Classes had concluded for the day.

It was a day unlike any other.

A sinking feeling in Xavier’s gut had The Eternal’s eyes darting left and right, wondering if the headache was the cause or if his instincts were trying to alert him to something more.

It was hard to tell.

Angela and Xavier walked hand in hand.

Jessie and Brittney similarly held hands, trailing behind them, while Mike, Eric, and Jessica discussed one thing or the other.

Xavier had long noticed that for some reason, Jessica always had something to talk about, and more often than not, it was something important.

Xavier fixed cars, trained with Sam, brewed Asgardian Wine, meditated, worked out in the gym, took Angela on dates, checked in with his many exes, and more, but somehow, he was still less busy than Jessica.

‘Guess she is the smartest in the school for a reason…’ The Eternal admitted.

As an Eternal, Xavier had a higher mental capacity, but his brain was geared toward combat situations.

“What’s on your mind?” Angela leaned into his ear and whispered.

“Nothing…” he replied.

“The headache…”

“Manageable,” Xavier frowned. “I am going to Mason County to see Dr. Emil a bit later – he is my family’s doctor so it should be safe.”

“Want me to drive you?” Angela inquired.

Xavier was about to agree but when recalling what happened the last time he and Tyler were in Mason County, he didn’t want to risk Angela’s life for something so minor.

“Jessie will take me,” He decided.

The trip could serve to strike three birds with one stone – introduce Jessie to the supernatural, show her what to do if she is ever targeted, and pass on the responsibility of protecting Angela and Brittney.

Xavier had no delusions about being around all the time.

As a matter of fact, it may very well be that the headaches are a result of something powerful – something supernatural – broadcasting a message out into the open.

‘Whatever it is is in pain…’

The constant pain of the headache almost made Xavier long for a normal life, but now, he knew there was no choice but to live the new life he had been given.

“I threw away those drugs in your locker by the way,” Angela stated, and twirled out of Xavier’s grasp, walking ahead.

“What?” The Eternal was alarmed.

Had they not been in a public setting, Angela would have already been bent over his knees as he warmed her behind with some spanking.

Actually, he was tempted to do it regardless of wherever they were.

As the group of friends exited the school, Xavier had the sudden urge to examine everything around him, hoping something would stroke his memories.

It felt as if he was forgetting something…

Their group consisted of Mike, Eric, Angela, Jessica, Jessie, Brittney, and Xavier himself.

Xavier’s eyes moved…

Across the parking lot, The Cullens stood, eyeing the girl who stood next to her teal truck.

Bella stared at the ground as if holding an irreparable grudge over the wetness beneath her feet.

Everything was so familiar to Xavier.

Then, it hit him…

It hit him twice…

First… a headache unlike any other, shattering all his mental barriers with terror, pain, and desperation.

A faint golden hue faded from Xavier’s body – he was too shocked to control the Cosmic Energy available to him.

Usually, this was done on a subconscious level, but now, even his subconscious refused to cooperate.

“No!” Alice’s yell echoed in Xavier’s ears.

Not many people heard it, but they were a few that did, and Angela – attentive as she was – noticed Alice’s outburst as well.

Then, it all happened instantaneously.

Edward’s talents scanned Alice’s thoughts, witnessing the moment Bella met her grizzly end.

Xavier, too, wanted to move, but something held him in place – it was mortality. For some reason, his abilities had picked the strangest time to go inert.

The Eternal was paralyzed with pain, but he could still see…

Alice’s vision came half a second before the reality of the situation.

A bright hue of green fire came first.

Xavier realized that he had become the cause of the possible tragedy to come.

Tyler – in his infinite wisdom – had decided to use the money provided by Xavier to buy nitro canisters and attach them to his old van, hoping to make faster trips to Mason.

This morning, Tyler had called to brag and Xavier had specifically warned the teenager to take the canisters back, less an accident occurs.

An accident just like this one.

A blazing green nitro that had been mistakenly activated sent Tyler’s van skating across the thinly-iced parking lot, heading straight for Isabella Swan.

Xavier had seen the inevitable conclusion, even a vampire could not stop the van with a single hand.

The addition of a nitro canister meant more speed, a greater impact, and more effort to stop the car from crushing Bella.

Yet, Edward didn’t hesitate.

It took a half-second for the vampire – the fastest of The Cullens – to cover forty meters, but there was no stopping the van before it could reach Bella.

The only choice was to move Bella.

But… a human body could not handle half-second movements.

By the time Edward had placed his body between Bella and the van – the force of the van forced his body a couple of inches backward into Bella.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The teenager was clumsy on a normal day so she was destined to fall when a vampire bumped into her.

BUDUP

The sound of the back of Bella’s head colliding with the ground.

It was only by some divine grace, through the briefest seconds of clarity, that Xavier manage to pull on the dregs of his dissipating Cosmic Awareness, rousing the gravitons where Bella’s head met the cold, hard rubble of the parking lot.

What should have broken her head open instead presented itself as light as a basketball to the head.

Though, such a thing could still have dire consequences.

Edward, for his part, managed to scoop Bella into his arms and the van slammed his body into the back of the neighboring car.

It was a lucky coincidence that Edward had acted fast enough to avoid all but the gazes of supernatural creatures, and when hit by the van, his body was shrouded from detection by two bordering cars.

Xavier noted nothing was as it happened in the movie.

Still, he could only force his body to take a single step when everyone else was frozen.

A second had barely passed.

And, it would seem, the van holding Tyler wrapped around the back of Bella’s truck, seemingly intent on completing the job of crushing the girl to death.

THUD

Edward’s arm tore into the metal of the van, stopping the back end, but all that did was transfer all the momentum to the front end.

The car tilted over, threatening to crush Bella’s legs beneath the metal monstrosity.

Edward mentally calculated all the traces he had made – he was risking not only his demise but the demise of his entire family at the hands of the Volturi.

He had little doubt this matter would reach their ears – it always did.

But it was too late to stop now – stopping would undo all that he had already done and risked to save Isabella Swan’s life.

The vampire was forced to raise the van slightly until he could pull Bella’s body to safety. It felt ridiculous – holding up a van while simultaneously hoping no one would notice.

And no one did… almost no one.

Edward glanced down and met Bella’s widened eyes – she had witnessed it all, from beginning to end, and even then, her eyes were doubtful.

“Bella…” Edward examined her eyes for signs of a concussion. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine…” came her dazed voice.

Bella tried to sit up, to confirm to herself that she was indeed, somehow, still alive.

“Be careful,” Edward warned. “You hit your head pretty hard back there.”

Bella acknowledged the warning – her vision was spinning, and it was because of that spinning that some things became more obvious to her… like…

SSSSSZZZZZ

“Is that gas?” She asked.

Edward’s face instantly turned ashen as he witnessed what was happening on the other side of the car through the thoughts of dozens of panicked teenagers.

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

Xavier felt the pain of the headache retreat as if it never existed, and it took less than a second for him to realize the pain had only been so intense because it was Edward’s panic.

It had never occurred to Xavier that Ikaris was an Eternal capable of perceiving strong thoughts.

He was aware that all Eternals had the ability to communicate telepathically with each other, but he never thought it would freeze his movements at the critical moment.

But there was still work to be done.

The entire ordeal had taken three seconds flat – too fast for anybody to react.

The students were still frozen in place.

Xavier broke into a run as soon as he noticed the pale green flame still burning brightly at the bottom of Tyler’s van. Of course, now that the van was on its side, everyone could see the nitro canister.

Tyler, in his brilliance, had decided to use three of them.

Xavier moved as fast as he could without raising suspicions – it took another two seconds for him to reach the van, but once he was there, a single sweeping kick detached the three canisters.

The Eternal scooped the canisters into his arms, ensuring the flames were pointed away from his body, lest everyone noticed the canisters were not burning him.

“XAVIER!” Angela’s and Jessica’s voices were the first to reach him.

His eyes briefly glanced in their direction, noticing the terror on their faces – it took him a second to realize why they had assumed the worse would happen to him.

There was nowhere to throw the canisters.

The parking lot was filled with students for as far as strong arms could throw, and though Xavier could throw the canisters a mile away in an instant, doing so would cause questions.

Xavier’s eyes darted from area to area, trying to find the place where damage would be least.

In that moment, nothing mattered more than keeping his secret – then, he finally saw a location where only one person would be within the blast radius.

The world slowed in The Eternal’s perception.

A chill crawled up his back.

Xavier had always thought himself a deeply logical, borderline psychotic person, but at this critical moment, his hands refused to release the canisters.

She stood alone…

Xavier didn’t know her name, but he did know of her – terror painted her face when she realized that his eyes were locked in her general direction.

For a moment, she believed he would throw it.

And for a moment, Xavier believed he was capable of doing so.

Nobody would have missed her – she was a loner and an outlier at the school.

It was only logical for Xavier to keep his secret intact by throwing the canisters in her direction, and nobody would blame him since it was the only option in a sense.

Then, as he locked eyes with the girl, a profound feeling of repulsion overcame Xavier – he was disgusted by the mere thought that had entered his mind.

Sure, he had killed Greg and Luis, but he had a reason.

‘Cold… never cruel…’ His mind rationalized.

Still, he had to get rid of the canisters and there was only one choice left – the worse possible choice.

Xavier tossed the canisters in the air, ensuring the objects did not achieve a vertical height greater than five feet.

If he tossed the canisters too high and they exploded, the shrapnel would rain on the nearest ten students…

If he tossed the canisters too low, there would be many questions about his subsequent survival of the explosion…

Of course, Xavier could toss the canisters a couple of miles into the air, but the question would remain -Where did the strength come from?

The Eternal knew he would survive since Sam had put him through five trees in training and he was perfectly fine after, but solving the next situation would have to do with how well he could act.

BOOOOOOOOOM

Xavier felt his body sway under the force of the explosion, but a normal person would have been laid flat on the ground, so that’s exactly what The Eternal did.

At the moment of the explosion, Xavier roused the nearby graviton to slam his body into the ground rather harshly.

It had to be convincing – it had to be doubtless.

BANG

Angela joked back an erupting sob as she dashed into the uncertain fog of smoke that covered a ten-foot radius.

When the smoke cleared, several people rushed to Xavier's aid – even more, people rushed to Bella’s aid, but the majority of the students just stood where they were… too shell-shocked or fearful to contribute in any meaningful way.

Xavier didn’t have to fake the pain – the headaches never left, simply echoing in the background as a constant reminder.

There were panicked yells.

“Get them to the hospital!”

“Get them to the hospital!”

“Someone got a piece of shrapnel in the arms over here!”

At first, Xavier pretended to drift in and out of consciousness, but soon, the pretending became reality as his memories swirled and danced inside his head.

He blacked out.

What happened next came in portions like a damaged film…

The sound of an ambulance…

Emmet rushed Xavier to a car, driving as fast as he could to the hospital; though, it was mostly to pretend.

There were Angela’s and Bella’s voices yelling and crying.

Just before everyone’s mood could tip over, Jasper deployed his talents and calmed everyone down a bit – just enough for them to think logically.

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

IN EMMET’S CAR

“Take me to Mason County and ask for Dr. Emil,” Xavier groaned and sat up.

“What do I tell everyone else?” Emmet inquired. “I mean – it’s cool playing injured and all but you won’t be able to come back for at least a week.”

“I know…” Xavier sighed. “This gives me time to take care of some business. Tell Carlisle we need to take talk to him when I return. Things are getting too complicated too fast.”

Emmet simply nodded his head.