Caloric

No one said anything in some time. No one could say anything. Lucas was their only hope to escape and, because of what she compelled him to do, this cult killed him—if only for the purpose of making a point to the four of them—that there was no way out. So that was yet another death on her hands. She was racking up quite a list, getting quite a few notches on her belt. At least she knew she didn’t have to feel as guilty for this one. If she hadn’t compelled him, he would have been perfectly content to see her and her friends die. Still, seeing that head meant these people were serious and twisted. She knew such acts of violence and brutality were possible, that they happened out in the world every day, but to actually see such an act committed was horrible—a truth she’d never forget.

In three days, they would die. Three days to suffer in this cell without food or water, three days to mourn the life about to be stolen from her and to mourn the people she was leaving behind. Her poor mom—first she lost her husband and now she would lose her daughter. She would be all alone in the world.

Sebastian slipped his hand through the bars and put it in hers. At least she would have three more days to spend with Sebastian. What a shame that she got to meet him now, like this, only to have him taken away. She knew she was falling for him; why bother denying it anymore? She felt a connection to him that first night they met, even before she remembered dreaming about him, before she knew anything about him. Knowing that fate brought them together, in this life and in who knows how many previous lives, was ruined by the thought that they would never meet in a future one ever again if the stupid ritual succeeded.

“You know what? No,” she said, suddenly inspired. “We are not going to die here. There’s got to be another way.”

They all came out of their ruminations to look at her.

“How?” Lily asked, voice dry. “These people are monsters.”

“Remember what Lucas said—that because of this solar storm our powers would get stronger?” Phoenyx said. “Let’s use that to our advantage. Let’s hone in on our abilities and strengthen them until we can use them as weapons. We have three days to practice.”

The other three exchanged looks, the tiniest spark of hope twinkling in their eyes.

“Come to think of it, I have felt a buzz all day,” Skylar said. “Like there’s a static current running through my whole body.”

“You know, it makes sense that you would feel the effects of the solar storm first,” Phoenyx said. “You’re Air, your element is closest to the sun.”

He pursed his lips and nodded. “That does make sense.”

“I’m sure the rest of us will feel it soon, too,” Phoenyx said.

“Okay, so how do you propose we solve the initial problem of getting out of this cell?” Sebastian asked.

“I think our best bet to do that is for Skylar to attempt to bend the bars with his telekinesis,” she said. “None of us is strong enough to do anything like that by hand, but air can be a powerful force. If you train, you might be able to do it. Like working out a muscle, it gets stronger the more you push it. It’s time to start working out that brain, Skylar.”

“All right, it’s a worth a try,” Skylar said.

“Then we just need to figure out how to get out of this room once we get out of these cells,” Phoenyx pondered.

“Oh, that’s simple,” Skylar said. “I can unlock the door with my mind from the inside. It’s a simple latch lock. I couldn’t do that with the cell door because it’s electronic.”

Phoenyx raised her brows in understanding and nodded. “Great! Takes care of that.”

“What about the rest of us?” Lily asked.

“Yeah,” Sebastian said. “What are we going to do?”

“Once we get out of this room, we can put all of our abilities to use,” Phoenyx said. “Skylar can use his telekinesis to push people away from us or hurt them any way necessary. I’ll use my influence to compel people to help us or whatever opportunities I see along the way. Sebastian, you can use fear against them. Just like that story you told us, about your first time creating an illusion, make them see anything that will scare them off.”

“Okay, I can do that,” he said. “But that’s a very passive way to go about it. I’ll need a backup plan in case they don’t scare easily.”

“Then you can hone in on your water element,” she said.

His eyes wandered as he took a moment to think about it. “Hmm, I just don’t see how I can use water as a weapon…especially here, in a place like this. Sure, I can see how a whole dam filled with water would be a destructive force, but the only water we have access to is what’s left in our water bottles.”

“Actually, that’s not the only water,” she corrected. “Remember what you showed me earlier tonight? I’m sure there are pipes filled with running water all over this place. You just have to get creative. Since we will need the water bottles for drinking, you can practice with the one source of running water we have available.” She looked at the toilet.

He sighed loudly. “Okay, I’ll see what I can come up with.”

“What about me?” Lily asked. “None of my abilities can be used as a weapon. I’m pretty much exactly the opposite of a weapon.”

Phoenyx thought for a moment. “Maybe that’s exactly what we need you to be. You’re our protection. If one of us gets hurt, you’re our guarantee it won’t be permanent. You’re our guarantee we’ll all get out of here alive and in one piece.”

That perked Lily right up.

“I think you are forgetting our biggest weapon of all,” Sebastian said.

“What’s that?” Phoenyx asked.

“You,” he said.

“Me? No, I already said I could use my compulsion as a defense for us.”

“I’m not talking about your compulsion,” he said. “Phoenyx, you have the most destructive ability of all us. You can make fire. If you learn to master that ability—or at least control it—in the next three days, you’re the best chance we have of escaping.”

Everything he said brought back her fear. Her heart raced and the sweat broke out on her forehead.

She shook her head. “No, I can’t do that. Mm-hm. No.”

“He has a point,” Skylar said. “So far, our best hope is that I can make my telekinesis strong enough to hurt people. That may take some time. If you think about it in terms of elements, how fast does air have to be going to cause any damage? Like sixty miles an hour at least, which is rare. But fire is a destructive element because it can damage even in its weakest state. You barely spark a match and you’re destroying hundreds of molecules. We have to at least consider it.”

She kept shaking her head. “What if I hurt someone again? What if I hurt one of you by accident?”

Sebastian put both his hands on her shoulders. “I know you won’t.” He smiled encouragingly. “If, by some chance, another accident happens—like you said, we have Lily for protection.”

Lily nodded eagerly and Phoenyx let out a defeated laugh.

She had absolutely no faith in her so-called fire power. She had only just accepted its existence a few hours ago, and all she knew about it was that it was wild and out of control the one time she had ever used it. Could they risk letting it out again? If she hurt one of them, she would never forgive herself.

However, maybe they did have a point. Fire was definitely the most harmful thing in their arsenal. If they wanted a weapon out of the four elements, fire was the obvious choice. She had three days to learn to control it, and in here, three days was a long time. She couldn’t ask them to practice using their powers if she wasn’t willing to commit to the same thing.

“All right, I’ll try to get a handle on the whole fire thing,” she said. “Once I do, I will only use it as a last resort. I won’t…I won’t take another life if I don’t have to.”

“Okay,” the three of them chorused.

“Since we don’t know what time on the fourth day they plan to do the ritual, we should plan on making our escape attempt on the third day,” Skylar said.

“You’re right,” Phoenyx said. “So that means we really only have tomorrow and the next day to prepare ourselves. We have to make every second count.”

“I don’t know about you guys but, after seeing…” Lily looked sideways at the bag in the corner, “…that, I won’t be going to sleep any time soon.”

“Yeah, me either,” Skylar agreed, his face still tinted slightly green.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep at all knowing I’m about to be killed,” Sebastian said. “So let’s start training now; although I’m not exactly sure how to start.”

Lily looked at the pile of wadded up paper bags, picked one up and tossed it to Phoenyx.

“You can try to light the paper on fire,” Lily said. “Paper is super flammable so that will be the best thing for you to practice with.”

Phoenyx looked at the brown paper wad in her hands. Why did this make her feel like she was just given the most harrowing homework assignment of her life?

“Okay,” she said as she exhaled. “Let’s take our stations. I got the paper. Sebastian, you got the toilet—”

“Yay,” he said unenthusiastically.

“Take your pick of the bars,” Phoenyx said to Skylar. She turned back to the wad in her hands. “Let’s get started.”