The Innates (Book #1)

Chapter 30

I heard distant screaming as I appeared back inside the training room. I looked around the dark room and I see shadows and outlines of people waving their hands up in the air. I see them suspended in chains like multiple hangman games.
"Jess!" They called out. Then all the lights flick on, I was moderately blinded. I turned around immediately.
"Didn't think you'd be caught, Jess?"
"Wow, you're good." I said.
"Don't make this hard for you, Jess. I already gave you the options and you gotta do is choose."
"Well, I need for options, sir."
"Jess, help us!" I turned again and saw my classmates suspended in chains above a 25-foot clear tank full of water. They were holding to a metal bar that's connected to the chain.
"Really, Mr. André? That's all you've got? A tank full of water? Where's the shark?"
"You think I'm cliché?" I shrugged. "That water is charged with 5,000 volts, idiot! I'm not that vulnerable." He takes out a gun and points it at me. I mockingly raised my hands like I'm about to surrender.
"Do you think this is just a game?"
"Well, I run, you try to catch me, you fail, I win, so it kinda' is a game."
"You're not as smart as you think you are, Jess. You're just ordinary."
"So you wanna play or not?" I zoomed infront of him and punched his eye in, he backs up a bit. I take the gun from his hand and smacked his cheekbone with it. "I take that as a no."
"I started this game!" He said. The dexterity of his hand's motion distracted me as he takes out something metallic and silver. It was a brass knuckle, judging by how curved it was and how he stroke my lower lip with it. I spit some blood on his face. I ran fast towards the giant tank, but his ability was unknown to us. We should've been more alert. He has the ability to teleport, which explains how he got to the hospital quick.
As I kept on going, the speed of his own teleportation beat the speed of my running. He gets on top of my shoulders and pinned me against the floor, I lay on my chest. I stretched my arms back and grappled his neck down, trapping him and earning me a chance to overpower him with a million volts. I could feel the electricity travel through his system and messing with his focus on teleportation. He groans in pain as he rattles. I let go of him and he tries to teleport, too many volts caused a slight brain damage. Damages ruin concentration, which resulted his bungled teleportation. He popped out of random places like, the ceiling, behind the dummies, above the students and more importantly, he was stuck between walls. His appearance was not vivid, he was glitching like an old computer.
I yelped in surprise when I felt somebody's presence behind me touch my shoulder.
"Sarra!" I said. The bandage under her chin was showing and her right forehead was bundled in a small cast.
"Hi, Jess. So you found out it was Mr. André, good for you." She said. Mr. André stops glitching, which was unexpected.
"I better grab his gun before he takes it." I said. I sprinted for the pistol, but I saw his left leg twitch and I dropped the gun immediately. For a millisecond, he was gone, he recovered fast. As I tried to be alert for any unexpected circumstances, an assailant, who seemingly just saved me from an unknown attack, zooms in and swiped Mr. André away. The two of them make a critical impact on the wall in a disorderly manner. The hard rubble's fragments and dust fall on Mr. André's shoulder as his back was buried inside the wall. His attacker jumps off his knees and faced me and Sarra with a ravenous glare. Alice.
"Good thing I saved you, Ghoul." Alice said, she takes the gun from where I'm standing and prepared to shoot Mr. André in the chest.
"I'm sorry, Ghoul?" I asked.
"You took too long to pick your own name. So I helped out." She said.
"But why "Ghoul"?"
"Because you're as intangible as a walking spirit." Sarra said.
"What's your nickname?"
"Scorch. Alice is Id." I snickered, which was a bad timing because Mr. André just emerged from the damaged wall.
"Yeti coming!" Zach's voice came up, and he was literally up above the piped ceiling. He swung himself forward and landed right next to Sarra without fail, even if it was higher than the giant tank. "So it's Mr. André, huh?" He said, chill.
"Yeah--" Since Alice turned to see Zach, she must've missed Mr. André teleport.
"Dang it, we missed him." I said.
"I swear it's not my fault." Zach said.
"Shut up, it's not." Sarra said.
"Four o'clock!" The students yelled. The four of us turned, realizing there were actually five of us, he's just unseen. We all realized that when Mr. André was about to crush us like a debris, but an unknown force made his waist bleed and a small hole appeared on his side. That freaked me out a little, so I made a barrier which prevented the falling, bleeding debris land on us. The unknown force's knife falls on the floor, combined with sounds of sneaker soles squeaking against it. It picks up the knife, then it showed itself. Mr. André slides down the forcefield and straight to where the invisible dude was standing.
"Ace, hey!" Alice said.
"How long have you guys been here anyway?" I asked.
"We all arrived at the same time. We were just waiting for the right timing."
"Thank you and sorry about the cliff." I say.
"It's all good." They said.
"Really? We're gonna do this now? Mr. André's a criminal and that's what we're worrying about?" Alice said.
"She's right." Ace said.
"You rotten kids..." Mr. André gagged in his own blood. "you'll never catch me. Or all of me."
Ace grabbed the collar of his coat and wondered, "All of you?" He disappears again.
"Everyone, spread! He could be anywhere." Zach said.
"You mean like, everywhere? Because I think he's gonna clone himself." Sarra said.
"Smart, kind of." Ace said. "But how can we be sure he's gonna clone himself?"
"'Cause the fourteen other doses of the Multiplying substance are gone." Alice answered for Sarra, gazing at the empty table.
"We're too late." I said.
"You know...!" Dominick shouted. "you can free us like, right now! He's not looking."
"Right, sorry." Good thing there's a staircase that surrounds the whole tank.
"We'll get ready for any unexpected attacks." Alice said.
"I'll make it quick." I said. The blue water that's below my classmates looks harmless, I could just jump in. But one dip assures safety. I let the first inch of my index finger sink into the cold water.
"Jess!" Dominick shouted. "That's electrocuted."
"No, it's not."
"That's because you're immune to electricity."
"Oh."
"Now, get us out of here! We can't hold on much longer!" His voice is strained, the sweat from his palms made the iron bar he was holding on to moist and slippery. He was a second away from slipping. But at the same time as he fell, the same transparent platform broke his fall. Thank you, fear, for letting me feel like I can't let anyone else get hurt.
"Oh, my gosh!" Dominick screamed, his head pressed against the glass-like platform. "I'm dead, I'm so dead!"
"You're not dead, get up! I can't hold on much longer! Go, guys, run!" The students let themselves fall freely on thr forcefield. I kept my right hand raised and my left arm wrapped around the railing. I stood like I froze right in the middle of mountain-climbing. Their loud and disruptive footsteps vibrate through my forcefield, they pulse through my veins painfully. I coughed hoarsely and ran out of breath. I felt dizzy and unsure. That dazed, nauseous, groggy feeling when you feel like vomiting. My sternum is throbbing against my other bones, chest pain. I gagged and spat some red liquid out.
"Jess, you okay?" I raised my left thumb.
"Don't push yourself." I didn't push myself, but somebody else did. I felt its presence and it held me by the back of my neck, the tip of my sharp nose almost touched the "electrocuted" water. More blood flowed out of my nose and my skull felt heavier.
"Do you still wanna stay here or be the most powerful Innate?" Mr. André, I can't believe you. Or any of this.