Last Chance

 Chapter 1: “The Phoenix”

She was breathing deeply, sweat rolling down her forehead only to fall off her chain. She trembled from the weight of her nightmare before she pulled in a deep breath, letting it out slowly to calm herself. She turned towards the table next to her bed to reach for her phone, hesitating when she realized how far the table was pushed back with the force of her uncontrolled power. Her shoulders slumped in disappointment in her inability to control her power once again. She waved her hand in the direction of her phone, using her ability to lift it and place it into her hand. Taking a glance at her locked screen to check the time. 

‘3:30? Not even an hour passed by.’

She threw her blanket off of her, pushing herself out of bed. Knowing that there was no possible way for her to go back to bed, she pulled her shirt off in an attempt to cool off her overheated body. Signing to herself, she ran her fingers through her sweat drenched hair, feeling the memories of her nightmare bubbling at the surface of her mind. Trying to block out the memories of her dream, she concentrated on a technique her mentor taught her. Closing her eyes and gripping her hands at her side, she proceeded to try locking them behind a mental volt she created in order not to deal with anything complicated. 

But it wasn’t working. Her mind was running a mile a minute, spinning out of her control. Like she was barely holding onto her sanity. She gripped her hair painfully, tugging harshly in frustration as she felt the floorboards beneath her shake under the weight of her powers.    

‘Stop thinking!! It wasn’t real, Jean! Block it all out. Make it stop!’

Running away again, Rose?

“Wha-?”

How many times do I have to tell you . . . listen to me.

‘Shut up!’

How many times are you going to make the same mistakes? ‘Shut up!” How many times do I have to FIX YOUR MISTAKES!? ‘SHUT UP!!’ Are you going to waste this golden opportunity AGAIN?! ‘I’M IN CONTROL!’ Are you going to watch her die again?

Rose’s eyes suddenly opened in surprise. The shaking of the floor suddenly stopped. She slowly let her hands fall from her hair, falling limp along her sides. The only thing that could be heard within her room was her deep uneven breathing. 

You can make me the villain and blame everything on me as you always have done. But I will not allow you to waste the power I used to send us back. 

‘It was just a dream . . . . there's no way I would have been married to Trent . . . and messing with another man . . .’ 

She let out a broken sob. ‘There’s no way I would have tried to kill myself . . . and put my family in danger. THERE’S NO WAY I WOULD HAVE LET HER DIE!’ 

You’re a coward. You let all that happen. Because you keep DENYING me! And as always, I’m left with cleaning up after you.

“The professor wouldn’t have-”

HE WANTS TO CONTROL US! To limit our potential, to keep us caged here. Look where that took you. Used by both sides and at the cost of our mate. 

‘Mate? Trent?’

Don’t play dumb, it’s beneath you to act this ignorant. 

Rose looked down at where her phone had fallen, staring at the still lit up screen, her eyes glued to the picture of Adisa and herself. Smiling like they had no care in the world, realizing the level of gentleness her gaze held when it was directed to the mocha skinned girl. She bent down, grabbing her phone to take a closer look at the photo.

Memories of her played beneath her eyelids, showing a smiling Adisa. Laughing, getting worried, even getting angry at her. The memories flashed by like a fast slideshow, showing her an outside perspective of what she did with her life. She frowned harshly, seeing times when she ignored Adisa in favor of accepting Trent’s advances and Luke’s interest. Pushing her confusion of her interest in Adisa to her mental volt, drawing a clear line between who she wanted and what she thought was normal.   

‘Adisa . . . .’

Adisa . . . . 

There was a soft knock at her bedroom door, throwing her out of her thoughts. “. . . . Rose. . . . ?”  a soft voice Rose recognized, “You’re shaking the house again? You okay in there?”

Rose’s whole body shuddered at the softness of Adisa’s voice. Almost as if its been years since she’s heard that level of concern in Adisa’s voice. She felt stuck, frozen to where she stood. 

“Red? . . . .You sleeping?”

Her breath shuddered at Adisa’s use of her nickname, her voice dripping with concern and endearment. Suddenly remembering this moment that’ve happened before, of how she harshly turned Adisa away in  mix of fear and longing. This was the moment that decided how everything else would play out. Continuing to stare at the door, she used her abilities to unlock the door and pulling the door open slowly to reveal Adisa in her black sweat pants and one punch man tank top. 

Adisa’s eyes widen slightly at the state of Rose’s room. She slowly walked inside, ignoring Rose’s gaze to take in the force of Rose’s Power. “I’m kinda surprised you let me in this time.” She spoke softly as she continued to take her surroundings, “Was it a bad enough nightmare?” She finally turned her attention to Rose. 

Rose watched her, watched how she moved around her room. Watched how she didn’t try to pry too much but just enough to determine what her next move would be. “Adisa-”

“The whole house was shaking Rose. You can’t keep telling me ‘Nothing’ for everything that’s happening.” Adisa stared straight into Rose’s eyes, purposely keeping her expression and tone neutral, “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it with me. Maybe you can talk with Trent or Professor Daimen.” She placed her hands on her hips, almost in a defensive pose as if getting ready for an argument.

Make your decision Rose. Change our future or take the cowardly way out. The choice is yours.

Rose stared at her for a long moment before she felt her body relax. She took a deep breath before she spoke, "I had a terrible nightmare and I lost control of my powers. I'm sick of holding back so much just so I could live a semi-normal life." She waved her hands, using her abilities to fix up her room, "It's tiring to worry about what might happen if I don't keep a tight grip on my emotions and thoughts." She took a seat on her bed, keeping her gaze on Adisa. Showing how difficult it was to be open in front of Adisa. 

Adisa eyes opened in surprise at Roses honesty, she couldn’t believe how forthcoming Rose was. Share things that were probably bubbling up for such a long time. Adisa moved towards Rose, sitting right next to her. Close enough to feel how warm she was but not close enough to touch. Slowing reach over to touch Rose’s hand, “. . . . What happened?” She tilted her head slightly, rubbing her thumb over Roses fingers affectionately. 

Rose stared at her for a long moment, wondering why she ever thought it was a good idea to avoid and push Adisa away. Feeling the warmth of her fingers seep into hers, and the softness of her hand. How much of a fool did she have to be to just now realize how much she loved this person. To finally realize that it wasn’t Trent, for all the times he gave her sweet memories or Luke, who tried to pull her in with passionate ones . . . . it was her all along. It’s plain to see now that she was laying herself bare in front of herself and taking notes of the problems she's ignored for so long.  

With Adisa in front of her now, new fears come to light, mixing in with the old ones. Rose pulled her into a tight hug, wrapping her arms around her. Tucking Adisa’s head under her chin. “Thank you for checking up on me, Disa-”

“Nononono you’re trying to change the subject-”

“Stay with me tonight.” Rose countered. “Please. I don’t want to sleep alone tonight.” 

Adisa tense slightly, before placing her hands on Rose’s sides. “Promise me that you won’t read my thoughts.”

Rose let out a soft chuckle, “I promise as long as you don’t make it rain in my room.” 

Adisa sighed dramatically, pulling away from Rose’s embrace to take a side on Rose’s bed, “That was like one time! It hasn’t happened in like forever!” She flopped on her side, looking at Rose, “I don’t even know why you keep bringing that up.”

Rose moved her hand to use her ability to shut the door and locked it before taking her place next to Adisa. Laying on her stomach, resting her head on her arms, gazing at Adisa. “It must be cool to control the weather.”

Adisa signed harshly, “Not really . . . maybe sometimes, but when I have bad days . . . . people and the environment around me suffer for it.” 

Rose kept quiet, realizing that it Adisa might also had a hard time with her abilities. That Adisa never shared her hardships with her as she shared with her. Her eyes widened when she felt Adisa hand bump against hers. Offering her hand again.  

“Helps chase the nightmares away.” Adisa smiled widely.

Rose smiled slightly before taking her hand, giving it a slight squeeze before closing her eyes, “Good night, Disa.”

“. . . . . Good Night Red.”

 Good night, my mate.