We fell into a deafening silence while I waited for David to bristle once more. He lowered himself onto a chair, with arms folded over his chest and a look on his face that said,' Go on.'
Laira settled on the bed next to me while I struggled to find a starting point. They were both smart enough to understand the concept of altering realities, as impossible as it might seem.
I on the other hand was the one that struggled with the concept. David might be able to shed some light and explain some things to me. After all, he had more brains than brawn on his body.
Without further ado, I begin the story from where Mason disappeared leaving the details of our affair out of the story. I had an axe hovering over my head as it was. I didn't want to cut the thin thread holding it with my own hands.
Laira listened intently and frowned more than I had seen her frown in two years combined. David occasionally rubbed his temples and fidgeted in his seat. I left out Zareen, but not Shay and Graham, since they weren't exactly hiding from the world. Shay might have been a rare anomaly or a relic of the old world but he wasn't dangerous. And for all we knew he could be the last of his kind. It was worth exploring how his abilities worked, but I doubted that Graham would let anyone near him after what happened last time.
By the time I finished the story, both Laira and David appeared to experience a lot of emotions, from surprise to wonder, confusion, and a hint of pity. I didn't need nor want pity. I had a whole committee living inside my head that did just that.
" It's not Louis," I didn't know what she meant in that moment. I was perched on the bed, hugging my knees while Laira looked at me with an inquisitive eye.
Eventually, I shake my head when a fragment of a conversation we had a long time ago slips through the cracks.
She seemed torn at my admission but after a few seconds nods and I'd like to believe it was in understanding.
David seems confused but he shakes his head and sighs. It is a lot to take in at once. I'm still having trouble with certain parts and I lived through it all.
" So, this Micah or whatever his name is," David waves a hand in the air," Wants what from you?" I haven't told them about what I can do without telling them about Mason. So I settle for showing them.
Raising a hand, I watch the ball of energy hover in the palm of my hand. I know they can't see it but I have to make sure it's not too big otherwise they will fly through the wall.
David's eyebrows raise and his eyes go from my hand to my face, probably thinking that I've lost it completely.
When a small amount has gathered, I throw it at the glass on the table, and the glass vanishes and reappears outside the window then falls to the ground. It's nighttime, and the sound of the glass crashing and shattering travels all the way up. They both jump out of their seat and look out the window and then at the table. And then at me.
" Fuck," David breathes and I don't think I've heard him curse so much in the past. But things change, don't they?
" That sounds about right," I say with a sigh and they both plop back into their seats.
" What was that?" Laira asks, looking at my hand with renewed interest.
" I believe it's energy. Electromagnetic. Possibly. I'm just guessing here. It could be of any kind. I seem to draw it from around me," I push myself to the edge of the bed and take a deep breath before trying to show them what Mason has shown me.
" Vidris asmerat," The room lights up with the same weblike filaments flowing into me from all around me, and I follow them and watch as they flow outward through the wall and out of my sight. I already know where the energy is flowing to. To him. Mason can't channel it at a very fast rate when we are apart. The greater the distance the slower the flow. It builds up inside me and I release as much as I can without destroying everything around me.
Since they don't say anything and both stare at me as if I've landed from a different galaxy, I conclude that they indeed can see it.
" Ifidris," I whisper and it slowly begins to fade, and the room returns to its sombre lighting.
David rises to his feet and begins pacing, " You're coming to the lab with me tomorrow after classes. I need to study you and take measurements," Great, now I'm a lab rat.
" David," Laira chides. I rise to my feet and stand before him.
" Maybe someday, but not tomorrow, " I say apologetically. But I'm not sorry in the least. I have no intention of letting anyone prod and poke at me ever again. Over my dead body. As much as I want to satisfy my own curiosity, the memory of what Micah had done to me on that altar makes me shudder in fear and disgust. I felt helpless. Never again.
Laira rises to her feet, and I hug her one last time before returning to my loft.
" How about the day after," David is not letting this go and I'm starting to regret my decision to show him. I'm well aware that his curiosity is merely for scientific purposes but it is way out of my comfort zone. And I'm not ready to relinquish that slice of control. It is the only thing that is holding me together at this moment.
Laira slaps him on the shoulder as I lean in for a hug, " We will talk some more later. Now I'm going to bed," I say as a way of letting him know that the conversation is over. I pull away from the hug and he nods, reluctantly.
We say our goodbyes and I give Laira directions to my secret hideout in the loft. I know she will come to find me once she is done processing all the information. There is more but I stuck with the relevant information. I wanted my friends back and telling them the truth was a small price to pay.
Once I reached my room, I slipped under the covers and stared at the night sky, like I did countless nights. I moved my bed right under the window on the roof, so I had a good view for the rest of the night.
I already know that sleep will evade me like the plague and when it finally comes it is haunted by him.
No rest for the wicked.
Who needs a torturer, when I know all my weaknesses? I'm doing a bang-up job torturing myself.