Running From Darkness

Family

James awoke with the sound of running water in his ears. He turned over onto his side and slowly opened his sleep-covered eyes to reveal a beautiful forest all around him. Jade green bushes and flowers of the deepest red and the brightest yellow bombarded his nose with a whole host of exotic fragrances. A river went by at a sedate pace and tinkled over the rocks beneath the rushing water. The spongy mattress beneath him felt like a fluffy white cloud and the covers were so soft and smooth that they felt like they weren't they but there at the same time. At the edge of his subconscious, as if they were underwater, came the sound of two voices. A soft, silky woman's voice and a gruff man's voice. Despite the feeling of immense comfort and contentedness, James knew that something was wrong, as as if on cue the vision of the jade forest around him shimmered and disappeared to reveal a sterile white room (almost like a hospital) with strip lighting on the ceiling and emergency lights, unlit at the minute, running along the floor.
"He's awake," the woman's voice sounded like the stream in his forest paradise, "just don't be too rough with him. He's still very fragile after his outburst of power."
"Whaa?" James managed, bewilderment written across his post-sleep bleary face.
"Don't worry boy, you're safe now," said the gruff voice which belonged to a very large man who looked to be in his late 40's. His hair was shaved close to his head in the military style and he wore khaki trousers and a grey tank top with 'Who Dares Wins' written across the chest. He had piercing grey eyes that cut through James like a knife and his chiselled jawline looked more defined than any he had ever seen. He had a bushy moustache that was the same gunmetal grey as his hair, eyebrows and eyes and cut do a pristine rectangle. A half-gone cigar hung from his mouth and it clouded the not very well ventilated room with smoke fumes. It wasn't hard to tell he was ex-military.
"Where am I?" James asked, "Where are my friends? What are we doing here?"
"Hold it kiddo. We'll explain everything soon, but first I do believe introductions are in order. I'm Euan and the young lady there is called Emily."
Emily looked about late early teens (very similar to James) and had elbow length brown hair that was thick and straight. Her green eyes were rounded and were softened by her thin eyebrows that curved in around the tops of her eyes to a point. She wore a pair of faded jeans and black t-shirt which complemented her white converse surprisingly well.
"Hi James!" she exclaimed, "I've heard so much about you and obviously I've been watching over you for the past couple of days but it's really nice to finally meet you and-"
"Wait!" James said to her, "You've been watching over me for a couple of days? Isn't that a bit weird"
"Oh don't worry kiddo," Euan told him, "Emily here has the power to create illusions over anyone. That forest you were seeing earlier? That was all her," he said proudly. It was obvious that there was a strong connection between these two. Maybe father and daughter? James thought to himself. Emily went a bright shade of red and wove her fingers together almost unintentionally, which showed that he was very happy yet embarrassed to have her father compliment her in front of this boy her own age.
"Umm....I'll leave you boys to talk," she mumbled and quickly walked out of the door in front of the bed James was in.
"So," James said, "if Emily is your daughter and she has a power, what's yours?" James' suspicion that Emily was Euan's daughter was confirmed then as the big man's chest swelled with pride at the mention of his daughter. The look of pride turned quickly to embarrassment though as he said,
"It might be easier if I just showed you." He went over to the only other thing in the room then. A metal chair that Emily must have sat on whilst she was working on the illusion for James. He watched as Euan, with more agility that he would have thought possible for a man of his size, touched the chair in front of James. Silver raced up the bare arm of the ex-soldier and in a couple of seconds his skin was cased head to toe in a silver sheen. He then walked per to the wall beside the bed, his feet making huge indentations in the ground, pulled back his fist.......and punched straight through the concrete wall.
"That," James whispered in awe, "was awesome!"