The Gate (III)

Angel broke out in laughter; he threw back his head with a devilish grin. "I win!" He shouted with vigor. "I win again! Hahahahahahaha!"

A sudden blast of wind smashed into his body, knocking the wind out of him. He was suddenly flung out towards the sky and went back crashing into his body. The words of Amen continually ring in his ear over and over again.

"No. No. No. No!" Angel woke up screaming; he slammed his hands on the chair. A sharp crack was formed, causing the chair to waver under his weight.

Going out of his body and using more of his ability to manifest and interact with the physical world with a spiritual body has taxed a huge amount of energy, especially in murdering someone, which required even a bit of his life energy in his physical body. He couldn't use this ability too often, nor would he use it for minuscule tasks. He needed to rest and recover.

"I was so close! Why now?! Why!?" He got up and was angrily walking around back and forth. Even though he was mentally and physically exhausted, his anger fueled his body.

With a deep breath, he slowly calmed down his anger. "No. I won. I know I have won. She is dead." Angel was chuckling under his breath and broke into loud laughter. She was dead even though he had failed to get her soul. The ecstasy of killing was still lingering in his fingers. "Yes, I won."

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Oct. 30, 2054. Friday. 3:54 PM

Kiyro had finished class and sat in the lobby. His head was against the sofa, and he was taking a small nap.

"Kiyro." A female's voice called out to him.

Kiyro woke up and turned to see who had called him.

"Kiyro Koga." This time the voice was louder. Angela was tapping her clipboard in annoyance that she had to call out to Kiyro twice.

Kiyro groggily glanced up. Angela stopped in front of him with her hands crossed in front of her.

"I need you to go to Room number 13 right now."

"Kiyro tiredly stood up. "Is there something wrong? I got a raid to continue tonight, so I can not stay out too long."

"This will not take long now if you'll excuse me. I have important work to do." Angela replied haughtily. She twirled on her high heels and strutted towards her next destination.

"If she didn't have such a nasty personality, she would be worth talking to." Kiyro frowned. He headed toward the direction where Angela spoke.

Room 13 was a particular room that didn't allow any students or teachers to enter. A forbidden room that was rarely used. For him to be called toward the room made him wonder what he was being called for. No one knew anything about what was in the room, nor had anyone been in it before.

"Why now? What for?" Kiyro wondered. He was not too keen about being singled out. When he took a sharp right turn, he stopped just barely in time before he crashed into someone's back.

"You've been called here too?" A familiar male voice called out to Kiyro.

"Daulton?" Kiyro examined around him and noticed that twenty-three people were present.

"Kiyro!" Eve called out in excitement. She came running towards him with a large smile plastered to his face. "I'm glad that you are here."

"Eve? You too?"

"Yea, I was surprised when this large number of people were here, you know. Even Will and Alex are here as well."

"They are?" Kiyro leaned over to the side and saw Will and Alex in the large group. The majority of the people surrounding Alex bombard him with questions.

"Teach, what's going on? Did you call us all out here?" A female student who seemed fresh out of middle school asked Alex.

"About that." Alex rubbed his hair, trying to figure out what to say. "It wasn't me. I got the same message to come to this spot."

"Really? You don't know what's going on?"

"Yes. I'm just in the same boat as you guys."

"That sucks."

"I bet he's lying." A young man pushed aside the girl and stood in front of Alex. His beady eyes glared towards him with disdain, while his black hair covered part of his face. He had to pull it back to see through. Kiyro had a vague feeling that he saw that young man somewhere. He just couldn't put his finger on who.

"Why would I lie? I came to this Academy out of my violation. I have nothing to gain here."

"Another bogus. I don't believe in the words of adults. You have put us through constant trials to improve our abilities. For the people who had failed, we all know what happened. They're dead."

"I didn't know that. Really." Alex threw up his hand in a defensive pose. Then, he gave them a compassionate look, telling them he was not lying.

"You have something up your sleeves. I know it." The young man was taking steps towards Alex with the hint to fight, but a young girl with brown hair pulled him back.

"Russ. Stop. This is not a good idea, you know." The girl quietly stated. She nervously glanced around, worried that Russ might do something entirely out of character.

"Russ?" Kiyro quietly mumbled. Then it hit him. The Russ had chased him through endless miles to gain his Draconis Library. He didn't know that Russ was here at the Psychic Academy. He couldn't help but feel slighted at the Russ in front of him. He knew this was Russ because his demeanor and looks had not changed much.

"That guy." Daulton walked up next to Kiyro. His lips fell into a frown as he stared toward them. "I knew he was here, but I didn't expect him to use his actual name for the game."

"You knew he was here?"

"Yea, I just didn't think we would ever meet."

Honestly, he wished he would never see Russ any time soon, but lo and behold; life threw him a curveball.

"I don't think it would be a wise idea to start a fight here if I were you," Alex spoke in an icy voice.

"Why no-" Russ went silent when he saw Alex's smile. He felt a sudden chill that ran up and down his spine. With a step back, Russ gulped in fear.

"That's a good boy. Fighting out in public will make us lose face, you know. I'm not a fighter. I'm more of a peace-loving person." Alex nodded his head in agreement with what he said. "Well then, if our little conversation is over, we should all start forming a six-man team." He clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

The students shuffled and started to gravitate toward people they knew. Kiyro, Eve, and Daulton automatically formed into a group of three.

"We should ask Will." Eve quickly spoke. She was already heading toward Will, who his group surrounded. "Will!"

Eve waved his hands towards him as she passed through the crowd.

"Eve?"

The girls surrounding Will gave Eve a nasty glare, wondering who she was.

"Kiyro is here. Would you like to join our team?" She shouted over the girls.

"Well..."

"Will, I thought you were going to join our team." The girls pouted in front of him. They grabbed his hands, hoping he would say yes.

"Do you not like us?"

"We thought you played with us because you did."

"Come on, Will, please."

The girls begged Will. Will felt himself sweat, and he nervously chuckled, trying to push aside the swarming girls.