XI. Training Begins

Chapter Eleven

"First, we need to learn to capture the Nulae," said Agnes as she had all of us except for james, gather in a circle around her. He is not Ricanti so he can only physically defend himself as a normal human could.  As we walked around her and formed a circle, standing about 5 feet from each other and Agnes herself, I asked her,"What exactly is Nulae?" She turned to me and smiled, her eyes gleaming with wisdom. "Nulae my dear, is the very blood running through your veins. It's the pulsing power growing with every second you relax and ease your thoughts. It brings you strength and power, but only if you know how to use it. Use it wrongly, and it will only bring you pain and suffering." As she made it to the end of what she was saying her expression and posture  turned from a happy wisdom- filled woman standing upright, to a scowling, twisted grinned witch, who was half bent over and took a step closer to me with each word she said. She then paused for a second and took a deep breath and smiled again. She then walked back to the center of our Ricanti circle. "Well now, let's begin. I want you to all to close your eyes. Let everything go, no thoughts, no stress, nothing. You need to find your inner self. Believe in yourself. Once you feel the pulse, let it take over, let it fill you. Don't be afraid just let it in." I closed my eyes and tried to bring back what I had done last night in my room.

 I took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. I emptied my thoughts and just dropped my shoulders and relaxed. I felt the pulse start in the tips of my fingers and toes and it slowly made it's way up through my hands and feet and then through my wrists and ankles. I took in another deep breath and again exhaled slowly. I felt the pulse rise higher now through my shoulders and hips and it met together at my chest and stomach filling me up to my head. I heard my grandmother telling me to open my eyes. I looked around. Everyone was just gasping and looking at me. I looked down at myself and I was glowing again. I was at least ten feet in the air this time too. Agnes walked closer to me and said,"You need to pull the pulse into your center,  into your gut." I was a little confused on how I was supposed to 'pull the pulse', but I had to give it a try. I closed my eyes and thought to myself 'Into my center,' and for some odd reason I swallowed air. I felt the pulse slowly pull towards my center. I swallowed again. The pulse sped up, flowing to my stomach and then fading away. Eventually I didn't feel the pulse anywhere. I opened my eyes. I was slowly descending to the ground. "Did I mess up?" I asked a little confused. "No dear, you now harness your full powers." my mother said with a smile that seemed full of pride. 

Nikai took a little longer and showed a little more impatience,  but she eventually harnassed her powers. Now it was time for us to learn how to use them. After Nikai had calmed down and stopped shouting with glee, Agnes had us stand next to eachother about three feet apart. "Okay, now I want you to focus on the birdhouse hanging from the oak tree over there." She said to me as she pointed out the little bird house hanging from the tree. It had a red roof and white walls. There was a good two inches of floor all the way around it with a little red railing and a little, fake yellow bird pirched on the corner of it. "Now extend your right arm towards the birdhouse like your going to shake hands with someone in front of..." Before Agnes could finish her sentence I had pulled my arm in front of me like she was asking and I had no control over what happend next. I felt like my arm had fallen asleep and I had that horrible tingling feeling all throughout it. My wrist all the way to  my finger tips lit up like an orange glow stick and out shot a ball of fire and it inililated the bird house. I just stood there shocked. "Holy s**t!" James exclaimed as he ran to me and hugged me tight. "That was amazing, your like a REAL superhero!" I just smiled and looked into his eyes. I could see deep into his eyes. Even though he was smiling and acting like everything was fine I could see pain and suffering in his eyes. I never noticed this about him before. His body felt so cold and clammy. I looked down at his arms around me and seen this gross slime covering his body. I looked up at him again and he was just smiling and laughing, but he sounded far away and his voice echoed. I became dizzy and light headed. My breaths became short and shallow and everything started to fade to black.

I woke up with a throbbing migrane. I opened my eyes, but it was too bright for me yet. I blinked a few times and let my eyes adjust. Although a little blurry, after a few minutes I could see. I sat up and looked around me. I was in the back yard by myself. It was dark out and the lights were on in the house. I stood up and looked towards the bird house. It was all still in tact. No explosions happened here. I was starting to get confused. I walked in through the slider door and into the kitchen. There was a teapot whistling on the stove. I took it off the burner and peeked into the living room through the bar window. No sign of anyone. "Agnes?" I called hoping to hear someone reply. Nothing. "Mom? Nik?" Still nothing. I walked into the living room and looked out the front window. Jame's truck is still here. "James?" I called out, once again hoping to hear someone respond. My head was really hurting. "Nobody is here but me my dear." Came a strange, deep, scratchy voice from the hall way. I turned around so fast I nearly lost my balance. "Oh my god! Kane..."