ISAAC zoomed past his guards.
They chased after him, once again, reminding him that he was their prisoner.
He darted through the hallway dodging students as he went. His pursers would catch him in less than a second.
There was Kevin Macpherson. He had brown hair and blue eyes with freckles, which ran over the bridge of his nose. He was four years older than Isaac and was working for the Church already.
He was already in front of Isaac.
Why? Speed.
Damn! He's fast.
The Samson charism was supposedly meant to grant strength, but that was just the popular variant. That was how charism families worked. There was a popular variant of the charism, and there were minor ones. Just like how hydrokinesis (water manipulation) was the popular variant of the Moses charism and cryokinesis (ice manipulation) was another one of its variants.
The Samson charism covered any form of physical enhancement, and Kevin's was enhanced speed.
"Isaac, what are you doing?" Kevin asked him.
"I don't have to tell you everything I do, do I?" Isaac said and glanced behind him.
Behind him were Josie and Raj.
Josie was a short blonde woman with blue eyes and pale skin. She had the Bezalel Charism of Refinement, which granted her control over anything metal.
Raj was a tall Indian with medium length black hair and brown eyes. He had the Balaam Charism of Animals, which allowed him to control animals.
"Let's stop this," Josie told him.
"I'm on an errand," he explained.
"To do what?" Raj asked.
That was it.
He was sick and tired of being under surveillance.
The real threat was Kevin. Raj's wolf was nowhere to be seen, and Josie had to be careful where she shot her handcuffs in the crowded hallway.
How could he get out of this situation?
There was a crash at the other end of the hallway, and students ran in a different direction.
There were two separate wraiths that busted out of his class, and behind them was the puppy.
That was his distraction.
Instead of running away from the wraiths, he ran towards them, and they weren't stopping him.
This was where he had to be careful.
"Isaac!" Kevin yelled and ran after him.
The first wraith went for his neck.
Isaac ducked under the first and rolled away from the second.
As he passed his class, he saw Fox scolding Reyna and Leo.
"How could you let loose your wraith?"
He smiled and faced his own his problem.
Kevin, Josie, and Raj wouldn't chase him. They had to abide by the first rule of their Code of Conduct, which meant exorcism came before anything other job.
The blasted dog ran down the stairs with Isaac hot on its tail (pun intended).
* * * * *
It was getting dark and the lights of the school were on already.
He'd been searching for God-knows-how-long.
The puppy was intangible, which made matters worse. Anytime Isaac was close to catching the rascal, it would jump through a wall. It did about five times before it jumped outside and ran towards the gates.
Isaac followed it, and after a while, he lost it.
When he reached the gates, he stopped and looked outside.
A single road stretched from the school towards the woods that surrounded the school. Woods that were shrouded in a thick fog.
No student was allowed outside the school gate, and no one has been outside the gate. Rumours had it that if you went outside, you'd find yourself in Hell, but Isaac didn't believe it.
"There's always a fickle of truth in rumours."
Isaac turned around.
He would have mistaken the person for Ethan because of the poor illumination, but he came closer, and Isaac had a good look at him, noticing that he was older.
He was taller than Ethan and looked like him, but Isaac suspected that it was sibling resemblance. Isaac noticed he had green eyes where Ethan had brown ones. His brown hair was messy and he tried fixing it.
More than all of that, Isaac felt something from him.
Isaac watched him stretch out his hand for a handshake.
It seemed like an eternity before Isaac took his hand. When Isaac did, he shook it like a dog.
"Hi, my name is Dominic Crest," he introduced himself. "You must be Isaac."
"How -"
Isaac stopped himself. Everybody knew who he was, but not everyone knew his name.
There was a bark behind him, and Isaac saw the dog behind Dominic.
"Hey!" Isaac exclaimed, and the dog walked slowly towards him.
"You were looking for him?" Dominic asked.
"Yeah, I was," he replied and bent down to open the cage. "Spent an eternity trying to catch him."
The puppy flinched as soon as it saw its mode of transportation.
"There's no need for a cage, Isaac," said Dominic as he bent down to pat its head.
Isaac noticed that the dog had become tangible.
Isaac hid the cage behind him and beckoned for the puppy to come. It wagged its tail, barked once, and ran into Isaac's arms.
It licked his face and noticed its heartbeat whereas wraith didn't have any.
"It's alive!" he exclaimed. "Then how did you become intangible?"
"It's uncommon," Dominic said, confirming Isaac's thoughts. "But it's possible. Did you think that exorcists with the Balaam charism used regular animals?"
"So you have a charism?" Isaac asked the happy golden retriever. Then he realised something. "Hold up! I'm not keeping a dog. I'm broke! I can barely take care of myself while holding my head high in front of all those rich kids. How am I supposed to buy dog food and everything it needs?"
Dominic laughed.
"What's funny?" Isaac asked. "That I don't compare to you rich folk."
"No, not that," Dominic chuckled. "Ok, how about this. I'll pay for the dog."
"You can take him for free," Isaac said and thrust the puppy into his arms.
"Don't take it the wrong way," Dominic said, giving Isaac back the dog. "If he stays with me, he'll most likely end up dead."
Isaac clutched the poor puppy close to his chest. "Even I'm not that heartless to leave a dog alone."
"You wouldn't understand," Dominic sighed. "What I meant earlier was that you'll take care of the dog, but I'll pay for dog food and other things."
"Oh," Isaac said, finally understanding. He dropped the dog, and the first question that came to his mind earlier suddenly came back. "Are you Ethan's bro -"
Dominic was gone.
Isaac scratched his head and wondered where he'd gone to.
"Well, it's just you and me now..." he told the dog. "What am I going to call you? I hope Leo carried my bag."
Together, he and the dog walked back to the school.