The Flame of the Crimson Rose

"First one to get here gets the chocolate!"

"Nice try, Mr. Prozac," it was in explainable, but it took all of will Cole had not to dive for the chocolate bar. He cleared his throat. "But if you don't want it you could toss it this way."

Fortunately for Cole his pride overcame his hunger. He returned his attention to Sam, and tried not to listen for the sound of the foil wrapper.

"Anyway, what were you saying"

 

Caleb scoffed, and threw the chocolate bar over to Cole, lightly hitting the back of his head.

"So Adam, now that all chocoholics have been dealt with, you can answer the question."

 

Other than Caleb and Nathan, and maybe Caleb and Cole, the group seemed to be getting along well. They had some chocolate, apparently some bread, and it looked like Nathan had gathered some rain water. Most everyone was getting along well, and there hadn't seemed to be anymore attacks. At this rate it seemed like they might just be okay.

Now much happier than before, Susanna took a look around the warehouse to see what she could find. Luckily, she discovered that there was a collection of blankets. The blankets were musty, old, probably not very clean, and a bit smelly, but they'd do to keep the group warm.

Susanna was about to just set the blankets out and have everyone just come get them when she remembered that Nathan was still alone up on the balcony keeping watch. It would be cold up there, and it was sure to be pretty lonely, so Susanna decided to head up there to keep him company.

After having grabbed a pair of chocolate bars from Caleb, Susanna ascended the ladder with two of the blankets in tow, having left the rest below with the chocolate.

"I thought you might like a blanket. It's gets pretty cold at night. Some chocolate and company wouldn't be too bad either, right?" Susanna said to Nathan once she reached the top of the ladder.

 

"I thought you might like a blanket. It's gets pretty cold at night. Some chocolate and company wouldn't be too bad either, right?"

Nathan turned and smiled a little. It was forced because of his mood, but he had to because he really didn't want to keep being angry. He just wanted to think, but now he's done enough of that to tire out the whole group, and hasn't really received any answers. "Yeah, that would be nice. My stomach's growlin' a little." That it was, although he was used to going for a while without any food. "But I don't need the blanket...having the first watch and whatnot, ya know?"

"But thanks anyways. How are you holdin' up? I know I'm kind of collapsing, and sorry for looking like an ass to Caleb. My buttons were kind of easy to push for a while there." He was starting to calm down quite a bit now.

 

"I think I'm doing okay... But I get the feeling that the enormity of all this hasn't actually set in quite yet. It still feels... surreal. I don't know... Enough with that, though. We're just setting our selves up for acute stress disorder like this." Susanna shook her head in an attempt to dissipate the unpleasant thoughts. In situations like this people needed to remain positive, but still realistic. It wasn't realistic to think that everyone's families survived, but it was far better and more positive to merely ignore the subject.

"Anyway, how's that wound doing? Is it healing alright?" Susanna scooted over to Nathan so that she could begin to unwrap the gauze she had applied earlier and check of Nathan's progress. With light, nimble fingers she lifted his shirt away and began to unwrap the gauze.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

 

"Anyway, how's that wound doing? Is it healing alright?"

He let her take his shirt off, letting her think he didn't know. But then as soon as she started to pretend to look at it he struck back.

"You don't have to lie to me, ya know? I know what you can do." A smile went across his face. He was always pleased with figuring things out. "I know how fast wounds heal, and that right there isn't right. So don't pretend. Well at least around me."

And then his face went a little darker again.

"And, also, no. I don't think the enormity has set in for any of us, even me. And you saw how was getting along. I fear the worst. But what scares me more, is that I fear when it gets bad, a lot of people are going to break down; maybe even myself." He was worried. He wanted to make damn sure that it wouldn't happen in him though. "As grumpy and lonely as I am...," he turned away for a moment and then looked back, "I want to live."

 

As strong as Nathan seemed, it appeared that he had a weak side to him to. Of course, everyone did. It would be odd for him not to. It was just odd to actually see it.

"We all want to live. It's an integral part of us. That's why I do what I do. I help people who are hurt, so that they don't die. I don't want to see any one else die, especially since all of my family is already gone. I couldn't help them, so I want to help everyone else. But... as much as I want to help people, I wouldn't sacrifice my life for someone..." Susanna finished taking Nathan's gauze off, and as was expected, his wound was fully healed. Not a scratch or a scar left.

"That's why I hate this power so much... Because I can help people with it. I can cure almost anything. I regrew a rabbit's leg and even cured a dog's cancer with it... But... It's my blood that does the healing. And the worse the injury, the more blood it takes to heal. So the more I want to heal someone... The more I have to kill myself to do it..." Susanna put Nathan's shirt back on for him, and wrapped her blanket around her shoulders.

"It's a curse. The whole thing. Because I want to help people more than anything, but I want to live just as much..."

 

Nathan realized the gravity of the situation with her. Her power could kill her. The most useful person he'd seen since he was dragged away from the school was the healer, and her power killed her slowly. It depressed his mind, and it showed on his face. Then he started to think of an idea.

"Put the gauze back on my shoulder," Nathan whispered, "and don't let anyone see." He had a crappy plan, but it might save her just a little bit as they went on. "I don't want anyone else to know about this. Otherwise, every little cut or scrape, they're going to ask for your help. If they knew, it would kill you." He wanted her to live, not only because she was the most sensible person here, but because she was someone he liked. He hadn't felt that in a long time.

"We're going to live, hun. I'll try to protect you as long as I can."

 

During the Conversation with Adam, Caleb occasionally glanced around the room. What caught his eye in particular was a conversation between Nathan and Susanna. The veterarian lifted the gruff mans shirt, to check on the wound.

Caleb grinned, 'You Dog,' he thought.

Then the nature of the conversation changed, Susanna said something, and Nathan turned, worry clearly written on his face. He then said something, else, his tone soft yet determined.

'He likes Susanna,' Caleb thought as he turned back to Adam, 'Now that is interesting.'

 

"Hey Sam, where'd you get the bread? Do you have any more? I'm starved..."

"I, uh, brought it with me," he lied. He hadn't noticed any of the others using their powers and was unwilling to reveal his. "Sorry, I don't have any more, but," he broke the loaf in half, "you can have some if you want. I'm afraid it's not very good, but hey it's better than nothing!"

"Its not a power! I'm not that fast!"

"Wait, what? Powers? You people have powers? Did I miss something important?"

 

"Wait, what? Powers? You people have powers? Did I miss something important?"

"Well, you know how there's been people on TV talking about people with strange powers and crap since the explosion," Cole took the half a loaf offered him and began to devour it. The dry bread soothed his stomache and cleared his mind. "Nathan seems to think I have a power like that, but I don't think its that big of a deal, its not like I can control water, or channel electricity or anything. I'm not aware of anyone else with powers either."

Cole suddenly felt very sleepy. His eye lids became heavy and his focus narrowed dramatically. 'Jeez, what's with me? I must be coming down with something.'

"Any how," Cole yawned, "Thanks for the bread man. I really needed that."

Cole stumbled backward, as his limbs grew heavier. Slumping to the floor he raised a hand toward the balcony, "... Uh, Sue... a lil' help..."

A soft thud resonated through the warehouse as Cole collapsed onto the contrete.

 

Nathan saw Cole fall flat on the floor and thought for the love of God, why right now? It was just irritating to him, more than concerning. Nathan told Susanna to stay, for the sake of doing what he said he would do, and climbed down quickly to Cole. Before he even got there he heard a snore. Really? Narcolepsy? Really? F*** me... He shook his head in irritation. "Really?"

Then he checked his pulse to see if it was doing strange things and it wasn't. He also checked his breathing and found nothing wrong, so he pulled Cole over to a wall and leaned him up against it. Inspiring leader...yeah. He mumbled obscenities to himself as he went and got him a blanket for the night.

Then Nathan climbed back up the ladder and lied down on the floor next to where Susanna was sitting. He shook his head again as he thought of the event, staring at the cieling. "Why?"

 

"Any how," Cole yawned, "Thanks for the bread man. I really needed that."


Sam nodded. "Sure, no problem. We're all in this together, after all."

He watched bemusedly as Cole stumbled off sleepily. He's certainly a strange one, he thought. A minute ago, he was violently awake, and now he's almost drunkenly lethargic. Not as strange as Caleb, of course. That would be quite an accomplishment. I wonder if that kid is on something, or if he's like that normally. Still, that Cole guy clings rather emphatically to his normalcy despite his erratic behavior. I wonder if he's hiding something.

His train of thought was interrupted by Cole's collapse. "Hey, are you alright?" He hurried over. Well, he seemed alright. He looked asleep. Still, Sam hadn't had a second of first-aid training in his life and he didn't trust himself to make such judgments. Quickly, he replayed the past few minutes in his head. After all, Cole had seemed just fine a few minutes ago. Just fine until...

Worriedly, he looked down at what remained of the loaf. Had he drawn it poisoned somehow? It smelled okay. It tasted okay. Well, it didn't taste okay but it didn't taste poisoned either. Still, better safe then sorry. He threw it to the side.

 

Addison slowly made her way over towards Sam. Caleb had said he had some bread, and she realized she actually was quite hungry. When she had just about reached them she saw Cole collapse in the middle of the warehouse.

"Oh my god!" She rushed over to him, but was beat by a muttering Nathan and a slightly panicked looking Sam. Nathan seemed to asses that he was only asleep and dragged him off to the side, while Sam threw his portion of the bread to the side. Addison surveyed the scene, it really was quite odd. Cole was having extremely dramatic shifts between hyper, defensive, and knocked out basically. Nathan was a bit insanely paranoid. Sam appeared to be getting bread from nowhere. Caleb...was Caleb. Bob had said they all represented some type of person; such as Cole, the passed out leader. What she couldn't figure out was who she was supposed to be representing. How could he pick her to represent someone when she didn't even really know who she was? She had always been a very popular girl at school, her mother had always told her how wonderful and helpful it was to be popular; still she never felt completely happy and comfortable around her friends at school, only around her mom and Gage.

Don't think about him. She forcefully turned her mind away from the question and any path that would lead towards Gage. Instead she cast a glance at Cole to see if she could do anything to help him, but he appeared to be all taken care of. She then approaced Sam.

"Sam right? Whats the deal with Cole, do you know? He just sort of....passed out."

 

"I'm not really sure." Sam scratched his neck nervously. "I mean, he was fine a minute ago, then he just sort of passed out. He doesn't look too sick, I mean aside from the whole unconscious thing, but I dunno. Maybe I did something wrong with the bread..."

 

Caleb rolled his eyes, followed by a disgruntled huff, "Adam mate, we'll have to continue this 'non conversation' another time. Cya."

He then found the scene of Cole's departure into la la land just about wrapped up. Cole had been carefully dragged, and blanketed off to the side, by a muttering Nathan. Addison and Sam were conversing, as to the nature of Cole's fatigue.

"Maybe I did something wrong with the bread..."

Caleb stepped next to Addison, smiling as he did.

"I doubt that my friend. More then likely Cole is experiencing some sort of side effects related to the manifestation of his powers."

Caleb glanced over at Cole's placid sleeping form, "I have heard of quite a few such incidents regarding people who have these 'abilities.' According to what research I've conducted, the fatigue is temporary, however, I can not be so sure, the side effects vary, or so they say."

Sam looked quite nervous, afraid that he had done something wrong.

"Not to worry my friend, hope for the best, and the best will hope for you. Hmm, not one of my better sayings. Ah well they can't all be gems."

 

"I'm not really sure." Sam scratched his neck nervously. "I mean, he was fine a minute ago, then he just sort of passed out. He doesn't look too sick, I mean aside from the whole unconscious thing, but I dunno. Maybe I did something wrong with the bread..."

"Oh I doubt it." Addison patted his arm encouragingly. "Who knows, maybe he passes out regularly outside of the soccer field." A second later Caleb came up smiling at her. She shot a smile back at him.

"I doubt that my friend. More then likely Cole is experiencing some sort of side effects related to the manifestation of his powers."

"You mean the powers he says he doesn't have? Even though he has run really fast...it's still humanly possible."

 

Adam sat against one of the large crates in the warehouse, a short distance from the rest of the group. He was munching on a chocolate bar when Caleb had come up and asked him if he too had a power, like a lot of the other group members. Adam hesitated, and then when he finally opened his mouth to speak, he couldn't find the words to say anything. Caleb asked again for a response, but Adam couldn't give it. He just stared blankly. His phone still had no signal, and he had to turn it off to conserve battery. Others were talking about dead family members, and Adam hoped his family was okay - they were the only people he had.

He didn't know whether he could trust these people yet. In fact, he never knew if he could trust anyone. Maybe that's why he was so alone all the time. He especially didn't want to talk about his power with that loudmouth Caleb. He wasn't even sure it was a power to be perfectly honest - he could've just been going crazy and imagining things.

There was a loud noise somewhere not in view, and Caleb rushed over to check it out. Apparently, Cole had mysteriously collapsed from a ladder.

"Maybe I did something wrong with the bread..." Sam's voice echoed.

"I doubt that my friend. More then likely Cole is experiencing some sort of side effects related to the manifestation of his powers." Caleb said informatively.

A cool draft blew by Adam and he shivered, tucking himself into his hoody. He felt a familiar presence.

"Should we tell them?" he whispered.

 

A peaceful darkness filled Cole's senses. He relaxed and turned his attention outward. In the silence he saw little shining lights surrounding him. Like a sea of stars he found himself bathed in tiny twinkling lights. Perplexed, Cole reached out to one.

Before he could touch it the tiny star burst open and grew in size. It was not star, it was a mass off entwined and luminous strands pulsing and writhing about themselves in an dynamic dance. A faint melody could be heard emanating from the object as its silvery strands swayed and pulsed. Puzzled at the sight he turned his attention to another tiny light.

The first receded suddenly, while the second burst and enlarged just as before. He quickly found that each star was a tiny mass of strands that behaved the same, though the tune each sang was much different. No one looked or moved quite the same.

He finally got the nerve to touch one. On contact the flowing strands expanded again, this time enveloping him in their midst and revealing an even greater detail. The cords pulsed with brilliant flowing energy while tiny specs danced throughout and all around him. A symphony of melodious sounds resonated in his ears. He found he could move the strands and alter the song, shaping the dance that surrounded him. It was amazing and beautiful, Cole's heart swelled with ecstasy and awe.

As he looked outward again the star receded back to its miniature size once more and joined the myriad of others. Cole realized for the first time that he was floating, and looked down at his feet.

Most amazing yet he saw his own body was comprised of billions of tiny stars just like the ones that floated about him. His stars moved and flowed, extending and retracting tiny strands to one another in yet another unique dance.

'It must have been all the chocolate...' thought Cole.

 

"You mean the powers he says he doesn't have? Even though he has run really fast...it's still humanly possible."

"Humanly possible, I agree, but he's running at Olympic speeds. That ain't normal. Neither is the ravenous hunger, nor the sudden fatigue," Caleb shrugged, "It may be stress related and a coping mechanism. But I doubt it. I wonder if his powers will get stronger. Thats what happened to me anyway. I'd tell you what I could do, but then you'd probably treat me like a random ticking bomb."

Caleb strolled briskly to where Cole lay.

"Care for a mind read?" Caleb asked politely, before nodding Cole's head up and down.

Caleb wanted to know more about Coles powers, if he had any.

Caleb inhaled deeply, his brow furrowed in concentration. He then extended a shaking hand, and placed his palm on Coles forehead.

At first nothing, Caleb's powers were often fickle, sometimes working, sometimes not. He was about to give up, when suddenly his vision was reduced to a rushing wormhole of light, and he popped into existence in front of a video of some kids playing soccer.

Caleb recognised one of the children as Cole.

'No, recent memories, recent,' Caleb thought.

Images flicked by, primary school, high school, birthdays.

Eventually Caleb could see nothing but twinkling stars, that surrounded, and engulfed him.

"Im pretty sure this never happened to Cole, so perhaps this is his current dream," Caleb said aloud.

His voiced echoed and warped. It was surreal, Caleb had never been self conscious in a dream before. He danced and laugh and sung. He did a forward roll, to late realising he didn't know how to roll, there by breaking his back. he remembered it was a dream, and that you couldn't break you back. Upon this discovery his bones snapped magically back in place, and he pressed forward.

There was music too! it got louder as Caleb moved onward, eventually stopping when he saw a figure comprised of stars, that resembled Cole. Caleb also noticed he was now made of stars. Caleb had never immersed himself to deeply in someone else's mind.

"Oh what the hell!" Caleb said, as he glided towards Cole, he'd probably dismiss me as part of the dream anyway.

"Cole! Mate!" he said, "Just thought I'd pop by. Look! I Have more chocolate!"

 

"Cole! Mate!" he said, "Just thought I'd pop by. Look! I Have more chocolate!"

Suddenly Caleb had appeared in front of Cole. Unlike everything else Caleb looked normal. Or almost normal, Caleb in the dream was considerably better looking than the Caleb in real life.

Cole was looking at Caleb carefully when suddenly cluster of stars appeared. These stars glowed in many colors, and bounced merrily, although Cole could see more dim ponts of light that hid quietly towards the center.

"Hey Caleb," Cole replied.

"I think this is you," he said gesturing to the scintillating mass."

Cole was not terribly concerned with the presence of Caleb, it was after all a dream. Cole absently extended his hand toward the new cluster of stars. It responded in much the same way as the others. The sounds it made were merry, but minor in key. The tune seemed to be too forced or contrived against its nature.

Cole tried to move a pulsing strand to make the rhythm more harmonious with itself. As he touched it violent sparks leapt out forcing him back. The entire pattern of the stars reacted wildly for a brief moment and then settled.

"Whoa! Caleb look out!" He nearly shouted, unaware that he was speaking in the real world. Looking around at the surrounding warehouse Cole realized that he had been dreaming. His face blushed red again, "Was I dreaming?... I... I wasn't talking was I?"

 

"Hey Caleb"

Caleb grinned as Cole plucked at another one of the sparkling clusters of stars that bounced around aping Caleb's own energetic personality. However, this time it responded violently, sparking and sputtering.

Suddenly Caleb was thrust out of Cole's mind, and dumped unceremoniously onto the warehouse floor, with another killer head ache.

As he got woozily to his feet, he was vaguely aware of Cole awakening too.

'Uh Oh,' Caleb thought, 'he may not be too happy with me. Dammit, and I've got no chocolate to stave him off this time.'

 

"Geeze, that was weird," Cole looked up to see swaying unsteadily on his feet. "I had a dream and you were in it Caleb. How long was I out for?"

Cole noticed the blanket and comforts that had been provided for him while unconscious. He pulled the blankets off, and to his relief found that his arm no longer hurt at all. In fact his whole body felt better than ever.

 

"I had a dream and you were in it Caleb. How long was I out for?"

Caleb rubbed his eyes vigorously, "Ten minutes or so, you collapsed. Powers developing or something... Ah! Tell me why did I- that sparkly me, erm, thing, explode when you touched it?"

Caleb leaned against a nearby shelf for support, and looked back at Cole.

 

"...Tell me why did I- that sparkly me, erm, thing, explode when you touched it?

The color from Cole's face drained instatnly. "How do you know about my dream?? What were you doing?"

The confusion of the situation and Caleb's continuing insistence on him having a stupid 'power' sent Coles blood pressure uncharacteristically high. He stood and looked Caleb directly in his grey eyes.