The Innates (Book #1)

Chapter 19

My classmates clamor against each other as they run to the wall, thinking that's the safest place to go to. I dropped the gun after seeing her eyes drop down and the podium soak in her raging blood flow. I pushed my hand against her gunshot wound to stop the bleeding, but every bit of her DNA seeped through my fingers.
"Clare! Clare! Clare, wake up!" I sounded panicked. "Gosh, I'm so sorry, I am so, so sorry. I di-I didn't know, I am so very sorry. Please don't die on me, this cannot be my fault!"
"Jess, Jess, step away from Clare just for a sec, alright?" Mr. André pulled my arms and dragged me away from the podium. "It's not your fault, Jess, this is not your fault!"
Alice, Sarra, Zach, Ace and Mr. André tried to wake Clare up and prevent further bleeding. Meanwhile, I couldn't stop the flowing in my eyes. I tried wiping it all off, but I just got blood all over my face and my glasses. All of a sudden, I started wheezing unstoppably. I can't calm myself down even though Jackson used my inhaler on me. Robert pets my back and said comforting words, "Nothing is real, Jess, just close your eyes and dream this all away."
"I-I can't, I just harmed my fellow student! You think I'm cut out for this? I'm watching her die  in front of me and it's all... all my fault!" My ribs started aching and my heart and lungs obliterated inside my system.
"I'm so stupid!"
"You're not stupid, Jess. Get a grip!" Said Jackson, while shaking my arms uncontrollably. I cried more and more.
"I should've known that the gun was real, I can't believe I was so careless. Because of my clumsiness, I murdered somebody! This is one of the things I was afraid of before I get close to someone. I obliterate everyone that mean so much to me and it's entirely my fault. I'm afraid of loss, there I said it!" Jackson and Robert bundle me up with hugs, but I pushed them away and sobbed louder.
"I don't need anything, I don't want anything! I don't want you guys to get close to me, I don't want any of my loved ones to get hurt! Just get away from me and don't ever come close to me again. I'm not a murderer! It was never my choice!" I stormed out of the room with the students freaking out.
"Jess! Stop!" Mr. André commanded.
I wish I didn't have the power to be capable of such things. Everything I touch, I destroy. Why am I made like this? Why am I so different from everyone? I'm rare and that's bad. This Passer deserves to be extinct. I am just like those humans, I wanted people to accept me, but I could never be self-sufficient. Why am I even obsessed with acceptance and not being able to fit in?
I found my way beyond the school's shooting field. I ran 700 mph., flattening every weed buried on the dirt. My legs felt numb for a second, I give up, I'll fall when I want to. I stripped off every padding that was strapped tightly on me. As I kept on running, a vast cloud of frigid mist hovers above me, obscuring my spectacles. A small rubble got in my way, hitting the tip of my shoe and resulting in my clumsy body collapsing on the misty grass. "Give me a break!" I yelled to myself while pounding on the slimy ground. "I hate myself! Why do I have to be an Innate? Why did I even exist?" Clare's bloodstains appeared to be stuck to my skin, it ran halfway to my prosthetic arm.
I sat up and crawled forward, but something hit my head. Something... hot. Its hotness traveled all the way to my ear and it buzzed throughout my system like electricity. I covered my ears as I heard some strange ringing. I tumbled on the grass and hit something hard again, but this time, it was larger than the rubble. I scratched my eyes and the ringing stopped. I looked at the rock-hard solid, turns out it was a wooden sign that was split in half. The first half had the letters, "B", "E", "W". While the second half says, "A", "R", "E".
"Beware..." I read out loud. I looked for more pieces of the sign, they were scattered around the tiny section. Senseless letters were found, "H","G", "H", "V", "O", "L", "T" and "G".
At first, I thought it was acrostic, but some vowels were missed. It just needed, "I", "A" and "E" to spell "HIGH- VOLTAGE". But what does this thing that I hit contain that conducts high- voltage electricity?
"Jess?" A series of collected voices shout from afar, at least eight to nine people. "Jess, where are you?"
"I hope he's not hiding within the fog."
"No need to worry, he's nearby... I can smell the dreadful blood somewhere beyond there."
"Jess! It's not your fault, somebody switched the guns! You're innocent and no one ever blamed you!"
"Hey, guys, look over there!"
"What is it?"
"Jess's paddings lead a trail to... that vast lane of mist." I hear their shoes' soles squeak as they walk on the chunky grass. While getting closer, I felt myself getting oppressed and struggling to find a way out. I wasn't thinking, and I thought fear was just a side-effect. I picked up my knees and ran to the same direction. Desperation is my weakness, it causes me to think effortlessly then I just end up failing on my own.
The hotness of the high-voltage barrier felt more extreme than earlier. I couldn't help myself and I just collapse heavily on the ground after ricocheting off the dome. My universe rotates around me, I feel like there's ants trying to escape through the tip of my fingers, my temple is overheating, I cannot prevent myself from shivering and my shins seem to experience intense cramping. I should've payed attention to what I read earlier, now I'm being roasted alive.
"Guys, I found him!"
"What a relief, where is he?"
"What's happening to him?"
"He's been electrocuted by the first layer!" My eyeballs rotated 180 degrees underneath my eyelids. There was a slight cozy feeling when the guy who spotted me knelt on top of me.
"Let's get him inside-- Nate, teleport us inside the ER!" This boy's skinny fingers remind me of Robert, wait, it is him. I could see a little bit of his light-colored hair. But there were three other students behind him, which includes the Porter, Nate.
"Eham, Jai, help me carry Jess. Nate, teleport us now!"
The next thing I know, my eyes were already shut tightly. But I could hear the two boys with strong hindi accents whisper in my ear, "He's been betraying us for decades, our lives are in peril, all of us. You are the target. He wants you, but don't sacrifice yourself. Learn also to forgive yourself, it was not your fault. He switched the guns. Many weeks from now, he's going to make his move. More of him you will see. Get well soon..."