Inferno : Elements Series Book One

Gwen

Once again I have done something that makes everyone look at me like I’m some sort of mutant.

“What did you just do?” demands a very stern looking woman wearing a slightly stunned expression.

“I-I don’t know,” I stutter. I feel like I’m in trouble but I have no idea what for.

“You aren’t in any trouble Gwen,” Derek reassures me. “She’s just a little shocked.”

“How did you do that?” says the woman.

“I don’t know. He was hurt, I just went with my gut.”

“Margaret,” says Jasper. “This is Gwen.”

“Gwen,” her head turns back to me so fast that I fear she may have broken her neck. “The girl everyone has been talking about?”

I feel the colour drain from my face. What have people been saying about me?

“That would be her,” replies Jasper. “It seems she has a few other powers to add to the ever growing list.”

Wow, it’s not like I’m in the room or anything.

“How long has she been here now? Did someone show her how to do that?” she continues talking to Jasper. I may not be in the best position to interrupt but I am in the room, surely she can ask me these questions.

“I don’t mean to be rude but I’m literally ten feet away from you. Anything you want to know, I’m sure you’re more than capable of asking me,” I say. She looks a little taken back. I guess no one has spoken to her like that before so I continue.

“To answer your questions, I’ve been here almost a week now and no, no one has shown me how to do that. Now, with my lack of experience in mind and the fact that I genuinely have no idea how I did that, you might want to take a look at him. I might have done something wrong,” I hear the anxiety colouring my voice as I admit that fear. Her demeanour changes in an instant.

“Don’t worry, dear I’m sure you did just fine. I felt that power before I even entered the room, but, I’ll take a look just to be sure.” She says. Woah, complete 180.

“What just happened?” I speak to Derek’s mind. “She seemed to hate me a moment ago.”

“She never hated you, I told you she was just in shock. She’s actually lovely and it was probably the concern you showed for Oliver that knocked her out of it,” he replies.

Much to my relief, it seems I haven’t made another enemy. I watch, fascinated, as Margaret the Healer gently pokes and prods at Oliver’s chest with glowing fingertips searching for any remaining aches, pains and breaks. She looks up at me after about a minute with a smile on her face and she holds her hand out to me. I take it and she has me kneel down next to Oliver.

“I hope you don’t mind Oliver, but I’d really like to show Gwen something,” she says to him.

“I don’t mind at all Mags,” he grins at her and turns to me. “I guess it’s time for your first lesson Gwen!”

“Lesson?” I ask.

“Not really a lesson, I would just like to show you something that will alleviate that anxiety of yours. I’m going to show you how to tell that you did well and Oliver is back to perfect health. It’s absolutely astonishing, I don’t think even I could have healed him this well in one session,” she smiles warmly at me, but, now it’s my turn to be in a state of shock.

“How did you know I was anxious?”

“I’m a healer, dear. Healing isn’t just for physical wounds. I can sense the emotional and mental also. I have a feeling that with a little practice you will too. We will have to see Hank about fitting some Healing lessons into your schedule.”

“Uh, sure. What is it you wanted to show me?” I’m beginning to feel awkward. There is a whole room full of people staring at me.

“Right, take your hand and place it on Oliver’s chest, like this.” She places her hand on Oliver’s chest and then lifts her palm, so that only her fingertips remain touching his skin. I mirror her actions and immediately feel a strange and unfamiliar pull. My mind is being pulled into Oliver’s body. My mind is, literally, floating around through Oliver’s body. Holy shit, GET ME OUT OF HERE! I make my way back to the point that my fingertips are still making contact with Oliver’s skin, getting an up close and personal view of bones, muscle and organs, and as soon as I can, I remove my hand and stand up, taking a few steps back from Oliver. I get immediately dizzy and sit back on my heels, my head bent down to my knees. This is what you do when you have motion sickness right? It alleviates the nausea? It feels like an eternity before my mind comes back and I realise that Margaret and Derek are standing on either side of me. Margaret has her hand on my shoulder and I freak out. I jerk away from her touch and stand, all but running to the other side of the room. A hurt look crosses her features and I feel a small twinge of regret. It passes quickly. She’s working some sort of voodoo here and I don’t want her touching me.

“Please don’t touch me. I’m sorry, just please don’t,” I say. It’s seems the usual actions are being undertaken by Derek. He has his hands up, palms facing me. I still don’t know if it’s to try and calm me or defend himself.

“Gwen, everything is fine. Can you tell us what’s wrong?” He’s talking to me like I’m a baby and I’m grateful because my anger at his tone begins to wash away the rest of the nausea.

“That’s what I’d like to know. What did you have me do Margaret, what was that?”

“I’m not sure what you experienced Gwen but all that was supposed to happen was that you’d get a sense of Oliver’s pain and vitals. You would have been able to see that he was completely okay, that nothing was wrong. You’d just feel his essence through your hand and be able to interpret what it meant. It is a common technique amongst Healers. We use it all the time to determine how best to treat our patients,” she explains to me, concern written all over her face.

“That’s not what happened. That’s not what happened at all.” My head is still spinning, like part of my mind is still in Oliver’s chest. It makes me feel queasy again.

“Why don’t you sit down dear?” Margaret suggests. “Anya, perhaps you should dismiss your class early today?”

“Alright everyone, you heard Mags,” Anya calls to her group. “Shows over, grab your stuff and scram.”

Reluctantly, they begin to leave. Not without a few choice words.

“Seriously,” says Megan. “You people are ridiculously dramatic. Golden Girl gets a head spin doing magic that is obviously too advanced for her and we get kicked out? Maybe she’s just losing her mojo or you idiots over-estimated what she could do. Ever think that maybe, just maybe, she’s no more powerful than we are and your all just being stu-“

“Leave,” says Jasper. He says it quietly but with a finality that makes even Megan turn away.

“I’m sorry about her,” says Anya. “She’s a handful and none of us really know what her problem is.”

“She’s spoilt, entitled and a bitch. Not really hard to see where the problem lies,” chimes in Oliver. I’m inclined to agree with him.

I’m still standing, despite Margaret’s suggestion that I sit down.

“Hey, you still in there?” says Derek.

Little does he know that me not being in my own head is exactly what has put me in this position.

“I don’t know, that’s the problem,” I reply.

“What was that?”

Crap. I spoke out loud. Pull it together Gwen!

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“That’s okay, why don’t you tell me what happened? When you touched Oliver your whole body went stiff and I couldn’t sense you anymore,” Margaret is speaking to me really slowly. Any other time I’d be annoyed but I’m a little too shaken up to care.

“That’s because when I touched him I went inside him,” I say.

“Um, come again?” says Oliver. He has a sick look of his own now. I only realise now that I really could have worded that better.

“Sorry, I should have thought about that before I spoke. When I touched Oliver something happened and my mind began to... it sort of just-” I pause. Not really knowing how to explain.

“I’m not really understanding, but I am feeling rather violated,” says Oliver.

“It’s not like I meant to, I was just doing what Margaret said, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to do it. It just happened.” I shut my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. The fuzziness in my brain is rapidly becoming a migraine. Seriously, what a shit day! I’ve been ambushed and betrayed and enraged and attacked and now this!

“Gwen?” It’s Anya. I look at her, but I can’t really see, my vision is blurry.

Margaret reaches out to touch me again. Maybe it’s just a reflex for Healers. When they sense something is wrong they just reach out and try to touch people. I don’t like it. Right now I just need to go. I flinch away from her and start taking shaky steps toward the exit.

“Hey, it’s okay, just take a minute to find your feet,” says Derek. He looks so concerned. I’m not used to people being so concerned about me. It’s not helping. The sooner I try and explain what happened, the sooner I can get out of here. I hope.

“When I touched Oliver, my mind left my body. It sort of just flowed into him and took a tour,” Oliver looks like he’s having a stroke, which matches the fact that I feel like I’m having one.

“I saw everything, old breaks and injuries. I just floated around in his body and mine was completely empty. I wasn’t in my own head anymore. I had to make my way back to my hand, back to where I was touching him so that I could get back into my own body.”

“I’ve never heard of something like that happening before,” says Margaret. She is the epitome of shock and surprise. “We have to look into this. We have to figure out what it was.”

“You have to go, Gwen. You need to go now.” I say to myself.

“Okay, let’s get you out of here,” says Derek. He must sense my surprise. “Yes, you said that to me. It’s okay, you’re a bit all over the place at the moment and that’s completely understandable. Let’s just get you of here.” Oh, I must have projected that thought to Derek.

I start to walk but my whole body begins shaking. My vision blurs completely and then I can’t see at all. I hear Derek shout my name but the darkness has closed in. My mouth won’t work and…am I falling? That’s not good.