Megumi's Path めぐみの軌跡

Chapter Eight Fully Charged

Chapter Eight
Fully Charged

The smell of stale air was the first thing that I found odd. It was also cold, and I saw a single striplight above me as I opened my eyes. I was not at home. Sitting up, I saw I was lying on a steel bed with a single white sheet draped over me. I was fully clothed except for my shoes and socks. Glancing underneath, I saw they weren't there. In fact, apart from the bed, there was nothing else here. "Oh no," I whispered as I glanced at my wrist; the band was gone. "Hello?" I called out. "I'm awake now."

I heard a strange sound, metal on metal, and then a door, which I hadn't noticed behind me, opened. Spinning around, I saw a white man with brown hair in a white lab coat. Smiling, he bowed awkwardly. "Hello, I'm Thomas Langley; you can call me Tom." His Japanese was perfect. "You are in a military base, though I cannot tell you which one."

"I thought so," I replied sadly. "Why am I here?"

Entering the room, he snapped his fingers, and a metal chair emerged from the floor beside me. It was such a cool power. "Wow, can you control metal?"

He nodded. "Yes, I can." Sitting in the chair, he pulled out a strange device that had an electrical current and said, "Hold this, please." It had a long rod that was attached with a curly black wire. Taking it, the little box's needle jumped to the very right-hand side. Nodding, he smiled, and I gave it back. "Well, you are as fully charged to return home at least. What do you remember?"

"I was at home, and I blacked out."

"What about before that? What were you doing before you got home? Your parents said you had very little electricity."

I didn't understand why it mattered. I explained about the tape recorder and the battery, but before I managed to finish the story, he tilted his head in confusion.

"Megumi, why were you doing that in the first place?"

I squirmed under the question. It was embarrassing now that I was admitting to it. "I'm getting bullied at school, and my principal doesn't want me to retaliate or even try and defend myself, as I could cause some damage." He nodded, understanding. "So, she asked if I was to find myself being attacked again, to send her a pager through my power, and she would come and stop the fight. Her battery is low, and if I'm far from her office, I may not sense it."

"So, you were practising trying to sense this tape recorder from a distance?" I nodded. "I see. And you spent so long concentrating on it that it made you ill. Your dad found you with a nosebleed and looking very lethargic. Your mother tried to heal you, but she can't recharge you, and it seems you tried to do it yourself, but you took too much, and while your father was trying to redirect some of the electricity as lightening, you took his too, and you blacked out."

I flung my hands to my face and gasped. "Is my dad alright?"

Tom nodded. "Oh yes, he's fine. It was a bit of a scare for him, but he's fine. He and your mother are at home. Forgive us, but when your mother called the hospital, we intercepted and came to get you. The hospital can only do so much. We have a specialist wing for alpha abilities."

I stared at my hands and instantly thought how worried my parents would be. "Am I okay to go home now?"

He smiled. "Yes, but I want to address this bully and your principal."

I didn't want her to get into trouble. "Sato-sensei means well. I'm very studious, and I don't want to get into any fights or arguments, and I certainly don't want to destroy another school." Tom closed his eyes and nodded. "You will let me return to school, won't you?"

He stood then and beckoned me to follow him. "I need you to follow me."

"Where are my shoes and socks?" I asked, staring at my bare feet.