Chapter 13

For some reason, I thought that killing my mother would be harder than that.  I never thought that she would kill herself with her greed.  I never thought that I wouldn’t have to move a muscle, that my fire would do the job for me.  Pushing the door open, I glance back once more at the ashes that stains the ground.  It is all that is left of my mother.  There are no happy memories to keep her alive, no heirlooms that she passed down. 

As I step out, I am immediately engulfed into various hugs.  I know who they are; they are my family.  The ones that earned the right to be called that.  I hug them back, feeling my worries slowly start to ease away.  The burden that was once on my shoulders, lifts.  It’s over, finally over.

“Are you okay?” a voice asks.

Looking up into Aarons blue eyes, I nod with a smile.  “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” he asks again with concern.

“Yes,” I mumble, “it’s finally over.  How could I not be okay?”

I push away from him.  His grip tightens, but eventually, he lets go.  He knows where I want to go, but he doesn’t know the reason.  The fact that he can let me go just makes me love him more.  I look around for Chris, attempting to spot his brown hair, but I don’t see him.

“Wyatt,” I call out.  Wyatt looks over at me.  “Where is Chris?”

Dismay covers his features.  Chris is dead, but Wyatt didn’t want to be the one to tell me.  He has always been bad with emotions, and the crying was the worse.  Shaking my head, I attempt to keep the thoughts away. It’s not true; Chris isn’t dead.

Wyatt steps towards me.  “I didn’t want to be the one to tell you this,” he mumbles, “but Chris didn’t make it.”

Images flash through my mind.  Chris was standing there with a helpless expression on his face. Wyatt told the boy to keep behind him.  He may not like the boy, but he didn’t want Chris’s death on his hands.  Chris nodded at him; making his way towards Wyatt, something caught his attention.  Wyatt followed his glance, and watched as it all played out.

A man shot at Aaron’s back, but the bullet never hit him because it was Chris who jumped in front of it.  He had saved Aaron’s life, and for what?  I already know the answer. He did it for me.  Everything anyone has ever done was for me.  How am I going to deal with this?  How will I deal with the guilt? 

All their thoughts hit me at once.  It is all the same, multiple thoughts of how they wish they could have done something.  How they wonder what I will do, how I will deal with his death.  They don’t have to worry though; I am not going to break down.  I am finally free of all of this, and I am not going to ruin what Chris did by demeaning it.  He was brave; he did something he thought was right.  There is nothing I can do to change that.

Turning, I walk towards the SUV.  I may be able to deal with Chris’s death, but I can’t handle his power.  Having people’s thoughts slam into my head is excruciating.  I now fully understand why Diana died.  Some powers aren’t meant for others.  I have a feeling that mind reading is far from my range, and there is only one other person I know that can handle it.  Would I be dooming him for life?  Or making him even stronger than he is?

Someone snags my hand.  Glancing over at Aaron I send him a tiny smile.  “You want to drive?”

“What about the others?”

I shake my head.  “Wyatt feels obligated to do something with Chris’s body, and the others are afraid I’ll break down.  They don’t really want to come with me.”

“How do you know that?” he asks with suspicion.  “You took his power back didn’t you?  Do you understand how dangerous that can be for you?  You have an element power; you can’t mix that with another power.”

“I know,” I tell him with a smile.  My head is throbbing, and I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.  All I have to say is that I hope Aaron drive fast.

He pulls me into a hug.  I try to pull away, but his grip just tightens.  “I don’t want to try this while I’m holding you, but I don’t think we have a choice.  We need to get home and quick.”

“What are you-” I begin, but the next words get caught in my throat.  I don’t understand what is going on, but it feels like I am becoming air, as if my body was breaking up into small particles.  The next thing I know, I’m standing outside of the cabin.

With my head rushing, my stomach curling, there is only one thing I’m capable of doing at that moment.  Turning, I throw up any food I had earlier.  I wait until I’m completely sure that I am done before I stand up straight and look towards Aaron.

He sends me a wince.  “Sorry, I forgot how it is the first time.”

“You can transport through air?”

“Yeah,” he says with a nod.  “I found out about it a couple days ago, but I didn’t think it was the best time to tell everyone.”

“Understandable,” I mumble while making my way towards the cabin.  The door flings open on its own.  Standing there is a smiling Eli.  One thing is different from the boy I left today.  This one, looks at me like the old one did.  Not like a little boy with no memory.

“Mommy!” he yells before wrapping his arms around my legs.

Letting out a laugh, I reach down and hug him.  “I’m so glad your back.”

He pulls back from me with a confused expression.  “You’re hurt.”

I nod.  “It’s my head.”

Without any more words, he reaches up and clutches the side of my face.  Slowly, the pain eases and the thoughts diminish.  Soon, the power is completely gone.

“Thank you,” I mumble, glad that the pain has subsided, but still worried for Eli.

“It’s easier now,” he explains.  I nod, knowing that he means that it is easier to use his power.  That I just enhanced it.  There is nothing I can do about it now, it’s done. 

He smiles at me and runs off.  I can hear the laughter from the twins and Cynthia.  This is how life should be, laughter echoing through the house, and no worries.  This is what my life is now, but the worry is still there.  Would Eli be okay?  Would he be able to control his powers? 

“He’ll be fine,” Aaron says while wrapping his arms around me.  “It’s over, and everything will be okay now.”

I nod and lean into him further.  He’s right, everything will be fine.  No matter what, this is the end of the war, and as long as we are all together, there is no obstacle we can’t overcome.

***

I know, not the best ending, but it is the end...  Thanks to everyone who read this little sequel, lol.  It really means a lot.  Have an awesome day everyone!