Forces: In Search of Power

By Arbor Winter Barrow

Eugene has traveled across the United States and nothing went as expected. Now he’s stuck in China with a mentor he never asked for. Learning his powers, the conflicts ahead of him, and who he is are more important than he knows.

Willow has come out the other side but now she feels more alone than ever before. She’s a target, on the run, and trying to figure out what to do next. It’s only with the help of a new friend that she’ll be able to navigate new world opening before her. Harry, Jack, Roy, and Logan are off trying to find Laura but nothing is certain and they might be opening a can of worms they aren’t ready to handle.

The war between the Anyan’s Alliance and Isiroan Legion is heating up and no one is prepared for what that means. There are forces at play in the world and Eugene, Willow, and the others are on paths to becoming leaders of a new generation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arbor Winter Barrow
• Release date: Dec 8, 2019

Arbor Winter Barrow

Arbor is a hobbyist, a dabbler, and most importantly a writer. When not writing she is playing video games, watching movies, or reading and probably mulling over the next book or short story.

Book preview

Part 1:

DESTINY IS A MATTER OF CHOICE

CHAPTER 1

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us." - Alexander Graham Bell.

EUGENE YOSHIDA

When the dreams came they were convoluted and meaningless. People and faces appeared but the context of why they were there meant little. All I knew, all I felt, was their blame. The most constant face was HIM. Marcus Grey. Sometimes his face was surrounded by surreal dreamscapes. Sometimes I saw him standing over me whispering words or pushing some warm liquid from a cup into my mouth. I tried to refuse, but my body was not my own. Instead the needs for water and food took over, and I ate and drank what was given to me.

The fever state of the EOS had taken over and I was at its mercy. I heard little but the sound of my own blood rushing in my ears. I drifted in and out of consciousness getting vague glimpses of the room around me, but understanding little of it. Sometimes there was light coming through the window over where I lay, and sometimes it was dark. It felt like I only closed my eyes for a second in between the light and the dark. The constant was always him: Marcus Grey. This man who took Willow away from me. This man who stopped me from using my powers at Laramie, for better or worse. This man who was supposed to be my enemy.

I didn’t want it, whatever cruel reason he had for trying to help me in my state of disarray, I didn’t want any of it. I wanted to be left alone. I wanted to drift into darkness for a time and forget the world, forget that I’d failed Willow, forget that she had looked at me with such anger and disappointment.

The fever came with pain, as if all my nerves were rivulets of lava flows. Consciousness was physical pain, unconsciousness was mental pain. The disappointment in Willow’s eyes the most painful of all. I had failed her, myself, and my family.

Occasionally I heard other voices, familiar and not. Sometimes they told me to be strong, sometimes they said things I couldn’t understand. I wanted it to end. I wanted this pain to go away. When Marcus Grey spoke to me, I knew he wanted me to respond, but half the time the only word I could get out was, Why?

Why me? Why her? Why him? Why did I have to be here? Why didn’t he let the EOS kill me? I couldn’t tell him anything, because I knew nothing. I had more than proved that. Idiot, I said to myself. You dang idiot. What’s wrong with you?

After a time, a time that seemed endless, the pain began to fade. Maybe I got used to it, or maybe I was getting better, I had no way to know or care. Sometimes I was able to consciously open my eyes and blink past the bright lights coming from the window or the lamp on the table when it was dark outside. The room I was in was sparse, with bare wood, and few decorations. It looked like a prison. I wondered if that’s where I was, in some kind of Isiroan prison. I was already being tortured by my own body, what more could they want?

Eugene, a familiar voice said. It was feminine and was a voice I’d rather not hear. It was the voice of that thing in me. I was playing host to some kind of alien AI and it had decided that I was worth talking to again. She had revealed herself to me days before while I was being held at the Isiroan training base in Laramie, Wyoming. 

Go away. I thought at Sarasvati. I didn’t have the energy to open my mouth to speak it.

Eugene, I cannot.

Go away, I thought at her again.

Eugene. You must wake. You will die otherwise.

I’m getting better. I feel it. I need to sleep.

No, it’s false. Your body is giving up. You have to fight it.

What’s the point?

You cannot give up.

I didn’t answer her. It’s not like I wanted to die, but what was I supposed to do? I could barely open my eyes. Sleep made everything better. It made everything go away. 

If you do not wake, I will make you!

I can’t, I said. The loudness of my spoken voice startled me and my eyes popped open. The window was dark. It was night time.

And yet you just did it. The AI’s voice was inside my head now. I was keenly aware of a set of emotions that weren’t my own, instead I sensed they were coming from her, and trickling across her feelings was a sense of pride, relief, and hope. I pushed them away to the back of my mind and tried to sit up.

A sick feeling overcame me and liquid burst from my mouth. I coughed and gagged on the bile and stomach acid coating my tongue. A hand pulled me up and another patted my back. I glanced up and nearly puked again. Marcus Grey was kneeling next to me a look of relief on his face. I had to shake off the feeling of magnetism between the feelings of the AI in my head and the man patting at my face with a napkin. She was pleased that he was helping me… us.

Let go, I rasped. The words barely came out.

Marcus Grey ignored me and in one smooth motion yanked the soiled shirt off me and in another pulled a fresh one over me. The worst is over. I was getting worried there for a moment, he said. The concern in his voice had to be fake.

I didn’t try to speak again but instead gave the room a once over. It wasn’t just a room, or even a prison as I first thought, but a small home. There was a kitchen up against one wall, a table next to it, and a small couch that had a swath of tangled blankets and pillows on it up against the opposing wall. I lay on a bed pressed up against the third wall. A door and an exposed toilet and shower stall were up against the remaining wall.

I turned my head and looked out the window. It was so dark I couldn’t see anything. I was startled out of my observations by Marcus Grey pressing a glass of water to my hand. I robotically took it and started at it like it was something alien, my brain was having a hard time processing even simple things.

Drink. You’re too dehydrated.

I raised the glass to my lips and sipped. The water was warm but it still soothed the inside of my throat and I felt it coat the inside of my empty stomach. I shuddered. Marcus Grey patted my back again, and I wish I had the energy to shove him away, to yell, to do anything. But instead I raised the glass and took another sip.

The water was some of the best I’d ever tasted, and I tried to take bigger and bigger gulps of it. Marcus Grey took it from me before I could finish.

Let that settle first. Don’t want you to throw up again. He got up and threw the shirt I had puked on in a basket near the sink. I touched the blanket covering my legs and found myself weirdly mesmerized with the feel of the soft wool. Why was I here? Why wasn’t I dead? I could only assume Marcus Grey wanted something from me, but little did he know I had nothing to offer. My own brother had lied to me about what I was doing going into the Laramie base. I had been used as a pawn, and I was sacrificed for it. I didn’t know anything about the Alliance beyond what I’d learned in the past few weeks. My brother’s betrayal still hurt, whatever friendship I thought I had gained with Harry had been a lie, and Willow turning away from me in anger stung the worst of all.

Are you feeling better Eugene? The soft voice of Sarasvati was back in my head.

Leave me alone, I thought back.

I cannot, she replied. There was a thread of amusement at the irony in her mental voice. I ignored her and tried to move myself out of the cot.

No, don’t. Marcus Grey was at my side in an instant, his much stronger hands pushing me back. With little effort he turned me and let my legs hang off the bed but pushed my back up against the window. The window was warmer than I expected it would be, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

You can sit up, but I don’t want you getting up until you have a little more strength in you, he said.

Why am I here? I croaked out, eyeing him carefully.

He knelt next to the bed, sighed, and looked up at me. In your present state you’re a danger to yourself and others. I’m not going to let you be out in the world hurting people and causing trouble because you can’t control your temper and your powers.

Why do you care? I asked. My voice was getting stronger. He handed me the glass of water again and I stared at it. When did he fill it? I was awake but I still felt like I was losing little moments of time.

Because I care that you not make a scene and expose our people to the Nons, and your Alliance cares enough to put people in camps for half the stuff you have done in the past few days. Marcus Grey patted my shoulder and got up. He moved over to the couch and sat down picking up a book and flipping through a couple pages.

I turned slightly and looked out the window again. There was still nothing. How were there no lights?

I sat for a time sipping the water and when it was empty Marcus Grey seemed to know and took the empty glass from me. He told me to rest and try to sleep, but my brain was awake, and there was a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to move, but the ache in my limbs told me if I tried to walk I would probably fall over.

Give it time, the AI said. You will regain your strength.

And then what? I asked.

What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, she replied, and I felt her drift into some distant corner of my mind.

I must have dozed off sitting up because suddenly I was opening my eyes again and all the lights were off in the room. I heard light snoring coming from the direction of the couch. I turned again and looked out the window. This time I saw the stars. I tested my legs and managed to get myself to my feet. They were weak and I must not have used them for a long time for them to feel like jelly. I slowly shuffled towards the door and to my surprise found it unlocked. I pulled it open and stepped out. There was no paved path, instead I stepped out onto dirt. My bare feet felt pebbles and sharp rocks. I looked up and as my eyes adjusted to the darkness a realization hit me. I had learned in school about light pollution. The lights from cities and towns being so bright at night that they obscured the stars at night so only the brightest could be seen in the dark. But here, wherever I was, there was no light pollution. The sky was the darkest I had ever seen it, but at the same time filled with more stars than I had seen in all fifteen years of my life. I could see the widest, most populated view of the Milky Way I had ever seen outside of pictures.

Where am I? I asked myself.

The Gobi Desert, the voice of Marcus Grey behind me said.

I didn’t turn to acknowledge him, too captivated by the swath of stars in the sky.

The Gobi Desert? Where was the Gobi Desert?

China, said Sarasvati.   

CHAPTER 2

"Once upon a time, there was a little boy who got lost. Only by following his shadows did he find his way back home." - Fran Carlisle. Alliance Storyteller. 1906.

EUGENE YOSHIDA

I thought I was far from home when I crossed the United States from Ohio to Wyoming, but now I was on the opposite side of the world in the home of my enemy. After taking a peak at the sky outside, Marcus ushered me back inside and asked if I wanted to eat anything. I didn't feel hungry, I felt sick. Not just physically sick, but emotionally and psychologically. I let Marcus lead me back to the bed and sat heavily. He said nothing but drew a blanket around my shoulders and told me to lie down and sleep. He turned a light on above the stove and started to work with one of the appliances.

I stared at my hands. The blanket created a little tent around my head and shoulders and they should have been warm but they trembled from a chill I couldn't shake. Willow’s face, angry and disappointed, drifted in my mind’s eye. I was a failure. I had failed her, failed myself, failed my family.

You’re not a failure, stop saying that, Sarasvati said.

Well I’m not going to get an award for the stuff I’ve done, I thought at her. Willow probably hates me; Jacob already hates me; and my family, in spite of everything…

I want to go home, I said. I hadn't realized I'd spoken aloud until Marcus appeared next to me and held out a bowl of steaming rice and replied, In the morning, after you've rested, we will discuss the terms of your stay here. You aren't leaving until you have some control over that power of yours so you won’t mindlessly hurt the people around you.

What about you, I’m not going to hurt you? I asked, some of the heat of my anger lining the words.

Marcus laid the unwanted bowl of rice at my feet and stood. He clapped his hands together, and when they separated a small ball of fire manifested between them.

I seized up and with a speed I shouldn't have had twisted away and fell off the bed and scooted as far from the fire as I could. A sickly coldness ached up and down my arms, like a cold fire wanted to arc out in response to the sudden apparition of fire from Marcus.

I felt Sarasvati peering through my eyes with interest, but when Marcus clapped his hands again the fire went out and Sarasvati’s interest disappeared with it.

Apologies, I didn't mean to frighten you. I only meant to show you that I am like you, a pyrokinetic. I am a skilled wielder, so another lesser trained wielder such as yourself can't harm me. He reached down to grab my arm, but I jerked away and refused to meet his gaze. He raised his hands and stepped back. I clutched the blanket around me and shuddered. The adrenaline rush of fear shook my entire body. When he stepped away I pulled myself up on the bed and laid down. Marcus Grey had taken the rice bowl and set it on the end table near the bed, but I didn’t have an appetite.

I must have fallen asleep again because the next thing I opened my eyes to was a naturally lit room. Warm sunlight came through the windows. Marcus was nowhere to be seen. I worked my stiff muscles into cooperation and managed to get myself to stand. The window next to the bed revealed the expanse of dry barren land. It had been no lie. I was in a desert. In China.

Why does that frighten you? Sarasvati asked.

You’re in my head, don’t you already know? I asked

I do know, but you do not.That, or you’re afraid to acknowledge it. She said.

I ignored her and hobbled out the unlocked door. I was disturbed that the door was unlocked, and it appeared to lock from the inside not the outside like any normal door. But I knew why before I even stepped one foot out on the dry dusty earth surrounding the one room house. It wouldn’t matter one way or another, the desert was nothing but sand and small dunes from the edge of the door to the horizon. It didn’t matter if I wanted to run.  That thought was dead before I had time to plan for it, because the desert would probably kill me before Marcus Grey ever did. For whatever reason, he was keeping me alive, but I didn’t know for how long. He might abandon me to the dust at a moment’s notice for all I knew.

He won’t do that, he’s not that kind of person, Sarasvati chimed in.

Stop that, I thought at her. What do you know?

A great deal more than you, Sarasvati replied, a sense of petulance and amusement flitted across the connection.

Good, you’re awake. Did you sleep well? Marcus Grey appeared next to me. He hadn’t been there before. Surely I wasn’t still so out of it that I couldn’t even notice someone walking up next to me.

I shrugged, unwilling to tell him I felt like I needed to sleep for another whole week before I would be anywhere close to well rested. My brother was ten times stronger, more capable person than I, so I tried to think about what he would do in this situation. He wouldn’t show weakness. He would be arrogant and… unkind? Honestly, I didn’t know my brother anymore. We were too different and too distant for me to really understand how he would handle this situation.  It would probably get me in trouble, but I maintained that I would at least need to keep my thoughts, and my weaknesses to myself for the time being. If I was being honest with myself he wouldn’t even be here. He would have control over his powers. He probably would have already killed Marcus Grey and wouldn’t be anywhere close to here. A way too vivid memory of my brother using his powers to kill people at the conference center in Columbus struck me, so vivid in fact it couldn’t be a naturally occurring memory.

Sarasvati, stop that. I don’t need that. I thought.

Are you sure? She asked. You want to be like your brother? A ruthless murderer? There was an edge of anger in her voice. She was a computer intelligence and emotions like that seemed uncharacteristic.

No, but at least he… I couldn’t finish my thought. My brother and I were different for various reasons, but the best thing about him was his ambition. That was the one thing I lacked.

Marcus didn’t seem bothered by the fact that I had drifted off, but when I shook the stupid thoughts Sarasvati was putting in my head away, he looked up and grinned. It was odd and a little creepy since I wasn’t used to seeing the expression on his face. What was he up to?

You said you were going to tell me what the terms of my stay here were, I said, doing my best to ignore the grin. It was a painfully genuine grin with no malice behind it.

Right to business, good boy.

I frowned at that but didn’t say anything.

You should speak to him, he isn’t a bad man. Sarasvati chimed in.

That’s a matter of perspective. I replied.

Marcus Grey continued, unaware of the silent conversation between me and Sarasvati. As I said before, you are here because you are a danger. You are untrained, and what little I’ve seen of your powers is too volatile for normal training methods. If you agree to let me train you, I’ll do so, and when I feel like you are capable of using your powers responsibly and with awareness, I’ll let you go home.

Really, I said, studying the expression on his face. He was still grinning but again there was no trickery or mockery in it. What does ‘responsibly’ mean to you?

Three things: control is about knowing how to use your power and how to stop your power. With fire it’s about igniting and suppressing. So the first step is knowing the how and why of starting and stopping fires. The second step is when and where to use your powers to affect and change the world around you, meaning you don’t throw fire at someone because they are annoying you. Finally, the third is knowing who you want to be in relation to your powers. Are you going to try to use your powers to help people, or are you going to recklessly do harm?

I considered what he said carefully but something bothered me. Why do this?

I can’t in good conscience let someone of your age, power level, and poor temper go untrained, Marcus Grey replied.

That almost wasn’t an answer. What was I supposed to do with that? He seemed to sense my dissatisfaction with that answer and sighed. You are a child, who obviously got caught in the crossfire of a war you know little about. I understand that, I’ve been there. The Alliance shouldn’t have declared you a Vunjika because they couldn’t understand what you were going through.

It didn’t make sense to me. Wasn’t I, supposedly a member of the Alliance, supposed to be his enemy? Isiroans vs. Alliance right?

We’re enemies? Why would you help me?

Are we though? I did a little digging and learned enough about you to know that you were used as a pawn by your brother. He tricked you and lied to you and threw you in with the proverbial wolves. Also I’m not entirely Isiroan.

I shook my head, ignoring the jab at my brother. What does that mean? Not Isiroan?

Maybe later, but for now while you may not trust me, I will promise you that while you are with me you will not be harmed.

I stared at him and didn’t try to hide the suspicion on my face.

Accept training, Eugene.You will be stuck here until you do or die of old age. I can’t let you return home until you have control.

You’ll die before I do, I snapped back.

He seemed a little startled by the response but laughed. True enough. I’ll give you the day to think about it. I have to go for a bit, but I’ll be back a little after dark. He was close enough to pat my shoulder as he said this, and I stepped away quickly causing me to experience a little dizziness.

Marcus Grey raised his hands in surrender and backed away. A loud whoosh of air startled me, and an elderly Asian woman was now standing near us. She glanced between the two of us and said something to Marcus Grey in Chinese.

He replied in the same language, and both of them glanced at me before Marcus Grey waved and they teleported away.

The wind seemed louder in his absence and after a second trying to figure out what to do, I decided to walk around the building. I kept the side of the building in my peripheral vision but looked out into the desert eyeing the horizon line. The low sitting dunes obscured part of it, and I figured after a full turn around the building that the little one room--House? Shack?--was in the middle of nowhere. There was no escaping, no running, and if I did I would likely die in the parched sands.

On the far side of the building away from the door there was a large obstacle course set up with ramps, targets, and old tires lined up on the ground between the ramps. Some of the targets were burnt black. This must be where he trains. I shook the feeling of renewed dizziness away and walked back inside.  

As for the demand from Marcus Grey that I be trained or die I didn’t know what to think, but I found my thoughts drifting again to what Jacob would do in this situation.

If Jacob Yoshida found himself in the position I did, what would he do?   

CHAPTER 3

JACOB YOSHIDA

Marcus Grey has your brother. An aide whose name Jacob had yet to remember was standing next to him. The aide’s hands trembled as he spoke and the papers he held onto audibly shook. The Alliance persisted in using physical reports when secured email would suffice. This baffled Jacob to no end. Jacob stood at the window of his office looking out over the vista of buildings. His office in Paris was one of his favorites and was far enough away from the rest of the Alliance bureaucracy to not have to deal with them in person. Still, a dozen aides were always running back and forth with papers, reports, and orders.

Jacob barely looked at the aide and didn’t show his surprise at the aide’s announcement. Instead he settled into the chair at his desk and pressed the power button on his laptop. Jacob had hoped he would get his brother back when they had invaded the Isiroan base at Laramie but his little brother had escaped and he had lost him in the attack. Now it appeared there was more to his disappearance.

Any information as to where Grey took my brother? Jacob asked still without looking at the aide and instead focused on the rotating symbol of the Alliance on his laptop bootup screen.

None, sir. They teleported.

Jacob looked at the aide. The aide straightened up and held out the report for Jacob to take. Jacob obliged the frightened man and took it from his shaking hands. Teleported? Who was the teleporter?

The aide shook his head nervously. No one, sir. It was just Marcus Grey and your brother.

The aide opened his mouth to speak again but Jacob held his hand up. The aide fell silent. He’s a pyrokinetic. They both are. How did they have the ability to teleport? Jacob considered the implications of what the report in front of him was saying.

Jacob had been familiar enough with the fact that Isiroans had harnessed the ability to infuse inanimate objects with short term uses of powers. But of the abilities he had been made aware of teleporting wasn’t one of the ones capable of being infused. The man responsible for those techniques, Ben Ashwater probably had those answers.

Notify the Waystation that I will be needing to go to Columbus in a few hours. I think it’s time to have another conversation with Mr. Ashwater.

S…sir, that was the other thing I had to report. In the hours after the liberation of Laramie, Benjamin Ashwater escaped from the holding cells.

What?! Jacob prided himself on a calm demeanor and did his best to not let anything surprise him. He shouldn’t have been surprised by an escape but Ben Ashwater had been an important bargaining chip.

The aide was far too startled and frightened to do anything but stare at his superior in shock.

Jacob frowned and sat back in his chair. Leave.

The aide hit a chair in his haste to leave the office and backed out of the room apologizing. Jacob ignored the idiot and picked up his phone.

The line rang three times before the person on the other side picked up.  

I have a task for you, Jacob said into the phone.

CHAPTER 4

"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all knowledge." - Aristotle.

EUGENE YOSHIDA

My earliest memories of my brother weren’t great. He always seemed to look down on me, or was so exasperated with my behavior. Eventually I learned to avoid him. The few times I felt brave enough to approach him he acted like I didn’t exist or that I wasn’t worth the air I was breathing. It wasn’t until we got older, after he was freshly graduated from a two year stay at a high school abroad, that I finally saw glimpses of my brother that weren’t dismissal. I was twelve years old when I came home from school one day, and there he was, sitting at the kitchen table with our parents laughing at jokes. He smiled at me--actually smiled at me--when he saw me. I didn’t know what to think then, but all of a sudden, it was like none of the previous years had happened. He was nice, although still a little distant, but more importantly my twelve-year-old mind yearned to see that smile again. A smile of pride, a smile of happiness, a smile of kindness.

There was a point where I knew I wanted to be like him, or at least, I wanted to  see the pride on my father’s face about me the way he looked when he talked about my brother’s successes. But later, as I grew older, I realized I didn’t understand my brother. So now, while I sat here trying to think about how my brother would handle this situation all I could think of was that I would never be as good, never be as smart, or strong, or powerful.

If Jacob were in this situation he would turn it against Marcus Grey in a way Grey would never expect. Grey probably expected me to fight him and to argue.

If there was one area where I lacked it was in my powers. They were all but useless and using the live wires back at Laramie to trigger my powers had turned into a disaster. If I could learn to control my powers, to use them effectively, Marcus Grey would have no choice but to let me go. I was telling myself comfortable lies, but I didn’t care, it was the only way. Otherwise I would probably sit and rot in this one room shack. I would never see Willow again, I would never see my parents again, and most of all, I would never be able to prove my worth to my own brother. That realization hit me hard. That’s what I wanted more than anything. To prove myself to him. And if walking into the enemy’s camp didn’t do it, maybe training with Grey would.

The only person you have to prove yourself to is yourself. Sarasvati said.

You don’t know anything about me. I said aloud. There wasn’t anyone around to hear me except her, but I still felt silly at the weak retort.

In front of me the air shimmered unnaturally and a dark-skinned woman in a red sari appeared before me. Who had she said this was an image of? Oh, that’s right. Ben Ashwater’s mother. Priya Kapoor. The knowledge of those things came to me easily. She was helping me remember. When she’d first appeared to me back at Laramie I had been so confused by everything happening, and her appearance had been one more thing to throw my life into a loop. 

I know much more than you, she said. Sarasvati’s voice coming out of the woman.

What the? I reached out to touch her arm, but my hand went through as if nothing was there.

The mind can make almost anything seem real with the right tweaks, she smiled. And before you make a fool of yourself, no one else can see or hear me. This form of projection seems more fun than whispering in your head.

I’m not going to make a fool of myself, I replied.

May I remind you of the last month travelling across the United States, she quirked an eyebrow at me.

No, I said bluntly.

You are young Eugene, you don’t have to know everything, but it is folly to think you do.

Leave me alone, I need to think, I snapped at her and walked through her projection. I felt nothing and when I turned my head she was walking beside me.

You are thinking you need to be like your brother to be strong.

Why not? He’s so much more than I am.

That’s not true. You are a far better person than he is.

You’re a… a computer, a bunch of ones and zeroes, I replied weakly.

Be that as it may, my neural network is based off the highly complex minds of my people. My personality and initial memories are a copy of my biological counterpart. I have lived longer than your species has been writing down its thoughts and dreams on cave walls. I have been observing individuals of your species for many generations. I’d like to think I know a thing or two about sentient minds.

We walked the circumference of the building. I kept an eye on the horizon at all times, hoping I would see some small glimmer of civilization. 

I was alone here.

You’re not alone, Sarasvati replied to my unspoken thought.

Don’t do that, I said.

She made a face I interpreted as resignation and she flickered out of sight.

Part of me hoped I hadn’t offended her, but I shoved the thought away before she could appear to poke fun at me for it. I hated to admit it, but she was right: I didn’t know everything, and that scared me. I didn’t know what I should do here because nothing in my fifteen years of life had given me any tools to deal with this situation. I had a few role models, like Jacob, or more importantly Nick, and… I guess Willow was sort of a role model. She was so much smarter than me. They all were.

If Jacob were here, he would use it to his advantage, to defeat Marcus Grey on his turf.

If Nick were here, he would learn as much as he could, and not stop until he knew it backwards.

If Willow were here, she would try to understand Marcus Grey, and what he was trying to teach her.

But none of them were here in my place.

I wandered a little ways away from the house and found a bit of rock jutting out from the sand. I crawled up it and sat on the edge and watched the horizon.

The way Grey described learning my powers seemed way easier said