Episode 8 - Paranoid

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It rang once.

It rang again.

It rang for a third time.

Would he even pick up?

A click at the other end of the line.

"Hello?"

I let out a sigh of relief. "Dad."

"What's wrong?"

I nearly smirk at how well knows me. I utter one word and he can guess why I called. Lloyd can do that too. So can Cole. And Kai. God, I'm an idiot.

"I think I made a mistake."

Dad scoffs on the other end. "You've got that right."

"No. Not that. Well-- yes, that, but I made a different mistake."

All hints of sarcasm disappear from his voice. "What did you do?"

"I used my power against one of the pirates in a friendly battle."

"Oh." I can almost see him relax. "What's the problem with that?"

"I took it farther than I meant. Way farther.

"What happened."

I glance up from the comb I'd been fiddling with and stare into the mirror. My own ice blue eyes stare back at me. In the dim lantern light, they've got this golden hue to them. They're intimidating. They're not the same eyes that looked back at me a few weeks ago when I was getting ready for that stupid interview with Kimmy Jimmel. These eyes are cruel, and they know it.

"I had only meant to freeze him. A simple display of power. Force him to forfeit. But then the words just came out of my mouth, and before I even knew what I was doing, I was punching him."

"Tasha," Dad says slowly. "You didn't kill him, did you?"

"No. I didn't. But I know that I could've. If I'd just punched a little harder, he would've been dead. And if given the chance again, I don't think I would hesitate."

"Was it the voices?"

"No. They didn't say a word during the whole battle. But I could tell they were pleased. I could feel it."

He stays silent. I know what he's thinking. He's trying to figure out what to say, how to help. But it's hard because he's not actually here. He can't stand next to me and talk me out of whatever trance I fall into. He can't physically hold me back. He can only offer advice, and while he's very good at that too, it's still different from him actually being present. Plus, this whole situation is just foreign.

"The hardest part about this is that I don't know why you're hearing these voices," Dad finally says with an exasperated edge to his voice. "They can't be a part of your power, or else you would've been hearing them a long time ago."

"Could they be an extension of the visions I sometimes have?"

"No. From what you've described, this is something different. Something completely outside of your power."

"Maybe it's fate trying to put me back on track. Maybe I was always just meant to be evil and destiny's doing it's job to fix what I screwed up."

"No, because then you would've been hearing them the moment you chose to be good."

"Well, maybe it's because I've become a Sensei?"

"You can be an evil sensei too, you know. That's not what triggered it."

"Well then I'm out of ideas." I lean back in the chair, letting my eyes roll up to the ceiling. Even the patterns in the wood look like demons. "Maybe I'm just going crazy."

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