11

We wake up to the sounds of approaching footsteps outside of the cave.

Instantly, everyone jumps up in alarm, grabbing onto each others arms.

I hear a few exclamations as some of them immediately prepare for a fight.

"...Relax." Flynn rises from his spot. "That's not a Gloom Dweller's footsteps - that's an exorcist walking down the path towards us."

The students all collectively sigh.

Sure enough, Classmaster Thomson walks up to the entrance to our makeshift hideout and knocks politely.

"Ah, everyone is here! That makes things simpler." His voice is relieved and energetic, as if he can see through the wall. "I was worried everyone might have scattered when you went dark. Is anyone hurt?"

Rayne reaches a hand down to the ground and drags away the thick curtain of rock covering the front of the hideout, revealing all of us to our teacher.

Classmaster Thomson's eyes fall on me.

For just a split second his eyes widen in surprise, as if he's shocked to see me alive and well.

The next instant his eyes go back to normal.

I almost wonder if I imagined it, but there's something off in the way he's looking at me now.

"How about we head back?"

Our classmates cheer, and instantly the tension evaporates from everyone.

In moments, a trail of teenagers files out of the cave, heading down the path towards the beach where the boat we'd only recently disembarked from waited for us.

As I step out into the sunlit beach, a heavy sense of weariness overtakes me.

My life has changed so much in the last day that I still have trouble processing it.

One night on a random class activity and suddenly I find myself having made a very profound change from the person I was the day before.

I've been trying to find some explanation, any explanation for my bizarre ability, and so far...I've come up empty-handed.

Whatever this new ability is, I'm too nervous to reveal it to anyone just yet, even Thomson.

No. Especially not Thomson.

If it's revealed to the Order that I somehow possess an ability that should be exclusive to Gloom Dwellers, their already dim view of me would plummet further.

Much as I'd like the opportunity to leave the order and live another life, it's unlikely that 'dim view' would allow such a thing even then.

They'd lock me up instead, probably.

Which leaves me with...

I have an ability that allows me to manipulate Gloom, but I can't tell anyone, not even my friends, until I know I have some amount of safety guaranteed.

I wish I could ask someone for help, but I don't think there's any way that could work out.

My options seem limited to simply testing my limits to try and figure out what it is and what I'm capable of, and maybe then, somehow, figuring out why I can do it.

On the plus side, I escaped from being eaten alive by two fully-grown Gloom Dwellers. That in and of itself is kind of a miracle.

It feels...odd to me, almost, as if...somehow I was almost supposed to do it. Like something about this entire scenario has been orchestrated so I would have the opportunity to do exactly what I did.

Even that isn't helpful as I have no idea why I feel like that.

Maybe I'm just coming down with a bad case of paranoia.

Once our group reaches the dock, all the students quickly load into the small boat to begin making our way back across the ocean towards our home port.

I can't help but feel a lingering sense of dread at the thought of what we left behind in this place, and what it all means.

Something significant is changing for me, that much I'm sure of.

But what?

What is going to happen next?

And where will all of this lead me?

I'm tempted to spiral again into an endless circle of questioning how I control the Gloom, but...if I had any answers to give myself I'd have come up with them already. There's nothing more to be found.

And I...

I'm still so exhausted.

I lean against the edge of the ship with a sigh.

The trip is long enough for me to rest if I want to.

Perhaps I should find that place I napped in on the way to the island and sleep until we get back to the Order.

I turn away from the rail, preparing to go back to my cabin, when suddenly a voice speaks to me from behind me.

"Caden."

Thomson is right behind me, looming over me with his dark presence, expression grim.

"Yeah?"

He stares down at me for a long moment before opening his mouth to speak. "Can we talk, Caden? I'd like to have a private chat."

The sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach tells me this conversation will not go in my favor.

But I don't feel like I have much of a choice, either. "...Okay."

He motions me away from the other students, back near the boat ramp, and speaks in a low, urgent voice. "Were you able to get away from the Gloom Dwellers when you were chased, Caden? They didn't manage to catch you?"

His words confuse me for a moment - is he really asking me that question?

I press my lips into a line and shake my head. "I guess."

His frown deepens, his eyes narrow slightly as he scans my face. "...You...guess?"

He repeats the phrase back to me like a question, and I answer with a question of my own. "What do you want me to say?"

I'm tired of games right now.

Mostly because I don't know what to do.

It's been hours of worry and questions that I've barely managed to process and barely managed to keep my mind off of by talking with Amelia, and I've barely had a chance to really process any of it myself.

Thomson fixes me with a piercing, intent gaze. "I know what I saw, Caden. And what I saw was two fully grown Gloom Dwellers, not infants, not children. They attacked everyone, and I saw you walk away with both of them."

My brow furrows slightly in annoyance, and I raise an eyebrow. "What are you saying, classmaster?"

For a moment, a brief moment, he falters.

As if he's uncertain whether to proceed with this line of questioning or not.

He almost backs down, I think, but...he doesn't.

"...Why didn't the Gloom Dweller take your soul, Caden?" He asks quietly.

He whispers the words, but they carry weight with them, they carry authority.

His eyes search mine for any sign, and I feel exposed and vulnerable.

There is nowhere to hide.

"If you think I betrayed everyone-"

"No." He doesn't let me finish that, shaking his head. "That's not what I think. I don't even think that's possible. But I know I'm missing information, and right now that information is crucial, Caden."

I swallow hard.

This is the moment.

Now or never.

Either I admit to my secret and hope for the best...

Or I refuse, and live in fear, always waiting for someone else to discover what I'm hiding.