The People with Useless Power

I Was at Church Camp Sorry for Taking so Long

PTSD.

Emily pressed her hand into the back of Mara's head, securing her into the crook of her neck.

"I'm such an idiot," Emily whimpered. "God, I should've known."

Mara didn't respond. After a few minutes, she sighed and said, "Your hair smells like dirt."

Emily frowned and stood up. "I guess I have to shower now that I feel horrible. I'll be back." She snatched towels out of Mara's dresser and slammed the door to the bathroom.

...

"Sorry, I guess I'm just good at making people feel like absolute shart." Mara threw a hand back at the dresser. "I can shrink some clothing to your size. Pick your favorites."

Mara had absolutely no variety in any clothing.

Her pajamas were black, all of them, with sleeves down to the wrist and pant legs down to the ankles. White fluff spilled out of the cuffs rather neatly, and Emily fumbled with the buttons, which seemed to blend in with the silk.

Mara stood up and her eyes focused on Emily's body as it drowned in cloth and miraculously, her pajamas fit perfectly. "How are you so powerful?"

"I had rich, power-hungry, cold, intelligent parents."

"...what did they even do to you?"

She sat back down and pinched the bridge of her nose. "After my mother died my father didn't know what to do, Emily. It wasn't my parents. It was the woman my father sent me to."

"Didn't your mom homeschool you all your life?"

"Obviously not." Mara frowned. "Well, my father was grieving. He was, you know, the overseer of death, so to see his own wife tortured... it was extra hard, I think. I couldn't really read him?" Something in her eyes shifted. "Emma was different. I could read her too easily."

Emily hesitated, suddenly uneasy. "And...?"

"Oh. Well. He sent me to this woman. She just... experimented on different people, I guess. I didn't lose my head like most, and even met a lot of good, broken people." Mara leaned into her pillow and bit her lip. "Don't you know how heavy it is? The power?"

"Oh my god, Mara... you're a person."

She scowled. "Yeah. I hate it."

"But you said... no feelings?"

"I lied. Lying makes it easier." She turned around to face the wall again. "If I have a nightmare, just be there, okay?"

...

"So, when's the next attack?" Vincent asked as Emily and Mara sat down next to him and Gray. Elvira was across from them, eating a waffle with her hands. Mara looked like she was about to throw up.

"Today," Vira answered, putting the waffle down. "I thought it'd be better to do it today, as they're still scrambling to find you guys."

"Why'd they even want us?" Grayson asked, sitting down at the table, his short hair wrapped in a towel and his petite figure in a robe. Vincent blinked at him, smirking.

"They wanted your power." Elvira glanced at Mara. "Mostly Mara's, actually. After breakfast, all of you are to follow me down to the room we were in last night."

Emily furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't really want to show up in Mara's suit, but looking over at Grayson and his robe made her feel much better.