The Silent War

Chapter Four

'Here, drink this.'

Water trickled down the side of my face as the man chuckled. His husky laugh an instant clue to his identity, Thane had come and rescued me from the killer Pickery's. I tried to sit up, envisioning myself upright and drinking the water he was trying to give me but the harder I forced, the heavier my body became.

'Don't try to force it. The Pickery's have done a nasty job on you and the more you fight it the longer you'll be under.'

I lay there wondering what exactly it was I was under and if there would be any visible repercussions from my fight with the Pickery's. My face felt swollen; in fact my whole body felt like a swollen lump of lead, lying there in the grass, I was worried I would sink through it.

Thane once again laughed. 'You're not swollen and you're not gonna sink, it's their stingers that do it do you. The Pickery's may look harmless enough but they have small amounts of venom in them that stuns you when they attack. They're there to stop uninvited Super's from coming in, but also to keep the protected Super's like you within the grounds. Sick I know but hey, that's what you get when you join a community like this one. Paranoid Super's with a fear complex. I swear, you wouldn't know any of them could kill a human with a flick of their finger they way they all act.'

My eyes started to feel normal again and soon the feeling had come back into my face. I still couldn't speak and wondered how Thane had known what I was trying to say before. If he sensed all of that just from my energy, it wouldn't be long before Ben would be able to do the same and no doubt would delight in the ability to invade every inch of my personal space and predict my moves as I thought them.

Thane looked over, I could see him clearly now as a crooked smile formed on the right side of his face. For the first time since we met I was able to absorb Thane for who he was, what he looked like, smelled like and felt like. Like Ben, everything about Thane was perfectly put together, though they were polar opposites of each other. If Ben was college Ken, Thane was Farmer Ken.

He was shorter than Ben though appeared to be equally as strong but not as stocky. His honey coloured skin only interrupted by a light dusting of stubble, helping him play the part of the rugged farmer. If you saw Thane walking along the street in his blue jeans and short sleeved plaid shirt you would think he was a hard working farmhand as apposed to the Grim Reaper. I had been so scared of meeting Thane that never had I imagined he would be so rustically handsome. His tussled golden brown hair sat perfectly across his forehead, framing his grey eyes which close up I noticed had flecks of green sparkling through them, all this perfectly finished off with his prominent square jaw.

He put his hand on my knee, trying to hold back a laugh. 'Evie, before you go on thinkin' about what you're thinkin', I should warn ya'...I can read your mind. I should have told you earlier but I thought you knew. I am flattered you noticed my smile.'

He laughed as I tried my hardest not to blush.

As the rest of my body regained its feeling I managed to sit up, clearing my throat before I spoke.

'Thank you, for your help back there. I suppose Rochelle put you on watchmen duty, you may as well go back and tell her you caught me.'

Thane looked back; I was too ashamed to meet his eyes.

'Caught you? I wasn't sent to look for you. I always hang close to the border, you know, just in case I need to make a run for it myself - get some sanity. It was dumb luck I saw you make your prison break. I gotta say - to take on the Pickery's like that you're either super brave or super stupid.'

'No, just super desperate.'

The muscles in Thanes forearm flexed as he looked back in the direction of the main building. He looked back, staring at the ground as he tried to hide his anger.

'They're keeping you pretty closed in here, I kind of get it with your new powers and all but it's not right. You need to be out in the field, you'll never learn anything here practicin' on shrubs.'

'Like that'll ever happen, I can't see them ever releasing me.'

'Well I dunno about that, I might have a chat to Rochelle and see if she will release you for a night or two this week. I think it's important for you to learn from an experienced Soul Snatcher.'

Thane winked and grinned his crooked cheeky smile which somehow felt so familiar to me, like I had been looking at his face my whole life.

I slowly sat up, gripping the grass to steady myself. 'It doesn't matter about any of it anyhow. I have a new plan to get out of here which involves doing absolutely nothing.'

Thane looked back and quickly placed his hand on the small of my back, I was falling backwards yet could not sense it yet.

'I don't follow, what d'ya mean do nothing?'

'I'm not going to use my powers at all, not on shrubs and certainly not on humans so they can keep me here all they want. I will be the most useless Super in Serenis.'

Thane's smile quickly faded and his eyes narrowed. 'Evie you can't do that.'

'Sure I can, I didn't want these stupid powers and nobody can force me to use them if I don't want to.'

'That's not an option!'

Thane pulled his hand from my back; I quickly put my hands out to stop from falling, the jolt awakening the feeling in my legs. I watched as he stood up, pacing a few times, shaking his head as he occasionally looked back towards the village. He turned back to me with a serious look on his face, my confused expression masking my urgent desire to be able to read his mind too.

He took a breath and knelt down beside me, I managed to pull my legs into my chest to keep some distance between us.

'Evie, I'm gonna tell you straight out that you have no choice here. You can't run away from your gift no matter how hard you try and trust me because I did and failed. For years I tried to ignore it, moved as far away from people as I could but it always pulls you back to where you're needed. You can't outrun this, you can't hide from it, put it off til you feel like it - it never stops.'

'So what can I do then?'

'You can learn how to use your skills, perfect them so you can help without it affecting you too much. You were chosen for this and I know it's hard to accept but it's the way it is and the sooner you stop whingin' about it the easier it will be to get you outta here.'

Thane was so matter of fact as he spoke and his energy felt cold. I was embarrassed at how much I had opened up to him and quickly he had cut me down. Knowing full well that he would be able to hear my thoughts I focused on the vision of my bed and the familiar paint smudge which had now become my best friend. Thane stood up and looked down at me, all warmth and humour well hidden beneath his stern mouth.

'Can ya stand?'

I tried to move my ankles but they were still numb. I looked back up at him, trying to smile but really just wanted to burst into tears.'

'Yes I can but I want to sit here for a while on my own. You go, I'm fine. Thanks for saving me.'

He looked at my legs and without saying anything he leant down and scooped me up, his expression was so cold that I replayed the conversation we'd just had trying to pick through anything that may have offended him. He held me tightly as he carried me back down the path but unlike before his arms were tense and on edge.