Burning Shadows (Chapter 7)

It was like a fog had settled. He saw the students, felt them pass him by, but his eyes never moved, and his heart never changed. His pace was slow and soft, a tribute to the innocent nostalgia that overwhelmed his senses. He knew how different he must seem. No longer dressed in the crisp white robe of the acolytes, he had taken to wearing a jumpsuit of the deepest, most mournful black he could conjure up. The darkness of his clothing only served to accent his proud, porcelain skin and sad blue eyes. Still, the thing that set him most apart, the one feature that seemed to alienate him from the others, that they would whisper his name in fear and distaste, he could not identify.

He couldn’t know what evil was about to unfold.

Eventually Notek found himself avoiding the corridors most often used in favor of the less populated passageways. Using this method he found his feet leading him, involuntarily, to the one place that he had not wished to see. Kneeling, Notek rested his head on the white marble column that erupted from the ground like thousands of others around it: the grave of Kra L’il.

“So much has changed since you’ve gone. I’ve become a better person . . . a better symbiote.” Notek’s next breath was choked his in his throat. “I know that I could never redeem myself for what I . . . what I did to you, but I know that if you were alive you would forgive me.” He raised his head, bitterly. “You always forgave . . .”

“You!” Notek leapt and turned simultaneously, preparing to defend himself from the accusatory tone of his aggressor. “Are you Notek Soofor?” The speaker was tall and humanoid, with features vaguely reminiscent of noble birth – sharp, defined facial structure, narrowed eyes, and dark skin. At this moment the headmaster trundled onto the scene.

“Please don’t hurt him, he is not one of us!” Notek’s heart stopped for a moment when he saw a trim, feminine figure standing in the dim light behind the headmaster. Could it be . . .?

“Silence, you imbecile!” The tall man delivered a hit so intense that it sent the massive creature sprawling onto the well-trimmed grass of the graveyard. Suddenly angry, Notek spread his feet ever so slightly into a fighting stance.

“I don’t know who you are, but you have no right to treat him like that!” The tall individual laughed – a singularly mocking gesture.

“I’m not sure whether to interpret your boldness as bravery or stupidity, but your candor will do you no good. I expect you to be off of this property by sunset, or I reserve the right to terminate you.” With this proclamation he strode cockily off the grounds, back into the school complex. Notek rushed immediately to aid the headmaster, but the girl was closer and reached him first. It was Vertigo.

Her dark hair was longer now, it fell down over and past her shoulders as she leaned over the great creature that now lay still on the ground.

“Notek . . . he’s not breathing!”

“It’s alright” Notek uttered in as calming a voice as he could muster amidst the chaos in his heart. His eyes stared blindly as he spread his hands over the headmaster’s injury. At least Vertigo still spoke to him . . .