Gift Academy (Book One in the Gifted Series)

Chapter Twenty One

Fay

I have trouble falling asleep that night.

The dorm seems so empty without Veronica, so dull and depressing. I feel so bad. Hailey told me it wasn't my fault that Veronica died, but I know it is. I was so distracted by Gina and Austin I couldn't hear Mariah running up behind me, which I really should've. Then Veronica jumped in the way and I couldn't stop it.

I lay on my bed until I finally manage to fall asleep, and when I do, I've never been angrier about a dream before.

There in front of me stands Emily, Mike, and Liam. They're all dressed in black and they all look pretty sad. I look around and notice that I'm outside. And that the three Extras are silently gathered around a stone. They were just at a funeral. I walk towards them and take a look at the stone. I only look at the name. Ethan Norwood. I killed Ethan, in the cafeteria at Extra Academy. Do Emily, Mike, and Liam even know that? I hear chatter behind me, so I turn around and see tons, maybe hundreds, of people gathering around Ethan's stone. They all like Ethan. And I killed him. I made all these people sad.

I look back at Emily, Mike, and Liam, and they still look depressed. I feel about ready to storm up to Extra Academy and apologize myself.

Before I can see anything else, my dream shifts. At first, it's just a blur of mixed colors until I land in a very familiar spot. The Gift Academy parking lot. Confused on why I landed her instead of anywhere else, I look around until I spot the one and only Mariah Smith sneaking around the parking lot. I glare at her and feel anger rising in my chest. I storm towards her and I'm about to yell something to her when I remember this is just a dream. Well, a vision that is. She can't see or hear me.

Wait.

This is a vision. Every other vision I've had has been happening at that moment. Why would it change now?

That means that Veronicas murderer is standing in the Gift Academy parking lot right now.

I urge myself to wake up, and when I do, I'm sprawled across my bed, sweating and head pounding. I forget about everything and rush out my room. I run to a window facing the parking lot and see the one and only Mariah Smith sneaking around in the exact same place I saw in my vision. With rage seeping into me like a waterfall into a river, I crash into the hallway and fly through the hallways of Gift Academy, not caring if anyone hears me.

I sprint outside and automatically make my way to the parking lot. I face Mariah, who looks surprised when she sees me, but her shock soon turns into fury when she realizes who's facing her. I have no idea why she's mad at me. I should be mad at her. She killed Veronica. What did I ever do to her? All I did was tell her to leave the war and find somewhere safe to stay. That definitely sounds extremely evil.

Mariah sends two fireballs my way, which I jump away from. I lunge at her without using any of my gifts. I'm too angry at her to do anything with my gifts right now.

She's shocked at my sudden actions. I guess she didn't expect me to go at her with my fists. I don't know what I'll do to her. Maybe I'll strangle her to death. That would be my pleasure, honestly.

But she doesn't stay in shock for much longer. She quickly reacts to my attack, splashing me with ice cold water right to my face. The force of all the water pushes me back a few steps and causes me to land flat on my back. And because my body likes to fail me, I breathe in some of the water and almost choke on it. I cough up cold water, falling on my knees after attempting to stand up again.

Mariah automatically takes action again, throwing another huge fireball at me. I roll out of the way and dodge most of it, but the other part burns straight into my sleeve and burns my arm.

I scream out in pain, and Mariah smirks down at me, amused by my pain. I channel up all my energy and rage and send four huge vines in Mariah's direction. My original plan was to just summon two and one distracts her while the other strangles her, but I'm furious right now, and plans change.

I attempt to wrap two of them around her legs to trip her, but she burns the two with fire. The other two are pretty lucky, though.

One vine ties her hands behind her back, making her unable to burn it to a crisp, and the other wraps around her throat and squeezes, lifting her into the air. She chokes and gasps for breath, but the more she struggles, the tighter I squeeze my vine. Until I realize that her mouth is moving in a certain pattern, like she's trying to tell me something. I unwrap the vine from her neck and she gasps, wheezing for breath.

"What?" I growl at her. At first, she doesn't respond, still fighting for air, but she gets it out of her soon enough.

"I...want...to help," she chokes out, taking deep breaths between words. I laugh bitterly at what she says. Mariah Smith; who murdered my best friend, burned me, and tried to sneak into Gift Academy, want to help me? The situation is so stupid it's almost funny.

"You want to help me? Stop lying and tell me the real reason you're here, Smith," I order her, my voice dripping with venom when I say her last name.

"I am actually here to help the Gifted. After I got revenge on you," she replies, and I have a strong feeling that she isn't lying. If she was lying, she wouldn't have told me she was here to get revenge on me. The real question is why she wants to get revenge on me. Like I said before, all I did was choke her, but then I let her escape. I could've killed her right there, but I didn't, because I wanted her to have a better life than fighting in a deadly, blood-thirsty war.

"Why do you want revenge on me? What did I ever do to you? I should be the one getting revenge on you! You killed my best friend!" I shout at her, exasperated by her stupid excuses.

"You killed my boyfriend!" She snaps backs, glaring daggers at me. Her reply is so sudden and so shocking I almost free her from the vines dangling from the air. I killed her boyfriend? Who is that exactly?

I gasp when I realize who she means.

I killed her boyfriend right in front of her eyes while nearly choking her to death.

Ethan.