Killer Magic Academy

Chapter 4

"How did it go?" Dylan asked as we swiped our cards and got our food.  It had been less than a month and I had a favorite meal.  But even my chicken salad sub couldn't distract me from the question that had been nagging me since I talked to Nile.

"What happened to Nicole?" I asked.

Dylan suddenly became very interested in his hamburger as we took our ususal seats near the center of the room.

"Who's Nicole?" Emma asked as she slid into the seat next to Dylan.

"She was my sister," Dylan said quietly.

"What?" Emma asked.  Dylan punched her arm and she quieted down.

"I didn't want to tell you guys. Nile doesn't like people knowing."

"Nile said it was your story to tell." I replied.

"You know Nile?" Emma whispered.

"Kind of," I answered. "Why?"

"She's a legend."  As if that answered everything.

"Back to Nicole," I said.

"She was a telekinetic. Would have graduated last year. She was a 4 and was doing pretty well with her powers. She didn't talk with very many people, but most people here don't. She had her roommate who was a water. Sasha was actually a 5 because she didn't pass the year, but she still roomed with Nicole. One day, Sasha and Nile were walking back from class. Nile had known she was an elemental master for a little while now, and one kid and his friends ambushed them. They were all in the same grade and yet they attacked them."

"Killer Magic Academy," I mumbled.

"The two of them did the most logical thing. They fought fire with water. But Anthony's friends, one of them was an electric. He electrocuted them. Sasha couldn't use her water power with all the electricity flying around, and her body basically shut down. But it didn't kill her. Electricity can't kill a water; it can only shut down powers. But with the water powers not working, Anthony burned Sasha to death.

"Nile tried to stop it. She was able to fight the fire for a while, but she was completely outnumbered. She didn't stand a chance without having mastered all of her power. There was electricity and fire and Nile was doing everything she could to save Sasha, but it was too much for her.

"The Nicole showed up. She was able to hold off the attackers so Nile could put out the fire, but Sasha was already dead and Nile had passed out cold. Nicole used her telekinesis to get Nile out of the way and fought them for a while, then Anthony killed her.

"Nile and Anthony were the only ones who survived. And Nile was out for a few weeks."

Emma and I were both silent. We finished eating and went to class.

During the entire lesson, I was focused on keeping the fire and water in my pocket under control.

I wasn't going to let Anthony win the Showdowns, or kill any of my friends or classmates.

____

After fighting class at the end of the day, Hector came up to me. "I heard that you are entered in the Showdowns."

I nodded and wiped the sweat off my face. "Yeah."

"I can give you extra training if you would like, because you are far behind compared to everyone else."

I could feel the pouches in my pockets. "I'll be fine, but thanks."

"Be careful in there," he told me.  "You have no idea what could happen at any moment."