Chapter 54 #2
Another spurt of water came at me, covering my face as if she were going to try and drown me. Beside me, Aiden’s arms ignited, the sound of electricity humming. A second later, Carla screamed as Aiden shocked her, using the stream of water she sent at him as a bridge.
I remembered I was meant to be a water affinate, and I pushed the water away from me, splashing Carla with it to surprise her, and then I sent enough air at her that she toppled over.
She kept producing water from somewhere, sending it right toward my mouth and nose because she really was fucking nuts and really trying to kill me.
I rolled over to get away from her, whipping my hair out of my face just in time to see Isaiah wrestling her to the ground, but Carla kicked and screamed as if he were really hurting her.
She continued sending spouts of water at us, but it seemed like she’d forgotten the other three people here, and as the ground rumbled beneath my feet, a teeny, tiny part of me secretly hoped Wyatt would set off an earthquake that would split the ground and swallow her.
More than once, my affinity reared up inside me, itching across my hands like it wanted to finish the fight for me. Carla was a threat not only to me, but to my Links. I was able to stop it every time, but just barely, and then more fucking water would be shooting up my nose.
Finally, I flicked my wrist, taking Carla’s oxygen.
Isaiah dropped her, and she fell to her knees, clutching at her throat and then raking her fingers through the cold, wet grass as I let her go a second too long.
I didn’t know how else to end this fight without it turning truly physical. My affinity was fighting me every step of the way, trying to take over as it anticipated her moves.
With her oxygen back, Carla was on her feet quickly. She dove at me, fists flying, and I barely blocked a hard jab to the kidney, but wasn’t able to block a punch to my face. Pain exploded across my cheek, the hit so hard stars dotted my vision for a second.
People shouted behind us, and I mostly heard Willow screeching among my Links’ yelling. Isaiah was right beside me, trying to catch Carla without outright hitting her. He hissed through his teeth as Carla elbowed him in the jaw.
“Don’t touch him, you bitch!” Willow screeched. She appeared beside me, her hands around Carla’s fucking throat. The three of us tumbled, my hair being pulled while Willow hissed when she took a punch to the ribs. We were a blur of limbs and hair.
Carla grabbed my arm, and my affinity froze her. Her eyes bugged out of her head as she realized, then she screamed, throwing herself away from us.
“She–!”
Her voice cut off as I took her oxygen again, but it was only long enough to keep her from screaming to everyone what I’d just done.
My affinity sparked. I panicked.
My right hand raised of its own accord, and my left hand clamped down hard as I fought the urge to make Carla explode. Isaiah again tried to grab her, but she dodged him.
I saw the flash a breath too late.
Willow screamed at the same moment a knife glinted in the sun, and my right hand raised to stop it.
But it was too slow.
Willow dove into me, then hit the ground hard as white-hot pain shot through my hand and up to my shoulder.
I gasped, pulling my right hand to my chest while the left flicked at Carla.
She slammed into the ground, unconscious.
My affinity must have still been attacking her oxygen even as my focus moved elsewhere.
I hunched over my hand, breathing ragged.
Willow jumped up beside me, blood pouring down her cheek as she tried to look at my hand. I could hear someone calling for me while I panicked, but I couldn’t focus on anything but my hand.
My hand that had a fucking knife right through the center of it.
I tried to flex my fingers, crying out when my ring finger and pinky didn’t move at all. I screamed again, and this time, I heard it.
The sound around me came rushing back in.
“Don’t,” Isaiah was saying. “Don’t pull it out. Leave it.”
Behind us, there was yelling, screaming. I could hear Coach’s whistle trying to take control of the situation, but it only added to the confusion.
It was complete chaos around me.
It was loud. Too loud.
My knees buckled, and then Aiden and Wyatt were on me. Aiden’s arms wrapped around me, holding me up as I sagged.
“You’re okay, baby.” Aiden ran a hand over my now-ratty hair. “Everything’s okay.”
“That bitch is hiding an affinity!” Willow screeched, pointing at Carla, who was conscious again.
I blinked.
Isaiah was holding Willow.
There was another commotion as I blinked again, now staring at my hand, covered in blood.
There was a lot of blood. A weird amount. Maybe too much? I didn’t know, my head was swimming. Were hands supposed to bleed this much? My heart was pounding, that probably didn’t help, it just kept pumping–
“MIA, NO!”
Willow’s shriek pierced through the air, and my affinity pushed Aiden and Wyatt away from me. I stumbled, moving toward my friends to defend them, though I didn’t know what was happening. Several people gasped, a few people cried out in horror.
My vision cleared just in time for me to see Carla fall to the ground again, stiff as a board, her eyes staring up into nothing.
She wasn’t moving. Her gaze was faraway, her lips slightly parted, revealing…frost.
“Oh, my God.” Wyatt muttered. “Mia, you have to–”
“Nobody move,” a loud, authoritative voice rang out. Students moved aside quickly, revealing officers dressed in all black.
“Who the fuck called them?” Aiden muttered. I was back in his arms, I realized. He’d grabbed me again even though I’d pushed him away.
Willow threw herself at Mia as officers advanced on them, then Wyatt stepped in front of them as an officer reached out for Mia.
“She’s coming with us,” the officer said, nodding toward Mia. “We all saw her kill that girl.”
I looked back down at Carla, not believing what I was hearing or seeing. But…she was dead, with icy frost seeping from her open mouth, sticking out of her ears. Even her eyes seemed a little glassy, like there was ice there, too.
It was no question Mia had killed her.
But…why?
Willow trembled as she held Mia close, and the blood on her face answered my question.
Mia hadn’t been here when the fight started. She didn’t know what happened. She must have seen blood on Willow and just…flipped.
Wyatt was arguing hard with the officers, stepping left to right to block them from getting closer to Willow and Mia, who were hugging in Isaiah’s arms while whispering and crying. Coach was right beside Wyatt, arguing just as hard, trying to be the proper headmaster.
Rafe, I called out.
No answer.
Where was he?
Aiden was texting, like that’d get Rafe’s attention quicker than my voice, but things were escalating. The ground was beginning to rattle on and off, but no one seemed to notice.
The next thing I knew, Willow was screaming, Wyatt was shouting, Mia was in handcuffs. I dove at Willow, wrestling her away with my good arm while Aiden went with Isaiah to try and keep Wyatt from getting arrested.
It didn’t work.
Suddenly, Wyatt was in handcuffs, Willow was shrieking from the ground, also in handcuffs…Mia had already been taken away.
Aiden backed off quickly when an officer threatened him. And then the officer backed off quickly when Isaiah stepped between us.
My hands shook.
Where the fuck was Rafe?