Chosen Read online

  Eric smiled sadly before giving me a tissue.

  “I am greatly sorry for your loss. Even though they neglected you, Irene and Herbert knew what they were getting themselves into once Adam told them everything. They sacrificed themselves to protect you, and for that we are thankful.”

  Herbert and Irene knew about all of this? I put the picture back into my pocket.

  “What do you mean they knew everything?”

  “Your foster parents needed to understand that the child they were raising was very special.” Eric leaned back into his chair and folded his hands on the desk.

  “You make me sound like I’m some sort of superhero or something,” I trailed off.

  “More or less, to a thousand or so people, you are.”

  “I don’t follow.” I shook my head as the information started to sink in.

  Eric sighed and got more comfortable in his seat.

  “How about I tell you a true story?” he asked.

  I nodded and leaned in to listen closely.

  “Long ago, there were humans and magic. They lived together peacefully, the two worlds coexisting, while the human world was unaware of the other world,” Eric said, gesturing with his hands. I nodded as he continued with the story.

  ”If the humans ever found out about it, it would only cause chaos. Take your reaction for instance, the humans would live in fear and it would cause massive consequences. Do you understand?” Eric asked and I nodded in agreement.

  I hadn’t been handling this well at all. Imagine if everyone else were to find out. I still couldn’t believe it. I wished I could pull his story off as a child’s tale, but now I wasn’t so sure.

  “We are human, but we have magic coursing through our veins. You see, Fate has given specific families around the world the ability to use magic. Let’s be clear though, the people magic chose were human, but they had special abilities. Magic chose hundreds of families to have these abilities for the good of the humans. The families kept this secret for thousands of years. The reason for our existence is to help the humans for the good of mankind,” Eric said with a smile, but I sensed the seriousness in his voice.

  “What are you guys? Magicians? Wizards? Do you have wands and spells like Harry Potter?” I asked as I attempted to process this new set of information. Eric chuckled and shook his head.

  “We don’t really have a name, so to speak,” Eric said with an amused smile, patiently waiting for me to let him continue.

  “Many years ago, things began to change. Pride and greed filled some of the families. They grew a hatred for the humans and considered them weak. Why help someone so weak when we could use it for themselves? The magic that was blessed to us was now being taken for something else. This started a civil war within the Magic world—one side to conquer and another to protect the humans. It was bloody, and many lives were lost.

  “Fate proclaimed a mortal girl would save us all. Once she turns of age, she will mature and have the power to stop the evil forces. She would lead the rest of our people and end this horrible war. The evil ones found out about this prophecy, and went into hiding, fearful over when the girl would arise. To this day, they still hunt for this girl, trying to find her, and they’d had no luck. Until now...” Eric trailed off.

  I was silent, processing the story. I looked up at him with a serious look.

  “How come I have a feeling this isn’t a fictional story...?”

  Eric smiled.

  “I told you in the beginning it was all true.”

  I shut my eyes tight and rubbed my hands. I was slowly connecting the dots.

  “I still don’t understand what this has to do with me.” I played with my fingers, looking at my hands.

  Eric raised his eyebrow.

  “Clara, when did all the strange events in your life occur? When did it all start?”

  “My eighteenth birth...”

  I stopped and looked at him with wide eyes. I jumped up and started pacing.

  “No. No. No. No. Oh heck no! You got to be kidding me?” I said, panicking.

  Eric walked up to me and gave me a hug as a sign of comfort. His hug only confirmed my suspicions. I would have pushed him away if I hadn’t been so panicked. I stayed still until he released me with a sad smile.

  “I think you need to hear more from the others. You need to hear it from someone other than me,” Eric stated. I barely acknowledged him as my mind reeled.

  Eric walked to the door and opened it. As soon as he opened it, a bunch of bodybuilders fell to the ground, creating a mountain.

  Eric looked down at the guys and smirked.

  “Nice of you boys to join us,” he said cheekily.

  The boys groaned and stood up. I let out a small giggle at their flushed faces. They got busted. I stopped giggling once I remembered the matter at hand. Once again, panic surged through my veins.

  “There is no way I’m that girl! Look at me! Do I look like I can do that? I’m weak and pathetic!” I cried out in hysteria.

  “Hey!” Adam scolded and grabbed my shoulders firmly.

  “You are not a freak. You are one of the strongest people I know. You are the Chosen.”

  Chosen? Now this sounded like some bad TV show.

  “But you never told me any of this! How could you keep something like this from me?” I shook his hold on me as I glared at him.

  “I wasn’t allowed to tell you,” Adam said. “I would have told you if I could. If I told you, would you have believed me?”

  “No, but at least you would have been honest with me,” I retorted.

  “No, you would have acted exactly like this. Now, stop being angry with me, you know what I’ve been hiding now.” Adam tried to reason with me but I was too far gone to be reasonable.

  “But now you guys are claiming I’m supposed to fight in some war? You guys are insane! And I... I can’t deal with any of this...” I ran out of energy and just slumped my shoulders in defeat.

  The room went into silence.

  “You aren’t alone,” I heard a whisper say.

  I looked up and found bright grey eyes looking at me. I could see the resemblances between Eric and Jay with their eyes.

  Jay cleared his throat and blinked his daze away.

  “We will train you and help you control your magic.”

  “What magic do I have?” I said, exasperated. “I never shot out laser beams or started flying.”

  “I’m pretty sure you have noticed,” Luke said as he pointed to his head.

  My eyes widened in shock.

  No…

  “The ‘voices’ as you call it? That’s part of your magic,” Eric explained knowingly.

  I concentrated on the voices and I couldn’t hear anything.

  “I haven’t heard any voices in a while? Maybe it was a mental breakdown?” I asked hopefully.

  Even I wasn’t convinced with those words.

  “Take off the bracelet then,” Luke instructed. “Trust me, be ready once it hits you.”

  I looked down and saw the bracelet Adam had given me. They must have put it back on since I remembered it being in my back pocket. Hesitantly, I pulled it off my wrist.

  Suddenly, I was bombarded with voices.

  She’s handling this very well. I thought it was going to be worse.

  Is it working?

  My head started to pound, and I tried to push it all away. I fumbled to put the bracelet back on and the voices automatically stopped.

  “Those voices... are they all yours?” I asked in confusion.

  “That’s some of your magic. That bracelet is to keep you from reading minds until you’ve mastered your power. Eventually, you won’t need that bracelet,” Eric explained.

  I nodded numbly.

  Reading minds? I guess that was the correct term instead of ‘voices.’

  “I think you’ve had enough information crammed into your head for one day,” Eric said as he sa
w my worn out expression. “Jay, can you please take Clara to a guest room?”

  Jay nodded and grabbed my hand. I felt shocks once he held my hand, but I ignored it. I said a quick goodnight to everyone, and they all give me sympathetic smiles. I was starting to grow tired of it, but I was glad that their expressions weren’t pity. I glanced at Adam and his forlorn expression before I looked away. I could talk to him tomorrow.

  I had a headache from all the crazy information that had just been flung at me.

  Silently, Jay pulled me out the door and into the majestic hallway.

  11 - Mr. Broody

  I looked around in awe as Jay pulled me down the hallway.

  As we traveled through the hallways, I thought about how my life had drastically changed. I was the girl who’s part of a prophecy? Why did it have to be me? I can’t lead anyone—I’m too weak to do such a thing. Maybe they got the wrong girl and somehow I could read minds out of nowhere?

  It seemed unlikely. That’s what made me feel even worse.

  What was I going to do? I was going to let everyone down.

  “No, you’re not.”

  I snapped my eyes to Jay, who was looking at me sternly with his grey eyes.

  “I said that out loud didn’t I?” I grumbled, looking down at the carpet.

  It was a bad habit of mine. My mouth started talking before my mind could register anything. I really needed to work on that.

  “Yes you did,” Jay said in amusement.

  “Dang it.” I sighed as we finally stopped in front of another door.

  “Here’s your guest room,” Jay announced before opening the door.

  I looked through the doorway with wide eyes and Jay gently nudged me inside.

  “This isn’t my room. This looks like a suite for the Queen of England. Do you have a smaller one?” I asked, looking around the bedroom.

  “Sorry, this is as small as it gets,” Jay said genuinely with a hint of a chuckle.

  This couldn’t be smaller. If this was a simple room, I almost wanted to see what their version of a closet is.

  Maybe I could sleep in there...

  “We can get you some new clothes in the morning, but for now, you have to stay in your old ones—sorry about that.”

  I waved him off. I could handle that since it was the least of my problems.

  “Goodnight Jay,” I said softly with a smile.

  He nodded and gave me a small smile back before leaving. I stared at the closed door for a moment before eying the bed.

  I looked at the ginormous bed and giggled. I practically ran to it and jumped in. I felt my body sinking into the mattress.

  I was never going to leave this bed. I took the picture me and Herbert and Irene out of my pocket and set it on the nightstand next to me. I looked at our smiling faces and a tear slipped out of my eye.

  I settled in and fell asleep, hoping tomorrow would be a little brighter.

  ***

  I opened my eyes and saw that I was standing in the middle of a field.

  I looked around in confusion. Had I sleepwalked here? A dream?

  I decided to walk around in hope of finding an exit.

  I couldn’t find myself to worry. I felt calm as the sunshine warmed my skin and the breeze played with my hair.

  I eventually got bored. There was nothing to do here except sit on dried grass. My legs began to ache and I lay down to rest. I looked up into the clouds. Look, a dragon. There’s an elephant. Wow, a guy staring at me. A horse. Wait. I looked up at the new stranger.

  This guy looked ginormous but lean. I knew I was laying down, but if I stood up, this guy would still be a tower of muscle over me. He had jet-black hair and hazel eyes. He wore loose jeans and a tight black shirt.

  He would look more intimidating if he didn’t have a bright green clipboard in his hand.

  “Finally, someone who isn’t blonde,” I muttered to myself as I stood up.

  He raised an eyebrow at me as he examined me, as if I was a strange specimen.

  “What are you doing here? I don’t seem to recall anyone else that’s supposed to be here,” he said, giving me a glare while waving his clipboard at me.

  I raised my hands in surrender.

  “Slow your roll buddy, I didn’t know the field was owned by you. I’ll just leave—if I can figure that out. It’s my dream anyway,” I muttered.

  He raised his brows higher.

  “You’re telling me you have no clue how you got here? You just showed up?” he asked in a disbelieving tone.

  “Yes,” I said in a duh tone.

  He grunted and looked away. He searched through his clipboard and gave me a neutral expression. He pointed to something on the clipboard as he handed it to me.

  “Clara Evans? Interesting, a human has never been able to enter their own soul before,” he said simply.

  My own soul?

  I looked through the clipboard and saw a list of names with some check marks next to them. I looked at the recent check mark, and I furrowed my eyebrows when I saw my name on the list:

  CLARA EVANS – 18 YEARS OLD

  Warning: Recently lost foster parents Irene and Herbert Evans, highly unstable, powers undecided

  Highly unstable?! How did he know...?

  “Wait a minute—” I was cut off as the guy snatched his clipboard back out of my hands.

  “Regardless of how you got here, Clara, you need to leave. It’s highly dangerous and as much as I want to help, I’m on a tight schedule. Follow me and I can try to get you out.” He began to stalk off.

  “Wait!” I shouted, running after him. If he wanted me to leave, he needed to wait for me.

  He just kept walking with long strides while I chased after him. Dang his long legs.

  “Can I at least know your name?” I asked, panting after him.

  He stopped and gave me a blank look.

  “Jared,” he muttered and kept going.

  “I’m Clara,” I said, even though he apparently knew my name. He grunted (again) and kept walking. I kept following him while glaring at his back.

  Look at me, I’m Jared. Go away. I want to brood in silence.

  This guy was a piece of work. I felt my annoyance rise at his actions.

  “Look, can’t you just help me get out? I’m so confused—my life in general right now is confusing. First a classmate hit me with a bat, then no one remembered me, then people attacked me, I lost my foster parents, and I realized I’m some Chosen and I have no idea what that means! If you just—”

  “Quiet down Clara,” Jared said, cutting off my rambling. “Did you just say you were the Chosen?” he asked, wide-eyed. I nodded as I started pulling at my hair in frustration.

  “Shit, we got to get you out of here. Now,” he mumbled, more to himself, and started walking even faster.

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to say!” I groaned as I tried to run faster to catch up with him.

  “Listen to me Clara,” Jared said sternly as he came to a stop. I looked at him, irritated, as I panted for breath. “There are creatures in this forest that are willing to eat you. It’s dangerous. That’s why I’ve been telling you to leave. It makes sense why you’re here now. You’re not some weird annoying intruder.”

  Weird annoying intruder? If anything, he was the annoying one. I was about to come up with a retort when I heard a snap. Jared quickly put an arm around me and pulled me to his chest. I heard a thunderous roar and jumped ten feet. That noise did not sound good.

  “We need to run,” Jared whispered. He let me go, grabbed my hand, and dropped his clipboard. He took something out and I gawked when I saw a giant machete. Where did he get that? There was no way it could fit in his pocket. Before I could ask, a roar sounded again, but it was louder than last time.

  “Drakkens. They live in this world. We need to go—now!”

  Jared grabbed my hand and we ran through the woods.

  “What’s a
Drakken?!” I heaved as we ran. Well, he was running while I was being dragged along.

  “A shadow creature. No one is sure what it exactly looks like but it’s dangerous. They either kill you or steal your soul. So we need to be careful. I’m going to send you home.”

  “What about you? I can’t just leave you here.” I stopped and looked at him. How could he possibly send me back and just stay here?

  “I’ll be fine. I can create a portal for you. I just need—”

  A roar shook the floor, causing us to fall.

  “Time,” he finished with a wheeze.

  A huge dark creature stood in front of us. I couldn’t make out anything. Jared was right. This was a shadow. It reminded me of the dementors in Harry Potter, but the difference was that I couldn’t make out anything. A shudder of cold fear ran down my spine.

  We were going to die and lose our souls.

  Jared got in front of me, went into a stance, and charged at it.

  The Drakken formed a dark arm and tried to hit Jared, but he dodged it, jumping on top of it. I could barely see Jared after he engulfed himself inside the darkness. I heard a bunch of grunts (probably from Jared) and a lot of whines (probably from the Drakken). Soon the shadow fell to the floor, and Jared came out of the shadows with dark-red blood on his machete.

  I gulped at the blood. Memo to self: never get that guy angry.

  Jared cracked his neck and looked at me. Gross.

  “There will be more of them. Let’s get you home,” Jared said, looking around the area before deeming it safe.

  He closed his eyes and concentrated. He stayed like that for a few minutes while I looked around like an idiot. I heard another roar in the distance and freaked out. They were coming back! A bright light came out of nowhere, and I turned around to see a luminous blue swirl in the air.

  “Go Clara! Jump in the portal before they decide to go in!” Jared yelled. “I’ll be fine.”

  I looked at the portal warily before jogging towards its entrance.

  “Be careful,” I whispered, turning my head to glance at him. Even though he’d been a jerk to me, I didn’t want him to get hurt, and he had rescued me.