For the next five minutes, he spoke about this relatively new branch of magical science. He explained how man-made machines and instruments could be changed through the use of magic to still retain their original purpose, but become augmented. There is that word again. I’ll have to ask Sharon if our subjects are related.
I was fascinated and listened with rapt attention. But then Mr. Whitehall pulled out a taser. My eyes widened and my heartbeat sped up. It had only been yesterday I’d seen one of those things in action, and the memory made my stomach clench.
The teacher’s gaze moved across the classroom and stopped when it reached our little group. “I’m sorry, I haven’t memorized all your names yet. You in the back, the tall student with the black lipstick. Would you join me for a demonstration?”
My insides went cold. What was that guy planning to do with the taser? I wanted to say, “No, Julian, stay here.” But I knew I couldn’t do that without sounding crazy. Besides, he would have just laughed and gone anyway. So I swallowed my words and watched instead.
Mr. Whitehall smiled when Julian stopped next to him. “First of all, I’m not going to hurt you. This taser is used by police and security services to subdue suspects. They do that by sending a charge of 50,000 volts into the target’s body which causes neuromuscular incapacitation. Which is a fancy term for ‘you can’t move after you’re hit.’ It is a very effective method, but it’s incredibly painful to the suspect and can be dangerous if there are underlying health conditions.”
Didn’t he just say he wouldn’t hurt Julian? That’s not what this sounds like. My boyfriend’s face wore an alarmed expression, and he took a few steps back. Nobody said a word. We were all watching to see what would happen next.
Mr. Whitehall continued. “However, as you might have guessed, this is not an ordinary taser. This is a magically-altered weapon. Let me demonstrate. What’s your name?”
Julian didn’t respond at first, still staring at the black and yellow device the teacher held. Mr. Whitehall repeated the question. Finally, my boyfriend answered, “Julian. My name is Julian.”
Mr. Whitehall smiled, lifted his hand, and fired. A collective gasp erupted from the room. I expected Julian to twitch and fall, but instead, he stood stock-still. His eyes rolled up into his skull, and he collapsed. Mr. Whitehall caught him easily and lowered him to the ground. I covered my mouth in horror while Kiernan jumped up next to me, ready to rush forward to help his friend.
The teacher held up his hand. “This looks more dramatic than it is. He’s fine, just out for a few seconds.”
Julian coughed and rubbed his eyes as if he were disoriented. Then he sat up. A chorus of questions rose from the class. Variations of: “Are you okay?”, “Do you need a doctor?” and my favorite, “What the hell was that?”
Julian pushed himself off the floor, a serene smile on his face. Mr. Whitehall asked, “What’s your name?”
“No idea.”
“Do you know where you are?”
Julian shook his head, still smiling dreamily. “Nope. Does it matter?”
“No, it doesn’t. I would like you to do something for me, though. Can you do that?”
Julian nodded vigorously. “Of course. Whatever you want.”
Mr. Whitehall looked around the class as if looking for somebody. When his gaze came closer to where I was sitting, my stomach bubbled with apprehension. I had a really bad feeling about this.
Our eyes connected, and he smiled. Then he pointed directly at me. “Kill that girl.”
5
Excuse me? What the… Did he just say what I thought I heard? I was stunned into silence. Kiernan shouted, “What?”
A struggle of emotions flashed across Julian’s face. He clenched and released his jaw while rubbing his temples. Shaking his head, he visibly struggled against the compulsion. Mr. Whitehall watched him with great interest. “Fascinating. This is the first time I’ve seen somebody put up a fight.”
He picked up the taser, pressed it against Julian’s leg, and pulled the trigger. Julian stiffened, and his expression blanked out so quickly, it was terrifying to watch. Mr. Whitehall nodded. “That’s better. Julian. Go and kill that girl over there.”
This time, Julian obeyed without hesitation. He stalked through the middle corridor, jerking and stumbling like a zombie in a bad movie, moving closer and closer toward me. Kiernan stepped in front of me. “Run, Amber. I’ll hold him off.”
My knees turned to putty. As Julian shambled into my direction, all I could do was stare at his vacant eyes. This wasn’t the moody goth who reserved a special smile for me. Students moved out of his way as he passed them until the only thing between him and me was Kiernan.
Suddenly Julian stopped. He looked around until his gaze fell on a sturdy ballpoint pen on somebody’s desk. He picked it up and held it like a knife. Lifting his arm, he turned toward me. I had no doubt he wanted to ram the writing implement into my eye or my neck.
Kiernan tensed and bent his knees, ready to tackle his friend.
“Julian, stop.” Julian froze at the sound of Mr. Whitehall’s voice. “Put the pen down and come back here.”
Like a robot, Julian did as he was told. When he was standing next to the teacher, Mr. Whitehall ordered, “Go to sleep.”
My boyfriend’s eyes closed, and his head dropped to his chest. His whole body relaxed, but he stayed upright, ready for further orders. There was total silence in the room. It took another moment for the shocked class to murmur and call out questions.
Mr. Whitehall raised his hand. “Settle down. This was a demonstration of what can be achieved if we magically augment electronic equipment. As you saw, I used an ordinary taser to gain complete control over Julian’s mind. When he wakes up, he won’t remember anything, and he’ll be unharmed. Any questions?”
He’d asked, so I answered. “What the hell?”
I took a deep breath and fought the urge to cuss him out for the scare he’d just given me. Kiernan put his arm around me and glared at the teacher. I didn’t realize my whole body was shaking until Kiernan tightened his one-armed embrace. “Shush, acushla. I’ve got you.”
At least Mr. Whitehall had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. “Sorry if I scared you. But I believe demonstrating the power of what you’re going to learn over the next few months is far more revealing than telling you about it. Wouldn’t you agree?”
He wasn’t wrong. Still, the idea of manipulating a human being terrified me. And I’d learned something else. I didn’t trust this man one bit. He could have asked Julian to do all kinds of funny things, like those stage hypnotists I’d seen on late night shows. Like making him cluck like a chicken or laugh uncontrollably. But no, he’d gone for the worst, the most scary demonstration he could have conceived. He had shown how to turn my boyfriend into a mindless killer.
For the rest of the class, Mr. Whitehall explained the syllabus to us. Apparently, we’d learn how to manipulate computers, hard drives, and cell phones. I wondered how that would work, given I didn’t own one. Not that I had any use for it now. When I first got here, I would have killed to be able to call my parents, but then they’d disowned me.
The teacher might be an ass, but the class was fascinating and ended far too soon. Julian and Kiernan both had their next lesson on the other side of the campus. As they rushed off, Kiernan kissed me goodbye before dragging Julian with him. The black-haired goth didn’t seem to suffer any lingering effects, just like Mr. Whitehall had said. He also clearly had no recollection of what had happened. Julian gave me one of his extra-bright smiles he reserved only for me before rushing off with Kiernan.
According to my timetable, I had ninety minutes before lunch. Enough time to get a head start on organizing my materials in the library. Once outside, I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the icy winter air. I was still freaked out from what had happened, but the azure-blue sky and the pillowy snow flanking the path made it difficult to stay downbeat for long.
La
st night had been freezing cold, and the top of the snowbanks had hardened into a myriad of sparkling crystals, reflecting the sun. Squinting hard, I regretted not taking my sunglasses this morning. The snow under my feet was melting under the onslaught of hundreds of shoes. I stepped into a slushy puddle, and icy water soaked through the bottom of my ancient shoes. That was another item to put on my mental shopping list—a pair of new winter boots.
“That was really something.”
I nearly lost my footing at the sound of a voice so close to me. Waving my arms, I fought for balance until a hand gripped my arm and helped me stay upright.
“Thanks,” I said, looking up at Lillian.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to say I thought what Mr. Whitehall pulled in class was really shitty.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I thought so, too.”
“So are you and Julian a couple?”
“Yes, but there’s also Kiernan.”
“Is that the Irish dude sitting next to you?”
I shrugged, not entirely sure why she was asking me all these questions. It might have taken me a while, but now I was proud of the fact that we were all together. “Yes. We’re together, all three of us.”
Lillian grinned. “Well done, you. Do you have any other good-looking friends who might be searching for a girlfriend?”
I liked her. She was brash and funny. “Not at the moment, but I’ll remember you if I find any others.”
She threw her head back and laughed out loud. We continued walking in companionable silence until we were nearly at the library. I was about to say goodbye when Lillian asked, “Did you think there was something odd about the class?”
That stopped me in my tracks. “What do you mean?”
“I had a look at the lesson plan. It seems we’re going to learn a lot of strange things. Like how to mind-fuck people. How to magically change electronic items to turn them into weapons. Don’t you think that’s weird?”
She wasn’t wrong. I’d had similar thoughts after what Mr. Whitehall had done to Julian. Lillian grinned, her face lighting up. “Maybe we’ll be spies. That would be cool.”
I wasn’t sure I agreed. Passing exams was cool. Making out with the boys was cool. Risking life and limb for shady government agencies? Not cool. At all.
6
Was Lillian right? Were we being trained as some kind of shady undercover agents? It sounded ludicrous, but what Whitehall had done to Julian… I couldn’t get the memory of Julian calmly walking toward me with murderous intent out of my head.
I needed to talk to Kiernan about it, to compare notes. Thing was, I couldn’t pin him down. Sure, we crossed paths on the way to and from class several times that day, but whenever I tried to stop him, to ask him, he’d call out, “Sorry. Busy. See you later.” Except “later” never came.
That afternoon, I knew he had a meeting with somebody from admin. Pacing outside the house, I rehearsed what I was going to say to him. Why am I so nervous? He’s my boyfriend. It’s not weird I’m waiting for him. And yet my palms were damp, and my heart was racing. When he was finally finished, I nearly missed him because I was so deep inside my head. Rushing after him, I called out, “Hey, I haven’t seen you all day.”
Kiernan stopped and smiled apologetically. “I’m really sorry, but this term is already kicking my ass. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
I frowned. “Why? You did well in the exams, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but my mother wants me to do two more subjects. She expects me to take over the family business when I graduate. That’s why I was talking to the course coordinator.”
I wanted to ask what the family business was, but it would have to wait. “So when can I see you?”
He hesitated. “I’m not sure. I’m gonna be really busy for the next couple of weeks.”
My eyebrows rose as my irritation grew. “Are you saying you won’t have any time for me? Seriously?”
Kiernan shook his head and took my hand. “No, of course not. I’ll figure something out. It’s just… I need to get myself organized. Can I let you know?”
I regarded him steadily, unsure how to react. I didn’t want to be one of those psycho-girlfriends who demanded constant attention. But seeing my boyfriend occasionally wasn’t asking too much, was it?
As if sensing my inner conflict, he pulled me close, his free arm snaking around my waist. “Just give me some more time. I promise, once Mr. Denholm has helped me create a lesson plan, I’ll take you to dinner or do whatever you want.”
For a moment, I was wondering what Mr. Denholm had to do with helping Kiernan, but just as quickly I remembered that the older teacher had replaced Strickland as First-Year Student Advisor after he’d disappeared.
And good riddance to that piece of...
Forcing the thought of the evil teacher out of my mind, I tucked my head against Kiernan’s shoulder. “Promise?”
His nose rubbed against my neck as he nodded. “I do. I missed you so much when I was gone. My mom insisted I come home for the holidays, but I’d have rather stayed with you.”
I sighed happily. He kept bringing up his mother, and I was going to be supportive and listen, like a good girlfriend. But right now I enjoyed the embrace—until Kiernan remembered he had to pick up a library book before they closed.
There were a handful of classes in our core curriculum. Tech-Mag was one of them, and there were others like History of Magic and Mag-Chem, which I didn’t have to take until Year Two. Mrs. Palmer was teaching Advanced Elemental Magic after Strickland’s disappearance. I already knew her from Elemental Magic 101. When I’d seen her first, I’d been taken aback—she was a middle-aged lady with a few too many pounds on her frame. What made her so unforgettable were her eyes.
Her irises were swirling shades of green, forever in circular motion. If you looked too long at them, they made you dizzy, like falling into a trance. The effect was disconcerting, but at the same time, she was an amazing teacher, always happy to help students who were lagging behind. We loved her for her sense of humor and her determination to get the best from the students.
When I entered the classroom, there were barely any seats left. I wasn’t late, but Mrs. Palmer’s class was popular, and everybody had rushed to the chairs at the front. Julian and Kiernan were on opposite sides of the room. They were both deep in conversation with their neighbors.
I looked around for somewhere to sit, when a movement from the front attracted my attention. There was a free seat next to Lance who was waving at me. He looked much better than the last time I’d seen him. I sat down next to him. “How are you?”
“Fine, thanks. My memory is still fuzzy, though.” He hesitated, before ploughing on. “It’s driving me crazy. What was I doing there? Why did I pass out?”
I stared at him, not knowing what to say. If I told him what had happened, he’d go to Ms. Farkas, and then she’d know I’d seen Lance being tasered. I didn’t know what to do. But I had a gut-feeling I shouldn’t let on what else I’d witnessed. Something was fishy, and the less I put myself in the crosshairs, the better. So I said, “I can’t really help you. By the time I found you, you were already coming out of it. I’m sure you’ll remember eventually.”
I changed the subject. “So are you looking forward to the class this term?”
He shrugged. “I had a look at the syllabus, and it seems more of what we did last term, just at a higher level. Combining powers, that kind of thing.”
“I’m really excited about it. What’s your primary power?”
“Fire,” he responded.
I hadn’t pegged him as a fire mage. With his tall build, his intense light-blue eyes, and dark hair, I would have guessed maybe water or spirit user.
“You seem surprised,” he said. “Did you think all fire users were redheads, or something stupid like that?”
Touchy. But yeah, he isn’t wrong. Time to change the subject again. “Of course not. So how is your fire magic differ
ent from my lightning power?”
“I’m not entirely sure. But fire magic is very powerful. I can’t be burned, and I can turn myself into a flamethrower. I’ve read the research literature about fire power, and theoretically, there is no limit to the heat a fire mage can handle. Some of the best performers can produce temperatures as high as the core of the sun. Or that’s the theory, anyway. There is no equipment on earth to measure how hot fire mages can get.”
That was cool. “So where do you find that kind of literature?”
“My parents subscribed to a magazine for the magical community. If you go online, you can read it as a subscription. But you have to use Tech-Mag to be able to access it, because we don’t want any duds to discover this information.”
I frowned. “I thought that was a bad word.”
His eyes widened. “Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting that you’re a shunt.”
I glared at him. “Are you trying to piss me off on purpose?”
He threw up his hands and waved them in front of me. “No, of course not. I’m sorry. Again. Would you believe me if I told you I’d never even met anybody who wasn’t magic born?”
I sat back, watching him with narrowed eyes. “Do you think that’s an excuse to be racist?”
His lips twitched. “I’m sorry, did you say racist?”
“Well, I don’t know what to call it. Magic-ist? Either way, I don’t appreciate you using words like that in front of me.” I had crossed my arms and glared at him.
“You’re right. It won’t happen again.”
I didn’t know what to think about him. Was he a prejudiced asshole? Or was he just so entrenched in his magical privilege he didn’t even realize what he’d said?
Mrs. Palmer rushed in a few minutes late, panting. She stepped behind her desk and unpacked her bag. “Good morning. Please remember, being late is not acceptable in my class.”
Second Chance Soul: a paranormal reverse harem steamy slow burn academy adventure (Second Chance Academy Book 2) Page 3
