Remember

Chapter Thirty-Six

The two girls stood in silence as Commander Lorhan sauntered back to wherever she had come from. "Do it again." Prissy said abruptly as she walked back over to the wooden dummy on the floor and began to weave it together again.

Colette didn't move from her spot, still in shock over what had just happened in front of her. No one should should speak to someone else like that, especially not a mother to a daughter. And what happened to her father... Colette couldn't get over it. The world had turned into such a vile place to live in where people killed their own family out of fear for their own life. Irrational fear over something that should be practiced and controlled and used for the greater good.

It's a 'kill or get killed' mindset. Everyone in the entire world is going to die if they continue thinking like that. Fear is dangerous. Fear is the reason the government locked everyone inside a fake world and fear is what created this war of people against people. Colette still didn't understand why they had to be put into a fake world. If the government was so afraid of people having powers, of Colette's power or whatever it was inside her, then why not find a way to cure the powers instead of trying to control everyone?

Maybe there was no cure and maybe Colette and the rest of the world were just stuck with these curses or gifts or whatever people chose to believe. Colette, for one, felt cursed. She was chosen by this thing inside her because she was so unaware of the world around her. Her naiveness is what brought this upon her and she hated herself for it. She hated the government for making her naive.

It was getting late and the dark was beginning to snuff out the light. The orange air seemed to get thicker at night, blocking out any electric light the little village had. "Can't we wait until tomorrow? When I can actually see what I'm doing?" Colette was tired and she wasn't quite sure she had enough energy to control the darkness at all.

"No." Prissy responded frankly, anger still evident in her voice. "You need to do it again. Make your muscles memorize the feel of control." When Colette didn't move or say another word Prissy spoke again. "Right, I'm sorry. That probably took all your energy. I just can't get over what my mother said. What if she's right? What if I can't help these people? What if we can't win against the government and save everyone?"

"She's wrong. We're going to win." Then Colette added with a whisper "We have to." There was another moment of silence and neither girls moved from their positions, staring down at their feet. They couldn't afford to think about what would happen if the government shoved everyone back into the simulation -- if they betrayed their people again and lied to them and kept their 'dangerous' secrets. Perhaps, if everyone had powers, the simulation was safer for everyone. But that didn't justify what they did and Colette still wanted nothing more than answers.

Even after all this time, nothing had made more sense than it had before. Why lie? Why keep secrets? Why let this darkness run loose if they knew what it was capable of? Why simulations and not a look for some sort of cure? Colette just didn't understand.

"You should get to bed." Prissy finally said. "The orange fog gets quite suffocating at night and you need your energy to train again tomorrow." They were the only two left on the training field and Colette nodded, watching as Prissy made her way towards her house.

Colette may be exhausted but she knew there was no way she was getting any sleep whatsoever. It didn't matter how much she exercised her power it never stopped stirring underneath her skin. It constantly craved to be let out and it got ten times worse at night. It seemed the darkness liked to linger with itself and Colette couldn't help but comply with its needs. There was no telling what would happen if she didn't give it what it needed.

The guards at the gate were used to her roaming around at unusual hours of the night so they didn't question when Colette showed up ready to be let out. She didn't think the guards actually knew what she went out there to do every night. They probably thought she was going on a nice little stroll to clear her mind. Luckily, they didn't ever question her or try and stop her.

Kaden was stationed at the gate tonight and he merely nodded at her as he motioned to the guards stationed up on the walls to let her through. "Be safe." He said quietly as she stepped through the gate and made her way deep into the forest, away from any sign of life. Perhaps Kaden had started to catch on to what Colette was doing out in the woods but he didn't try and stop her either. He probably understood the need to release. Especially after feeling what it was like to be forced to hold it in by Commander Lorhan.

Colette didn't have anyone to help force her power inside her, Lorhan had tried to a few times but the darkness was too powerful for even her to contain and the Commander prided herself of her strong suppressing power. For someone who hated powers so much, it suited her and Commander Lorhan made sure to keep it practiced and controlled. Colette almost wished the power did work on her. It took so much effort to keep the thing trapped ever since the Govies had attacked the village and she so foolishly let it out.

She found her way to her usual spot in an extremely wooded area. The trees in the area were worn down and some even splintered beyond recognition. Not only did the darkness crave to be let out but it craved to destroy everything in its path. Colette still tried her hardest to control the destruction, bending it to obey her own rage and destroying the things herself. A few times she managed to form the darkness into whip like tendrils. The tree split down the middle was evidence of her small success.

It seemed the only way she could get any real handle on the power was to us her anger to control it. It didn't help being calm like Kaden had suggested. Colette had to tap into her deep rooted anger but when she used her anger the darkness leeched onto it and used it against her. Instead of using her anger to control the darkness, the darkness used the anger to cloud her brain and do its own bidding. It was like the intoxicating feeling she felt back in the clearing, the drug like high that rushed through her entire body. But just like the darkness, the high wanted nothing other than destruction. Perhaps the darkness was her drug.

Tonight Colette didn't want to wake up lying in her own destructive wake like she had so many times before so she made sure to ignore her anger for the world and kept a tight leash on the darkness. It flowed easily and eagerly out of her body, snaking in every direction towards whatever it was deciding to destroy in that moment.

"Long time no see Ms.Degorne." The voice broke her concentration and darkness let out a shriek, collecting around Colette's body and poised to strike whoever had dared interrupt her. The woman clicked her tongue as Colette tried everything to keep the darkness from striking but as soon as she saw Nurse Garner's face she unclipped the leash and coiled the darkness into whips. "Well we can't have none of that now, can we?" And before Colette could strike the dastardly woman with the darkness she heard the familiar sound of a gun firing.