"Carlos!"

Tora made to clamour to her feet, but her legs wouldn't move. They dragged down like dead weights and she found herself flopping onto the rocks again. The knife-like pain still seared up and down her spine and sliced past her ribs. Cussing under her breath, she watched Carlos with watery eyes – not that there was anything left she could see.

"Ross!" she yelled. But no, the lieutenant was halfway across the park. The redhead turned, half-carrying and half-dragging Markl. Tora knew she had no time to return, even if she had super speed. "Damien!"

Not right now, Tora! came his little voice.

Carlos is in deep sh--!

The demons are about to break through. I can barely seal it – I think there are three that've gone through already.

Dammit! Tora thumped the ground and grunted as the action sent a bolt of pain down her broken spine. The bones were beginning to stitch together, at snail speed. The last of Carlos disappeared beneath the squelching ugliness. He was struggling, but it was of little use. He had little breath left to shout for help now. Clamouring out of the powerful suction of the squid, he gave the fleshy creature consecutive punches. His fists sunk into the softness, leaving nothing but an indent. The monster was unaffected. Death was evident in its eyes. To the demon, Carlos was nothing but a prey on its seabed, a shrimp waiting to be eaten, a tasty morsel that was giving a pointless fight.

Slime covered the boy all over, a greasy green-tinged viscosity that made all his escape attempts slippery and futile. Gasping, he made a last desperate lunge at the bench, grappling it with the tips of his fingers.

It slipped out of his slimy grasp.

Tora mentally scraped her mind for something, anything. The desperation was suffocating.

She could see the terror in his eyes even from afar.

Carlos would soon be dead, and it was all her fault.

Was that the extent of her telekinesis? That was it?

She was useless.

Totally useless.

A last attempt to push herself up resulted in her collapsing onto her face. As stars exploded in her eyes, her mind pushed with everything she had at the demon. She clawed desperately at her empty brain. Her scream reverberated through her body, rattling her bones and shearing nerves. Something. Anything. Please!

Something glimmered in the back of her mind. A torrent of liquid gold gushed from the corner of her darkness, illuminating everything in the back of her eyes. It splashed against the walls of her brain, throwing glittering light onto the vaults, seeping through her nerves and sending a delightful shiver through her body. Power surged through her soul.

When she opened her eyes, she knew what to do. She reached out a hand. The squid halted in its path, alarm replacing the intent to kill. It was effortless. The squid almost floated off the ground, leaving a white-faced Carlos smothered in mucus. It thrashed its tentacles, but each hit bounced off an invisible barrier that was closing in on it.

Tora watched, her mind calm as the lake around her. The demon was lighter than a feather; its struggles had zero effect upon her. The golden liquid swirled around in her mind, cooling where it swept against the walls, exhilarating.

She was viewing the whole sequence almost like a film. The squid turned black and then pink, and then black again. Her hand stretched out, fingers pointed straight at the creature, trembling.

Carlos groaned, shimmering in and out of visibility whilst pulling himself out of the mess and darting confused eyes between his teammate and the squid. The size of a double-decker bus, it seemed impossible she could lift it with such ease, and yet here she was.

Spreading her fingers wide, Tora focused – and then snapped her hand into a fist.

With a sound like jelly slapping onto the kitchen floor, the demon folded in on itself. The forcefield squashed against its soft innards. The blood converged with its other body matter, and when Tora released her hand, gelatinous black goo splashed onto the grass. It started to smoke.

Her arm fell beside her. Her head, clear as day, could barely register what was going on. Everything was hazy, although she had no doubt her mind and body were still hers. Sitting up, she caught sight of the three demons Damien had mentioned that had slipped through his grasp, trying to get away from the chaos. They were smaller than the tank from a few seconds ago, and about the size of the one Tora had first killed. Their slimy surfaces gleamed in the sunlight.

One sweep of her mind halted their progress. They froze, tentacles twitching in terror.

"Not so fast," she said under her breath, her eyes gleaming. Levitating across the lake with telekinesis, she then landed softly on the grass. The demons chattered amongst themselves, attempting to flatten themselves to get away from her. The forcefield didn't budge.

She lifted a monster by its tentacles. It squealed like a pig, flailing uselessly. With deliberation, Tora lifted each of its tentacles until it was spread wide open, its pointed head bobbing to and fro in a panic. Its companions were immobilised on the ground, struggling against her forcefields.

One tug. A tentacle went flying through the air. The squealing rose by several octaves until it hurt her ears. Another tug. Her expression was almost lazy as she plucked each limb off the demon like pulling petals from a flower. The tar-like blood splashed onto the grass, a mass of congealed black jelly. With a last flick, the body of the squid went flying, leaving a trail of smoke in the air. It landed about fifty metres away, with only the smoulder indicating where it was.

The last demon made to slither away. Tora jerked her head. A thick branch snapped off one of the fallen trees and hurled through the air. A dull thud rocked the air as she slammed it through the point where the demon's tentacle attached to its main body. It gave a squawk, hideously alien to its shape.

With deliberation, Tora advanced, gleaming eyes fixed on the prey.

Something was calling her.  The noise tickled the back of her mind like an incessant fly, but she paid it no heed. Her telekinesis was an extension of herself, and powerful beyond imagination. One sweep of her hand shattered the boulders she'd thrown earlier, leaving nothing but dust. The next sweep uprooted trees that fell like dominoes. Chunks of dirt flew into the air.

Awaken...

The last demon wriggled, to no avail. The branch she'd rammed onto its tentacle stayed in place, with about three feet below ground. Black demon blood pooled the grass. A deep cut ran down one side of the squid, breaking the shiny smooth surface.

With a small smile no her face, Tora delved her mind into the broken skin and created a forcefield around the flesh and innards.

Golden energy swirled in her mind, an endless source of strength. One dip into the fountain – and she tore the creature's skin off.

The internal organs were fascinatingly intricate. The heart still beat with fervent, a shiny, bulbous mass of grey. The anatomy was delicate, like lace. Tora had no interest in physiology, let alone demon physiology, but its appearance was almost pretty – in a gross way. Various vessels branched away from the slowing heart. Layers of intestines poured out, landing with a squelch on the ground like a pile of dirty bubblegum. The smell of moist, stale fish reached her nose. It reminded her of Carlos's unwashed socks, a stink that usually emanated from beneath his door.

Carlos.

As though waking from a dream, Tora blinked. The liquid gold in her mind receded, leaving a hollow exhaustion. The hovering remnants of the demon fell with a splat onto its organs.

Her bones were like lead; all her muscles screamed for rest. Light-headed and numb, she stared at the steaming pile of dead demons before her.

Where did that power come from?

Her hands shook. There were more cuts on it than flesh, but most of them were stitching back together. For a moment, she almost expected to see claws instead of fingers.

Cold sweat ran down the side of her face and she became aware of a dull headache at the back of her skull, as though her mind were craving for that eerie power again. She coughed, and groaned as pain shot like lightning across her back and her abdomen burned. Her legs were weak, threatening to buckle. There was an overwhelming heavy sensation around her throat and upon her chest, crushing her like the boulder had crushed the other demons.

Was this what fear felt like?

And what had she to fear? The demons were of no threat – they never had been.  Whatever that power was, it was a one-off – so she told herself – because the demons were tough. The others mustn't find out. It was a good job the most intuitive of her team, Ross and Markl, had already escaped.

"Tora!"

Carlos hobbled over, dirt and blood – his own – streaked across his face and in his lank hair. From the way he was holding his sides, some of the ribs must have broken. An impressive black bruise was forming around his wrists and ankles where the tentacles had ensnared him. There was a look of awe on his face.

"What was that?" His whistled and then winced.

Tora felt sick.

Damien came sprinting over, blood drained from his features.

"Are you okay?" He bit his lip, taking in their battered appearances in despair. "I'm so sorry I took so long. They kept repelling me from the rip. I shouldn't have let Ross take Markl home..."

"It's not your fault, Dame," said Carlos.

"Markl would only be baggage. I wish Ross hadn't gone, but—" Tora tried to sound nonchalant, shrugging. "—we managed, didn't we, Carl?"

"You managed. That was amazing. How did you do that?"

Tora forced her face to keep neutral.

"Do what?"

"You know – you just destroyed them. Just like that."

Tora smirked. It was a little wobbly for her liking.

"You've never seen me use my telekinesis fully. That was my full potential. You see why I'd rather stick to punching? But I did all right, didn't I?" Even her voice sounded too false to be cheery. She ignored the doubting look Damien shot her.

"You did more than all right, Tor. The park, on the other hand..." Carlos added.

The park was worse than not all right. The mount in the centre of the lake was unrecognisable after all the chunks Tora tore from the sides. She'd dropped her soundproof forcefield during her... episode. No doubt the screams from the tortured demons would have echoed far and wide. Already on the outskirts of the park, humans, no longer turned away by Damien's telepathy, were flocking in. Some crowded around the shattered boulders and fallen trees, muttering amongst themselves, confusion on their so-naïve faces.

It was just as well the demons had fully decomposed by the time any of them came within sight of them. The rest of the Seekers had slipped away by that point.

****

"That's right, little one. You keep running."

The shimmering veil rippled as though in response. The brown-haired girl on the projection glanced over her shoulder, continuing her escape with the two boys. On the throne, the man interlaced his fingers and watched with hawk-like eyes, a curious smile on his pale face. With a wave of his hand, the image disappeared. The veil settled again and dissolved into the darkness.

Deep in thought, he tapped his fingers as they criss-crossed each other.

From one of the dark corners of the room, a multi-legged creature shuffled in, head bowed. Atop its head was a mop of feathers that were also dipped in respect.

The man cocked his head.

"Yes, that will be all," he said after a while. He listened some more, and then nodded. "That's fine. She's had her first epiphany. There will be more to come soon. I'm happy with her progress."

The creature slid back out again.

The smile back on his face, the man looked up. His golden eyes were gleaming.

"Yes, I'm very happy with her progress."

Remember to vote!