A Window To A Soul

Chapter 12: Cal

I knew what was on the tape. I knew what she was doing right when she wanted to go to Elliott's. But how could I refuse? She's a higher rank than me. I just hope she isn't going to think any less of me after she knows what I did.

She told me not to follow her when she went into our security room to play the tape. I stood outside, leaning against the wall, terrified at what she was going to see. It was a mistake. I shouldn't have done it.

While she was in there, watching the footage from 5 years ago, I played the memory in my head over and over.

__________

I was hanging out with Chloe and Kai. Chloe was watching Elliott as usual. She's started to like him less, but she still has a crush on him. Kai and I were talking about random stuff. In the middle of our conversation, I noticed Malakai, a trainee from a different class, leaning against the wall alone.

I knew that I shouldn't have thought anything bad about him just because of his looks, but I couldn't help it. He was looking at one specific girl. It was a girl named Julia. She was a trainee from his class. But I knew that he doesn't have any friends.

Julia was beautiful. She had long, wavy pink hair, and big shiny eyes. She had a lot of freckles and her lips were big and full. She had a nice build and was strong for a 14-year-old. She had just gotten out of a relationship with another trainee named Gavin.

Malakai had been staring at her for a while. I tried to ignore it, but after 10 minutes, I just had to pay attention to what he was doing. I noticed that he pushed himself off the wall and started walking toward her.

I stopped listening to Kai rambling on and on and watched what Malakai was doing. I didn't trust him. He walked up to Julia, who had gone to get a new drink by herself. He put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her. I dragged Kai with me and got closer to them so I could listen in.

I heard Malakai talking in a low voice to her. I almost couldn't make it out. But I had to read his lips too. That's one of the things we learned in class. It's important to know what people are saying when you need to guard someone so important.

I could make out what he was saying just barely. "Julia, dance with me."

Julia looked at him confused before shaking her head. "Sorry, but no. I'm not interested." This seemed to upset Malakai and I saw Julia wince. Possibly from him squeezing her shoulder.

Malakai made his voice lower, to where I had to read his lips since I couldn't hear him anymore. 'Dance with me. Or I will make you regret it.'

Julia looked scared. She tried to shake her head, but Malakai only continued. 'If you don't dance with me, I will bomb this whole place. And if you try to tell Elliott anything, he won't believe you.'

My eyes widened. He was threatening her. Julia finally agreed and they danced to the music. But I noticed Malakai groping her. It was disgusting. She obviously hated it, and I couldn't stand to see that.

I went up to them and grabbed Malakai's arm. "Stop it, Malakai!"

He looked at me surprised. "Oh? And what are you going to do about it?"

I felt rage building up inside me. I noticed that both Kai and Chloe were watching me now, along with a few others that I didn't know very well. "I'll stop you myself if I have to."

Malakai reached back over to Julia and touched her chest. She didn't stop him, but I could tell that she wanted to. I had had enough. I lunged at Malakai and punched him in the face. It knocked him to the ground, but that didn't stop him.

He got back up and yanked at the bottom of my legs, making me fall back and hit my head. This only encouraged me. At this point, everyone was watching us.

I shoved Malakai to the ground and got on top of him before punching him continuously in the face. I felt one of Elliott's bodyguards trying to pull me off of him, but then he was stopped. Elliott was now standing beside me with his hands behind his back. "Don't, Jay. I want to see who wins. It's the only entertainment in these boring dances."

I was surprised, but I kept punching him. I couldn't get myself to stop. I finally did when Malakai had one unconscious. Then I was forced off of him and escorted out of the mansion. I was afraid that I would be executed. But I wasn't. Julia was very happy about what I had done for her and thanked me when we had gotten back on the bus. She even gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Later on she had told me that she had a crush on me, but I politely rejected her. I wasn't interested in stuff like that. And I knew that I shouldn't be rewarded for what I'd done. Malakai had gotten a bad scar from that.

Della walked out of the room and looked at me with wide eyes. "C-Cal? ...Why did you do that?"

I felt a pain in my heart when I saw that look on her face. It was as if she was looking at Elliott. Not me. I felt tears about to flow, but I stopped them. "I-I" My voice started to crack. "I did it because Malakai was harassing someone..." I was about to stop there, but I felt compelled to add one more thing. "... My Great One."