Tes

The houses surrounding Skigh's are abandoned and falling apart, nobody will miss them, so this should be easy.  I'm standing in front of the last remnants of my best friend. My goal tonight is to gather anything that I want to keep of Skigh's and then burn the rest away. Ron and Bryant tried to argue that I shouldn't be there when it burns, but I wouldn't feel right with anyone else doing this.

So here we are. Bryant hands me a backpack for what I choose to keep and disappears; probably for another perimeter check. I walk slowly up the front steps, through the living room where we would dance along to our favorite songs, down the hall we used to pretend was a runway and up the stairs to her room. I turn the knob and push the door open.

It's three-thirty in the morning, so there's no light in here. I walk in and flip the light switch. Purple walls and the neatest room you've ever seen, greet me. Skigh never liked messes; everything had to be in its place after being used. She used to scold me all the time for not putting things back. 

I let fingers slide against the walls as I walk through her room. I notice Skigh's vanity is covered in left out make-up and hair supplies. She must've been getting ready when they took her.

It's hard to believe that she's dead. I keep thinking of the next time I'll see her and when I realize I never will; it's as if all the air is being ripped from my body. I'll never see her dopey smile again or her incredible violet hair that she pulled off so well. I take down every picture she has of us and I stuff it in my bag. I take some of the clothes I frequently borrowed, the blanket I knitted for her and did a very bad job at doing so and lastly, I find her sketchbook in her art drawer.

My life is in pieces...who would've though just a few weeks ago, I was throwing temper tantrums over parties. I don't know what to think or what to do anymore. I feel weak and I want to cry, but the tears won't come. I know that sadness surrounds me, though; that's why Bryant can't be around me for too long. I don't think he knows that I know why he's always finding a reason to leave. The problem is that every second he's not with me, I panic. The thought of losing him again is constantly on my mind. I fall back on Skigh's bed and stare at the ceiling.

I don't blame Bryant, I don't want anyone else to be swallowed up by my misery like I am. I'm trying to be more talkative and easier to be around because I need Bryant by my side. It's not easy to do that when it feels like your soul is being sucked into darkness. I wish Skigh was here, she'd be able to comfort me; she wouldn't be able to feel my sadness like everyone else does. Skigh always made me feel better no matter what the situation.

"You ready?" Bryant stands in the doorway with a bag in his hand.

"What's that?" I ask, looking at the bag pointedly.

"I... found some paintings I thought I should save. They are amazing; people should be able to enjoy it." Bryant's eye water. I rush over and take him in my arms and he falls apart.

Tears land, hot on my neck, from Bryant's broken blue eyes. "I'm sorry I'm so weak Tes. I just can't hold it in any longer," Bryant sobs while squeezing me to him. I'm alarmed by his crying, I've never seen him like this.

"Crying doesn't make you weak; it makes you strong. Being able to expel what's hurting you is strong." I tell him quietly in his ear. I'm the one who's weak, I'm being eaten alive by my pain.

"Tes, you are incredible. I am nothing without you and I'm everything that I am because of you. Don't ever leave me, please?"

I'll never leave him, that would be impossible, but I go along with it. "As long as you promise not to leave me."

"I would never leave you, I promise." Bryant's tears are gone as he looks me in the eyes.

I work up a smile. "Then I'm all yours, forever." Then I place a kiss on his forehead the way he does with me.

"We should do this now." I tell Bryant and dry his cheeks. "The longer it burns, the more believable it will be that your bodies were unrecognizable."

Bryant lifts his hands. This is it, this is goodbye. 

Bryant lights the curtains on fire first, Then the does the bed and closet. We back out as the room is engulfed in flames.

 Outside we watch the fire spread to every part of the house. The heat out front rises and son it will be too hot for me to stand here. Bryant opens a portal to Altearis to escape the heat and the scene of his "death". He goes through, but I can't move just yet. The fire holds me in place; I'm not ready for goodbye. Skigh shouldn't be dead.

"Tes..."

"Just a sec."

I watch the flames burst through a window on the first floor. The glass looks like diamonds flying in the air. I'm so close that a few pieces hit me and scrape against my face. Bryant grabs my hand and tugs; the heat from the fire is too much and we need to go.

Once we get through the portal it takes a minute for my eyes to adjust from the bright flames to the dark woods of Altearis.

"How come you didn't open a portal inside?" I ask, dusting the glass off me.

"I thought you might want some time before we go inside. Everyone's inside waiting for us to come back," Bryant says and squeezes my hand.

"Good thinking."

"I wanted to talk to you too. You have been listening to everything that is going on with me. I want to do the same for you."

"Thanks, but I don't wanna talk." I keep my head turned away from him; I can't handle the hurt that my answer most likely caused.

"Okay...Well I'm here anytime you change your mind." The disappointment rings loud and clear.

We walk back without talking and it makes me so sad. I want to let him in, but I don't even understand what's going on with me. One minute I can't speak, the next I'm declaring war. Not that I take it back, Chance won't stop even if he gets to kill me and take my power.

After I said we should go to war, there were some objections. I told everyone what Chance said to me about taking my power. Then I told them that he had to have a reason for wanting my power. Most of everyone agreed after that, some were still skeptical about it being possible for him to take my power. I'm not skeptical, he had no reason to lie in that moment. We are having another meeting in a few days to discuss it further; I'll plead my case then.

In front of his house, Bryant stops me. "Actually, it's not okay. I can feel how terrible you feel every day. I know that you need to stop holding everything inside of you. Confide in me, please!" His eyes beg me to say something, anything. I don't know if I can.

"Please Tes, it's like I'm losing you."

"I already told you, I'm not going to leave you."

Bryant pinches his nose in frustration; I don't understand.

"It's different than you physically leaving me. You are withdrawing internally, every time I see you you're more far away. Let me in Tes, all I want to do is ease your pain."

I sit down on the front steps. "I'm not sure if I can explain it well."

Bryant kneels in front of me. "Just try."

"Ever since what happened I have had this pit inside of me. It's holding every emotion inside of it. I can feel the emotions and I can feel it taking me apart. I'm just not able to express them."

I pause for a second, for some reason even getting this out is hard. Bryant lifts one of my hands into both of his and places a kiss on it. I wish I could feel the butterflies this action would normally give me, but I can't.

"I can't let it out; I'm not able to cry anymore or get angry. It's like a parasite inside of me, feeding on all of my anger, fear, sadness and pain. And I can barely feel any happiness or love."

Bryant's eyes are full of pity for me as I knew they would be. "You'll be able to let it out eventually. You just have to fight it, don't let it take you away from yourself, from me," he begs.

"I know and I won't. I'm just worried about this turning into an emotional outburst where I do something stupid." We all know those situations don't end well.

The next morning I wake up early for a training session with Seelina, before her group training starts. I'm not sure that I am ready to work in large groups yet, the stares or the questions don't sound appealing.

Everybody is sleeping in so I don't have my usual morning companions. I settle for cereal for breakfast, which I can hardly eat. My stomach has not been my friend lately. Also, I might be nervous to go to Seelina's alone. There are supposed to be people on watch, but Chance got to that boy, Thomas. The image of his lifeless body has been in my dreams since it happened.

Outside the sun is shining bright and I can see animals off in the woods. I haven't seen a Fangle in the daylight, I guess they only come after humans and their prey. Right as I start my journey  into the woods, someone runs up behind me. My body reacts before my brain and I bring my fist down hard on whoever it is.

"Damnit!" Ron sits on the ground with blood coming out of his nose.

"Crap, I'm sorry! Did I break it?"

"No, I don't think so. And don't be sorry, I forgot that I need to warn you before I approach," Ron says, bunching his sleeve around his nose.

"Do you wanna go inside and get that cleaned up?"

Ron checks his sleeve. "Looks like the bleeding has stopped. I should be okay to take you to Seelina's."

"Excuse me?" I don't need him bringing me anywhere.

"I wasn't going to let you go alone..."

"You don't get to decide that!"

Ron's face gets red. "How many times have you been attacked Tes? How many times have I failed at protecting you?"

I stay silent.

"That's what I thought. So, no matter how much you kick my ass, I'm going to make sure you're never alone. I'll always try to protect you until the day I die. There's no use fighting me on it."

"Whatever," I growl. "Let's go."

Ron gets up and wipes his nose. "You do know that leaving by yourself is stupid and dangerous. And Bryant would freak." As much as what he said pisses me off, it's true.

"I realize that now. I think for a moment I forgot all the terrible things that could happen." Everything looked peaceful; normal.

"Things will get better, we'll kill Chance one way or another. Then you will be able to take long strolls in the sunlight." Ron smiles at me. It feels good to be near him, but not anything like it used to, nothing is like it used to feel.

Seelina greets us outside of her house, but commands Ron to go clean up when she sees his face. "What happened to him?" She inquires while we walk to the back.

"Me." Seelina raises her eyebrows. "He snuck up on me. It was an accident."

"I see. Are you sure you're ready to train again?"

"Yeah, I think it will help me feel better too." A bit of excitement broke through this morning just thinking about it.

"Today I just want to work on you taking your power. With the constant threats, it is best that you are at full strength." Seelina sits in a lawn chair in the middle of the track. I follow suit and sit in the chair across from hers.

"This will be an easy session. And remember, only take a little at a time. Take a few deep breaths to relax yourself and begin."

I close my eyes and take three deep breaths. The smells of Altearis rush in with each one, easing my mind. I conjure up the image of the green gem and concentrate on taking a little bit of the light at a time. I get the light down to about half way before I start to feel a burning sensation. I stop immediately, but I keep my eyes closed as I feel my power circulating within me. I can actually feel a bit of happiness now too.

"Incredible," I hear Ron say.

My eyes open to Seelina and Ron looking at me in awe. "What's incredible?"

"Well you may or may not have been levitating," Ron says nonchalantly.

"No way!" A real grin forms on my face. I see it's a contagious grin as Seelina and Ron return it.

"Look down Tes." Seelina points underneath me. I look down and gasp. I'm hovering nearly half a foot above my chair, but I am descending back down to the chair.

"Wow, how did I do that?"

"I don't know. I cannot do anything like that myself," Seelina admits. "I have heard that the earliest Stameions could levitate. I have never seen it until now."

Most of the time I hate that I'm part Stameion and that this life was forced on me, but right now, it's looking better than it ever has. Sure, there may be a war soon, but with my power who knows what I can do to protect Altearis, my home.

"Tes do you want to try conjuring your flames again?"

I nod at Seelina. "Yes!"

Seelina and Ron haul out targets for me to practice with. They place them side by side in the field. They're a good distance away, but I have a feeling that won't be a problem. I lift my hand and conjure small flames first, they come out on the first try. Magnificent green flames dance in my hand and they don't burn. I bring my hand closer to my face to see the flames more clearly. The heat warms my face and brings out another smile.

"You're doing great, Tes! Try the targets now!" Ron calls from the back porch. Him and Seelina sit there and I bet it's because they don't trust my aim. That's good planning on their part.

I angle my hand outward, toward the first target. Taking a deep breath, I channel my power to my hand. I envision what I want and I feel an explosion come from my hand.

Green flames shoot from my hands, spiraling in a giant mass to the target. The target is instantly incinerated and I hear cheers from the porch. I repeat what I did and burn through the rest of the targets. I did miss one target and I ended up hitting a tree, but I went back and got the target afterwards.

What a marvelous wonder you are, Tes Elliot. Bryant's voice travels through my mind. I look around for him and I see that his is right beside on of the burnt targets. I dash forward, feeling more energized than I have in days. Bryant catches me in his arms and spins me around.

"May I have this kiss?" Bryant leans in. I nod, giving him permission, and in this moment I feel the warm arms of love encircle me again as we close the distance that has been separating us.

LHsiVx<

Sorry for the short chapter, I just needed to get something out for my lovely readers.

A few questions I have:

Was there anything in this chapter that annoyed anyone, any over usage of words or ideas? 

I feel like I'm possible repeating things that already happened, but that's what happens when you're on your sixth draft I guess.

How do you feel about Tes and Bryant, could you feel the distance between them, even when she was comforting him?

Should I add more of Ron into this Chapter?

and just any thoughts or advice you may have is always welcome!