”

  “Yeah but it’s different this time. We have Tara and Megan with us.”

  “We can protect them,” Jude reassured.

  “It’s not only that,” I said. “What about the sea monsters?”

  “They’ve never bothered us before,” Jude said. “They’re programmed to sniff out the scent of human blood.”

  “I just have a bad feeling, that’s all,” I countered.

  “You worry too much, man.” Jude stood up with a sigh and stretched. “I’m going to talk to Tara and Megan and see if they have any ideas about where we should start searching for Maddie.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  I was slightly disappointed by his departure. I felt somewhat lonely up here by myself. I had the uncomfortable thought that I wasn’t really part of the group and they were just using me to get what they wanted. I tried to push that notion out of my mind, but it was difficult.

  “They are your friends,” I mumbled to myself under my breath. “They want you on the team.”

  I took a deep breath and tried to prepare myself for anything. Why was it that I was more afraid of the robot monsters in the sea than the guards who might be on the hunt in the woods across the water?

  The sea monsters had been developed and created by the most highly skilled professors and engineers that Mutant Academy had to offer.

  I was afraid of them, even though I knew they were necessary for our protection. But while we were out here in the middle of the ocean, there were no rules.

  I knew that the sea monsters could be switched off by the engineers, but we hadn’t asked for them to do that. It was only something they would agree to do if it was vital for large scale travel across the water. Say, for instance, if the school was under attack for whatever reason.

  The sea monsters wouldn’t be shut off for any old request. Headmaster Atticus made it clear to all the students who attended his academy.

  He wouldn’t keep us under lock and key, but if we traveled outside of the perimeters of the school, then the responsibility of our protection fell on us, and us alone. He could only ensure our safety and security on the school grounds. Anything outside of that was beyond his control.

  I shivered under the blanket of the cold darkness. There was a harsh wind that stung at my cheeks and caused my ears to throb. I should have dressed better in preparation for the journey. I knew better, but I had been distracted by the time I had been spending with Tara.

  I smiled and attempted to focus my attention
on how incredible she made me feel. I didn’t want to be bothered by the misty atmosphere and the bone-tingling dampness of the air. Tara warmed me up from the inside out. All I had to do was picture her naked and the warmth spread throughout my veins.

  “Hey,” Tara said, cutting through my thoughts. I welcomed the distraction.

  I smiled at her. “Hey, you.”

  “I just thought I’d come up here for a visit,” Tara said. “You looked a little lonely.”

  “I was, indeed,” I said. “Thank you for thinking of me.”

  “Of course.” Tara’s red eyes shimmered under the moonlight.

  She was breathtaking, the most strikingly gorgeous woman I had ever encountered.

  “You really know how to drive a boat,” Tara mentioned.

  “What can I say, I aim to please.” I chuckled.

  “You really are the total package, aren’t you?” Tara gave me a look of admiration that made my heart flip.

  “If you want to believe that, then who am I to stop you?” I joked.

  She playfully swatted at my arm.

  I was getting ready to ask her about the plan of action once we docked on the other side when a thunderous boom sounded from beneath the boat and sent a vibrating ripple through everything and everyone on board.

  Tara shrieked and stumbled backward.

  “It’s okay,” I shouted and took her hand before she fell.

  “What the hell was that?”

  “It’s just these things…” I trailed off, unsure of whether or not I should tell her about the sea monsters.

  “What things?” Now Megan had approached and was giving me a look of distrust.

  “There are these snakes under the water,” Gabriel said, coming to my rescue.

  “Snakes?” Tara frowned.

  Another enormous impact from below shook the boat. The girls screamed and clutched each other protectively.

  “Don’t panic,” I exclaimed. “They are robots, engineered by the professors at school. They are meant for our protection.”

  “But what happens if they go against you?” Tara asked with fear flickering in her eyes. “How do they know the difference?”

  “They’re supposed to be able to tell the difference between humans and Mutants by the scent of blood,” I explained.

  “But I’m half-Mutant,” Tara said. “Can they sniff me out?” Her voice was shaky with uncertainty.

  “No.” I shook my head. “As long as you have Mutant blood running through your veins, then you should be fine.”

  “Then what the hell are they doing here?” Now even Jude appeared cautious.

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  I bit my tongue to keep from telling them I had warned them about this.

  Out of nowhere, an enormous black tail swung through the air over the boat. I braced myself for impact and watched Gabriel as he was attempting to mind control the beast. I knew that it was probably a shot in the dark, but right now it was all we had.

  Tara instinctively crouched onto the deck of the boat, using her arms to shield her head and body.

  “We’re so close to the other side,” I shouted. “Just hang on a few more minutes.”

  “Maybe the engineers programmed them to be near the forest side?” Liam suggested. “That’s why they are popping up here? For added protection against the scientists?”

  I glanced at him. “It’s a possibility.”

  I could see the shore. I had my eye on it and I did my best to steer us in that direction.

  I amped up the speed on the boat, cranking up the engine, but it was in vain. The sea snakes were whipping and thrashing all around us.

  I spotted Megan was standing near the edge of the boat.

  “Get back!” I shouted at her and waved my hand through the air.

  I watched as a giant spray of salt water poured down on us from the mighty beast’s tail.

  It was too dark to determine how many of them were attacking us. Perhaps it was only one, but one was enough to take us under. I was worried about the boat flipping and capsizing, but I didn’t want to instill that terror into everyone else, so I said nothing.

  Megan let out a guttural scream that rippled through my bones. The impact of the snake’s tail slamming into the side of the boat was too much for Megan’s petite body to handle.

  Her feet left the ground and she flew through the air as more sea spray rained from overhead. She plunged head first into the water with an enormous splash.

  “Megan!” Tara shouted in anguish.

  “Just stay back!” I said. Then, without thinking, I looked at Gabriel, who was standing next to me. “Take the wheel!” I shouted.

  “Huh?” He looked confused but did as I instructed.

  I took a deep breath and dove over the edge of the water. The shock of the cold slammed into my body and knocked the air out of my lungs. It was as if a thousand icy pinpricks were stabbing into my skin.

  I opened my eyes and spotted Megan a few inches away. I used all my force and strength to propel myself forward. She was sinking. I wasn’t going to die in this water, and I was determined not to let Megan die either.

  I grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her toward me. I was close enough to the surface of the water that I could hear the muffled shouts of my friends above my head.

  I pushed Megan, heavy in her waterlogged clothes, above my head. I saw her body lift to the surface and then she was raised out by someone from the group.

  I swam as fast as I could to the top and as soon as my head hit the air I gulped in a giant swallow of oxygen.

  “Pete!” I heard the sound of Jude’s voice as he dangled the boat ladder over the side. “Take my hand!”

  I was shivering. My hands were convulsing, but I tried to leverage myself on one rung of the ladder and hoist myself up by grabbing onto Jude’s arm. It was a slippery grip, but I used my boot to push myself up on the second rung of the ladder.

  Jude grabbed me under my arms and grunted as he tugged me over the edge. I lay there on the deck of the boat, panting and dripping wet.

  I was soaked from head to toe, right through to the bone. My teeth chattered violently and I couldn’t feel my lips. Or my hands and feet.

  “Somebody get him a blanket before he freezes to death!” I heard Tara’s muffled voice shout from behind me.

  “Is…Megan…okay?” I managed to ask. I stared up at the canopy of sparkling stars in the sky overhead. I couldn’t move a single muscle.

  Tara was now standing over me. She wrapped a blanket around my body and began rubbing me down from head to toe in order to create friction to bring warmth back into my body.

  “That was amazing what you did for Megan,” Tara said. “She is alive because of you.”

  I attempted to grin. “Really?”

  “Yes.” There were tears of joy shimmering in Tara’s eyes. “Shh,” she whispered soothingly and stroked my cheek. “Just rest now.”

  “That was amazing,” Liam said.

  “Thanks,” I said, still shivering violently.

  That’s when I realized the sea was calm once again. The snakes must have determined that we weren’t a threat and moved on. I tried to tell myself the danger was over, but it was only momentary. The real risk was still out there lurking in the shadows, far from over.

  22

  Tara

  I noticed the edge of the coast coming into view next to the wooded tree line. I immediately began to shiver as a feeling of dread cloaked over me. I had to look away. It was too painful to look at it directly.

  “Are you cold?” Jude whispered and rubbed the side of my arm. His eyebrow was pushed into a thin line of concern.

  “No.” I shook my head, but I didn’t meet his gaze.

  I couldn’t look at anything aside from that sinister forest ahead of me, the same forest where I had escaped by the skin of my teeth. I immediately felt rattled, as if my life was in even more danger than I’d realized.

  “Talk to me,” Jude said and le
aned closer so that his face was only an inch or so from mine.

  “It’s just…”

  “Are you worried about going back into the woods?”

  I swallowed hard. He hit that one right on the mark.

  “You aren’t alone this time,” he reminded me. “You have us, and we will protect you.”

  “The guards working for the Fundamental Society are vicious,” I said.

  “We can handle anything.” Jude lifted the hair off my shoulder and pushed it behind my back.

  I looked at him and contemplated whether he really knew what he was up against. But then again, we were Mutants. We were stronger by nature than any human could ever hope to be.

  I glanced over my shoulder. “I’m not sure she’s up to the challenge.”

  Jude exhaled slowly as if to agree with me. He gave Megan a contemplative glance. “She will be fine as long as she doesn’t get separated from the others.”

  “She just escaped from a Home Base too.”

  Jude nodded. “I heard.”

  I looked into Jude’s eyes. I wanted to find truth in them. “Do you have a bad feeling about this trip?”

  Jude chuckled and crossed one leg over the other. “Would it matter if I did?”

  “Maybe.” I shrugged and watched Pete as he tried to maneuver the boat to shore so that we could anchor it there.

  It was never too late to turn back, but I didn’t want to be a coward. If I ran away, it meant the scientists would win. I couldn’t give up on Maddie. I knew she wouldn’t have thrown in the towel on me either.

  She would be out here hunting for me day and night if the roles were reversed. I had no idea what had spooked her out there in the woods, but I was determined to find her against the odds and ask.

  Once Pete slid the boat onto the wet sand, we climbed out and stood there a row, assessing our surroundings and getting our bearings. The forest itself was far from welcoming, but we had no choice but to venture into it and hope for the best.

  I glanced up at the sky. The moon was enormous and circular, glowing with a radiant milky light that reflected across the canvas of the ocean.