Page 55 of In Between Darkness
He shoots his hands up and spreads them out wide. The orb follows his motion and shoots up to the ceiling before spreading out into lots of smaller orbs hovering inches away from the ceiling. I gawk in amazement as the spheres of light twinkle and glimmer. He slowly closes his palm, and the spores of light diminish at once. “To start, I want to see how well each of you can yield. Try to focus. Create a ball of white light in your palm just as I did.”
I look at Alex, who is already juggling three balls of light in the air like a total dick. Why am I not surprised. It’s just like Alex to show off. I can’t help being slightly impressed at how quickly he has gained control, though. I stare at my left hand and try to conjure an orb. I feel a rush of heat in my hand and watch as a light emits from my palm just as Mr Herringford’s did, but it goes out almost as quickly as it appeared. I feel the muscles in my hand tense as I try again. Sparks prick from the tips of my fingers, and the ball of light appears again. I try to hold it as long as I can, but it begins to blink and slowly flickers out.
This is harder than I thought. I try again, and I feel a drop of sweat trickle down my brow. I pat my forehead dry with my sleeve. I’m burning up.
“I can see some of you are better than others, but that is to be expected.” He locks eyes with me like he can see the heat radiating off my body.
“Asha… your body temperature will continue to rise if you channel from within. This power does not come from within you; it comes from above you. The sun itself.” He walks closer towards me and tilts his head as if he is examining my understanding. “Light is everywhere. Try to draw the power from around you rather than from inside you.” He stares harder at my red face. “And stop trying so hard. You shouldn’t have to force the power out; it’s already there. You just have to access it.”
I nod my head in assurance and feel my muscles relax. I take a deep breath and look around me. He’s right; there is light all around me. In every inch of this place. Floor-to-ceiling windows dominate most of the walls in this room, and only an inch of brick lies between each large panel. There are two large skylight windows above us in the ceiling, and I can see the sun hanging high in the window above me. The light is soaring through in every direction; I just need to channel it. I focus on the warmth of the sun against my skin and close my eyes.
“It’s all around me, not in me,” I say to myself in a whisper. I let out a breath and try again… This time I don’t tense my muscles or hold my breath. “Just ease into it,” I tell myself. I feel my palm tingle and it begins to spark again. I look up at the sun and bask in its glory, then watch as the orb begins to grow in my hand. And I don’t feel strain or pressure or so hot that my head is going to explode.
“Well done, Asha… Much better,” Mr Herringford nods at me, and I can’t help but smile at my achievement. I know it’s not juggling like Alex, but it’s an orb, and it’smyorb.
‘You are learning the ways of the Sun like a natural.’Oriah’s voice breaks through my concentration, causing my orb to burn out. I let out a controlled breath to regain my composure.
‘It’s going to take a while to get used to this,’I reply with a little sarcasm in my thoughts. I need to come to terms withthe fact that my thoughts are no longer my own and Oriah can spring a conversation on me whenever she feels like it.
I look at the students around me, each tucked into their own wooden desks. Spheres of light beam proudly in the palms of their hands, some brighter than others. I watch as their lights pulsate and flicker. Some of the newcomers struggle to hold their lights just as I did. I watch as they grow smaller and eventually hiss out. Trina is also in my class. She must’ve got her Gifts recently because she is one of the few who cannot hold their light longer than ten seconds. She does not hide her frustration and huffs and puffs every few minutes. I watch as she tugs at her long brown hair in annoyance. Every time her light burns out, she scrunches her knuckles into a fist and bangs her table in anger. I wonder if her God speaks to her like Oriah does to me.
‘I am the only God that can communicate telepathically with my people. The Starkind have natural dream walking abilities and can access their subconscious mind in ways others cannot. This openness acts as a channel, allowing me to communicate directly through it.’Oriah’s voice echoes through me again, this time with a hint of pride. I can tell she regards herself and her abilities to a high standard.
‘Of course you are,’I reply, letting out a small exhale. I still haven’t peeled my eyes away from the ball of stress that is Trina. I swear, if her light flickers out one more time, she is going to snap the table in half. I tense at the thought of this and watch as her orb ebbs and flows in her hand. I mentally count in my head to ten, expecting it to go out around the nine mark. I hold my breath when I get past nine and move to ten. It’s still going. The table and I stare back in relief; she’s finally done it. She’s created her orb and held it there. I can see a smile form on her face as she revels in her glory. Her freckled skin radiates with the joy ofher triumph, and I watch as her rosy cheeks blush with a healthy glow. Her happiness is contagious, and I can’t help but smile too. I focus back on conjuring my own orb and watch as it shines bright. I feel the sun’s warm rays channel through me, and my fingertips tingle with potential. I concentrate on making it grow bigger, and to my surprise, it begins expanding. I then think about it shrinking and watch as it grows smaller in synchrony with my demands. This really is incredible. I find myself staring at my light, getting lost in all its intricacies. The glow is gently expanding and shrinking and has me in a sort of trance. I am mesmerised.
I feel a hand grip my shoulder and lightly shake me. “Asha… best you don’t look at the light for too long,” Mr Herringford says, looking at me with concern.
I blink harshly and shake myself out of the trance.
“Do you know why I wear these, Asha?” he asks me, pointing to the black sunglasses resting on his nose.
“Ummmm…to protect your eyes from the light?” I guess, looking at the dark lenses covering his eyes. They are so dark I cannot see through them and have to guess that he is making eye contact back at me.
He smiles and reaches his fingers up to pinch the arm of his glasses. He tilts them up away from his nose and pulls them back over his hairline, where he leaves them resting on the top of his head. Oh Gods. His skin is shiny and dry in red and pink patches around his right eye. The skin appears to be stretched tightly and scarred above his cheekbone and under his eyebrow, like it has been burned before. His right eye socket is empty; the deep pocket that usually cradles an eyeball is just a gaping hole. I cringe at the sight but refrain from making any remarks.
He raises his voice a register to gain the attention of the rest of the class. “Burned right out of its socket,” he explains matter-of-factly, whilst pointing at where his right eye should be.
The class stare back with intrigue and disgust.
“The light we yield is very powerful. The healers could not rebuild my eye, so I have to live with the consequence.”
He flicks the glasses back down so they are covering his eyes again. “I cannot reinforce this enough…do not look directly at your lights for too long. The light of the sun is amazing, but its fire is fierce and deadly… I learnt the hard way so you don’t have to.”
Noted. I definitely won’t be staring too deeply at my light again. I know my eyes are already weird and different, but I’d much rather them be mismatched than gone altogether.
“Oh shit!”
We all swing in unison towards a frantic Trina, who is swearing uncontrollably whilst trying to pat out the blaze that has ignited her hair. The flames dance over each lock and crackle as they burn. Trina is still flapping but struggles to put the fire out.
“PUT IT OUT… PUT IT OUT!” Trina cries in desperation as the flames climb further up the length of her long brown hair.
Mr Herringford sincerely apologises before tipping his glass of water over her head. Her hair hisses and crackles as the water extinguishes the inferno. Trina is fuming. I think she would’ve taken out Mr Herringford’s other eye if he hadn’t just saved her from being eaten by the hungry flames. The classroom now smells strongly of singed hair and smoke, and Trina slumps in her chair. Her hair is damp and dishevelled, with each singed strand a different length. It’s going to take more than one visit to the hairdresser to fix that. She catches me gawking, and I quickly look away.
Alex has been surprisingly quiet through this whole ordeal and just sits quietly in his chair. I guess he can’t really pass judgement when everyone watched him flail in a fiery infernolast week. They all think he lost control of his power and set himself ablaze. But now I know better.
“Trina has just demonstratedverywell what can happen when you break your concentration. As you all saw, hair is a great conduit for the flames; all it takes is one strand to come into contact with an orb and ‘poof’,”Mr Herringford says, motioning an eruption with his hands. “My advice is to tie all long hair back and refrain from wearing any loose clothing whilst you are getting the hang of your Gifts.”
He shoots Trina a warm smile and she sinks deeper into her chair, clearly embarrassed by the whole event.
