Master of the Storm

Chapter Three: As Cold as Ice

Bright light shining through the empty window woke me, and I sat up. I pushed my hair out of my face and looked around. Beatrix was lying asleep on the floor. As soon as I saw her I remembered what we had done last night. I groaned and buried my face in my hands. Why had we done that? God, I was so stupid. All she had to do was bat her eyes and she had me under her spell.

I got up and grabbed my bag, hoisting it over my shoulder. Then I walked over to the laptop, and pulled the USB out of it. She had said I could get it in the morning. I looked around, making sure I had gotten all my stuff, then I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to Olivia, telling her I needed to be picked it early. I knew I couldn't stay here.

I wasn't sure if I needed the USB, it seemed that all there was on it was information on who else had the powers, and Beatrix was currently dealing with that. But it might be good to have anyway, and I wasn't going to leave without what I came for. I slipped it in my pocket and walked towards the door. Just as I left, I turned and looked back at Beatrix, still lying on the floor by the laptop. Was she really asleep? It was always hard to tell with her.

After another moment of lingering, I walked out the door, checking my phone as it gave me a text notification. It was from Olivia, saying they would be there soon. I stuffed my phone in my pocket and started walking down the road. A warm breeze blew against my face, and I pulled out a granola bar from my bag, suddenly hungry. Just as I was about to open it, I heard my name being called.

I turned around and saw Beatrix standing outside, her arms crossed over her chest. Even with her messy hair and wrinkled t-shirt so large it covered half of her bare legs, she looked just as perfect as she had the day I'd first laid eyes on her, and just as cold. "Leaving without saying goodbye?" she called. "Not your style."

I crossed my arms over my chest as well, imitating her without thinking about it. "I have to go. My friends are waiting for me." That wasn't entirely true, but oh well.

"Are we not going to talk about last night?" she asked, walking closer to me, her sharp eyes never leaving mine.

I ran a hand through my hair, feeling frustrated but not knowing why. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to lead you on, or whatever. But it shouldn't have happened."

Her eyes narrowed in anger and hurt. "Then why did it?"

I sighed. I wanted to blame her, but I knew that wasn't fair. It took two to tango, and we had done a lot more than that. "Look, Bea-"

She shook her head, and cut me off. "Make up your mind! Do you love me or not?"

Her words hit me like a tsunami, making chills go through me, as she asked the question I had been afraid to ask myself. I wanted to throw caution to the wind and say I loved her, I wanted her. But I couldn't keep putting her first, not with everything going on. Not when I was afraid she would betray me again. "Does it really matter now?" I finally asked.

A few moments passed, as we just looked into each other's eyes. "No," she finally replied, before turning away from me and beginning to walk back to the house. "See you around."

I longed to run after her, to call her back, but I knew I couldn't. As much as it tore me apart, I knew it was for the best.

As I walked, a thought, or more of a memory struck me, coming from the original thought I had had about feeling torn apart. I remembered Cashlin, dying on the floor of the underground building, grabbing my hand and whispering her last words to me.

I can't take it. It's tearing me apart, from the inside.

I felt chills go through me at the memory of her words. With everything that had happened, I hadn't really had time to think about it yet. What did they really mean?