Caelum woke up feeling empty. Not the kind of you feel when you are hungry. Just empty. Like something was missing inside of him.
The moment he opened his eyes he started to panic. It was like a big truck had hit him.
He looked at his arm. His stomach felt like it was dropping.
His skin was not solid anymore from his elbow to his fingertips. It was like a mix of his flesh and some purple and white mist. It looked like his body was falling apart. There were silver sparks flying off his skin and disappearing into the air.
Caelum said "no" over and over again his voice shaking.
He tried to move his fingers. They would not listen to him.
He could not even feel his arm properly it felt like it was disappearing.
This was not pain it was something
It felt like he was disappearing.
Caelum closed his eyes. Tried to focus. He did not know what he was doing. He knew he had to do something or he would lose control.
After a minutes the mist started to go away. His skin looked normal again of. It was still pale and shaking.
He just lay there breathing hard and staring at the sky.
That afternoon Caelum went to the beach. He wanted to clean the cuts on his hands. He was not thinking he was just doing things.
When his feet touched the water everything stopped. He did not feel any pain or shock he just felt nothing.
His legs felt heavy like they were made of stone. He tried to take a step. He could not. His body would not listen to him.
He fell into the sand. The saltwater made him feel weak and out of control. It was like his body was against him.
Caelum crawled out of the water. Lay on the dry sand trying to catch his breath.
When he finally could breathe again he realized something.
"The sea stops me " he said, his voice. Scared.
He looked at the horizon feeling terrified and confused.
The next few days were like one experiment. Caelum still did not understand what was happening to him.
It was not fire it was not electricity it was something inside his body.
When he focused a purple mist would appear around him.
When he lost control the mist would go crazy.
He did not know where this energy came from or what it was.
He only knew it was dangerous.
Caelum tried to use it to hunt. It was a big mistake. The energy was too much.
He tried to hit a branch. It was like using a big hammer to hit a small fly. The tree trunk broke, the leaves. The air smelled like metal.
Caelum stepped back saying " much".
His hand was shaking he could not control it.
After that he started to notice the world in a way.
The wind was not air it felt like pressure on his skin.
The humidity was not weather it felt like a heavy weight on his chest.
Even the air felt charged like it was waiting for him to make a mistake.
His body reacted to everything now.
If he got scared sparks would fly off his fingers.
If he got frustrated the mist would come back.
If he panicked he would lose control completely.
He started spending hours just sitting still trying to think of nothing.
His mind was not used to that it was used to emails and deadlines and the noise of the office.
Now it reacted to every thing.
One day he found his employee ID card in the sand.
He picked it up. Looked at the photo the suit, the tired eyes, the fake smile.
Then he laughed, an bitter laugh.
"If my boss could see me now " he said.
The laugh did not last long.
This was not a power it was not a gift.
It was a problem inside his own body.
A system he did not understand. That could break at any moment.
Caelum made a fist.
For the time, in days the energy did not explode.
It just stayed there listening to him.
The office worker had not received a gift he had received a problem.
Now he had to figure out how to live with it.