Shadow Author

With rugged breath, I huffed and puffed as I tried to get the tiniest amount of oxygen into my lungs.

Currently, my body felt as if it had been hit by a truck. I knew the bruises would swell and stay for many days to follow.

'Fuck me!'

Raising my sword to parry I barely got it up in time to save myself.

'Curse teenage romance drama!'

As my opponent's sword clashed with mine the force of their attack far outweighed mine and I was thrown backward.

Rolling on the ground my lungs felt as if they were on fire and my body was begging for me to give up. Even then I rose to my feet and held my sword in front of me ready for the next attack.

'Shitty future-seeing ability, I am not a masochist!'

Hardly having any time to prepare Willow's rapier swiftly came striking down at my body.

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[One day ago]

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Willow stood next to Elijah as she alongside all her other classmates and watched as the dirtbag laid his nasty lips on the entitled bitch.

At a complete loss for words, Willow was left gobsmacked unsure of what to do.

The others seemed to be in a similar train of thought as it seemed like the whole room froze over in ice.

Then they heard the low dominating voice of the culprit.

"She's mine."

It finally clicked in everyone's head what happened.

Willow was the first to react as she called out their lustful acts to shame Charlotte.

Some of the boys nearby were both awed at the courageous act of the young man as they took notes. While others grew furious at the realization that their idol and beauty Charlotte was taken away from them.

Some of the girls nearby grew red in the face. It was unclear if it was from secondhand embarrassment or an unbelievable fantasy of theirs playing out in real life.

Evelyn was one of these girls as her cold outwardly expression melted and her thoughts ran wild.

The last of the batch was either jealous that their boyfriends wouldn't do anything as romantic, or pissed off on behalf of Willow.

Fortunately or unfortunately only slightly after all hell broke loose Miss Smith finally intervened.

Although she had been watching the whole time Miss Smith was hoping that the situation would resolve itself. However, rather than getting better it just kept getting worse and worse.

At first, it only slightly annoyed her but now she was furious.

A little bit of drama and some name-calling never hurt anyone in Miss Smith's eyes but there was a time and place for it.

Her class was not the place for it to be happening.

"Stop."

Then complete silence.

All the chaos that was about to erupt, including anger, jealousy, and admiration was vanquished. Fear quickly took its place in the hearts and minds of the students.

Their bodies shook with nerves as their instincts screamed to run away. Yet not one student could bring themselves to move a hair's length.

The thick killing intent from Miss Smith could practically be latched onto as the intangible force surrounded them drowning them in a sea of horror.

But just as quickly as the force came it vanished.

The result caused everyone to collapse to the ground while the weak-minded fell unconscious and the lucky ones only pissed themselves.

To the utter embarrassment of the students, they were wiped out by a fifth of a second of Miss Smith's rage.

With the thoughts of Lucas's and Charlotte's actions being nullified, Miss Smith was more than satisfied. Now she just had to wait for some of them to wake up and… clean themselves.

Just as she was about to send a message for a nurse to come and check on the kids she caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of her eye.

The sole silhouette of a young man who miraculously was still standing.

As soon as her eyes landed on him she knew instantly who it was and couldn't help but be impressed.

"Mr. Elijah you've really outdone yourself."

Elijah didn't respond or rather he couldn't as the only thing holding him up was his will to never surrender.

Miss Smith only smiled.

"It's okay you made it though, you can relax now."

That was all the confirmation Elijah needed as he immediately fell down while his vision went dark.

After that Miss Smith contacted the nurse to check up on the conditions of the students.

Meanwhile if one were to take notice of a second presence where no one was looking they would realize that there was a second and third person who was holding on through their sheer will.

In his arms, he held a young girl who was quivering uncontrollably. Her arms were tightly wrapped around the boy clutching onto him as if he would disappear forever.

The boy could feel the pain as she desperately held on to him trying to alleviate some of it.

Although he knew of her pain he didn't resonate with it as he carefully lifted his hands placing one on the back of her head to pull her in and having the second rub her back.

"You're okay."

However, the reassurance didn't seem to do much as the girl continued to silently struggle in anguish.

Unfortunately, there was nothing more the boy could do so he allowed her to grab at him while he only gently rubbed her back.

As seconds passed the converging of the girl slowly began to dissipate as she relaxed.

After a full minute, the shuddering of the girl ended leaving her drenched in sweat latched tightly to the boy leaving no gap in between them.

"You did so well."

Lucas whispered praise in her ear before drowsiness overcame the girl causing her to peacefully fall asleep in his arms.

Letting out a deep sigh the boy neither collapsed nor lost consciousness as he too enjoyed the peacefulness of the moment.

If one were to take notice of him from the beginning they would notice that never once had the boy had any reaction to the killing intent that Miss Smith released.

It was as if it never affected him — or rather couldn't.

Perhaps when one truly dies and believes themselves to be within a fake world, the looming possibility of death becomes dulled.

After a few minutes, the nurse came in to handle the fiasco. All the students who required medical attention were taken away while those who needed a fresh pair of clothes were given some privacy.

While making the rounds the nurse learned of the extent of Miss Smith's discipline as every student was out cold. Some just needed a nudge while others would be out for hours if not days.

She sighed at the action, not because of the effects it might have on the students but rather the paperwork she would have to deal with.

After handling most of the kids the nurse arrived at the back of the classroom.

Only two students were remaining and as she made her way closer to them the only thoughts in her head were of how one of the students got some special privileges.

Hovering over the duo the nurse was about to reach down and separated them when all of a sudden a head shot up to look her dead in the eyes.

Momentarily stunned, the nurse froze standing in front of the boy who was glaring at her.

"Young man, are you still awake?"

The boy only nodded his head.

A moment passed before she was able to respond.

"I see."

It was only now that the nurse took account of the situation the boy was in.

"Do you need any help?"

"I don't but… she does."

"I understand."

Slowly the boy unwrapped himself from the clutches of the girl. The nurse made a special note of how gentle the boy was with her.

It took longer than expected for him to finish as it seemed even while unconscious the girl was refusing to let go.

Finally, after a few minutes had passed just as it seemed the boy would be free the girl's body began to shake uncontrollably.

The nurse was instantly alerted to this effect as she saw the symptoms of a panic attack beginning.

Quickly she told the boy to take hold of the girl once more.

"Don't let her go!

"Why?"

"She's shaking, it seems as if there is some trauma bothering her right now and you're the anchor supporting her."

Understanding the seriousness of the situation the boy brought the girl back into his embrace and her body stopped shaking nearly instantly.

The nurse sighed in relief.

"Anne really went overboard this time."

"This time?"

"Yeah, she loses control sometimes when trying to release her power… it's a shame, she's so young too."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I- it's not my place to tell."

Clearing her throat the nurse changed the course of the conversation.

"The both of you will have to come with me. It seems the girl needs medical attention and since you seem to be making things easier on her I'll have to ask you to stay."

"It's fine, I figured as much."

A minute later a stretcher came by to take the duo away just like what happened with all the other unconscious students.

That marked the end of the future Lucas was aware of.

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