Page 90 of Self Studies

Time became meaningless. My movement grew weaker as I quickly ran out of energy. Out of the darkness of my suitcase, the misty black copy of myself opened its blood-red gaze. I stilled, but new fear didn’t seize my heart. My copy smiled, and I suddenly knew if I pushed my will out, all of this would stop.

Before I could act, the zipper around me tore open. Light burned away the dark mist, and my copy vanished from my imagination. I blinked, trying to adjust to the change in light. The blurry body in front of me cut the ball gag off my head, and I jerked. With it out of my mouth, I started shrieking and struggled against the hands pulling me out of the suitcase. They didn’t release me. The sound of metal handcuffs clicked against my clasps, before strong arms crushed me against a firm chest.

I could feel more than hear his words. “I’ve got you. You’re ok. Scream if you need to. Cry if you need to. You’re safe now.”

My screaming cut off. Short, fast breaths that didn’t give me much air took their place. I managed to slow down my panic as the room came into focus. Like a toy, my legs and arms sprang apart when he cut away the zip-ties. Pins and needles flooded my extremities. I moaned in pain and relief as the man shifted me awkwardly in his arms. His handcuffs dug into my skin.

“God damn it, Johnson. Stop staring like an idiot and do your fucking job,” he barked.

I took another shuddering breath and looked around the room. Advisor Crowe’s body still smoked where it lay deathly still on the ground. Alexa and another female student lay as motionless on either side of him. A third groaned and tried to sit up.

I didn’t see Ram anywhere.

“Focus on me,” the man said.

My head started pounding. I brought a shaking hand to my temple and tried to do as he asked. The man’s darkly tanned skin glowed under his shaggy, dark brown, ducktail beard. Unrimmed gray eyes studied me under steeply pointed eyebrows. A scar ran through the left one like a jagged lightning bolt. Long, slightly curly, shaggy hair framed his face.

I reached up and twirled some of it between my fingers. “I had long hair.”

“What happened?” the man asked. “Who are you?”

My heart broke. “I don’t even know anymore.”

I burst into tears as everything hit me at once. He pulled me back into his chest and rocked me like a child.

Chapter 13

I bounced excitedly in front of my Shell – what I’d decided to call the stone dome covering my bed. Sandy giggled, and Roisin shook her head.

“And charge the ones inside too?” I asked, gesturing toward runes they couldn’t see.

“Ba-Jesus,” Roisin said dramatically. “It’s like realizing you can ask for help has changed your personality.”

I nodded and looked expectantly at Sandy. I loved Roisin, but her magic was internal only and couldn’t charge anything.

Roisin’s eye twitched. “You’ve got to learn to say please.”

“I’d be happy too!” Sandy exclaimed, following me into my Shell. “Though I’m running out of juice.”

I nodded. A piece of me wished I could transfer into her so she could use mine, but that wouldn't be right.

I scratched at the skin around my clasps while Sandy filled my runes with magic. My Shell now had a small, retractable window so Roisin and I could see each other at night. It also had its own lighting and air circulation system. However, I’d not figured out how to adjust its size.

After my ordeal, the administration gave me a few days off classes. I’d spent them taking out my anger and frustration on my Shell, carving it into exactly what I wanted.

I’d destroyed my little dresser. A series of ugly shelves stuck out of the wall above my bed, and a makeshift chest rested at the end. Roisin let me know, after the fact, the dresser had a built-in washing spell which kept my uniforms clean. I would need help reinstalling that. But it was a start.

“Are you ready to go back to classes?” Roisin asked, leaning against my doorway.

Sandy and I sat on the edge of my bed, looking past Roisin at my lovely view of the washroom door.

I frowned. “I guess.”

I hadn’t been the first student Advisor Crowe had taken out of the Institute. He had records of abductions dating back over a decade. The MA was furious this had gone on under Director Fleming’s nose, and an investigation had already begun.

I’d been lucky he’d made so many mistakes in his desperation to get a hold of me. Even more fortunate the MA had been transporting a new student at that moment. If they hadn’t, I’d be trapped somewhere with Ram ‘retraining’ me.

The thought made me sick to my stomach.