Kayla, Part 2
I wanted Kayla to be just as smart as Eva and maybe even smarter. Kayla often feels useless, but she proves that she can hold her own when she makes several small explosives to distract the XANAfied teachers in one story. Kayla made the smart move of befriending the William clone and trying to teach it without using a program. This worked to a point when the Dunbars came to visit him. Though she likes to think before something is done and be logical about it, sometimes her heart leads her without her realizing it, like falling for the William clone.
Eva and Aelita arrived at the school and set up their equipment in the school's auditorium. Eva had her gear bag stashed behind the mixing board.
"This isn't a big city where you had to worry about protecting me," said Aelita. "It's a high school dance."
"I'm not taking any chances," said Eva.
The dance was kicked off at six o'clock. Aelita started their set with their intro. After their intro, Aelita kicked off the next song. At first it was only a strange noise, but more noise was added to it and soon there was a bit of a beat.
"Hey," said Tucker. "Doesn't that sound familiar?"
Danny and Sam listened.
"It almost sounds like a battle," said Sam.
"Like a fight I have with ghosts," said Danny.
Indeed it did. Amidst the beat of the song, Team Phantom could hear ecto-blasts being fired and blows being exchanged. Some of the sounds were distorted, but they all came together to make a strange melody.
Eva picked up her bass and played a few notes. Suddenly the music stopped and she brought her mouth close to the microphone. In her raspy voice, she spoke the first few lines of the song.
Do not lie, I know you can't see me
You say you can, but there's no way you could
Here I am, torn in half
These halves are all that you can see
The music started up again. The sounds of a ghost battle started out low and became louder.
"Whoa," said Tucker.
Sam looked at Danny. "It's like she's talking about you," she said to him.
"But that's impossible," said Danny. "She can't know that I'm half-ghost."
Eva picked a few notes on her bass before she began to sing.
One half warm, the other half cold
Perfect harmony, in sync
One half meek, the other half bold
Sewn together to be complete
One half loved, the other half hated
What side I'm on is constantly debated
Torn between two lives, living with the lies
It's the same no matter what I try
Never see me as a whole
You can never believe the truth
It's too insane to be true
But madness can be true, too
This war is in me, all around me
Physically, spiritually, mentally
Blood from wounds, tears from pain
A broken heart from all the strain
Yet here I stand, the threads holding me together
I keep telling myself I will be better
-rap-
This hand I've been dealt, I don't know what I did to deserve it
But it's what I have, it's absurd, it's madness
The pain I feel is real, almost too much to conceal
As the blood from my wounds congeals, I know I will heal
One day this will be over and I will have reached the end
But until then I will strive to defend
My life, my honor, my responsibilities
Do everything with in my power and abilities
To save what I love, to save what I cherish
Even if in the end I do perish
I want people to look at me and know
Though they've never seen me as a whole
That I was willing to lay down my life
That I was their true hero
-sings-
Never see me as a whole
You can never believe the truth
It's too insane to be true
But madness can be true, too
Madness is true, too
The song ended.
Eva scanned the crowd, pausing a half second longer on Team Phantom before she walked over to Aelita.
"Not bad for throwing that together in an hour," she said to Aelita.
Aelita nodded. "What do they think?"
Eva glanced over her shoulder. "I don't think they're sure of what to think. They certainly are rattled."
Meanwhile, Team Phantom was talking quietly and quickly amongst themselves.
"Do you think she knows?" asked Sam.
"How could she?" asked Danny. "She was never around to see me go ghost. Maybe it's a coincidence."
"There is no way that's a coincidence," said Tucker. "It was too perfect to be just a guess."
"You're sure she never saw you transform?" asked Sam.
"Positive," replied Danny. "This is nuts!"
"Let's just keep an eye on them for now," said Tucker.
"Tuck's right," said Sam. "If they don't know, we can't let them become suspicious. We have to steer them away from the truth." She looked at the stage. "That's easier said than done. That Eva's sharp."
The dance continued on with songs from L'Elfe et le Fantasme and remixed versions of the Pop Rock Progressives. Now and then Eva would take a break from singing and hop off stage and dance with the students.
At eight o'clock, Aelita was given a break to rest her hands and get something to drink.
"It is really warm up on stage," she said, fanning herself with her hand.
"I know," said Eva. "Why do you think I've been hopping off stage and dancing with everyone else?"
"I'm glad we came," said Aelita. "It's a nice change of pace. What about you? Having a good time?"
"Yes," replied Eva. "I'm going to make a quick phone call."
"It's a bit late to call our friends," said Aelita.
"I think this one will be awake," said Eva. She got back up on stage and grabbed her gear bag from behind the mixing board. "Need to reapply my makeup," she said to Aelita when Aelita gave her a funny look.
Eva took her bag and went into a bathroom out of the way of the gym, not wishing to be interrupted in any way. She took out a small makeup kit and a brush. She pushed her hair out of her face and began reapplying makeup to her scars. It had become essential that Eva cover her scars when she was on stage. She didn't like the idea of people knowing what happened to her before she became a star.
Eva's stomach began to burn and her scalp prickled. She put her brush down and looked at the door.
BANG!
Eva instinctively dropped to the floor, knowing the sound of gunshots when she heard them. There was screaming outside in the gymnasium. Eva's first concern was Aelita. Her second was where that gunshot was directed. Hopefully the shot was fired just to get attention.
Eva crept out of the bathroom, staying low to the ground, almost completely on her hands and knees. A few who weren't in the gym at the time were running the opposite way. She came to the gym door and listened.
"No one move!" shouted a man. "We will not hurt you. We are simply looking for the ghost who was tracked here. We know it's still here. Until we can find it, no one is going anywhere. I said, don't move!"
BANG!
Eva heard Aelita let out a scream of fright. Taking a risk, Eva looked through the tiny windows of the gym doors. She counted ten men in full body armor, armed to the teeth. The students and teachers were forced to sit on the floor. Eva could see that no one was hurt. Aelita was sitting near her mixing board. She looked in Eva's direction and quickly looked away. She had seen Eva.
Eva hurried back to the bathroom she had been in. She ripped open her bag. Eva pulled her black sweatshirt over her head. Her black ski mask went on next, followed by her skull mask, and she pulled her hood up. Eva hurried to pull on her leather gloves and armed herself with her knife, clipping the sheath to her waistband so it was going down her pant leg where it could not be seen. She put her gear bag over her shoulder, knowing that she would need everything that was inside it: homemade stun gun, brass knuckles, zip-ties, duct tape, and more. Before leaving the bathroom, Eva looked in the mirror. She looked at Phantasm staring back at her. She turned and left.
Aelita knew that Eva was okay and that she had a plan, and if she didn't have a plan she would soon have one. Aelita looked around for the nearest exit. There were the locker rooms that were just off to her right. If she could get to them, she could escape. All she needed was a moment of distraction.
Aelita searched the crowd for Danny Fenton. He was all right and was sitting with Sam and Tucker. If Eva was right and he was Danny Phantom, he could get them out of this. At the same time, he was the one who got them into this mess in the first place by being a ghost. But Aelita did not blame him for this.
The men began to move to the doors. Aelita bit her lip. How was she going to get out with the exits blocked?
Eva ran through the hallways, looking for a supply closet. She needed to get to the fuse panel. Aelita could get out if she had a distraction, Eva was sure. However, she was not sure if Aelita knew that she could escape with the right distraction. Either way, Eva worked best under the cover of darkness.
Finding the fuse panel, Eva gave a silent prayer that Aelita could escape and began pulling out the fuses.
Aelita's prayers were answered when the lights went out in the gym. A few students screamed and Aelita took that as her chance to get out. She knew where the guard was standing and she ducked under him, pushing her way out of the gym and into the boys' locker room. Aelita couldn't see a thing and she was forced to feel her way around the locker room.
Someone grabbed Aelita and forced a hand over her mouth.
"Princess," came a rasp in the dark.
The hand was taken away from her mouth and Aelita was pulled out of the locker room and ran down a hallway.
"Thank you," Aelita whispered to Eva.
"Anytime," Eva whispered back. "Get to safety."
"What about you?" asked Aelita.
"Don't worry about me," said Eva. "We've dealt with worse before, haven't we? I know I have."
"Just be careful," said Aelita. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness enough to see the white skull face nod under the black hood.
"I have my mobile on vibrate," said Eva. "Call if there's a problem." Eva reached into her gear bag and took out the stun gun. "Take this with you. Use it in an emergency. Remember, if it comes down to you or him, save your own life. There is no shame in self-defense. Go."
Aelita hurried off to the nearest exit. She found several other students beating on the double doors.
"What's going on?" Aelita asked.
"The doors are locked," said a nerd. "We're trapped."
Aelita gasped. She was on the verge of panicking, but she knew she had to stay calm. If panicking didn't help with a XANA attack, it wouldn't help here.
"We can't stay here," she told the students. "We need to find a place to hide."
"Where?" asked a popular girl with blonde hair. Aelita remembered her name being Starr.
"You tell me," said Aelita. "I don't know this school like you do. Is there a secluded classroom we can use?"
"The biology lab can be locked," said the nerd. "It's in the corner of the school."
"Okay, go there and lock yourselves in," said Aelita.
"What about you?" asked Starr.
"I'm going to see if I can find anyone else who escaped," said Aelita.
As Aelita hurried away, she heard Starr say, "Where is Danny Phantom?"
Eva's mobile buzzed against her leg. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw Aelita was calling. "What?"
"They locked us in," said Aelita. "I've sent some of the students to the biology lab where they can lock themselves in."
"Where are you?" asked Eva.
"I'm looking for other students," said Aelita. "I'm on the other side of the school right now."
"All right," said Eva.
"What are you going to do?" asked Aelita.
"They want a ghost, right?" asked Eva. "Let's see how they can measure up to Phantasm." She hung up her mobile and slipped it back into her pocket.
Aelita did not like the way Eva said that. She put her mobile in her pocket and continued her search for more students.
Eva knew she was taking a huge gamble with what she was about to do. If it didn't work, there was a chance that she could be seriously hurt or killed. Even worse, someone could be killed because of her.
Eva went back to the gym. She pushed gently on the doors and found them locked. She looked in the windows. Their captors had flashlights and were keeping an eye on the remaining students.
"Are you sure that thing is accurate?" asked one of the men.
"I'm sure it is," said another one, holding some sort of PDA in his hands. "It's in the building."
"But that doesn't mean it's in the gym!" snapped the first.
"Stop fighting!" snarled the leader. "We only need a few to keep an eye on these kids. Marshall, Cruz, Wagner, you stay with the kids. The rest of you are going to go looking for our ghost."
There was a loud sound that made everyone jump. Something was pounding on the gym doors. The men who were assigned to search for the ghost unlocked the door and sprinted into the hallway, hoping to catch it before it got away.
Eva ran like the wind after giving the doors several solid kicks. She kept her ears open listening for the men. She heard them behind her. She gave a locker a smack to make more noise to keep them following her. Eva ran into a stairwell and hid under the stairs.
Only three of the men followed her.
"Do you think it came in here?" asked one of the men who followed her.
"I think so," said a second.
"Keep your eyes open. It could be anywhere," commanded the third.
They began to walk up the stairs. Eva came out of hiding and ducked out the door, silent as a mouse.
Another group of three was in the library. Eva followed them up and waited for them to split up. She used the bookshelves as cover, taking what she needed from her bag and waiting for her moment to strike. One man went into the stacks. Eva struck quickly and silently. She slammed her leg into the man's gut and kicked him in the face. He hit his head off the bookshelf and fell to the floor. Eva used a piece of duct tape to tape his mouth shut and bound his hands and feet with zip-ties.
"Gibson?" called one of the two remaining men.
Eva moved back into the shadows and waited. The second man saw his bound comrade and gasped. Before he could do anything more, Eva had him on the ground.
Eva was quickly yanked back by the third man. He had his arm around her neck. Eva slammed her fist into his groin. He let go and Eva went down on her hands and feet, grabbing her knife from her belt. The man also grabbed a knife from his belt.
"There you are, ghost," he snarled. His blade began to glow green. "This knife will hurt you no matter what tricks you pull."
The man tried to stab Eva. Eva simply stepped out of the way, but she bumped into the bookshelf. The space between the stacks was too narrow for her to fight as she usually did. Instead she used the combat moves Jim taught her. She grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it hard. There was a snapping sound and the man yelped. Knife still in hand, Eva punched the man in the face. She hit him hard in the side of the knee in a stomping motion. There was another snap and the man roared in pain as he fell.
"You broke my leg!" he yelled.
Eva cartwheeled over him, pulling his hands behind his back. She didn't have a zip-tie handy so she improvised. She removed his belt and used it to hogtie him.
"Help!" the man yelled. "It's in here! It's in here!"
Eva quickly got a piece of duct tape and taped his mouth shut. She sheathed her knife and bound the other man, too. Eva also searched them for anything she could use. The man she was searching had a nine-millimeter gun tucked away. All their other weapons appeared foreign to her, all of them having a strange green design. Eva had a feeling that they were to be used in ghost hunting, seeing these men claimed to be ghost hunters.
She turned to the man hogtied with his belt. He was giving her a defiant glare. Eva ignored him and took the gun with her. She slung her bag over one shoulder and continued on her way. Three down, seven to go.
Eva found a quiet hallway and figured this was a good place to stop and rest. She took the gun from her bag and checked the magazine. It was a full clip and there was one in the chamber. Hopefully she wouldn't have to shoot anyone, but it was good to know that she had a fully loaded weapon with her just in case. She tucked the gun into her waistband.
Aelita had only found a few other students who were not in the gym when the men came in. She told them to hide anywhere they could and kept up her search. She kept her hand on the stun gun mobile, careful to keep her finger off the button that activated it.
Flashing red and blue lights came through the window. Aelita went over to it and looked outside. The police had arrived and were setting up their mobile headquarters. Aelita also spotted a large RV, a large man in an orange and black jumpsuit and a woman in a blue and black jumpsuit standing next to it. She also saw the white van of the Guys in White.
"Please, hurry, Eva," whispered Aelita.
Jazz Fenton was hiding in the guidance consoler's office. She felt safe there and contributed it to finding comfort in psychology. She stood up from the desk and peered out the blinds. Jazz had called home twenty minutes ago and told her mother what happened. The police had already been called by someone else and thanks to her dad's driving, the Fentons pulled up just as the police did.
Jazz's mobile rang and she quickly answered it. "Mom?"
"Jazz, honey, are you okay?" asked Maddie Fenton frantically.
"I'm okay," said Jazz. "They haven't found me."
"We're outside, sweetheart," said Maddie.
"I know, I can see you from where I am," said Jazz. "I'm on the first floor, but everyone's in the gym. I can't get out. They have all the doors locked."
"Where's Danny?" asked Maddie.
"In the gym with Tucker and Sam and all the others," said Jazz.
"Do you know what they want?" asked Maddie.
Jazz was about to answer when a hand covered her mouth and pulled her away from the window. Jazz let out a muffled scream. Her mobile was promptly taken from her and turned off. A skull face hidden under a black hood stared at her. Jazz's eyes went wide. The person, still holding her mobile, put a finger up to the mouth, telling Jazz to be quiet. The hand was slowly removed. Jazz's mobile was handed back to her.
Jazz took her mobile and looked at the person. "Are you a ghost?" she asked.
The hooded figure shook its head.
"My name's Jazz," she went on. "What's your name?"
Eva did not answer as she began to move the door, waving her hand to Jazz to follow her. If she spoke, there was a good chance her accent would give her away. She looked to see if Jazz was following her and went into the hallway.
"Are you going to answer me?" asked Jazz.
Eva whipped around, finger to the mask's mouth. She took Jazz's hand and began leading her down the hallway.
There was a sweeping of a flashlight and Eva forced Jazz against a wall. Eva looked around and saw a classroom. She went over to the door and found it locked. She took out her picks from her wallet and picked the lock.
"What are you doing?" whispered Jazz.
Eva opened the door and gave Jazz a shove into the room. Eva pointed to the closet. Jazz frowned. Eva waved her hand at her in a shooing motion and pointed to the closet again.
"You want me to hide?" asked Jazz.
Eva nodded.
Jazz climbed into the closet. Just as she did, the door to the classroom slammed. Jazz left the closet door open a crack so she could see.
Eva had slammed the door for the sole purpose of getting the attention of the men. She crouched down behind the door, setting her gear bag down and taking out two zip-ties. She waited, watching for any sign of someone coming. She saw the beam of a flashlight shine through the window of the door. The door opened and two men stepped in, weapons drawn.
"Are you sure?" asked one man.
"I heard this door slam," said the other. "I know at least someone came in here."
Eva stood up behind them and stomped one foot. They whirled around. One man had the gun knocked out of his hand before he was even turned halfway around. Eva then kicked him in the side, sending him into his partner and they both crashed to the floor, one of the weapons discharging. A bolt of green fired over Eva's shoulder. Eva pounced and tied one's hands behind his back before being kicked in the stomach. She was knocked back and she tumbled backwards before doing back hand springs down an aisle of desks.
The man who did not have his hands bound jumped up and ran at Eva. Eva stopped her flipping, pausing for a split second as he got closer. Eva hopped onto a chair and brought her elbow around to strike the man in the face. He slammed into the opposite row, shifting the desks as he fell. Eva bound his hands.
The other man was getting to his feet. Eva looked up and saw him coming. She prepared herself for a quick fight. Instead the man pitched forward and landed on his face. Eva looked from the man to Jazz, who was adjusting her headband, a triumphant look on her face. Eva gave Jazz a salute before tying the men's feet and duct taping their mouths shut. They dragged them to the front of the room. Eva made a note that these two made five. There were three in the gym and two still roaming free in the school.
In the gym, Danny was trying to come up with a plan. He needed a place to transform. Sam and Tucker would cover for him, but they couldn't move from where they were.
"Where's Phantom?" Paulina whispered, tears of hysteria in her eyes. "Why isn't he here?"
Jazz grabbed Eva's shoulder. Eva jerked away and whirled.
"Listen, I can't explain this to you, but this is important," said Jazz. "My brother and his friends are trapped in the gym and they can help us. They know Phantom and they know how to contact him. If we can get them out, Phantom can come and help us. Do you understand?"
Eva nodded. Just then her mobile buzzed. It was a text message from Aelita.
SOS 2nd floor chem lab
Eva remembered where the chemistry lab was. She immediately ran for the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Jazz called after her. She ran after Eva.
Eva ran to the chemistry lab. The door was open. She ran into the room and saw Aelita bracing herself against a lab table, mobile stun gun in hand. On the floor was man number six.
Aelita turned to Eva. "You said me or him," Aelita said, panting.
"That I did," said Eva. She took the zip-ties from her bag and bound the man. "One more plus the three in the gym. I met up with Danny's sister. If we can create a distraction, he can get out and transform."
"Okay," said Aelita.
It was then that Jazz caught up to them. "What are you doing running off by yourself like that? Are you crazy?"
"She doesn't know," Eva whispered to Aelita.
Eva led the way back down to the gym, Aelita and Jazz in tow. Eva looked through the window to the gym again. She only counted two men. Where was the third? Eva signaled to them that there were only two.
"There were three earlier," whispered Aelita.
"How are we going to make this distraction?" asked Jazz. "We have to get everyone to look away from Danny."
"And Danny has to know we're coming," said Aelita. "Can you text him?"
"I can text Tucker," said Jazz.
"Okay, tell him to get ready to move and contact Phantom," said Aelita.
Jazz sent a quick message to Tucker. Cre8in' distraction. D, B ready 2 go ghost — J. Jazz hit the send button.
Eva kept looking through the window. She saw Tucker answer his PDA. It must have been on vibrate because no one noticed that he had taken it out of his pocket. He showed the message to Danny and Sam.
"So what's this distraction?" asked Jazz.
Eva waved Aelita and Jazz away, pointing to the girls' bathroom. Jazz knew this meant they were to hide. Aelita understood as well and they hurried off.
Eva watched them enter the bathroom. They would be safe there for the time being. She took the gun from her waistband and pointed it at the floor, angling it away from her.
BANG! BANG!
Eva's ears rang as she ran from the door and turned the corner. The two men came running into the hallway where Eva was just standing.
Danny, Tucker, and Sam gasped at the shots. Sam tapped Danny on this shoulder, moving in front of him. Tucker did the same. Danny became intangible and slipped through the floor. Once he was safely out of the gym, he went ghost.
Danny Phantom flew to the first floor and found the two men. He quickly knocked them out and left them on the floor. He flew into the gym and heard everyone gasp.
"Come on!" he said.
"Where have you been?" asked one of the students.
"I can't be everywhere at once!" Danny defended.
"He's here now," said Sam. "Let's not question him."
"Yeah, let's get out of here," said Dash, his voice a little shaky. He hated the dark.
They hurried to the doors, Danny floating above them to make sure everyone got out.
"Phantom!" Dash yelled. "They locked us in!"
Danny turned, his hands glowing. "Not for long," he said.
The students and teachers moved away from the doors. Danny let an ecto-blast fly and the doors were blown off their hinges.
"Come on!" said Dash, leading them out.
Danny turned to Tucker and Sam. "I'll be okay," he told them. "I have to find Jazz."
"Be careful," said Sam.
Danny continued to search the school. He found one other man and used his powers to subdue him.
Jazz and Aelita came out of hiding. Jazz saw Danny and called out to him.
"Are you okay?" Danny asked Jazz.
"I'm fine," said Jazz. "There was someone else here. He was helping me. I don't know where he is. He had a skull mask on and was wearing dark clothes."
Aelita let out a shriek as she was suddenly pulled off the floor and held against someone's chest. She felt the barrel of a gun pressed to her temple.
"You're a hard ghost to find, Phantom," said the leader of the men.
"Let her go," said Danny firmly.
"Only if you come quietly," said the leader. He tapped the gun to Aelita's head. "You see, this gun is very special. It shoots bullets that can hurt humans and ghosts. I have nothing against humans and I really don't want to hurt this girl, but I will if I must."
"You're making a big mistake," said Aelita.
"Shut up!" The man gave her a shake.
Danny moved, trying to get to Aelita and the man. The man saw him coming and fired his gun at Danny. The bullet grazed Danny's side and he let out a yell of pain.
"Danny!" yelled Jazz as her brother fell to the floor.
Aelita screamed. Suddenly she was falling to the floor, the man on top of her. The weight of the man quickly disappeared. Aelita looked up and saw a dark figure kicking the man in the ribs. It was Eva! The man grabbed her foot and twisted it. Eva went with the twist to avoid having her ankle injured. She turned and fell on the floor, bringing up her other foot to catch the man in the face. It wasn't enough to knock him out. He rolled away and got to his feet. Eva was up on her feet again as well.
The man looked to where he had dropped his gun. Eva saw that he was going to make a grab for it. The man lunged for his gun. Eva did the same, trying to get to it first. The man got it and aimed it at Eva's head. He fired and missed. It hit the wall behind her. Eva heard Aelita scream. She looked over her shoulder and saw Aelita falling to the floor.
Eva turned back to the man. He hurt her friend, her sister, one she promised to protect. He was going to pay! Eva's knife was in her hand so quickly that it looked like it materialized there. She jumped forward, slashing at the man. Her knife caught the man's arm and he dropped the gun. Eva slashed again and cut his shirt and his vest. The man punched Eva in the shoulder and she staggered back. The man's punches were like stone. It was easier to roll with the punches instead of trying to fight the force. Eva allowed herself to drop to the floor, dropping her knife. She used both feet at the same time to kick the man's legs apart. She then kicked the man in the groin. The man grunted and doubled over. Eva kicked him in the stomach before twisting her body around and kicking him in the face with her heel. She got back on her feet and hit him across the face with her open hand. Eva picked up her knife again and slashed the man's other arm. She dropped and cut his legs. The man dropped to the floor, screaming in pain, blood flowing from the knife wounds.
The man looked up to see that his opponent now had a gun to his face. "Please, don't kill me," he begged.
Eva shook her head in disgust before kicking him in the face once more. The man fell back unconscious.
Eva turned around and saw Aelita, Jazz, and Danny were staring at her. Eva only had eyes for Aelita. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Aelita was not hurt.
"You better go," said Jazz, turning to Danny.
"Yes," said Danny.
"Phantom," said Aelita.
Danny turned to her. Aelita stepped up to him and kissed him once on each cheek. Danny stood there, stunned.
"Thank you," said Aelita.
"No problem," said Danny, blushing a bit. "Just part of my job."
Jazz grinned. "Now what about your mysterious friend? Hey!"
They all turned to where Eva had been standing. She was no longer there.
"Where'd he go?" asked Jazz.
They could hear running footsteps. The police were coming.
"Go!" Jazz said to Danny.
Danny vanished from sight.
Aelita hoped that Eva had an escape plan for herself or there could be trouble.
Eva did have an escape plan, but she wasn't sure if it was going to work. She just had to wing it. She ran to the cafeteria and found the garbage chute. She took off her gloves, her masks, and her sweatshirt and put them in her gear bag along with her knife and the gun. She wished she had the stun gun she gave Aelita, but she could not go back for it now. Eva threw the bag down the garbage chute and heard it fall into the dumpster outside.
Eva could hear someone coming. She ducked behind the lunch counter and hid, pretending to cower.
The police came and asked if she was okay. They then led her outside to a waiting paramedic. Eva said that she was fine and just a little shook up. Aelita came running up to her and threw her arms around her.
"Are you okay?" Eva asked in French.
"I'm fine," Aelita responded in French as well.
The two of them began to whisper back and forth in French.
"I'm so glad you're okay," said Eva. "I thought he shot you."
"What about you?" asked Aelita. "Are you hurt?"
"A little sore, but those guys are in worse shape," Eva answered.
"Speaking of them," said Aelita. Both of them turned to see the man Eva cut up being wheeled out on a gurney. "You really did a number on him. I thought you were going to kill him."
Eva watched the man be loaded into a waiting ambulance. She knew she had severed a couple tendons and he would need surgery. His face was swollen from where Eva kicked him. He looked like he was in a fight with a monster.
The police were leading the other men out, having cut the zip-ties so they could walk.
"There's a monster in there!" they shouted. "A monster did this to us!"
Aelita hugged Eva. "You're not a monster," she whispered in French.
Eva wondered if that was true.
Kayla, Part 3
I had Kayla not live on campus for a few reasons. One, I did not like having all the characters, except for Yumi, lumped together in one place in case of a XANA attack. Two, it gave Kayla and Eva a quiet place to be since Kayla's parents are rarely home since they work strange hours at the hospital. Kayla's parents being in the medical field played a large role in the Light and Shadow series. It was in a hospital that Kayla and Eva first met and if it wasn't for Kayla's knowledge of the medical field, there's the chance that Eva could be dead. Kayla was actually a difficult character for me to write. She was nowhere near as intense as Eva and since I was trying to base her off my friend, it made things much harder. In some ways I feel I haven't done enough with Kayla in the series.