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The dingy little shack at the edge of town, the one they'd holed up in during their… experience, looked exactly how Jake remembered it from before they made it their temporary home. In the other dimension.
Jake rubbed his forehead and sighed. All of this dimension-crossing magic made his head hurt.
This shack never had a run in with four teenagers and a magical storm, so it was mostly intact and - more importantly - absolutely deserted and seemingly forgotten by anyone besides the four of them. That made it the ideal place to test and train their newfound abilities.
"Sam's late," Andy commented, turning a bottle of water around in his hands.
Felix snorted. "I'll bet you ten that he's with Mia, pretending like he just wants to be friends with her, and forgot we were meeting today."
"He'll be here eventually," Jake said, sitting down on the log Andy and Felix had dragged into position. It reminded him a little too much of the other place and he tried not to squirm when Felix and Andy sat down on either side of him.
Felix bumped his elbow into Jake's arm and he looked up, but Felix was just digging around in his pocket. When he withdrew his hand, he was clutching a shiny silver lighter that gleamed in the sunlight. Andy leaned forward to get a better look.
"It's my dad's," Felix said, holding it up to show an engraved set of numbers on the side. "It's the date he and my mum met." Felix laughed, but it didn't sound particularly happy. "And he still forgets their anniversary," he muttered, flicking the lighter open. Felix frowned, staring at the flame until it started flickering and dancing, despite the lack of a breeze.
The flame slowly grew bigger and bigger, licking up into the sky like it was reaching for something. Felix was motionless, eyes fixed on the lighter as the flame billowed up.
Jake nudged his side, snorting when Felix jumped and the lighter snapped shut with a loud click.
"What the hell?"
"Didn't want you singing off your eyebrows," Jake said, shrugging. "You'd look even weirder than you already do," he teased.
Felix made a face at him, but kept the lighter closed. "Let's see you do better."
Jake felt his smile turn fake as he shifted on the log. He hadn't really used his powers since… well. Since the last time he lost control a week ago. There wasn't much damage he could do out here, where no one was around for miles. But what if he lost control again? What if he started something and couldn't stop it? Felix had managed to shock him out of it once, but there was no guarantee it would work again. Besides, he wasn't sure he wanted Felix to kiss him in front of Andy.
"Here, look at this," Andy said, uncapping his water bottle.
Jake breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Felix turned his attention to Andy. He felt hot, almost feverish if Felix looked at him for too long. Like his skin grew too tight for his body and the friction of it pulling tighter and tighter sent heat waves dancing across his skin. If he didn't know any better, he'd almost think Felix was influencing him with the fire element.
Andy poured the water onto the dirt, drops of mud splattering onto his shoes and socks. The water gathered into a puddle and then slowly started running downhill, away from the log. Then, as if hitting an invisible barrier, the flow stopped and the water pooled until it split into two streams that branched off and ran into opposite directions before turning back towards the log.
"You're making the water run uphill," Felix said with a grin. "That is so cool."
"I know, right?" Andy said. "I've tried getting it to jump up, like reverse raindrops, but the most I can do is divert falling water. It's like I can't get it off the ground with just my powers, but once it's in the air, I can keep it there for a while."
"Hmm," Felix said. "I wonder… Do you think you and Sam could work together? Maybe he could give the water the needed updraft. Maybe he can jump start the process until you can take over."
"If you and Sam work together, you could be a flamethrower," Jake said, considering the prospect of combined powers. The idea was impressive.
"We could," Felix said slowly, his mouth curving into a delighted smile.
Jake ducked his head and willed the blush to fade from his cheeks. To cover for it, he focused on Andy's puddle of water. Now that Andy wasn't concentrating on it any more, the water had once again begun it's slow descent down the slope. As soon as he let go of his control, Jake could feel the earth around him. The loose dust, the dry, hard earth, the muddy layer deeper down where the groundwater sat on a shelf of hard rock. Jake narrowed his eyes and concentrated, but nothing happened. A small gust of wind blew across the ground and swept some of the dust aside, but other than that… unless. It was a windless day. Hot and humid, with not the slightest breeze to cool them down. Jake concentrated again and this time, he was sure that it wasn't the wind. He moved the dust around, swishing it to the side.
Andy nudged his side. "Jake, are you--"
"Shh, don't break his concentration," Felix said from his other side. "I prefer fire, but this earth controlling power is pretty cool, too. Just watch."
Jake, not wanting to make a liar out of Felix, moved the layer of dust to the side until the dark brown earth lay bare. The water from Andy's puddle, interrupted in its flow by Jake's pushing around of the dust, started flowing again, searching its way across the earth.
Using his powers felt like a pressure build-up behind his eyes. The pressure got worse and worse, pressing against his skull from the inside. And just as Jake thought he'd burst a blood vessel or have a migraine for the rest of the day, the pressure disappeared. At the same time, a small fissure appeared in the earth, splitting the ground in two with a noise like dry twigs breaking under heavy boots. The sides were uneven and bits of earth and dirt were crumbling away and falling into the crack. Jake didn't have to look to know it wasn't very deep. The water hit the crack and dripped down over the edge, pooling at the bottom of the miniature ravine.
"Cool," Andy said. "Next time someone comes at us, you can make them drop into a hole."
"Hmm," Jake said. He wasn't sure he would be able to do anything if someone came at them again, let alone make a hole big enough to trap someone in. But maybe the crack was only so small because Jake didn't trust himself to let go of his control, not completely. What if he started another earthquake? What if he tried to make a hole in the ground and they ended up standing at the edge of a cliff?
"Sam's here," Felix said.
"Finally," Andy said, loud enough to carry over to Sam.
Sam rolled his eyes and dropped his bike in the dirt at the shack. He ambled over and put his hands in his pocket. A second later, a rush of air brushed over them, ruffling their hair.
Andy and Jake's hair was short enough that the wind didn't do much, but Felix grunted in annoyance and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to disentangle it and smooth it down again. Felix' nails were coated in a thin layer of black nail polish, chipped and scratched. He was wearing fingerless black leather gloves. Jake found himself staring, transfixed by the memory of that hand against his chest, right over his racing heart, pushing him back before--
"So, what's up?" Sam asked cheerfully, pulling Jake out of his thoughts. "Your mum still dating Bates?" he added with a smirk.
Jake felt a flash of anger, hot and sharp and loud like a crack of thunder in the air. Then Felix' hand was on his wrist and Jake startled, giving Felix a confused look. Felix' eyes darted away and then - for just a split second - to Jake's lips before meeting his gaze again. "You, uh," he said, nodding to the ground.
Jake turned his head and gasped. The small crack in the earth - the miniature ravine that hadn't been big enough to fit more than a few apples into - had widened to the point where they would have to jump across it to get to the other side. The earth was piled up at either end of the ravine, like a giant had dug his hands into the earth and pushed them apart, shoving earth, rocks and other debris clear to the sides.
"Whoa," Sam said. "Remind me not to make any more cracks about your mum and Bates. Clearly not a good topic."
Jake glared at him and Sam shrugged, his expression offering a wordless apology.
"Can you put it back?" Felix asked.
"I, uh." Jake shrugged. "I'm not sure," he admitted.
"Try anyway."
Jake nodded, taking a deep breath. He'd created the ravine, so he had the power to put it back. He just had to concentrate enough to make sure he didn't overdo it.
The pressure build-up behind his eyes was stronger this time, and quicker. He stared at the nearest pile of earth, willing it back into the raving. Nothing happened and Jake let out a frustrated huff. He needed something to make it stronger. Some way to make himself push more.
Felix, seemingly sensing that he was stuck, leaned over and whispered into his ear, "Think about your mum kissing Bates."
A disgusted sound escaped Jake's lips, but it was swallowed by the crash as the two small mountains of earth raced down the ravine and met in the middle with enough force to send a cloud of dirt up into the air.
Felix laughed.
When the dust settled, the ground was more or less level. The earth was darker and wetter where it had been disturbed, but otherwise there was no more hint of the ravine that had existed for all of two minutes.
"All right," Sam said. "Glad we cleared that up."
Jake's laughter was a bit strained, but it helped him relax a little.
Andy looked up at Sam. "Hey, so Felix had this idea of combining our powers - wanna give it a try?"
Sam and Andy headed down towards the pond, Andy explaining Felix' idea. Jake looked down at the turned over earth and swallowed. None of the others seemed to have much of a problem reining themselves in. They complained about not being able to do enough with their powers while Jake silently prayed for a lessened effect. What if he started an earthquake in his sleep? His mum could get hurt, not to mention the neighbors and anyone else in town. Any damage to the house would be too expensive to fix, but his mum would try anyway. His mum--
"Hey," Felix interrupted his thoughts. "You okay?"
"Do you ever--I mean--aren't you afraid sometimes?"
"Of the powers?" Felix shrugged. "Sure. I've had nightmares about house fires and barbecue accidents. But this is too cool to ignore it. Besides, we don't know what's going to happen next. What if the demon followed us through? Or if it finds a way here on its own? If we can control our powers, we could defend ourselves a whole lot better than we did before."
"And here we have our families to protect." Jake slowly nodded. "I see your point."
"Come on, let's see how Sam and Andy are doing," Felix said, getting up off the log. The movement tugged at Jake's hand and he looked down, eyes widening when he realized Felix hadn't let go of his wrist after grabbing it earlier. Jake stood up.
"Well," he said, twisting his arm out of Felix' grip. Their eyes met and Jake saw his own fear and uncertainty reflected back at him. But he also saw hope and determination and a streak of stubbornness that would explain why Felix didn't step back to give both of them a bit of breathing space.
"Well," Felix echoed, a hint of a challenge in his tone.
"Come on then," Jake said. Before he could think about it too much, he grabbed Felix' hand and pulled him down towards the pond.