The room was still. Quiet. Tears continued to flow from my eyes as I whimpered, trying desperately to keep from sobbing after everything that had just happened. I jumped as I felt a hand on my shoulders, "Are you okay?" it was Christopher..

"I'm fine." I said a little harsher than necessary as I pushed his hand off. I instantly regretted it as he stumbled to the ground... He had put his hand there to support himself, not to comfort me..

He ignored my rudeness.. I wasn't sure if that made me feel better or worse.. I heard a slight cough from him.. he must still feel really sick, "We have to figure out what they're talking about." he stated.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Right now, they're out there, most likely looking up your name in the database. They're going to figure out who you are and then you'll be in danger." Christopher explained.

"Why would I be in danger? I don't even have a talent."

Christopher looked at me confused, "You don't know about your family's history, do you?"

'My family's history?' "I don't know what you're talking about.." I stated.

"Nevermind that for now.. We need to get James up." Christopher moved over to James and lightly shook him, "James" he whispered, "James, get up." he looked up at me as James began to stir, "See if you can undo his restraints."

I did as he said and went to the other side of James and worked on the knots, "I got them." I said, finally feeling just a little bit useful.

Christopher glanced up at me, "Good, now get Carissa." Carissa was tied up too next James.. 'Poor kitty' I thought to myself and went to work on her restraints.

"James." Christopher said as he sat him up, "What are you doing here?" his tone was much softer with James than it had ever been with me, it was concerned.

"I overheard that Katsu's team was going to try and kidnap you.. I couldn't just stand by and let it happen." James spoke as he rubbed his wrists where the rope was.

"You idiot." Christopher said, but it wasn't mean, "You shouldn't put yourself in danger like that." I handed Carissa to James. I had untied her rope, but she was still lethargic.

"Are you okay, Nichole?" James asked me as cradled Carissa in his arms.

I looked down at the ground, "Yeah.. I'm okay.." I really didn't want to think—let alone talk—about what had just happened during the time where James was still unconscious.

"James," Christopher started, "We need to know what Katsu's goons are saying about us out there."

"I got it." James replied. James then preceded to call a mouse out from a crack in the wall and it scurried up his arm. He then whispered something into the mouse's ear and it quickly took off out the door, "I used my talent to be able to hear what the mouse hears." he explained to Christopher and I.

I leaned into James and Christopher, "Wait, what about the barrier? Won't they know that you're using your talent?"

James looked pleased, "Nope. My talent doesn't require a lot of energy to be used. Unless I was doing something really big with it, they wouldn't notice the fact that I'm using it."

"Oh. Okay then." I replied.

I definitely had a lot to learn about these talents if I was going to stay at Kingston Academy.. But I only have whatever is left of today and tomorrow to miraculously come up with a talent and I don't know anything about Mel.. I tried to weigh my options. Maybe after this, I could escape instead of returning to the Academy. It would keep me out of jail.. but it wouldn't solve anything.. But if I go back to the Academy and I don't produce a talent then I will be thrown into jail.

"Hey" James said, "He's nearby Katsu's team. I'm going to repeat what they say, okay?"

Christopher and I nodded in response.

James:

"What have you found out from the database?" Katsu said.

"You said it was 'Nichole Lucent' right?" another voice began, "There's no record of a Nichole here. But if she's telling the truth about her name, then she must be a part of the Lucent family. Except they've been off the grid for over a decade."

"So she's lying then?"

"No wait.. Central Command has a side note here that was just updated this week. It says that the mother has been located in Ohio and it appears that she has a daughter. They sent Jasper there to take care of them, but he never reported back." there was a pause, "Do you think that girl could be her daughter, Katsu?"

Katsu was silent for a moment, "Damn, I don't know... She said she didn't have a talent.."

"But the Lucent family has the talent to choose what there talent ends up being. Maybe she hasn't chosen yet."

"I'm going to go call the Commander." Katsu said, "Keep looking to see what else you can find."

"Yes, sir."

Moments later the mouse scurried back into the room and onto James' hand. James and Christopher both looked up to me. For awhile nobody said anything. 'It can't be true' I thought. Mom never said anything about talents or mentioned anything about the Academy..

"We have to get you out of here." Christopher spoke up, avoiding any talk about what we had just heard.

"What do you mean, me?" I questioned.

"If what they said is true, you're in terrible danger. You have to get out of here and back to the Academy. James too, you both have to get out of here."

"No." I stated firmly, "We all have to leave. We all have to make it back to the Academy. That's the whole reason we're here, is for you."

Christopher paused for a moment, "Fine. Here's what we're going to do.." he started to lay out a plan, "I'm pretty sure we're in some kind of warehouse. James, I need you to call as many animals in here as you can to create a distraction and I'll take down the barrier. Once it's down, you take Nichole and the both of you head back to the Academy on Carissa. I'm going to take care of things here and I'll follow right behind you."

"What are you talking about?" I questioned him, "You're super sick and injured, you can hardly stand! What do you mean, you're going to take care of things here?"

James and Christopher exchanged glances, "Nichole.." James put a hand on my shoulder, "We need to trust Chris. He knows what he's doing."

I looked back and forth between the two. I wasn't satisfied.. But I guess it was our only hope to get out of here, "Fine," I said reluctantly, "But if you're not right behind us, we're going to come back for you."

"No." Christopher said, "If I'm not right behind you, get inside the gates of the Academy, then get a teacher and tell them where this place is... James, don't let them catch you guys, okay?"

James nodded, "Okay."

James then sat on the ground and closed his eyes, he looked like he was deep in thought. It took a moment, but then hundreds of mice and rats and a few various other rodents came clawing into the building. You could tell by the screams from the men outside the door.

"Okay, move out!" Christopher called.

James and I ran out the door, followed by Christopher. The rodents were everywhere and any men that were around were being swarmed by them. Christopher ran ahead of James and I with fists full of fire. 'He must be going after the barrier guy' I thought.

James and I ran down the hallway for the main entrance. Christopher was right, it was some sort of warehouse. It looked like they were storing weapons here. There were even crates labeled 'gun powder' on them. We kept running. Katsu's men were everywhere, screaming and smacking rodents off of them. I even saw some birds flying in.

"We're almost there!" James called out to me.

And together we ran faster. I could see the main door.. we really were almost there! We ran harder, pushing through the small animals and Katsu's men. A couple of the men tried to grab us, but we easily dodged them. Just one last final stretch and we were out the door without any barrier to stop us.

"It worked!" I said gleefully as breathed in the night air. Carissa jumped down from James' arms and transformed into the larger version of herself.

James jumped on her and held a hand out to me, "Let's go." he said.

"Wait." I moved towards him, "Can't we wait for Christopher?" I pleaded with James. I could tell he wanted to wait. That he wanted to leave here with Christopher too. But he was waring with himself over what Christopher had said to him about getting back to the Academy, "Please?" I begged.

James looked around cautiously, "Okay," he finally said, "But not here. We need to move away from the main entrance. Let's try to find a place to hide out."

I smiled, "Okay."

James rode Carissa and I ran along side of them.. I didn't want to ride on Carissa out of fear that James may take off back to the Academy before I was ready to go with me on her. We ran to the end of the building where there were several metal barrels stacked up around the corner that we could duck behind. We crouched behind them and Carissa shrunk back down to a kitten.

"How long are we going to wait?" James questioned after a few minutes had passed. You could tell that he was getting anxious.

"I'm not sure.." I answered honestly, "It would be better if we knew what was going on inside the building.. If he's made it out yet.." I was worried. He did say that he would be right behind us, but we hadn't heard anything yet. I turned and looked at James, "What about the mouse?"

He hesitated for a moment.. "Okay.." he finally said. And just like he had done before, he called a mouse up to his hand and whispered into its ear and then it took off back towards the building, "I don't think listening will do us any good this time.. So this time I'm using its eyes." James explained to me, "I'll describe to you what I see, okay?"

"Sure." I replied. I was pretty amazed with James. His talent was way more expansive than just talking to animals.

A minute or two later the mouse reached the warehouse entrance and James began to explain what he saw, "I see Chris." he began, "He's standing just outside the entrance of the warehouse, but he's not moving, he's just standing there. I can see Katsu too.. It looks like they're arguing. I don't understand why he isn't running though.. the animals are still there, he should be able to escape.."

I didn't like that.. Why wasn't he following us like he said he would? Unless... "James, is there anything else you can see? What kind of stance is Christopher in.."

"Uh.. defensive, his hands are out.. like he's going to use his fire.. Is he going to fight Katsu?"

"I don't think so.." I replied. I jumped up from behind the metal barrels and took off running back to the main entrance of the warehouse.

"Nichole!" James shouted running after me, "What are you doing?!"

"Take Carissa! Go back to the school and get the teachers! I'm going after Christopher!"

"But-"

"Just do it!" I yelled back at him.

I knew what Christopher was doing, why he wasn't following us.. It's because he never planned on making it out alive. Those metal barrels with gun powder.. I bet my life he was planning on blowing them up. I ran faster. Clouds had begun to form and a light rain began to sprinkle over the ground.

I could see them in the distance. They were still arguing. I crouched down behind a wooden crate nearby to listen before doing anything else.

"Come on Christopher," Katsu was talking, "think about it. I know you hate that school... How they hurt you.. Use you for their petty missions, disregarding the strain it puts on your body. Join us.. Take charge of your own body, be your own boss!" I couldn't believe it. Katsu was trying to get Christopher to join their side.

"I would rather die, than join sides with scum like you." Christopher was flaming.. Quite literally.

"That, can be arranged. I mean it is a part your rules, isn't it? Get captured and can't escape? Then you kill yourself, right?" Katsu smiled. He reached a hand behind his back..

'Oh dear Lord, he has a gun.'

Christopher stood his ground, "If I die, you all are going down with me." he lit flames in his hands.

Katsu pulled out his gun and pointed it towards Christopher. My heart rate jumped. I have to stop them, but how.. If Christopher doesn't blow up the warehouse, he'll be shot.. But if he does blow up the warehouse, he'll die in the explosion!

The flames in Christopher's hands grew taller.. he was about to make his move.. Which meant that I had to move now. It was my only chance! I jumped out from behind the crate and ran towards Christopher just as the flames began to spread out from his hands.

"Christopher you idiot!" I screamed, "Don't do it!" he began to turn towards my voice as I jumped on top of him, tackling him to the ground. A bright white light shot out from all around me followed by a cylinder of water that surrounded us. I heard a single gunshot that rang out into night, but it didn't hit anything.

I held myself up over Christopher, "You idiot!" I cried out, "What were you thinking! You could have gotten yourself killed!" he was panting and now drenched in sweat.. Just how much pain was he in? I began to cry, "You don't get to do that! James risked his life to chase after you! You can't just throw it away because of some stupid rule!" I wiped my arm across my face, "You have to come back to the Academy with us and continue to grow and stay with your friends." Christopher said nothing, but just stared at me in shock. The rain began to pick up and thunder could be heard in the distance.

"You bitch!" Katsu screamed. He picked me up by my wrist with one hand and then slapped me across the face with the other. I let out a yelp, "You want to die so badly, do you? Fine!" he pulled his gun back out, "You can die then."

"Keep your hands off of her!" He yelled. He was on his feet again and he ran towards Katsu and punched him in the face, releasing Katsu's grip and dropping me to the ground, landing in a puddle that began to form. He stumbled back a few feet and Christopher stood in front of me. The flames returned to Christopher's hands.

Katsu raised his gun, the look on his face terrifying, "I'll kill you both!" he screamed. The side of Katsu's face was burning where Christopher had hit him.

"Go ahead and try!" Christopher's eyes changed. They were sharper than before and I don't know if it was just the reflection of flames or what.. but they appeared to have turned red in color. Before Katsu could do anything else, Christopher shot his flames into the warehouse causing a chain reaction of explosions. Christopher turned around and scooped me up in his arms and began to run. We only made it a few feet though before we tripped and landed in another puddle. All I could think of was the need to protect Christopher from his own flames. If I could just do that everything else that's happened would be worth it. All the pain I've gone through, the journey I've been on thus far. If I could just help this one person in front of me, it would all be worth it!

I tried to focus on that.. "Lord, if I really do have a talent, let me use it now!"

And suddenly a wall of water shot up from the puddle we had landed in and created a dome around us. But the explosion still hit. It sent us flying across the ground. And I was again, unconscious.