The Five Souls - The Beginning

Chapter 22: you again

now comes the slow-motion part. I stared as he fell. his clothes licked with fire. then, came the screams. the god-awful screams. he reached a crescendo that made me have to cover my ears. then I fell to the ground. when he hit the ground the coals sparked from the fire only to be bounced back by the forcefield surrounding him.

then it blinked away and without thinking I ran into the flames and tore his body away from the fire.

"no' no. not again. not again." I started to mumble. he was a corpse. his skin was bubbling and wrinkled with 5th-degree burns. with everything in me, I tried to save him. but I couldn't. My powers were at full strength and pouring into him like a river pouring into a waterfall. but I somehow knew it was just being sent into his human form and not his soul. he was gone. I failed him. I was too slow. to weak like everyone always says. if I would have just noticed a little better maybe I could have seen him. maybe I could have broken the chains as they were pulling him to the leader, maybe if I just killed the leader the second I saw him. but I knew that wasn't the answer. deep down I could feel it. something saying it's not worth killing another. there's a cycle to life and to take that away. to break it. it was catastrophic. it wasn't right.

"Jack!!! watch out," Ben screamed running toward a cloaked figure who was standing over me with a blade drawn. I didn't care. I was too angry. I shouldn't have done what I did. but I didn't care. he was with the group that just killed my friend. he was going to pay. 

I reached up and grabbed the blade as it flew down toward my head. 

"Your Done!" I said. nothing but rage dripping from my words. the blade almost instantaneously melted. the mask, or the absence of the mask made it easier to reach up and grab the back of the cultest head and squeeze. I stared deeply into the eyes of the cultest and sent a mental image of all the hate I felt at him then my hands grew hot and hotter and hotter. the cultest face literally started to melt as his skin was burned away leaving nothing but his skull in my hands. with one final burst of anger, I blew up, literally. I caused the guy's body to implode along with sending a massive dome of heat energy off my body knocking back anybody close within a 10-foot radius.

realizing what I did I dropped the scull I now held out in front of me like some twisted imagery of the devil holding a soul of the damned. I skittered back falling on my ass not believing what I just did. I killed a man. an innocent man for all I knew. a man that could have had a wife and children a family that loved him. I not only killed him but obliterated him. The only thing that remained was literally his bones. I was a monster. corpses were everywhere.

"Jack" an excruciating heart, wrenching voice screeched. realizing who it was. I turned in horror. there was Ben severely burned. 

"no. Why does this keep happening to me? no what's wrong with me." I screeched franticly crawling over to Ben. when I reached him he was struggling to breathe.

"jack. it wasn't your fault. Don't hate yourself for this." he choked out each syllable. clearly in severe pain.

"no. don't say that. I will save you. I already lost one friend. I can't lose my best friend. please don't do this." I said

"it's ok." he reached up and grabbed my shoulder. every fiber of his skin was cracking with each inch he moved. then from behind me came a whoshing sound and a gray hand that was dried up grabbed Ben's arm. I looked up and saw Jamar.

"I can save him. let go" he looked at me with intense eyes of intelligence. it encapsulated me and for the briefest second, I felt my mind transport to this space of nothing but stars. then I was back.

"I'm so sorry. your right. ok. it's all my fault. I can't save my best friend. much less the world." I yelled whole-heartedly

"no, you can. you just need to learn to control your powers. with the blade, your emotions can be in check. now let go. trust me" he said firmly. I realized he meant it. but did I believe it?