by Cody Hyde
The next day it was like nothing had ever happened. It was also sort of like one of those déjà vu moments in a way.
Charlie sat at his desk in school waiting for class to begin. And he wasn’t late this time.
Will was also at his own desk. And so were Starr and Lauren, as well as the rest of the class.
Sadly, though, Starr had no memory of the previous night. Charlie and Will had tried to talk to her about it earlier that day and she just looked at them like they were completely crazy.
The students of the classroom looked up at Mrs. Guanty as she stood in front of the chalkboard and spoke. “Now, does everyone have their book? If not, raise a hand so I can get a count, please.”
A couple of guys raised their hands.
Charlie didn’t, though.
Across the room, Will appeared to be staring back at him, and a big smile was spread across his face.
Charlie smiled back and waved. It’s nice to see you, Will, he thought. Then he noticed Lauren to be smiling back at him too.
Charlie turned away in disgust. There was no way he was going for her now, especially after what he had seen her become the other night... one ugly-looking monster!!
Lauren squinted her eyes and shook her head, offended by Charlie’s reaction. She then turned back to the board, where Mrs. Guanty continued to speak to the class.
“For those of you who don’t have a book, you can choose one from the back of the classroom.”
A couple of guys who didn’t have a book picked out walked to the back of the room and grabbed a couple off of the shelf that the teacher had pointed out. They then went back to their desks, miserable.
“Now let me ask this,” continued Mrs. Guanty. “Anyone of you already have read their book and ready to share their report?”
Charlie’s hand went up.
Everyone stared at him, impressed.
“Charlie James? You’ve already written your report, have you?” questioned the teacher.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.
“Well, then, let’s hear it.” Charlie stood up and walked to the front of the classroom. It was time to share his fiction story with the class....the Book of the Underground.
After class, Charlie met up with Will at his locker, like usual. “What’s up, bro?” he asked him.
“Hey, man,” he replied with a smile while putting away some stuff in his locker. “Nice report.”
“Thanks. I had a feeling that it’d be worth telling.”
“Yeah.” Will laughed. “You should have seen the look on everyone’s face.”
“Oh yeah?”
Suddenly a loud voice interrupted them. “Hey, you should see the look on your face when I’m done beating the crap out of you!” yelled Greg Thomsen from behind them, who appeared to be talking to Will.
Charlie and Will turned to look up at him as he got up close in Will’s face.
Greg grabbed Will by his shirt collar. “Do you hear me?”
But Will had come prepared. He stared into Greg’s angry eyes for a few seconds, then what was probably one of Will’s best moments in high school history then happened.
He grabbed Greg by his wrist and pulled his arm away from him, twisted it, then pushed him.
Teenagers dodged out of the way as Greg flew back towards the wall.
“Did you just see that?” one person asked another when she witnessed Will throwing Greg into the wall.
A fight was about to go down.
“Fight, fight, fight, fight!” the students chanted.
Greg cracked his neck, pulled up his sleeves, and raised his fists. “You’ve asked for it.”
Will did the same. “Come get me.”
Greg then went charging back at Will, who then leaped into the air, landed on the other side of him, and threw Greg’s head into the locker. He now had him pinned.
Will then grabbed a hold of Greg’s wrists and bent both of his arms up towards his shoulders.
“Ow, ow, ow,” whined Greg in pain. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
Charlie and the majority of the teenagers in the hall laughed.
Greg’s gang watched in disbelief.
Becca dropped her mouth, her face turned red, and she disappeared down the other end of the hall.
“Are you really sorry?” asked Will.
“Yes, I’m sorry,” he replied.
“Okay.” Will let go of him.
Then as soon as Greg turned back around to face him, with a clenched fist, Will forcefully swung at Greg, hitting him straight in the face.
Greg dropped to the floor and passed out.
Everyone continued to stare, amazed, as Will then turned to Charlie. “Come on, bro, let’s go.”
The two walked down the hall and left the school building, Charlie laughing on their way out. “The Power of Victor, huh?”
“Yeah,” replied Will, laughing.
“Nice.”
Outside the building, what appeared to be a young woman in her early-twenties wearing a black leather jacket and black pants with long dark black hair stood there waiting for them with a smile on her face. It was Sheila. And she was looking more human than ever now. Her wings were gone.
“Hey, guys,” Sheila greeted them.
“Hey.”
“You ready?”
“Yeah,” replied Charlie.
“Come on then, let’s get out of here.”
And the three stepped into what was a black Lamborghini, a car that Sheila had somehow managed to get her hands on.
Once inside the vehicle, Sheila turned the keys, put it in drive, stepped on the gas, and they were off.
As they drove off down the road away from the school, one of the tires hit a puddle, which splashed up at Greg’s Camaro.
The road then crumbled apart behind them... and became the walkway leading up to Dultona’s throne.
The Dark Master sat behind his throne, now devastated over the fact that he was so close to getting his hands on the Book of the Underground. And he had failed to do so.
“Charlie James,” Dultona spoke evilly. “You will come back. They always come back. And next time... your world will be mine.”
