Page 42 of Facade

He was staring at the open windows in horror. An enormous wave of water was headed right for them.

Silently cussing herself out for opening the damn windows, especially with a first-floor classroom, Clarke ran to close them. There was a small, decorative pond some thirty yards away. Mitch would have to be insane to attack her in the classroom.

Apparently, he was. Clarke hadn’t thought the pond was large or deep enough to pose a significant threat if he did do something stupid. But this wave looked like it had originated in an ocean, or at least a good-sized lake.

In a panic, Chad shifted to his rabbit, and hopped onto his desk. Carlos, the telepath, clutched his temples as he grimaced in pain. He obviously couldn’t block the onslaught of anxious thoughts.

The mountain lion shifter also transitioned into his animal, growling with his tail swishing in agitation. Robert and Liam ran for the door, shouting and banging on it when it refused to open.

“It’s locked from the outside, or something,” Robert shouted. “Who would do that?”

But the classroom doors only locked from the inside, not the outside. “I’m betting on ‘or something’,” Clarke snarled as she reached the first window.

Two of the boys ran to help as she closed the nearest window. Clarke extended her hands, using her power to animate objects on the frame and latch of the furthest window, to close it as well.

Somehow, she would get Mitch back for this without jeopardizing her position, or the search for her dad. He should have kept this between the two of them. Clarke would not tolerate a threat to her students.

She waved for the boys to back away from the windows as the water began to form into several spirals, and stiffened, becoming spears of ice.

“Oh, shit!” Steve yelled as he stared in trepidation at the approaching threat.

“Run to the wall across from my desk!” Clarke directed them as she flung her hands out.

Adam grabbed Chad as they sprinted to the safest side of the room. Using every ounce of power she had, Clark commanded all the desks to form a barricade with the dry erase board on top.

It was the best she could do in the seconds they had before impact, and it probably wouldn’t be enough. With the help of one of the shifters, Clarke pulled Carlos, who was curled up in the fetal position, behind the makeshift shield moments before the windows shattered.

Heath

Spending Saturday with Nadine and her mates was as pleasant as always. However, the strategy session geared toward protecting students at the regional tournament wasn’t productive. There were too many suspects, and a lack of knowledge to work with.

They spent an equal amount of time discussing Mitchel Pierce and the situation in the elemental dorm. Nadine had also been a monitor prior to accepting a professorship. Having all the boys in one spot, it was clear to both of them that the young elementals were comparatively subdued, and less secure.

Something needed to be done in regard to Mitch, and the detrimental effect he was having on the elemental students. With the tournament months away, this was the more immediate concern. He wasn’t alone in that opinion.

Heath had been called to a meeting in the administration building regarding the underage students. Like he had advised Jace, Heath had reported what he knew of the situation Friday evening to the head of his department that same night.

He had been summoned to give a detailed account of what occurred Friday night from his point of view. The professors were also interested to hear what Heath had learned from the young casters in class.

Carl Washington had been calling students in to get their statements on Mitch’s performance, and the general mood in the elemental dorm. Since he was a caster, and low on the ladder here at Mars, Heath didn’t know what had been discovered in those conversations. But from the grave expressions on the faces of the faculty attending the meeting, he guessed it was bad.

Both caster and elemental monitors were currently under scrutiny. Armando Garcia was looking more closely at Ray after Friday. However, since Ray had cooperated with Clark, and assisted with all the boys at the game, he was being given the benefit of the doubt.

Ray was probably playing nice to cover his ass. However, it was possible that he had confused the dates, and missed the deadline to reserve a bus. The young casters seemed to have a decent relationship with him. Heath had witnessed that when they sat together in the stands.

Records showed that Ray had attended several games and pep rallies with young students in previous years. That spoke in his favor, convincing Armando Garcia to let him slide this time. Mitch had only escorted students once in his first year as a monitor.

Heath shook his head as he strolled away from the administration building. Mitch was an idiot. It was bad enough that he hadn’t offered to escort his students to the game, and secured transportation to do so. That wasn’t only laziness, but a violation of his duties.

What could possibly have possessed him to argue with Jace, and try to stop the students from leaving? There was no excuse for that. Mitch kept pointing fingers at Clark, but he was sabotaging himself right out of a job.

Heath was walking past the Humanities building when he noticed something unnatural. The water in the pond was forming a vortex above the surface. It swelled into a massive, pointed wave, and moved toward a bank of windows on the first floor of the building.

The precise movement of the water made it unlikely to be an accident brought on by strong emotion. It was possible, but the odds were against it. That was a classroom, and someone appeared to be attacking it.

With a flex of his forearm, Heath’s wand slid into his hand like an extension of himself. He cast a dispersal spell that was only partially effective. Some of the water cascaded back into the pond, where it belonged.

But most of it continued to obey the elemental who had to be commanding it. Next, he tried to redirect the water, with no result. That was proof to Heath that this was not a stress-related occurrence.