Chapter 2 – Awakening
The very next day, as the students were walking through the narrow corridor in between classes, Jasmine was accompanied by Rhonda, Katie, Luthor and another girl with dark black skin, dark brown eyes and short, curly and wavy black hair who appeared to be the same age as Luthor. Just then they were stopped by Jen and her group of friends as Jen came face to face with Jasmine.
"And where do you think you're going, you filthy mongrel?" Jen sneered.
"I'm heading to science class, in case you didn't know," Jasmine snarled back with narrowed eyes.
"People like you don't belong here. You better leave before you and your kind cause even more trouble," Jen growled at her menacingly.
"The hell I will," Jasmine snapped, her eyes simmering with furious indignation.
"Hey, why don't you bugger off, Jen," the black girl retorted angrily at Jen.
"Why should I even listen to you, you filthy, dumb Negro?" Jen sneered with a contemptuous glare.
"Hey, leave Shirley out of this!" Luthor protested angrily.
"Oh, go screw off, you loser!" one of the girls shot back at Luthor.
"Yeah; get lost," another one of the girls smirked at him snidely with a short giggle.
"Why don't you leave us alone, Jen? We're just minding our own business," Katie insisted.
"Like I would ever listen to a treacherous, sneaky Jew like you," Jen replied with an arrogant and condescending smirk.
"If you don't stop bothering us, we're going to tell Ms. Caldwell on you," Rhonda admonished her.
"Go right ahead, retard, but then that would just make you even more of a sissy than you already are," Jen declared haughtily with the smirk still plastered on her face.
Rhonda's face then faltered as she shrunk back and looked away with an abashed expression.
Jasmine's eyes then flashed with anger as she got into Jen's face and stared her down fiercely.
"Last chance, Deson. Bugger off right now or things are about to get really ugly."
"Oh I'm looking forward to it, Shirvani," Jen chuckled evilly while glaring right into her eyes.
She then glanced over to her group of friends and beckoned over to them before she turned back to face Jasmine.
"Get her."
The girls then descended upon Jasmine like a rabid pack of wolves as several of them started to throw a wild barrage of punches at her. Jasmine then shielded her face with her arms as she tried her best to fend off the blows but to no avail. Then before she knew it, she was suddenly blind-sided by a sucker punch to the right side of her face as she tumbled to the ground and struggled to regain her bearings. Then as she received a swift and powerful upper cut to the face, Jasmine's head jerked back violently and she fell back onto the ground while the girls continued to gang up on her.
"Jasmine!" Rhonda shrieked fearfully as she and her friends were held back by some of Jen's friends and they could only watch helplessly as Jen and her cronies continued their merciless and ruthless beat down on Jasmine.
Jasmine then gazed up with bleary eyes with her face puffed up and bruised as she saw Jen pounce on her and proceed to strike and hit her repeatedly with a sadistic and wicked look in her eyes. Then as she continued to be assailed by numerous punches and blows, the voices around her started to dim and muffle softly as her vision gradually began to blur and fade. She could barely hear Rhonda screaming out her name at the top of her lungs.
"Jasmine!"
Allah, help me, Jasmine prayed as she closed her eyes and braced for the final blow.
But then just as things seemed dire, Rhonda's eyes suddenly turned into a shimmering, bright amber as a burning and fiery red aura enveloped her body.
"No…. No… No… No… Jasmine!" Rhonda screamed shrilly as she exploded into a fiery inferno with her hair set alight and broke out of the girl's hold, charging straight for Jen.
Jen then looked behind her just in time to see Rhonda lunging at her with a furious look on her face as she collided straight into her while delivering the hardest and strongest punch to the face that she could muster. Jen was then knocked back as she skidded and rolled onto the ground briefly for a few minutes before she landed on her back and lay there.
It was then that some of the girls charged right for Rhonda as Rhonda shot a couple of fireballs from her hands and knocked them off their feet. Katie's eyes then started glowing a magenta hue as she levitated slightly in the air with a psychic aura and started to toss and slam some of the other girls into their lockers.
Meanwhile, Luthor's hands suddenly developed a brown, rocky and stony sheath as he slammed his fists into the ground, causing a large boulder to erupt out of the floor and launch one of the other girls straight through the ceiling. The girl then screamed at the top of her lungs as she flew through the sky at several miles per hour and soon disappeared from sight.
"Damn, I hope she's okay," Luthor said with a slightly worried look on his face.
"Nah, she'll be fine," Shirley reassured him while waving her hand dismissively. "I'm sure that she'll land somewhere safe."
Jen then got up to her feet slowly with a groan while gazing over at Rhonda with an incredulous and mortified expression. Rhonda narrowed her eyes menacingly with her fists clenched tightly.
"Get out, before I clobber you even more with my fists," she growled in a slightly gravelly and demonic voice.
Jen let out a terrified and panicked scream as she and some of the girls scurried away and disappeared around the corner.
Then once they were gone, Rhonda, Katie and Luthor reverted back to their normal forms as they quickly rushed over to a half-conscious Jasmine, who was still lying on the ground with blood pouring out of her mouth and her face all bruised up.
"Wanker… bitch…" Jasmine hissed in a low voice, coughing slightly.
"Jasmine, are you okay?" Rhonda fretted anxiously as she cradled her friend while glancing down at her. "Can you hear me?"
"Is she gone?" Jasmine whispered, her eyes glazed over and still bleary.
"What is the meaning of this?" Ms. Caldwell demanded angrily as she stepped out of her classroom and saw some of the girls lying on the floor looking half-dazed with soft groans.
"Ms. Caldwell, we can explain…" Katie began with a pleading expression.
"I don't want to hear another word out of any of you. I don't care who started it; you are all getting detention for the rest of the afternoon. As for Miss Shirvani, I am going to call her mother and have her pick her up and take her home for the day," Ms. Caldwell declared sternly. "Now go on then; shoo!"
"Come on guys, let's go," Rhonda sighed as she and the others walked away and headed for their next class just as the tardy bell started to ring.
Ms. Caldwell then walked over to Jasmine and slowly helped her up as she escorted her to the principal's office.
Several hours later, it was late evening as Rhonda and her family were sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner when suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Huh… I wonder who that could be…" Harold mused as he got up to answer it.
Then as soon as he opened the door, he was surprised to see Esther Shirvani, Jack Manning and Rebecca Petrie standing in the doorway.
"Good evening, Mr. Buchanan; I hope we are not interrupting anything," Jack greeted him coolly.
"What on earth is the meaning of this, Rebecca?" Harold demanded sternly with a raised eyebrow.
"Harold, I think it's best if we had this conversation in a more private setting," Rebecca suggested as she and her colleagues entered the flat.
A short time later, Esther, Rebecca and Jack were sitting in the living room as Harold had arranged for Beatrice to make their guests some tea.
"What is the meaning of this? Why are you people here?" Beatrice demanded anxiously as she entered the living room and set the tea kettle down on the living room table.
Jack then grabbed the tea cup and served himself before taking a brief sip as he looked at Harold and Beatrice.
"I know that our sudden appearance might come across as a shock to you, but you see… this is not a social visit. We have important news to share with you both," Jack said.
"Apparently there was an incident at school earlier today where my daughter Jasmine was the victim of a vicious beating by some of the other girls and Rhonda and her friends tried to defend her," Esther coolly explained.
"What?! There was an incident at school?!" Beatrice exploded in fury, seething.
"Now Beattie, try to calm down. You remember what the doctor said; it's not good for the baby to have you be so stressed out," Harold tried to admonish his wife gently.
"Rhonda Sarah Petrie! Get in here right now!" Beatrice shrieked, her body trembling in fury with a twisted scowl.
"Yes, Mum? What is it?" Rhonda asked worriedly as she rushed into the living room and approached her stepmother.
"Were you involved in an incident at school today?" Beatrice demanded with a stern akimbo.
"Yes, Mum, but you see… I was only trying to protect Jasmine because this other girl named Jen was beating the crap out of her…" Rhonda stammered nervously while fidgeting with her hands.
"What Rhonda did today was very admirable," Esther interjected with an encouraging and warm smile.
"Yes, but my daughter shouldn't be getting involved in fights with other girls. I raised her better than that!" Beatrice protested as she turned to shoot a withering glare at her stepdaughter.
"You know better than that!"
"But Mum…" Rhonda stammered, recoiling in fear and anxiety.
"Let's not get carried away here, folks," Jack announced while holding up his hand. "That's not really why we're here today. We're not here because your daughter got into a fight at school; we're here because your daughter's powers got activated during the course of said fight."
"What? You're not serious, are you?" Beatrice balked in horror and disbelief as she and Harold exchanged bewildered glances. "This has got to be some kind of mistake. My daughter is a perfectly normal child. She doesn't have any sort of powers like that…"
Her voice then trailed off as she turned to look at Rhonda with a questioning gaze.
"Do you, sweetheart?"
"Show her, Rhonda; show your mother what you can do," Esther instructed her calmly.
"Okay, Mrs. Shirvani," Rhonda nodded.
She then held out her left hand and started to snap her fingers repeatedly; after a few minutes, a small ember of fire materialized on her index finger as it glowed and flickered softly in front of her. Beatrice just stared at her silently with her eyes wide with shock and horror.
"No… No… No… That's not possible…" she shook her head vehemently.
"But it's true, Mum; I can make fire," Rhonda replied as she waved her hand and the ember dissipated into thin air.
"No! This is all a lie!" Beatrice protested, shaking Rhonda violently. "This is all a lie! You don't have special powers! You are a normal, good Christian girl!"
She then turned around and whipped over to face the trio with a vicious and enraged scowl.
"You are not planting those falsehoods into her head, not if I can help it!"
"Unfortunately, that's not up to you, Beatrice. We've already spoken to the parents of the other children whose powers were also activated today and they are being excused from school for the rest of the week," Rebecca informed her. "Tomorrow morning we are coming here to pick up Rhonda and take her to our headquarters in London so that we can show her what it really means to have special abilities."
"You are not taking her; I won't allow it," Beatrice growled ferociously with narrowed eyes as she shoved her face into Rebecca's.
"I won't allow you to intimidate me, Beatrice. She is my niece and I can do whatever the hell I want with her," Rebecca sneered coldly with a firm, cold glare.
"She is my daughter! She is my flesh and blood! I've raised her since she was a wee little lass!" Beatrice yelled indignantly.
"She is the only thing I have left from my sister and I won't let you take her from me!" Rebecca yelled shrilly.
"That's enough, ladies!" Jack exploded, interrupting their argument. "Now I've had just enough of your ridiculous nonsense. Let's allow cooler heads to prevail and focus on the mission at hand."
He then shot an admonishing look in Rebecca's direction.
"And that goes for you, Special Agent Petrie."
"Sorry, Jack," Rebecca apologized while bowing to him reverently.
"Now with that matter settled, I expect the girl to be ready at 8 a.m. sharp for when we come to pick her up," Jack declared as he and the women got up to leave. "Thank you for the tea but we must take our leave now. Adieu."
Beatrice just glared at him silently as she watched the trio exit the living room.
Then as soon as the federal agents were out the door, Beatrice sighed exasperatedly and shook her head.
"Now come along, Rhonda; go ahead and finish your supper. You got homework to do and then it's off to bed for you and your sister," she ordered as Rhonda and Harold followed her back into the kitchen.
