by Bob Dattolo
Kaylee took her tray and left without saying anything or even looking back.
“Aww, would you look at that? Even Kaylee knows you’re a lost cause. You can’t seem to help pissing off people that want to squash you.” Samantha briefly watches Kaylee leave before turning back to me.
“See now, that’s just it, I didn’t do anything, yet you guys were still pissed at me. I did nothing. So, since I can’t seem to get you guys to not try to treat me like shit, why not have fun with it? What’re you gonna do, challenge me sooner? Please, except for Alison making her threat, you damn well know someone here would be working up a challenge somehow for this weekend. All I did was show up, and you guys have your sights set on kill her. Well, you know what? Fuck all of you for that. You want to come after me, then go for it. I can see you doing it, Samantha. You’ve got balls and you’re powerful as fuck. Riley? I don’t see her doing it.” Her face flushed as I glanced at her. She’s been pretty reluctant to say much since I broke her spell. “Paige? Maybe, but probably only if you pushed her. Parece? I don’t think so. Not that soon.” If at all, but let’s not say that. “Wes, Shane, or Ryan? Maaaybe, but only if pushed. Levi? No. He’s too afraid.”
“What? Are you fucking kidding me? What am I afraid of? You?!?”
“Me. A stricken. After all, if one killed your parents, how could you hold one off. Two of them against him, and they died. One of me against you? That’s crappier odds. You might hate me because of what happened to your parents, but you challenging me? I don’t think you’re confident enough of winning and terrified I’ll be able to take you down. After all, I can see and have magic, whereas the guy that killed your parents? Blind and magicless.”
He was up and heading my way before I was done saying magicless. I stood as well just in case he decided to attack. It might be frowned upon to kill outside of challenges, but it does happen. He looks pissed enough to try it.
His skin is roiling so hard that it’s starting to tear in spots, with bright trickles of blood starting. “One more word, trash, and I’ll tear you to pieces before I eat you.”
“I never asked you for sex. Keep your fantasies of eating me to yourself. I don’t like you that way.”
More roiling, with his voice dipping deeper, “You just don’t listen. You keep talking. And talking. And talking.”
“Man, calm down, we’re in the caf!” Shane called from their table.
My magic pulsed as I hid what I was working on. “Levi? How long does it take for you to shift?”
“You don’t ever shut up. It’s like you want one of us to slaughter you. I can taste your blood already.” He sniffed, putting his head back as more blood trickled from the torn spots that are slowly healing.
“You can, can you? That’s funny. Because I may not know a ton about dragons and magic and all, but I know it takes a powerful dragon something close to 30 seconds to shift.” I leaned into him, “So you’re gonna shift and try to murder me? Guess what? That means 30 seconds while you’re nearly completely vulnerable to do what I want with you. Threatening to attack as a dragon is like showing a gun. Once you pull it out, the other person has the right to attack back. So, you want to attack me for daring to live? Go for it, goldilocks. You’re so big and bad that you have to bring out a however large dragon to take me on? Them I’m standing here. Right here. Waiting for you to pull on your big girl panties. Or, if you’re not going to do anything? How about you go sit your ass back down and eat lunch like a normal person? Maybe go to therapy or something due to your irrational hatred of people you don’t even know? I think the phrase is shit or get off the pot. If you’re so anxious to be a corpse, then I’m not against helping you when you toss out a threat like that.”
Huh, and here I had thought that I might be calming him down a little. Not so much. He started to say something, then screamed in rage as his skin tore to shit and I knew he lost control. I began reacting, when someone grabbed me up physically and ran from the caf as a wall of teachers arrived to handle the situation.
What the hell?
I ended up outside the caf as Headmaster Anderson put me down. He looks frazzled as he looks me over, “Are you okay?” I can feel magic by the metric ton going off in there, but no dragon bellows starting, so maybe they’ve stopped him?
“Yeah? I was fine when you grabbed me. Why’d you do that?”
He took a step back, “Why? Because Levi was about to kill you, and that wasn’t a sanctioned challenge.”
“He was going to try to kill me. I had every right to fight back, and he would have been in the middle of shifting.”
“Maddie? Being here is hard for students, yet it’s also hard for us. We have to let so many things go that we hate. That we hated when we were here. We will step in where we can, and something like that? Regardless of who would have won, and I would have put money on the golden dragon in there, it would have been a murder attempt. And those, we will stop when we can.”
“I guess. I just don’t get why people hate me so much that something like that is even an option for them.” My frustration bubbled up just a bit. I couldn’t even start to help it.
“I wish I had something for you. You hit a number of points for us as a people. It’s visceral, if you will.”
I can’t even answer that. I’m just so annoyed by this whole thing that there’s no part of me that wants to try to articulate how fucking stupid that is.
I didn’t make it back inside to clean up my tray, so left it behind to get to affinity focus. Not that it was worth it. Levi wasn’t there, but the others were. Shane called out from his desk as soon as he saw me, “How does it feel to be saved by the teachers?”
“I’m not sure? Levi’s not here to ask, so we’ll have to wait on that.”
Samantha was just coming through the door, “We’re gold dragons, stricken. You have no clue, zero clue, what we’re capable of.”
“Do you mean like losing control and needing teachers to ride to the rescue before your murder attempt turns into suicide by stricken?”
Her mouth fell open, but she didn’t get to respond before Mr. Foster took charge and made sure everyone was broken out again. Same exercise as Friday, so I was at my station looking through spells and trying one after another from the various affinities. Shame. None of them ever worked.
That anyone there was able to see.
After affinity focus, we headed to gym. Well, those of us not dragons. I changed clothes in a circle of pretty much just me. No one seemed to want to be close to me at all. I wonder if they’re just trying to protect themselves from anything splashing off of me? I have a feeling they are.
Coach Walters smiled at me as soon as I exited the locker room. I wasn’t quite last, but I was close to it. That’s what having to pee does for your timing. “Huh, would you look at that? The stricken decided to show up today!” Kids around her laughed at me. “I figured that with her shit showing on Friday, you would have bailed.”
“Nah, I’m still waiting for Colin to bust a nut or three. Except that’ll never happen. Ever again.”
Growls from Ryan. No Levi, Shane, or Wes since they’re in the dragon class. Shame. Let’s hope Levi’s more in control than before.
She doesn’t seem to like being called on her last comment to him. Let me see if I can find any part of me that cares.
Hmm, I seem to be all out.
Her hands went on her hips and she glared at me, “You have a big mouth for someone that succeeded in that challenge despite herself. You can barely do a pushup!”
“Shockingly enough? I didn’t have to do a single pushup in that challenge. Not one. Yet I’m still standing and he’s not.”
Now that’s a cruel smile, “Maybe you are. But not for long.” She looked across the others, “Class? Today, I’m focusing on remedial learners. Of which, we have one in this class. The rest of you get to sit back and relax, while I help teach loser how to meet my minimum requirements.”
“If you know your minimums, why can’t
you do them?”
That’s a worse glare than before. Too funny.
“Stricken? I think it’s time for you to run. Since there’s no one to lap you, I’ll be judging your speed. If it’s not fast enough, you get the pain.” She smiled as some of the kids laughed. “I hope you improve quickly. Otherwise, this is gonna be a painful class for you.” Her magic swirled, “Time to run, trash.”
The spell hit me before I made it ten feet. For whatever reason, it feels even weaker than before, although I can tell that she’s putting more power into it. What she’s going for is raw pain. Like blisters for your soul being scrubbed with a stiff wire brush dipped in hate.
Seriously, I’ve had cramps worse than this. I have no idea why it doesn’t hurt like she seems to expect. Like what the others seem to expect. Is she doing something that’s causing it? Is it me? Is it that I’m more used to pain than the others, so in comparison it’s not that big of a deal?
She laughed as I semi-staggered back around for the first lap. “I love how you’re hiding it. Too bad we all know you’re barely making it.” Her gloating got to me, so I started to make noises like I’m in pain. My magic swirled, and I called water to appear on my face and shirt as I increased my panting. Acting is hard work, I swear, I don’t know how people do this for a living.
On my next pass, everyone laughed like crazy. She was the worst.
Wait, no, not Kynal. Not Gage. Not Kaylee. Kaylee did not know what to do when I winked at her. No one else could see me based on where she’s sitting, and I swear her brain hiccupped as I did it.
Last time I had to do 20 laps. This time she didn’t call an end to it when I hit 20. I’m running even slower than I did then, trying to stagger more as I moan and shriek at times, interspersing the two together in ways that they seem to love. Seriously, how they think this is real pain is beyond me.
Of course, I’m making it more believable with my magic. My shirt and shorts are beyond soaked. I have sweat running down my face. My arms. My legs. I’ve been pushing the heat angle and mixing real sweat in with things, but I was mainly doing that to make my face red.
As I hit 40 laps, she laughed harder, “Watch this. She’ll pay for being a stricken.” Kids laughed as her hair lit up, magic swirling higher. I couldn’t place the spell until just before it triggered, and two metal balls a bit larger than marbles appeared floating in the air. The laughter grew more as the balls arrowed in on me, one hitting me in the middle of the back and shoving me forward, while the other hit me in the thigh, and nearly knocked me down.
Okay, fuck, that hurt. I can feel the bruises starting.
The bad thing is that she hasn’t told me to run faster. Or even how long I have to run. So, let’s see if going faster will do anything.
Another hit each, arm and chest. They’re hitting hard enough to knock me off course, with my cries and yelps being real. It’s not agony, but it still hurts.
Ryan calls out, “Hit the stupid cunt more! How dare she kill Colin!”
“You know what? You’re right.”
The balls went into overdrive and began driving into me with nearly every step. Two ribs broke in the first 20 feet. I ended up having to block my eyes with my hands, because one would have torn my left eye out had I not been knocked aside by the other.
Then they started hitting harder.
My magic drove out as I barely stayed up, and I grabbed at everything that I could while hiding it. She didn’t know what to do when I was screaming, spraying blood and three broken teeth from my mouth, and I jumped on her, begging for her to stop hurting me.
Just as my magic grabbed control of her balls and began driving them into the woman I was holding tight.
She managed one loud, long scream before the balls literally tore through her cheeks, destroying her teeth. Every one of them. Her ribs broke in rapid succession. Her legs. Her screams turned to gurgles as I whispered, “I hope this hurts. Have fun in hell.”
Then the balls flew at the back of my head and I moved just in time to have them spear into her face, taking out her eyes as my magic latched onto her power and sucked it deep inside as I fell, cradling my body as I cried, begging her to stop.
Too bad she’s dead.
When you’re hit in the face with two metal marbles flying at shotgun round speeds, that tends to happen.
I was in the infirmary, stripped naked, as they looked me over in horror. I have bruises almost everywhere. Three shattered teeth. Two more cracked. My skull is cracked in four spots. Broken ribs. Broken collar bone. Bones in my hands broken. Bones in my feet broken. Broken kneecap, which I hadn’t even noticed. My kidneys are bruised based on what they’re seeing and the fact that I’m peeing blood.
Headmaster Anderson stood over me, “I’m so sorry, Maddie. I can’t…I don’t know why she snapped like that.”
“What did I do to deserve this?” My voice sounds mushy, but I’m playing it up.
He touched my leg in one of the few spots without heavy bruising, “We’ve talked about it. She never should have done any of that. Even the first spell you told me about that the other kids verified. That’s not called for. The balls? I can’t even begin to understand what she was thinking. Or how she lost control of everything.”
I held up my hands, “I had to block my eyes because she nearly tore one out.” Light touch to the horrific bruise near my eye. “It missed me because the other hit me and knocked me away. I was begging her at the end to stop, and she just seemed to try to hit me harder!”
“If it helps any, she ended up killing herself. She was definitely hitting harder and harder.”
“I want…I want to speak to a lawyer.”
Her perked up, “What? Why? The school isn’t liable for her behavior.”
“I want to sue her estate for what she did to me.” My hands trembled as I put them down. “I may heal well, but I deserve something for this. She tried to kill me. Yes, she ended up killing herself, but I deserve something for what she did to me.”
It’s so easy to see that he’s accepting that I’m not going to try to sue the school. I think I’d have grounds, but it’s just not worth it. “I’ll see what I can do? Frankly, with the evidence that we have and the eyewitnesses backing you up? I’ll be shocked if there’s not an attempt to make an offer to settle.”
“We have pictures and scans of everything, right?”
“We do. Are you sure you don’t want the surgeries? You heard them, they have an OR prepped to take you. They’re worried about some of the damage.”
“I’m sure. I heal very well, at least typically. Dragons heal quickly, but I seem to heal a little quicker than they do.”
“I understand. Or, I don’t, but I’ll accept your decision. You’re an adult and can make it. I’ll also start the ball rolling with her estate. I don’t know how I’ll explain this. This is…I’ve never had a teacher attack a student before.”
That doesn’t deserve a response, so I let it go, and he left the room. The nurse came in and covered me back up without saying a word to me. I swear, she wants to wash her hands after touching the stricken, as if it’ll rub off on her.
Ignore her, Maddie. We have to continue to hold off on healing for now. As painful as this is, hold off and make sure they have what they need to document this. Then we see if I can fix it all quickly. If her estate doesn’t make a good offer, I’m going to find everyone involved in that decision and add them to my little list. After all, I have more room now that Coach Walters is no longer on it.
Chapter 21
I’m so freaking shocked that they let me out of the infirmary with so many broken bones. Even though I overheard one of the nurses say something about let the stricken go and die for all I care, I was still thinking they wouldn’t do it. Hell, I managed to have them give me a wheelchair, which was even more of a shocker. How they expected me to roll it with so many broken bones in my hands is beyond me. Yet here I am heading into the caf.
Every inch of the way here, I had to keep
pushing my magic back from trying to heal things. Or to start on it. I have no idea what it’ll do, but I think it’ll do at least a decent job.
It’s late for dinner, but not too late. The bulk of the kids should have eaten already, yet I’m hit with the sight of at least half of our class sitting at tables.
Levi’s the first to laugh, “There’s the fucking target!” A wash of laughter hits me from most of the kids.
Samantha stands to get a better view of me, “You look like shit, exactly what you are. I’m shocked they even let you out. What happened, they get sick of smelling you?”
More slow wheeling. “Me? Nah. I convinced them that I wanted to come over and get some food. I can’t chew from the missing teeth, but I have a milkshake with my name on it coming to me.”
Shane points at the bandages covering most of my exposed skin, “What happened? Story so far is that you cried and screamed most of class, then attacked Coach Walters?”
“That’s a funny way of putting it, but not entirely true. She decided to hit me with flying balls of metal. Three teeth were smashed out. Two more cracked. Broken ribs. My skull is broken in four places. Broken collar bone. Broken bones in my hands and feet. Broken kneecap. Bruised organs.”
Parece sniffed, “I smell blood. Are you peeing blood?”
“Yup. Damaged kidneys.”
Angelica stood up, “What the fuck? Why would she do that?”
“I’ll tell you why, she’s a fucking stricken! That’s all she deserves.” Levi answers her as if that really explains things.
“You’re too much, Levi. Seriously.”
A loud whistle came from the side, “Man, you’re fucked when Alison comes for you. Can you even stand?” I’m not sure what his name is, but he looks familiar. Obviously. He’s not in my classes.
“I heal quickly.”
Another laugh from Levi, “You’re pathetic. You’re a crying baby that thinks you can heal that kind of damage before Friday? I’m not sure I’ve ever met a dragon that could do that, and you’re not even human.”