Chapter 9

      Run... my darling, Run!

   I stumbled to a stop at the sight of my parents, both of them on their knees, their arms wrapped around each other.

      Their eyes are wide with horror while staring at the cloaked figure looming over them with a sword in hand. None of them noticed my presence as of yet, so I slowly inch forward in fear. My mother suddenly looks my way, urging me to obey with her eyes, her soft voice mentally screaming at me to run!

     Sitting upright with a gasp, I looked around as panic gripped my chest, my breathing coming out in laboured breathes. My wide, frantic, and disoriented eyes searched for the flames, for my parents, or the third presence within the room. Except there's nothing but plaster walls and shelves filled with books. Only, when a soft, feminine voice floated past my panic thoughts did I slowly pull back to the present.

      Just like Amelia taught me, I closed my eyes and took in deep breathes. Both in and out, in and out. And when I felt somewhat sane again, I slump back in relief.

      A warm hand rests upon mine and I flinch away with a startle, looking up to find Amelia's forest-green eyes stare at me with concern and a piercing intensity. "Are you okay?" Her soft question floated into my ears, and it took a couple of seconds for them to register before I nodded.

     "Y-y-yeah, I think so."

     The huge lump stuck in my throat prevented me from saying anything else. Since I hardly recall much of my memories of the night of my parent's deaths, Amelia had suggested we try out hypnosis to pull them out of my subconscious. Unfortunately, I didn't think they'd be so intense or leave me feeling so vulnerable and afraid.

      Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I look up in a daze when a glass of water is held to my face. Smiling softly, Amelia stands over me holding out the glass and motions for me to take it. I didn't even realise she'd left the room.

      Whispering my thanks, I grip onto the glass tightly and stare into the colourless liquid for a full 10secs before draining it down. Settling the empty cup on her table, I let out a shaky sigh. With a nod, she smiles slightly and settles back down on her seat. Dropping my head into my hands, I leaned forward to rest my elbow on my knees and sobbed silently.

      After what felt like hours but am sure was just mere minutes, I wiped my tears and sat up. I didn't even realize I had my hands clenched in tight fists until I felt the pain of my nails digging into the skin of my palm. “Do, you want to talk about it?"

     "Yes," I whisper, before shaking my head. "No."

      I frown, my brows pulling together because I'm a little confused. "Hmm, actually, I don't know." I finally conclude with my head down, knees bouncing, and hands slowly rising to wrap around my body.

      "If you want we could postpone the rest of today's session to another day-"

     "No!" I yelled out, panicked, as my teary eyes raised to see the concerned look on her face. "I mean I don't think trying to glaze over this would be a good idea. I think I need to talk about this." Sniffing, I wipe at the tears trailing down my face though they just continue to flow. 

      Picking up a box of tissue on the nightstand next to her, she holds it out and I grasp it with shaky hands. I have no idea what happened that night, but if the bad feeling I'm having regarding my repressed memories is real then I have done a lot of wrong to my family.

    "I have no idea what that memory was about but I think something bad happened to my parents Amelia. And I witnessed it." I sob, my chest constricting in pain.

     Clenching my hands, they rise to my lips as painful sobs slip out. Shaking on her couch, I grip the skin of my chest and beat it a couple of times as the feeling of being suffocated becomes stronger with each whimper that leaves my lips.

      Watching me while trying her hardest to control her emotions, Amelia lets me cry my pain out and I appreciated it. I don't think I would have been able to pull myself back together if she tried to comfort me. "Because I was so traumatized," I scoff. "I might have unknowingly let a possible murder get away with their crime, so please Amelia I need your help accessing my memories. I need to know what the hell happened that night."

    Nodding, she takes a deep breath before replying. "Of course, if your sure we'll proceed with using hypnosis during our sessions. But Coral, I have to warn you that they may-"

     "Am sure." I cut her off, determined.

~*~*~*~

      Concentrating on my powers, I ignore the perspiration coating my forehead and skin and conjured a ball of flames between both hands. Slowing my breathing, I resisted the memories that tried to take me down or the fear that automatically rose in my chest.

      Ever since I learnt of my parent's possible homicide, I've trained in the academy's practice room every chance I got. I craved to overcome my panic attacks in other to get better, and the better I get perhaps I'd be able to recall my memories without hypnosis.

     Magnifying the ball of fire little by little, I stared at the metal dummy only a few feet away and aim for my target. The dummy is made of hardened stainless steel due to its oxidation resistance to the high temperatures of fire so the dummy is used to train young fire elemental's on how to aim their powers at a target.

     Much to my surprise, during these past few days of training I learnt our powers are very fragile. Especially fire. If you don't learn how to control it you could end up burning yourself or others by mistake. It's still awkward for me trying to maintain a ball of fire in one hand without the support of the other, and my angle is always off when I try to throw the ball of flames towards a target, without letting that fragile ball drop on me or the mat below my feet.

      Settling the ball in one hand carefully, I aim for its chest and watch as the flames soar through the air but don't even come close to touching the metal. Letting out a sigh of disappointment, I swallow down my saliva due to my parched throat and settle my hands on my waist, wondering when I'd have a better handle of my powers. I've been here all morning, simply practising, and the time on the circular watch hanging off the ceiling across the room reads 4:00 pm.

     Running a hand through my bun, I loosen the curls and shake them out before repacking my hair back up. I flinch when something really cold is pressed against my cheek, and turn in surprise to see Steven standing behind me with a cold bottle of water. "I thought I warned you about always dehydrating when using your powers," Grabbing the bottle, I let out a sigh of relief and quickly turned the cap.

      Closing my eyes in contentment when the cold liquid glides down my throat.

      "As fire elemental's we retain a lot of heat in our bodies, and that heat grows every time we use our powers-"

      Squeezing the empty bottle in my fist, I cut him off with an exaggerated sigh. "So we often end up dehydrated and could end up dried out from inside out or have a heat stroke. I know all this Steven, I'm aware of the dangers fire elemental's face every day when they get out of control with their powers."

     "If you're aware as you say, why the hell do I constantly have to remind you?" He asks.

    His expression looks just as frustrated as the words that come out of his mouth. "You’ve been acting so unusual since your last session with Amelia, what the hell came about to make you act this way."

      "Nothing." I lie, looking away from his piercing stare so he wouldn't be able to tell.

      For obvious reasons I haven't told Steven we've tapped into hidden memories of what may or may not have happened to my parents that night, I don't want to set him up for disappointment in case this all ends up as nothing. Or put him through hell. He might not say it, but it's clear as day to me his feelings for my mother never differed over the years.

       I've come to learn she's an extremely touchy subject for him, and he prefers to give me pieces of their life together in small doses that suits him. Once, when I tried to push for information, he flew into a fit of rage and ended screaming at me.

      I was so shocked I didn't talk to him for the rest of the day, and the next morning he apologized stiffly over breakfast.

     "Fine, don't tell me." He sighs, disappointment clear in his voice. "But at least listen to me. Look, you can't keep pushing yourself so hard-"

     "School resumes in three days." I snap in agitation, whirling around to glare at him in anger. “I only have this weekend to get myself prepared!"

     "I'm aware," He replies calmly, though his eyes portrayed the anger he felt at being rudely yelled at. "And I understand why you feel stressed or even afraid. But you can't simply push yourself to your breaking point just because-"

      "Ugh, can you just stop with the lectures already!" I scream, breathing heavily as my anger changes to hatred.

      A powerful feeling of rage suddenly bubbles up in my chest and I don't even know where it comes from, my vision is suddenly ensued by a hue of fiery red and my tattoo's burn with power. Each step I take my voice raises higher, and rather than just talking I began to yell in outrage. "I can't do anything but push myself to become better. You don't understand how much is at stake here!"

      Not saying a word, Steven takes 3 steps forward and envelops me in his arms. Suddenly, the air around us encompasses both of us in a bubble that encircles around our bodies and extinguishes my rage like a bucket of cold water.

        Sucking in a sharp breath, I wonder where this sudden feeling of calmness comes from and frown. "It’s okay Coral, just calm down." He whispers, practically cooing as if he's speaking to an unstable child, as he strokes the back of my head continually to calm me down.

      "What just happened?" I ask, perplexed, as my gaze trails down when I feel a heated sensation on my hands. In fear, my eyes widen and I sucked in a sharp breath when I realise flames have built up to my elbows.

        I tried to pull away in fear of harming Steven, but he just holds me tighter, and I watch in shock as the flames slowly douse to nothing but steam rising off my pale pink skin.

       After a few minutes, Steven finally steps back and I glance at him for an explanation. "This is another reason why you need to be careful, the elements of inexperienced elemental's reacts with any sudden shift in their emotions. And, because you're a fire elemental, it's much worse."

      "I'm... sorry?" I mumble, alarmed, but also gutted with remorse and embarrassment. Sighing, he pulls me back into his arms and I let him. His embrace providing nothing but comfort.

     "It's okay, you don't need to apologize," He whispers in my ear, his voice gentle as he holds me tighter. "I think we should end practice here for the day and head home for dinner. How about that, you hungry?" A leans back to ask, holding my face between his hands to stare into my eyes.

      Nodding, I trudge along when he drapes a hand around my shoulders and starts to lead me out of the practice room. After dinner, Dana went right to her room to rest. Her pregnancy made her tired, and her swollen feet hurt from standing all day. Supposedly, there was a severe accident in the male dormitory for a fire elemental's that sent 10 students to her clinic. I stood next to Steven in front of the sink as I dried the wet dishes he handed over with a hand towel. Glancing at him from the corner of my eye I wonder if I should ask or not, but in the end, decided to just go for it. "Can I ask who the father of Dana's child is?"

      Halting, he swivels to me and blinks in surprise, before turning away to continue scrubbing the dishes. Letting loose a sigh, he eventually replies after standing silent for a full second. "He’s dead. He was a human who served in the United States Navy."

     Blinking, I'm astonished by that piece of knowledge. "Oh, wow. I didn't think our kind was freely permitted to be with humans considering who we are."

      "Society scowls at it, and the people who choose to take that road. But they don't actively prevent our species from being with humans, it's just simply under the obligation of our law that the human has to become a part of society and he/she has to be informed of who we are. The council wants to ensure only those who can be trusted to keep our secrets can be welcomed, so they make them go through a series of ridiculous tests before one can be let in."

       "And what happens if the human doesn't want to be a part of society or, even after passing the tests decides to expose who we are."

     "They ensure he's wiped out."

      "Oh my God!" I gasp in shock, leaning closer to ask. "Do they kill-"

      "What," He sputters out a laugh. "No. They completely wipe his memory of our existence and remove traces of his life being linked with ours."

      "Oh." I blink, sighing out in relief as I lean back in my position. "So, did Dana's... do I call him her husband or lover?"

    "Boyfriend." He says, rolling his eyes. "And if your question was, did he know about us then the answer is no. He died before Dana could tell him, and all he left behind are the twins in her stomach."

     "Yikes. That must be awful for her. How long is she due?"

     "I believe she's in her seventh month," Looking over his shoulder, he sighs and stares at the hall leading down to her room door before turning back. "I've been wondering how much longer I'd have to wait until I can bring up her maternity leave. She gets irritated when she thinks people don't consider her capable of performing her job properly despite her growing belly."

      "Hmm, that means she must be under a lot of stress."

    "How do you figure?"

    "Well, she must care a lot about what people think of her and her pregnancy. Then there's the whole no husband thing and if our society is as judgemental about things like that as humans are," Snorting, I mumble. "And I have a feeling they are, then she must be under a lot of scrutinies. That will put someone through stress."

      "It does, so don't ever mention it to her. Okay?" He asks, his tone warning, and I immediately nod in understanding.