She was proud of Kathryn. In just one more session after her demonstration, she had been willing to evaluate her emotions, learn how to manage them, and even stop self-harming. She later confessed that the temptation was killing her and that she had to hold a blade to her skin, but the fact that she fought back the urge to press it down was good enough for her. Clarisa only hoped that her perceiver abilities would surface some time soon. Therefore, she did not expect to see Kathryn materialise outside her own front door.
“Clarisa!” she yelled, her open palms raised, her eyes wide open. “I can freaking teleport!”
Clarisa raised her eyebrows. Now that was timely.
“Show me,” she urged. In the snap of a finger, Kathryn disappeared. Clarisa did the same and joined Kathryn in the living room. Kathryn was now vanishing and reappearing in different places all over the room.
“When did you discover this?” Clarisa grinned.
“This morning!” Kathryn exclaimed before falling heavily onto the sofa. “I just went to Canada and back!”
Clarisa laughed. “You must be exhausted.”
“Are there any perceivers who are scientists?” Kathryn asked, rather seriously. “Who’s going to explain the physics of this? It's downright impossible!”
“Well, there used to be a research branch located in Germany,” Clarisa said as she sat down beside her.
“And?”
“They gave up.”
Kathryn frowned. “Is there no curiosity in your organisation anymore?”
“It’ll probably come back after we’re finished with the Darkness.”
“But that's never, isn't it?” Kathryn turned to face her.
“You're right, unfortunately,” Clarisa said as she opened the file on her lap. Kathryn leaned over to see what was in it, and widened her eyes at the picture.
“Southstar High!”
“You recognise it?”
“That place is notorious for bullying,” Kathryn said matter-of-factly. “As well as cases of suicide. What's this for?”
Clarisa turned to her, concerned.
“This place is going to be your first assignment.”
Kathryn shrunk away in horror.
“What?”
“The head of my department advised that we should begin practising.”
Kathryn shook her head. “But I'm not ready!”
“It was unexpected,” Clarisa admitted, “But now that you’ve just developed teleportation, I don't see why we shouldn't give it a try.”
“But… how do I fight the Darkness?” Kathryn shifted helplessly. “I get that I'm supposed to think positively, but what if there's a long, black knife flying towards my chest, for example? Do I “hope” that it's not gonna kill me? How am I supposed to react fast enough?”
“That's why you need a catalyst,” Clarisa smiled. “A catalyst is a real object you carry with you to “defend yourself” against the Darkness, but honestly it's just something to boost your confidence. The only thing that can defeat the Darkness is your mentality.”
“And what mentality am I supposed to have?”
“The boldness to face a terrifying new form, and the belief that it can, like all Darkness, be destroyed.”
Seeing that Kathryn was still unassured, she suggested, “Alright, why don't you just come along with me, and watch me do all the fighting?
“Really?” Kathryn sat up straight.
“Really. But can you turn incorporeal yet?” she asked. “That ability usually comes together with teleportation.”
“Well, nobody noticed me when I appeared out of the blue at Niagara Falls,” Kathryn realised aloud, “Because I didn't want them to.”
“It's settled then,” Clarisa stood up. “But bring something along as a catalyst, just in case.”
“What can I bring along?” Kathryn said as she surveyed the room, “You said the Darkness can appear in any form.”
“That's the tricky part,” Clarisa nodded. “But an umbrella turns out useful in most cases. I suggest taking that.”
As Kathryn dug around for an umbrella in the cupboard, she asked, “Will it turn incorporeal too?”
“Yes, it will.”
“Then what if I drive a bulldozer into the school?” Kathryn quizzed as she pulled out her weapon with a sudden effort. “Will that turn incorporeal as well?”
“No, it won't.”
Kathryn stared at Clarisa in utter confusion. “Where's the line that decides what turns incorporeal and what doesn't?”
“Kathryn, I really think you should reopen the research branch,” Clarisa smiled as she held the picture up for both of them to see. “Will your mother be back anytime soon?”
“Nope, she'll return at eleven.”
“That’s more than enough time,” Clarisa said in relief, “Now, just look at this picture and teleport right there, at the entrance.”
Kathryn fixed her eyes on the white gates of the school, and before she could ask herself how it was going to work, she was standing there in front of them. Clarisa smiled at her surprised expression and signalled for her to follow her in. The school compound was old and poorly maintained. Paint peeled from the cracked ceilings, and the hardwood floors needed some polishing. Graffiti filled the stairs and ants of all sizes crawled up and down the walls. They came to the basketball court where a group of boys was having gym class. The taller boys had cornered a small bespectacled boy, shouting and hurling their basketballs at his head. Kathryn shuddered and stopped in her tracks.
“Me, fighting a pack of boys?”
“Not them,” Clarisa corrected. They moved closer and observed as the bullying grew more intense. Some of the boys had removed the smaller boy's clothes and begun to beat him up. The victim tried to fight back, but was too weak to throw a good punch. He struggled and squirmed as he took another blow, another blow.
“We can't just stand here and watch!” Kathryn exclaimed.
“Do you see it?” Clarisa whispered. Kathryn looked again, and long, black ropes crawled out from the shorts of every boy except the victim’s. They slithered down their bodies, across the floor, wrapped themselves in smooth, tight coils around the victim’s limbs. As the snakes multiplied, Kathryn turned away in revulsion.
“Do something!” she shrieked. Clarisa went forward and grabbed hold of one of the snakes on the ground. After clasping it tightly for a few seconds, she released it, and it crawled back to join the others. The snakes that came into contact with it disappeared one by one. At last, when they were all cleared, that snake glided into a drain. The boys stopped punching and yelling, picked up their basketballs and finally left the bespectacled boy alone. Kathryn watched as he retrieved his shirt from the ground and put it on again.
“Somebody tell me what's happening?”
Clarisa explained, “They were inflicting their Darkness on that boy, because as we know, bullying often reflects the emotional instability of the bully, and not the victim.”
“No, I meant, how did you do that? With your bare hands? In less than thirty seconds?”
Clarisa smiled and shook her head. “I can't explain it. It's just something I've acquired over the years through experience. I'm sure you'll be able to do it too, with time.”
Kathryn made a face of incredulity. “Now what do we do?”
“We find the source and destroy it. If not, this institution will keep on headlining.”
Kathryn followed Clarisa curiously as she moved about the compound, searching for something she had no idea existed. As they approached the classroom block, Kathryn suddenly froze.
“Clarisa!” she called fearfully. Clarisa turned around to see Kathryn's pale face, but nothing more.
“What is it, Kathryn?”
“I feel something…” she trembled, “Just above me, by less than an inch...”
Clarisa squinted hard but couldn't see anything there.
“What do you feel?”
“It's the Darkness,” she breathed. “Just above me. I don't know what form it is.”
“Alright. Don't move.” Clarisa closed in on her a step at a time, and when she reached the very edge of the corridor, it came into view.
A humongous, coal-coloured boa constrictor suspended from the railing of the topmost floor, all the way down to the ground floor where they were on. Its width was the diameter of a dinner plate and its elaborate scales gleamed in the afternoon light. It hissed ominously, and the tip of its shiny tongue ended indeed, an inch from Kathryn's head.
“Kathryn,” Clarisa said as slowly as she moved towards her, “Stay exactly where you are. Now, carefully, I want you to open that umbrella…”
“What is it?” Kathryn shivered.
“I'll tell you later. Open the umbrella, downwards.”
Kathryn complied with a push of a button. The umbrella snapped open, and the boa hissed again at the sound. Clarisa gasped as the story behind it flashed in her mind. Another bullying incident had taken place on the topmost floor directly above them, and the victim had been lifted up and thrown over the railing…
“What is it?” Kathryn repeated nervously.
“Okay, Kathryn, there is a…” Clarisa took a deep breath as she shook off the images she had not asked for, and looked up to view the full length of the serpent. “There is a very, very, very long snake hanging from above you, and I'm going to guide you in defeating it, one step at a time.”
Kathryn was about to melt from the fear. She shook her head in desperate aversion.
[Look at me, Kathryn,] Clarisa spoke to her telepathically. Kathryn stared fixedly into her brilliant blue eyes and tried to focus on how beautiful they were.
[All Darkness can be defeated, no matter what form they're in, no matter how scary they seem. I need you to think about the opposite of darkness, which is light. Feelings that liberate instead of restrain, thoughts that tell you that you can do anything, and not hold you back.]
Clarisa's eyes, along with her words, seemed to be working. The fear had not died, but had lost Kathryn's attention. She gripped her umbrella tighter.
[Keep the light in mind, and I want you to swing the umbrella, as powerfully as you can, over your head. You are a perceiver Kathryn, and you have the ability to fight the Darkness. You can do this.]
Kathryn wasn't at all sure if she could. But she knew that if she messed up, Clarisa would have her back one way or another.
[You ready, Kathryn? Swing it in three, two, one.]
She pulled the umbrella up high and felt it hit something hard. The serpent's large head disjointed from the rest of its body and rolled onto the ground, and for a moment Clarisa thought that Kathryn had done it. But at the same time, images of the bullying were communicated to Kathryn's mind, and she saw it all- the girl kicking and screaming as she was carried off the ground by another girl, how her hands clutched onto the metal bars for dear life, and how they slipped- sending her to her doom. It reminded Kathryn of how her own father had intended to murder her with the gun on his desk, and she screamed.
The headless boa slid down from the top floor, and settled in a massive heap on the ground. It advanced towards Clarisa and began to circle her in slow, forceful movements. Kathryn squealed again, and the boa coiled itself around Clarisa’s feet, spiralling up to her torso.
[Don't panic, Kathryn,] she told her, for more reasons than just reassurance. Though the snake had no mouth to swallow her now, it still had the power to suffocate. Kathryn's fear was propelling the snake, and given the strength of her emotions, the creature could seriously harm her. Kathryn herself was aware of this and that was the issue. Her fear compounded every time she thought about how it would endanger Clarisa, and she could not stop herself no matter what she did.
As the serpent began to constrict, Clarisa remembered, [Continue with that song.]
“What song?” Kathryn cried.
[There was nothing left to do...] Clarisa prompted.
Kathryn stammered in response, “When the butterflies turned to dust… they covered my whole room…”
They took turns to say the lines, but distracting Kathryn wouldn't be enough. Clarisa closed her eyes and let the boa squeeze her all it wanted, but her mind was on his teachings, his advice, his encouragement. She was careful not to remember the sparkle in his eyes or the smile on his handsome face, for it would only reverse the effect. So absorbed she was in Kit's words, she hardly felt the coils loosen around her chest and flop feebly to the floor. She was only woken up from her trance when Kathryn yelled in surprise,
“Clarisa, it's gone!”
She opened her eyes to see no trace of the snake, and with her lungs freed she panted heavily to replenish them with much needed oxygen.
“I think that's enough for one day,” she said to Kathryn after catching her breath. “You've made an effort.”
“But what about the source?”
“I can handle that on my own,” Clarisa put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “Your homework, Kathryn, is to think about the phrase, 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself’.”
“Theodore Roosevelt.”
“Yes.”
“I'm so sorry,” Kathryn’s face drooped. “I didn't mean to hurt you.”
“I wasn't hurt,” Clarisa assured. “I just need you to think about that, alright? I'll see you in the next session.”
Kathryn frowned, and besides remorse, she had the slightest feeling that Clarisa was trying to get her out of the way. It was better that she went home, really. After all, she felt like nothing but a burden on this assignment. She muttered under her breath,
“Fine.”
Clarisa watched as she faded out into the background, very much in a chameleon’s fashion. Every perceiver had their own unique teleportation signature and Kathryn wasn't an exception. She knew something needed to be resolved between them, but not before she had given it some thought of her own. For now, though, she had to see to it that the school stopped making the news.
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