Chapter 8

    “Say, what do you think… about practising without your blindfold today?”

     I tense at the carefully laced question, eyes rising to stare at Steven in surprise. I wanted to be sure I heard right, and judging by the sheepish, inquiring look on his face I know he did just asked me to conjure fire without my sight hindered.

      We’re standing barefoot in his backyard and once again I’m in yoga pants, a thin long sleeve hoodie, and a black sports-bra while he’s dressed casually in shorts and a loose tank top.

    “I don’t think that’s such a good idea-”

      “Just hear me out okay,” He interrupts, raising his hands to stop me when I tried to say something else. “Amelia has you on those antidepressants and Propranolol, so it should be fine for you to face your fears now. Plus, I read up online that one of the ways to help treat PTSD is prolonged exposure therapy. A type of behavioural therapy that involves having the person relive the traumatic event that causes their anxiety. It helps you control your fear and gradually become more comfortable with situations that are frightening and causes anxiety.”

     “But shouldn’t a professional be the one to help me with something like that?”

     “Look, I know I’m not a professional nor do I have the qualifications. But I just want to try, okay?”

     Sighing in reluctance, I nod. “Great,” He claps enthusiastically, rubbing both hands together with an excited smile. “Since we’re outside and pretty exposed to anyone who can see us, today you don’t have to conjure anything. All I want you to do is stand there and I’ll conjure a fireball, once I do that I want you to stare at it for at least 1min. Hopefully, as you get better maybe you’ll be able to prolong your fears. Okay?”

      Nervous, I nod timidly, my stomach in knots. “Okay.” I sigh.

     Breathing in, Steven raises his left hand in front of him and spreads his fingers in the air. Suddenly, blazing flames erupt from his palm. His eyes glow in that unnatural shade of red and his tattoo lights up, as the flames began to grow I start to feel sweat perspire on my skin. Immediately I begin to tremble, swallowing thickly as the air around me grows humid.

      Gasping, a whimper escapes my lips when Steven cautiously steps closer as his eyes rise to mine, and I involuntarily take a step back. Lungs constrict with the urge to breathe, and the smell of ashes and smoke burns my throat. The flames slowly morph into a large ball and a memory flashes in my mind. The memory turns into an illusion and suddenly we’re no more in his backyard, instead, we’re on the streets and high in the sky there’s a descending ball of fire. My body shakes violently when the image dissolves and now I’m inside the burning building. As nothing but smoke, fire, and ashes surrounds me, every cell within my blood quakes in fear. I want to look away, to close my eyes, to cover my ears and block out the screams echoing through the building. Crunching to my knees I sob and place my head between my legs to drive away from the pain, fear, and chaos that surrounds me. And just when I didn’t think I could take it anymore, the illusion falls away to reveal his backyard once more.

      Dazed, I’m surprised to find Steven standing before me, his eyes no longer coloured nor are his hands as they rest on my shoulders. There’s fear, worry, and the alarm is written clearly across his face. I frown when I notice his lips move, but do not hear a sound, and just as I’m about to ask why he isn’t speaking out loud I pass out in his arms.

                            ~*~*~*~

       Waking up, I frown when I find myself in the infirmary. There’s a drip connected to my wrist, and I’m covered up and tucked in by a soft, blue blanket.

       Turning my head, I see Dana seated behind her desk with a dark scowl on her face and tried to call out to her. Only my mouth is dry and my throat feels like sawdust, coughing into my hand, which ultimately gets her attention and she turns to me with a startle. “Hey,” She breathes, a small smile on her lips as she rises to her feet slowly and draws closer. “Glad to see you awake.”

      Sucking in a deep breath, I ask desperately. “D-d-do you have water?”

        Nodding, she immediately hurried to her desk and back with a sealed bottle. Swallowing my saliva, I try to sit up but even moving feels like such a hard task. My body is extremely weak, I’m starving, and I wonder why I have no energy. As if aware of my predicament she helps me open the cap and supported my head to tip the mouth of the bottle towards my lips. Drinking a few gulps, I let out a sigh of relief and lay back on the bed to stare at Dana in confusion.

     “What happened, why am I here?”

      “You passed out, again,” She stressed, her smile immediately dropping into a narrowed eye stare.

 

     “So, Steven brought you here. And judging by your expression I’m guessing he didn’t only bring me over. He told you.”

      “He had to, not after I threatened to drown him with my powers.” She snorts, shaking her head. “I can’t believe the both of you kept your condition a secret. If anyone finds out do you know how dangerous it’ll be for you-”

        “And that’s precisely why we didn’t want to tell you guys or anyone else. Well, that, and the fact I just didn’t want to worry anyone. I’ve been seeing a therapist and Steven’s been helping me practise using my powers considering there are only six days left for school to commence for the new term. Though, I don’t think today’s training went well considering…” I trail off, raising my hands weakly to indicate my presence in the infirmary and she shakes her head with a look of worry and anger.

      “You know so little of the danger you’re in Coral,” She sighs, a troubled look on her face, and I frown in the confusion over her words. Shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts, she purses her lips together and sighs. “Putting that aside you need to be careful whenever you guys train okay. Internally and externally you have no injuries and your body is completely healed from your last visit here, but you’re weak because you're both dehydrated and-”

       My stomach chooses that moment to grumble and an amused chuckle slips out of her lips. “Starved of food.”

     “But I ate this morning, the pancakes on my plates were practically falling off and I had 3 portions before I was satisfied.”

      “Didn’t Steven explain the symptoms in young elemental’s, about how your body will crave a lot of carbs?”

       I think for a moment and vaguely remember us having a conversation about it at the cafe. “Yeah, he did a little. But I wasn’t even conjuring anything. Steven did the whole fire thing because he didn’t want to expose my tattoo.”

      “Maybe not, but you must have used your powers somehow because your tattoo’s had glowed for quite a well when you got here.”

     I frown even more and think back, what could I have possibly done to drain so much of my energy?

      “Well, whatever it is you did I’m just glad you didn’t exhaust yourself too much or else your condition would be a whole lot more serious. The drip is giving you nutrients so don’t pull it out,” She warns, her expression serious and eyes piercing in intimidation.

       Only after I give a nod in confirmation does she turn her gaze away and pull out a snickers bar from her coat, throwing it on my stomach she smiles. “That's for your grumpy stomach. Eat that and drink more water to add more strength to your body. I need to step out for a bit, so just lie here and wait till I return okay?”

      Snorting, I nod. “As if I have anywhere else to go.”

      Rolling her eyes she makes her way out of the room and I let out a sigh, grabbing the chocolate bar I ate it all quickly before drinking down some water. I wasn’t nearly satisfied, but at least my stomach settled now that it’s not an empty tank anymore. The infirmary doors open with a groaning sound coming from its hinges and I glance up in surprise when a familiar figure steps in. His brows raise at the sight of me before he glances around the room. “Where’s Dana?”

       “She just stepped out for a minute.”

      “Oh,” Devon scratches the back of his head with a disappointed sigh and draws closer. “I needed to talk to her about something important.”

      “Well, you could wait, she said she’ll be right back.”

     Nodding, he slowly moved to settle on the bed next to mine and fold his hands behind his head with a sigh of content. Tilting his head my way, he asks curiously. “What’s up with you, why are you here?”

      Shrugging, I answer as vaguely as I could and ensured my palms weren’t facing upward. I can’t make the mistake of letting him see my tattoo.

       “Just got a little sick, haven’t been eating too well lately.”

        “Oh,” He nods, his expression confused and a little sceptic as he glances at the drip but he nods at my explanation. “Well, I hope you get better.”

     “Thanks,” I nod, looking away as we both fall into a moment of awkward silence.

      “You know, you’ve gotten quite a lot of attention at the academy?”

      Frowning, I turn to him in curiosity. “What, why?”

      “Well, everyone pretty much knows you live with the Dean and Doctor Dana. You’ve been seen hanging out with the Carter twins, two of the most popular students in the academy, and then there’s the fact that you and the Dean both kind of look-alike a little bit. Are you related-”

     “Are you trolling for gossip, I didn’t peg you as the type." I say, cutting him off with a raised brow, and he had the grace to look away sheepishly in shame.

       “Look, your right. I’m not,” He apologies, his expression sincere as he gazes at me. “I just got caught up in the rumours and became a little curious. I mean it's not every day I’m being asked to personally pick up another student.”

      “Wait, Ste-” Hesitating, I run my tongue over my lips at the almost slip and was thankful he didn’t react to it. Though judging by the knowing look in his eyes I can tell he knew I was about to call Steven by his name. "I thought the academy usually sent people to pick up the new arrivals. At least that was the impression I got when I talked to Dean Carter’s secretary.”

     “No, freshmen or not every student is very aware of the location of the academy. Except for the few kids who grew up outside of society-” He glanced at me and something in my expression must have given him a clue. “Oh.” He mumbles softly. “I didn’t know, I’m sorry if I overstepped-”

      “No, it's fine.” I smile, not offended and not completely sure why he’s even apologizing. Rolling on my back, we fall silent again until suddenly a thought came to me. I turned to him in curiosity. “Hey, could you tell me what happened to me my first day here?”

      “You don’t remember?” He frowns, and I nod in confirmation.

      “Not really, maybe it’s because I got a concussion but I don’t remember much after waking up in the infirmary. I mean I’ve asked but, no one told me what happened.”

      “Well,” He sighs, turning sideways in bed so he could face me. “I don’t know much because I was pretty distracted by your bags but, I believe someone manipulated their powers and lost control. They unintentionally sent it over the roof of the academy, and unfortunately, you stood in the line of its descent.”

     Eyes wide, I rise on my elbows in shock. Seeing my expression, he smiles and was quick to reassure me. “Don’t worry, they were able to control it before anything bad happened, but you must have been pretty shocked because you passed out after that.”

        Well, that explains a lot.

     The doors groan open and we both turn to see Dana walk in with a white, grocery bag. Looking up with a smile, she regards Devon in surprise and he rises from the bed immediately. “Devon, what a surprise, what are you doing here?”

      “I needed to talk to you about something, uhmm do you have a minute?”

       Raising her hand to glance at the gold watch on her wrist, she nods. “I do have 30mins before I need to attend a staff meeting upstairs, what’s up?”

       “I was hoping we’d talk more privately,” He mumbles sheepishly, and they turn their gaze my way.

      Raising a brow, I don’t bother to pretend I wasn’t listening to their conversation and she nods in understanding.

     Holding up a finger to indicate he waits, she walks over to me and settles the bag on my lap. “I bought these for you since I figured you’d still be hungry,” Turning to the drip, she stares at the almost empty bag of liquid before turning back to me. “If I’m not back early, it means after talking to Devon I’ve gone to my meeting so you can leave when this is used up.”

      Nodding, I don’t offer a response except for a small salute which has her rolling her eyes. Taking steps back, she requests as they make their way towards the door. “Please, ensure to lock the doors on your way out.”