The Band of Misfits

Chapter 10

Monica

I stared at the computer screen, uninterested.

The people around me clicked and typed away, their faces illuminated by the blinding lights of their monitors. They seemed engrossed in their tasks, paying no attention to the outside world. I could never get into my Tech Science class. I wondered why the counselors put me in here. They must've locked themselves in a room, figured out what class I would hate, then gave me that class.

A wild idea occurred to me. A mischievous grin tugged at the corners of my mouth. I took a glance around me to see if anyone was watching me. Of course, no one was. They were all under mind control by a machine of superior intellect. The lights were turned off, so the only light in the room was from the monitors.

I dropped my pencil purposely onto the floor next to the computer. Discretely, I bent over to retrieve it, but instead of reaching for the pencil, my hand drifted to the computer. I placed my hand onto it and concentrated. I felt my body temperature drop as a cold wave rushed through me, and into my hands. I smiled, the feeling pleasurable to me.

The cold wave pushed itself into the computer. Almost immediately, my monitor sputtered, changed colors, displayed error messages, and finally shut down. I congratulated myself on my evil scheme. I raised my hand.

"Mrs. Johnson," I called, feigning innocence,"there's something wrong with my computer."

She looked up from her desk, saw that my monitor was black, got up, and walked over. She started trying several commands, pressed buttons, unplugged chords, and plugged them back in. I crossed my fingers behind my back, hoping my plan had worked.

"Well sweetie, looks like you're out of luck," she said,"all the computers in this class are taken."

"Really, but I was almost done," I said.

"Don't worry. I'll give you a 100 for what you've done," she said in a sympathetic tone.

"Oh, thank you, because I did not want to start over," I said.

"Just stay quiet until the bell rings, okay?", she asked.

"Yes ma'am," I replied back innocently.

I sat down with a smirk on my face, ready to enjoy my free time. 10 minutes had passed, and I became restless. That's when Joe and Jason walked in. I smiled at them, a little confused as to why they were here. Joe waved slightly, but I could tell when something was up with Joe.

They both approached Mrs. Johnson. They talked quietly and she called me up to the desk.

"Monica, these boys say that the assistant principal needs to speak with you. Do you know anything about this?", she asked suspiciously.

I looked at them, and they seemed like they desperately needed to say yes. I was about to go along with whatever they were scheming when Mrs. Johnson spoke.

"Why don't I just call her?", she said, swiveling in her chair and reaching for her phone.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Joe nudge Jason. He nodded. Jason's face contorted in concentration, and his eyes clouded over in a soft shade of gray. A feeling of giddiness washed over me. That meant that me, Joe, and Sarah weren't the only ones with abilities.

I was trying to figure out what Jason's ability actually was. I turned my attention to Mrs. Johnson. She picked up the phone and put it to her ear and started talking. The thing was, she hadn't typed in a single number on the dial pad. She was, however, talking on the phone to...well...no one. After a few seconds of having a conversation with herself, she put the phone down.

"Well," she started,"looks like you boys were telling the truth."

They both smiled innocently and said thanks. I grabbed my stuff from my computer and the three of us walked out of the room.

"I'm guessing the assistant principal wants nothing to do with me?", I asked.

"Nope," Joe said,"but we're getting out of here as fast as we can."

I stopped.

"What do you mean, where are we going? We can't just leave school! I-"

"The man in the cloak is here, and he's trying to kill us," Jason said matter-of-factly.

I took off ahead of them.

"Don't we need to get Iris and Sarah? They're in danger too," I questioned, turning around a corner.

"Done," said Iris, who was standing right in front of me.

"So, apparently, Jason has some control of other people's senses," said Sarah, who was standing a little farther down the hall. They must've been standing guard.

"Yeah, he got us out of classes for the day," Joe said.

"So what's the plan?", I asked, looking around. I realized I still didn't know Iris' ability.

"No time to explain," Iris said,"we have to leave before...he comes."

The mentioning of our unknown assassin sent a solemn mood through us all.

"Well," I said, starting to walk down the hall,"maybe Jason can get us a car and-"

I turned back and realized no one was following me. They all looked at each other smiling.

"We won't need a car," said Joe, and gestured for me to come back.

I walked back to the group, curious as to what was going on.

"Everybody grab hands," Iris said,"I hope this works."

'Are we about to play ring around the rosies or something?'

The lights in the hallway exploded, and we were put into total darkness.

I felt like my skin was being torn from my body. I knew this was not the plan.

'Little fools. You only lived this far because I let you. Now it's time I finished what I started.'

"Shut the hell up," I heard Iris say.

I heard glass clinging, a sickening squish, and someone in our circle fell to the ground. I screamed, the air left my lungs, and my feet lifted from the ground.