The Loner Read online

  I’m slower, and there’s a tightness in my arms, but the pain is bearable. I’m not at my best, but I can still move.

  Wayne’s head bobbles from the force of my hook, but I know it’s not enough to do him in. I follow up with a straight, but he weaves under it, and sticks me with an uppercut. My head bobs back from the impact, but I manage to stay conscious even though my sight blurs from the impact. He doesn’t give me a chance to recover, but instead goes for the kill. Wayne throws a straight, and I try to beat him by countering with a jab. He stops his punch midway, catches my arm, and uses it to pull me into a hip toss that shoots me to the ground.

  The impact from his throw leaves me out of breath. I managed to prevent my head from hitting the ground, but there was no way to save my back and side. It was a feint. The thought comes to me a second too late to react, but quick enough for me to realize that I have no time for idle thoughts. Wayne’s good—he has to be to make up for his short range.

  “You sure you don’t want to give your powers a try?” he asks while standing over me, confident in his victory.

  “Positive.” I groan. Wayne extends his hand out to me, and I grab it. He hoists me up to my feet with no issues whatsoever. Typical. What’s sad is that I know that he was holding back.

  “Again?”

  “Yeah, just give me a bit.” I exhale. “Nice moves.”

  “Do you need an icepack or—”

  “No, I’m fine. Just tired. I still haven’t recovered from earlier.”

  “I can tell. You’re slower than usual. Usually, you’re like greased lighting when it comes to this sort of thing.”

  “I know,” I answer, not hiding my disappointment. “It sucks. That right there was pretty one-sided.”

  “You handicapped yourself. I don’t know what you were expecting.” Wayne shrugs.

  “Fair enough. If we’re being honest, I’m not too sure, myself.” I sigh and take a seat on the ground.

  “You lack the strength to be able to seriously hurt me—even if you go all-out.”

  “Thought so...” While it’s true that I’m at a disadvantage without my powers against Wayne, it makes for a great learning experience. It’s just like he said...I don’t have the raw strength to hurt him, so he’s the perfect training partner for powerless combat.

  “Are you ready to go again, or do you need more time?”

  “...I think I’m good to go.”

  Wayne and I go again, and again, and again, each time with clear diminishing returns on my end despite the effort that I put in. Wayne, on the other hand, remained more or less the same—a secondary trait of his powers is resilience to fatigue. My strength had faded, but it was a tradeoff well worth the price. Fighting while exhausted only served to make me better.

  “Want to call it quits? You can’t really even put up a good fight anymore, Aiden. Aiden?”

  “Yeah,” I rasp. “Fine by me.” I exhale into the air from the ground, sprawled out and completely out of energy. “How much time do we have left for class?” I ask, my eyes closed to protect them from the beaming sun.

  “About twenty minutes.”

  “That long, huh? Okay, well I’m going to lay here for a bit and head over to the locker room to change.”

  “Yeah, man. Knock yourself out. I had fun, but it would have been more of a challenge if you would have used your abilities. Do you really think they’re that unstable?”

  “I know they are. My powers are crazy... But don’t act like I didn’t get a few good shots in. If you weren’t you, I’d be the one standing right now.”

  “Ha, don’t kid yourself... I had you beat.”

  “Now, yeah, but when we first started, I gave you a run for your money.”

  “All the more reason for you to learn how to control your powers. I can’t turn mine off, so this will always be the outcome until you figure out how to use yours. Some mountains you can’t climb through grit, alone. You only end up getting hurt.” Wayne’s right, and I’ll be sure to spar with him again once I build up my confidence in my abilities. Using them again wasn’t worth risking his safety or my own. Hopefully the next time we spar things will be different—especially if I can learn how to project my flames.

  “You guys done yet?” My eyes shoot open at the sound of her voice and I immediately sit up. Kaci. Kaci’s here—I mean—of course she is, but she’s talking to me. Us. “Looks like you wore Aiden out,” she says teasingly and flashes a friendly smile.

  “He didn’t want to use his powers.” Wayne shrugged. “I tried to warn him.”

  “Better luck next time, Aiden.”

  “Wait, you wanted him to win?!?”

  “Well, you’re my teammate and they beat us last time, so not necessarily. I just got tired of watching something so one-sided. It was a massacre.” She shrugs. Wow. And just like that, Kaci picked up my heart and ate it. Her dis is nothing less than pure devastation, but in order to save face I have to act like her words mean nothing to me. “Yeah, Aiden, you shouldn’t give yourself a handicap. You’ll just get beat up. Bad. Wayne’s a tough guy to beat,” she says and places a hand on his shoulder.

  “...I got some good hits in,” I say, trying to redeem myself.

  “But you still lost,” Wayne says, happy to drive her point home. “You put up as much of a fight as that boulder Von’s been pounding for the last hour.” We all look his way, still going at it, away from the rest of the students at a breakneck pace. “What a beast... It’s kind of scary.”

  “Anyway...Tristen and I have some things we want to talk about regarding our strategy in case we end up working together again. It shouldn’t take too long to get you up to speed. We already worked out the kinks.”

  “All right. Sounds good to me. Later, Aiden.”

  “Bye, Aiden.”

  I stand to my feet just as they turn their backs to me and walk away. In the distance, Tristen’s waiting for them, his eyes looking past them and focused on me. I don’t back down and neither does he. He hasn’t said anything to me since our fight, but I can tell from his demeanor that he’s waiting for his chance to get even.

  Kaci says something to him, and his focus falls on her, breaking our mutual gaze. I wipe off the dirt from my shorts and turn away from them only to find Summer marching my way, her face twisted with anger.

  “We don’t take kindly to traitors around here.” Summer fashions her hand in the shape of a gun and ice begins to form at the tip of her index finger.

  “Traitor? What do you mean?”

  “What do I mean? What do I mean?!? Oh, that’s rich. Ha, that’s exactly something a traitor would say.” The ice on her pointer finger begins to form into a sickle and I back away slowly while waving my hands in front of my body.

  “Wayne? We-we were just training together. It’s not like that. I swear!”

  “We don’t operate like that here on Team Blue... It’s called consorting with the enemy.”

  “Consorting with the—wait, but I’m the leader,” I remind her.

  “Yeah,” she says after powering down her ice bullet, “that’s true. My mistake.” Summer turns her back to me and takes a step forward, stopping just before her foot hits the ground. “Think fast.”

  “Wh—”

  Summer spins on her heel and shoots a ball of ice my way—a surprise attack while I was least expecting it. I act on reflex, cutting my hand horizontally in front of my body while activating my flame. I manage to line up the projectile with the palm of my hand, and my flame melts it before it can cause me any harm.

  “You’re fast,” Summer says just as a blinding pain cuts across my core from using my powers. I was so focused on the ice bullet that I didn’t realize that she was still on the offensive. Summer takes advantage of my temporary paralysis and sweeps my leg, sending me to the ground. Before I can react, she makes a sword of ice and extends it all the way towards my throat, “but not fast enough.” I accept my defeat, and Summer dissipates her sword.

  “I’m exhausted,�
�� I proclaim.

  “Not my problem. No one cares about how tired you are.”

  “It was a surprise attack.” I sigh and rise to my feet.

  “Again, not my problem.” Like, when it doesn’t feel like my arm is about to fall off, for starters.

  “...You’re right, but I’m starting to get the idea that you only come after me when you can lead with a cheap shot,” I muse.

  Summer snickers and a set of ice claws form over her hand. “We can go right now if that’s how you feel. No one’s stopping us.”

  “Maybe some other time.” I was able to use my powers on reflex this time, and surprisingly, it didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would. It still sucked, but I think I’m getting better.

  “Thought so.” Her ice dissolves into thin air, cooling the space around her. She’s really good at using her abilities as she sees fit. Every time she crafts something new, it comes out almost instantly. It’s crazy if you think about everything that has to come into play for her to pull off some of the things she does.

  “Did you and Erik come up with a strategy or anything to work on?”

  “No. I had some things I needed to focus on myself, and I don’t know where Erik went.” I don’t have the energy to get into an argument with her, so I stop my sentence before it even starts. “How’s it going with you? Your powers getting easier to control?”

  “I’m getting there.”

  “Yeah...you should probably take it easy before you end up on a stretcher somewhere. I should have dragged you to go see a nurse yesterday.”

  “If you care so much, then why didn’t you?”

  “I had to get my workout in, and you insisted on being a hardass.”

  “Whatever.”

  “You’ve got a long way to go and killing yourself isn’t going to help you get there any faster. If you want to get better, train smarter, not harder... And go see the nurse... Bruises don’t look good on you...or anyone for that matter. Get yourself fixed up before people start asking questions.”

  “...Yeah, I get it. I’ll go.”

  Seeing that Summer is right, that’s just what I do.

  I could have gone to Mr. Hoover, but I don’t want him to think that I’m being reckless. The teachers are already keeping an eye on me because of my unique situation, so I don’t want to bring any more attention to myself than I already have. I thought I was putting in extra work by testing my limits, but Summer was right. If I’m going to train, I need to work smarter, not harder. If I don’t, I won’t make it to the end of the semester without serious injury.

  When I reach the nurse’s office, I do everything they ask... The paperwork outlining who I am, my abilities, and what category they fall in, and then my student ID code as a second source of verification. It’s somewhat of a lengthy process, but I get why it has to be done. Students here can do a lot of things, sometimes powers can have adverse effects on conventional means of treatment or cause the norms to be off. Like, Tristen’s body temperature may not be that of a normal person’s because of his connection to fire, for example. I don’t think anything about mine would warrant any kind of special treatment, but then again, I never really looked into it. Uncle Erwin never seemed worried about that sort of thing, and he would have told me beforehand if he thought there was an issue.

  A part of me slightly regrets not asking Mr. Hoover to heal me. It would have saved me the trouble of being anxious at the nurse’s office. I could have explained my thought process to him, and maybe even ask for some pointers on how to get my body used to my powers... On second thought, that would have been a train wreck. He’d just lecture me about how he gave me a simple task to do and I overdid it and did more harm than good or something like that. Besides, the nurses on campus are here to heal us. It’s their primary job. Mr. Hoover is top-notch, but that isn’t his main responsibility here on campus. He can heal, and he does, but he’s a teacher first. He only heals when things go too far. I’ve learned that abilities like healing take a lot of stamina to use, and of course, the more lethal the injury, the greater the cost. It also takes a toll on the person getting healed as well. Things don’t magically get repaired. Their abilities stimulate your cells to speed up the healing process. The healer’s cells are used to cause the increase in metabolism, but since accelerated regeneration is not a native trait for many, it can leave you feeling slightly lethargic. For that reason, the nurses heal you just enough to get you on your feet and let your body naturally handle the rest while also using modern medicine. If that wasn’t the case, everyone would be in and out of the infirmary twenty-four-seven.

  “Aiden?” After some waiting, a woman in a nurse’s uniform opens up the door that leads out of the waiting room and calls my name. She doesn’t look that much older than me. Late twenties or maybe coming up on her mids. “Right this way.”

  “O-Okay.” She opens the door for me and I slip through just as she begins to pace down the hall at a tolerable pace. I can tell she’s busy, but she’s trying to be courteous.

  “First visit, Aiden?” She flips through my paperwork while we walk, navigating the office by muscle memory.

  “Yeah. I’m new here.”

  “I see that. Less than a month in and you’re already here. You must be making waves. What seems to be the issue? You said here that your injuries are minor, but you have a question about your abilities? Can you elaborate on that? You’re a projection type, correct?” The nurse opens a door to a smaller room and I get a glance at her nametag—Brenda. “Take a seat.” She closes the door behind us after she steps in and begins to type on the laptop stationed on the standing desk next to an assortment of medical supplies.

  I try my best to get comfortable on the exam table, but being that I’m so sore, I only get relief from pressing my back against the wall. The adrenaline’s worn off, so everything aches.

  “Right, projection.” A small flame sprouts from my palm. Not enough to cause me serious pain, but it does sting.

  “Okay, I’ve never seen anything like that before, seriously cool...”

  “Thanks.” I call off the flame. “It hurts when I use it. Not all the time—I mean, not always. I just got them too and I started to use them, and I think I used them too much if that makes any sense. It’s nothing major, and I’m probably overreacting, but last night my arms hurt so much that I couldn’t move them. I’m a late bloomer, so I don’t really know what’s going on and I don’t know who I can talk to, really. At least not anyone who has a similar ability.”

  “Your parents?”

  “I’m adopted,” I answer. “They had no clue that this sort of stuff existed. It was my uncle who had the knowhow...but he didn’t seem to know much. He wasn’t necessarily talented. He could just do some cool tricks.”

  “What’s his ability?”

  “Ice. He can use ice, but not like how some of the students here can. Nowhere near.”

  “So it hurts when you use them? I think you’ve just overexerted yourself, Aiden. It’s kind of like how when you pull a muscle. Ever had a serious one? It’s nothing nice,” she says in a reassuring tone. I’m thankful that it isn’t anything serious, but there’s nothing wrong with double checking just to make sure. “Does that sound about right to you?”

  “I think so. I’m not sure.”

  “Okay, well let’s handle your other injuries first. What happened?”

  “Went a bit overboard during class today. Sparring.”

  “Ah, I see. You’re an advanced student. I saw that on your profile. You have a bright future ahead of you, but you should be more careful. We haven’t spoken for ten minutes yet, and I’m already starting to notice a trend. There’s protective gear, you know.”

  “I know. I wasn’t thinking. It’s nobody’s fault but my own. I wanted to experience the real thing.”

  “Combat? You know the story of Icarus, right? Pace yourself or else you’ll burn out.”

  “Yeah... I learned my lesson. Trust me.”

  “Good. Okay, I�
��m going to heal you now. Are you ready? Just try to relax.” I nod, giving my consent, and Brenda puts her fingertips on my forehead. As soon as she touches me, pulses of warm energy begin to flow through my body—almost to the same rhythm of a heartbeat. Was it a heartbeat? It feels different from when Mr. Hoover healed us. It’s calmer. More inviting. After a few seconds of her healing passes she removes her fingertips from my head and rests them at her side. “...Okay, that should be it,” her voice slightly less upbeat than before, “but don’t go anywhere. I’m going to get another professional to look at you to see if he can answer some of the questions you have about how you’ve been feeling with your powers. He should be able to help you. He should be free.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  Brenda leaves shortly after that, and I’m stuck waiting until she comes back. Thankfully, there’s a knock on the door to my room not even five minutes after she left. “Aiden?”

  “Come in.”

  “Aiden, I’d like you to meet Dr. Kresnik.” Brenda steps into the room and there’s an older man lingering behind her. His build is slender, but he has a strong stature and a broad back. It’s pronounced, even with his hands behind his back.

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise, Aiden. Greetings,” he says while moving deeper into the room. “Brenda tells me that you’re unsure about a particular aspect of your powers, correct?”

  “Right.” I nod. “They’ve recently awakened...reawakened...and they’ve been giving me trouble. I tried to get a handle on them, but I think I overdid it. I’m not sure.”

  “Well, I’ll be the judge of that. All I need for you to do is be still for me. Relax, and lay your arms on your thighs, palms up.”

  “...Okay.”

  “You use your arms to discharge your energy, correct? Ms. Brenda tells me that you’re a projection type.”