When I entered the vast gym, I ran into Mia, dressed as a slutty nurse. I was surprised she got away with it, too. She motioned me over, smiling and sweeping her long blonde hair behind her shoulders.
"Hey," she exclaimed.
My lips curved into a gleeful grin, mocking her. "Hey, Mia," I said. As I watched the light bounce off her blue eyes, I blushed.
"I'm just about done." She stated.
"Do you need help?" I asked. I sat on the floor, sandwiching an ice pack against my warm forehead, watching her put a needle in a student's forearm, the boys' plasma oozing into a blood bag. To keep myself from shutting down, I took a deep breath. Standing there with Mia helped a little, but I wasn't feeling great.
"Who knew I was deathly afraid of needles?" While watching Mia work, I smiled and laughed at myself.
"James, just take a deep breath." She hissed at me, but her palm clasped mine, and she pressed it against the cold bean bag for a few seconds before marching away to the room's far corner. She removed a needle from another patient's arm and applied a bandage to the boy's arm. The boy sighed as he slammed back against the chair. Marina entered the room carrying blood bags, which she placed on a nearby counter. I exhaled once more.
"Do you mind if I go?" I grumbled to Marina. I stood up and pointed to the door. Marina grinned as she gestured toward the door, recognizing my sudden fight-or-flight response. But I sat back down after Mia growled at me, giving me a side glare. "I guess I'll stay," I said.
Marina stepped out of the room, carrying a stack of documents. Mia and I were the only ones in the room beside the last girl sitting there watching Mia, and she searched me with her eyes.
We were alone in the room, staring at one another after Mia finished her last patient. Her eyes wandered to mine every minute to make sure I was okay.
I wouldn't have kissed her if I'd realized it was a setup, but as my shirt swept to the ground, I ignored any training Sam had given me as a child to recognize this suspicious behavior.
"James, I have to tell you something," Mia sighed as I kissed down her jawline, taking a big breath.
"Yeah?" I sucked on her neck with my teeth as I tilted my head, my tongue dancing against her porcelain collarbone. I pulled my head from her neck and gazed into her deep blue eyes as she moaned and pulled away from my body. Our heavy breathing filled the silent gymnasium as we watched each other. She leaned very close, pressed her tongue to my earlobe, and licked it clean.
"I haven't been truthful with you." Mia abruptly pushed me back into the chair behind me. I imagined this would be where we'd go further than the first base, but I needed clarification.
"Max, Mark, he's ready." She screamed.
Mia took a step back, wiping her lips clean. Mark wandered around the corner, a cheese puff in his mouth. He tossed the bag, wiping cheese dust off his dark hoodie. Max slammed into me from behind, trapping my chest and arms to the bench, unconcerned that his hood had fallen behind him.
"James-JAMES-James," Mark clicked his tongue as he held a bottle of Sam's experimental treatment to his eye level.
"So," I grumbled, "This was your plan? It will never work," I roared. Max drew spit from his lips to the wooden floor. I squirmed in his arms, but he was stronger than me.
I yelled at Mia, "You knew about my powers? You've been playing me the whole time." Max pressed harder on my wrist, fastening me to the seat. She gave me a big grin.
"Yeah, I played you, Alpha. You're cute, like a little orphan puppy. The saddest part is that I like you, Superboy. Too bad your powers will disappear in a moment."
Mia burst out laughing. Max pulled me forward in my seat. I struggled to pull back but failed under Max's super strength.
Max hissed, "Sit still, James, or things will worsen." With the force of his thoughts, he pried my mouth open. I looked at Mia for help, but she just stood there, giggling like a maniac.
Mark yelled, "Mia, come here." He slipped the vial into Mia's hand as she dragged it forward. I could have sworn he looked at me with saddened eyes as he slipped the vial into his cousin's fingertips. "Dump everything," he said.
Instead, she pulled the vial open with ease and didn't fight. Max yanked my mouth forcefully, and a liquid stream drizzled past my lips. She flung the vial aside and grabbed a dirty needle from the counter's edge. She chuckled to herself as she pushed the tip of the syringe into my thick skin; her fingertips traced my muscles. For a period, my eyes flickered, then faded to purple-blue, then everything faded to black.
∆∆∆
My head swam, and I tried to focus on something in the gym to keep myself from throwing up the day-old cafeteria food. I raced to the bathroom to wash the dried blood from my arm, looking around for Max before wiping water against my bruised and puffy lip. I called Derek in a panic, unsure about what else to do. Derek took the call right away.
"What's up, James?" he asked. His speech sounded fatigued, but I needed to assess the crisis. My abilities disappeared, and the girl I thought was my girlfriend betrayed me by stealing quarts of my blood. Who knows what they would do with it, but I felt it was a bad idea.
I sighed, clutching my phone and forgetting I couldn't fly anymore. Instead, I walked away so that my voice didn't echo.
"The blood drive was a setup. My powers, they're gone. They took bags of my blood. I knew I shouldn't have trusted anyone related to Mark Reignson, especially Mia. I feel so stupid." I paced the empty school hallways and cursed in my mind. Fuck-shit! How could I have been so gullible? Finally, Derek soothed me, tapping his finger on the phone.
"Are you alone?" Derek asked. I looked around and searched the long hall. The only person at the school was a janitor, jamming to music on his phone with his headphones.
"Yeah," I affirmed. The tapping stopped.
"I'll be over as soon as possible to pick you up. Stay put," Derek said. I nodded.
"Not a problem." I sat against a wall, sliding my knees into my chest. Noah and Sam were right. My ex-girlfriend was a psychopathic bitch, and the reason I didn't have my superpowers anymore. I felt like I was about to puke, so I positioned myself in front of the hallway trash can in case I did. I wasn't sure what they needed my blood for, but I was sure it wasn't a good thing. I knew I needed to get my powers back before something terrible happened. I needed them soon.
"What are we doing about your powers?" He mumbled through the phone again.
"You mean my non-existing powers?" I growled back.
"Yeah," he said. "What do we do?" We stood in the hallway, talking under the bright lights hanging from the hallway ceiling.
"Do you honestly think I know?" I snapped.
Derek roared. "Don't be a dick. I'm trying to help."
"I don't want my powers," I grumbled back. I had some pieces without my powers. The more I told myself I didn't want these powers, the harder it was to get them back when needed.
"You need your powers. Max is most likely planning something a lot worse than this. I talked to Noah, and he said this was only the first part of his plan—"
"You talked to Noah behind my back?" I bellowed, shifting on the concrete floor.
"Yeah," He growled back. "Max is dangerous, and you could stop him if you weren't so stubborn."
"This wasn't my fault," I argued, my fists balled around the phone. "Max, Mark, and Mia did this to me, and to be honest, I'm happy they did it, too."
Derek raced into the building, panicking through the hallway until his eyes met mine. "Look, maybe you should stop wishing you never had powers because you are the strongest person I've ever known." He said out loud, ending the phone call.
I rolled my eyes, grabbing my backpack from the floor beside me. "I don't want them," I growled, pushing past Derek as we raced down the hallway stopping at the doorway as he stared into my eyes. He challenged me, squinting at me as if he were trying to figure me out.
"I'm not letting you give up so easily. If anyone needs you, it's Sam, Dad, and I, let's go home," he said, his eyes drifting, and suddenly he pushed open the double doors and wandered out. I didn't think I needed my powers, but the worst was yet.
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