With his back pressed against the locked door to the chemistry classroom, Todd watched the scene play out with a profound sense of bewilderment. He understood the constituent parts: Jun held some sort of cordage, which was connected to a feral animal loose in the school, and the two stared at each other. What Todd lacked, however, was the ability to contextualize anything beyond that basic level; the cordage was a chain which sprung from out of nowhere, the creature was no ordinary dog, Jun initially appeared from the ceiling, and each part seemed to glow for no reason. This was all in the middle of an unused classroom which had been There was no reconciliation to be found between what Todd knew he currently saw, and what he knew was possible.

“Are you some sort of dog trainer?” Todd asked, slowly. It was the first rationalization his brain formed, so Todd took it and ran. The chain wrapped around the creature’s midsection and up its neck; the chain’s glow stood out in the darkened room. It reminded Todd of the lettering on old computers from his tech history class. What stood out more was the return to of the blue glow around Jun’s eyes. Just like in the hallway yesterday, his eyes were an unnatural color except this time, it wasn’t faint. The neon aqua blue was prominent and wafted around both eyes like a thick vapor as Jun stared at the creature.

“Not a dog.” Jun replied. His brows started to twitch. “You might want to move out of the way.” Todd took a step back and blinked. The dimmer, but matching blue glow around the creature disappeared, and the once motionless beast started to shake. An uncomfortable low growl echoed and the creature moved in an abrupt, jerky manner; it was moved from spot to spot so quickly, it appeared to teleport. The area of its movement continued to grow until eventually it was thrown across the room into some of the stacked desks. The chain connected to Jun lead from his wrist right to the heap of furniture amassed on the creature. For his part, Jun didn’t seem remotely as surprised or bothered as Todd was by the action. His right arm moved when the creature flew across the room in almost a lackadaisical manner. He watched the proceedings and kept an eye on the pile of desks after it ended, but the whole affair seemed routine.

“What happened? What did you do?” Todd asked, breathless. He took a small step forward and kept near the wall. Jun turned his head in order to look at Todd.

“Todd Stewart. What exactly are you doing, and are you aware that you’re bad at it?” Jun asked. He shook his head. “Even I can see that this thing is at least a level three. And I don’t have the Codex with me. Amateur hour out here.”

“I’m going to set aside that nothing you just said made any sense, whatsoever. What are we going to do about that...thing? It could hurt someone.” Todd looked around and leaned forward. “I think it can move objects with its mind. It was throwing projects around.” he said, his voice lowered.

“Telekinesis is definitely level three and up.” Jun said.

“This is seri-” Todd was interrupted when the creature launched itself from the pile right at Jun. Todd had to dodge an errant chair which went flying through the air. Several desks slid across the floor and blocked the door to the hallway. Jun hopped back to avoid the creature just as it landed in the middle of the room. It looked at Todd then to Jun and recoiled before turning back to Todd. The creature began to growl and tensed it’s body breaking the chain.

Todd felt his legs weaken but Jun, again, seemed unbothered. He pulled the rest of the chain back and threw it towards the creature again. Todd’s mouth fell open as the chain hurdled towards the animal, then split into four ends. They wrapped around each leg and then a fifth appeared to coil around the creature’s midsection. It took a step, then stopped. The creature turned around and snarled at Jun then tried to continue towards Todd. Jun was nearly pulled off his feet but he steadied his stance and grabbed one of the heaver chemistry tables nearby for extra weight.

“Assistance required.” Jun said through gritted teeth. Todd looked for some way to assist Jun. He saw the broken broom handle across the room and made a run for it; even a busted stick could help keep the creature at bay. Todd picked up the diorama he’d thrown earlier to move it out of the way. He tossed it without looking over his shoulder, but before it left his hands Todd was pulled across the room and thrown in to Jun.

The pair crashed into the few remaining desks stacked on top of each other. When Todd sat up, the yellow aura had just disappeared. Behind him, Jun groaned and pushed Todd to the side as he stood up. The creature backed away and growled at them. Soon several projects were floating in front of it with the yellow aura.

“I wanted you to help pull the chain. Pull.” Jun said. He looked at the creature in the middle of the room.

“Pull your chain out again, we have to contain this before it can run amok in the halls.” Todd said as got to his feet. “Maybe I can find a crate or box.” Jun laughed.

“Unless there’s a paper-mâché containment device on one of those desks, your precious box won’t hold that thing for long.” Jun sighed.

“We have to do something.”

“Uh, I think you’ve done enough.” Jun touched the back of his ear. Todd heard a distant buzzing coming from overhead. Jun lifted his right arm to look at his watch. He then looked at his other, bare wrist. “We’ve got...not a lot of time before Hall Monitors show up. There go my plans.”

“I thought you said the Superintendent wasn’t here, why would they send those drones?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Hall Monitors. And it’s in the name. They monitor the halls. Duh.” Jun made a face as if he’d just been forced to explain how to add two and two.

“That makes no sense, I average ten hours in this building everyday. I’ve never seen a single one.”

“They’re in the hallways you’re not.” Jun said with a shrug. “Plus they already know you’re here.” Todd raised a finger and opened his mouth but stopped short. Technically that made sense, even if it didn’t and frankly Todd didn’t want to spend more time on such a ridiculous conversation.

“Lucky for you Todd I won’t let your massive mistake affect everyone else.” Jun said as he stretched his arms. With both hands, he stuck out two fingers, as if he were playing rock, paper, scissors, then brought the outstretched finger tips together. Todd let out a breath and stared as they slowly separated and created a trail of neon green 0s and 1s. Jun’s left fingers glowed green and he snapped his wrist at the creature, who flinched and then launched one of the projects. Jun pushed Todd out of the way and ducked. He brought his fingers together again and the creature launched another project at him directly.

Jun dropped to the floor entirely to avoid being hit. Todd stood up to find a way to stop projectiles when he noticed the buzzing from the ceiling was far louder and sounded much closer. The creature looked at Todd then hurled another project, except this time instead of flying towards Todd it crashed into the ceiling.

Debris fell and Todd could only shield his head with his arms as he failed to get out of the way. When the last bit of insulation fell, Todd wiped his face with his shirt and opened his eyes. The creature was gone and the drones sounded only a few feet away.

“Duck Soup.” Jun said with a shake of his head. “We have to find a way out or somewhere to hide. This room will be swarmed with Hall Monitors any moment.”

“What did you say?” Todd asked. Jun looked around the room.

“I’m not getting caught here. Let’s move it.” Jun barked.

The ceiling tiles rumbled overhead as Todd looked for a way out. They wouldn’t be able to clear a path to the front door in time and the other remained locked. The sound of one of the blinds moving from the wind caught Todd’s attention. He tapped Jun’s shoulder and nodded towards the window which was now off its hinge and partially open.

The pair ran over to the desks in front of the room’s air condition and clambered over the few still stacked on top of each other. They crawled towards the window, Jun out front. Todd looked over his shoulder as he waited for Jun to slip outside and saw the first blinking red light poke through the ceiling before he was yanked out of the window.

The classroom was thankfully on the first floor, but Todd still hit the dirt hard on his shoulder. As he rolled over, Jun made a ‘tsst’ noise. He motioned close to the ground with his hand and then for Todd to follow; he walked with a crouch around the corner. Todd slowly crawled to the corner, his nerves in knots over the idea that one of the drones would burst through the window and do whatever it is they did that made Jun so worried. He tried to keep an eye out for the creature. They were near one of the rear corners of the school so only yards and yards of grassy field stretched outwards; grass swayed from the late summer wind as the sun sat high in the sky. Todd heart stopped when he thought he saw the creature in the distance, but it was just a person walking away from the school.

Todd stood up after he snaked around the corner. Jun looked ahead to the side parking lot and baseball field where the day’s picnic was being set up.

“There goes that operation.” he said with a slow shake of his head.

“Forget about that, we need to alert someone. Did you see those things? That can’t be legal or safe in a school. Not to mention the dog that’s running loose. We need to call the FBI, the President, the police, the newspaper, somebody!” Jun’s shoulders tensed and he rubbed his forehead.

“Todd do you realize how ridiculous you sound? The newspaper? Are you fifty?” Jun threw his hands up. “And that’s no dog, so calling the local dog catcher won’t help either.”

“I didn’t suggest dog catcher...yet.” Todd said. “And of course it’s a dog. Didn’t you see it?”

“Did you?” Jun asked.

“Yes well, it’s obviously not a common breed, but it’s clearly...there’s a natural and rational explanation for everything.”

“I told you before Todd, it doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, the world is far more extraordinary than you can possibly imagine. And you better get on board with that soon, because you’re part of it.” Jun turned around and walked way.

“What?” Todd asked and chuckled. “What? No. No. I’m not...no. Nope. No. No.”

----------------------------------------

“No. No no no no no. No.”

“I’m sorry Todd, I don’t know how you did it at your old school but at Fillmore we care about children with a peanut allergy.” Ms. Frau said. Todd blinked several times as his surroundings came to focus. He looked around the rest of the Experience with Foods class and each student stared; one girl in particular glowered at him.

“Sorry. I was just...sorry.” Todd mumbled. He slid down in his seat. Jun’s words threw him for a loop, he’d gone through most day on autopilot. Because of the DEN program this year, and due to his high test scores, Todd only had a few electives to visit for the first day meet and greet with the teachers. He may have been physically in the room, but his mind was miles away; and Todd had no idea why. Jun spoke in almost nothing but incomprehensible gibberish since their first meeting. Yet, this most recent nonsense completely threw him for a loop. What did it mean that he was a part of it? Part of what? And what part was he to play? Todd bristled as his mind imagined going on some adventure as a chosen savior of humanity like in a TV show. “That’s ridiculous.” Todd mumbled.

The bell, adjusted for the shortened classes on day one, rang and Todd waited a bit for the other students to leave in order to avoid more dirty looks. As Todd walked to the teacher’s desk, she called out him.

“Are you okay...Mr. Stewart, right?” she asked as she read off the roll. Todd quietly sighed at another teacher he’d had before who didn’t remember him.

“Yeah.” he lied. She frowned

“It’s okay to not be okay.” She said. “Changes in life can be hard. If you need to talk, my door is always open.” Todd nodded his understanding and walked out.

He only got a few feet away from the classroom before he bumped into a throng of people. He started to apologize when the person he’d hit looked him up and down then grabbed his arm.

“I think this is him!” the boy yelled. The crowd broke into hushed chatter as Todd was suddenly pushed forward. They parted as he walked, no choice but to move ahead, until he reached the center of the crowd. Ivan stood circled by a group the students, each trying to get a good glimpse of the action. His back was to Todd when someone in font of him pointed; it was Sarah. Ivan turned around, his face twisted in rage.

“Todd Stewart!” Ivan yelled. “You’re getting expelled.”