As soon as I'm far enough from them that I know they can't hear me, I sit on the ground and start to cry. I cried because I wrecked my life and my friend's lives, I cried because I lost my family, I cried because we were four fourteen year olds living in the woods, I cried because of my new stupid powers, I cried for everything. I hardly even thought about what Finn said.
After what felt like hours, I heard movement. It sounded like a person, but I wasn't sure.
I silently stood up and started walking back. The sound followed me. I say "Ace? Finn? Blaire?"
No response.
I continue to back away until I back into a tree. Thinking it was a person, I scream. Suddenly, a dog jumps at me from the bushes. Not a dog, a wolf.
I try to smack it away, but it bites my hand.
I scream "HELP!" I hear things running towards me. Hoping it was my friends, I swat at the wolf again. It bites my wrist.
Suddenly another wolf jumps over my head and tackles it to the ground. Something grabs my arm, and I turn around. While bringing my leg up to kick the person in between the legs. I stop when I see it's just Finn. I lower my leg and look at my hand. It's covered in blood.
Finn says "what happened?!"
Blaire runs up to us and says "are you okay?!"
I look and see the rabid wolf is on the ground, not moving. The other wolf, which I guessed was Ace, came and sat at my feet.
I take a deep breath and say "it just... it just attacked me."
Finn says "are you alright?"
I say "my hand is covered in freaking blood!"
Blaire says "come on, we'll bring you back, I'll clean it up."
I nod and follow her as she leads us all back to the clearing.
Wolf Ace follows right next to me, and Finn stands on my other side while Blaire leads us.
I take a deep breath and say "sorry, Finn."
He says "I'm just glad you didn't kick me this time."
I laugh and say "you're lucky I saw you this time. Otherwise we'd have to make Ace become a stretcher and push you back to the clearing."
He says "I'd rather walk."
I laugh and say "I would too."
He laughs with me for a moment, and it almost feels like nothing ever changed. It feels like we were back to where we were a few months ago, before either of us had powers. But that feeling quickly subsides when I feel the pain in my hand.
We get back to the clearing and Blaire says "okay, summon some water. And make a hole."
I nod and stomp on the ground to open a crack, then rip it open to make a small hole. Then I summon some water.
She says "put the water in the hole."
I nod and drop the water in the hole.
She says "now, put your injured hand in there."
I slowly put my bloody hand into the water. It stings at first, but then it starts to feel better.
I sigh in relief.
She says "keep it in there for a few minutes, I'll be back to check on you in a bit."
I nod and she walks away.
I sit by myself for a minute, then Ace comes and sits next to me.
I say "thank you."
He says "you'd do it for me."
I say "wolf or not."
He laughs and says "how's your hand?"
I say "it feels a little better..."
He says "I honestly thought Finn was gonna beat me to the wolf. He was ready to kill it, too."
I say "wait, its dead?"
He nods and says "he went bac to check it, trying to see if it's good to eat. If it is he'll bring it back here and we'll have that for dinner."
I sigh and say "I can't believe our diet will now consist of squirrel and wolf."
He says "Blaire suggested starting a vegetable garden."
I laugh and say "when she finds seeds, she can start a vegetable garden."
He laughs and says "that's what Finn said."
I sigh and look at the water. It was red and brown.
He quietly says "so what's happening with you and Finn?"
I look at him, then back at the water. I say "what do you mean? We're friends."
He says "you know that he's totally in love with you, right?"
I say "he told me the other day. Now I just don't know what to do about it."
He says "the two of you should just talk it out, go from there."
I sigh and say "why are you asking about this?"
He says "he told me he was in love with you."
I say "when'd he say that?"
He says "maybe a year ago?"
I say "a year?!"
He says "a year, ten months, somewhere in that area."
I sigh again and say "that still doesn't tell me why you're asking about it."
He says "it's in my natural nature to get curious. And he told me that he was going to tell you. So naturally, I got curious. I wanted to try asking Finn, but I didn't know if it'd be the best idea. So I asked you first."
I say "I guess I'll talk to him about it. What's the worst that could happen?"
He says "tell me how it goes."
I sarcastically laugh and look at my hand again. The water was mostly red at this point, which was starting to scare me.
Blaire walks over and says "okay, take it out."
I take my hand out of the water. There was no trace of blood on my hand and the wounds were all clean.
I say "wow..."
She nods and says "you're welcome."
I say "thanks Blaire."
She nods and sits with us.
Ace says "hey Blaire, did Finn ever mention to you about him being in love with Nova?"
She nods again and says "oh yeah, a bunch of times."
I say "why did he tell everyone but me?!"
Blaire says "he was afraid of being rejected."
Ace adds "that was probably his biggest fear. Him telling you, then being rejected."
I sigh and say "oh god, what've I done?"
Blaire says "wait, you rejected him?! It's Finn!"
I say "I think I did. I don't know. I never gave an answer."
Ace says "well what'd you say when he told you?"
I sigh and say "I'm sorry."
They both shake their heads.
Ace says "that's hardcore rejection."
I put my head in my hands and say "I don't know what to do. I'm so confused."
Suddenly, Finn runs into the clearing. He says "guys, come on. We have a problem."
I say "what kind of problem? Worse than four teenagers living in the woods?"
He says "I found a person. And she needs help."
Ace says "how bad are they?"
He says "bleeding out."
Blaire says "what?!"
Finn says "I found a girl that's dying! Seriously, just come help!"
We all get up and follow him to a tree where there's a girl siting against a tree. And she had blood all over her hands, arms, and legs. She looked like hell. She was really, really pale.
We all grab a limb and carry her back to our clearing.
Blaire says "Nova get a bigger hole and fill it with water!"
I stomp on the ground and rip open the crack to make a hole. I fill it with water and Blaire drags the girl over.
She slowly lowers the girl into the water and says "I'll watch her. You should go fix the fire, it's almost dead."
I nod and go over to the fire pit they built. I put out my hand and focus on sticks. Suddenly, some sticks fly into my hand.
The wonderful power of telekinesis.
I put the sticks on the fire pit, then point to it and focus on fire. Suddenly, a blazing hot fire shoots from my fingertips. Thankfully, it doesn't burn me. I can't burn, apparently.
I go over to Blaire and the girl. I say "what do you think happened to her?"
Blaire says "I don't know. But whatever it was, it wasn't an accident."
I look at the girl soaking in the now blood-red water. Then, I look over my shoulder and see Finn talking with Ace.
I sigh and say "do you think I'm being fair to Finn by ignoring that he's in love with me?"
She says "well, how do you feel?"
I look back over my shoulder at Finn, then turn back to Blaire. I sigh and say "I, I don't think I feel the same way."