storm ◇ jasper hale ◇

chapter twenty-three ; powers

It was January. Madej had spent a whole year of his life in Forks. Things were so different. Whenever he thought about it, it left him in a bit of awe. How life could change so easily in such a short time.

A year was nothing, not really. He had a whole life ahead of him, but this one year had changed a lot of aspects of him. His life had been all topsy turvy for a while, but he was going to balance it out, make it normal. He'd have a normal life, or as normal as he could as a witch.

Something else Madej had noticed was that his powers were starting to get worse again. But he and Benedict trained every day, learning fighting techniques, trying to keep Madej's powers in order. He would be taken out into the forest of Forks, and slowly let his powers wash over him. He had to get used to them, learn how strong they really were, the extent of control he needed. It helped, and he could keep his gloves off for longer and longer periods of time. He was proud of himself, dealing with something so out of control.

In a way, it reminded him of Jasper. Both with something uncontrollable, tense and trying so hard to keep in control of it all.

"Stop it," he muttered to himself.

Currently, he was sitting in the forests again. Benedict was at the edges of the treeline in the meadow he was in. He was to the side, giving Madej some space, but close enough if something went wrong.

Madej was on his knees, barefoot, gloved hands in the dirt. He was tense and scared.

Benedict had asked him to take off his gloves. Madej didn't know how well that would end. Things had ended badly after Madej's gloved had been torn.

He was still getting nightmares, but things were getting slightly easier with them. He would wake up, and even though his mom or brother would be there, his throat wouldn't be raw like it used to.

"Shit," he said, blinking harshly. "One at a time. One at a damn time. Don't stress it. Benny's there."

Maybe because he knew Benedict was there, it was making it worse for him. He had an audience. But it was just his brother.

Slowly and nervously, Madej took his hands away, reaching for the right glove, slowly pulling it off. Once it was off, he dropped it at his side, eyes wide as the blue light sparked around his hand like lightning. 

"Do not fucking panic, Madej Ashkie." he said to himself, breathing slowly and deeply.

The pain was slowly coursing up his arm, threatening to go further into his body, through his chest. The electricity sparked, going down to his elbow. Madej slouched forwards, left hand finding a spot in the dirt again.

He was safe here.

Cautiously, he tugged the other glove off. He winced at the sudden rush of power coursing through him. It nearly blinded him, and for half a second, Madej thought he'd lose control. He winced, reigning it in with every ounce of control he had accumulated.

It felt like his arms were on fire, and the tears blinded him from pain. He pushed his hands into the dirt, and felt the electricity leave him, grounded in the dirt. He watched for a few minutes. His hands were bare, the gloves cast aside, and he watched as slight sparks appeared on the back of his hands. He was amazed, he was holding the control.

It was all the powers he had gained, all held in control by himself. He had complete control over all of the things he could do. He smiled to himself, breathing out a laugh as the minutes passed by. He wasn't aware of how long he was like that, but he knew Benedict would be recording it, seeing his control grow.

Madej coughed, half choking, and spat out a mouthful of blood. "Fucking hell." He blinked owlishly, feeling the tears drip down his face. But his arms weren't hurting as much, and he could see the blue electricity retreating down his arms. It had tried to fight back from his control, but he'd caught it, keeping it under his reign.