My head was throbbing and aching with pain. My eyelids felt heavy and my vision was all a blur. The heat. The heat was excruciating. My skin felt like it was being boiled in a microwave. My forehead was dripping with sweat and I could see the sunburn beginning to form on my arms. My legs felt like heavy steel. They were tender and sore and I knew I couldn't walk much longer. My stomach was the worst of it all. My stomach growled every few minutes and it felt like someone tied a rope around it and pulled as hard they could. I didn't remember the last time I ate. It could have been days, maybe even weeks. We walked up the stone steps to a school called, Coates Academy. The inside looked like there had been a bomb explosive. The walls were falling apart and the ceiling and floor were smashed and some ceiling had caved in. The whole building was dusty and ruined. We walked down a large hallway and entered a dining room.
"Caine," Drake said cheerfully. "Look what I picked up." Drake's whip smacked me on the back and urged me forward. I bit down on my tongue to stop myself from screaming from the pain. The teen named Caine, stared at me. His expression was unreadable. I didn't know whether he was angry or happy, but either way I wasn't thrilled.
"Drake," a girl said from the corner. "You can't just go around kidnapping people off the streets. It's wrong and cruel." The girl had long, dark hair and her face was grim.
"Diana's right," Caine agreed. "I mean, we don't even know anything about her. For all we know, she could be working with Sam."
"I don't think so," Drake disagreed. "I found her wandering through the forest. She looked lost and confused." My hands balled into fists and my heart was pounding heavy against my chest. Caine finally stared me straight in the eyes and his face softened.
"What's your power?" he asked.
"I don't know," I answered truthfully.
"Diana, read her." Caine ordered. She sighed and got up and crossed the room. She reached for my hand and carefully placed it in hers. Her hand was ice cold compared to mine that felt like it was gonna fry off. My hand was only in hers for a second before her eyes widened and her mouth fell slightly opened.
"Well?" Caine asked. Diana didn't seem to hear him.
"Quit stalling," Drake snapped. Diana finally snapped back to reality and turned toward Caine. She took a deep breath.
"Six," she said quietly. "She's a six bar." Caine froze. He wasn't sure whether he heard right or not.
"S—six?" he stuttered. "A—are you s—sure?" Diana nodded.
"You're a lying, filthy, piece of shit!" Drake roared. His tentacle wrapped around my throat and squeezed my lungs. He threw me up against the fall and I could feel the impact of his body crushing mine. "What can you do? Tell me?" he demanded.
"I wasn't lying," I cried. "I don't know what my power is. I don't know what it's called or what exactly I am doing." He didn't buy it and tightened his grip.
"What can you do?" he repeated.
"Don't get me mad," I whispered.
"I can do whatever the hell I want," he barked.
"I warned you," I said. I lifted my hands slightly up and closed my eyes. All of a sudden, the windows shattered and glass went everywhere. A large gust of wind came in and swirled like a tornado over everything. The tables spun in mid air, paper flew, and everyone, but Drake and I were high in the air. Drake loosened his grip and I squirmed out and ducked. Glass went flying around the whole room and the dining tables flew out of the window. I lowered my hands and everything stopped and came crashing to the ground. It took Drake and Caine a second to register everything that had just happened. Drake finally turned his cold, dark eyes toward me and was about to slash me with his whip when Caine interrupted.
"Knock it off, Drake." he whispered. He sounded lifeless. I looked at his expression and it was mixture of anger and astonishment.
"But—" he began.
"Are you arguing with me? You better not be. Drake, I will send you flying through the wall before you can even touch me with that whip of yours." Caine threatened. Drake frowned and stared at the floor. Diana was too shocked to speak, but Caine just smiled, weary at me.
"Welcome to Coates," he said flatly.