Into The Flame

Chapter 7

I made my way down the corridor, following behind Vida so I wouldn't get lost and make a fool of myself.

We entered the training room and Vida immediately went over to her friends to train with them leaving me at the entrance. I felt completely exposed just standing there, but I had no idea what I should do.

"Hey!" Cole called out.

I immediately felt relaxed when I saw him. He seemed to always have that impact on me. I walked over to him as confidently as I could.

"Nice to see that you didn't get lost," he said once I got closer to him.

"I followed Vida," I admitted sheepishly.

Cole let out a laugh and leaned towards me so his mouth was next to my ear. "I promise I won't tell anybody."

I could feel my cheeks flush red at him being so close to me. He smelled like sweat from already putting in an early workout. I stepped back not wanting to be so close to him.

"Relax Em," he said grinning from ear to ear. "Let's get down to business. Have you ever fought before?"

I shook my head. "I've never been in a fight nor had any formal training in hand to hand combat." I paused for moment. "No training in any sort of field."

Cole stood up to his full height. "Looks like I've got my work cut out for me."

He led me over to the punching bag and taught me how to punch properly to start out. We spent a good hour just doing that and building up strength. Cole told me that it would take time, but eventually I would get where I needed to be.

I took a drink of water as sweat ran down my body.

"You put it quite the workout today. I'm proud of you," Cole said taking a swig from his water bottle.

I smiled warmly and out of the corner of my eye I could see Vida glaring daggers at me. I swear if looks could kill, then I would be dead right where I stood. I quickly looked away, hoping that Cole didn't notice. "I'm going to go get cleaned up." I finished my cup of water and took out of there as fast as I could. At this point I didn't care if I got lost.

I ran down the corridors until I found my room. I had no idea how I managed to get back here without getting lost, but that didn't really matter.

I grabbed a change of clothes and looked at the map to figure out where the bathrooms are so I could shower and get cleaned up.

It was strange having to share showers with a bunch other girls but I guess I would have to get used to it. It seems that most of the other girls have already been through judging by the amount of steam there was in the room.

I went over to a shower head and turned it on, warming the water. I undressed and stepped under the water. I felt so nice to have the dirt and sweat leave my body. Showers weren't exactly a luxury in the camps. I ran my hands over my body to help remove the grime and it felt nice to be so clean.

I felt so relaxed that I didn't notice when a hand grabbed me and pushed up against the wall, the other hand clasping over my mouth to keep my from screaming. I blinked rapidly to get the water out of my eyes and see who was holding me.

"Relax," Cole said. My heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice. "I'm going to take my hand away and you better lot scream."

I nodded my head and he removed his hand from my mouth. "What are you doing in here?" I asked, panicked. I wrapped my arms over my chest trying to cover my body from Cole's eyes.

"I need to talk to you about something important."

"Why in here? Why now, especially when I'm showering?" I wanted answers. I couldn't tell if I was angry at him for just showing up or embarrassed by him being here. Perhaps it was a mixture of both.

"They don't put cameras in the bathrooms but there are some that are close by and I don't want anybody to here our little conversation."

I stood up straighter, making sure to keep my arms situated over my chest. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I'm like you Em. You got your powers after the age of ten when you shouldn't have. The same thing happened to me."

"What?" I asked shocked, dropping my arms. "What color?"

"Red."

Two people who weren't supposed to have powers. Those two people had the most dangerous powers. I didn't know what to think. People like us shouldn't exist.

"Are you alright Ember?" Cole asked reaching out to me.

"It's just a lot to comprehend." I turned off the water and stepped around him, making sure that he didn't touch me. I was still rather embarrassed of him just showing up out of nowhere. I dried off quickly and changed into a tank top and shorts that I had grabbed earlier.

Cole came over to me and brushed my hair out of my face. It was subtle and caring yet I couldn't help the color that went to my face and the heat that spread across my body. That's when it dawned on me. Cole had touched me and I didn't see anything. I looked into his eyes and it seemed that he came to the same conclusion. 

"I guess I'll see you at dinner." I smiled gently at Cole and left the bathroom.

I walked back to my room that I shared and sat down on my bed. I ran my hand along my lips where Cole's hand was once on my mouth. Gradually I moved my hand across my face and down my arm to the other places he had touched me. I hated this feeling. All he did was touch me and I'm suddenly losing my nerve. What did Cole do to me?