One Foot In & One Foot Out

Chapter 27

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A MONTH LATER

For the time being, Jael didn't exactly have plans to go to grad school. She just had too much on her plate for her to even think about being focused on more school stuff, but that didn't stop her from being excited for her friends when they wanted to go. However, it's now the middle of February and her friends started school again in the middle of January.

She didn't get to hang out with them as often unfortunately. She also has yet to inform them of what she planned to do about Damien, but she needed to just in case she didn't come out of this alive. She just didn't want to stress her friends out with her plans right when they were starting school.

Because she was bored most of the time, Jael spent a lot of time at work. She hated the fact that she had to pretend like she didn't know Damien's true intentions and was still slightly uncomfortable being around Davin, although that uncomfortableness was growing less and less with the growing amount of time she had been spending with him.

Davin promised that he would help Jael strengthen her abilities to be able to go up against Damien and that's exactly what he's been doing. Four days out of the week she would exercise, meditate, and practice using her abilities so that she could become stronger. She also did not faint anymore after using so much energy. Jael figured out that she could draw energy from other sources and manipulate it to her favor and use it to resupply her own.  She would apparently need every ounce of what she had to even be able to put Damien in his place.

At first when Jael and Davin met up to practice, it was tense between them. There was still that unbridled sexual tension that flew around them, that love that once grew inside of them, and that betrayal that was emotionally felt between them. Jael had to keep reminding herself that she was not there to hurt Davin, but rather to build herself up to be able to take on Damien.

"I first want to say that it's good to see you again Jael. I know you don't believe me and probably don't want to hear me say it, but I missed you. I miss you. And I'm sorry again for hurting you and keeping things from you," Davin had said on their first meet up looking at her somberly.

"Davin, you've already said these things to me."

"I know, but I wanted to say them again to you in person."

Jael hated to admit it, but she missed him too. Davin had become important to her and to have him suddenly ripped from her life still left a hole.

"I miss you too," she said softly, crossing her arms and looking away from him.

Davin smiled slightly and put his hands in his pockets. Glad at the thought that she may forgive him one day, and that was all he could ask.

"But that's not why we're here, so let's focus please," Jael replied getting her head back in the game.

"Right, so the first thing I want you to remember is that this may take some time. Don't be frustrated if you can't get things right away. Your abilities are still fairly new to you and you need to strengthen them. Let's start with the mind. I've already noticed that your mind is becoming stronger without you even noticing it. I tried to calm you down one day by going into your mind and forcing you to calm down, but you only calmed down slightly."

"You tried to make me do something without me knowing??" She says starting to get annoyed.

"Uh, yes, and I apologize for that," Davin rubbed his muscular forearm nervously, "I honestly was trying to help you, but your brain was fighting me and trying to block me out. Instead of me influencing you, you started influencing me. That's one of your abilities. You can influence others' feelings. If you're angry, you can make someone else angry. If you're feeling anxious, you can make someone else anxious. But I want to be able to get you to a point of making someone else feel sad but you're happy. Do you understand what I mean? I want you to get to a point of being able to manipulate other people's feelings and thoughts."

"Maybe manipulate isn't the right word?"

"Well, you understand what I'm trying to say though, yes? That is one of the reasons why the Lumieres were so sought after. They were truly powerful beings and they could do so many amazing things."

"Yeah, I understand. It's cool to know that I can potentially do so many things, but also kind of terrifying that I hold so much power."

"What's even crazier is that not all Lumieres could do the same amount of stuff. There were ones that were at lower levels and ones that were at higher status. Those were usually the ones who practiced their abilities more, but there were the rare few that were just born with the high amounts of power right off the bat, like you. What we're going to attempt to do with Damien, I have no idea if it's even possible. If it is and other Lumieres were able to do it, they hid that fact very well, but theoretically, it should hopefully work."

"Ok, wow, yes, lots to take in. Not intimidating in anyway that so much is riding on my back."

"You'll be ok babe; I know you've got this. I also want you to be able to learn how to block others from being able to influence you like you were able to do to me, ok? Damien will try it. I never told him that you blocked me that one time, so it will come as a surprise to him when he's not able to control you."

"Fine by me. What else?"

"Another thing you need to work on is your fighting skills."

"I fight fine! I could beat your ass right now!" Jael laughs

"I'm sure you could try, but you're too slow for someone like me and Damien. Humans? Yeah you could beat the shit out of someone four times your size, but someone like us who have had time to perfect their craft? Not really. He may also not even be fighting you one on one. He could send fifty reapers after you first if he wanted because he believes he is too good to fight you head on. You need to build your endurance and knowing where to place most of your efforts. How to get rid of a bunch with one or two blows. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, it's like in the Sonic games how you would have to get through the smaller levels before going up against Eggman."

".... Uh, yeah," Davin laughs at her old reference, "Yeah I guess you could say Damien is Eggman."

The two of them share a laugh which helps to ease the tension that had been building between them, causing them to somewhat become a little more comfortable and relaxed with the other.

"You may not realize it, but when your brain and body go into this "fight or flight" stage, you're a lot more powerful. I've seen other Lights go into this stage and they are truly a force to be reckoned with. Their eyes change to a different color and they have this immense strength and are basically a different person. It's almost as if this dark being takes over them ironically. If you can access this power without letting that darkness take over you, you should be able to take down Damien."

"Are you saying I'm more powerful than Damien?"

"I believe you are. You just have to know how to access that power. You have the abilities of your ancestors stored in you! Imagine that! Have you ever talked to your parents about this stuff? Do they know that your abilities have shown up?"

"No. I've hidden it from my family."

"You should ask them about it. See what they know. They may surprise you."

Jael just shrugs her shoulders. She didn't know how she felt about telling her family about what's been going on with her these past few months. Her parents still don't even know that she had a thing with her secondary boss. Just imagine the fit they'll throw when they hear that one!

"One of the last things you need to know how to do is heal. I know your body heals on a smaller scale, but you're going to need to know how to do it on a larger scale and quickly."

"You mean so I can protect myself and know how to do what I need to do in the end?"

"Precisely. Like I stated before, what you are going to attempt to do, I've never seen it done, but that doesn't mean that it can't be attempted. And we have a backup plan for if it doesn't work."

"Right. It would be pretty cool to do the original plan though. I want to try for that one. I feel like that one will dole out the most pain to him."

"Well, then let's get started."