The Shifters: Katrina

While the six of us cleaned Ben's dorm, since we'd been eating and drinking while talking and playing games, I noticed Gene's eyes stuck to my back. Focusing on cleaning first, I found myself staring back at him once the room was spotless. The others, beside Ben of course, had already gone to their own dorms. Since some of us were girls, we had to be out by a certain time, which was soon.

"Hey, wait up," Gene called as I slipped through the door. I hesitated outside, just long enough for him to catch up to me. The sound of the door falling shut seemed like the sound of my casket closing as I resigned myself to whatever Gene wanted from me.

"Do you need something?" I asked him as I began to walk down the hall. There were two minutes left before all female students had to be out of the dorms, and we were definitely nowhere near the front doors.

"I was thinking about the festival," Gene began, keeping in step with me as I walked toward the stairs. "I think I came up with a way to get you into the duel."

I raised both eyebrows. "You want to help sneak me into the duels when I was personally told by a guard that I shouldn't go?

"But you love Koren, and he works so closely with Kami," I added, staring at him in suspicion.

He shrugged. "It seemed like you wanted to go. Plus, you're strong. Everyone knows that. It's time to see what you've got. And..."

He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck. I rolled my eyes as he sudden shyness, nudging him with my elbow.

"And?"

"You and the others," he began, referring to our friend group, "well, the girls, specifically, are so normal, and it's so refreshing."

Puzzled, I frowned. "I'm not following."

Gene sighed, his eyes flicking to mine. "You noticed how Heather and Beth act differently around me, right? That first day you were here."

I nodded, and he continued.

"Well, apprentices tend to stick around apprentices and maybe have a few minions. Except for you, of course, though you do hang around those water kids. Anyway, that means that regular students," he paused, pointing at the band on his arm, "usually hang around each other. I'm a strong fire shifter, just not an apprentice, so Beth and Heather compete for my attention because I'm their... first pick for a date or something."

My face turned into a grimace, then a look of disgust. Gene laughed, and I spotted a clock on the wall.

Whoops, past curfew.

"Basically, some of the girls want my attention, so they're irritating sometimes. I appreciate that you and the others don't care about rank," Gene admitted, tapping my arm with his. I broke out into a grin, finally reaching the bottom floor.

"So what would your master plan be?"

It was his turn to grin, his hand wrapping around my arm to pull me to a stop. He looked for anyone else in the hall as I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to answer.

"You're setting up the festival, so you'll be close to the schedules that are being made for the duels," Gene began, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "You could easily slip a fake name onto something in your age category for the elements. Wear a mask during your duel, and bam. You're in."

The thought sparked excitement in me as well. I grabbed his hand without thinking, squealing in excitement. He grinned back at me, and I found myself bouncing on my toes.

"It's simple, but perfect. Thank you," I chirped, glancing at the doors of the dorm. "It's been fun, but I've gotta head out. You're the man, Gene!"

He went pink as I pulled away, dashing for the doors. Thankfully, no one popped their heads out as I escaped the boys' dormitory and ran across the school campus. I laughed to myself as I reached my own dormitory and began climbing the endless amount of stairs, a smile on my face. The stillness of my personal hallway was unable to dampen my mood, neither could the empty dorm. Instead of falling dejectedly into bed, I got into pajamas and did my nightly routine before grabbing one of the books Kami had brought me. It was one that I'd heard Felix talking about before, but instead of growing sad, I hugged the reminder of him to my chest.

I still had the book in my hands when I dozed off, full of hope and ready to kick some ass.

In the morning, I went to school as usual. The others had no idea what Gene and I were planning, but I was bouncing with excitement. During lunch, we acted normally, but I caught Gene grinning at me from time to time.

"Wow, so you really do fit in with these idiots."

Rolling my eyes, I craned my neck to see Heather and Aurora at our table behind me. Heather looked livid, as if she couldn't believe she spent time with me of her own free will.

"Hi, Heather," I said in a singsong voice, "nice to see you again, friend."

Her nose crinkled in disgust. "I still can't believe you hang out with these people, Gene. By now they must be leeching off you."

The boy's expression darkened, and I could feel his rage from where I was. I got to my feet, ignoring Sonya's look of distress. She was gentle, and usually more patient than the rest of us. She probably doesn't like fights.

"I'll give you one more chance to get your ass out of here," I snapped, drawing the attention of a few shifters around us. People stared as Heather and I stood nearly toe to toe, glaring.

She snorted in my face, her breath stinking of synthetic strawberry flavouring. "You are nothing here, kid. Try me."

A dark look crossed my face, one I knew all too well, as she challenged me. The familiar cool rage was a welcomed feeling, my thoughts becoming cold and calculated. There were uncomfortable looks on my friends' faces, as if they expected me to get hurt.

The corner of my mouth curved upward, and I launched into action. Instead of starting a fistfight, I got the advantage by knocking Heather clean off her feet. I dropped my shoulder and rammed it into the center of her chest, since we were so close to each other. Her shoes, which looked like platforms, had zero grip and she crumpled backward. I didn't give her a second to think before I dropped down on her, pulling my fist back. Aurora shrieked in anger as I struck Heather cleaned across the face, my knuckles aching as a red mark appeared on her jaw. Other students began to notice, their eyes wide as I continued to pummel the other girl. It was all going well until Heather's hands glowed white and her air threw me off her. I landed on my feet, skidding along the cafeteria floor. The other students had become our audience, witnessing the bruises on her face and the blood on my knuckles.

"So I'm nothing, huh?" I taunted. "Nothing seemed to do pretty good in colouring that face of yours."

She growled, the sound gutteral as the air swirled around us. My hands began to glow blue, water swirling around my fingers as I grinned at her. Heather and Beth constantly fought, meaning she had experience with a water shifter, but I wouldn't give her any advantage further than that.

"What are you trying to prove? You're just some kid they brought in."

I flashed her my best toothy smile. "Are you trying to insult me, Heather? Not doing a good job about it."

"Like how you didn't do a good job fending off that hunter?" She snapped, and I felt myself freeze in my spot. Her words became all I could hear -- that and the gasps of the other students. "How you got kidnapped because you resisted, and then you only gave in because if you'd gone home, you would've gotten everyone killed?

"How you were an outcast in your hometown?"

Her words struck something deep within me. My rage built, my vision filled with red. There was laughter, loud and cackling, that came from her and Aurora. The rest of the students looked horrified, especially when they saw that my face had gone expressionless.

"Looks like I hit a--"

Heather's words disappeared as I flew at her, faster than ever before. Something powerful fueled my rage, buckets worth of water hovering in the air around me. We collided, and this time I slammed her across the room into a wall. Small cracks appeared in the surface of where she hit before she crumpled forward, coughing. I laughed, one arm completely immersed in water. It then became ice, and I charged once more.

I didn't know what I would've done if a gorilla hadn't appeared in front of me in that moment.

Tyree, a large, strong gorilla, slid in front of me before I could reach Heather. We stared at each other, not quite glaring, but neither of us being able to back down.

Katrina, she said, her voice appearing in my head.

You were about to kill her.

For the second time, I froze. Craning my neck, I could see Heather collapsed on the floor, bleeding and bruised. The water around me faded, as did the blue flow as I fell to my knees. No one dared to touch me, but whispers travelled through the crowd without hesitation.

I almost killed a person.

I was so close...

Tears I didn't know I could muster began to slip from my eyes, pooling on the ground in front of me. Everyone stayed frozen until a door slammed, and we all looked up. Willa stormed toward me, her eyes mortified. Tyree shifted back into her human form, standing protectively beside me as my master arrived.

The bracelets. She felt me attack. I can't avoid this anymore.

Shamefully, I got to my feet. Willa stopped just in front of me, unable to form words.

"Do you want to become a monster?!" She suddenly shouted, her voice ringing out and reaching the ears of nearly every teenage shifter around.

"Is that what you want? To hurt those who are weaker than you? Kill fellow shifters like the hunter who almost killed you?!"

I winced. They're bringing that up a lot, I thought, but I deserve it now...

"No," I answered weakly, "but I didn't start this. She challenged me. Told me to try her."

"She's telling the truth," Tyree defended me, the rest of our friends coming forward.

"Heather is a bully," Sonya said stiffly, "she provoked and insulted all of us. Katrina was trying to defend us."

"They're telling the truth," Antonio agreed, and Gene nodded.

Ben motioned to Aurora. "The other apprentice was insulting us as well. Their friend group is unkind to ours."

Willa stared at my friends, considering their words before looking at the girl on the floor.

"Bring her to me," she commanded. Tyree was the one to lift Heather into the air, and that's when I saw she was unconscious.

"The rest of you can go back to lunch," she continued, taking the girl's limp body from Tyree. "Katrina, come with me. Coraline will decide what to do with you."

I nodded, waving half heartedly to my friends who had so bravely defended me. They sent me grim smiles as I trailed behind my master, looking at my hands.

The only question left in my mind was still nagging at the back of my mind.

Where had all that power come from?