Page 78 of Firestorm
Was the shadow even real? Was it something I’d created as a way to feel less lonely?
That didn’t make much sense. I was loneliest right after my parents had died, not now since coming to the academy. Was I maybe just losing my mind?
That, unfortunately, did make sense. Strong telepathsusually went insane by a certain age. Being able to block out others’ thoughts was not an innate skill, nor was it easy to learn, especially under our current government’s laws. Eventually, the telepath would slowly lose their shit as the weight of other people’s thoughts grew heavier. Add in some grief and suffering and things got worse much faster.
Me, though? I’d always been able to block thoughts. I’d always been able to enter minds when I wanted, not the other way around, like most telepaths.
I’d known for a long time that I was different and I’d worked hard to hide it for as long as I could. Some part of me knew that a huge change was coming, and not for the first time, I considered the idea that maybe I had a bit of pre-cognition along with my other affinities.
Sometimes I hated being different.
Now, as I lay in bed, tears in my eyes as my shadow poked and prodded at me, I knew whoever this was, was also different.
A normal person couldn’t be this persistent.
This person could be unwell. Unhinged. Insane. Nothing screamed psycho quite like a bit of stalking, no matter how many romance novels tried to convince me otherwise.
My skin was hot and itchy as I lay in bed, staring into the ceiling. It was so dark, bright fuzzes of color danced across my field of vision, obscuring the shadows of shapes along the wall.
Across the room, Willow and Mia slept peacefully. Their calm breathing had kept me relaxed for a while, but the nudging just kept. Getting. Worse. I felt like I would crawl out of my skin if it didn’t stop soon.
Thishadto be the same person who had nudged at me the first day of class. It still didn’t seem like they were trying to hurt me. They only wanted to see if my walls were ever down. Or maybe that was when they’d attack? They’d be nudging for the rest of our lives if that were the case.
My mental walls never came down. I checked them out of habit, not a lack of confidence.
My skin felt like it was crawling, and another nudge had me throwing my bedcovers off my legs.
Let’s see what you’re made of, I thought just as I stood.
The shadow flared to life as I moved, its demeanor slightly alarmed again, then I felt it disappear and re-materialize somewhere outside.
“Skyes?” Willow’s sleepy voice mumbled from her side of the room.
I ignored her. I stormed out of our dormitory into the hallway. Nothing but shadows looked back at me.
Where are you?I hissed in my mind, allowing it to open just a fraction for the threat to be heard. Another nudge, almost like the shadow was goading me, sent a burst of rage down my spine.You think this is funny? You’re mocking me?
“Skye?” Mia’s voice called out to me from the open door to our dorm, but I ignored her.
I was on a mission, stomping the length of the hall, tearing down the stairs and slamming the heavy door open. I gasped as I was instantly drenched with freezing cold rain.
Another storm had moved in. I’d heard the thunder rolling over softly while I itched in bed, but now the thunder strengthened as the center of the storm settled over the academy. The cold rain pelted against my skin, but I felt nothing. Even as lightning and thunder boomed around me, I didn’t jump or flinch like usual. Rage was boiling my skin from the inside out.
“Where are you?!” I shouted out toward the shadows under the trees. “Show yourself!”
“Skye!”
Willow and Mia emerged from the still-swinging dormitory door I’d banged open. Mia had on a sweatshirt and untied sneakers, while Willow had only thrown on sandals before tearing after me. She had to be freezing, standing outside in the cold rain in only some small sleep shorts and a tank top, but she said nothing. She looked around, frantically searching for the source of my anger. I couldn’t find it in myself to appreciate her blind loyalty yet. I was too pissed.
“Skye, what’s happening?” Willow asked, rushing to my side and doing something with her affinity to keep the water from soaking her.
“Someone’s here,” I croaked. Tears of frustration prickled at my eyes. “Someone’s been nudging me. There!” I pointed toward the shadows beneath the trees, and the nudging stopped. Iknewsomeone was there. I felt my shadow’s surprise, and then it was moving.
“Skye, no one’s there…” Willow said softly. She sounded heartbroken, like I was losing my mind.
Maybe I was. My shadow, who seemed harmless, was fucking…mockingme over a horrific nightmare of the worst day of my life.
“Will…” Mia said, gently moving Willow behind her as a large spike of ice materialized in her hand. “Someone’s there. I feel it.”
