Remarkable

Chapter 3

"Th-- the what?"

"No time to explain. Let's go."

He grabbed my left wrist lightly with his right hand before I pulled it out of his grip and staggered backward, nearly hyperventilating from the weight of everything that had just happened. For some reason, Dayton's face softened, and he took a deep, steadying breath before speaking again.

"I'm sorry. I know this must be a lot to take in at once."

"You think?" I said sarcastically.

"And I'm also sorry for kissing you. That was out of line."

"Yeah, what was with that?" I said, happy to have something to focus on besides the milkshake still in my hand and how in the absolute hell it had gotten there.

"Honestly, I don't even know. The impulse just came over me. But it wasn't right, and I should have restrained myself."

"Thank you for apologizing. Now, can you please explain to me how this cup got into my hand?"

"You're a Fulfiller," he said simply.

"A what?" I said after blinking a few times.

"A Fulfiller. You can fulfill desires. Which basically means you can make just about anything happen if you truly want to. But there are rules and exceptions. And I don't know what they are, but the Council does. That's one reason we need to go see them."

I was silent for a few moments, taking it all in.

"What's the other reason?"

"Fulfilling is an extremely rare ability."

As he spoke he began to look at me as though he had never seen anything like me, a curious and assessing look.

“Extremely rare, as in there hasn’t been a… Fulfiller in several years?” I asked musingly.

Obviously there had been one at some point, or Dayton wouldn’t have known what to call me. He let out a short humorless laugh and raised his eyebrows again.

“More like several decades.”

“How long?” I asked, mostly just trying to keep him talking and postpone whatever preposterous thing was about to happen next.

“Over a century.”

“Holy sh—”

“Exactly.” he cut in.

I obviously believed him at this point, seeing that he was able to make fire suddenly appear and disappear, and his hand had been completely unscathed, not to mention the cup that had magically appeared in my right hand and still happened to be resting there. I focused my attention on the cup once more as I removed the lid with my left hand. As Dayton and I both peered inside, we saw what appeared to be a regular smoothie. It smelled like strawberries and bananas, and we could see that it was still partly frozen. I looked up into Dayton’s eyes and extended the smoothie towards his chest.

“Try it,” I said apprehensively.

He looked a bit alarmed.

“You try it. You’re the one that wanted it. Plus, I prefer peach-flavored smoothies.”

I sighed again and closed my eyes, trying to convince myself not to completely freak out. I wanted to make sure the smoothie was real, but I didn't want to be the one to taste it. If Dayton liked peach smoothies, and I wanted him to try out my... powers, then logically I would need a peach smoothie. Although I had been half expecting it, I still jumped as another styrofoam cup materialized from thin air into my left hand. I opened my eyes to see and hear Dayton gasping while he stared down at the cup. I handed it to him. He opened the cup and peered inside, just as we had done with the first one. He looked up at me quizzically, then brought the cup closer to his face and sniffed it.

"Smells alright..." he said apprehensively.

For some reason, this caused me to burst into laughter. Dayton looked slightly confused.

"Together," I said simply, raising my cup towards my mouth.

He gave me one short nod and we both inhaled steadying breaths and brought the cups to our lips, each staring at the other one while we took a sip.

"Yum!" said Dayton, half shrugging his shoulders.

Then we both started laughing again. This was the craziest thing I had ever done.

"Mine is tasty too," I said, grinning for some reason.

Dayton turned around and placed his cup on his desk, then gently removed mine from my hand and placed it beside his.

"Are you ready?" he said, his green eyes sparkling once again as he extended his hand towards me.

I couldn't help but trust him for some completely unknown reason. I took his right hand with my own and instantly felt a jerking and whirling feeling. My eyes were forced to shut, and I instantly felt nauseous and dizzy. I focused on the feeling of Dayton's hand in mine, which seemed to ground me. Once I felt my feet on steady ground, I tightened my grip in silent inquiry.

"It's okay," he said calmly.

"You can open your eyes now."

I opened my eyes a centimeter at a time until I could see our surroundings. We were facing a two-story grayscale building with glass sliding doors in the center of the bottom level. It looked almost alarmingly plain. I inclined my head to see that we were standing on a cobblestone street which greatly contrasted with the modern-looking building I had just been staring at. I observed several other buildings on either side of the gray one, none of which had signs to indicate their purpose, but they all differed in brick color. It was sunny and seemingly the perfect temperature, which made me wonder where exactly we were. I hadn’t even realized that I was still holding Dayton’s hand until he gave mine a gentle squeeze.

“This is Lyria.” He said simply in answer to my unspoken question. I was starting to get the eerie feeling that he could read my mind, although that was probably the first thing most people asked after being whisked here unexpectedly.

“Angelina? Are you alright?” he asked uncertainly, looking at me with concern.

I felt slightly lightheaded and the dizziness still had not subsided, so I was guessing I probably looked pale as well.

“Y.. Yes. I think so.” I stammered, shaking slightly.

Dayton placed his hands on my shoulders and stared directly into my eyes. He seemed to be searching for something and didn’t speak for a few seconds.

“You are perfectly safe. I promise. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, alright?”

For some strange reason, I believed him wholeheartedly. I swallowed hard and then nodded, holding his gaze all the while. After what seemed like minutes, he tore his gaze from me and turned back towards the building we had landed in front of.

“This is where the Council lives,” he said as he gestured towards it with his right hand.

“Lives? Not just works?” I asked, slightly confused.

“Correct. We don’t have jobs here. Just tasks, otherwise known as duties, that each of us is responsible for doing.”

“What? Are you serious?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes. It’s very different from the outside world,” he said as he gently draped his left arm around my shoulder and guided me forward.

“So, your task is to... bring people into this world, after you... activate their powers?” I asked as he guided me through the doors and into the small lobby of the Council Building.

“That’s one of them,” he said rather evasively.

“Another one is to look after the new charges that I bring in, which is why you will be staying in my building while you’re here.”

“Staying?” I said, looking at him incredulously.

“How long do you expect this talk to last?”

“Oh, you didn’t think we were just coming here to see the Council, did you?” said Dayton, not looking at me as we shuffled into the elevator, and he pressed the button for the 4th floor.

I stared at him incredulously.

“Um… yes?”

He grinned and shook his head back and forth, rolling his eyes slightly.

“If you decide to embrace this world as your own, you will be staying here regularly.”

I digested those words as we waited for the elevator to arrive on the 4th floor. I hadn’t had time to devote much thought to what was going to happen after we talked to these supernatural leader people. But judging by what I had just heard, I at least had a choice. If embracing this new “gift” could help people, and potentially make my life better, maybe it would be the best choice for me. Also, as much as I hated to admit it to myself, the prospect of being around Dayton all the time didn’t sound too bad to me. He smelled amazing and made me feel… safe. Even though he had just said that part of his duty was to protect his charges, I couldn’t help but feel like his care for me went deeper than that. He did, after all, kiss me barely 5 minutes after we met. I hesitated to step over the threshold once the elevator chime had dinged and the doors had opened. This was the beginning of my potential new world. After I learned what I had come here to learn, my life would never be the same.

“Hey,” said Dayton, taking my hand gently.

“Ang. Look at me.”

I allowed my eyes to meet his and felt my rapid heartbeat slow to what felt like a normal pace.

“Breathe. I know it’s scary. But this is where you belong. And if you don’t feel that way, you can go back to life as you know it. I’ll deactivate your ability and we can even wipe your memory. It’ll be like none of this ever happened.”

I looked at him skeptically.

“Really?” I said, squinting.

“Yes. Although I really hope you don’t choose that path. Regardless of what your ability is, I have a feeling you are going to make life here much better–for everyone.”

I blushed and grinned involuntarily, causing him to do the same. He brushed a stray strand of hair back behind my left ear and allowed his hand to linger on my jawline for a few seconds afterward. I felt a rush of affection towards him as my heart began beating wildly again, but this time in a good way. I gave him a small nod and steeled myself for what I was about to walk into.

You can do this, Lina. I thought.