He pressed two fingers to my forehead. “Stop moving inside.”
I wasn’t exactly sure what he meant, but I concentrated on calming my body one part at a time. I started at my toes and made my way up to my head. When I finally took in a long, deep cleansing breath, I felt whole again.
“Dude.” Ren’s eyes bugged out. “You just appeared in front of me.”
Both Jasmine and Georgina ran over to me. “That’s so cool. You, like, totally disappeared.”
I smiled as they congratulated me. The others gathered around me, too, and told me how awesome it was that I manipulated the light so quickly. No one else had been able to accomplish it. Pride filled me up inside but so did apprehension. I was a bit uneasy with what Erebus had told me—that shadows filled me.
The lightning station with Zeus was our last stop. Jasmine was really pumped for this training. Earlier she’d told me she hoped to be assigned to Zeus’s clan. I could see her there; she was strong and bold, two traits of someone who could manipulate lightning.
Zeus had us gathering around what I assumed were lightning rods. The Demos Estate had one on the grounds to try and harness the electrical current whenever it stormed.
“Lightning is just an electrical current,” he said, from his spot in the middle of the three rods. “It’s in the air all around us, all the time.” He clapped his hands together. The sound made everyone jump. He started to rub his palms together. “Rub your hands together. You are creating an electrical charge between them by creating friction.”
I could feel heat building between my hands. My fingers started to tingle. I frowned, unsure if that was what was supposed to happen.
While he kept rubbing his hands together, he walked around the group. Then he stopped in front of me, opened his hands, and set them over my head. “We’ve now created static electricity.”
I could feel some slight tingles above me, and then I felt my hair rise. Strands of blue stuck out all over, some of them reaching for Zeus’s hands. Both Jasmine and Georgina laughed, as I became a human Troll Doll.
I smirked, amused by what I could imagine I looked like. Then something felt wrong. The tingles around my head increased. It no longer tickled but started to sting. A thousand pinpricks turned sharper, stronger. Painful.
Jasmine’s face turned ashen. Georgina took a step back, her eyes widening.
“What? What’s going on?” I demanded, panicking.
I could smell something burning, almost like plastic melting. Then I realized the odor emitted from me. Sparks erupted from my head.
“It’s going to kill her!” Jasmine’s voice echoed around me.
Then everything went black, as darkness took me under.
Chapter Nine
MELANY
The smell of bacon and cheese tickled my nose, and I blinked open my eyes. I was in my bed, facing the wall. I rolled to see Georgina and Jasmine, Georgina sat on her bed, and Jasmine was in the desk chair, both eating bacon cheeseburgers and French fries. Saliva instantly pooled in my mouth.
“Yay, you’re finally awake.” Georgina put another fry into her mouth and happily chewed.
“What happened?” Slowly, I sat up, but my head ached something awful so I reconsidered it.
“You’ve been out for about four hours.” Jasmine came to my side and helped me sit up. She plumped up the pillows behind me. “The healers checked you out, but said you could rest up here in your room instead of in the infirmary.”
Georgina unwrapped another burger. “Are you hungry? Do you want to eat?”
I nodded. I was starving. I took the burger and had a big bite. Once I chewed and swallowed, I looked at my friends. “I’m still a bit fuzzy on what exactly happened. I remember being in elemental class with Zeus—”
“You died.” Georgina bolted off her bed and wrapped an arm around me, hugging me tight.
I choked on the next bite of burger.
Jasmine gave Georgina a look. “We weren’t supposed to tell her right away.”
“I know, I’m sorry.”
Scrambling out from Georgina’s octopus arms, I got all the way out of bed and stared at my friends. “What do you mean, I died?”
“I guess for some reason, a lot of electricity went through your body and your heart stopped.” Jasmine winced. “But Zeus got it started again with a little zap of his finger.” She poked me in the chest.
“Well, it took two zaps,” Georgina added. “And then it still took a few seconds before you came back.”
I gaped at her. I had no idea what to say. What did one say after they’d died and had their heart restarted by a God? “Wow” just didn’t seem to cut it.
“I need some air.” I headed for the door.
“Do you want us to come with?” Georgina started to follow me.
“No. I just… need a walk and some time to digest what happened.”
“Okay.” Jasmine squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll be here when you get back if you want to talk about it.”
I left the room and went down the hall, unsure of exactly where I was going. All I knew was that the air inside the school felt thick and oppressive. Thankfully, I didn’t run into anyone as I crossed the front foyer and out the main doors.
The second I was outside I took in a deep breath of air, held it, and then let it out. I repeated the process until I wasn’t dizzy anymore. I needed to move. I hadn’t been outside much on the grounds, so I didn’t know where to go, but I knew there was a maze on the west side. I hopped onto the cobblestone path winding through the grounds and just started walking.
Before I came around the corner of the main academy building, I heard a voice. It sounded tinny and mechanical.
“Meteorologists don’t know what to make of the strange weather in Pecunia. In some areas, there have been varying degrees of rain, wind, and hail. There have been some large ocean swells, and some are even saying that there has been high seismic activity where there shouldn’t be any.”
My immediate thought was of Sophia and if she was safe.
Curious, I came around the corner to see Demeter leaning up against the wall, watching a video on her cell phone, and smoking what smelled like weed. When she spotted me, she quickly pushed a button on the screen and slid the phone in her back pocket.
“Oh, hey, there.” She smiled, smoke coming out of her mouth. “It’s Melany, right?”
I nodded. “Yup.”
She raised the joint in her hand. “You don’t mind, do you? I can’t smoke inside.” She shrugged. “Rules suck sometimes.”
I shook my head. “I don’t mind.”
“Good.” She took another hit. “So, how are you feeling? You gave everyone quite the scare.” She chuckled. “I don’t think any of your fellow recruits saw someone die before.”
I rubbed at my chest; it still burned where Zeus had zapped me. I was afraid to look under my shirt in case there was a burn mark. “I feel… okay, I guess.”
“You’ll be all right. Just give it a few days.”
“Right.” I gestured to her pocket. “Were you watching the news?”
She made a face. “I know I’m not supposed to have a cell phone, either, but sometimes I hate not knowing what’s going on around in the world.”
“What were they saying about Pecunia? That’s where I’m from.”
“Ah, nothing to worry about. Just a rainstorm.” She patted me on the shoulder.
“Oh, okay.” But I wasn’t assured.
She took another puff and eyed me. “You’re different, you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your aura. It’s odd. It’s not like the others.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I didn’t want to be an outcast. I needed to be like the others, so I could pass through the training.
“It’s good being different,” she said. “Being like everyone else sucks. Embrace your differences. It’ll help you survive.”
I was about to say goodnight to her when someone else came stumbling toward us from around the corner. It was Dionysus, and he could barely stay upright. When he saw us, his smile was instant and took up his entire face.
“Heeeeeeeeyyyyy.” He weaved toward Demeter and swung an arm around her shoulders. “What are you doing out here, Demi?”