16.

I might as well have been drained of all life. The strength I expelled to put an end to the fighting was more than I knew I was capable of; not to mention all of the other crazy stuff that I didn’t know anyone was capable of. I lay on the hard ground, barely able to lift my head, let alone my limp limbs.

I was aware of what had just happened; a small part of me accepted that the events that occurred were in fact real. But the fight I partook in only moments ago felt more like a distant memory than reality: like a dream I just woke up from and could barely remember. The exact details of everything were fading from my mind quickly and I wasn't sure I cared.

“One got away,” my voice came out hoarse and shaky. I pointed in the direction I felt him run in before he disappeared from the tracking device I knew was my mind.

“Talbott, go,” Kiran demanded, rushing over to my side and kneeling down. He leaned in close to my face, seemingly examining my pupils, although I had a hard time believing he really knew what he was doing. He took my hand into his and held it tightly in his grasp.

“I can’t leave you. Damn it. We should have brought the entire Guard, damn it Kiran,” Talbott yelled. “I knew this was a bad idea. Damn it,” he repeated over and over and started to walk in circles. “Kiran are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Kiran looked down at me concerned. He inspected me again by lifting up my arms and head, looking for, well I didn’t really know what he was looking for, but he eventually seemed satisfied. All the while, he never let go of my hand.

“Damn it Kiran, are you all right?” Talbott shouted at him louder. I watched Talbott continue to pace back and forth from my peripheral. I could tell that he wanted to pursue the attacker, chase him down. I could also tell by the way he glanced at Kiran every other second he was not going to leave his friend alone.

“Yes, I’m fine, I’m really fine,” Kiran spoke louder and with confidence. I saw Talbott relax his shoulders a little, but continue to pace. “Lilly go back to camp and tell Mr. Lawly that we have to leave now!” Kiran demanded of the human-again Lilly. She did not speak a word, but obediently took off running through the forest, her bright red hair disappearing into the darkness.

The logical part of me objected to Lilly trying to make it back to camp by herself. The attacker could still be out there, he could have easily circled around to our other side to finish the job and I was too exhausted to pick him up with my new found powers. After what just happened, somebody should go with her, whether he was out there or not. I was too weak to contest. I tried to verbalize my concerns, but only a moan came out.

“She will be fine,” Kiran looked into my eyes intensely and I saw his passion and concern. “Lilly can take care of herself it turns out. She will have no problem making it back to camp.” Kiran’s voice was soothing and calm; it felt like medicine to my fried nerves.

“I don’t think you should be so close to her,” Talbott stood over us, gruffly assessing our position.

“She just saved our lives,” Kiran growled.

“And look at what she did to everyone else,” Talbott was calm, but I heard the tension back in his voice. Kiran looked around and let go of my hand to stand up. I began fading in and out of consciousness, fighting to stay awake, but the fatigue was making it impossible.

“Have you ever seen this before?” Kiran asked Talbott, and I knew they were talking about me. My eyes had closed and I was breathing evenly, I was not even sure if I was conscious anymore.

“No, never. I had no idea she was capable of this. I had no idea anyone was capable of this. Four immortals at once…… it doesn’t make sense,” Talbott replied.

“I thought you said that she wasn’t one of your kind?” Kiran asked softly.

“She’s not. She’s not….” Talbott repeated. “We must tell your father immediately, she is clearly a security threat. Kiran, she did not even realize she had this kind of power. What else is she capable of?” Talbott sounded almost scared, and I began to lose awareness completely.

“No, that is the last thing we are going to do. You will tell him nothing of her power. Do you understand?” Kiran’s voice started to fade, “That is an order Talbott.”

I knew they were talking about me, and talking about what I did, but I didn’t understand what they were saying. Clearly I wasn’t as much of a freak as I thought I was, because they were capable of the same things. I was just lucky enough to be overlooked at first. Surely any one of them would have been able to do what I did with more power and quicker.

I began to regain lucidness as reality set in. I tried to process what just happened, but I could not wrap my mind around it. I saw human beings, real human beings, turn into animals. I saw Lilly turn into an animal. And these were no ordinary mammals; they turned into dangerous creatures thirsty for blood. Human beings posed as animals trying to rip each other apart.

I saw men move things with their minds. I saw them try to kill each other without ever touching the other. Their strength being one thousand times more dangerous without ever physically coming into contact with one another than any other human being I had ever seen. The power these men wielded was beyond comprehension; but these were not just strangers, Kiran and Talbott were capable of the same feats of extraordinary. Kiran and Talbott only teenagers were capable of murder, even if it was self-defense.

And then I realized that it wasn’t just them that did those things, it was me. I moved things with my mind. I hurt people. I killed people. I was capable of everything the others were, if not more. And I finished it all.

A rock seemed to drop in my stomach and I was suddenly sick. I sat up quickly and emptied everything I had eaten that day on the ground next to me. My body shook violently as it tried to rid my mind of the crimes I just committed. The electricity in me was not only powerful, it was evil.

What had I done? How could I have killed anyone? And not just one person, but four? I pulled my knees to my chest and began to cry, fully awake, but fully unaware of what was happening around me. I drowned out any sound nearby with my sobs. I wanted it so badly to be a dream that I could wake up from, but there was the terrifying fact that I just lived through a real life nightmare I would never be able to forget.

----

Somehow I made it back to camp, either Kiran or Talbott carried me, I wasn’t sure who. Between sobbing and blacking out I didn’t remember much. My body was so weak that I was barely able to lift my hands, let alone walk or sit up. My voice was horse and my throat on fire. When I was conscious I either cried or puked. Unconsciousness was a sweet black hole of nothingness my body and mind longed for.

Mr. Lawly already had the campsite cleaned up before we arrived back at camp. All of the tents and equipment had been packed up and the students organized to leave. I heard people talking around me, but I couldn’t understand their words. I was unable to comprehend anything; the only sounds I truly understood were that of my own uncontrollable sobbing.

Someone carried me the entire way back to the bus which was running and waiting for our arrival. A hike that took over an hour just that morning seemed to take only minutes on the way back. We were loaded onto the bus and I was deposited in the very back, left alone to sob as silently as I could.

If only the extreme force of the energy I held were enough to cope with tonight it would have been enough. But it wasn’t just that, my friends were attacked tonight, attacked by people who had intended to kill us. I had to watch my friends fight for their very survival.

I was physically weak and inundated. But the realization of what I had done to other people, enemy or not was the truly crushing reality. I took four lives tonight. No one asked me to, and no one else could be held responsible. With the suggestion of no other person I chose to destroy those people. Despite the fact that I saved my friends lives in return for theirs, the truth remains: I was a murderer.

They weren’t even ordinary men, they were men like me. Whatever I was, they were. They possessed the same energy, the same electricity; we were the same, and I killed them. Their lives are over and for all I knew they were still lying there, piled on top of each other, in the middle of the wilderness.

I continued to sob until I was at last too exhausted to even cry and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. I could finally feel nothing and think no more. The sweet rest seemed to last forever and consumed my whole consciousness. I was aware of the bus arriving back at school, and I was aware of being taken to my aunt’s car, but through it all I refused to open my eyes and acknowledge reality.

Somehow, someone eventually placed me in my bed. It was there, under my thick comforters and surrounded by soft, feather pillows, that I let the sweet nothingness consume me entirely. I would have been perfectly happy to never wake up again. But of course, that was asking for far too much.

----

After what seemed like days of sleeping I finally could not keep my eyes closed any longer. Although if it had been up to me, I would never have opened them again. But fighting against my selfishness was the conscious knowledge that I had a moral responsibility to pay the consequences of my actions. I sighed deeply and contemplated whether I wanted to get out of bed or just call down for Aunt Syl.

The warm sunlight from my bedroom windows enveloped me as I lay on my overly soft, overly large bed. I was wrapped in warm blankets and surrounded by my favorite pillows. I rubbed my eyes as they adjusted to the light they hadn’t seen for what seemed like a very long time. I could feel how puffy and swollen they were, a consequence of the large amounts of sobbing I had accomplished lately.

I started to sit up, but still felt drained of all energy. I laid my head back down and wished I could stay there forever. I tried to swallow, but my throat was dry and scratchy. I didn’t attempt to move, unquenchable thirst seemed the least of my problems.

“Aunt Syl,” I called out, but my voice was nothing more than a harsh whisper.

“Sshhh…” she responded, entering my room with a glass of water in hand. Either she was a mind-reader or just a very good person. I sat up a tiny bit, taking the water from her. “I figured you would get up soon, and I thought you would need this,” I took a small sip and my eyes filled with tears; for being both grateful for the water and for having to face her.

I realized that she had been sitting just outside my door, waiting for me to get up. I wondered how long I had been asleep and how long she had been sitting there. I couldn’t hold back my tears as I thought about the pain I must be causing her. How could I explain any of this to her?

I gratefully gulped the glass of water down, spilling it all over my face and on my surrounding covers. I tried to speak again, but this time no sound came out. Tears continued to spill from my eyes and I hung my head in shame. Aunt Syl soon started crying as well.

She took the water from my hands and set it down on my night stand. Still crying she pulled me into her arms and hugged me, rubbing my back with her hand. She had never felt like much of a mother type before, but at that moment it was exactly what I needed. I felt like a small child, unable to comprehend anything that was going on outside of my own feelings.

“It’s alright Eden, everything is going to be alright,” she cooed soothingly, pulling my shoulders away from her and staring directly into my face. She brushed the tears away from my eyes and then her own eyes as well. She handed me a tissue from her pocket and I gratefully wiped my face with it. “There is someone here who needs to speak with you,” She tried to smile reassuringly, but I saw the trepidation in her eyes.

Without being asked, a man entered my room and cleared his throat. I looked up to see Principal Saint standing in my doorway, looking very grim. All of the horrors of the previous night rushed back to me and I was filled with dread. A sense of foreboding gripped my nervous system, and the tingling electricity filled my veins once again.