Forgotten Prophecies: Prologue

Jamis jumped slightly as a blood-curdling scream came from behind him. Suddenly, he was knocked to the floor as Mr. Crowe came flying past him to open the door.

"Get him up and into an office, now! And for the Gods’ sake call an ambulance!" Jamis smiled faintly and rubbed his elbow where it had struck the floor as Mr. Crowe shouted to the other teachers. Ms. Johanneson was wailing like a child, and suddenly he was lifted from the ground and carried through the hallway.

He leaned back in his chair, trying his best to ignore Ms. Johanneson as she blabbed on incessantly about what it meant to be a productive member of society. He knew she was just talking to keep from losing control of herself again, and he smiled with the sweet remembrance of her hysterical screams and the snot that had run down her face still fresh in his mind. When the remembered sights and sounds ceased to entertain him, he tried to distract himself by reading the posters that lined the walls of her office, but they all said things as equally mundane as what was coming out of her mouth. Things like "Responsibility: The Cornerstone of Productivity" and "With Belief in Yourself, Anything is Possible." He groaned thinking the third hour of their "conversation" was about to begin, and doubted his ability to handle much more of her inane banter.

It was obvious that she was only babysitting him until the Sentries came to take him away, and that she didn’t have any hope of her sermon having an effect on him. She and the other teachers viewed what he had done as an act beyond foul and made no attempt to hide that fact. None of them understood, though, that it had all been carried out in the name of science. It had simply been an act born of curiosity, and the teachers here had always proclaimed how important it was for the students to experiment on their own. It’s not his fault that things turned out the way they had.

Try as he might, Jamis didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Hadn’t Mr. Crowe always said that discovery only came through great sacrifice? Besides, Roge was a simpleton, and no one was going to miss an orphan with less sense than a metal rail. Jamis was pretty sure he was still alive, anyway. Why were they making such a fuss over one little boy?

The front legs of his chair slammed against the ground as he leaned forward, hoping to distract and annoy Ms. Johanneson with the sound. She frowned vehemently at him. "You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said, have you?"

He smiled, feigning innocence as well as a professional confidence man with tenure, acting as if he had been hanging on her every word. "Why, Ms. Johanneson, I can’t believe you would even suggest such a thing. You know how much I respect you. Why, I think I adore the sound of your voice almost as much as you do." He giggled.

"You won’t be smiling and laughing when the Sentries arrive. They don’t have the patience for little boys who don’t know right from wrong like we do here." She looked at him, her eyes scanning his face as if searching for the answer to an, as yet, unspoken question. "What happened to you, Jamis? When you first came here you were so sweet and innocent. Why did you do it?" She forced back a sob, and Jamis had to keep himself from laughing again. "Poor little Roge.