Control

I woke up in the middle of the night on the couch, my head on a chest? I look up and see Grey. I looked for my phone and found it under a cushion. 3:35am. I rubbed my eyes and looked around the room. Nothing seemed off so I went back to sleep next to him. He started rustling around, unintentionally moving closer to me. I closed my eyes, feeling safe in his presence.

There was a loud crash coming from across the apartment, causing me to wake up. I see that the sun is out and Grey isn't on the couch anymore. I slowly get up, finding my way across the apartment to the guest room. I suddenly remember the nightmare I had the night before, causing me to debate on what I should do. I take a deep breath before pushing the door open, finding Grey on the floor.

"Are you okay?" I laugh at him before slowly walking over to him. He quickly gets up, pretending like nothing happened.

"Why did you come in here?" I sat on the bed.

"Oh, I woke up in the night and realized I should give you space." He rubbed the back of his neck shyly. I giggled at his response.

"It was fine, I didn't mind. Did you fall in your sleep?" He nodded at my question.

"Shouldn't you be resting? You're still sick aren't you?" Grey questioned me. I just sat on the bed, stretching my arms out. He crossed his arms across his chest. His messy hair was all over the place.

"Yeah, that doesn't mean I can't walk across the apartment. When does school start? You should head out soon to get ready at home then leave for school." I rubbed my eyes, getting up.

"I don't have time, do you have extra clothes that might fit me? I'll come by some time later tonight but I have to go home and get changed." Grey looked around the room.

"I mean.. I have an old shirt and sweatpants?" I pointed into one of the drawers, revealing Peter's old uniform, I had to borrow once due to showing too much skin in school once.

"Who's are these?" Grey gripped the sweatpants.

"Oh, my best friends. It's from a while back. Why?" I left the room, him following behind.

"No reason, I'll go change in the bathroom." He walked off to the bathroom. I went over to the kitchen and grabbed some painkillers. I didn't know if they were going to help but it's worth a shot. I grabbed a cold bottle of water and opened it before I opened the pill bottle. I took a pill and drank some water to help it go down. I heard the bathroom door open up and looked back, the shirt was kind of tight on Grey. I don't know if I want to laugh at him or just stare.

"Uh, the shirt. Did he have a sweater or some sort?" Grey tried moving around the shirt but it seemed so uncomfortable. I pointed at the closet and he opened it, revealing the numerous amount of big hoodies.

"I like comfortable hoodies. Pick any one you want." I took another sip of water. He took off his shirt and grabbed a black hoodie. I felt my cheeks heating up so I looked away.

"Do you want breakfast?" I asked Grey.

"Yeah sure. Anything is fine. Do you have any spare toothbrushes?" Grey wandered into the bathroom. I went into the bathroom with him and took out the extra toothbrushes. I tried walking away and slipped on something, causing me to fall. Grey tried catching me but he fell along side with me. He fell on me, but put his hand at the back of my head so I didn't hurt it. I looked at him with wide eyes.

"Is your hand okay?" I picked up my upper half, resting it on my forearms.

"Yeah, how's your body?" He moved his hand around before putting it on the floor, next to my side.

"It's fine." We both soon realized the position we were in, and we both scattered away from the other.

"You can brush your teeth first." I rushed out of the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I stood in the hallway dumbfounded on what just happened. I felt another pain but this time it was in my chest. I walked towards the dining chair but I felt weaker by the second. I fell onto my knees a few feet away from it. I heard chanting from a distance, and footsteps getting closer. I tried getting back up, but everything ached.

"Vio." I heard the bathroom door opened and Grey rushed to my side. He tried touching me but he wasn't able to.

"What's going on?" Grey asked nervously, he tried helping but couldn't. There was a barrier around me, formed by my magic? I tried putting it down but it won't.

"I don't know. This hasn't happened before." I mumbled. I slowly got up, an aching pain in my side and leg. I limped over to a chair, catching myself.

"Olivine." I heard Grey call out my name. I looked up to see the magic around me acting up.

"Grey, get out. Now." I shouted at him. He shook his head and stayed still. The magic barrier pushed against him, causing him to back up.

"Olivine, you can control it. Prove that you're strong, prove it to yourself." He yelled. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths before trying to stop the magic. My body was aching the whole time but I had to save him from myself. I felt a burning pain in my chest but I didn't stop. I looked up to see the barrier slowly deforming. I tried catching my breath but couldn't properly.

Grey ran over to me, checking if he can touch me. He placed his hand on my cheek.

"You did it." He looked deeply into my eyes, trying to relax me. After a few seconds, I finally recollect myself and breathe properly.

"That was the first time something like that even happened." I winced at every movement I made. He stared at me before I saw an idea spark in that clueless brain of his. He picked me up from the chair walked to the couch. It wasn't too far away from the couch.

"Just because I'm a sorcerer, it doesn't mean I don't have any physical strength Vio." He put me down onto the couch and stretched his arms. I'm glad he's looking out for me but I just want my bed. I won't tell him though.

"You really didn't have to do that. Go brush your teeth and head to school. I can contact my Aunt to come help me if I need it." I shooed him away. He looked me up and down before going into the bathroom. He spent the next few minutes in there before coming out with neater hair and brushed teeth.

"Don't hurt yourself. I'll be back later today." He grabbed his bag and left the apartment. I stared at the ceiling, trying to process on the last day. I took my phone and texted Aunt Beth back.

"It's worse this year... do you think you can come by?" I sent the text to her.

She immediately responded back to me: Yes, I'll be by in 5 hours? I have some work to do.

I had 5 hours of kill, without killing anyone.... I'll just nap.

I spent the next 10 minutes trying to fall asleep, and finally did.

Awoken by a repetitive bang on the door, I force myself to get up and open the door. I open it to my Aunt, who has a few bags of groceries.

"Go lay down. Are you hungry?" She came in and closed the door behind her.

"Yeah, did you guys find any luck on reversing it?" I limped over to the couch. Taking a seat on it.

"Not yet. I'm starting to think it's irreversible Olivine." She admitted. Over the years I knew there was a slim chance on fixing it, fixing myself. It grew smaller and smaller as time passed, but I didn't want to give up on it.

"What if I asked him?" I concluded that would be my last hope. I heard Beth drop a bag on the floor and she turned her head to face me. She seemed angry, her furrowed eyebrows but her sorrow filled eyes. We both knew there weren't any other options left.

"We're not taking that chance. If you go to them for help, you're never coming back. We both know that. Olivine, he's one of the reasons why you're like this." She refuted.

"Auntie, do you know how much pain I'm in?" I scoffed her. She just shook her head and turned away.

"I don't, but I know that if you go to them they'll try manipulating you. You'll be their little puppet. We both went through that before and we both know it isn't fun at all." She countered.

"If I go to them for help, I'll take them down the same day. Regardless if I'm still like this or not. They won't manipulate me, I know their end plan and I'm against it entirely." I stared out the window, holding one of the pillows. I heard more whispering, and sensed someone next to me. I quickly turned to look at the kitchen and saw Aunt Beth was still in there. I looked around the room and saw no one else.

"It's only me. You're hallucinating, don't worry." Aunt Beth gave me a hot cup of herbal tea and went back to the kitchen. I slowly drank the tea, watching her from a distance. I'm so glad and grateful I have her.

"Beth. If there ever comes a time where there's a fight, against us and my parents. You'll save yourself and the others when I tell you to, okay?" I put the tea down, hoping she'd agree to this.

"And what about you?" She questioned me.

"I'll handle myself. Just, promise me." I had more of a serious tone this time, she stopped mixing the food and turned back towards me. She leaned back into the counter.

"I promise. I'll come back to help you though." She stuck out her tongue before turning back. I smiled at the promise that was just made. I picked up the tv remote and put on a volleyball tournament that was going on. I watched every little move, analyzing the other teams gameplay. The next few minutes have gone by and Aunt Beth almost finished the food. The team I was watching were in a lead of 4 rounds.

"Are you watching the game?" Aunt Beth walked into the living room and looked at the screen.

"Ohh your favorite team is winning." She put the plate on the table in front of me and I thanked her.

"Yeah, all of them are good but the other team keeps making simple mistakes due to lack of communication. Like you see number 6 and 9 right?" I pointed to the back of the court. She nodded.

"The ball keeps getting hit between them due to their lack of communication on who's going to go for it. So once they nearly hit it, they both run into it causing both of them to step away. It's shocking that it's a pro team." I took a bite of the steak she made, I stared at her in awe.

"It's so good."

"I know it is. I have to go help James out with a few things but I'll be back in a few hours, okay?" I nodded at her and waved goodbye. I spent the next hour focused on the game when I heard another knock at the door. I got up and looked through the peephole and saw..

My Father.