In My Blood

Episode 2 - Happy Halloween

"Leave us alone!" I looked up at the woman standing across the room at the front door, yelling at whoever was in front of her. "I'm done with this! I'm done with you! I don't want my daughter to have any part in this!"

"She's been gifted!" a male voice argued. It was strangely familiar, but I couldn't place it. "This goes along with everything I've been trying to achieve. You can't just back out now!"

"She isn't another person you can test on!" the woman screamed, growing more and more irritated. Everything was starting to go blurry, and someone began to cry. "I can't continue on with this!"

I sat up with a gasp, trying to calm my heart as it beat faster than I could handle. Wasting no time, I reached out and grabbed the thin journal from my nightstand. I turned on the flashlight that had been set next to it and stuffed it in my mouth, holding it tight with my teeth as I recalled everything I had seen. Dad told me the best way to work through trauma was by writing anything associated to it down, and it had become almost a personal law for my night terrors.

Eleven was fast asleep, curled tight into a ball and murmuring every so often to herself. Our small bedroom clock had the small hand set on the number three, and the darkness outside reflected the correct time to it. The flashlight flickered a few times due to its drained battery life, and I closed my journal with a sigh.

"Why are you up?" El's head popped up in the corner of my eye, and I turned my head to face the younger girl as I laid back against my pillows. She was rubbing her eyes blearily, squinting as she stared at the light. "It's not morning."

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up," I apologized. Eleven shrugged, propping herself up on her elbow. Her hair was sticking out everywhere from sleeping.

"Dreams again?"

"You can say that." I tossed the flashlight up in the air, raising my hand to use my powers to hold it in place for a few seconds before catching it. "Before you came back for Christmas, I had Anya's vibing skills for a few weeks. It slowly dulled after she left, and now I can't even sense if Dad's awake anymore. My telekinesis disappeared until you came back, and now I can turn off the light from the comfort of my bed."

"You're still learning?" Eleven thought out loud. "It took me time. Maybe you take longer."

"But that wouldn't explain the surge I feel every time my skin makes contact with yours," I shook my head, wiping the blood from my nose with the back of my wrist. "Ellie? Question: why does our nose bleed every time we channel our abilities?"

"I don't know. Feel something pushing inside my head when I use mine."

"You mean pressure?"

"Yes," El nodded, happy to have a word to describe the feeling. "Pressure." She wrinkled her nose, and I knew she was debating whether to ask me a question or not. "Can you teach more words?"