Fourth Birth: The Oakmont Saga, Book 1

“It is not customary to have every day meetings concerning one student, so why are we here to discuss Melanie Brager again?” the Headmaster asked.

“Headmaster, there are a couple of topics we need to discuss concerning her. First, she was abused today, worse than is customary. The marks on her legs and bottom were beyond the pale. There are open sores from the beatings she has received,” Rebecca said.

“I will not tell the teachers how to properly administer in-class discipline,” he rebutted.

“Whenever I see that kind of abuse on a child, I will report it to your superiors and mine,” she threw back at him.

“Remember what we are here for,” he told her. His tone was firm, and his face tightened a little.

“I do remember, since I helped build the program and physical abuse for no real purpose has never been a part of this program. I understand we are harder on them than is seen outside, but what I witnessed today was way beyond that and would land any parent in prison. In addition, that girl is possibly the fulfillment of this program, and I do not want mishandling to destroy any chance we have of getting her to willingly join us. Right now, we are rapidly losing her.”

“In what class was she punished?” he asked, sounding exasperated.

“English, Government and Physics. It looks like she was beaten up later, as well,” she said, giving Mrs. Schmoltz and Mr. Ratzinger an unhappy glance, but openly glaring at Mrs. Warple when she mentioned the last one. “Physics is where she received the worst,” she added, still glaring at Margaret. Margaret didn’t acknowledge the looks in any way, seemingly oblivious to it.

“That child used improper English when speaking in class,” Mrs. Schmoltz said, in a pompous manner.

“So you abuse a child, to instill proper grammar in them? What, did she use a double negative?” Rebecca asked, very sarcastically.

“She used a contraction, which is not proper in an English class,” she replied, still sounding arrogant and pompous.

“All children use contractions in their everyday speech. I’m a math teacher and even I know that. They grow out of it with proper education and maturity, not abuse. In addition, contractions are an accepted part of the English language, or did they not teach you that?” Rebecca fired back. “As for her punishment in government, she doesn’t even know why she was beaten, so what benefit did the discipline provide, other than to beat her into submission?” she asked, but didn’t allow an answer before moving on.

“I understand that teachers establish the proper order and simply set examples using corporal punishment, and although it’s harsh, I understand it considering our objectives and motivation. I think it was a bit much, considering the child we’re dealing with, but that’s their classes and their decisions. However, what transpired in Physics is another matter entirely,” she said, turning back to the Headmaster, with a passing glare at Mrs. Warple.

“That punishment was administered by a male student, who required her to lift her skirt to receive the punishment,” she informed them, bringing a gasp of surprise from most of the teachers. “That act alone qualifies as sexual assault, in case you didn’t know it. But to compound the issue, he put his hand on her exposed bottom while administering the punishment. I’m no lawyer, but I think that constitutes aggravated sexual assault of a minor under 12 years old and that charge includes anyone that enabled the act or failed to prevent it while witnessing it. Although we’re a shadow operation, we are still subject to the laws of the land, in case you didn’t know that either. I have reported it to my immediate superior on site. Now it’s up to you to do something about it, since the authority in that class won’t, and has become an accessory to the fact,” she continued.

“The discipline in my class is what was instituted by the Headmaster,” Margaret responded, suddenly defensive.

“You’re still the one witnessing the assault and it’s your responsibility as an educator and as a decent human being to prevent it, aside from the law requiring it. His orders do not remove that responsibility or lessen what occurred in your class,” Rebecca spit out.

“Enough!” the Headmaster said very loudly, slamming his hand on the table. “In the high school classes, the students should be policing themselves. That will not change.”

“She’s not a high school student. She has neither the size nor maturity for it!” Rebecca exclaimed.

“Did she receive any further discipline in the afternoon?” he asked, ignoring her comment.

“In my class, she did not, and I don’t see her again until Monday, so I don’t know. However, the nurse noted in her report that Melanie should receive no more paddling until she’s healed. Apparently, she was given a note to present to her teachers. She didn’t show it to me, but I don’t abuse my students as others do,” she replied, still very angry.

“I wasn’t shown any note excusing her from discipline. She was bruised during sparring, but received no corporal punishment in my class,” Jason Braun, the martial arts instructor stated, actually looking a little impressed with the girl’s withholding of the protection.

“Neither was I, but like Rebecca, I don’t abuse my students,” added Mike Miller.

“So, she didn’t give it to her teachers. Sounds like the discipline is not a problem for her,” the Headmaster said, with a small irritating smile.

“More likely, she’s afraid of getting worse punishment when that protection is removed. She’s very timid and after her introduction to her classes, I can understand not showing it to her kidnappers and abusers, simply out of fear. In case you didn’t know it, that’s how she views all of us,” Rebecca said, making the Headmaster’s smile vanish.

“She was disrespectful in my class,” Edward Ratzinger said, defending himself at an odd point in the conversation.

“That child is likely one of the most respectful children we’ve had in recent years, with the possible exception of the Draper girls. I was with her yesterday when she was very angry and that child was polite and respectful even then. Even showing some willful responses, she was still respectful. It truly astounds me that there’s any reason for the abuse she’s suffered, even considering that you’re simply setting an example. Regardless of that, she doesn’t know why you punished her, because you failed to explain that to her. Since there’s no acceptance of her abuse, we’ll move to the next topic, which might help drive my point home. You all know at least some of the stats on these kids, and you’re all aware of what a psychic burst is. When children come into the program, we start teaching them how to handle anger, to help prevent attacks. Thanks to her, I did some research on the topic today, and in every documented case of an attack there’s always a long delay between one and the next, giving us time to help them avoid them in the future. It’s almost like a safety mechanism in the brain, not allowing multiple attacks too close together. She’s had four attacks within two days, three of them within two hours,” she told them, bringing another round of surprised gasps from most of them.

“I didn’t think that was possible,” Jason said.

“Neither did we. At least until now. It appears that she doesn’t have that built in safety mechanism.”

“There was another attack,” Mike asked, incredulous.

“Yes. After the second attack with Emily today, she went to the cafeteria and ate an amount of food that would’ve choked a horse. When she finally finished gorging herself, I convinced her to talk to me about what made her angry, which she reluctantly agreed to. During that discussion, she got angry again and had another attack. What’s most shocking is that she came out of it in a very short time, although I could tell she was in a great deal of pain and still disoriented. She’s pushing through them by sheer force of will. Mike, you have information on two of her attacks, which I do not. Would you care to enlighten this group, since we’re on that subject?”

“Emily asked me to come this afternoon, where she was providing mental preparedness tutoring to Melanie. She told me that Melanie had suffered an attack, which shocked me since I knew she had one yesterday. When I arrived, there was still an impressive energy signature from the attack. Just off of that, I’d easily rank her as the strongest in the school, although Aliyah is close. While we were talking, she had another attack. We didn’t even know she was conscious. The second attack was the most powerful attack I’ve ever experienced, and I hope never to again. It hurt, as much as if I’d suffered an attack myself. I can’t imagine how she must’ve felt. Emily suffered the same as I did, and she had a shield up. It was almost as if the shield didn’t matter, as if it wasn’t even there,” he said.

“I am guessing Aliyah has not had as severe an attack as this?” the Headmaster asked.

“No sir, but she’s been trained from an earlier age to prepare for them and prevent them,” Mike replied.

“For all we know, that training may be the difference. She needs to be handled more delicately. With her obvious strength and intelligence, we need her in this program, and right now that’s not looking possible. She’s very much against us, which will make her an unreliable agent at best, if she were sent into the field. Here at the school, she’d be a subversive influence to future generations of telepaths, as she currently is. More immediately, though, she’s angered easily and that’ll trigger these attacks, apparently rather often. We don’t know what repeated attacks like this could do to her, and we need to keep them from happening that often,” Rebecca stated.

“What do you suggest, Rebecca, since I’m sure you have some ideas?” the Headmaster asked.

“I’ll address the items as I see them. Emily, don’t try and be friends with her. She sees through it, without any doubt. It only makes her angry. Don’t be abusive, just don’t try and be her buddy,” she told the younger woman.

“The practice of using her to set an example is also a bad idea. I’d advise only administering punishment for a clearly defined violation of the rules and always by a teacher, not a student. We need to be honest with her. If she suspects that we’re lying to her, I think she’ll shut herself off from us, in addition to further stoking her anger. Lastly, we need to stop referring to these kids as subjects. Aside from it being belittling, that’s what triggered the second attack today,” she said, addressing the entire group. She paused for a minute, clearly in thought.

“There’s one thing she said that concerns me. This goes back to my suggestion of being honest with her. In our discussion, she suggested that when you recruit a child that you tell the truth. She said her parents might actually have believed you. The reason it caught my attention is because it’s so preposterous. No one would normally believe their child could be trained to read minds, unless they’re already aware of it. Even a normal ten year old would know that,” she said, shocking them all.

“In addition to that, I could see her trying to control her temper. There is no evidence she has awakened, although she is beginning to. However, that could imply she has had attacks in the past and at least had a belief that they were triggered by anger. That’s purely speculation, but I recognized her doing anger management exercises, such as deep breathing, to calm down,” she said. She then stared off in space for a while, her expression showing deep thought.

“Where’s her background report,” she pointedly asked the Headmaster, after giving them all a moment to think on her last thoughts about Melanie. “Based on that discussion, there could be something useful in there. Thinking back to our conversation, she mentioned a Mr. Radnick, referring to him as nice, whereas she referred to us as abusive. That really concerns me. I think we need to know who he is and what her connection is to him, considering he was specifically mentioned in that conversation.”

“There wasn’t time when we discovered her,” the Headmaster replied.

“What do you mean there wasn’t time?” She was incredulous at the implications. “There’s plenty of time and it’s required per regulation, prior to a child being admitted into the program.”

“We knew about her father being administered the serum, but her family had completely disappeared from our tracking a few years ago. When we finally found them, we decided to get her before she disappeared again. They are off the grid people, living in the hinterlands out in Alaska,” he said.

“Well, be that as it may, the background screen is still required, and in this case, might be of value. Can we please arrange to get one, as quickly as possible?” she asked. He simply nodded, for once not expressing irritation, or anger at her.

“Regardless of that, we may be able to salvage this, but it’s going to be a very long and difficult road. The question is, what path do we take, or do we simply allow her to be lost to us?” she said, letting them digest her words.

“We have a strict environment for a reason and we need to stick with it,” the Headmaster said, reasserting his authority. “However, in this case there will be no further corporal punishment of her until she is healed, and only then if she has truly been disrespectful or disruptive in some way. In addition, there will be no further discipline of her by another student. We will try this and see if we can get her into the program. Is that better?”

“It’s a start, sir, but still doesn’t address the sexual assault that occurred,” she replied, then got up and left, without being dismissed.