Flow Master

By Jacob H Bechtel V

I had not yet made it down the stairs in the front of the building when I heard the Alarm bells start clanging. To this day I still remember the sound of them. At first I thought that I wasn't the only person to see the Mind Bender and Chameleon. But then I saw the Academy's security come around the corner and heard Teacher Christopher, or at least his double, shouting "There, he's the one!". It was at that point I knew it was the Teacher who had alerted security. I did what any sane person would have done. I ran like Hell! It is no secret that at the Academy their was such paranoia about Spies and such the security forces had taken the side of Dead, at least when it came to dead or alive. I don't know how I did it, and am probably glad because of it but somehow from running through the gardens and buildings I made it into the grounds. It was here that I met my future.

Once in the woods I found a old space that some friends and I had used during many a training mission of escape and survival to hide in. It was an old Oak that must have been hit by lightning some time ago. It was still alive and was covered by crawling Ivy, but behind the Ivy there was a hollowed space large enough to fit three people body to body but for one it was actually fairly open. It didn't take long though for me to realize that my friends would tell the security where I would hide once they heard what happened. I started thinking about where to go next and the only place I could think of was somehow get back into the campus once the security started searching the woods. That way I might buy enough time to find out what was going on.

I feel I should stop now and try to explain to the readers how I felt at this point. I was on the run from a security force that was so highly trained that they had not once but twice defeated forces three times their size in combat. A force with Psychics so powerful that this was the first, to my knowledge, of any Mind Benders actually making it on the Academy grounds. And yet somehow I had made it into the woods and as of yet undetected. I had also made it away from a Mind Bender before it could gain control of my mind. And yet I still had no idea why all of this was going on or what it was all about. My heart was going a thousand beats a second and my head was in the clouds yet clearer than it had ever seemed before. I was feeling both like the hunted and the hunter. I knew that it wasn't going to last; there was no way I was going to be able to get past all of the security forces and the Mind Bender and the Chameleon. At least not alone. I needed some help and it had to be from people who would trust me and who I trusted.

Before I knew what I was doing I was headed back for the school. In the distance I could hear dogs and knew that the Security was after me. Most likely with a few Psychics too. Unfortunately I had no choice; I needed to get back and get some help. When I was about half a mile from edge of the woods I felt it again. It was like a cool hand being held against my forehead. But this time it was different. Instead of feeling right on my forehead it was more like it was being held just an inch away. Like that feeling you get when someone is right behind you but you can't actually feel them you just know that they are there. I also noticed one other thing. The soldiers with dogs were making their way through the woods very slowly. They looked like they were checking every bush, tree, and blade of grass. The only thing I could think of doing was to go back the way I came. It was just then I noticed a small hollow underneath some roots of a tree. I climbed in it and ended up ripping most of the pants that I had been wearing. And seeing that, I knew the soldiers wouldn't fit given I was only 5'3 and 120 lb. It seemed like forever but finally the soldiers passed.

I could see shadows moving inside of my room in the common living areas and knew that the entire campus had to be awake by now. Just when I was about to climb up the steps I saw the front door opening. I dove into the bushes, but not before whoever it was saw me. The next thing I knew I was up and running for the woods again when I felt a light sting on my back and then everything went black.

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By Jacob H Bechtel V.

Copyright © 1989, 1997, 1998 Jacob H Bechtel V. All rights reserved.