Chapter 18
"Damn it Kari." Zing said. They were walking to the auditorium to get to their Musical Theater class. "This is my favorite class, and now I'm late!"
Kari laughed. There had been a pep rally last period for homecoming and Zing and Kari skipped it to go make out in his parents car.
'It was a hot make out session, that's for sure!' Kari thought. She was still a little giddy from the session.
"So, your saying that you regret being with me?" She said faking sadness.
"Hell no. In fact, I think we should just head to your place and make out all night." Zing sighed. "It's just that-"
"You want to kiss Steele's ass so he'd put in a good word for you at Juliard. I know." She said. "In my opinion, you'll get into Juliard no problem. Someone would have to be deaf, blind and not have a brain in order to not get how completely talented you are. And I'm not just saying this, it's true."
The stood outside the auditorium entrance.
"For real?"
"If you sucked, I would be the first to tell you." She kissed him. "For real."
"Have I ever told you that I love you? Cause I do. Overwhelmingly so." He kissed her back.
"I love you too, Doofus." Zing smiled and they walked through the door. Kari walked down the isle and was suddenly grabbed and pulled down into the seats. She saw that Zing had a serious look on his face. She looked at the stage. She saw a bunch of cops similar to the ones that she saw at Rob's shop. They were questioning the class.
Her blood ran cold. Since this was an auditorium, she could hear everything.
She could hear them say Zing's name.
"...I can assure you that Zing Lee is a good kid! He is not an NH at all!" Derrick was saying.
"Uh huh, sir, where is he at the moment?" One of the cops asked.
"I'm not sure. He's not normally late to class." Derrick said.
"Oh, I think he might be at home!" One of the students, Kari recognized as the only freshman in their class, Raylanne, said.
"Why do you think that?" The cop asked.
"There was a pep rally today, so a lot of kids went home. I thought I heard him saying that he would yesterday." She said.
The cops nodded and left the auditorium. After a minute, Kari and Zing stood up. The went to the stage.
"Zing! Oh my god." Derrick said. "Is... Is it true?"
Kari saw the miserable look that Zing had on his face. He nodded.
"Why did you lie to the cops? I never said anything to you about going home." Zing asked Raylanne.
"I didn't want them to take you!" She said. "They took one of my friends in California and who knows what happened to her! It's not fair that the cops will take you away when you're no different than us. It's not fair!" Raylanne started to cry. Zing patted her head.
"Thank you for trying to help me." Zing smiled weakly. "But don't worry, I'm not the type of person to just lay down and let something like this happen. I'll be okay." Raylanne nodded her head and wiped her eyes.
"Zing, we should go." Kari said. Zing nodded. They turned to leave.
"Hey, Zing! If this thing ever dies down, come visit me at Juliard! I have a job there now as assistant dean!" Derrick said with tears in his eyes. "I'll put in a good word for you!" Zing smiled and said that he would.
He and Kari left. They got into his car and drove to the warehouse. Once he stopped near there, Zing started to cry. Kari hugged him.
"This means that my life is over right? What happens now? Will I ever see my parents again? And the class? They lied for me! Will they be okay?" Zing cried for a long time. Kari held him close.
"I honestly don't know, Zing... But," She held his face in her hands. "I will find a way to stop this...! Those Hunters will not hurt anyone else!"
Zing dried his eyes and they headed into the warehouse.
They were met with everyone, including the gang from Fox Falls. Kari found this strange.
"Were the cops lookin for you guys too?" Kevin asked. Zing said that he was but Kari wasn't. "Man, I was found out. I didn't do anything I wasn't supposed to." He laughed. "But that doesn't matter, does it?"
"Of course not." Sam said. "I think they are just randomly arresting people to scare us."
"Fear mongering? But, don't you think that more than just us would be targeted?" Milo said. "No, I think that we weren't careful enough. Maybe when we took that Hunter agent and saved Rob, it was caught on camera."
"But, then there would have been cops trying to arrest all of us, not just some of us. Kari, Milo and Cam weren't targeted at all, but Sam, Zing and I were. The broke down our door and everything!" Billy said. "And then there are the rest of you, you weren't involved with that but cops still tried to get you."
"Yeah, your right. And the weirdest part is that, even though Cam was taken by them already, they haven't tried to capture him again since we rescued him." Freddy pointed out.
Kari agreed with that. 'I wonder why? The Hunters aren't that clueless are they?' She looked over at Cam and saw that he had a worried look on his face. 'What's that all about?'
"What about our families?" The sudden speaking snapped Kari back to reality. "They don't know what we are. The cops will go to them, right?" Deandra asked.
"Most likely." Alphonse said.
"But what will happen to them?" Zing said.
"...That's hard to say." Alphonse responded.
"Cause that's soooo reassuring!" Shela said angrily. "They don't like us, so they want to arrest us. But what about the people who cared for us? Won't they be in trouble too? Or worse?"
"That's possible." Alphonse said solemnly.
"I think-" Kari was interrupted by a portal opening.
There was two people that came out. One was Roger, and the other was facing away from Kari. It was obvious that it was a blond boy.
"What...!!" The boy said, facing Roger. He had a British accent as well. "What in hell just happened!?"
"I just saved you." Roger said cooly.
"You-you... Why??" The boy said, sounding tearful. "Why would you keep this from me! This changes everything!"
"To be honest, I wanted to tell you a long time ago, but your mother-"
"My mother?? That woman is not my mother! After what she did... How could you leave me with her?? How did you know she wouldn't have just killed me too?? What's wrong with you?! Do you even think about how your actions might effect others!? Not only me but Fernando as well! Where is he?? Why were those people taking him??"
"Maybe if you take a minute to calm down-"
"You did not just tell me to calm down! You have absolutely no right! You're supposed to be my father! Your supposed to-" The boy choked up. He spoke softly. "Your not my father anymore...! Don't speak to me again...!"
Roger's face was straight, no emotions thought the whole time talking to the boy, but Kari saw his face change ever so slightly when the boy said that.
"Fine. But I think you're being overly dramatic." Roger said. He took a sword he had in his hand and threw it at the boy. The boy caught it with ease. "At least take this sword."
"Why?"
"So even though you don't want me to speak to you, I can know you're safe."
"What good is a sword if I don't know how to use it?" The boy held it awkwardly.
"It'll help you protect yourself, even if you don't know how to use it."
"That makes no sense!" The boy shook his head. "Whatever. And I'm not being overly-" He turned around and faced the rest of the people. And judging from the look on his face, he didn't realize that they were there.
Kari could see that he resembled Roger quite a lot. He had the same short blond hair, the same fair skin. The only differences were that the boy was slightly taller and he had electric green eyes. Kari felt something familiar in her heart when she looked at him. 'What is this feeling?'
He turned back to his father. "What the hell. There were people here this whole time...!" He walked away exasperated.
Kari shook her head. "Stupid teacher!"
"What?" Roger said frowning.
"What did you do to that poor kid? And, you never once mentioned you had a son." Kari said.
"Yeah, you never said." Billy said.
"I never did anything to him... I just wanted him to live a normal life, so I left him to live with his mother. He didn't have Magic before, so I believed he was human, like his mother... However, we recently discovered his powers. Not only us, unfortunately." Roger said.
"The Hunters got him?" Kari asked.
"No, worse. His mother got him." Roger said cooly. Kari gasped when she got it.
"His mother is a Hunter??" Roger nodded. "And she gave him up?"
"That's horrible! That's her son! How could she?" Billy said.
"Some people are cruel even to their own children." Sam said. Kari shivered at the sound of his voice. 'Does he know from experience?'
"That poor kid." Kari said.
"Tell me about this Hunter that you have held captive." Kari stiffened. How did he know?
"He is in the basement." Alphonse said.
"Has he told you anything helpful?" Alphonse shook his head. "I have a plan. It's a bit mad, but I think it will be necessary."
"What is it?" Billy asked.
"I want you to let him go back to the Hunters with a message from us." Roger responded.
"A message? What's the message?" Kari said.
"We won't take this sitting down anymore. If its a fight they want, thats exactly what they're going to get."