Beyond Control

Chapter 11

 In the dark, I couldn't see much other than the slight white light evolving from the observation room. I raised my head up where I remembered was the observation room on the second floor, feeling as if I'm being watched at all times.

But I'm not afraid, not anymore. Since I knew that I left the 'just an ordinary girl' shell, courage had emerged from fear as if doing anything is possible now that power is in my hands. I control, no, not me, my emotions control nature. That I shall use it to my advantage, to escape this hell of a place and free myself, or maybe the others who are unfortunately locked in here as well.

The only thing that stopped me from doing so is the lack of control I have for the power I wield. I discovered nothing of its function though I'd had a colossal experience with it. The most that I could control was when I manipulated my emotions so it reached power. It wasn't an appropriate way of using my ability, but it was the best way I could find.

As time went on, I came across several suggestions and ideas on controlling that ability of mine but when tested, nothing happened. At one point, I thought standing up and meandering around the room in order to help me think.

However, as I pushed myself to my feet, I was aroused by the glint of light from the observation room. My eyes squinted involuntarily as I perceived a figure entering from the door, then immediately threw myself back onto the floor. I threw my head backwards as if pretending to be asleep, putting my posture into a relaxed manner and resting my facial features though no one can see my appearance from this distance.

When I realized that I was nervous and the slight vibration in the room exposed my emotions, I pulled myself back to being awake.

Then, the lights came on, brightly waking my tired eyes which got used to the darkness.

Acting nonchalant, I sat with my gaze on the second floor as if there's something that interested me. I began taking deep breaths to calm myself down, inhaling and exhaling gradually as I noticed the changes that had occurred compared to the past. My lungs would shake whenever I took a breath when I was first brought in here, trembling as I inhaled then let my breath surged out briskly.

I shifted my gaze to the observation room, fixating on the figure before the desk. I squinted my eyes then realized that it was the captain, all by himself. Looking at the person brought a smile to my face, it almost made me laugh. I recall the time when he tried to hurt me but the pain reflected back to him instead.

It seemed like he was occupied with something on the desk, but I noticed him watching me occasionally. I sighed, turning my attention to the metal bracelet on my hand and using the opportunity to inspect it when the lights are on.

"Hello Crystal." he spoke eventually, as if speaking out of boredom.

"Hello Kaysen." I responded in return, raising my gaze to him who stood in the observation room.

I could see him froze slightly after hearing his name spoken out of the prisoner's mouth who's never meant to know of his identity. It pleases me to know that I have a knife in their crew as well.

"What did you see when you escaped?" He asked.

I wasn't sure what he was asking, since that sounded like a normally asked question which seemed to have another meaning towards it. I hesitated for a while but stayed silent, since I didn't want to accidentally say anything that could be used against me later on. Plus, I didn't want to grant him the satisfaction and power that he could get me to talk without much effort.

I broke my gaze away from his and focused on my fingers, fidgeting and ignoring the question. He asked the same question again after a few moments, but none of them worked to get the answer from me.

When his patience began to shrink he spoke in an admonishing tone, "You don't want to get electrocuted, do you?"

I tried to resist the smirk on my face but I ended up wearing it as I plodded towards the observation room. From afar, I could see his expression totally frozen from resisting any chance of his fear being expressed. He tried to resist fear but I could seek it out when I saw him stagger back then pulled himself forward as if he didn't just take a step back out of fear.

Till I stood before him, our gaze locked on each other while the glass barrier separates us both.

I spoke before he could utter a word, "What did I see?", my hands clasped before me in a polite manner.

I glanced at him who held the same remote control in his hand as if it controlled the world. Before everything, that had been the device which controlled my world, wielding the power to strike me down whenever I ran off the tracks. It's not that I wasn't afraid of it, but since I know that hurting me will result in hurting him as well, I didn't care if I got hurt then.

My gaze traced the interior of the observation room, taking my chance to explore the room for any hints to my escape plan while he stood with a hesitant expression.
"I'm not playing around. I will press it." He warned me again, fist clenching helplessly on the device.

I leaned closer towards the barrier, "Why does it matter?" I asked.

As I speak, I begin thinking and recalling all the hurtful things they did to me to brew a storm of rage in my head. I spoke with a calm expression to avoid alerting him that a storm may be coming, "Go on, press it then. You want to feel that attack again don't you?"

It took a while for him to come up with a response to that, but eventually he did, with a scoff, "You're right. Perhaps electrocuting you will result in hurting me as well."

He took a step closer, "But have you ever thought that your influence only matters to those who're close to where you are?" The edge of his lip curled upwards, and I knew that he had found a counter to my plan.

He raised his brows, then pushed himself off the glass barrier, "What if I took a step away from you?" he walked further back into the room, "And now I'll be out of reach from your influence." He gestured his hands around, elucidating the distance between both of us.

I stood where I was, thinking of a way to avoid his counter with a calm expression. I glanced at where he stood, and estimated how far my influence will reach. But in the end, I realized that I had only one advantage while he has much more than I do. Since I am locked in a cell with limited space to move around, he could go anywhere as far as he wanted to avoid my influence.

When I was left speechless, he returned to his previous position and muttered, "Here's the thing Crystal, I can use this device regardless of where I stand on this planet." he smiled, "I can simply leave and avoid your influence, but you can't even move to avoid any of this."

After that, it was left with silence while he waited for me to answer the question. I thought over and over again, then asked myself, where is my advantage now?, just like the way he'd asked me.

Before he came, I'd thought that I had all the advantages I needed to escape this place, but I was wrong then. I was naive and unskilled, mischievously handling these situations and making a plan without much hesitation which resulted in me being put down effortlessly.

"Shall we start over then?" he asked, gently putting down the device on the desk.

He grabbed the chair and sat down nonchalantly, arms crossed as he leaned back on the chair, "What did you see during that day?"

I froze in shock, when I realized that I don't even have a proper answer to that question. I have no idea what it is which I saw that became so important to their crew. None that I could remember seemed to be any crucial information neither to me nor to them I believe.

I could feel the vibration under my feet as the earth began to tremble again.

Kaysen spoke again, "Let this be an inquest or an interrogation, it is your choice to be made."