The rest
of Jacks birthday went by in a flash. John came into his hospital room at 5 PM
with a chocolate birthday cake and a few presents. He unwrapped them and found a
Playstation 2, a few games, a journal, some movies, and some Western comics. It
was the best birthday he could’ve ever had.
The doctor came in soon after he blew
out the candles. He examined his clipboard and smiled.
“Jack, you are free to go back home
tomorrow. We wanna keep you here tonight for one final observation.”
“Okay. Can my family stay?”
“I’m afraid not. They really need to go home and get some
rest.” he turned to the family. “We’ll keep you posted.”
“Oh. Okay.” he said sadly. John placed a
hand on his shoulder.
“We’ll be back soon. Promise.”
He smiled and nodded. They each gave
Jack a hug good-bye and left him with one piece of cake. When they left, he
stared out his window and gazed at the clear, sunny sky. The clouds were
forming, birds were chirping, and planes were soaring. He quickly fell asleep
and entered his own wonderful world.
Miles away, the short hooded man was
meeting with the hooded woman. They were inside what appeared to be an isolated
classroom. The perfect place for a private meeting. She cleared her throat.
“So, what news?” she asked.
“I have met with the boy. I saw what he
did to those bullies. Extraordinary. ”
“Fire Users are usually like that. My
great grandfather, god bless him, he said that they were always the strongest
of all Users. That their Fire power could destroy entire civilizations I never
believed him... until now.”
“The Master will soon be brought back to
us.”
“Yes... Does something trouble you,
Hester?”
“Yes. Is ‘it’ safe?”
“The book? Yes. It is in a secret
compartment that even Alan doesn’t know about. No one will find it.”
“I sure hope so. You may have one of the
strongest Elements, but I will not hesitate to freeze your insides”
“I’d like to see you try, Bane”
The hooded man dropped his hood and the
woman jumped back. His head was bald, covered in boils. His right eye was
stitched up; his teeth were yellow and crooked. For the woman, Hester Bane was
the most disgusting member of their group.
“Put your hood up, you got a face not
even a grandmother would love.”
He put his hood back on and picked up
his glass of alcohol. He guzzled it down and threw it against the wall,
instantly shattering it. The woman shook her head.
“Really? Was that really necessary?”
He ignored her and gazed out the window,
looking at the dark sky.
“Where is our Master?” he asked.
“I am not to discuss that.”
“Just because you are our ‘leader’,
makes you think you can hide everything from us?” he growled.
“My ancestor was his second in command,
which makes me second in command. Since he isn’t with us that makes me the leader
until his return. Understand?” she asked bluntly.
“Yeah,” he replied. “But don’t think I’m
gonna start calling you ‘boss’ from now on. He will return and lead us once
again.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second.
Anyway, the boy has discovered his power, the book is safe, and Alan doesn’t
suspect a thing. All is perfect.”
“Except for one thing.” he interrupted.
“What? What is wrong now? ”
“My mission. The boys told me of a mission. What is it?”
“Your mission is to...”
The next day, Jack was safely at home,
playing his new Playstation 2 and enjoying life. He was now 13 years old and
was months away from going to a new school. The most he could do with his
Element was light his thumb on fire. It wasn’t much, but it kept him occupied.
For the first time since Amy’s move, he was happy. No Joe, no getting picked
on, no bad things happening anymore. Life was becoming worth living for Jack.
At 2 O’clock pm, he was in his room,
experimenting with his fire power when he had a knock on his bedroom door.
“Come in.” he yelled. Coming in was Katelyn, accompanied by Desaree.
“This girl needs to talk to you Jack.
I’ll leave you to it.” she smiled as she closed the door behind her.
Katelyn looked around the room and
smiled.
“Westerns?” she asked quietly.
“Um...yeah. This is kinda unexpected.
Never expected to see you since...”
“The kiss? Or Amy’s move?”
“Both, to be honest.”
She carefully sat on the bed next to him
and licked her lips. He scratched his head and twiddled his fingers.
“So, why are you here?” he said
innocently.
“I... wanted to ask you something Jack.
Something important.”
“I’m an open book. Ask me anything.”
She placed her hand on his and looked
into his eyes.
“I know you have been depressed since
Amy moved, but somewhere inside me, it says that you are over it.”
“Partially. Maybe about 47%.”
“She told me that you confessed your love for her. She could
hear your crying when she left afterwards.”
“It was a tragic day Katelyn. Don’t
think you’d understand.”
“This is true. I never understood love.”
“What was it that you wanted to ask?”
“Will you... be... my boyfriend?”
Jack lifted her hand up to his face and
kissed it. She giggled and blushed.
“Katelyn... Ever since that kiss, I’ve
been having feelings for you. They didn’t come out until only a month ago. We
had talked everyday in school since Amy moved, and I could hear the insults
they were throwing at us.”
“Yeah. A few mean girls told me that you
and me should get married and have freakish babies. I told them to shove off.”
“I bet you did.” he smiled. “Anyway, I
would love to say yes, but in a few months I am going to a new school.”
This news made her frown and gasp.
“What? Why? ”
“Parents wanna send me away to a better
environment.” he lied.
“That’s understandable... I guess.”
“Don’t worry,” he said cheerfully. “I’ll be back during the
summer. We can hang out every summer”
“I’d like that. Can we do that starting
now?”
“Sure,”
he said as he kissed her on the lips.
July had come far too quickly for Jack.
He had spent the first month of summer hanging out with Katelyn. As a birthday
gift for her, he took her to the towns annual Fourth of July Fireworks Show.
They paid for their tickets and went into the nearby football field where it
was taking place. They walked in together, drawing eyes from all around, mostly
from their classmates. He bit his lip, struggling to do something crazy. He
worked up his nerves and held her hand, like a couple does.
She looked at him and blushed. He calmed
his nerves down and began to relax. As they walked, they saw the people setting
up for the show. From a distance, they could see that the band called ‘Yeah
Yeah Yeahs’ were preparing for their concert.
“Who’re they?” asked Jack.
“Oh my god you don’t know?” shouted
Katelyn. “They’re the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, they’re a new band. Began last year.
They’re amazing. Their first album is releasing this year”
He shrugged and looked at the band. Karen O was the singer
and pianist, Brian Chase was the drummer, and Nick Zinner was the keyboardist
and guitarist. They were very new to the punk rock world, but were making names
of themselves.
She was jumping up and down from excitement when she was
pushed back by a roaming Frisbee. She moaned in pain and felt her head. Jack
made sure there wasn’t any damage and looked in the direction that it came from.
“Hey Jack, can we have our Frisbee
back?” yelled a female voice.
Annie Brooks, the snobby popular girl
from Jacks class. She was the main reason Katelyn never really talked to
anyone. He picked up the Frisbee and threw it really far, eventually landing in
the nearby woods. Annie walked towards them, Jack holding Katelyn behind him.
She was very mad.
“What the heck was that for, Jack?”
“You hit my girlfriend in the head with
a Frisbee” Katelyn looked up at the word ‘girlfriend’ and smiled.
“Well, my Frisbee hits anything that has
UGLY written on it. And it was all over her face”
“Get out of here Annie or else.” he said
sternly.
“Or else what?”
“I’ll get your Frisbee and hit you in
the head with it. See how you like it.”
She froze in place and had a hard time
finding words. In a fit of anger, she turned and walked away. He smiled, let go
of Katelyn and turned towards her. She kissed him hard on the lips.
“No one has ever stood up for me like
that.”
“I’d do anything for you.”
She smiled and kissed him again.
“Well, until I go off to my new school, do you wanna be my
girlfriend?”
“Yes Jack Flareson. Yes I will.”
For the rest of the evening, they held
hands, ate pizza, and occasionally went behind the seats and made out. During
one of their make out sessions, Jack suddenly stopped.
“What’s wrong? Is it me?” asked a
confused Katelyn.
“No, no, of course not. It’s been months since Amy moved
and I’m dating her best friend. What has happened to me?” he asked.
“You’re moving on, Jack. You can’t be
hung on Amy forever. And you know what?”
“Hmm?”
“The reason I was so attracted to you, was your eyes. Your
bright red eyes.”
“You don’t think I look like a freak?”
“Never. Most kids have laughed at you
because of them. I never did. They don’t make you any different than the rest
of us.”
“Thanks Katelyn.”
“Anything for you.” she smiled. “Now,
kiss me some more I wanna have you all to myself until the first day of school.”
“That won’t be a problem.” he laughed as
he kissed her more.
At the final part of the Show, they laid
down on the grass, hand in hand. They were always amazed by the fireworks and
loved watching them. Jack closed his eyes and held her hand tightly.
“You excited about your new school?” she
asked.
“Yeah. Wish you could come, though.”
“Me too. Promise me you won’t fall in
love with any new girl while you’re there?”
“Promise,” he replied as they made out
in the cool grass.
After months of anticipation, Jack was super excited about
his first day at his new school. As the time drew near, he asked his parents
how he would get to the school
“By plane of course” said John.
“Best way to travel” cheerfully said Desaree.
Happy thoughts ran zipped through his mind. As he began to
imagine the fun time he would have at the new school, the small pain in his
head returned. As with most of them, it vanished in a few seconds. “Am I having
these frequent pains because of that dream?” He began to remember back to a few
weeks ago when he was in a deep sleep.
He was alone. Alone inside another dark area. It was cold
and damp, like a sewer. He looked around and saw nothing but darkness. His
breath looked icy cold and he was shivering. He was scared and on the verge of
crying. As he began to cry, he could faintly see a figure in the distance.
“Hey” he shouted. “You there where am I?”
The figure said nothing. It looked like
a shadow, but real. He carefully moves closer to it even though he was scared.
He snapped his finger and a flame emitted from his thumb. He was directly in
front of the shadow. It had horns, claws, long sharp teeth, and a human
resemblance. “Is this the demon thing that killed that man?” he thought. He
looked down and saw that it had no feet. It was just levitating, like it was a
ghost. It began to speak to him in a ghostly, evil voice.
“Jack... Flareson...”
“What?” he stuttered.
“Come to me Fire User. Together, we can
make the world right. Just you and me... Come to me.”
“What do you mean? ” He asked nervously.
“You will see when the time comes. Come to me.”
Jack was on the verge of peeing his
pants. He was more scared than he ever was.
“NO” he yelled as he ran away.
The shadow smirked and vanished. It
quickly reemerged in front of him, growing ten times its normal size. He began
to run the other way, trying to avoid being killed. The massive shadow followed
him, gaining speed as the chase progressed. He looked back a few times and each
time, the shadow grew bigger. It eventually caught up to him and grabbed him in
his dark claws.
It held him tightly in its fist, not
letting go at any price. Jack couldn’t move a muscle and his mouth opened, but
nothing came out. The shadow opened its dark mouth and all he saw was pitch
black. Nothing but pain and sorrow was inside the monster. He moved him closer
and closer to his mouth, preparing to eat him. Then, he woke.
When he came back to his thoughts, he heard a knock on his
door. His essential stuff was packed and ready for the trip. He knew it was his
mom, demanding that he get to the car with his things. He picked up a bag of
clothes and a small box of books, shampoo’s, and other things he would need. He
exited his room, but looked back. He would miss his safe haven for the next 180
days.
Downstairs, he loaded the stuff into the
back of their van and closed the back. As expected, he saw Katelyn running
across the street to wish him farewell. She hugged him greatly, while tears ran
down her cheek.
“It’ll be okay. I’ll
be back in June. Have fun in the 7th grade.” he said happily.
She smiled at him and planted her wet
lips on his.
“Will you try to find a boyfriend? I
won’t be here to talk to you.”
“I’ll try. See you in June, Jack.”
He kissed her one last time and entered
the van. As they drove off, he looked out at her and she waved at him. He waved
back and blew her a kiss. They turned the corner and she vanished, not to be
seen for another school year. He sank in his seat, sad that he had to leave a
girl that he liked.
The two hour drive to the ‘special’ airport was
grueling. Maggie was the main reason. She kept asking him countless questions
like: “Will you write to me? Are you gonna make friends? You gonna get a girlfriend?
Will you get straight A’s?” Jacks reply was always “I don’t know.”
After the two hours, they had arrived.
The airport was isolated in a mountain area in the western United States. The
parking lot was jam packed with cars, probably because of all the students.
Soon, they found a space and the sign in front of it had a most unusual symbol
on it. It looked like a weird symbol for Water. Other spaces had the same
thing, but had Air, Nature, and other Element symbols on them.
They got out of the car and began
unloading Jacks things. They walked to the front door of the airport where an
airport cop was standing guard. As they walked closer, he moved his sunglasses
down and big roots with thorns on them emerged and denied them passage.
“Only School Students are allowed past.
No Adults or underage children.”
Jack to his family.
“Looks like I’m on my own.”
“Take care of yourself sweetie.” said
Desaree as she hugged him. “Try to make friends and behave yourself.” she
kissed him a final time.
“Listen to your mother. She knows best.
Be good and don’t get any detentions, okay?” said John as he too hugged Jack.
“I’ll try pop. Really, I’ll try.”
He smiled and Maggie
swung her arms around his neck, nearly choking him.
“Mags take care of yourself. That bear
will protect you until I return. Be a good girl, okay?”
“Okay,” she said as she kissed him.
“Well guys, here I go”
“Good-bye” they shouted.
He waved good bye and the roots went
down. He thanked the cop and walked through the door, wondering what awaited
him.
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