“Say ‘what’ to ‘who’ now?” my mouth hangs open in disbelief.

“It’s fairly simple,” Seth has been casually tossing a water-balloon in his hand up and down, catching it gently; rhythmically, without it bursting with a wide fucking grin that I was wanting to smack off his face when he first proposed the idea three seconds ago. He’s dragged me to the giant-ass pool early in morning, forcing me to stand in front of a pole before tying my hands and feet to it while I’m still half asleep, not realising what’s going on until after the zip ties had bound me tightly. You have no idea how much I was enjoying my sleep. “I throw, you stand there.” He suddenly throws it at me without warning and the impact drenches my neck in icy, skin numbing water. It soaks through my clothes in a heartbeat, leaving me there freezing and rudely wide awake. The force behind it wasn’t too gentle either…it hit me with a vicious thud and it stung more than the water temperature -I swear he threw it like a gun threw a bullet. Jesus-fucking-Christ.

“What the fuck’s your problem this early in the morning?” I snap back as he threw another water balloon at me, it smacks against the side of my face, adding to splattering against my skin and now half my hair.

“You’re not allowed to dodge, that’s why I tied you up. Stand there and take it.”

“No thanks.”

That grin didn’t move from his face as he bent down to pick up another water balloon…at which I noticed that he had two wide trays filled to the brim with water balloons. Just how fucking many does this bastard have? “What sort of punishment game is this?” Is this some sort of elaborate scheme he and Oz came up with or what?

But his eyes harden, his grin dropping for a minute to look at me seriously holding the next balloon motionless in his hand, “You need to stop them with your mind.”

I stare back at him.

“You want to understand your abilities, right? So far, they only switch on when you’re in danger or when you lack proper control.” He chucks another and I move my head as the balloon clips my shoulder blade. The water was making my skin numb and breaking out in goosebumps as I shiver under his rain of plastic-bullet terror. “So…take away your natural physical reflexes, you’re only left with this,” he taps his forehead, “as your last defence.”

He throws another, getting me in the leg. “So…we’ll start off nice and easy.”

“This is ‘nice’ and ‘easy’!?”

His grin returns, “Just be glad I filled these with water…this time…”

This time!? Another balloon hits me in the side

“If you don’t like it, stop it.”

This time the balloon hit me square in the face and I suddenly choke on the water.

I clench my jaw after hacking up my lungs, Oh I’ll stop it. The minute you untie me, I’ll ‘stop’ it.

“That’s a good look,” Seth mused at me. “Think about the other times, Kae. Try and remember what you felt during those times when you used your abilities.”

He started an onslaught, drenching me completely and barely giving me enough time to even breathe or see, let alone think!

I glare at him between water droplets stinging my eyes, blurring my vision as I could barely stand with the amount of shivering, “I was desperate! I was angry…I felt like I was backed into a corner.” I wasn’t completely in control. I wasn’t completely myself. The cold black and yellow eyes flash in my brain of the ‘other’ me. The dull headache that I’ve had since yesterday pulsed against the back of my eyeballs.

“Then start getting angry. Start feeling desperate.”

Just then the door opens, and I see Rain taking in the sight as he walks over to Seth silently with his mouth and eyebrows still curved down like they were super-glued into a permanent scowl.

Behind him came Mist and another girl. She had razor sharp eyes like a hawk, diluted grey that they almost appeared silver. Her tawny blonde hair was cropped short and I would have been tricked that she was a boy but no one could hide the boobs. And they were…obvious….

What now?

Seth looked over his shoulder with a cheesy grin, “Ah, help has arrived. Just grab a balloon and start pegging it at him. You don’t need to be gentle.”

Well, fuck you too. This is so unfair…and full of cheap shots. Literal one of the people here doesn’t particularly like me…and I’m not sure where Seth sits on this at the moment…and no idea what the new girl thinks…So I’m gonna wager seventy-five percent of the people here are enjoying my current situation…

No one needed to be told twice as I felt a full barrage of water against me, I was so cold and wet, I felt like I was constantly submerged underwater and even felt like I was choking but Seth still made sure I wasn’t allowed any time for air. My body ached from being hit with basically tennis balls that splatted ice water, my lung ached as every time I try to breathe, water tried to fill the empty spaces. Might as well be under water at this point.

“You’re too focused on the physical. You need to reach deeper than that, you need to feel it like it’s your only option. You’re so afraid of yourself that you’re literally denying yourself.” Seth barks as they quickly deplete their supplies and I had a moment’s peace to catch my breath. He turns to the others, “I’ve a heap more around the back,” at which they quickly grabbed the trays and moved over to the other side of the pool, where I assume was the ‘around back’ he was talking about as they disappeared around the bleachers.

“Kae. Catch your breath…you will need to start seriously considering all of yourself,: he walks over to my with a towel to wipe away the water from my face. “You won’t be facing water-balloons, eventually.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like I said…we’re starting off easy. I will make the ammo progressively a little more cruel. You have already seen what we face and you can’t keep relying on your ‘instinct’ to kick in at the last moment and save the day. It’s worked so far, yes. But it might not be enough next time. Are you willing to risk, ‘next time’?”

I look him in the eye, my answer slipping out, “No…”

He grins, “It’s also fun for me, though.”

“Fuck you.”

He chuckles, “If you don’t like it, change it.”

I know that already.

“It’s tough, I know. But this was the only ‘easy’ option I could think of…”

I stare at him, “What do you mean?”

“Kae, you’re smarter than that…How do you think X…and even little old me, had to face our abilities?”

I swallow down all sorts of torture methods…I couldn’t help looking down at the ground.

“They made it work or, we die.” He pats my head.

“What is your ability?” I ask softly, I’ve never really seen it.

He chuckles like the devil, “You’ll find out on level sixty in my special little game.”

“How did you get those three involved?”

“I asked if anyone wanted to volunteer for some stress relief by pegging random shit at a particular brand of idiot.”

“And you only got those three?”

He grins wider, “They lined up in droves but we’re on level one, mate. I wouldn’t waste so much creativity on the first ten levels.”

“You’re sick in the head.”

He literally wiggles his eyebrows, “Wait for level twenty-five. It’s one of my personal favourites.”

I mentally groan as I’m beginning to realise firsthand what Siem meant when he first mentioned Seth and how ‘interesting’ he is.

This entire time, I could feel Lady just being completely amused by this whole situation and ignored my pleas to help me escape. I felt the tiger equivalent of ‘Nah’ as she just lazily watches my torment from the other side of the pool. While X…

I frown, I couldn’t feel X anywhere near me… He was still asleep when this bastard told me to follow him outside but he wasn’t around now…

“Siem and Hanna are distracting X, for now.” Seth answered and I glance back up at him. “It was written all over your face. He didn’t report in yesterday, so he’s gonna have to face the pair of them now.”

“…So these ones are next then?” The short haired girl yells across from the other side of the pool with the tray full to the brim in her hands…and she was carrying it back like it weighed like thin air…I think she’d break my jaw if she’d punched me…

“Yep, bring em over,” Seth motions for her to move with them. He then turns to me. “Level two…water and flour.”

I snap, “Get fucked.”