Suspicious, Alicia is very suspicious.

I don't like the excuse of “coincidence”, that's not realistic.

She knows something, about me, about David, and about these powers. The question is, how much does she know? She might know more than me. Granted, that isn't very hard since I know shit about all this.

Is she an enemy? If she was she wouldn't have let me meet David. Unless that's all part of her plan…

Argh, that the problem with smart scheming types. You can never tell what is part of their plans and what isn't. I'd like to think we're all just humans who make mistakes but given my situation, I'm not sure that's a fair assessment.

Well there's only one way way to find out. My speciality, full frontal assault.

“Alicia, what do you know about my powers?”

She was sitting down at her desk, reading a novella. Her book was put to the table and her attention was drawn to me. She pushed her hair behind her ear.

“Forgive me for asking such a personal question but, do you have mental narcosis?”

“Don't think you can get out of this by being a smartass! I know something is up with you and I won't stop until I figure out what.”

She turned away from me and looked out the window. Her face said she was deep in thought.

“You claim I know something about this “power” of yours, but what's your reasoning? What has lead you to jump to such a conclusion? Actually speaking of jumping, have you gained weight? You should start jumping rope or something.”

There she goes again, spouting nonsense to distract me. It won't work this time!

“Quit trying to change the subject.”

“I wasn't trying to change the subject, I was merely showing concern to one of my dear friends health”

“Oh, I'm your “dear friend” now?”

“Did I say “dear friend”? I meant to say loathsome parasite. An easy mistake.”

“How is that an easy mistake… Hey wait a minute!”

Damn it, she's too good at pushing my buttons

“Listen, you knew exactly who I was looking for!”

“Of course, you asked me to help with your make believe club. David seemed like the perfect candidate, besides Lily of course.”

“Yeah but…”

“If you're done, I'd like to get back to my book. You do know what a book is, don't you?”

Without giving a response, I began to leave the room.

I know there's something more to this. Her defense Is too strong. I need to find some sort of blind spot that she won't be able to explain away.

Could David help me?

No, he doesn't know her well enough to see any weakness.

He might not be able to help in that way but he can still be useful.

“So , what we're gonna do is track Alicia!”

David looked at me with doubt.

“That's just stalking.”

“No, no, no, you don't get it. We're gonna follow her until she does something that we can use against her!”

“Then that's stalking and blackmail!”

“Well if you keep labeling things like that, of course it's gonna sound illegal.”

“That's because it is illegal!”

We both sighed. It seems I've come to an impass. Alicia may hold the secret to these powers. Do laws really matter in this school? As far as their track records go, I'm not convinced.

I looked around the magic club room for some inspiration. It looks a lot different with the blinds open. The various magic trinkets and decorations left me at a dead end.

My aimless stare lead me to look at the window. I saw a small black sphere in the sky. It was getting closer!

“Look out!”

I pushed David to the ground as glass shattered above us.

In unison, we looked at the object that just smashed through the window. It was a baseball with something tied to it.

I slowly reached out for the ball. It was a small piece of paper. The message was in red pen but the handwriting was so bad it was illegible.

“Let me see.”

I looked below me to realize I was still on top David.

“Oh sorry.”

I got off of him and handed him the baseball and paper.

I looked out the window for the perp. Nobody was in sight. Any possibility of it being an accident is gone. This must've been deliberate.

He began to stare at the message.

“It says “You’re luck just ran out -The Hunter”

“What's with that edgy name? But more importantly, how could you read that?”

“As a person with bad handwriting as well, you learn to decipher things.”

“Huh…”

They sent out a better person than Lily already. It was only a matter of time but I thought we had at least another week. Good thing I made the alliance. Unless, this early action is because of the alliance…

“Ok David, we need to call an emergency meeting.”

“Isn't that what we're doing right now?”

“Well yeah, but the urgency level has just increased! We need room that's free from aerial bombardment.”

We both began to think.

Where could we possibly go? Every room in this school has windows... Except the bathroom!

I looked at David to share my idea but he was already staring at me.

“You better not say the bathroom.”

I receded back into thought.

Outside the school? He might not act if there's people nearby. We can't confirm that for sure. All we know is he’ll strike again at some point. It could be today, tomorrow, or a week from now.

“Hey I got a great idea!”

I turned to David to see an accomplished look on his face.

“Ok so hear me out. We go to the student council room where Alicia is. We can test if she is working with the enemy. If they don't attack us in there then it's because she's their ally. If they do then she might get scared and be more inclined to tell us what she knows. We kill two birds with stones! It's a pretty good plan if I do say so myself.”

“That's… That's genius! I knew it was a good idea to team up with you!

We slowly crept out of the room. I have no idea if our assailant is still there. I didn't see him but were probably dealing with powers here. You can't be too safe.

We were crawling on all fours. If we're beneath the windows then he won't be able to see us. Given that he can't see us then he can't hit us.

It was a good strategy, and it worked the entire way until we made it to the A-wing.

The A-wing was a bit troublesome. Unlike the rest of the school, these windows go from the floor to ceiling. It made up almost the entire length of the forty meter hall. Ducking down would be pointless. The worst part about this is the fact that at the end of this hall is the student council room. It's also the only way to get to the room.

The school’s unfortunate U-shape means looping around to try and avoid the hall of potential death was impossible.

Our only choice is to make a run for it. If we can make it to Alicia we can test our strategy. If whoever is still there watching then this would be the place for him to strike.

I turned to David with wavering resolve in my eyes.

“We're gonna have to dash for the student council room.”

He looked full of disbelief.

In an attempt to quell his concerns, I said “what's the worst that could happen? We're hit by a baseball and get a concussion or possible minor brain damage…”

I can't help but feel like that did the exact opposite for him.

“That is assuming he's still using baseballs…”

Oh...

David is right, this could be a lot more dangerous if he switched ammunition. If he has access to Lily’s grenades we might be screwed.

No use in fretting now, we've already made up our minds.

I nodded my head at David. He understood that it was time.

We both got into sprinting position. We'd have a few seconds of peace. He'd need to spot us then throw the object at us. If we can cover a lot of distance in that time we might make it unscathed.

I counted to three on my fingers and when I made it to three we both began a high speed sprint.

Despite our speed the hall seemed to go on forever and before we knew it a few seconds had passed.

The sound of breaking glass sent shivers down my spine. The sound came from behind us. I guess we caught him off guar-

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

A deafening sound pierced my ears and an Intense force pushed David and I down to our knees.

“Ah fuck!”

Damn it I knew it! That was one of Lily’s grenades.

“Hey David, you alright?”

“Uh yeah somehow, what the hell was that?”

“Oh that, don't worry about it, it's just a hand grenade. We have to keep moving, let's go!”

We both got up and started running again.

It was a miracle that we both avoided the shrapnel, especially with all this broken glass.

Another grenade was lobbed in, this time in front of us.

We stopped in our tracks and turned away from the blast. The force knocked me to the ground again,

“Shit, we're almost there! Keep your head down and keep running!”

We kept running, praying we didn't hear the dreaded sound of another grenade.

Luckily for us we didn't. I wasn't sure if it was because he ran out of grenades or we made it to the student council room before he could throw the next one.

I flung the door open and both David and I fell into the room. Our exhausted heaves took our ability to speak.

“My, how rude. You slam open my door without knocking or even saying hello.”

“You- didn't you hear those goddamn explosions?”

“Explosion? What explosion? It was very peaceful until you two came in.”

In a fit of anger i went back to the door and threw it open. I looked back at all the destruction those grenades caused and pointed at it.

“Then how do you explain that shit?”

“I don't have time to look at your fake explosions. Go play make-believe with someone less busy.”

“Busy? All you're doing is reading a goddamn book!”

She simply shrugged off my words and proceeded to sit back down. Picking up her paperback novella, it seems she completely forgot our existence.

David tapped my shoulder. We went into a huddle.

“Forget what she says” He looked back at the contempt president. “Haven't you noticed? Since we've been in here nothing's been thrown at us. No grenades, no baseballs, no nothing.”

He's right, i guess the risk was worth it. Now we can be on the offencive with her.

“Hey Alicia! We know you're working with the enemy! So tell us all you know.”

“This again? My response will be the same as last time, so just give it up.”

She won't weasel her way out of this one!

“Oh no you don't! I've got mountains of evidence! Let's start from the beginning shall we?”

She put her book down for the third time today and rolled her eyes.

“First! When i went looking for someone for my club you sent me to david, who just happened to have powers!”

“I don't know what you mean by “powers”, but i sent you to david because of the whole magician getup.”

“Second! Your adamant denial of all the explosions. At first i figured you were just doing it to mess with me, but now i can see there is something more to it!”

She averted her gaze and remind silent.

“And lastly! On our entire way here, we we under a constant bombardment, but as soon as we got in here it stopped.”

“Perhaps who ever was assaulting you ran out of things too throw or they didn't want to involve other people into your fight.”

“If it was only that then maybe, but with everything else it's impossible. I don't believe in coincidences.”

Just as before she said nothing. Heh, like a mouse in a trap. We got her.

“So since we caught you, tell us what you know.”

“Caught me? Oh please. I’m not telling you anything, your tiny brain couldn't comprehend it.”

Ugh, why does she have to be so difficult. It'd be so much easier if she spit it out.

“Hey come on, just say what you know.”

She resumed her book reading.

I don't want to do this. I wish i didn't have to, but the way things are going i don't have a choice.

“I’m going to give you one more chance, tell us or else.”

Nothing

Ugh alright fine, she asked for it.

I'll set the condition to her flipping a page in that book.

I followed her eyes, she's halfway through the page.

I whispered into david's ear “listen i'm about to use my power on her, make sure mr throwy things doesn't toss a grenade in here… also i don't know what happens to us when i use the power so find out. It could be useful information.”

He nodded his head in confirmation.

Alicia was almost done with the page.

“See you on the other side.”

As soon as she turned the page, a jolt went through my body and i blacked out for a second. When i regained consciousness i was no longer in the classroom.

It's some sort of mist world. Imagine Silent Hill without any buildings and the only monster being Alicia… Terrifying.

Shit, I can't see anything.

I'm Hoping my power scares her enough to tell me the truth. If not I'd have to use some heavy handed persuasion, but in this world I'm not sure that'll be possible.

I guess I'll call out to her, I can't do anything unless I find her.

“Hey are you there?”

The words I spoke materialized like a comic in front of my mouth.

Whoa.

The newly formed text bubble fell to floor, making a noise similar to wood.

I picked it up. Strangely it had a similar weight and feel of a wooden bat.

“Huh.”

Another round bubble formed and fell.

Well, this certainly is a strange world. I don't really know what to think. It's just so… Abstract? Is that the right word? I guess it doesn't really matter.

What does matter is finding Alicia. Honestly, I'm a bit scared. Our banter is fine in the real world but with an actual physical weight to our words it could get ugly.

I kicked the “huh” word bubble and to my surprise it was lighter than the other one. The bean shaped object rolled on its long side away from me.

With Alicia nowhere in sight I began to wander.

Every short shout of “hey” or “hello” lead to another small bean bubble on the floor. They all weighed about the same as the “huh” bubble.

So from what I can gather the size is dependent on the size of the word or words. The weight would seem dependent on the size, but while they are similar in weight, they still vary to much for that to be the case. Whatever determines weight is yet to be determined.

I kept walking for a couple of minutes until I noticed a figure in the distance.

Finally, took me long enough.

Alicia appeared through the mist, but something was off.

Oh, I know what it is. She is super fucking pissed.

She was wielding a spiky word bubble that said “I'm going to kill him” like a flail.[http://i.imgur.com/0LDiDh9.jpg]

Well shit.

She began sprinting at me full speed swinging the flail.

I dodged to the left just in time. The wind blew my hair into my eye. That was too close for comfort.

I barely managed to get out “Hey watch it, words hurt ok?”

I picked up the newly formed bubble and threw it at her. It bounced off her like a soft cushion...

I guess it's true what they say, don't bring a pillow to a mace fight.

She charged at me again, swinging left.

I quickly ducked underneath it. The spiked bubble caught a bit of my uniform and tore it.

Argh, just my luck. Uniforms are expensive you know?

She swung again, this time downward. I jumped back but fell off balance when her flail smashed into the ground.

How heavy is that thing?

After the dust cleared I saw that the spikes were stuck in the ground. An opening!

I ran in and tackled her to the ground, pinning her to the floor.

“My my aren't we being dominate? How'd you know I like bad boy?”

Her lines were of typical teasing fashion but her voice was filled with malice and anger.

“Cut the shit Alicia, would you just calm down and tell me what i want to know?”

“What? You're the one pinning down an innocent girl with no one around.”

“Innocent my ass, your were trying to kill me. Like actually murder.”

“Can you blame me?”

“Yes, yes I can!”

“...”

“...”

“...”

The awkward silence grew and Alicia's comments about pinning her down became more and more concerning to me. I began to blush a bit.

“If I let you go you promise you won't go around swinging that hate-mace of yours?”

“Yes, I've calmed down now.”

I didn't fully believe her, but I was confident that I could tackle her again if she made a move for the flail.

I stopped pinning her down and caught my breath. I leaned up against the pile of bubbles that to had accumulated over our conversation.

She also get up and started leaning on the opposite side of the bubble pile.

“Why the hell was your bubble so heavy?”

“You didn't realize? The weight is determined by the intensity of how the word is spoken.”

“Huh… So you really wanted to kill me then?”

“At the time, yes. I was at my book's climax and then you sent me here.”

What? That's why she's pissed? Because of her stupid book? Some people get a little too into their literature.

“I'm normally very calm and calculating but I have some minor anger issues.”

Minor?

“Yeah I can see that…”

From now on I need to keep that in mind. If I have to deal with that unrestrained rage again I might just piss my pants.

“So… can you finally tell me what you know?”

“Nope.”

Why must she be like this?

“You know, I can't let you out until you tell me.”

“I may be quick to anger, but I have a surprising amount of patience.”

“No, no, you're misunderstanding me. That's not a threat. I literally can't let you out until you tell me what you know.”

I guess I forgot to mention this part of my powers. I can't freely stop using this power and leave this world, not usually anyways. When I set the mental condition for the power to start I also subconsciously set a condition to end the power. Since my intention of testing with the he cats was simply for researched I could end it whenever I wanted. This time is a little different, I have a goal.

“So until I tell you we can't leave? Why didn't i know that? I can see why the Boss wants you gone, your overpowered.”

“Ah ha! I knew there was some secret organization trying to kill me. But I don't see the whole “overpowered” thing.”

“You really don't see it yet? Well I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually.”

“You're not gonna tell me?”

“That's not what you came here for, is it?”

Damn, she's right. This is new information that doesn't have anything to do with what I'm looking for.

“Alright, fine, then tell me who's trying to kill me.”

“It's an organization, they don't have name… It's really inconvenient. Anyways, everybody goes by a code name so I don't know the real names of anyone. The leader is just known as “The Boss”, he’s somehow involved in the school on a higher level but it's hard to tell who he is. He always wears a mask. The agents who he sends out vary. The one throwing shit at you guys is known as “The Hunter”

Wow, that's lame. But now that I think about it, that the name that was on the baseball.

“I know, I know, stupid name right? Well get used to it they're all kind of like that…”

“What about Lily?”

“Her? Well I guess she acts more like a mercenary. She isn't part of the organization but they saw they could use her and her explosives so…”

“Yeah I figured as much. So they all have powers?”

“Yeah, excluding The Boss and Lily there are four members. The Hunter’s power is pretty easy to guess. She can hit any target from a range of 2500 yards. I don't know her requirement. Actually, I don't know any of their requirements, besides David and you.”

“So all the powers have a requirement?”

I figured that was the case, but knowing for sure is important. The requirement is a bit of a handicap for the power users.

“Yes, are you starting to understand your strength?”

“Uh… No”

“As expected for someone as dense as you.”

Hey, there's a lot on my mind!

“There's also “Penumbra”.”

Man, what's with these names?

“He can teleport into your blind spot, he's pretty strong so watch out.”

That sounds like a real bitch to fight against.

“I don't know anything about the third member except her name…”

“Well what is it?”

“It's “Dark Owl”... God they're all so cringey.”

You can say that again. Are they all twelve or something?

“Well who's the last member?”

“...Me.”

I knew it!

This knowledge doesn't really change my dynamic with Alicia. I've always been cautious about her and if her power was dangerous she would've already used it.

“So what's your power then?”

“Information. I can find other power users and see their requirements and whatnot. The downside is that I can only use it when instructed by others. It's really quite annoying to be so dependent on other people. Since The Boss is the only one allowed to order the use of my power, he's kept me in the dark about the other members. Talk about trust issues huh? He's not wrong to worry though…”

And I thought my power was inconvenient.

“What do you mean by that that last part?”

“Hmm, well let's just say I'm not your enemy.”

“How… Vague.”

She seems only slightly hostile… Well I can work that I suppose.

“A girl can't give away all her secrets can she?”

Hmm, I'm pretty sure they can. In fact, I'd be a lot better if she did.

“While I'm enjoying our first date, I'd really like to back and finish my book.”

I looked around the barren mist filled world.

“It's not quite the most romantic place, huh?”

“Well we can change that next time, come find me when you're not being blown up.”

Wait… Is she serious? Did I… Did I just get a date?

Her trademark smirk confused me. Was she messing with me? Or is she just being playful and she's serious? To be frank, after her murder attempts I'm not sure I want to go on a date with her...

Whatever I'll deal with it later.

Standing up, the small mound of word bubbles I was leaning against was now a small mountain. They cascaded down where I was sitting, refilling the lost mass.I cracked my knuckles and ended the world.

God, I hope they come back soon. This is too creepy for me.

Their eyes looked like that of dead fish. They were perfectly still like statues. Although, dolls would be more apt as they not only have the still life aspect but the creepy aspect as well.

It’s been fifteen minutes since Jacob activated his power, fifteen minutes of making sure no one lobs a grenade into this room full of comatose teens.

I hope all this is worth it…

Just then, their eyes began to blink and their bodies began to move.

Oh, finally.

Alicia directly went back to reading her book as if nothing happened.

David turned around and looked in much worse shape. He seemed… Out of it.

“Hey are you okay? Did you get the info?”

He sluggishly walked over to me.

“I got the info, PTSD, and a date…”

Huh? What? A date?

“What the hell happened in there?”

“It's a whole thing, I'll text it to you later. I'm really tired so I think I'm gonna go home…”

“Are you sure you're alright dude? You look like you’ll fall over dead at any minute.”

“I'm fine, I'm fine. I just get really tired after I use my power.”

He was standing in the doorway, well more like leaning in the doorway.

“Oh and don't forget to tell me what happens when I use my power.”

I'm not sure you want to know…

With Jacob gone I turned back to Alicia. She was so into her book I doubt she'd acknowledge my presence.

Uh… Well I guess I'll go home now…