HEY-YO! Just warnin' ya; this chapter might be a little slow. OHMYGOSH, I had TOTAL writers block and couldn't think of ANYTHING to type till last night! UGH! I DO NOT own TDI of any of the TDI characters! PEACE!__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I sighed as I filled a pot with water in the kitchen.

Mom and Daddy were still passed out, cuddling. Instead of putting the pot of water on the stove, I put it over my hand. Hey, saved me a trip to the other side of the kitchen. Besides, I never got to use my powers at home. So while my parents are out, why not?

I let the fire roll through my arm down to my left hand, it snapping into a giant flame. I laughed. Seeing my hand and fingers on fire always made me giggly.

It wasn't going to take as long as it would on the stove, but I was still going to be standing there a minute. So I used my brain to reach over to the phone hanging on the wall and picked it up, it floating up to my ear.

I thought Duncan's home number and my brain punched it in. Telekinesis rocks.

"Hello?" Duncan's sister, Dana, answered the phone.

"Hey, Dana," I said when the water started to boil. I walked over to the stove and set the pot down, turning on a burner, shutting off my fiery hand so I could grab the pack of pasta from the pantry. All the while the phone was following me around, an inch from my ear. "Can I talk to Duncan?" I grabbed a big spoon and set it in the pot, using my mind to stir it. I grinned while I spun my finger around in a tiny circle, making the spoon spin the noodles around. Okay, so the pros of having powers were much greater than the cons.

Dana was silent for a moment. "Isn't he with you?"

I dropped my finger, the spoon halting in the pot, water sloshing out. "No. He went home."

"Oh," she said. "Well...maybe he stopped and got something to eat."

I shook my head all alone in the kitchen. "No. We went out and ate. You sure he isn't there?" Though I try to treat her like an adult, 14-year-olds can't be trusted 100 percent of the time...

"Yeah. He's not here."

I was taking short, shallow breaths. Okay. I was starting to panic. "Wait," I said. "Maybe he did stop. Like...maybe he needed gas! That's it. He probably needed gas."

"Oh, he always has enough gas," she muttered. "Well, I'll give him a call on his cell."

I started talking before she finished. "That's okay. I'll do it."

"Okay," she replied slowly. "I should probably let my mom know he's not with you anymore, though."

"Oh, don't bother Sheri," I said. Why involve Duncan's mother? She'd probably just get worked up over nothing. "But I'll let you know if I hear anything, okay?"

She sighed, as if unsure. "Um, okay, I guess."

"Great, bye." I hung up before she completed her sentence. I slammed the phone back down on the base with my powers as I drained the pasta. I had it float back over to me, then I grabbed it and dialed Duncan's cell phone number.

It went straight to his chipper, badass voicemail. "Hey, it's Duncan. Guess I don't have my phone right now... Either that, or I was too lazy to charge it and it went dead in my pants. Anyways, leave a message and I'll try to call ya back." Beep.

I tried to even my voice out as best as possible. "D-Duncan, it's me. Dana and I were just wondering why you weren't home yet. Yeah, I called Dana." I sighed. "I know, she'll probably freak out your mom, but you're starting to worry me. So please call us both when you get this, which'll hopefully be soon since–"

It beeped and cut out, saying "End of message. To page this person, press 5 now."

I sighed again, grabbing the phone (with my hand this time) and hanging it up. I stood still in the middle of the kitchen for a moment. Okay. His phone is either off or...dead in his pants. He's not home yet when he should be. Well, maybe he's just getting gas like I thought, and maybe he just doesn't have his cell with him.

Hmm. I frowned, pouring a big can of red sauce into the bowl with the spaghetti, mixing it up.

Mom groaned from the entryway, a groan by Daddy following.

"Ugh...what are we doing on the floor?" Mom asked in a daze.

Dad sat up, and I set down the bowl of noodles to go help them up. I sighed internally. Oh, well. Using my powers in the house was fun while it lasted.

"Here," I said, holding my hand out to help him up.

He looked at me in horror and gasped, shakily standing and backing away. "Get away from me! You freak! Stay back!" See? What'd I tell ya?

I laughed nonchalantly. "Daddy, uh, what are you talking about?"

Mom ran over and put her arms around him. "You know what he's talking about! The fire! The fire you can make with your hands! How do you do that?! Does it hurt?"

I stared at them in faux shock. "Fire? From my hands? Okay, you guys must've had some pretty trippy dreams, 'cause I have no clue what you're talking about."

They kept looking back and forth from me to each other. "Bu- But what about your sparky hands?" Daddy asked, dumbfounded.

I rolled my eyes and looked at them like they were idiots. If only the knew. I held my hands up and looked at them. "'Sparky?' Yeah, here's a way to describe my hands: skin. There, all better. Who wants dinner?" I spun and skipped to the table, Mom following close behind.

"But...remember?" she breathed. "You snapped your fingers and then you had fire on the tip of your..." She trailed off, grabbing my hand and examining it. "It was impossible."

I laughed. "Okay, seriously, Mom. Chill." I pulled my hand back. "Chill."

She sighed, rubbing the side of her neck. "Well, maybe it was a dream." She shrugged. "I mean, that's kinda silly; fire on your hand without even burning it? Please," she chuckled.

Dad still didn't look convinced. "I'm not so sure, Letta," he grumbled, keeping his distance from me. "I know what I saw, and that was not a dream."

They sat down at the big dining room table in the dark red room, and I set their plates in from of them. "You guys are being silly. It was just a dream. Really. I have dreams like that all the time."

Mom and Dad looked at each other for a moment. "Yeah," he agreed. "Just a very, very weird dream."

Mom nodded, and I smiled. "Okay," I said. "Then dig in."

It was hard falling asleep last night. I had tried Duncan's cell numerous times but had no luck reaching him. When I had called his house the forth time in that hour (2am), Dana had just yelled at me to get some sleep, and that if Duncan didn't show up that night, he'd probably be back in the morning.

Oh, if he wasn't back by morning, I was going hunting for badasses.

When I woke up and dialed his house, the same thing. "He's still not here, Courtney." It had been his mom, Sheri, this time. She sighed yet acted as if it were no big deal.

"Then where is he?" I demanded sleepily. Without thinking, my powers reached over to my hairbrush and picked it up, bringing it over to me while I was sitting on my bed, worrying. "He should be back by now. Why hasn't he called? Is he–"

"Courtney, sweetie," Sheri said. "This has happened many, many times before. He disappears for a few days, he gets back unscathed, and is just indifferent about it as if it never happened."

I frowned. My brush was yanking on my hair robotically while I was painting my nails a deep blue. I didn't wanna think about Duncan leaving and not even mentioning anything to me or his family.

"Don't worry, honey." I had forgotten Sheri was still on the phone tucked under my ear. "I'm sure he's fine."

I sighed heavily. "Thanks, Sheri. Let me know if you hear anything."

"You too, bye."

I hung up the phone and whipped it across the room with my invisible mind-hands in utter frustration. It hit the wall and clattered to the ground.

"Courtney, what was that?" Mom called up.

"Nothing," I replied. "Sorry." I closed up my nail polish and had it float over to my desk, same with my brush. I chuckled at myself. Wow. I had never really used powers in the house since last night. Now I'm just doing it will-nilly like I've been doing it forever.

I'll never forget when I first got my powers...

I was 10 years old, attending a very boring piano lesson. I had taken my usual spot and watched the teacher anxiously. I wanted her to get on with it and finish it up.

"Hello," she said breezily, eyes closed as she danced in front of her class of 7. Her waist-length honey hair twirled around her and her flowy hot pink summer dress spun like her hair.

"Good afternoon, Miss Autumn," the classed chorused.

"Welcome back." She stopped in front of the big black piano and flipped through a song book. "Today we are going to practice the Star Spangled Banner. Any volunteers?"

"Oooh, ooh! Miss Autumn! Over here!" a blonde-haired boy in a blue blazer said. His hair was coiffed and styled to perfection. I mean, it's not like I wasn't. My mother had dressed me in the most horrid "appropriate" dresses. You know, the ones with the big bows and poofy skirts. Please, I was 10.

"Mathew," Miss Autumn had called, pointing to him. "Thank you very much. Why don't you come up and try it out?" Her eyes went blank when he sat down at the bench in front of the instrument. She turned spacily to me and stared.

I started to shrink down into my seat, feeling self-conscious.

She shook her head once and went back to smiling at Mathew. "Now, you know the notes, just put 'em together and play what feels right." She glanced at me again. fascination pouring out of every feature in her face. "Courtney? Can you assist me with something in the back, please?"

Everyone turned to glance at me, and I blushed. "Sure," I squeaked, hesitatingly standing and following the teacher to the back. I was wondering the whole 6 second walk if she was going to sexually abuse me. My mother had warned me not to go off with strangers, but this was my piano teacher – I had known her for two years.

Miss Autumn pushed open the door to the back of her lesson room, grinning at me as I stepped inside. She quickly locked it once it was closed and scrambled around the room, ruffling up the books on the bookshelves.

"Uuuhm..." I looked at her uneasily. "May I help you find something?"

"Courtney, babe, you can help me by just standing right there." She grabbed my arms and pushed me into the center of a bright white circle painted on the floor.

I looked down and gulped. My temper spiked then, and all the manners Mom had taught me scurried away. "Okay, what the heck is going on here?" I had demanded. "Why do you have me locked in a dark room and in the middle of a big creepy circle? What are you planning on doing to me? My mom's a lawyer, and–"

She cut me off by placing two fingers on my lips. "Hush, dear. The Gods have alerted me that it's your time."

My eyes widened. "Am I dying?!"

She laughed, grabbing a book off the shelf closest to me and flipping through it. "Of course not." Her eyes brightened when she landed on a certain page. "Excellent."

"What is going on?!" I shrieked, sprinting out of the circle and bolting for the door. Dang. The locks were too high. I turned to face her. "Do you do this to all your students?"

She laughed again. "No, dear. Now get inside the line." She pointed sharply at the circle on the ground.

"I don't want to."

"Now," she hissed.

"Something freaky better not happen to me," I said bitterly, stomping into the circle.

"I have to transfer energy into you," she murmured, standing before me with a book in her hands. "Avaterion Ishakavique Domastue!"

Little sparkles danced around me. At first, I thought I was my eyes playing tricks on me, but it had to be something supernatural.

"What the..." I gaped all around me as the sparks grew closer. I looked over and saw Miss Autumn on the floor, sobbing. "Oh my gosh, what are you–"

"Stop!" She held her hand up to stop me. "Stay in the line! But listen!" She inched closer to me while I stayed put. She grabbed my dress and looked into my eyes fiercefully. The sparks got brighter, surrounding us in while light. "You must not misuse your powers as I have!"

"Powers?! What–" My mouth dropped open when a gaping black hole appeared in the floor behind her, terrible winds stirring up the air in the stuffy room, papers and light objects flying everywhere.

I held my dress down as the wind grew stronger, the light growing brighter. My hands had started to burn and turn yellow. I held them out in front of me and gasped. "Gah! What's going on?!"

The black hole was sucking Miss Autumn back, her clawing at the ground and grabbing onto random things to try and stay put.

The winds increased, pulling her further backwards.

"Miss Autumn!" I shouted, reaching out for her.

"The circle!" she screamed. "Stay in the circle!" Her face crumpled as the winds further blew her back, her feet and legs falling into it.

"No!" I could barely see her anymore; the lights had grown so bright and clear. My hands were now bright orange and my head tingled. I squinted, trying to spot my teacher. Only her head stuck out, and she gasped before being sucked the rest of the way in. Papers flew around and smacked us in the face, winds growing even stronger than before. I was holding onto a pipe by the window and started crying.

"Don't screw up," was the thing she had screamed before falling into the darkness completely.

"But I..." I trailed off as slumber overcame me, engulfed in that bright, ultra-white shine.

To this day, I still haven't figured out what she had meant.


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