Centre of the Storm

Chapter Twenty Two: From the Inside

A/N: wow I can't believe this is the second last chapter! We've literally come so far! I don't really know what to say to describe this feeling lol, I'm just exited for the sequel. Also prepare for an epic superhero fight lol

Cashlin and I locked eyes. She stared at me intensely, as if she was looking into the depths of my soul. It made me uncomfortable. I looked over at where Thomas had been standing. He was gone, along with the security guards. I was all alone.

I looked back to Cashlin. "Damira," she said. Her voice wasn't particularly loud, but it seemed to echo, and it sent shivers across my skin. I looked at her face. She seemed to be trembling, and her muscles were tightened as if she was in pain.

"What have they done to you?" I asked sadly.

She glared at me. "I've been given an opportunity to get revenge."

As she spoke, I noticed her body was contorting, like her skin was stretching almost. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong, but something about it made me sick to my stomach. I didn't know what had happened, but I could assume Thomas had something to do with it, leading me to also assume that he maybe had a hand in my powers too. Something told me I would probably find out soon.

She started to walk towards me, her eyes never leaving mine. "Thomas told me all about you, and your little...." She wiggled her fingers.

While I kept a straight face, my thoughts were racing. If Thomas knew about my powers, then that meant he must be at least part of the reason they existed. I took a deep breath. "What did he tell you?"

Her eyes narrowed. "That you're evil. And dangerous. And you have powers, that you used to kill my sister." She paused. "And now I'm gonna kill you."

I sighed. "Really? How?"

She smirked slightly. Then, she pointed her hands towards the ground, and the floor started slowly cracking and breaking apart. It was terrifying but fascinating to watch.

Then, Cashlin turned her attention back towards me. There was a moment of silence, as the hallway shook slightly, seeming to wait for her command. Then, the floor moved towards me like a wave.

It broke into two halves, the left and the right, and I made a split second decision, jumping to the left and finding safety pressed up against the wall, as broken pieces of tile fell all around me. There was now a gaping hole all down the floor.

Cashlin wasn't finished, though. As I leaned against the wall, it suddenly broke under me, and the bricks began circling around me, pulling me into the wall. It was like it had come alive.

I managed to get away, running forward but stopping at the long hole in the floor. How deep was it? And could I jump over? As I was contemplating this, the bricks broke apart from the wall I was facing, flying towards me and hitting me in the stomach, pushing me back.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to set up any form of defence, so I smashed into the wall at full force. I slumped to the ground, my side throbbing. My head was spinning and I felt disoriented, but I had to get up.

I had to defend myself before Cashlin killed me. I got to my feet, and looked around. Cashlin had gone farther down the hallway, away from me, seemingly taking a breather. She didn't look too good. This gave me some time to think.

How was she doing this? If she had powers, surely I would have noticed before, wouldn't I? And why did it hurt her so much to use them?

That led me to the conclusion she hadn't had them for long, unlike me. And she had said Thomas had given her an opportunity for revenge. Did that mean he had given her them? But how? And why?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Cashlin's footsteps, drawing closer and closer. I prepared myself as I saw the huge chunks of steel and concrete circling in the air, about to be hurled at me. I knew if they hit me I would probably die, defence wasn't enough. But I didn't particularly want to go offence.

"I don't wanna hurt you, Cashlin!" I called.

"Well, I want to hurt you," she replied coldly. But I could see the pain in her eyes. At first I assumed it was emotional pain, that would make sense. But no, this seemed more physical. There was a grimace on her face, and her jaw was clenched. Her body was trembling too. Her skin was pale and ashen.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "You seem to be in pain."

She glared at me. "I'm fine. My body's just not used to this."

I took this opportunity to try and learn more. "Used to what? What's happened to you?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I was just given an advantage, that's all. It's really none of your business."

I laughed at this. "None of my business? Cashlin you look like you're about to die. I can help you, you know."

"How could you possibly help me?"

I hadn't thought that far. "I'll find a way."

She didn't seem to agree with this, since as soon as I said that, she flicked her wrist, and sent the bricks flying towards me. Luckily, this time I had prepared. While we had been talking, I had slowly been building up my powers, just in case.

The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Cashlin. I knew her pain and anger were my fault. I knew the clearly bad decisions she had made were my fault. And maybe I deserved to die. Maybe not.

But I was selfish. Despite everything, I didn't want to die. I didn't want to leave the earth quite yet. Something told me I hadn't accomplished what I needed to do yet. I wasn't sure what that thing was, but I knew I would discover that eventually.

So I fought back. I harnessed my powers, and let a powerful blast of energy hit the rock, shattering some of it. I felt myself starting to lose control of the energy blasts, and I didn't want that, so I held out my hand, lifting some of the pieces of rubble from the wall, and hurling it through the air at Cashlin.

That was when I realized she had no defensive skills at all. She desperately held up her arms, trying to protect herself from the flying rubble, but that didn't do much. It smashed into her, knocking her over. I expected her to get back up, but she didn't.

Dread started to flow through me. Was she seriously hurt, or worse? After a few seconds of her not moving, I started to run over. "Cashlin? Are you okay?" I asked, as I dropped to my knees beside her.

I gasped in shock as I saw her wounds. The sharp edges of the rubble had cut into her, and blood was flowing onto the floor.

Her eyes flicked over to me. I saw tears fall from them, sliding down the side of her face and onto the floor. I felt tears forming in my eyes too. She started to move her arm, but I stopped her. "Don't move, you'll make it worse."

Her chin trembled, and I saw the fear in her eyes. "I'm sorry," I sobbed. "I'm so sorry. For everything. I didn't mean to hurt you now, I swear I didn't."

"It wasn't you," she wheezed, half writhing in pain, sweat pouring down her forehead.

I paused. "What?"

She grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly. "It wasn't you. It was him."

I just stared at her, not knowing what to say.

"I can't take it. It's tearing me apart," she whispered. "From the inside." She sighed, one last time, and her head slumped back, her red hair swirling around her head, mixing with the blood on the floor.