I decided to just get into the shower with everything on, that way I would just have wet clothes to worry about, not bloody wet clothes. I let the water run all over me. It had not yet warmed up but I had too much adrenaline pumping to worry about the discomfort. I slowly got out of my clothes and washed my body. I got out of the shower, but I did not have another change of clothes other than what I came in with. I decided to put that on. I really missed my folks. Last month I was just the dirty angry kid in school. Now I have gone toe to toe with a Vampire, A robot cyborg lady thing, and just kicked the crap out of four real life wizards. My mom always knows what to say to cheer me up. I was lost in thought when I heard the speaker system in the building go off.
“All students not currently engaged in medical or emergency services please report to the park.” I heard a voice that sounded like the principal. I looked in the mirror at myself one last time and headed out through the door.
CHAPTER 13
KHATARA
Khatara was washing up when she heard the speaker system go off telling all students to meet in the park. She had gone to the park, heard the human Fairplay’s message and went back to her territory and began organizing her wolves in the best possible position she could
. As she was walking she was so caught up in leading her pack that she did not notice a familiar voice speaking to her.
“Are you ignoring me now?” Kara asked.
“What do you need Kara?”
“I think we should split our forces, let’s leave at least a third of our forces facing towards the park so we will not be left surprised. I do not have faith in humans and their guns.”
“I think they can hold Kara, but it is better to be safe than sorry”, Khatara smiled, looking down upon the smaller Werewolf. “Transform and bring 12 others with you, the first sign of trouble I want you to run back and get me. There is no entrance to where the principal wants us to guard, but he is adamant about these positions.”
Kara transformed and bounded off. Kara was Khatara’s only true friend, the other were’s followed her orders because of respect for her power, not because they genuinely liked her as a leader. They were used to her being low in the pecking order, not the top. Two wolves had challenged her authority in the days immediately after her victory with both meeting death instead of just a loss. The other wolves quickly stepped in line. The other wolves were still hard on Kara, for her Lycan heritage and the fact she was smaller than a normal wolf. Kara was definitely a lot faster than any wolf anyone had seen before, but her lack of size made her an easy target. Since Khatara’s rise to power however, the other wolves had for the most part left her alone. Khatara quickly went back and focused on the task at hand when she heard an explosion coming from somewhere in the main park area, possibly where the vampires live.
Khatara had everyone focused on their lane to protect and wisely moved to the halfway point between Kara’s forces and that of Storai’s, the Beta wolf of her pack. The sound of gunfire quickly erupted from the park area. Khatara stayed in her human form and raced to the edge of her pack’s territory. The wizards seemed to be giving as good as they got. She could see the human Nick and his group, systematically taking out the intruders from the sidelines. Khatara smiled as she caught a glimpse of him. Nick would have made an excellent mate, unfortunately Khatara had seen the human nurse Chloe always around him, and had overheard the plans she had for him. The other human Khatara had her eye on, Cory might be much easier to pursue, as he seems to lack the hatred the other wizards have for her kind. Khatara was lost in thought for a bit until she saw what looked like a Tyrannosaurus Rex wreaking havoc on the battle field.
Khatara immediately rallied the entirety of Storai’s troops to her position. The tyrannosaurus suddenly changed direction and bounded off directly towards Kara’s position. Khatara shifted her form as did the rest of the wolves around her and leaped off towards the giant lizard, hopeful that they could reach it before it reached Kara. As Khatara was running full speed, she noticed something odd.
The dinosaur was big sure, but at the speed it was running it should have made at least a sound. Khatara noticed she did not feel the ground shake or hear the beast roar. Khatara reached the beast at the same time it reached Kara. Out of options, Khatara did what every other leader would have done, she leapt at the beast.
Khatara went right through the beast, like it was some type of hologram. The beast ran forward about 20 more meters and just disappeared. Khatara’s wolves started shifting back into human form.
“What was that?” Storai asked. “We should have been in a terrible fight with that beast, but it was like it wasn’t there.”
“I do not know” Khatara started, “But I do know the humans are capable of many things, these wizards. The others have been disoriented from the appearance of that monster and they are losing ground.”
“We have to help them, they will be slaughtered” Kara spoke.
“No little one”, Storai spoke. “I do not see any human male Wizards in trouble right now. For every female wizard death, our odds of reproduction go up. I think we should keep to the mission the principal gave us, and only interfere when the males are in danger. With luck they will see us as saviors, and forget their petty prejudices. What do you think Khatara?”
Khatara knew the right thing to do would be to help the humans. However her Beta was both older and wiser than she was. Storai had gotten the job of beta simply because the prior two Beta’s attempted to overthrow Khatara. Storai had a good point and Khatara had no love lost for the wizards anyway. They were simply a means to an end.
“No Kara, let us fall back to our positions. I want the majority of you here towards the front line in case they are overwhelmed. Do not join the fight in the park unless you have my approval or you are being attacked. I want to see how this is played out.”
Khatara went back to her position and stayed there for what seemed like an eternity, but was in actuality around 20 minutes when the speaker system went off again, informing everyone to meet in the park. Khatara was pleased with the conclusion of the fight. She had lost no wolves to the attack, and all of the elders were safely hidden away. The others were not wild about her plan to keep the old or the wounded from the fight, the status quo had been every wolf fights the enemy or is killed. This new policy she figured would give her a following among the older wolves. Her willingness to fight an enemy much larger that herself had to make even her most ardent detractors take note that she was a fearless leader, not just some bully.
As Khatara neared the park, she could see body parts strewn around the area. She caught sight of Cory but her heart sank when she saw two male wizards, Nick and Dylan being carried off to the infirmary. She barely paid attention to the principal when the gathering ended. She spotted Kara and had a message for the young hybrid.
“Kara, find out how many male wizards were lost and did the Vampires take any casualties. These limbs strewn about had to be the work of the vampires, there is no wizards currently here that could have the strength to do this.”
Kara bounded off to the infirmary as Khatara motioned for Storai to join her. Khatara and Storai waited in front of the school waiting for news from the infirmary. They did not wait long until Kara came back out. Khatara noticed she had a bump on her head she had not noticed before.
“Nick and Dylan were injured by Cory, according to what Nick told the female Chloe. Dylan seems to be suffering from Vampire poisoning, as Chloe cannot heal him. The vampires suffered most of all, two of their males are dead, both of the juveniles.”
“The pack is stronger than ever” Khatara smiled as she nodded approval to her fellow Werewolves.
CHAPTER 14
Sorry Bout Yo Damn Luck
After the fight, this time when I went to the park, there was no segregation. I found werewolves standing with wizards. Everyone was giving the vampires distance and they were crying uncontrollably. Even the one I had got into with looked beside herself. I saw the princ
ipal still in his Armor standing on the platform our gym teacher normally used.
“Students, settle down.” I heard him say, his voice now coming from the speaker system in the park. “The fighting is over. There have been some unsettling events here as you know but I need you to hold it together and act like professionals. Our casualties are numerous; although we gave way better than what we received. We have lost 12 Vampires; unfortunately two of them were children.”
When he said that, the Vampires started up again screaming and crying. I figured they were some cold blooded witches, but it seemed they really cared about their own. The professor continued speaking again once they quieted down.
“We have also lost 9 wizards. Unfortunately our Alpha team was destroyed by an IED while traveling to the fight. Our Bravo team faced a similar fate, with only one survivor.”
I could hear a murmur going throughout the crowd at hearing the principal’s news.
“Our military assets are unharmed, as it seems whoever planted the IED’s knew exactly who they were looking for. I do not have to tell you what this means. Sonar has made his move and I believe his plan is to wipe us out. I am sure he is hearing this conversation right now and I want him to know, that no matter what he does, we will prevail. The intruders got in through our secret entrance located in the Vampire section. They had far more knowledge of our school than I thought possible. I will shoulder the blame on this. The official word here is that a gas main blew and the school was destroyed. There will be military personnel posing as gas workers above ground. I will give you the rest of today off to sort through your feelings. Cory Price, meet me in my office immediately. The principal then flew off towards his office.
As I was walking towards his office, I saw the twins talking with Ronnie. I did not have to guess what they were talking about since Ivy looked my way and gasped with her hand over her mouth. Aimee on the other hand looked pleased and was laughing. I walked pass them and noticed Khatara and some of her pack in front of the school. I did not want to be rude, but I really didn’t feel like talking in my current state so I went through the side entrance. I didn’t stop at the infirmary this time and caught the elevator up to the principal’s office. I got off and it seemed all his windows doubled as a TV monitor, although I really did not like what was playing.
I could see Nick and his crew battling it out with Winter. I hated to admit it, but as a foursome they were truly fantastic. I got to relive the whole fight on video. Unfortunately, it also caught me spreading doom on the Nick’s foursome.
“Mr. Price, we find ourselves in an interesting situation.” The principal spoke, his back still facing me as he was watching the screens. “It seems you blatantly attacked another student who was already badly wounded. While I am sure Mr. Gomes and company are no saints, I hardly think they deserve what you gave them. They could have died. The punishment for attempted murder is normally 2 years solitary in our holding cells or death.”
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to kill anybody; I just wanted to make sure they were never able to attack me again. I decided to take the advice I had gotten when I first came in here from Detective Cranberry and stay silent. The principal getting the feeling I wasn’t going to talk continued speaking.
“However you did try to protect my daughter and now you know my dirty little secret. I am going to look the other way. The look in your eyes as you were attacking them, it seemed personal. Never let feelings get in the way of fighting. You will make mistakes and not be able to control yourself. You are dismissed.”
I turned to leave. As I reached the elevator, I was relieved not to be punished, but at the same time he owed me answers. I had almost died out there. People did die out there. He owed me an explanation.
“Sir, I think you owe me more than that. I just risked my life for a freaking robot and was almost killed a bunch of different times. I earned the right to know the truth.”
“Sit down Mr. Price. I do not plan on keeping anything from my students anyway. Tomorrow during class they would find out during an assembly. Mr. Price do you know how old I am?”
“I heard you were around 50” I answered.
“And have you wondered why I am the longest raining principal in school history?”
“Well not really, I never thought about it.” I replied truthfully.
“Well I am going to tell you. It is because I am smart. Sit down and let me tell you my story. Like many kids during that time, I was taken here as an infant. My younger years were not pleasant. I was always ridiculed and bullied. I had hoped when I reached puberty, my powers would manifest and I would be the strongest wizard there was. I fantasized about leading the Alpha Team and having all those that bullied me tortured. Unfortunately, my only power was that of invention, and I did not recognize that until I was nearly 18. It wasn’t uncommon back then for people to live here who did not have any powers. Our elders and the Government kept a tight rein on the powered and their families. During a science fair, I invented a device that let you see in a person was powered or not. It wasn’t the present model you see now but something similar. The only way it could work was if the person you were scanning was already injected with a special fluid. You could tell by looking at their eardrums. They would glow blue. This discovery was the reason they suddenly started giving polio shots to children eventhough the disease had been virtually wiped out on our shores. The ear exam you took as a kid even though your hearing was fine, that was them trying to find out who was and wasn’t a wizard. The government had been trying to come up with a test ever since they found out about us and never could until I did. This allowed people living here that weren’t wizards or super natural to go about their lives. All the government had to do was threaten those of us you couldn’t leave to ensure their silence. That device also lets us find out how wizards lost their powers, by having intercourse or simply aging. No one here cared about my breakthrough. I had let their families go home and I was still bullied harder than ever. I eventually decided to build myself a friend. You met Winter earlier. I programmed her to have free thought. I wanted a girlfriend but the materials I had were not as advanced as my daughters. You may laugh, but I was still a boy, I figured friendship and I could have sex and yet technically remain a virgin. Winter was simply just a head at that time on a spider like body, very small like the size of a beagle. I put knowledge of all my inventions into her hard drive just in case I might have need of them when I eventually would lose my powers. One day I was beat up badly and unceremoniously I got my head placed in a toilet where they flushed it numerous times. This was not only my original tormentors who now where the core of alpha team, but kids as young as 14 participated as well. I went home that night with the intention to build Winter a body so she could protect me. It was then she convinced me to make a super powered suit, turning myself just as powerful as they were. I built my suit and Winter’s suit side by side. As the months went by, I had noticed Winter becoming distant, almost hostile. She had a body by now, but it was a crude metal endo skeleton as her suit was not yet complete. It was during this time I changed her programming to where she would always have to tell me the truth and that she could not use deadly force on any human, Wizard or otherwise. She was not happy with this development and started to openly challenge me around others. Bad enough I was known as Creepy Henry for building a woman. Now I was lampooned because not even she wanted anything to do with me. I stopped working on her suit and continued to evolve mine. Me and Winter eventually made up and that’s when I decided to have a daughter. Winter was not thrilled with having another Android around and begged me to finish her suit. I added a taser, and a pepper spray cannon and made sure that no other implements could be used on her suit. I feared she would attack me one day and I did not want to be hurt too badly. I stopped building Summer and continued to improve my suit. By now the government was very interested in my androids and gave me all types of materials for Summer. They also wanted to see what my suit could do. I feared bot
h would be taken away from me so I made the suit only work with my DNA and stopped working on Summer to build other such devices, like the holding cell our lone prisoner is housed in right now. I was around 24 when the Alpha team went out on a mission. Their leader, now calling himself Meltdown was living fire went rogue as well as the rest of the team. Winter was with the team testing out her suit, per the orders of the then principal, a chap not more than 10 years my senior. That was the last time I saw Winter until today, some two plus decades later. As you know I finished Summer before I totally lost my gift and I fortunately finished my suit also before the inevitable happened. I became the leader of alpha team and along with Summer’s help, ended the war between all super naturals. I over threw the principal, partly because he decimated the already depleted Vampire and Werewolf community with that Waco debacle, and partly because he did nothing to stop my tormentors while in charge. I never expected to hear from Winter again, since I thought she was destroyed by the Alpha team. Unfortunately she showed up today, with all of my knowledge, including the secret entrance I made in what is now where the vampires live. I am sure you have questions I did not answer, so ask away.”
I did not expect to hear this guy’s life story, but what a loser. Being bullied was horrible, but it sounds like he never got back at them and they took his girl. He seemed so sad while telling me his story I decided I probably wouldn’t do much better than he did because of his size. His mention of Summer though made thoughts flood back to my head. I instantly knew my first question.
“Summer, is she… is it alright?” I asked awkwardly.
“My daughter is fine, although I am sure she would not like to be called an ‘it’. She is programmed to behave like any normal teenage girl, and I am sure teenage girls resent being called an ‘it’. As we speak her body has been taken from your residence and I will attach her head later on today. Unfortunately, Winter was equipped with some sort of data transfer device. She did get some data from Summer, although what she got and what for remains unknown to me until I interrogate our prisoner.”
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