Eye of the Storm

The first thing I noticed upon waking was a numb pain throbbing in the back of my head. I reached up and felt cloth wrapped around my skull. My eyes opened slowly and I realised I was lying on Luna's bed. The clock told me it was just before noon. I struggled to remember what day it was. Slowly, the memory of the night before returned to me. It seemed thoroughly unreal to me. As if it had been a dream or a story I had once heard. My head was foggy still and I fell back asleep.

An hour or two later, I was awoken by footsteps. I reopened my eyes weakly. Luna's mom walked through the doorway and to the side of Luna's bed.

"Good afternoon, Emma. How are you feeling?" She smiled warmly. I groaned. "Does your head hurt?" I gave her one of those Are you seriously even asking that question? looks. She laughed. "That was a redundant question. Would you like anything to eat? You must be staving." Food! The idea hadn't occurred to me. I sat up quickly, regretting it a moment later. I was in a lot of pain, which I wasn't really used to.

"Yeah," I managed.

"You used all of your energy tending to Luna instead of yourself which is why you're in more pain than you're used to." I gave her a confused look, but she merely shook her head. "I'll explain more when you're feeling better and we have time to talk about everything that happened last night. Luna thanks you though. She's resting right now, but she's doing much better than she was last night. You saved her life, Emma. Now what would you like to eat? Soup?" I nodded and she walked out.

I used the time she was absent to try and translate what she had said. What was she going to explain? And how did she know I was in more pain than I was used to? Normally, when I had gotten injured, I would rest and wake up almost completely back to normal. That's how I hid the beatings my parents gave me. They assumed they weren't hitting me hard enough since I rarely had any bruises or cuts by the next day. I didn't really know why that was, but it had been that way my whole life and I never really thought about it.

"Here's your soup," Luna's mom said as she walked in. I jumped slightly. I had been so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't hear her come in. "Don't worry, Emma. I'll explain it all soon enough. Just eat some soup and get your rest." And with that she walked out. I gaped at the doorway for a minute or two after she had passed through it. She always seemed to know what I was thinking. It always made me nervous around her. If she could know what I was thinking all the time, I wouldn't be surprised if she hated me. I assumed it was just a coincidence she seemed to know though, since she was always very nice to me and treated me as if I was her daughter. And with that comforting thought, I ate my soup and quickly fell into a deep sleep.



"Emma? You awake? Emma?" Someone's hand was on my shoulder, shaking me softly. I let out an unintelligible sound and the person laughed. It was a soft, pleasant laugh. I felt myself smile. I must've been dreaming. It was a good dream; I didn't want it to end. "Emma, c'mon. I know you hear me." The shaking on my shoulder grew stronger. "Emma! Wake up!" I jumped up suddenly. "Jeeze, Emma!" Luna looked as if she had just fallen over and was looking at me with wide eyes. I laughed, seeing the look on her face and she scowled in return, only making me laugh more. She couldn't keep her scowl and soon joined in on the laughing.

"I take it you're both feeling better?" Luna's mom was standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. Luna stopped laughing immediately and I followed suit because her mom didn't look exactly happy. "Did you wake her up, Luna?"

"I acted of not Z's!" I blurted out, maybe a bit too quickly, meaning to say that I had already been awake. Luna laughed suddenly and I shot her a dark look, assuming she was laughing at me.

"Luna . . . " Luna's mother gave her a look I didn't really understand and Luna shut up quickly. She tried to smile at me then got up and limped out of the room silently. Seeing her limp, I suddenly remembered that I had been in pain. I didn't feel the pain any more though. It seemed to have disappeared. Luna's mom shut the door and dragged the chair from Luna's desk next to the bed. She looked as if she was searching for words.

"Why?" I asked impatiently, unaware that I used the wrong word. (I meant to say "What?")

"It's hard for me to explain this, and I don't think your mind is functioning properly enough yet to take it all in, judging your speech. You've been asleep since midday Friday and it's Sunday afternoon now. Can you tell me what happened Thursday night?" I struggled to remember what Thursday was. It took me a moment to figure out that she must've meant the last time I had been up. Even then though, I didn't really know. The memory seemed to escape me every time I tried to remember it. She looked at me sympathetically and placed her hand on my head.

All of a sudden, I wanted to scream; I felt as if my head had torn in two. My vision went completely black. There was a high-pitched ringing in my ears. I smelled cinnamon. My skin felt on fire, though my saliva had frozen in my mouth and throat and I gasped for air desperately. I couldn't remember what had been going on. I wasn't even aware of my own existence.

Then the pain disappeared, my vision lightened slightly, the ringing stopped, my skin cooled, and my airways cleared. I still, however, smelled cinnamon. My hand was on Luna's shoulder. We were walking in darkness. I didn't understand what was going on.

"You're always warm . . . " Luna muttered. Without warning, I felt my cheeks burn and a slight smile form on my lips. Then I was knocked over suddenly and lost my contact with Luna. I realised in horror that I was reliving Thursday night. I couldn't stop myself from scrambling over to Luna, squeezing her hand, and then being thrown back by my hair. Luna screamed. I punched him. He grabbed me and held the gun to my head.

"It you move, I shoot your girlfriend," his cold voice said. I wanted to step on his foot but I couldn't make my muscles do so. His foot launched into Luna's head. I tried to scream out, but my mouth wouldn't move. I elbowed his stomach instead. I got free, tried to hit him again and missed. There was that confusion in his eyes again. "Witch . . ." I slipped on the icy group. His ankles were frozen. I crawled to Luna, touched her shoulder, her face. She was even colder than I remembered. Tears began to form in my eyes again.

"Luna?" She groaned and I felt muscles in my body relax slightly, though I had already known she was alive. Her ice cold hand touched mine.

"Warm . . . " I pulled her up. "Home." We walked to her house. I knocked. The door flung open. Then my head exploded in pain again. A minute later, the contents of Luna's room returned to my sight. Luna's mom had removed her hand from my head and had her eyes shut. Luna was standing in the doorway nervously. I realised I still smelled cinnamon, though I didn't know why. My mind seemed more in focus than before reliving Thursday night.

"Emma?" Luna's mom spoke quietly, her eyes still closed.

"Yes?"

"Sorry about that. Hope your head's all right. I need to explain some things to you. Luna, please leave for now." Luna groaned and walked out. Her mother opened her eyes and looked at me seriously. "I'm not sure how to tell you this, Emma, it's complicated." She seemed to be considering my strength. "I suppose the easiest way is to say you're different. Before I really tell you, you need to understand that you are in danger. You will always be in danger, being different. You should not tell anyone this, not even Luna. Do you understand?"

"I . . . " Promising not to tell Luna something that was obviously important was like promising not to breathe.

"If you tell Luna, you put her in danger. She's already in danger just because you care about her. If someone wanted to get you, you know you would go after anyone who took her. Now, swear to me you won't tell a soul what I'm going to tell you." Hesitantly, I nodded. She sighed, ran a hand through her hair, and looked at me carefully. "Emma . . . you're . . . you're not normal. You've got . . . something in you that makes you very different from most people." She paused. "That man in the alley called you a witch. Do you know why?" I gaped at her. Was she trying to say I was a witch? That was ridiculous.

"No?"

"Well, you're not a witch, but it won't be the last time someone calls you that. Do you remember how the ground and that man both froze?" I nodded nervously. "You did that. Unintentionally, yes, but your fear caused you to use dormant powers within you. You heal amazingly quick too, Emma. I think you know that already. You saved Luna's life Thursday last night, and nearly took your own in the process. You've never used as much energy as you did that night and it nearly killed you. I drugged your soup Friday to put you into a temporary coma. You were likely to try and use your energy which could have killed you since you had none left. I take the blame for that as I let you use your energy healing Luna instead of healing yourself. I'm sorry; this is a lot to take in all at once."

"I . . . what? You put me in a coma?"

"Sorry, Emma. I had to. It was for your own good. You wouldn't have listened if I told you just to rest. I know you, Emma." It was true; she did know pretty well, better than my own parents for sure. My parents! I sat up straight suddenly and looked at Luna's mom in terror.

"I've been here since Thursday?!? My parents are going to kill me!" She looked at the terror in my eyes and just laughed.

"Really? Are you that oblivious? I thought you noticed more than that. Don't worry about your parents; I'll handle it. They won't even know you were gone." She gave me a look as if expecting realization to hit me. It didn't. I just looked at her, utterly confused. I shrugged it off though, since I trusted her.

"So . . . I . . . This isn't just some kind of joke, is it?" I didn't know how to believe what she said, but I knew she wouldn't just make it all up.

"No, of course not. All the proof is right in front of you. Luna is alive thanks to you. You've healed yourself over and over when your parents have beat you." I gaped at her. I had never told anyone about my parents, not even Luna. How could she know? "Would I really make something like this up?" I opened my mouth to speak, changed my mind, and shook my head instead. "I'm sorry this is so sudden, Emma. I've been trying to figure out how to explain this to you for years."

"Years? You've known that I was . . . different . . . for years?"

"You don't remember it, but you fell through the ice when you were 3. Your father freaked out and tried to break through the ice to get to you and got major frostbite in the process. You, however, were unaffected by the cold. You passed out a minute after your father got you out and his frostbite had lessened greatly. He swore your were warm even though you had been under water for 2 full minutes. I knew right away that you weren't just an ordinary 3-year-old."

I looked at my hands, trying to take it all in. If I really could heal and freeze people, like she was saying . . . I shook my head. No. It was crazy to think it was real. It was impossible. No one could just heal people like that. It was magic, and magic wasn't real. . . . But if it was real . . . I thought of the possibilities and I could feel the tingling feeling I had felt Thursday night return to my hands. I wanted to use my ability. Even if it was impossible, it had to be real.

"Emma . . . " she said slowly. I left my wild day dreaming to look at her. "Remember that you can't tell anyone about this; you'll be putting yourself and them in danger. That man in the alley Thursday saw your power. You've got to be careful. If the wrong people find him, they'll find out about you. You're lucky it was dark, or they'd know your face too. When the time comes, you're going to have to leave. There'll be a price on your head already. Don't tell Luna, for her safety. I know you probably will anyway, but don't. She'll understand one day." She paused and I realised there were tears in her eyes. "I've already made contact with various trusted friends of mine who'll take care of you when the time comes for you to leave. You're safe here, for the time being, and I think you'll be okay at home if you want to go back." I rolled my eyes. Like I'd actually want to go home. She laughed. "You're welcome to stay here though. I doubt Luna would mind." She looked at the clock. "I need to make dinner." She stood up and walked towards the doorway.

"This is all real then? I'm not dreaming?"

". . . No." She looked at me sadly then left.

A mix of fear, excitement, and anger danced around inside me. If I had these, well, powers why did I have to run? I could get a job at the hospital and heal people for the rest of my life. Or maybe I could be a portable fridge/freezer. I laughed at the idea. It wasn't fair though. I hadn't asked for this. If someone had asked me if I'd rather be normal or have powers under the condition that I wasn't to even tell my best friend and just leave her like some stupid prick, I would have chosen to be normal. Yeah, it was pretty awesome to have powers. It was every kid's dream. But the price seemed so unfair. Wasn't the point of life to spend it with people you care about? If I was going to be running away, all alone, my whole life, why live it?

I would have chosen a normal life.