The Ultimate Sacrifice

Chapter One

“You have to learn how to ignore some things.”

I stuck out my tongue. “Pbbbbbt.”

“Do you know what could happen if you actually hurt someone?” she asked, raising her voice.

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. “I’d feel good?”

“No, Kassia. You’d get in trouble. They’d punish you. And then they’d punish me for not stopping you.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll try to do better.”

“You said that last time.”

“Oh yeah. But that guy deserved it!”

She guffawed. “Yeah, he did.” She broke into a grin and we both collapsed on the floor laughing.

                                                                                      * * *

I watched Mira as she slept, wishing I could sleep like she did. The nightmares usually woke me up. At first, it was only once in a while, but now it was every night. Mira’s long, ash-blonde hair was spread all over her pillow. Her thin lips twitched now and then. She was my protector, although I think she spent most of her time protecting other people from me.

Sometimes I felt like I was broken. I had this rare gift, but instead of using it to do good, I used it for the wrong reasons. There have only been ten of us documented in history. Ten mind-blowers. Some were locked up because nobody could control them. Others were killed for the same reason. A few were able to control their gifts. And then there was me. I had Mira.

All of the students here at Glendale Institute had gifts. Some gifts—like mine—were only supposed to be used in emergencies. However, with my short temper, I don’t think the gods planned that one out real well.

How then did Mira get to me so fast? Noe. She was a predictor and could see things that hadn’t happened yet. Mira said Noe had called and tipped her off. Although we had driven to the town center together, we went our separate ways when we got there. We needed to be quick so we’d be back to Glendale before curfew.

As dawn approached and the sky brightened with yellows and oranges, I snuck back into bed, quietly pulled the covers up over my head, and pretended to be asleep. One minute later, the alarm clock went off. I heard Mira groan and hit the nightstand as her hand searched for the off button. Finally, the alarm stopped.

“Kassia, time to get up.” She shook my arm.

I moaned. “Okay.”

“We can get to the bathroom before anyone else if you hurry.”

Slowly, I emerged from under the covers, rubbed my eyes, and yawned. It was some of my best acting yet. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

Mira shot me a look and then smiled. We headed down to the bathroom we shared with the two other girls in the hall. I went straight to one of the showers and turned the water up hot.

A few minutes later, Mira called out for me. “Did you fall asleep in there?”

“No, I fell in the drain.”

“Funny,” she said, her voice droll.

I sighed and turned the shower off. I towel-dried my hair and body and slipped on my T-shirt and shorts again. Then I brushed my teeth. The rest I could do in our room.

As we were leaving, Noe and Auralee walked in. “Hey, Kassia, did you leave some hot water for the rest of us?” Auralee asked. She always looked beautiful no matter what time of day it was. Her strawberry blonde, pixie-like haircut required no styling at all.

I laughed. “Of course, but Mira didn’t.” Mira scowled at me. “Oh, lighten up.” I elbowed her.

“Not before noon,” she mumbled.

Back in our room, I unwrapped my hair and stood in front of the mirror for a long time. Same old dark auburn hair, glaring white skin. At least I didn’t have pimples. They wouldn’t dare show themselves.

“Were you expecting something different?” Mira asked, standing next to me. I was about half an inch taller, and a few pounds heavier.

“No.” I couldn’t tell her about my nightmares, about how sometimes I’d change into something awful in them. She’d worry too much. Besides, they were just nightmares.

I fumbled around the dresser for my eye shadow and lipstick—a light purple that brought out my eyes. Mira chose green eye shadow and a light pink lipstick.

“Purple again?” She rolled her eyes. They would most likely be categorized as hazel, but when you looked closer, you would see they were a blue-green, with specs of gold and brown floating in them.

“Violet,” I corrected.

“Whatever.”

“It matches.”

I smiled smugly. My eyes were truly a light violet color. Being curious, I once did some research and found that violet eyes were rare to both the gifted and regular humans.

I pulled on my gray school sweatshirt, which was a little bit long in the arms, just the way I liked it. I always bought my long-sleeved shirts long enough to cover at least half of my hands.

“Ready for breakfast?” Mira asked.

“Yeah. Are you looking forward to seeing Zane?”

She blushed and bit her lip. “He’s not my type.” Her nose wrinkled—a sign she was lying.