Aequalis

The Councilman School

I crossed my legs and sat up straight. I didn't understand how I was supposed to be able to concentrate on the low hum of the bird with all of the noise blaring over it. What was wrong with her? This was impossible.

"I can't do this." I whined. She looked up at me with a blank face.

"Relax and focus." she simply replied.

The anger was spinning out of control. We had been at this for three hours!

"Mr. Ryder, how are you supposed to save your second from dying if you can't focus on him." she questioned. I huffed.

"To heal your second you must be completely relaxed in order to draw that energy from your body." she said.

She was right. I closed my eyes and released a breath. The thrumming of the guitar consistently rang in my head. It didn't help that it sounded very irritating. All I could focus on was the annoyance.

"Think of what comforts you and only focus on that,"

I felt my hand crawl down my chest to the cross around my neck. I had started keeping it underneath my pillow so Councilman Peters wouldn't spot it as I groggily got out of bed. I had forgotten to put it under my pillow last night. After a couple days of training, I was exhausted. This was the thirteenth day of training and Miss Theresa, the Initiator, was getting much worse. After the first day, after she had introduced herself she reminded me that she was going to die any day. You could tell she was. Her coughing had started off once every few hours, but now it was almost every six minutes. She couldn't even walk anymore, but she battled through it for me.

I had grown to like her very much and with her dying, it made me even more determined to learn before she died. I didn't want her to die, she had already taught me so much. I could already force my mind into her thoughts and I could already feel the presence of Kevin. Those were only two of the things she taught me.

Soon the music subsided and I could hear the faintest hum of a bird. It was a faint hum, but I still did it.

I focused on the hum even more; soon it was the only thing I could hear. It grew louder until it sounded like it was in my ear. I jumped up with the willies crawling down my right side.

I looked to Miss Theresa. A faint smirk spread across from her face before she began again. I grabbed a tissue and handed it to her on her bed.

Her fragile body shook as she put all of herself into it. Her constant trembling hadn't subsided since yesterday. I feared that today was going to be one of her last. She was a teacher, but also a friend. I didn't want to leave her. I wanted to stay until her pain left her eyes.

"Do not worry about me, Mr. Ryder. When the time comes, I will embrace it. I will leave to a place of no suffering." she whispered.

I turned away. I couldn't thing of her dying. We had spent a lot of time together this week. Last week she was supposed to die, but that did not come to her. She was long overdue and greatly reducing to nothing. She was withering away, each of her extensions had dried up long past dehydration.

"You calmed enough to focus on the bird , yes? That is good, keep that in mind when you start off on your quest to bring the Council down." she said.

She began on another coughing fit. I clenched my jaw to hold back a sob. This was painful to watch.

"I'm going to go take a walk. I need the fresh air." I said.

"Good, talk with your fellow trainees. You have done enough today." she mumbled.

I covered my cross and slid down the railing to the outdoors. I couldn't stand watching her like that. It was painfully obvious she wasn't going to live another few days. I just hoped she would comply with the Council and take the antibiotics for the pain. Maybe they would give her a few more days.