You're Never Alone

Chapter 6

Word Count: 1011

Dan wakes up on a cot in a dark room that's almost pitch black if it weren't for the lights coming from under the two doors in the room. Slowly sitting up, a slight moan comes from his lips as his head throbs. Back in the cafe he must have been hit in the back of the head when he was kidnapped. Dan swings his legs over the side of his cot and looks around as his eyes adjust. The only things in this small room was two doors, the cot he was on in the far corner, and a huge one way window across from him. He realized that he was still in his t-shirt, jeans, and converse that he had been wearing earlier.

    Suddenly the lights turn on above him, blinding Dan for a good twenty seconds. Blinking back into the room, Dan notices that the walls and floor were concrete. He looks in the mirror and sees a reflection of himself that shows just how pale he really was. He looks down as his hands and tries to summon his powers but nothing happens. He tries again but comes up completely powerless without even a spark or a wave of heat appearing.

    "Your powers are useless," says a voice that scares the absolute shit out of Dan, making him jump to his feet in less than a second. His head whips over to the door by the window to see a tall boy his age leaning against the wall with a dark blue mask on. The boy has a lean build with dark hair swooped to the side across his forehead much like Dan's hair and pale skin that looked almost translucent. He also wears a dark blue t-shirt and dark jeans with high top vans. Dan realizes this guy is literally a teenager but he also takes note of the bandage on his left wrist.

"Useless? How is that even possible?" Dan asks in his naturally strong voice that never shook.

"Serum was injected into your blood. It reverses your powers and makes them completely useless," the boy explains and Dan recognizes his voice and appearance but from where, he can't remember.

"Who are you?"

"I'm surprised you haven't recognized me yet." The boy reaches up to take his mask off, revealing familiar blue eyes that Dan hadn't talked to not too long ago.

"Phil?" Dan asks, disbelief going through him. It was the guy he met at the cafe that said he was waiting for his friends. "What the hell?"

Phil chuckles as he pushes off the wall behind him and crosses his arms as he takes a few steps towards Dan. "Why the shock, Daniel? Or should I say, Your Highness?"

Dan stays where he is as Phil comes closer to him. "What do you want from me?" he asks and Phil stops coming closer, giving him a smirk.

"Just the King's attention." Phil spins on his heel and starts walking back across the room to the door he previously came from.

"My father's attention by kidnapping me?" Dan asks and he bursts out laughing from behind Phil. "You really believe that kidnapping me is going to get his attention? I could jump off a bridge and he wouldn't notice."

"Let's just hope he cares about you enough to find you before you're dead," Phil says as he turns around.

"If he cared about me that much, I wouldn't be here right now. He only cares about catching all the icebenders." Now it was Phil's turn to laugh as the other individual. He looks at Dan square in the eyes.

"He sucks at trying to catch us then," Phil says as he opens the door with a flick of his wrist.

"That's what I've been telling him for years," Dan replies and Phil looks back at him one last time as a smile spreads onto his lips.

    "Not surprised he didn't listen to you. He won't stop unless he reaches his goal. But here's something funny," Phil says. "I have more icebenders up my sleeve than he thinks because whether he wants to admit it or not, he's been losing from the start."

***

    That night when everyone's in bed, Phil goes into the room looking in Dan's. He watched as Dan paced back and forth, thinking and bored out of his mind. His eyes followed his steps carefully and he noted that Dan bit his lip when he was deep in thought. Phil opens the door to Dan's room and startles him out of his thoughts.

    "My bad. Just wanted to give you some food," Phil said and Dan takes the orange and roll of bread from Phil's outstretched hands.

    "Thanks, I guess," Dan says and he sets the food down on his cot behind him. As Phil turns to leave, Dan stops him with a question. "Why did one of your rebels kill one of my soldiers?"

Phil stops and turns around, looking at Dan. "Killing is never our intention. The rules are that killing is always the last resort and the killing of your friend was never supposed to happen." Dan shakes his head slightly as that sets in.

    "I thought all of you never followed rules. It doesn't seem like you follow any laws so why would you follow rules?" Dan asks and Phil ponders that for a moment.

    "Rules create order so without rules, the rebel society would fall apart just like your laws. If no one followed them, everything would fall apart. It's common sense really," Phil says as he rolls his eyes and smirks. "I'm not even supposed to talk to you right now so I should be going."

Dan watches as Phil opens the door just by a wave of his hand. "How do you do that?"

    "This door is locked with ice, Dan," Phil says, with a glance behind him as he closes the door once he leaves Dan's room. Only when Phil is gone does Dan realize that Phil called him Dan instead of insulting him like earlier.