Crown Of Thorns [ Michael Langdon ]

3 - in a heartbeat - 3

{Chapter Three - In A Heartbeat}

~ It will take a while,
To make you smile,
Somewhere in these eyes,
I'm on your side ~

- Space Song

Cordelia had been watching the girl in between her own classes, practicing her Telekinesis by making a feather fly, while the toddler rode her bike. Cordelia's head shot up when she saw the small girl fall off the bike out of the corner of her eye.

She raced over to her, who was looking down at her scraped knees. Cordelia knelt next to her and stroked her head. But she wasn't crying. The little girl placed both of her hands over her knees, and closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she glanced down and found that her knees were completely healed. Cordelia looked between the girl's hands and knees. She had seen the scrapes just a second ago. She immediately took the girl to Myrtle's office, and explained what had just happened.

"I've never seen someone perform Vitalum Vitalis so early!" Cordelia exclaimed excitedly.

"That wasn't Vitalum Vitalis, she performed it on herself. Plus, she's too young." Myrtle responded, looking warily down at the 4-year-old.

The toddler looked between the two, completely unaware of what was happening.

"Delia, we mustn't allow her to become too powerful." Myrtle explained gravely,

"If she can heal herself at age 4, imagine what she can do at age 18."

"We can't restrain her!" Cordelia exclaimed, still holding onto the girl's hand. She looked up at Cordelia at the sound of her raised voice.

"I can teach her to control her powers, and she won't be a danger!"

"She can never find out who she really is, understood?" Myrtle pointed her finger at Cordelia. Cordelia nodded sadly, she understood. Her powers would become too powerful if she knew of her abilities.

✧

Elora slammed the door to the apartment, drowning out Nathan's yells. She buried her face in her hands and lent her back against the door. They were fine until they moved to California. Why, all of a sudden, is Nathan being such an idiot?

Elora could still hear Nathan's voice growing louder, but she had nowhere to go, so she sat down on the curb. She wrapped her arms around her legs, and hugged them close to her body for warmth. Elora let herself cry, she felt like she deserved it.

She wanted to go back home, to New Orleans, to be with her mom and the girls. But most of the girls were gone. Forever. Including one of her best friends, Madison. If Madison could see her now, she would laugh. Madison always told Elora that boys would only ever use her and treat her bad. Elora imagined Madison watching her and saying 'I told you so.' from Hell, and she smiled to herself through blurry eyes.

She looked down at the fresh bruises on her wrist from where Nathan had grabbed her, and held her other hand around them. She closed her eyes, and upon opening them, her bruises were gone.

Elora looked up when she noticed someone sit next to her. Expecting it to be Nathan, she lifted her head and turned her angry gaze to him, about to retort something rude.

But it wasn't Nathan, it was Michael. She lowered her head again and sniffled. She didn't want him to see her being a crybaby.

"Why are you crying?" Michael asked, and hugged his knees to his chest just like Elora was doing. Elora knew better than to confide in this boy she barely knew, but she did anyway.