Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4: CHANCE

She could hear herself screaming. But was it real? Or was it her imagining things again? Katara's throat was sore from the scream, but she couldn't stop it. There was a burning pain raging through her body, ripping apart her throat, her lungs, her leg. She could feel herself fall back and slipped into the darkness again. Her mother came into her view. Or was it a vision? Her mother held her hand out to her, smiling.
“Come along dear. Time to see the doctor.”
It was one of her routine trips to the doctor. Katara watched silently as she, three years old, took her mother's hand and was lead through a small hallway of her house. Her father was in the car, feet up, looking about to fall asleep. Katara grinned, running up to his open door and shook his arm.
“Wake up daddy! Wake up!”
Her dad smiled, looking at her tiredly. He yawned, then motioned to the back seat. “Alright, alright, I'm up. Get in the back seat...sweetheart.”
That word always seemed tacked on. She hadn't noticed that before. She followed herself to the car, sitting in the back as her younger form got in the small car seat, her mother buckling her in, then her father driving off as her mother sat in front with him.
“Are they going the check my eyes again?” young Katara asked, fumbling with a small toy in her hands. Her mother glanced at her father, then nodded, “Yep.”
“What about this time?”
“Just to see if they're okay.”
She nodded, not looking up from the small toy she was holding. They pulled out of the driveway, then stopped, being parked in the doctors parking lot. Katara looked around, the house gone, now surrounded by the city, tall buildings of cement. She blinked, then stood in a hallway, watching herself as a young girl of three being lead through a pair of large doors. She followed herself in, her parents sitting in the chairs on either side of the large table-like bed. Katara watched as she was lifted up onto the table, looking around the room.
“Lay down dear, the doctor will be in soon.”
Young Katara nodded, laying back and handing the small toy to her mother. Her mother sighed, taking the toy and putting it in her purse. The doctor came in, smiling at young Katara.
“Hello, Kat.”
She smiled, “Hey Dr. Vain.”
“How are those eyes of yours?”
“Good!”
“Well, we'll make sure. Close your eyes.”
Everything went black. When she woke again, the room was still black. She groaned, “Mom?”
There was a sobbing sound, “Oh Katara..I'm so..I'm so sorry.”
“What?”
“The doctors..they..your eyes..they don't work.”
She could feel her shoulders slump. “No,” she breathed. “Oh God no.”
Everything had changed. She was no longer watching her memory, she was inside it. She was in her small body, but with the same mind.
“I'm sorry sweetie,” her father spoke up. “I'm sorry.”
She threw her hand out, waving it where her eyes should be. “T-turn on the light.”
“The light's on, sweetheart.” her mother said in a soft voice.
“No it's not! No, it's not! It's not on! What are you saying!?”
A hand touched her shoulder, “Dr. Vain..he said he's sorry..that this has happened to you..he doesn't know what went wrong.”
“You see, sweetheart..you are-were dyslexic. You read things upside down..we were going to fix you.”
Kat could feel her shoulders shake with tears, “No..no!”
“Hey.” her mother's voice.
“Hey.” her father's voice.
“Hey.” Dr. Vain's voice.
“HEY!”
She jolted awake, sitting up, then groaning, rubbing her temples. The sash. It was off.
“Hey,” it was a girl's voice, and Katara touched the couch with her hand, vibrations too small to feel being sent across the room and through the girl before her. She was concerned, and held Kat's sash in her hand.
“Here,” she handed the sash to her, placing it in her hand. Katara closed her hand, then lifted it around her face, tying it around her eyes.
“Who took off the sash?” she asked, looking at the girl.
“Um..Samuel did..you were sweating..and-”
“You can't take it off. It might damage my eyes. They're still healing.” Kat looked around the room, sending more vibrations by shifting her weight slightly. The house was an new one. Pretty expensive. Large double doors, two floors, and a large kitchen and living room. Which is where she was now.
“You're in my house, don't worry.”
“Mmhmm.” she responded, unconvinced. Suddenly she felt dizzy, felt her stomach lurch, and turned to face away from her, spilling her stomach. The girl across from her started freaking out, Kat monitoring her. Her back arched, throwing up again. Samuel came into the room, having left before the revealing of what hid behind the cloth, and from the shift in his weight, his increased heart beat, he was freaking out too. He ran to her side, pulling her hair back.
“I thought we said we were going-”
“We can't..it um..could damage her eyes.” Her heart rate increased too, but it wasn't from her throwing up. Kat would've asked, but when she opened her mouth, liquid spilled out. Her head started swimming.
“Kat! Oh my God, you're throwing up blood!”
“And..that's a lot..” the girl's voice was low, staring at her with worry, and a strange fascination. She shook her head, snapping out of it. “Get her a bowl!” she got up, then ran to the kitchen, rummaging through cupboards till she lifted a small bottle in her hands and ran back out. Samuel held Kat's hair back, holding a bowl before her as her back arched, blood pooling from her mouth.
“What's happening to her!?”
“That bullet..you know what it was?”
“No.”
The girl came next to her, untwisting the cap of the bottle. “I didn't know it before..but..it was the same kind used at the school killing.” they exchanged glances, then looked down at her. Kat's face was pale.
I'm going to die? Oh God..
“How is she still alive!?”
“I don't know.” the girl gripped Kat's chin, forcing it back. She nearly choked on the blood, coughing. The girl poured a strange liquid into Katara's mouth, her body being racked by violent shakes. She pulled away, swallowing, then screaming in pain. At least the blood stopped pouring from her mouth. Sammy touched her shoulder, “Kat..it's alright..hang on..it's going to be alright.” Everything started going fuzzy. She felt herself sway, then collapse against the couch again. She cried out, then fell silent. Her breath slowed and she slipped away once more.

She leaned against the truck of her news van, sipping her coffee. A man came around from the back, looking irritated. “The boss is pretty mad you did that on live t.v.” Jess shrugged, “So what? That poor girl's being harassed by every news crew in like, the entire world. Give her a break.”
“We could've after we were done interviewing her!”
“Yeah? Do I look like I care?” she rolled her eyes, turning and walking around the van, leaving her camera man cursing bitterly. She walked inside the building, a few glancing at her with anger and admiration. She smiled faintly at each of them. A man came up, walking besides her.
“What's the dig?”
“Well, Jess...so far no one can figure this out..she's alive by playing dead in a place full of dead bodies..we understand that..but how the guy got out without being caught by cameras or breaking a window. The girl's not telling us everything.”
“And?”
“And this school's out in the middle of nowhere. The campus is private and is always watched day and night. If he did get out he should've been spotted by one of them.”
“But he wasn't.”
“Right..so that means he could be anywhere.”
She nodded, “Alright. I can head out there tomorrow.” she walked into her small cubicle, looking at the papers on her desk.
“Actually..the boss wants you there today.”
She looked at him, incredulous. “What?”
“Yes..it appears he wants you to make up for-”
She sighed, shaking her head. “Fine. Go tell Jeff.”
He nodded and ran out. Jess moaned, rolling her eyes. “Sounds fun. Can't wait.”

“I want everyone to act normal! Remember, we can't give it away!” hollered a man, striding down the halls, the staff of every room standing outside their doors. They all nodded, turning to their rooms and going back to grading and other work. The principal ran a hand through his receding hair nervously, then walked towards the front door. Someone caught his arm, turning him around. “There's been a shooting!”
“What!?”
“Same guy! In the gym where the students were!”
“Were?”
“They all left. Someone was shot though!”
“Who?”
“They said it was Katara.” the woman's brow furrowed, “Why would he shoot a blind girl?”
“I don't know..where is she?”
“Samuel took her in his truck.”
“Where!?”
“I don't know!”
“Damn..if he goes to the hospital..!”
“He won't, he's a smart kid. He knows we can't ever do that!”
“Hello?” another woman's voice. Wonderful..they were here already.
“Don't tell anyone. Go find her and make sure she's alright.”
She nodded, turning and running down the hall. He turned, sighing, walking down the hall an to the waiting reporter. She smiled politely. “Hello, you must be-”
“Linken. Yes, and you are?” he stuck out his hand. She took it, “You can call me Jess.”
He nodded pulling away from her hand. “What is it you'd like to know?”
“Well, I'm going to ask you a few questions on the security of this school, the location, about the killer, and about the girl who survived.”
“Alex.”
She nodded, “Right. And I'd like to ask about what you teach here.”
He kept himself calm, cocking an eyebrow. “We teach just like all the other schools.”
“Yes, but you get the highest grade in the state, and people move closer just to go to your school, Mr. Linken. And we've noticed that you decline a lot of people from entering, while you accept plenty of others.”
Linken nodded slowly, “So?”
“Well, there's been gang members that enter your school, while perfect A students get declined.”
He shrugged, “We have a different interest in helping certain people instead of others. Sammuel needed to be helped. And he's a great student now. He's no longer part of the gang.”
Jess sighed, nodding. “Well, alright. We're going to set up. We'll call you when we're ready.”
“Alright. Thank you.” he turned and walked down the hall, his hand twitching. He made sure he kept control of his powers, bitting his tongue.

“He's acting weird.” Jeff said, starting to set up his equipment. Jess merely shrugged, “He's never been interviewed. In fact, no reporter has been in this school since it's opening.”
“Right..nearly like, what? Thousand years ago?”
She looked at him, cocking an eyebrow. He grinned sheepishly, “What?”
“It's been here since 1993.”
“So..It's 2020 now.”
“Do the math.” she said in a bored tone.
“27 years? It hasn't been around for that long.”
“Yeah.” she sat down, leaning her back against the wall. “Something isn't right here.”
“I know.” he grinned, “I think we should take a look around with the camera.”
Her face lit up. Finally, he got a reaction from her. She smiled, “C'mon, let's look around. We'll probably find some dead bodies or something.” she winked at him, getting up as he positioned the camera on his shoulder, turning it on as she walked down the hall, entering an empty room.
“Hey..dude..look at this.” Jeff said, opening a closet. She turned, looking inside. Robots..ten robots, holding guns were hung up by a small hook on their back. She gasped, staring at them. Their heads were loose, looking down at the ground, the entire being limp. One hand was firmly locked around a gun, their silver skin shinning as light hit them. Crimson stains were across their chests.
“What is this!?”
“I have no idea..let's look around the desk.” Jeff turned, walking towards the desk and opening it. Inside held a small pistol, along with throwing daggers. His face paled, “Oh my God.”
“They're freaking murders!”
“Look!” he pulled out a small binder, reading: lessons. He opened it, pictures of fighting kids doing extraordinary things inside. There was a girl with a sash over her eyes, ducking under a swing of a knife from another student. A few pictures held teenagers flipping over one of the machines that now hung in the closet. He turned the page.
Week one: how to doge a bullet
Week two: fighting fist vs. knife
Week three: fist vs. bullet
He stared at Jess, who continued reading in horror. “Oh my God..it's like some-”
“Training facility?”
They both whirled around, facing the principal. He sighed, shaking his head. “This is why humans can't be allowed inside.” he took a step towards them.