Dull sounds echoed shortly across the school's empty corridor, the wood of the floor and walls doing wonders to muffle the sound of footsteps.
Walking out from the library, John lowered his glance to Hope, who was walking by his side. "So, where do we go now?"
"Hm…" Hope hummed in shallow thought. "There are a few options for us. We have the gymnasium, as I mentioned before, classrooms, auditorium, labs." She listed a few of the available options. "Your choice."
Of the places mentioned by the girl, John didn't hold any great attraction. So, he made a simple choice. "Let's go to the gym." He picked up the first mentioned option.
"Okay." Hope replied instinctively. "This way." She said, shifting her feet's direction, walking far from the library.
John followed the girl, walking by her side.
Initially, the first half dozen steps of their walk were taken in silence, with none of the two teenagers speaking. But the silence was soon broken by one of them.
"Now… can I ask you that question?" John asked.
Quietly, Hope glanced at the boy when his words initially reached her, and when she fully listened to his question, she silently thought about it for a second. "You mean that?"
"Yeah." John nodded. "I guess it's okay now, right? Since we are friends."
Under the young man's words, Hope raised her eyebrows and slightly widened her eyes. The corner of her lips stretched a little. "I guess that's the fastest I've become friends with someone." She said, not condemning, but good humored.
"And I am happy you didn't deny it." John said, nudging her shoulder slightly with his left arm.
Hope smiled sweetly at his words. "What do you want to know?"
"Hm…" John rolled his eyes in thought. "Let's start simple. What do you like?"
"Well, you'll have to be more specific." Hope replied, slowing her pace slightly.
"Then… what do you like to do in your free time?"
"Paint." Hope replied promptly after listening to the question. "I like to paint whenever possible. It's my ticket to relax."
"An artistic person." John remarked, glancing at Hope. "Kinda matches your 'lonely girl' vibe." He commented. "What else?"
"Hm… I like to watch culinary shows, sometimes write and… um, I like…" After listing a few things, Hope started to halt in her speech. "learn magic." She paused shortly in her words. "I think not much besides it. Just the normal things." She said, taking a turn.
John followed her. "There are a bunch of things in the 'normal things'. What about movies and series? Watch any?" He tried to dig for more knowledge. "Even books or…" He approached her a little for a closer look, earning his Hope's glance before he retreated. "Nah, you do not see the type to play games."
"That's too much of an assumption of you." Hope commented.
"Sorry if I offended you." John said. "That said, have you ever touched a game console?"
"…" Hope remained silent.
The young man smirked. "Thought so." He said. "Relax, I'll one day show you how satisfying it is to die a hundred times to a gaming boss and reach the border of insanity within a single day." John added, his words sounding extremely contradictory to the girl.
Seeing how the young man wasn't lying and he meant what he said, Hope pursed her lips. "I… think I'll pass."
"Your loss." Hm, got remind myself of visiting the 'Lands Between'. John reached his hand out to his pocket, feeling the tip of his fingers touching the paper folded in it. But when about to retrieve, he halted in his actions. Shit, forgot I had a better way to remind myself of these things. He thought.
When retrieving his hand from his pocket, for a very brief moment, John's eyes seemed to have become a little dull. But the interval of that was so short and so minimal not even Hope walking by his side noticed.
I better improve in managing my mind and still going out here simultaneously. John quietly remarked in his mind. And also test my mind's improvement. "What about the other things?"
"Hm, believe it or not, I like to watch some series – sitcoms mainly." Hope replied. "I like from time to time, to watch something to laugh at."
"Favorite sitcom?"
"Maybe… 'Friends'."
At least they have 'Friends' here. "Let me guess," John looked more intently at her. "your favorite is either Monica or Chandler." He said, keeping his eyes on her.
And from immediately, Hope was silent. "… You are not funny, you know that?"
Her words only brought a smile to him.
[Scene Break]
"Here," Hope opened up the large double doors impeding their way. "welcome to the school's gymnasium." She said, introducing the place.
A step behind her, John silently observed the place located in a different wing of the building, in a contrary direction to the dining hall.
"Whilstle…" Was the boy's first impression of the place. "This place is really spacious." John commented, looking up at the ceiling. Then quickly, he looked sideways to measure the length of the place. "But why…"
"Are there so few benches?" Hope said, trying to complete his sentence while standing beside him.
"Hm." John hummed in agreement, his eyes going over the few bleachers lined around the place. They aren't enough for three hundred people I think. He thought.
"Simple, the school doesn't host any kind of sports besides the ones played in P.E." Hope said, watching over her steps as she walked around the court. "No games, no public to watch it. So there isn't a need for more than these bleachers." When Hope ended her explanation, she stopped her steps over the court's middle point.
And while listening to her explanation, a frown of realization appeared on the young man's expression. I see. It seems Alaric had decided from the very beginning the school wouldn't house any school games, since he won't allow the students to practice any physical sports against other schools. Turning on his heels, John faced Hope. "So sports are kind of prohibited here?"
"Not exactly." Hope shook her head. "We just don't have instructors and all these formal things about them. However, if the students desire to play, the school has the equipment to offer. But…" Her voice got a slight tone of reservation. "Yeah, we aren't allowed to bring anyone who is not a student or former student. We also aren't permitted to enroll in games, tournaments or anything similar while students of our school. As for the reasons – I think you know why." Hope looked up at him.
"I can." John said. "Though I'm curious now. The way you say it, it seems the school is scared of some student suddenly breaking the floor's tiles while jumping or kicking a ball and taking off someone's head." Spotting something by the gymnasium's walls, John walked towards it. "When we are talking about vampires and werewolves, how powerful are them?" He asked, keeping his tone of voice while distancing himself from Hope who stood in the middle of the court.
Observing the young man walking around, Hope thought of her answer. "Even the most young of the vampires are ten times faster and stronger than any human. And every werewolf can get hit by a car running at 60 miles per hour and walk away unbothered." She said, but in a low voice, knowing he could hear him perfectly. "I don't think you read this part, but keep in mind vampires are creatures who get stronger as they age."
Right, there is that. "How much stronger are we talking about?" John reached out his arms, taking hold of a basketball between them.
"If the age gap is 1 or 2 years, the difference will be almost ignorable." Hope replied. "But any vampire having lived at least a century as one will be considerably stronger than any newborn."
Bump! John took hold of the ball as it bounced back. "Interesting." He commented meanwhile. "Nerdy question, has anyone ever tracked how much a vampire's strength progresses as they age?" He asked while walking to the court's center.
Listening to the question, Hope tilted her head slightly in surprise for the young man coming with it. But after going a quick run through her mind, Hope shook her head. "Never heard of anyone ever doing that."
John, getting his answer, had an unfazed expression. "What a pity." He said, approaching the young woman. "Seemed like a good topic to research at."
Focused on the young man's face, Hope thought of something. "Well, if things go right about this tour and you decide to keep yourself here, who knows if some vampire will volunteer themselves for you to do it." She said, lowering her glance to the boy's hands.
With a step forward, John stood by Hope's side, and with a turn from him, he faced the same direction as her.
He lifted both hands, his right hand pressed beneath the grainy curved surface whilst his left adjusted the throw.
Whoosh! Swish!
With a perfect arch crossing through half the court's distance, the ball perfectly fell through the basket, touching nothing but the net.
This is ridiculous. John thought, the sound of the ball bumping against the wooden tiles echoing in the back of his mind.
Turning his head slightly to the left, John glanced at Hope, who already had her eyes staring back at him. "Tempting offer." He said, casually lifting his right hand forward.
In the distance, the basketball that just stopped bouncing repeatedly twitched for a slight moment before shooting across the court.
Whoosh!
It stopped perfectly in the young man's hand, with his fingers taking hold of the object to not let it fall. "I will think about that." John said, dropping the ball in Hope's hands.
Instinctively catching it, Hope looked at the basketball before looking at the boy. "How did you do that?" She asked, looking up at John.
And with a smirk tucked to his lips, John raised his hand again. "You mean this?"
Without having the opportunity to do anything, Hope observed as the ball left her hands.
"Yeah, that." She nodded, a look of intrigue taking over her eyes. "You didn't… do it with magic. I would've felt it."
"You are correct about that." To further proof his words, John weakly threw the ball upwards and made it stay there, floating in the air without any sort of support but his mind.
Hope, observing what had unfolded before her eyes, had a simple question come to her mind. "How?"
A smirk appeared on the boy's face. "It's quite simple, actually." John casually said. He raised his right hand, and with all but his index finger closed. "The answer is here." He said, tapping on his forehead twice.
Instinctively, an idea surged in the girl's mind when witnessing the boy's hint. "Are you a telepath?" Hope questioned, her voice naturally lowing in intonation when thinking over this possibility.
And when she saw the young man having a wry smile decorate his lips, she knew the answer.
"Well, I certainly can read and talk directly to minds too." John replied, dropping his hand. "But for what I showed, telekinetic is the right word."
"Wai- what?" Hope blurted out, comprehending what she just listened to. "You can also read minds?" Her eyes widened, a little astonished.
"Well… I still haven't tried it, but as far as I know, I can do it." John replied, crossing his arms. "If you want, we can try it here. See how it works out."
When the idea was suggested, Hope promptly shook her head. "No, no, I- I don't want it." She said, stuttering through her words. And when given a second to think, she complimented her words. "I've had bad experiences with… voices in my head." At the edge of her words, Hope's voice threatened to falter, but she successfully withheld it.
However, for a moment, Hope was unsuccessful to hide deep inside of her mind were those emotions and memories of two years ago. And even if shortly, even if she buried it deep in her heart again, they were revealed through her.
In slow movements, her arms were crossed in front of her chest area, with her fingers gently rubbing the upper part of her arms. Subtly and weakly, her eyelashes fluttered and cast a shadow over the edge of her eyes.
Shit. I screwed up. John thought. "Sorry, I didn-"
"It's not your fault." Hope swiftly cut John's words, lifting her head to look at him. "You don't have to be sorry. You didn't know that." She said, forcing a smile out of her. "Just… sorry, I killed the mood didn't I?" She said, trying even more to change her expression. "How about we-"
Hope couldn't complete her phrase when interrupted by the young man. His sudden approach to her and his arms circling around her figure, pulling her towards him took her by so much surprise that she even forgot to think for a moment.
"John, what the-"
"Sorry, that's how I react when I see a sad friend." John murmured, his voice tender and reassuring.
"You are wrong, I'm not-" Hope halted in her words once again, but not for the boy interrupting her with his words again, but by his actions.
When Hope felt the fingers swaying through her hair, feeling the warm hand gently resting over her head go down her cascading hair and slowly return to repeat it once again, she felt incapable of muttering any words for a few moments.
Taking in her silence, John retreated his head a little. "Sorry, that must've been too sudden." He murmured, softly.
"… We barely meet each other and you are already hugging me as you wish."
"Chuckle. Yeah, this was uncalled for." John said, glancing down at her. From such close proximity, he could only see the top of her head. "I hope you can forgive me for taking such liberty."
Hope raised her arms, returning the gesture. "I don't mind." She murmured, her voice half-muffled.
"That's good." John said, gently smiling. "You know, I wasn't always like this. Going around hugging girls I just met. I think with the perk of immortality, I got a little courageous and bold as well."
"Losing the fear of death certainly seems like a good motive to go around hugging anyone you see." Hope replied.
"Yeah…" John muttered. "The strange part is I just thought of that. My mind went: Wow, lucky me for not being splattered over the floor now by this super magical witch." He said, his voice recounting his thoughts a little exaggeratedly.
"Hahaha, yeah, you are lucky I don't hate you, you big doofus." Hope said between laughs, recoiling her head slightly to look at him. Even if weakly, Hope's features brightened a little.
Hearing the giggles from the girl attached to him, John didn't hold himself from smiling.
Bump!
Suddenly, the ball which had been floating in the air until now went back to obeying the laws of gravity and immediately fell on the tiled wooden of the gymnasium, bouncing again and again while its echoing sounds interrupted the moment the two teenagers were sharing.
Hope looked to her side, observing the ball slowly settling to the floor. "It seems you lost concentration." She spoke, her words hiding a weak mischievous tone.
John smiled dryly, accepting the girl's words. "It seems so." Putting both of his hands on Hope's shoulders, the young man retreated a step back, giving him the opportunity to now look face to face with the girl, who was glancing up at him.
"I guess it's time for us to resume our tour, right?" John calmly asked, rubbing the girl's shoulders weakly before retreating his hands to his sides.
Hope didn't think much over the suggestion and nodded in acceptance of the idea. "We should. I need to show you the entire school before lunch, or at least a good part of it." She said, crouching down to pick the basketball which had rolled near to her feet. "I still need to convince you to somehow stay and study here." Standing up on her feet, Hope passed the ball to John with both hands.
Taking it, the young man casually threw it in the air in the direction of where he got it and observed it floating back to that location.
"I guess you are doing a good job on that." He commented, turning his gaze to her after he saw the basketball had been perfectly stored back. "So I wouldn't worry much about it."
Not completely aware, Hope smiled joyfully when listening to these words. "I'm happy to hear that." She said, spinning around to face the exit. "Let's?" Hope said over her shoulder, but didn't wait much before walking away.
Momentarily, John observed from his position the back from the girl getting distant. I think I've been rooked. He thought, resisting the temptation to cast his look lower as he started to step forward to follow Hope.
[Scene Break]
Now, this is interesting. Alaric thought, leaning closer to the bright computer screen.
With his right hand over the mouse, he scrolled through the immediate network page he was currently connected to. Then, moving his hand, the cursor rested over another tab before Alaric pressed the left button of the mouse, leading him to another page in his computer which he scrolled through once again.
This process was repeated a few times by the middle-aged man, and every time he did it, the intrigue and interest in his eyes deepened at the same time his forehead was marked by a deeper frown.
After a few minutes of close proximity to the screen, Alaric slowly retreated away from it, leaning on the back of his chair.
Really intriguing… Alaric murmured internally. There is nothing, absolutely nothing about any 'John Neo' in any of the data centers we have access to. His name doesn't appear in any social media, gaming community or even signed up to some porn site. Is he even a teenager? Alaric pondered deeply, sighing in frustration. They also didn't find any match using the facial recognition program. It's almost… like he never existed to begin with.
Lifting his eyes slightly, Alaric looked at the other side of his room, where a small crystalline ball rested on one of his shelves. There is no mistake, he is a teenager, so why can't we find anything about him? As question marks surged along the headmaster's line of thoughts, a sound coming from beyond the door to his office disrupted his attention.
"End of the Morning Period – Beginning of Noon Break."
It's already 11:30? Alaric casually thought, a little taken by how fast time passed. Spent the entire morning in it and ended up finding nothing. Isn't it great? He thought, a little bitterly.
Putting his hands against the chair's armrests, Alaric used his feet to get some distance from his desk before pushing himself to his feet. "I better go grab something to eat." He muttered, walking out of his office.
————————————————————————————————
This day in the story will end in the next chapter. Taking some really good time to settle things and all, do not want to rush up. Anyways, here is today's chapter. Next one only in sunday now.
In case you wish to support me and read 3 chapters ahead, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n and give me your power stones
patreon . com / Endless Phoenix 186 (remove the spaces)