The Edge Of Town

Chapter 11

Smith and I have waited for over a month for Devlin to make his move. Over that time our army had become unstoppable, going over every single possibility and making sure to crush it. Smith and I also went over our own defensive training, trying it out on each other (which didn't go very well because he was scared to accidentally hurt me.) My powers have become stronger, I've tested every single one of them out and made sure I know exactly how to use them. I've been able to heal people that have been injured, control things with my mind, and cause the clouds to bring rain. I lost control with the weather and caused a huge thunderstorm which Smith was not happy with. So far, things have been going great, especially between Smith and I, we seem to get closer and closer everyday.

"Alright, that's good. Just try and get it directly on the target though. It has to be dead center. Just imagine it's Devlin," Smith says before taking a drink of his water bottle, ignoring the fact that I'm exhausted. We've been at this for hours now, going through every single one of my powers to make them perfect. Every other power has gone perfectly fine but shooting the blue orb from my hand hasn't gone as well. I can't seem to hit the target which can be a problem if I'm trying to hit someone coming at me. Smith insisted that we keep going and if I could get it then he promised to take me out to dinner (which he has said before and not followed through). So, in result, it's almost evening and we've been at it since six in the morning. I focus my vision on the target and raise my hand towards it, trying to put two and two together. I push my hand forward, releasing the orb. It flies across the room, hitting the target with a loud bang. Smith walks over to it and brushes the smoke away with his hand.

"That was better, one more and we can leave," he says. I look at the target and see that I just barely missed the center.

"Smith, can we just continue this tomorrow? I'm exhausted," I tell him, wiping a drip of sweat off of my forehead.

"Nope, just one more. I promise. Remember that dinner can be yours if you do this correctly," he winks at me before stepping back away from the target. He gestures for me to try again and once again takes a drink from his bottle. I take a deep breath and focus once more on my target. Just imagine it's Devlin, I tell myself. I move my hand a little bit over than I had it before and focus on the target. I line my hand up the best I can and push it forward, releasing the powerful strength from my hand. It hits the target and when the smoke settles I see that I hit it right in the center. I feel a sense of relief come over me and I can hear Smith clapping in the background. "You did it!" he says excitedly. He walks over and wraps his arms around my shoulders, kissing me on the forehead. "Maybe we can do dinner another night," he says before laughing and leading me out of the room. I intertwine my hand with his and shut the door behind me with my free hand.

* * *

Smith came through this time, treating me to dinner at the ship's restaurant. Ever since he started getting special treatment from being the commander, going out around people and eating dinner didn't seem like such a bad idea to him. As we're heading back to the room, I can tell that something is wrong with Smith. He keeps taking a breath like he's going to say something and then stopping himself. He also keeps scratching at his ear and he's walking funny, sometimes slowing down and other times speeding up. We reach the door to the room and he opens it, dropping the keys on the table.

"Well I'm going to go take a shower," I tell him, pointing my thumb over my shoulder towards the bathroom.

"Okay, yea that's fine. I'll see you when you get out," he says, distracted. He sits on his bed and tries to keep himself busy, going through a magazine that was dropped off at the doorstep this morning. I walk over to him and sit down on the bed, watching him flip through the pages, not even bothering to take a look at them. "I thought you were going to go take a shower," he says without looking at me. I lean over and give him a quick kiss which seems to surprise him. "What was that for?" he asks.