Beyond Control

Chapter 43

My hands are before me, my fingers stretched and positioned to the stool beside me.

I raised my hand up slightly, my eyes staring directly at the stool. I feel a strange connection to that object as if it's bound itself to me as its master, waiting for me to give a command.

I waved my finger around like how the wizards wave their wands to perform magic, I imagined it like the fairies in the cartoons playing with magic.

With just a wave of my hand, the stool began levitating up in the air. It floated upwards like we're all submerged in water, nonchalantly being hurled up by nothing but my command.

I waved it around, moving my hand through the air and playing with the subject. I watched it move, observing how this phenomenon practically happened without any possible explanations. It progressed throughout the air with disparate speed and depending on the way I commanded it to.

I was told to learn and practice with my abilities since they'll be declared useful during our escape and will be the main thing keeping my life and freedom at bay. Ayven gave me this task, suggesting that I get used to wielding my powers while he does his work to create more bioweapons. I assumed it's a way to keep me distracted from bothering him so I don't mess up or cause any troubles playing with the apparatus on his counter.

I'm back at where I sat, across the room and away from where he's working. It's hard to believe that people actually work in places like this willingly.

Well, not all of them are willing.

This place hardly has anything close to nature at all, the lights are pale white, the same color as the floor and walls. It looks utterly like a prison rather than a workspace.

I assume for the people working here everything's fine and normal, but for a girl like me, one second I think I'm in a laboratory and the other I'm in a mental asylum surrounded by four white padded walls. It made me wonder if everyone in here is insane or if it's just me.

I planted my head on my fist, my gaze lazily scanning around the room to see if there's anything to play with.

My hand relaxed and the stool was back on the ground with a loud thud which proceeded to echo around the room.

I'm staring at the ceiling light indirectly, I was glaring at the ceiling beside the bright lighting. It reminds me of my second encounter with my powers.

The first was triggering a tremor on earth and the second was cutting off electricity.

I flexed my fingers again, then pointed at the light with my index light.

Before I did anything, a thought came to me, telling me how silly I look in this position, like a delusional child testing whether magic exists in this universe.

I bit back a laugh and flexed all five of my fingers.

My eyes shut and I pinned all of my attention onto my fingers, my heart and my soul. The bright light was still penetrating through my eyelids, where I saw electricity standing sternly behind the bulbs.

I sank my head into the power running in my veins. I was far away from the ceiling light, still seated on the laboratory stool. But I feel the electricity in the wires connected to the light, the force of the electricity running through every wire, the direction it is heading and the control I have on its head.

'Vanish.'

The light shut off, slowly growing dimmer and dimmer as I commanded it to.

Till it emits no light at all, it feels like the electricity had just withered away from existence. I opened my eyes and saw the ceiling light I targeted shut off, but the others beside it were still switched on despite being connected to the same switch.

'Wake.'

A surge of lightning bursted out of the bulb, as if thunder had struck the building and penetrated to the underground facility. The sound of glass shattering was everywhere, I withdrew my hands reflexively and shut my eyes against the brightness of the explosion.

I dropped myself off the stool and slid down to the floor, hiding under the counter with my arms wrapped around my head.

I hear Ayven rushing towards me when all the troubles are over. His footsteps arrived faster than I thought.

I raised my head, perceiving that the lights at my area were shut off, but the ones at his area are still fine thankfully.

"Crystal, hey," I heard his voice, "you alright?"

I was still looking around, examining the cause of the explosion and realized the conspicuous problem instantly.

I wasn't gentle with my powers at all.

I lifted my head up at him, my gaze returning to him after scanning my surroundings, "Yes, are you fine?"

He offered me a hand and I took it as he nodded, proceeding with his next question, "Is your practice going well? I can only assume it isn't seeing how you've accidentally broken half of my lights."

I got to my feet, biting back a laugh, "My bad," I spoke whilst standing in an awkward position, "but you're wrong, I'm doing just fine."

There's pieces of shattered glass on the counter and in the area where the small explosion had taken place, it isn't a harmful explosion to which I sighed in relief.

I looked around the room to escape his gaze but all I got in return was the weight of his eyes dropping from my head to toe. A sweat appeared at the back of my neck, and I'm now very aware of how cold that sweat was as it crawled down my neck. My gaze landed on the set of apparatus he was working with at the other end of the room, and I perceived he'd gotten a few more vials on the empty rack now.

"How's your work?" I tossed the previous incident out of my mind and switched to the next topic promptly.

He's not stopping the stare he keeps on me, it's like my head was a target he pinned his gaze on. "It's finished, and it's time to fight," he said coldly, and I almost didn't catch what he said since he spoke of fighting in such a casual way.

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I sat on the couch and woke up, fidgeting around and occasionally lifting the pillows up with my abilities.

He told me to wait and practice with objects that won't get me hurt. Pillows are the only thing that's considered safe in this room, other than that, I'm not sure what else there is to practice with.

It's a laboratory after all, more specifically, a laboratory used to make bioweapons. And he did mention about not throwing anything to the other end of the room, where he's doing all the experiments since he knew how inexperienced I am in controlling my strength.

The sound of a few glass bottles rattled against each other, the endless shuffling between two objects, and more of the dragging noise of the scientific apparatus getting moved from one place to another.

Soon his figure evolved from the other end of the room, wearing his casual white lab coat and carrying...

A box?

I lifted my gaze from him and down to the box, then repeated it a few times when he noticed my quizzical face.

"These are my bioweapons," he indicated, seeing the worried expression on my face.

"How do you intend to use them?" I asked, since I've never seen people attending a fight with only a box and a bulletproof vest hidden underneath a lab coat.

He looked ridiculous, naive, obnoxious,

and beautiful.

He'd been working for hours, almost the entire time I've been asleep, and there's not a single part of him that elucidated any exhaustion or frustration. He looked like he just got out of the showers after a good night of sleep.