Bang!
Laura bolted upright and clutched her forehead in her hands. Silent tears rolled down her cheekbones as her eyes adjusted to the dark motel room. Her heavy breathing subsided little by little, but her mind echoed from the gunshot in her nightmare. She ran her hands down her face and rubbed her arms as if cold in the poorly conditioned room.
She closed her eyes and asked the unanswerable. How could you do this to me Magnis? Why would you hurt me so much when all I wanted was to see you again? The painful memories poured past her eyes lids and dripped onto the blanket.
Regardless of how caught up in the past she happened to be at that moment, another part of her body told her it needed to release fluids. She yanked the covers off and, thanks to the hours of slumber taking a toll on her legs, wobbled into the bathroom.
With a flick of the switch, the iridescent bulbs illuminated the face of a damaged woman and seeing her reflection caused a loss of interest in going to the bathroom for any real purpose. She lowered her glance and eyed the long red scar tissue that ran along the inside of her forearm. Her sorrow gave way to rage in the bat of an eye and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. As her fury accelerated, her spark, a powerful energy hidden within one’s brain, caused the rest of her brunette hair to float as if she were underwater.
She clenched her teeth and raised her hand up to her hairline. Don’t look. Don’t do this again, Laura. Control yourself. A heavy tightness worked its way through her torso and her arm shook ever so slightly in unison with her lower lip. Don’t look! Damn it! Stop yourself, Laura! She grit her teeth harder and disregarded her own warnings; with a steady hand, she shifted her bangs off her forehead to view the large star-like scar Magnis’ bullet had caused. She pictured him looming over her the same way he did back at The Institution, giving her a perfect view down the barrel of a handgun. His eyes, angry and spiteful, refused to see her as the wife he loved and saw her only as his enemy.
She lost it completely and through the energy of her spark, directed her telekinesis at the mirror. The resulting shockwave took the mirror, sink, and counter along with it to the other side of the wall into an unoccupied room adjacent from hers.
When the debris settled and all that remained audible was the pouring of water from the sink’s broken pipes, Laura sat down on the toilet and wept into her palms. With the greatest of ease, she slipped a fraction of her spark’s energy into the nearby spray. A feminine figure made completely of water formed and knelt down beside Laura.
“Laura, hey, why are you so sad?”
Laura tilted her head to the side and with a hint of glee in her voice asked, “Hillary?” She knew full well who she caused her familiar to become and only went through the motions to help her better accept the fabrication of her long dead friend.
“Yes, of course it’s me. Who else would I be silly?”
“Oh Hillary, I’ve missed you so much.” Laura stood up and threw herself against her familiar; the water held firm and saturated any dry part of Laura’s body and clothes.
Hillary giggled. “You act like I’ve been gone for years or something.”
Oh Hillary, it has been years. Choking back tears, Laura smiled and said, “I’m just happy to see you, that’s all.”
“Hey! What do you say we go split a banana cream pie from the Auto Chef? You’d have to be insane for that not to cheer you up.”
“Hillary…”
“Yes? What’s wrong?”
In unison they said, “There is no more Institution.”
The familiar broke their embrace and backed away from Laura. “And I’m dead, Laura. You know that.” With the final word leaving her liquid lips, the familiar’s form melted into a puddle on the already drenched tiles.
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