by HR Moore
*****
Anita was very happy with where she and Marcus were now, and even more happy that she’d managed to use a bit of seduction and manipulation in the process. She soothed her conscience by thinking that some of what Marcus had tried to teach her must have rubbed off, and was very much looking forward to the Spirit lesson she was heading to, away from Marcus’ prying eyes. Today they were meditating down by the river. Alexander thought they could do with a change of scenery, and wanted to teach her about controlling her energy somewhere more private than the Temple; it could be an emotional skill to learn.
‘Hey,’ said Anita, when she got to the large flat rock that Alexander was already sitting on, cross legged, above the angry water below.
‘Hi. No chaperone today?’ Alexander mocked.
‘No,’ she smiled triumphantly. ‘Marcus has agreed to give me some space during these lessons.’
‘I see,’ said Alexander, a little surprised. He had no idea how she’d got Marcus to agree to that, but he felt his energy rise a bit at the thought. He quickly suppressed it and motioned for Anita to sit down. ‘Learning to suppress your energy is a bit different to finding places inside your mind,’ he started. ‘It requires you to appreciate how you react to situations and to others around you; you need to anticipate your reaction and divert the energy. You can’t get rid of it, but you can channel it elsewhere.’
‘And how do I do that?’
Alexander smiled. ‘You push it through your feet.’
‘Right. What the hell does that mean?’
‘It means exactly that. You push all the energy towards your feet, so it’s utilised elsewhere, and nobody can read your reaction.’
‘How does the energy get used up?’
‘By propelling your body upwards.’
Anita laughed. ‘What?’ This was ridiculous.
Alexander had hoped for something along the lines of wonderment at this revelation, not humour. ‘It’s the same principle as energy cars and trains,’ he said, looking a little put out. ‘You pushing your energy downwards propels you upwards. Most people aren’t powerful enough to actually walk on air, but it can make you look weightless, almost like you’re floating as you walk. But, of course, you learn to hide that too, so only those who really know what to look for can tell what you’re doing.’
Anita wasn’t sure if he was joking or not; it sounded totally ridiculous, but then she supposed it made sense when you thought about how energy cars worked. ‘Alright, so how do I do this...pushing downwards?’
‘First we need to make your energy rise,’ he said coyly, cocking an eyebrow.
Anita blushed. ‘And how are we going to do that?’ Anita thought about how her energy used to react at the mere sight of either Marcus or Alexander, but that had subsided now she’d spent so much time with both of them.
Alexander took a meaningful step towards her. ‘I can either challenge you or seduce you,’ he said recklessly, the atmosphere shifting wildly as his piercing eyes bored into hers.
Anita’s energy reacted immediately, full of shock and delightful anticipation at the prospect of either. Feeling smug at her instant reaction, Alexander reached out and took her hands. She felt like she might burst, tingles shooting all over her body as their skin touched for the first time in weeks. ‘Good,’ he said gently. ‘Now, think the energy downwards and imagine yourself being propelled upwards.’ Anita did as she was told, and surprisingly, felt some weight leave her body. ‘Good,’ said Alexander again as he felt it, doing nothing to try and hide his own energy’s rapidly rising tide. ‘Now, push down on my hands and imagine someone is tugging on your hair and pulling you upwards.’ Again, Anita did as she was told, and felt her weight completely leave the ground. As she felt it, she panicked, and the weight immediately returned, her feet reconnecting unsteadily with the ground, Alexander catching her as she stumbled into him, preventing her from tumbling to the ground.
‘By the Gods, Anita. I’ve never seen anyone levitate on their first attempt,’ he said, full of adoration. ‘How did it feel?’
‘Great,’ she beamed, probably more because he hadn’t taken his hands off her than as a result of the levitation. This is so much more fun than Mind lessons, she thought, her energy once more rising as she looked up at Alexander, her hands enjoying the muscular contours of his chest. ‘Let’s try again,’ she said eagerly, looking like an overexcited small child on her birthday.
‘Ok,’ he breathed indulgently, his energy still singing as he stepped back and held her hands, relishing the tingle of energy he too felt when they touched. Surprisingly, the tingles were more intense with Alexander than with Marcus, but Anita was more interested in levitating at the moment, so ignored it.
Anita managed to levitate a second time and even took a few steps in the air, with Alexander’s support, before she lost concentration and came crashing back down again. She was drained and Alexander felt it. ‘I think that’s enough for today. I don’t want to wear you out completely or Marcus will be after me.’ He said it sternly, but Anita detected an ironic edge. ‘Tomorrow we can work on not sending all the energy downwards, only some of it, so you still stay connected to the ground. If you levitate in public, it pretty much defeats the point of trying to hide your energy!’
‘Ok,’ said Anita, attempting to hide her disappointment. ‘Are you walking back to Empire?’
‘I will do in a bit, but it’s best that Marcus doesn’t see us walking back together. He may have agreed to give you some space for the lessons themselves, but I shouldn’t have thought he’s too far away, and I doubt he’ll be keen on us walking back to town together.’
Anita nodded, annoyed by how Alexander spoke about her boyfriend; she supposed he was her boyfriend. What he said may be true, but it was still annoying. ‘See you here at the same time tomorrow?’
‘Sure,’ he said, sounding a little disinterested. ‘Same time tomorrow.’
Anita walked away feeling confused. She had felt his energy rise when they touched, and he’d seemed the most warm he’d ever been today, probably because Marcus wasn’t watching, but now he was acting all aloof again. Did he see them as friends? Did he want more than that? Could he care less? Was he doing all this just to make sure the Descendants were protected from attackers? What was most strange, was that they’d spent so much time together, yet had barely had a conversation. It took so much concentration to meditate, there was no room to chat. She knew nothing about him; she had no idea at all who he was. Before she stopped to think, Anita turned around and called back to Alexander, ‘Marcus, Cleo, Bas and I are going to The Island for drinks later. You should come too.’
‘Do you think that’s a good idea?’ he said dryly, raising an eyebrow at her.
‘Of course it’s a good idea. Why wouldn’t it be?’ Obviously she knew full well why it wouldn’t be, but if they all spent some time together socially, she was sure Marcus would relax a bit about the lessons.
Alexander half laughed and shrugged compliantly. ‘Alright. See you there.’
‘Great,’ she said triumphantly, thinking that more Mind skills must have rubbed off on her than she’d originally realized. ‘See you there at eight.’ She turned and walked away, feeling quite smug. Alexander took a deep breath and hung his head, shaking it slightly. What are you doing, he silently questioned.