PART 7: as told by Massie

I hadn't intended to fall asleep in Claire's room, but I'd been waiting all night for her to return and watching the sun disappear behind the trees wasn't exactly enthralling enough to keep me awake for all those hours.

I heard the window slide open and I tumbled off the bed gracefully and landed on my hands and knees, stifling a yelp of pain. I listened intently. I knew flying boy would return her. Those creeps wouldn't risk walking through the doors, especially now that the founders had established armed guards to patrol the perimeter at night.

"Thanks Derrick," Claire cooed sincerely, and I heard a faint high five exchange of some sort.

"Do some homework and stomp some suspicions," he advised her in a low voice. "You can't disappear for a few days and expect no one to care."

"I'm not really known here," Claire said sheepishly, "Not many people care if I'm gone."

Derrick snickered. "You're so weird." There was a faint swish of air and I sensed Derrick had gone.

I stood shakily.

Claire screamed and I bolted across the room to clamp a hand over her mouth.

"Shut up," I hissed. "It's me."

She yanked my hand off her face. "Massie? It's so dark. Sorry." She stumbled across the room half blindly and located the light switch. She slapped it on and looked at me, exasperated. "What are you doing here?"

"You're conspiring with them, aren't you, Claire?" I said before I could stop myself.

She froze, and the semi-indignant expression dropped from her face. She stared, vacantly. "No, I was just visiting my family," she explained in a flat voice, "Derrick offered to fly me home"—

"Oh stop it, you know I know, you're just insulting my intelligence now," I sneered.

She frowned. "Massie, I'm sorry, this is hard to describe, but it's just"—

"Landon's dangerous, Claire," I said, impatient. "You can't go around planning to overthrow the founders lightheartedly. It's not just a plan that'll fall through and you'll be safe to go."

"I know, I know," Claire insisted quickly. "But the founders need to be overthrown. We won't kill them or anything."

I laughed shortly. "With Landon, killing has to be involved, trust me."

Claire tilted her chin upwards and a defiant look crossed her face. "Massie. I don't need you telling me what I can and can't do. I'm fine on my own. Actually, I prefer it that way. I don't need you scolding me all the time."

I narrowed my eyes. "I'm scolding you because you're going to get yourself killed. I'm protecting you," I added, softening my tone to lighten the mood of our argument.

"Protecting me?" Claire scoffed. "I didn't come to this school just because I have powers. No one knew at home anyway. I came to achieve some sort of independence. And having you breathe down my back about my every decision isn't really helping."

With that, she gently pushed me towards the door. "No harm intended," she murmured, avoiding my eyes. "I just don't need you right now."

When I'd been successfully sissy-shoved from her room, she slammed the door in my face. My jaw was slack.

I turned and strode down the hallway with newfound determination. If I couldn't talk her out of this insanity, I knew one person who could.

I wasn't in the mood for petty distractions, but the first class I had the following morning was Supernatural Sciences. Dempsey would be there, sitting beside me, lazily answering impossible scientific questions without the least of trouble, and being adorably cute.

When I dumped my books on my desk and sighed, he sensed trouble and immediately swooped in to save me from my grim mood. We weren't really friends yet, just companions who smiled shyly in the halls and exchanged plain conversations outside of class on rare occasions. With Claire being the way she was and Landon planning to overthrow the school in which I presently sat, I didn't think I would have the patience to handle Dempsey induced anxiety.

"You okay?" he asked softly. His eyes were gleaming with compassion.

"Yeah," I lied automatically. "Just…things are happening, you know?"

He nodded like he knew. "Tell me about it," he sympathized. "I mean, one day you're having fun in school, the next day you're trying to…." He trailed off mysteriously, and then smiled faintly.

I cussed internally. I had a creeping feeling Dempsey was newly involved with the whole "destroy the school!" deal. But he didn't know Landon. He didn't know Claire. And I doubted his power was particularly fantastic, since he was never out in the courtyard practicing with friends like others did. During those hours after classes I noticed him sitting on the stone wall that enclosed the courtyard with Chris, just talking, observing. Chris. Of course. Chris and Landon had been good friends. He hadn't really tried to save Landon like I had, but they were still close. Close enough to reunite, and maybe drag Dempsey into it too?

I turned to Dempsey. "Can I ask you something personal, something that you never talk about?" I asked him. The teacher was peacefully surveying his class, waiting for them to calm before starting the lesson, and the enthusiastic voices surrounding us provided a good cover. After I knew his power, I could infer whether it was something Landon would use for his small battalion or not. Then I'd ask him about Landon. I'd get the answers out of him very quickly.

He nodded tentatively. "Sure, I guess."

I bit my lower lip nervously. "What's your ability?"

His plain expression flickered with panic. "Why do you ask?"

"Well everyone here is so open about it. Except you," I pointed out, trying to sound casual.

"It's um, kind of…" he paused. "Something I don't discuss a lot."

"Why? Do people tell you it's not good enough or something?" I prompted.

"Not really." He lowered his head a little. "I don't like talking about it."

I wasn't in the mood for shy obstinacy. "Well, is it related to the gloves? Because you never take them off."

He attempted a light-hearted laugh, but he was hardly an actor. "They're just gloves."

"Yeah, and those are just chains," I countered, pointing subtly to the kid in the back of the class with an intense case of ADHD—and super speed, who had to be chained to his desk in order to keep still. "It's all the same. Restrictions for our powers. Sometimes they're visible, sometimes not. For me it's that they don't let me look at travel magazines or watch travel television. I'm not totally in control of my teleportation, and seeing distant places just…sets me off." I tried to smile. "I'm not going to judge you."

He seemed to be persuaded. He sighed and leaned into his chair. "I'm perfectly in control. I can be the most in control super ever to live and I'll still have to wear these."

I nodded, as if I understood completely. I was still eagerly awaiting his explanation of his ability.

"Okay, I'll tell," he said reluctantly, and just as he opened his mouth to continue the teacher clapped and brought the class's attention to the front.

Dempsey seemed grateful for the distraction.

After classes, I wandered down the halls in search of Cam. His dorm door was slightly ajar, so I cautiously peered inside.

"Massie?"

I groaned internally. Of course his roommate would be there. And of course he would harangue me for hours on end. Kemp was infatuated with me. It started months ago, and an end wasn't in sight.

Kemp greeted me at the door, grinning like an idiot. "How come you're here? I thought you and Cam weren't really great friends anymore. I mean, you have that little club and all but I heard from Kristen you never really speak, and it makes me kind of sad, because you were such a great team, and also"—

"Kemp," I interrupted him briskly. Kemp loved the sound of his own voice more than anything else. His ability was outrageously powerful—the power of mind control through speech—but that didn't mean he had to talk this much. "I need to speak with Cam. Please."

Kemp's smile dropped. "Okay. Well. He's right here." He led me into their messy dorm room, where Cam sat stiffly on his bed, chewing a pencil and staring vacantly at a math workbook.

"Hey," I greeted him softly.

He raised his head and grimaced. "Oh. Hey."

Things were still uncomfortable between us. After he saw Landon, we returned, and I tried to explain everything. In an exasperated huff, he'd taken off, and we hadn't really spoken since.

"Um, Kemp, could you give us a minute?" I asked sweetly, turning to widen my eyes at him. He looked up from pretending to read an upside down copy of To Kill a Mockingbird (my favorite book) and licked his lips unhappily. "Okay, then," he said dejectedly, and he slouched out of the room, shutting the door slowly behind him.

I took a seat on Kemp's bed, which faced Cam's, and sighed. "Claire's in trouble."

"She always is, these days," he said noncommittally, not even looking up from his math equations.

"Cam, listen," I pleaded. "She's with Landon. And maybe Chris and Dempsey too. She's with them, all the time, and it's dangerous. I know you can talk her out of it."

"She can suppress Landon's powers, she's fine," he insisted, indolently waving the problems away without evaluating them.

"No," I protested angrily. "She's not fine. She's in trouble."

"Listen," Cam said abruptly, pushing the math workbook off his lap and sitting up very straight, finally allowing me some eye contact. "Landon is done. Stop worrying."

"Done?" I echoed uneasily.

"Why do you think the founders established a night patrol? The founders know he's around here. They've seen Derrick bring Claire back to her room. He flies high, but not high enough to not be seen. They know everyone who's involved, and if we start trying to help, we're screwed too."

It took me a few moments to process this. "When did this happen?" I choked out.

He sighed. "I don't know, A few days ago. I only know because Alicia told Josh she heard one of the founders thinking about it when she passed him in the hall. His office is layered with a chemical that repels abilities, so no one can sneak up and hear his thoughts, and he's rarely in the halls, so this was rare. It was lucky she heard this."

"She didn't tell me?" I couldn't control the incredulousness in my voice.

"Well you've been off trying to save everyone or something," he muttered, almost under his breath.

"Cam. What are the founders going to do?" I held my breath.

He shrugged. "Betrayal warrants proper punishment," he recited in a monotone. It was one of the 10 main guidelines of the school.

Cam was utterly useless in this situation. I stood up and left the room before I could issue a proper goodbye. Not that he deserved it, though.

I was back to Claire's dorm room. My thoughts were scattered. Not only did the French prophet see trouble with Claire's new friends, and a vicious fire with its victim deep within its flames, but also now the founders were posing a more serious dangers to her safety.

I knocked relentlessly until my impatience got the better of me and I teleported inside the room. There, gathered in the tiny room, was Claire, Landon, Dempsey and Chris. Staring at me blankly.

"What the…"

"Massie?" Dempsey said slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, frantic. "I knew you were involved in this!"