The Unseen

Chapter 18

Indy and Julia stood at the edge of the cafeteria. He saw Sarah, Ema, and Dylan walk in. They were quickly joined by a groggy Miranda and a nervous Sarah. Cody came a little late, probably from an early-morning homework completion. Shae sat by himself, scribbling in the notebook Mr. Nolman had given him.

And then, Mr. Oakman walked in, and sat across from Shae. Julia, having heard of their argument, immediately began to walk toward the two. Indy, however, held her back.

"Trust me, Julia, Shae can take care of himself. He has for a very long time." She merely grumbled under her breath.

They could see the two begin to talk. Mr. Oakman began to lose his temper, even if barely. Shae remained calm, still writing in the moleskin.

And then, Mr. Oakman snapped. He slammed his fists into the table, yelling something unintelligible before reaching to grab him. Miranda, however, pushed him to the floor.

And all the while, Shae sat calmly.

Meanwhile, Mr. Oakman sprung to his feet. He grabbed Miranda by the throat as she thrashed about in his grip.

Suddenly, in a flash of light, Shae appeared behind Mr. Oakman. He touched the man with a finger, and his grip on Miranda's neck loosened as he fell. Mr. Oakman writhed about on the floor in agony. Shae touched him again, and he laid still, eyes wide in horror. He whispered something in the man's ear, and hoisted him to his feet. Shae left the cafeteria, dragging Mr. Oakman by his collar as the cafeteria watched in silence.

"Should we-"

"No, Julia. He has it under control."

Mr. Nolman was filling out some paperwork at his desk when Shae walked into his office, dragging Mr. Oakman behind him. Considering the pair's history, he figured that Mr. Oakman just wouldn't let the lie thing drop.

Mr. Nolman checked Robert's memories and found that he was right. He had even assaulted Miranda.

"Sir," Shae began quietly, "I believe this man too dangerous to be left unchecked." Charlie nodded approvingly, trying to dig deeper into Roger's mind, but found a barrier. He blinked in surprise.

"Sir?" Shae asked, "Do you have a holding facility?"

"Yes," Mr. Nolman replied, shaking away his confusion, "I'll lead you down to it. You think you can control him?"

"I can control anyone."

"Good. Think you can produce a blindfold with that pixie dust of yours?"

"Careful," Shae replied with a grin, covering Roger's eyes, "Some of my people have killed for less!" The two chuckled as they led Mr. Oakman down the hall, down a flight of stairs.

"Unfortunately," Charles began, "The detention center is under heavy maintenance. We'll need to put him in the full blown prison for now. It's got some nasty things, though. We'll need to be careful."

And then, unnoticeably, something about Roger changed. The twisted grin he bore was hidden by the shadows.