by Mandi Oyster
“Well, I, uh …” My fingers snagged on a knot in my hair. “With everything that happened, it kind of slipped my mind.”
He cocked his head to the side and lifted his hands. “It’s on your mind now.”
When I told him, he closed his eyes and winced as if each word hurt him physically. His voice was tortured. “I should’ve been there to protect you.” He turned away, rubbing his neck. “And since when can you control your powers like that?”
I put my hand on his knee. “I can’t. Knowing you were hurt was the catalyst.”
“You had quite a day yesterday,” Sarah said. “Your control was very impressive.”
I tilted my head to the side and shook it. “I didn’t do so well at the hospital.”
“What happened?” Cody asked.
“I nearly boiled a bottle of water, and I started several storms.”
“Yes, but for the most part, you had outstanding control,” Sarah said.
“I need to get outta here,” Cody said. “I’ve got a game to get to. Be back around 5:00.”
I walked him to the door. “I know this is your line, but please be careful.”
He bent down and kissed me. “Promise. Later.”
When I walked back over to the couches, Sarah said, “It looks like there was a development in your relationship.”
My face felt like it was glowing. “Yeah. A lot of things happened yesterday. Some we still need to talk about.” I pulled my fingers through my hair. “I want you to find out from me how stupid I was last night. This might take a while.”
“What did you do, Dacia?” Sarah asked. I wasn’t sure if she was concerned for me or for who I might have hurt.
“I’ll get to that, but I’d like to start at the beginning.” I tried to get comfortable.
“Okay, go ahead whenever you’re ready.”
“Last night I had a new dream, a horrible nightmare actually. It was so real.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “As soon as I saw Cody lying there, I knew he wouldn’t make it.” I looked down at the ground, trying to make the vision disappear. “I needed to see that he was all right.”
“Everything was okay, though. Wasn’t it?”
“I never made it there.”
“Why not? What happened?”
I told her what happened. “Cody went easy on me, but now it’s your turn. So let me have it.”
I expected Sarah to lay into me, but instead, she got up and walked into her office without saying a word. When she came back, she held the battered old journal from one of my first lessons. “I think it’s time for you to have this.” She handed me the amulet from the cover.
“I’d forgotten about that.” I shouldn’t have been so stubborn about taking it before.
Sarah handed it to me.
“So this is supposed to protect me?”
“The journal says it will help you in your battle with Nefarious.” She sat on the couch and rubbed her hands over the cover of the journal. “I should’ve insisted that you take it before, but I was afraid I’d scare you away.”
I put the necklace on, and a warm sensation rushed through my body. My skin tingled, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. “Whoa.”
“What’s wrong?”
“This chain does something. When I put it on, I felt like I got shocked.”
“Well, next time you have a nightmare or you see Nefarious, see if the eye is glowing. That’s the only way you will be able to tell if what the journal said is true or not. You’re a strong young lady, but a little extra strength wouldn’t hurt.”
“I haven’t been very strong the last couple of days.”
“I think you’re stronger than you believe. There are a lot of people who couldn’t put up with what you go through every day, and maybe it’s a good thing you don’t realize your strengths. I’m sure it helps keep you from getting cocky.”
I twirled the amulet around my fingers. “Well we wouldn’t want a cocky hero, would we?”
“No, we wouldn’t.” Sarah rubbed her hands together. “What do you want to work on?”
“Aren’t you going to put me in my place?”
“No”—she leaned back—“you know you shouldn’t have gone off without telling someone.” She fidgeted with her sleeve. “I’m pretty sure if I’d been in your shoes, I’d have done the same thing. I believe some of your dreams may be prophetic, but please be careful and don’t take any unnecessary chances. I believe in fate, but why tempt it?”
I shook my head. “I can’t believe that of the three of you, Samantha was the hardest on me.”
Sarah raised a single eyebrow. “She found you gone. She worried about you while Cody and I slept.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” I’m going to have to be better about that. It’s not fair to Samantha.
“I imagine there will come a time when you have to go out on your own to fulfill the prophecy.” Sarah lifted her hands palms up. “Samantha and Cody aren’t going to like it.”
I didn’t want to talk about this anymore, so I said, “I need to work on my control. I tried to fly back to campus from the wreck, but I couldn’t. I also need to figure out what I can do.” I waved my arm around. “Maybe Cody’s right and I can do anything I put my mind to, but I would like to know before my showdown with Nefarious.”
“Maybe you should just start trying different things.”
“Yeah.” I thought about flying to catch the Frisbee and how I couldn’t this morning. “Or maybe the powers will come when I need them.”
“I think you’ll be okay without relaxing today,” Sarah said. “You seem to have yourself under control. What do you think?”
“I feel pretty good right now.” I lifted my shoulders. “After yesterday, I’m more motivated than I have been. Let’s go for it.”
Sarah looked around the room for a moment. “Do you see the book over there with the green binding?” She pointed at it.
I nodded.
“I want you to move only that book from the shelf. Do you think you can do it?”
Rubbing my hands together, I said, “Bring it on.”
With my jaw set in determination, I stared at the book and visualized it flying from the shelf. For quite some time, nothing happened. Then it began working its way free from the others. Once it was off the shelf, it flew through the air and landed on the couch next to Sarah.
“Wow! I guess I need to come up with something more difficult for you.” Sarah threw several challenges at me. She had me stacking and unstacking books, juggling them, holding several books in the air while spinning her empty cup. She asked me to move around while doing all those things.
I conquered each trial. Confidence flowed through me. Why today?
“You’re doing great, Dacia.” Sarah’s smile encouraged me to excel. “Now, I want you to make a fireball in your hand and then freeze it.”
“You want me to what?”
“Just try it.” She sat back like she was ready to watch a show. “Let’s see what you can do.”
I stood and screwed my face up in concentration. Staring at the palm of my hand, I visualized a fireball. A small, blue flame appeared above my fingers, steadily gaining in size. The smell of the smokeless fire reminded me of lying in the sun on a hot summer day.
“That in itself is impressive.” Sarah stared at the fire in my hand. “Can you feel the heat from it? Does it burn at all?”
“It doesn’t burn, but it warms me up.” I pulled my hand out from under it hoping it would stay in mid-air. It flickered but didn’t move. I watched it hover before trying to freeze it. A stream of ice flowed from my fingertips.
“That tingles when it happens,” I told Sarah.
The ice flowed through the air wrapping itself around the ball of fire. The globe crashed
to the couch but stayed in one piece. I picked it up. Peering through the frosted surface, I saw the flame and ice fighting against each other for control. In the end, the ice triumphed over the last spark. It looked like a glass paperweight. I tossed it to Sarah. She held it, mesmerized.
“I’m pretty sure you’ve figured out how to control your powers,” she said, turning the ball in her hands. “What happened to Cody yesterday was terrible, but it seems to have given you the incentive you needed.” The globe began to melt. “I’m going to throw this out before I’m sitting in a puddle.” She stood and said, “While I’m up, think about what you would like to achieve next.”
“Sure.” Holy cow. I just froze fire. Never in my wildest imagination did I think I could do something like that.
Sarah walked back into the room carrying two bottles of water. “Have you thought of anything?” She handed me one of the waters.
“Thanks,” I said, “but all I’ve thought since you left is I froze fire.”
“I have to admit I’m amazed, too. I figured it would take a few tries, maybe even another lesson or two.”
“Now that I have more control of my powers—” I sat on the couch, suddenly worn out “—what’s going to happen?” Fear crept into my voice, making my words quiver.
“I don’t know.” She edged forward. “Nothing I can remember. My grandfather’s journal doesn’t contain everything the relic does, but I don’t know how to read Latin.”
“Can I take the journals back with me? Something tells me I should look at them.”
“I don’t have a problem with that.” She stood up. Looking over her shoulder at me, she said, “Promise me you’ll be careful with them.”
I yawned and closed my eyes. “I will. I know your grandfather’s journal means a lot to you.”
She walked across the room and into her office. A few moments later she appeared with the newer journal. She stacked the relic on top and handed them to me.
“Do you think I’ll be able to do this?” I shook my head, trying to fight sleep.
Her head tilted to the side and her face softened. “I don’t know, Dacia, but you have a better chance now than you did a week ago.”
I sat the journals on the coffee table and walked to the window. “One of the things I’m best at is creating fire, but I don’t think that will help since Nefarious is covered in flames. The only thing I think I’ll be able to use against him is ice, but I don’t know.” I rested my head against the window. “It doesn’t seem like enough.”
“It sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”
I shrugged. “It’s hard not to think about when it consumes your dreams and most waking moments. In a way, I’d just like to get it over with, but I know I can’t beat him.” I walked toward the couches.
“Be patient,” Sarah advised. “I don’t think this is something you want to rush into. I can understand why you’d like to get it over with, but I can also see several reasons to hold it off for as long as possible.”
“I know. It’s not like I have a choice anyway.” I slumped back on the couch. ”I have to wait for Nefarious to show up and hope I’m ready when he does.”
“I’ll do my best to have you ready when he comes.”
“Cody’s here.” A smile crept across my face.
“It’s nice to see you smile.” Sarah strode to the door, opening it just as Cody arrived. “Hello, Cody.”
“Guess I better get used to this,” Cody said with his hand still in the air, ready to knock. He tilted his head, and his eyebrows pinched together. “Yesterday, why didn’t you realize it wasn’t me at your door?”
“Uh, good question.” I thought about it for a minute. “I don’t know for sure. I was staring out the window, waiting for you to come, and I sort of spaced out. When they knocked on the door, I hesitated for a moment but opened it anyway.”
“If you don’t sense me, don’t open the door from now on.” Cody tucked his hands in his pockets like he needed to hide them.
“That’s a good idea,” Sarah agreed. “It never occurred to me to ask that.”
I fought to keep my eyes open. Why am I so tired? “I’m not used to it yet. If I’d been sensing people’s approach for the last five years, maybe I’d’ve thought about it, but I only sense Cody and only for the last couple of days.”
“Just do me a favor and think about it.” He walked over and put his hand on my shoulder. “So, how was the lesson?”
“She was very impressive today,” Sarah answered.
Cody’s voice filled with excitement. “Oh, really, what did you do, Dacia?”
“Would you like to see?” Without waiting for his response, I formed a fireball in the palm of my hand. Cody nodded, already mesmerized by the blue, green flames. The fireball grew in my palm to the size of a grapefruit. I pulled my hand out from under it and left it floating in midair.
Cody’s eyes widened and he mouthed, “Wow.”
“That’s only the beginning,” Sarah told him as she too stared into the flames.
Once again, I watched as the stream of ice shot from my fingertips engulfing the flames, fighting for dominance. This time when the globe of ice was completed, I kept it levitating in the air and floated it over to Cody.
He grabbed it, turning it in his hand while staring at it. “Saaa-weet!”
“Well, everybody has to be good at something,” I told him. “I can turn fire into ice. That should get me far in life. Don’t you think?”
“It just might,” Sarah murmured.
Pretending I didn’t hear her, I asked, “So when do we meet again?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
I stood to leave, and my legs gave out. I fell forward, catching myself on the arm of the couch.
“Dacia—” Cody grabbed my arm and helped back onto the couch “—are you okay?”
A deep yawn kept me from answering right away. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I’m exhausted.”
Sarah rubbed her chin. “I wonder if using your powers takes some kind of toll. You’ve used them a lot today.”
“And yesterday,” Cody added.
My chin fell forward. I shook my head and forced my eyes open. “Yesterday, when I was healing Cody, I fell asleep, so—” I yawned again “—it could’ve been sapping my strength.”
“Stay here until you’re ready to leave,” Sarah said. “I’ve got some work to do in my office.”
“Thanks.” Cody sat beside me. I laid my head on his shoulder. “You can sleep if you need to.”
“Maybe for a few minutes.”
An hour later, Cody and I left Sarah’s office hand in hand. Fluffy clouds dotted the sky. Dry leaves crunched underfoot. I looked at the mountains. So close, yet still so far. I wanted to get lost in them, far away from the Potato Heads and Nefarious.
“What’s with the books?” Cody asked. “Sarah giving you homework?”
“Not exactly, one of them is Sarah’s grandfather’s journal. The other is an older journal written in Latin. While Sarah and I talked about them, I felt an overwhelming need to bring them back with me.” My hands trembled. “Maybe I’ll learn something about Nefarious from them. I don’t know.”
Cody put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. “It’ll work out. The sun always rises in the morning and always sets at night. Nothing is going to change that. I know you’re worried, but you’ll figure out a way.”
“Thanks, but I don’t think so.” Even to me, my voice sounded a little dispirited.
“You need a break,” Cody said. “Let’s go to Falcon Lake.”
I came to an abrupt halt. “Aren’t you worried about getting jumped again?”
“Why? Are you?”
“Yeah. Suspension won’t deter them. Fear of retribut
ion might slow them down, but I wouldn’t count on that either. Smashing Bryce’s hand should’ve convinced them to back off. I don’t want to spend my life in fear, but I don’t want to be careless either.” I paused and looked down at my feet. “I don’t want you to get hurt again. I can’t handle it.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“You don’t understand, Cody.” I clenched my fists. “I wanted to tear them apart.” I looked away, not wanting him to see the hatred in my eyes. “I wanted them to beg for mercy. That’s why the water almost boiled. If I wouldn’t have been so worried about you, I don’t know what would’ve happened.”
He stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. “I’m okay. If I get hurt again, you’ll heal me.”
“Not necessarily.” I kicked at the ground. “One of these days, I’m going to fight a demon, and I might not walk away from the battle.”
“If that happens, there isn’t much hope for the rest of us.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. “I don’t want to be reckless, but I want to enjoy some time alone with you.”
That thought was enough to persuade me. “Let’s just watch our backs.”
“We make a good team. I get their attention while you take care of them.” He threw a couple quick punches. “We just need to come back before dark.”
Sitting by the lake with Cody’s arm around me, a calm serenity washed over me. I wondered what held us back from dating each other earlier. Our new relationship felt perfect. I peeked up at his face, and a creepy feeling possessed me.
My breath caught in my chest, and I staggered to my feet.
“What’s wrong?” Cody asked, trying to come to my aid.
I couldn’t help myself. I backed away from him, half expecting to look at him and see Bryce, expecting his eyes to be yellow.
“Dacia! Snap out of it!”
“I’m sorry, Cody.” I ran toward the trail. His footsteps pounded against the ground behind me. He gained. Knowing I couldn’t outrun him, I dropped to my knees and buried my face in my hands.
He gripped my shoulders. “Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?” He knelt on the ground beside me.
