‘’Jackson!’’ Daphney rushed into the store but fell silent on Chandler who was currently drenched on the ground and rubbing his head, wincing at the slight pressure. ‘’What happened?’’

‘’The tap burst and-‘’

‘’Never mind that. We need to talk.’’ She grabbed my arm and practically dragged me from the ground beside the injured boy, pulling me with all her might to the back of the store and closing the door on Alex’s confused face.

‘’What’s going on Daphney?’’

‘’He knows, Jackson.’’ She paced the small space under the stairs, wearing down a path on the wooden floor.

‘’What?’’ I whispered, staring blankly at her worried features.

‘’He knows.’’ Stopping for mere seconds, her eyes fell on mine before pacing again, running her fingers through her dark hair that looked like she had spent hours doing the same action over and over again, her dishevelled usual attire barely buttoned and her red nails chewed to oblivion.

My body went rigid as my mind raced through possibilities of what could happen. Scenarios of how he found out and how he would react were racing past my eyes as quick as a race car rounds a track, the screeching of tires replaced by the quick beats of my heart and the scuffling of Daphney’s black suede platform wedges.

‘’How?’’ I barely found my voice.

‘’He decided to do his rounds a little more thoroughly with his bad feeling and extended his rounds to the cell and I couldn’t stop him but we knew this was going to happen sooner or later. I was hoping for later but we get what we’re dealt, Jackson.’’ Her pacing now halted and he hands reached for my cheeks where she stared into my eyes searching for fear that was clearly present. ‘’We’ll be fine Jackson. I promise we’ll be fine.’’ She kissed my forehead, her eyes travelling towards the door and then back to me.

‘’What do we do now?’’

‘’We can’t do much. He hasn’t suspected me yet but he’s furious. I’ve never seen him so angry or frantic. He can’t very well send search parties all over the sea for you which is a blessing for us but I won’t be surprised if he brings in a bounty hunter.’’

‘’And what will I do then?’’

‘’I’ll tell you if he’s getting close to finding out anything about you. I won’t let him take you back. I promised you freedom and I will deliver. Do you remember the night I helped you escape?’’

I couldn’t remember that night well. It was like my mind split in half and ripped in ways unimaginable at even thinking about that night let alone recalling the events of it. I could only remember a soul reaping pain and thoughts of my mother. Everything else was static.

‘’I told you about the future I saw for you. I didn’t see a fate clouded by your father. I saw land, trees, grass, people; people who will prove to be everything you will fight for to keep with you. It’s going to be a hard road but a road that you will take to be where I have seen you.’’

‘’Can you tell me anything else?’’

‘’No, sweetie you know how it works. I only get bits and pieces but just know that the end result is worth it.’’ Her smile brightened and the pure affection in her eyes shone as bright as the sun did outside the store.

‘’Is there something you’re not telling me?’’

‘’No, sweetie.’’ She nudged my shoulder then her face turned serious. ‘’Now, what happened to Chandler? I have a feeling that a tap just didn’t suddenly burst. ’’

‘’I don’t know. My mind was all over the place and I was watching him watering the flowers and then it just happened. The tap burst and it just hit him. I don’t know what’s going on.’’

She just nodded calmly throughout my recount and then her brows furrowed in confusion before she snapped her finger and pointed at my face, one hand on her chin in a thinking pose and the other now like a gun pointed in my face.

‘’You said you were watching him and then your mind was preoccupied and it just happened?’’

‘’Yeah? I just said that.’’

She started pacing again and rubbing her chin while humming. I was starting to get a little nervous myself with her actions before she scared the life out of me by snapping her fingers in my face again.

‘’I’ve got it.’’

‘’Got what?’’

‘’Okay so you’re turning twenty one soon and I think because you’re out of the water now, your control over the water is surfacing and it’s just going to spiral out of control soon and I think Chandler is a trigger of the outbursts. We need to work on it, Jackson before someone gets hurt or finds out.’’

‘’How do we do that?’’

‘’Training. We start when the sun rises.’’

Daphney patted me on the shoulder before grabbing the handle to the shop and what surprised us was Alex’s confused face on the other side. She had heard something and that was bad. Very bad.

As Daphney left through the door, Alex’s eyes glued to her in a calculating stare as if she knew something but couldn’t quite place her finger on it.

‘’Is Chandler alright?’’ Her eyes snapped to me as her stare dimmed a little into a smile.

‘’He’s fine. A little wet, but fine.’’

‘’I’m glad.’’

‘’The plumber will be here soon. I honestly don’t know how that happened.’’ Her brows furrowed again as we walked towards Chandler who was more worried about the flowers than his drenched body.

‘’Chaddi go have a shower and get changed! You’re making it look like it flooded in here!’’ She squealed and pointed to the trails of water all around the shop from his rushing about the flowers.

Grumbling unhappily, Chandler trudged towards the back room I had just emerged from leaving me in the shop all alone with Alex as she scanned the damage of the water which was quite little. The only real problem was the tap was now out of use and the trails that marked where Chandler had been.

The next twenty minutes was spent finding mops and buckets along with chemicals to clean the floors. Alex said we might as well clean them properly while we were at it.

‘’So, what are you training for?’’

‘’Pardon?’’

‘’I overheard your friend talking about training. You’re into sport?’’

‘’Swimming.’’ I blurted the first thing to come to my mind, feeling satisfied with my answer.

‘’Chaddi used to swim a lot when Lannie first took us in. Maybe he’ll get back into it now.’’ She smiled and went back to mopping up the last few larger puddles as I cursed myself for getting into a new mess by lying. ‘’Geez. What’s taking him so long anyway? You can only wash yourself so much. At this pace, I bet his skin is raw from scrubbing it.’’

My mind drifted as my mop stopped, thoughts of Chandler in the shower clouding my mind as I stared at the puddles on the floor. My mind rushed by as I imaged him in there, his pale skin turning a flushed red from the heat of the water, his dainty hands washing his body and his blonde hair dripping over his gorgeous eyes.

Groaning from my thoughts, I looked down to see not only the puddle I was previously working on, but puddles from all over the store slowly making their way to my feet. The water crept the floors searching for me from around and under counters, their target set to me as my mouth hung open and I quickly shot my eyes to Alex to see her humming as she swished her mop around a puddle, barely noticing it’s movements.

‘’Alex, I’m sorry but I have to go.’’

‘’What?’’ Her head turned to me and her eyes creased with worry. ‘’Are you okay? You look a little pale.’’

‘’I’m not feeling well but I’ll be back tomorrow though I promise.’’ Rushing over to a bench to lean my mop against it, I powered towards the door and out of it almost missing the confused voice of Chandler calling out to me but I didn’t stop.

As I made my way towards the safety of my hidden cave, I could only hope tomorrow came quickly so I could get these ‘powers’ under control and back to Chandler and Alex but I had a feeling it would take a lot more than an hour or two of training.

A/N

Sorry it's short but an update is an update, yeah?

Do you think Jackson will eventually be able to control himself or do you think he'll have to take a break from the life he's starting?

What do you think his father is going to do?