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That’s as far as I get because as soon as I touch Kate’s shoulder, she flinches. And then she starts screaming. I’ve never heard such tormented screams in my life. They’re filled with the kind of anguish and agony that can only imagine in someone undergoing the most horrible torture. Kate’s wailing cuts me to the quick, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and a wave of panic flood through me. I don’t know what to do or how to help her. My hand is still on her shoulder, and I can feel her body quaking under the strain and torment.
And as quickly as the screaming began, it stops. Kate’s head flops forward as if all the life has been sucked out of her. She slams down on the desk and doesn’t move.
I quickly lift her up into a sitting position.
“Kate,” I whisper in horror, pushing a few strands of hair out of her face. “Kate, say something.”
Her eyelids flutter as her head slowly lifts and turns in my direction. She looks at me in confusion.
“Teresa?” she whispers. “What… what’s…?”
Then she notices that the whole class including Mr. Brian is staring at her.
I have no idea what just happened to my friend. Was it a vision? She normally speaks while she’s having them. Why not this time?
“I should take her to the infirmary,” Mr. Brian mutters. There’s something penetrating about the way he’s looking at Kate, but I can also see genuine concern.
“No,” I say quickly. “I’ll take her. You stay with the class. I think Kate would prefer that. She was complaining of abdominal cramps and dizziness this morning. I’m sure it’s nothing too serious.”
I help Kate to her feet and steer her to the door. All eyes are still on us, including Mr. Brian’s.
“Alright, I’ll check in with you later to see how you’re doing,” he says after a moment’s hesitation.
I nod, and I’m relieved when we’re out of the classroom. But the relief doesn’t last long, because I still have no idea what just happened to Kate. She still looks pretty shaken up and pale, with her arms wrapped protectively around herself. I’m uneasy about taking her to the infirmary, but I have to so that Mr. Brian doesn’t get suspicious.
“How do you feel?” I ask. “Did you have another one of your visions?”
She shakes her head slowly. “No… I… I don’t think so. The last thing I remember was listening to Mr. Brian. And then suddenly there was this buzz. It got louder and louder, and I could feel it. And then…” She takes a deep breath. The memory is obviously haunting her. “Suddenly there was nothing but pain. Everything hurt, as if the noise was eating into my body and tearing it apart. You can’t imagine how bad it was. I actually thought I was going to die.”
I look at her closely. “And now? How do you feel? Does anything hurt?”
“There’s still some pain but nothing compared to before.”
This doesn’t sound like a vision. So what happened?
“What if my visions are affecting me physically?” she asks, looking at me with wide eyes. “What if this is the price I have to pay for my premonitions?”
“Try not to worry,” I say, giving her a hug and trying to reassure her. “We don’t know what this was. But we’ll find out what happened so you never have to go through that again.”
She looks at me sadly, and I see the fear in her eyes. Kate looks so helpless, the way she’s standing there, hugging herself. But what’s worse is her expression, which tells me exactly what’s going through her head. She has no idea what just happened to her and doesn’t know if it’ll happen again or whether there’s anything she can do to stop it. She’s totally at the mercy of her visions, and now this. But I’ll do everything I can to help her.
Chapter 15
The doctors couldn’t find any physiological reason for Kate’s pain. She didn’t tell them about her visions, although I’m starting to wonder if it’s maybe a good idea to confide in the doctors. What if this incident is somehow related to her gift? Couldn’t they help her then? But Kate refused to reveal her secret, and she kept insisting to me that it was different this time. So I kept my mouth shut.
Mr. Brian showed up in the infirmary after class to check up on Kate. He was very kind to her and kept insisting that she get herself thoroughly checked out and then get plenty of rest. I was so relieved when he left. I still can’t stand being around him, and I constantly have this feeling that he’s watching me.
Kate skipped training and instead went to the hunter library to research her visions. I would have been happy to accompany her, but she declined my offer of help.
“You shouldn’t miss training, plus Ayden will be waiting for you afterward. The test could happen any day now, and I don’t want you to lose out on valuable training time because of me. I’ll be fine. There’ll be plenty of other opportunities to help me with this.”
She right. But during training, I’m preoccupied with thoughts of Kate and keep wondering whether she’s found anything in the books.
“Miss Franklin,” Mr. Laydon’s voice thunders across the gym as I’m commanding Yoru to hurl a small fire ball. “You really need to try harder. Only recently, you were ambitious enough to try with your spirit. Your performance today is weak.”
I know the attack wasn’t very impressive. And I’m a little unfocused. It annoys me that Mr. Laydon seems to be waiting for me to make a mistake so that he can reprimand me. Right now, it’s as if I can’t do anything right in his eyes. I’m not allowed to overstep the line with Yoru, but I can’t be too timid either.
I take a deep breath and try to focus. I can’t do anything else right now anyway, so I may as well try to make the best use of this time. I’m getting better at rationing my energy now so that I’m not totally exhausted by the end of the class. Which is good because Ayden won’t cut me any slack.
