Chapter Thirteen

We watched the facility sink slowly, not saying a thing. Eventually, I looked up to see Jason's golden eyes staring at me. All my anger had dissipated, but I still felt the sinking of the facility was right. I didn't want any form of life to be experimented on.

"What?" I asked Jason as he kept watching me.

"You... are incredibly strong." He smirked. He looked pleased. "You're still bleeding." He took my leg gently, ripping up seaweed from the sand beneath us. After he wrapped my leg firmly, we swam up to the surface. We were miles from shore, but in the distance you could see little green hills. I went back under, the voices of the sea life entering my head. It seemed louder as if they were all yelling in my ears at once. As creatures swam past me quickly, I began to panic at the overwhelming noise. I turned around quickly, looking at the marine animals fleeing the facility. Sharks, dolphins, and large fish. As I looked to the sunken building, my heart harshly pounding in my chest and my mind became fuzzy. Had I done the right thing? I placed my hands on either side of my head, taking a deep breath and screaming. I could feel the water around me push back forcefully. My scream shook my whole body viciously and when I sank down to the sand beneath me, the ground rumbled. I sat on my knees, huffing as everything seemed to spin. I knew I had started crying from the pain in my head, but I didn't feel the tears in the water. It was a strange sensation to cry and not feel it. After a few long moments, I felt arms slide around me. Everything had quieted down for the most part. When I looked up, I saw Jason's golden eyes calmly looking down at me. My back was against his chest and when I leaned back, he hugged me tighter.

"Shh. It's okay." He whispered. I felt so out of my league. Like I was trying to do something that I wasn't strong enough for. I felt as if I had been trying to reach something several feet above me and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't reach. After a while, we swam to the nearest shore where parts of the building had crashed onto the beach. There was a crowd of people standing around the pieces, wondering how it got there. As we came out of the water, I collapsed. I had been in the water for too long and forgot about the gravity changes on land. My calf stung and I could feel every incision where Bartholomew's teeth had cut me. Jason helped me up and let me lean against him until we got away from the wreckage where he picked me up and carried me home. I felt disoriented so I didn't say anything. When I got home, I ignored the blood that ran down my leg and dripped off my foot. I just went to bed, exhausted, and worried about bandaging it later.

* ~~ * ~~ * ~~ *

I woke up when the sun was setting and could hear talking outside my closed door. I stood and glanced into my mirror, seeing my hair was a shade of bright red with dark brown streaks. The brown color in my hair seemed to be taken over by red.

"She's easily the strongest in all the oceans. Even with Poseidon's Trident, no one would match up." Jason's voice was low as if he was afraid he'd wake me. I could smell food through my closed door so I decided to open it and walk out slowly. My calf ached and when I looked down, I saw that it was bandaged.

"Has she been practicing?" My aunt questioned.

"No. After we were kidnapped, she just... became powerful. She caused a blast that sent all the surrounding life, including me, miles away and the facility was washed to the shore." Jason explained. "She was stronger than me the moment she got into the ocean. He power is still growing." I stumbled as I listened to the conversation, my calf responding with sharp pain.

"Blake." My aunt stood up. My uncle was in the kitchen cooking and they all were around the island counter.

"I made your favorite." Uncle smiled.

"How are you feeling?" My aunt came to me, and I backed away. "What's wrong?"

"Why are you talking about me like I'm about to end all life on Earth?" I frowned.

"We aren't." She shook her head. "We are talking about your brother threatening war and if you will be strong enough to fight him." I looked at Jason who looked concerned. I could feel my body shaking. I still felt weak and tired from earlier.

"Honey..." She reached for me. I twitched as several lights in the living room exploded. Jason stepped away from a lamp that shattered, looking at it confused. "Blake-"

"Get away from me." I backed away. I felt numb, but confused as I touched my forehead with the palm of my hand.

"Blake-!" I tried to block out the spinning room by closing my eyes. The rest of the lights shattered and I ran out of the house. I couldn't breathe and everything felt too close. The sky darkened as clouds blocked out the setting sun quickly. I faced the house where my aunt, uncle, and Jason ran out, rain beginning to pour down.

"What... what's happening?!" I wheezed. My aunt took a step forward and I felt like the whole ocean was in my head, sloshing around. Every fish, every whale, every dolphin, everything. I could hear the waves and feel them crash against the inside of my skull. I could hear indistinctive voices of every animal talking casually or cheering, even yelling. I sank to the ground in pain, my hands covering my ears as if I could block out the noise. I screamed at the pain, trying to make it go away. The ground beneath me rumbled and before I closed my eyes, I saw deep cracks run from where I sat on my knees. Lightning flashed across the sky and the ground where I sat caved in slightly. Tears fell from my eyes as I looked up.

"Help me!" I begged loudly, unable to hold in my screaming plea. They fell over as if an invisible force hit them, even the down pour shifting. Jason jumped up as the ground caved in more. He slid into the ditch I had created and wrapped me in his arms before whispering something into my ear. I couldn't hear the exact words, but my pain began to ease up and the rain slowed. Jason tensed suddenly, clenching his jaw and tightening his arms as if he was in an intense amount of pain. Before I could ask him what he did, my vision blackened and I went limp.