The Storm Inside

Chapter Thirteen: Lightning

A/N: the training begins

They'd given us grey sweatshirts to wear to protect us from the cold wind and light rain. They led us outside, onto what appeared to be a former basketball court, now large and empty.

I looked around, trying to see what was outside. But all around, a tall, metal fence surrounded everything I could see. I couldn't see through it or over it, which made me feel a little bit anxious because it meant I had absolutely no idea where we were, and if we needed to escape it would be difficult, at least for Sophia who couldn't exactly use her powers on the fence.

The coach looking man went to stand in front of us. "My name is Mr. Blakey," he told us, his voice gruff but carrying. "I hear you two have vastly different abilities."

Before I could say anything, he pulled out a clipboard with some paper, and quickly read over it. "Interesting," he murmured.

He looked up at Sophia. "Mimicry and shapeshifting?"

"Um, well I don't know about the shapeshifting," she started. "But yes."

He turned his eyes towards me. "Telekinesis, weather manipulation, and energy control?"

I nodded. "That's me."

He turned back to Sophia. "You'll go with Dr. Brown. Damira, stay here."

I didn't particularly want to be separated from the only person I knew in this place, but I didn't exactly want to make things harder for us, so I watched her walk away.

"Where's she going?" I asked.

"To the lab," he replied, and my stomach turned slightly though I didn't know why. "We have something more special planned for you."

He led me farther across the courtyard, and the guards followed, watching me in stoic silence, some of their hands hovering near the gun that hung from their belt. When I made eye contact with one of the ones doing that, he moved his hand away.

We walked up to a table, where a few objects stood in a row. The first was a small rock, the second a can of soda, the third some dumbbells, about medium size, and the fourth a slab of concrete.

"I'd like you to try lifting each of these without moving," he told me.

The rock and can were easy. The dumbbells was still easy, but less then the others. With the concrete, I had to try harder, and I felt the pressure behind my eyes and it started to rise, slower then the first three.

"That's good," Mr. Blakey said, looking slightly awed. He tossed me the can of soda, and I cracked it open, taking a sip.

Everything after that went easy enough. There were more items to lift, some heavier then others. And the coach, or whatever he was, wasn't quite as mean as I thought he was going to be. And then, we turned a corner and I saw a metal basketball pole and hoop, confirming what I had thought earlier.

"What am I supposed to do with this, make a ball go through the hoop?" I joked.

"Not exactly. I want you to bend it," he replied calmly.

I looked back at it. "I don't think I can do that," I replied. "The metal looks pretty solid."

Mr. Blakey sighed. "That's a disappointment. I thought you were supposed to be powerful."

I rolled my eyes at his attempt to rile me up. "I am powerful. But this stuff isn't easy on command."

"Surely you've tried before," he said.

"Of course I had. You wouldn't test out your powers if you found out you had some?"

He chuckled. "Ah, yes. Beatrix mentioned the little practice sessions you used to do."

I looked back at him over my shoulder. "You've talked to Beatrix?"

"Of course. Such a shame we won't get to train her," he said. "Her abilities are so interesting. Such a shame," he repeated.

"I don't understand," I said. "We're here to train, aren't we? To figure out our powers? So why would you bring her here if that's not what you want for her?"

"We have different plans for Beatrix."

I was beginning to grow agitated, so I turned around to face him full on. "What plans?"

"Oh I shouldn't tell you that. You should focus on your training."

I couldn't believe I was falling for his obvious attempts to upset me so I would bend the pole, but I had to know what he meant, so I tried again. Even if I was falling right into his trap. "What are your plans with her?"

"I'm not going to do much," Mr. Blakey said. "But there's a team of doctors and scientists just waiting to cut her open and dissect that lovely brain of hers."

The pole didn't bend, as I was given this information. But in an instant, the light rain became a downpour, the sky completely clouded over, and as if that wasn't enough, I heard the crack of lightning.

The guards let out exclaims of shock and Mr. Blakey looked at me with poorly disguised triumph. I was so angry, in that moment, that I didn't realize the lightning had come down only meters behind me.

I turned, and saw that the basketball pole was split cleanly in half, and had toppled over.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it now?" he asked, and I glared at him. "If you as much as touch her-"

"Relax kid, there are no plans to kill your little girlfriend. At least not currently, depends on how cooperative everyone is."

As I was led back inside by the guards, rain dripping onto the floor, my heart pounded in my chest at his last words. The thinly veiled threat behind them.

"Do you think it was a coincidence?" Sophia asked, back in our room, as I squeezed a towel against my wet hair.

"Metal doesn't attract lightning," I said. "And it was mostly clear skies when we went outside. So no, I doubt it. How'd your thing go?"

She shrugged. "Kinda boring. They asked me a ton of questions about how it feels to mimic someone. But it doesn't really feel like anything. Then they took pictures and drew blood and tried to get me to do it."

"Could you?" I asked.

Sophia shook her head. "It's this place," she murmured. "I feels so claustrophobic, even though it's so big. It feels... off. Like it's haunted or something. I don't think we're the first people to be here."

My eyes flicked over to the plastic plant. I wondered when I would be able to let her know it was bugged. Maybe I didn't need to. She wasn't stupid, she could take a hint.

"I know this is a hard transition," I started. "And it's gonna take some getting used to. But it might not be that bad. And at least we have each other."

I pulled her into a hug, and as I did, I whispered in her ear. "They're listening to us, right now. Just because they're less evil than Thomas doesn't mean they're good."

"I'm going back to bed," Sophia murmured, stepping away from me.

It was only seven in the morning, but I didn't blame her. I was tired too.

I stood against the wall, listening for the sound of the rain outside. It seemed to have stopped, and I had only heard thunder once, which was when I had been outside. A temporary storm.

Once the anger had drifted out of me, it had drifted away too. Unlike the first time I'd messed with storm, when a moment of frustration had simply paused it.