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To say it had been a long day was putting it mildly.
Kai had walked so much his legs felt like Jell-O. He had fought stuff and run away from stuff. And now all he wanted to do was crawl into a nice, soft, warm bed and never ever get out of it.
Unfortunately, the Hollow had a decided lack of nice, soft, warm beds. But that did NOT mean Kai was ready to settle.
“No, no, this sucks and we’re leaving,” he said. “I am NOT sleeping in a creepy, drafty barn, ESPECIALLY not in a pile of straw.” He shuddered. “I swear this place smells like ghosts and mouse poop.”
“Kai, I don’t want to either, but it’s our only option,” said Mira. “We haven’t slept in...days?” She considered for a moment. “Huh. We should be more tired, right?”
“Right. We’re not tired. So we don’t need to sleep,” retorted Kai. “Until we can find an actual house with an actual bed.”
“Actually, it’s probably some weird quirk of this place that’s kept us from needing sleep as much as we normally would,” said Adam. He yawned. “That said, we definitely do still need some. And we might as well try and get some while we can. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”
Kai looked around. The straw did not look appealing. He groaned. “Can we just walk a little further?”
“Kai, your legs are wobbling around so much they look like they’re about to fall off,” retorted Adam. “I really think you’d better get some rest, and soon.”
Kai sighed. Adam was right. He was too tired to even argue. “Fine,” he muttered. “Is there at least a private room in this thing? I don’t want to change in front of you guys.”
“Um, can’t you just sleep in your clothes?” asked Mira. “That’s what I’m doing.” She flopped down on the nearest pile of straw and closed her eyes.
“No. I can’t, actually.” Kai’s mood shifted in an instant. Tears sprang to his eyes unbidden. It hurt to be reminded of things he couldn’t do. It hurt even more, though, to cry over it.
“Well, I’m going to sleep,” said Mira. “Right here. So you’re gonna have to...,mmsnkzz...deal with it.”
Kai’s cheeks were hot, and his whole body felt tense. His eyes stung with the tears he was trying to hold back, and he knew he’d feel better if he just cried, but he couldn’t let himself do that. Crying when he thought they’d lost Mira was one thing, but crying over something stupid just because he was tired and pathetic was something he just couldn’t do. He stood still, unable to move for fear that the tears would run down his cheeks.
The tension shattered when he felt Adam’s hand on his shoulder.
“It’s okay,” he said, “I actually have to change too. C’mon, let’s go outside.”
The stinging subsided a bit when Kai realized what Adam was saying. “You...you do?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah,” said Adam. He took Kai’s arm to encourage him to come with him. Adam’s palm was rough and warm. He smelled like sweat and dirt and generic deodorant, but it still wasn’t a bad smell per se, Kai thought. Just more noticeable at this close range.
The guys headed outside, and turned their backs to each other to change. Kai didn’t know about Adam’s binder, but his was sweaty and nasty. “You know,” he complained, “if we’re dead or in a parallel universe or whatever, you’d really think this weird place would make it so we don’t even need these.” He considered wringing it out, but that was just too gross. “Ugh,” he said, pulling his shirt back on.
“I know, right?!” asked Adam, smiling audibly. “I’ve been thinking that this whole time! It’s so unfair.”
“It’s like, I don’t even know who I am or where I live, but I know I’m not supposed to bind for more than eight hours? Which has totally been happening, by the way.” Kai shuddered. “I just really hope we get to take more sleep breaks in the future or my ribs are all gonna fall out.”
“Hang on to your ribs, Kai. And you’re right, let’s both be better about making sure we take them off every once in a while.” Adam pulled his shirt back over his head and picked up his binder from where he’d tossed it on the ground.
Kai groaned. “I didn’t say that so that you’d nag me about it,” he muttered.
“I’m not nagging, I’m just trying to help,” replied Adam.
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Hey,” said Adam, and Kai turned.
“What?”
“I’m glad we have something in common.” Adam smiled warmly. It was a rare smile, and to Kai it looked exactly like how biting into a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie felt.
“Come on, let’s turn in.” Adam took Kai’s arm again, and this time both of them paused. Kai’s cheeks and ears went warm. Adam took his hand away. “Um.”
“So, uh, sleep!” said Kai awkwardly, trying to shatter the moment.
“Haha, yeah, sleep,” said Adam, just as awkwardly.
They settled into the barn. Mira was already snoring when they got back, and both boys found piles of straw far away from each other. As much as Kai had complained about how uncomfortable the pile of straw would probably be and how much he needed a real bed in a real bedroom, he had to admit it was nice to just lie down. He laid on his back and stared at the rafters, which immediately proved a bad move when he realized a flock of bats had taken up residence there. Kai shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut, pulling some clumps of straw over him protectively and then feeling silly about the gesture. Kai didn’t know a lot about himself, but he knew he was not a fan of bats, and he figured he’d never get to sleep.
“Hey,” he whispered. Maybe Adam couldn’t sleep either. They could have a little sleepover and talk about life. “Hey Adam.”
Adam was not having it. “Can’t hear you,” he retorted. “Asleep.”
“Jerk.”
“Hey, that was mean!”
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Now go to sleep.”
Kai folded his arms and closed his eyes. I’ll never get to sleep, he thought, as he fell asleep.
The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air, on his own, not using his fire powers. He soared above an unfamiliar world through a lilac sky. He grinned widely, feeling the wind whipping through his hair, and called out loudly, doing loops through the cotton-candy clouds. Everything was perfect. Too perfect.
Then he hit something in the sky. He tried to hit it again, again. And it was a human skull, and then it was a dying horse breathing its last, aiming a scythe at him, and gas was coming up from the floor far below. Panicking, Kai opened his hands and shot fire, but nothing came out. Nothing was burning. He ran through the sky, trying and trying and trying to aim his fire, until finally, miraculously, hot flames licked their way up his arms and fell down, down from the sky, out into the air--
“KAI!!!”
Kai jumped awake. Adam’s hands were on his arms, shaking him. “Huh? Mughrhgh?” he asked eloquently. “What’s happen--why does it smell like fire?” A horrible realization dawned on him as the feeling of heat engulfed him.
Sure enough, as he looked around, all he could see was orange and red and yellow. The barn was on fire, and the straw was burning quickly. The air was thick with smoke and fire. Kai looked around wildly for Mira, and his heart jumped into his throat when he saw she was trapped in a corner, flames licking closer and closer to her.
“Nice fire,” she said, still witty even when her life was in danger. “Good…” She didn’t finish the sentence, coughing a terrifying, dry cough.
“You have to stop it,” begged Adam. “Please, Kai.”
“O-okay. I’ll try.”
Aiming for the flames in front of him, Kai brought his hand down. The flames were extinguished, but immediately replaced by new ones licking across the straw. They were moving too fast to be fully controlled.
“There’s too much!” he exclaimed. “I can’t control all of it. What do I do?!?!”
“You control fire, you tell me!” shot Adam, exasperated.
Kai stole a glance at Mira. The flames were closing in, and she was crumpled on the floor, hugging her legs. He inhaled sharply, and immediately regretted it, coughing up smoke.
“I can’t clear a path for you and Mira at the same time,” he said through his coughing. “You have to come with me to save her.”
Adam nodded, and took Kai’s hand. At any other time the gesture would have sent electricity flowing through Kai’s body, but not now. Kai blasted a path through the fire, new flames shooting up behind the two as soon as he stopped controlling them. Both he and Adam were coughing now, and Adam let go of Kai’s hand to sling a now mostly-unconscious Mira over his shoulder.
“Watch out!” cried Adam as an enormous piece of the roof fell directly in front of them, burning. Kai jumped back, and looked up. A piece of the serene, starry night sky was visible through the hole where more roof should have been. Kai looked around at the rest of the barn; more and more rafters were falling.
“It’s collapsing,” he said. “We don’t have time to get to the exit.”
Adam swore. “There has to be a way.”
“Wait a minute…” Kai got an amazing, or possibly amazingly stupid, idea. He wasn’t entirely sure which yet. “If I could get enough thrust...Adam, grab me and hold on tight.” He took one of Adam’s arms and threw it around his back.
Adam held on obligingly, his other hand still holding Mira, but he was confused. “Kai,” he said, “what exactly are you--”
And Kai shot two equal bursts of fire from his palms, aiming directly at the ground. Adam hollered and tightened his grip on both Kai and Mira. They shot up, rising quickly through the hot air, up and over the walls of the barn.
As soon as they were out of range of the smoke, though, they began falling, and fast. Kai and Adam screamed in unison, as Kai tried to slow their descent by shooting fire at the ground. It worked, sort of, and they fell in a slowed, raggedy course towards the ground.
The three kids landed in a heap on top of each other. Kai groaned.
Adam picked himself up and examined Mira. He put two fingers to her wrist, then placed his head against her chest.
“She’s breathing,” he said. “And not badly burned. She’ll be okay. We just need to sit with her and keep an eye on her.” He turned to Kai. “What about you? How are you doing?”
“I…” Kai looked at the burning barn, only about a hundred yards away from where they’d landed. He should be grabbing Adam’s hand and running right now, but he wasn’t. What he was doing, he realized with shock, was crying, for the second time that night.
“Kai?” Adam asked.
“I…” Kai began again. He scrunched up his eyes to hold back the tears but he couldn’t do it, and exploded with emotion, burying his face in his hands.
“You guys almost died,” he sobbed. “I had a bad dream and I shot fire in my sleep and you guys almost died.” He couldn’t bring himself to connect the two, to say out loud It was all my fault, because that would make it true. But the thought pinged around in his head.
“Hey.” Adam took a step over to Kai, and put a hand on his back. “It’s okay,” he said. “You’re okay. It’s not your fault.”
Kai’s eyes burned with anger and embarrassment. “I never said it was my fault!” he snapped, standing up and stalking away. Snot dripped from his nose. He felt disgusting and useless.
But Adam did something he hadn’t done before, something Kai didn’t expect. When Kai stood up, he followed him.
“Kai,” he said, “I’m here if you want to talk. About your dream, or the fire, or...or anything,” he finished. “Having powers isn’t easy. I’m always afraid I’m going to hurt someone by accident too.”
“I’m not afraid of anything,” said Kai, and sniffled. “Just tired.”
“Okay.” Adam sat down and put his arm around Kai nervously, as if he was afraid Kai would brush it off. Kai wanted more than anything to just lean into him, wrap his arms around him, and have a good cry. But he couldn’t do that. He didn’t want to look like a weak loser.
Instead, he said, “I’m sorry. About...back there. Not that it’s my fault.”
“You’re okay,” said Adam, rubbing Kai’s back. “It’s not, I promise.”
They sat in silence for a long time, Adam’s palm moving in slow, comforting circles on Kai’s back. Kai sniffled and sobbed weakly, letting himself be vulnerable, but not too vulnerable. Mira woke up, but when she realized Adam and Kai were having a moment, she left them alone, still in her line of sight but giving them a little privacy.
“Hey, uh, Adam?” Kai asked softly.
“Yeah?” Adam turned his head.
“Thanks.” Kai wiped his nose.
Adam took Kai’s hand in his own gently. “No problem.” He seemed to realize the strangeness of the gesture, and moved it away. “Haha, sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean--I just--”
Kai took Adam’s hand back.
“No,” he said. “This is...this is nice.”