Mutation

Chapter 17: Leo's Warning

Leo

When Hazel and I left Dr. Baker's office, we left with a pretty good theory of Dr. Evansby. And I, of all people, came up with it. I mean, why else would the majority of the mutants be younger? You rarely saw an older one. He's attacking the younger ones, the more strong ones. There had to be a reason behind it. He's planning something. Heck, he's probably always planning something.

That afternoon, everyone was cleaning up the mess from the building collapse. Luckily, there weren't any deaths that we knew of. Hopefully it will remain that way. The cleanup was actually quick and easy, considering we had Hazel and a few other telepaths. They easily moved all the rubble to the scrap yard on the edge of town, hiding inconspicuously.

I heard light footsteps come up from behind me. I turned around, and saw Maxine. Her usual smile had faded, and she looked exhausted. I wonder if the smartest person in the world ever slept. I doubted it, considering how she looked.

"Hey, have you seen Linus anywhere? I know he left the cafeteria before it collapsed, but I'm worried about him," Maxine says, concerned.

I shook my head. She had a point though. Where was Linus? Not that I really care, because I honestly can't stand the guy. But it was a mystery where he was. "No, sorry, Maxine. Like you said, he managed to get out of the building before the earthquake, so he must be safe."

She nods. "You're right. But could you keep an eye out for him? And make sure he's not hiding in his room...and doing drugs." I couldn't help but chuckle. Maxine smirked and continued. "But yeah, just make sure he's alright for me?"

"I will," I say. As much as I didn't want to, I had to do this for Maxine. I needed to go my room to see if Linus was there.

When I got to the door, it was unlocked. And I never left my door unlocked, so Linus is probably in there. I braced myself, in case he might be drunk, and barge inside. Linus was at the desk, with his back turned to me, clearly writing in a notebook. Cigarette smoke swirled around him. I wonder where he gets his cigarettes from. But it's clear Maxine wants him to stop smoking and doing drugs. I would also love that very much, since I hated having to live with the smell.

Linus didn't even notice I walked in. "Hey, Linus?" I say, my voice trembling in uncertainty. He could turn around and shoot me in the face, for all I know.

He jumps, startled, and spins around to face me. The room was always dark, but I could see that his eyes were red from the drugs and the bags under his eyes from exhaustion. He looked like a mess.

"Leo, what are you doing here?" He scoots over slightly, hiding the notebook on the desk with his arm.

I raised an eyebrow. "I live here, remember?"

Linus raises his eyebrow, copying the expression on my face. I wanted to punch him in his gut. "Oh, yeah. Forgot about that."

I rolled my eyes and tried my best to keep from screaming at him. Sighing in frustration, I said, "Maxine's looking for you. She's worried about you and didn't know where you were after the cafeteria collapsed."

Linus didn't even react when I said the cafeteria collapsed. He didn't even respond to me. All he did was nod and turn back around, closing his secret notebook. I even saw him slip what I thought was an envelope inside the notebook somewhere. What's wrong with him? Why is he acting like what I just said meant nothing? He's hiding a lot from me, and I didn't have to be a telepath to know it.

I walked over to him, to where I could see what was on his desk. He had a beer, a bag of unknown drugs, a broken pencil, and his arm over his notebook. Linus glared at me and shoved me away. I've had enough of him. I grabbed his arm roughly, not even remembering to control my super strength, and threw him against the wall. Of course he looked shocked, like he didn't know what I just did to him.