Coincidental

Author’s note: I take an unreasonably extensive length of time to update and this I apologize for. I thank-you all who reviewed…well, that sure was boring! And so, to be creative in an attempt to revive this note…I shall conduct a SÉANCE!!! Okay…all those who wish to be in my séance…please review and tell me so.

Warnings: Just jump in and see. We need to brainwash more people into tolerance anyways.

Disclaimer: It’s copyrighted. I couldn’t even pretend to own this series.

***

Well, at least the current year was turning out to be quite entertaining.
//And yet something still feels like it’s missing.// Blake mused as he gazed out into the roiling depths of heated, Arizona night-time darkness. With a sadistic grin, Blake just continued staring out the window. //I wonder what it could be.//
***

Nicol wandered down the strangely elongated corridor and flinched as yet another piece of sharp clear quartz was chucked at him. Sure, the quartz was pretty enough but having pieces of it chucked at him was not what he needed at this time. The sharp edges cut deep into his skin, creating lacerations beneath the surface. Far beneath the surface.

He bent down to retrieve the quartz, hoping to catch the reflection of his tormentor in the crystal. There was no source. Just a black orb hanging over himself. It followed him wherever he went, and it would follow him wherever he wanted to go. Forever. It was question, it was uncertainty, and it existed despite any lack of belief towards it.

Nicol cried out as a wolverine launched itself out of the abyss at him, effectively blinding him and then, he was awake.

“Nicol! Wake up this instant young man!”

Startled out of the dream, Nicol could only manage a, “What the heck!? Wolverines don’t live in Arizona!” before he completely awakened to a less than desirable scene. Mr. Brixen glared angrily down at Nicol and the boy blushed in response to the laughter of the rest of the class he heard in the background.

“Out! That’s the last time you’ll fall asleep in my class! Out!” The incensed teacher pointed one scraggly finger towards the door, to which Nicol followed its trail into the hallway. He sat upon the ground. That is, until another member of the staff, this time the Lunch Lady, came upon him.

Young man, what are you doing down there?”

“Contemplating the afterlife.” Nicol replied wearily.

He hadn’t meant to sound like a smart-aleck but this had been a very tiresome day. Dodging the usual advances of Blake and his gang, along with Kira being on bed rest for catching a fever, and the unmerciful droning of Mr. Brixen’s science class lectures combined with his current lack of sleep, had really made him a bit irritable.

//What’s wrong with me? I should be able to handle this…but I’m already so tired out from it.//

The Lunch Lady, however, wasn’t very understanding. She bent down to wrap her talons around his wrist in a vicelike grip, yanking him up abusively.

“You, young man, are accompanying me to the office.”

Nicol nodded blearily, not caring much for this new development in his day but being too tired to argue his case.

//Does she have to hold on so tight though?// Nicol wondered as he glanced down at the junction where wrist met claws. //I’m not going to lash out at her if I’m not tightly secured or anything…she must have dealt with some pretty bad kids in her life…or she’s just naturally like this.//

Nicol sighed as he felt himself being dragged through the office door and forced into a chair. Not a pleasant, comfortable chair either…just one of those chipped, wooden chairs…

The Lunch Lady glowered down at Nicol, puffing herself up in an imposing manner. “Well, I do hope you learn to show some respect when dealing with me, young man! You stay in here and do not move an inch until the dismissal bell rings!!!”

Nicol nodded militantly, smiling politely at her.

“What do you have to be smirking about?” And she stalked back out of the office, muttering angrily to herself, “I don’t know…kids today…”

Nicol allowed the forced smile to melt off of his face and grimaced in frustration. He glanced towards the left side of the wall where a large tank of fish were set up. He was particularly engaged in the world of an unusual black fish when he felt his eyelids begin the loose their strength. It was a mortal struggle between light and dark before dark proved the victor and Nicol was completely out.

***

It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the bright light of the room he was now situated in. Tied to attention and bound to an unpolished and rather sharp rock formation, Nicol attempted to sit up.

“You won’t ever find it you know.” A cold, taunting voice issued from a crevice in one side of the stone room.

“Never.” Another agreed, although it sounded more grim than compliant.

“And that is where you are wrong!” Nicol shouted from his place, as he shifted his hands in an inaudible attempt to use the jutting edges of the rock formation to sever his binds.

“Wrong you say? Well, let me assure you that I am never wrong.” And the voice became recognisable as the one that belonged to the infamous drug lord and king of the Chicago underground, Yzak Joule.

Beside that man stood his associate and thug companion, Dearka Elfman. The mocha-skinned man was rumoured to have been brought forward to Yzak by way of a mysterious assassin that was well known only by his connection to the cold-hearted drug lord.

“Dearka, come here.” beckoned Yzak softly as he grasped the tanned man’s arm and slid his sleeve up past the elbow. Emerging from the crevice completely, Yzak strode to where Nicol was now just pretending to be tied, having succeeded in cutting his bonds, and bent to thrust Dearka’s arm in his face.

“See the markings? That means that Dearka here belongs to me and my team.”

“More like gang of criminals!” Nicol spat, interrupting the ice-haired man.

“Well, if referring to your soon to be associates in that way please you, Amalfi. However, I brought you here for a different reason than to discuss titles. The same reason I show you the brand on Dearka. Try not to cry out.” And Yzak stepped back, allowing his other associate, the one who had just stepped into the stone room, to near Nicol. The blue-haired man was holding what appeared to be a cattle-branding rod. The tip was glowing fiercely with heat, and it sputtered and crackled as the assassin came close to Nicol.

Nicol glanced apprehensively at the rod as it descended upon him. It was so close that he could feel the searing heat of the rod scorch the hairs on his arm. Then, at the last moment, Nicol swung out his legs, effectively tripping the assassin and sending him sprawling to the floor in a heap of limbs, the rod clattering a few feet away from Nicol’s face.

In a moment of confusion, Nicol leaped to his feet allowing the shreds of rope to fall unceremoniously to the ground, before darting out of the stone room and into the awaiting night.

Back in the room, Nicol could catch glimmers of dialogue such as, “Don’t let him escape!”

“Make sure he is kept from the next dream!”

Nicol paid them no heed as he slipped back into murkiness, soon to wake up in a different landscape.

***

Nicol groaned as he rubbed his head vigorously. He had hit his head on the edge of the metallic table when he was flung onto it, unconscious but able to receive the pain upon awakening.

He had to escape this place. It was imperative that he not stay here. The scientists that roamed the lab would soon be arriving to retrieve him and send him to the heart.

The heart was a code spoken to hide the fact that within the center of the facility, there lay a giant series of tubes and electrical tunnels that all led to one enormous pod. Inside the pod was a rare species of wolverine that had been found on the surface of Pluto back in the eighth millennium. They were breeding the creature as it was the very last of its kind, and cultivating it…reshaping its DNA to turn it into a weapon. A creature that they alone could control. They intended to use Nicol’s DNA in the process for Nicol was also a rare species. A rare species of human. His DNA had the power to enlarge and ultimately—corrupt—the current state of the wolverine, making it larger than life and meaner than mean. Nicol couldn’t let them unleash the creature upon Earth. If that happened, then his home would be completely destroyed. This of course, was their intent. Nicol wouldn’t let them.

But first things first, he had to get out of the facility.

His amber eyes scanned the entire expanse of the room he was in, attempting to locate the presence of an escape route, no matter how unpleasant it may be. However, with the turning of mercury to be formed into more than a shaping tool, and the evolution of immunity to the stuff, Nicol found it difficult to use psychokinetic abilities to morph anything in the completely mercury room.

//What now?// He demanded to himself.

Then a brilliant thought came to mind. The light. There is a source of material in here that isn’t made of mercury. Nicol looked up. The bright, piercing light of an unusually primitive bulb met his eyes.
//I could use my kinesis to manipulate the rays of the light. If I could get them concentrated on the lock mechanism, it will melt and I’ll be free from here…then I’ll just have to see what awaits me on the other side of this door…//

This in itself was a formidable threat considering there was bound to be guards or something of the sort if it was Dr. Zala who had assigned Nicol to these quarters. Zala was the type to take even the slightest thing to consideration.
However, if it had been Dr. Elfman setting up the quarters…then Nicol was sure the security would be slightly more lax. Elfman was too confident and not nearly as careful as he should be.

“Well, I guess we’ll just see.” The boy spoke aloud in order to reassure himself that he was still the same person.

Nicol raised his arms placing them delicately over his solar plexus, preparing it, building up the energy within it, and then when he felt that familiar sting of warmth twirl at his palms, he thrust his hands off the plexus in a motion that was not nearly as forceful as fast.

Instantly, the light from the cheap electric device was sucked against the underside of Nicol’s hands, ready to be used.
The light was sharp, not soft like moonlight or even bouncy like sunlight. Just sharp. Like needles. It was uncomfortable to hold.
Nicol concentrated on his third eye chakra, gathering the energy that laid there and awakening it to his cause. The chakra opened almost immediately, spreading out like the petals of a blossoming flower. Nicol grew the energy there and forced it into the light, concentrating it into an orb and then using the strength of the third eye to launch the orb directly at the door’s lock mechanism.

The light connected with the door head on, splashing against it and seeping into it, imploding the lock and exploding the door, all without making a sound.

Nicol smiled. //Light really is powerful.// He thought, and he began to move towards the now perfectly melted hole of a doorway, slinking out into the black mercury corridor, prepared for what awaited him.

***

Kira winced as he sat up in bed and a wave of nausea flooded him. There was practically no sunlight in the sick ward.

“Well, this sucks.” Kira said to himself as he lowered his body back into a sleeping position.

Kira had been doing a lot of that lately. Talking to himself.

“Nicol isn’t even around…I guess the teachers wouldn’t let him visit during school hours. That’s not surprising.”

He paused, thinking of what he should say to himself next. Instead he yawned.

“Hmm, well…I hope he hasn’t had any trouble handling Blake or anything. I really wish the school hours would be over so he could maybe visit.”

As if on cue, the doors at the far end of the ward were pushed gently open and in slid Dearka, Yzak and Athrun.
Kira looked about hopefully but was disappointed to see that Nicol did not accompany them.

“Hey guys.” Kira waved in gratitude, though still wondering why Nicol hadn’t joined them. Was he angry or something?

The three boys grinned and walked over to sit beside Kira’s bed.

Athrun looked at Kira knowingly. “I bet you’re wondering where Nicol is and why he isn’t with us huh?”

“Yeah…I was.” Kira replied.

Dearka sighed with humour. “Well, he fell asleep in science class and you know how Brixen is…”

“He sent Nicol outside for the rest of the class and afterwards we checked on him in the office because he wasn’t outside the door anymore…” Yzak continued.

Athrun nodded and smiled to himself fondly. “He was fast asleep in one of the chairs. We thought about waking him up but the lady at the desk said that we were only allowed to talk to him and not leave with him. I guess he was punished or something…”

Dearka got up to look at a magazine on the bedside table. “Yeah, and so we figured we should just let him sleep and we left. He was mumbling weird stuff too.”

“Weird stuff huh? Like what?” Kira asked curiously.

Dearka grinned. “Like; Kira! Yes, Kira! Faster, oh Kira!!!” He replied, waving his arms as indication.

Kira reached up and threw a foot pillow at Dearka.

Athrun laughed. “Well, actually he wasn’t really talking at all. Just gripping the chair and stuff. Must have been having some pretty intense dreams.”
Kira frowned slightly. “Well he hasn’t seemed very—energetic—lately.”

Yzak nodded. “Yeah. He’s been falling asleep in class on a daily basis. I wonder what’s going on with him…”

They were interrupted by a loud voice radiating out of the PA system.

“Dearka Elfman, please report to the office to pick up a new student. Dearka Elfman, to the office.”

Kira grinned at Dearka. “That’s right; you signed up for the mentoring program didn’t you?”

Dearka nodded. “Yeah, I figured I could use the extra credit. Plus, I get to meet some new kid now.”

“Well then, you’d better get down there.” Athrun piped up.

“Yep.” And Dearka strode back to the doors, pushed them open and walked down the stairway to the office, ready to meet whoever this new boy was.

***
Well, that is all for now. I shall be back eventually. The new character will be introduced in the next chapter. Now, back to my offer of a séance. I need readers!!! They are required to make my séance a success!!! Please review and tell me how my chapter was…and tell me if you’d like to be in my séance!!!