A Tainting Light (The Manipulators Book One)

Chapter 5 part 1

Control

The rest of the week was almost a repetition. Keegan and I went to Anador again yesterday, but today I didn't get to see her. We didn't have altercation practice today; instead, there was some sort of training event for first-year students. Parents and family members are supposed to come see what we have learned throughout the year. Obviously, my parents would not be here.

Foster was the only craved that was here with me. It was not because this was his first year here, but because he missed the performance the last two years. He was not happy to be here. He usually was not happy. There were about fifty of us outside in auditorium-like seats made of smooth stone. Foster sat to the left of me and a younger kid with a buzzed head sat to the right. He had hazel eyes and smooth tan skin. He looked over at me and smiled.

"Hey," he said. "I'm Avilius." He was the first person that was not a craved at this school that talked to me.

"Hey, I'm Finn."

"You look at lot older than us. Did you just transfer?" He turned to a girl with short orange hair to ask if she thought I looked older. I noticed a thick black line traveling down his back.

"He does," the girl said with a high pitched voice. "I'm Mira. Why are you just now coming to this thing?"

I paused for a second. I looked over at Foster and he was already dozing off into his elbow. I could not say that I was coming from California because they would know that I was a craved. "I was supposed to do this last year, but I skipped it and they are making me redo it."

"That's unfortunate," Avilius said. "What do you branch in?"

Before I could answer, Sylvic and Nax walked onto the raised platform. Sylvic lifted his hand and the separate murmurs became silent.

"I hope that things have been going well thus far at Domister. Tomorrow night before the dance, you guys are going to be putting on a special performance for your families and friends. They are going to want to see something spectacular from all of you and it is important that we show them - so that I can continue to get paid."

He waited for laughter from the students with a cheap smile on his face. It was silent. "We're going to split you up into groups and you guys need to put on a quick thirty-second show combining the different branches of your manipulation. Get into groups of five and figure something out. If you need any help, Nax and I will be up here." Everyone started looking around the room for people to partner up with. "Ready. Go." Sylvic said.

Everyone stood up simultaneously and began to pull their friends from the crowd. Some of the kids ran around desperately trying to find groups that just needed one more person.

"Do you guys want to work with us?" I asked Mira and Avilius.

"Sure!" she said. "We need one more person."

Foster looked around the crowd. "Seir!" he waved his hand towards the other craved, the creepy kid that hardly talked. "There we got one. Let's get this over with."

Mira walked out of the seats and onto the open grass field behind us. We followed her to the fresh grass. Seir walked into our circle, then started walking away. Foster grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him towards us.

"It's Seir, right?" Foster asked.

The skin around his eyes was a dark purple color. I could see small traces of his blood vessels underneath his tight skin. "Yes," he whispered.

"I'm Avilius and this is Mira." Avilius waved his hand to greet Seir. Seir did not respond or attempt to. "Alright. What do you guys branch in?"

"I'm fire. Foster is air and Seir is. . ." I waited for him to finish my sentence. He just stared at me. His eyes were unwavering.