“It’s too dangerous,” Crow said as Annabelle pinched her, signaling her not to tell him anything.

  “You could die,” she added, ignoring Anna’s signals.

  “Well,” he said as he gave Anna and her friends a quick glance.

  “They are still alive aren’t they?” He took a step closer to Crow to whisper in her ear.

  “One wrong move and you’re exposed,” he said, slowly whispering in her ear. Annabelle and her friends just stood there defeated as they watched James blackmail Crow.

  “We’ll add you to the team,” she said, refusing to look at Annabelle who was clearly against her decision.

  “We begin on Monday. If you run, try to kill me, or even wipe my memory, my guys will know. I have spectators everywhere and if they find out I have no memory of this encounter, you will be exposed,” he said as he slowly walked out on them.

  “Why didn’t you do anything?!” Jackson screamed, drawing the attention of other students.

  “Lower your voice, I couldn’t do anything,” Crow said, disappointed in herself.

  “He could have been bluffing,” Joanna said, wishing Crow had done something.

  “Yes, but there’s also a chance he was telling the truth. I listened to his heartbeat but it was steady, like he was confident,” Crow said.

  “Let’s regroup on Monday, I doubt he will do anything before then,” Jackson said, shortly after which everyone dispersed.

  Annabelle’s weekend was nothing but threats and love messages from James Bludovitch. She repeatedly called Joanna and Jackson to complain, but she was just told to relax and wait.

  ***

  It was a rainy Monday morning, and in the weather forecast, it was stated that it was going to rain throughout the day. Students arrived at the school premises in their raincoats and umbrellas, chatting and laughing as their shoes made soft splashing sounds on the floor with every step they took.

  Annabelle gently lowered her umbrella the moment she entered the school building. She attended her morning classes that day, trying not to look at James who kept on smirking at her. The other students seemed to have forgotten about the treasure incident and everything was back to normal for her.

  “When are we meeting the librarian?” James asked. It was lunchtime and most students had headed for the cafeteria, leaving Anna, Joanna, James and some other students in the classroom.

  Joanna was about to tell James to leave Anna alone, but he dismissed her.

  “One word from you and I’ll make your life here miserable,” he said, as he turned to Anna and kept on talking.

  “Come on, don’t be hesitant. Jackson isn’t here to beat me up,” he said as he leaned closer to Anna, their faces only inches apart.

  “Could you please step back?” Annabelle asked, refusing to lean backward.

  “What was that?” he leaned forward, their lips nearly touching just as Annabelle slapped him hard on his left cheek.

  The sound of the slap echoed throughout the classroom, drawing the attention of the students.

  “What are you looking at?!” James asked one of the students who was watching them.

  “Nnnnotthing,” the student said, quickly averting his eyes.

  “Get out!” James bellowed, as the student quickly packed his books and left the class.

  “Now where were we?” he said, gently rubbing his burning face.

  “Let’s go,” Annabelle said as she stood from her seat and walked out of the class, Joanna and James behind her.

  On getting to the library, “That’s strange,” James said, looking at Crow’s seat which was occupied by someone else.

  “Welcome to my world,” Annabelle said, as she headed out of the library.

  “Where are you going?” James said, as he grabbed her hand and pulled her close to himself.

  “Let me go, you disgusting creature!” Annabelle screamed, causing a scene in the hallway. She yanked her hand off his grip, ripping the sleeve of her turtleneck in the process.

  “Well,” he said, and grabbed her again. She struggled to break free but his grip on her arm was too strong.

  “Let me go!” she yelled, punching and kicking him, just as “Hey!” Jackson screamed from the far end of the hallway.

  The crowd made way for him as he approached James with a clenched fist.

  “You can’t hit me; I have levera…….” James was about to threaten him, but Jackson punched him, knocking out a tooth in the process.

  He fell to the ground as blood filled his mouth while he watched his tooth on the floor. Intense pain shot through his head as he stood to his feet.

  “I will expo…” he was about to threaten Jackson again, just when he landed another punch on his face, spattering his blood on the floor.

  “Fight! Fight! Fight!” students chanted in unison as James took a stance ready to brawl, ignoring the pain in his face.

  “Come on!” he screamed at a seemingly calm Jackson as he threw some well calculated jabs at him. Jackson easily blocked and dodged the attacks, after which he punched him in the face a third time, nearly knocking him out.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Fight! Fight! Fight!” James could hear the muffled screams of the students as he tried to get back on his feet. He shook his head as he tried to stop the high pitched sound in his ear.

  His vision got blurry and he could barely see his surroundings. He stood up and threw an uncalculated Jab at Jackson, who punched him again, completely knocking him out.

  Annabelle, who had been gleefully watching, let out a laugh of satisfaction as the crowd went wild, cheering Jackson on like a wrestler who had just won a tournament.

  “Take him to the school nurse,” Jackson said to one of the students in the crowd as he took Anna and Joanna away from the fight scene.

  “Where did you learn to fight like that?” Annabelle asked, still quite happy due to the beating James had received.

  “My dad taught me, since childhood. I guess that’s the one thing you don’t know about me,” he said, as he pecked Anna on the forehead.

  “What were you thinking?! Do you know what I had to go through to ensure the principal didn’t invite you to his office?! Do you know what I had to go through to ensure the teachers didn’t pay attention to the fight that happened?!” Crow screamed at Jackson.

  “He hurt her and tore her turtleneck,” Jackson said, unapologetically.

  “What?! Does that mean you should go around knocking people out?!” Crow screamed, furiously slamming her table.

  “That boy has threatened us and because of what happened just now, my entire career could be over. Magic has to be kept secret and you just blew it all.”

  “You have to go and apologize now!” Crow insisted, pointing at the door of her office.

  “But…”

  “But nothing! Go now!” she screamed, still pointing at her door.

  “In fact, I’m coming with you,” she said as she grabbed a notebook from her desk and headed out of the office.

  “Let’s go,” Jackson said as he hesitantly followed her.

  On getting to the sickbay, two nurses were caught up in a conversation.

  “Who did you say knocked him out?” one of the nurses asked, as she pitifully looked at James who lay on the bed with an oxygen mask on his nose.

  “I think it was Jackson Whitmore,” the second nurse replied.

  “This is the second time he is being beaten up like this,” she said, shaking her head as she tried to imagine the immense pain James could have been experiencing.

  “Good afternoon, we are here to see James Bludovitch,” Crow politely said to one of the nurses in the sickbay.

  The nurse scornfully glanced at Anna and her friends and “Sorry, he isn’t allowed to see anyone, especially you,” she said, and turned around in an attempt to walk out on Crow.

  Mrs. Crow grabbed her by the hand, looked her in the eyes and “I insist,” she said, hypnotizing the nurse.

  “Okay right this way,” the nurse said with a bright smile on her face.

  “Here he is. Goodbye,” the nurse said, leaving them alone with James.

  Mrs. Crow placed her hand on James’s head, healing every wound in his body.

  Not long after, James regained consciousness, the first thing he saw being Crow’s beautiful face.

  “What happened?” he asked in a weak and low tone. He sat up on the bed, looked around and, “You, you knocked me out,” he said, pointing at Jackson who didn’t seem apologetic at all.

  “I lied….” James said, as he pulled out the drip on his arm.

  “Strangely I feel fine,” he said, palpating his entire body.

  “Lied about what?” Crow asked, gently placing her hand on his shoulder.

  “The copies of the footage. There are no copies,” he said, as he stood to his feet and jumped.

  “It’s all on my phone. I just want to be part of all this.”

  “And where’s the phone?” Mrs. Crow asked, just as he handed his phone to her.

  “Wow, it looks like a movie,” Jacob said as they watched the footage on his phone.

  “Ahem,” Crow cleared her throat, reminding Jackson of the reason they were there.

  “I’m sorry I hit you,” he said, with his head bowed.

  “It’s okay,” James said, stretching out his hand for a shake.

  Jackson and James shook hands, smiling at each other, and the tension in the atmosphere had died down completely.

  “Umm guys,” Annabelle said, peeking through a gap between the curtains.

  “What’s wrong?” Crow asked.

  “Duncan, he’s here and he’s headed towards us,” she replied as she ran towards Crow.

  “What are we going to do,” James said as he began to panic, everyone else being completely calm.

  “That’s where he is sir,” a nurse said as they approached where James was supposed to be.

  “Do you want to see something cool?” Crow asked James, as they all held hands, forming a small circle.

  “Yes I wou…….” he hadn’t replied, when they completely vanished into thin air and found themselves in Crow’s office.

  James stood at a spot, completely dazed at what he had just experienced. He looked at the rest of the team, expecting to see the same reaction on their faces, but they just acted casually like nothing had happened.

  “Did you see what just happened,” he asked, still in shock.

  “Oh that? It’s a normal thing around here,” Annabelle said as she opened a bag of chips.

  “Oh shoot, it’s almost time for my next class,” Jackson said, and briskly walked out of the office, his attention focused on his wristwatch.

  Meanwhile,

  “Is this supposed to be a joke?!” Duncan bellowed, as he pointed at an empty bed.

  “But he was here sir,” the nurse said, trying to explain herself.

  “I have better things to do. First the security man, then you?!” he screamed and walked out of the sickbay.

  It was ten minutes to the conclusion of lunchtime, and Anna had just realized she hadn’t eaten anything.

  “I have to quickly eat,” she said to Crow as she grabbed Joanna’s hand and ran out of the office, ignoring the glares of students as she ran through the hallways.

  She stuffed some donuts and eggrolls, basically junk food down her throat within the space of those ten minutes and headed back to class.

  Meanwhile, at Crow’s office, she had begun to think of a plan to capture her brother, considering the fact that she was as strong as he was. Or so Doom had said.

  “Where do I start?” she muttered to herself, gazing into space as she pondered.

  “If only I knew his heartbeat,” she said, as she closed her eyes and listened. Different rhythms of heartbeats filled her ears.

  She could hear someone masticating food in the cafeteria. “Hmm, maybe he or she has a free period,” she muttered as she listened even more.

  Soon, every sound became distinct, from the starting engine of a car, to the sizzling food on a frying pan. She could hear the scraping sounds of pens and pencils on paper in different classrooms and even the voice of teachers as they taught. She was enjoying the different sounds she could hear, until she heard a heartbeat which was unusually louder than the rest.

  “That’s unusual,” she muttered, just before she realized the heartbeat was coming from right behind her.

  She whirled around. “Who are you?” she asked, forming a flaming fist.

  The masked man raised his hand in the air and “Follow me,” he whispered as he walked through a portal in the office. Without hesitation, Crow ran through the portal.