Strains

Tucked away amongst the trees and down an unused path is the Legacy Academy library. It’s façade, like all of the other buildings on campus, is grand and intimidating. Unlike the others, it is made up of black stones in a huge gothic display.

This place is a castle on its own. How could I have managed to miss this? There could be hundreds, maybe thousands of books in there. I climb the steps leading up to the entrance.

Around the brass door handles is a chain, and on that chain is a lock. So that’s why it wasn’t on the map Matthew gave me. A world of heroes and no books. That didn’t make sense, not to me anyway.

I’ll have to ask Mr. Crowe where he got the one he reads in class. I turn around. Time for the walk back to campus.

A clang behind me makes me jump forward. It was the chain and lock. How did it fall off like that? I bend over to grab it, but as my hand inches towards it, I can sense heat coming off it.

What the heck is going on here?

The lock is still on the floor, still intact and still very much locked.

I look up to the door and reach for the handle. No, I shouldn’t. I need to get back to my room. Matthew made it clear, I can’t afford to get killed. And going into an abandoned building that was locked and then magically not, seems like a recipe for death.

But if there are books in there…nope. Not today, not me. I’ve seen the movies, I’m not stupid. I’ll just ask Mr. Crowe about his book next week.

I walk back up the path to campus. What a waste of time that was. I walk through the garden, and once I get to the bridge, I stop. Two Meat boys are coming my way. Both are wearing athletic gear, so they must be headed to Hercules’ class, but why come this way? There’s a paved path that goes right by the dorms, I only come this way because it isn’t far from the administration building.

They notice me, and I see their smiles turn wide.

“Hey, it’s the admin’s puppet. What are you doing here? We’re pretty far from campus.”

The other boy chuckles. “Yeah, you could get hurt, and no one would be able to find you.”

That doesn’t sound good.

My heart begins to race, and the rapid beats make my breath and legs shaky.

“Right, so if you’ll just excuse me. I’ll just be going…”

The boys separate, blocking the bridge completely. I take a step back. They step forward.

I have a bad feeling this isn’t going to end well. I take off, running back up towards the garden. I shut the gate behind me as I enter. The boys waste no time in beginning to scale the gate.

Crap.

I run out the other side. This isn’t good, I’m just getting further away from campus. This was so stupid, stupid stupid! I should have listened to Matthew when he said not to wander off. I should have stayed in my room where I belong.

I slip going down a dirt path, but quickly get back to my feet. The forest. Maybe I could lose them in the trees.

I am at the point where the grass turns to trees when my hair is yanked back. I kick and struggle, scratch and wiggle to get out of the Meats’ arms; but he was a true member of that house. His arms didn’t budge and he didn’t flinch when I stomped on his foot.

“What do we do now?” He asks the other.

You idiots didn’t think of that when you decided to chase me?

“Dude, I don’t know, but class is about to start.”

So they were going to Hercules’ class. He was the only teacher on campus that could get away with punishing students. He wasn’t a facilitator anymore, but that didn’t stop him from killing students and calling it homework.

“You could let me go and we can let bygones be bygones. If you’re late to Hercules’ class you might not be around for dinner.” I say.

The Meat restraining me brings a hand over my mouth. It smells like corn chips and BO. Guess hygiene went out the window when he died.

“Just snap her neck so we can get to class,” the other says.

My eyes go wide and I muffle words behind the Meat’s hand.

“So Hercules can find out about it later and punish us all next week? No, no we gotta do somethin else.”

So my hanging out with Hercules is going to save me. Thank goodness. Matthew was going to be beyond pissed if I died the same day he told me not to; never mind whatever the council would do.

The Meat with freed hands began looking around.

“There! Come on,” he brushes past us and heads straight for…aww man.

The Meat drags me up the steps of the old library. The lock and chain are still on the floor. I am flung inside the building, and greeted with darkness.

The door shuts behind me and I can faintly hear the rustling of the chain links clunking together.

“There! If she can’t get out, she can’t say anything.”

Then I hear fast footsteps fade in the distance. I push against the door. No good. I’m very much trapped in here.

At least I’m alive. I try the handles again. But I won’t be if I’m late for dinner. What if I miss it completely? Who will clean the dishes?

I throw myself against the door. Am I going to starve here? Can I starve? I look down to where I think my belly is.

“Can you still starve?”

Damn it’s so freaking dark in here. I’m trying the door handle for the umpteenth time when something soft grazes my hand. I swipe at it, but it moves up my arm faster. I fling my arm wildly, it’s a spider, or a bug or something else I don’t want to see.

I spin in a circle and toss my arm back. I hit something. It was firm, yet soft and it groaned when my arm connected with it.

I scream. As high as my lungs will take it. I’m trapped here with a monster.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” A voice asks. The monster I hit, it has a voice. The voice of a boy. “Who are you?”

“I- I’m Elizabeth.”

I hear a crack and a faint glow begins to illuminate the shadows surrounding me. I can only see a hand holding the burning candle as it gets closer to me.

“Are you a recent graduate? Where is your uniform?”

I take a cautious step away from the flame.

“No, no I’m new and this is my uniform.” I say. How could he not know who I am? The whole school and the council beyond that knows who I am. I guess it could be hard to keep up on current events if you stay locked up in an abandoned library though.

He mutters something I can’t quite make out. Something about the academy abandoning traditions.

“So then, what facilitator do you have that could possibly greenlight this?”

“My facilitator? His name is Matthew.”

The flame jumps.

“Matthew? The Matthew?”

Why’d he have to say it like that? No wonder the guy is a narcissist. Everyone on campus feeds into his ego.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” I say, trying to strike a balance between boredom and respect. It’s very difficult.

“I see. So that would make you…a psychic as well?”

There’s that question again. I really should have spoken to Matthew about how we would approach this. What can I say? I can’t tell anyone I don’t have a strain, he made that abundantly clear.

“That’s right.” I say, trying to be convincing.

The boy laughs. “Oh Elizabeth, you’re going to need to come up with something better than that.”

I freeze. The candle moves away from me and the door. It lights another candle, then another, until I stand in the illuminated foyer of the library. Cobwebs drape the ceiling and all of the candelabras that are now aglow with soft light.

I can make out the figure now too. Taller than me, but short for a man cloaked in layers of fabric with a face tucked under a hood. He brings his hands up and reveals his head. Long red hair like a mane whips out first, then a pale freckled face. A young face, even for a teenager.

“Now tell me, what would possess a student of Matthews to lie about being a psychic?”

My mouth goes dry. I need to play this off somehow.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” New student ignorance, it’s a choice. Not a great one, but a choice.

“The strain you possess must be something for you to be so dedicated to a lie,” he brings his hand to his chin. “and for Matthew to agree to facilitate you.”

At least he doesn’t suspect I’m strainless.

“How do you know I’m not a psychic?”

He flings his hand to the side.

“A psychic can always tell another psychic.”