Juliet was convinced it was because she’d felt like she could completely trust the doctor. For once in her life, she could actually rely on a therapist to genuinely be there for her. After meeting Dr. Ember, Juliet felt unstoppable, like nothing could ruin her day. After the best session she’d ever had, there wasn’t anything that she thought could bring her down.
With a new sense of positivity flowing through her, she left her room to head to her next class with an open mind and a smile glued to her face. For the first time in a long time Juliet felt comfortable enough in her mental state to leave her headphones behind. She walked through the halls with a new sight that wasn’t being numbed by the sound of her music. That in itself was small progress to celebrate, and Juliet couldn’t wait to tell Dr. Ember.
***
As dreadfully long as the class felt, Juliet was still in good graces. Food was the only thing on her mind as she raced out of the classroom. Nik didn’t usually have time to sit for lunch, but as Juliet entered the dining hall and saw him sitting where she always sat, she couldn’t help the giddiness from escaping her.
“This is a nice surprise.” Juliet didn’t hide her elation as she threw herself into his arms. Nik’s dimples sunk into his cheeks as he gave her a knee-weakening grin. Juliet blushed as Nik softly ran the back of his finger down her tinted cheek.
“I wanted to check on you after yesterday and see how your first meeting with Dr. Dillion went.” He wrapped his arm around Juliet as they walked toward the food. Juliet couldn’t help but notice that he called Dr. Ember by her last name and laughed to herself at his iron-fisted mindset. Still, she smiled as she thought about her morning.
“Oh my goodness, silence and a smile? Is this real life? Did you actually have a good time?” Nik’s dramatics made Juliet giggle as she nodded.
“I loved her. She was so dope, Nik. I’ve never ever met a shrink that I actually looked forward to seeing. I’m not even mad about my dad making me go.” Nik lifted his hand for a high five that Juliet happily smacked.
“I had my first session with her, too. Just before yours. My mom’s making me go now since you are. But I’m okay with it. She was nice. But she also was five minutes late, and being punctual is important. I almost left, but she was waiting on the other side of the door with donuts. She said something about being shocked at my impatience, but I didn’t care ‘cause those donuts were amazing.” Nik grabbed a tray and started walking back to their table.
Juliet smirked as she thought about being more patient than Nik was. As they returned to their seats, she couldn’t help but ask him a question she knew he’d have the answer to. Her curiosity pushed her to open her mouth.
“So now that I know you met with her, I know you did a background check, since that’s your new thing whenever you meet someone new. What’s the low down?” Juliet began eating her lunch as she watched the smirk on Nik’s face grow into a sly grin.
“You know me so well. So she’s not a shifter or anything that’s part of our world. She was married to a hound, though. He was killed a few years back by a group of rogue vamps. She didn’t want to say bye to our world, so she became some underground head doctor for shifters in New York.” Nik took a bite out of his burger and a sip of his drink to wash it down before continuing.
“Before her husband died, she specialized in couples therapy. After his death, she focused on shifter youth. That’s how Oberon found her or remembered her. They met a while back at her wedding. He was a friend of her late husband’s. He attended his funeral, as well.”
Juliet bit into her food as she thought about Nik’s detailed report. The doctor's love for the moon was explained by the fact that she was a widow to a hound. Juliet felt sad for Dr. Ember, but at the same time she felt proud of her.
After losing her husband, the doctor still fought for what she wanted and did what she loved, helping shifters along the way. It was much more than what her mother did after her father left them. Juliet sipped her drink and tried not to let her mind go there.
“She gave me homework. I have to find a new genre of music or a podcast. I wonder which I’ll try first.”
“That’s an interesting assignment. Unlike mine, which is to leave the Dome for reasons unrelated to the military. But I don’t see why she would assign me that.”
Again Juliet giggled at Nik’s ignorance to his own faults.
“We can help each other.”
Nik slid in closer to Juliet as he pulled her into his side. Her day continued to go swell and she still felt that nothing could bring her down. Both she and Nik had successful sessions with their new shrink. And it delighted her so much that she couldn’t wait to get started on her new brain homework.
Chapter 5
Ice & Fire
It was always normal for Juliet to feel better after a therapy session, even with her displeasing feelings towards their constant judgment. It was only because she had no one else to talk to. And when she did, whether it was a doctor or not, she used it to her advantage and just vented. This time, after her sessions with Dr. Ember, that feeling was intensified. The doctor had a new influence on Juliet and it empowered her.
With the new sense of letting herself be more open-minded, she decided to swap her training schedule. It made her feel in control and strong. Maybe with a new fresh start, she could have more control over her gifts. Even if that meant starting small.
Instead of finishing her day with fire, she chose to complete it with ice. Without a proper professor or trainer to teach Juliet more about ice, she didn’t have much to go off of. She thought it would be smart to train herself. So when Oberon and Malachai were trying to find someone to train her, she immediately volunteered herself. At least until someone else could jump in and take over.
For now all she had was her near-empty book of notes. Before, it made her anxious and frustrated, but now she felt challenged because it was something she’d liked to overcome. Aside from all the things that she did with her power the night of the attack, so far her icefire globes were the most impressive.
Juliet blamed adrenaline for taking over when they were being attacked, so she didn’t think she could do any of those things again without being in real danger. Whenever she would try, it came out like a burst of snow flurries, or sharp and dangerous shards of ice.
As she sat in the empty phoenix training room, she looked around for inspiration. With no luck, Juliet felt just as frustrated as she always did when she tried to experiment with her ice gift. She stopped herself from going to that dark place of pessimism by trying to steady her breathing. She pressed play on her phone and sat with her legs folded under her.
An old-but-new-to-her blues song blared through her speakers, causing a smile to spread on her face, as she already liked the melody. She never gave the blues a chance and now, with Dr. Ember’s homework, she found a new love within the sound.
Juliet closed her eyes and swayed side to side to the addicting tune as the raspy voice of Muddy Waters vibrated on the ground through her phone. She hummed along, even though it was the first time she’d ever heard it. And with a better attitude, Juliet looked around the room once more.
The charts and history of the fiery phoenix bird was mapped all around the room. Her eyes landed on a chart that listed all of the specs of the gifts that came with being a phoenix, and that’s when it hit her. Why not just try the phoenix gifts with ice instead of fire? She had done it with the globes, so there was not much to lose with the theory.
Grabbing her book labeled PHOENIX, she flipped it open to the first page, where it simply instructed her to conjure up fire in her hand. That she’d done many times before. And even with her ice, it was getting easier for her to master. With ease, Juliet brought ice to her fingertips and watched as snowflakes escaped her palms.
Juliet leveled her palms up to her eyes and got lost in the comfort of the chill that filled her bones. She welcomed it and opened her heart to the freedom of having it out. Suddenly the snowflakes became thicke
r and raised high above her head, near the ceiling. She giggled as the snow flurries rested and melted on her warm skin.
Proud, she expertly toned it down so it would just float above her hands again. She already knew that she could contain it in a globe, so she wanted to try something else, something new. Juliet thought of testing her molding. Ice was easy to form into an object--except with her powers. It was never that easy.
She thought it would be smart to focus on what she could do if there was another dire situation that she needed to help with. Like weapons. A knife was the first object that came to her mind, so she willed the snow back into her body and focused on her ice.
With a clear mind, Juliet swiftly thought of the shape of the dagger that she wanted to mold and, just before her eyes, the ice that left her fingertips took the shape of a miniature sword. Although it was messy and not her best work, Juliet tried again. She threw the dull blade into a nearby sink and sat back down.
Intimidated, but not torn down, this time she focused on making it as pristine as the real thing. Juliet shook her shoulders out and gave it her all. She closed her eyes and pictured the small dagger made of ice. First she molded it to perfection in her mind, then she found the place in her heart that stored that comforting cold and she brought it to her fingers.
With chills running down her arms, she opened her eyes to watch thin layers of ice leave her fingers, creating the blade she pictured in her mind. It eagerly obeyed her every move as she swirled her fingers in a hypnotizing dance framing the dagger. The hilt shone bright on the floor in front of her.
Trying not to lose her focus, Juliet pinched her lips together. As it came up to the very sharp tip, her breath hitched. It was completed. She lifted it with such delicacy that she thought it would slip out of her fingers, as it rested heavily in her hand. She turned it all around to admire its beauty. It stunned her. She stunned herself.
Knowing that it would soon melt into nothing but water, Juliet snapped a picture of it with her phone and left a mental note to later print it to paste into her book of research. She ran to the closet for an empty mop bucket and eagerly returned to her place on the floor. She placed the knife into the bucket and pushed it aside for her next attempt.
Again Juliet thought of her next weapon. And when it popped in her mind, she wanted to smack herself in the head for not thinking of it sooner. One of her top favorite fire weapons to use in defense was the fire rope that went from a whip to an explosion of lava. How was she going to turn that into ice if it wasn’t bendable?
Still, she didn’t want to give up. Instead, she took a moment to try and think of a way to create an effective ice whip. She came up with nothing, so she tried to wing it. After the first four failed attempts, Juliet began to grow frustrated. Regressing, she paused the blues and returned to her normal playlist, getting lost in the music that calmed her before.
Steadying herself, Juliet laid on her back and stared at the ceiling so she didn’t get too ahead of herself. Or let her anger win. She wouldn’t allow herself to give up. So she sat back up and got to her feet. With her breathing now steady, she tried again and again. Three times more. And each time, the ice shattered to pieces.
Overwhelmed, Juliet looked at the wet mess around her and thought about training in the oceanic wing next time, where she could just let the ice melt away on the floor. Instead, she swept up the icy mess again. As she kept her breathing leveled, she tried twice more. And each time, the whip shattered immediately.
Juliet paced the slippery space while she hummed along to the classical song until she felt she was calm enough to try again. Only, she felt defeated. For motivation, she changed up her flow and brought her fire whip out with ease. It flawlessly escaped her fingers and safely laid on the ground, shining its bright orange glow.
Bending down to inspect her lethal weapon, she wondered what she could use from it with her ice. Like a switch inside of her heart, Juliet tucked away the steaming fire and summoned her chilly ice. But with the fire whip still radiating heat and the icy sting covering her body, she couldn’t find her balance.
Juliet fell back, but caught herself by grabbing onto the rope. She let it go immediately and still fell back. There was a shock that pricked her hands the moment her ice and fire made contact. And as it vibrated through her fingertips, she could only look back and forth from her icy hands to the steaming whip of fire.
Adrenaline raced through her veins as her heart sped up. She wanted to touch the rope again, but she didn’t yet. She wasn’t finished with her initial study, which was a whip of ice. Now that she felt re-energized, she got to her feet and tried once more.
Ice rushed out of Juliet’s palms at a swift and rapid speed. Once it matched the length of her fire whip, she closed her hands into fists and held her breath. Juliet imagined it to be exactly the same as it was in fire form, except with ice. Matching it to be precise, she hoped and prayed that it wouldn’t shatter. And when it didn’t, she finally let out the breath she was holding.
Taking it as progress, Juliet clapped her hands in celebration. She looked at the clock and decided to call it a night, since she had spent most of it there. Very delicately she took the long and thick stick of ice and she rested it in the sink, nearly touching the ceiling. She hoped it would melt directly inside.
Returning back to the fire whip, Juliet used her ice gift to try and put it out. Before her eyes, a thin layer of frost enveloped the whip slowly at first, and then fast, in a beautiful and hypnotizing snow pattern. Once it reached the end, she leaned closer to see that the fire was encased inside of the frost, still in its fiery dance.
Juliet sloppily wrote down what had occurred in her book and thought of what the outcome would be if she exploded it, like she’d previously done. Curiously and cautiously, Juliet backed away and hid half of her body behind a closet door. With her palm facing the whip, she closed it in a tight fist, instructing the whip to burst.
Again Juliet’s breath hitched as she watched on with hesitance. The whip rumbled in its place and finally, when it exploded, hundreds of sharp shards of ice pierced everything throughout the room. Yet, it wasn’t over. As the ice melted, it turned into lava, burning through the surface that it rested on.
Hurriedly, Juliet ran to the button that let out the special extinguisher bomb that Ren put in, then ran back to her cover to finish jotting down her new discovery. As she slammed her book closed and jumped around in a happy dance, Juliet immediately regretted the mess she made. There were holes everywhere.
Maybe the oceanic wing wouldn’t be such a bad idea for next time. Maybe the water would stop her fire from causing any damage. Maybe her dad wouldn’t be too upset with her for the mess she‘d made. Or maybe he’d celebrate her small win. She didn’t know. And for just a moment, she didn’t care. She was proud of her progress and hoped she could share it with her dad and Nik. And maybe even Dr. Ember.
Chapter 6
Bittersweet Freedom
After the improvement from training, Juliet thought it was time to celebrate her small win. She vowed to herself that she would spend her day outside of the Dome, no matter how difficult her dad would make it. Malachai thought if she stayed in the Dome he could protect her. But she felt suffocated and lonely, despite Nik and the other students.
The one thing she wanted to do for herself was visit the mall where the old record store was to find blues tracks that she could add to her collection. Each day she became more in love with the genre, and she had Dr. Ember to thank for that. For a moment she wondered what other songs or genres were out there that she hadn’t given a chance yet, and it made her even more excited for the day.
As Juliet packed her small backpack, she hesitated before adding in the small knife for extra protection. She didn’t think Malachai would be upset with her in case there were any blood-thirsty visitors and it wasn’t dark yet so she should be in the clear. Then again, maybe he wouldn’t be happy with the weapon. Still, she stuffed it deep in her bag.
; Even with confidence and optimism running through her, she still walked toward the exit with a nervous heart. Facing Malachai and having to explain why she wanted to leave the Dome made her far more nervous than what could possibly hurt her out in the real world. She hoped she could get through the process before he found out.
Luckily it was swift. It wasn’t until Juliet stepped on the tram that she let out the breath she was holding. Crossing over to the "normal" part of civilization was a bittersweet type of freedom that she sometimes took for granted. It was easy to forget there was more than one world to be a part of.
The promise of safety was given to her and everyone else that was in the Dome, but it came with an excruciating amount of seclusion. Being that there were still vampires out there, it was highly understandable why there were so many new precautions. Still, Juliet felt strongly about the unfairness of it all.
Even the simple crossover that separated her from the shifters to the humans gave her anxiety that started in the pit of her stomach. Her anxiety quickly switched to frustration. She didn’t want to give the vampires the satisfaction of leaving her with trauma. She straightened her back and continued her route to the nearby mall.
The moment she stepped out of the train station, the chilly fresh air smacked her right in the face all the way to her bones. But as she called out to the ice that filled her heart, the chill in the air brought her comfort. She shivered, goosebumps rising along her arms underneath her leather jacket, causing a small smile to grace her lips.
Self care days were always important to Juliet because keeping herself happy was crucial to her mental health. Luckily for her, she was easy to please. A simple song could lift her spirits, a single movie could turn her day around. Sometimes some alone time was just what she needed.
Icefire: Shifter Academy Page 3