My Little Light

Chapter 15

Alec had shown me the way to the second test and I was standing in front of another door.
One might say I was a bit frightened.
"And this test really isn't dangerous? ", I asked with a worried expression. Although this felt like my hundredth time asking this, Alec smiled with patience.
" Don't worry Ally. It is not dangerous, I can promise you that."
He put his hand on my shoulder.
"You can do this. Stay calm. "
I sighed, smiling back at him with insecurity hidden behind my seemingly confident eyes.
Then I swung open the surprisingly light door.
As I carefully entered the room, I noticed a big chair standing in the center. It had all sorts of cables attached to it.
To me, it looked like a torture instrument. Wonderful.
I was even more nervous than I had been before.
There was nobody except me inside the rather small room and the silence felt suffocating.
I looked around, not knowing what to do. My eyes followed the cables I had noticed earlier. They were attached to some kind of machine in the back which intimidated me a bit.
Just like in the other room, the light source was a bright lamp on the ceiling.
I noticed a heavy looking back door which was made of metal.
I thought about knocking but I did not dare to do it.
Just as I started humming to calm myself down a bit, the door opened slowly and a man entered the room.
He looked like he was about 35 years old. His curly, light brown hair was carefully combed backwards although it did not look as weird as it does on other people sometimes.
A short beard covered his chin.
The man was wearing a red shirt which made him look quite relaxed and his jeans added to that impression.
He smiled in an open and friendly way. "Hello! I'm Aaron Lambert! I'm a fighting teacher and I help new students with these tests. Nice to meet you."
He had a strong british accent which sounded a bit funny.
I liked his smile, it was comforting although I still was quite nervous.
"Nice to meet you too. " I responded quietly with a careful smile.
It looked like he noticed how shy and uncomfortable I was.
" First off, you don't need to worry. This test is not dangerous or anything and I will be here for you the whole time.
Do you want me to explain how it works? "
He kept smiling happily the whole time.
" That would be nice... It has something to do with sending an impulse through my body to trigger the abilities, right?"
He nodded impressed. "So you already know that? Great! That's exactly what happens. I will attach these to your wrists..." , he pointed at cables on the creepy torture-chair-thing, "and the impulse will go through them. I know, that seems intimidating but there is no need to be afraid. You can always tell me to stop the test and I will cancel it immediately."
To me, that was very relieving.
I nodded gratefully. "Okay. What do I need to do?"
He chuckled. "Straight to the point, huh? Please take a seat."
He gestured in the direction of the terrifying chair of doom.
Great.
I walked towards it, carefully analyzing every little detail about it.
It seemed quite modern and new, not a single scratch on it. It had mostly red and black cables attached to its back.
A thin pillow was supposed to make it feel comfortable but it failed miserably.
I sat down.
Mr. Lambert began sorting the cables while explaining more.
"I will put these bracelets around your wrists for attaching the cables. I know, they may be a bit uncomfortable. Please excuse that. " He smiled in an apologizing way.
" No problem ", I answered quietly.
My heart was pounding faster and faster and I knew if I'd lift my hands now, they would be shaking.
He picked up my right arm and put the bracelet around it. It felt heavy and cold, it's shiny metal pressed close to my skin.
It really was uncomfortable.
After the second bracelet had been attached, Mr. Lambert picked up one black and one red cable.
"Okay. Now I will put one of each cable on both of your arms. This will not start the test, don't worry. "
I nodded appreciative while watching his every move.
Finally, he was done.
" Alright. Now I'll start it. Tell me when you are ready. "
He watched me, awaiting my response.
Again, my heart was pounding crazily.
I concentrated on calming my breath, listening to every single wave of air that passed my lips.
Should I not be excited to find out about my abilities? Why was I so afraid? I couldn't understand my own mind.
I was everything but ready for this.
"I'm ready. "
Mr Lambert nodded and started typing something on a keyboard.
" Okay Alysia. Please try to relax. It will not influence the test much if you don't but you will certainly feel better if you aren't tensed up. "
Listening to his advice, I kept taking deep breaths and slowly but surely I calmed down. At least a bit.
The chair started buzzing and I inspected it carefully.
"The test will start in 10 seconds."
The fighting teacher watched me with a hand over a button which was there to stop the process, I assumed.
"9"
Okay Ally. You can do this. It's gonna be fine.
"8"
I clenched to the edges of the chair for a moment, only to release them right afterwards.
"7"
By now, every effort I had made to calm myself down had failed miserably.
"6"
I closed my eyes.
"5"
Thoughts about telling him to stop the test crossed my mind but I pushed them aside right away.
"4"
The chair was buzzing even louder which didn't really help me calm down.
"3"
Freaking hell Ally, calm down. Ty, Kheen, Trixi and the others all did this without a problem!
"2"
I gave up on trying to calm myself down.
"1"
This was it.
"0"