The Last Theiro

12

Tessa
•••

"You...you tried to kill her?" I stuttered. I rubbed my neck nervously and my palms felt clammy.

"Well, yeah," Anthony said and crossed his arms. "I don't know much about her, except that she possessed the power of pure evil. Her power was nothing like the Elders had ever seen and she killed-"

"Anthony, that's enough." Troy cut Anthony off and warned him.

I turned to Troy with raised eyebrows. "What did she kill?"

Troy pursed his lips and crinkled his nose. "That happened a long time ago. We prefer not to talk about it, it was a dark time for all the worlds." He waved his hand and dismissed the conversation.

My mouth felt dry and I wiped my clammy palms on my trouser. That was why Alec didn't want me to tell anyone about me being a Theiro. They tried killing the one before me.

"Tessa, are you okay?" Amber pulled me out of my thoughts and she placed her hand over mine. I flinched away from her touch and she frowned. "You've gone pale."

I nodded my head slowly and ran my hand through my messy brown hair. "Yeah." I choked out. "I'm just tired."

Troy glanced at his watch on his wrist. "We should probably get to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow." He rubbed his hands together. "So Tessa, what do you think your strength is?"

I tilted my head and pressed my lips together. "I actually don't know. I've never used my powers before." I shrugged.

Troy narrowed his eyes at me and I looked away from me.

"Tessa can come with me," Amber said cheerily and dragged me off my chair and out the door. Before she could drag me out the white door, I glanced behind me and waved at Troy and Anthony.

Amber dragged me across the hall and we stood in front of a door painted in blue. I strained my eyes and read the engraving carved onto the front. Philanthropy.

Amber turned around and grinned at me before swinging the door open and pulling me inside.

I stumbled into a wide hallway with photographs of children dressed in blue outfits upon the walls. The floor was an old fashioned parquet with a blend of deep homely browns and the walls were a blue of a clear sky meeting a bold white baseboard. I glimpsed rooms that extended from the hallway as Amber pulled me to the end and we entered a large room.

A picture of a beach was sprawled on each wall, each depicting beautiful scenery: rolling waves on idyllic sand.
Across from me was a tiny black wooden coffee table with a large sofa in front of it. Underneath it was a bright blue carpet that covered the whole room. A television hung in one corner and, to the end of the room, was a staircase.

"Welcome to Philanthropy House." Amber grinned at me and pulled me up the stairs. We walked along the corridor and I noticed bedrooms on each side as we walked to the end of the corridor. The door was closed and Amber stopped in front of it.

"You can sleep in there." She smiled brightly and beckoned to the door across the hall. "That's my room." She then pointed to a door at the further end of the corridor. "And that's the bathroom. Call me if you need anything." Amber hugged me and sauntered off to her own bedroom, closing the door behind her.