Chapter 14
871 Words
Cole
"What the…"
Harley's voice trailed off as her eyes were filled with fear, and I suddenly realised I'd misjudged how I should break the news to her.
Something better than "hey, I'm a freak" would have done well. I didn't even get into the fact that she was like me too, that she'd been the most powerful of us all when we were kids.
"I know, it's strange and a bit frightening when you first learn about it, but I promise you that it's OK," I tried to reassure her.
"What are you?" I heard her whisper as she stepped away from me.
I should have expected this, the initial shock period was always going to be a thing. Alana went through a similar thing when she found out about her extraordinary abilities.
"I'm human, if that's what you're asking," I sat down again, presuming that I would seem less threatening if I did. "My father was the commander in charge of the project where military scientists were tasked with making super soldiers. They really didn't think that they were going to achieve anything until they heard about some special people out in the world who were able to do strange things. The military basically kidnapped these people and studied them until they were confident to try it out. I was their first little specimen, and two years later you, Alana and August were born."
I could see the hesitation on her face - she was desperate to find out more about where she came from, but she was also comfortable living in her own little bubble.
"And the orphanage? How did we end up there?" Harley eventually caved to her curiosity and sat down beside me.
"A group, including my biological mother, bombed the facility we were being held in. Our nurses - the women tasked to look after us - left us at a church, which then took us to Saint Margaret's Orphanage. When the smoke cleared and the nurses weren't being watched as closely, my nurse - Emily - volunteered and eventually got a job at the orphanage."
Harley looked out over the lake, processing the huge amount of information I'd just hurled at her. The sun was setting over the horizon and the sky was lit with colour which reflected off the water, giving her skin an ethereal glow.
For the years I had searched for her, I had built up this perfect picture in my head. One where she would instantly know who I was and throw herself into my arms, ready to live happily ever after with me. Not once did I think that there might be a chance that she wouldn't want to be with me - but now that thought was becoming more and more prominent in my mind.
"Harley, I know that it's a lot of information, but you are my other half and I've loved you for years," I said softly.
She turned to me and I could see the blatant anger in her eyes. "How can you say that you love me, Cole? You don't even know me!"
Her words rang in my mind and I had to admit she was right. The words April had written all those years ago, the entries into our shared diary - the words I had fallen in love with - they weren't Harley's words. She was a different person now. Gone was the gentle girl who used to pick flowers and press them between the pages of our diary. In her place was an edgy woman who could hold her own.
"You're right," I admitted. "But I would like to get to know you. You're still the other part of me, and the person who will help me control and build my powers."
She stared at me, chewing on her lower lip as she thought.
"You said I was also born from this project, what did you mean by that?" Harley resumed chewing on her lower lip.
"You also have powers. Alana can alter life force, reviving plants just by touching them - she's also been trying to expand on that by practising on small animals. She also controls fire. I have only discovered one gift so far - being able to freeze water. My power is weaker than it should be, but being around you has increased it slowly." I replied, watching her face.
"And me and the other kid, August?"
I smiled slightly, she was warming up to the new information and wasn't running away screaming so I guessed that there was progress.
"Well, August was said to control air, and you apparently control water," I shrugged. "I can't be sure though. The fact that you haven't spent most of your year asleep means that your power has been reactivated, so you should have had some experience with it."
She shook her head and looked down at her hands. "Maybe the memory loss also stripped me of my power."
I took her hand in mine, rubbing my thumb against her palm.
"Whatever the case, I'm glad I have found you," I admitted truthfully.
But at the back of my mind I was worried - what if her powers never returned…
- Writer
