Author’s note- Hi guys! Just letting you know, there won’t be another ability chapter tomorrow. But if you read The Elements of Terra, that’s your day. I’m keeping this note short, so enjoy!

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Meeting Again in the Dark

 After the episode in the library, Chloe and I separated on very sweet words, and I went off to finish my day, looking forward to the time we reunited, which was after school. But the fact that my ability still activated without my will, and the fact that it had such mysterious effects subtly reminded me that I had only scratched the surface.

The only way I knew to use it now was in the form of a flame. I don’t know how, but I can gather all the heat in the room and focus it into a single point, making a flame. This had the side effect of making the whole area I gathered heat from colder than usual, but it was very useful.

My other ability was to extract more golden power from others. The same kind that allows me to gather heat. Thinking back to the illusionary fight with the woman in black, I had to be in bodily contact for it to activate. And once I was, the ability causes the person to rapidly deteriorate.

When used in conjunction with absorbing her heat, I was able to turn her into an ice sculpture, and then shatter her with a tap of my finger. But however, neither of those applications could explain how I survived the car crash, or how the roof caught hold of the rope and didn’t fall.

And with the questions in my mind, I thought about the potential solution, C.H.I.B.I. Like a devil’s temptation, it kept nagging at the corner of my mind, whispering for me to accept their offer, to accept it now.

If I accepted it earlier than normal, then there might be some problems when it comes to Chloe and the club. But if I waited, I would also have to wait for answers to the things that recently cropped up. Sigh. Such a difficult choice.

But now that I think about it more, it was really just simply a conflict of interests. Who and what was more important? Me and Chloe, and our relationship? Or just Me, and my newfound abilities?

But then again, why did they necessarily have to conflict? My abilities were now just as much as a part of me as my relationship; I couldn’t do without either.

I decided to call them right now, and I would decide what to do from there. So pulling out my phone, I dialed their number.

“Ring, ring…”

When the number picked up, a dark and surly voice came from the other side of the phone.

???- “State your name, and who referred you to this number.”

Me- “Nathaniel Belair, Daydream.”

???- “Ah yes. Bad boy, for skipping class to call, but I’m glad you did before we had to resort to more, drastic measures. You’ll need to get to a more private location than the bathroom. Follow my instructions, and we can talk there.”

Me- “I don’t have location, nor am I connected to a network. Cell phone tower location networking gives you a range of miles. How did you track me?”

???- “You’re well informed. Unfortunately, that is only up to the standards of commercial networking and the police. We’ll update you later. For now, walk out of the bathroom, and go into the C hall.”

I walked out of the bathroom, and looked to the camera posted outside the bathroom. It was pointed in the other direction. I started walking swiftly, and when I arrived, I awaited further instruction.

???- “Yes, you’ve made it. Now, you see those two teachers there? They are blocking the only unwatched exit. Find a way to distract them, and get through that exit without them noticing. Quickly, before the passing period comes along.”

I racked my brains for a solution, but the ones I came up with were flawed.

Throw something? Well if they were gullible enough to go after it, they could still hear the sound of the door opening and closing.

Signal for a friend to distract them at the door? That would depend on first, me knowing their current period, and second, them being willing. I didn’t have anybody who met that criteria except Chloe, but I wasn’t going to get her in trouble.

Wait, what if I used my ability?

The ability that required a touch was obviously out of the question. I didn’t want to become a murderer for that. And the illusionary battle didn’t count because it wasn’t real. Plus, according to the organization’s rules, I would receive a death penalty for killing those two.

Although my second ability, the flame… I could burn an object and set the fire alarm off. Plus, I wouldn’t leave traces because I wouldn’t be igniting anything by hand. So I began to look for a target; what could I set on fire that wouldn’t cause any lasting harm, but cause the fire alarms to go off?

I wasn’t any sort of professional arsonist, but a microwave shouldn’t cause too much suspicion. So I walked off to the teacher’s workroom, and in there was a guy eating doughnuts. Unfortunately, he would have to be my scapegoat.

I concentrated on the microwave and gathered heat from across the school into a single point. Then I disrupted this pure heat ball, and suddenly the microwave was on fire!

The fat dude looked over at the microwave and screamed,

Fat dude- “Holy sh*t!!!”

It was time for me to leave. I grabbed my bag and walked back to the C hall. Soon afterwards, the fire alarm was blazing.

Students streamed out of the classroom doors, and I merged with them, leaving through the C doors. And on a stroke of brilliance, I moved into the brush, and took off my shirt, leaving my backpack in the cover. Then I put in earbuds and connected them to the call.

This put me into the appearance of a young adult runner, and I started jogging along the sidewalk.

Me- “You there?”

???- “Very good! I’m surprised you thought of that. Now, get across the street, straight ahead.”

I walked across after waiting for the light, while keeping my head down. But it was not necessary because the students were positioned in such a way that they faced towards the school. And after the light turned red, I walked across the street.

A moment later, the voice came on again.

???- “Turn right and continue forward until you see a gas station.”

I turned, and I jogged for about a minute. The gas station was a race track, and there were some cars parked there.

???- “Go around the back.”

The back? I went on guard and slowly walked forward as I gathered heat onto a point in front of my chest. I didn’t disrupt the heat ball yet, so all it did currently was distorting an area of air. Hardly noticeable.

And at the back area, there was a gang of people with tattoos rippling down their arms. Most of them were smoking, while two were resting against the wall.

???- “Go inside the door that’s in between the two resting on the wall. You can talk to me there.”

I smiled deprecatingly. Did he think I was stupid? Those people were probably trained professionals. Once I got too close, they could do anything they wanted to me, whether it be knocking me out or restraining me until further orders.

But they probably had a failsafe if I didn’t go there, meaning someone could be aiming for me right at this moment. And the thing was, I wasn’t sure whether this was a test or the real thing. However, no matter what I knew one thing. I wasn’t going to play around with my life. So I decided to try a compromise.

Me- “Those are your guys. Right here is as good a place as any. So tell me, what do you need to talk about.”

???- “... Cautious are we? Well, you’ll need to go here if you want to get in contact with the organization in the future. And in the room is the mission board, which we use to keep contact with members in question. By completing more missions, we trust you more. Get it? But to do that, you have to trust us as well. Get in the room before I lose my patience.”

Not having much of a choice, I walked to the door, ignoring the glares of the stationed gang members. And inside was a set of stairs that led into darkness.

I disrupted the heat ball, forming a floating torch. Then I walked down the steps slowly, until I could see 2 big blast doors.

Me- “A little help here?”

???- “Use your ability while touching the doors. It will recognize your ability signature, and it will open up.”

Me- “Ability signature?”

???- “Ah yes. With the way you were acting, I somewhat forgot you were a newbie to all of this. A handbook of basics for ability users will be located inside. And there is a whole bunch of other more specialized stuff there too, but you’ll have to pay for it.”

I touched the door, and it opened slowly. Inside was a small room, full of dust. There was a bookshelf full of untouched copies of ‘A begining to your ability’, and by it was a table. On it was an sd card.

???- “Put that into your phone. On it is our special firewall, and a list of missions that you can access with your level of clearance. But I would strongly suggest reading that handbook first. It will be highly useful to you, especially on missions.”

I slotted it onto my phone, expecting a lot of changes to appear on screen. But the only thing that appeared was a new folder on my home screen. Tapping it, walls of text suddenly flooded my screen. And suddenly, it all cleared to show me a readable message. ‘Safe’.

It opened up in its own browser, and within it was a list. The first item was a training mission, but I scrolled down and clicked an item in the middle, to get a sample of what I was dealing with.

‘A deal gone wrong’

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

‘Work with commander Adam K to raid a gang exporting drugs. Your job is to deal with any unexpected situations, and you have clearance to harm suspects. And if you find one of the three listed below on your mission, kill on sigh-’

I stopped reading; I knew enough about the mission already. I wasn’t taking it. But gosh, that was some nasty stuff. Is this what they meant by classifying me as in the ‘grey’ area legally?

A bad impression formed in my mind, but I still looked at the first one on the list, the training. I didn’t want to be classified as an enemy, and then be hunted down by one of those guys.

‘Drawing out your ability’

‘Meet with Charm instructor Joyce Kim to work on drawing out specifics of your ability. This will help with ability classification and overall combat power. Her number is xxx-xxx-xxxx.”

I could not see the number, but it was linked. I guessed by clicking it, it would send me to a call while hiding her number. I decided to hold it off until I read through the newbie handbook.

Me- “You still there?”

???- “I don’t know why…”

Me- “Well, I need you to take care of my absence record for me. So, you know, it doesn’t look like I skipped school.”

???- “Already taken care of. But I guess you need my help finding your way back into the school undetected. So give me a second while I map your route, and… Done.”

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I went back into school during a transitionary period, so nobody noticed my coming and going. And school was finished in the blink of the eye.

I arrived at the club room first, so I decided to read the book while awaiting Chloe and the others.

‘To start about defining the basics of an ability, we must first define what we mean by the words Ability. An ability is the power to do unique things through common means. And through this definition, we can understand that all abilities are powered by the same source.

This brings to question, if all abilities are powered by the same source, then can all train and activate their abilities in the same way? The answer to this question is yes.

Thus, we have this book, A beginning to your Ability. And this theory can be shown in five basic applications.

The first is-’

Chloe arrived while I was engrossed in the book, and asked conversationally,

Chloe- “What’s that about?”

Me- “It’s from the government; it’s theory relating to me. Confidential stuff.”

Chloe’s face turned dark, and she venomously exclaimed,

Chloe- “Again!? Why are they still messing with you? Tell me, when did this happen?”

Me- “Well. It wasn’t another kidnapping, but at the same time, it wasn’t much different. That fire drill, it wasn’t normal, nor was it even a drill. It was cover for me to get out of school undetected and meet at a special point.”

Chloe- “But I heard that a microwave caught fire!”

I shook my head sadly, thinking about how I could explain while mitigating the consequences. Chloe deserved to know.

Me- “Look. I don’t have any good way to explain this to you right now that won’t get me incriminated. But do you still want to know?”

Chloe looked hesitant. But eventually, her facial expression became determined.

Chloe- “This isn’t a lawless society. What’s the worst they can do to you; you haven’t broken any law.”

Me- “Chloe... I’ll trust you. But first, we have to find somewhere more private, ok?”

Chloe slowly nodded her head. And then she sat down next to me in silence, holding my hand.

We sat there for about a minute, before members of the club started trickling in. Again, I was invited by Chloe to the club, so I didn’t know anyone there. But as more people came in, they started to notice me.

???- “Hey, isn’t that Nathaniel?”

???- “Yeah, it is. Didn’t you notice? He’s been here since the start of the year. He didn’t talk to anyone; I never knew he had it in him.”

And in a little while, the leader of the club, John, came. He was a fat man of short stature, but he had dirty blond hair and blue eyes. If he wasn’t a diabetic, he probably would of looked handsome.

John- “So guys, today we are going to be watching Howl’s castle. A classic, I know, but it gives us the excuse to stay after school for the play. So, are we ready to start the movie?”

The majority nodded their heads, and John started the video.

John- “Ok guys, quiet down. The movie is starting.”

The intro of the movie played, and the girl protagonist had her first flight with the wizard. Then the witch of the west came along and turned her into a granny.

The movie continued along its plot, and I was absorbed in it until I received an alert on my phone. Signaling to Chloe that I had to go outside, I walked out the door. And the message ended up being from C.H.I.B.I. Ugh.

The message read as follows, ‘Get to a defensible area as soon as possible; your position has been compromised. Assistance is on its way.’

Crap! Wait, what did they mean by a defensible area? WIthout thinking too much about it, I rushed towards the auditorium.

Being a person in theater, I knew that people wouldn’t be here until about 3 hrs later, and I also knew the ins and outs of the place.

So when I rushed in the theater, I immediately went to all of the open doors and shut them. Then I put myself behind the door that led to the skyline.

The skyline was the name we used for the walking area about 70 feet above the audience. It was used for maintenance on the ultra bright lights that lit up the stage when there was a play.

But, there were two problems with that area. Up there, the only existing railing was chains. And not the strong ones that are normally used, but the cheap Chinese crap that cannot withstand more than 50 lbs of weight.

The second problem was that there was no lighting design for the skyline, despite the fact that it held super intense beams of light. The only light you could get up there was from the flashlights by the start of the skyline.

After entering through the door, I grabbed some heavy scrap wood and barricaded it. Then I pondered a bit. They could probably still get through my makeshift barrier, but it would delay them. Although I wasn’t sure how long, so I took further measures.

To get up to the skyline, the only way was to go through this door, and press the button for the ladder to come down. Then you could climb the ladder, and get to the staircase to the skyline.

So I pressed the button to let the ladder come down, and right after it was fully descended, I pressed the button for it to come all the way up. I grabbed onto the ladder as it came up, cutting off my only way back down. Then I set fire to the panel where the buttons were located.

Laughing to myself, I said,

Me- “Hah, I’d like to see how you’re going to get up here.”

I turned around and walked up the staircase. Unfortunately, the staircase was made out of stone and steel, so my flame was not nearly hot enough to burn it up. Otherwise, I would have done that as well for the sake of caution.

Next, I opened the steel door, and set my back against it, finding comfort in the cold, hard feeling of the metal.. But as I was waiting, I saw a dark figure sitting on the skyline as well. Was it an enemy?

Their legs were hanging over the edge, and the figure looked, feminine. But I wasn’t taking any chances, so I grabbed a flashlight and silently inched forward.

And as I got closer to the figure, I heard faint sounds of sobbing.

My nerves went slightly off edge, and I realized that it was most likely a student. But who?

I started walking normally, and in a second or two the person sniffled and murmured,

???- “Who is it…”

The voice sounded depressed, but it was slightly familiar to me. So I turned on the flashlight, and the person looked up in my direction. It was Helen.

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Author’s note 2- If you were wondering, the reason for the lack of chapters on my other story is because I’m not getting motivation to write it. A lack of comments if you will, really makes one unable to write. But this story has been getting a lot more comments, and they really help my writing speed. I think it almost makes my speed 10 times faster in pushing out the chapters. Therefore, please comment. It really helps. (#Shameless author begging for comments. Have pity!)