White Washed

Chapter Eighteen | New Attitude

In all the time I’d been here, I’d done very little exploring of the dorm room I stayed in. I’d explored the other buildings and the campus and woods but I hadn’t gotten the time to really see where things were on the first floor of our dorm building.

We went down a couple of hallways off the right and then Cass stopped us in front of a door. I expected it to be a common room or something of the like but it was just another dorm room.

Cass pulled out a key and opened the door, letting us go in first. I looked at him questioningly.

“It was like all the other dorm rooms, except it was filled with plants, bowls of water, candles and three fans, all blowing on high. The candles were placed precariously on shelves, out of the reach of the fans.

Cass entered and shut the door as my knees gave out underneath me. Surprisingly, Alix collapsed close beside me.

The fans seemed to blow harder, the fire burned brighter and all the plants started to climb the walls like vines. The bowls of water were perhaps the strangest; they overflowed, never seeming to run out of water as the floor flooded.

Was I doing that?

Cass cleared his throat behind me, breaking my focus from the fire, which was dangerously close to catching on fire. “Well, I’ll leave you to it.” I heard Cass mutter. He left soon after, the door closing firmly behind him.

The fire flickered more, touching the walls and nearly touching the ceiling but not catching. Maybe the walls were wet. But they’d catch soon enough.

Pain rippled through my stomach as pressure built behind it. I wanted to use my powers so badly.

Alix pulled my hands away from my stomach, both of us panting. “Let it out. You’ll feel better. Just use your powers.”

I shook my head. The whole floor was already flooded with water and the candle flames were impossibly high. It wouldn’t take long before the whole room was up in flames.

As if reading my thoughts, Alix shook his head. “Cass put enchantments on this room. No one else can come in here and no damage can be done to it. It won’t burn or anything. The fire and water and whatever else won’t leave the room, either. Don’t worry.”

I took a deep breath, trying desperately to hold it all in. I stood up and walked to the window. Alix came behind me and took my hands, leaving my palms out. He swished them through the air in a chopping movement and I let all my pent-up energy flow out.

The fire danced even higher, spreading across the walls and ceiling. The water started to dance around us in waves, crashing against the wall and extinguishing some of the fire momentarily. The plants were either on fire or continuing to climb and spread up the walls, some blooming into flowers and some growing leaves.

It felt so good to have all the energy flowing through me, from my midsection to my fingertips and then out, into the elements. As Alix moved my hand again, the fire started to glow blue and I actually moaned from how it felt to control it. My hands glowed bright blue.

Immediately, I ripped my hand from Alix’s to cover my mouth.

What was going on? Surely I wasn’t turned on, I was just using my powers. And it was Alix. He was hot but I did not desire him in any way.

“It’s supposed to feel good, it’s a part of you.” He was panting more now, just like I was. Why was he panting? He looked like he was using a lot of his strength or something.

Alix pulled me to face the door we had come through, his hand on my waist. It was extremely distracting, since his front was pressed firmly against my back.