Chapter 27: Whispers in the Halls
The halls of the Academy were sleek, modern, and polished to perfection. It was a place that projected order and discipline, where the echoes of student footsteps reverberated through the tall, white-walled corridors. To the outside world, it was known as a beacon of hope for metahumans, a place where those born with extraordinary abilities could train and learn control—a place that promised to make them useful members of society.
But beneath the surface, there had been a murmur. A tension. A fear even.
Rory Blake, one of the general students, adjusted his collar as he walked with a group of his classmates toward their next session. His thoughts were racing, and he wasn’t the only one who felt it. Ever since the day he overheard the rumors about the two new arrivals, Rory had been invested.
“Have you heard the latest?” a voice whispered from behind him, low and hushed. It was Dana Wright, another student with the ability to manipulate light. She leaned in closer to the group, her eyes wide with curiosity.
“Heard what?” Rory asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but his curiousity betrayed him.
“I’ve heard they’ve been keeping those two in the high-security wing for months now. No one’s seen them. Not really. But my friend heard from one of the guards—he says they’re different. Like, dangerous different.”
Rory felt a chill crawl up his spine. Everyone in the Academy knew about the rumors of the high-risk metahumans. The ones supposedly kept under special containment, away from the general student body. They were whispered about in passing, but no one ever really talked openly about them. It was almost like an unspoken rule: don’t ask about them. Don’t draw attention.
“What do you mean, ‘dangerous’?” Rory asked, his voice quieter now.
Dana glanced around, checking to see if anyone was listening. When she seemed satisfied, she leaned in again. “They were involved in the Galewood explosion. You remember, right? The city that was wiped off the map? The broadcast showed that they were there. And they survived.”
Galewood. The mere mention of the name sent a ripple through Rory’s thoughts. It was still one of the most talked-about tragedies in recent history. An entire city, gone in an instant. The media had covered it relentlessly, but the Academy had remained tight-lipped about the details. All anyone knew was that the destruction had something to do with metahuman abilities.
“Survived?” Rory echoed, disbelief creeping into his voice.
“Yeah didn’t you see the broadcast,” Dana continued, her eyes widening. “The rumors say one of them—this guy named Jake—is like a walking bomb. He can absorb energy, but if he loses control… well, you saw what happened in Galewood. And the other one—Levi—they say he’s even creepier. They say he can manipulate people’s emotions, twist them, break them down. And that some of the staff are scared of him.”
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Rory’s stomach twisted. He had seen powerful metahumans before, but this sounded a bit different. These two weren’t just strong—they sounded terrifying. He could feel some unease building in the pit of his stomach. If the rumors were true, then Jake and Levi weren’t just students—they sounded like weapons waiting to go off.
“Do you think they’re really that dangerous?” Rory asked, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.
Dana shrugged. “I don’t know, but the Academy’s been keeping them locked up for a reason. No ones seen them since the broadcast. They don’t do things like that unless they think someone’s a threat.”
As they entered the main training hall, the conversation shifted. But Rory couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to the story—something the Academy wasn’t telling them. He had always been taught that the Academy was a place of discipline, a place where metahumans could learn to control their powers and become part of society. But lately, there had been whispers. Dark rumors about what really went on in the high-security wings.
Some of the older students talked about the Academy’s shadowy side, the parts they didn’t show to the public. They had heard stories about the brutal training regimes and the experiments conducted on students who were considered too dangerous to be left unchecked.
The Academy’s public face was polished—full of promotional material showing young metahumans learning to control their abilities, guided by expert instructors. But beneath that shiny veneer, there were cracks. The students who didn’t fit the mold, the ones who couldn’t be controlled, were treated differently.
Rory had even seen it before—students who disappeared after too many “failures” in their training. They were either shipped off to one of the Academy’s more secretive locations or removed from the student population entirely. No one knew what happened to them after that.
By the time their training session ended, the rumors about Jake and Levi had spread even further. Rory wasn’t the only one who felt the growing tension. The entire student body seemed to be buzzing with speculation about the two mysterious figures said to be locked away in the Academy’s high-security wing.
“I heard Jake’s power is so strong, they had to build special containment rooms just to keep him in check,” one student whispered as they left the hall.
“I bet Levi’s been driving the staff crazy. If he can mess with people’s emotions, no one’s safe around him,” another added.
“They say Levi’s eyes constantly glow red now,” Dana chimed in. “And some of the guards think he’s not even human anymore.”
Rory kept his head down, listening as the rumors swirled around him. The idea of these two metahumans—survivors of Galewood—loomed like a shadow over the Academy. No one had even seen them, but everyone certainly had an opinion.
Meanwhile, in the Upper Echelons of the Academy
In the high-rise office overlooking the Academy’s sprawling grounds, Dr. Evelyn Mercer stood by the window, her hands clasped behind her back. She gazed out over the grounds, where students moved about in orderly lines, blissfully unaware of the chaos that simmered beneath the surface.
Behind her, Mariane Kyros sifted through a pile of reports, her brow furrowed in concentration. “The students are talking,” Mariane said, her voice low. “Rumors about Foster and Blackwell are spreading faster than we expected.”
Mercer turned slowly, her expression unreadable. “Let them talk.”
“Reputations can be dangerous. Especially when we’re still working on containing their powers,” Mariane replied, flipping through the pages of her report. “The last training session with Jake showed some improvement, but we still don’t know the full extent of what he’s capable of. And Levi… well, Levi’s… unpredictability is another problem entirely.”
Mercer moved to her desk, glancing at the reports herself. “We’ll introduce them to the general population soon enough. Any mistakes, and this whole operation could fall apart.”
Mariane nodded, but her expression remained tense. “The students are already building them up as something more than they are. If they start thinking of them as some kind of legends, it could lead to… complications.”
Mercer smiled faintly. “Sometimes, a little myth-building is necessary. It keeps the others in line.”
Mariane didn’t look convinced. “And if they become more than we can handle?”
Mercer’s smile faded, her voice turning cold. “Then we’ll deal with them. Like we always do.