Bella Vita (22 page)

“
Emma! I'm so glad you're
back!” Her French accent was thick with excitement.

“
Yeah, me too.” I tried to
muster the right amount of enthusiasm- I doubt she would've noticed
if I had said it as sarcastic as I felt like.

“
So I decided that when you
returned, as I knew you would, that you could teach an entire
class. So today you shall teach!” Lily exclaimed like it was the
best idea ever.

“
Wow, thanks. Will this be
often or just every now and then?” I was praying for the
latter.

“
I say about once a week.
More if this proves successful.” She smiled at me.

“
Well, it's a good thing
that I have an entire class session planned out already.” I tried
to smile back at her, but it felt more like a grimace.

“
Good, good. How about we
get you set up?” Lily looked at me for instruction.

“
I actually don't need any
physical things to start this class. It will be more of me talking
and guiding the students on the path to find their inner abilities,
if they have any.” I shrugged.

“
Hmm. So different. Is
there any way in particular you want the class to set up?” She
gestured to the room with the tables all out orderly.

“
I think we could clear a
large circle in the middle of the room, and throw down all the
floor pillows, that should be good enough.” I really hoped the
floor arrangement went as well as I thought it would.

“
Yes, that should do quite
nicely.” She nodded.

I set about moving things to the way I
thought they should be. I didn't want this class to be like the
other classes for the people that got stuck with me. Instead I
wanted them to actually learn something useful. I realized that my
gift was far more important than the knowledge one acquired in this
room. I didn't need anything to make my gift work. I sighed. It was
almost time.

With the room set up, I went over my notes
one more time, took a deep breath, and settled myself at the top of
the clearing- I'd have them sit in a circle. My classmates began to
pour into the room. I was suddenly very thankful for my spell. When
I saw Leland walk in, I tried to remain calm and collected. He was
attractive, but my mind had shifted that- remembering how he acted
as a lap cat to Spawling. It was hard to let go of that anger. Lily
directed the students to sit in a circle. When she joined them,
they all looked at each other nervously.

“
Okay class. Today we have
a very special treat in store. Emma will be starting us off on the
path to heal with our minds. Isn't that exciting?” She squealed,
many of the students looked at each other trying to understand what
was going on.

“
So before anyone else
gives me that odd look, I don't heal like you guys do. I don't
require any special tools to mend a broken bone or a deep cut. The
only thing I use is my energy.” I smiled at them, but they still
looked at me like I was speaking in tongues. “Leland, what would
you use to heal a cut?”

“
We would use a balm, it
would take anywhere from an hour to longer depending on how serious
the injury was.” He said the words like it was obvious.

“
I can heal a cut to the
bone injury in moments.” The room filled with gasps of
shock.

It can't be true.
A female voice said.

She's lying.
Another voice said.

Enough!
I sent my word out with a mental slap. I wouldn't tolerate
being called a liar.

The room fell silent.

“
Good, now Lily if you
could tell me which student has had the most success at healing?” I
spoke directly to her.

“
Um, I would have to say
Leland, so far.” She looked at me questioningly.

“
Excellent. Leland please
come sit by me. And you as well, Lily.” I gestured for them to come
up.

“
Yes, of course, Emma.”
Lily came and sat next to me.

“
Fine.” Leland walked over
and sat down.

“
Lily, would you say that
you're the best person to heal a wound if it occurred in this room
by your traditional methods or does one of your students surpass
you?” I needed an honest answer.

“
Hmm, many of these
students are on the path to achieving greatness, but they've not
reached this level yet.” She said confidently.

“
Good, then I want you heal
this if for some reason I fail.” My eyes glittered at her, and then
I sliced Leland's arm deeply.

Several girls in the room shrieked.

“
You doubt what I can do or
should I let poor Leland take hours to heal?” I gestured to his arm
which was seriously bleeding.

“
No. Please, heal it,
Emma.” His hazel eyes pleaded with me.

“
Okay, sit still.” I took
his arm and directed my energy at mending the problem- soon the
injury was healed completely without even the faintest trace of a
scar.

“
Holy shit.” Leland
fingered the hole on his shirt.

“
Leland Aldridge, I expect
better language from you.” Lily scolded.

The entire room moved closer to examine his
arm.

“
Now would you like me to
start you down the path where you can do this yourselves?” I cocked
my brow at them.

“
Yes!” The word came at
once from everyone in class.

“
Good, now that you all
know he is fine, can you return to where you were sitting?”
Everyone moved at once to get back to their spots.

“
We'll begin with going
over mediation. How advanced is everyone here in mediation?” I
asked the question and there was a mumble of responses.

“
I think it's safe to say
that mediation isn't something that they practice often.” Lily
replied.

“
Okay, then we will start
with a guided one. I'm going to lead you through a long mediation,
and in this you'll have to heal something, and then we can see
where you guys stand.” I found peace talking to them, it seemed
that Dom was right about things going well.

We spent the rest of the class walking
through a mediation that took them into terrains they were
unfamiliar with, where they got injured, and had to heal
themselves. I found several students in the class showed potential
for picking up aspects of my gift, but many struggled- Lily
included. I concluded the class by asking them all to practice this
trick until the next time I taught class.

I thought that things might be different in
Daniel's class. He had after all said I would be more like a
teaching assistant than an actual teacher of sorts. When I got to
his class he was outside- waiting for me. I let out a sigh as I
approached him.

Merry Meet Emma.
He bowed slightly to me.

Meet Met, Daniel.
I returned the gesture.

I've heard great things
about you, Little One. Greater than before.
His words danced in my mind with his hopes of
opportunity.

Yes, I figured many would
hear.
I tried to cover my
annoyance.

I never believed in the
prophecy- not until now. You truly are our princess.
He bowed once again.

I merely bowed in return.

I was thinking that today
you could teach a class by yourself.
He
nodded his head in agreement with himself- his hair bounced along
with him.

Okay.
I was ready for it, even though I had hoped that I wouldn't
have to do it.

Good, is there anything you
need?
He gestured back towards the
room.

Nope. I'll be just
fine.
I didn't see how this class would be
much different than the last one.

I walked passed him and into the room. I sat
down at his desk and I pulled out my deck of playing cards. I would
start with the mental probing of each student- like Bettina had
done with me. Then I would test their ability to see the past,
present, and future. I needed to know what I was working with.

Slowly the students began to trickle into
the room. Leland was the only one from the healing class. That was
good but also twice the work. I could handle it, but I needed to
know how often I would be teaching a class. Perhaps I would have to
go talk to Spawling about setting up my own class while I took the
classes I needed on our history. My skin crawled at the very
thought of having to talk to that pompous idiot again.

I looked out at the room and saw Daniel
sitting in the back. I sighed. Apparently my professors wanted to
learn what I could teach them- the only problem was that so far
they didn't have the right kind of gift to work the same way I did,
I silently hoped that Daniel would have some ability like mine.
Leland was looking a little ruffled. I was slightly amused by the
sneer forming on his face.

It took me a minute to
adjust to having only a partial mental shield up, but I let some of
my usual one slip. I reminded myself that this class was usually
taught entirely mentally.
That might be
easier.
I thought about how I could send
them mental images of how I did things then. I took a deep
breath.

Okay class. So obviously
there is a slight change for today's lesson. I'm going to teach
it.
I saw several students perk up just a
little- apparently stories were going around the school about just
some of my abilities.

So today I'm going to do a
little testing to see where you all stand. If everyone could just
write down their name on this sheet of paper and if you have any
special affinity for anything in particular, I would appreciate
it.
I handed a blank sheet of paper and a
pen to the first person sitting by me- she looked up at me in awe.
I realized that this was going to be a long class if they couldn't
get over my unique abilities. I really hated being turned into
something to awe and fear.

Once the list made its way back to me, I
realized that even though most of the vampires held a general gift
for mental training, not one of them were aware if they had any
special gifts. I was slightly annoyed that no one had tried to
figure out if the vampires in this school were gifted at all or
even if they had special talents. I decided right there, that that
was going to change. I was going to find out if any of my students
had special talents- not just advanced training.

Okay, I'm going to start
out by sending something similar to a mental shock to you guys. I
want you to block it. Anyone that can block the first attempt will
move to the next step, and so on. Any questions?
I looked out at the class, they all looked
concerned.

Will it hurt?
The girl who looked at me in awe before asked. I
looked down at my list and realized her name was Emily. She was a
small little thing, with plain brown hair, and large round brown
eyes. I instantly realized that she probably had a special gift-
people that look innocent are hardly ever that
defenseless.

If you can't defend
yourself from a light shock, I need to know. Have you ever touched
a light switch and been shocked because of the natural electricity
your body produces?
I asked
Emily.

Yes?
Her answer was unsure.

Well, it'll be a little
stronger than that.
I tried not to chuckle
when the girl looked a little frightened.
The point of this exercise is to, one, let me know how far
along many of you are, and two, give you a reason to want to make
sure that you block me. I will not injure anyone. And those that
can't do the task at harder levels will not be placed under any
effect while I test those that can.
I
smiled at them.

When no one else asked questions, I figured
I had either scared them into silence or they didn't have any
questions.

Okay, let's begin. I'll
give you all a chance to construct your best mental block. You have
one minute.
I set out a timer, the
countdown began and suddenly everyone looked very nervous, but also
like they were concentrating very hard. I felt for them. Blocking
came very naturally to me, so this wouldn't have been a challenge.
I was even able to turn the energy Betty had sent at me back at
her. I sighed, I had a very good feeling that these students
wouldn't be able to do half of that. When the timer beeped, I sent
out a testing small soft zing, no one reacted. I took a breath and
centered myself. I needed to start off low.

I could feel the light tingle of my energy
wanting to be released. I sent a small zap out to the entire room.
The flow of energy could be seen as it traveled through the room.
It was like watching electricity flow through a florescent bulb. I
watched the students' eyes realize that their block wasn't strong
enough, some tried to fix it instantly- others dropped it
completely. There were enough student left that I was able to do a
second round.

For those of you that felt
the full effects of a low dose, and didn't succeed in adjusting
your block or didn't even try to adjust, please move to the back of
the class in the last row. Everyone else please move forward to
fill in the spaces.
I waited while people
shuffled around. My last row had five people in it. So far the
class was being honest about what they could or were willing to
do.