Chapter 2: Distant Light

Sara meets up with Derek, and they travel to the ceremony together to become Wikkas

Sara could here the groans of the other girls as she dragged her suitcase down the hall. The place was dark and musty, with a constant smell of moth balls hanging in the air. Occasionally there would be a patch of bright purple goo left over from the patrolling Bloogs- gelatenous beings conjoured up by Purple Majik wielders to patrol the house. How she was happy to be out of that place.

 

Her suitcase made clunking noises as she dragged it down the spiral stairs and out the front door. The street was as foggy as usual, with the street lights barely able to cast light along the street. However, this light was not needed, for the light coming through the windows of the girls orphanage behind her and the boys orphanage ahead of her gave off enough light to see where she was going.

 

Sara crossed the cobble stone street and waited. She could hear the sound of the boys grumbles as they were awoken. She stood there for about ten minutes before a tall boy with orange hair stepped out with a large wooden trunk. Derek was about six feet tall with bright green eyes. His hair was suprisingly straight and nicely cut. He was wearing a Red Soxs hat, a white t-shirt and jeans that were low enough to see his bright blue boxers underneath. When he saw Sara, Derek smirked and walked down the stairs.

 

"Shortstop." Derek said.

"Ginger." Sara shot back with a smile.

"You ready?" Derek said, gesturing down the road.

"I've been ready slow-poke." Sara nudged, but began to walk up the road. Derek followed. As they headed up the street they talked. "So did you bring me food?"

Derek rolled his eyes. "I swear you're gonna be three-hundred pounds If you keep going like this."

"Then you can roll me around as much as you please. Now do you have food or not?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Come one Derek! You know they underfeed us in that place." Sara whined. She made a sad-puppy face and continued. "Look at me, I'm skin and bone."

Derek sighed and tossed her an apple. "You're lucky I keep you around."

"I know." Sara said cheerily as she bit down into the apple. "You could never get rid of me. You'd miss me too much."

"Maybe." Derek smirked. Sara hip-bumped him and laughed.

 

They rounded a corner into the shopping district. As they walked, they passed a Starbucks and Derek's eyes lit up. He loved coffee. Sara stared longingly at the cafe. Both her and Derek were broke, but all she could think about was sipping a hot chocolate on cold winter afternoons in the cafe. This little cafe was the only cozy place in the whole dark city, and it was the place she would miss most. She looked up at Derek. "One day we will be able to go there every day." Sara Said. "We won't have to worry about anything at all. This will be our sanctuary. You'll write your novels and I'll blog about my life on a brand-new Macbook Air."

 

"You make it sound like it's that simple." Derek said flatly "What if we don't get good enough powers? What if we don't go through the change? What if we get stuck in the Work Camps like the rest of the humans? A lot can go wrong."

"I think even if that does happen, at least we'll have eachother." Sara said.

"From the beginning of the beginning." Derek said, looking down at her.

"To the end of the end." Sara said.

 

Derek smiled, and they continued walking, Sara chomping away at her apple. They traveled along the road a few more minutes until they stopped at a bus station. There were already some other kids waiting there, all of them half-asleep. Sara and Derek set their suitcases down and sat on them. They sat in silence for a few minutes while other kids came from all different directions, each one dragging a suitcase of their own. A large yellow school bus pulled up just as the last kid groggly dragged his suitcase across the cobblestone street. Leaving their luggage behind, they formed a line and filed onto the bus.

 

As the bus rolled away, the luggage on the side of the road vanished in a puff of purple smoke. They would re-appear in their dorm rooms after the initiation. (There was no other word for it, for the manner in which the bestowing of the powers took place was almost occult like.) The bus drove through the large wooden gate and into the dense thicket of  woods that separated each town. The road changed from stone to dirt, and the light once illuminated by the street lamps dimmed. The forest took all the light out of the area, making it even more terrifying than it usually was. There was no way to tell if you had stumbled upon a gentle three-eyed squirrel or a fanged black nargal. The fear of whether or not you would be shredded into pieces kept the children from wandering out of the cities, which made it easier for the Wikkas to keep them quartered.

 

Derek leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Sara was wide awake, but followed his lead by resting her head on his shoulder. The rest of the kids on the bus were silent as well, being either too tired or too nervous to start a conversation. Sara began to doze off just as there was a loud bang against the side of the bus. A couple of students screamed, and Derek shot out of his seat, nearly hitting his head on the ceiling of the bus. Sara pulled him back down into his seat and looked out the window.

 

Flashes of colored light were illuminating the forest from every direction. Other Majiks were running from tree to tree, shooting spells at each other. A tall dark-skinned boy with a glowing tattoo in the shape of a lightening bolt shot sparks at a short girl with a bright pink pixie cut. The girl did a perfect back handspring to dodge the sparks, then flung a glowing pink disk at the boy. The Majik was pulsing through the air, and everybody could feel it. A fireball hit the side of the bus, sending a few kids toppling into the isle. There was the sound of a balloon filling up with air, then a large purple bubble formed around the bus. The ride suddenly became smoother, and the lights around them looked a hundred miles away.

 

Derek sat back up in his seat. Frowning, he said "That doesn't look very safe."

"Oh, they'll be fine." Sara said "The animals should be afraid of them anyway."

"No, I mean these powers don't look very safe." Derek continued, looking nervous.

"All we need is some practice and we'll be fine." Sara said confidently.

 

Derek looked like he wanted to continue talking, but gave in, and laid back in his seat once again. Sara resumed her position on his shoulder, and dosed off. When the flashes of light were no longer visible, she finally fell asleep.

Author's Note

This chapter is longer than the others, but is getting the plot of the novel set up better. Let me know if it sounds good! :)