The Water

Chapter Eight: Another Way To Die

We arrived at the Headmaster's office as soon as we all could, the other student with us. We ran in without even knocking to find Voren staring out of his window. You could hear tapping on the roof as it started to rain.

"Headmaster," I said, walking over to his desk. "Our killer tried to strike again. She was after this guy when we found her."

"You found the killer?" Voren said, turning around from the window. "What happened?"

"Unfortunately she got away," the other student said, his voice shaky.

"She?" Voren asked.

"Yes sir," I replied. "She gave me a very sincere threat when we crossed her path. There was no mistaking that voice. Also she claims that she's out to get everyone in this room."

I took the note out of my pocket, handed it to Voren, and continued. "She blames us for the death of her brother. Apparently he died when I blew up the school. Now she wants all of you dead to punish me."

"What about your sister?" Voren asked as he read the note. "Where's Starla?"

"Knowing my sister," I said. "She's probably waiting to give the killer fucking shock therapy. And I don't think the killer even knows about Starla. She seems like she's concerned with the people who she thinks are responsible for her brother's death as well as anyone trying to assist us. Given that Starla falls under neither category, I think she should be fine."

Voren nodded in agreement. "That's fair. But that said, keep your distance from her openly. If the killer finds out that you have a sister, she could make her the next target."

I hated that I couldn't go see my sister but I knew I couldn't risk her going through that. I was more so worried about my sister killing the killer in a frenzy than anything. The killer needed to be brought to justice, not murdered by my sister with a violence fetish.

As Voren and I talked, Vicky placed him under her protection as well. All of us were at least safe from blood manipulation. After a few moments, Blaine pulled me off to the side of the office. He sat me down and hovered in front of me.

"Listen Rick," he said, landing on desk in front of me. "We're going to have to speed up your healing process. This is a lot more dangerous than we had originally anticipated. That said, I'm going to do for you what the Lord of the Dragons did for me. I'm going to give you the element of fire. Your elemental energy will be restored. You're going to need it for this threat. However, I will warn you. There can be some side effects. You're going to be more powerful than you were before. And while that was the goal I had in mind for you all along, this is going to be rushed. And if you're wondering why that's a bad, its because there's a chance you'll be unstable. There's a chance that your abilities will be out of control. After I restore your energy, we'll go out to the battlegrounds and practice so you can at least get an idea of what you are capable of."

"I understand, sir," I replied, nodding at Blaine.

Before I knew it, Blaine doubled in size and doused me in fire. He blew a fuck ton of fire at me, however, it didn't burn me. It felt good. I felt energized as the flames covered my body. I felt stronger than ever before. I felt as though I could take on the whole world with one hand tied behind my back. It was working. As Blaine finished, I stood tall. I snapped my fingers and a giant flame came out of my index finger.

"That worked a treat," I said, smiling. "It's also gonna be a nice surprise for the killer. When I faced her, she noticed that I used a lighter to use my element. She thinks I'm weak. She'll go for the lighter to disarm me which gives me an advantage. Sir, when would you like me to report to the battlegrounds?"

Blaine smiled and responded, "now is as good a time as any. Let's get down there so you don't become a time bomb and lose control."

All of us made our way to the battlegrounds. Blaine grew to his full size as he landed on the ground, creating a loud booming sound that seemed like it shook the earth. Blaine looked down at me.

"Where are the targets?" I asked, looking up at him. "What am I firing at?"

"Me," Blaine said, his voice booming and echoing. "Your power would take out half of the battleground if you fired at anything else right now. I'm the only thing you can hit and not destroy until you learn to control your power."

"Fair enough," I said, smirking.

"Okay," Blaine stated. "I want you to throw a series of fire balls at me. After that I want you to throw everything you got at me."

I nodded as I reeled back. I sent six fire balls right at Blaine. The fire hit him and it didn't leave a scratch. I sent kick waves of fire as well as a fire tornado at him. Though it didn't hurt him, the blasts sent him stumbling back a bit. Jesus Christ, I thought. I was able to push a fucking dragon. It's a good thing I'm practicing. If I didn't and I used my power, I'd probably end up blowing up the school again.

"Now," Blaine stated. "I want you to do those attacks but I want you to try to hold back. With your full strength you could manage to fight me off. That said, you're going to want to lessen the strength of your attacks for other foes that you encounter. Otherwise, you'll end up killing everyone."

I did as instructed and held back. As I held back, the same fire that used to be my strongest came out. I kept firing at Blaine as he smiled with pride. It dawned on me in that moment that our professors were crazy. Both Alice and Blaine trained Vicky and I by letting us essentially use all of our power on them. However, the nice moment was short lived.

Before I could finish training, we all looked to see 15 bodies flying at us. You got to be fuckin kidding me! I thought to myself. As the bodies landed, we could tell that some had died from blood manipulation, ice spikes, and more. Some of the students looked like they drowned. One looked like he drowned from the inside out. Then, two of them looked like their bodies were drained of
all of their water. Jesus Christ, I thought. This is getting way too bad, way too fast.