Ingraham High School

Seattle, Haller Lake

7 hours after the incident

 

Classes were suspended because of the events that happened in the morning, it was 3:00 PM and the school called the parents of the students remaining in the establishment without a means of transportation. Teenagers being teenagers, the gossip mill was going full blast as they discussed this morning’s incident.

“Hey did you hear?” A handsome blond haired boy began to gossip with his friends at a table at the far end of the cafeteria. “Von Braun stopped some nerd who triggered, from killing students today.”

“Yeah, I was there dude. Kyle, there was this guy who wanted to burn Harry alive and everyone around him and SWISH, Von Braun was there to stop him with her ice powers and KAPOW elbowed him in the face and broke his nose putting him in a coma. It was awesome, man.” A geeky teenager of Asian descent relayed what he had witnessed. He then took a bite from a chocolate bar.

“Tssk, boys really.” A young raven-haired woman rolled her eyes the first year boys, hearing them give inaccurate information. She, who was a second year student, with a smug voice relayed. “That’s not what happened, it’s just another case of bullying gone wrong!”

“What do you mean, Kelly?” The blond boy, Kyle, asked, he and his asian friend looked interested and bent forward in their seats, giving the young woman their undivided attention.

The girl flashed them a sly smile and bent forward towards them; taking care to adjust her red top’s neckline to avoid showing too much; she didn’t want them to focus on her breasts but on her words.

“That guy who burned Harry? His name is Ernest Culver, he was that nerdy boy that Harry and his crew kept bullying and humiliating ever since he got into this school. You remember, no-one wanted to meddle and ignored the issue! Even the school’s principal did nothing to help, even telling the teachers to look the other way. Now look at what happened, the boy triggered, became a superhuman and went on a rampage wanting to settle old scores. Oh, and I heard Harry wasn’t the only heavily injured victim: his crew? Those two guys, Trent and Len got done in, they are dead.”

“Seriously?!” The asian boy sat straight in his seat and looked at her wide-eyed and with a bit of fear showing on his face.

“Wow, Satoshi! So Von Braun saved our bacon.” Kyle looked in wonder at his friend and high fived him. They exchanged goofy and relieved smiles.

“You bet she did, that girl is the nicest person I know and she’s a hero too.” The young woman has always been Elissa’s acquaintance, they share a table in French 3 after all.

Kelly remembered it clearly, the redhead ran out of the classroom when she heard the screams of the students in the neighboring building and she followed her, after all, she knew Elissa was superhuman too, like her. But she didn’t know that the redhead had more power than she let everyone believe and blasted freeze rays at that little fire guy and took him out. Then Kelly stayed close to her and learned about what that guy did while Elissa healed him. The heck! Elissa had multiple abilities?! She had healed Harry’s burns as he was the one in the most critical situation and when Harry regained consciousness, she heard what had happened to his friends and also why.

*So, yeah I know everything.* Kelly thought smugly.

“Well yeah Von Braun is nice but... she’s kind of haughty.” The blond boy still didn’t like her that much. He crossed his arms while sitting straight, his eyes hard, daring anyone to challenge his opinion.

His best friend, Satoshi did.

“Take it back! Von Braun is awesome, she helped me when I was doing a math project with her; you say that just because she ignored you when you asked her out!” Satoshi revealed, looking pissed off by his friend.

Kelly glared at Kyle, there are some people you can’t just badmouth like that, particularly a gem like Elissa.

Kyle’s shoulders slumped and he lowered his gaze when Kelly looked at him with a knowing smile. After all, Elissa Von Braun-Halliwell was known to have shot down almost every boy in Ingraham.

“What is she doing now? I saw Von Braun and her mother going to the principal’s office.” Satoshi was worried, Principal Cavros was a slime, a Scrooge, and a wannabe politician. He often asked himself how the man got to his position. The asian boy thought that nothing good would come from the man.

Kelly’s smartphone beeped, she took it in her hands and fiddled with it. Her eyes opened in disbelief before anger flared in them. The two boys, Kyle and Satoshi, squirmed in their seats and kept silent before finding some courage to ask what was wrong.

“Bad news?” Attempted Kyle.

“You can say that.” Kelly growled.

“Come on, tell us! Or is it personal? If so, we don’t want to pry.” Kyle argued.

“The principal wants to expel Elissa!” Kelly looked at the two boys balefully, anger in her voice.

The boys understood that it wasn’t them who pissed her off, they felt a bit relieved at that. But the news she divulged had overridden their selfish and petty concerns.

“What?!” Satoshi stood up from his seat and slapped the table with his hands.

“Is he nuts?!” Kyle questioned the sanity of the principal.

Elissa had saved so many students in the administrative building and avoided a lot of infrastructure damage, and this was how their shitty principal reacted? Kyle and Satoshi looked at each other and then nodded in sync. The boys took out their smartphones to share the news, their own opinions about this entire affair, and how much the Principal sucked and how everything that happened was his fault.

---

“What do you mean, you want to expel my daughter?” Malicia asked.

Her voice and gaze were cold, looking at the oxygen wasting, pathetic excuse of a, presumed, man, that sat before her; he wore a grey suit with a black tie. His head was clean shaven, Malicia couldn’t even see his eyes, not that she wanted to, hidden by his trifocal glasses. Seated behind his desk, Principal Nathaniel Cavros wiped the sweat from his forehead as Malicia glowered at him.

“I-It’s what I am going to do, I w-was just informing you, M-Mrs Von Braun-Halliwell.” The troglodyte dared to stutter, and with big globs of saliva escaping his mouth too; fortunately, Malicia was out of range of the disgusting missiles.

Malicia's eyes suddenly gained a yellowish green glow, her hair raised and flowed as if an unseen wind breezed through. Nathaniel swallowed his saliva with difficulty. At first he thought her to be one of those attractive and gorgeous trophy wives but, those thoughts were short lived before the terrifying woman in front of him. He had tried to put on a front of apathy, and told her what he planned to do in order to escape having those dangerous superhumans in his school; but, she was Elissa Von Braun-Halliwell’s mother, she herself seemed to be made of stern stuff. 

When he had the daughter here in his office after the incident, he shouted at her, blaming the situation on her but, she looked at him as if everything he told her didn’t concern her at all, and it pissed Nathaniel off, who exploded and told her that he was expelling her. 

Now, the mother was here before him and she wasn’t intimidated at all, hell it was him who was sweating buckets under her gaze.

“I see, there is nothing that will stop you from doing this?” The dae gave him one last chance, she was, after all, a magnanimous woman.

“T-t-that's right, n-nothing!” The degenerate was too dumb and stubborn to recognise the benevolent grace that was presented to him.

The sorceress raised her chin, the glow in her eyes dimmed a little, but was still there as she continued speaking, “Is that so, then I am done here. I shall speak of this with your replacement.” Malicia cast the most powerful curse she knew for this type of ‘man’ and stood up from her chair. As she closed her eyes and smiled, an instinctive sense of pleasure, from having punished this individual for his indiscretion, filled her. Malicia knew the man was a rat and a prejudiced bigot; so, she cursed him in the most severe way for that kind of man: to always say the truth, and whatever passed through his head.

*He will never shut up after I leave through this door.* She thought with satisfaction.

“Huh, what are you talking about?” He asked pitifully.

Malicia didn't answer him she was already at the door and she slammed it with relish. As she left, Nathaniel was left alone wondering if he wasn't too hasty with his decision. Sweat permeated his back and forehead; The man made a fist and slammed it on his oak desk, making his pens, computer screen and ashtray jump from it.

“What was that? Is she one of those freaks too?! Shit, they are everywhere!! If I could, I’d kill them all!” Nathaniel shouted.

He didn’t notice that his conversation was being heard through the door by his secretary, who shook her head. The woman had always suspected that he was one of those superhuman bigots, but there was never anything that confirmed it. The woman straightened her silver-rimmed glasses and typed furiously on her computer, sharing everything the principal was saying over the school’s intranet reserved for staff usage.

---

Malicia joined Elissa in the waiting room, it was sparsely decorated and there were posters of the school’s past athletes on the bland grey walls, the tiles were old and their patterns had faded with time. There was a low table with out-of-date magazines on it and a water dispenser with plastic cups on the left wall. The young girl was seated in an uncomfortable plastic and steel chair, the redhead still managed to act with poise and elegance, cross-legged, going through her smartphone. It made Malicia smile; the sorceress stood there looking at her adopted daughter, she wasn’t her blood but it felt like it. Malicia would die for her, or conquer this world and break her enemies under her heels.

*Maybe later, when we take back the throne.* With this dangerous thought out of the way, Malicia smiled and went to her daughter.

“Mom.” Elissa looked at Malicia with sadness, and relief, from seeing her here.

The young girl put her phone in her cardigan’s inner pocket and went to hug her mother tightly, Malicia prepared herself with an invisible force-shield spell encasing her; as strong as her children were, they could crush her bones and kill her if she wasn’t this careful with their monstrous strength. In each other's arms, the two women held onto each other tightly. Elissa let herself go and her tears flowed, she sobbed and sniffed. Malicia held on, patting her daughter’s back and led her to the chairs to let Elissa cry it out. The sorceress looked at the door, which closed with just a glance and locked it with her willpower alone; additionally,the door’s window glass became opaque.

*I will not let anyone see her this way.* Malicia thought.

Aware that her daughter was a really private person; she would not let anyone see her crying or in distress. After all, Malicia raised her to be a free spirit with the manners of a lady, and ladies did not let anyone see their tears.

“Mom, why is this happening? I just wanted to help, why did Principal Cavros treat me this way?” Elissa asked between sobs.

Malicia envisioned going back to that asshole’s office and throwing that troglodyte of a principal into a planar rift leading to hell, where he would be ruthlessly sodomized for eternity, but she calmed herself. Her daughter needed her love and affection, as well as answers.

“Simple, he is afraid of you and of superhumans in general, but don’t let him get to you. You have done something truly brave today and made it possible for more children to go back to their families alive.” Malicia said.

Normally, the sorceress would have avoided spouting sappy, feel-good nonsense, but Elissa needed it. Moreover, it was true; that troglodyte of a principal was a super-hater and was barely able to hide it. It showed in how he treated them and how low the superhuman population of this school was. Malicia had already taken steps to change this, but she doubted that her husband would let Elissa attend this school in the future, even if he was unseated.

“But- but he…” Elissa was left speechless and could scarcely believe what she heard.

“Don’t defend him, don’t worry, I have taken things into my hands and his fate is henceforth sealed.” Malicia’s voice was soothing and as fine as silk, it was almost reassuring, if not for the ominous sentence she just sprouted.

Elissa went still as if paralyzed by this news; her mother was kind and warm, and she could rely on her; but Malicia was, unfortunately, overprotective, too much sometimes. Four years ago, after the kidnapping incident, Malicia disappeared, left her with her father and went on a rampage all over Europe to punish the ones responsible. The young girl trembled just thinking about it.

“Treasure, don't worry, there will be no blood spilled.” Malicia guessed Elissa’s thoughts, her voice still had that reassuring and silky tone as she delicately caressed the young girl’s head.

The young girl looked at her mother with puffy red eyes, and chose to believe in her. She wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardise her family after all. Elissa closed her eyes and gave into the soothing feeling of her mother’s embrace. Malicia smiled, happy that her daughter wouldn’t give her grief over the actions she has taken. Living with a goodie-two-shoes had become rather restrictive and forced her to curb her demonic instincts. The sorceress noticed that she was very different from the Dark Sorceress of the Faerie Dells she used to be, now she was a housewife, a businesswoman, and a magical tool dealer. Sometimes, even she couldn’t recognise herself in the mirror, and it took only sixteen years.

*Family is wondrous.*

---

Parking Lot

Ingraham High School

Seattle, Haller Lake

15:50 PM

 

An armored black SUV with the initials B.S.A, over a shield and eagle, on its roof and doors drove from 130th street to Ashworth Avenue passing by the enclosed sports field beside the  School. Two women were in the vehicle, one clearly of asian ancestry and the other caucasian. Two law enforcement investigators dispatched to sort out the situation in this High School.

Ada Fong wrote a text on her smartphone and sent it to dispatch as she arrived on site of the incident at Ingraham High School. Her partner, Jill Muir was parking the car in the lot. Ada Fong was of sino-american ethnicity, she had pale and creamy skin with asian traits; her silky short black hair was styled in a pixie cut. Her red faux leather short jacket married well with the rest of her outfit; a tight black top with tight fitting pants of a similar color and ankle boots.

As for Jill, she was in a more conservative outfit, it was a black and stylish pantsuit with a low neckline white top covered by a long white winter coat, her low black boots contrasted with the entire outfit. Jill was a sandy blonde-haired woman with grey eyes and her face was beautiful yet elegant with voluptuous pink lips. She was as fit as any superhuman female and looked like one of those models you would see on a women’s sports magazine.

“I hate this weather, I hate winter, and I hate this neighborhood.” Ada looked at the sky with a hateful glare.

“I remember you saying that it was a good opportunity to come here.” Her partner said.

Jill giggled, sparks of amusement in her steel grey eyes, once she parked the armored SUV, the investigator took her tablet out and reviewed the case that happened here. Ada and Jill were investigators for the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, a branch of the Seattle Police Department co-opted by the Superhuman League and Washington State.

Ada growled at Jill’s quip, ignored her, and took her own service tablet out and reviewed the files about the ‘bullying gone wrong’ that happened here this morning.

At eight this morning, one Ernest Culver, awakened to the superhuman state, entered the school and faced a group of three male students: Harry Lawson, Len McCoy, and Trent Chase; members of the Junior varsity football team of Ingraham High School. These individuals had bullied Culver since the start of his sophomore year. Culver fought against the three baseline humans, burning one, Chase, to death before beating another, McCoy, to death; the third bully, Lawson, ran to the school building; however, was caught when Culver, with his superior physique, pursued him. Culver then attempted to burn Lawson alive, but was neutralized by a second superhuman, a young girl named Elissa Von Braun-Halliwell. Von Braun-Halliwell, healed the victim of his burns before EMTs arrived and took him to the Northwest Hospital. Culver was sedated, bound with inhibitor shackles and taken to the Superhuman Detention Center on Mercer Island.

The raven-haired woman touched a recent picture of the battered Harry Lawson on her tablet and suddenly memories that weren’t hers flowed into her mind. She saw the young man’s early life, he was loved and spoiled, he grew to be a young man that thought himself privileged and his future assured because his parents had a little money. Harry had been a bully since his time in kindergarten, a lot of kids were abused by him. 

Like a predator, he had been victimising those that did not fit in or were isolated from the social cliques and a bit different. Ada’s mind fast forwarded through the wave of memories to arrive at what he did to Ernest, and this disgusted her. He and his posse humiliated  and tortured the boy; beating him up and sending him naked into the cold wasn’t enough, they even burned Ernest’s skin with their lit cigarettes, they loved hearing his screams as the fiery cigarettes left their marks on his body.

Ada’s finger ceased contact with the screen, her mouth became a flat line and her eyes face became a mask of revulsion.

*No wonder the boy snapped.*

“What did you see, how bad was it?” Asked Jill.

Ada’s ability was a special one, just by touching a picture with someone in it, she could see the memories, and know the thoughts, of the targeted individual, up until the moment the photograph was taken.

“Yep, bullying gone wrong, those three boys deserved what happened to them; they poked the bear and it crushed them.”

“Ada, you know this kind of thinking won’t fly at HQ…” Jill warned.

“I know, I know! But it’s just, this is disgusting! How come no one saw that coming? It should have been noticed.” The asian woman was always disgusted by what she saw of people with her ability. Her power made her unable to trust humanity as a whole, only select people like Jill were able to keep her from going crazy. Her partner was like a ray of sunshine; Jill Muir was honest, felt alive and was a straight shooter.

“You know how it is, hon. Those three were members of the varsity team, and the less than ethical coaches and principals always hide those ugly things. I don’t think it will be any different in this establishment. Come on, let’s go! There are chances we can book this case before dinner.” The blonde woman lightened the atmosphere, always wanting to protect Ada from the darkness brought by her power.

“Yeah, right.” Ada laughed mirthlessly at that.

Ada touched the picture of Elissa Von Braun-Halliwell, curious about the story of this young girl, and closed her eyes, focusing to let her memories flow in her mind, but nothing came to her. The investigator opened her eyes and touched her photo again, but, yet again, nothing came. She touched the other boy’s photos and the memories came to her and tried Von Braun again.

“Shit!” The Asian woman swore, her face a mixture of surprise and disbelief.

“What?” Jill’s attention was snatched from checking her issued M1911 pistol.

Ada showed her partner the tablet with Elissa Von Braun-Halliwell’s picture dead center in the middle of the screen. “I can’t read the girl! This is the first time this has happened to me…”

Jill widened her eyes, speechless and thought fast. This couldn’t be happening? Ada’s abilities failing? It never had before.

“Wait, try again?” Jill said wanting to know if it was true.

Ada closed her eyes in frustration and shook her head. “I already did, nothing is coming.” The asian woman looked at the young girl’s picture as if it was the enigma of the year. She thought that her ability was nearly impossible to avoid, but here is a young girl causing her to doubt herself and her power.

“Curiouser and curiouser.” Jill pondered.

The blonde investigator put a hand on the pistol and sheathed it in her shoulder holster. Her tablet went into her bag and she kept silent while thinking of how someone could block a superpower from working at a distance.

“We will have to talk to her, this is a problem,” Ada said with a resolute tone.

Jill looked at her partner and flashed her a smile.

“You know what this means? We will have to do it the old fashioned way.” The blonde woman quipped.

Ada closed her eyes and made a fist, then her shoulders slumped in defeat.

“Damnit.”