The Weaponsmaster

Chapter 8

Drea’s training proceeded smoothly as Danny continued to give her pointers with her mind, helping her to extend herself more periodically. She continued to try and extend her mind in all directions, expecting to see another vision, but no visions came. Instead she noticed that she was able to complete the training with growing ease. Whatever that vision was, it helped her with her focus and control.

Many nights she would sit on her bed and try to do the mind training. She was actually becoming quite good at knowing when someone was about to enter her room, which turned out to be a godsend. She had been feeling happier lately too, though she felt a little guilty that she hadn’t been spending as much time with Jackie. They used to be really close, and they still were, but it felt like they had drifted apart a little.

Drea thought about all this as she walked into the school yard, looking for Karen. Karen was the only thing that got her through each monotonous day.

She spotted Karen talking to an older man. He wasn’t a student or any teacher that she’d seen hanging around. Karen looked puzzled, showing off that defiant face that she had mastered. He stared back at her with his malicious eyes; it was like he was trying to bore right through her. After another second, he averted his attention and began to walk away. Karen looked in his direction, and Drea could feel a mix of emotions coming from her. She was angry, confused, and maybe a little protective. When she saw Drea by the school entrance, her eyes widened with a type of fear and her aura spiked with panic as the man began to walk in her direction.

Drea tried to run, but found that she couldn’t move her legs. The man’s presence was incredibly strong; he was dressed in a dress shirt and slacks with a brown overcoat. How original. His aura was powerful and dark, like what she remembered to be the Lori, yet he looked like a completely normal human.

Is it a Lori? She wondered as her necklace began to heat up ever so slightly.  As he approached, it the heat increased as it did when the dark aura was near. He stopped right in front of her and stared down straight into her eyes.

“What are you?” she whispered in fear and defiance.

“Haven’t you figured it out already?” he responded coldly.

“You’re a Lori,” Drea said quietly. Her suspicions had been confirmed; turns out this mind training was really coming in handy. “What do you want?”

“You’re aura is different. Stronger. We can’t have someone with aura like yours running around. I’d like to kill you, but I’ve got orders to capture you instead.”

He smiled sadistically. Before Drea even knew what was happening, he reached out with his newly clawed hand in an effort to puncture her stomach. She was expecting to feel the pain spread as his claws ripped though her stomach like butter. She was expecting to feel the blood drip down, but there was no pain, and there was no blood. Drea looked down to see that she had grabbed his wrist and twisted it to the left, out of the way of her stomach. She held it firmly, squeezing it as he flexed his fingers. She hadn’t even felt herself move her hand or grab his, yet somehow she had.

How did I do that? She thought incredulously. It was like a week or so earlier when she’d kicked Crystal down. She didn’t know how she did it; her body just knew the movements.

They stared at each other before he snatched his hand back, feeling his wrist for damage. “We’ll meet again.” He walked away with pure hatred glinting in his eyes and a smile full of malice spreading across his face.

Drea’s breathing was shallow and she was still unable to move her legs. It was as if he’d stolen her energy when she touched him. His dark aura lingered around her, choking her, stealing her life force. She wasn’t sure how to break the trance as her body remained frozen.