Phantom Thunder

Chapter 22

On my way down to breakfast the next morning I stopped by Pluto's little cavern. The door was slightly ajar, and I could hear muffled voices from inside.

The headmistress and two others surrounded Pluto, who was hunched over his desk clicking frantically on his computer. He had a head set on, and was talking into a microphone to someone on the other end.

I turned away and went back to the great hall.

After breakfast, Lilian and I went back up to the dorm, changed, then met the boys back in the gym. People mulled around, waiting for the trainer to show up.

The bell tolled for nine. No one seemed to notice or care that no trainer had shown up yet. By ten minutes later, nervous whispers were passed around the room, and the air was full of tension. No trainer was ever this late, and Talaya had a perfect record of showing up on time.

"What do you think it is?" Lilian asked.

"I think it has to do with the energy signatures of the Thunder" I guessed. I told her what I'd seen that morning. Her eyebrows furrowed and pursed her lips.

It was another ten minutes before Talaya finally showed up. Without addressing the subject of her lateness, she coached us through different methods of creating. People shared half glances of curiosity, but no one dared to mention their fears or suspicions.

-

I was the first of our group to reach the banquet hall, and claimed our usual table in the corner. Spark joined me, and despite the fact that except for me the entire table was unoccupied, he took a seat to my left.

"Do you know what that was about?" He asked, referring to this morning.

I shook my head. "Probably something serious with the Thunder."

He pursed his lips. "I wished they'd keep us more informed."

"Yeah because if this thing runs wild on this planet we're gonna die too, so I'd be nice of them to keep us informed of our appointed death."

He laughed. "Well that was a little blunt."

I smiled, but my agitation made it look clearly forced. "I'll go interrogate Pluto after lunch and see what it is."

Lilian plopped down across from me. "Whatever it is, it's serious shit." She popped a tomato into her mouth, then began to devour a tuna sandwich.

"Of course it's serious" Spark remarked. "It's the apocalypse."

"You sound a little too relaxed for the apocalypse" Blake observed, joining us.

"Apocalypse?" Seth asked like an excited puppy as he sat down next to Spark.

"No Seth" Lilian moaned. "Apocalypse is not a fun thing."

"Well if if killed Seth, it'd be doing a favour for all of us" Blake teased.

"Hey!" Seth complained. "You guys are such big bullies!"

Despite the laughing, teasing and joking, there was an underlying anxiousness throughout the five of us that seemed to extend throughout the entire hall.

-

I stuck my head into Pluto's classroom. He was alone, with the headset on, rapidly scratching on a ripped piece of paper. He glanced up at his computer, altered his screen, and went back to scribbling away.

I walked over and sat down on my usual desk. He didn't even acknowledge me.

"How's it going?" I asked.