Work it out (Open)

Sometimes the only pay-off for having any faith
Is when it's tested again and again everyday
I'm still comparing your past to my future
It might be your wound but they're my sutures

Three in the morning on a Monday. Ashford was quiet for the most part. Most students were hanging out in their dorms with their friends unless they were taking a night on the town. Unfortunately for Cathal since being here he hadn't made much friends. Instead he had spent most of his nights here sulking over the loss of his parent's and wondering why he was the only one to live. Most nights after a couple hours of sulking in bed he would find himself sleep. Tonight was not one of those nights. Instead after about two hours of reliving those moments he knew he couldn't stay in his room. He would go to one of the few places that gave him peace here. The field house.

The whole walk to the field house seemed like a nightmare. He constantly found himself trying to close his eyes all he felt like he saw with them open was his mom. He knew it wasn't her but she was the one torturing him tonight. Her voice in his head screaming for mercy. Asking why he didn't save her. Something that happened often lately. Dead parent's blaming him for their deaths. Like they knew what happened after they were killed. How if his powers manifested themselves a few minutes earlier they would all be alive. He began to quicken his pace to the gym. He had to get his mind right soon. Remembering like this wasn't healthy for him.

Once he entered the field house he would make his way towards the weight room. Lifting was usually distracting enough. Hopefully today it would be the cure for the memories. He immediately walked towards the bench press. Placing one hundred on each side. It was going to be heavier than he was used to but tonight he needed that. The more weight the more focus he would need.

He got into position to lift and lowered it onto his chest. As he lifted back up he heard the voice again. He closed his eyes trying to imagine nothing more than the workout he was not performing but it was to no avail. When his eyes were shut he was no staring into the eyes of the killer. He was lowering the weight again but his focus was lost. He didn't have the strength in his arms to lift the bar back up. It was stuck on his neck. He squirmed for a couple of seconds trying to lift it back up but it was too late.

He began to panic. He gasped for air twice before the bar and most of the weights racked up on the side were lifted into the air. Anyone who walked in now would be looking at quite a spectacle. As Cathal sat there coughing with tears rolling down his eyes as all the weights were stuck in the air just waiting to be released from his control. An anomaly at any other school in the world probably but what would you expect at one for the gifted?

@tag

MADE BY VEL OF GS

i say ya kill your heroes and
fly

Leo woke up with drowsy, foggy, half-memories of dreams. He wasn't sure what woke him up: perhaps a dorm-mate had used the toilet, or his dreams had sent him towards the world of the waking. Or, more likely, he just woke up. He was still getting used to his new surroundings at this school, and he felt full of nervous energy. Try as he might to force himself to lay still and drift off back to sleep, he couldn't help but toss and turn restlessly. After about ten minutes, he fund himself even more awake, and gave up on falling back asleep anytime soon.

He rolled out of bed and pulled on his shorts and shoes, leaving on the white t-shirt he slept it, before slipping out of the dorm as quietly as he could. As he pushed open the door to the outside, he felt a fresh, chilly breeze. Though summer had yet to truly slip away, it had one foot out the door, and that was clear tonight as the chilly wind cut through Leo's thin clothes. He shivered slightly, but made no move to go back inside.

The sky overhead was clearer then it was at Leo's home in a city miles away from here. The stars were clearly visible - it would be hours before sunrise heralded the coming of day. Leo briefly mused that he would likely regret this excursion, come tomorrow afternoon as he struggled to stay awake in class. Maybe he'd try and go back to sleep after this run.

He started off jogging at a slow pace, taking new paths around the campus area, exploring the place. It was different at night - quiet, still. Within a few minutes, he'd gotten himself lost and picked up the pace to a brisk jog, when he recognized the field house - though he might not have, if a light wasn't clearly on. Someone else is about at this hour? He thought, surprised. Of course, he figured, maybe there were a few students up at these hours. After all, this school was filled with people who were powered. It would make sense for a few of those people to be up at this hour, for whatever fanciful reason.

Leo considered continuing with his run for a few moments, before deciding to at least pop his head in and say a quick hello. He picked up his pace to a run over to the doors to the field house, which were unlocked. Once inside he quit running, dropping his pace to leisurely walk over to the room where the lights were on, recognizing it then as the weight room. Leo had been in there a few times, but it wasn't his forte - he preferred running and endurance sports to weight lifting and more power-heavy sports.

He walked over to the door when he heard the gasping, coughing noises. Suddenly concerned, he walked into the room and turned towards the source of sound, and was met with an odd sight. He still wasn't used to seeing the gifted use their gifts, and the levitating metal drew his eyes first. It took him a few moments to get over that and realize something was off - firstly, he remembered the coughing noise he heard earlier, and then he noticed the state of the boy under the weights - teary and panting.

For a moment, Leo almost moved to help, but caught himself. The other student didn't look to be in any immediate danger: despite his state, the metal seemed to be held pretty stable. And with powers involved, he understood that he didn't have a proper grasp of the situation to respond. Instead, he called, rather quietly from the doorway, "Are you alright?"

word count: 620
tags: n/a
notes: n/a