Rising Power (#1 of the Canton Chronicles Series)

Awakening

Valentine took small careful steps towards Alice and Emma.

"Aren't you ready to barge in and save her, Hero? Oops, I forgot, you don't even have a Power."

Alice's voice teasing her, and Tobias' hand pushing Emma's face to the floor.

"Val, ran for help. Please. Just leave me here. I can... I can take them."

Alice kicked the poor girl's ribs.

"Silence! You thought a couple of self-defence lessons with that bitch would help you? You thought getting a speed-up Power would save you from your fate? Oh that's right..."

Alice laughed with Val's surprised face

"...our little mouse over here is a Speeder. She was running in the corridors happily to tell her idiotic friends, including you, I guess, when she got caught right in my trap. Maybe you are not as fast as you thought, little one."

Alice pulled Emma's hair and the girl screamed.

"Take me. It's me you want, not her."

Val said as she kneeled on the ground, hands in front of her.

"I am Powerless. Do whatever you want with me. Just leave Emma alone."

She sincerely meant it. She had no escape plan. She would take it up, and maybe, just maybe, if she survived this, they would leave her alone once and for all. And her friends wouldn't have to pay for one stupid mistake of her past.

Alice looked at her with pity.

"I thought you would fight a little bit more, like the old days. I overestimated you, it seems. You grew soft after you release from the Asylum and this place did nothing to help. No matter. Take her, boys."

Tobias sprung up, leaving poor Emma lying on the ground, with Will following him reluctantly. They ceased both of Val's arms and pushed the back of her head, making her face the ground.

As Alice walked towards her, Val looked at Emma, who was slowly getting up, trying to recover from the shock.

"Run. As fast as you can."

Emma sprinted like the wind, disappearing from the Atrium at once. Alice sniggered.

"The little mouse goes to your rescue. But that only means we have to be extra-fast in our treatment, don't we?"

She kicked Val in her belly, making her double up from pain. Another kick, and another, till she spat out blood. Then Tobias grabbed her by the hair and led her with Will at the edge of the pool.

Alice followed them, and soon enough she was also standing right at the edge, slapping Val with all her strength. Once, twice, three times, her hands insanely quick, her face a mask of rage and malice.

"Time for a little electro-therapy, sweetie. Don't worry, you are not going to die. Probably."

Alice laughed like a madman and then turned her head towards Tobias and Will.

"Put her head inside."

The pool. Alice's Power. She really wants to kills me. She doesn't care about her punishment. Her mind is too far gone.

Val started moving around trying to escape the boys' grip. Will's did loosen up a bit, as if he was having second thoughts about Alice's insane plan. But Tobias was relentless. He punched her straight at the back of her head, and Val screamed, unable to see, unable to speak, her brain going dark.

"What's the matter, Val? You thought that I will show you mercy? You thought that I will just beat you up? You're dead, bitch."

The boys pushed her and Val found herself head down in the pool, her nose and her lungs filling up with water, asphyxiation causing her consciousness to fade. It was only a matter of seconds.

"Time to finish this. This joke was gone on long enough."

Alice rose her hand, producing a wave of electric energy, of all the Power she had to have this one, god-dammit, as Val faded to black.

And there in the darkness of her unconscious mind, she dreamt again. She was at her bench in the beautiful park, but desperation filled her soul and she couldn't speak. The little black-haired girl, her dream companion, turned around and looked at her with pity.

Are you going to die like this? Do you want to be remembered like this?

What the hell am I supposed to do? I am Powerless. I have nothing against them.

Then the small figure laughed and stood up. And slapped her. The shock was so great, Val felt her blood freezing in her veins. The kid looked at her firmly, her black eyes shining.

Wake up.

And so she did.