Embers & Ice

Chapter Seven

It suddenly felt as if the small surgery room Hunter lay in was shrinking around her. Hunter gazed up at the doctor with the knowing smile and felt like laughing and crying at once. It couldn’t be true. Even at a young age, she would remember being in such a horrific place. Joshua always warned her about institutions like this, but never did he confess that she’d actually been imprisoned in one.

“Allow me to explain.” Dr. Wolfe started to circle the bed she lay on. “It was a long time ago, but I still remember it clearly. Joshua Harrison was young and somewhat naïve, though he was clever enough to create a formula for your powers. Joshua miscalculated and… well you know what happened next, right?”

“He gave himself the power to manipulate ice rather than fire,” she said.

“Ah, so he has told you? What a shock that must have been.”

“You have no idea.”

“After your birth,” the doctor continued, “he was sloppy in covering his tracks. We were soon aware of his gifts and asked if he might let us study him, and you as well. He refused.”

“Well it’s not exactly a picnic in the park here,” said Hunter bitterly.

Dr. Wolfe chuckled as he rolled up the sleeves of his white coat.

“You were only a few years old, Hunter, when you were brought here. I can’t imagine you remember anything. Joshua certainly did. It’s a shame, because he could have been one of the greatest scientists we’ve ever employed. But he refused to cooperate. All he wanted to do was protect you. So he took you and escaped.”

Hunter’s heart dropped and she felt the cold steel beneath the plastic cover grow colder. Even that long ago, Joshua still put her safety before his own. All along she thought his obsessive nature was just a figment of his schizophrenic imagination, but he had been the same since her birth. He had always put her life above his own, and she never truly appreciated that.

Was he really crazy, or did he kill Eli to protect her? For love?

Hunter didn’t want to feel anything for the man who took away her best friend, but against her will a small amount of guilt leaked from her heart.

“Yes, Joshua was a true man of courage, but he was always an unstable soul,” said the doctor as he removed his gloves and sat down on the swivel stool beside her bed. “I’m sure you’ve experienced the possessive nature of your powers already. Joshua certainly struggled with it for many years. Tell me; when you first discovered the truth about your powers, was it difficult for you to keep control of them?”

Pursing her lips, Hunter didn’t answer.

Dr. Wolfe clicked his tongue in disappointment and his bony, icy hand closed around her wrist where the bracelet was bound. “You will need to cooperate Hunter, or I will gather what information I need through other means. And those means will be far more painful than harmless chatter.”

The very tone of his voice made fear bubble up inside her. She’d never before been so afraid in her life, and when she was afraid, she would turn to Joshua. But Joshua was miles away, alone and broken, just like she was.

“I’m not afraid of you,” she blurted out. But her tone was lying, and Dr. Wolfe knew it.

He released her wrist. “You might want to talk to some of the other subjects, if you’re so confident. They will have some thrilling stories about me I’m sure.”

As Dr. Wolfe turned away and busied himself with clinking metal tools, Hunter took deep breaths to get her confidence back. The fire argued with her, telling her it was pointless to be brave when she was strapped to a medical bed about to be operated on by a mad scientist. But she needed to distract herself.