Remember

Chapter Thirty-Four

"Don't worry sweetheart. You get out of control I'll just shoot you." Lincoln cocked the fairly large gun that he was holding in his hand, one side of his lip raising to produce something in between a smirk and a snarl.

"You can't just kill her. You heard what Madie said, we need her." Kaden pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Calm down there lover boy. It's a tranq gun. It'll just knock her out. Her passin' out in the clearing seemed to do the trick last time. One little dart and she'll go down quicker than a hog." Lincoln chuckled.

Jordy scoffed. "Where the hell did you even find a tranq gun or let alone guns in the first place? I thought we were in a post-apocalyptic world. It's not like weaponry is just lying around in the streets."

This sent Lincoln into a fit of laughter. "This one's smart. You asking the right questions. I worked for a pound before the world went to shitsville. When the govies came and took everybody I was on my way, respondin' to an animal control call about a wandering bear. Had a few guns in case things went south and then a protocol tranq. Couple people who found our little town either looted some weapons or had some of their own. The answer is luck, pretty boy, luck."

It seemed Colette had drawn quite the crowd in the little training field. She watched as Jordy rolled his eyes and walked off to go flirt with some girl who was training with Prissy. Her lips bent into a frown as she watched him make the girl giggle and swoon. She should have known that what had happened in the room meant nothing to him. It had meant everything to her. At times she thought she still caught whiffs of his scent when the wind blew her hair into her face.

"Come on princess, we haven't got all day. Let's see what you can do." Lincoln raised the gun up and pointed it at her, peering over the barrel to keep a close watch on her. Her eyes swept the field one last time, finding multiple pairs of eyes staring at her -- ready to bolt at any minute.

For the most part, the villagers didn't seem to have very strong or fatal powers. One man could make his skin glow yellow, the boy from the other night seemed to be able to manipulate electricity, and then there was Prissy who was training the hardest to keep her nature abilities pure. A mother who could produce invisible shields with her child who could be invisible. If she really wanted to fight maybe she should learn to control the thorns instead. Most of the villagers didn't have powers at all or maybe they were still too afraid and had enough control to hide it from the world. Colette wished she could do the same.

There was one last older lady who seemed to be trying her hardest to manifest... something but, as far as Colette could tell, she had no power.

Colette turned towards the makeshift dummy that had been thrown together with sticks and vines. It would be an easy thing to defeat if she could even control her power. As if on cue the darkness began to stir beneath her skin. Colette almost thought if she was to cut her hand her blood would bleed black instead of red. Her heart was slamming inside her chest. She didn't want to let it out, she couldn't let it out.

"Don't you think it would be safer if everyone else left? Then if I lose control I won't hurt more people." Colette glanced at the children. These people were scared enough, she stood firm on the fact that leaving this place would do everyone better.

Madie walked up from behind Kaden, giving him a slight nod. It was his turn to make rounds to all the power manifestors and give them advice. "Use your fear of hurting other people as your control element. Your fear is what feeds the power. So use your fear against it." Colette nodded at Madie's words and tried to focus on the dummy.

She took a deep breath and let the air flow throughout her body and calm her. All she had to do was send a little blast of darkness towards the dummy and it was over. Step one would be complete. Her eyes had fluttered shut and when she opened them she saw Prissy watching her from afar. Powers do not define a person. The words rang in her ears as she rolled back her shoulders and put her hands out in front of her. She would not let her power define her.

Slowly, the darkness seemed to leak out of the pores in her fingers, collecting around her hands like a cloud. She didn't feel the sting of the cold like she had in the prairie, but the welcoming feeling she had felt in her nightmares. The gentle caress of pure dark. Colette watched the darkness continue to pour out of her hands and willed it to go forward. To her surprise it obeyed and floated towards the dummy a few yards in front of her.

Colette held her breath, fearing that if she moved even a muscle that she would lose all control. An abrupt scream erupted from the other side of the training field and caused Colette to jump in surprise. The darkness shot forward, wrapping itself around the wooden dummy but instead of simply knocking it over, it shredded the entire thing to pieces.

Control. Control. Control.

She repeated the word over and over, squeezing her eyes shut and willing the darkness to come back. Colette opened one eye to peer at where the darkness was and when she could not see it in front of her she opened the other and searched the field frantically. It was nowhere to be found. The stirring started again under her skin and a sinister laugh echoed in the back of her mind. The sound should have terrified her but knowing the thing was back inside her feel more relieved than anything.

"I told you I had a power inside me." Colette looked towards the sound of the old woman's voice, the same direction she scream had come from. It must have been from excitement rather than fear.

Despite the distance between Colette and the old woman, Colette could still hear the loud groan that escaped from Kaden. "I didn't see anything Ma'am. And please refrain from screaming. It frightens the other people trying to hone their powers. A scream like that could cause someone to lose control and get a lot of people hurt." Kaden snuck a glance at Colette.

"Are you telling me that you didn't see the huge spark from my fingers?" The old lady wagged her finger at Kaden. Colette had to suppress a laugh. "Those young eyes of yours need to get checked out. Even an old lady like me could have seen it from the distance you were standing. I'm telling you, I have the fire."

Kaden scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I'm sorry. I'll be sure to pay closer attention next time. You keep working on it Mrs.Morris."

"You better keep a close watch! I'll get you fired!" Mrs.Morris yelled the words as Kaden turned to help the little girl and her mother. A small smile spread across Colette's lips as she let a small chuckle out.

The smile was quickly replaced with a scowl as the figure of the one and only Jordeen Holman came into her view. His hand reached up towards her face but she quickly swatted it away.

"You got a little..." He pointed to his nose, suggesting something was dripping out of her own. Colette frowned and wiped the liquid that was dripping from her nostril on the sleeve of her shirt. The white fabric now stained with red. She stared at the stain in confusion and reached back up towards her nose and wiped it again with her fingers. Sure enough her fingers came back dotted with red.

She wiped it on her pants and shrugged. "What do you care anyways? Leave me alone." Colette would have regretted the words as she walked away if she hadn't been so busy focusing on the blood on her sleeve. Colette had never gotten a nose bleed in her life.