The Powers

Chapter Fourteen

     Phoenix wrestled the knife out of my hand and looked at it in awe. "Where'd you get this?" he demanded. "Did you find the weapons room?"

     "No," I choked out, Phoenix's grip tightening.

     Phoenix examined the knife. "You couldn't have just made this appear out of thin air." When I didn't say anything, he looked at me. "You made it appear out of thin air." He started dragging me down the hallway. "You just got more useful."

     I wasn't going to let Phoenix win, at least not without a fight. I resisted, digging my heels into the ground. When I felt something cold go to my neck, though, I froze. Phoenix was using my own knife against me.

     "Walk," Phoenix ordered.

     "You wouldn't kill me," I said.

     Phoenix dug the knife deeper into my skin. "Are you sure about that?" I swallowed uncertainly, and Phoenix laughed. "That's right. Now, keep walking."

     I walked forward, the only other option being death, and I did not want to die. Phoenix led me to a room, pushing me roughly in before slamming the door. I fell to the ground and scrambled up, hoping to find the door and use a key to unlock it, but as I looked around, I didn't know where the door was. It completely blended into the walls, which were covered in mirrors.

     I examined myself in one of them. My blonde hair was very messy. I ran my fingers through my hair, but it was so messy that I eventually gave up. There was a tiny cut on my neck. I pressed my finger to it, and it came away slightly bloody. Okay, so it wasn't going to kill me, which was good.

     "Hello Callie." Phoenix's voice filled the mirrored room, and I jumped, turning around wildly. I couldn't find him. "Don't bother looking for me. You won't be able to find me."

     "Where are you?" I asked, turning around in circles.

     "In an examination room," Phoenix replied. I could hear the smirk in his voice. "These are special kind of mirrors. I can see you through them, but you can't see me."

     I looked at the mirrors, and then glared at them.

     "What am I doing in this, um, 'examination room'?" I questioned, not exactly sure what this room could be called.

     "I want to see you use your power," Phoenix said.

     "Nope," I answered immediately.

     "Really?" Again, there was a smirk in Phoenix's voice. "We'll see about that."

     That's when the water started to flood the room. I looked down, panicked. If I didn't do anything, I'd drown, but if I used my power, then Phoenix would get what he wanted, and I didn't want to give him that.

     "Let's just see how long you can go without clogging the pipe," Phoenix said smugly.

     "Where is the pipe?" I asked, the water soaking my sneakers.

     "At the very top of the room," Phoenix said. I looked up, and sure enough, there was a pipe jutting out of the wall. "Are you going to use your power?"

     "No," I said, trying to sound firm, but I knew I sounded weak and undecided.

     "Mhm," Phoenix said. "Well, I can wait."

     The room filled up surprisingly quickly. Soon, I was treading water, and the ceiling was dangerously close to my head.

     "Well?" Phoenix pushed. "Are you going to use your power or drown?"