Fate

This Is Not The End

I spent the next four weeks trying to figure out what to do. Brice hadn't come to visit. Sometimes I saw him in the hallway. He would smile, take a few steps towards me, then he would stop and walk away. I figured this was best. The less I saw him, the less confused I would be.

The worst part was not the possession or even trying to figure out what to do. It was the fact that I literally had no one. The only person who ever came to talk to me was Dr. Kooz, but I didn't feel like telling him about this. One, because the not-Brice was his boss, and two I just didn't trust him. I didn't trust anybody.

It was Friday night. I paced my cell sized room, rubbing my arms to keep me warm. I assumed it was nearing the winter months. I could see my breath. It swirled around before disappearing into the cold air. I felt a tear slide down my cheek.

Eventually I stopped pacing. I settled on the bed and drew a quilt around my shoulders to keep out the cold. I wish this stupid place had heating. I wish I didn't have to be in the hellhole in the first place. What did I do to deserve this?

I screamed. I threw the blanket off my shoulders, sending it into an ice covered wall. My fists pounded into my only pillow, flattening it into a pancake. The glass on my bedside table was shattered, broken bits of glass scattered around the floor. I chucked a book at the ceiling light, causing that to shatter too.

I wasn't sure what caused the tantrum. I sure did cause a lot of damage though.

I curled up in a ball, but of glass cutting into my skin. I barely noticed. I barely noticed anything. I just sat there and cried. I cried about everything that had gone wrong in my life so far. What was happening to Brice, and in turn happening to me. It was all so messed up.

Someone knocked on my door. I ignored them. They knocked again, louder this time. Again, I didn't answer. Eventually they called out to me.

"Jace? Jace please! I don't have much time."

I snapped up. I recognized that voice. A voice I hadn't heard in almost four months. I brushed glass from my arms, wiped tears from my eyes, and opened the door. There stood Brice. My Brice. The Brice with the warm, kind eyes and the perfect smile.

"Jace! What happened?" he gasped as he took in my bloody arms and blotchy face.

"Oh, I, uh. . . I got kinda angry," I stammered, then gestured to the wreck behind me. His eyes widened. I blushed. "So what do you need?" I asked casually. This was hard. All I really wanted to do was throw myself into his arms and kiss the daylights out of him. But I couldn't. He could turn into the other Brice  at anytime.

"You have to help me. You have to get him out of me."

I shook my head. "I can't. I don't know how."

He smiled. It was a sad smile. It broke my heart. I started crying again. "I'm sorry, Brice. I don't know how," I sobbed.

He looked at me for a moment, wondering what happened to the strong, witty girl he had known before. A few months here can really change things. I was never going back to that  girl. I would never be the same, and neither would he.

"You do know how. Your a Fate Tempter. Its in your nature to change things. Change this," he said, gesturing to himself.

I shook my head. "Its not that simple. I don't know a damn thing about Fate Tempters. I don't know what the hell I'm doing here. I don't know how to fix you. I don't know. I don't know anything!"

With that, Brice gathered me into his arms. I buried my face in his neck, breathing in his familiar scent. I had missed this. I had missed him. Too long, it had been to long. "I miss you," I whispered.

"I love you," he replied.

"I love you too. I love you so much. I just want you back. I want you back."

Brice kissed my neck. "I want to come back." He pulled away, and held me and arms length away. "I have to go. I can feel him taking over. We will find a way. I promise I will find my way back to you." He drew me in one last time and kissed my forehead before running down the hall.

I don't know how long I stood there, staring after him. I do remember one thing, me crying. 

There was no way I could save him. I just didn't know how. All I knew about being a Fate Tempter was that I blew up when I was angry. I knew that couldn't help me. Unless I wanted to turn my love into fried chicken. Sure, the spirit would be dead, but so was the man I loved. I wasn't going to risk that.

I would find another way. I would get him back. Without him dying. Nobody was going to die. This is not the end.

***

The next morning Dr. Kooz came to visit me. He sat down on a chair beside my bed and sat my file on the table. He the folded his hand and placed them on his lap, making him look all proper. He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.

"What is a Fate Tempter?" I inquired.

"Pardon?"

I rolled my eyes. "What do we do? What is our purpose. I mean, since I'm going to die here, I might as well know."

He thought about this for a moment before answering. "You can change the way people live. You change their Fates. You control your own."

I nodded. "That's great, but I already knew that. Why do you want us? What are we doing here? How do we change Fates?"

A pause, the, "We want you as an army. If we can manipulate your powers toward evil, we can do anything." He glanced  around, confused. It was like he didn't realize he was telling me these things. Maybe he didn't. Maybe I was using my powers on him without knowing it. This brought me to my next question.

"How do we control our powers?"

"It depends. Sometimes it natural. When you need it, it will come to you. Other times its a little more complicated. You have to channel your power. Whatever you want it to do, you must will it to do so."

Nice to know. "Thanks, you can go now."

Dr. Kooz nodded. He grabbed my file and headed out the door. I had just used my power for something other than blowing up. It felt great! And I know knew how to save him.