• N I N E •

"You haven't even seen my bad side yet."

• • •

I wake up and untangle myself from my sheets. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I rub the sleep from my eyes.

Some people hate nightmares.

I am plagued by them nightly. Because of my shadow powers, I actually don't need to sleep. Ever. However, I enjoy the nightmares because they are memories. They might not be the best memories, but they help me remember my family.

Getting out of bed, I groan, remembering that I have to return to school today since it is Friday. I was able to work at the restaurant yesterday and I had two fights. I'm pretty sure at least one of my ribs are cracked, but I merely ignore the pain for the moment.

Careful of my ribs, I quickly get dressed and grab my backpack and run to school where I head to my first class, ignoring the whispers and stares that seem to always follow me. I plop down in a chair in math class, wincing slightly as the movement causes the pain to flare up.

Kolton is squinting at the board.

"What on earth is that?" He asks dramatically.

"Calm down," I say with a roll of my eyes. "We've gone over this unit before; it's just review if you've paid attention in last years math class."

Kolton looks at me and slowly says, "You do realize I've had Mrs. Valdez as my teacher for the last two years?"

My eyes widen.

"You poor thing."

"Exactly," Kolton sighs, running a hand through his golden hair. "How could anyone expect me to learn anything?"

"I was being sarcastic," I tell him flatly. "Your teacher sucks. So what? Learning is necessary."

"Nope," Kolton argues cheerfully. "Being on the football team and getting along with others is necessary. When will I ever use this information?"

"This information is useless junk," I concede. "But that doesn't mean that learning isn't important."

"Only a smart person would say that," Kolton says, giving me a pointed look.

I roll my eyes again. "I'm not smart. I wish I was, but I'm not. I just apply myself."

"Like for a job?"

"I'm done talking to you."

"Okay, I'll just use my pen to poke you all class."

I look at him. "Try it."

Kolton, being the idiot he is, actually does try and poke me with the pen. I snatch it from his grasp and snap it in two before tossing both halves in the trash, not even bothering to aim. Thankfully, I was able to cleanly snap it and there is no ink anywhere.

Kolton gasps, "You b-broke my pen?"

Glaring at him, I snarl, "I'll do a lot worse if you don't shut up."

Turning to the front, I notice that Mrs. Valdez is still not there.

"Where on earth is the teacher?!" I exclaim, throwing my hands in the air.

Kolton doesn't even look at me.

"Hello? I asked you a question."

Kolton continues to stare at the board blankly. Sighing, I slump in my seat. Something tells me that this is going to be a long day.

• • •

Grabbing as much food as I am allowed, I make my way to where Victoria is sitting.

Setting my tray down carefully to avoid slamming it down, I sit down across from her.

"Hello, Victoria. How's your day? Mine's not so great, thanks for asking," I huff, not letting her get a word out.

"Looks like you don't even need me to have a conversation with me," Victoria says wryly.

"Sorry," I sigh.

"Who's gotten on your nerves this time?" Victoria laughs.

Rolling my eyes, I reply, "It's more of a question of who hasn't gotten on my nerves."

"You're a bundle of joy," Victoria remarks playfully. "Let's talk about something else."

Swallowing my giant bite of food, I ask, "Talk about what?"

"Hmm... How about those boys?" Victoria says slyly.

"What boys?" I ask, confused.

Victoria responds, "Oh, I see how it is."

"See how what is?" I question, even more confused.

"Nothing, nothing," Victoria says with raised eyebrows in a tone that says it is something, not nothing.

Giving her a funny look, I slowly say, "Okay..."

"Anyway, have you ever been to a fight before?"

Smoothing my features into an emotionless mask, I inquire, "As a fighter or a spectator?"

"Either," Victoria answers with a shrug.

"Nope," I lie.

Victoria beams. "You should totally come with me sometime, Rage. I think you'd love it."

You don't even know half of it...

I shrug. "Maybe."

"Well, I met this super cool fighter the other day. Goes by Raven. She came and grabbed the champion title for both the powers and non-powers divisions in just one night—her first night," Victoria informs me, leaning forward.

"So she's a good fighter then?" I remark casually, not sure what to say.

Victoria scoffs, "Good? She's the best, and she's cool about it too. You should totally meet her!"

Blinking, I shake my head. "Probably not. I've never been to a fight. Why start now?"

"Because you're missing out!" Victoria exclaims.

Wrinkling my nose, I shake my head again. "I don't think I would like it."

"Please," Victoria scoffs. "You love to fight. What makes you say that?"

"Well, isn't it illegal?" I try, cramming more food into my mouth.

Victoria gives me a disbelieving look. "You got suspended for fighting and you're trying to say you wouldn't like to watch a fight or participate in one or meet a cool fighter who is a lot like you?"

Biting my lip, I sigh, "Fine. I'll go to one. But it might take a while before I'm able to go to one."

"Why? Strict parents?" Victoria asks casually, taking a bite of her own lunch.

I freeze for a second at her words before forcing myself to relax. I shake my head.

"Just got a job," I tell her.

Victoria nods and replies, "Well, come when you can. I'll let you know when they take place if you want. I think you should totally meet Raven."

I give her a weak smile and say, "Thanks, Victoria."

How am I going to pull this off?

Shaking my head, I decide to just put it off for as long as possible. But, as I head to my next class, I can't help but wonder how easy it will be to keep my two lives separate as time goes on. I've never had to worry about having a secret life or anything stupid and cliche like that, but that also means I have zero experience with it.

I guess I'll just have to take it one day at a time, then, and survive.

Surviving is what I do best.

Just survive.

• • •

The bell rings as I am exiting the classroom, spots in my eyes as I stumble through the hall. I blink my eyes to clear the spots. In Elemental Testing, they tested for poison powers today. Meaning the teacher injected us with a plethora of poisons and venoms. After carefully observing us and making sure we were all sick and dying, they finally gave us the antidote shot and released us.

Oh, how I hate school.

My class and I stumble through the halls to our lockers. I grab my backpack and hurry to the exit of the building. Pushing open the door, I make my way dizzily through the swarm of other students that exit the building.

I decide to go through the woods on my way home. The fresh air will, hopefully, help me get better faster. Not to mention, I should probably stay away from the roads like this. I definitely don't want to get hit by a car. Plus, people would just take advantage of my weak state. Really, anything could happen. I'm not in a good state at all right now.

Rubbing my eyes, I stagger through the woods, no longer paying attention at all to the path. Trees reach out to hit me and I trip over just about every single root and trample all the plants. A large root sends me sprawling to the ground where I hear it.

"Hello, Rage," A clipped voice says.

"What?" I groan, the only word I am capable of in this state.

The world stops spinning as I use a tree to help pull me to my feet and balance myself. A tall figure approaches, a woman in her late twenties or early thirties.

"Hello, my name is Kitrina," She says, her dark eyes taking me in as I do the same with her.

Her hair is long and thin, a bright red color. Her skin is pale, incredibly so. But her eyes are what command attention. They are dark brown, cold, and calculating.

"Aye," I reply with a nod, still trying to regain my senses.

"You really don't deserve them, do you?" Kitrina scoffs, but I can hardly see her right now, I am seeing multiples of everything.

Stiffening, I spit, "Listen, Kit, I don't know who you are or what your deal is but I'd prefer it if you didn't accuse me of not deserving things. It comes across as rude."

Kitrina's eyes harden at the little nickname as she comes into a bit of focus. Good, I'm glad she doesn't like it.

"Rage, you don't know who I am, do you?" She muses.

The world swims and I lean my back against the same tree. This tree is my new favorite tree. It's so nice and helpful. What a good tree.

"Nope. Don't have the faintest clue," I tell her nonchalantly, trying not to give away the fact that I am completely out of it. I can hardly see her anymore and my heart is racing, my pulse filling my ears and blocking most of the noise.

Her lips curl up into a fake smile and she promises, "Don't worry. You'll know soon."

Before I can question anything, a searing pain comes from my heart. Crying out, my eyes screw shut as I try to stay upright. By the time the pain is at a manageable level, she is long gone. I need to get home. Now.

Picking a direction at random, I clutch my heart, trying to keep the pain at bay. The pain flares up, causing me to grit my teeth against the cry of pain that threatens to escape. I try to use my powers, any of them, to find my way through the forest, but they won't come, most likely an effect of the many poisons coursing through my blood at the moment. The antidote shot better start working, and soon.

Maybe I should just sit down and wait for the antidote to work. I shake my head and continue on. Sooner or later, I will find my way out of these woods. I need to get to my place.

The effects are just starting to drip away when I hear it. The sounds of people. Biting my lip, I have to decide. On one hand, they could take advantage of me in my weak state. On the other hand, they could help me. And I definitely need help.

Cursing under my breath, I stagger through the woods, falling over twice in my pursuit of the noise. Finally, I reach a clearing where I see them.

No.

This must be a hallucination.

Blinking, I try to make sense of the scene or make it go away. But it doesn't change at all. They are all still there. They are all still doing the same thing.

But it doesn't make sense at all.

Well, sure it does, I tell myself. You have secrets; they have secrets. It makes perfect sense. Why would they tell you about this? You never told them about your secrets, that's for sure.

Okay, I'm not mad at them at all for keeping this from me.

"Hi, guys," I say, testing to see if they are really hallucinations. If they reply, they are real. Right? Hallucinations don't talk, do they?

The world swims around me as they all freeze and look to me. Before I can really test to see if they are hallucinations, the poison takes hold of me. I let out a shameful whimper as the searing pain spreads from my heart to my whole body. I hope I don't sound weak. Spots fill my vision as it all becomes too much. I collapse to the ground as the darkness takes over. I try to stay awake, fight the poisons, but the darkness wins like always and I lose consciousness quickly.

• • •

Groaning, I roll over and try to go back to sleep. Until I notice that I am not in my own bed. It smells different. Forcing my eyes to open, I see that I am on a couch in the cottage that Kolton and Nekoda took me to the other day. I pull the thick blanket off of me, stand up, and stretch before deciding to find the guys.

The antidote seems to have finally worked. The poison is all gone, leaving me with only a mild headache. Outside, I find them all talking together.

"We can't tell her!" Gage exclaims.

"Why not?" Darkon rumbles.

"Yeah," I call. "Why not? But don't worry, I have a feeling I know what you're going to say."

"You saw it, didn't you?" Nekoda says, back to his icy self. He is no longer fun and playful, he is ice cold.

I snort, "Yes, I saw, Ice Boy. I saw that pathetic thing you call an icicle."

Nekoda fixes me with an icy glare, but I ignore him.

"What are we gonna do?" Boaz asks, flopping to the ground.

"I say we kill her," Kolton says.

I smirk at him, seeing the laughter in his eyes. "Sure, thing."

Gage rolls his hazel eyes and spits, "Well, how do we know you won't tell anyone?"

I can't blame him for his anger, I would be pretty furious and terrified if someone learned about my powers.

"How about I trade a secret for a secret?" I offer with a sly grin.

"What?" William inquires, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Grinning at William, I use my flora powers and all the plants around us begin to grow and reach for me.

"William?!" Kolton exclaims.

William, gawking at me, breathes, "No, that's not me."

Asher looks at me with his large, brown eyes. "You have flora powers?"

I smirk again. "Among others."

I let my powers loose, just a little. Fire dances in one hand, water in another. The rocks around me all lift off the ground and are promptly frozen.

"I have flora, fauna, earth, fire, ice, water, air, and shadow powers," I inform them calmly.

They all stare at me.

"Shit," Kolton laughs.

"Pretty much," I say with a shrug before asking Kolton, "You have air powers, right?"

Kolton beams, running a hand through his golden hair. "Yup."

I point to them, Darkon first.

"Earth powers."

Gage.

"Water powers."

Nekoda.

"Ice powers."

William.

"Flora powers."

Asher.

"Fauna powers."

Boaz.

"Fire powers."

They all exchange looks.

"So what are you going to do?" Gage asks finally.

I smile wildly. "Train you chumps."

"Train? Us?" Kolton scoffs. "No offense, Rage, but we've been training since we met and found out about each other's powers."

"I have eight powers. No offense, Kolton, but I have more training and control than you do," I retort.

"Is that so?" Nekoda says with a raised eyebrow. "Care to prove it?"

My grin spreads. "I'd love to."

Gage studies me and nods. "Sparring or side by side?"

I don't want to hurt them. As I open my mouth to choose side by side, Boaz speaks up.

"Side by side. Duh. We don't want to hurt her."

William nods and inserts, "Let's not hurt anyone."

That's it.

"Both," I answer for myself. "Who's first?"

Darkon looks at me and smiles softly. "I'll go first, but I have a question for you first."

"Shoot."

"What happened to Amadeus?"

Playing dumb, I ask, "Who?"

"My brother. Also known as Wolfgang," Darkon explains, giving me a look that tells me he isn't buying my act.

"Oh, him," I laugh, giving up playing dumb. "That was a fun fight. Earned the champion title that night."

"What is she talking about?" Gage interrupts, his eyes darting in between the two of us.

"Nothing," Darkon answers finally, still studying me. "And thank you, Rage."

"My pleasure," I say with a ferocious grin. "Ready?"

Darkon nods. "Stone only, though."

I shrug and get into a fighting stance as the others move out of the way. Darkon calls the stones to him and they hover in the air. I turn my skin to stone and reach out with my powers, my eyes closed. I can feel the rocks. The earth itself. Taking my opponents powers only improved mine. I feel his rocks and ignore them, holding them in place.

I am after a bigger target.

There. There it is. I snap my eyes open as the earth itself cracks. A line splits through the earth, starting right in front of my feet. It races forward, opening into a gaping hole right under Darkon's feet. With a shout, he falls in, losing control of the stones. I gently pull them toward me and drop them to the ground in a ring around me.

Looking at Gage, I spit, "So? Who won?"

Gage admits, "You did. Good job."

I smile smugly and ask, "Who's next?"

"Me," Nekoda calls drawing near.

I help Darkon out of the hole and close it up.

"Ice only," Nekoda declares.

I step forward and declare with a vicious grin, "Fight me."

Nekoda's lips twitch, but he remains icy.

Fighting Nekoda is actually harder, mostly because my instincts all lead to me killing him, not merely winning.

Nekoda sends small ice daggers flying toward me, wave after wave. I drop them all before they hit me and slowly move closer to Nekoda who is slightly panicking. I move closer and closer, ignoring his desperate attempts to hit me with the ice. Soon, I stop right in front of him. Snaking an arm out, I merely touch his bare hand. The ice spreads quickly from there, freezing him. He hits the ground, completely frozen.

It would kill anyone else, but I know that he is fine since he has ice powers as well. Sure enough, he slowly starts to thaw out on his own.

"Next?" I call cheerily, looking at them.

William says, "I will not be fighting anybody."

Nodding, I turn to Asher. "You?"

I don't think he will fight either, and I am correct. The two of them just don't seem like fighters, but it's fine since their powers are the best for fighting anyways.

Kolton grins. "I'll go next."

He steps forward and helps Nekoda get out of the way before taking a fighting stance.

Kolton sends a startlingly powerful blast of air towards me and I just manage to stop it. I return with a wave of air, digging my heels into the soft dirt below me. Kolton sends his own blast of air and they clash in the air. Kolton loses his charming grin for a look of intense concentration as we fight. I take a step forward, pushing the air closer to him. He refuses to take a step back but is soon forced to. With a shout, I put everything into the fight and he flies backward and hits the ground hard.

I drop my hands and call my power back to me before making my way over to him. Sticking a hand out, I help pull him to his feet.

We walk back to the others.

"Boaz? Gage?" I ask, trying to see who I will be fighting next.

"Pass," Boaz calls from where he is laying on the ground.

Gage rolls his eyes and heads to the middle of the clearing with me.

Instantly, Gage starts, flooding me with water from the droplets in the air. I ignore him, closing my eyes. He tries to drown me in the water, but I use my powers to breathe in the water. I don't fight back, at least not visibly. I am surrounded by a swirling mass of water that soon drips away.

Opening my eyes, I see the confused looks of the others. Gage's eyes bulge and he clutches his throat. I wait a moment before calling the water from his throat. Using water to choke someone with water powers is tricky, but can be done, as I just proved.

Gage coughs, spitting the last of the water from him.

"Now, that I've beaten you all, shall we proceed to the side by side or training?" I call with a cocky grin.

• • •

Q: Summer or winter?

A: Winter all the way. I hate the heat. It kills me. And I love the cold.