“You stubborn….” Mitch muttered as he hulked towards James who was surprisingly calm. He threw a wild hook at him which James easily dodged. In surprise, he threw some more punches, aiming for his torso but he easily dodged them. The crowd OOOOHD and AAAAAAHD as James dodged every punch that was thrown at him.
Mitch, knowing simple punches wouldn’t work, grabbed James and pulled him into a bear hug.
“Nnnnnnnnggggghhhhh,” he groaned, trying to snap James’s back, but to his surprise, James overpowered him and broke free, making it look easy.
“That’s not James,” Jacob muttered, wondering who it was, wearing James’s skin.
James punched Mitch in his nose, nearly breaking it, carried him with one hand, and slammed him to the ground.
What are you? Anna thought when, “What’s going on here?” a teacher said, quickly dispersing the crowd, leaving Anna and her friends alongside James and Mitch.
“Now go to the cafeteria and get me food,” James said to Mitch who rose to his feet and scampered away, his shoulders bobbing up and down as he ran.
“Bludovitch!” the teacher said, beckoning to him. He walked over to her.
“It’s okay, nothing happened here,” he said, burning his eyes into hers. She nodded and walked away, like someone who had been hypnotized.
“Shall we?” he asked, motioning for Anna and her friends to follow him as they headed to the school main hall.
They were just about to enter the hall, when Jackson noticed them.
“Hey, heard you’re back,” Jackson said. The seniors had been given a one-hour break and most of them hurriedly walked out of the class, groaning with sad looks on their faces.
Jackson made his way through the crowd and followed them into the school hall.
Why are we always the only ones here? Anna thought, as she reluctantly sat on a chair, Jackson standing in confusion.
“What’s going on?” Jackson asked, noticing the discomfort in Anna’s expression.
“What’s going on?!” he screamed, losing patience as he grabbed James by his jacket.
“Jackson, get away from him, he’ll hurt you!” Anna wailed.
“Him?” Jackson pushed James to the ground.
“Jackson, stay away from him!” Jacob pleaded.
Jackson noticed the worried looks on their faces.
“Who do you think you are to bully her?!” he yelled and threw a punch at James who easily caught his hand.
Surprised, he tried breaking free, but James was too strong, inhumanly strong. In a flash, James punched him in the chest, sending him to the ground.
“Jackson stop!” Joanna screamed, too scared to get up and separate the fight for fear of being hit.
“Looks like I have to take you seriously,” Jackson said, dusting his round neck shirt. He seemed to be enjoying the fight.
“What happened to you?” he asked, noticing how unusually calm James was.
Annabelle ran to stop them, but James caught her by the arm and easily tripped her to the ground. She tasted blood. Her lip had been cut with her teeth the moment she fell to the floor.
Driven by anger, James took off his round neck shirt and threw it to the ground, revealing a well-built torso with a broad chest and eight abdominal muscles.
He charged at James, attacking him with a drop kick. James easily dodged it and “Want to dance?” he said, as he took off his own shirt.
“Jackson stop, he is stronger than you!” Joanna pleaded.
Jackson, not heeding to their pleas, attacked James with some flashy karate moves.
James, light on his feet, easily dodged the attacks, refusing to land a single punch.
“What happened to you?” Jackson asked, as his eyes met with those of James.
“Who are you?” he said, beginning to lose faith in his fighting abilities. He looked at Anna, his shirt still off and “Don’t,” dhe mouthed, as blood trickled down her lip.
He released his clenched fists.
“You’re not James, are you?” he asked, his voice slightly trembling.
He was about to head back to get his shirt, when “Ummm your food is here,” Mitch said as he walked into the hall. He was trembling, but why? Had James beaten him too?
He handed the food pack to James and ran as fast as he could, slamming the door behind him.
It was at that moment, Jackson realized that if the fight had dragged on, he would have been at a disadvantage.
He had grabbed his shirt and put it on when “My turn,” James said, as he dropped the food pack and charged at him.
He had barely gotten into a defensive position when James jabbed him on the cheek, instantly sending him to the ground.
“Jackson!” Anna screamed in concern as he scrambled to his feet.
James landed a couple of punches, hitting Jackson every time as he laughed.
Oh no if I don’t run, I’ll lose consciousness, Jackson thought, as he tried attacking James but he was too fast, too precise.
James had beat Jackson, pulling his punches and barely wounding him. He was on the floor, scrambling backwards, as James walked towards him.
“Okay Anna, time to go but first….” he said, pulling out a pocket knife.
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“James stop!” Annabelle pleaded as she ran towards him. He sank his fist into her abdomen, forcing the air out of her lungs. With a stressed sigh, she fell to the ground, holding her abdomen in pain.
“Goodbye Jackson,” he said as he raised the knife, ready to stab him.
“Bludovitch or whoever you are, let that man go!” a voice spoke from a corner in the hall. It was Mrs. Crow.
“You, stay away! Your brother gave me orders to kill her!” James said, pointing the knife at Annabelle.
“Move, or I’ll move you,” Crow said, as James threw the knife at her, aiming for her head. She caught it midair, in between her fingertips and, “Move,” she said, more intently.
James charged at her, quickly closing the distance between them.
Anna and her friends watched as Mrs. Crow easily overpowered James, knocking him out within the first five seconds of the fight.
“Where have you been?! You can’t just disappear when you please!” Anna scolded.
This is my moment, she thought to herself as she stood to her feet, licking her bloody lips.
“Heyyyy,” Jackson awkwardly said, as he scrambled to his feet and grabbed his shirt, his amulet dangling around his neck.
“Where have you been?” Annabelle asked again.
“Sit down, you have a lot of explaining to do!” she added, already losing her patience.
What must have happened? Mrs. Crow thought as she looked at the rest of the team, their wary eyes fixed on her.
“What’s wron……”
“Sit down!” Annabelle insisted, shooting Crow a dirty look.
Mrs. Crow reluctantly took a seat.
“Want to start by explaining who the hell that is?” Annabelle asked, pointing at James who lay unconscious on the floor.
“That’s just James,” Crow said as she chuckled nervously.
I guess I have to come clean, she thought, as she saw the suspicious and slightly angry looks on their faces.
“Okay, that’s not James,” she said, expecting a surprised reaction, but they just stared at her as if to say they were already aware.
“There’s a possibility my brother changed the messenger’s physical form,” she said, unsure of her statement.
“So he’s a messenger?” Annabelle asked, not understanding the statement Crow had made.
“Yes, but it’s a forbidden spell, one which I do not know how to cast.”
“But why send him back here?” Jacob said, “Guys!” he added, pointing to the place James lay unconscious. He was gone.
“Forget about him!” Joanna insisted. She seemed to be more interested in the explanation Crow had to make.
“That’s not even the point,” Annabelle said, touching her wounded lip with her index finger. It hurt each time she touched it. Mrs. Crow offered to heal it but she declined.
“I want to feel the pain.”
“What is this school?” Annabelle asked, not knowing how to phrase her question.
“Sorry what?” asked Mrs. Crow.
“There’s something about this school,” Annabelle said, pacing back and forth.
“Where have you been? What is this school? Why are you Mrs. Crow? Isn’t Crow supposed to be your maiden name?!” Annabelle asked all at once.
“Why is your brother playing games with me? Do the amulets you gave us even work?” Annabelle said, both hands placed on Mrs. Crow’s shoulder as she stared right into Crow’s unwavering eyes.
She gently brushed Anna’s hands off her shoulders, took a deep breath, and “I see you have a lot of questions,” She said, looking to the ground.
“This school…. everything in it……. was made with magic.”
“What?” Annabelle said in disbelief.
Crow sighed.
“I’m the one who built and founded it many years ago but made the humans who lived here believe they were the ones who built it.”
“That doesn’t explain how you always vanish without being noticed,” Annabelle said, shaking her head in dissatisfaction as she started pacing again.
“The very foundation of the school was made with magic, so everyone except you all lives in an illusion,” Crow said.
“Everyone in this school is under a spell.”
“Why am I an exception? What about my friends?” Annabelle asked, pointing at her friends.
“They were trapped in the illusion too until you told them about the man after your life,” Mrs. Crow said, studying Annabelle with her eyes.
“Illusion,” Anna said quite softly as she apologetically looked at her friends.
“Annabelle, my brother is after your life and I don’t know why but we have to stop him. We have to kill James Bludovitch,” Mrs. Crow said quite decisively.
“No!” Annabelle protested.
“We aren’t done here,” she said, a lot of questions still on her mind.
“You put everyone in an illusion?” she asked again, as she looked at her palms.
“I know everything and everyone in this school. I know Duncan is napping in his office, I know James is in the toilet beating someone to a pulp,” Crow said. “He’ll be fine by the way.”
“I know when you started having nightmares and I know you suspect Jacob,” she said, pointing at Jacob who was surprised at what Crow had said.
“Me? Suspicious of me? Why?” he asked, trying to play innocent.
“You can drop the act now Jake,” Mrs. Crow said.
Act? What act? Annabelle thought to herself as she slowly stepped away from Jacob.
“Oh I hoped I could watch over her longer,” he said, adjusting his glasses.
“W…ww..hat’s going on?” Annabelle stuttered as Jacob took off his glasses and levitated midair.
“Hello Annabelle, I’ve been put in charge of your life by Crow,” he said in a hoarse voice.
“What’s going on here?!” Annabelle let out a loud cry.
“Are you a magician too?!” she screamed at Joanna as she backed away from her and fell to the ground.
“Why didn’t the illusion work on me?” Annabelle demanded, losing her patience.
“I don’t know, you have to be a magician for the illusion to work but you’re not,” Mrs. Crow said, narrowing her eyes as if to say: ‘or are you?’
Annabelle’s mind flashed back to the incident she had with Gruff the moment Crow made that statement and “I’m not a magician,” she said, trying to shake off the thought that she could perform magic.
“Stay away from me!” she screamed at Jackson as he approached her to comfort her. She was scared, but mostly disappointed. The person she had known almost her entire life turned out to be a magician.
“You,” she said, pointing a shaky finger at Jacob as she stod up. “I’ve known you my whole life, how is it possible?” she asked. Her head throbbed with pain and her mouth felt a bit dry.
“Isn’t it strange that you never see me in school?” he asked, a smile on his face. He was relieved he no longer had to keep his secret.
“But your parents, that time in Opsilion 12,” Annabelle said, just above a whisper in utter disbelief.
“What happened to your parents? How old are you? I grew up with you!” Annabelle bellowed, completely freaking out.
“Calm down Anna,” Jackson said, stretching forth his hand.
“I said don’t come near me!” she screamed, and then stormed out of the hall, overwhelmed by confusion.
“Let her go,” Crow softly said to Joanna who ignored her and ran after Annabelle.
“I’m out of here,” Jackson said. He didn’t want to be left alone with Mrs. Crow and so decided to leave while he still had the chance.
“Well, that could have gone worse,” Jacob said.
The days sequential to that incident were a tough one for Annabelle. She refused to talk to her friends, not knowing who to trust. She had asked her parents about the Hittcroffs and “That family is a wonderful family,” they would always say each time she asked.
And as for James, he kept on bullying anyone he liked, from seniors to juniors and somehow managed to get away with it each time.
