Autumn was approached no less than a dozen times throughout the day with questions about Heidi. The other students would only approach her when Heidi was not around. Word had finally filtered through the grapevine about what students were calling the Fall of the Cheerleaders. News of Heidi being the source of the sonic boom in the auditorium had traveled even faster.
"Is Heidi a witch?" one girl asked her in a whisper, looking around surreptitiously. "Like in Harry Potter?"
"Did you see a wand?" Autumn replied dryly. "Of course she's not a witch."
"What did she do to that high school girl?" the girl asked doggedly. "They say she lit up like a Christmas tree after Heidi said some kind of spell or magic word."
"Well, Christmas is only a few months away," Autumn replied flippantly. "Maybe she's just getting a jump on the festivities."
The girl looked at her uncertainly. "You must know something. You two are always together."
"I know that I'm going to be late for class, and so are you," Autumn replied as she veered off down a separate hall, hoping to shake the insistent girl.
"Oh come on," The girl persevered, following her down the hall. "Or has she forbidden you from talking about it?"
Autumn turned to look at the girl, then noticed Heidi had appeared behind the two of them. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"
The girl blanched as she jerked around in shock. Heidi was watching her with a raised eyebrow, her wise brown eyes sparkling unnaturally in the fluorescent light. While she didn't appear to be in god mode, there was still a permeating presence of power that was almost palpable.
Without another word, the girl scurried away with an unsteady gait.
"I think you need to dress up as a witch for Halloween," Autumn told Heidi lightly.
"I was thinking of dressing up as a pumpkin, actually," Heidi replied with a slight smile.
Autumn burst out laughing at the incongruous image. Heidi often surprised her with unexpected quips of understated humor. It was a nice balance to the aura of gravity she wore like a second skin.
"How was English?" Autumn asked as they sat down in their earth science class.
"Uncouth, entirely inadequate for exploring the deeper recesses of conscious thought, and filled with more inconsistencies than a presidential race," Heidi replied in a perfect British accent.
Autumn almost fell out of her chair laughing. "Okay, from now on you have to speak in a British accent all of the time."
The students around them were watching the exchange curiously. While Heidi had formerly been considered an eccentric who was slightly off her rocker as a result of her conflicting views with teachers, the students seemed to regard her comments with a lot more weight now. Apparently, a miracle or two was all it took to make people fall in line behind you.
"Okay, settle down," Mr. Lawson said as he entered the classroom from his office.
"No," Heidi said, almost quietly enough to be a whisper. She suddenly stood up, her head cocked to the side like she was listening to something.
"Excuse me?" Mr. Lawson said with a raised eyebrow.
Heidi didn't reply. She just stood silently next to her desk, as if she were listening to something none of the rest of them could hear. She had the attention of every eye in the classroom.
"HYPNOS!" Heidi suddenly bellowed. The building shook like a leaf and the power flickered and went out.
Autumn had heard Heidi belt it out in the studio, but this shout was so loud that Autumn was worried she may have ruptured an eardrum.
All around her, students suddenly slumped in their desks, as if asleep. Mr. Lawson put a hand to his desk to steady himself, then slowly crumpled to the floor as his eyes closed.
"What's going on?" Autumn asked in alarm.
"Endless forms most stupid," Heidi replied darkly. "Brainwashed zealots, entirely convinced of their moral supremacy over the godless masses."
Autumn stared at Heidi, trying to make sense of what she was saying. Then she heard the sirens. A lot of sirens. She ran to the window and looked out toward the street. Dozens of police cars were streaming up to the curb, along with a SWAT van.
"Heidi, what the hell is going on?" Autumn asked, more urgency in her voice.
"An idiot with a gun decided that his god wanted him to purge the school of the decadent and unprincipled heathens," Heidi replied disgustedly. "Let's go talk to the police. We don't want them accidentally shooting anyone."
"What about the shooter?" Autumn asked uncertainly.
"He's asleep," Heidi replied shortly.
Autumn followed Heidi out of the school to where an army of policemen were converging on the high school with weapons drawn.
"STAND DOWN," Heidi shouted, her voice easily carrying across the grounds.
Autumn felt the breath catch in her throat as dozens of weapons were suddenly trained on the two of them.
Heidi continued walking calmly toward the cluster of policemen. When they finally noticed that the two of them were unarmed, they raised their weapons.
"Everyone is asleep," Heidi told them as they approached. "The boy with the gun is in the principal's office. The principal has a gunshot wound to her shoulder. They are both unconscious."
The SWAT Sergeant nodded and motioned for his men to continue into the building. There was a calm authority to Heidi's voice that made it impossible to ignore her.
The two of them waited with a cluster of officers as the SWAT team investigated. Several officers approached the two of them as an ambulance arrived.
"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked, looking unnerved by her unwavering gaze. She was in full god mode, radiating power like a tesla ball.
"After learning that bigotry would no longer be tolerated in the school, a boy decided to go on a moral crusade and kill anyone he considered unworthy," Heidi answered disdainfully.
"Be advised, everyone in the school is unconscious," a voice announced on the police radio. "Cause is unknown. They are all breathing and seem healthy."
"They're fine," Heidi told the officers. "They'll be waking up in a few minutes."
"How did they come to be unconscious?" one of the officers asked her with frown.
"An electrical discharge caused a depolarization of the nerve cells in their brains," Heidi replied in an analytical tone.
"Um, what does that mean, exactly?" the officer asked uncertainly.
"The same thing that happens to your electronics when an atomic bomb explodes," Heidi replied with a shrug. "The plasticity of human biology ensures that it is only a temporary state."
Before he could continue questioning her, dozens of army Humvees rolled up behind the police cars. Heidi's father was in the leading Humvee. He quickly exited and came over to where Heidi and Autumn stood in front of the crowd of policeman.
"Everything is fine, dad," Heidi told her father as dozens of soldiers with M16's followed on his heels. "The SWAT team has the shooter in custody."
A second later, the SWAT team announced that they had the suspect in custody. Several officers looked back at Heidi curiously, obviously wondering how she knew the shooter was in custody before it was announced.
"Come on," Heidi's dad gestured to her. "Let's get you home. You too, Autumn."
"Excuse me sir," one of the police officers protested. "We'll need to question these two, since they seem to be the only ones who were awake throughout this ordeal."
"We'll handle any inquiries regarding these two at the base, officer," Colonel Rockwell told him curtly, handing the officer a card.
The officer looked like he wanted to object further, but considering the Colonel was accompanied by dozens of heavily armed soldiers, he seemed to think better of it.
Autumn followed Heidi and her father into one of the Humvees. Colonel Rockwell made a brief head gesture at the troops who had accompanied him, and they left his Humvee to ride with some of the other soldiers. Autumn guessed he didn't want them overhearing anything he might discuss with Heidi.
They passed several news vans while on their way to Heidi's house. None of them spoke, and the silence felt oppressive. Autumn often wondered how much the Colonel knew about Heidi's transformation. She had made a point of never asking Heidi what had happened. She was too grateful for the unexpected friendship to insult Heidi with questions she might not feel comfortable answering. Instead, she tried to be the best friend she could be to the extraordinary young woman she felt fortunate to count as a friend.
She was curious as to why she hadn't fallen asleep with everyone else. Had Heidi somehow blocked her from the...well...whatever it was she had done?
"Sir, we're getting reports of strange auroral lights above the school," a voice announced on the Humvee radio.
"They'll dissipate in another twenty minutes," Heidi said into the silence.
"Copy that," Colonel Rockwell said into the radio mic. "They're just sundogs."
Autumn wondered if the soldiers were used to being told alternate truths and just took it in stride.
When they arrived at Heidi's house, Colonel Rockwell parked the Humvee and sat in silence for several moments. "I've got to get back to the base." He said finally. "We'll talk later."
Heidi reached over and squeezed his hand. "Thanks dad. For everything."
He nodded, his stoic expression softening slightly.
The two of them went into the house as he left. Heidi's mother came out of the kitchen in surprise when she heard them enter the house.
"What are you two doing home so early?" Heidi's mom asked curiously.
"There was an incident at school," Heidi told her mother solemnly. "A kid with a gun shot the principal in the shoulder. Everyone fell asleep before things could escalate."
"Oh my goodness!" Mrs. Rockwell gasped in shock. "What do you mean, fell asleep?"
Heidi stared at her mom, her eyes growing slightly in intensity. "They fell asleep, for their own safety."
Mrs. Rockwell stared at her daughter, then nodded slowly. She obviously understood that Heidi had done something to make them sleep, and like Autumn, didn't ask questions.
"I suppose we won't be going to the studio this afternoon," Autumn sighed regretfully. "I wonder if they'll cancel school tomorrow?"
"They will," Heidi replied confidently. "Let's work on your combat skills for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we can…" Heidi trailed off, her eyes going distant. "Oh. Never mind. You need to call your mom."
Autumn blinked in surprise, then pulled her phone out of her pocket. It was dead. Heidi reached over and touched it for a moment, and it suddenly turned on. There were half a dozen voicemails from her mother, and at least a dozen texts asking where she was and if she was okay. She hurriedly texted her mother that she was at Heidi's and was fine. A moment later, her phone started ringing.
"Autumn, are you okay?" her mother asked hastily.
"I'm fine, mom," Autumn replied placatingly. "I'm with Heidi at her house."
"Oh thank god," her mother sighed with relief. "How did you get there?"
"Her dad picked us up," she replied, glancing at Heidi's mother. She was watching the two of them with concern in her eyes. "We were never in any danger. The shooter was at the high school."
"Yeah, which is right next to you," her mother said pointedly. "More than close enough for a stray bullet to fly."
"I suppose so," Autumn admitted. "But we're fine."
"The media is reporting that everyone in the school fell asleep," her mother noted in a puzzled tone. "Did you fall asleep too?"
"No," Autumn replied, wondering how to explain it to her mother. She decided to just play dumb. "Neither of us fell asleep."
"Oh," her mother said slowly. "They said the shooter probably would have shot a lot more people if he hadn't passed out along with everyone else."
"Well, I'm glad he did then," Autumn said lamely.
"I've cancelled the rest of my trip here, so I'll be home sometime tonight," her mother informed her gently.
"You don't have to do that, mom," Autumn protested weakly. "You just got there this morning. Really, I'm fine. The crisis is over. You'll just be wasting a bunch of money if you come home now."
"Consider it money well wasted," her mother declared firmly. "I'll see you tonight."
"Okay mom," Autumn replied with a helpless laugh. "See you tonight."
Mrs. Rockwell had turned on the television and was watching the local news station. There were students and parents milling all over the school grounds, mixed with dozens of law enforcement personnel from a variety of agencies. Students and teachers were being examined by emergency service responders while K9 units roamed the grounds looking for explosive devices.
"While nobody is sure what caused everyone at both schools to black out, local geologists showed a spike in seismic readings right before the incident," a news anchor was saying. "An auroral glow was present in the air shortly after the event, reminiscent of other seismically active areas that have displayed strange optical anomalies that geologists believe to be caused by piezoelectric friction deep within the earth. A renowned neurologist has speculated that if there was a strong enough electric discharge from a geologic source, it could have caused a depolarization of nerves in the brain, causing anyone caught in the seismic zone to lose consciousness. The timing of the event was most fortunate. The only victim, Principal Jen Wiley, was taken to the local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries resulting from a gunshot wound to her shoulder. A witness to the incident, who has asked to remain anonymous, claims that the shooter would have probably hit a more critical location had he not passed out before pulling the trigger. For perhaps the first time in history, we can actually thank an earthquake for saving someone's life."
Autumn looked at Heidi with a small smile. "Looks like science has an answer for everything."
Heidi sighed, looking glum. "Just wait."