The Hidden | ✅

Chapter Fourteen

I sighed and picked out yet another old takeout container from the back of the fridge. Based on the smell, it was definitely stale.

"Hey, Circe, can you toss me the disinfectant wipes?" Victor asked. Without responding, I pitched it in his direction and he caught it with a grin.

Ms. Duboise had put us all on cleaning duty.

Well, everyone except Alex who'd been spared from such a merciless punishment because his dumbass had gotten shot.

Hira let out an exasperated sigh before sweeping the trash that she'd swept up underneath the nearby rug. Before Victor and I could protest, she walked out of the kitchen and into the living room where Ms. Duboise was sitting and watching the television.

"Do you think she's just going to leave us here to do the rest of the work?" I asked Victor as I tossed away the old food, which I'd recognized as Chinese.

He shrugged. "Knowing her, probably."

I sighed and walked back to the fridge, preparing to find yet another discarded meal.

"Circe? Could you come here for a second?"

I jumped at the sound of Ms. Duboise's voice and my head snapped up. Victor smirked at me devilishly. "I guess someone wasn't cleaning the fridge well enough." He teased as I walked into the living room. I flipped him off promptly afterwards.

Ms. Duboise had turned off the T.V. and now sat on the couch patiently waiting for me. Hira sat beside her with a bored, placid expression on her face.

"Circe, darling, it has come to my attention that I haven't told you what your abilities are." She said sweetly.

I began to fiddle with my fingers out of nervousness as she stood up and walked over to me, reaching a hand towards my forehead. "I hope you don't mind." She said. I shook my head and her hand touched my skin. I looked up at her as her brown eyes shifted purple. She gasped and blinked and in an instant, her eyes were normal again.

I wondered if my eyes glowed that bright when I used my powers.

Ms. Duboise blinked as if she were trying to get something out of her eyes before she looked at me with wide, shocked eyes.

My heart hitched. Was I dangerous? Was she going to scream at me to leave her house? Was I as welcomed here as I was lead to believe?

"So," Hira began, "What is she? What's her power?"

"Circe is one of the rarest types of Elementalists to walk this planet. I haven't seen anyone with powers as rare as her's since..." Ms. Duboise paused for a moment and it seemed as if she was caught up in some distant memory. But just as quickly as she'd started she snapped out of it. "Never mind." She muttered. "That's not important. What is important is helping you."

I gave her a small smile, which she returned. "Circe," She began, "You are very powerful, more powerful than I ever have pegged you to be. And that is a gift that should be cherished."

"Thank you." I brushed a loose strand of hair from my face with a grin.

"I'm sure that you're very impatient, so I should just atop beating around the bush." Ms. Duboise chuckled. "My dear, you happen to be and Umbrakinetic Elementalist.

I felt my eyes widen and my heart stop beating. An Umbrakinetic? They were just as uncommon as they were powerful.

And dangerous.

They could morph the darkness and breathe life into it. Basically, if I wanted to, I could wipe out everyone in this house with ease. I looked down at my hands. The hands that could summon foot long talons of sheer, solid night. The hands that could form a legion of demons of darkness.

The hands of utter destruction.

I could tell Ms. Duboise could sense my fear. "Now, now, Circe. Everything will be alright. Your abilities are only dangerous if you neglect to control them. But I can tell that you are capable of doing just that. And you won't do it alone. Hira has offered to teach you."

I looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Teach me? But how? She doesn't have my powers. How is she going to help me learn to control an ability that she doesn't even have?"

"Because it doesn't matter what your powers are," Hira said, speaking up. "The factors to control them are just the same: will stamina, focus, and motivation. That's it."

I opened my mouth to object, saying how foolish and out unrealistic that sounded but Hira cut me off. "You're new room is the same one as mine, at the end of the hall. I have some tights and tee shirts you can borrow for tomorrow. That's when we begin your training."

"My training?" I scoffed. "What is this, some Jedi shit?"

Hira crossed her arms, "No.It's called survival."