Long Past Dawn

I suck in a breath, for a second I can't process anything as the dream comes crashing back to me but then I hear it. Alarms are going off.

I don't have time to think I just react, I pull the needles and such connecting me to the machines out of me, it hurts like hell and it bleeds even worse but it all closes up within a minute.

I run out of the room, still unsure about what the alarm is. I get to the main part of the warehouse when I smell it, it's sickly sweet and I suddenly get drowsy when I smell it. Sleeping drug. No wonder I don't see anyone else.

I look around with my head getting a little fuzzier every second, then I see him, or at least I think it's a guy. They've got the standard thief uniform on with a mask pulled over their face.

They seem to be poking around the computers and other things as if looking for something they can easily snag.

I stand rigid, they don't seem to see me yet but I'm watching their every move. I don't know what to do, I'm frozen like I was in that dream, I can't move or speak only watch as everything slips through my fingers.

I'll lose everything. No, I don't want that. The thought comes to me without warning and I panic, I can't lose anything else, I don't want to. I won't let it take them away from me.

I can't think, my body goes on autopilot. It happens so fast I almost miss it, light and dark spread from me flowing fast towards whoever this person is and they wrap him in what seems to be a net and a cage at the same time.

The person inside is frozen, I fall to my knees, I did it again. My shoulders shake and I can't focus, I think I'm going to pass out. I don't want this, I don't want this power, I don't want this burden on my shoulders, I don't want this.

I look over at the person frozen in the cage, I didn't say anything, I didn't think. This power just froze them, why does it have to be like this? Why do I have to be able to freeze the living? I can stand freezing objects but when I freeze something alive... I feel like one of those kids that will hold a magnifying glass over an anthill.

I start shivering, not from any chill in the warehouse but almost something from inside of me, like something moved or clicked together.

I try to take in shaky breaths as I sit on my knees on the hard, cold cement floor. The cold floor beneath me seems to be the only thing grounding me at this point.

The smoky haze that seems to fill the room appears to lift by the second. It feels like I can breathe again without the hazy feeling filling my head and the slight ringing in my ears that I didn't realize was even there has stopped.

I don't even know how long I stay on the floor for, it might have been minutes or maybe even an hour. But even then I don't look away from the person in the cage.

The person looks as if they're a mannequin in a store, an unmoving statue. I think I might start crying, I know it's ridiculous and I can unfreeze them at any time but the feeling of knowing I have the power to freeze them, to begin with, is well...

I almost jump when a hand is set on my shoulder, I flip around to see who it is and see Wonderwoman. She looks over my shoulder at the burglar in the cage and I can't seem to read the look on her face.

Before I can say anything the hot tears that have been biting the corners of my eyes start to leak out. My throat sounds raw and quiet, like it's been unused and I'm trying it out for the first time. "I can't take this anymore."

Wonderwoman turns to look down at me, I can usually tell what people see when they look at me but this time I can't, for all I know she might not be looking at me at all. "I know. I know."

I don't know what to do, it feels like I'm stuck in the same place and I can't move forward, like all the pressure in the world has suddenly been put on my shoulders. I hate how weak this feeling makes me.

"I'm sorry I can't do anything, Dawn. If I could I promise you I would. Just hold on a little longer." Wonderwoman says as she gives me a hand up before leading me back to the room I came from, she only looks back at the person in the cage once and when she does it would take the whole world to know what she's thinking.

She takes me back to the room I came from and she makes me sit down on the bed in front of her. I suddenly feel freezing cold, which seems to be an accurate enough emotion seeing I just froze someone.

"It hurts." I don't even realize I said the words aloud until Wonderwoman replies to me.

"You are stronger than you believe. You have greater powers than you know," Wonderwoman says before she sighs and slumps down on the bed next to me, "Or that's what I should say... but in my experience power without self-control will tear you to pieces."

I give a dry laugh. For the first time, I notice that there's a window in the room, a small one but a window, all the same, it's slightly ajar and through it, I can hear the slight evening buzz of the city and maybe even the sound of crickets chirping.

Wonderwoman pauses for a second, as if weighing her next words, "Tomorrow's the funeral, are you going to be ok?"

To be totally honest? Probably not. But I don't think I can say that to her... Instead, I try to give my best smile as I reply, "I'll be fine."

I'm pretty sure Wonderwoman can tell I'm lying, but either way, it doesn't show on her face.

The look in Wonderwoman's eyes is unreadable, but I already have an answer, and this time it might not be a complete lie. "I'll be ready."