Chapter 7: Connection to Power

Beth walked out of the girl's bathroom after having peed, however, when she exited the bathroom, she turned heads, particularly from Miles and JT who noticed her new haircut.

However, Beth said nothing as she followed her teacher and classmates to Doctor Cranston's Jeep Grand Cherokee. Climbing into the back seat, Beth plugged in her earbuds, allowing an Ariana Grande song to flood into her ears as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat.

As Billy drove towards the museum, he looked next to him over at Chloe, who seemed on edge. As he looked in her eyes, he could see they were distant and dull. He could see she was wearing heavy bracelets on her wrists, and he could see her playing with her hands in her lap. He also noticed that she constantly seemed to be on a brink of anxiety. He could tell just by the way that she carried herself.

However, he pushed those thoughts aside as he continued to drive his students towards the museum, where they were to serve their detention. However, the fact that these four students had gotten into a fight with two other students was something that worried him. But also, hearing that those two students had supposedly raped Beth made him feel as though there was some victim blaming happening.

Breathing out a sigh, he pulled into the parking lot of the museum, relieved to see that Erika's car was parked there. Climbing out of the van, he turned to his students once they were out of the van.

"Alright, guys, remember. Find an artifact related to the learning material, take a photograph of what it is, write down the information, and I will give you extra credit," he said.

The four students nodded, and they followed Billy into the museum. Billy unlocked the doors and led them in.

Upon entering, they were faced with the prehistoric section of the museum. Dozens upon dozens of dinosaur skeletons were displayed, along with figurines of cave men and fossils of prehistoric plants. For JT, it was quite the sight to behold before his very eyes as they widened in fascination.

"Alright, guys, the mythology rooms are situated to your left, along with the lavatories. You will pass the Greek mythology section first, then Roman, and then Egyptian. Feel free to take photographs of anything that you find remotely compelling," Billy said. "I'm going to my old office space here; there's someone I must speak with."

"Alright, thanks, Doctor Cranston," said Miles as he led his classmates towards the mythology rooms. Once they entered the mythology section, they were hit instantly with Greek mythology first.

"Whoa," whispered Chloe, pulling out her camera for yearbook committee and beginning to take pictures of a blue and white vase that had artwork that instantly brought her a sense of curiosity. On the descriptive plaque, it read:

"Sirens lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island."

Taking in the detail of the Sirens on the vase, Chloe gently put her fingers against the glass case containing the vase. For her, it was a beautiful sight to behold. She quickly pulled out a notebook from her backpack and wrote down the description of Sirens, before moving to stand near Miles who was taking in artwork of a woman surrounded by various beasts – particularly lions.

"Circe," whispered Chloe, snapping a picture.

"Who?" asked Miles.

"According to Greek mythology, Circe appears in the Oedipus Odyssey – she's believed to turn men into beasts," Chloe explained, taking in the expression on Circe's face. "Wow, there's so much tension in this image."

"Yeah," Miles said.

Beth meanwhile was taking pictures of a Cyclops, which was holding a giant, wooden club. Just the expression on the monster's face alone was something Beth couldn't help but take in. She then moved to take photographs of what was stated to be Aphrodite's necklace.

'This is beautiful,' thought Beth as she touched the class with her fingertips. Never before did Beth ever take interest in others' beliefs and traditions. 'God, I used to be so vain. I was so self-absorbed; I couldn't see the very things that were right in front of my eyes.'

JT, on the other hand, he took in artwork of a Hydra that was on a green and white vase. The pottery was a beautiful sight for the autistic boy to view.

"This is incredible," he whispered to himself. "To think that there were stories told about these creatures . . . though the Chinese mythology section . . . Mom would want me to see that section."

Growing up, his mother would tell him stories from Chinese folk tales, such as Mulan – not the Disney musical version, but the original folktale of Mulan. Just hearing those mythological stories of his heritage made him feel closer to his mother's family, which was of Chinese descent. He snapped his own photo of the vase containing artwork of the Hydra.

"Alright, let's look at the Roman section," said Chloe, suggesting.

"I can agree with that," JT said, happy to take up Chloe's suggestion as she led the way toward the Roman section. The minute they entered the Roman section of the museum, they were a little more than surprised to see the Roman gods were named – the names that inspired the names of the planets that orbited the solar system. Chloe pulled out her camera again as she saw artwork of Venus.

"Venus – Roman goddess of love," Chloe whispered, taking a picture.

The kids continued to venture the Roman section of the mythology wing, before JT led them towards the Egyptian room. Once they were in the Egyptian room, Beth was taken in by artwork of the goddess Isis – the goddess of magic and the mother of Horus.

"Kind of like the DC Comics superhero," whispered JT as he took a picture of Isis.

"Lover of Black Adam – who is the archenemy of Shazam," said Miles as he took in the image as well.

"She's beautiful," Beth said softly, her eyes widening in fascination.

"Everything here is," Chloe said, looking at artwork of Anubis – the god who helped prepare souls for the Underworld.

As the kids continued to venture through the Egyptian Mythology section, however, they couldn't help but feel something odd fill the air as they began to venture towards the Chinese Mythology section of the museum. As they passed a glass case, they took notice to four items inside.

They appeared to be crystals, but they had a strange aura about them. They were in the colors of red, blue, pink, and black, nested against a grey stone that was there.

"What are these?" asked Miles.

"Don't know," Beth said, her eyes fixated on the blue one in particular. Suddenly, that was when the case began shaking hard.

"W-What's happening?" asked Chloe.

"I don't know. Get behind me," Miles said, taking a protective stance in front of his classmates.

The others followed Miles' lead as they stood behind him. However, the glass shook until it broke into pieces, and the crystals seemed to call out to them. They could hear various cries . . . a dragon growl, a Phoenix cry, a Siren song, and the neighing of a centaur . . . almost like a battle cry as they each took hold of the crystals. Chloe picked up the hot pink one, and as she touched it, it seemed to burn her skin, but for some odd reason, it was not hurting her. Beth picked up the blue one and her eyes widened. Miles touched the red one and felt a surge of strength flow through him, same with JT and the black crystal.

"Wow," whispered Chloe, clutching the hot pink crystal in her hand. However, that was when they heard the doors to the museum slam open.

"Did Doctor C say anyone else was supposed to be here?" asked Beth.

"No, c'mon let's go hide! The bathrooms are around the corner," Miles said, leading the pack to where the restrooms were. Miles dragged JT into the men's room while Beth and Chloe retreated to the women's room. Chloe pressed her back hard against the door, closing her eyes hard as Beth kept her hands cupped hard over her mouth.

In her office, Erika and Billy were leaning over her desk, further researching the crystals. However, what did concern Billy was the fact that the gold one he'd found in the pyramid was missing. He'd specifically given all five to Erika, but according to Erika, on the flight home, the gold one had gotten lost in the luggage.

"I don't know how, Billy. But at least we have the other four so we can find out what power these things contain," she'd said to him a year ago.

Of course, Billy had been worried about the gold crystal being missing. Now, as they stood in Erika's office, they were the slamming of the doors opening.

"What's that?" asked Billy.

"I don't know." Erika reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a small handgun. "I'll go check it out."

"Okay, call me if you need anything at all. I am going to go and check on the kids," Billy said. He proceeded to exit the office, however, before he could round the corner, he noticed there were others in the museum.

The presence that was there was bone chilling. It was a man, with glowing, hot orange eyes, jet-black hair, strange tattoos, and tattered up clothes, with two creatures standing near him. One of them was a woman with long, flowing, purple hair, red lips, and alluring green eyes, dressed like a Grecian goddess, stroking the head of a lion. Another was a man who looked Chinese, dressed in Chinese armor. Just from the sight of these three individuals, Billy could pinpoint who they were exactly.

He felt in his gut these individuals were Lucius – a human manifestation of Lucifer, Cerci – a human manifestation of the Greek goddess who turned men and women alike into terrible beasts, and Wen Shen – the ancient Chinese deity responsible for plague and illness. It brought Billy a feeling of sickness as he hid behind the skeleton of the tyrannosaurus rex, breathing hard.

'Okay, I better find the kids, and fast. Why do I have a feeling I know who this is, and what they are after?' Billy thought as he stayed silent, creeping behind the skeletons. 'I must stay silent. I cannot allow them to know that I am here. It's dangerous enough the kids and Erika are here.'

Chloe kept her ear pressed hard against the bathroom door, closing her eyes and breathing hard. The tension and anxiety were slowly beginning to become too much for her as she struggled with the temptation to start cutting. However, with Beth in the room with her, she knew that she couldn't do that.

Throughout all of eighth grade, Beth had gone out of her way to make Chloe's life a living hell. And before she got arrested, Beth had displayed a side of herself that Chloe and other students of Crystal Cove High hadn't seen, ever. Beth had displayed a volatile side of herself when she'd knocked out Paul Hadlock's teeth.

Chloe could feel that she was starting to get sick as her stomach rolled hard. Opening the door by a small crack, she could see so far, that the coast was clear.

"Okay, c'mon let's move," she hissed, shoving the pink crystal into her backpack.

"Are you crazy?" asked Beth.

"I'm pretty sure that there's a backway exit out of this place," Chloe said. "I don't know about you, but I am not just sitting around waiting for the next crazy thing to occur!"

Beth shook her head. She didn't know what Chloe was thinking. But she had to take the girl's word for it. Following Chloe out of the restroom, they saw that JT and Miles had made the same calculation. The three teens got behind Miles, who began to lead them through the halls towards the emergency exit.

However, before they could reach the exit, the four teenagers heard snarls that seemed to come from behind them. Turning around slowly, they could see horrific sights of minotaur, lions, and wolves that had glowing, red eyes.

"What the hell?" whispered Beth, shocked at the sight that was being beheld right before her eyes.

"I don't know," Miles said, taking a protective stance in front of them.

The creatures continued to stand there, snarling hard. However, the louder they growled, the crystals in their possession seemed to be connected much more intensely to them. Miles and JT suddenly felt an intense strength filling deep from within as strange auras surrounded them. Miles was surrounded by a bright, red light while JT had an aura of black light surrounding his form. Looking over at the girls, Chloe had an aura of pink surrounding her, while Beth had a blue glow around her.

"W-What's happening?" asked Chloe.

"What do we do?" asked JT as the beasts prepared to pounce forward.

"RUN!" Miles yelled, slamming the emergency exit open. The four teens began to run, but the beasts were taking off after them into the wooded area behind the museum. However, before they could get far into the woods, Chloe tripped over a boulder that had been underneath her. One of the tigers that had been chasing them pounced over her, biting hard into her leg.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

"CHLOE!" shouted Miles, running towards her just as Beth and JT went tumbling down as well.

Chloe could feel the blood seeping from the wound as she kicked the beast in the face with her good leg. However, the pain was excruciating as she let out a cry that sounded like a bird screech, and her body seemed to be engulfed with hot pink and white flames. Her hazel eyes blazed with flames as she let out another bird-like screech. Beth let out a loud scream that was high-pitched, yet booming. Blue sound waves seemed to pour past her lips as her eyes glowed a bright shade of blue. As she rose to her feet to get up, water from a nearby river seemed to pulse as she unconsciously controlled it towards the beasts.

It was a sight to behold for JT and Miles as they watched girls take on the monsters. As Miles knelt next to Chloe, he couldn't help but take notice that the glow around him seemed to intensify more as he leaned a hand onto Chloe's shoulder, especially as he swung both his legs around to kick the beast right in the jaw. The tiger released Chloe's leg, which was bleeding severely from deep wounds. Miles also noticed the way Chloe's right leg shook as he wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her up to her feet. She had sprained her ankle in her fall.

JT, on the other hand, was somehow holding his own as he kicked a minotaur while still laying on his back in the grass. He seemed to have an intense strength deep within his legs and hips as he jumped to his feet. Beth let out another sonic scream, the soundwaves piercing through the ears of the beasts and it seemed to stun them. She quickly jumped to her feet and did a backflip, managing to avoid a tiger attempting to bite into her shoulder. She quickly made her way to Miles and JT, who had Chloe supported between the two of them.

"Are you okay?" JT asked Chloe.

Chloe was crying hard as the pain in her leg continued to get worse. However, the sight of the beasts seemed to accumulate as they got larger in mass.

"Miles what do we do?" Beth asked, terrified.

Miles swallowed. "Why do you expect me to have all the answers?!"

"KIDS!" Billy shouted as he ran out into the parking lot, searching for his students. "Chloe . . . Miles . . . Beth . . . JT!"

He then heard a loud, high-pitched, sonic cry that filled the atmosphere, along with a loud, bird-like cry. It seemed to come in the direction of the woods.

"The kids," he murmured, running towards the woods where he heard loud snarls filling the air. He knew Cerci's beasts had found the kids, and that the creatures were after the crystals the kids were in possession of. Upon finding the kids' location, he saw Miles, JT, Chloe, and Beth backed up against a tree as the beasts inched closer to them. Billy ran in, sliding underneath the feet of a minotaur and drop kicking it in the stomach before rising to his feet and throwing a roundhouse kick at the tigers and wolves. The creatures let out loud whimpers before portals opened, and they cowered away. Billy then turned his attention over to his students, noticing Chloe's bad leg as he rushed forth.

As soon as Billy reached his kids, he looked at each of them before asking, "Are you guys okay?"

Miles just looked incredulously at his teacher. "What the hell was that, Dr. Cranston?" he asked.

"Look, alright? Let's just get you guys out of here and I'll explicate everything," Billy said. "Alright? It's not sound to be out here right now."

Chloe's right leg was continuing to shake violently as she put weight on it. Her knee buckled underneath her as she gasped painfully, tears streaming down her face as her free arm went to clutch her chest. Her face was going white as she began collapsing in Miles' arms.

"Chloe?" whispered JT.

Chloe could only gasp painfully as her knees continued to buckle underneath her. Billy understood what this meant.

"Miles, sit her down," he said.

"What?"

"Do as I say," Billy insisted.

Miles nodded and got Chloe sitting against the tree while Billy coaxed her to place her head in her knees. He sat next to her, anxious. He understood that Chloe had a rough homelife. Everyone in school knew. It didn't help that everyone talked about the brutal fights Chloe's mother and father got into. The amount of times JT's father had gotten called to separate Chloe's parents and put her father in a cell overnight, nobody could count. Even JT couldn't keep track of the amount of times his father had gotten the call from Miles' father to break up the fights between Dell and Kori. As Beth watched Chloe fall deep into the waters of a panic attack, she couldn't help but wince.

It was just another reminder as to how callous she'd been before she'd gotten arrested the previous year. The Friday that she'd gotten raped by Paul Hadlock, she'd shoved Chloe to the ground and insulted her terribly. She'd picked on Chloe so many times and had said so many horrible things to her and about her. Knowing Chloe suffered panic attacks like this was just another harsh reminder to Beth just how cruel she used to be.

'And to think before I got arrested, I'd put my hands on her and hurt her. God I was so mean,' Beth thought as she listened to the sounds of Chloe's sobs and heaving breaths.

"Chloe," Billy whispered. "Chloe, I need you to listen to me. I need you to breathe, alright?"

Chloe could only shake her head. She couldn't breathe. She felt the bile rising in her throat as her stomach began to hurt severely.

"Chloe, deep breaths," whispered Billy, reaching a hand over to gently touch the back of her neck. "Nice and easy."

Finally, Chloe managed to catch her breath as she lifted her head up from her knees slowly. Billy leaned over and got an arm underneath her knees so that he could carry her to his car. He knew he had to get the kids – Chloe especially – out of there as soon as possible. He also knew that he had to tell them about what was happening. He could only begin to imagine that Miles, Chloe, Beth, and JT had gotten their hands on the crystals he'd found in Egypt.

He knew what this meant for them. He'd just hoped that it wouldn't happen this soon to anyone. Billy slowly gathered the teenager into his arms and rose to his feet after slinging Chloe's backpack over his shoulders. Looking at Chloe's leg, he could see the deep gash that was bleeding heavily, as well as her twisted ankle. However, he also knew that he couldn't bring Chloe to a hospital, because people would ask too many questions.

"Where are we going?" JT asked, finally speaking up.

"We're going back to my domicile," Billy said.

"But she needs a hospital," JT said incredulously.

"Negative," Billy declared. "At a sanatorium, they will ask too many questions. You guys cannot afford that right now."

"But what's going on? What happened?" Miles asked.

"I'll elucidate everything after I tend to Chloe's wounds, alright?" Billy said.

With that said, Billy led the kids back to his car, placing Chloe in the passenger's seat and placing her backpack at her feet. Miles, JT, and Beth presumed their seats in the back while Billy got in the driver's seat.

He knew with no doubt that he had to explain a thing or two to his students.

A/N:

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