Sui Generis

Chapter three - Logan

Chapter III

Logan Costello

There.  

The word she said rung in my head. She said it so cautiously that I felt the need to glance around before I spoke again. "You mean outside the force field?" I asked, a little hoarse. I stared down at the ground as we walked, eager to get away from everyone's eyes. 

"Yeah," She said, still looking uncomfortable. "Outside the force fields... there are creatures." She paused. "I shouldn't be the one telling you this, you'll hear it in class today... I don't know much about it, anyways." She said quickly. 

I got a sick feeling in my stomach. Oh, joy... My first class and I was going to learn about monsters. "That's okay, don't talk about it if it makes you uneasy... I'll find out sooner or later." I said, though I really did want to hear a little more from her before I had to learn about it from some freaky teacher.

"On a happier note... There's going to be a freestyle skate night coming up this weekend... Do you skate?" She asked, eager to get off the subject.

I felt excitement rise up in my throat. "Yeah!" I said excitedly. "I've been skating since I was like, seven. I work at a rink back home... Great Skates." I told her, walking with a little skip in my step now. Did they seriously have a rink here? There was no way... Monsters, force fields, powers, weird teaches, weird people? Who cared. I didn't care what their powers were, I could wipe out every skater there. I loved skating, and, okay, I'll say it... I'm really good at it. 

She seemed to notice how much I eased up, but then put on a faux sad expression and pouted. "I can tell you're not excited at all about it... I can't believe I even brought it up." She heaved a big, shaky sigh. But then her expression changed back to normal, and she smiled widely. "Yeah, it's around on the west side of the building." She laughed. "I love to skate, even though I almost kill myself every time... It's still pretty awesome." She giggled and shook her head a bit, like she was remembering something funny, but mildly embarrassing. 

I nodded, trying to stop smiling so much. "I can teach you some tricks sometime, if you'd like." I said happily. I looked ahead toward where we were walking. We were on the far edge of the school's property, safe from any groups or cliques. But she kept walking, so I assumed we weren't where we were headed just yet. "I'm no pro," I added as I dug my hands into my jean pockets. "But I know a thing or two about skating." 

"That would be nice!" She laughed lightly, and there was a short silence as we walked. I didn't mind it, though. I was too busy looking around to think about what I would say. Lush green grass seemed to get longer and thicker as we walked past some trees, eventually becoming concealed in their shadows. But these shadows weren't inky and intimidating like the ones deep in the forest... This part of it had a much lighter, more relaxing glow to it. I had a feeling there was something magical about it, because I suddenly felt like taking a nap on the soft grass wouldn't be such a bad idea. 

"So, tell me more about yourself!" She asked with a skip in her step. Just then I noticed a pond up ahead of us. Frogs jumped in as they heard us coming, and I could see a ton of little golden fish dancing underneath the dark surface. "I'm just curious," Misty added with a laugh and shrugged.  

I nodded a bit, still staring at the pond as we got near it. "Well," I said idly, trying to think while still taking in how soft and beautiful this place was. "What do you want to know?" I finally asked, drawing a blank as I tried to imagine anything even remotely interesting about myself that I could tell her. I glanced over my shoulder at her with a smile, then looked up and around. We were surrounded by big oak trees that could have been a million years old. Frogs creaked and sang off in the distance, where I could tell the pond streamed into an even larger pond not too far off. But it was in the darker part of the forest... The border wasn't too far off. Through the orange and yellow leaves on the trees, I saw a blanket of darkness concealing the rest of the forest. Looking at that darkness, I felt myself get goose bumps. And suddenly the warmth of this little meadow with the pond didn't seem so soft and cozy. I glanced back at Misty, not wanting to look at the darker depths of the woods anymore.