ENTERING SKY HIGH

BY PHOENIX FURY.


CHAPTER 2:


Phoenix slowly opened her eyes.

"Phoenix." She turned her head to the nurse and Principal Powers beside her.

"Mmm..." She put a hand to her head keeping her eyes covered. It felt like someone was drilling into her temples.

"How do you feel?" Nurse Spex asked.

Her head hurt and she felt like she could sleep for a week, otherwise brilliant. "Like I was hit by a truck."

"Well you did crash into the ground."

"That would be it," Phoenix said.

"Has that ever happened before?" The nurse asked.

"Never like that." Phoenix had never felt it that intense, it scared her.

"It is most unusual but I think I may have an answer." Medulla said as he entered.

"We did a brain scan. Most people use between 5 and 15 % of their brains but you have a small amount of extra brain ability in the area that Psionics, telepaths for example, use. This is just developing which I theorize is why you had a bad reaction today."

"You mean it's going to get worse?" Phoenix asked with dread.

"With our help you will learn to control it." Principle Powers reassured he girl.

Medulla ignored the interruption. "During your demonstration you showed telekinetic ability as well as elemental power. Nurse Spex has tested your senses, the results show you have heightened senses, more advanced then a normal human would be." The nurse took over so she could explain her findings.

"Your eyes are feline, while your hearing is both feline or canine. I think you'll find you're extremely agile and fast as well. Your powers seem to be going through puberty which is why they're growing. Also with that fact that you block them, means they build up so when you let loose it's like a dam exploding." Nurse Spex said as she handed Phoenix a drink.

Phoenix absorbed what she said and tried to keep calm. But what she really wanted to do was go home and hide under the covers and go into denial about the whole thing.

"Are both your parents Superheros?" Medulla asked curiously. She had a lot of power if she came from a strong superpowered background it would explain it.

"I don't know." Phoenix looked at her hands and shrugged. "My mother died when I was young, I don't remember her. My father is hardly ever there to ask."

"Oh."

Phoenix stayed looking at her hands. "I didn't hurt anyone did I?"

"No everyone is fine. The gym might need clearing up a bit but otherwise fine." Diana said softly.

Phoenix sighed gratefully.

"That bracelet needs to be reconfigured to act as a filter not a block or you will cause yourself damage. It will still cut your powers off when needed but otherwise act like a sieve filtering your powers through slowly. So you learn to control them." Medulla explained. "I should be able to reconfigure it tomorrow. We'll work in the white room, which negates powers. Much like your bracelet does with yours. I want you to make a list of what set your powers off, any situations that got out of hand. Write them down and explain how it got started and how it ended. We'll see if we can find a pattern."

"Ok."

"Here's your class timetable. You'll need to have extra classes for you to learn to control your powers. You'll spend tomorrow learning about your new skills testing out some ways of control. You will join normal classes the day after tomorrow." Diana said. "Now you better get your stuff and go to the bus."

"Thanks." Phoenix said softly picking up her bag and slipping the papers in the bag. She nodded to the nurse and left.

Diana watched the girl walk across the quad to the bus.

"She worries me," Nurse Spex said quietly also watching.

"She holds a great amount of power," Medulla said looking at the test results they had.

"And it's our job to teach her to control it," Diana said.

"That wasn't what I meant. She's underweight, very sheltered and what she said about her family… she just seems so alone. To have that much power with no one to lean on or turn to when it gets too much…" She trailed off unsure how to put it. "She will crash and burn under the power she carries if we don't watch carefully."

Diana silently agreed with the Nurse as the bus flew their new student home.


Phoenix sat by the window trying to stay awake. She was so tired. She just wanted to sleep but she would have to wait till she got home for that. Why did it have to be so complicated with her?

Why couldn't she be someone else? Why her?

"Father why do I have so many powers?" She'd asked when she was eight lying weak on the bed after she'd lost control of her powers.

"You are gifted. Special." He said softly stroking back her hair from her pale face. "You will do great things. You just have to learn control."

Her powers were a curse not a gift.

And now her powers were growing and they wanted her to use her powers, to control them. And she couldn't.

How could she control something so powerful? What if next time she hurt someone?

She had tried for as long as she could remember to try and control her powers and nothing worked. All it did was get worse.

(Think positive.) She said to herself.

Maybe Medulla could help her. After all other kids at school had powers surely there were others who struggled for control like she did.


Warren got onto the bus and saw the new girl by the window. Her eyes were closed and she looked paler then that morning. Gossip had spread like wildfire through the school about the girl who had trashed the gym. Will and his friends had been having a PE class when it happened and had seen her powers. Fire and floating things was the way Zach described it.

(How a little thing like her could do that much damage I don't know.) Warren took his seat next to her. Usually he ignored everyone but she intrigued him and he didn't even know her name. Maybe it was because they shared a power.

"Tough day?"

"Long and tiring." She groaned opening her eyes slightly.

"I heard about the gym."

Her eyes snapped open and blinked. "Does everyone know?"

"Kind of." Warren could see it hadn't occurred to her that the school would talk about her. Why wouldn't they want to talk about the girl that made the fire alarm go off?

"Oh great, my day is officially complete." She said sarcastically.

Warren couldn't help but give her a small smile or rather smirk. "Hey it can only go up if you're at rock bottom."

"Knowing my luck I'll start digging."

Since no one was on the bus yet Warren decided to go for broke. "Warren Peace."

"Phoenix Firestone." She said giving him a shy smile.

Phoenix, the mythical bird of fire that dies and then is reborn from its ashes. "It suits you, after all your power is fire."

He liked her name, she blushed slightly. "One of them anyway."

Warren was impressed. Most had one power that could be used in different ways very few had powers in different areas. "It's cool that you have more then one power."

Phoenix almost snorted. Cool. Ha! "No, its not."


Phoenix walked through the door and went straight to the kitchen. She opened the fridge door looking to get a drink.

"How was school?" A voice said from behind her.

"Eeek!"

Despite her powers being blocked, in heightened emotion her powers leaked through. In other words when she got surprised she flew smack into the ceiling. Hard. As she had just done.

She grabbed hold of the cupboard and started pulling herself down to the ground. When she was horizontally at her height she shut her eyes and took a deep breath and as she let it out. She imagined being a feather floating to the ground. If she imagined say a brick then unlike a brick crashing to the ground she would feel pain. When she felt solid ground she grabbed onto the sideboard. (If I have heightened senses why didn't I sense him?)

"Hi Father." She said softly.

He merely had one eyebrow raised at her display. She held back a sigh. He always made her feel like a child despite rarely saying a word to her.

They didn't look like father and daughter. Dr Michael Firestone was 6'3ft compared to Phoenix's height of 5'2. He had steel grey eyes and black hair with white streaks at the sides whereas she had red hair and dark blue eyes.

"I got a message from your school saying something about a mishap."

She tried to be cheerful as she rummaged through the fridge. "I aced my tests but they suggested that I read all the freshman stuff just so I know what everyone else does. I got the tour and…" He lent against the side waiting.

(Let's get it over with.) She did sigh this time, in defeat. "They wanted to see my powers… and well it didn't… go well."

"You lost control."

She held back a flinch at his cold tone. She answered despite the fact he didn't need an answer. "Yes."

"Next time control yourself." He got up and left.

She slumped down into the chair at the island. (Where's the Father who actually used to smile at me or did he never exist?) She sighed.

She got her bag and went upstairs to her bedroom. She flicked off her shoes and dumped her bag and jacket on the bed and looked at the stacks of boxes. She hadn't quite finished decorating yet and her room was far from unpacked.

Might as well carry on, it would help her keep her mind of her first day.

She threw open the windows, turned on the fans and changed into her decorating clothes, threw the paint sheets over everything and gathered the pots of paint. She got the platform her father had made it was it a little bigger then a surfboard, it helped her lie on her back and paint the ceiling.

She started painting the ceiling near the window in sunset colours; pink, gold, red, orange, and then to the ceiling over her bed it looked more like a midnight sky in purple and blue with silver glitter for stars. Because the room had high ceilings the colours made the ceilings seem lower but the light painted walls made it seem larger.

She paused briefly for the bowl of chicken and fried rice Xian brought her but otherwise kept herself busy decorating her room. She didn't do her evening exercise routine because she wanted to get her room done hoping it would feel more like home after she had finished.

After it had gotten dark she had finally finished and she got changed and finished sewing the blinds together. Transparent material of same colours she had painted the ceiling in, even though she wasn't a big fan of pink, but the light would shine through the material changing the colour of the light. She hung up the blind and hung up her paintings.

She got changed for bed and started unpacking the boxes of books. She loved to read escaping into the realm of fantasy was better then reality. Soon all her books were unpacked and on the shelves. She unpacked a box of personal bits and bobs; framed photos, candles, ordainments.

She pulled out a framed photo of her with her father. She must have been about six. His arm was around her shoulders and he had a small smile on his face while she was grinning. It had been so long since she had seen her father that happy. He hadn't hugged her in years; he barley even touched her now.

He had distanced himself from her as she grew older, especially when her powers had started getting stronger. He didn't talk to her anymore. He talked at her, telling her to this or that but the warmth was gone. She had always thought it had to do with her mother dying and leaving him with her to raise on his own. He never spoke about her; Phoenix didn't even know her mother's name or what she looked like. Her father would shut down if she asked questions.

It made her think he loved her very much and just didn't know how to be happy without her.

Phoenix tried not to think about it. It wasn't her father's fault that he didn't seem to love her. He cared, she never went without, he gave her the best education and opportunities.

Phoenix put the picture on her bedside table and looked around her room.

She had a hanging lantern linen lampshade in the middle of the room but preferred the softer wall lights that were dotted around the room. She had an overstuffed armchair near the bookcase with a standing lamp. A desk in the corner with her computer on top and all her art equipment. There was a window seat under her window and double doors led out onto a balcony.

Her bed had two duvets because she liked to be warm and hated the cold with a quilted throw over the top done in red, blue, purple, silver; her favourite colours, with small amounts of gold and ivory. Lots of pillows and cushions for lying against.

At least it finally felt like hers.

She checked the time and decided she needed to sleep and climbed into bed and was asleep within minutes.


"They know about her powers."

"Even she doesn't so I doubt they do. No they saw a glimpse, that's all."

"This is risky Master."

"No. They teach her to control her power and then we use it against them. They will give us the perfect weapon to destroy them with." He smiled coldly.


END OF CHAPTER 2.

REVIEW PLEASE.

PHOENIX FURY.