Lilly

Chapter 24

When she woke up, her head felt like someone was using it for target practice with thrown hammers. She felt every beat of her heart in a staccato of pain.

"Uhnn," she moaned. She lifted her head up, and stopped as her stomach threatened to rebel. Instead, she rolled onto her side, and let it do what it wanted.

When her stomach stopped heaving, she sat up, and moaned some more. She'd never had a hangover, since she'd never been drunk, but she imagined this must be what one felt like. She suspected a hangover might not be as bad, since people had them more than once, and no one in their right mind would repeat this.

Looking around, the array of animals surrounding her and there were still more further out into the trees, was breathtaking. It was unrealistic, like the moment in the Lion King with all of the animals around the rock. This kind of thing didn't happen in real life.

As she stood up, the pain poured out of her, like water. She felt renewed, life flooding into her...and she was mad, really mad.

How can I hurt them, she thought. There had to be something she could do to turn the tables, but what? Pulling out the phone Mr. Sanders had given her, she dialed his other number.

"Mr. Sanders, I need to see if there's something you can do for me," she said, once he answered.

"What's that, Lilly?"

"You're good at looking at computer stuff, right?"

"I suppose, but it depends on what you need me to look at."

"I have a computer I kind of stole, and I need to see what's on it."

"You stole it? I'm not sure I can help you. It wouldn't be right."

"The people I took it from were trying to hurt me, and I only took it to see if there was something on it I could use to stop them." She knew she sounded lame, though. "I shouldn't have asked you to do this. I know it doesn't seem right to you. Thanks anyway," she said, and hung up. He tried to say something to her, but she ignored him.

Looking at her wrist, she wondered if Stu might help her. She didn't know much about him, and also didn't know if she could trust him. She gambled, and dialed his number, as Mr. Sanders was trying to call her back.

"Stu, this is Lilly, and I need help, and I was hoping maybe you could help me," she said, once he'd answered.

"What's up?"

"I have a computer, and I need to know what's on it. I know how to use a computer, but there's too much stuff and I don't have a clue where to start."

"Do you have the ID and password for it?"

"Crap! No."

"It'll be almost impossible for me to break into it. Is there anyway you can get them?"

"I'll see," she said, and hung up before he could say anything else. Mr. Sanders had stopped calling, which pleased her. An idea popped into her mind, as she was trying to figure out how to get the ID and password.

Stretching her mind toward the sky, an intense pain shot through her. She screamed, and let the power die, unable to deal with it. Then she realized, she still held a massive number of animals. Letting go, the pain eased, and she then reached out for a handful of birds, giving them instructions. With one, she entered it's mind, seeing through its eyes, and hearing through its ears.

As her little squadron of crows made their way back to the school, they rewarded her with what she hoped would be there. Sitting among the police cars, and teacher cars, were three vans. All of them had their windows open.