Efferent

Chapter 5

I closed my eyes mid-fall as suddenly the dizzying sensation overcame me again. The world swirled once again in front of my eyes, and the wind grew unbearable. I cried out, but it would not and did not stop.

And then all was calm. We crashed towards the ground and I tumbled out of Clark's arms, plunging face-first into a spiky bush covered with thorns. "Ow!" I yelped, moaning in pain. Clark groaned in response, and I turned towards him.

He was stuck on a tree, one of the thicker branches had caught hold of his pants. What alarmed me was not his injuries, but how his skin was deathly pale, and his eyes were murky. "Clark!" I said, alarmed, and he raised his hand.

"I am fine- ouch."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Can't you- I do not know, teleport down here or something?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I am exhausted, Ardyn. I can not teleport too frequently in a day, or I risk slipping into a coma. I am not about to just use my limited jumps to get down from a tree. A stupid tree, in fact."

Clark pulled at his shirt and pants, but it would not budge. Instead, it shook the tree, and leaves and branches rained down onto him, one sticking up haphazardly into his hair, looking like a unicorn horn.

I stifled a laugh, and he glared at me. "Do you need some help?" I asked with the straightest face I could manage. He sighed and nodded.

Biting my lip, I climbed the tree. Since I lived near the forest, I went exploring and usually climbed trees on a daily occurence. Clark seemed amazed at my speed, but he said nothing. I undid him from the tree, and he unceremoniously fell.

"Ow, Ardyn! Could you not have been gentler? I think I just bruised my tailbone." Clark complained, whining.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on, it was not even that big of a fall." I noted as he staggered towards me.

"Whatever. Anyways, we have to move." Clark cautioned. "The officials will be here in a second. How fast is it for a car to drive ten miles?" I frowned, and he nodded. "Exactly. My range is not that great, so we Need to go." When I did not move, he spoke again, this time his voice filled with some panic and urgency. "Now."

I ran after him as he ventured into the bushes. "Clark, do you know where you are going?"

"Not really." He shrugged. "But I know that there will be a main trail in this forest. Iam pretty familiar with these parts, having to escape from the officials. I am not as familiar with this section, but I think we will be fine."

I panted as I struggled to keep up, my feet not used to the rocky terrain of this area. "Okay, tell me more about your so called power."

"Well, it's mainly teleportation. As you already know, I can only do it ten miles at a time, and usually only ten times in a day, depending on my strength and the lengths of the jumps." Clark said, hurrying along the path.

"How do you do it?" I questioned, racing after him as he found a worn down dirt road, making a small noise of satisfaction. He ignored my question and ran down the road, motioning for me to do so as well.

Soon we walked out of the forest, and he turned right. "Hurry up, we're going to miss it!" He yelled, racing along the pavement. I followed nevertheless my confusion, and Clark soon stopped at a bus stop, which conveniently had a bus at it.

Paying quickly, he ushered me in and pretty much pushed me into the seat. "How do you do it?" I inquired again. He was putting the tickets into his pant pockets.

Then he frowned at my question. "I- I actually don't know... haven't thought that much about it. How do you do your power?" He returned, and I frowned as well.

"What is my power, Clark? Killing people?" I asked hysterically. "Wow, what a great power to have! We all totally want to kill innocent people by accident!" I said sarcastically.

He shook his head. "It is probably not like that, Ardyn. I think you have the power to stop them, like for them to stop whatever they're doing. Maybe you went on it too much and then accidentally stopped him from breathing." Clark offered.

I quirked my lip. "How can you access your power when you need it? I did not access it on purpose, it was just an accident. And yet you can harness it and use it when you need it."

"I... I am not actually sure about this question either. I- it just comes to me, you know? It's like as easy as saying your alphabet or counting from one to ten." Clark snapped his fingers. "It is just there, just like that."

"So helpful." I deadpanned, and he chuckled.

"What about your power? I am pretty sure that if you want to use it- really want to, then you can do it. It is how I did it first." Clark suggested. "I mean, when I woke up, I was just floating in midair. That really gave me, and everyone else around me a scare."

I laughed with him. "So... I just need to think of my power and what it can do? But... that means I'll have to envisualize killing someone?" I shuddered. "And what if it actually happens, Clark? What if I kill someone nearby, or kill you?"

Clark blinked. "Uh- I- th- then you can imagine trying to get someone to stop? Like maybe you can try it, but instead of stopping of injecting the shot, you can get it to stop something else."

As the bus stopped at a station, I looked outside. "A tree, then?" I suggested. Clark nodded, and I stared at a small oak tree, wondering how weird I must have looked. Must stop living. Must stop living. "It does not work." I muttered after a few tense moments, looking to Clark who was stumped as well.

Clark's eyes suddenly lit up. "I can not teleport inanimate objects, so maybe you can not either!" He exclaimed. "I mean, like, you can not command inanimate objects."

"But it is animate. It is living, Clark, it is a tree!" I argued.

He shook his head. "Wait, let me reword that. I can not teleport anything, except humans. I tried teleporting my cat once, and it did not work."

"Okay. So I will have to test you? Maybe I can force you to keep on laughing?" Clark snorted.

"As if that's going to work. I laugh easily, but it's usually just a small amount, or a tiny chuckle. Not one of those long strings people usually have." Clark said. I grinned and stared directly at him. Start laughing. Start laughing. Start laughing!

As if on cue, he started laughing in a long succession. I apologetically waved at the onlooking passengers and leaned back in my seat. As I tried to get Clark to stop laughing suddenly gasps filled the bus. "You are Ardyn Danvers, aren't you?" An elderly woman exclaimed.

"Shoot, shoot, shoot. I forgot all about that." Clark cursed, grabbing my wrist immediately. The world spun again and then everything turned black.