Extra Human (On Hiatus)

4. The 2015 Missing Kids

Time stopped. My accelerated perception had kicked in.

The suicide bomber was already engulfed in a fireball and now halted in expansion. My classmates were frozen in their attempts to flee. Worry and fear washed over their faces which were frozen in crying or screaming.

When in accelerated mode,  even though I was moving normally, to others I was moving super fast. With that, I could save all my classmates from the bomb. But I couldn't control how long I stayed in the accelerated mode so I needed to work quickly.

I started with Astrid, then her friends, then Marcel. One after the other I pulled out all nineteen classmates and dropped them in the courtyard. Some were harder to pull than others and by the time I got to the last five, I was already exhausted. My legs trembled and my arms hurt but I tried my best to get everyone out.

The last person was Mrs Okoye. As I rushed back to the classroom to get her, I went out of accelerated mode. The blast threw me several feet into the air. A piece of wood smacked my head so hard that I almost lost consciousness.
I expected to crash to the ground, but something caught me. It felt like a giant invisible hand grabbing me and pulling me into Astrid's arms.

The fireball swiftly engulfed the classroom and was about to spread into the courtyard. Astrid stretched out her arms quickly and immediately the flames were sucked back in and contained within the room.

Everyone was either trembling in fear, muttering to each other, screaming or wailing. They were probably confused about what happened and how they ended up outside the classroom. Luckily, this distracted them from Astrid using her powers and from the fact that I was the only one injured.
The fire alarms were blaring and students from other classrooms were now rushing out of the building into the courtyard.

Astrid wasn't fretting like the others. She was calm and composed and completely focused on me.
"It was you, wasn't it?" She took out her handkerchief and wiped the blood dripping from my nose. "You saved everyone."

"Not everyone," I said. "I couldn't save Mrs Okoye."
My chest tightened at the thought. If only I had better control of my powers, Mrs Okoye would still be alive. A wife and mother had just died. I was the only one who could save her, but I couldn't.

"It's not your fault," Astrid held my face and stared into my vivid blue eyes. "You didn't have to try and save everyone but you did anyway. And you got hurt?"

"Thanks for saving me," I said.

Astrid smiled, now wiping blood from a cut under my left eye. "You're welcome."

"How did you know it was me?" I asked.

"I kind of saw you," Astrid stated.

I gave her a confused look.

"I was the first one you saved," she explained. "When you dropped me outside, I became aware of what was happening. I saw a streak of lightning moving into the classroom and bringing everyone out. The lightning moved to the classroom one last time, and then the explosion happened and I saw you being blown away."

"Do you think anyone else saw me?" I panicked.

Astrid shook her head. "If they did, they'll be all over you by now."
"I'm so glad I'm not the only one with superpowers," she beamed. "You do too, and Marcel?"

I nodded. "He probably does as well."

"Julyan!" Daberechi yelled from afar. She ran to me and hugged me.
She and Astrid simply exchanged looks and half smiles.

"Julyan, what happened? How did the class get destroyed?"
Right, Daberechi left before the suicide bomber arrived.  She must've been shocked when she returned to find it destroyed. Or was she? The timing of her exit was pretty convenient.
No! Daberechi wouldn't put her classmates in such grave danger. But her relationship with Miss Kalu was still suspicious.