Katherine Riley Shea's Story

Katherine was injured. That much she had known the second she regained consciousness. And it hurt like hell. She had felt the sharp pain in both her side and her leg. She had reached the assumption that something had clearly fractured or torn in her leg. She remembered reaching a hand down to her side and pulling it away, seeing dark crimson staining it. The sharp shard of broken glass laying only a few metres away with one edge splattered with blood. It didn't take a damned rocket scientist to figure out how she'd cut herself.

She had managed to get herself into a standing position, although somewhat tentatively. Her head hurt like nothing else. She'd figured that the pain there was caused by whatever had knocked her out. Whether that be some random stone or a nasty thump against the wall. Her entire body was sore and just hurt. She'd never actually experienced an earthquake. Back home, in her native Ireland, such things were very rare. She was lucky she had been in other situations similar. Where she was in pain and confused. If she hadn't, she would've assumed that she would be panicking by then. She took a few steps. Her leg screamed in protest, but she ignored it. To give in to pain would be to contradict herself. Katherine Riley Shea never gave up. Actually, that was a stupid thing to even think. Of course she'd given up before. Plenty of times, in fact. But never when she needed to just keep pushing on.

She knew she had been pale, and wasn't sure if she was thankful that she had found no one on her way. She didn't take kindly to her incredibly weakened state, and was already about to collapse on herself. But she had to make it outside. If not to get out of the area in which she could be easily taken down by an afterquake, but to find someone.

Her mind had been racing as she moved at a snail's pace. Where the hell was everyone? Who's okay? Are they okay? Is Jack okay? She had almost shut her thoughts down at the last comment. She'd never really wanted to like him that way. It had just sort of... happened. And she wasn't actually very keen of trying to shut those feelings away because she enjoyed it far more whenever they were just hanging around. She actually enjoyed having her little crush. Kate would have laughed if it weren't for the fact that her lungs felt like they were burning. Which, all things considered, was a very cruel irony at the time.



Katherine brought her mind back to the present. And the present wasn't pretty. She was in pain, about to collapse, and she wasn't sure whether to jump for joy or feel sympathy at the sight of Jackson watching the girl he loved, his best friend, kiss a guy that Kate herself had slept with multiple times. She hesitated for a moment. Would he really want to keep her company now? Did she want to go to him now? The entire situation itself seemed volatile. And delicate. But then again, she was already limping and had a nasty laceration in her side so what did she have to lose? It wasn't like she was afraid of Jack rejecting her presence then. Naturally she was angry at Lulu. The witch always seemed to make her feel that way.

She shuffled forward until she was only a few metres behind Jack, the grass muffling the disfigured sound of her feet. She could see other people around outside. Apparently most of them had gotten the bright idea to get out of the godforsaken school.

"Jack, are you alright?" It was a stupid question but she'd already asked it. She mentally facepalmed as her eyebrows furrowed in concern. Her eyes wandered to Erin, laying in the grass. Next to Lulu and Drake, who had both clearly disregarded the presence of the blonde girl. Forgetting Jack's place in front of her, Kate's eyes seemed to burn with the spike of hatred she felt. She would have thrown out an insult but felt that if she moment she opened her mouth that Lulu would burn. So the other girl could control luck? She'd need more than she could get if she wanted to escape the sheer hatred that Katherine felt in that moment.

The darkness was welcoming. Everything was so much clearer in the darkness. Leo had nothing to worry about when he was here, nothing to make him sad, or angry, or embarrassed, worried or happy. Everything was so much easier and nothing here could hurt him. It was just dark, silent - nothing happened, or moved or spoke to him. No pain, no suffering - everything was nothing here. That was the best thing to describe it. Everything was nothing. Nothing was this place. And it was perfect. But Leo knew that he couldn't stay there, no matter how much he wanted to in that moment. A voice slowly started nagging in the back of his mind, and a pain started to erupt from his head. He was beginning to rouse, to come back to life from his world of darkness. An aching in his chest reminded him that he had been sad when he had died, and it didn't take long for him to remember what had been wrong. His baby...

Leo's eyes fluttered open as the whole in his head started to close up - the way his wounds did when he died and came back to life. It was blurry at first as his eyes adjusted to the light of the world, and soon, Amy's tear and blood stained face came into focus. "Amy..." He whispered, reaching his hand upwards and cupping her cheek. "I'm here..."

---

Erin just smiled weakly when Drake replied to her, keeping her eyes closed as she laid there collapsed on the floor. She summoned up the strength in her arm to move it out to the side, wincing as she did so. She gently placed her hand on top of Drake's upper arm, patting it a couple of times. She was too tired to speak, and it really hurt her chest when she tried to do so, but she hoped that he would understand that it was her way of thanking him for getting her out of the building. She knew it was him; no-one else was able to generate shadow men, and it made her happy inside, thinking that he had taken a little time out of whatever he had been doing, to come into her room and rescue her from whatever situation that she had been in.

As soon as another voice hit her ears however, the blonde let her hand slide from his arm, letting it hit the floor palm face down. Lulu irritated her, even in such a state like this, and Erin was just not in the mood to tolerate someone that irritated her in that moment. In fact, all she actually wanted to do was sleep. She didn't pay attention to anything that was being said by the people next to her, ignoring the sloppy kissing noises that came from their direction. Instead, she just took a few deep breaths and relaxed, feeling that unconcious darkness inside trying to take her over again.

Erin was happy to let it.

---

Having Lulu confirm that they would always be friends made Jack smile; he knew that somewhere deep down that he would never loose her properly from his life, despite how many unfriendly words were traded between the both of them. Of course, it would be awkward for the both of them to be around each other, knowing the feelings that he had and the ones that she didn't have for him, but they would make it work. They were so close, and knew so much about each other, that there wasn't anyway the two of them could ever truly loose touch or dislike each other. "You can - I'll be true to my word." He smiled, before hugging her again. As Lu told him off for taking away the pain, all he could do was to pull away and look into her eyes with a grin on his face. "Did you really think I was going to allow you to stand there, in pain?" He spoke softly.

It was then that her attention was quickly taken away by Drake emerging from the school and falling into his knees, followed by Corentine and Mr Henderson. He followed his best friend over to the male, another friend and watched as she started to fret over Drake's condition, looking back at him for some sort of help. "I won't be able to help... I can only dull the pain of minor things, Lu... if I could, I would. I mean, I can try but I'm not sure how much of it I could take away, if any..." He rambled, waving his good hand around softy as he spoke. All Jackson wanted to do was make his best friend happy, and if that meant adding some extra pain onto his day, then so be it. He would try and use his gift, if Lulu wanted him to.

As the two of them on the floor started to kiss however, the male turned away. As much as Jack loved Lulu and cared about Drake, and wanted them to be happy, he didn't want to see the acting so .... couply. Not yet, anyway. He couldn't deal with it so soon. It seemed the blonde on the floor opposite felt the same way too, laying there on the floor with her eyes closed, breathing softly. The Irishman thought about going over there and speaking to her, but another person caught his attention first.

His relationship with Kate was a strange one; not because he disliked her, or anything like that - it was because of her power. Jackson was terrified of fire. Ninety-nine percent of everyone in the school knew that fact, and Kate power was fire-breathing. But, he just couldn't bring himself to hate her and stay away from her, like he did with Sky. In fact, he kept finding himself oddly drawn to her. Jackson didn't like seeing the state that she was in, and he turned around to face her fully when she was standing behind him. "Kate, " The shirtless man began, checking her body over a couple of time, to see her injuries, "you don't look too good. I ... I can help, if you like? Only a little, but still.." He asked softly, brushing off her question about him being okay. He was fine - Kate, on the other hand, didn't look in the best shape.

Kate couldn't take her eyes off the almost disgusting sight before her. Never in her life had she actually seen such blatant disregard for a person's life. Never had she seen said disregard be displayed literally feet away from the person in question. Selfishness was the word that was paramount in Kate's mind, as it seemed that Lulu had other things on her mind besides the dying girl. Even she was worrying more about others than herself. Thinking about the statuses of her friends. Even as her head spun and it became hard to breathe, Kate didn't give so much as a damn for her own well-being. It was a different feeling for her. She was always looking out for herself, wasn't she? Rule number one. Always look out for number one. Except, in that moment, she was not number one. No one was. There were only priorities that demanded attention and things that could be dealt with later. And burning Lulu alive was quickly beginning to creep up on Kate's priority list. Kate didn't move. She couldn't. Paralyzed not by fear but by anger.

"Kate,"

Hearing her name being called by Jackson, Kate snapped out of her crimson-tinted trance. She looked to Jackson, watching his eyes flicker over her body in a concerned manner. Funny. Only now did he decide to give her body the light of day. Only when the girl he loved was off making out with a guy in the grass a few metres from him. She felt a sharp stab of anger in her chest but held it down. Of all people, she did not want to lose Jackson to her own emotions. Him, or Cor, or Erin. She didn't quite know what their relationship was. She just felt this strong and suffocating attraction to him but for what? He was her friend as far as he was concerned. Meanwhile she was off with a ridiculous teenage-hormone induced crush.

"You don't look too good. I ... I can help, if you like? Only a little, but still.."

He didn't answer. She, on the other hand, had plenty to say. What could she say? That she was currently in the process of deciding how best to barbeque his best friend? But no, that wasn't the question he had asked.

"I.. I could use a little help," She choked out as the previous fury dissipated. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern as they flickered between her friend lying on the ground and Jackson. She didn't realize how difficult it would actually be to talk, even if only to spit out a few words. She took another step forward and her entire body screamed in protest, blood from the laceration on her hip showing no sign of stopping any time soon. If she ever found that piece of glass again she would chuck it at a wall. She managed a small smile in Jackson's direction to show him that she was okay emotionally, if anything. Don't even know if he would care, she thought disdainfully. She shoved the thought away. She couldn't think like that. Made her sound too... weak. And Kate Shea did not do weak under any circumstances. Though in that second, giving in to the pain she felt seemed like a really good idea. Almost did, as her legs wobbled slightly and threatened to collapse under her, mere feet from Jackson. She didn't want to break down. Wouldn't. But her body was betraying her."Stupid question to ask, Jackson. Help Erin first. I-... I can wait."

Jackson was beginning to worry about Kate, more so that the other people in the courtyard. She was the sort of person who was usually extremely confident and never showed any signs of weakness, and that wasn't what the woman in front of him looked like. In fact, she was the complete opposite. This Kate was broken, and upset, and he hadn't seen her like this before, which was why it was worrying him. His eyes glanced over the couple that were kissing on the floor to Erin as she lay there on the floor, and he just shook his head softly. The blonde was fine. She was practically unconscious, which meant she wasn't in any physical pain, unlike Kate herself.

The male was about to say something to Lulu, and he turned around fully to speak to her. However, she didn't seem to care about anything else that was going on right now, except that man that was laying on the floor in front of her. A soft sigh escaped his lips, knowing that his best friend was only listening to her heart, caring about the man she was falling in love with, but he couldn't help but wish they would stop. Jack didn't like seeing the girl he had been in love with for years sucking off the face of the man he had come to see as one of his best friends, but there was nothing he could say about it. The two of them were happy, or so it seemed, and Jack didn't want to ruin that for her. So, he turned back around, facing Kate completely.

"Now, you." He started, moving to wrap his arm around her waist. The male had a feeling that she was going to protest what he was going to do, but there was nothing that was going to stop him from helping her. Slowly, he helped her get down onto the grass, holding her tightly as he knew her pain had to be almost excruciating. Once she was down, Jack moved to roll up the bottom of her jeans, however stopping when it wouldn't go up any further. There was a small rip in her trousers, and he quickly apologized to her before ripping the fabric, exposing the wound for him to see properly.

"Just relax, Kate." Jack's voice was soft, yet thick with his Irish accent as he placed his hand as gently as he could over Kate's leg, his left palm almost just brushing over the skin, the right still pressed against his bare chest. It was then that he dove deep inside himself, letting his eyes closed as he focused on taking away at least some of the pain she was feeling. He wouldn't be able to remove all of it for her, and dulling it would be the best he could do - but at least it was something. Soon, Jackson felt himself struggling to breath, his lungs beginning to almost burn in pain. The searing in his leg grew and grew until he was unable to take any more, and the brunette removed his hand from her leg, almost falling back onto the grass.

"Any better?" Jack smiled weakly in Kate's direction.

---

Jake made Cor laugh, the sound pearling and soft. “Won’t expect a thing, huh?” She said, smiling wryly now. “Somehow I doubt that.” She glanced back at the pair of them briefly. “Drake knows us too well.” At that, she grinned, reaching up to nuzzle his hair in a playful gesture, the way an older sister would do to a brother. Then again, Jake was used to it by now. Cor had no clue how their relationship had become what it was. It just had, she supposed. In its own odd, natural way somehow. It was strange really, considering Cor wasn’t big on letting people in like that. Jake had just sort of snuck up on her.

Soon, however, the mood seemed to change. Jake’s eyes became distant, his concentration and mental capabilities undoubtedly busy elsewhere. Cor frowned slightly, watching him. Jake only looked that way when he was using his powers, and when the subsequently grinned to himself, she let her gaze roam their surroundings, her eyes widening when she spotted Erin on the ground next to Drake and Lulu who’d already started their mini marathon of nauseating kisses. A rush of anger ran through the blonde then and she pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched them, eyes cutting from Erin to the pair , constantly switching, trying to evaluate how badly off Erin was, how much help she needed.

Cor might be angry with Erin, but the other blonde was still her best friend. If only for a couple of hours longer, depending on whatever explanation she could come up with. She had been about to head over there when Jake spoke, drawing her attention momentarily. “Jake, you fucking idiot!” she exclaimed, frustrated, “you’ll be blocking the central completely! Do you think the Academy is the only place hit by the earthquake? Children could be dying somewhere!” For a second, too overcome by everything that was going on, Cor’s walls of complete selfishness broke. This place could handle itself. They’d live… most of them, and the place wasn’t too badly off; Cor could tell that much. As long as that fucking nurse made it out alive, they’d be fine.

She sighed deeply, eyes back to Erin once more. Concern hit her hard in the gut and as she witnessed Lulu cooing over Drake, She clenching her teeth. Cor’s legs took her only a few steps before she flung out an arm, still walking as a powerful wind picked up. It flew directly at Lulu, hitting her in the back, and tossing her a few meters away from Drake. “Fucking bitch!” She hissed angrily, glaring at Drake as if to dare him to say a word against her. This was the first time Cor had been physical with Lulu and she couldn’t care less what the other girl would do in return. She was too busy running to Erin’s side. Cor sunk to her knees beside Erin, looking her over quickly before she leaned in, caressing her cheek. “Erin? Erin?” She asked softly. When that earned her no response, she slapped her best friend across the cheek and shouted “Wake the fuck up, bitch! Don’t you dare die! You hear me?!”

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Drake merely cast Lulu a wry smile when she gave him a meak kiss on the tip of his nose. That wasn’t entirely what he’d had in mind, if he had to be honest, and if he hadn’t been more or less paralyzed by pain, he would’ve pulled her in and taken what he wanted himself. He didn’t particularly enjoy this compromised position but he’d deal; he always did, right? Even if he was going to have back problems for the rest of his life. Shit, he really didn’t want that.

His thought process was cut off when Lulu bent in and let his lips touch hers. He sighed, closing his eyes as he focused on the feeling of her lips on his, the way she tasted, the temperature of her warm, full lips, the wetness of her tongue as his own darted out, poking and prodding at her lips until he was allowed to enter. He didn’t fully start anything. His tongue rather explored and gave hers teasing little licks, than actually fought to gain any kind of control. It was a nice distraction from the pain, if nothing else, even if he itched to wrap his arms around her and draw her in close, deepening the kiss. He knew, however, that his body would scream at such a movement, so he remained still.

When she drew back to breathe, he opened his eyes, breathing deeply, painfully so, as he watched her, dark brown eyes seemingly exploring her face, taking in everything from the sexy dimples when she smiled at him, to the glint of happiness in her eyes, and she soft flush in her cheeks from slight arousal. He smiled himself as he watched her. His back was still aching and he knew he had to stay still, but being with Lulu this way still made him a little happy. In spite of everything, they were both still here.

In that moment Drake made a decision. He was going to enjoy Lulu all that he could. He wasn’t going to draw it out anymore. He liked her. He did, he knew it well enough, and almost dying today had made him realize he didn’t want to let this chance slip through his fingers. It felt good; he’d just realized that much, and if something felt good, you were supposed to take a chance on it, right? Even if he was probably going to end up hurting her, he was selfish enough not to care right now.

He merely smiled at her when she spoke, and he shook his head. “Lu, I…” he began, but was cut off when she suddenly disappeared. He tensed, clenching his teeth at the pain as he slowly lifted himself, groaning. He looked around, raised halfway. His eyes widened at the sight of his sister and his words made him glare right back at her. Until he realized what had pissed her off, spotting Erin. He drew in a deep breath, groaning at the pain at the same time. He couldn’t do anything about either girl now. Not Erin, not Cor, not Lulu. His gaze cut to Jack and he sighed, not even knowing where the two of them were at this point, but somehow content to know he’d found some distraction in Kate. Especially now that he hadn’t even realized that the other man had probably witnessed the girl he loved kissing another of his best friends. He closed his eyes momentarily before looking past him, turning his head to try to catch sight of Lulu, to make sure she was okay. Cor hadn’t exactly been gentle.

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Amy’s heart was in her throat, breathing past it seemingly impossible, yet somehow manageable. She stared at Leo, wide-eyed, nervously waiting torturously long for him to open his eyes, for him to come back to her. She had no tears left to cry, and the gory image of her boyfriend’s massacred head didn’t even touch her at this point. She just wanted him back. She’d drawn him into her lap, his head cradled in her arms as she looked at him rocking him obsessively, almost like she wouldn’t be able to stop, even if she wanted to. The movements were continuous, constant and in a steady, but fast rhythm.

Every breath seemed to hitch with a miserable hiccup, her one hand cupping Leo’s cheek. “Please, Leo… please…” she whispered softly, bending her head down to stare at his chest instead of his broken face. That was when she heard it. Amy blinked several times, certain it couldn’t be… but it could, right? He was immortal, so of course he’d come back and… she looked up a little to see him. His bloodshot eyes were looking at her, his wound in his head slowly closing. “Leo…” she whispered on a breath, her voice wary, as though she didn’t dare believe her own eyes, fearing that this might all just be a trick her mind had decided to play on her as a defense against the extensive trauma she’d experience today.

Then he reached up, his hand cupping her cheek, and the feeling of his fingers against her skin, brought a relieved smile onto her face as she began laughing softly with happiness, bending her upper body to allow herself to hug him tightly, still rocking their bodies. “You’re here,” she repeated his statement happily, for a moment forgetting about the baby, until she tensed. Amy straightened immediately, eyes wide as she stared at Leo. Then pain shot through her, and she screamed, letting go of him as she fell onto her back, her cries ringing out in the school which had begun to subside in its shaking.

Her hands went to the bump on her stomach, clenching the fabric of her clothing over it. Tears burned in her eyes once more, trailing down her cheek with the pain. Her body thrashed wildly, her back arched. Pain was all she knew, and it rode her violently like a mare, her body reacting without her mind. It was burning, prickling, stinging, and completely piercing through her entire body. It was like acid racing through her veins, she’d never experienced anything like it.

Part of her expected him to throw her off. To yell at her. For him to roll over and coddle Erin next to him, not that he very well could handle the physicality of such an action. But he didn’t. Instead, Drake kissed her back, his tongue teasing her. She leaned over him, keeping his face in her hands, not wanting him to move, but to just feel the adrenaline surge of passion. As she stared down at him, mumbling the only thing she could manage. He was driving her mental and yet at the very same time, grounding her and preventing her from panicking more than she was. The focus on her arm was gone. She looked down at him, watching his lips spread into a sly smile. There was just enough of himself in it that she sighed in relief, shifting to tuck her hand over her shoulder. Lulu turned slightly to the side, her eyes sweeping across the grass to see the only thing she could to her left. Corentine. Lulu’s eyes widened and she felt the violent gust of wind catch her before she saw the girl’s hand swish through the air. Before she could do anything really, she was suddenly flying, up in the air and with a hard push she was thrown off to the side, landing on her slashed hand. “Fuck,” she cussed, trying to roll to make the landing more graceful. It wasn’t. Instead she heard a crunch as her body landed on top of her bleeding and t-shirt wrapped wrist. Shock ripped through her as she felt all the air in her lungs escape her.

“Fucking bitch!” Corentine hissed. Lulu winced, rolling onto her back and gasping. The blond brought her hand to her lap, feeling her lips spasm and twitch with pain. It took her one quick look at her hand to know it was broken. She couldn’t bare to move her fingers. “Leave it to Cor to hurt more people than help them during an earthquake,” Lulu mused aloud, squeezing her eyes shut and groaning. Turning her head back toward her friends, she swallowed back tears. Drake wasn’t about to move toward her. He wasn’t exactly the type to defend her from his sister. And then there was Cor herself, on her knees screaming at Erin, coddling her passed out friend.

And then there was Jackson. Standing next to Kate, holding her, likely using his powers on the brunette. The girl was practically a stranger to her, but the death glare that was coming her way from her didn’t make things any better. Two girls who wanted her very much underneath the rubble dead were now hounding the men she loved. And she couldn’t move and she couldn’t do anything to stop them. They were stronger than her. They would kill her right then and there and blame it on the earthquake and get away with it if she dared get up and talk back to them. It felt just like when she was little, when her brother would torment her and everyone else would watch. No one was going to be rushing to help her. That’s just the way things always had been and likely always would be. She had nothing left in terms of gusto but there was something deep inside her that seemed to break. Her last bit of empathy for the two of them maybe. She hated both of those girls for hating her. Over nothing. For just picking on someone because they could. She would kill them when she had the chance. She’d love to see it. As she closed her eyes and felt her eyes finally tear, she could just see the twisted look of shock and agony on Corentine’s face if she drove a knife through her chest, ripping at her nonexistent heart like it was nothing.

"Now, you."

Kate's eyes narrowed at Jack and her mouth opened to protest, but whatever possible words she might have been able to muster were wiped away by a sudden flush of sensation. The first, of an immediate and sharp pain. But that was nothing new, all things considered. The second was the feeling of Jack's arm slipping around her back to wrap around her small waist. She let out a sharp gasp when he began to lower her towards the soft grass. She felt his grip around her body tighten in response as Jack attempted to cause the least amount of pain possible for her.

It was a useless effort as she felt the already excruciating amount of pain spike to almost unbearable levels. But she was tough. She wouldn't allow this to bring her down. A breath that Kate hadn't realised she was holding was released when she settled down onto the ground and Jack began to roll up her pant leg. His murmured and useless apology reached her ears and she felt a tearing sound, along with a sudden coldness on the area around the wound on her leg. It didn't matter that he tore them anyways. She wasn't very keen on wearing the singed and burned jeans ever again.

And then what seemed like an impossible feeling reached her ears. The pain began to fade, almost to the point where it was a mere shadow of what it had once been. It felt liberating. The pain was still there, of course, but it was far less in intensity than it had been before.

She began to smile in appreciation (and a slight euphoria, though that went unrecognised). But what was nearly there quickly faded when she turned her head to look at Jack. It was very clear that he was in pain and the realisation of what he had done for her settled in with haste.

"Any better?" The sound of a thick Irish accent accompanied the words to Kate's ears and she returned the weak smile.

"Your a bloody idiot," The young woman replied, her unusually soft voice tinted with a similar accent. She allowed her eyes to roll back down to the woman she hated on the ground. Her eyes narrowed at Lulu, the unspoken words easily conveyed.

Try to screw with me, and I will not hesitate to kill you.