Chapter 5

Katherine attends class after a practice session with her new rival Claire. The class hits the tip of the iceberg as to what she is actually able to do.

Claire and I watched the mark on the dummy. The scorch mark from my magic blast remained on the potato sack acting like a shirt. Black lines moved away from the center of the blast, many of them ranged in different lengths.

“What do you mean that wasn’t supposed to happen?” I asked Claire, who still had her eyes locked on the mark. My own eyes went back and forth between her blank expression and the dummy’s still face. She had told me that the dummies were made with special material and enchanted, so that we cannot destroy them or set them on fire. But my blast did, it burned a mark into the human one. Which I think it disturbed Claire a little that it wasn’t the monster or tiny animal dummy.

“I already told you. It should disappear,” said Claire. She finally turned to me, mouth opened like she was going to say something else, but closed it before she did. “Look!”

As she demanded, I did. The burnt pattern was getting smaller, sucking in the ashy lines until they all met the circle and disappeared. Claire reminded me that it was strange, again, and that it never took that long before. She told me that I should try again, but I had enough for one session. Maybe next time, my magic orb won’t leave such a scare.

“Don’t get me wrong, it was cool. But it never happened, and I’m going to find out why. Maybe I’ll try training you again tomorrow on another basic spell.” Claire turned and walked to the side doors of the gym. She waved her hand and one side opened. A glance over her shoulder, a smile later, and she disappeared into the long hallways of the Academy.

I stood there alone, wondering what just happened. Today was my first day in the school and I get told that magic exists, that with the help of some accessory that humans can do it. A girl who I thought was my enemy and new bully decided to train me for a good fight. Now she was impressed with whatever it was I did to a blank staring dummy. But enough of this, I thought, time for class.

To practice more, I waved my hand like Claire had. The door didn’t open for me. I tried again, and the door didn’t open. Closing my eyes, I focused and imagined the door opening. There was an old witchcraft book that a friend of mine, back in New York, had and in it, the writer told them to close their eyes and concentrate on what they want to happen. If using magic wasn’t witchcraft, I don’t know what else to really call it. The darkness behind my eyelids didn’t do much for focusing on a door, when I’ve been so damn focused on going home. But maybe I could use our old home to my advantage. Instead of focusing on just what the door in front of me looked like, I took my bedroom door back home and focused on that. The way I’d open it in the morning to run to the bus stop, or slam it after a fight with my parents. When I whispered, “Open,” there was a creaking sound ahead of me. My eyes opened to see the door opened.

I had done it. I had opened the door with my mind, or magic, whatever it was.

The next class on my schedule, which I took out of my pocket and opened the folded paper, was a science class, at least it sounded like. Bio Magic. The teacher was Mrs. Vine, which I giggled out loud as I thought the teacher’s name was way too fitting for the class.

The classroom wasn’t as big as the cafeteria, where it could have two more rooms on top of itself, but it stretched pretty far back. There were two doors to get in, one in the front of the room and one in the far back of the room. Students continued to slip in from the back door even after the bell rang, signalling that they were late. A few seconds later, the teacher slipped through the front door of the classroom, and did so like a slithering vine.

In fact, Mrs. Vine was a giant plant creature. I jumped nearly out of my seat, but everyone else was waiting for her to give instructions. The slithering vine snaked her way from the door to the desk, then turned into a human. The green planet skin turned into very pale skin, the end of the vine changed into very thin, women legs. Getting a real look at her now, Mrs. Vine was a woman in her thirties, with bunned green hair, and a green business suit.

“Hello, students. We have a new one joining us today,” she said, pointing a thin finger at me, that ended up changed into a tiny, thin green thorn. She bent her entire finger that had turned into a super long thorn, beckoning for me to join her in the front. Nervously, I did. “This here is Katherine Garcia. Today is her first day, and I hope you all take the time to talk to her and get to know her.” A nudge by her, and I took my seat.

“Hey Kate,” said a girl that reminded me of my friend Rebecca, a friend from New York. She had long, black hair, smooth pale skin, and a scrawny frame. Our eyes met, and I noticed hers were glowing purple. “Nice to meet you. I’m Rose.”

Another plant related name. Rose’s eyes made me pause for a second, getting hypnotized by them. “Hello,” I finally said. She smiled and turned, the glow fading away. “What exactly is Bio Magic?”

Rose turned back to me again, leaned over and placed a hand on the side of her mouth facing the teacher, “Magic used on the environment or ourselves.”

Mrs. Vine whipped her arm--now a long, green vine--grabbing everyone’s attention with the loud snap. She started writing on the chalkboard. Bio Magic, Lesson 5, Healing Medium Sized Cuts. I pulled myself into the desk, leaning forward to see the tiny handwriting better. “Last lesson was on small cuts,” she paused. There was one student missing for the last lesson. Me. “Katherine, you’ll have to get notes from someone. Now we’re going to focus on healing the bigger cuts and wounds. Maybe like from a knife or a bullet graze.”

Rose looked over, a big smile still on her face, “You can get my notes later.”

I nodded.

Mrs. Vine went on and on about concentrating more energy, thinking of the skin closing up and the blood coming to a halt. The only thing I had ever done was throw a ball of magic energy and opened a door with my mind, or magic. To practice this… Didn’t we need to have an open cut.

Rose turned her fingers into the same thorns as Mrs. Vine, reached over and dragged it gently across my arm. I flinched from the initial sting. A little line of red blood surfaced. And when I looked over to the person who made it, she was smiling. Mrs. Vine yelled at her, saying I could have made it myself. At least I had something to practice with.

“Put your hand over the cut, holding it an inch or two above it. Concentrate on the cut healing and closing, or reversing and act like it never happened. Force your energy out of your palm like it is an extension of yourself.”

I did everything she said, and when I removed my hand, the small cut had vanished. Some of the other kids were still trying it, and most of them just sped up the healing process. Their end results were scabs or scarred tissue.

Not only could I shoot blasts, but heal myself? What would be next… Oh, laser beams.