Chapter 9: Chapter 009 – Inner Strength

[2009 – June]

The next morning came rather soon, as I woke up to the morning bell that rang through the mansion, probably to wake up all the younger students.

Looking at the analog clock mounted on the bedroom wall right above the door, I realized it was 8.30 in the morning, which meant I had slept less than five hours.

Sighing to myself, I forced my body to move out of the bed even though I was a verified sleepyhead in my last life, as there was much to do.

Wasting time wasn't really an option anymore with all the danger on the horizon, though I reminded myself that taking some small breaks every now and then was imperative so I wouldn't lose my mind.

Still, if you did what you were passionate about it didn't drain you like a normal nine-to-five job, even if you worked twelve hours a day. And I was certainly passionate about this chance at freedom.

The bathroom was fortunately stocked with some supplies like a toothbrush and shampoo, as I had forgotten about them completely last night.

This also reminded me that I would need to find a chance to talk to Hank and ask him to help with my electrical devices, as I didn't want my every move to be tracked by the government. And he was sure to have a solution to that problem.

Taking a quick shower while simultaneously brushing my teeth, I could feel myself waking up completely.

After quickly drying myself, I put on some underwear, dark-blue jeans, a white shirt, a black hoodie, and my equally black sneakers.

Checking my mental shield, I sensed no difference in comparison to yesterday which I took as a good sign, before taking a few minutes to play around with my powers.

Creating shields of different sizes and moving them around myself while I stood in the middle of the living room.

Concentrating, I easily managed to create a dome-like elliptical shield that covered me completely, which gave me a slight sense of confidence, as I now had a way to defend myself.

After roughly half an hour, I stopped my experiments, as I had some other things to take care of before I could wholly focus on developing my skills in barrier creation and manipulation.

One of them and the most important one was to get someone to show me around, as this mansion was gigantic and I didn't have a floor plan or something like that.

Grabbing my backpack with only the laptop and phone still inside, I left the small apartment after drinking a glass of water.

I also hoped to find some food, as I felt positively ravenous.

Closing the door behind me, I turned around and came face to face with a blank-faced black-haired teen.

I didn't recognize her, which was no surprise as my knowledge about the comics was vague at best, so she could quite literally be anyone.

The girl though had an aura about her I found strangely familiar. Looking into her bright green eyes, she stared right back at me without any change in expression.

The intensity of her gaze was something I had never encountered before, but I imagined that it was similar to a wild wolf locking gazes with his potential prey, trying to find any weakness or a chance to attack.

Somehow I could feel that this moment and my next actions were of great importance, so I didn't try and reflexively turn away my gaze. Instead, I stared right back at the admittedly beautiful girl.

I may not be a warrior with indomitable willpower, nor did I have any experience fighting or standing my ground against a greater force, but that didn't matter right now.

I was a different man than I had been 24 hours ago.

That man hadn't known how it felt when pieces of metal and glass ripped through your organs and you had to watch yourself dying painfully over the span of several long minutes. Until the very blood, that had kept you alive, had left your veins.

That man hadn't known pain though he had known what crushing despair felt like.

The man I was now, on the other hand, knew what pain was and he also knew hope. Hope to become something I had wanted my whole life. I knew how precious, how sacred this hope was.

And with this knowledge, with this experience came a willingness to protect and fight for it. A willingness to die for it.

This was my resolve, as death wasn't scary but losing my freedom certainly was.

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I didn't falter under the girl's intense gaze, even as my instincts as a human being told me that I was in danger. Screamed at me to avert my gaze and run away.

My other senses seemed paralyzed, as I couldn't hear what was going on around me and it felt like I had lost all sense of my own body.

It didn't matter.

Bright green eyes – that was the only thing I focused on right now.

I didn't know how long we stood there, just looking into each other's eyes, but the moment her eyelids fluttered close I returned to reality.

And it was also at this moment my stomach decided to protest loudly in hunger.

I wasn't sure if it was my imagination, but the girl's blank expression seemed to display a minute smile before it vanished right away.

"Hungry?", a voice like warm honey with a teaspoon of whiskey sounded out – incredibly smooth with a slight rasp.

“Mhm.”, I responded reflexively.

A slight tug at my sleeve was enough to make me understand that the girl wanted me to follow her, probably to the dining hall.

But as I was still in somewhat of a daze about what happened a few moments ago, I would have probably even followed her up a barren mountain.

…

Ellie prided herself in being headstrong and confident, though as she and Yukio left their room and saw 'her' walking by, she had to admit that her steps faltered a little, even if that was only to herself.

Ellie couldn't help it, as Laura Kinney was simply unpredictable and that made her dangerous.

Instinctively keeping her eyes on the threat, Ellie's eyes followed Laura's leaving figure, as suddenly the door to a formerly empty room opened right next to Laura.

A young, admittedly handsome teen with wild black curls left the room and as he turned around, he came face-to-face with the girl.

Expecting this to end like it had ended with everyone else, Ellie watched the happenings attentively along with Yukio, who would naturally never let a chance to acquire more gossip material get past her. Her girlfriend was such a typical teen sometimes.

Curiosity though rapidly turned into surprise, as the boy didn't avert his gaze or backed away from Laura. He just stared back.

And while Laura's eyes were filled with challenge and aggression, his seemed to burn with something that Ellie couldn't decipher, though it was no less intense than Laura's gaze.

Their silent confrontation caused a quiet atmosphere to spread as if someone had cast a spell on the hallway.

Her own nerves were tense, expecting a fight to break out any moment when suddenly it was all over.

Laura smiled.

And even if it was hardly visible, Ellie was sure of it.

Shocked, she watched as they seemed to reach some kind of silent understanding, as they walked down the corridor together.

“Did that really happen right now?”, Yukio asked, eyes wide in surprise.

Nodding, Ellie's gaze still followed them until they vanished around a corner.

“Well, I don't know who that new guy is, but now I gotta find out!”, Yukio exclaimed in excitement, just being the bubbly girl Ellie had fallen in love with.

Still, Ellie shared her excitement partly, as anyone that could do what he had just done was definitely someone abnormal.

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