Chapter Fifty

*Ariya*


I wanted to tear Boss’s throat out as I thought back to what I saw.
Boss raised an eyebrow, “Is that really how you want to play this, Ariya?”
I looked down at the ground. I still hated Boss but I remembered my promise to Justin. I promised not to anger Boss further. I wasn’t chained to the table anymore and Boss was giving me some type of freedom. If I didn’t push it maybe he would be nice again. I wanted to be free from here but I knew it wasn’t the plan. I knew there was more to this and that I needed to stay and get all of my memories back. I just wasn’t expecting all of my memories to hurt so bad.
“She’s been angry since she woke up. I’m guessing something else happened.” Justin offered.
Boss crouched down near me, “Last time you woke up after you ran into me. Did your memory pick up where it left off?”
“Yes.”
“Where did it end this time?” Boss asked me.
“When I passed out. It was after you killed Keo.” I said.
“Your anger doesn’t make sense then, Ariya. You know that Keothi is alive.” Boss reminded me.
I looked up at him, my eyes wide, “You’re right. I know Keo is alive…I don’t…”
My mind was mixed up. I couldn’t unjumble everything. I knew Boss was right. I saw my Mom get burned alive but Boss told me she was alive. I watched Keo die in my memory, but he was also alive. So why was I so angry?
“Work the problem out loud, Ariya.” Boss told me.
“Mom is alive. That’s what you told me. Keo is alive. I saw him. You had him here before. I don’t…I don’t understand. What’s happening to me?” I whispered.
“It’s the lock that Drake put on you. He blocked your memories so as you get them back the emotion you felt during it comes back as well. You need to remind yourself of what is real, Ariya. Before you start acting out of emotion, you need to take stock of what you know to be true at this moment.” Boss explained.
“Why? Why are you helping me?” I looked at him, confused.
It didn’t make sense. I was his enemy. He tried to kill me when I was little. He believed that we were monsters. Why was he being so nice to me? Why was he helping me? Why didn’t he just jump straight to torturing me? Why didn’t he just jump straight to getting the information he wanted out of me? Why would he bother to help me get through this? To get through my memories and get through the pain that I felt? I didn’t understand.
“I can be cruel if you’d rather that.” Boss shrugged.
My stomach churned, “No, thank you.”
Boss laughed, “Ariya, you used to be one of my right hands. You used to be someone I could count on. Let’s just say, I understand why you hid your true ability from me. As I have said before, as long as you continue to behave and tell me what I want to know, you can be rewarded. As long as you are useful and helpful to me I will help you when I can. We are trying to have a battle of the masterminds right? What fun would it be if you just acted on emotion constantly. I wouldn’t even have to try to beat you. You would beat yourself.”
“What does that mean?”
“When someone acts out of emotion they are destined to make things worse. If you look at what is going on, take it in, feel what you feel but hold off on acting, you’re more likely to make it further. When you take a step back from the emotion you are able to rationalize a realistic path. When you act out of emotion you are blind to the other paths that surround you. For instance, if you run after someone who took something from you that you desperately want, you will only focus on the person as they run away from you. Instead there could be a shortcut. A path off to the side that will get you what you want in a shorter amount of time. But you have to be willing to look at everything and think rationally. You have to be able to take the emotion out. If you can’t do that, you are destined to make things worse for you in the long run.”
“That’s why you had us leave after we heard Drake was still alive.” I suddenly understood.
“Exactly. By stepping back for a minute it allowed me to see a bigger picture. You may think you’re steps ahead of me, Ariya, but I can assure you, you’re not as far ahead as you think you are. In fact, I might even be a few steps ahead of you. Or I might just be breathing down your neck.”
Boss’s words sent a shiver down my spine. Boss was extremely smart. There’s a reason that after the incident happened that night that he took over and has been in charge ever since. He could be onto us about everything but I couldn’t be sure since I could barely remember what was going on anymore. But Boss was helping me. I don’t know why but he was. By telling me to take a step back and look at the big picture, to control my emotions, there was something else there. I spent the night with Caleb after I found out that Boss was the one behind the attack. We spent the entire night coming up with every possible contingency that we could. But now, we have Keo and Drake. We didn’t need to figure everything out alone. Boss may know me, but I knew Boss. There was a reason Drake was able to stay ahead of him all this time. I needed to remember that I wasn’t alone.
“So tell me what happened in your memory this time, Ariya.” Boss grinned.
“You tried to kill me, Keo got in the way, you hurt him, Ivan showed up and got us out of there. We were heading to Caleb and Drake. We ran into Derek instead. Then the Shadows appeared. Everything was in chaos. You killed Keo. I was dragged away. Something happened and I got away. Then I saw Keo with one of your people and then I passed out.” I told him.
“Back up. The wolf that attacked me, that was Ivan?”
“Yes.” I gulped, unsure of where he was going to go with this.
“Did you see Ivan when he wasn’t a wolf?” Boss asked me.
“No. Not that I know of yet. I don’t remember seeing him when he was a human yet. If I have, I didn't register that it was him.” I said.
“What did his wolf look like?” Boss asked.
“Black fur, white tips throughout, and blue eyes.” I told him.
“Who was Derek?” Boss asked, moving on.
“Derek was a wolf. I don’t remember anything else about that yet.”
“What was this something that happened before you got away?” Boss asked me.
“That’s really hard to explain. I just remember being so angry and hurt because everyone I loved died. At least I believed they had. I lost control and I closed my eyes. I imagined the Shadow that had me dying. I imagined everyone that invaded dying and all of our people being healed. I imagined the flames being smothered out. When I opened my eyes the Shadow was dead. I went back to Keo and I passed out shortly after he was in view.”
“Interesting.” Boss said, his hand in a fist over his mouth as he was deep in thought.
“What is?”
“All the Shadows I brought that night died. Most of them died in the same way. I thought it was Drake sending me a message. But when the Shadows I sent after them didn’t turn out that way, I assumed it was a fluke. Turns out it was you.”
I blinked, “How is that possible? Boss I was 9 years old. I didn’t activate my ability by then.”
“That’s why it’s interesting, Ariya.” Boss laughed, “I think you did though. I just don’t think you realized you did. I think that was the night you activated your energy manipulation ability and I think that’s how all the Shadows died that night. You had a clear image of one and you wanted all the enemy to die that night. The only thing was that you didn’t know what everyone looked like. So some of us got away. The flames went out shortly after and I assumed it was because the rain started. But that might have also been your doing.”
“But how?” I breathed.
“Emotion is a very powerful thing. If used in the right way, it can amplify things.”
“Didn’t you just say that emotion was basically a crutch?”
Boss grinned wickedly, “Did I?”
“Guess you’re not being as helpful as I thought?” I growled.
Boss laughed as he got up to leave, “I’m not going to give you an easy win, Ariya. Come on. I’m not that stupid.”