The door was open and I could see that Lily wasn't teaching a class yet. I walked in.
“Emma! I'm so glad you're back!” Her French accent was thick with excitement.
“Yeah, me too.” I tried to muster the right amount of enthusiasm- I doubt she would've noticed if I had said it as sarcastic as I felt like.
“So I decided that when you returned, as I knew you would, that you could teach an entire class. So today you shall teach!” Lily exclaimed like it was the best idea ever.
“Wow, thanks. Will this be often or just every now and then?” I was praying for the latter.
“I say about once a week. More if this proves successful.” She smiled at me.
“Well, it's a good thing that I have an entire class session planned out already.” I tried to smile back at her, but it felt more like a grimace.
“Good, good. How about we get you set up?” Lily looked at me for instruction.
“I actually don't need any physical things to start this class. It will be more of me talking and guiding the students on the path to find their inner abilities, if they have any.” I shrugged.
“Hmm. So different. Is there any way in particular you want the class to set up?” She gestured to the room with the tables all out orderly.
“I think we could clear a large circle in the middle of the room, and throw down all the floor pillows, that should be good enough.” I really hoped the floor arrangement went as well as I thought it would.
“Yes, that should do quite nicely.” She nodded.
I set about moving things to the way I thought they should be. I didn't want this class to be like the other classes for the people that got stuck with me. Instead I wanted them to actually learn something useful. I realized that my gift was far more important than the knowledge one acquired in this room. I didn't need anything to make my gift work. I sighed. It was almost time.
With the room set up, I went over my notes one more time, took a deep breath, and settled myself at the top of the clearing- I'd have them sit in a circle. My classmates began to pour into the room. I was suddenly very thankful for my spell. When I saw Leland walk in, I tried to remain calm and collected. He was attractive, but my mind had shifted that- remembering how he acted as a lap cat to Spawling. It was hard to let go of that anger. Lily directed the students to sit in a circle. When she joined them, they all looked at each other nervously.
“Okay class. Today we have a very special treat in store. Emma will be starting us off on the path to heal with our minds. Isn't that exciting?” She squealed, many of the students looked at each other trying to understand what was going on.
“So before anyone else gives me that odd look, I don't heal like you guys do. I don't require any special tools to mend a broken bone or a deep cut. The only thing I use is my energy.” I smiled at them, but they still looked at me like I was speaking in tongues. “Leland, what would you use to heal a cut?”
“We would use a balm, it would take anywhere from an hour to longer depending on how serious the injury was.” He said the words like it was obvious.
“I can heal a cut to the bone injury in moments.” The room filled with gasps of shock.
It can't be true. A female voice said.
She's lying. Another voice said.
Enough! I sent my word out with a mental slap. I wouldn't tolerate being called a liar.
The room fell silent.
“Good, now Lily if you could tell me which student has had the most success at healing?” I spoke directly to her.
“Um, I would have to say Leland, so far.” She looked at me questioningly.
“Excellent. Leland please come sit by me. And you as well, Lily.” I gestured for them to come up.
“Yes, of course, Emma.” Lily came and sat next to me.
“Fine.” Leland walked over and sat down.
“Lily, would you say that you're the best person to heal a wound if it occurred in this room by your traditional methods or does one of your students surpass you?” I needed an honest answer.
“Hmm, many of these students are on the path to achieving greatness, but they've not reached this level yet.” She said confidently.
“Good, then I want you heal this if for some reason I fail.” My eyes glittered at her, and then I sliced Leland's arm deeply.
Several girls in the room shrieked.
“You doubt what I can do or should I let poor Leland take hours to heal?” I gestured to his arm which was seriously bleeding.
“No. Please, heal it, Emma.” His hazel eyes pleaded with me.
“Okay, sit still.” I took his arm and directed my energy at mending the problem- soon the injury was healed completely without even the faintest trace of a scar.
“Holy shit.” Leland fingered the hole on his shirt.
“Leland Aldridge, I expect better language from you.” Lily scolded.
The entire room moved closer to examine his arm.
“Now would you like me to start you down the path where you can do this yourselves?” I cocked my brow at them.
“Yes!” The word came at once from everyone in class.
“Good, now that you all know he is fine, can you return to where you were sitting?” Everyone moved at once to get back to their spots.
“We'll begin with going over mediation. How advanced is everyone here in mediation?” I asked the question and there was a mumble of responses.
“I think it's safe to say that mediation isn't something that they practice often.” Lily replied.
“Okay, then we will start with a guided one. I'm going to lead you through a long mediation, and in this you'll have to heal something, and then we can see where you guys stand.” I found peace talking to them, it seemed that Dom was right about things going well.
We spent the rest of the class walking through a mediation that took them into terrains they were unfamiliar with, where they got injured, and had to heal themselves. I found several students in the class showed potential for picking up aspects of my gift, but many struggled- Lily included. I concluded the class by asking them all to practice this trick until the next time I taught class.
I thought that things might be different in Daniel's class. He had after all said I would be more like a teaching assistant than an actual teacher of sorts. When I got to his class he was outside- waiting for me. I let out a sigh as I approached him.
Merry Meet Emma. He bowed slightly to me.
Meet Met, Daniel. I returned the gesture.
I've heard great things about you, Little One. Greater than before. His words danced in my mind with his hopes of opportunity.
Yes, I figured many would hear. I tried to cover my annoyance.
I never believed in the prophecy- not until now. You truly are our princess. He bowed once again.
I merely bowed in return.
I was thinking that today you could teach a class by yourself. He nodded his head in agreement with himself- his hair bounced along with him.
Okay. I was ready for it, even though I had hoped that I wouldn't have to do it.
Good, is there anything you need? He gestured back towards the room.
Nope. I'll be just fine. I didn't see how this class would be much different than the last one.
I walked passed him and into the room. I sat down at his desk and I pulled out my deck of playing cards. I would start with the mental probing of each student- like Bettina had done with me. Then I would test their ability to see the past, present, and future. I needed to know what I was working with.
Slowly the students began to trickle into the room. Leland was the only one from the healing class. That was good but also twice the work. I could handle it, but I needed to know how often I would be teaching a class. Perhaps I would have to go talk to Spawling about setting up my own class while I took the classes I needed on our history. My skin crawled at the very thought of having to talk to that pompous idiot again.
I looked out at the room and saw Daniel sitting in the
back. I sighed. Apparently my professors wanted to learn what I could teach them- the only problem was that so far they didn't have the right kind of gift to work the same way I did, I silently hoped that Daniel would have some ability like mine. Leland was looking a little ruffled. I was slightly amused by the sneer forming on his face.
It took me a minute to adjust to having only a partial mental shield up, but I let some of my usual one slip. I reminded myself that this class was usually taught entirely mentally. That might be easier. I thought about how I could send them mental images of how I did things then. I took a deep breath.
Okay class. So obviously there is a slight change for today's lesson. I'm going to teach it. I saw several students perk up just a little- apparently stories were going around the school about just some of my abilities.
So today I'm going to do a little testing to see where you all stand. If everyone could just write down their name on this sheet of paper and if you have any special affinity for anything in particular, I would appreciate it. I handed a blank sheet of paper and a pen to the first person sitting by me- she looked up at me in awe. I realized that this was going to be a long class if they couldn't get over my unique abilities. I really hated being turned into something to awe and fear.
Once the list made its way back to me, I realized that even though most of the vampires held a general gift for mental training, not one of them were aware if they had any special gifts. I was slightly annoyed that no one had tried to figure out if the vampires in this school were gifted at all or even if they had special talents. I decided right there, that that was going to change. I was going to find out if any of my students had special talents- not just advanced training.
Okay, I'm going to start out by sending something similar to a mental shock to you guys. I want you to block it. Anyone that can block the first attempt will move to the next step, and so on. Any questions?I looked out at the class, they all looked concerned.
Will it hurt? The girl who looked at me in awe before asked. I looked down at my list and realized her name was Emily. She was a small little thing, with plain brown hair, and large round brown eyes. I instantly realized that she probably had a special gift- people that look innocent are hardly ever that defenseless.
If you can't defend yourself from a light shock, I need to know. Have you ever touched a light switch and been shocked because of the natural electricity your body produces? I asked Emily.
Yes? Her answer was unsure.
Well, it'll be a little stronger than that. I tried not to chuckle when the girl looked a little frightened. The point of this exercise is to, one, let me know how far along many of you are, and two, give you a reason to want to make sure that you block me. I will not injure anyone. And those that can't do the task at harder levels will not be placed under any effect while I test those that can. I smiled at them.
When no one else asked questions, I figured I had either scared them into silence or they didn't have any questions.
Okay, let's begin. I'll give you all a chance to construct your best mental block. You have one minute. I set out a timer, the countdown began and suddenly everyone looked very nervous, but also like they were concentrating very hard. I felt for them. Blocking came very naturally to me, so this wouldn't have been a challenge. I was even able to turn the energy Betty had sent at me back at her. I sighed, I had a very good feeling that these students wouldn't be able to do half of that. When the timer beeped, I sent out a testing small soft zing, no one reacted. I took a breath and centered myself. I needed to start off low.
I could feel the light tingle of my energy wanting to be released. I sent a small zap out to the entire room. The flow of energy could be seen as it traveled through the room. It was like watching electricity flow through a florescent bulb. I watched the students' eyes realize that their block wasn't strong enough, some tried to fix it instantly- others dropped it completely. There were enough student left that I was able to do a second round.
For those of you that felt the full effects of a low dose, and didn't succeed in adjusting your block or didn't even try to adjust, please move to the back of the class in the last row. Everyone else please move forward to fill in the spaces. I waited while people shuffled around. My last row had five people in it. So far the class was being honest about what they could or were willing to do.
Okay, we're going to move to the second round, this time it'll be stronger. Those that get through this will advance to the next level of it and so on. Please ready yourselves, you have one minute. I set out the timer once more.
The beep went off again. I sent out the same level as the first. No one responded. I upped it enough to see a reaction. Again, there was a clear break between those that could handle this level and those that couldn't. Once we ended on this one, there was another five that couldn't handle this amount. I put them in the next to last row. I had three rows left to fill to complete the 25 students that were in the class besides myself.
Once again, you have one minute to ready yourselves. I set the timer out for them.
This time when the timer went off I didn't give them a warning test. I increased a little more than I had before. It was clear that they hadn't prepared enough. All of them, including Daniel reacted. Soon they adjusted or fell by the wayside- unfortunately Daniel was amongst them. These filled the next row.
One minute. The timer was back out with its glowing red digits.
I increased more than the last this time. A few hadn't adjusted for this increase, but the majority had- only problem was that they couldn't hold it. Leland faltered just enough to lose his concentration- the full force of the zap hit him and he was done. This time six people fell out.
The last four began to ready themselves before I even instructed them to. I set out of the timer anyways. A second before it went off I sent an intense energy blast to them. They all held. I allowed this to last longer than the rest though. Slowly, they wore down one by one. The last one left that didn't wear down was Emily. I smirked at the girl.
Emily would you like to continue? I cocked my brow at her in challenge.
No, thank you. She gulped audibly.
Okay. As for the rest of you, I want you to look at the people that fell out with you in each round. These people will be your future study groups for each level you're in when I teach. I'm going to hand out a sheet to each row, I want you to write down your name on that sheet. Next class we meet I'll group you accordingly and have you practice what's appropriate for your level. I'll be dismissing everyone individually from class. When I call your name please come up to the front of the room. I handed out the paper and sat down in the front with the first list. I took a deep centering breath. I knew it would drain me to find their natural talents that have not been trained, but I was determined to discover what potential was present.
Emily, please come to the front of the room. She approached my desk with her bag in her hand.
Ye-sss, Mee-sss Emma. She stumbled the words out at me.
Relax. And please take a seat across from me with your hands on the table. I directed her to the stool in front of me, she sat down. Her doe eyes stared up at me- fear was present.
Do not worry. I'm going to look into your mind. It might feel a little strange at first, but don't fight it. I will not hurt you. Do you understand? I asked her.
She shook her head vigorously.
I closed my eyes and took her hands. She resisted at first, as was expected. I pushed gently on her mind until she yielded. Soon I had access to everything that made her, well, her. I followed the path of her power- similar to what I had done when Bernie had tried to hide things from me. I wasn't surprised to see the ability to compel, it was undeveloped but it was her gift. I couldn't find an inner predator, or a knack for healing. I discovered her love for our history had given her the ability to mentally shift through it all- like a mini library stored in her mind. The last detail I noticed was that her eyesight was excellent- I realized this overlapped with her lo
ve for our books because of the fine print. It was very interesting.
Thank you, Emily. In the future, I'll tailor a special homework assignment for you to help you shape your gifts that you don't realize are there. I smiled at her.
Thank you, Miss Emma. She said a little confused.
Not to worry, everything will become clear later. I promise. You're free to go now, and excellent job on today's task. I beamed at her and she flushed. I quickly wrote down her gifts and moved on to the next person.
Charles? I waited for a hand from the back of the room to lift.
Please come to the front. I said loudly.
Charles slowly made his way to the front of the room and sat down in front of me. I could feel the disdain coming off of him in waves. He clearly didn't know how to control his feelings.
Please place your hands on the table, I'm going to read you, but don't resist. Do you understand? I was trying to be patient with him, but his dislike was like sour milk on my tongue.
Yeah, whatever. He placed his black nail painted hands on the table.
When I took them, it was like taking a cold shower. I realized he had never been trained in self-control, which surprised me. I found a deep darkness within him from different aspects of his life. I tried to heal these, I could feel some of it giving way. He jerked in my hands but didn't try to force me out of his mind. I looked deeper. He was gifted with healing, something he had never even tried. His healing was similar to mine. I smiled knowing I would take him under my wing. He was also gifted with art. But there was something unfocused about this art. I wanted to know. I pushed further. He was a seer- only it came through his artwork. No one knew he was one though, he didn't even know. He would need a lot of help I decided.
Thank you, Charles. Do you have a class later today?I asked him.
Yeah, but only one. Some of his attitude had faded with the darkness.
After my evening classes I would like to have a little of your time. Would that be possible? I wanted to help him.
Yeah, I guess so. When and where do I need to be?He was chipping his polish now.
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