Inhibition

Chapter 22

Cat cursed as she dodged a rather large rock aimed at her head. Ducking, she just barely missed the slightly smaller one trying to make a dent in her skull. Keeping low, she raced into towards the trees. Still dodging rocks that were practically boulders, Cat leaped over a hole that conveniently formed under her feet. Her left foot caught and she fell back into the hole. Cat reached for the vine closest to her, a thick green vine covered in thorns. Her hand slid along the vine, not finding purchase, but accumulating cuts.

Just add ‘em to my collection! Cat screamed in her head.

Finally finding purchase, Cat almost pulled her shoulder out of the socket as she was jarred to a stop. Quickly, she pulled, using both arms to climb up the vine and out of the hole. A small rock flew by an inch from her nose as she peeped her head out of the hole. Startled, she slipped down the vine to where she started from. Gritting her teeth, she pulled herself all the way up, staying low. She watched the rocks fly over her head, waiting for a lull in the fire.

There! Cat crawled out of the hole, on all fours. Once clear of the whole, she jumped up to run, but still kept crouched over just in case. The whistle of rocks and other debris flying over and around her was deafening. Instinctively, Cat threw herself backwards before a really big rock smashed her to bits. Someone laughed.

“Hey! This is so not funny!” Cat nearly screeched, still dodging. She finally made it into the clearing. Aidan stood there, a nice collection of different sized rocks in a pile next to him. The barrage stopped as she skidded to a halt, panting.

“I don’t even get it!” Cat continued. “You’re throwing rocks at me. I’m not allowed to use magic to defend myself. What good is this?”

Aidan shrugged. “Well, it’ll teach you how to dodge.”

“Shit!” Cat cursed as she threw herself belly down onto the ground, narrowly avoiding a rock the size of her head as it went hurtling past.

Near death experiences were now a normal occurrence. All of the Academy students now met after school on an assigned day and trained in one of the Combat rooms. There, they did their best to try to kill each other. In the words of their esteemed Headmaster, “Just don’t kill each other. Maiming and dismemberment are fine; that’s what medics are for.”

This was the non-magic, individual training. Which Cat didn’t get. If you have magic, use it. Sure, she might not have known she had magic six months ago, but that didn’t change anything. Also, she knew the people here; they were way too arrogant to not use something that had been gifted to them. Apparently, Headmaster Sharpe appeased them by letting them use magic on other students as part of the practices. Like this one.

The teachers were also teaching combat spells at these meetings. They had learned how to manipulate wind and water in their regular combat class. The first thing they learned in these new classes, and the one the lesson they were working on now, was the manipulation of the earth. This including braking the earth, throwing bits of the earth (like rocks), and building things out of the earth. On a higher level, the earth can be split to form chasms, and earthquakes can be controlled. That last one scared Cat a bit. They were working some of the magic that had been killing people over the last couple of years.

The teachers at the Academy were teaching killing magic to seventeen year olds. Cat knew she wasn’t the only one concerned about this. On a regular basis, Cat saw adults muttering amongst themselves, teachers and the people who lived in the area surrounding the Academy. This was advanced stuff, and not because a person had to be old to perform this magic, but because the person had to mature. The power of life and death didn’t go well when given to kids just starting to learn magic. They used it way more than they should, too young to recognize their inexperience in the area. Accidents happened.

But the Academy was taking that risk. Headmaster Sharpe was taking that risk. He watched the practices sometimes, always with a smug look on his face. When he was there, the kids were happy; they received plenty of praise. The teachers were the ones that were uncomfortable, or at least most of them.

Regular classes were now more combat focused. In chemistry, they blew things up, and not on accident. In biology, they learned human anatomy, and the weaknesses of the body. History was now practically a military history class. The teachers were all decidedly uncomfortable with what they were teaching. Well, most of them were. Last class, the mathematics teacher had spent a good thirty minutes complaining about how easy Cat’s generation had it, and how the Vacuus were getting all uppity against the magic users.

After Aidan stopped trying to kill Cat, they headed out to get something to eat. Instead of a cafeteria like other schools, the Academy was surrounded by a town complete with shops and restaurants, where the expenses of the students were paid for by the Academy. Cat and Aidan headed to one such restaurant now, one that they knew did take out.

Cat forced her way through the crowds that were enjoying the night to get to one of her favorite restaurants, the Asian Market. It not only had food to order and a nice sitting area, but they also sold their raw supplies so that you could make their meals at your house. It was even better than take out. Sadly, it was a very popular spot. Couples sat around tables. Friends mingled between the tables, and pretty, older girls, gossiped in the corner. Cat tried to crane her neck to see an open path to the counter, but she was a good three inches or more shorter than everyone in the room.

Aidan watched her struggle for a bit, and then sighed. He grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. As he stepped into the throng of people, they parted for him like the red sea.

“That. Is. So. Convenient.” Cat muttered, jealous, as he dragged her through the newly formed opening.

Aidan’s lips quirked. “It’s something you pick up.”

They quietly ordered their food. Aidan just raised an eyebrow when Cat practically ordered twice her weight in sweet and sour chicken and rice.

“What?” She asked defensively.

“Nothing,” Aidan said, while shaking his head.

“It’s for later too. I’ve been craving Chinese food recently.” He just looked at her. “Shut up before I kill you.”

“Try.”

“I could, you know.”

“Try,” Aidan repeated.

“You wouldn’t even see it coming.”

“Try.”

“I’m fast like a ninja when I wanna be. Faster, even.”

“Try.”

Cat glared. “Bite me.”

Aidan smiled and looked away, knowing he had won.

They went their separate ways after ordering their food. Or at least Aidan tried to before turning around to help Cat carry her ginormous amount of food. They then truly went their separate ways as Cat got off the elevator, heading down her hall, and to an awkwardly silent apartment.

Finley still wasn’t talking to Cat, so most of Cat’s time was spent either with Aidan or alone. Occasionally, she decided to hang out with Aubrie and Midge, but it wasn’t the same. They were great people, but they didn’t know anything. Nothing important, at least.

They didn’t know about what was going on, the disasters, the deaths, or the blood that had stained Cat’s hands last winter.

They didn’t know that Sari had been murdered, or that something had woken up.

They didn’t know a lot.

And Cat couldn’t talk to them about things that they didn’t know about.

So she kept mostly to herself, going out with Aidan or sitting in her room. She’d thoroughly developed the ability to stare at blank walls for hours on end. It was a great skill to cultivate.