Chapter 2: A new old enemy

We had just taken our seats in the lecture hall, when someone I had never seen before stepped into the hall. He looked around for a while, with a scowl on his face, like he was mad at someone. He spotted an empty seat without too many students near it and sat down. He looked a bit familiar, but I couldn't place him. Shrugging it off, I paid attention to the lesson.

During lunchtime I asked Gabe, "See that guy? He was in my Math class. He looks familiar, but I can't seem to place him. Do you know him?"

Gabe looked at the boy for a moment, but shrugged, "Never saw him in my life. He does look a bit familiar, but I don't know why. Maybe he has just one of those faces."

I had to agree with him, but it still unnerved me that I couldn't place him.

In the next few days it turned out that the guy was in about half my classes. I was sensing with my feminine intuition that he was trouble and that something was going to haunt me, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

The cafeteria was packed during lunch, and I was on my own this time. Gabe had a day off and was working at the restaurant. He had prepared a few wonderful sandwiches for me though. He knows just what I like and if I didn't watch what I ate, I would get fat in no time. Well, it helped that Gabe uses fresh and healthy ingredients for his foods.

As I looked around for a place to sit down to eat, I heard someone talking. He said, "I just think it was a bad decision to let those animals study here. It should be only for humans. I mean look at some of them, they should be locked up in stables."

I couldn't help myself, I had to respond. "And who are you to discriminate other people for what happened to them?"

The boy who had been speaking rose up looking for me. It was the boy that I had seen before in half my classes. He snarled, "Education should be limited to people, it should not be tried to be taught to dim witted half breeds that have ancestors who had sex with animals."

I really was enraged now, "You don't even know how MORFS works, do you? Even you could get it and be turned into some kind of hybrid."

"I'm a pure blood, I'll never catch that disease. It only hits the imperfect and diseased populace. We should be treating them like cattle, intelligent cattle, but still livestock. They don't need an education to be slaughtered." The boy really went on a rampage now.

"Why are you so against hybrids?" I asked him. "What have they ever done to you?"

"My aunt tried to help them get rid of the disease or to teach them to be a useful contribution to this world, all she got for her troubles was getting killed by a hybrid." He looked at me, "I see by your eyes that you're a hybrid too. Cat, right?"

I stood my ground before him, "Yes, I'm a partial cat hybrid. I'm glad too, since it cured me of a disease that would have been fatal."

My answer fueled his arguments only, "See, that proves my theory, it only hits the sick and diseased. Are you getting along in your studies? Need some more study time, little kitty?" he taunted me.

"I'm smarter than you are," I quietly told him. "So don't go lecture me about who should belong here or not. I'm sure the teachers have better things to do than try to teach something to a stupid boy like you."

"I'm not stupid," said the boy. "I, Gerhard Magrav, will show this world that hybrids are evil and stupid and shouldn't have the same rights as the superior human race."

I recognized the last name and paled. Was this stupid asshole related to my dead nemesis Verity Magrav? I needed to be sure, but I didn't want him to find out who I was. I wasn't looking for a fight, yet. I couldn't flat out ask him for the name. But luck was with me as someone else asked before I could say anything.

"Who was your aunt? Was she famous?" asked a girl I barely knew.

"My aunt was Verity Magrav, a brilliant scientist and leader of a group that strives to put those mongrel hybrids where they belong."

I paled even more; my past had caught up with me. I stumbled away and Gerhard noticed, "See? This partial hybrid can't even bear to be in the neighborhood of a pure blood human. See her scurry away like the animal she has partly in her."

I was furious, but didn't want to alert the stupid twit to who I really was, nor what I could do. Maybe he would even sue me for killing his aunt. Technically though, I didn't kill her. She was killed by a bullet from the forces that liberated me. I just got out of there and went to get fresh air. As I sat outside eating my lunch, I didn't even notice the good taste of my food. I was thinking things over and decided to make a phone call.

I autodialed Gavin and deactivated the holo-projector. I didn't want anyone else to see me calling someone.

After a few rings Gavin picked up with, "Hello, Maren. How are you?"

"I'm fine," I lied, "I just have something to talk to you about."

Gavin's voice took on a more serious and professional tone, "What is it?"

"I just encountered someone at school who claims to be the nephew of the woman that had me kidnapped twice and tried to enslave me."

Gavin breathed heavily, "Are you sure about that?"

"He said that Verity Magrav was his aunt and that she got killed by a hybrid."

"I see what you mean. Can you give me some time to look into it? I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

"Fine. Don't take too long though, because I don't know how long I can stand to be around that stupid asshole. He's as twisted as his aunt was. He was saying that hybrids shouldn't have the same rights as pure humans. I got out of there before I lost my patience, but he is in about half my classes, so I can't avoid him."

"I hope Gabe wasn't there when this happened." said a troubled sounding Gavin.

"No, Gabe has the day off. Why do you ... Oh no, with his temper and protective behavior, Gabe could have zapped him into next week."

"Well, I don't think it would have come to that directly, but he can be overprotective about you. You don't need it though. Don't forget, both of you are registered here as potentially dangerous."

"Gee, thanks for reminding me. It completely slipped my mind," I sarcastically told him.

Gavin chuckled before telling me to take it easy and that he would get back to me. I closed the connection and went back to class. I had a bit of excitement waiting for me that afternoon. Robin Gazzara had come to school to have a look at my progress in the classified project.

"Hello Maren," said a chipper sounding Robin Gazzara.

"Hi Mr. Gazzara." I replied.

"Please call me Robin," he responded. "So, what can you show me on your project."

I showed him the results of the tests I had done with the various settings on my thruster. I hadn't had time to make emitters from the new materials he had sent me. It would take time on a special tooling machine to make those. "Can you tell me what the best ways are to tool these materials with? I will need to book time on the machines."

Robin explained to me what I could use best on the different materials and I wrote it down in my tablet. I tried my best to not show him my anxiety over what had happened at lunch, but I guess I did a poor performance on it. He worked with me on the project for a while and talked to my teacher about it. They made an agreement to have it locked securely and that I could work on it alone without being watched by others. It meant that I would spend some of my after school hours at school though.

Then after all that was settled, he pulled me into an empty classroom. "Maren, please tell me what is bothering you. You've been distracted all afternoon. I know that something is bothering you. I hope that it isn't me or the secrecy on this project."

I looked at him, 'He noticed my worries!' Then I laughed, "No, it has nothing to do with you or the project. You know about the mishap near Yellowstone. There is someone in my classes that is related to the person responsible. I already had a run in with him, and barely managed to get away without revealing my past. I'm still quite upset about it."

Robin smiled, "Well, I'm glad it isn't something I should worry about then. I'm sorry that I can't help you with that. But I have confidence that you can manage it by yourself."

"Thank you. I already talked to my counselor about it, he's going to check things and hopefully give me advice on how to deal with it", I said with a wry smile.

Robin smiled back at me, "Gavin is really good at his job, so I have no worries. Now, I think we have done all that we can for today. You have your work cut out for you; I hope to see more results next month."

I thanked him and showed him out of the school. As I prepared to leave for Everybody's Place, I saw that Magrav boy walking out of school from a distance and barely contained myself from doing something rash. I was still fuming when I arrived at Everybody's Place. Gabe was waiting with a nice meal, which lifted my spirits and I almost forgot all about it. I didn't even tell Gabe about it.

It did however affect me in another way. I hadn't had a nightmare in months, but that night I got a big nasty one.

I was lying on the cold table with my eyes taped shut again. My hands and feet were tied and I couldn't move them. My tail was tied too and quite painfully. 'Am I being held by Verity Magrav again?'

Then a boy's voice sounded, "I'm going to finish what my aunt started. You're going to contribute to society as a power generator. That is what you're good for, you don't belong in society."

I screamed out loud, "Fuck you, you moron! I'm getting out of here!"

I started gathering energy from light, sound, heat and everything else around me. But it was going so slow. 'Why is it going so slow?' Then I got frightened, is this a new power siphoning machine?

I was about to destroy atoms around me to power up faster than any siphon could suck out of me, when I felt arms around my neck and a voice in my ear said loudly, "Maren, please stop, you're having a nightmare again."

I woke up from my nasty dream and found Isabel hugging me. "Isabel? Why are you here?"

"I couldn't sleep and felt your anguish from your dream. What happened? Were you back in the mountain?"

I sighed, my room was cold and dark, I shed some of the internal energy as heat and light, before answering her. "I thought I was, but then it changed. I haven't told you this yet, but there is a boy in my class that is a nephew of that woman that tortured me. He is as twisted in his ideas as she was. I was dreaming that he continued with the same thing that his aunt had done. I'm scared about it happening again. I never want to experience that again, Isabel. I'll blow everything to hell before it gets that far again."

Isabel looked distraught, "Please don't do it here. We want to live a bit longer. You're just dreaming, it won't be like that again. Please constrain yourself around here."

I hugged her, "I'll do my best, dear sister. I'm just afraid that I can't keep it in check."

"I'm here to keep an eye on you; you're not alone in this." Isabel told me with a smile.

I giggled, "I know, I've got Gabe to protect me. He can keep me safe."

Isabel picked up a pillow and hit me with it. "That's not what I meant."

I threw a pillow back at her, "I know that silly. But seriously, thanks for sticking with me. I appreciate it."

The next few days went by without problems, though I avoided Gerhard Magrav as much as possible. I had other things occupying my thoughts. There was going to be another dance contest and I had been practicing a long time for it with Lance. Gabe would be there as well, since he got the order to cater the event.

Lance and I danced our hearts out at the contest. The bar had been raised to a very high level and several couples had been weeded out by the jury. In the intermission I had to watch what I ate, since it was all so good. I didn't want to dance with a full stomach. I noticed that a few couples had trouble controlling themselves with the food. Gabe had out done himself again with the catering.

Finally we finished the last dance and I went over to Gabe to praise him for his food. I gave him a long kiss to which Lance frowned, but said nothing. 'Well, he'd better not say anything.'

The jury announced the final results of the contest and we ended up second with just a minor margin of difference between us and the winning couple. They had turned out to be the surprise of the contest, especially for Lance; because Adam Harding and Cynthia Hosier had been declared the winning couple. Cynthia had appeared with a brown hair color, no doubt due to a dye job. I surprised Lance even more when I went over to Cynthia to congratulate her. "Congratulations Cynthia, I guess I have to do better next time."

Cynthia hugged me and said, "I owe it all to the dance lessons from you and your mom. I'm sure you'll win next time."

"I plan to; by the way, your hair looks nice today."

Cynthia smiled, "I discovered that Red dye makes my hair go brown. Thanks Maren, for everything."

After I got back to where Lance and Gabe were waiting, Lance asked, "Maren? What was that all about? I thought you hated Cynthia and vice versa."

Gabe smiled mysteriously, and I smiled as well. "We worked things out and are good friends now, Lance. We need to practice more for the next time if we're going to beat them."

Lance agreed with me on that but still found it hard to believe that I was on such good terms now with Cynthia. Gabe packed up his things and escorted me back to the waiting car to drive me home.

Gavin at the MORFS center.

Gavin found a direct number to the dean on his directory and had it autodialed. A woman picked up, "Hello. Dean Smithson Savannah State speaking."

"Mrs. Smithson, my name is Gavin Benson from the MORFS center in Savannah. It has been brought to my attention that one of your students is antagonizing several MORFS survivors with rhetoric about being pure and that MORFS people should be treated as second class citizens or even denied human rights. I have looked into the file of this student and a relative of him was killed in a shootout with law enforcement agents after she kidnapped some people. I don't have any legal prospects against the boy, but I fear that if he isn't stopped in his actions someone might lose control of power and do serious damage to either the boy or worse, to the campus."

Mrs. Smithson thought for a moment before asking, "What is the name of the student in question? We do not tolerate any discrimination, nor do we tolerate fighting on campus grounds."

"It concerns one Gerhard Magrav. My source told me that he wants to prove that hybrids shouldn't have the same rights as humans and that some should be considered cattle."

"I see, I will have a talk with this young man. I'm guessing that your source is a hybrid with powers?"

Gavin hesitated a moment before answering, "Yes, I already told her that I would look into it. She is a responsible person, but with a potential that can be devastating. Even worse she has a friend with an equal potential of power. So, please do your utmost to rein this boy in."

"Thank you for being candid with me, Mr. Benson. I'll do my best."

Gerhard Magrav at Savannah State University.

Gerhard Magrav had received a message to report to the dean. He wondered what was up, he didn't feel like he had done anything wrong. Telling people his views and insulting them didn't register to him as being wrong.

Just after he knocked on the door of the Dean's office, he heard, "Come in!"

"I'm Gerhard Magrav, you wanted to see me?"

The woman behind the desk, where a nameplate said: 'Dean Smithson', looked up at him and said, "Yes Mr. Magrav, I wanted to have a talk with you about your behavior." Gerhard was about to object, when she raised her hands and said, "Hear me out, before you start objecting."

Gerhard shut his mouth and listened to the woman with disdain as she started.

"You are loudly voicing your opinions on MORFS survivors in general and hybrids in particular. Though you have the right of freedom of speech, you are hereby reminded that people may take offense to something that happened to them. Please refrain from ranting in public. I give you fair warning, if you continue your practices, you may face disciplinary charges, or worse someone with powers might take offense and hurt you. Though the use of powers for fighting is not allowed on campus, if someone lashes out in anger over your ranting, I will call it mitigating circumstances. Have you understood what I have just said?"

Gerhard was seething, but through clenched teeth said, "Yes, I got it. Is that all?"

"That is all, dismissed." The dean replied clearly with a disappointed look on her face.

Maren at Savannah State University.

As I walked with Gabe, we headed out to a new electric van that bought to use for his work. I talked about school and our work. I had mostly forgotten about the stupid boy that was so intent on hurting hybrids. Gabe unlocked the doors of the car as we reached it, but then I heard a voice behind me.

"You complained to the school administration about what I said, didn't you little kitty."

I turned around to face the idiot Magrav boy. "I haven't said a word to the administration. Someone must have picked it up and reported it."

He scowled at me, "I don't believe you, the dean told me that a hybrid felt offended and that I shouldn't speak my mind in public. I know you did it, it is just something a filthy hybrid like you would do."

Gabe took a step, positioning himself just ahead of me growling, "Be very careful what you say about hybrids in general and my girlfriend in particular."

"Or what? You're going to beat me up? Try it, I'll kick your ass. I've had special training in dealing with assholes like you." Magrav replied.

I could feel Gabe powering up, as he was clearly getting really upset at the hybrid hating idiot. I didn't want him to get into trouble, so I touched him and absorbed his charge. "Please Gabe, don't do anything. I'll handle it and tell you all about it later."

Gabe grumbled, "Fine, you handle it, but if he doesn't let up I'll make sure he gets the point." Then he went to the car with both our bags to load them in.

"You can think all you want," I told the Magrav boy. "Point is, I didn't talk to anyone from school. I just talked with my case handler at the MORFS center. He probably had a talk with the administration. I had to talk with him because of your family."

"My family, what are you talking about..." Gerhard Magrav was about to add something, but I cut him off.

"I mean your aunt. She wasn't a heroic savior of human kind. She was a sick bitch that wanted to experiment on people without any consideration for civil rights or the law. She also didn't get killed by a hybrid. She was shot by law-enforcement officers. I know this for a fact, since I was there. And let me tell you I wasn't there by choice. I had been kidnapped by her henchmen for a second time. I'm giving you fair warning, leave me and other hybrids alone or I'll show you why your aunt wanted to experiment on me. Trust me, you won't like it."

Gerhard Magrav glared at me before exclaiming loudly, "You're the hybrid that killed my aunt. She was my favorite aunt, I'll get you for what you did."

Then he lunged at me trying to either hit me or grab me, I wasn't quite sure which, since I didn't wait for him to succeed. I already had a charge inside me from Gabe, so I flashed him with a powerful light burst. He was blinded, and put his hands in front of his eyes. "You've blinded me. I'll sue you for everything you have."

I snorted, "Oh, please. You're just temporarily blinded and it was in self-defense. You made the first move, I'm telling you to back off. You're outclassed big time."

Gabe had stepped out of the car again when he saw the boy attacking me, but I motioned for him to get back in. I got in the other side and without any more hassle we drove off.

As soon as we were on our way, he asked, "So, what was that all about?"

"Please, I'll tell you all later. I don't want us to have an accident by you getting distracted."

Gabe sighed, "Fine, I'll wait. I do want to know everything though."

Much later we were sitting in a out of the way corner at his work and both had a drink and a snack. He just gave me a demanding look. I sighed before starting, "Okay, I'll tell you everything; just promise me that you won't do anything rash."