Crossfire - a sizzling slow burn with supernatural powers

Weekend - training session

I met with Mats at the training center the next day.

"How is Sylvana?" I asked, still amazed and in awe of her, after hearing her story. I didn't see her when I walked by the meditation room.

Mats gave me a small, private smile,

"She's recuperating." He turned up his smile and energy, "now to the training of a novice empowered." I instinctively rolled my eyes. Mats had made a plan for my training and after a thorough warm up, I had sparring sessions with other empowered.

First, I met a 11 year old, who could throw water. I seriously underestimated him. He looked like a little kid, but the force and volume of water, he threw at me, left me drenched. The kid was amused every step of the way.

"This is fun," he said at one point, continuing how his parents scolded him when he threw water and how his little sister definitely didn't enjoy the finger squirt gun he always had at hand.

Mats chuckled with us, while telling me to view my power as a fluid and dynamic part of me. I chose whether to push the water away or amplify it.

"If you don't want to get water in your face, push it back sooner, before it reaches you."

The kid threw a torrent at me, where most of it splashed away before reaching my skin.

"Again!" Mats called and the kid was ready, hitting me in the head with what felt like a bucket of water. Mats and the kid gave each other a high five as I cleared my eyes.

"Again," I said, ready this time. The water stopped a foot away from my body this time. By the umpteenth time, I pushed back the water and it hit the kid. He was very surprised as water dripped from his clothes.

We trained amplifying the power through me with a game of water tag. The kid threw water at me and I had to absorb it and throw at Mats. The kid was ecstatic every time our tag team managed to hit Mats, even though we never drenched him from head to toe. It felt amazing playing around with my new found power. The kid and I hugged as our training session came to end. My cheeks hurt after laughing.

After lunch, the training continued. Mats introduced me to Carmen. Her appearance made me feel mousy by comparison. She was a Latina beauty in every way.

"Now Carmen is a smoker," Mats said in his introduction of her.

"A smoker?" I felt my breath hitch. A smoker is dangerous, and the enemy of Brandt's family. I wondered if she knew the man from the woods. I remembered how the smoke was solid and smoky at separate times.

A few moments later, Carmen enveloped the studio in thick, impenetrable smoke. I couldn't see anything. Carmen and Mats had disappeared as had the walls and above me the ceiling. I turned as I listened.

"Watch out," Mats said in a deep sing-song voice. He was enjoying this.

Smoke billowed in my direction and I held out my arm to push it back. Another billowing arm of smoke rolled towards me and this time I reached out to absorb it. I was surprised by the way the smoke disappeared into the palm of my hand, as if it was an air vent. I could feel it coil around in my body. The power was foreign and at the same time it felt like Mats power. It was pure power flowing inside of me.

I looked through the smoke and saw Carmen's black hair. I tried to send the smoke back to her. The brownish grey substance hit her chest and I saw the surprise in her eyes. The smoke fanned out as if hitting a wall.

"Well done, Harper! That's amazing," Mats rejoiced. The general level of smokiness in the studio lowered and I saw him by the door. His praise made me proud.

At punch of solid smoke hit my shoulder and I fell back to the floor with a thud.

Carmen had recovered from her surprise. This was her payback.

"Take it easy, Carmen. This is only day two on Harper's empowered path." Mats hurried to my side and examined my shoulder.

"She'll have to learn to take some punches too. Not every one she meets, will pussyfoot around her just because she is new." Carmen stood her ground.

My shoulder was on fire. That punch of smoke was going to leave a mark. Mats helped me up. Carmen was unimpressed with me.

She had a point. As fun as it was with the water kid, I had to remember that the very reason I was here at Setter Hill was Brandt's attempt to keep me safe and to discover my power. Not everyone would be kind to me, such as Brandt's father. I didn't have any training, not as a human being and not as an empowered. I needed to toughen up. Didn't I?

"Let's stop here," Mats said, dismissing Carmen with a poignant glance, "and let's get you an ice pack for that shoulder."

"Carmen's right, though. At the moment I'm a sitting duck in a pond I know nothing about." Just a few days ago, I had no idea there were people who had different powers they could use. A few days ago, I was an ordinary student, who worried about pop quizzes and surviving the alien landscape of a high school campus.

"Just keep training. You'll get stronger and become more adept to your power. It takes time. Many empowered children start train around eight to ten years old, when their power emerges. You are just catching up." I stored that factoid for later use.

"That's enough for today. See you tomorrow," Mats pulled me into a bear hug, even squeezing my shoulder. I flinched and Mats let me go immediately.

I gave him a fatigued smile and left the training center. I questioned everything. What was happening? Was I really empowered? Had I just run away from home? Would I be in danger if I left Setter Hill? I couldn't stay here forever. My mother would come home from her trip tomorrow. What would she say? I doubt she would be thrilled. Would I be home or here? Everything felt like a dream, like a scary dream. Setter Hill was a community and I could stay here. But should I? And then there was Brandt. I felt alive when he was there. I also felt unsure of myself, in doubt about everything, and yet I gravitated towards him. Shit.

————

Author's note again:

I hope you are enjoying this story and that my "vision" is evident on the page. Any feedback is appreciated.

What do you think of the characters? Who is your favorite?