Chapter 5: The Fire Inside Me
1049 Words
I couldn’t stop shaking.
Even after he let go.
Even after the power settled.
Even after the cracks in the floor stopped spreading.
My wrist still burned where he had touched me.
Not painfully.
But… intensely.
Like something inside me had recognized him.
And responded.
I hated that feeling.
The hall was silent again.
Too silent.
The girl from before stood a few steps away, watching us carefully. Her golden eyes flickered between me and him, like she was trying to read something invisible.
I pulled my hand back, clutching it to my chest.
“What was that?” My voice came out weaker than I wanted. “What did you do to me?”
“I didn’t do anything,” he said calmly.
“That didn’t feel like nothing.”
His gaze sharpened slightly.
“That,” he said, “was you.”
I shook my head immediately.
“No. No, that’s not possible. I don’t have—”
“Power?” he finished for me.
The word lingered.
Heavy.
“I’ve lived eighteen years without it,” I snapped. “So don’t tell me—”
“You’ve lived eighteen years without control,” he corrected.
Silence.
Something about the way he said it—
Certain.
Unshaken.
It made my chest tighten.
“That’s not the same thing,” I muttered.
“It is.”
Of course he wouldn’t explain.
Of course he would just say things like that and expect me to understand.
Frustration flared.
Hot.
Sharp.
“I don’t even know why I’m listening to you,” I said, my voice rising. “You kidnapped me, brought me to this… this place, and now you’re acting like you know everything about me!”
The air shifted.
Not violently.
But enough.
Enough to remind me—
I was speaking to someone dangerous.
Very dangerous.
The girl beside us stepped back again.
Smart.
But I didn’t stop.
“Who are you to decide what I am?” I demanded.
Silence followed.
Long.
Heavy.
Then—
He moved.
Slowly.
Until he was standing right in front of me again.
Too close.
Always too close.
“You want to know what you are?” he said quietly.
My breath hitched.
“Then stop denying it.”
Before I could react—
He lifted his hand again.
Instinctively, I stepped back.
But he was faster.
His fingers brushed against my wrist—
The same spot as before.
And the world shattered.
Fire exploded through my veins.
I gasped, doubling over as heat surged inside me—wild, uncontrollable, like it had been waiting for this moment.
“It hurts—!” I cried out, gripping his arm without thinking.
“It’s not pain,” he said, his voice steady despite the chaos erupting around us.
The torches flared violently.
Shadows stretched and twisted.
The air burned.
“It’s power.”
“I don’t want it!” I shouted, my vision blurring.
The heat intensified.
Stronger.
Brighter.
Like something inside me was fighting to break free.
“Then you’ll destroy yourself trying to suppress it,” he said sharply.
His other hand came up—
Gripping my shoulder.
Holding me steady.
“Focus.”
“I can’t—!”
“You can.”
His voice cut through everything.
Commanding.
Unyielding.
“Feel it,” he said. “Don’t fight it.”
That was insane.
Everything in me screamed to push it away.
To run.
To stop this.
But I couldn’t.
Because it wasn’t stopping.
Because it was me.
My breath came in sharp gasps as I squeezed my eyes shut.
Fine.
Just for a second.
I stopped resisting.
And everything changed.
The fire didn’t disappear.
It… settled.
Shifted.
From chaos—
To something controlled.
Something alive.
Something… mine.
The heat softened.
The light dimmed.
My body slowly relaxed.
When I opened my eyes—
The world was still intact.
Barely.
The cracks in the floor had deepened.
The torches flickered weakly.
The air still felt heavy.
But it wasn’t destroying everything anymore.
I wasn’t.
My breathing slowed.
“What… did I just do…?” I whispered.
He didn’t let go of me.
Didn’t move.
“You stopped running,” he said simply.
I stared at my hands.
They were trembling.
But not from fear.
From something else.
Something I didn’t recognize yet.
“That was… me?” I asked quietly.
“Yes.”
I looked up at him.
Really looked this time.
At the way he wasn’t surprised.
At the way he had known exactly what would happen.
“You knew,” I said slowly.
A pause.
Then—
“Yes.”
Of course he did.
“You planned this,” I whispered.
“No.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Then why bring me here?”
For the first time—
He hesitated.
Just slightly.
But I saw it.
And that made my heart race even more.
Then—
He spoke.
“Because if you stayed…”
His voice lowered.
“They would have killed you before you ever woke up.”
A chill ran through me.
“Woke up…?”
His gaze darkened.
“That wasn’t even a fraction of your power.”
My breath stopped.
“What?”
Before he could answer—
“Of course it wasn’t.”
The voice came from the side.
I turned.
The girl with golden eyes stepped forward again.
This time—
Closer.
More curious.
“She hasn’t even started breaking yet,” she said, studying me like I was something fascinating.
I stiffened.
“Breaking?” I repeated.
She smiled slightly.
“The part where you either survive your power… or it destroys you.”
My stomach dropped.
“That’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
Silence fell.
I looked between them.
One calm.
One curious.
And both of them—
Completely serious.
Fear crept back in.
Slow.
Cold.
“What happens if I don’t survive?” I asked quietly.
The girl tilted her head.
“You die.”
My chest tightened.
“And if I do?”
This time—
It wasn’t her who answered.
It was him.
“You won’t be human anymore.”
The words hit harder than anything else.
Silence swallowed the room.
And suddenly—
Death didn’t seem like the worst outcome anymore.
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