by Blair Drake
No. Not really. He was still numb.
"I'm fine. Peachy. Thanks." Elijah scraped a hand over the back of his neck. "How was the LARPfest weekend?" Live Action Role-Playing wasn't his thing, but Zoe was into it big time.
Zoe blinked, a new wariness creeping over her expression. "We got by."
She didn't need to add "without you" but it hung in the air regardless.
He winced. Why did you bring that up?
"Guess I'd better be going." Somehow he salvaged a careless grin. "See you around, Zo-Zo."
The second he turned around he cursed himself. Ugh. It was like his brain was slowly kicking back into gear.
"Smooth Davies. Real smooth." Stilts winced. "You sure it was amicable? Pretty sure you just got body checked real hard, judging by the look on your face." He held up three fingers. "How many fingers?"
Elijah snatched at them and jerked them down. "Alright, fine. She might have dumped me."
He stole another glance behind him, but Zoe was walking away and didn't look back.
Fine. He glanced at his phone. Seeing Zoe was only the icing on the cake. How was he going to tell his mom about the baby? She was like a walking zombie these days, trying to get back on her feet after the divorce and the loss of the house.
What was his dad even thinking? Elijah was seventeen. Christ, he was closer in age to Amie than his dad was.
He really needed to talk to someone about this, but the only person he might have been able to confide in was the one person who wanted nothing to do with him anymore.
"Uh oh," Stilts muttered. "Grauster alert."
The headmaster strode along the corridor. Headmaster Grotel Auster's coat flared out behind him. Too late, Elijah realized he still held the phone in his hand.
Story of my life.
The Grauster's eyes flicked toward it, then back up to his face, just as a peal of thunder vibrated the windows. "If you'll come with me, Mr. Davies."
He exchanged a look with Jeremy. Great. What did the Grauster want now? "I was just putting it away, sir. I'm on my way to class."
"Not anymore. Class can wait. Your presence is required in my office."
Joy.
Through the windows, the storm lashed out with another stabbing fork of lightning.
Elijah slammed to a halt inside the headmaster's office. A heap of other students waited, and he managed to sidle in to a nice corner of the office. Another of the teachers, Headmistress Hettie Lalane moved among them, murmuring quietly. He liked the Headmistress. Wind slammed against the window casing. The storm was growing worse.
He nudged Jasper Walker and stage whispered, "Any idea what's going on?"
Jasper shook his head, but then Headmaster Auster walked in, and one did not interrupt the Grauster. Not when one was currently on the headmaster's shitlist.
A lash of lightning highlighted the room, and then the world went dark as the electricity went out. They were all plunged into darkness, and several of the students squealed. Elijah rubbed his arms. The air felt heavy and static. Good thing Zoe wasn't here or it would do a number on her hair.
"Quickly," Headmaster Auster snapped. "To the rooftops."
What was going on?
Maybe he was still thinking slowly, courtesy of his father's sudden news, but Elijah staggered after the others, uncharacteristically quiet.
Roiling clouds brewed over the school when they reached the rooftop.
Elijah turned, staring toward the coast. A heavy bank of fog moved toward them, rolling over the ground like as incoming wave. There was no way that was natural.
Little hairs lifted all down his neck. What was going on? Headmistress Lalane moved among them, muttering under her breath, with her face pale.
She rested a hand on his shoulder as if to calm him, but he was certain she was muttering something under her breath—an incantation perhaps—and a strange light began glowing out there in the mist as she moved on to the next student. He looked down as something heavy slipped into his blazer pocket, almost certain the headmistress had put something there, but she was moving on, and those glowing lights moved closer. He didn't have a chance to check it out.
"I don't think we ought to be out here," he muttered, staggering in a gust of sudden wind.
The storm howled down upon them.
"Stand firm," someone called.
He grabbed hold of one of the other student's hands. It felt like something was trying to push him off the rooftop. One by one the students were yanked into the air, twisting and turning as they vanished into wind funnels. Holy crap. Elijah turned to race for the stairs, but it felt like an enormous invisible giant's hand suddenly plucked him up and hurled him into the sky. He screamed as he spun into a vortex that suddenly opened up around him.
He caught the flash of horror on Reese Calamita's face, and then the other boy was gone.
Talk about a body check. He was slammed about, hammered by a wind so violent his hair whipped around his head, and his cheeks started flapping as he started falling. Stinging specks of sleet whipped past him, biting into his cheeks. The whine of air whipping past him turned so sharp his ears started to ache, and he couldn't catch a breath. He had to turn his face to the side to snatch a breath of oxygen, he was moving so fast.
Darkness exploded around him. Lights whipped past like stars going at light-speed.
And then it was too much for him.
Darkness sucked him under, and the last thought he had was that he hadn't been able to say goodbye to Zoe. Or tell his mom about the new baby.