"She called me shameless, boys," Jack said, cutting Lily off as Liam stood still, watching her. Lily's body language showed she was ready to fight.
"Oh, really?" Jack continued mockingly. "Let's see how you can handle yourself then."
He gave a short laugh and began walking forward, with his boys following right behind him. They spread out slowly and circled around Liam and Lily.
They kept moving in until Liam and Lily's backs touched the wall. Jack grinned. "Uh-oh," he said, "looks like you've reached a dead end."
Liam stepped forward. "You know what? Stop this. Let's all calm down, guys. Just let us leave. We don't want any trouble."
Jack frowned. "You should've thought about that before you hit me yesterday."
"You hit me first," Liam replied, staring him straight in the eyes. "I only retaliated."
Jack gave a small laugh. "Well, this is my retaliation." He suddenly threw a punch at Liam, hitting him hard. Liam staggered but tried to hit back. Before he could, one of the boys grabbed his arm and held him still, while another boy punched him again, which made him stumble backward.
"Stop it!" Lily shouted and ran toward the one who hit Liam. She pushed him hard in the chest.
The boy scowled, turned, and slapped her so hard in the face.
Lily froze for a moment, her cheek was already stinging red. She glared at him with angry eyes. "You shouldn't have done that,"
Before he could react, she pushed him again, once, twice, and then slapped him back, not once but twice as hard. The boy stumbled back and held his cheek, shocked that she dared to hit him.
"Why, you…" He began, but two other boys grabbed Lily by the arms, holding her tight.
The one she slapped stepped closer, rubbing his cheek. "You slapped me, huh? You must've enjoyed that."
He raised his hand to strike her again, but before his palm could land, Liam rushed him. He punched the boy straight in the chest with all his strength, and the impact was so strong that the boy flew backward and crashed into the wall before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.
Everyone froze as they widened their eyes and stared at Liam in shock. Even Liam stood there, breathing hard, confused and startled. He didn't understand what had just happened or how he had done that. He just felt something strange inside him
But the boys didn't back off. Instead, they got angrier, and two of them grabbed knives from one of the nearby tables.
"Now you're dead," Jack hissed, as they all moved toward Liam again.
Knives? Are you serious?" Liam said as he pulled Lily behind him, trying to protect her. He barely had time to think but dodged the first slash that came for his face and threw a punch at the attacker's side. The boy fell back with a grunt. Another one came swinging from the left, Liam ducked, then elbowed him in the chest.
The third one lunged with his knife, which grazed Liam's arm and gave a small cut. He hissed in pain but didn't stop. He grabbed the boy's wrist, twisted it, and kicked him down.
Lily was shocked and amazed at the time. She didn't understand how Liam was moving so fast and reacting like that.
Even Liam didn't understand it either, his body just moved on its own. He blocked another blow, spun, and landed a hit that made the boy's nose bleed. But before he could react again, Jack ran forward and kicked him hard in the ribs.
Liam flew backward and crashed into the wall. He fell and gasped.
Lily's eyes widened when she saw blood dripping from Liam's arm and face. He was badly wounded by the cuts from their weapons.
Just then, Jack raised a dagger and rushed toward Liam to stab him. But before the blade could reach him, Lily quickly stepped in front of Liam and the dagger went straight into her stomach.
Jack froze. He hadn't meant to stab her. He took a few steps back, as his face became pale.
Liam shouted, "No!" and caught Lily before she fell. "Why did you do that? Why, Lily?"
Lily groaned in pain. She looked down at the dagger stuck in her stomach, grabbed it, and pulled it out. Blood dripped down, but before Liam could panic further, something strange began to happen.
The wound started to close on its own. Slowly, the bleeding stopped, and the skin sealed up like nothing had happened.
Lily looked at him and said weakly, "Because I can heal."
Liam stared at her in disbelief. The boys behind them were equally shocked, as their mouths were open in surprise.
Then Lily looked up at Liam again with a serious face. "You… you too can heal," she said.
"What?" Liam asked, looking confused. Then he noticed where she was looking, his arm. He turned and saw that the deep cut he got earlier was closing up by itself too. Within seconds, it was gone.
His mouth dropped open, and his mind went blank. He couldn't believe what just happened.
The boys who were terrified began stepping back. "Witches!" Jack shouted.
But before anyone could move, a voice came from behind them.
"What on earth is going on here?"
Everyone turned and froze in place. Standing by the door was Principal Joseph Ween, a tall man with a slim build and long dark hair that reached his shoulders.
"Principal Ween…" Jack muttered quietly.
"Can someone tell me what's happening here, Runner?" the principal asked as his eyes were scanning the room and taking in the mess.
No one spoke.
He sighed and said, "You know what? All of you, call your parents now. I want them in this school immediately. None of you is leaving until I've seen them. Understood?"
Jack tried to speak. "Please, Principal, I…"
"Don't you dare, Runner," the principal cut him off immediately. "I know you're the mastermind behind this. And I promise, you won't get away with it this time."
Then he turned around and walked out of the refectory.
*****
"Ugh…" Liam groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. His head was pounding painfully. He sat up and held his head with both hands.
"Ahhh…" he winced as the pain got worse.
He stood up unsteadily, made his way to the living room, and poured himself a glass of water. After taking a few sips, he closed his eyes. The pain started to fade, slowly disappearing until he felt completely fine again.
"What's happening to me?" he muttered under his breath.
"Hey, you're finally awake," a voice said behind him.
Liam turned and saw his dad standing by the doorway. "Yes… Good morning, Dad," he said quietly.
His dad folded his arms. "Good morning. Now tell me, what was that about yesterday?"
"What do you mean?" Liam asked, looking confused.
"You really want to act like you don't know?" his dad replied. "You called me yesterday, saying your principal needed to see me immediately. Then you came home a few minutes later looking like you'd been drinking and went straight to bed without saying a word. So, Liam, what's your explanation?"