Efferent

Chapter 49

I screamed and ran towards James, tackling him and bringing him down, causing him to loose his grip on the rifle. "How. Could. You?" I yelled at him, and landed a blow to his cheek. James tried to block my attacks but he stilled from the use of my Efference.

"You killed an innocent human being! It was not his fault that he became like that! Could you not have waited a minute longer?" I wailed, and wiped a tear that escaped out of my eyes. "How could you?" I asked, repeating my earlier question.

I looked at James whose mouth moved and then I silenced him. "I do not want to hear any excuses you may have made to defend yourself." I turned my attention away from him and to the rifle near his hands. Glaring at it, I snatched it and tried to break it in half, but to no avail.

Blaise stretched his hand out quietly, and I handed it to him. Together, we broke the rifle in one swift snap, and then tossed it into the trashcan by the house. After that was done, I sat down next to James, and started crying. I couldn't hold the tears back anymore.

"Hey, it is okay." Blaise said gently, grabbing my wrist, and then a tear leaked out of his eye too.

"No, it is not!" I bit out, trying to free myself from him.

Blaise nodded. "But we should still let him speak his mind."

"He lost that chance a long time ago!" I cried out, and rushed forward. He lost his grip on me and I ran forward. My momentum carried me further and I tripped over James, then fell down right on top of him. I glared at him as he still tried to speak.

"Ardyn, calm down." A new voice called. "It is not what you two think it is." Travis said, approaching me.

"Oh, so he did not just shoot Clark with his rifle, then? Did he not wait for us even as we said we had the sedatives?" I shot back.

"Yes, Ardyn, if you would just listen for once and stop jumping to conclusions!" Travis replied, and I gritted my teeth as my fists clenched together. I was prepared to give another retort but Blaise shook his head and pulled me away from Travis.

"Maybe we should just listen." Blaise said quietly, insistently tugging on my arm. I huffed and turned away. "Ardyn." His voice had a pleading quality to it.

"Fine, fine." I rolled my eyes. "You have a minute to convince me." I released my hold on James and he started gulping in deep breaths of air.

He coughed. "I-" James said, trying to sit upright. "I was just testing the rifle."

I stilled and blinked. "Oh."

"Oh." Blaise followed suit. "Oh."

"He is alive." James muttered, and ran a hand through his hair. I gave him a sheepish smile and he just sighed in response. "If you had waited a minute to actually listen, then we would not have landed into this situation." He said. "But, that is the least we have to worry about. What are we going to do now?"

"What do you mean?" Blaise asked, furrowing his brow. "We are obviously going to use the sedatives and calm Clark down until we have a better method."

"Yes, but..." James said slowly. "We can not do this forever. Sooner or later, we will have to act. Sedatives will work, but we can not just let this go on forever."

"He is right." I agreed. "How about I try again?"

"No!" Blaise cut in. "Do you even remember what happened last time? What if I am not there this time to help? What if he looses control again? What if you get hurt?" He ranted on. I shook my head and smiled lightly as I placed a hand on his arm.

"I will not. Remember? My Efference. It is back." I replied calmly.

James sat up suddenly, eyes wide as he turned towards me. "Y-you... you got your Efference back?" He asked in an astonished voice.

"Full force." I confirmed. "I assume that before, my Efference did not completely disappear, and now it is stronger, even, then before."

"Yes. She commanded a whole crowd, possibly thousands of people to turn on each other." Blaise said. "It... it was, amazing, really. Kind of like seeing a new person." I shrugged and remembered the events that had happened earlier. It seemed like a lifetime ago, and it also seemed that my Efference never disappeared.

"I think I will go find Clark now." I said, and left the room. I found myself outside of his door again, and I breathed slowly, recalling all of the different times I had stood outside of Clark's door such like this. Chuckling slightly to myself, I opened the door and walked inside. Again.

He was slumped in his chains, trying fitfully to sleep. Clark raised his head to look at me, and I noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "Clark." I said as a greeting, and he did not reply. Instead, he bent forward even more, closing his eyes as he tried to sleep but to no avail.

The chains were making many bruises that now dotted his arms fully, and he was much thinner then before. I shuddered at the condition he was in and immediately made a decision. Controlling him, I made sure that he was placid, and then I released him.

"Follow me." I whispered quietly, and as I walked back down the hall, he followed. "Sit." I pointed to a small wooden stool, which he sat on. I made a sandwich and shoved the plate towards him. "Eat." Clark did so, digging in with renewed vigor.

I sighed once he was done. "Come." I led him to the bathroom, and he obediently followed. "Take a bath, or shower, whichever you prefer." I shrugged. "I will ask James for new clothing as well." Clark nodded, and I quickly left the room.

"What was that all about?" Travis hissed, pulling me by the arm into an empty room. "James- all of us!- may or may not have just received a heart attack watching him follow you outside the room. Do you even know how frightening it was to see that?"

"I am fine!" I exclaimed.

"Nevertheless, it does not do to be careless." Travis chided. "Which you were, Ardyn. Extremely careless. It was also dangerous." His hold on my forearm tightened.

"I am okay, Travis. It was fine. I just... pitied him. He does not deserve to be treated that way. Besides, it was all Walter's fault." I scowled at the mention of the name.

"Yes, maybe so, but-" James and his words began to blur together, as I felt my ire rise, my fingertips tingling with untapped power and a flush creeping up my neck to settle in my cheeks.

"But?" I glared at James, the tension rising. James opened his mouth once more, but I had had enough. "You can no longer speak." I demanded, and he fell silent as he fell under my will. I grit out, crossing my tightly in my arms in anger,"And you will surely listen."