Chapter 10: I conquer death
I opened my eyes, taking in the smell of scorched earth. As I looked around, all the memories of last night came flooding back to me. The meteorite. The orb. Jess. "Whoa" I mumbled as I stood up stutterering around like a drunken beggar. Across the field lay the smoking remains of the maths block. Even though I had a million more important things on my mind, like how to get my friend back from that orb, I smiled. At least there was an upside to this whole mess: No maths lessons.
I walked over to the lodge, and passed the pile of rubble that 12 hours ago one of my best friends had received a prize, that she promised to share with me. Hopefully someday- after I rescue Jessica of course- I'd be able to go to Spain, I thought wistfully. It was amazing that I was so sure that I had to go after that orb, and rescue Jess, in the short, unconscious space of 10 hours. The door I had held open the day before to let that herd of children in was now unhinged, the paint peeling off from the heat of yesterdays fire. I carefully opened the door, and it gave a loud groan, and then collapsed to the ground. The sound of wood meeting floor echoed down the hallway. I stepped inside, and let out a shiver. This place looks awful, I thought sadly.
I stumbled down the stairs towards the development chambers. Hopefully they're all still here, if they're alive, I thought miserably. But as I walked down the corridor, I heard nervous laughter and whispering above me. I tried to work out where it came from. Up the stairs, down the corridor, up the other flight of stairs, past the courtyard... I grinned. The dining hall!
I ran all the way there, then burst through the door. A hundred and sixty nine faces all stared at me in horror. The room was so silent you could hear my heavy breathing. Morgan stood up, tears in her eyes. "Well" she began, "she's alive at least, but I'm afraid the fashion police are going to have to hear about this" she beckoned towards me. Only then did I realise the state I was in. My clothes were torn and scorched, and my hair was matted with mud and blood and the wound on my leg was oozing pus. "So the zombie looks not in" I asked with mock disappointment. Morgan grinned.
Suddenly, Autumn stood up, concern written all over her face. "But where's Jess" she asked. The good mood shattered. I turned away, tears in my eyes. "She got taken" I began, my choked up voice cutting through the pause, "but I'll get her back". Morgan slumped back onto her chair, a blank look on her face. Autumn started crying. All of a sudden, Owen burst through the door, "Okay everyone, breakfast is over, please go up to the sink and"- he paused, catching the mood. Then he spotted me, standing at the front of the hall, bleeding and crying. "Georgia" he gasped, then a mask of concern appeared, "but where's Jessica". I tried to tell him, but the school nurse pushed past Owen, and ran over to my side. "No one speaks to the girl until she's had a good hot meal in her, got cleaned up and has received new clothes" she said, softly but firmly guiding me over to the infirmary.
Two hours later, and I was sitting in Owens study, nervously sucking a boiled sweet. "Now" Owen began, looking at me sternly, "I want you to tell me EVERYTHING that happened last night". I took a deep breath, and told him everything, from meeting Finn and Michael, to when Michael collapsed, to the meteorite, the orb [that got a concerned look from Owen] and the dream. "And then I found you all here" I finished. There was a long pause. "Okay" began Owen slowly, "well, thank you for telling me that, now you have to go to your COLA class". I frowned. "A what?"I asked him. He sighed. "Look, Morgan is outside and it's her second time, so she'll tell you" he replied, starting to gather the notes he had been taking throughout my recount of yesterday night. I nodded, and walked out the door.
"So, just to recap" Morgan explained five minute later, "this 'COLA class' is all about the history of us" she pointed to herself. "So, it's about our Mum's" I asked. She nodded, guiding me down a narrow corridor. "Yes, and it's about why we have our powers too- hey" she paused, and studied my face, "are you sure you're well enough". I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'm fine, now can we please get to the lesson" I asked as we entered the giant hall.
There were 20-odd COLA'S in there, all chatting nervously. We sat down near the front, next to a dark-haired boy. Morgan saw him and suddenly looked panicked. "Maybe we should move" she whispered to me. I frowned.
"Why" I asked, and then smiled as the boy turned round. Morgan groaned in despair. "You" the boy said, his dark eyes full of hatred. I gave Morgan a confused look. Something hard smacked into my shoulder, and I yelped in pain. The boy and his friends were all laughing at me, and one of them punched my shoulder again. I glared at them. "What have I ever done to you" I asked. Suddenly, he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me closer to him. "You" he spat, digging his nails deeper into my flesh, "killed my Jess".
I froze. How could he accuse me of that? All my life I had been accused of things, just because my Mum had died when I was little so people just assumed that I had been brought up incorrectly. Stealing items, bullying, cheating, and lying. You name it; I had been accused of it. But this? Never.
"How can you say that" I asked, trying to ignore the tear-wrenching pain in my arm, "I tried to save her". The boy snorted. "Well, why should we believe you?" He replied, "You said that an orb took her. What kind of a cover up is that"? I glared at him. "She never even liked you, she always fancied Scott Bailey" I retorted, then instantly regretted saying his name when I saw the look the dark-haired boy gave his gang. "Anyway" I continued, hoping to make the boy forget about poor Scott, "if you did love her, why didn't you look for her when Morgan announced she was missing, instead of cowering away in the development chambers". The boy roared, and lunged at me.
"Dean Anderson, what are you doing" boomed a voice through the loudspeakers. The boy stopped in mid-lunge, and turned his worried face towards the Head. "I...I" he stuttered, all his cockiness gone. "I shall see you after the lesson" Mrs. Sartre warned, "now, go sit at the back, but first you must apologise to Georgia". Dean turned towards me, his face bright red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry" he muttered, kicking the floor with his new converse boots. I nodded at him, and he quickly shuffled over to the back.
"Right" Mrs Sartre began, "let's begin". Two boys walked onto the stage, smiling nervously. I stared. One of them was the shapeshifting boy who turned into a fox, and the other looked like one of the teens by the lake, with tufty blonde hair and pale green eyes.
"Umm" began the shapeshifter, "we would like to tell you a bit about ourselves before we begin, I'm Dax and I'm a shapeshifter, and this is Gid and he's a Telle". The boy called Gideon waved at us all, pulling a goofy smile. "Okay" began Dax, "firstly, we are all aware that none of our mums lived past our fourth birthdays, but do you know why?" Nobody answered.
"Because they all came from an alien planets" Gideon replied, "and those planets each had their own powers, and because they wanted earth to become like them, they send down women to mate with intelligent males and have us, COLA'S" Gideon pointed to himself. Dax nodded, "yes, and they only sent down women because they're bodies could survive longer than the males, but after they gave birth their immune systems failed and... in the end they died" Dax's voice caught at the end of his sentence.
I suddenly felt very guilty. My mum sacrificed herself so that she could have me. Tears started to run down my face. "The fathers immunity was passed down to the child and ta-da, you've got yourself a COLA" Gideon continued. "We still don't know why the COLA project suddenly ended up with sixty nine more COLA'S five years after the first hundred, but the theory is that the planets wanted to reinforce the COLA population" Dax finished.
"How did the COLA club find out about this" I asked Morgan as we were walking up to our dormitory. "Dax-the boy with dark hair-and another boy went up a mountain, where they actually travelled to one of the 'alien planets'" she replied. I gasped at her. How cool is that, I thought. I opened the door, and we walked over to the sofa. Autumn was sitting on the floor looking out of the window. "What's the matter" I asked, even though I already knew her answer. "I'm just so worried about Jess"Autumn replied, "I mean, who knows what, that ORB was? It could be anything".
I stood up, and walked over to the window. "Don't worry" I said, pressing my face against the cool glass, "I'm going to get her back". Finally telling someone liberated me from the huge weight that was on my shoulders. I heard Morgan splutter behind me. "But you don't know where Jess or The Orb is, and besides it's too dangerous" Autumn warned. I turned around to face them.
"I know" I began, "but I have to get her back". Then I turned back to the window, and watched the rain fall down the glass like teardrops.