From Embers

T E N

The rest of the night went by really smoothly. I set up my tablet and skeleton key without issue. We all ate chinese food and got to know each other more. After dinner we all retired to our individual rooms and settled down for the day. Alex left right after eating to practice. He was a baseball player. He was on scholarship here for that reason; he hits consecutive home runs and never struck out. Sabrina retired to the music hall to write more of her own symphony, which was her reason to be on scholarship here. Diego was here for the same reason as me, but his intelligence was obvious, whereas mine was luck. Diego retired to his room and started his homework and studying, which he took very seriously. I just lied in my bed and scrolled through the tutorial for the tablet. This thing was designed completely by the school's tech team. It had connection to the internet anywhere in the world, it's own interfaces and applications, and was one hundred percent impossible to break. They made it out of a material they discovered and apparently it's almost impossible to destroy. Diego told me he tried everything and nothing would even scratch the thing. I finished the tutorial, but when I put down the tablet there was someone standing in front of my door. Recognition kicked in instantly and I spoke quietly.

"Twice in one day? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Time to do a little training." Scott stated.

He walked over to me and placed his hand on my chest. I looked down at his hand and back up at him.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Quiet, mate." He answered.

He closed his eyes and lost himself in his own focus. The world around us shimmered and shifted. A bright flash crossed my vision and when my eyes finally refocused I looked around to a barren wasteland. There were no plants, no landscape changes, nothing. It was just solid red ground for miles on end. 

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Welcome to the other side, mate. This is where the uglies are from." He answered.

"Why did you bring me here?" I pushed.

"Cause this place, no time passes. Nothing changes here. We can pretty much create anything or destroy anything and once we leave, nothing we did would have existed. It'll just poof itself away. We can use our abilities without doing any harm like we would on Earth. Plus, you need to know how to get yourself outta here. Don't want the uglies chewing on yer flesh do ya?" He chuckled.

"No, not at all. Now, what are we training on?" I said.

"How to use your abilities on command first, can't do much here without your powers." He responded.

"Alright, now tell me how to do that." I stated.

"Well, it's not me telling you how to do it. It's me showing you what you need to do to wake em' up. Remember the first few times you used them? All of em had a couple of common factors: fear, adrenaline, and stress. Find something that's happened in your life that gives you at least two of those things and boom: ya've got yourself your own way to unleash your alter ego. What's one situation that you could use mate?" He asked.

"The night when they told me and mom dad was dead." I answered.

"Alright, now take the memory and amplify it, let it consume you. Relive it in your head; the emotions should flow through you freely. Let it consume you. You'll feel a sort of mental snap and that's how you know that ya've done it." He stated.

I closed my eyes and pulled the memory from the back of my mind. I remembered everything perfectly. The men in suits at the door, mom crying, screaming and running to my room. All of the pain over the years, the fear that I wouldn't live up to his name, the stress on myself and mom that I couldn't just ask dad for anything. The stress of losing him and trying to get past it. The fear that I wouldn't ever make him proud, wherever he is. After reliving it in my mind for the first time in years, my body physically started shaking. I felt an invigorating heat blast through me. I opened my eyes and looked down at my hands. I felt different, powerful. I never really focused on the feeling before, so I guess I never noticed it. Scott smiled with a devilish look on his face.

"Good job mate. Now, time to put some of that power to good use. You have access to it as long as you keep the fire burning, whenever you wanna snuff it out. Just let go of the feelings and relax. It'll go away by itself. Go crazy if you want to, because your body's a little different from regular people's. Your body pretty much doesn't run outta steam. Of course there is the restriction of eating, but you keep food in you, you'll never stop. You heal faster too." He informed me.

He held out his hand and a small throwing knife appeared in his palm. He flipped it in the air and caught it a few times, then without any notice he threw it at me. I caught it around the blade inches from my face. I moved faster than I thought possible. I dropped the knife and blood started seeping from my palm. I grabbed the blade harshly while. I was catching it and cut myself. 

"Why the hell would you do that?" I yelled at him.

He laughed and answered.

"You think these things will be playing nice? I'm here to protect you, and now prepare you to face the uglies when they're coming at ya with no remorse. Look at yer hand, mate." 

I looked down and the wound was gone. There was a stain in my skin from where the blood was running down, but other than that you would have never known there was a cut there. There wasn't even a scar.

"How?" I asked.

"Remember the day at the school with the shooter? He actually shot you, but you didn't notice cause ya healed it off before you even noticed. Didn't even feel the pain from it. This is what makes us different and is why we're chosen to be part of the Hierarchy, we're special. This is going to be the first lesson of many. Today I just needed you to learn control and a couple of other things you could do. In time I'll show ya everything, but a little at a time is good. Now, it's time to head back." He said.

He placed his palm back on my chest and another bright flash clouded my vision. I was back in my dorm room, but I was alone. The feeling was still inhabiting my body, so I mentally let go of it and relaxed. Another snap erupted in my body and I shuddered from the loss of power. 

Checklist for today:

Met some new friends.

Had a meeting with the headmaster.

Chinese food?

Set up my electronics. 

And finally, I learned that I could control my powers. 

It's about time to head to sleep for the night, I needed it. Even though it was early in the evening I wanted to feel as well rested as I could for my new classes tomorrow. I changed into some sleeping attire and lied back down in my bed. I shut my eyes and let sleep take me over. This timezone change was really getting to me.