Darron sat in his office drumming his fingers on the smooth wooden desk. His eyes burned from dryness and his head pounded. The past few days had been physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. From little events like Jack and Sterling's squabble, to ones of a larger magnitude like Dakota's amazing recovery and Paul's attacks, Darron had been tried in every way and now savored the few precious moments he had to himself.

But the impending doom pervaded his peace and hovered over him constantly. His brother David was a very moralistic, noble man, but Darron felt he lacked the aggressive skills necessary for a leader, or at least he had recently. He had been told the story of how he had impeached Paul and taken over the counsel, but now he seemed, hesitant, as if he were afraid of sinking to Paul's level. Someone else would have to take charge if David did not soon, someone on the Counsel. At the last meeting Dakota seemed ready to lead, however he lacked experience, and who could blame him? Even though at the age of eighteen he was considered an adult, he still had only lived eighteen years, a relatively small amount of time.

Light from the hallway poured into his dark office and burned his eyes. He looked up into the long slit to see Candice leaning in. The light surrounding her gave her an angelic look.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," she said. "But we need to talk."

For a moment he simply stared at her. Something in the way she spoke, in the way she held herself intoxicated him, but he shook himself of his trance and invited her in. She eased down as one unit into the leather office chair and looked directly at Darron, eyes unwavering.

Candice could not take them off Darron if she tried. She had always respected him. His daring move in creating Darkwood Community against the old Counsel's wishes had saved many lives. Finally she began.

"We need to help Dakota," she said. "I see the amount of potential he has, but, we both know, he has little experience. I think if we can guide him he can be a powerful, in expendable leader."

Darron felt the corners of his mouth pull up. "You always seem to read my mind Candice." He sat staring at her for a moment, consumed by her. But then, his mind clicked back to the matter at hand.

"He does have amazing potential doesn't he?"

"Yes. I see a change getting ready to take place. One sign is that he will gain power without an adrenaline rush." She said, her green eyes glowing. "It would not surprise me in the slightest if he gained a large sum of powers in the near future."

"So, what's our plan? Do we simply encourage his leadership and help him with decisions? Or do we trust his wisdom?" Darron asked.

Candice ran her fingers through her short red hair. "Take each experience as it comes," she suggested. "If we feel a decision he makes is a bad one, we can simply guide him to better one. I feel he only needs a little help. He is very wise for his age."

Darron nodded. It seemed so very strange. For almost 200 years, ever since he had joined with his brother and entered the community of the "paranormal", they had been waiting for someone with Dakota's extraordinary abilities. David's first clue that Dakota had the potential to have these qualities was the intensity of his power when he first obtained it. When most gained their power, it started off weak, rather insignificant, but Dakota could already lift whole trains with his mind, a feat that had taken David almost ten years to master. Now, all they were waiting for was a rapid gain of power, and with Candice's reassurance, Darron felt the time draw near.

Candice's guess was right. The very next day Dakota came running into Darron's office saying that over the night he had gain not one, but two new powers. He had been sitting in bed reading when his eyes started to burn. No matter what he did they would not stop. He washed them with water, put eye drops in, but nothing helped. After about thirty minuets of this, the incessant burning had reached its brink. All the heat seemed to sweep itself out of Dakota's eyes and onto his book. He threw it in the sink to extinguish the fire and sat staring for a while in complete bewilderment. Then, he spent the next hour learning to control it out in the park. On his way back to the mansion Sterling nearly ran him over with his car, but Dakota stopped it with one hand. Darron smiled at the stories. A rapid gain of power like that meant only one thing, the time had come.