The Man In The Midnight Blue Suit

Chapter Twenty

In the morning it began. We were thrust into the competition with a card telling us where to go and an arena full of tension.

I woke early. A full moon still gleamed in the sky. The moonlight shone into the room, emphasizing the ghostly silence. There was no sign of Jonathan. Wanting to get my bearings, I wandered down the corridor, letting my fire guide me. At the foot of the staircase, the corridor arched left, not straight as I remembered it. The corridor led to a courtyard. Looking up, I could see the shadows of light revealing the windows of our apartments above. The courtyard had a white stone pathway leading through an archway of trees, branches twisting together up to the fragmented sky. I heard a rustle above me and hustled back to my rooms. I found food, ate it, and changed into the shapely silver singlet and tight black pants that I found folded in the bedroom.

I followed the cards instructions into the crystal arena, as I'd decided to call it. I assumed my mind was playing tricks on me in the night, as the corridor continued straight at the foot of the glass staircase. In the arena, I met the others. Gin was there, sending a fiery glare up to the Elites. Scot and Katelyn stood silently. Nearest me was Hale, who wore a vicious grin. Tobias entered last, with a poker face that would put any con artist to shame.

The Elites stand, stone-faced, on the white balcony high above us. There is no glimmer of amusement on Lucian's face as we walk in. His purpose for me is to win. He stands rigid like a statue, never moving his grey eyes from me. The pressure could not be more intense. Looking around at the other competitors, I know they feel the same. Gin tries to act tough, but the tension in the room is inescapable.

Silver fire rises up from the carved lines of the star. Quickly it builds up, chasing the ceiling that blends with the sky, before falling down again like a waterfall glimmering in the sunshine. Finally, it stops at a height just above me, obscuring the others from my view. I'm left with my own section of the star. The fire holds us in like a cage, forcing us to face whatever comes.
"Surprise us." The combined voices of the Elites booms throughout the room. It feels as if Lucian is speaking directly to me. They want us to create something magnificent, with nothing more than the space around us.
The challenge is clear, and so are my intentions.

A ballerina stands before me. She is small, but lifelike, standing in a perfect ballerina's stance. The glitter on her dress shimmers as the ribbons on her shoes shine. Her fingers are delicate, like twigs that will be broken with the tiniest amount of pressure. Her lips shine with pink gloss, and blue eyes twinkle behind dark eyelashes. Looking closer, you can see that her skin is porcelain, and shines in the light. Her eyes are painted with an almost haunting closeness to life. The ballerina is a doll: and yet her eyes blink and her limbs dance. She moves, twirling in a circle, before extending one leg behind her, arching her back slightly, and raising a single lavender above her that you did not realise she was holding. She stares up at the purple flower, her expression unreadable.

As the ballerina dances with her single lavender, she is silhouetted by light. She is framed with a wall of fire, bright white fire, which crackles and thrashes, a powerful beast kept on a leash, threatening to swallow her whole. It casts long, dark shadows around her as she twirls. The ballerina takes no notice of the fire behind her. She only dances with the lavender, content with the powerful force framing her dance.

My head pounds, but the feeling is no more than a prick in my focus. The ballerina is my creation, her dance the surprise the Elites wanted. At the very least, it might remind them that I am more than just a powerful object, I think with a smug smile.

The lavender, a reminder of one of my first serious tasks, to recreate a scarily enchanting scene Lucian had given me. The ballerina, a doll I brought to life at his request. And my fire behind it. Everyone knows the meaning of my bright white fire, although no one will voice it. I intend to use it in my favour.

Two hours pass, filled with silence only interrupted by the crackle of my fire and the tap of my ballerina's feet on the marble floor. I hold the invisible strings connecting me to the scene with a firm tension. I've held something more complex for much longer, I tell myself. When the silver fire around me begins to weaken, I know that the challenge is over. The lavender crumbles in the ballerina's hand, and she finishes her dance in an elegant pose, before becoming a blaze of white fire. The bright white fire rushes back to me. I hold it in my palm for a moment before closing my fist and smothering the flame.

The silver fire recedes back into the lines carved into the marble floor. I look up for a glimpse of the Elites above us. I see Lucian as he turns away. His skin is drawn tight over his face, in either anger or frustration. Then they are gone, leaving us to exit the arena. No one is keen to stay.

Hale stalks in front of us, leaving the arena with more arrogance than he entered it – if such a thing was possible. The rest of us walk slower, knowing there's nothing to look forward to but empty apartments. No one dares speak. We are all drained from our efforts. I glance at Gin and Tobias and wonder what they created today.

Near the end of the glass-floored hallway, a whimpered noise makes me turn. Katelyn has stumbled in her walk. She leans against the white wall, one hand holding her forehead.
"Katelyn? Are you ok?"
She looks up, and I notice how tired she looks. "I'm fine," She says. When she tries to walk again, her knee starts to buckle. I rush over to her and help her stand. "Here," I say, "I'll help you walk." We falter over a few steps. I've never been a physically strong person, and I struggle under her weight. Using my abilities is out of the question – only ever in defence would I use them on another person. Tobias notices us and comes to help Katelyn up from her other side.

Together we walk to her apartment, Katelyn's head resting against Tobias's arm. Her head doesn't even reach his shoulder. I push open the door and we lead her inside an apartment with red carpet and soft white walls. Katelyn sits on a cream couch with woven cushions and Tobias pours her a glass of water from the small kitchenette. She gulps the water, and some colour comes back into her face. I ask her what happened, not sure whether its concern or curiosity pushing my question.
"I – I think what I attempted was too much," She says, her voice slightly shaky, "Too big. My abilities aren't the strongest, they have never have been."
"That was what caused you to faint?" Tobias asks.
"As I said, I'm not the strongest. I – I get headaches, not just while using my abilities, but after. It just gets hard to think, sometimes, when I've been focusing so hard. You probably wouldn't understand," She looks at me, "Being as strong as you are."
I look down at my hands. I've never thought about how taxing these abilities can be on others. I take it for granted that I can handle mine as well as I can, that it never gets the better of me. But there are many sides to power.
"I'm sorry," I say, "That you get these headaches. I know how bad it can get, but it always stops for me. Is there anything else I – we – can do?"
"I just need to rest now, I think. Thank you... for helping me."
"You sure?" Tobias asks with a grin, "We've got nowhere else to be."
"I'll be fine. It's nice to see some kindness from people – even strangers. But I suppose in this competition, with our abilities, it's impossible for us to be strangers. Thanks."
"Any time," I say, as we get up to leave.

I sigh as Tobias pushes the door closed. "Do you ever get headaches like that, after using your abilities?"
"Not really... Once, my tutor, he made me go for twenty-one hours straight. I'm pretty sure I slept for the whole day after that, and my head ached, but that was it. It doesn't affect me as it affects her."
"You had to do that too? Twenty-one hours?" I never thought that the others had done something as drastic as that – I just assumed it was Lucian's ruthlessness.
"You too? I think it was a test or something. Maybe all of us had to do it."
"Maybe." I glance at the door again. "I hope she's ok."
"I do too." He replies. I start to turn and go back to my apartment. Tobias stops me.
"Wait – Do you want to talk? I know we're both pretty exhausted from that challenge and everything, but I've been dying for someone to talk to about all this."
I look at Tobias. He seems as curious as me about this competition and the Elites. It surprises me how much I miss having Jonathan to talk too. I've got to find out where he is, and I guess figuring out the others is the start of finding the missing pieces in this puzzle.
"Sure," I say.