Evil Maybe

Chapter 10- Ree

Never before have I complained about school starting at eleven o’clock. It’s a good time. A time that lets you sleep in, and eat breakfast without choking because you’re eating so quickly, and finish your homework if you forgot to the day before. That last one happens often.

Today though, I had already finished my work. It was only a worksheet on how to properly disable a bomb, and I had finished that yesterday in class with ten minutes to spare. And with no work to do, no free friends to talk to, and no class for an hour and a half, I was planning on going to the practice arena.

Well, actually, that was my second plan. My first plan was to sleep until ten thirty. Unfortunately, my dad had dragged me out of bed and told me to get going and go do something. Which really isn’t fair, seeing as he just spent the last four months moping around the house. I suppose can’t blame him though. We both should get going.

“ARGHHH!” I screamed in frustration. “Come- on.” I say through gritted teeth. “Work!” The lightning that follows is no stronger than the last bolt. I shoot another, and another, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t get it far enough. The lightning singes the middle of the target, leaving a small black patch but destroying it no farther.

This is not normal. Usually I would be able to blast the farthest target to smithereens with a flick of my wrist. Now I could barely even hit it. There was a group of small children, about five or six, crowded on the edges of the field, watching me with wide eyes. Some of them were whispering to each other, and I could see the confusion on their faces as I shrieked and shouted.

If I was anyone else, I would be doing amazing. I was shooting at the farthest target distance, and the fact that I was even close to it showed that my skill was legendary. But it wasn’t enough. I should be able to destroy this thing. And I can’t.

The whispers of the kids didn’t help my concentration. Their comments floated around in my head, fogging up my mind and wrapping around my brain until I couldn’t think. My fists balled up at my sides, and I stormed over to the little demons. “I’m trying to work here! Do you think you can tone it down?!” I growl angrily.

“S-sorry miss,” the biggest one squeaks out. My head whips around, curtain of jet black hair swooshing behind me with a crackle. “I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT!” I screech. “GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! LEAVE! GO!” I raise my hand to show them the ball of electricity in my hand.

They scatter, running in whatever direction they can as long as it leads away from me. My face was scrunched up in fury, and as soon as they had gone I realized how much like a teacher I looked. A vengeful, screaming teacher. I sank to the ground, exhausted. “Sorry,” I mumble even though they can’t hear. I seem to be saying that a lot lately.

It only took a few more minutes of failure and frustrated tears for me to realize that I wasn’t going to get anywhere. There was no point in continuing. I decided that I would ask Master James later my my power was acting up, but for now I had to come up with something else to do, as there was still an hour until school.

There was only one thing I could think of, but I wasn’t sure I was that desperate. The library. It wasn’t that I didn’t like books. It just found books boring. I don’t read unless I have to. But I suppose desperate times called for desperate measures. Plus, I hadn’t seen Caroline in forever. So I picked up my feet and dragged myself there.

The library was on the opposite side of the sector, but the sectors were all relatively small, so it was a short walk. I pushed the door open with my shoulder, and the bells overhead tinkled joyfully. “Caroline?” I called when I entered. Almost immediately, a woman appeared and had her arms around me. Caroline Pasquesi was short, although not as short as me, with honey colored hair shot through with gray and large, liquid brown eyes. She was a friend of my dad’s from my council, and she was always over, so she soon became close to my mom as well. When I was born, she absolutely fawned over me, and she always gets worried when I haven’t visited in a while.

“Rihanna! I haven’t seen you in forever. Come in, dear, come in. No sense standing in the doorway.” She ushered me in, fishtail braid (the way it always is- it’s like she just wakes up with a braid in her hair) swinging behind her as she went. “So, what brings you here? Need a book? There’s a good girl. You’ve never liked reading before, it’s great you’re starting now. What are you looking for?”

She looks so eager, I don’t have the heart to tell her I’m only here because I need a place to be until the start of school.

“Um...” I start, unsure what to say. I hadn’t thought this through, and I spend several seconds searching my mind for what to say. “I need TheComplete Works of Shakespeare,” I blurt.

Caroline beams so hard I feel like rainbows are going to shoot out of her eyes. “Oh, wonderful! I know just where that is!” She sings and scurries away. I follow her to the back of the library, and the books seemed to get thicker the farther we went. When Caroline pulled out a heavy book that she could barely carry, I was starting to regret my decision.

With a barely contained sigh, I take the book from her and wander around, trying to find a chair. I eventually settle in a puffy blue armchair. With the book resting on my knee, I open the cover and watch particles of dust float through the air. It takes a few moments for me to tear my gaze away, and I reluctantly look down at the first page. I read the first word. Then I read the first sentence. After comes the first paragraph. The first page come next. And once I really start reading, I can’t stop.

“Ree! Rihanna!” Caroline taps me on the shoulder. When I don’t look up, she grabs my shoulder and shakes me.

“What?” I snap, finally looking up. The leather bound book is now resting heavily in my lap, and my fingers are curled tightly around it. My head is no longer crowded by the comments of the annoying kids, but the millions of words covering the pages in front of me. Never before had I loved reading so much. It was a good book- or, anthology, really. Max was right. Darn it.

I then realize that Caroline is trying to speak to me, and when I start listening the first words I hear are, “Five minutes until eleven”.

“Five minutes!” I yelp and jump out of my seat. My book falls, and my hand instinctively shoots out to grab it. I forgot how heavy it was, so when I grab it I nearly fall from the unexpected weight. I grunt and hoist it into my arms. I’m about to toss it onto the chair and let Caroline put it back, but I hesitate. I want to continue reading. “Can I take this out?” I ask uncertainly.

“Of course!” Caroline trills. When I try to hand her the book so she can check it out, she waves my hand away. “Oh no dear. I know you’re running a tad late. Come back later and I’ll check it in then. Run along now.” She smiles at me, and I smile back. “Thanks,” I say sincerely. And dash out the door.

“Forgive me, Ms. Makkay, but today you seem rather... out of the loop.” Master James said with a frown. After the last class of the day (3:15), he had asked for me to stay behind so he could have a word with me. That was never a good sign.

But I was planning on going to see him anyway, as I wanted to ask about my powers, so it might as well be a good thing I’m here. “Forgive me Master James, but don’t I usually seem ‘out of the loop’?”

“Unfortunately, you do, but I’m not referring to your ability to pay attention and follow directions. I simply mean that you look exhausted, and, as silly as it sounds, your eyes are not as golden as they normally are.” His voice is tight as he talks about my shortcomings, but I can tell that his voice has taken on a more curious tone when he tells me about my eyes. Master James can never resist the opportunity solve a science mystery.

I automatically reach up to touch my eye. “What? How is that possible?” I say with part intrigue and part frustration. “Oh, that reminds me, sir. I had a question.” I am quite proud that I remembered to address him as sir. Master James lifts an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“Earlier this morning, I, ah, was practicing with the targets, and my lightning bolts didn’t reach as far. I don’t have my usual reserves of energy, and my electricity isn’t powerful. I don’t get it.”

I think I expected him to just shake his head and tell me that it’s because I’m tired, and that I need rest if I want my powers to work at all. He doesn’t. Instead, he frowns, and I watch his eyes travel to the hand touching my eye.

“Ms. Makkay, where is your ring?”

It takes a minute for me to understand. “What?!” I shriek when his words finally register. I pull my hand away from my face and examine it. My mother’s golden ring is gone. Only the circle of white skin around my finger shows that it had even been there at all.

Oh no. No no no no no.

I discovered that it only took seven minutes at maximum running speed to get from the Training Sector to the Living Sector. I burst through the door, and without bothering to close it behind me, I tear my house apart (not literally, of course), searching every corner of every room.

In my desperation I had pulled out all the drawers and moved all the furniture. And still there was no sign of my ring. Now as I looked at the mess I created, I realized how insane I must look. I tell myself to breathe, but when I open my mouth, I inhale so deeply that I choke. The choking turns into coughing, and once the coughing is done, the tears start coming.

I try to hold them back, but soon it’s too much and they roll down my cheeks. I sink to the ground, my long hair falling around me in a protective curtain.

It was my mother’s ring, and I lost it. How could it lose it? She gave it to me, she trusted me with it, and now it was gone. She was gone. The only thing I had left of her was gone.

The tears fall thicker and faster, harder and harder until I feel like I will never be able to get up again.

Gone.

And it’s there, sitting in the middle of my kitchen, crying my eyes out, that I realize it is not just the ring that is gone. Not just my mother. I am also gone.

In the months since my mom died, I have lost myself. My father may have had a harder time recovering, but it was me who was the first to really lose it when she died. When I heard the news, I had screamed until my throat was raw and blasted every last one of the Cybertranses into smithereens.

Every single one, destroyed. Like they had destroyed her.

I think seeing me like that had been what pushed my dad over the edge. Zeke and Jack were the ones who had dragged me out of that dark hole I had fallen into, but my dad had no one. My friends, my best friends in the world, were always there. But the one person who was always there for my dad was dead.

No.

I realize then that that was not true. There’s me. He has me. The way he looked when she had died compared to the way he looked now was amazing. And it was because of me.

I don’t know why, but this gave me a sense of calm. A sudden, clear bolt ofwe can get through this shot through me. I stood up on shaky legs and closed my eyes for a moment. When they opened, my vision was no longer blurry, and I was able to take a step. Then another. I got to the stairs, and, one foot at a time, walked up them. My confidence was slowly returning, and by the time I got to my room, I was back to normal.

My door was slightly ajar, and I pushed it open with my shoulder. Flash, who was sitting on my desk, looked over when I entered, yellow eyes flashing. I expected him to leap onto my shoulder, my customary greeting, but he didn’t move. He simply c****d his head, squeaked, and scampered onto my pillow.

I laughed. “What’s the matter? Don’t feel like giving me a proper hello?” When I looked into the large mirror in the corner, I saw why. Tearstreaks glistened on my cheeks, and my eyes were red and bloodshot. My hair was tangled and sticking up in random places. I stared.

I really was a mess.

But I wouldn’t let myself be like this anymore. I got a cold shower running, and after ten minutes of lathering in shampoo and conditioner, I had climbed out washed my face once more for good measure. It took nearly fifteen minutes to properly run a brush through my hair and untangle the knots and twists, but by the time I was done, my hair was once again gleaming and my skin spotless.

I was standing in front of the mirror once again, reveling in my now normal, glorious self when I saw it. The hat. Flash, who had been comfortably curled up on it, complained loudly when I dashed over and snatched it up. He slunk onto my dresser, watching me with annoyed eyes that I paid no attention to.

Max.

It was him. It had to be him. He stole it.

For some odd reason, I didn’t want it to be him. Max, whose sister was dead. Whose mother was probably dead. Max, who didn’t have a smidgen of the evil his people had. Who cared if I lived or died.

Who claimed a small place in my heart even though I hadn’t allowed it.

He was the reason I had turned into some sniveling, emotional mess. He was the reason the barrier I had so carefully built inside me was breaking. He stole it. He was stealing everything. And no matter how much I didn’t want it to be, the world doesn’t give us everything we want. It had to be him. And I had to get it back.

The anger inside me started as a spark, but the farther I got, the more it blazed. The words his fault, his fault, his fault repeated over and over again in my head. When I got there I would wring his neck. I would break his fingers one by one. I would- no. I wouldn’t do any of those things. Because I am civilized, and because I promised myself I wouldn’t be violent unless I needed to.

His fault, something whispers in the back of my mind, but it’s not true. The closer I get to him, the more I feel like snapping him in half. I walk without thinking, without stopping to consider what I was doing. Going to see a villain, for the second time in two days, without any plan or backup. But he had my ring. So maybe I did have a reason to kill him after all.

My feet move instinctively, though the entrance, around the courtyard, past the second quadrant, onto the side of the first quadrant. I stand in the narrow alley between the two buildings and scan for Max’s window. The second I spot it, my rage catches up to me in one fiery wave. I blast the ground with lightning, and it propels me upward, up and up and up. But there is something I have forgotten. The last time I did this, my powers were strengthened by my ring. The ring which I now don’t have.

My blast wasn’t strong enough, and I realize it’s too late. My fingers graze the cool metal of the balcony, and with one hand I manage to grab on. My hands are sweaty from the jog here, and I feel myself slipping.

The first thought I have is to use my Cybertrans to call for help, but it is on my left wrist, and I don’t trust myself enough to switch arms and type. I try to pull myself up, but my hands are too damp to move without losing the slack hold I have. My only option is to ask Max for help. I don’t want to. I don’t want to have him see me like this, dangling on the edge of doom, unable to save myself, but I don’t have any choice.

“MAX!!!” I holler at the top of my voice. He doesn’t come, so I inhale, ready to shout again. But just as I open my mouth, I feel my hand slide. I am slipping now, falling, and I claw desperately at the metal with both hands. My fingers just manage to find the small holes on the balcony, but I know I can’t hold on for long. Soon my hands will slide too far, and I won’t be able to hold on any longer, and then I will fall.