Part 10

"What?" I asked. I was struck dumb. It took everything that I had to even speak that word. I couldn't believe it. Why had he been given that gift? But then again, why had any of us been given abilities? But as these thoughts floated around my head with no anchor, Alex spoke again.

"He hates to use it though. He believes that emotions should be natural, and not forced. Besides, he doesn't want to use his ability on someone as powerful as you."

"But, I'm not that powerful," I retorted.

"Say what you'd like. But you know what the truth is? The truth is that your ability is unhoned. It's raw. But you fear it. I did too. Everybody fears their abilities when they first get them. But the difference? Some of us have learned to love our abilities, no matter how freaky they are." At this, I shuddered. I could never, ever get used to seeing into people's minds. Especially the part that was supposed to be kept secret. I hate being able to spy on other people. It messes me up. "And there are those who will use their abilities when called upon. That's all of us. And I think that that's you." As he said this, I knew that he was right. I was one of those people who would never get used to that. Not ever. I would die before I would get comfortable with my ability.

As this thought rolled around in my mind, I felt my emotion around it grow. It was struggling against my will, trying to burst out of me. I couldn't contain it much longer! But then the strangest thing happened: just as I was about to give up, it subsided. I felt normal again. But before it completely subsided, I ran to the door and caught Eric walking away. "Hey!" I called. He stopped frozen at the top of the stairs. "What was that about?" He turned around as if to answer, and his face went white. I turned around to see what he was gawking at and saw Alex lying unconscious on the floor. Then I saw a flicker of light and a large shadow. All of a sudden, a huge wave washed over me, and I understood that whoever was in my room wanted to set the room on fire and burn Alex in the process! I turned to Eric and said, "Is there someone who can control water?" He nodded eagerly, and I told him to go find them. Before he was halfway down the steps, I braced myself for what I was about to do.

I threw the door fully open and saw that Alex was bound, hand and foot, and gagged. There was a ring of some kind of liquid around him, and then the air right behind me got really hot. Realizing that I had walked into his trap, I smirked and turned around to face him. He held one hand behind the flame so that the light wouldn't reflect onto him, and define any of his features. This made it hard to tell anything about him, and his face seemed to be one with the darkness. But while he was concerned about covering his face, he left the rest of his body visible to the light. I could tell that he was a strong man, with broad shoulders, huge legs, and he was breathing relatively normally. I wasn't an expert in physiology, but that had to mean that his breath support was superior to mine, right? I looked him in the eyes, or where his eyes should've been. But just as I was about to engage in conversation, a blast of water hit me in the side. I was flown onto my bed, and everything started to twist. Their voices started to get distant as if calling my name from a far distance. I saw Eric kneel beside me, place his hand on my head, and everything went black.