This story is keeping me pretty busy in addition to my daily routine and I haven't been able to get myself in the mood to write everyday like I want to to since it makes it easier when it comes time to post. Thankfully due to my ambitiousness earlier this month it has managed to put me ahead and leave me a little bit of leeway as far as that goes.

On another note I would like to thank Shiloh for their review on my last chapter. I had fallen into a rut as I had aforementioned but their words had rekindled my inspiration to share my story. Thank you, what you said means alot to me and I'll do my best not to disappoint.

Chapter 11: Not Quite Right

It was still dark outside when he woke with a start eyes wide in a cold sweat gasping for air. He recoiled on himself curling into a tight ball on his side blind to everything but the pain that coursed through him, the aftermath of his nightmare. A cough racked his body with tremors, a hand flew up to cover his mouth. When the after minutes passed and the coughing fit ebbed into painful shallow gasps he pulled his hand away. Even in the pitch black his eyes could see his fingers were slicked with blood.

With a grimace he fisted his hand wiping the remaining crimson liquid from lips. This had been going on for a few weeks now, almost every night he would wake from the same dream only bits and pieces sticking with him each time. His body paying some sort of price for the images that passed behind his eyelids in the form of hacked up blood. Slow in his movements he rolled over in his bed so that he faced his bare room thankful that he had been spared having his caretaker share it with him as was customary. But still she roomed just across the hall from him in an equally small barren room with nothing but a bed, dresser and compact writing desk.

Reaching under his bed he dug out a blood-crusted rag undertaking the task of cleaning his hand before it could dry. Running along each of the creases of his left palm he took care that he didn't miss a single drop. Giving his hand a thorough inspection he tucked the rag into the crack between the metal bed frame and the wall away from prying eyes. Drawing his arms back under the thin blanket he shivered closing his eyes willing himself to fall back asleep.

The bell tolled the hour, one, two, three, four, five times. He cringed at the sound loud in his ears pulling the blanket over his head. It's chime echoing in Renos' skull, absolute and unrelenting. Still he clenched his eyes shut but light was starting to peak in through the curtained window above his bed. Down below he could hear the stirrings of the other boarders of the dormitory as they prepared for the day.

Technically he didn't have to be awake for another two hours but he knew that no matter how much his body protested he wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep anytime soon.

Careful as he moved his aching limbs to the edge of the bed he slid a foot out onto the cold floorboards then the other righting himself to a sitting position. Pressing his palms to the mattress he stood with an effort. Eyes roving about the room at a dizzying speed. He reached out and grabbed the bedpost steadying himself waiting for the black dots spotting his vision to fade away. For a brief moment he considered playing hooky from the day's chores but if he did he'd be pulled aside by a worried Sister Azmaria. The chores themselves weren't particularly taxing but having to put up with the girls in passing groups more than made up for it what with their chattering, giggles and finger pointing.

He relinquished a sigh closing his eyes in another attempt to clear them. Regardless of whether or not he attended to today's tasks he was going to being running himself beyond ragged he'd have to put all his focus into keeping himself on his feet. Prying his azure orbs open to no more than a squint he stumbled over to his dresser going to the top drawer to pull out his underclothes, then down to the next taking out a pale blue button up shirt with a pair of black pants.

Shuffling into a worn pair of Order regulated slippers for its boarders he grabbed a towel from off the top of his dresser and headed out the door for his floor's showers. If he was quick enough he could be in and out before most of the others turned up to freshen up for the day. He had to admit that it was rather convenient that his room was so close, though the female one was all the way at the other end of the hall. Despite feeling weak he made it into the washroom where he stripped down folding his clothes on the bench provided in the dressing area.

Wrapping around his waist he padded into the quiet showering area, straight into his usual spot in the corner closing the near transparent door behind him. He tossed the towel onto the door and reached up to untie the cloth that sheathed his long platinum blond hair. Taking up one end of the white material he cast it over the stall door that stood about a foot and a half above him. With his other hand he reached out to the knob twisting it turning on the shower head. Lukewarm water rained down, a slight turn and it warmed up considerably.

Going through his routine he started with his hair, face then extremities. He closed his eyes listening to the cascading water taking deep breaths, in then out. Water had always been calming to him in ways that a heart to heart could never do for him. It released the stresses that he felt and rejuvenated him. Whenever he touched water he felt a strength like no other surge up in him, something unexplainable. Though through practice he discovered that he could manipulate it to a degree. In moments when he was alone he would exercise this muscle, part of the reason for his early risings no matter the amount of sleep he had.

Opening his eyes he held his cupped palm out in front of him collecting droplets at its center. Focusing on it he willed the liquid that pooled there to stay in place unable to overflow on either side or from any cracks in his fingers. A collection built up quickly piling higher than his curled fingertips. Tossing it up he weaved it through the stream ribboning through the droplets growing longer as more water was added to it. He was sure that his eyes were glowing as a blue light seemed to refract through crystal clear liquid, a smile turning up the corners of his mouth.

The door to the dressing area creaked open letting in a cacophony of young male voices. Concentration ruined his ribbon of water fell apart puddling on the tile floor flowing into the drain at his feet. His body froze in place.

"Ugh, I don't want to go to alter duty today." Groaned one.

"Neither of us do, there's so much prep involved." Agreed a second.

"Of course it's the one night I can't sleep." Complained the first.

There was an audible sound of the door closing behind them, slippered feet padding lightly on the tile.

"Hey, looks like somebody else is up." Noted the second voice with an air of curiosity.

"So what?" Grouched the other exhaustion clear in his tone.

Renos tensed up nerves on edge his mind screaming at him for having spent too much time in the shower. Eyes searched the stall at a loss, get out now and he would be seen by the other residents of the floor or feign ignorance to their ever having entered and wait until they entered a stall to escape. In this thought process he didn't realize that he had frozen the water droplets in midair surrounding him in a curtain beads of water. His heart beat hard against his ribcage unable to decide neither option being very favorable.

When there was no response from the other boy's counterpart he presumed that he had made some form of gesture or dropped the subject altogether. Within minutes the two boys were entering the shower room in near silence one was groaning all the way to a stall on the far side of the room. He waited for the two latches to click in place and the water to kick on in both of them before realizing what he had done to his stall. When there was supposed to be sound of shower heads kicking on there was quiet.

"What the heck?" Griped the more vocal of the two.

There was the distinct squeak of the handle being turned back and forth in either direction with no result.

"Hey Sven! It not working for you either?" Called the one who had spoken before, there was a creak of the stall door to tell Renos that the boy was leaning out of it.

"Do you hear running water Darrell?" Came Sven's retort seeping with sarcasm.

"Well, no." Darrell started.

"Then what do you think?" Sven snapped with a dull thump that sounded like it could be blow to the wall.

Renos sucked in a breath that seemed too loud in the quiet room. Try as he might he was having difficulty calming himself down. Breathing exercises had been all but abandoned, flexing his hand he willed himself to ease his control over the water. Distantly he could hear a faint rumbling coming from the pipes, he tried not to focus too much on it. He drew himself up to full height dislodging a dew drops from where they hung but not knocking them down and closed his eyes shutting the boy's chatter out. Clearing his thoughts he managed to attain a state of mental calm, probing deeper he felt a well of power within him surge up forcing itself out before he could stop it.

His eyes snapped open just as there was the telltale knock on his stall. He didn't have the chance to make out their words as all he could hear was the rush of water. Each of the nozzles shot off their conduits, he dropped to his knees with bruising force. Scalding hot water sprayed everywhere with enough pressure behind it to throw open stall doors so that it pooled in the center of the small room.

Hesitant he propped himself up with shaky arms and looked up. Seeing the door of his stall on its hinges the lock blown, splayed a few feet away on the floor was one of the boys unconscious bleeding from his temple. The other was staring at him with a wide eyed expression of bewilderment a few paces between the two of them. Feeling exposed he scoured the slick tile for his towel finding it crumpled not two feet away. Blue eyes shooting back to the boy who had been staring at him found that he had moved over to his friend whose skin looked pale against his shock of red hair. It seemed that he was forgotten him for the moment so he drew the towel to him and despite its dampness wrapped it around himself for some form of modesty.

His mind screamed at him to leave before things got worse, it would only be a matter of time until somebody came in for he was sure that it had effected the other floors possibly even the other side of the building. He didn't want to be there when it came to the moment to assign the blame, it was the middle of summer there was no logical reason for the pipes to burst so violently otherwise. Still he couldn't bring himself to just leave them there even if the water pressure had ebbed to no more than a trickle. Again he distracted himself from the decision by searching around for his hair tie, casting his eyes about the room he found that it had been caught by the weak current that led to the drain. Shoulders sagging he permitted his eyes roam back over to the boys resigning himself to whatever fate had in store for him.

"How is he?" Renos asked crawling over on his hands and knees not trusting his legs to keep him upright.

Sven jumped at the blond's voice glanced over at him then caught himself staring for too long returned to the form of Darrell lying in two inches of water.

"He won't respond," He answered doe brown eyes looking up at Renos' azure, "That door had hit him pretty hard when it swung open."

Renos nodded.

"May I?" He asked.

Sven gave him a reluctant nod scooting aside for the other boy. Renos reached out with two fingers probing the cut along Darrell's hairline. He could fee the beginnings of swelling and discoloration around the affected area both were things that he had been able to heal on himself but after what had happened he couldn't trust himself to do the same for someone else.

"I think he should be okay." He reflected aloud raising his eyes to meet with Sven's.

The brunette was looking right at him but not meeting his eyes his gaze was aimed a little higher. He stamped down the urge to cover the mark he had no doubt noticed embedded on his forehead instead choosing to look away in shame giving his limbs ans experimental movement.

"What is that?" Asked a breathless Sven.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see the boy's raised finger gesturing to the spot. The flinch came as an automatic reaction and his shields went up.

"It's a curse." Renos answered in a haunted voice.

The doors to the adjacent changing room burst open a group of men still dressed in the nightwear rushed in and over to the boys.

"Are you boys okay?" One of them asked crouching down beside them placing a hand on the nearest shoulder golden eyes roving over them.

Renos shrugged off the man's hand.

"We're fine." He stated with cold detachment, "He was hit in the head." Gesturing towards Darrell with his chin looking down on him.

"What about those burns?" The man inquired pointing at Renos' back.

He opened his mouth to get the man to leave well enough alone and tend to the boy at their feet when a voice reached out to him.

"Renos!" Called Sister Azmaria pushing through the circle of men a mid-length dark blue robe tied over her long white nightgown she dropped to her knees beside him. Her eyes gave him a once over her mouth forming a silent gasp when she came across the burns on his back.

"Sister?" Spoke the man that had crouched down next to the boys.

Another man from the group stooped over scooping up the unconscious boy in his arms proceeding to carry him out of the room Sven close behind sparing a short glance over his shoulder before he disappeared.

"Yes?" The Sister replied taking Renos by the shoulders helping him to his feet, she leveled her eyes with his amber ones as he stood as well.

"He with you? I haven't seen him around before." He inquired of her.

Renos averted his gaze to the floor watching with intimate detail as miniscule currents formed in the shallow water about their feet creating eddies then tapering off again. To his surprise he wasn't feeling woozy like he had back in the garden with Teresa but yet he knew that he had used up so much more energy than he had then. He shivered in spite of the heat flooding the humid room. Sister Azmaria shifted her hold on his shoulders pulling him closer to her as if in response.

"I'm his caretaker." She answered. "If you have any other questions feel free to ask them at your leisure once I've seen to my charge."

"I will." The golden eyed man gave a nod accompanied by a warm lopsided smile.

Turning with Renos in tow Sister Azmaria cast her words over shoulder.

"My quarters is the first door on the left." She said heading in the direction of the changing room stopping only to pickup the small bundle of clothes that he had placed in a neat pile on one of its benches.

At the door she let go of him long enough to open the door and escort him out. Together they crossed the the fifteen paces to Renos' door ducking inside. Once the door was closed behind them Sister Azmaria released him taking a moment to lean against the cool surface. Behind him he could hear her let out a heavy sigh, he reluctantly turned around to face her. He was greeted with a towel to the face. When he removed it he could see a mix of emotions battling for prominence in her features but her ruby eyes told him all he needed to know. She was afraid for him.

"What happened in there?" She asked folding her arms against her chest in a non-threatening manner.

Pulling the towel away from his face he scrunched it up in his hands focusing on it as he mulled over his answer. Speaking the truth would probably be easiest, it would also be another slight against his caretaker. But he wasn't fond of the fact that he had screwed up again with no choice but to have someone clean up after him. Sure his was still a child but he didn't act like your conventional one.

"I thought it was pretty clear that the pipes burst." He muttered still staring at the cloth he held.

"Yes from a brief look I could gleam at least that much, but how did it happen?" She pried.

"The building's old maybe it just failed." He supplied toying with the material teasing a loose strand.

"Renos, there was no hiding the guilty look on your face when I entered the shower room. Tell me, exactly what did you do?" Chided Sister Azmaria lifting up his chin with a slender finger so that their eyes met.

He scowled and jerked his head away.

"I didn't do anything." He rebuked putting emphasis on 'do'.

Her gaze narrowed squashing the softness that they held.

"I'm saying I wasn't the one who wreaked the shower room." He answered in a threatening tone that was close to being a growl.

"The what pray tell was it that caused the showerheads to fly off their mounts like that?" She countered with a level voice.

"It just happened. Wasn't expecting anyone else to be in there this early in the morning, they caught me off guard." His voice was a thin reedy sound.

The Sister's eyes lit up.

"You lost control again." She stated.

He kept quiet unable to deny it his lips pressed into a thin line his body trembling. She paused a moment then embraced his shoulders in a loose hug.

"It's becoming more frequent. First the train, then in the garden and now this." Her voice came out as a sigh. Her fingers reached up to stroke his hair. "Your powers seem to be coming unstable."

She pulled away to look in him the eye, he fidgeted. Memories of his dreams flickering across his vision causing him to double over lungs seizing.

"Renos!" Exclaimed Sister Azmaria going down with him keeping him from hitting the floor.

He went down to his knees Sister Azmaria guiding his head to her lap. It took every fiber of his being not to cough up the blood being forced from his lungs. Instead he swallowed the coppery liquid and panted from the temporary lack of air.

"I'm taking you to Professor Armand." She said voice laced with worry.

Looking forward to next week's post!