Runner

Chapter Ten

I spat in her direction. My instincts warned me that this was a moment that defined me, and what became of me. I began to thrash wild flames against the glass walls. I was angry, I was fighting, I was still me –and they could not take that.  I wanted them to know I was dangerous.

Cora stepped back as I let thoughts of my future – captivity and pain– fuel my blaze. I hurdled waves of heat in all directions, the temperature in my enclosure rocketing, sweat beading atop of my chest and brow. I didn’t know if I’d be able to break through the glass, but I’d die trying.

She watched me, her heels crossed, her expression unreadable. Then she looked up and nodded towards something, I wasn’t sure what. I let my breathing settle, panting as the walls around me fogged. She turned and walked back into the darkness, and I was momentarily frozen, I knew more was coming.

Valves at the corner of each wall opened, and what looked to be a ventilation system started pumping white gas into my cage. Seconds passed before my stillness fractured into a frenzy. I ran at the walls, clawing against them as a savage scream escaped me. They were hot. The gas was settling and dropping, I began to feel its vapour fill my lungs.

Whether or not these will be my last breaths terrifies me. Would they go to all this effort just to gas me? Was that always their end goal?

Elek and Rory linger in my final thoughts, I hope they are safe. Then I see the women’s eyes again --my mother. She visits me in sleep, and I wonder if she will follow me through death.

***

 Deja vu. I’m awake. Again.

This time I was upright, seated in the middle of the cell. I heard a buzzing as I came around. My brain thuds, begging for more darkness. My breath drew in sharp as the buzzing pried my eyes open, wound around my wrists and torso was vivid-blue rope. I had seen nothing like it before. I fought against it, testing its strength.

“You are currently restrained with an electric current that is pumping 4000 watts through your nervous system. It makes it biologically impossible for you to exercise your abilities, and if you attempt to, it will cripple you with a highly-painful jolt.”

I was awake. For the first time in years, I was really awake. Every word, every sense -- my mind was calculating two moves ahead.

Cora is back, she stands outside my confinement, but the door is open.

That’s when I sensed the presence behind me. So silent and balanced that I almost missed it.

My vision widened, everything still coming into focus. Cora’s words registered I heard her warning, but my body reacts in reflex. I shot up and twisted around, my wrists slammed up and attempted to throw a bullet of fire at the body. I felt the heat run down my arms and then it hit me.

It paralysed me. I’d had a few run-ins with temperamental electric fences but this was something else. Indescribable pain teared through my chest, it ripped at every cell, and seared under my skin. My knees buckled beneath me. I couldn’t think, and I couldn’t breathe.

“Bring her,” Cora called, “we are already late.”

Hands grabbed me under the elbows, “Get up,” the low voice instructed.

The hairs on my arms stood. I looked up at the face; cold hazel eyes and a bitter grimace. He outweighed me by a hundred pounds, but he didn’t help me.

“Get up and walk,” he repeated.

My legs shook beneath me. The electric pulse still teased my nerves, but I did stand. I stood because at that moment it wasn’t about showing defiance, it was about proving strength. His firm grip did not relinquish as he guided me out of my cell and down the warehouse. His touch was hot and prickly -- I knew then that he was undoubtedly a fire user.