Talent Storm (14 page)

I faced one square, my lowered eyebrows shading my eyes. “How did they get in? What took you so long?” I pointed at Ben. “Look...”

The world swam around me drowning my thoughts. My vision darkened and my legs weakened. I collapsed, the world blacking out.

☼☼☼

Opening my eyes, I looked around frowning. I was alone on a cot, in the medical facility. When I looked down at my bandaged chest, I remembered Ben’s death, the death that was my fault. I rose from the sterile cot, feeling a jolt of pain in my chest as my legs hit the floor. I ignored it; I deserved it. The door swung open and my gaze drifted over to see Jasmine. Her hand flew to her mouth, her brown eyes flashing momentarily wide before narrowing.

“You shouldn’t be up. You’re not fully healed,” she said. She grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward the cot. “Have a seat. I'll finish healing you. The wound was so bad that I couldn't heal it all at once. You’re lucky to be alive.”

Lucky... no, there was no luck involved. It was a choice, a choice to kill Ben. He should have lived. He was kind-hearted and driven; I was a lazy, selfish waste. He would have been better for human kind. With a stony face, I pulled my arm from her grip and staggered toward the door.

“Jaden, you’re still bleeding. Come back here!”

I slowly looked down, at a thin stream of blood that ran down my chest. “It doesn't matter.” I stumbled out of the room, with slumped shoulders and a constricted throat.

“Jaden, Jaden! Come back,” she yelled from behind me.

I shuffled down the hall and out of the building.

Next thing I knew, I was in my room, remembering nothing of the trip. Not bothering with the bed, I simply lowered myself to the ground and cried.

☼☼☼

I awoke the next day, my back stiff, eyes stinging, and my bandages caked with blood. I pushed myself up from the floor. My mouth felt like I had eaten a box of chalk, so I shuffled over to the faucet for a drink. The door was ajar, and my lamp lay broken on the floor. I didn't bother to clean up. My eyes trailed up to the clock. Seven fifty-six. Four minutes to class. I dragged myself over to my bed and collapsed in it. The ceiling stared down at me and I stared back, motionless and loathing myself.

☼☼☼

Sometime later, I awoke to the sound of a knock at the door. Danessa was standing there, red eyed and frowning. Her eyes widened as she looked at my bloody chest.

“You're hurt, let me look at it!”

She scurried over to me before peering closely at my bandages. She explored the wound. Head hanging, I winced at the stabbing pain, saying nothing.

“There's a lot of blood, but it looks partially healed. You need to go to the medical facilities.”

“No, it's fine. Don't worry about me,” I said, my voice cracking because of my dry throat.

“You really should go, but if you're not going to, I'm going to clean it up.”

I shrugged. She treated and re-bandaged me, her touch gentle, but efficient.

When she was done, she placed the supplies on the ground before hugging me ever so lightly. “Oh Jaden. I just can’t—I can’t believe they killed him. Poor Ben.”

Her warm tears dripped on my neck. I didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth, so I just hugged her back. She tilted back, then kissed my lips. I pulled away.

“What?” she asked.

“I’m sorry. I like Lilly.”

Her eyes narrowed before she looked away. “No, I’m sorry. I just feel so alone now.”

I angled her face so that I could meet her eyes. “You have nothing to be sorry about. You’re my best friend now.”

She smiled. “You’re mine too.”

☼☼☼

A few days later, I was alone in my room again. My grumbling stomach forced me to rise from bed and eat some stale crackers that I found. I slept through another day of class but didn't care. I walked over toward the window, peering out. The sun was shining and under any other circumstances, it would have been a beautiful day. Instead, it was heart wrenchingly miserable, just like every new day would be. I still wore the same shirt that I’d thrown on after Danessa left days ago. Why was it so hot in here? I couldn’t take it. With a growl, I grabbed hold of my soiled shirt, and in a green flash, tore it in half. I threw the ruined pieces to the ground and kicked them in a rage.

Knock, knock.

I jumped, then faced the door. “What?” My throat was raw and dry. I swigged a glass of water on my table.

A tiny female voice that I didn't recognize at first called through the door, “I wanted to see how you were doing. It's Lilly.”

Some of my anger dissipated at her unexpected visit. “Yeah, come in,” I said not caring about the state of the room or myself.

She slowly opened the door and peeked her head in. When she saw my naked chest, she looked down to the side, her face blushing.

“Hey,” I said, the rest of my anger fleeing.

“Hey. How are you... you look terrible.”

For a second, I took her comment as an insult, my anger and sorrow getting the better of me. I gritted my teeth, ready to reply sarcastically. Instead, I shut my eyes and breathed deeply.

I heard her take a step forward. Her hand took mine, her body brushing against me. “Ben's death must be very hard for you.”

With my eyes still closed, I squeezed her hand. “It is. My parents are dead, my uncle abandoned me, and now Ben’s gone. I’m all alone.”

She pressed closer and said, “You’re not alone.” Her words, the touch of her hand, and the warmth of her body nudged my sadness aside.

I opened my eyes to look at her. She was perfect. Her dark eyes met mine, and I almost felt human again, like I was worthy. Then, an image of Ben’s pleading face flashed in my mind, erasing the illusion. I was a monster, nothing more. I pulled my hand away and stumbled backward. “You should go. Forget about me. Just find somebody else.”

She stared at me as if I spoke another language. “What?”

“Just go.”

Her eyes moistened. “I baked you these. I thought it might help.” She pulled out a plate of cookies from behind her back and laid them on my desk. “I’ll stop bothering you now.” She spun and ran out the door, her golden hair trailing behind her.

I was disgusted with myself. I didn’t want to hurt her, but she could find someone better than me, someone with a heart. Ben should have too. My blood pumped through my body, my shallow breathing accelerating. A wave of dizziness washed over me before my anger pushed it way. “I’m sorry Ben. You deserved better.”

I balled up my shaking fists and clenched my teeth. My eyes darted around the room, looking for something to destroy. They landed on the window. I smashed my fist through it, and burning pain shot up my arm. Sunlight glinted off shards of glass as they fell around me. With wide eyes, my anger fled. Blood ran down my hand and pooled on the floor. All strength fled my legs, and I collapsed, feeling listless. Sharp pricks of pain bit my back, but I didn’t care.

☼☼☼

Lilly’s Journal:

I thought Jaden liked me, but now I’m not sure. We had a great time when we were in my house after his apology. Fortunately, my parents weren’t home. They wouldn’t have let me be alone with him. We talked about our lives and interests over cups of green tea. He was even flirting with me. I felt like I was back at the park all over again, a girl falling for a boy. I saw him looking at my lips. I know he wanted to kiss me. I wanted to kiss him too, but it felt too soon. Maybe that made him not like me. No. I’m sure it’s Ben’s death that has him messed up. He’ll come around again when he’s feeling better. I hope. Maybe I can talk to him at the funeral.

I hope that he comes back to training soon, for his sake and the Coalition’s. He has so much potential, and I think that returning to normalcy will help him recover. Anyway, I've got some studying of my own to do now. If I want to become the best illusionist ever, I've got a lot of work ahead of me.

☼☼☼

The next few days, I refused to leave my room. Although I barely ate, my hunger was absent. I slept most of every day in my litter-strewn room but still had little energy while awake. I thought about Lilly occasionally but constantly thought about Ben’s death, running the events through my mind repeatedly. I should have chosen him; he was the better person. If I just closed his wound until the guards came, they could have healed him. I might have lived anyway. If I wasn’t so lazy, I would have been stronger. I could have saved us both. My talent suffered because I only thought about my relaxation and free time. Finally, I realized why all my teachers and Instructor Deo encouraged me to work harder. Now I saw why my uncle pushed me so hard. I deserved to be dead, not Ben.

☼☼☼

At a knock on my door, I groaned. Why wouldn’t people leave me alone? “Come in.”

The door swung open, revealing Instructor Deo. He wore a military uniform, countless medals decorating the front. It must have been his. No one else would have so many honors.

His expression was mild, like a sapling yet to fully develop. It could have been anger, disappointment, or sadness. Was he angry because I had been skipping class or did he feel bad for me?

I pushed myself up, and his blue eyes met mine. I studied his face for a wordless moment, and decided on anger. He must have thought I was worthless. Before, I put forth no effort and now I was skipping class. Maybe I was worthless.

Shamed, I lowered my gaze, but only felt worse. Cracker packages, broken glass, and dirty clothes littered my room. I rubbed my chin, feeling the days of stubble and let my eyes find him again.

Frowning, he scanned the room and settled on the broken window. I saw his jaw clench before he turned back to me. “Jaden. You should know that the wall guards captured one of the men that attacked you. He’s being interrogated as we speak.”

“The other?”

“He escaped. The guards chased him outside the walls but lost him in the Wilds.”

I gritted my teeth. At least they got one.

“I want to show you something outside.”

What could it be? I sighed, raising my achy body. I slipped my shoes on and reluctantly followed him out the door. Although my legs were sore from disuse, I enjoyed the movement. It felt odd to be outside of my room for the first time in a week, but I supposed it was about time.

After we exited the building, I squinted at the sun, raising my hand to shield my unaccustomed eyes. We strolled in silence down paths and up a hill until we arrived at Rapid City Graveyard. I didn’t appreciate the reminder, but I followed anyway. Eventually, he stopped at a row of gravestones.

He turned slowly as if wearied by age, then fixed his cold blue eyes on me. “I want you to hear me out. I’m not angry or disappointed that you missed class this week. I think that you were entitled to it.” He looked off into the distance, furrowing his brow.

So I was wrong; he wasn’t angry. Maybe my uncle’s constant anger had warped my perception.

He faced me, rubbing his neatly trimmed beard. “I’m going to tell you about my past. You’ll be the only student that I've ever talked to about it. As you know, I am a telekinetic like you. I used to be a soldier and fought in all three border wars. Battle after battle and war after war, I fought in the same unit, with the same comrades as their commander. We had grown very close to each other; we were like family.”

He lowered his head, sighing, his shoulders curling forward. He seemed older than I remembered, his wrinkles deeper and his skin thinner, but maybe he just looked bad in the sun. In that moment, he could have been any grandfather in the Coalition. I knew better. He was one of the toughest men alive; he was the Iron Will.

He wrung his veiny hands, like a boy on his first date, as if to prove me wrong and continued, “One battle, during the Second Border War, still haunts me today. On one of our routine patrols, my squad was ambushed. In the chaos, I gave commands to quell panic and keep order. My soldiers, my friends, fought bravely, refusing to surrender. Unwilling to lose them, I charged the front line and smashed man after man with Peacemaker. My talent blocked strikes, disarmed men, and tore at their faces. I fought in a frenzy, like a man possessed. Blood spattered my armor, and crushed bodies piled around me, but there were too many attackers. My friends dropped one after another, gouged and slashed with swords; I couldn’t save them. At the time, I cursed myself for not being more powerful, but I had trained hard my whole life. Unlike you, I had met my potential, my limit.”

He was right; I could have saved Ben if I worked harder. I was a disgusting, lazy, self-centered waste.

He waved over the row of gravestones. “Now here they lie, lost to the world.”

I looked hard at the stones, feeling empty inside. Although he wasn’t responsible for their deaths, I was for Ben’s.

“Miraculously, with just a few men left, we disrupted their attack and escaped,” he said. “Although I was lucky to have survived, I didn’t feel lucky at the time.”

I followed silently as he began to walk again.

“I went through a period of self-destruction, boozing and whoring, unconcerned with the world,” he said.

Whores? We had whores?

“However, after a time I managed to pull myself together. I was accomplishing nothing. If anything, my actions were endangering the Coalition and my loved ones that remained. I realized that I needed to fight for what I believed in, what the Coalition believes in, love and liberty. People die in wars, but we still have to fight for the living. From that day forth I trained and fought hard. Now I train future warriors. My friends’ deaths won’t be for nothing; don’t let Ben’s death be for nothing.”

He stood straighter, his chest pushing out, and turned his commanding eyes on me. I flinched back at the strength in them and suddenly felt scrawny next to the man. Despite his age, muscles that dwarfed mine hugged his upper body, and he stood half a foot taller than me. His eyes trailed to the right, and he focused on a freshly-chipped stone, behind an empty grave.

It read,
Ben Lockhart.
Anger boiled inside me, not at the Instructor, but at the people that stole my friend, my best friend. If I dared to love and continue to have friends, I had to become powerful. After convincing myself for years that it was acceptable to live a relaxed life, I finally saw my error. Our world wasn’t safe.