Mind Catcher

“Damn it! I’m gonna be late!” Neil exclaimed as he dashed towards the front doors of Ringmasters Training Academy. It was a Tuesday morning, and the school day was just about to start. Neil only managed to wake up after getting ten phone calls from Heer, who told him that he had missed breakfast. Neil rushed through the hallway, knowing full well that Professor Luna would be displeased at his tardiness once again.

Neil looked at his phone as he kept running. He only had a minute left, and the door to the classroom was just at the end of the hall. Determined to make it at the bell, Neil lunged forward, quickly managing to slide through the door as soon as the bell rang.

“YES! I made it!” Neil exclaimed.

Neil looked around, seeing everyone was staring at him, including Sana, Rey, Krystal, Prince, Heer, Zayn, and Akira. Before he could get more attention to himself, Neil quickly made his way to his seat next to Heer.

“Smooth, Neil. Very smooth,” Prince said.

“Hey, I made it on time!” Neil exclaimed. “Besides, Professor Luna isn’t even here yet.”

“Apparently she’s not even coming today,” Rey said.

“Wait, what?” Neil asked.

“I heard one of the teachers say she had to fill in for one of the other instructors at the academy conference,” Sana said.

“Which means she won’t be here for at least two weeks,” Heer said.

“Thank God for that,” Krystal said as she finished painting her nails a baby pink color.

Sweet. A break from Luna is just what I needed, Neil thought.

Suddenly, Neil saw a man enter the classroom. One look at his outfit was enough for him to know Krystal would have an opinion on it. He wore a gray sweater, gray pants, and gray dress shoes. He had his brown hair smoothed back. Neil could hear Krystal whispering to Prince, “Wow, zero creativity in the fashion department.”

Fashion aside, Neil was getting an intense vibe from the guy. The man put down his briefcase on the desk. He looked up at everyone, cleared his throat, and said, “Hello, all. I’m Professor Lyle O. Justice. You can all call me Lyle though.”

Then why even introduce yourself as a professor? Neil questioned.

“Professor Luna has assigned me as your substitute. Just because I’m a sub, don’t think I’ll go easy on you kids,” Lyle said.

“Seriously?” Krystal said quietly. “Get over yourself, Lyle.”

“Young lady,” Lyle said. Krystal was startled, seeing Lyle was looking directly at her. “Why don’t you stand for us?”

Krystal begrudgingly stood from her desk. Lyle said, “What’s your name?”

“Krystal.”

“So, Krystal, would you like to share your riveting and engaging thoughts with the class?”

“Not really.”

“Did I give you a choice?”

“Technically you did by framing your sentence as a question.”

This will not end well, Prince thought.

“Well, you’ll have plenty of time to think about technicalities in detention,” Lyle said.

“What?!” Krystal exclaimed. “How is that fair?!”

Lyle turned back to the board to open his briefcase while Krystal sat down, puzzled. Even Professor Luna wasn’t this bad to her.

“All right. You will all read chapters ten through twelve in your textbook today and answer the following reflection questions,” Kyle said as he passed out papers to every student. “Whatever you don’t finish is homework, and you must bring it tomorrow. You have to engage all the content sufficiently to earn full credit.”

“Excuse me, sir, what does engage mean?” Heer asked.

Lyle turned to Heer and looked at her as if she had asked him for both his kidneys.

“I would expect students to know what basic directions mean,” Lyle said.

Sheesh. What an ass, Neil thought. Everyone began working quietly, opening their books and reading along. Neil opened the book and took a look at the reflection questions. There were five of them, and they seemed to be pretty basic questions. Neil figured the assignment wouldn’t be too bad.

***

Later that day, the gang met up at the cafeteria for lunch. As they got seated, Krystal came up to the table, annoyed as she put her lunch down and said, “That Lyle is such an ass. How dare he give me detention?!”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I didn’t even think you deserved it,” Prince said.

“Wow. That’s a first from you, Prince,” Krystal said.

“He seems to have a pretty big ego,” Zayn said.

“He never even answered Heer’s question,” Sana said. “What kind of educator is he?!”

“Maybe it was a silly question for me to ask,” Heer said as she reached for her fruit cup.

“Heer! Don’t you make any excuses for him talking to you like that!” Neil exclaimed.

“Yeah, he’s an ass,” Rey said as he munched on his grilled cheese sandwich. “I swear he’s making me wish Luna was back, and I never thought I’d say that.”

“At least it’s only for a short time,” Akira said. “When’s your detention, Krystal?”

“Friday. I’m going to miss the sale at Reshawna this weekend,” Krystal said. “I was gonna get the new Dreamy Lilac baguette!”

“You’re rich. Why would you care for a sale?” Prince asked.

“Money is something you have to use wisely, Prince!” Krystal exclaimed. “Sheesh. I just want this god-awful man gone already.”

“Come on, guys. It’s just two weeks,” Sana said. “Maybe he was just being tough for the first day. He could end up being a lot nicer tomorrow.”

Neil sighed. As much as he wanted to believe Sana on what she was saying, something in his gut was telling him otherwise.

***

Two days later, Neil dashed to Energy Enhancement class with two minutes to spare. Everyone seemed just as frazzled as he was. Two days with Lyle had turned into a level of monotony that wasn’t ideal. Neil was even surprised with himself that he showed up to class. It was probably because he was too afraid to skip in fear that Lyle would make him regret it by hurting his grade. After all, he was barely passing the quarter so far.

“Okay, I have your reflection papers graded,” Lyle said. “Some of you did what I wanted. Some of you didn’t.”

“Oh, God,” Neil said quietly.

Lyle began handing everyone their papers. Neil could see everyone was looking anxious to some degree. All but Sana and maybe even Akira.

As soon as Sana got her paper, she was immediately appalled. The score on her paper was seventy percent. She couldn’t believe the number of red marks, X-marks, and comments were blatantly ripping her work to pieces.

“He gave me a seventy,” Sana said, still in disbelief.

“Damn. We got the same score,” Rey said. “Something must be wrong with the universe.”

“Sheesh. Who gives a fifty on a reflection paper?!” Krystal said.

“I’m asking the same thing,” Neil said, bewildered by the fifty on his paper.

“Is there a reason you kids won’t stop chatting?” Lyle questioned Sana, Neil, and Krystal.

“Oh, we’re fine, sir,” Sana said.

“Actually, we’re not,” Neil said.

“Here we go,” Prince said quietly.

Neil stood up from his desk even though he could tell from the looks on Heer and his other friends’ faces that they wished he would just keep quiet. He said, “Aren’t these grades a little harsh?”

Neil could tell this question didn’t land well on Lyle. His sternness turned into a frightening vibe.

“Are you questioning my methods?”

“No, I’m just asking a question.”

“Neil, you got a fifty percent because your work was worth a fifty percent.”

What the hell?! Who does he think he is announcing my grade in front of everyone?! Neil thought.

“You know, I don’t think announcing my grade to everyone answers my question or gets your point across very well,” Neil said.

Neil could tell from the mixture of deafening silence and shocked faces from his classmates that he said something that wouldn’t land well. It didn’t take too long to guess from Lyle’s face that he wasn’t too happy either.

“Since you’re so bold today, Neil, why don’t you reflect on what you did wrong in detention on Friday,” Lyle said.

“What?! But I-”

“You can sit down now.”

Neil sat down and pouted. He said, “Great. I really blew it.”

“Well, at least you have company in detention,” Akira whispered.

“Hey, I equally don’t want to be there,” Krystal said.

“Okay, silence everyone. Open your books to chapter thirteen. Read till fifteen and do the reflection paper for the three chapters,” Lyle said as he passed out papers to the class.

Sheesh. He has the nerve to act like such a bastard when he doesn’t even bother to teach, Neil thought.

And so, another boring class went by. As everyone was getting to leave the classroom, Neil looked at Sana, who was staring at her reflection paper grade again.

“Still bummed about your grade?” Neil asked.

“I’m beyond bummed. This isn’t just the lowest grade I’ve ever received,” Sana said. “Some of these comments are just mean.”

“No kidding,” Krystal said.

“You could just ask him about it,” Rey said to Sana.

“And end up like Neil?” Zayn said.

“I’ll give it a shot,” Heer said.

“Uh, are you sure about that, Heer?” Prince asked.

“I got the same grade as Sana, so I had some questions about how to improve. I’m sure if I ask him now since class is over, he’ll be nicer,” Heer said.

Heer made her way to the front desk where Lyle was at. Neil watched her along with the others, scared at what could happen.

“Excuse me, Mr. Lyle,” Heer said. Lyle immediately turned from the chalkboard, looking at Heer. Heer could feel his intimidating presence, but she decided to remain calm and composed.

“I just wanted to ask some questions about the feedback on the reflection paper. I understand where your comments are coming from, but could you possibly explain this in a clearer way?” Heer asked.

Neil and the others watched with anticipation to see how Lyle would respond. Neil couldn’t tell from Lyle’s face if he was angry, annoyed, or both. Heer waited for an answer as Lyle cleared his throat.

“Ms. St. Hale, since you don’t seem to know what fluff is, it’s basically space-filler, superfluous verbiage, or the kind of writing that talentless high schoolers do to meet a word count,” Lyle said. “There was so much fluff in your paper that it was hardly even a paper anymore.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Heer said. “Is there a different way I should be answering the questions?”

Lyle sighed. He cleared his throat again and said, “Heer, when you reflect on something, you should be saying something.”

“But I did say something.”

“You gave me meta-commentary. If you want to improve, you should start by not writing fluff. Fluff writing may work for students like you now, but in the future, it will not be rewarded.”

“I’m sorry, I still don’t know what you mean by fluff.”

“Since you want to be difficult, you’ll learn a thing or two in detention this Friday.”

“Detention? But why?”

“That’ll be all. You can see yourself out now.”

Heer was so confused, but more importantly, she could feel her self-esteem shatter in seconds. She quickly turned to the door to leave as tears began to burst from her eyes. Neil was appalled, and he could tell the others were equally upset. They quickly left the classroom to catch up with Heer before she went too far.

***

Lunchtime felt like a therapy session. Heer couldn’t stop crying, and the rest of the gang was trying everything to cheer her up. Sana, Krystal, and Akira stayed with her at the table while the boys went to get food.

“No teacher has ever told me my writing is fluff,” Heer said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“An educator should never speak to anyone the way he spoke to you,” Sana said. “Or write such nasty comments.”

“I swear, what’s he got against fluff?!” Krystal exclaimed. “He must hate fluffy marshmallows! Or fluffed pillows!”

“Or stuffed animals while we’re at it,” Akira said.

Soon, Rey, Prince, Neil, and Zayn came back to the table with plenty of food on hand. The food included a nice tray of cookies and strawberry cupcakes.

“Okay, we got as much comfort food as possible,” Zayn said.

“My wallet hurts, but anything to make you feel better, Heer,” Prince said.

“Oh, please, Prince. Your wallet always gets burned at the candy store,” Krystal said as she grabbed one of the cupcakes.

“I don’t know about you guys, but this Lyle guy has gone too far,” Neil said.

“I can’t believe I haven’t gotten detention yet,” Rey said. “How does Heer get detention before I do?!”

“Well, you normally get detention without trying,” Sana said.

“You’re just mad that you got a seventy on the assignment like mwah!” Rey exclaimed.

Rey realized that he shouldn’t have said anything as soon as Sana started glaring at him. He turned away, hoping she’d cool off.

“I don’t even feel like going to that class anymore,” Heer said.

“You know, me too,” Neil said. “I say we don’t go until Luna comes back.”

“And risk more failures?” Sana said. “Yeah, not happening.”

“Of course, you’d say that,” Neil said as he rolled his eyes. “Well, I’m just not gonna bother till Friday. This man can fail me all he wants.”

“In other words, nothing else is new with you,” Prince said.

“Oh, shut up,” Neil said as he took a bite out of his salami sandwich.

***

Neil stood by his word. He refused to go to class up until Friday. It’s not like he was going for perfect attendance anyway. He met up with the gang in the hallway to catch up on what he missed.

“Wait, you got detention, Akira?!” Neil asked.

“Yup,” Akira said.

“You should’ve seen how badass she was,” Rey said.

“What’d you do?” Neil asked.

“Lyle went off about how half the class doesn’t know the meaning of reflection and was just doing meta-commentary on the assignments,” Zayn said. “So, Akira gets up and tells him that the grading system is a broken social hierarchy that enforces elitism amongst children.”

“The little man couldn’t take the heat,” Akira said.

“Why didn’t you guys tell me this earlier?” Neil asked.

“We didn’t think you’d want to hear about Lyle on your little vacation,” Krystal said. “I can’t believe half of us are going to be in detention today.”

“And I’m not part of that half,” Rey said. “I’m almost sad.”

“Well, it’s not too late to get detention today,” Sana said.

“Oh, not happening. Prince and I are going bowling after school,” Rey said.

“What?!” Neil exclaimed. “You made plans without me?! That too with Prince?!”

“I only agreed to go if he’d shut up,” Prince said.

Before Neil could say anything, the bell rang. As the others made their way to class, Neil wondered if he should even bother going. Of course, he did have to show up for detention, but he figured he didn’t have to subject himself to another day in Lyle’s den.

“Are you coming, Neil?” Heer asked.

“You guys go ahead. I think I’m gonna sneak into the library this time around,” Neil said as he dashed off.

“Why does he bother skipping again?” Sana asked. “You guys have to face Lyle at detention anyway.”

“In Neil’s world, there’s no harm in delaying the confrontation of your problems,” Prince said.

***

Later, at the end of the school day, Krystal, Heer, and Akira waited by the doors to the lower floor for Neil. Heer texted him to meet them there since they had to meet with Lyle for detention inside one of the classrooms there. Krystal was getting impatient, tapping her new purple strappy heels furiously on the ground.

“Krystal, you’re gonna scruff those heels if you keep doing that,” Akira said.

“Well, I can’t help it,” Krystal said. “At this rate, we might get detention for missing detention.”

“We could just go without Neil,” Akira said.

“No, we can’t just leave him,” Heer said. “I’m sure he’s on his way.”

Thankfully, Neil arrived seconds later. He was sweating and panting before he finally said, “Sorry, I’m late, guys.”

“Why are you late?” Akira asked.

“I went to the wrong floor,” Neil said. “About three different times.”

“Oh, Neil,” Heer said.

“Whatever. Let’s just go in and get this over with,” Krystal said as she opened the doors.

The four headed inside, walking down the hall till they got to the very last classroom at the dead end and headed inside. Once inside, Neil was surprised that Lyle hadn’t shown up. The classroom had an eerie presence. Neil felt like some haunting presence was creeping over his shoulder.

“I can’t believe that jackass is late,” Krystal said.

“I sure can,” Akira said.

“Neil, are you okay?” Heer asked, seeing Neil looked slightly off.

“Do you guys feel like something is off?” Neil asked.

“Like what?” Krystal asked. “The only thing off is the AC circulation. How is it colder here than upstairs?”

Suddenly, Neil could hear the sound of the door locking. He turned around, seeing the door was indeed closed.

“Guys, who closed the door?” Neil asked.

Before the others could turn around, Lyle appeared just like that. The sudden sight of him frightened Neil. He had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

“Since when could you do that?!” Neil exclaimed.

Lyle wouldn’t say anything. Neil could tell that the girls were getting just as intimidated as he was. Suddenly, the room began to change. Neil could feel a sense of dizziness smack him upside. It was like a whiplash effect. In a matter of seconds, Neil felt his body was trapped. He was strapped to a chair at one of the desks. As he tried to budge, he could see Krystal, Heer, and Akira were stuck in the same way. He looked up to see Lyle standing before them. He was taken back to the time Aiden had the gang in detention. Except this time felt different. It felt far more sinister.

“Okay, what the hell is going on?!” Neil questioned Lyle. “Let us out!”

“I can’t let you out of detention,” Lyle said.

“I thought I wouldn’t have to relive the war flashbacks from when we had detention with Aiden,” Krystal said.

“What the hell do you have planned exactly?” Akira questioned.

“Why tell you when I can show you?” Lyle said.

Neil was suddenly more confused than scared. He turned to see Heer’s head hanging down, looking at the ground. She was eerily silent. He saw the same thing happen to Krystal and Akira as well. Before he knew it, he could feel an overwhelming sense of fatigue strike his head like a gust of wind. He could feel he was losing consciousness. Suddenly, everything went black.

Neil slowly woke up. When he did, everything around him was different. He wasn’t in the same classroom anymore. Lyle nor the girls were with him. He was alone in a completely white void. He could feel that his legs were going numb from the fear that was overtaking him.

Suddenly, Neil could feel his legs being pulled down. He could see demon-like arms grabbing hold of him. He tried to break free, but it was of no use. Neil felt the white void change as he went through a watery-like floor. It felt like he was drowning in paint. He was struggling to breathe as he was being pulled further and further down. As he was going down, he could hear a voice echoing through the waters. It was so powerful that the water shook like an earthquake. The voice kept saying, “You’re a failure.”

Hearing it made things even worse. Neil could feel he was losing consciousness.

***

On the other hand, Krystal woke up, feeling like she was smacked in the face. Her face felt sore. What was even weirder was she saw herself sitting on a set of railroad tracks. Before she could even think further, she could hear what sounded like a train ringing. She turned around, stunned to see that a train was indeed coming, and it was closer than she thought. Krystal got up to get off the tracks, but for some reason, she couldn’t get off them.

Krystal got up and started running while the train continued to come after her. She could feel her heartbeat race faster and faster as she kept running. She was surprised after running for a while because she hadn’t even been hit yet.

“Am I running fast or is this train running slow?!” Krystal cried.

Krystal could feel her legs were getting tired. She couldn’t keep up with the train any longer, and it wasn’t close to stopping. She didn’t even know where she was going. Beyond the railroad tracks, she saw trees and greenery on both sides, but it all looked the same. It was like she was on an endless train track.  She could feel she was getting slower, her legs tiring out. The train was nowhere near close to stopping though. As she slowed down, she could feel the train smack into her. She was stuck to the front of it, like her body had been frozen. She screamed as the train kept going.

***

Akira found herself on the beach. The sand was warm, and the ocean waves were calm. The calmness was too gentle for her. She had a hunch that something was up. As she got up, she could see that the gentle waves were suddenly becoming more monstrous. The closer she looked, she thought she could see a face in the water that was familiar. Akira was astonished as she recognized the molding of the face in the water. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A man’s voice started echoing from the water. It kept saying, “Come home. Come home, Akira.”

For a moment, she believed what she was hearing was real. However, as the water came closer to her, she realized something was off. She released her siren vocals, unleashing a massive sound wave through the waters as they made her way toward her. The sound waves protected her from the water, and she could see that the man she was seeing had disappeared.

“I knew he wasn’t real,” Akira said. “He wouldn’t actually want me home.”

Akira noticed the beach was suddenly calmer. It was as if a change in her perception had changed her atmosphere. She could see she was the only one at the beach, which made her wonder where the others were. She pondered over how they were all doing, especially Krystal since she thought she was quite the klutz on her own.

Suddenly, Akira could feel the sand of the beach shake between her toes. It was like an earthquake was happening. Everything surrounding her shifted in a pixelating manner. Before she could process it, she was in a completely different place. She could see she was standing right by a railroad track with a train speeding through it like lightning. As quick as it was, she was still able to see Krystal was hanging onto the front of the tree for dear life, screaming her head off.

“Krystal?!” Akira exclaimed. “How did I get to her just like that?!”

Akira quickly transformed into her siren form. She flapped her wings and began flying above the train, trying to reach Krystal. Once she got close to the front, she shouted, “Krystal, are you okay?”

“Do I look okay to you?!” Krystal shrieked. “And how are you here now?!”

“I’m still trying to figure that out. Can’t you get off?”

“No, I tried that. It’s like some barrier is preventing me. This thing doesn’t even end!”

Akira tried to think quickly. She wondered how she got to Krystal in the first place. It was then she recalled thinking about how Krystal was doing earlier. That was the moment she was brought to her. She even realized that the tsunami stopped once she realized what she was seeing wasn’t real.

“Krystal! I think I figured out what to do!”

“Does that involve saving me?! Because you’ve been hovering like a damn bird this whole time!”

“You’re gonna have to stop it.”

“What?! How?!”

“You just gotta trust yourself. This train isn’t real.”

“You’re not the one stuck on it!”

“I’m serious. What we’re seeing isn’t real, but this is your mind. You just gotta believe that.”

Krystal couldn’t fully understand what Akira was saying. The more she thought about it, the more she realized why she couldn’t move from the train or why the train wouldn’t stop. It was because she had been losing her grip on reality. She quickly tried to think of something that would make the train stop. Thinking about that made her brain hurt, so she started thinking of a happy place. A shopping trip to the mall would be great. She could just think of the great deals she could get on the new Reshawna handbag collection.

Suddenly, she looked ahead and saw the train, and everything was gone. She was in one of her favorite boutiques in the mall. Krystal turned to see Akira fly down, landing on the ground next to her.

“We’re in the mall now?” Krystal asked.

“No, remember it’s not real. Knowing you, your brain instantly thought of the mall, so it took us here.”

“So, we can’t go shopping?”

“I think we have bigger concerns. I don’t know how to explain it, but I think our brains have been intertwined somehow.”

“Huh?”

“Lyle must’ve put us in some psychological coma where all of us are stuck in these realities that feel real, but they aren’t. The only reason I got to you is because I was wondering where you were.”

“Aww, you were concerned about me?”

“Honestly, I thought you were a lost cause for a bit.”

“Hey!”

“The point is, I went from my mind to your mind. Now we have to jump to either Heer or Neil’s mind. I think that’s the only way we can get our consciences back to normal.”

“Wait, if Lyle put us in this linked coma thing, doesn’t he know that we know by now?”

“Maybe, but we have the edge now since we now know what we’re seeing isn’t real. I say we go to Heer next.”

“You’re right. Between her and Neil, her brain is probably less of a mess.”

“Okay, just think of seeing Heer. Got it?”

Krystal nodded. She instantly thought of Heer, hoping she was safe. Akira was wondering what kind of state she was in.

Suddenly, the reality surrounding Krystal and Akira shifted. It was the same feeling Akira felt when it happened to her. Krystal felt like she switched the channel on the television. Now they were in a bitter winter scene. Krystal could feel the chills as snow was quickly piling down.

“Sheesh. Why is Heer’s brain so cold?!” Krystal exclaimed as she started shivering.

“Forget that. We need to find her and wake her up, so we can go find Neil.”

“Well, where could she be?”

“She can’t be far. We imagined that we’d see her.”

“Oh no! What if Heer has been frozen in a huge chunk of ice, and the only way for her to break free is to be awoken by the chosen one in a thousand years?!”

“What have you been watching lately?”

“Rey makes me watch a lot of old cartoons during study sessions.”

As crazy as Krystal was sounding, Akira did begin to wonder if Heer was frozen somewhere. It would make the blistering cold atmosphere apt. She looked down on the ground, and she noticed some very faint footprints in the snow. As she looked ahead, she could see they continued further down.

“There are footprints here. It has to be Heer. Come on, let’s follow them.”

Akira and Krystal began walking along the footprints. As they kept going, Krystal thought she could see someone shivering in the distance. She instantly recognized the curly brown hair.

“Do you see her?” Krystal asked Akira. “She’s there!”

Krystal and Akira yelled out Heer’s name multiple times. It seemed she couldn’t hear them. Heer very much could hear something calling to her. She thought it was a familiar voice. It was one she had longed to hear for such a long time. Suddenly, the voices started to clash. She could hear Krystal and Akira’s voices overpowering her eardrums.

“Heer, can you not hear us?!” Krystal shouted.

“Guys, you don’t understand. He’s calling me,” Heer said.

“Heer, there is no one calling you,” Akira said. “It’s just us.”

“No, you’re wrong,” Heer said. “I heard him.”

“Look, everything except us is an illusion,” Krystal said. “We figured that out. Now, you have to.”

Krystal and Akira caught up with Heer, but she still wouldn’t look at them. It was as if she couldn’t even see they were there. Like she thought that they were the illusion instead of the voice she was hearing.

Heer could feel she was losing consciousness. She could feel the bitter cold was getting to her as she fell to her knees. The voice she was hearing became distorted. It wasn’t until she saw Akira and Krystal come up to her that she felt somewhat okay. She could actually see and feel their presence.

“You…you guys are really here,” Heer said.

“We are,” Akira said. “We’re the only things real here. You have to believe that.”

“Do you still hear that other voice?” Krystal asked.

“Not really,” Heer said. “I do feel really cold.”

“Well, we can escape the cold if we go to see Neil next,” Akira said. “Who knows what kind of state he’s in.”

“How…how do we…do that?” Heer asked as she was shivering.

“Just think about how you want to see Neil,” Akira said. “If we all do, we should be able to get to him. Hopefully before it’s too late.”

“What do you mean by too late?” Krystal asked.

“The longer he remains in the reality state increases the chances of trauma occurring to his mind,” Akira said. “It could be dangerous. Come on. Let’s do this.”

Heer tried to calm down and think of Neil. She decided not to let the bitter cold get to her as finding Neil was of the upmost of importance. Akira and Krystal followed the same. Suddenly, that spazzing feeling came again. Before they knew it, everything around them changed. Heer was stunned to see that she, Krystal, and Akira were underwater. There was no life to be seen. It was just a vast, endless body of water. At least it was until Heer could see Neil drowning deeper into the water. Heer pointed to him for Krystal and Akira to see. The three swam down as quickly as they could, getting close enough to him. All three of them grabbed hold of him, trying to pull him up.

However, something was holding Neil back. Heer could see there were hands pulling Neil back. She used all the strength she had to pull him away with Krystal and Akira helping out. Krystal quickly grabbed her wand, tapping it to transform it into her sonic bell. She rang it, allowing its soundwaves to strike the hands, making them let go. With Neil released from their grasp, the girls were able to pull Neil upward. Heer was struggling to figure things out as Neil was still completely out of it. She didn’t know if there was a surface for them to reach to. She figured that she had to get Neil to wake up if they actually wanted to get out. Heer concentrated her ice energy in her hand, placing it on Neil’s shoulder, allowing it to transfer from her to him. She hoped this would bring him back.

Damn. I feel like my body is melting, Neil thought. Is this what death feels like? I can’t…I can’t feel anything…

Neil could feel a jolt of energy shoot up inside of him. He opened his eyes, stunned to see Heer, Krystal, and Akira holding onto him. He realized just how out of it he had been. Seeing them helped him made him understand just how real they were. It was that feeling that made him feel like the surface was closer than ever.

And just like that, Neil, Heer, Krystal, and Akira all woke up in the classroom. They made it out of the ropes that initially had tied them down to their seats. They were all breathless with Neil unable to comprehend what he had just experienced. Before he could think too much about it, he saw Lyle. He wasn’t standing tall and powerful like before. Instead, he was on the ground just like them, seemingly out of breath and panting like crazy.

“Guys, look!” Neil exclaimed as he got up. The girls got up, all turning to see Lyle. Krystal found it almost laughable.

“Not so powerful anymore, are you?!” Krystal exclaimed.

“There’s no way you idiots could’ve broken out of the reality chamber,” Lyle said as he slowly tried to get up.

“You didn’t count on me figuring out what you were up to,” Akira said. “Next time you want to mess with someone’s head, know them better.”

“Okay, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to kick his ass,” Krystal said.

“You bet,” Neil said.

“That won’t be necessary,” a voice said.

Neil, Heer, Krystal, and Akira turned around to see Headmaster Devil. The classroom turned back to normal. Everything was seemingly okay then. Neil figured it was Headmaster Devil’s doing.

“I never thought I’d see the day that I was happy to see you, sir,” Akira said.

“Ouch,” said Headmaster Devil.

“What are you doing here?” Neil asked.

“I’ve heard some chatter lately from students about Lyle. I was coming here to have a chat with him about all the complaints I’ve been getting about his abusive behavior,” Headmaster Devil said. “Is this how you attempt to teach my kids a lesson?”

Lyle didn’t say anything. He simply looked away, almost like a little boy who didn’t get the toy he wanted for Christmas.

“You kids go on. I’ll deal with him right now,” Headmaster Devil said.

“Finally! Guys, let’s make it to that shoe sale!” Krystal exclaimed as she grabbed the others by their hands, taking them out of the room.

***

On Monday morning, Neil cautiously entered the classroom for Energy Enhancement. Everyone, specifically his friends, were looking at him like he was trying to rob the place.  

“Neil, what are you doing?” Sana questioned.

“I was looking out for him. I don’t know what Devil is planning to do about him,” Neil said.

“You don’t have to worry. Considering what he tried to pull, I doubt he’ll be welcomed back,” Akira said.

“I still don’t get what he was trying to do,” Neil said.

“Neil, he was trying to fry our brains,” Krystal said. “I swear, Devil better have him locked up.”

“Why would he do that though?” Heer asked. “I know he was cruel, but can someone really be that level of evil?”

“In this world, yeah,” Akira said.

“If Akira hadn’t figured out it was illusions that you guys were seeing, you all might not still be here,” Zayn said.

“How did you figure it out, Akira?” Rey asked.

“That’s something to be told another time,” Akira said.

“Really? You’re being the secretive one?” Prince questioned.

Suddenly, the rest of the kids began applauding. Neil turned around along with the others to see Professor Luna had returned.

“Oh my gosh, Professor Luna! I’m so happy you’re back!” Neil exclaimed. “I could just hug you!”

“Yeah, please don’t do that, Neil,” Professor Luna said as she settled down at her desk. “Though your enthusiasm is amusing.”

“So, is the evil man gone?” one of the students asked.

“After what happened with Mr. Lyle this past week, Headmaster Devil had him sent away. We can’t have that kind of behavior in this school. Also, you won’t have to worry about the assignment grades as I won’t be counting them considering how unjust they were,” Professor Luna said. “While I’m saddened that I had to cut my conference time short, I’m actually happy to be back with all of you.”

As Professor Luna was getting ready to start the lesson, Neil couldn’t help but think about everything that happened with Lyle. Everything in the illusion still bugged him. He even wondered if he’d encounter Lyle again, or someone like him. As his thoughts got restless, he looked at Heer, who looked back at him with a smile. She had the most reassuring smile. He remembered it was that same warmth that helped him survive the ordeal. He realized just how lucky he was to have her as his teammate.

Copyright © 2023 Meryl T

All rights reserved. All illustrations created by Meryl T.