Jinx Academy

Chapter Thirteen

          The end of October drew near, and while my friends and I were at our nightly study group, Fleur was the first one to break the silence.  "Halloween is coming up soon.  The kitchen staff will be fixing a special Halloween feast, and I thought we could have our own party, just the six of us. "  "That's a great idea," said Leo, "Costumes, or no costumes?"

          "Definitely costumes," Sophie said eagerly, "We can all come as the stereotype version of our species that humans see us as." "Sorry, I can't make it," said Cole, "I have a detention with Professor Axle." We all flinched in sympathy for him and went back to studying. A day later, I quite literally ran into the demon named Lance Stone. His books fell, scattered, all over the floor.

          "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to run into you," I said, knealing to pick up his books.  Suddenly sharp pain started to pound inside my head.  I gasped and grabbed my head. It felt like an angry porcupine was crawling around in my cranium. "Mind penetration," Lance drawled, "A handy power to have if someone displeases you." I gritted my teeth and shot lightning at him.

          His concentration broke, releasing me.  I got up and went to run, only to be brought back to my knees as pain shot through my head again.  "Stupid little fairy," growled Lance. He kicked me hard, making me land on my back with an audible thud. When I tried to get back up again, Lance put a black booted foot on my stomach, nailing me in place.

          As I wiggled helplessly beneath the demon, he laughed, and I got angry.  What was his problem? A few spilled books was nothing to worry about.  Someone had to teach him a lesson.  Then, I shook my head.  The last thing I needed was to make another enemy. The more fighting I could avoid, the better. At least until Powers Training.

          I would beat the stuffing out of him in class, when that was allowed and I couldn't be punished for it. (Wow, this really isn't a normal school is it?) So for now, I came up with another alternative. "Bullying creature so mean and foul, get off of me and leave me now," I said.  The spell worked.  Lance took his foot off of me and simply walked away.

          I got up, smiling, and continued on my way to Powers Training.  I had managed to get him to leave me alone without full out battling with him.  Mission accomplished.  Of course, luck continued to favor me, and Headmaster Silver announced we would be fighting in groups this day. 

          Each group would have different sizes, like three on two, four against five, maybe even nine on three.  I got stuck with one of the worst odds: two on six. It was to be me and Cole against Belinda, Lance, Tyler, Sophie, Fleur, and this girl named Emily that had super flexibility.  "Ready?" called Headmaster Silver, "Fight!" And we were off.

          Soon, I began to feel overwhelmed, even though Cole and I fought our best.   And that was when it happened.  The next thing I knew, there were two of me. All fighting paused, and seven pairs of eyes turned to me, then at the other me, then at me again. "What?" I said, "I don't know how that happened!" Everyone looked at Headmaster Silver.

          "It's called astral projection," he explained, "A very rare power indeed. Anyway, keep fighting." Feeling much better now, I grinned as I turned back to my opponents.  With my new power, the tides turned in our favor, and Cole and I wont the match. "Selena, a word please," Headmaster Silver called once class was over.

          I followed him to his office. When we were alone, he spoke. "Do you realize the seriousness of what you did in there? No, of course not. You have two powers. The problem is, only one person in history is known to have more than one, and that is Zane, and we know how well he turned out." "Zane has two powers?" I said, alarmed, "So if fire is one, what's the other?"

          "I don't know," the Headmaster admitted, "Zane always guarded the secret of his second power jealously. Anyway, since astral projection is so hard to control and requires a lot of mental concentration, I would like to have private lessons with you every weekend." I groaned at the thought of more school, but I agreed with him.

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          That night, I finished my spell that would help me fight Zane. "Yes!" I cried as I finished, "Finally! What do you think, guys?" I handed the paper to my friends so they could read it. "Four lines, and written in Latin," mused Tyler, "This should work." "Good," I said, "I feel better now. I think I'm ready to face Zane now, whenever he comes for me."

          "Speaking of that, who do you think is the traitor?" Cole asked. "Lance," Leo said immediately. "You would think that," Sophie snorted, "No, I bet it's Belinda. She's had it in for you since day one, Selena." "Well, whoever it is, the traitor won't get away with this."

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Traitor's Point of View

          "You won't get away with this!" I was meeting Zane a day before Halloween, to discuss how I would let him past the school's barriers. "And why not?" Zane demanded.  "First, because she had a second power-astral projection," I reported, "And number two, she finally finished her elemental spell. Four lines written in Latin. It will work."

          Zane frowned as he thought about those two troublesome factors. "No matter, I can still handle her," he said at last, "You are an important part of my plans, and the information you give me is invaluable. For being my spy and assisting me, you will be rewarded." I smiled half heartedly.

          "Now," Zane continued, "Tomorrow is Halloween. At nine o' clock, you will let me in, and I will crash the party my niece is planning with her little friends." "You won't hurt the others, will you?" I asked. "I make no promises," Zane replied, "If they get in my way, I'll blast them out of my path without mercy, without taking care to spare their lives. One way or another, I will have my revenge. I will have what my brother cheated me out of!"