Six Months 4

20 February, 12040.

Tora wiped the sweat off her brow and tossed the towel into her duffle bag after her sixty-minute workout session. It's been almost two weeks since Darren's accident, but the event remained fresh in her mind.

She had never felt so helpless in her life, not even when her father died.

At that time, the skills her father taught her while at the academy, piloting, and engineering, she used her skills to rescue him behind enemy lines. Even though he was injured, she brought him home, and he died in his wife's arms in their home instead of stranded in an enemy nation. Even though she disobeyed orders, she never regretted her actions. She used her skills to their fullest potential to protect someone important to her.

Unlike that time, Darren, another person who was important to her, put himself in harm's way to save a stranger. It was just like him to do that. He always put others before himself, whether or not they were friends or strangers. She was okay with that. It was his kind and sympathetic heart that saved her when she was stranded in what was a foreign land to her when she was eight. She just wished he would think of his own safety, his own mortality before he went rushing into dangerous situations.

The feeling of helplessness when she could not protect him ate away at her mind. Tora looked down at her palms before she curled her fingers into a tight fist.

If only it was like when she was younger, when she had her powers, she would have been able to protect him. She would have been fast enough to bring that little girl to safety in a matter of seconds so Darren would have no need to run in to save her.

She lost her powers, somehow, during a car accident when she and Darren were younger.

That December day was especially hot, and they were going to cool off at the public pool. As they crossed the street, a car came from nowhere and hit them. She was strong and shielded Darren before the car hit him, but the impact between her and the vehicle caused a shockwave that sent her and Darren flying.

When she woke up in the hospital, her silver hair had turned brown and the powers she had had since the day she was born disappeared. There were some traces of her origins and abilities left like her silver eyes, her strength and stamina, and the wisps of blue light that emanated from her hands.

Tora grieved that day because Darren could have died, and there was nothing she could have done about it. As she looked at that man who simply flew away, without a care for consequences, she was overtaken by anger. She was angry at herself for her own helplessness and the fact that she could do nothing to avenge Darren. She had no power that could threaten the person who harmed her loved one.

But that day had already passed, and there was nothing she could do to change that.

Tora threw the gym bag over her shoulders before she turned toward the door. As she walked out, she ran into one of her students. "Have a good evening, professor Carlisle." Tora simply turned and smiled at the girl who was stretching on the mats.

Tora often ran into her students when she used the school gym and the pool. She finished her classes by fourteen-thirty hours every day. As she started a new workout routine, it was more convenient for her to use the college's facilities instead of going to another gym.

Plus, it's free; not that she had problems with money, but she was just stingy with her hard-earned cash. She would not go to an expensive gym when she could use one for free.

She also did not mind running into her students outside the classroom.

In fact, she encouraged her students to come to find her in the gym or during her lunch if they had questions. Unlike some professors, she did not mind running into her students and holding a conversation outside office hours. So long as she was at the school, she would make time while she was swimming or running on the treadmill, or lifting weights.

"Have a good evening, Lila."

She made it to her car in the parking lot and tossed her bag in the backseat. Before going home for dinner, she had one more stop. She furrowed her brow and thought otherwise.

'I'll have dinner an early before going there, or else I might not be able to eat tonight.'

Looking at her watch, it was twenty-five minutes before sixteen hundred hours. She could eat.

As she turned out of the parking spot, she quickly pressed the break as someone passed in front of her car. "The hell…"

Instead of moving when she stopped, the woman remained standing in front of the car. Tora was sure she did not hit the woman, so honked her horn. When the woman remained in place, Tora opened the door and got out of her SUV.

"What do you think you're doing, charging in front of my car like that?"

"Good afternoon, Miss Carlisle." said the woman as she walked to Tora.

Tora recognized her immediately. Tora looked at her up and down, dressed in a designer dress and beige blazer. Tora walked up close to her. She looked down at the woman as she towered over her even though the woman wore heels, and Tora was in flat sneakers.

"Can I help you with something? Do I know you?"

The woman simply smiled. "We haven't met officially, but we met the Sunday before last." She fished a business card from her pocket, holding it toward Tora. "I'm Laura Lamont. I'm the publicist for Electro and the Super 7. I work with Jacob Morrison."

Tora took the business card, glancing at it before looking back at Laura. "Oh, really. Well, what can I do for you?" she said, keeping her kind demeanor. No matter how much she wanted to knock the living daylights out of the tiny woman, she did not show her frustration to Laura.