Night of the Living Bacteria [Old version]

Chapter Thirteen-The Eye in the Closet

November 13, 1955

Dear Diary, I cast a spell on a piece of gum from a pack someone handed out the other day. It's grown mold, and I swear, the gum grew eyes and has started watching me. I don't know what to do! How do I know it won't sprout arms and legs and chase me? I need to figure out how to kill this thing...

Sincerely, Michelle

(Olivia POV) 

Nothing has been quite normal since we tried out that spell. We taped the petri dish closed, but whatever the bacteria was, it was very strong. When we came into Gifted a few days later, the bacteria had grown right out of the petri dish. It had formed what looked like eyes and a mouth in its furry depths.

"I'm going to try and touch it, I'm not sure what'll happen," I say, pulling on some latex gloves and leaning over the bacteria. I rub my finger around the petri dish, but I swore I saw the thing move its 'mouth' just as I felt a prick in my finger. "Ow!" I exclaim, pulling back and yanking the glove off of my hand. My finger had cuts all over it. "T-that thing is alive," I say, vigorously scrubbing my hands with soap. I hear Ashley giggle.

"It's alive, then it probably wants food." She says, grabbing soap. "Well, chew on this, jerk!" She exclaims, squirting soap into the 'mouth'. It appears to recoil, and it reaches up to one of its furry limbs, reaching out to the soap can, emitting a hiss. "It sure is alive. All we have to do is put some rubbing alcohol in the petri dish every day, that should kill it." She says, placing the soap back on the counter. "But, we should still lock this up; we aren't out of the woods yet." She holds the door open for us and locks it as we leave.

"How did I get convinced that this would be okay?" Jayden asks, shaking his head. This year is going to be interesting. But, only three of us will know why.

                                                                                       ###

I wake with a start. Despite this luxury, nights at boarding school are the worst. The smallest movement causes loud creaks, but tonight was the worst. Some kind of wind storm was right above us and the ground began to shake. The whole building shook, and the floorboards creaked like a ship at sea. I couldn't sleep with this noise. I have a feeling like something's wrong. Could it be the bacteria causing this? I think, shaking my head. That's impossible. But I should check on it just in case. I grab my jacket and sneak out of my dorm silently. I notice a figure up ahead, standing in front of the vent. I tiptoe closer to them. Ashley jumps.

"What are you doing up?" She whisper-shouts, stepping backward.

"I had this feeling like I should go check on that bacteria."

"Same. We should be cautious, if it is, who knows what it could do." She hands me a pocketknife. "Just in case." That's when I notice that she's got a hunting knife in her sleeve, its base fastened to her middle finger. She opens the vent and climbs inside. I follow, swift and silent. When we reach the main room, everything is dark.

"Ignis!" Ashley exclaims. From where she's standing, the torches burst into flames.

"H-how?"

"I've been studying easier, less harmful spells that might come in handy later." She motions to the flames. "All you have to do is imagine the object lighting on fire and say 'Ignis'. Then it'll light."

"Can I try quickly, just as a pastime? I don't want to check, but I know I have to." Ashley nods.

"We need to have some kind of power. Our brainpower won't be enough to fight this bacteria." I close my eyes and imagine a flame lighting in my palm.

"Ignis!" It sounds like a lighter. It feels like a warm droplet of water, but when I open my eyes, a bright orange-and-gold flame flickers in the palm of my hand. "Woah," I exclaim. "It worked." I look at Ashley. She's smiling.

"It's amazing that this is real." I blow out the flame.

"Yeah." We make our way down Tunnel 4, taking turns lighting flames as to not waste our energy. When we reach the door, I look at Ashley, who takes a deep breath and puts her hand on the doorknob.

"Ready?"

"I guess," I say, turning to face forward as Ashley turns the handle. A gust of wind, stronger than before, rushes in to meet us. Papers float into the tunnel, their endless journey by air continuing in the Tunnel.

"What happened here?" Ashley asks. I don't know, I think. But we're bound to find out. 

A/N-"Ignis" means Flame in Latin, Google Translate doesn't like me and won't let me translate anything else, and lucky me, I had to forget what the spells meant even through I wrote them... ':/