Electracademy

Chapter 24

  I watch dumbfounded as Zeithman uses his Electra on Professor McKinley. "The students will be expecting breakfast." He tells her. "Go and get it ready." He tells her. Somehow he manages to make it sound like a casual conversation. Then he turns to my friends. "It's almost time for breakfast. You can go eat your breakfast."
 
Something inside me hopes that Zeithman's Electra won't work on them, but instead I see Isa turn to Alice and say, "I feel like pancakes. How about you?"
 
Alice jumps up from the chair. "Pancakes sound great!" And just like that I see my friends leave me alone in the room.
 
I glare at this man standing in front of me. He runs a hand through his thick dark hair and looks at me.
 
"Carly Hope, how I have waited for this moment." He says finally.
 
"Who are you?" I ask him. "Are you the Mystic Protectors?"
 
"The Mystic Protectors is more of a cover disguise but yes, that is me." He answers. "Now, How did you find your Electra?"
 
I stay silent, wondering how much I should tell this man. A sense of authority seems to radiate off him. "I don't know, honestly." I'm suprised to hear myself start to speak. "I've always been very persuasive. Two men came to my school and told me about a great school I could go to. I just didn't know anything about Electra."
 
Zeithman nods. "Oh yes, I remember that."
 
I look up at him confused. Then I reconize the man who gave me the buisness card so long ago. "What about the buisness card?"                 
  Zeithman makes a small gesture with his hand. "That was all fake. Just to convince you."
 
"Hold on a second," I say. "Why are you telling me all this?"
 
"You should know the truth when you come with us."
 
"Wait, what?!" It's already too late. Zeithman is walking over to the door. He puts two fingers in his mouth and let's out a piercing whistle. At first nothing happens, then a large brown owl flies into the room. It's the same one I have noticed watching me. I watch as the owl flies in front of Zeithman. Then, suddenly, the owl is a man, standing in front of us.
  
The man is dressed in a red flannel shirt and casual jeans. He looks me in the eye and speaks. "We can do this two ways. The hard way, or the easy way. The easy way is you come with us. The hard way is you come with us but we won't be so nice."
  
I don't know who this man is, and he doesn't intimidate me. I reach out with my mind feeling for his. Zeithman must be able to tell because he says. "Mel! Grab her!"
  
Before I knew it, the man-Mel- had grabbed me. He pins my arms behind my back. "Hard way it is." He snarls into my ear.
  
"Don't hurt her." Zeithman says. "Now, come on." He leads us through the halls, Mel still holding me. I watch Zeithman whip out his phone. "Get the van ready!" He speaks into it.
  
Meanwhile, I am trying to reach out to Mel's mind. Once I find it, I come across a mental barrier. It's a huge mental wall that I can't get across. I silently curse my inexperience.
   
The two men take me through the school. My heart sinks as I see the foyer, with the huge front doors. I remember myself first stepping through them. It seems so long ago. We are just about to the doors when a shout echoes through the halls.
  
"Let her go!"
  
Zeithman turns around to look at the source of the voice. I can't see who it is, but I don't think I need to. I struggle in Mel's grip so I can look. Then I see him. Grayson stands on the set of stairs that leads to the boys dormitories, his hands flaming balls.
  
"Run away, little boy." Mel says. "Forget you ever saw us."
  
"Like hell." Grayson says, and just like that, one of the fireballs is flying through the air. I gasp and roll to the floor, falling from Mel's grasp. I feel the heat of the flames as it goes over my head. I turn around to see the fireball on the ground and the owl flying in the air above it.
  
Grayson snaps his fingers and the fireball extinguishes itself. The brown owl hoots and starts flying toward Grayson. It grabs his shoulders and the two are locked in a battle in the air. "Carly! Do something!" Grayson yells creating another fireball.
  
"I can't!" I yell back.
  
"Just do anything!" Grayson says swinging a punch at the owl.
  
I frantically search the room for anything to do. Something to throw at the owl. Then I get an idea. Isa! I need help! I'm in the foyer! Zeithman is with the Mystic Protectors! And be prepared he is just like me! I silently pray that my message will work. Then I hear a response. Got it.
  
Just then a hand grabs the hood on my jacket and starts dragging me back. It's Zeithman, shouting into his phone. Through the door of the school I can see a black van on the small path in the woods. I struggle against Zeithman but his grip is iron.   
  
Suddenly, there is a blinding glare. Zeithman yells and uses one hand to cover his eyes. I use the opportunity to sweep his legs out from under him. He lands on his back and his phone goes spinning from his grasp and across the floor. I quickly grab the phone.
  
"Carly!" I turn at the sound of my name. There, in the corridor, I see Isa with lots of classmates. Ava, the source of the light stands next to her. I see Alice and Owen, both in wolf form, there too.
  
"Someone help Grayson!" I shout at them. The two wolves spring up the stairs to where Grayson and Mel are fighting on a top floor.
  
I hear the sounds of Zeithman getting up behind me. "Be careful everyone! Don't listen to anything he says!" I yell, pointing to Zeithman. "He's just like me!"
  
"Give me that phone,Carly." Zeithman says to me.
  
I look at the phone in my hand. "Your Electra won't work on me." I say, throwing the phone at the wall. I smile as the expensive phone shatters in a million peices.
  
Zeithman stares at the broken remnants of the phone in shock. He sets his jaw and looks to the top floor. "Mel!" He screams. "Stop playing with the boy and get your ass in the van!"
  
Zeithman turns to look at me, his face red in anger. "I will be back." He says. I watch as he turns and runs into the van. I see the owl fly after him, his brown feathers slightly scorched in places. I watch the black van drive away, Zeithman's words still echoing in my mind.