Chapter Three

Learning about Extras.

      Chapter Three 

         “So, tell me more about this whole Extra thing. How does it work? I’ve never been able to do anything special.” It looked exhilarating to have such power. “You wouldn’t, not without a teacher. And that is the absolute last thing the Naries would have given you. Sometimes when an Extra is put into a situation that is…less than satisfactory, their powers might come out, lashing out at whatever is causing the situation. But most of the time the Extra in that situation has already had some training, has already awakened their powers.” Ophelia listened intently. She wanted to learn everything about being an Extra.

      Clicker saw the avid expression on her face and laughed. “It is pretty exciting, isn’t it? Awakening your powers is going to be a hard and very exacting process though. Especially since you’re older and haven’t been able to get training until now. Extras usually try to train the younger ones as soon as possible to avoid problems in the future. The sooner they get trained, the sooner they know how to control their powers.” 

   “What’s involved in the process?” she asked. It sounded difficult. “There’s a lot of meditation. You know, clearing your mind of everything, being calmed and relaxed. You have to envision your power flowing throughout your entire being and not just your body. Your soul is what’s said to house your powers. They say that when an Extra’s soul is released from its current body it goes into another. All of the original souls are still here, just a bit recycled.” Clicker told her.

    “Anyway, every Extra’s power is different from the next Extra. Mine, for example, is to generally move objects. I can move people, rocks, trees, basically anything. As long as it is detachable, I can move it.” he said this while he concentrated on a pile of leaves next to Ophelia. The pile started to rise and floated in front of him. He made them twirl around in a version of a dance, merrily going around in a circle. Then they fell to the ground as suddenly as they rose. Ophelia had a look of childish delight on her face, her mouth open in a wide smile.

   “That is incredible!” she exclaimed. Of course she had seen when Clicker blew back the guard, but that had been rushed and pushed to the back of her mind during their escape. Now she had enjoyed the show, really watching his powers in action. It was wonderful.

    “Thank you. Now, everyone’s different. Sometimes they’re not as powerful, sometimes they’re more powerful. Sometimes their power is completely opposite. I know Extras that can make an object immovable, whether it’s a person, a car, anything. And even I have to concentrate especially hard to move it. There are Extras that control an element such as fire or wind, Extras that can heal, and even Extras that can control people. Those are the ones that frighten the Naries the most.” 

       “Does one have any way of knowing what their power is?” she asked. She thought any one of those powers would be great. They all sounded so amazing. “Unfortunately, no. You have to find out when you awaken it.”

        Clicker suddenly paused and turned his head to the right, cocking it so that his ear was angled up. “What’s wrong?” He shushed her, putting a finger to his lips. “I heard something.” he whispered, crawling toward her silently and positioning them so that she was behind him and between the boulder at her back. “Stand up slowly, don’t make any sound. Be prepared to run when I tell you.” he hissed quietly. Clicker was going into battle mode, she thought, and he seemed very experienced at it.

     Ophelia obeyed his command, slowly rising onto the balls of her feet without making a sound. She poised herself to run or fight, every hair on the back of her neck standing on end. Her heart was pounding loudly against her chest and she was afraid whoever might be in the forest could hear it. She hoped it wasn’t Naries but she couldn’t see very far into the trees. It had gotten dark pretty fast while she and Clicker were talking, and now the forest looked like a numerous amount of shadows melting together.

    Watching Clicker put his hands in front of him in a defensive stance, she tried to copy him. She had never defended herself against someone before. Having been raised in that cement Nary building, she hadn’t been taught to think what they were doing to her was wrong. There was never any real reason to defend her self or fight. The only exception to that was when the foul guard had tried kissing her, and even then she’d only been able to push him away. She had no idea what to do and her heart was threatening to come out of her chest.

   Without warning a person ran out from behind a large tree and tackled Clicker. They rolled on the ground and the attacker came out on top. Clicker struggled against the person, trying to roll to the side and knock him off but the person had the advantage of being slightly taller than him and kept his spot on top.

    Ophelia froze for a full second before reaching down and picking up a large, mossy rock. She ran behind the attacker and lifted the rock, preparing to bring it down on the attacker’s head. Clicker saw her and yelled “No, wait! I know him, I know him!” She stopped mid-air, the rock inches from the back of the unknown assailant’s head. “What?!” she yelled back, confused. What is going on? She stepped back, keeping the rock in her hands, just in case. The person on top of Clicker rolled off and stood up, reaching down to help Clicker up. The man was laughing.

     Ophelia felt sick to her stomach, she was so shaken. “What’s going on?” she asked angrily. Clicker reached over and gently took the rock from her hands and tossed it to the side. “This is Thad. He’s one of the ones who are supposed to meet us here. He's always enjoyed impromptu scenario training.” Clicker gave him a disapproving look. Thad scratched the back of his head, looking properly chastised.

      Ophelia was still slightly annoyed, but she was too glad it hadn’t been Naries to be too angry. “I could have killed you.” she said, unwilling to like this big oaf who’d scared the crap out of her. It was hard not to like him immediately. With that stupid smile on his face he looked like a big teddy bear. “Nah, it would have only hurt a little, is all.” he said. “Yeah, Thad has a thick skull.” Clicker said, shaking his head. Thad looked like he took that as a compliment.

    “Where are the others?”

     Thad said “They should be coming now. I ran ahead to surprise you.” He let out a deep laugh, looking pleased that he had indeed surprised Clicker. Clicker punched him lightly in the arm.

     All three turned when another group of people came from the direction Thad had come. There were two girls and another guy. They all looked to be around the same age as Clicker. The guy kept his eyes on Ophelia as they approached. He had dark hair, but she couldn’t tell if it was black or brown, nor could she tell what color his eyes were. Physically he looked like Clicker and Thad. All three of them were muscular and tall, though all three varied in height by a couple inches each. It looked like their training paid off. They all looked strong and healthy.

    The other two girls were shorter than Ophelia. One was a very light haired blond, like Thad, and the other had dark hair that appeared to be red. The whole group was wearing dark clothes, intending to blend into the night. The two girls briefly glanced at Ophelia in interest before walking up to Thad and Clicker. The red head said “We were gonna warn you, Click, but Thad told us not to.” She giggled.

  “That’s okay, Lisa. No harm done. Though Ophelia here did almost bashed his head in with a rock.” He brought Ophelia into the conversation, effectively introducing her to the group. “Hello.” she said quietly.  The red head said “Hi Ophelia. My name is Lisa, as you’ve now heard. This is Brianne.” She motioned to the other girl. Ophelia nodded to each girl. They reached out their right hands and looked expectantly at her. There was an awkward silence as Ophelia gave them a weird look.

   “What are doing?” she asked. “Um, hello, silly. You’re supposed to shake our hands.” Brianne told her.  Ophelia raised her eyebrows but did as she was told, awkwardly shaking the offered hands side to side instead of up and down. “No, look.” said Lisa “This is how you do it.” She gripped Ophelia’s hand and showed her, saying “This is a form of greeting and also a form of goodbye with people you’ve just met. It’s a show of respect.” These girls are weird, she thought.

    Clicker held in a laugh watching Ophelia give the girls strange looks. She turned to him, raising another eyebrow in warning. “Okay, guys. I probably should have told you. She doesn’t really have any experience in a social setting. Sorry.” He laughed a little.

     Ophelia thought, That’s an understatement. The only things I know are from what little reading material I had. Most of what I read was fiction, and certainly wasn’t pertaining to social interaction. She felt a flash of despair, truly feeling her ignorance for the first time since her escape. She knew nothing compared to what Clicker seemed to know. What she did know wasn’t exactly applicable to her situation, unless somebody was going to ask her to spell six or seven syllable words. What good was reading the whole dictionary to me? When am I ever going to use that?

   Clicker’s voice brought her out of her depressing ruminations. “We should continue the introductions. Ophelia,” He turned toward the other person in their group. He was still staring at her, and he hadn’t said anything so far.  He looked mysterious and brooding, standing there in his black clothing and saying nothing. “This is Arden, your brother.”

 

Author's Note

This was originally chapter two, but I split chapter one in half, so now it is chapter three. Please review!!! Thank you!! :D