The Chosen (Chapter Three)

The Chosen1

Chapter Three – We Make New Friends And Enemies2

Well, the day started off really well. Okay, apparently there was homework set for my math class that was due today. Of course, I hadn’t done anything because I was too busy dealing with my new-found powers as well as stressing over this prophecy about me and my friends. 3

“Jeffrey, I don’t see any completed equations that was homework yesterday.” Mr.Finnich said casually to me. Thanks for pointing out the obvious genius I thought dully to myself. He wrote a note in his black book. Great that means I’m getting detention…just what I need. “Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you in detention later today. I’ll look forward to that.” He smiled gleefully. How lifeless was he? It was only first period and I was already sick of the day. I rested my head on my desk while Mr.Finnich walked around to collect homework from the rest of the class. Once he had received the last piece of homework we immediately went to work. We spent the rest of the lesson revising areas of Trigonometry which was why when the bell rang I thanked god dearly. 4

The next lesson was Design and Technology. It was pretty much a chill session because the wood-work stations had some electrical problem. I spent the time just chatting casually to Craig. Brett was in the far corner, trying to chat up some hot chick. What a player. The bell rang again to signal lunch and we headed out to the basketball courts. We all hung out there during breaks so I would meet up with everyone there. 5

As I was about to grab a basketball a voice called my name. “Jeffrey!” A small kid called as he ran towards me. He must have been a freshman or something because I had never seen him before. “You are Jeffrey Harding right?” He asked.6

“Yeah, that’s me. And you are?”7

“No need to worry about that.” He replied. “There is something urgent I was asked to tell you.”8

“Something urgent?” I questioned as I raised my eyebrows.”What is it?”9

“You need to be in detention with Mr.Finnich right now. He sent me to tell you to be in his classroom in less than five minutes.” He spoke with pride. This kid must be a suck-up, sending messages for Mr.Finnich or maybe he was just a simple nerd.10

“Look kid, you tell Mr.Finnich that I don’t care if he gives me detention for a whole another week but I’m definitely not going to detention today. Now beat it.” Behind him I saw the whole gang walking towards me. I pushed past the nerd and walked to them. Kale wasn’t there. 11

“Hey where’s Kale?” I asked when I reached them.12

“He’s not here today.” Brett replied. “If he wants to sulk in his dark murky room all day just because he doesn’t have any power, that’s fine with me.” He smirked.13

“Man, you were sulking big time just before you found out you had earth as your element. So I wouldn’t say anything if I were you.” Ricky commented. Brett was about to reply, his fists raised but I 14

quickly intervened. 15

“Guys, can we just sit and talk today?” I cut in. “It’s serious.”16

Dave rolled his eyes. “Why so serious?” He spoke with a surprisingly good Joker voice. Brett lowered his fists and Rick closed his mouth.17

“I’ll take that as a yes.” I led them to the tables opposite the courts and sat down, gesturing for everyone else to do the same. Once they were all seated I told them what I had dreaded since I found out about it. 18

“Okay...I’m just going to spit this out alright. You know that dream I told you about when we were on the beach?” They all nodded, remembering that night. “Well, there’s something I…err, forgot to mention.” I murmured. 19

They exchanged glances to one another. A mixture of confusion and suspicion were what covered their faces now. I sighed deeply, I had dreaded this for days and that feeling hadn’t just disappeared. “What exactly is this something Jeff?” Craig asked his voice soft and his eyes warm. I could always count on him for support no matter what. Normally, the best-looking guy in the school would be the obnoxious, arrogant one with all the girls crowding him. But Craig was no-where like that. He was extremely kind and supportive. Sure the girls still trailed behind him, but when he knocked them off, they’d stay away. He was the best friend a guy could ever have. Then I focused on what I was about to say, using my sudden confidence to force it out. 20

“Philip has the gift of prophecy. He can foresee the future in other words. And well, he made a prophecy about me…about us actually.” I gulped. I didn’t want to say anymore but a voice in the back of my head kept repeating the same words, they need to know…they need to know…they need to know. “The prophecy said, and this is his exact words: Your future is a dangerous road. You’re actions will change the outcome of a great many things Jeffrey Harding. Be careful of the ones you trust. There are those who wish you dead and will hunt you down.” Relief settled over me, I had told them the full story. The nagging voice shut up and I waited for their reaction. 21

Well it couldn’t have gone any better. First there was there bone-chilling air current that swept away the neighbouring benches and I thought I saw the basketball poles ripped out. My hair whipped wildly across my face, the air freezing my exposed skin. I heard shrieks and yelps as students rushed indoors; soon it was only the five of us sitting on a bench surrounded by a self-made hurricane. Both brothers were staring coldly at me. 22

“Look, I never wanted any of this to happen.” I shouted over the roaring wind. I had to stop them, it was getting too dangerous. The grass from the field was beginning to tear up, and the foundations of the school were slowly pulling out. “What happened, happened. There was absolutely nothing I could do. It wasn’t my fault!” I could tell I had hit the spot. The winds slowly died down, the brothers’ eyes no longer glaring at me. The mini hurricane left a fair amount of wreckage. The basketball poles’ had been ripped out, most of the grass gone and the benches were in the most bizarre places. One was on one of the roofs, a couple were thrown outside of the school grounds, silently I hoped that Mr.Finnich was too but he would’ve have been in his office making a call to my parents of something. 23

“We’re both sorry.” Ricky muttered. “We didn’t mean for it to get out of control like that, just the anger I’m sure I felt. Not sure about my brother though. I couldn’t contain it, it just sort of exploded.” They both took a look around and I could’ve sworn I saw a smirk on both their faces. Students cautiously stepped outside of the buildings, observing the wreckage and soon began staring at us. They must’ve been wondering why we didn’t panic and run, arms flailing to safety. 24

“You know, I’m surprised that you were the ones to lose your temper. Never knew you had one.” Brett commented. “Well at least I know now that you guys can be a little like me at times.”25

“Yeah, so you better be careful.” Dave replied smartly. “Otherwise you could end up somewhere in China. Well that’s not too bad; at least you’ve got plenty of rice.”26

“Anyway, anyone else scared by this prophecy.” Brett said, changing the subject. “Cause I say let them come. We can take any one of them.” He put his fist on the table almost causing it to shatter. Thankfully it didn’t otherwise it would look weird and a whole bunch of splinters would be in my skin.27

“I agree with him.” Craig added. “I mean just look at what Dave and Ricky did. A mini-hurricane in seconds, and that I’m sure wasn’t their full power.” He glanced at them. They replied, shaking their heads smiling. “And Brett can destroy buildings with his earthquakes, you can practically incinerate anyone you want and well I’m not going to brag about what I can do. I don’t think we need to worry about it, we’re fine.”28

Everything Craig said was correct. We were powerful; we had the power of the elements for goodness sakes. What was I so worried about? But I still felt slightly uneasy about the situation. I mean we didn’t even know who the person was. 29

“Okay, I think Craig has a point. But we need to stay alert, don’t get complacent.” I looked meaningfully at the brothers. “Got it?”30

“Yeah.” Everyone answered.31

The bell sounded and it was time for period 3. History I thought to myself. That’s just great, what would be learning about this time…Some ancient person who had been dead for 2000 years. We all split up, Brett following me because we were in the same class. He took a seat next to some brunette and I sat in the corner. I slumped in my chair, textbook open and waited for the lesson to begin. It didn’t take long before I drifted off again. I heard the teacher say a couple of things about ancient Greece , talking about the five elements and the gods. Five elements I thought to myself? There’s only four, she must’ve made a mistake, shrugging it off. The rest of the school day went by quickly. 32

I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder waiting for Craig. We always walked home from school, only because we lived fairly close to each other…the same street actually. He showed up a couple of minutes later and together we set off towards the east suburbs. Staying on the sidewalk, we talked about different things. The prophecy at one stage and then it carried on to our powers, theories and eventually we dropped it. We turned the corner that would lead us to our street when someone knocked into me suddenly, causing me yelp in surprise and lose balance. Craig helped me back on my feet. 33

There wasn’t just one person, but two. There was a small boy with scruffy, long black hair that partly covered his eyes. His jeans were ripped in several places and his shirt was covered with dirt and looked like it hadn’t been washed in weeks. Although he was small, his face made him look older. His dark eyes were studying me and Craig. And standing next to him was the person who ran into me. It turned out to be a girl; she looked around the same age as us. She had dirty blond hair that was tied back into a ponytail. Her green eyes were intelligent, pretty and menacing. What she wore was similar to the boy’s attire. Her shirt was stained and jeans torn and tattered. Her arms were covered in nasty cuts. What were they doing to make them look like this I wondered to myself? The boy gasped, eyes wide open. He quickly whispered something into the girls ear and she asked him if he was sure.34

“Excuse me, but can we help you?” Craig interrupted. “What are your names.”35

The girl responded first. “My name is Cassandra Willard and this is my younger brother Jason.” Resting her hand on the boys’ shoulder. “And who are you two?”36

“I’m Jeffrey, but just call me Jeff.” I replied. 37

“And I’m Craig.” Craig answered. “Could you explain why you both look like you’ve been beaten up badly. You guys look awful.” Way to go sentimental one I thought.38

“Before we do,” Cassandra said. “Tell me, is my brother correct. Are both of you really like us? Have you been gifted with…powers?” She asked seriously. 39

Craig looked at me. I wondered, were these the people who wanted us dead? No, they couldn’t be. They’re just two kids like us. They seemed friendly enough. And they asked us if we had powers…how could they possibly know anything about that.40

“Umm, what do you mean?” I asked them back. Maybe if I acted like I didn’t know anything, they’d leave. 41

Jason snorted and his sister squinted her eyes. “Don’t act stupid with me punk. Just answer the question.” She jeered. 42

Now, although she was a girl she looked and sounded really tough. I could tell I wasn’t getting away with this. I had to give her the answer; the boy seemed to understand the truth. I sighed. “Okay here’s the truth. Yes, we have these…gifts. Both of us, but how could either of you possibly guess that we did.” 43

She stepped back, not in exclamation, but more surprise. Her brother turned his head to look at her face. “I told you so Cassy!” He spoke in one of those voices that kids have before they crack. “So what are your powers?” He questioned excitedly. 44

“You still haven’t answered my question”45

“Oh right. Okay, here’s what I can do. I can’t show you but I can explain it. When the sun sets and the moon rises…I gain incredible strength. I can lift cars, run faster, pummel anyone I want and heaps of other stuff. And I can also sense other people with powers like us, but I have to be near them. That’s how I knew that both of you were like us. You touched a silver ball right?” He said proudly.46

I stared at him. He was so small and he could beat up anyone. “Uhh, yeah I did.” I stuttered out. “Which one of you two touched it?”47

Cassandra recomposed herself, and raised her right hand. There it was the same imprint that was on my hand. I showed her mine too. She nodded, as if approving that it was real. “I have the power of the sun. From when the sun rises until it sets, during the day, I am like my brother but I can also form intense heat. We’re apparently the group of Night and Day or the Sun and Moon.” She explained. 48

“Well, that’s interesting. I have the power of fire.” I announced as I formed fire in my open palm. Cassandra just observed intently while Jason exclaimed. The next moment, Craig doused out my fire with cold water. “And my power is water. We have the power of the elements.” 49

I dried my hand on my shirt. “Now, explain to us why you both look the way you do”.50

“We’ve been on the run for half a month now.” Cassandra confessed.51

“Running from what?” I quickly asked.52

“From these people who wanted to “recruit” us. They said that the group was for people like us, they had gifts too. And when we refused, they tried to kill us. That was up in Seattle, where we used to live. I have no idea how they found us or how they knew but we had to run. We barely escaped the state with our lives. We stole food to survive and only stopped to rest wherever was safe. They’ve been following us all the way, but I think we lost them back in Portland. We’ve been travelling down the coast.”53

“Do you know who it was that was trying to recruit you? Was it a man or a woman?”54

“It was a man. He said that they would help, but I didn’t trust him.” 55

I had a feeling I knew who he was and I wished I was wrong. “Okay first things first, I’ll take both of you to my place where you can freshen up and change. You can stay there for the night. And I’m not taking no for an answer.”56

Jason nodded so hard I thought that he made a pretty good bobble-head. Cassandra lifted up her hands in surrender and we set off towards my home. We dropped off Craig and then we entered my house. My parents were still at work so they weren’t a problem…for now. I led them to my room and closed the door. They both showered and refreshed themselves. I gave Jason some of my older, smaller clothes and Cassandra picked out something from my drawer. She seemed like a tom-boy choosing to wear my baggy jeans and ACDC shirt. Well she was a cute tom-boy that was for sure. 57

“What is it?” She questioned, her voice cutting me from my thoughts.58

“What’s what?” 59

“You’re looking at me funny.”60

I blushed slightly. “Oh, sorry. It’s nothing.” I wasn’t going to tell her that I thought she was a cute tom-boy. No way. I don’t think she was about to accept that but before she could say anything else Jason interrupted.61

“Oh cool, you’ve got a 360!” He exclaimed. “What games have you 62

got?”63

“They’re all over there.” I pointed next to my television, where the two piles of games sat. 64

Jason smiled gleefully. It was hard to think that he had to fight and run to survive. He was only a kid, he should be enjoying playing video games all day and sleeping in on the weekends. 65

“You’ve got Assassins Creed, Halo 3…oh and even Gears of War 2! Awesome, can I please play” He pleaded.66

“Yeah, sure knock yourself out.” I tossed him the controller and he started playing Gears of War 2. That was good, I needed to talk to Cassandra alone. Yeah, don’t worry I’m not going to start hitting on her or anything. She was lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling. 67

“Cassandra, can we like talk for a bit downstairs.” I imposed, disturbing her silent conversation with the ceiling. 68

“Yeah, alright.” 69

I led her downstairs into the living room. It was spacious with two couches, a coffee table and a 32 inch plasma television. She sat on one couch and I sat on the other. 70

“You know, this couch is seated for three people I’m guessing. There’s no need to be all gay and sit all the way over there.” She pointed out. I felt embarrassed, being told what to do by a girl. I saw on the other end of the couch she was on.71

“Okay, Cassandra –“ 72

“It’s Cassy. Just call me Cassy.” She cut in quickly.73

“Alright then Cassy, tell me...have you had any dreams with a certain someone. His name is Philip?” I intrigued. I was curious to find out if Philip talked to other chosen leaders.74

“How did you know that? Does he talk to you too?” 75

“Yes he does. Did he make a prophecy about you and your brother?” I pressed. I needed to know if bumping into her was a coincidence or fate. 76

Cassy sighed deeply, closed her eyes and told me her prophecy. “The sun and the moons shall intertwine with the elementals. Your decision will affect the outcome of what is to happen. Allies or enemies to the elementals, you must choose. The side you join will be the victor.” She reopened her eyes, looking towards the floor.77

I studied her expression, it gave nothing away. “Well, we are the elementals. What side do you plan to belong to?” 78

She focused on me, my eyes in particular. I gazed right back at her own. They were a beautiful shade of emerald green. They were absolutely stunning and yet they had a sense of sadness buried behind the beauty. After several moments, she spoke in a clear, firm voice. “I’m on your side Jeffrey. The sun and the moon will be with the elementals.”79

A warm, bubbly feeling filled my stomach. I felt as though nothing could tarnish this moment, and nothing could. And I don’t know why, but I flung my arms around the girl who I hardly even knew and hugged her tightly. Surprisingly she responded to my hug and we just sat there in each other’s embrace.80

“Ahem,” Jason coughed. We let go of each other immediately, both our cheeks red and Cassy pushed me to the other end of the couch again. “Sorry to umm, interrupt but I forgot to mention something before.”81

He jumped onto the other couch and lay down. “There is another person in town with powers.” He revealed. 82

“Yeah, Craig we all know that.”83

“No, not Craig. It’s somebody else.” He retorted. He said he had to be near the person to discover if they had powers of not. So it couldn’t be Brett, Dave or Ricky…if not, who could it be? “He had black, greasy hair. He seemed about your age, looked as though he hadn’t slept for days. He looked kind of crazy. Cassy we passed him just before you ran into Jeff.”84

“Oh yes.” She remembered. “Jason’s description pretty much says it all. He was weird-looking. And when we tried to ask him about his powers, he ran off.”85

I was puzzled over it for a moment but then it hit me. “KALE!” I proclaimed, standing up. Kale was still here, I had to talk to him. I had to explain what happened. I was half-way out the door when Cassy’s voice cut through my buzzing mind.86

“He’s long gone by now Jeff and who is he?”87

She was right. I didn’t even know where to begin looking. I sat back down. “Kale was part of our group of friends before he split yesterday. We haven’t heard from him…I think it’s because he hasn’t got any…wait, Jason, did you say he has a power?!?”88

“Yeah, he does. I felt it, 100%. He’s got a gift. So what element does he have?”89

That couldn’t be right; no there were only four elements. Jason must’ve made a mistake. Kale didn’t have any power; after all, that’s why he left in the first place. I was about to tell him that he hasn’t got an element when it happened. A huge explosion shook the house. I tumbled to the floor with the other two. I got up and rushed outside. In the distance, I could see a mix of fire, smoke and…lightning. What the hell, lightning? Cassy and Jason appeared right next to me. The lightning jolts must have hit the oil tankers and caused the explosion. Too bad for the oil company I thought. 90

“Hey which direction did Kale run off to?” I asked Cassy. She just pointed towards the direction and I knew that he actually did have a power…but what was it? “C’mon, let’s go back inside. A couple of hours passed and I cooked dinner for them. Jason finished early and headed back to my room while me and Cassy started to get to know each other a little better. I found out that she loved Rock music and bike riding. Yep, real tom-boy. 91

“So like, how old are you exactly?” I queried.92

“Well, how old do you think I am?”93

“Umm, 18?”94

She laughed. Her laughter was light-hearted and pure. It made me want to laugh too. “I’m 16 genius.” She chuckled. She continued laughing, and I joined in. I really don’t know why I was but it just felt right. Then my parents came through the front door and spotted the two of us.95

“Who’s this?” My mom asked, gesturing to Cassy. She was in her late 30’s. She had light brown hair that was styled like Victoria Beckham. Apparently it was fashionable, I thought it was plain ugly but I never told her that. She had cold eyes and lips that formed into a hard line. She didn’t look like your nice, kind mother. 96

“This is Cassandra mom. I met her today on the way back home. She’s staying here with us for a while. She’ll stay in my room as well as her younger brother, Jason.” I declared. My parents weren’t going to kick them out. 97

“Oh the hell she is Jeffrey. This is my house and I say that they go out.” My mom ranted. She talked directly to Cassy this time. “Girl, get your brother and get out of my house right this instant.”98

“Dad, help me out here. These are my friends, trust me, they’re not dangerous or anything.” My dad always was the kinder one. I could rely on him most times for support. He was slightly older than my mom and he worked as a business manager for a moving company.99

“I don’t think there’s any harm letting them stay here for a few nights Louise.” He said softly to my mom. They had a muffled conversation about the situation. I heard something about drugs and sex but in the end Cassy was allowed to stay. I thanked them and then Cassy and I headed back to my room. I opened the door and almost jumped back into Cassy in shock.100

Jason stood in the dark corner of the room with his mouth covered by a hand. The man standing behind him was fairly large and held a black blade to Jason’s throat. His face was half-hidden by the shadows but I could see his eyes clearly enough. They were changing from a deep, dark black to a white light colour. I knew who this person was, his name was…101

“Ah, Cassandra, nice to see you yet again. I was just telling your brother here about what a pity it would be to slit his throat. I would actually have to clean the blade of his disgusting blood.” The stranger spoke in a deep, raspy voice. “But don’t worry; I’m not going to kill him…yet.” His eyes glanced towards me. “And you must be Jeffrey. I have been looking forward to meeting you and your friends. Elementals, interesting…very interesting.” He released Jason and pushed him towards us. Jason clutched his throat, rubbing the spot where the blade had been. 102

“I’LL KILL YOU!” Jason roared. I only just realized that the moon had risen, Jason was stronger now. He flung himself at the stranger but before he could do anything he was trapped in a ball of black energy. 103

“No, not today I’m afraid.” He had created the ball of energy. Jason squirmed, kicking and punching the walls of his containment but he couldn’t break through. The black energy just expanded where he had punched and then come back to form the perfect circle. His eyes returned to me. “Now, Jeffrey I will make the same proposal I offered these two here. Join me and my group, and we will help you. You will no longer have to hide, afraid of your gifts. Come with us, and we will be the strongest force the world has ever known. What do you say?” He grinned wickedly. 104

I thought about it. I thought about the freedom I could have. Being able to use my powers to their full potential was a tempting thought. We could take anything we want and no one could stop us if they tried. We would be unstoppable. Then I thought about how Cassandra had chosen to stand by me and my friends. How she had chosen us over him. I grabbed her hand and spoke directly to the stranger’s face.105

“You know I think I will join you.” His grin grew wider, his eyes bulging. “But only when hell freezes over. Until then, you can piss off.” I added smartly. His grin faded and instead he gritted his teeth. A snarl ripped out from him. 106

“You’ll be sorry boy, I can assure you that. You and your friends are dead!” He released Jason, melted into the shadows and he was gone. 107

“That was him. That was the guy who’s been following us. Because we’re here, we’ve put you in danger.” Cassy cried. She sat down on the edge of the bed and put her head in her hands. 108

“No it’s not your fault. He spoke as if he’s been wanting to meet me for a while. He would’ve confronted me sooner or later.” I said, comforting her. I placed my arm around her shoulder and let her lean her head on my shoulder. It’s weird how we were able to be like this around each other in less than a day. 109

She looked up at me, her eyes watery. “No one has ever taken care of us like this. Not even our aunt and uncle. I just want to say thank you for doing this for us.” She whispered to me. 110

“Yeah, thank you Jeff. It really means a lot. I mean if my sister is actually crying, then it must really mean a lot.” Jason joked. “I think I’m gonna hit the sack now. Umm, Jeff where do I sleep?”111

“Oh, umm…you and your sister can share my bed; I’ll just sleep on the floor tonight. And don’t worry its fine Cassy.” 112

They both settled into my bed and before you knew it Jason was sound asleep. I got up to switch of the light. “Well at least we know two things for certain.” I told Cassy.113

“And what are they?” 114

“One; Nicholas Anderson is recruiting people like us and if we refuse he hunts us down and kills us. And second; my mom hates you. But nothing to lose sleep over right? Goodnight Cassy.” With that said, I turned the light off and settled into a beanbag for the night. And surprisingly there were no dreams of Philip tonight. 115