[h2][color=6ecff6]Katalina Hargraves[/color] and Ash Mareinos

In the Gym[/h2]

Katalina tapped her foot agitatedly as she waited for Ms Standiford to start talking. This was just icing on the cake of one of the worst days ever. She hoped the first words out of the headmistresses mouth were: “The police are on their way and we’re shutting down the school.” If they weren't, she was definitely hitching a ride into town with the music teacher. She was tired of things getting swept under the rug, and she was sure she wasn’t the only one. She wished that Ben was sitting next to her, but he was with his sister and most of the rest of the theater class. As she looked over and waved, she noticed something was off. All the theater kids were whispering to one another, and looking a bit spooked.

Her attention was brought back to the front of the room as the Headmistress began speaking. Her heart dropped when she heard Arro was dead. They weren’t close, but they had been classmates. She frowned, and then, that was the moment everything toppled upside down.

[color=6ecff6]“AMY!”[/color] Tears started pouring out of her eyes, as she lost control like the rest of the student population. Her anger and sadness caused the emergency sprinkler system to burst, showering all the students in the bleachers, causing them to get wet. However, Katalina was not focused on that at the moment as she heard one of her best friend’s voices for the last time. 

“Kata, I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to find out this way. I wanted to tell you but everything is so wrong here. This place is bad. No one is safe here.” 

[color=6ecff6]“Please no... “[/color] She whimpered out, knowing she was really only speaking to herself. However suddenly she was snapped back to the reality of the gym when she heard a distinctive crackling. Her eyes snapped to the front of the gym where there was a boy with lightning arching off of him. She realized what her actions had done and immediately started pulling water off of the students and the bleachers, making a little cloud of sorts in the gym. She realized she wasn’t alone in this endeavor, and not just from the plants. She looked over to her left and saw Ash. [color=6ecff6]“What the fu… y’know this suddenly makes sense,”[/color] she said. 

She looked over to see Ash streaming tears from her eyes as well, but more oddly, her skin had gone an odd shade of blue. Katalina withheld her questions for now, focusing on making the water find a safe place to be, that wasn’t in the gym with a dragon, a human spark plug, and panicking students. [color=6ecff6]“Put it outside,”[/color] she said and nodded to Ash, who nodded back and helped move the water out of the building.

She looked over and saw that Drummond had rather checked out at the moment and looked back at Ash. [color=6ecff6]“Thanks… …”[/color] However, there was one last thing that rang in her mind. Amy had one last thing to impart to Katalina. The lake. Nat’s body had been found in the lake. There was a connection. She knew she needed to find the connection. [color=6ecff6]“So, what did she say to you?”[/color] She asked, looking at Ash.

For a second Ash was quiet and then she said, “To stop being such an ass.” She gave a bit of a smile to Katalina. “I’m sorry, we’re not so different are we.”

[color=6ecff6]“Apology accepted. I gotta ask about the skin, but now isn’t the moment. Is Drumm-”[/color] Her thought was cut off as Jamie got up and bolted from the gym. [color=6ecff6]“Well, that answers that. Do you happen to know what his skill set is?”[/color] She asked. She had the sudden urge to run over and ask Ben what his was, but again, now was not the moment.

“No, but he knows more than he lets on. I’ve got to follow him. We’ll talk more I promise.” Ash started climbing down the bleachers after Jamie.

[color=6ecff6]“Wait. Give him a moment. He looked distressed, like he had a lot on his mind.”[/color] Ash paused in her pursuit. [color=6ecff6]“Also… Did the theater teacher just punch Miss Standiford?”[/color] Katalina turned to see what was going on, since there was now a clamor from the students. Of course, it could be that there was still a dragon in the gym. 

[color=6ecff6]“Never mind, that isn’t the issue right now. I may need your help. You know your lake? There’s something about it, and this school. We’re going to need to figure out what it is,”[/color] Katalina said. It was a bit odd to her in that moment. Only an hour ago talking to Ash like this was not a thing that happened, but it was amazing what happened when you found out that the person who seemingly disliked you found more in common with you than a love for swimming.

Ash stared at Katalina confused at the words ‘your help’. Finally she seemed to be knocked out of the confusion. “We’ll get to the bottom of this whole thing. For her.” Her voice hardened and nearly cracked.

[color=6ecff6]“For all of them. Nat, Arro and Amy were not the first, but hopefully, we can make them the last,”[/color] Katalina said, clutching her fist. She was determined to make that be true. Ash nodded and stepped back up besides Katalina just as Ms. Standiford started to try to call the students back into order, an order that was not going to happen soon.