Running From Time

Chapter 8

Thalia and I finally arrived at the hotel that Lydia and I had been staying at. She hopped out of the Range Rover and I went to do the same. I was still floating a little way above the seat, much to my annoyance. As I opened my door, I suddenly felt myself start to drift upwards. Panicking, I grabbed hold of the window of the door and held on, my fingers squeaking slightly on the glass.

"Chris!" Thalia exclaimed, rushing over to me. I lost my grip on the window and used my telekinetic power to 'grab' it again. My power was weakening. I closed my eyes and slowly every noise faded away until the world was completely silent. I drifted back down to Earth, now just a cloud of fragmented particles and felt myself begin to reform.

"Woah..." Thalia was staring at me, mouth wide open.

"Yeah, it's kinda weird. Sorry." I said a little sheepishly and walked towards her.

"See, when you explained that to me on the plane, I didn't quite get what you meant but now it's crystal clear." I nodded and felt a sudden rush of emotions. Without thinking, I extended my arms out and hugged Thalia tight. She squealed in surprise but quickly hugged me back and I realised that tears were forming in the corners of my eyes. Involuntarily, I let out a sob and she hugged me tighter.

"Oh, Chris, don't cry. I know it's been a very hectic day but things are gonna get better, I promise." I smiled and pulled away slightly so as to look at her face.

"Thank you for helping me feel better." I said, smiling through the tears. It was very rare that I would cry. Suddenly, I heard a camera shutter go and my head snapped in the direction of it. Thalia turned too and her eyes narrowed as she saw the paparazzi member.

"Excuse me, but what do you think you're doing?!" She shouted suddenly and his eyes widened. He took a couple of steps back. "Can't you see he's having a moment? How would you like it if I started taking pictures of you crying? His girlfriend has just dumped him and the least you could do is to show him some respect!" My jaw dropped. No one had ever defended me like that before. She strode up to him deliberately and tried to snatch the camera from him but he held it out of her reach.

"Allow me." I said softly but menacingly and I held out my hand. The camera flew to me and I looked it over.

"How the hell...? I don't know what's going on right now but be careful with that! My mother bought me that one for my birthday!" He said, fear radiating from his body. I snorted at the fact that he was more worried about his camera than he was about the fact that I had just managed to levitate something with the power of my mind.

"Oh, don't worry, I will." I said as I levitated it just out in front of me with one hand. With the other, I channeled one of my other powers and the camera started to melt before my eyes. The paparazzi member looked like he was about to faint.

"Wha - how did you...?" He stuttered and I smiled at him.

"Oops." I said, letting the now liquidised camera fall to the floor. My eyes glowed bright red. Suddenly, the man yelled in pain and surprise as his shoulder burst into flames. He screamed and tried to extinguish the inferno but it didn't work. I was fuelling the flames.

"Chris! Stop!" Thalia shouted at me but I wasn't listening.

"...and let's spark a new flame." I sung above the man's screams.

"CHRIS!" She screamed at me and I snapped out of my trance. The flames instantly disappeared and my arms started to shake from the amount of power that had passed through them.

"I - I don't know what happened..." I whispered and dropped to my knees. Thalia stared at me in disgust before walking away. I bowed my head and wanted to sob again but I couldn't. The anger was still fresh in my mind.