Saint Joseph School

“Casey! Time for school.” The voice broke through to his consciousness far better than his alarm clock would have, had it been set. He muttered something about getting a few more minutes, but the source of the voice was already gone.

His next wake-up call came in the form of being rolled out of bed. His eyes opened in time to see the ceiling spin across his field of view as he crashed to the floor. He groaned, and looked for the source of his sudden waking misery, but the room was still mostly dark, the sole tendril of light creeping across the room brought about by the fact that his door was still open. “No love,” he muttered as he extricated himself from his fabric bindings and stood up, straightening the shirt of his jams.

“If you’d actually get up less than half an hour before you have to be at school, you might be able to get up on your own,” a far more chipper voice than his responded. “What happened to going for runs at six in the morning, Case? You sick again?”

He rubbed his forehead. “You seriously don’t need to call me Case. I get that enough at school. Or do I get to call you ‘Cass’ now?” He lethargically began rooting out clothes from his closet as his sister began insisting that no, there was no way he would get away with that, and offered retribution far worse than being poured out of bed if he did.

“Uh-huh. Well, I guess you don’t need to call me Case then. I’m hitting the shower.” He left to do just that, feeling a twinge of amusement at the resumption of his usual routine. His amusement failed when he got to the door to find it locked.

“Five more minutes!”

Casey sighed, his head coming to rest against the door. “Dude, bro, I need the shower, like, now. Just close it off, alright?” a muttered assent heralded the closing of the shower curtain, and Casey focused for a moment, first teleporting his uniform onto the sink, then himself into the shower. He bantered briefly with his brother about the necessity for getting to school on time against the presumption that he would already be gone on his laps, and obtained the last word by hurling his jams over the top of the curtain and turning the shower on. Foresight would have indicated that the water coming out would have been cold, but that early he probably needed the shock to wake him up anyway. He heard a chuckle as his brother finished shaving and departed, and then he was alone again.

He gave himself as little time as possible under scalding water, then got dressed and began the jog to school. He checked his watch. Still another twenty minutes before first period. He had plenty of time.

The Row is always quietest at between six and eight in the morning. The gangers don’t usually stay up much past five, and the panhandlers aren’t usually up yet. The morning cops were as bleary-eyed as he felt, sipping coffee he wished despite his dislike of the stuff that he’d had time for himself.

He got to school with a few minutes to spare, but saw one of the nuns waiting for him. He didn’t know this one, which couldn’t be a good sign. She knew him, though, and despite his attempts to merge with the crowd, she wound up standing in front of him, smiling beatifically. “Casey, Sister Moltar would like to see you.”

Crap. “Uh… sure. Now?” Her nod confirmed his fears. “It’s cool, sister, I can make my way there.” She smiled again, knowing if she left him to his own devices he might show up late or not at all, requiring another sister to track him down, and assured him she was going that way anyway, and they might as well walk together. He felt what he had scrounged up for morning cheer offer up a death rattle as he followed her to Moltar’s office.

She looked disapproving when he entered, which wasn’t really a sign of anything. If she ever looked approving, there was talk that the world would end. “H-hey, sister Moltar. What’s up?”

“Sit down.” She motioned to one of the chairs. The other sister closed the door, somehow instilling a sense of resounding finality to the gesture. Casey sat, noting that there was a folder filled with papers in front of her. He hoped it was a prop.

“Casey. Do you remember the last time you were in my office?” He nodded, knowing it was the path of least pain for him in the long run. “Do you remember everything we went over, clearly?” He nodded again, a growing pit of dread pushing its way into his stomach. “Casey, it appears that somehow we lost some key pieces of that file we had compiled regarding your background and abilities. I have been rather busy, so I don’t remember everything clearly, and I would like to go over it again to make sure we have all of the information.” He sighed softly, wondering why he hadn’t been able to figure something like this would happen.

“Oh. Uh… sure, sister Moltar. What did you want to know?”

“Well, why don’t we just go over everything again, Casey. After all, I wouldn’t want to have us confused about anything. If some of the information can just disappear like that, it’s very possible that some of the rest was mishandled, too, isn’t it?” She stared intently at him, knowing full well that everything they still had was accurate. His shoulders slumped. “We’ll start with the basics. Full name and date of birth?”

He almost shivered at the thought of going through two full hours of explanation in front of this woman, who clearly knew something about his misconduct, if not the exact nature of it, but understood as well that if this was the extent of his punishment for what amounted to a genuinely criminal offense according to his older brother, that he would be getting let off easy. “Casey Michael Rein, January first, nineteen ninety-four.” She followed up with some questions about social security numbers and other identification, including his security license, which he provided.

She gave a thin smile without any humor in it. “Your security license says you’ve had it since you were thirteen. Why is that?”

He sighed again. “My parents insisted that me and my sister both get one, so we were registered with the city. That way we wouldn’t get into trouble if we had to defend ourselves. The Row isn’t really a great neighborhood.”

She shook her head. “Try again, Casey.”

“Uh… w-what do you mean?”

“Your family moved into King’s Row a year ago. Well after, if you will remember your arithmetic, you got your security license.”

He winced. Maybe some of the information had been on multiple pieces of paper. Just like bureaucrats to make things harder. “Well, we knew we were gonna…” he saw the look in her eyes, and stopped. “Is this seriously important?” The look became more intense. “Alright, alright… my folks just said it was a good idea. Said work wanted to make sure we had them.”

“There, was that so hard? Truth yields nobility, Casey. You should learn that lesson now, while you are still in school.” Despite a decidedly less foreboding tone than she had taken thus far, she still looked like another lie would land him in a great deal more trouble than he was in already. He nodded, hoping it would placate her at least a little. It didn’t seem to. “Your parents. They work for the Portal corporation?” Casey nodded. “What do they do there?”

Another sigh. “My dad works as a tech. My mom is on one of the exploration teams.”

She nodded. “You see how much faster this goes when you tell the truth?” Without waiting for a response, she continued, “They have worked there for… almost four years?” He nodded. “It interests me that there is no information about them before that. Or about you. Why is that?”

He shrugged. “Stuff gets lost, I guess.” It came out as more of a squeak than the offhanded comment he’d intended. She didn’t seem fooled. “S-seriously, though, uh… y-you might wanna ask the Portal guys about that. I c-can’t… really…” he took a breath as the full force of her stare rested upon him like the weight of her well-stocked bookshelves. “Uh… b-but I guess it’d be okay to tell you.” He felt the weight of the stare grow marginally less crushing. “We aren’t from here. We’re portal immigrants. B-but if you want more than that you’ll wanna talk to them, I dunno how much of that stuff they give out.” The stare resumed its titanic intensity, but he took a deep breath and stood firm, calling upon his reserves of courage and simply looking back at her.

“Very well, Casey. We understand that not everything they do is available to the public. Though you just reminded me… your power. You were put on my list. And word around the school is that you are a porter. This is clearly odd, as you might expect. Teleportation is less often my purview than, say, fire.”

He shivered. This was what she had really called him in here about. “Uh… th-that’s my big thing, though, you know? I mean… it’s what everyone’s talking about.”

“Casey, you have been doing so well these past few minutes. But look at yourself, and then try telling me that again.”

The pit in his stomach could have swallowed a car and had room for seconds, but he looked himself over. Tendrils of black steam were rising off of his skin. Upon noticing them, his fear spiked, and the amount of steam grew with it. He forced himself to take a deep breath.

“Casey, my purpose here is to help people like yourself deal with powers that could be dangerous. My role, the role I have chosen, is to protect you by showing you how to protect yourself. I need you to accept that.” For the first time in the conversation, her voice took on an almost gentle tone. He looked at her, and saw genuine concern. “Believe me, I understand how scary it can all be, and if you let me, I will help you figure this out.” Casey nodded, slowly.

“Good. Then take a moment, calm down, and then get to class. You have been excused for first period, which is nearly-” the bell rang. She smiled.

Casey nodded, took a few breaths, and stood. “Uh… I’m… free to go?”

Sister Moltar nodded. “Two things, though, Casey. The first is that you will be coming to my office after school every Tuesday, where we will discuss your power and steps you can take to keep it in check.”
Casey nodded, and waited a moment for her to continue, but she simply watched him. “And, uh… the second thing?”

Moltar offered him a tight-lipped smile. “Your theft of our documents has been proven to my satisfaction. Rather than engaging in any legal action, we have decided that you will receive detention every day other than Tuesday for the next month. Assuming there are no further incidents, it will end there. Incidents include misuse of your emergency teleporter to transport perishable foods.” Casey winced.

“A-alright… uh… is that… all, then, sister Moltar?”

“No.” She held up the file. “This is one of many full copies of your dossier. Anyone who comes through this school is taken very seriously, Casey, and we do not allow for the possibility of misplacing things being an inconvenience. We have our eye on you. Do you understand?”

Casey nodded, wondering how they caught on, and not immediately coming up with anything.

“Good. Then enjoy the rest of your classes, and I will see you Tuesday after school in my office.”
He turned to go, took a deep breath, then opened the office door and went out, leaning against a bank of lockers to think.

Update: June 30th.

* * * * * * *

The early light of dawn was barely visible around the edges of the window shade when Casey woke up. He took a deep breath, steadied himself, yawned, started over, and then rolled out of bed with hardly a sound. He never even set his alarm anymore. His body knew when it was time to get up.

He went through what was starting to be a routine again in practiced silence. It had been over a week now since he’d woken anyone up. He was up earlier than before, now that he was running with Joao. It was a better workout, and it was with friends.

“Morning, son.” His father had been waiting for him to be done with his shower. Casey finished pulling his shirt on and replied quietly.

“Hey, dad. Early morning?”

Michael Rein was an inch taller than Casey, borderline gaunt, and had a thin, graying beard. Aside from that, only barely-visible wings of grey at the temples gave any indication as to his age. “Nope, just wanted to say hello. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen you for any length of time.” He smiled gently. “How’s your girl?”

Casey chuckled softly. “She’s good. Wants to meet you and Mom one of these days. I said I’d talk to you about it, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

There was a pause, then a nod. “I understand. I’ll talk with your mother about it.”

Casey nodded. That was better than he’d expected. “Alright. If not, no big. She’ll understand.”

There was another nod. “I‘m glad for you, son.” Casey smiled and made his way back to his room to grab his backpack. His sister was still sleeping. He made his way back out into the living room. His older brother was leaning against the front door, arms crossed.

“Hey, Kev. No way you’re up this early by accident.”

Kevin chuckled, a mannerism Casey had mirrored from a young age. “No, no accident. You started running again.”

Casey nodded. “Yeah, dude at school does free running. Figured I’d get in.”

“I'm glad.” He made no motion to move.

Casey stood there for a moment. “So, uh… I should probably get going, unless… there’s something else-”

Keven cut him off, looking slightly perturbed. “Dunno, Casey, is there? You sure you’re doing alright?”

Am I alright? There was a tingle of fear down his spine, and he thought briefly about the past few weeks. “I… no. I’m not. But I’ll deal with it.”

Kevin nodded. “Alright, Case. But if you want help, you know where to come find it, anytime.” He moved aside and clapped Casey on the shoulder as he made his way back to his room. Casey took a slow breath after he was gone, then went out. He felt a hint of disappointment, but forced it down. Kevin wasn’t going to force his help on him unless things got bad. Which meant things weren’t that bad yet. That thought was at least slightly reassuring.

The stacks along the south end of King’s Row were old, decrepit and probably overdue for renovation. But they were perfect for morning exercise. Run, jump, roll into a leap, then swing up onto the next rooftop and keep going. Casey mused idly that he hadn’t gotten any better to make that jump. He’d just started believing he could do it, pushed himself as though he would, and he did. It was that simple. There was probably a lesson or two in there if he wanted it.

He almost never ported to catch up anymore. As he leapt a gap between buildings he made a mental note to practice his porting more. He smiled idly as he contemplated ways he could do that which would be interesting enough to try, then wondered who he’d try it on. He’d figure that out later. Then he started thinking about Arlina and almost ran into the railing. He’d lagged behind a little, and one seemed to notice, so he drew a few runes in the air, reappeared where he would have if he’d been paying attention, and kept moving.

They finished the run and Casey broke off, opting to port himself to campus. He focused a bit and drew runes to points in the air near enough for him to be sure there wasn’t anything in the way, and phased rapidly between them, covering ground faster than the cars whipping past below.

He got to the front lawn of the school, about thirty feet up, and waited for a moment before porting himself to the door. He felt the sudden rush of wind as he fell, hesitated, then drew the runes and appeared next to the entrance. There was the usual surge of adrenaline as his body responded to the fact that it was falling. A thirty-foot fall wouldn’t kill him. It might not even break bones. But it was enough to sharpen his senses and give him a rush. I wonder if that’s a bad sign, he mused on his way into the school.

School. Teachers throwing out facts, teaching lessons, trying to impart their wisdom on a group of students who were only mostly paying attention if that. Casey paid attention, but allowed himself the occasional wandering thought. He wasn’t doing as well as he wanted, which meant he’d take the time, learn the material, and maybe even go to the trouble of finding a tutor.

The final bell rang, and it was like snapping out of a reverie. He felt energized again, and considered going out, but remembered his meeting. Suddenly the energy was gone, replaced with resignation. Today was the day. Either the last day he’d have to sit and talk to her about his powers, or the last day he’d have hope of a last day until December. He wandered toward her office gloomily, but tried to steady his expression when he walked in. She wouldn’t be fooled, but he had to at least make the effort.

“Hey, Sister Moltar.” He closed the door behind him. Sister Mary Moltar was behind her ever-imposing desk, and simply motioned him to have a seat. Sudden nervousness set in, and he did so. Usually there were pleasantries before they got down to business.

Once he was settled, she spoke. “Casey, good afternoon. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about before our usual discussion.” Yup, that was a tinge of fear. What now?

“Uh… alright?”

“Casey, I heard that you were responsible for putting part of a dead animal in one of the quads, and that you used our emergency teleportation system to do so.”

Casey blanched, but also felt comforted. The second concerned him slightly, but he didn’t dwell on it. “Uh… I… um… Who said that?”

Moltar simply stared at him for a moment. “No one did. None of your friends, anyway.” Casey felt slightly disappointed. It must have shown on his face, because Moltar looked curiously at him. “Is that a bad thing, Casey? Did you want someone to come to us about it?” He blinked at her.

“Uh… n…” He paused. Had he? Was that why he hadn’t told them the truth? So someone could rat him out, and he’d know it was that, not that someone saw him?

She nodded. “You’re looking for a fight.”

Casey blanched. He was. He needed something to keep him focused. Why hadn’t he thought of that?

“Casey, you didn’t misuse the emergency teleported. We had MEG do a thorough check. The only instances of emergency transport were emergencies. Would you like to explain?”

Her tone seemed soft, but her eyes gave her away. The way she looked, it was clear she would probably have been less angry if he’d misused the emergency teleporters again. Those eyes wanted to know why he was a liar. Sister Moltar was a woman with no tolerance for deception.

“I… um… just… wanted to… have something to do.” Under that gaze, he knew he wouldn’t say things the way he wanted, but that still sounded bad. He tried to amend his statement, but she shook her head, and he fell silent.

“Casey. If you want something to keep you busy, there are options other than being deceitful toward your peers. You could play sports. From what I understand, you did rather well for yourself during the Powerball tournament. You could go out on patrol. You could join one of the clubs.” She stopped, staring at him, waiting for something.

“I… I’m sorry.” His head slumped. “I just wanted a fight. It was wrong. I won’t do it again.”

“Good. Then let’s move on.” She seemed to switch gears instantly, resuming her ordinarily-intense gaze. “Your power. You’ve been getting better, I’m told. More control, fewer accidents.” Casey nodded. “I’ve been thinking about whether I’d like you to keep coming back during the summer session. After our discussion, I think I’d better keep an eye on you. You’re learning more control, and that’s good, but this is unusual behavior, and I think it might be related to your power.”

Again, how Casey felt wasn’t how he expected to feel. There was comfort there. He didn’t know if it was from knowing she was worried about him, or if he was secretly happy to be being punished for getting caught lying to people by having to keep coming to visit her every week. “Um… alright. How do you think it would be related?”

Moltar looked thoughtfully at him. “People with powers like yours tend to have a certain emotional tie to what they do, and with any kind of power that affects the emotions, sometimes it bleeds through. Your sort of power, however, tends to induce fear. I’d like you to show me that power. Not directed, but active. I’d like to see if I notice a change.”

Casey nodded, then took a deep breath, concentrating on carefully stemming the flow of power out while letting enough out to get the desired result. There was a brief moment of pride at how much easier it was than the first time. That moment changed to worry, then nervousness, then fear rapidly as he watched the expression on Moltar’s face. He’d seen happier-looking storm clouds. “Uh… Sister Moltar? What’s wrong?”

Her scowl, properly directed, could probably boil water. And rumor said it did when the coffee machine in the teacher’s lounge broke. Directed at him, Casey suddenly believed the rumor. “That’s enough.” Casey clamped down immediately on the power, and the energy dissipated.

Casey felt his fear impulse diminish, though Moltar’s expression hadn’t changed. This prompted a new rush of fear. “Uh… I think… maybe you’re right.”

Sister Moltar nodded. “You’ve made a lot of progress, Casey. But we’ve still got a long way to go. Now, we’re going to start going through a few of the meditation exercises to put you back in a relaxed state, and we’re going to focus on this until our time is up or until you don‘t get more afraid when you call on your power.”

Was he really afraid every time he used his powers? He couldn’t really remember a time when he used them that he hadn’t been afraid. But was that because of his power, or because of the situations? He tried to think back, going over in his mind all of the times when he’d used his powers when he wasn’t fearing for his life, and then all the times he’d been afraid when he hadn’t used his powers. He listened to Moltar’s instructions, relaxing himself as best he could, but thought frantically. “Is this really what’s been happening this whole time? Is that why I’m always afraid?” It had to be. It would explain everything. So what would he be like if he didn’t use them for awhile?

After awhile he realized he was supposed to be working with Moltar and opened his eyes. She was watching him, her expression softer than he’d ever seen it. Closer to limestone than the usual granite. She nodded reassuringly. He closed his eyes again in thought, cataloguing incidents, trying to put everything together in his mind. After a long while, he sighed and nodded. “So what do I do?”

“You’ve already started. Think about what you’re doing. Think about why you’re doing it. Make sure the power isn’t controlling you. Maybe you should take a break from it for awhile. Go a week without using it, see how you feel. Tell me how it goes next time you come in.”

Casey nodded and stood. “Thanks, Sister Moltar.” He left quietly, then paused outside of the office to think. “I guess it’s back to just being a porter for a week.” Somehow the thought of shutting everything down seemed less worrisome than it had before.