I turned around and found Becky lying flat on the ground. My hands covered my mouth in horror as electricity danced along her body. She shook violently as if she was having a seizure.
Lucian crouched beside her and started to search for something. He shouted orders to us, but they sounded hollow.
I just stared with huge, unblinking eyes at Becky lying helplessly on the ground.
Sammy reached her at the same time and fell to her knees. Her arm stretched out toward Becky.
“Don't touch her, Sammy!” Lucian smacked her hand away.
“But, Lucian!”
“Touch her and your ass gets fried too,” Lucian said. “Elena, go get Constance and Master Longwei.”
My feet were nailed to the floor as I tried to process the situation playing out before me.
“Elena! Now!” he roared, this time waking me from my stupor.
The fear that had consumed me disappeared and I ran as fast as I could back to the main building.
At about the halfway mark, the trees started to blur around me. I realized my tears were making it difficult to see the path and wiped them away determinedly with the back of my hand.
I found the main building and yanked the door open. Pain crawled up my legs and my lungs burned as I kept running. I heaved like a vacuum cleaner by the time I reached Master Longwei's dorm.
“Master Longwei, come!” I shouted, the fear still evident in my voice.
“Elena, why are you wet?” he asked. He clutched a pot of tea in his hands.
Tears streamed down my face as I tried to control my breath. “Please, there's no time to explain, just come with me.”
As I looked at him with panic in my voice my eyes begged him not to ask questions. Understanding my urgency, he called Constance over the phone and told her to meet us down at the main entrance. With me leading the way, we ran down the stairs back to the lake and met Constance near the entrance carrying a doctor's bag.
“Elena, the lake is off limits at night!” Master Longwei roared once he realized where we were heading.
“I'm sorry, sir. Becky said ...” I couldn't finish my sentence as my throat began to close with emotion.
Tears rolled down my face in torrents, and I was so scared that it might already be too late.
“Becky knows the rules, she should've known better. What happened?” he asked. I couldn't speak.
“Elena, we need to know what happened,” Constance tried.
I could tell she was just as concerned. “Lightning!” I managed to squeak out.
The instant the word escaped my lips; Master Longwei and Constance found a faster speed and left me in the dust.
When I finally made it back to the lake, I heard Master Longwei scolding someone.
“Becky, how could you be so irresponsible!” he said. The sound of her name lifted my spirits instantly.
I saw Becky. Where I had left her on the ground, with a thousand electricity volts running through her, she was now standing, facing off against Master Longwei.
“March!” Master Longwei shouted, looking pissed off.
I struggled to take my eyes off her. She looked fine, except for her hair. It was standing straight up in every direction. The smell of burnt hair lingered in the air and electricity ran up from the tip of her strands to the top of her roots, releasing a spark every once and awhile. Her face looked petrified, with big round eyes that were forever changed by the horror of tonight.
“What happened, Lucian?” I asked when I finally found my voice.
“I don't know. One minute she was down and the next she was back on her feet shaking it off as if it was nothing,” Lucian said, rambling fast. His voice broke on the last part.
“Are you okay?” I could see how shaken he was by the whole event.
He was pale and looked as if he was about to faint. “Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out what the f--” He wanted to curse but swallowed his words.
We were all ordered to return to the castle and were escorted straight to Master Longwei's office.
“Master, I have to examine Becky,” Constance said, as she led her away. Becky started to protest, but Constance hissed something in her ear that silenced her.
Lucian, Dean, Sammy, and I entered Master Longwei's office, and the look he gave the four of us was worse than the scolding.
“What happened?” he asked harshly.
“Master Longwei, she got hit by lightning and went down. I don't know how she can still be alive. There was so much voltage running through her I know for a fact that she should not be here.” Lucian spoke fast; it must be something he did whenever he was nervous.
“Lucian, how could you go to the lake at this time of night? You of all people know better. Anything could have happened—”
“It wasn't entirely his fault, we were all there too,” I said.