Ryland puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer to his side. “Whatever it is we’ll all face it together,” he says, giving me a squeeze before letting go.
We return our trays and take off for the assembly. We walk into the auditorium and take our seats. The lights are lowered and the spotlight turns on, focused on the podium in the center of the stage.
A man of medium height with dark brown hair, a long, narrow nose, and close set eyes walks up to the podium. “May I please have your attention,” he says in a high pitched nasally voice.
The auditorium falls silent. “Thank you. First, I’d like to introduce myself,” he says, pulling at the lapels of his tail coat. “I’m Radford Kenworthy, your new headmaster.”
The room explodes into a flurry of conversations and protests. Even the teachers standing around the outer wall of the room shake their fists and shout. It doesn’t seem as if they knew Headmaster Gandore has left the school.
“Calm down. I’m here to make sure that you are receiving the best education that you can,” he says.
The new headmaster continues to drone on endlessly. His speech is so boring that I zone out and miss most of what he says. I jump when Sam pokes me in my ribs.
“Whisper, the assembly’s over. It's time to go,” he chuckles when I let out a loud squeak.
I stand up and begin to file out of my row behind Ryland. “Sorry Sam,” I say over my shoulder.
On the way to our afternoon classes we pass, Alexis in the hall. I prepare myself for a confrontation, but this time she just gives me a dirty look.
Glancing over at Lydia I ask, “What the ever-loving-hell is going on today?”
“I don’t know but it makes me very uneasy,” she says, picking at her nails.
I reach over and place my hand on hers. “I can only imagine what you’re thinking, but remember, I’m always here to talk anytime you need me,” I say, trying my best to reassure her that the whole school isn’t going to hell in a handbasket.
“I know. I’m so lucky to have a friend like you,” she says, as we start to walk again.
“Are you ready to practice teleporting for the first time tomorrow?” I ask, bumping her shoulder with mine.
Her eyes light up. "I can't wait to teleport. I'm so glad we finally get to try. Hopefully I learn fast, then I can meet you guys instead of someone always coming to get me!" She exclaims as we walk into History class.
Mr. Wells assigns us a research project towards the end of class. “Now I want you to research Nightmare Communications throughout history. Then write a paper three to four pages long. It’s due at the end of next month,” he says, stacking papers neatly on his desk as the bell rings dismissing us.
I lean over and whisper to Lydia. “This ought to be fun.”
We grab our things and head out the door. When I get back to my room, I give Aunt Nellie a quick call to check in.
“Hey sweetie, how is school?” Aunt Nellie answers the phone.
“It’s going good except Headmaster Gandore was escorted out so I never got to talk to him about the stone. Do you know anything or has Ben heard anything?” I ask.
“I haven’t heard anything yet, but that’s a bit worrisome. Ben is still looking into what we talked about but doesn’t have any answers yet. Keep me posted if anything changes,” she says.
“I will. Thank you,” I reply.
“Talk to you soon,” she says before hanging up.
The next morning, I loop my arm through Lydia’s and teleport us outside the teleportation classroom. When we reappear, Ryland and Sam are waiting for us out in the hall.
“Hey Sammy boy, are you ready to learn to teleport?” I ask.
“Ready, willing, and able,” he replies, winking at me.
We walk into the classroom and the desks are pushed to the back of the room. I walk over and set my books down on one of the desks and take a seat. Lydia sits next to me on my left while Sam takes the desk on my right.
Mr. Tesla walks in the room as the bell rings to signal the beginning of class. “"Let's begin," Mr. Tesla eyes the classroom, a disapproving frown on his face.
“You there, get up here," he points out his first victim. I follow his finger and see it lands on Sam.
I nudge Sam. “Go on,” I whisper, “It’s now or never lover boy.”
"Name," he demands, looking down his nose at poor Sam.
“Sam Kunz, sir,” he replies nervously making his way to the center of the classroom.
I lean over and whisper to Lydia. “I hope he doesn’t end up in the front fountain.”
We giggle softly then pay attention when Mr. Tesla begins to speak.
"Feel for the tendrils in your chest, pull them out, and then imagine where you are going," he sneers. "Get to it."
Sam closes his eyes. It only seemed like a few seconds before black inky tendrils ooze out from under his feet. Small and slow at first, but then bigger and faster until they had completely engulfed him. Sam disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the classroom exactly as instructed.
Sam looked at me with a huge grin on his face.
“Don't start celebrating too early,” Tesla grimaces.
Sam closes his eyes and the black tendrils come quicker this time, engulfing him. Then he reappears back where he was standing just moments before.
“Passable, take a seat,” Mr. Tesla says, before turning back and pointing to Lydia. "You’re next."
Mr. Tesla leads Lydia through the same process as he did Sam, but it takes Lydia a few tries to get the hang of it.
“Now close your eyes and come back over here,” Mr. Tesla orders her.
Lydia stands up tall, closes her eyes, and black inky tendrils explode around her, and then she is standing right back in front of the teacher.
“Continue to practice but only in your room and only short distances. We wouldn’t want you half in and half out of the pocket universe now would we?” he asks, giving us an eerie smile as the bell rings to dismiss us.
Classes continue as normal over the next week and everyone is settling back into their normal school routines.
Sam and Ryland promised they would help me with my research assignment for history. We’re on our way to the library when I pull Sam to a stop.
“Do you see this!” I exclaim, my anger bubbling just under the surface.
A strange notice is posted on the bulletin boards stating that All meals and Nightmare feedings will be segregated for Dissidents.
“Why are they doing this?” Sam asks, looking at Ryland.
Ryland reaches forward and snatches the notice off the board before folding it up and stuffing it in his pocket. “I don’t know but we need to see if Max and Finn know anything about this,” he says, clenching his jaw.
Ryland grabs his phone and sends a text to someone then he grabs our hands and teleports us outside of an unknown dorm room. Ryland knocks on the door and Max answers.
“Hey man,” Ryland begins. “We need to talk.”
Max looks around Ryland and gives me a thousand watt smile then winks at me. “Hey Whisper,” he says, causing me to turn three shades of red.
“Are you just going to stand there gawking at me? Or are you going to invite us in?” I ask, placing a hand on my hip. “We need information and hope you can help us.”
About that time Finn appears to my right. “OH! Finn you scared me,” I squeak, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“Sorry, what's the big emergency?” he asks, holding me stiffly.
I pick up on his nervousness and take a step back. He gives me a sad smile as if to say sorry. I give him a wink, pushing past Ryland into Max’s room.
The rest of the guys follow me in and shut the door. “There are notices like this,” he says, pulling it from his pocket and handing it to Max. “They’re on all the bulletin boards in school!” he shouts and begins to pace the room.
I watch as Max reads the notice. Every emotion quickly crosses his face and ending with anger. “
But I want to sit with Whisper at meals! I’ll take care of this,” he seethes, handing the notice to Finn. “I’ll call my father.”
My mouth falls open, and I look at him like he’s crazy. “Max, your father could care less what happens to the Dissidents in this school,” I say.
“Fuck, you’re right. I just didn't know what else to do,” he says with a hint of sadness in his voice.
Chapter 12
It feels strange eating breakfast without the entire group. I can tell Lydia is feeling the absence of Korbin as well, but otherwise it’s business as usual.
“Are you guys ready for the Mind Control class later?” I ask in an upbeat voice, trying to distract Lydia. I’m missing Max and Finn as well, but at least I have Ryland and Sam with me, Lydia only has Korbin.
“Yeah I guess,” Lydia replies, pushing her peas around on her plate, forming a sad face.
I nudge Sam’s foot under the table and nod to Lydia. He looks at me and shrugs his shoulders as if to say what do you want me to do? I widen my eyes at him and nod again. Sam sighs in defeat.
“Lydia, it’s going to be ok. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder,” he says sweetly.
Almost choking on my food, I kick Sam’s foot again only this time a little harder. I can’t believe he said that.
Sam looks at me and all I can do is shake my head. He gives me an apologetic look before standing up and taking his tray to the return.
“It’s ok, Whisper. I know you are trying to make me feel better,” Lydia says, standing up to return her tray. “But you’ve got to be missing Max and Finn too, right?”
“I am, but I’m more worried about you. I at least still have these two here with me.” I reply.
I look over at Ryland who is sitting there just watching everything play out.
“What’s your take on all of this?” I ask, changing the subject, still frustrated with the fact we are being separated.
Ryland looks at me for a minute before answering. “I think it may get worse before it gets better, and as for the why, I don’t know but we better get going or we will be late for class.”
He stands up and I follow him to return our trays before we catch up with Lydia and Sam on the way out of the dining hall.
Out in the hallway, Ryland gives me a quick hug before leaving for his class. I decide to have a little fun with Lydia, she needs it.
“Take my hands; we’re going to be late for Teleporting class,” I say holding out my hands to Sam and Lydia.
Teleporting class drags on as we practice teleporting across the room and back then it’s finally over.
As we walk out of the classroom, I have an idea.
“Lydia would you like to try and teleport us to our Mind Control class?” I ask, smiling at her.
Her mouth falls open and her eyes light up. She looks back and forth between Sam and me. “You would let me do that?” she asks.
“Of course, what’s the worst that could happen?” I ask, slipping my hand into Sam’s and holding my other out to her.
“We end up in the fountain in the front foyer.” Sam chuckles.
Lydia steps up and takes my hand. “Just remember to see the image of where we are going clearly in your mind,” I encourage.
She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes; black tendrils crawl out from under her feet and wrap around us. I can feel the sensation of being folded in half and then it disappears. I open my eyes and Lydia is gone, but Sam and I are still standing outside the dining hall. I look over at Sam and we bust out laughing.
“Sam, would you like to try teleporting me to class?” I ask before doubling over in laughter.
Sam concentrates and we appear outside Mrs. Bradbury's classroom. Lydia is standing there waiting for us.
“I’m so sorry guys!” she exclaims as she walks over to us. “I don’t know what went wrong.”
“It’s ok; let’s get to class,” I say.
We enter the class and take our seats. Five tables are situated in the middle of the room and sitting up on each one is a human volunteer.
I look at Sam and Lydia nervously. “I really wish we didn't have to use humans as our guinea pigs,” I say, looking at a young girl sitting on the middle table.
Sam reaches over and takes my hand. “It’s not ideal, we know, but what do we do about it?” he asks.
The bell rings signaling the start of class. I let go of Sam’s hand as Mrs. Bradbury closes the door then goes to stand by her desk.
“Today we’re going to practice putting a human to sleep. This is a painless process and does not harm the volunteers. Who would like to go first?” she asks, stepping out from behind her desk.
An Empyrean student raises his hand, and Mrs. Bradbury waves him down. “I need four more students,” she says, looking around the classroom.
I lean over and whisper, “Let’s get this over with,” and then raise my hand.
Lydia looks at me like I’ve lost my mind but agrees to go with us. As we walk to the center of the room Mrs. Bradbury smiles and gives an approving nod. Then a blonde girl joins us making five.
“Now listen closely; step up and place your hand on your volunteer’s arm. Clear your mind and feel for where your tendrils lie within you. Then coax them forward, letting them drift out of you and encircle your volunteer putting them to sleep gently,” she says.
We step forward and do as instructed. The Empyrean student’s volunteer begins to bawk like a chicken.
I see red. I can see my family being treated this way if the Nightmares lived in the human world. “Why do you treat them like that? Just because they are humans and we use them to feed on doesn’t mean you can keep treating them as livestock,” I seeth at him through gritted teeth. “They have the same feelings and emotions we do.”
“Alright, let’s focus on the task at hand; put your volunteer to sleep,” Mrs. Bradbury say sternly.
I take a deep breath and close my eyes. It takes me a moment to locate the tendrils but I see them lying in a ball deep in my chest. A swirling mass of blackness. They look soft and I want to run my fingers through them. I reach my hand out and twirl one of them around my finger tugging on it lightly before it dissipates. I huff mentally and try again. This time I twirl the tendril around my finger and let it crawl up my arm. Slowly I pull my arm back and the tendrils come with. I open my eyes and the inky black tendrils are flowing out of my hand and around my volunteer. I think the word sleep and my volunteer falls asleep peacefully. I look up and Mrs. Bradbury smiles at me.
“Very good Whisper; you can take your seat,” she says.
With the rest of the class, I watch as the other students repeat the same process.
Over the next couple of weeks, we notice the food is slowly getting worse. Today they’ve announced another assembly in the auditorium. We take our seats and wait for the headmaster to approach the podium. We hear the double doors to the back of the room close and the lights go down.
Headmaster Kenworthy steps up to the microphone on the podium and taps it. “May I have your attention please,” he says, quieting the room.
“Dissidents your class schedules are being changed. In order to best serve the student population, you will be learning together with teachers of your own kind. Since the classrooms are all occupied during the day, your schedule will reflect the evening classes that will be required,” he says harshly.
The auditorium falls silent. It's so quiet I can hear my pulse beating behind my ears. Why are they doing this? How can they get away with treating us like this? We are the same as everyone else, regardless of our parentage.
"Can they do this?" I whisper. My voice sounds loud in the eerie silence.
Ryland shrugs his shoulders while several pairs of eyes turn and glare at me.
“Next, all Dissident teachers will be removed from normal classes in order to teach night classes for the Dissident students,” he says with an arrogant tone. “Dissidents are to report to your common room to collect your schedules. That
is all.”
As the students start to stand up and leave the auditorium, I turn to look at Ryland, Sam, and Lydia, and the shock on their faces match how I feel inside.
“Fucking seriously,” I whisper harshly; my blood boiling just under the surface.
My group cringes as I sit back in my seat fuming. Ryland puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer. I tuck my head under his chin and breath in his smell of fresh sea water and limes; it calms me. I look up into his eyes and he places a small chaste kiss on my lips before standing up from his seat.
“Well let’s go get our schedules, at least we can sleep late right?” Ryland says with a crooked smile.
We walk out and teleport to our common room. There are so many students arriving that the room begins to get crowded. I take a seat on one of the couches and wait for the line to clear.
Most of the students are furious and confused. A first year, red-haired girl exclaims, “They can’t do this to us!” Another blonde-haired boy questions their motives and swears this is the end of the world as we know it.
Finally, the line has shortened and we all step forward and receive our new schedules. I look it over and notice that Mr. Wells and Mrs. Bradbury are the only two teachers listed, and it looks like they have just grouped us all together.
Shocked, I look at my group. “How do they expect two teachers to teach all of our classes?” I ask astonished.
“I don’t know, but this should be a grim learning experience for sure,” Sam replies, his brow scrunched together in worry. I loop my arm through his and we walk out of the common room.
“Hey, since this is our last evening of relative freedom, go stargazing with me,” Sam says.
“You’re worried about the stars at a time like this?” I ask, wondering if he’s lost his mind.
“No, I’m worried about spending time with my girl before our evenings are spent in classes,” he grins.
“Ok, I’ll take the bait,” I grin back.
We head to our mentor class for the last time. I can’t believe I won’t get these hours with my guys anymore. Even if they were just lessons.
Trial By Nightmare (Academy of Broken Dreams Book 2) Page 8
