The Dark Inside (A Human Element) by Donna Galanti

 
     
     
    The Well
    Before They Left
    Caleb
     
     
     
    Caleb's chest felt like it would crack right open. He sprinted down the field, a wild man chasing his prey. Victory was just a throw away. He dodged the shirtless enemy that grabbed at him. Serah flashed him a brilliant smile filled with promise as he ran past her. Her lovely face shot an ache to his groin. It wasn't possible for his heart to pump faster, but it did.
    He threw the ball. It sailed toward the makeshift net, and then Ferrell grabbed it. Caleb crashed into him. They landed in the cold mud. Pain mixed with his humiliation. He pushed himself up off Ferrell. Cheers filled the air. The Hides had won. He looked for Serah but she had vanished in the retreating crowd. The field returned to nature. It seemed to breathe a sigh of relief after lending itself to crazed teenagers secretly celebrating their youth. The winning team headed off to the after-game party where there'd be plenty of drink and clutching in dark corners, wet lips pressed together. Except Caleb wouldn't be pressing anything up against Serah tonight.
    His Shift teammates muttered empty consolation as he headed for the wooded path. Hot with failure and anger, he ripped off his shirt and shoved it in his bag. The mist mixed with beads of his sweat, trickling cool now down his chest. Last bullyball game of the season. Last chance for them to beat their rivals–and he blew it. He wiped mud from his face and looked back at the field. Ferrell's friends stood around him in a circle. He wasn't getting up. Caleb hesitated. They had been best friends when they were young kids, but things were different now. Since Ferrell's parents split up he'd been acting like a tough guy. Playing pranks on people, breaking rules. They faded away from friendship and now, at seventeen, were pitted against each other in sports, but Caleb hadn't meant to hurt him. It was the typical bully-ball game today. He walked back to his old friend.
    Ferrell lay on the ground, his face a white grimace.
    "Hey, you okay?" Caleb wedged his way in between the other players, who scowled at him.
    "Do I look okay?"
    Caleb knelt down and felt his leg. A vision of Ferrell's dad beating him flashed into Caleb's head. Sometime it was a curse to read memories from touch. His talent for it was more intense than most of his people, and his talent to heal…and his talent to do what no one else could do–bring back the dead. The day he discovered it he had come upon a dead deer. He had touched its rough fur, saw its painful final moments, and wished it alive. When it hopped up and limped away he was stunned, and terrified of this power. He didn't want it. Or for anyone to know about it.
    Ferrell shoved his hand away. "What are you doing?"
    "I hurt you. At least let me heal you."
    "Forget it." Ferrell groaned and his teammates helped him up.
    "It was an accident. I'm sorry."
    "Yeah, right. Hurting me is no win for you. You're still a loser."
    "I didn't mean to hurt you, Ferrell."
    "If I needed to I could heal myself. I'm not a wuss like you who heals himself the minute he gets a little banged up."
    "Fine, tough guy."
    "Better than being a weak girl like you."
    Caleb swung at him. Ferrell dodged his fist, stumbled, and Caleb pounded into him. Each connected punch drove a vision into Caleb's brain of Ferrell's dad striking him. Ferrell never even hit his dad back. He just let himself be beaten. A wave of pity for his old friend swelled in him. He let his punches die, and it was then Ferrell's teammates clobbered Caleb from all sides. He fell on his knees, hugging his torso. Blood dripped from a cut to his eye.
    "Back off, weakling," a final kick dismissed him before the group tried to help their wounded teammate off the field. Ferrell shook off their hands and limped away, then shouted back to Caleb. "Guess who'll be giving it to Serah tonight? She'll get it from a wounded hero–not a waste of space."
    Laughter cut into him, swift and deep. Caleb