Thunder and Storm

The Siphon

Hot. Feverish. I felt more than that as I shook on my bed. I couldn't move, I was tied down to the bed. My powers were out of control. I wasn't tied down for my safety. No. I was stronger than that. I was tied down for their safety. They were scared of what I could do to them. Minutes after I'd hurt Margot, I had lost control. Four guards were dead at my feet at a flick of my wrists.

People were dead again because of me. I had hurt one of my best friends. Hot tears trickled down the side of my face. I didn't mean to hurt her.

"Sally,” Dr Reynolds voice came in through the speaker.

"Please, make it stop,” I cried. It was painful. My body was covered in dark veins, my blood felt like hot lava was coursing through me.

"I need you to calm down, Sally."

"I can't!"

"I don't know what's wrong with you. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong. I need to put you to sleep till I can figure out how to help you,” he paused. I heard his ragged breathing. He sounded like he was about to deliver a piece of news I wouldn't like. "You need to go in a pod."

"No!" I screamed. I could remember those kids in there. I didn't want to sleep like them, I wanted to get out of here. I wanted to go home.

"You have to trust me, Sally. This is the only way. If this doesn't stop, you're going to die."

I took a shaky breath. They had had to move me out of my room. I had destroyed everything. The cafeteria was nothing but ash and rubble. My room wasn't stable, it couldn't stop me. I had been moved down to the basement into a glass cage. That was the only space that could hold me. I don't want to stay in a cage all my life. Locked away like some monster.

"You'll be safe in the pod. The pain would stop."

"What about Margot?" I asked.

"Your friend is fine, nothing is wrong with her."

I felt better knowing she wasn't dead from what I'd done to her. She wouldn't want to see me anymore, I was sure of it. The iron underneath the bed made a creaking sound as it bent beneath me. I closed my eyes and hissed at the pain that coursed through me. There was nothing else I could do. I just wanted the pain to stop. I wanted to stop hurting people.

"I'll go in the pod," I said.

The air vents screeched open and a rush of gas flooded into the room. I took in deep breaths. My eyes felt droopy, my muscles lax. I closed my eyes and gave in to the weakness, a reprieve from my torment.



KOWALSKI


Doc took a deep breath as Sally closed her eyes and the tremor rocking through the building stopped. She was finally asleep. Soldiers dressed in protective gear marched into the room and unchained her from the bed.

He wiped his sweaty forehead with his sleeve and sighed. "Thank God."

"Don't thank God yet, that thing should be put down," I said, pointing to the girl in the other room.

He gave me a side glance, dropped the microphone on the table and dipped his hands into his coat pockets. "She's not a thing, Major. She's a person."

"She's a ticking time bomb is what she is. She killed those men without even touching them, she almost brought down the whole building and she wasn't even trying to. How much damage do you think she can cause when she is trying to?"

Am I the only one that can see what the problem is here?

"That's the thing, Major. She has pure, unbridled power,” he said as he walked out of the room.

That girl would be the death of us.

I followed him. He walked briskly. For an old man, his stride was too fast. Or maybe he was just trying to get away from me.

"You can't walk away from this, you know I'm telling you the truth. We can barely control her as it is." I increased my pace.

We walked down the hall and I grabbed his coat before he could enter the security room.

"What do you suggest we do then?" He asked as he turned to face me.

"I say we put her down. When an animal becomes erratic, we eliminate it."

"True, but Sally is not an animal,” his grey eyes flashed with defiance. He was like a Mama bear protecting her cub but it didn't faze me.

"Then what is she because she sure as hell ain't human to me. How many of my men has she killed so far and how many more will have to die before we can control her?"

His eyes dimmed a little. "I don't know what she is but that's what I'm trying to find out."

"I still say we kill her."

"And what, pray tell Kowalski, do we tell him after that? He knows about her and he wants her. What do you think he's going to do if he finds out we killed her?"

Right, him. I don't know what he wanted these kids for but he wasn't paying me enough to die buried under piles of rocks, never to be found. I squared my shoulders and moved closer to Doc. He moved back till his back was against the wall. I could see my towering reflection in his glasses as he looked up at me in trepidation.

I moved my head down to his ear and whispered. "We can tell him she died of her own cause. The girl is highly unstable and you know that pod is not going to hold her for long."

"I fear him more than I fear you so I'll rather keep her alive for as long as I can.” He adjusted his glasses with a trembling hand and moved aside. He pushed the door open and walked in.

I clenched my fists and took a deep breath. Slowly, I let it out. I wasn't dying in this fucking place and if I had to kill that bitch for it, I would. I entered the security room and found Doc in front of the CCTV monitor.

"Show me the tape from the cafeteria two hours ago,” he instructed the guard in charge.

The guard brought it up and I folded my arms on my chest as I watched. The girl in front of Sally grabbed her hand and screamed in pain before she fell to the floor.

"Play it again." The video played again. "Pause here,” he paused when the girl grabbed Sally's hand.

"Zoom in." The doc instructed.

The picture got wider and I swallowed. The frame showed energy waves coming out of the girl, into Sally. Her eyes were a pool of darkness. A shiver went down my spine.

"Oh my goodness!" The doc gasped. "She's a Siphon."

"What's a Siphon?" I asked.

Doc faced me with a stricken expression, his face was ashen. "She can absorb their powers by touching them."

I looked back at the screen and I saw a whole different picture. I saw a nightmare. She didn't just absorb the powers, she enjoyed giving out the pain.

"That's not possible, is it?" I asked. He didn't say anything, he kept looking at the screen as the video played on a loop.

"What did you do to these kids? I thought these were just modified kids, a little animal DNA mixed with human, right? Then how is she able to do that?"

"She isn't supposed to, okay. I don't know why she can do that. You realise he can't have her, right? Whatever happens, he can't know about her.” He fixed his gaze on me, his eyes penetrating me.

I ran my hand through my hair, ruining my pristine haircut and pulled it. "Fine." I walked out of the room making sure to slam the door behind me.

Bullshit.

I walked back to the room she was kept in and looked in, it was empty. I slipped my hand in my pocket and took out my phone, placing a call. The line rang for a while before it picked.

"You're not supposed to call on this phone, you know that,” he said in a brusque voice.

"Things are getting out of control here, I want out. I'm not babysitting that demon anymore."

"Do your job, Kowalski and don't call this number again,” he dismissed me.

"She's stronger than you think she is,” I rushed out before he could cut the call. "We just found out that your little pet is a Siphon."

The line went quiet after that, I thought he'd hung up on me until I heard his breathing. "Yeah, that's right. She just killed four more of my men and almost brought the building crumbling down on us. My payment just tripled."

"You'll get your payment, just keep watching her. And remember, Kowalski, nothing must happen to her." 

The line went dead.