A Touch Of Lightning (COMPLETED!)

Chapter 15 Runaway

The subtle vibrations along the wooden dock alerted him that at least three people were walking towards him. The wind was mostly offshore, but it occasionally spun about, and he scented two teenage boys and one girl.

"Hey freak! Dontcha know this dock isn't for losers? Get lost." One of them called.

Callin stood up slowly, but kept his back to them, fighting back the surge of dark fury. Fighting for control. He heard them still advancing and was amazed they didn't possess the basic instincts to recognize the mortal danger they were so casually walking into. He could actually hear their confident swagger as they came closer, and his bone claws began to burn in their sockets. Some muddled part of his brain was screaming at him, howling over and over that he didn't want to do this. The thing of it was, though, that with the darkly electric, frustrated mood he was in, a fight was exactly what he wanted.

"What, you deaf or something? I said get lost!"

They were close now, just behind him. Callin turned and faced them, a cold, hard smile smearing across his face. It did not reach his eyes. The two boys were close to his age, maybe seventeen or eighteen. They were both big, wearing the expensive clothes of high school football jocks. Callin had seen TV shows of high schools and he was surprised how much these two seemed like the types he had seen.

A tiny warning of surprise skittered through his mind as he noticed that there were two girls. For some strange reason, he had only scented and heard one. Then the bigger, blonde boy stepped right up to Callin's face, making him forget the girl.

"What are you smiling about? You like that you're about to get your butt kicked in?"

Callin felt himself reacting to the threat, to the dangerous physical proximity of this potential enemy. His lips peeled back in a wicked parody of a grin.

"Stop talking. Let's do this!" He snarled.

The football jock cocked his fist back, and then froze, every muscle completely still. Even his eyes didn't move. The other three were standing frozen, also. Callin was bewildered, until he heard Ahleena's voice as she walked down the dock towards them.

"Callin. Power down. Now!" She called, unnatural steel ringing in her voice.

Callin felt the surge of power she had put into the command, trying to force him to obey through her telepathy. His walls deflected her power, but it still made him reel back a step. The simple fact that she had just tried to force her will on him using her power heightened his rage, making the animal inside surge against his walls. It was exactly the tactic the telepaths at the lab had used on him so many times over the years.

He knew Ahleena had used her power to put the teens into what was essentially a waking coma, every higher brain function locked down by her power. It made him sick, to once again see the power of a telepath over the helpless. He stepped around them, stalking towards Ahleena, his claws sliding fully out, his blood leaving a crimson trail on the dock behind him.

"Let them go!" He snarled.

Ahleena stopped walking, immediately falling into that familiar, dangerous half-crouch. Her full lips curved into a little smile, her dark, almond-shaped eyes fathomless.

"I was hoping I would find you in a mood to spar."

Callin shook his head and slowly lifted his hands, his bone claws glittering coldly in the watery sunlight.

"I'm not in the mood to spar. Let them go. Now!"

Ahleena sighed and waved a hand dismissively at the teens.

"Fine. Go run and play, children. And your only memory of this trip down the dock was just a peaceful stroll to the end and back." She said, her power vibrating the air with every word, never taking her eyes off him as she spoke.