Mister Baxter asked, his voice trembling, "What are you going to do to me?"
As Kai gazed at Mister Baxter, his eyes seemed to bore into the older man's soul. He whispered, "Your worst nightmares are about to come true."
With that, Mister Baxter felt himself being pulled into a dark, twisted world where his deepest fears awaited. He was screaming, "No, no, no!" as the illusions overwhelmed him. The things in this world felt all too real to him.
Kai looked at Mister Baxter, who was sitting in his wheelchair, holding his chest and ripping his clothes off. He was feeling an intense heat, but only Mister Baxter could see this. Kai had pulled him into this illusion.
As Mister Baxter continued to scream, it was only five minutes before he slumped to the ground. Kai heard people coming from the back, running towards the room. He pulled himself back and slipped into a corner.
A young boy, much older than Kai, came running into the room. This boy was none other than Mister Baxter's son, Brenton. As Kai looked at him, Brenton kneeled down, taking in the scene before him.
"What's happening?" Brenton thought to himself. "Why is my father lying on the ground?" Mister Baxter was motionless, his wheelchair lying nearby. Brenton screamed, "Father! Father! Father!"
Kai's voice rang out, "You and your father shouldn't have messed with me."
Brenton looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice. "Who are you? Where are you?" he demanded.
Kai's voice responded, "You'll find out soon enough."
As Brenton looked around, he finally saw Kai standing in the corner. "How did you get inside here?" he asked, his voice shaking with anger.
Kai looked at Brenton and said, "You also need a wheelchair."
Brenton's face twisted in rage. "You go to hell!" he spat.
As soon as Brenton said those words, his knees buckled, and he fell to the ground. His body felt limp, and he couldn't move. Kai disappeared, leaving Brenton sitting alone in the room, wondering what had just happened. With a soft "whoosh," Kai teleported himself back to his own room.
As Kai teleported back to his own room, he exclaimed, "Wow, that was crazy!" He couldn't believe how easily he had dispelled the guards and manipulated Mister Baxter into an illusionary state. It had only taken him forty minutes.
Kai thought to himself, "He's going to be in a coma for a long time. Let's see how he gets out of this one. That old man is a fool."
As Kai looked around his room, he sat down, feeling satisfied with himself. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was already 11 o'clock. "Time for bed," he thought.
As Kai drifted off to sleep, he couldn't shake off the events of the day. Teleportation, manipulation, and Mister Baxter's illusionary state swirled in his mind.
The next morning, Kai woke up feeling refreshed. He went to the bathroom, finished getting ready, and headed downstairs. His mom was buzzing around the kitchen, as usual. Kai ate breakfast and asked his mom, "Hello, Mum, how are you doing?"
His mom replied, "I'm fine, Kai. How did you sleep?" Kai responded, "I'm fine, Mum." He added, "If you need anything, like groceries, you can take the car. The other car in the garage is available."
His mom said, "Okay, my boy. Don't worry." Kai headed out, got into his car, and dialed his girlfriend Emily's number. Emily picked up, and Kai said, "I'm going to pick you up." Emily agreed, and Kai headed to her neighborhood.
As he drove, his phone buzzed, but Kai didn't notice. He arrived at Emily's location, and she got into the car. Kai greeted her with a "Hi, Ems!" and asked, "How did you sleep?"
"I slept fine, thanks," Emily said with a smile. "But I had the craziest dream. I dreamt that we were at the beach, and the sun was setting. It was so beautiful." Kai listened intently, happy to see Emily so carefree. He asked her out to dinner that night, and Emily agreed. "I'd love to," she said. "What time were you thinking?" Kai replied, "How about 8 o'clock? I'll pick you up." Emily nodded, and they chatted for a bit longer.
As they pulled into the school parking lot, Kai felt grateful to have Emily by his side. He got out of the car, and they headed to their first class together.
As Kai walked with Emily hand in hand to their class, people couldn't help but stare. The students whispered among themselves, pointing at Kai and Emily. "Look at them, they're together," one boy said. Others felt a pang of jealousy, while some were genuinely happy for the couple.
Kai's phone buzzed again, breaking the spell. He took it out of his pocket and answered, "Hey, I'm just..." He trailed off as he saw the caller ID. It was Mister Reginald's number.
"Hey, Mister Reginald, how are you?" Kai asked, trying to sound casual.
"I'm fine, Kai," Mister Reginald replied. "But I heard something disturbing. Did you hear about what happened to Mister Baxter?"
Kai feigned ignorance. "No, what is it?"
"He's in a coma," Mister Reginald said. "Something strange happened at his mansion. I was wondering if you knew anything about it."
Kai denied any involvement. "Me? No way, Mister Reginald. I was sleeping soundly last night. How could I have done anything?"
Mister Reginald's tone was skeptical. "Kai, things have been happening around Mister Baxter, and I know you've been asking questions about him. Why did you ask for his location?"
Kai continued to deny any involvement. "I just wanted to know where he lived, that's all."
Mister Reginald's voice was firm. "Kai, be careful. Have a great day at school." With that, he hung up.
Kai couldn't help but laugh to himself. How quickly had Mister Reginald gotten wind of the news?
As he walked into his English class, Kai heard whispers from the other students. The teacher looked at him with a curious expression. "Hm, Kai looks different every day," she said to herself.
Kai approached her desk. "Ma'am, what did you say?" he asked.
The teacher quickly covered. "Nothing, Kai. Just go take your seat."
But Kai had already heard her. He looked at her again, and she seemed flustered. "Ma'am, you're still talking," Kai said with a smile.
The other students looked on, confused. The teacher tried to compose herself. "No, Kai, there's nothing. Just go sit down."
Kai thought to himself, "I just heard her say something in her mind. But could I really hear what she said?" He wondered if he was just imagining things.
As he pondered, Kai realized that strange things had been happening lately. "Last night, I couldn't hear what Mister Baxter was thinking, but now I can hear my teacher's thoughts. Why couldn't I hear what Emily was thinking?" Kai asked himself.
Determined to understand his newfound ability, Kai concentrated on the voices around him. He heard a student thinking, "Kai is handsome. I like him." Kai looked around, trying to locate the source of the thought. He spotted a girl sitting next to him, and she quickly looked away, smiling.
Kai heard her thoughts again, "Why is he looking at me like that? Look at his eyes. Oh, I'm melting under his stare." Kai chuckled to himself, finding the situation amusing.
The girl laughed too, and Kai's eyes met Emily's, who was sitting a few rows back. Emily thought to herself, "Why is Kai looking at that girl? Is he going to cheat on me? No, he couldn't be. Kai's not like other boys."
Kai sensed Emily's unease and smiled reassuringly at her. Emily's thoughts changed, "Oh, he looked at me. And he smiled. No, he couldn't cheat on me."
As Kai listened to the thoughts around him, he heard another voice, "I hate Kai. Everybody looks at him. What a great guy who beats up one guy. He's smart. Huh. Look at him." Kai identified the source of the thought as a boy sitting in front of him.
Kai thought to himself, "Oh my God, so all these thoughts are bombarding me. How can I focus?" He closed his eyes, trying to tune out the chaos. "Let me try to focus on a single voice," he thought.
As he concentrated, Kai heard the teacher's thoughts, "Well, this is great. This is great."
The school day passed, and the final bell rang. As Kai packed up his things, he thought to himself, "Hm, Mike's still not here. Maybe he'll come back next week. I'll give him time to rest at home. He's been traumatized.