Schools out forever

“Hey Shamsky!” Shahara heard from across the room. She knew exactly who Randall was talking to, but she chose to ignore him. Being the campus blockhead, Randall was always trailed by his posse of boys who were just strong enough to bully other kids in the school but not strong enough to take on Randall. She heard him shout at her again, only this time closer than before, so she turned to face the unavoidable. As predicted, the five goons who always followed him around were there as well. Randall was well built for only being seventeen years old. Broad shoulders, a tall frame that hid the extra weight well and hands the size of coffee cans, he was easily one of the most athletic students who was also quite effective with throwing weapons.

“What do you want Randall?” Shahara asked as she pulled her black hair out of her face.

“I want to challenge you. Rumor has it your knife throwing accuracy is unmatched by anyone in the school, and I cannot allow lies like that to be spread around.” Shahara just laughed as she turned away from him.

“I’m not going to fall prey to your little schemes just so you can stroke your ego.” Shahara felt his large hand grab her shoulder as he spun her back around to face him.

“Those are pretty big words coming from a little girl.” Randall knew how to get under her skin, and she hated him that much more for it. She knew that would be the tactic he would use, and she had told herself a dozen times before that he wasn’t worth the effort, but she absolutely hated being called little girl, and once again she fell prey to her own anger. She knew it was showing in her eyes as well because he was now smiling.

“Three throws Randall, and I'll show you who the little girl around here is.” Shahara said as she tried to push him away, which only resulted in pushing herself back. Even at two years his junior and a hundred fifty pounds lighter, she didn’t fear him in the slightest. She knew how good he was, and she knew how he reacted to being beaten, and as she pulled her long black hair up into a ponytail and grabbed three throwing knives off the rack, she was mentally preparing for what was to come.

Randall grabbed his knives from the rack and walked up to the line first. The handful of other students who were training in the weapons room had come in close to watch the challenge unfold. Everyone stayed quiet during Randall’s throws, which even Shahara had to admit were rather impressive for hands that size. His first knife was almost dead center in the bullseye, the second a little to the left and below but still in the bullseye circle, and the third found it’s home just a little to the right of the second and barely outside the bullseye. A few people clapped as Randall seemed pretty proud of himself for those throws.

“Good luck beating that Shamsky.” Shahara stepped up to the line at the second target and had all three of her knives thrown in the same time it took Randall to throw his first one. Her first knife was just a little below dead center of the bullseye with the blade parallel to the floor. The second knife landed just to the left of the bullseye and was angled right and the third found it’s home just to the right of the bullseye and leaning left, with all three knives forming a triangle around the center of the bullseye. The room was silent. Those who knew Shahara’s skill just chuckled and walked away while those who hadn’t still had yet to pick their jaws up off the floor.

“There’s no way a little girl like you could do that without cheating. Besides, my first knife is closer to the center than any of yours were.” Randall said as he finally regained his composure. Shahara figured he would say that, so she reached down into her boot and produced a long slender knife and threw it at the target, landing it right in the center of her triangle.

“Who’s the little shamsky girl now?” Shahara asked as she walked past him to retrieve her knives. She figured he would do something stupid after that comment and she didn’t have to wait long to be proven right. A boy that size isn’t exactly stealthy and Shahara could hear him lumber up behind her. She watched Randall throw the knives left handed, so she assumed he would throw the first punch with the same hand. She waited till he was within striking distance and crouched down, just in the knick of time too as his hand barely missed the top of her head. She grabbed a hold of his wrist and pulled it out in front of her. Had he been expecting this, or even somewhat trained in hand to hand combat, he would have maintained a decent center of gravity and this would never have worked, but since he was nothing more than a brawler, Shahara was able to pull him over her shoulder as he went face first into the floor. With his wrist still in her hand, she twisted it until his shoulder touched the floor and put her palm against his elbow, ready to break it.

“Do that again and I will snap this arm in half” Shahara said as she put a small amount of pressure on his elbow.

“Alright, alright” Randall yelled as he fought through the pain. Shahara let him go as she went to retrieve her knife from the target. She could hear Randall scolding his buddies for not stepping in and helping him as he pushed past them. All Shahara could do was smile, she had been wanting to put him in his place for quite a while now. It wasn’t that she wanted to insert herself at the top of the food chain, she just wanted everyone to leave her alone. She got along with very few people and none of them she considered friends. She hid her powers from everyone here, including Abbey, who had rescued her from being an orphan. This school was built for kids with powers to have a safe space to grow and learn, but she never felt at home here.

Shahara had left the training room and had made it back to her room, sat down on her bed and instinctively reached for her bag hidden under her bed. She had been thinking for a while now on leaving the school and attempting to start over, live the life she wanted and not the one everybody seemed to think she was destined to. She studied the bag for a couple more moments, mulling over what leaving would mean, and slid the bag back under her bed. Today was not the day.

*****

It was later that evening and Shahara was walking down an empty hallway in an older part of the school. It was well after supper and Shahara was on her way back to her room from the locker room. She always worked out in the evening after everyone else was heading to bed since she was usually the only one in the weight room, which is what she preferred. These hallways were poorly lit with no windows, resulting in deep shadows along the walls and especially in the corners. She didn’t mind however, she almost preferred the darkness and was more of a night owl anyways. Shahara had her headphones on and had her face in her phone when suddenly she was shoved into the wall by something out of the shadows. She was caught off guard enough that her head smacked the wall, causing her some temporary dizziness as she tried to make sense of what was happening. Several hands grabbed her arms and pinned her to the wall as Randall's face came into view right in front of her.

“Shamsky” was all Randall said as he ripped off her headphones with one hand and punched her in the gut with the other. Shahara tried doubling over from the pain, but Randall’s goons kept her pinned to the wall. She tried to pull her arms free but was quickly distracted by Randall's large hand slapping her across the face. He was coming back to get her with the backhand slap when she brought her foot up and planted it right in Randall's groin, causing him to double over in pain and gaining her enough distraction to pull an arm loose and plant her fist square in the face of the boy still holding her other arm. With both of her arms free, Shahara had every intention of taking care of the rest of them until she caught a fist to the side of the face from one of the other boys. Shahara spun into a small decorative side table next to the wall, busting it and the few trinkets that were on it, and was immediately grabbed and thrown back at the wall she was just pinned against. Before she could recover, someone's knee connected with her gut, dropping her to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Another foot connected with her side and she looked up just in time to see someone swinging a broken table leg up into the air and busting out the only light in this part of the hallway, causing everything to go pitch black.

Shahara thought that with the light busted out, she may be able to sneak away, but when another foot connected with the top of her head, Shahara’s survival instinct kicked in and the only thing she could think about then was staying alive. Suddenly Shahara’s eyes started glowing bright white as she summoned Shadow to take care of these pesky boys. Shahara sat up and listened as the bullies that attacked her started screaming like little girls as something they couldn’t see or touch beat the living daylights out of them, as they had no idea what was happening. Shahara wasn’t the only one in the school with these powers; Leleand, one of the founding members, also had these powers, but very few people had actually seen him use them first hand. Shahara smiled in spite of the pain, her adrenaline keeping some of the pain at bay. She thought she would be able to get away with this until a familiar voice came from one end of the hallway.

“What is going on here? Shahara, are you doing that?” It was Sentinel, one of the few people who would recognize what she was doing and with his super vision allowing him to see in a variety of conditions, could see everything that was happening. Sentinel just happened to be one of the few people who recognized what she was doing and stood in shock for what he was seeing. Shahara immediately let go of Shadow and was about to plead with him to keep this between them, but Sentinel was already gone. There was no way Shahara was going to catch him before he got to the council chambers, she could barely sit up straight let alone give chase. She decided it was best to limp her way to the infirmary and let the chips fall as they may.

*****

It was early the next day that Shahara found herself sitting outside the council chambers, ready to take whatever form of punishment they would see fit for her actions the previous night. She wasn’t looking forward to this conversation, she barely got along with the council the way it was, even if one of them was the one responsible for saving her from her home world and bringing her here. She could hear them talking through the doors, more arguing than talking she supposed, about what it was they were going to do with her. She could only pick up a few words here and there, but it wasn’t encouraging no matter how she imagined it. She reached below the seat and grabbed the bag from her room that she had brought with her. Nobody else knew what was in the bag, and as she heard the council continue to discuss her fate while she sat just outside, she wondered if now was the time. She didn’t think about it for too long before she made up her mind. She was already an outcast in the school the way it was and what happened the previous night wasn’t going to change that for the better. She hadn’t wanted anyone to know about her ability, afraid of being used as just another weapon for somebody else's purpose. No, she was never going to be used like that again. So without a single word and a quick walk down the hall, Shahara was through the front doors and running for her freedom.