Paramnesia ∞ Liam Dunbar [3]

04 | Deadly Cowboys

Chapter Four

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"Power. The ability to control things." Mr. Douglas continued rambling his lesson. "This metal, has no power."

How was I expected to pay attention in class when all I could think about were Ghost Riders? I mean...whose to say they haven't erased a bunch of people from my life?

"It's small, weak, insignificant. Is there anything we can do to change that?" Mr. Douglas asked.

My eyes remained focused on the desk as my hands trembled.

"Elizabeth?" Mr. Douglas smiled, causing my head to dart up.

"Wh- what?" I stuttered, earning various laughs from the classroom, causing me to look around.

Mr. Douglas lightly chuckled, "Is there anything we can do to alter the insignificance of this metal rod?"

I immediately looked at Liam, who rose his eyebrows. My eyes fell on Hayden, who shot me the same look as Mason.

"I-" I stammered, before I sighed. "I don't know."

"Right." Mr. Douglas muttered. "Well, we can add electricity."

Mr. Douglas walked behind his desk, grabbing a different rod attached to a wire. "Turning this metal rod, into a magnet. Now it has power- now it has influence...over others."

Mr. Douglas then picked up the solid ball, before he spun it in the bowl. He turned on the small generator connected to the wire, and he slowly began rotating the rod around the bowl. The solid ball moved around the bowl, following the path of the rod.

I looked down in boredom, allowing my fingers to find my pencil. I started doodling in my notebook just before Mr. Douglas broke out into a coughing fit, roughly placing his hands on his desk.

"Are- are you okay Mr. Douglas?" Hayden spoke up, as the entire class looked to the teacher.

Mr. Douglas stopped coughing, slowly looking up with a grin on his face. "Just a little cough."

Liam shared a look with me, and my eyes met Hayden's.

Something sketchy is happening...

"Where were we...um-" Mr. Douglas stood upright, staring down at his experiment. "Right now, we have electricity. And a little bit of power. Let's add a little more."

Mr. Douglas grabbed the dial on the generator, turning it up. "After all, the greater the power-"

"The greater the responsibility?" a student piped up, earning laughter from the rest of the room.

Our teacher's neck twitched before he grew a faux smile. "I was going to say, the greater the power, the greater the control."

Mr. Douglas' fist slammed onto his desk before he continued coughing, standing upright as he grabbed the water-bottle beside him. Corey, Liam, Mason, and Hayden all shared curious glances before Hayden's eyes fell on me.

"What are you doing?" Hayden hissed, causing me to lean towards her.

"Wha- what do you mean?" I scoffed.

Hayden pointed down at my notebook, causing my eyebrows to furrow.

The pencil in my hand was extremely low in lead, and on the notebook in front of me sat a word. A word that I wrote, made up of even smaller words.

The word "Remember" was written, in my own handwriting, on my notebook. It was written out in another word. "Stiles."

"What's a 'Stiles'?" Liam nudged me with his elbow, nodding down at my notebook.