Chapter 17: Control

Cloe sat with her shoulder against the glass wall, listening to the rain she watched as the droplets raced past each other merging as they went however, her mind was elsewhere.

The memory she had recalled kept playing in her mind.

She knew that the little girl was her younger self but she had no idea who the woman was. It was eating away at her slowly.

Even though the sky was completely overcast she could tell the rest of the evening was slipping away as the woods seemed to darken. The rain started right as she was headed back to her room, the better part of her morning was spent in the pool. Derek had been impressed by how quickly she had grasped the basics of swimming. Pleased with the progress they made he had let her off for lunch.

Then he disappeared, she guessed that he was probably in his office but she had no intention of seeking him out. The sound of the rain was the only thing that offered a bit of peace for her racy mind.

She vividly remembered the woman telling her that she had to learn how to control 'it' but she had no idea what 'it' was but she concluded that it had something to do with how she propelled herself out of the pool. Spontaneously she raised her hand to the glass, pressing her hand against it closing her eyes.

Feel

Cloe was baffled by the thought that pooped into her mind because she knew for a fact that it wasn't her's opening her eyes she saw that the key was once again floating up off her chest. Her first response was to remain completely still, viewing the key as some sort of exotic mythical creature that would return to dormancy if she made any sudden movements.

The key stopped glowing and fell back against her chest.

Letting out the breath she was holding she stared down at the key wordlessly. Slowly she pressed her hand against the glass and closed her eyes, she waited for the voice to pop back into her mind.

Nothing.

Taking a deep breath she decided to concentrate on the warm sensation that was building at the base of her spine. The sensation crept throughout her until her whole body was warm, a slight vibration pulsed in her veins as she seemed to be radiating energy. The sound of rain stopped abruptly and she opened her eyes. She found herself once again in the field of blue roses. Tuning she spotted the younger version of herself and the woman.

"Your emotions are connected to you're abilities, the stronger the control you have over your emotion the better the reign you have over your abilities... Now try again." the woman calmly instructed.

Cloe tried walking around them to get a view of the woman's face but she only managed to get halfway as the field of roses erupted into millions of tiny water droplets rising up around them. The little girl had her eyes closed, she seemed to struggle for a bit but eventually, her face relaxed into a siren expression, the water droplets collided and began to flow in long circular streaks around the girl's tiny body.

"Very good." the woman cooed.

"Now attack me," she added.

The little girl tensed her calm expression gone.

"Why?" she asked, the water streaks encircling her began to break and deform.

"Focus young one, you might need it one day..." the woman chided.

Reluctantly the little girl tried to regain control. The water circling her slowly hardened into ice. Taking a deep breath she stomped her tiny foot sending big spears of ice hurdling toward the woman.

Cloe's gasped closing her eyes she wasted for disaster to unfold.

A few seconds went by.

Her ears were met by silence, when she dared to open her eyes she was back in her room. The water droplets on the glass had frozen, staring at it in awe she slowly removed her hand from the glass. The droplets immediately unfroze and resumed their journey down the glass. The key felt warm against her chest, clutching it she rose to her feet and made her way to the door.

***

Racing through the halls Cloe made her way to the front door. Running down the stairs her clothes were immediately soaked by the downpour that had only gotten worse as the evening progressed. She shivered her teeth beginning to chatter, pushing past that she called forth the warmth that began at the base of her spine. As it radiated throughout her body it chased the cold away, the pulsing vibration began radiating outward. She cleared her mind taking deep breaths, opening her eyes Cloe saw that the rain droplets were now flowing toward her encircling, she saw the water leave her clothes to join the spiral.

Her feet no longer touched the ground as she levitated a few feet above it. Concentrating she froze the water surrounding her forming sharp spikes.

"Be careful with those." a voice rang out breaking her concentration.

She fell abruptly the spikes following. Bearly having enough time to process what happened she found herself seconds away from being impaled by a spike. It froze right as it was about to make contact erupting into water droplets before crashing down on her.

She stayed still for a while.

"Are you ok?"

Sitting up she looked up to see Dereck quickly descending the remaining stairs umbrella in hand.

"I'm fine," she said getting to her feet as he got closer.

The cold creeping back in she began to shiver uncontrollably. Holding the umbrella above them both he was about to say something but decided against it when he saw the state she was in.

"Let's go inside," he said tersely.

As they ascended the stairs he wrapped an arm around her pulling her against him. Cloe was grateful for the warmth and support as she feared her legs wouldn't carry her fast enough with how badly she was shivering. When they got inside Cloe braced herself for a well-deserved scolding but instead, Derek pinched his brows and sighed.

"Go get changed," he said walking away.

She didn't need to be told twice.