Killer Magic Academy

Chapter 20

Part 3: Nile's POV

Chapter 20

I rushed over to Emma and checked her pulse. It was higher than it should've been, but that just clued me in that it was an overexertion injury, not something else. Once I placed Emma comfortably on her bed, I picked up Hayden's mask from the edge of the nightstand, where I had put it when Emma passed out. It was beautiful and scary at the same time. Jet black with silver designs and two silver eye coverings, it was glowing. I guess Emma turned it on earlier.

She looked so small a super pale as she slept. I knew she would be ok. I had seen people of all experiences knock themselves out. But I was afraid of what she said before she blacked out. If Alyssa was dead, that means that she wasn't the master who was destined to save the world.

I looked at the inside of the mask. The eyes kept blinking, and I put it on.

"Emmie?" a voice asked once I had the mask on.

"No," I replied.

"Where's Emma?" the person asked.

"Hayden?"

"Where is Emma?" she demanded again, this time more aggressively.

"She blacked out trying to help someone."

"Is she ok?"

"I think so. I've seen worse, but I don't have any experience with her powers."

"I swear, if anything happens to her I will kill you."

"I know. Emma says you've changed, but I saw you before. There's no way you can change that much."

You think I'm a psychotic monster?" she said with a laugh.

"No, but I don't think you've changed to become a perfect angel."

Hayden sighed. "I know. I can't explain what happened. One day I was 100% ok with killing everyone, and the next I had to get home. I had to see Emma. I had to do anything to protect her."

"And you don't know why?" If I had a chance to get answers from Hayden, I was going to take it.

"No. There have been stories of people who felt this deep need to care for certain people, but none of them had ever switched suddenly like I did."

"Is there any chance that Emma healed you?"

She paused for a second. "Who are you?"

"No one important," I replied.

There wasn't a reply. Then she suddenly spoke. "I was supposed to kill you."

That shocked me. "What?"

"The last day of the Showdowns. My mask stopped working because the only thing it told me was to kill someone in the crowd. The mask allows me to see what you see, even though I'm nowhere near you. There's a mirror in front of you. I remember you. I didn't know exactly who you were then, but somehow my mask wanted you dead."

"But you didn't kill me."

"No. I told someone else to. He obviously hasn't been successful."

"Well, that's great and all, but I have other things to worry about."

"Yes. The dragon demon. The only way he is able to escape is if there is enough power offered to him. That's how the originals designed it."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

She laughed. "My powers deal with energy and power. I'm an expert."

"How much power would it take?"

"I'm not entirely sure. It was designed so that the only way he could escape is if the originals wanted him to. There was only three of them, but their power is unmatched by anyone, even myself and you."

"Why do they keep it in the arena instead of somewhere safer?"

"Because the person who wins the Showdowns gets their power bonus from his power."

"Are you serious?"

"Yep. As hard as they tried to make the net impossible to transfer power through, some always slips through. The Showdowns allows most of the power he's built up to be converted to someone else's power."

"Is there any other way to get his power out?"

"Not that I know of. The best thing to do is to get everyone out of the school. Then he won't have any power to feed off of."

"We tried, but there's something keeping us all in. You can't step outside at all."

I looked up at the mirror. I looked so crazy wearing this mask. You couldn't see my face at all, and I looked really creepy.

And then I realized something. Even if Hayden could see what the mask is seeing, she wouldn't be able to see my face in the mirror. She would just see the mask.

"Hayden, I have to go," I said.

"Let me know when Emma wakes up."

"Yeah, ok," I said distantly. Then I turned the mask off and took it off.

She was a liar. Always was, always will be. I don't know what I was thinking, trying to trust the girl who had the highest murder rate in the history of the school. Emma believes that she changed, but I doubted it. I wasn't sure if I had the heart to tell Emma that.