Max paced the lab, trying to get out his nervous energy. He was waiting for his students to arrive to the meeting he called this morning, so he could inform them of the situation from last night.
After informing the head principle of his missing students, Max sent the four students searching back to their dorms. The principle then informed the rest of the staff that the forest was off limits until further notice. No exceptions. However, Max felt the need to add some different limitations.
A little before 10, His students started spilling into the room. They stayed in small groups, talking to each other. Max was able to catch a few words, like “forest” from Brady and “missing” from Jamien. Once everyone was in, of course except for the five students, He had them line up like usual.
“I hope you all are aware of the current rules regarding leaving campus. The forest is completely off limits starting from the fence line.” He watched some of them nod in conformation. Then, he took a breath to calm his nerves. “I am also aware that rumors have started to spread, even though I tried to limit the spread of them.” He watched Jamien glance down at the floor and Brady break eye contact. ‘At least they had the decency to feel guilty’
“I don’t appreciate rumors or half truths, as you all are aware. Do I want to be completely transparent. Tony, Jordan, Nya, Zach, and Vess went into the forest yesterday to train. It was an approved trip, however they have not returned to their dorms, nor are they on campus.”
‘Now the worst part’ He thought to himself, “There is evidence to suggest they were taken unwillingly from the forest.” Max braced himself for his student’s reactions. The handful of students from the previous night looked shocked, while many of the others began to talk among themselves, creating a the volume of the room to rise.
Max was about to quiet them down, when Hunter spoke above the noise, “Do you know where they were taken to? Are they in danger?” Max swallowed hard, thinking over his words. He kept his tone gentle, but professional, “No, we are currently unaware of their location. We want to assume, however, that they are not in the best situation and need to be found immediately.”
“Where will you search first? How can we help?” Melissa asked, her voice soft and quiet. Max internally cringed at her question, even though he knew they were going to bring up helping. He knew his students too well. Why did they have to be so tightly knit?
Thankfully, the rest of his students had quieted at the question, awaiting his answer. They were going to be disappointed, he knew it, so why not just rip off the band-aid. “I understand that you all wish to help our investigations,” Their poor faces began to light up. ‘I’m sorry’. “however, I cannot put more of you in potential danger. So, as of right now, you are all under complete lockdown until further notice.”
Unsurprisingly, this news was met with angry protest from most of his students. They began to argue, saying they would be careful, that they were strong enough. Frankie basically shouted out, “You can’t just make us watch from the side! They’re our friends!”
Max held up a hand and glared at his students, “Stop! Quiet down now!” They quieted, still looking rightfully pissed at him. He cleared his throat, “For one, yelling at me is definitely not an effective way of arguing or making your point. You all should know that. Secondly,” He softened his voice, putting care back into his tone, “I know you want to help. I know they are your friends, but I can’t have you all go out looking for them. As your teacher, I cannot let you put yourselves into that situation when I already have five of you out of my radar.” Some of them seemed to untense a little at that statement, looking more reserved. “Some of you might be asked to help. I know how much you all have been training your powers, but this lockdown is to keep you from rushing off and searching on your own.”
Max could feel the frustration and pain radiating from his students, most no longer making eye contact with him. He could only hope they understood his reasoning. They were so attached to each other, some of them only had their friends. So he had to restrain them. It wasn’t right, or fair.
It was necessary.
“You are not permitted off campus for any reason and are not to participate in any off campus events.” He scanned his students, noticing a particularly hard glare from Frankie. There were no protests or questions though, so he dismissed them. He had decided before even calling the meeting that defense training would be canceled for the morning so he could meet with some of the staff that would help in the search, but also because they needed a little bit to process everything. Either they have never encountered a situation like this before, or they were familiar with the experience. Either way, it was scary and they were going to need a while to themselves.
He walked back to the main building and went into a classroom already filled with some of his most trusted and skilled colleagues. He went to the front of the room and took a deep breath. The sooner they were found, the sooner he could be at ease again.
“Thank you for aiding in this search. I appreciate all of the help I can get.”
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The lounge was quiet, filled with an uneasy feeling that was trapped in the air. Julia knelt at the coffee table with a math worksheet. Jay was sat by her, on the couch, while Jamien was on the arm chair to his left. Jay felt his skin prickle with a restless feeling. He hated the quiet, especially like this. Everything just felt too tense and scrolling mindlessly on his phone was not distracting him. He signed and leaned forward, looking at Julia’s Math homework in an attempt to distract his rushing mind.
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It was a list of easy math problems, probably just a review for a quiz of some kind. The first problem he focused on was easy addition, “8+12”. ‘Easy,’ he thought, ‘20.’ He looked over at his sister’s answer. “29” ‘Whoa, where did she get that from?’ Jay was taken aback a little. He didn’t want to say anything though. It would be all anyone would hear in the suffocating silence, so he held his tongue.
He looked around the room again. Most of his class had gone back to their dorms, but Jay couldn’t bring himself to. He didn’t blame them for running back to their rooms, but he just couldn’t. It was even quieter in his room. Besides, someone needed to watch Julia now that she was without a buddy. He glanced at his older sister on the arm chair. She was staring down at the carpeted floor, eyes empty. She wasn’t one to zone out or disassociate, so it freaked him out a little.
She had become good friends with Jordan, having fun being roommates with each other. She also grew very close to Tony and had started a relationship with him a couple of months ago. She wasn’t really anywhere near the mindset to watch their younger sister, so it was Jay’s responsibility.
He tore his eyes away from her and looked back at Julia’s work. She was onto multiplication now, “9X3” ‘Okay, 27.’ He watched as she counted something on her fingers and wrote down “18” on the line. ‘That’s way off.’
He got up from the couch to grab a snack from the cabinet. Turning towards the kitchenette, he saw May with her head down on the table. He went over and put a hand on her shoulder. She lifted her head and turned to him, revealing red eyes, like she was crying. She gave him a wobbly smile, and he returned it. She was probably worried over Nya.
Don’t get him wrong, he was just as worried, but everyone was on another level it felt like. They acted like Max read out their obituaries this morning. They all stopped having any hope. Like Tony and the others were…
It made him feel sick. He had to find an excuse out of this room.
He grabbed a bag of chips and sat back down behind Julia, looking over her work again. She seemed stuck on a problem, “6X5” ‘Come on Julia. You know this one. 30.’ She wrote a question mark next to the problem before writing “11” on the line. He was thoroughly worried now and tapped her shoulder, finally breaking the silence, “Are you okay? Do you need any help with that, ‘cause I can help.”
Julia looked at him worried, “Is that one wrong?” Jay slowly nodded. “A lot of it is actually. If you don’t understand how to do the problems, you can ask your teacher. I’m sure she would be more than happy to help.”
Julia shook her head and looked back down at her paper, “I know how to do the math, it’s just hard. The numbers are all jumbled and weird looking.” She began erasing her answers. “I can’t read them.”
Jamien blinked back into reality and looked over to them, “What? What do you mean?” Julia looked back at her, face beginning to grow pink, “I-I just, it looks weird. I can’t r-read it.” She paused and wiped her eyes. Her voice was shaky and broke a little, “Vess usually helps me read it, but..” She didn’t need to finish her sentence.
Jay sighed and grabbed the paper, “She’ll be back soon, I’m sure.” He stood up with her work, “Until then, I can help you, if you want?” Julia stared back at him, unsure. “I’m not the easiest to help.” Jay cringed at her words. ‘Who told you that?’
“It’s alright. I’m pretty patient, and a great teacher from what I’ve heard.” Jay held out his other hand to her. She picked up her bag and joined hands with him. They walked together over to the study center, out of the tense quiet.
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Brady swung hard at the punching bag. It swung back a decent distance and forwards again back at Brady. He could feel his body temperature rise. He learned early on that letting his anger and frustration fester inside his chest almost always ended badly for him. So here he was, fighting a stupid bag in the gym.
He felt at fault, if only partly. When Zach had first arrived at the school, he was paired with Brady for protection. He was supposed to keep the younger safe, show him how the school worked, help him get used to the new normal. He should have forced Zach to train more. Zach was always resistant to any outside training, but Brady respected it.
He could still remember how shaken up he was when he first got here. Finding out about his fire abilities, the fact that he was seen as dangerous. Deadly.
Brady punched the bag hard, pushing it flying backwards, and it came back to Brady with just as much force, knocking Brady over. He landed on his back, cushioned by the mat. He laid staring at the ceiling, memorizing the tiles. He should have trained more.
“Brady?” He sat up and looked over to the front door of the gym to see Melissa staring back at him with a worried look. “Are you okay?” She asked.
Brady cleared his throat and scrambled up to his feet, “Uh, yeah. Yeah.” He felt his face begin to flush, “I’m okay. Just trying to let off some steam. Stay distracted.” He grabbed the bag to stop it swinging and turned back to Melissa. “Are you here to work out too?”
“No, uh,” She stuttered, “I’m just here to, look?” She had a pink tinge to her pale cheeks, obviously lying. Brady leaned lightly against the punching bag, “You do know that you don’t have to lie, right? I use the gym to work through my feelings too. You’re allowed to use whatever you want to cope with your feelings as long as it’s a healthy method. Don’t let me being here stop you from doing what you were going to.”
Melissa sighed, “It’s just… It’s a bit of a secret that I’ve kept for a while. Not even Jay and Frankie know about it. I’m a little nervous to tell anyone.” Brady nodded, but stayed quiet, taking off his gloves. “I used to sneak out on weekends to go to a training gym that I found, until Max caught me. He thankfully still let me go, but with the lockdown, I have to practice here instead.”
“What do you train in? Like, what skills?” Brady asked. She began walking to the back room of the gym and opened the doors, reveling a room with Silks that hung from the ceiling and hoops. “Aerial skills!” She said brightly, setting down her bag.
“That’s amazing Melissa! I never knew you did this.” Brady looked down at his hands, suddenly feeling lonely. He swallowed, “Do you need any help? A spotter or something?” Melissa looked back at him, smile never fading, but having a slightly empathetic look to it. “Of course! It’s much safer for me to practice with a partner.” Brady smiled and nodded, going back to grab his stuff from the other room.
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Melissa watched Brady leave the back room. She was glad that Brady offered to help, since practicing alone just felt like a recipe for disaster. Also, he seemed in need of a distraction, or at least a task to do. That was what she was trying to give herself. If she didn’t do something, she might run after them herself, damn what Max said.
Seeing Brady in the same position gave her some peace of mind. She could practically see the fire coming off of him. It’s better to dispel that energy than let it explode later. She was glad to be able to help.
That’s all she wanted to do right now.
Just distract. So, if she “fell” a few times to scare him, who’s gonna know? Just for fun.