Shut up.
Claim it.
Shut up.
Claim it.
Just shut up, Melissa retorted, uncrossing her arms as Kevin opened the door of the building.
Accept your birthright, embrace your power.
“Ugh, damn it; get out of my head, already!” she snapped and froze as she stepped towards Kevin. “I um…just—just lead the way.”
They went down one hall and turned up another before stopping in front of an office door. Gesturing an order to the other guards at Melissa’s side, Kevin pushed opened the door. Walking into the cluttered room, Melissa approached the desk as Kevin took up his post by the door and the two other guards took up theirs outside.
“Principal Leptin?” Melissa said, addressing a portly man staring out a window.
“What? Oh, it’s you,” he said, his expression changing as he recognized her. “How are you, Melissa?”
“Good. So uh, did the administration decide on which school for me to go to yet?”
“Let me check.” He pushed back his chair and yanked open a drawer. “Oh, here we are.”
Opening up a folder, he dumped out its contents. Reports, documents, and other clutter fell to the ground as he shared the mess on his desk with the floor.
“Now it begins,” he said shuffling through the papers.
Just how unorganized is he? Melissa thought twirling a gold curl around a finger. What was the point of that? He could have just...whatever, it’s his desk.
“Ah,” he said holding up a document. “This is it.”
“You sure?” Melissa said, raising an eyebrow.
“You young ones have no patience.”
“You old ones have no sense of organization.”
“Nonsense, that's just one of my personal flaws.”
At least he takes responsibility for it, Melissa thought.
“And you young ones never do,” the old man muttered.
“Hey, don't read my mind. That's an invasion of—”
“Privacy? You have no privacy Miss Eleven,” he said handing her the paper. “Anyway you’re going to be enrolled in Corpus Academy.”
“Figures.” She crumpled the paper and tossed it aside.
“Yay,” Daniel said doing a happy dance behind her. “You’re going to the same school as us!”
“You two!” Mr. Leptin snapped. “Katelyn! How many times do I have to tell you, no teleporting into my office! Now all of you out, except for Melissa.”
“Make me,” Katelyn said twirling an earphone.
“When did you guys get here?” Melissa asked turning around.
“We saw you walking across the courtyard; it was pretty easy to figure out where you were headed,” Sierra answered leaning back against the door.
So they were staring at me to huh? Melissa thought, crossly.
“That indeed seems to be the case,” Leptin said.
“Stop doing that!”
“Stalking your students’ minds; now that’s really something,” Katelyn said with cool sarcasm, as she fixed the principal with a look. “If the Board of Education knew I wonder if they’d still regard you as a fitting role model for the children of the esteemed and gifted.”
Narrowing his dark eyes on her lighter grey, he began to gather the papers scattered across his desk. “Your coldness will freeze you to death someday,” he said finally.
“Not before you drop dead from a stroke.”
“Well congrats, Melissa, I'm glad you got in,” Daniel said.
“It was expected,” Melissa said over her shoulder as approached Sierra. “Uh, do you mind?”
“Mind what?” Sierra asked, glancing back at the door’s dark wood as she crossed her arms.
“You’re blocking—”
The hairs on Melissa’s neck spiked as a knife flew past her. Nearly ducking a second too late, Sierra glanced up wide-eyed at the blade that was stuck in the spot where her head had been moments before.
“Move,” Katelyn said, and snatching another iron marble from the desk, she tossed it into the air. The electric blue aura surrounding her hand enveloped the ball as it sailed through the air morphing into a small knife as it came down. Catching it without looking, Katelyn pointed it at Sierra.
“Do you need me to ask you again?” she inquired. Her icy grey eyes flicked from Sierra’s to Melissa’s. “Oh, and don't get it wrong Melissa, that wasn't for you. I just don't want Daniel to be late for first period.”
“I guess the only thing you really do care about is your brother after all,” Sierra said and opening the door, she stalked out.
“What else is there to care about?” Katelyn answered tossing the knife at Leptin she left. Waving a hand, the principal reverted the blade back into its marble state.
“Bye, Leptin,” Daniel said as he trailed his sister.
“Yeah, yeah whatever,” he said not looking up. “I don't even know you. And Melissa come here, you've still got papers to sign.”
Chapter 3
A New Reality
Glancing over his shoulder, Alex traced the lilac haze from the cliff which marked the boundary to the clouds above. He jerked his head back down as a cold spray of water splashed his form in the small wave that rolled up to meet him.
"Oh shit—" Catching him as naturally as a baseball player did a ball, the surge swept Alex along its surface. Sputtering, he skimmed the body of water like a coin across a floor, as he rolled head over heels with the wave, helpless as it carried him along its calming waters like a duck bobbing in its midst. The liquid dipped and curved around him like Jell-O, administering a dunking no further than a few inches below the surface, deep enough for an icy welcome but not to drown. Successfully righting himself, only to fall upon his back, Alex turned his eyes to the sky, exasperated.
Pulling himself above water, he gasped. "How am I still alive?"
Turning his head, a glimpse of tan caught his eye before he took in a view of a distant beach and behind it, skyscrapers stretching for an unreachable sky. Shore, land—he could almost imagine balancing upon the water's surface well enough to cross the lake and step onto solid ground. He sat up slowly.
The sun shone behind a couple of shadowy figures on the beach. Noticing their presence brought the barest of smiles upon his face. People, that meant food and most importantly clothing. The sand had stripped him and he was freezing. Unwrapping his hands from around him with conflicting hesitation; raising both arms, he waved desperately, bobbing along with the languid waves on his knees.
"Hey!" Alex shouted. "Over here! I'm—"
"Fire!" The order from shore was closely followed by a bang of what to Alex's ears could only guess was a gun. Green eyes went wide as his hands froze mid-wave and his heart slipped into his throat.
Are they shooting at me? Lifting a hand over his eyes, he squinted as a large silhouette flew in his direction.
"Wait, what?!" The billowing projectile hit him with deadly accuracy, knocking him back and sliding against several ripples. A jumpsuit, reddish brown in color, wrapped around his body, and as if powered by a machine snapped its straps shut, cuffing both his hands and feet with interlacing black plastic in the process.
Pulling in vain at the cuffs and locked straps of the jumpsuit's scratchy fabric, he looked up across the water. A speed boat, its keel slicing through the water like butter made a beeline straight for him. The vehicle drenching him with a broadside of water didn't even bother to pull to a full stop as it passed him. Two men reached overboard in passing, grabbed the youth and dragged him aboard.
"Get off me?! Who do you think you are?!" Alex's yelled.
His indignant protests fell on deaf ears as he sat between two darkly uniformed men. On his right was an older man well beyond his fifties with a grey comb over and furrowed brows; on Alex's left a younger man around his thirties with dull brown eyes and dark hair, gazed with disinterest out over the open water. "This is kidnapping! This is illegal—"
"Shut up,” the younger of the
two men ordered absently, dull eyes shifting and grabbing one of Alex's waving wrists hit him with them.
"Stop..." Alex protested, holding his throbbing nose as he shifted away from the older man.
I'll just...lie low, Alex thought. And wait for an opportunity when I get to shore.
Arriving on shore the driver looked over his seat back at them. "Get out."
Unable to step out of the boat, Alex took a step back, then attempted to hop the side. His foot caught the boat's edge midair and falling over the side, he ate sand. Yanked to his feet, he half-shuffled and was half-dragged to the open doors of a suspicious black van waiting nearby.
"Wait! Wait!" he protested, struggling, "You—you can't do this! Let me go!" Planting a foot firmly into the sand he lifted the other and stomped. Driving his heel into the instep of the boot nearest he yanked his arm from the younger man's grasp. Only to fall onto the punch of the older. He dropped to his knees gasping at the air like a fish out of water. He couldn't breathe, his stomach burned. The pain stretched mercilessly across his abdomen, carelessly raking its claws through him in the process. Rather than knuckles he felt as if he'd been stuck with a knife.
"Stop worrying about your shoe and get him into the van,” the older man snapped at his companion.
"You can't do this..." Alex whimpered.
This is wrong, he thought shaking as the man dragged him up by up one arm. This is all wrong. In the movies...you don't get kidnapped. In the movies you fight and succeed. Kick butt and escape. So why?
The younger kidnapper pushed him down into the middle seat and sat beside him. With the older man on his other side, Alex was sandwiched between the two. Why am I the one in pain? Why am I being kidnapped? Why am I here?! Where the hell am I?!
His heart skipped as fear fell upon him like the snows of an avalanche. Trapped beneath them, the frozen water smothered his will with helplessness, snuffed out his desperation with terror and shutting the door of hope, sealed him in. The scenery shifted and as the van began to drive, Alex swallowed with difficulty. Sliding his eyes to their corners he glanced at the older man reproachfully.
Where are they taking me? Are they planning to kill me when this thing stops...?
"What the—" He swallowed fishing for the last of his courage. "What do you want with me?"
Silence.
"Look I—I didn't mean to fall off the cliff. It was an accident. A mistake. Just let me go and I swear—"
"Where would you go?" The younger man tossed the question into the air as he strapped himself in.
"I—I—" It was a question Alex couldn't begin to answer.
Where would he go? Back to the lake? How would milling around water get him back home? "Where are you taking me?"
"You'll see when we get there." The man handed Alex's seatbelt off to his older companion who strapped in their charge.
"Where's there, exactly?"
The old man crossed his arms and looked out the darkly tinted windows.
So much for finding an opportunity, Alex thought bitterly as he resigned himself to spend the rest of the drive in silence. The van made too many turns to backtrack and as the minutes stretched further along the road of time, Alex took to staring at his cuffs.
The van slowed, pulling to a stop in the parking lot of a tall building. The door was opened and the younger man getting out looked back as his companion shoved Alex from the vehicle. Nearly falling in the process, the blond stumbled into the waning light of the evening sun. Caught in the midst of a city and dwarfed by sky scrapers, Alex received a shove from behind, and nearly tripped over the curb.
"Hey geezer,” Alex seethed, stepping onto the sidewalk. "Watch where you're going, I'm still cuffed, or have you already—"
"Yeah, whatever,” the man said barely sparing him a glance. "Quit dragging your feet."
Alex making a face, shuffled a little faster. "Where are we?"
"The place where we dump you,” the younger man answered prodding him along.
"Care to add a little detail? I mean like...I'm going to find a way to escape anyway."
"Yep."
Vague, they're so vague I doubt they'd give me the time of day, Alex thought as he glanced at the face of the dark skyscraper whose shadow he walked within. Tinted office windows and a black marble base lined the exterior of the first floor. Whether the building was government or the headquarters of a private company, its importance was as profound as it was unmistakable.
Walking single file, the older man at the head, and younger at the rear, with Alex sandwiched in-between, they entered the building. Stepping into an elevator, they ascending four floors. Alex shuffled out the metallic doors, following his captor's lead down one hall and up another. They came to a halt before the door of an office, the words The Oddities, etched across its glass. The older man turned to the youth, a pair of scissors in hand.
"We part here, kid." Cutting off the cuffs, the man pushed open the door and held it open for Alex to walk through. "You'll get your answers in here."
They're not suspicious... Sarcasm laced the thought as he passed into the office. The entrance alone had five men stationed before it in sharp black suits with white curly communication devices sticking out of their ears.
"Have a nice life kid. I hope you adjust,” the younger of Alex's captors said as the door closed behind the two men. Alex watched his captors leave with mixed feelings as they disappeared around a corner. He hadn't even known their names. His kidnappers, the first people he'd encountered in this unknown world, had exited his life as suddenly as they'd appeared. It was an odd feeling, he didn't quite miss them, yet there was an underlying sense of loss. Perhaps it was only natural to ponder one's first impressions in another land and from the interaction; there lingered for a moment a feeling of familiarity.
Screw them. Alex thought. They’ll be lucky if I don’t sue.
"Wilson Milson," a voice introduced itself across the room.
Alex turned, putting the name to the face of an older man around his forties reclining in a chair with his feet propped up on the desk in the center of the room.
"Come on over, don't be shy. I'm here to answer any questions you might have, so make yourself comfortable. Pull up a chair."
The office was large and spacious. Yet apart from a large leafy plant in a corner, it was also devoid of decoration and furnishings, other than the sole chair to the desk that Wilson already occupied.
"Pull up—" Alex confused glanced about. "—what chair?" His eyes narrowed upon Wilson and voice turned flat, "You're sitting in the only one here."
Wilson sighed, feigning disappointment. "You oddities are always so stubborn." The man closed his eyes for a few moments, and reopening them gestured behind the boy. "Look."
Dubious, Alex turned, startled to see a chair where there had been none.
"No way...that wasn't there before."
"Such bad vision, you should get your eyes checked." The man took his feet off the table and leaned forward, his elbows resting on the desk's dark wood. "Go on, pull up the chair and sit, we have a lot to cover, I'm sure. No doubt you have questions. Oddities always do."
"Tha-that chair wasn't there when I walked in...how? Where did it come from?" Sarcasm infected his next words, "Thin air?"
"Hmm...well kid, do you believe in magic?"
The guy was kidding, right? Alex gave him a knowing smile, expecting the man to laugh and discredit his words. When Wilson didn't, the youth turned skeptical.
Is this guy serious? he wondered. Does he really expect me to feed into his delusions? Maybe he's a magician? Magician or not, I didn't walk who knows how many miles through a pitch black wasteland for some moron.
Pushing a piece of paper towards Alex, the dark haired man held out a pen. "Before we begin, err...what's your name?"
"Alex,” he said, taking the pen and skimming the printed words before looking up. "What's this?"
"Right now you're an unknown, Alex, a mystery and illegal alien. This docume
nt puts you under the Oddity file as a...special citizen of sorts."
Alex put pencil to paper, making a mental note to ask the man about what an Oddity was later, and filled out the document with what information he had.
"And this here,” Wilson said taking the paper and waving it at Alex, "is all the information we have on you. Call it your personal file if you will."
The man slipped the sheet into a white folder and hit a small yellow button on his desk. Soon after a well-dressed man walked in. He took the folder, before taking his leave just as quickly.
"Good thing you're not a minor. Or things would've been a whole lot more complicated, you know with guardianship and all."
"Well, I just turned seventeen last month."
"Oh, so in August was it? What day?"
"Don't you mean July?"
Wilson gestured to the calendar on the wall. "Today's the tenth of September...though you did come from the Dark Realm so your memory's probably skewed."
"No it's not. Its August, I know because I took a test in one of my classes three days ago."
Wilson laughed. "No school teaches classes in the summer...well except Corpus Academy, but they're special. Summer is a season of relaxation and exploration."
“Regardless I'm still a minor. I'm not eighteen.”
Wilson gave Alex a blank stare.
“So, you were talking about guardianship?” Alex began.
“Listen, I'm a lazy guy. Please don't make more work for me.”
“What are you talking about— you can't just—”
“Alex, I'll just sign a waiver or something.”
“A waiver? A waiver for my age? What does that even— “
“Let's just move on.” Wilson said waving a hand.
Unbelievable, Alex thought. "You know what...whatever. I don't even live here. So what did you mean earlier by Dark Realm? And who were those people who dragged me here?"
"Ah, you mean the watchmen. They're employed by the city and monitor the Dark Realm. When oddities like you appear, they deliver them here for explanations."
"I'm not a criminal."
"I never said you were."
"Wait, you still haven't answered my other question, what is the Dark Realm?"
Rod Wars Page 2