(Episode - 17)

  [Tori Probaho (2)]

  “As promised, I took him to the dam the very next day. The decades-old wooden dam — as tall as a three storey building. A wooden dam that stood strong and high for so long, no wonder people of the town felt proud of it. The boy went there with me. I was happy — almost overjoyed that I could bring a friend who’s never been there before. He did look amazed, but only faintly. Something was going on, without me realizing it at all.”

  Little Tori smiles joyfully while showing the dam to the little boy with the brown hat. The boy is touching the curves of the wooden dam, where thin streams trickle through the tiny narrow gaps. It looks like a very small waterfall. He looks up, his eyes looking curious yet empty — as if life had drained from his eyes. He slides his hand on the curved wood and the thin flow of water touches his fingers. Tori gets startled, worried that the boy might get hurt.

  Tori : H-Hey, won't you get hurt by the water?

  Boy : No. Like I said yesterday, we get hurt by the opposite elements only when we’re using our fire powers.

  Tori : I see… So, how do you feel? Isn't it awesome? Sooo tall!

  Tori's bright face never changes. The boy with his soulless eyes, looks up to the peak of the dam.

  Boy : Sure it is. Very… Tall…

  He smiles, though it's as hollow as his eyes. His voice carries no real emotion either.

  “He insisted that after that day, we'd meet at our regular place then go to the dam afterwards everyday. So did we.”

  They play near the dam and the stream, where the large stones lie and it’s surrounded by fresh greenery. They sit on the big rocks and talk. But the boy's smile seems to get less and less everyday. Tori's emotions remain the same — genuine and expressive.

  “Until the day of the birthday finally came… 25th February… Before the evening, I went to our usual meeting spot but didn’t find him. I looked near the dam as well, and nobody was there. I really wanted to meet him and tell him that it was my birthday and I finally turned 6. However, I enjoyed the day with my family to the fullest, not even knowing that it was my last birthday with my family…”

  Tori is standing in front of his birthday cake, smiling the brightest. Nodi and their parents are beside him too. Tori is holding his new gift — a digital camera. He hugs his mother in gratitude.

  “The next day, I looked for him again, but he still wasn’t anywhere. I started to wonder where he had gone. Why he suddenly vanished and whether it was our last meeting or not. To my surprise… When I went to the dam again the day after that, I saw him right there. I recognised his brown hat before anything else.”

  The boy is standing close in front of the wooden dam while facing it. Little Tori runs to him and sees that he's staring unusually still at the curved wooden walls.

  Tori : Hey! Where have you been? I didn’t see you anywhere. Yesterday was my birthday. I was so happy with everything and—

  The boy turns slightly with a fireball already lit in his hand, his forehead is still shaded by his hat. Tori’s heart skips from an instinctive fear he can't name.

  Tori : W-What are you doing!? Get away!

  Boy : Why should I?

  Tori : The dam is made of wood. It might catch your fire.

  Boy : So?

  Tori : What do you mean ‘So’?? The dam will break! It will be a disaster!

  Boy : Ha. As if I care. A disaster is… exactly what I want right now.

  His cold and eerie voice despite his young age makes Tori freeze up. The boy lightly touches the dam with the fire in his hand. Tori, shaken by alerting fear — runs closer to him, stomping on the puddles and the large stones.

  Tori : Hey! Wait! Don't do that! Are you crazy!?

  Fire catches on the wood. The boy, still half turned to Tori, has a strange look on his face. It's neither happiness, nor fear. But a disturbing kind of satisfaction. Tori's face drowns in terror, he stands firmly, raising his hands to be in position of using his powers. The boy's expression doesn’t change.

  Tori : No! Stop! Get away from there! It’s too dangerous!

  Boy : I've been waiting for this day… I won't step back now.

  Tori : What's wrong with you!? If the dam breaks, this city will be dangerously flooded! People might die and their homes will be destroyed!

  Boy : Let it be. I don’t care for those people.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Tori : W-Why are you doing this…!?

  Boy : Haha… I want you all to be destroyed, why else? I want you to be ruined.

  Tori : What…

  Tori gets pierced by his words. He can't make sense of anything. He just thinks of the days they had spent together laughing and playing. A sting of an uncalled betrayal hits him.

  Tori : I… I thought… You're my friend…

  He clenches his hands, trembling — giving his best to stay calm and not to burst out crying. The boy smirks wickedly.

  Boy : Ha… Friends?

  With tears held back, Tori looks up at the boy, who's still standing before the dam — touching the wooden walls as the fire spreads gradually.

  Boy : I never said you were my friend… All the people who have powers of my opposite elements are my enemies… Forever. And you were one of them from the very beginning…

  The boy tilts his head slightly back and his fiercely glowing red eyes finally show up, not hiding under the hat anymore. The spreading flames on the wall are lit bright behind him. His whole figure turns black in the fire’s silhouette, except for his two red eyes.

  “At that moment, I had realised that I saw his eyes properly for the first time. But it had never glowed in red like that before. It was like a fire itself was lit inside his eyes that was showing his inner evil side. I felt scared… Betrayed… And pathetic…”

  Tori's eyes widen, his tears dry instantly as if evaporated by the shock.

  Boy : Oh, don't act all scaredy-cat. You have water powers, don't you? It's not like you won't survive the water…

  Tori : …

  Boy : Well, aren’t you lucky?

  Tori : !

  The boy presses his hand on the fire-caught wall and the flames instantly spread more. Finally weakening the wood, the cracks start to occur and the sounds of the wall breaking ticks in Tori's ears like a time bomb. The boy steps away from the dam, fire swirling around him without burning him. He looks at Tori with an evil smile.

  Boy : Goodluck… ‘Friend’...

  As soon as he finishes his words, he vanishes into smoke, leaving Tori shattered. The dam breaks from beneath and a massive flow of water comes out. Tori gasps in terror, the water roars like a huge beast about to leap on its prey. He uses his water powers to prevent the water from coming out. He gives his best within his ability, but a massive, tremendously strong force of water is sure to be too heavy on a 6-year-old kid. He screams as he fails to stop it, and the force of water washes him away, along with flooding the land within minutes. Many houses get destroyed, people either drown or get washed away by the crazy current. It's a whole disaster. Though Tori has no trouble breathing underwater, he's still having trouble balancing his way out against the heavy flow. He finally manages to raise his head out of water, only to see the water flowing in the direction of the route close to other cities. Tori squeezes his eyes shut. He cries out helplessly, calling for help and praying desperately to God.

  “Seeing my small mistake turn into a catastrophe, I couldn’t bring myself to see the destruction happen to the other cities as well. I just kept crying and praying helplessly.”

  Just then, the massive roaring water suddenly halts. Tori looks around and sees his mother, father and sister using their powers to stop the water. It's slowly moving back.

  “When I saw my family doing their best to save the city, I felt proud, guilty, relieved, awful — so many emotions at once. I was happy and not happy at the same time…”

  Tori has no smile, he just stares in stunned silence, unable to speak anything. His family tries their best to reverse the water force, moving all the water back behind the range of the dam. They also use their powers stretched to the limit, to fix the dam with water control. As it is finally done, Tori runs to his family crying.

  “I didn’t know how to face them. I didn’t know how to explain anything. But as soon as I ran to them, I burst into tears thinking of nothing, words wouldn’t come out from my mouth. My family calmed me down, they were more concerned about whether I was okay than the explanation I wanted to give.”

  “Over half the city was devastated by the temporary massive flood. There were no deaths, but too many damages and injuries, some were critically injured. I told my family everything instantly on the spot. Before they could say anything to me, people started gathering around us. Their eyes were full of fear and accusations. Our powers were already exposed. And immediately, all the blame fell on us…”

  Tori's mom uses her powers to take out lingering droplets of water from their clothes and make them dry. A few people surround the family and start bickering.

  Man1 : Hey! You guys are no ordinary people!

  Man2 : They have water powers! Looks like they are the reason for this flood!

  Woman1 : You heartless monsters were hiding all this time, weren’t you?

  Tori's dad twitches his eyebrows from anger.

  Mr. Tabir : What are you saying? Are you not aware that we are the ones to save the city from that sudden flood?

  Woman1 : Oh, you're playing the hero now? After causing a disaster!?

  Mrs. Nishira : Watch what you say! Instead of being grateful, you blame us?

  Woman2 : You ruined our homes! Our everything!

  Man1 : If people with water powers like you didn’t cause this then what did? It was impossible for the dam to break which stood strong for decades!

  Nodi : There must have been an accident!

  Boy : I saw it happening.

  Suddenly a voice catches everyone's attention. A voice familiar to Tori. All eyes fall on a little boy with a brown hat emerging from the crowd, toward them. Tori's eyes widen seeing the boy, he clenches to Nodi's hand, with eyes filled with shock and fear. His heart starts pounding. Nodi notices Tori's unusual reaction and looks at the boy, sensing that something might be off.

  Man1 : What do you mean you saw it happening?

  Boy : It was no accident. It was done on purpose.

  Man2 : What do you mean?

  Woman2 : So someone did cause it.

  Boy : I saw someone intentionally set a heavy fire in the wooden dam. It was him!

  The boy abruptly points at Tori. Tori, stunned by his accusation, shouts overwhelmingly.

  Tori : What!!??

  Everyone is shocked by his claim, including his family. People start murmuring to each other. The boy has an innocent expression and tone.

  Mr. Tabir : What do you mean…?

  Tori : Hey! What are you talking about!? You're the one who set the dam on fire!

  Boy : Why would I do that?? I saw you doing it with my own eyes.

  Tori : Stop lying! You did it!

  Boy : You are the one who's lying to save your family! You destroyed the dam on purpose so you all could be a hero saving the city.

  Tori : No! It's all lies! I didn’t do anything!

  Boy : After that, your family would've started dominating the people of this city with that excuse. It was all planned! Your family planned it!

  Tori : NO!!!

  Tori frowns in disbelief, trembling in dread. Such betrayal that he never even had a nightmare about, now has brought him and his family at a gunpoint of utterly false accusations. The boy keeps up with his act of being scared & innocent.

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