eunoia ; malum

13

"FOCUS, MICHAEL,"

Michael was trying – really, he was, but it was hard to control an internal fire. Out of instinct, he wanted to get the fire and destroy her, but he shoved those thoughts away. All they were doing was trying to help.

He felt like he was angry, but he wasn't. The emotion of it wasn't there. He just felt red hot and burning in his veins. He grabbed the paper on the desk, and it lit up, turning into ash almost immediately.

Mel smiled, "See, your hands have been on your jeans for the past twenty minutes, and you haven't burnt a hole in them, but you just burnt the paper. You're gaining more control." She bit her lip, looking at him. "Why are you doing this?"

The table he had been resting his hands on started to smoke, and he panicked, raising his hands in defence.

"The more you panic, the less control you have. Put your hands on the table." He did as he was told, and the table was smoking more and more. "Think of something that will keep you calm – level-headed; calm means concentrated."

Straight away, he thought about what his mother used to read to him when he was young. He knew the words off-by-heart. By the time he had finished the story in his head, his hands had stopped producing heat.

"Now, tell me why you're doing this."

I want to be able to hold Calum's hand.

He gave her the silent treatment, shrugging. Her smile grew cheeky as she tilted her head.

"Is this about a certain Maori boy we all know and love?"

Michael blushed, looking down at his lap as he thought about the story his mother used to read to him to calm him down. He shook his head, not trusting his words.

"So you can touch him without hurting him?"

Michael gave in, nodding. "I – I don't want to be scared about it."

"How long have you know him for?"

"A month and a half." Michael said.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away . . . he continued to himself, barely listening to what Mel was saying. She started to laugh, her eyes in narrow slits.

"You do know what Calum's power is, right?"

Michael shook his head. "He said he wouldn't tell me until he trusts me."

"Oh." Mel stopped. "Guess I won't tell you, then."

The Maori came in from upstairs, a bashful smile on his face. He giggled as he passed Michael, and the redhead was left confused. Mel just shook her head with a smile on her face.

"Calum's probably doped up on some drug. Jack's been testing him and Ashton all day, since he never got a chance to."

"Testing them for what?"

"Jack just wants to find out where we come from." The thirty-year-old shrugged. "Whenever he inspects them, the DNA only goes as far as our own bodies. It's as if we are the very first of our kind, and we just dropped onto the earth."

Michael was about as tempted to find out who he really was as he always had been; not at all. There was something about the fact that his parents left him that made him really not want to find them.

Calum walked down with a teddy-bear in his hand. He rubbed his eyes, sitting next to Michael. "This is Teddy." He introduced, leaning on Michael's shoulder. Michael turned as red as his hair, covering his cheeks with his hands.