Hidden Gifts

Twelve

*Trigger warning for violence towards children.*

"Now I want you to think of something that makes you very... Sad." Devon says.

They both sit crossed legged on the floor. Talia closes her eyes and thinks of Clare's death and how her body was never actually found. She thought of every good memory they had made together and the fact that she would never be able to make again.

She failed.

"I don't know why I can't do it. I lost my mom but I've grown so numb to it, it doesn't affect me. The only thing I'm good at is being angry and doing stupid stuff." She huffs. Devon doesn't interrupt so she goes on.

"I killed someone and I still try to convince myself that it wasn't my fault. I can't keep blaming my inability to use my powers. I can't keep using it as a crutch, it was my fault. Natalie was horrible and she said horrible things about Clare about Damie and my real–" she covered her mouth to stop her from going on and making things worse.

She falls into Devon's laps and tries to stuff left her tears.

"Good." He said as he oat her hair.

"Good?" She shot back up and gave him a puzzled look.

"No, I mean good as in... Good. You were able to make yourself sad and now your hair's grey." He points to her hair. "That's what I want to teach you to control. The fundamental emotions are happiness, anger and sadness. When you're happy your hair turns yellow, when you're angry your hair turns red which you've already experienced and when you're sad it turns grey or white.

You wouldn't want that happening every time you feel something so I am going to teach you how to master it. Think of the colours to this different emotions as a door. Now that you're sad, sorry about that, think of a door with the label 'sad' on it and the colour as well. Now the door is open and there is a burst of colour grey. I want you to close the door slowly. Just visualize you closing the door because the truth is you're the only one who can give your peers control over you and I advise that you control your powers."

She does what he says and tries to visualize the door. She takes in deep breaths and clears her mind. She sees the door and imagines it being closed.

"Did it work?"

"Yes. You're hair is back to its beautiful brown colour." He smiles at her.

"Hey thanks for your help. I really appreciate it. I'll be outside if you need me." She says and gets up but he holds her hand stopping her in her tracks.

He kisses her forehead and then her lips. "Okay."

She steps out and expects the air to be fresh but it stinks. It's smells like something died there.

Following the trail of the smell she sees many people, all with demeanors full of despair, gathered and listening to someone. A tall man with a very muscular build stands beside a short man who is slightly similar in build.

The place is surrounded by wooden pillars with draperies attached to the top preventing anyone on the outside from looking in and anyone on the inside from looking out.

A section of it, however, is open probably for entering and exiting. She stands beside the draperies and peeks on; praying she won't be seen.

"All you idiots should bare witness to this site you will see today. Both young and old, man or woman, boy or girl, you will see that all actions have consequences. Our sanctuary head had given a strict rule that whoever is fortunate to be chosen to come here must adhere to the instructions provided by him to keep us safe. The most important of all is that whoever is out must not come in and those who are in cannot come out. He has provided you with everything, food, education, clothes and yet all of you fools always look so ungrateful.

Anyway, this bafoon here tried to escape with a group of fools who had agreed to follow him. He tried to be a hero but look at your hero. Your hero is going to die because of his disobedience." The short man says and he signals the taller man to carry the boy and two other people. A little girl and a woman who looks like she's her mother.

"Why don't we start with the pretty little girl." He looks over at the girl who is crying loudly, choking on her own mucus. She looks over to her mommy and says something in what sounds like Yoruba. The woman cries along with her child and says something in Yoruba as well.

"We'll see each other soon. I promise." The woman kisses her daughter as they snatch her away from the woman. She struggles with her child, trying to stop the men from dragging them away.

They finally tear her lose from her mom's grip and her fingernails cut the girls skin making her bleed and cry more.

They place her head inside a medieval contraption with a large sharp blade that slides down as they pull a lever. The girl screams for her mother and her mother cries and cries.

The blade slides down and chops the young girls head of as it rolls to her mother's feet. She carries her head despite the blood, she places her daughter's forehead to hers as she wails.

They drag the woman next planning to do the same to her.

"You are horrible people. You tricked us! This isn't a sanctuary, this is hell! You took us from our homes without our consent and you dare call us ungrateful. My daughter wasn't even a manipulator but you took her away from me!" She cried and the tall man punches her breaking her nose.

"Shut up and stop creating a scene." He says. Talia then realizes that there are little children here, less than five years old even, witnessing their fellow friend die. Everyone is crying but theirs nothing they can do about it.

They choose of her head and the short man kicks it nonchalantly.

The hero sits down on the floor defeated. His head down turned as shame hits him, he regretted trying to escape not because he failed but because he had been the reason two other people had died.

"How does it feel hero? You're fans are dead and it's all because of you. You filled their hearts with false hope and now those hearts no longer beat. I purposely killed them first so that you and every other unfortunate swine here can see that once you are here you are never leaving. You can kill him now and throw the bodies with the others. We need to burn them; they're starting to stink." The short man walks away and the tall man takes over, killing their hero without hesitation.

Some other men helps him carry all three bodies and thrown them on a stack of dead bodies. The heap was massive. It was taller than Talia and at the top we're fresh corpses, the middle was decaying corpses and the bottom wrecked of rotten corpses with maggots in them and flies perched on them.

When she turned around to tell Devon about what she had saw she already saw him standing behind her.