by Caleb Karger
“They’re gold. It’s almost like they’re on fire,” she said in fascination. “What did you do?”
My memory tried to answer her by flooding my head with the images of my dream as if she could read my mind. I didn’t even dare take the time to focus on any one image. I shoved the thoughts away, replacing them with the imaginary sandwich I struggled to make.
With how good her skills were at reading people—most of all me—I started to worry she would start asking questions I couldn’t answer. Questions I didn’t want to answer, either. I took an uneasy step back, relieved to put some space between us. The closer I got to her the more her gravitational pull drew me in. Now since my dream, I wasn’t motivated to stay away.
“I’m not sure. It just kinda…happened,” I said. “I’m starving. Has someone started breakfast yet?” I went around her, pulled my shirt up over the lower half of my face, and ran into the house.
Chapter 14
Control
W hen I came into the living room, the team was waiting there. They stared at me like they were afraid I’d spontaneously combust. I guess I couldn’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to be set on fire, either.
Spaz ran up to me. He bounced up and down. “Is it true you can shoot fire from your eyes?!” he asked. “Hot Stuff said you could, and that you set your room on fire! Can you do it again?! Will you let me see?!”
I had to push him out of my way. “Um, not right now,” I said and went to my room.
The fire had been more severe than I thought. It looked like someone had had a little too much fun with a flame thrower. If anyone else had been in there, they would’ve been cooked alive. The walls were black, and piles of ashes lay scattered everywhere, and the smoky smell was powerful enough to give me a headache. The room was uninhabitable.
I kicked away some of the debris and found my mask. It was the one thing that was completely unharmed. I let my shirt fall away from my face to put it on.
“Wow, I heard what happened, but I didn’t think it was this bad,” Lily said as she came in. My shoulders dropped.
“Yeah, I didn’t really have a lot of control.” I rubbed the back of my neck.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, just…as long as I keep my distance from Katherine,” I whispered.
She laughed nervously. “You know that’s like impossible, right? And what’re you going to do when she starts to notice you’re avoiding her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, you need to have some sort of plan; or are you just going to set everything on fire?”
I growled. “I’m trying my best, okay?!”
Hot Stuff poked her head into the room. “Why aren’t you two outside?”
We both looked at the floor and shuffled out into the hallway. “Sorry, captain.”
We joined the rest of the team outside on the training field. Katherine looked like she’d been waiting for us to start the lesson. I avoided her gaze as best as I could.
“I’m going to show you the advanced takedown maneuvers, and then you’ll practice with your sparring partner,” Katherine said. “Kaine, you’re going to be my test dummy.”
Fear struck me like an arrow. I was going to have physical contact with her?! Was she trying to get me to explode?
“Uh.” I glanced at Lily for help. “Do I have to?”
Katherine laughed. “I won’t break you, just come here.”
She grabbed my wrist and tugged me out of the line. I kept my eyes on her shoes because I knew if I looked directly at her, my eyes would catch fire. I took my stance and held my hands up.
“You have to look up,” she said. I grumbled. The moment I looked up, I could feel the heat pool into my eyes. I took a slow step forward and threw a weak punch. “At least put some effort into it.”
I tried to punch again with more force. She snatched my wrist and jerked me towards her. Somehow I got turned around. One of her arms locked around my throat, while the other gripped the top of my head. My back pressed into her. I was trapped. I screwed my eyes shut. I felt the fire building up to an uncontainable amount.
“From here, you can either snap the neck or squeeze tightly enough to make your enemy pass out,” she said, and the sound of her voice tickled my ear. “Now, if you happen to be the one in a headlock, how do you get out?”
My temperature soared upwards by the second. My eyelids felt like they were trying to hold back a flood. It started to hurt to try to hold it back. With a grunt, my eyes cracked open. I made sure to look at the ground to avoid burning the others. The grass erupted into flames.
Everyone screamed and moved away. Katherine let go of me to put the fire out with a mound of dirt. I bent over and held my knees. I took in deep breaths, trying to calm down.
Katherine smiled. “Well, there’s one way to escape a headlock.” She looked at the rest of the team huddled up a good mile away from us now. “But maybe you and Wolf should spar by the pool to be safe.” I nodded.
Wolf glared at me the entire time it took us to walk over to the pool. Once we were close enough, he turned to face me. “You know, it figures the idiot gets the dangerous power,” he said.
I was too relieved to be upset by his words. I waited for him to make the first move. His foot came towards my face. I pushed it aside effortlessly. After sparring with Katherine for so long, he seemed to be moving at a turtle’s pace.
“Don’t worry, though. I can keep you nice and cool,” he said. Before I could duck, cold water splashed my face. My whole body was soaked.
“We’re supposed to be sparring! That means no powers!”
“Or, what? You gonna complain to the commander? Oh, he splashed me, make him stop,” Wolf said, mimicking a whining child.
I wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. I glared at him, hoping some fire would escape, but nothing happened. I probably just looked like I was trying to fart. He didn’t hesitate to punch my face.
I stumbled back and stared at the ground in confusion. A moment ago, fire was spilling out of my eyes with no trouble. Now, I couldn’t even feel any built up heat inside of them. It was the problem I’d been having this entire time.
Wolf moved his arms in wide arcs, commanding a significant amount of water to float out of the pool and into the air above his head. I was about to be mega-splashed if I didn’t do something.
I think if you want to find out what you’re capable of, you need to summon the strongest emotion you’ve ever felt. It will be the one thing you can’t possibly stop feeling no matter what, Katherine’s words rang through my mind. Was it that simple?
I dared to reach into the box I’d stuffed my emotions inside. I brought them to the surface and let them run free through my mind; the happiness I felt when I made Katherine smile and the rush I felt when she was near. Like a gas stove turning on, my eyes ignited. I focused on the massive wave coming at me as golden light blinded me. The water hissed as it turned to steam.
It wasn’t easy to turn off the fire streaming from my eyes. Wolf had to keep throwing water at me, so he didn’t get burned. Once the fire stopped shooting from my eyes, I could see again. Wolf stared at me, a bit taken by surprise. The ground between us was blackened and smoking.
I grinned. “You’re not scared, are you?”
His eyebrows came together. “Bring it.”
Wolf threw another wave in my direction, and I turned it to steam once more. For the next hour, we continued like this. I was able to see how far I could shoot the fire, for how long, and how powerful the flames could become. My only weakness was the moment of temporary blindness. Wolf was able to land a few hits. If this had been a real fight, I could’ve died.
So, I tried to see if I could make fire with a different body part. I remembered the other times my skin would get too hot for people to touch. I remembered being able to burn Wolf with my hands. I tried to concentrate the heat into my palms. My gloves began to glow from the inside, but no fire came.
I tried
to stop an incoming wave with my hands. I was able to evaporate some of the water when it touched my skin, but not all of it. The water knocked me back. The moment my hands touched the ground, the grass burst into flames.
Wolf hit me with another wave. I rolled a few feet back. Again, the moment my hands touched the ground—it caught fire. I patted the ground in five different spots. Mini fires appeared immediately. I guess they can’t shoot fire, but anything I touch goes up in flames.
I returned to my feet and watched the mini fires gather together. Somehow the fire looked different. It wasn’t just a pretty orange light anymore. The flames were alive. They danced and flickered as if they were trying to coax me to join in on their dance, to command them.
Without realizing it my hand rose into the air. The flames stopped flickering. I moved my hand side to side, and the fire mimicked. I laughed because it was coolest yet craziest thing I’d ever seen. I did all kinds of crazy moves with my arms, and the fire matched me. It zigzagged, it waved, it grew, and it shrank, it flew into the air, spun in a vortex, and took whatever shape I wanted it to have.
“You look like an idiot!” Wolf laughed, and a wall of water snuffed out my fire.
“Hey!”
I touched the ground. With a bright flash, fire engulfed the grass in front of me. I spread my fingers, and the fire fanned out into a wall. I punched at the air, and the fire shot towards Wolf.
His eyes grew wide with shock. At the last second, he jolted and threw up some water to try to protect himself. A cloud of steam filled the air. When it cleared, Wolf was lying on his back. His uniform was singed, and part of his face was charred. He hissed in pain then flipped onto his feet.
He turned to the water; his hands were shaking from the concentration. The water in the pool gathered together and took the shape of a sea serpent. It rose at least a hundred feet into the air.
I gulped and took a ready stance. I willed the flames around me to grow hotter and more violent. The heat in the air caused me to break out into a sweat.
Wolf sent his water serpent at me. I kicked at the air, and the fire around me morphed into a colossal dragon. The elements smashed together, spraying us with mist.
Suddenly, a blast of air struck us. I fell over from the force of it. My fires went out instantly. “I told you, dinner’s ready,” Hot Stuff said.
I looked up and, sure enough, the sky was practically black. The rest of the team had gone inside. I got up and glanced over in Wolf’s direction. He looked pretty exhausted but was doing his best to hide it. I noticed I felt just as drained like I’d been sprinting for a long time. I felt the urge to slap his back as we walked towards the house.
“You put up a good fight,” I said.
He nodded wearily. “You too, man.”
Once inside, I filled my plate with the spaghetti waiting in a giant pot in the kitchen. Since I couldn’t eat in my room, I took my plate to the dining room. I felt pretty lonely in there. The table was big enough to seat the entire team, but my solitude didn’t last long. The sliding door opened. I stopped moving—spaghetti noodles hanging from my lips and all.
Katherine sat down in the chair beside me. She crossed her legs, leaned back, and took a bite of the garlic bread in her hand casually.
“You’re avoiding me,” she said.
I swallowed the dangling noodles in my mouth. I chewed methodically. “What makes you say that?”
“Every time I tried to talk to you, you practically ran away.” She gestured to me. “You won’t even look at me.” I grimaced and struggled to keep my eyes on my plate. “Have I done something to offend you?”
I twisted my noodles around with my fork. “Of course not.”
“Then what’s going on?”
I shrugged. “I’m just trying to keep you safe. I haven’t exactly mastered this whole fire thing yet,” I said.
“Maybe I could help you?”
“Thanks, but I want to figure it out on my own,” I said.
She looked like I’d slammed a door on her face, and I may as well have. Her shoulders fell with disappointment. “Oh…I see.” She lowered her head. “Well, the couch is all yours tonight. I’ll see what I can do about your room tomorrow.” She got to her feet and left.
After that, I’d lost my appetite. I couldn’t help feeling like a jerk. I wrapped my food up and stuck it in the fridge. Once everyone brought their dishes to the kitchen, I went to the living room.
I pushed all of the decorative couch pillows into one corner and unwrapped the blanket wedged between the cushions. The couch was so long and wide I would have no trouble sleeping on it.
I stared at the ceiling for a long time. Blue light from the fish tank covered it. I could hear the bubbling machine in the water and the crickets outside. I couldn’t seem to clear my mind enough to sleep. Plus, I was afraid of suffocating because I had to leave my mask on, but eventually I managed to slip away from consciousness.
The next day, we had to put up with the constant sound of hammering as Katherine repaired my room. The only time we could escape it was when we were out on the obstacle course. So we spent much of the day baking out in the sun to avoid getting a headache. In the afternoon, Katherine had gone into town, and the team seemed to have sweated out all of our energy. Thankfully, Hot Stuff let us lay around the house for the rest of the day.
I sat on the balcony, setting little pieces of paper on fire and manipulating the flames. I had a bucket of water beside me in case something went wrong. I thought it would be harder for me to control the fire, but it wasn’t. Connecting with the flames—controlling them—was like flexing a muscle.
I did notice that after using my ability, I was tired. Even though it didn’t seem like much, it was still exercising some part of me. I ended up falling asleep on the balcony because I’d worn myself out.
Someone shook me awake. “Hmph?” I cracked my eyes open.
“I finished your room,” Katherine said without looking at me. She didn’t bother to wait for my response. She just walked away. I felt a lump form in my throat. You really did it now.
“Thanks…” I muttered too late.
Yawning, I went down the hall and checked out my room. It was like the fire hadn’t happened. Everything was back to the way it was before.
I crawled onto the bed and hugged my pillow. I shut my eyes then listened for Katherine. She was pacing back and forth, the heels of her feet thudding hard against the floor. It sounded like she was throwing a tennis ball against the wall at the same time. The noise made it hard for me to pick up on what she was muttering. Then I wondered if she was doing that on purpose. Did she know I practically spied on her every night?
My face grew hot. I stopped listening. She deserved to be angry at me in private.
The following day wasn’t any better. Katherine only spoke to me if she had to. Whenever I needed help, she sent Hot Stuff to correct me or to answer my questions. She wouldn’t even look at me.
I ended up taking my frustration out on Wolf when it came time to spar. We battled it out by the pool again. It felt good to send a mega blast of fire at him. It was as if I could physically see my anger flowing out of me. The flames burned so hot they turned blue.
As the days rolled on, I made improvements in other areas too. I got further and further on the obstacle course. I’d gotten better with the practice sword. Wolf was no longer able to land a hit on me or nick my fingers, but trying to remember the hours of information Katherine poured on us every night proved to be my downfall. I failed most of the quizzes she gave us. Hot Stuff was forced to make me flash cards and drill me in any spare time we had.
Now that I had a way to channel some of my feelings, I didn’t have so much pent up. I no longer had to worry that I would suddenly combust. I felt it was time to try to close the gaping distance that had come between Katherine and me, but that wasn’t an easy thing to do. I started to get the feeling she was over being hurt and had moved on to ignoring me out of spite.
Whe
n I tried to apologize, she listened and then wandered off without saying a word. The next day she decided to show the team that anything could be a weapon. She took our practice swords away and brought out random items from the house. She insisted on being my sparring partner; then she beat me with anything she could find; a lamp, a cutting board, and a chair. It was only as I lay crippled on the ground that she said, “I accept your apology.”
I spent the day nursing my head, but Katherine acknowledged my existence again. She smiled at me like nothing had happened.
While it had been fun (for everyone else at least) to think of different ways to use various objects as weapons, the team was excited when Katherine brought out the real thing. We’d come outside one day to find spears, axes, and swords—their metal gleaming in the sunlight—waiting for us. None of them were sharpened, but Katherine was fierce in warning us that even a dull weapon could still cause serious damage. The purpose was to see which weapon we were most comfortable with.
“You don’t have to commit to a single thing for your entire life, but you will only have room to carry one thing around with you,” Katherine said.
Spaz picked up a chain and sickle. He tried to spin it around and got tangled in the chain. The sickle narrowly missed embedding itself in his leg.
I had no interest in a spear, or the death trap Spaz was playing with. I knew my weapon of choice was going to be a sword, but I was curious about the throwing stars. There were stacks of them set out on a table with practice dummies a few yards away.
The four-sided star was heavier than I expected. I wasn’t sure how to grip it. On my first attempt, it landed wrong and bounced off the dummy. When I tried to throw it again, the star went flying over the dummy’s shoulder. No matter how hard I tried, the star didn’t end up anywhere near where I was aiming.
“It’s called practice for a reason,” Hot Stuff said as she came up beside me. She picked up a star and lodged it into the dummy’s leg.
“I don’t think these are my thing,” I said.