The Hidden | ✅

Chapter Fifteen

I pulled at the hem of my sky blue spaghetti-strap tee shirt as I walked outside towards the woods for my first training lesson. Hira had left it out for me the night before, along with a pair of black tights. Though the outfit was comfortable, I'm sure that the reason I was wearing it was not.

I saw Hira in a tree, just sitting on a branch and staring off into the distance. "Hey," I called, knocking on the bark of the tree with a smirk. "I'm ready to train."

"Good." Hira said simply, jumping out of the tree and landing before me with a thud. "Because I'm ready to start." She brushed back her purple tipped bangs and motioned for me to sit.

"So I may not have your powers, like you didn't fail to point out yesterday, but I do know what your powers are." She held up her hand to count them off, "Darkness manipulation, invisibility, and the ability to create demons of solid night, which you've already managed to do once." My mind drifted back to that turquoise eyed creature in the cafeteria and I gulped.

"We're going to start off with the basics, though. You also have the power to make an area darker."

"When would that ever come in handy?

"I don't know it's your power, not mine."

I shrugged as she continued. "We're going to begin with that. I want you to concentrate on making this area darker. It doesn't have to be pitch black, just dark enough that I can see the difference." She walked over to a nearby rock and sat down, crossing her legs comfortably. "It might take a while, seeing as you're a beginner, but I'm willing to wait."

I huffed silently and rolled my eyes before focusing on the lighting of the area, how the shade of the trees danced across the ground and how I wanted to take that shade and make it even darker.

Suddenly, as if I was shoved, my knees hit the ground and I gasped in pain, my eyes snapping open. I looked up to see Hira's golden eyes staring down at me. "Oh! And you also have to be able to conjure up your powers when facing an enemy, especially if that enemy is another Elementalist." she mused with a small smile, as if none of this was of no effect to her.

I closed my eyes. I had to get up. I NEEDED to. I couldn't just sit here and be bossed around like this! I had to be stronger! I tried to stand to my feet, but found myself now on all fours, the invisible opposing force of Hira's powers pushing me even harder.

"You need to multitask." Hira stated. "Don't just focus on getting up; focus on using your powers, too."

I took a shaky breath before closing my eyes. I could get out of this. I was strong enough.

I was powerful enough.

I opened my eyes and felt a new surge of energy flow through my veins.

'Get up ' I told myself. 'Get up, now!'

I felt myself rising to my feet and saw Hira's shocked expression. For some reason, it made me feel...good. And suddenly her face was fading.

I was making the area darker.

"Stop, stop, stop." Hira rushed, "It's...its dark enough." She muttered. The area lightened up just as fast as it had darkened.

Hira stood up and brushed off the tights that she was wearing. "That's all for today. Meet me here tomorrow for another lesson." And with that, she briskly stalked away, leaving me all alone it that forest clearing.

_ _ _ _

I brushed the braid off of my shoulder and sighed as I grabbed some Oreos from the cabinet. It was now the middle of the night and I could not sleep.

A tap on my shoulder had me gasping and whipping around in fear, but I soon calmed down as I was met with curious brown eyes: Victor.

"Can't sleep?" He asked, helping himself to some of the Oreos that I'd snuck.

I nodded. "You have no clue."

He smiled a little and licked the icing out from between the two cookies before eating them separately. "I might and I might not."

"How cryptic."

"What else did you expect?"

We laughed a little before silence fell between us.

"So, I heard you trained with Hira today," He began, stuffing another Oreo in him mouth, "How was it?"

I sighed and shook my head. "It depends on how you want to view it. Lesson wise, great. Bonding wise..." I winced, "I can't say the same."

Victor pressed his lips in a thin line. "Yeah, but Hira isn't...the easiest to befriend."

I raised a brow, "Experience?"

"Let's just say, when I first came to the house, Hira's initial reaction to me wasn't the friendliest." Victor said with a small, reminiscing smile.

"Care to elaborate?"

"She used her powers to choke me and sling me across the room."

"Ouch." I winced as though I could feel his pain, and quite frankly, I could.

"Yeah." He chuckled. "It was not a sweet and fuzzy introduction. And if I'm being honest, I think that she still isn't very fond of me." He reached into the fridge and grabbed a mini carton of milk, gulping it down as if he hadn't eaten in days.

"But I think she's just afraid of letting people in, you know? I heard that she had a really traumatic past. Her mom was an Elementalist and left Hira with her dad and older brother. When she had the outburst, her dad kicked her out and left her to die on the streets. Ms. Duboise found her and took her in. Hira was always running away and coming back, though because she thought that she could take care of herself. I was here when she was gone a whole month when she was sixteen. And when she finally came back, she was...different, more secretive in a way. But she was still jaded. I don't know what happened to her out there while she was gone but it must have really done a number on her because she hasn't run away since." Victor said as he finished his milk.

"That's horrible..." I muttered, trying to fathom how difficult her life was. In a sense, I was lucky. I had it better than most kids did when they went through what happening to me, now.

"Yeah, but it's all good know I guess." Victor replied, shrugging. He grabbed a couple more Oreos before walking off towards the back rooms. "As awake as I'm feeling right now, I'm sure that Ms. D will literally kill me if she knew that I was up creeping around, right now." He smiled. "So I'm heading to bed, and I suggest you do the same."

He left with a smirk and I soon followed. As I climbed into bed I noticed that Hira's bed was vacant. She was usually the first person in the house to go to sleep.

I tried not to ponder too much on her disappearance, but my previous conversation with Victor had me guessing.

I took a deep breath.. No. Victor said that those days were behind her. And I had to trust him. I had to trust her.

So with a half full stomach and a head full of questions, I drifted off to sleep.