Aegis (Book Three)

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Waking up the next morning, my hat is halfway across the cot and rubbing the area on the back of my head, I am thankful that the skin is back to normal. Checking my chest area, fear strikes through me as I find the skin still very rough and hard. Why hasn't it gone away since last night? 

It always disappears overnight or over a long period. Putting on a really baggy sweatshirt it creates static with my oversized long sleeve shirt.

I keep my head down at school and completely avoid my locker this time around. I always end up taking all of my books back to the shelter anyway, so what does it really matter. Sitting down for lunch, I pick away at the school's shitty food and am just thankful that is free. Somehow T wiggled me into the school's free lunch program, I still don't know how, but I am thankful that I can eat two meals a day between the school and the shelter.

Looking out across the cafeteria, I see people scattered everywhere. The buzz of chatter is quite loud, but I am thankful that no one is paying attention to me. I eat quickly and slip out the back of the cafeteria and head up to the library to get some more work done. I don't have an internet connection at the shelter, so I need to take care of all online assignments now. Trying to focus on the work in front of me, I can feel my skin tightening some more as time continues to pass and I try to ignore it as much as possible, but I feel like someone is twisting that part of body tighter and tighter, eventually, something has to give.

Walking home from school today, I stick to all of the main streets and try to keep out of trouble. The last thing I need is T becoming fed up with me and leaving me out to dry. Technically nobody is supposed to be in the shelter for more than three days at a time, but somehow, she found a loophole. Well, it's more that she reports me as a different name every three days and the company she works for doesn't notice.

I start to sweat as I continue to walk back to the shelter, and I yank off my two sweatshirts and stuff them into my backpack. I would need to do wash soon; my clothes are starting to smell slightly. Counting some of my quarters, I should be able to do wash with next week's allowance from T, she always gives me a few dollars for showering and doing wash when possible.

As I near the shelter, the pain in my chest intensifies and it makes it harder for me to breathe. I stop and lean against a wall and try to catch my breath, but the skin continues to tighten and I can feel a strange energy bouncing around in the crystals. Running my fingers over the uneven, yet smooth black crystals that have formed I am frustrated as to why they are still there. Pulling out my phone, I try to text T, but my hand cramps, and my phone drops. Bending over, I try to get it, but another surge has me stuck in that position.

Tears burn in my eyes as I try to breathe through it, but nothing seems to be helping. Something tells me that I need to expel the pent-up energy from being shot. But how on Earth do I do that? I try to ignore this blasted mutation as much as possible, it's not like I sit around pondering how it works! Forcing myself to breathe in and out, the pain continues to persist and build for a few moments before something inside me clicks.

Squeezing the muscles around my chest area, a scream wants to slip out of my lips, but I clamp my mouth shut tight. Tears pour down my face as I drop to my knees and continue to tense every muscle in my body. Slowly I feel it, something tearing before an explosion of energy surges out of my chest knocking me backward into the wall. I feel the skin harden on my back some and I curse into the air.

Sitting on the ground for a few moments, I collect myself before pushing myself back to my feet. Looking around I don't see anyone in the immediate area, and I just hope that no one witnessed that. Looking down at myself, I see a massive hole in the chest of my shirt, and I can't help the frustrated noise I make. I don't have a lot of clothes, to begin with! Pulling one of my sweatshirts back on I head back into the shelter.