Their Flame {ON HIATUS UNTIL MY WRITER'S BLOCK GETS HIT BY A TRUCK}

Chapter 3: Jack

When I get back to my apartment after school, I see a bunch of boxes stacked up by the door. Cool, the furniture is here. 

I walk in and am about to go in my room when my Nathan and Mary call to me from the living room. "Jack, can we talk to you for a minute?" I nod and drop my bag before sitting beside them.

"How was your day Jack?" Mary asks and I smile. 

"It was good."

"That's good."

"Son we need to talk to you about a few things." Nathan says.

"What is it?"

"It's about Milwaukee. When we left the planet you were too young. Your parents never got to tell you about what you'd be able to do one day."

"Yes Jack, you see, you will have powers."

"Wait, what? I didn't think I was a defendre." I reply, puzzled.

"Yes, but let us explain how everything works ok?"

"Ok."

"Jack you are going to grow and protect the planet you live on. It was supposed to be Milwaukee, but now it's Earth. But your powers won't just appear out of nowhere Jack. You need someone to help activate them. When you find your Connector you will bond with them in some sort of way. Every pair is different but when you experience it you'll know. When we were on our planet it would always be another Defendre like you, but now I'm not sure. I've never heard of a human Connector. You need to let us know immediately if you experience anything with another person. Understood?"

"Yeah, can I uh, go to my room now? I have homework." I ask. "Yeah go ahead buddy." Nathan replies. 

I get up and head to my room, wondering if what they said has something to do with me and Katrina earlier. I sit on the floor of my room and pull out my homework. Though I'm not really trying to solve square roots. I'm thinking about what happened during lunch. I have to figure this out.

***

The next day on the bus, I know I have to find out if Katrina is my Connector or not. When I reach school, I start searching for her. I find her on the bench we sat at yesterday, reading a book. As I walk over to her, she looks up and sees me approaching. 

"Hey Jack." She says.

"Hey, um so how are you feeling after yesterday?" I ask.

"I'm fine. But I hate repetitiveness, so, if you ask me that one more time I swear I will throw my shoes at you. And I make good on all my promises."

"Geez you're a feisty one aren't you." I tell her and both of us laugh for a moment. 

"We should probably figure that out though." She says, suddenly serious. 

"How about we come here after lunch and if it happens again we can go to my apartment, my parents won't be home till six." I say.

"Ok, that'll work, mine don't get home till seven thirty."

The bell rings and we head to our first period, then second, then third, then it's lunch time. I meet Katrina at her table and we eat and talk about our math and english homework. 

Then we head outside to the bench in an area no one sits at. Katrina takes a deep breath and I hesitate to put my hands out in front of me. 

"You don't have to if you don't want to." I say. "No, I want to figure this out." She tells me. "Ok then, go ahead."  

I watch as her hands touch mine and I feel the same surge of power but this time I feel more heat than electricity. I realize my eyes are closed and I open them to see Katrina staring at our hands. 

We're both sweating as I look at our hands to see a dull red sphere forming. Looking at Katrina, I can tell she can't take much more of this. I don't think I can either but she doesn't want to give out first. 

I pull away and look at her, she looks exhausted. I'm not as affected but am still tired. We are both struggling to breathe. 

A few minutes later I can breathe fine but Katrina is still struggling. "Katrina, are you ok?!" I ask, concerned. 

She opens her mouth to speak but instead her eyes close and she starts falling back, I catch her and pull her towards me. 

I place her head in my lap and try waking her up. It doesn't work so I sit with her and wait. 

Three minutes later she opens her eyes, looking up at me before sitting up. "W-what happened?" She asks me. I motion to our hands and she gasps, "How did we do that?" 

"I don't know but I guess you're coming to my apartment with me." The bell rings and I help her up, she's a bit wobbly so I grab her bag as well as mine and help her walk until we get to where the rest of the students are. 

I hand Katrina her bag and let her arm go. She can stand but I stay close, ready to catch her if need be. We make it to fourth period and sit next to each other in the back row. The bell rings and we head to fifth, then sixth period. 

After school we walk three blocks to my apartment. I take out my key and open the door. 

Mary and Nathan must have set up the furniture before leaving. "Nice place." Katrina says. "Thanks. You can sit if you want." I tell her. She sits on the couch. I drop my bag by the couch and sit next to her. 

"Are you sure you want to do this again?" I ask, worried about earlier today. "Remember what I said about asking me these questions." She says, pointing down to her shoes. 

I put my hands up in surrender, "Ok, ok, calm down. But seriously, I don't want you to overdo it. Let me know if it becomes too much, okay?" 

She rolls her eyes at me but agrees, "Fine, let's get started." This time she puts her hands out and I put my hands in hers, we both gasp as the feeling floods through us. Katrina closes her eyes but I keep mine open, staring at our hands. The sphere begins to form and we look at our hands. 

When the sphere is the size of a volleyball, it stops growing, the reddish glow getting brighter and brighter. Then Katrina pulls away, unable to take anymore. 

I lean my head against the back of the couch, breathing deeply. Then she looks at me, "Again." She says. I don't argue placing my hands on hers again. 

We go through this process so many times I lose count, not paying attention to the time. We're in the middle of a trial when a door opens. 

I pull away and get up only to fall back down onto the couch from exhaustion. "Uh oh." Katrina says. And uh oh is right, as Mary and Nathan walk into the living room.