The Awakened Ones

I didn’t have a chance to tell Sarah about what happened and since then, it’s taken me a while to fall asleep. The night after my chain broke, it took me two hours of staring at my dark walls to finally fall asleep. But it felt like a waste. Five hours later, my eyes shot open and I was up for school an hour and a half early. I tossed till a little after five, then decided to get up to an empty, lonely household. I began to get ready for school, a little slower than usual. I showered, dried my body, blow dried my hair, then put on my second face for the day (makeup). I did all of this with hopes that the hour would fly by - which it didn’t.

We wore uniforms in Morbury, which I thank God for, sometimes, because it totally beats the hour of picking out what to wear for only seven hours. They weren’t ugly uniforms but they weren’t the greatest. My uniform is just the normal pleaded skirt with a matching dark, blue jacket. After tying the small scarf under the collar of the shirt and putting on my jacket, I headed downstairs to eat some breakfast. I poured my favorite cereal, Apple Jacks, and ate as slowly as I could before it got soggy.

Finally it was time to wait for the bus.

During the wait, I felt like someone was staring at me. I instantly thought of Xavier but wasn’t really sure. This stare was very dark and piercing. I totally felt uncomfortable standing at the end of my own driveway at a quarter to seven. My eyes bounced around the yard, trying to see through the fog that was still settling.

My mind started playing games on me after I noticed how creepy fog is. I began to think about rabid dogs attacking - not really the most normal thing you tend to think of when it’s foggy out, but like I said… mind games. Just as my thoughts began to get more ridiculous, I noticed something comforting flashing between the trees.

It was the bus!

When it pulled up, I quickly hopped on and was actually happy for once about heading to school. In school, everything was fine, at least until Mrs. Johnson, my physics teacher, told me I had to stay after school and make up a test I missed or I would have to take a zero. I should’ve taken the freaking zero because that test was pretty hard. I spent forever working on it and when I finished I practically ran out of the classroom.

As I walked down the hallway, I suddenly stopped. At the end of the hall I saw Xavier standing there, staring at me. The same stare as this morning… maybe it was Xavier after all.

Ew, creepy!

I stared back at him, his body began to twitch and a transparent replica began to step out. The “skin” of Xavier fell from the transparent being and hit the floor - breaking into dust. It was the black soul that was luring me after I broke my soul chain. It was also the same guy from my dreams, so what was the first thing that I began to do?

Freak out.

The soul began to sway towards me. I wanted to step back, but fear froze me over. My feet were glued to the ground. Xavier’s soul began to stretch his arm out to me, motioning me towards him. Me isn’t the exact word though, it was more like my soul he was calling for because once he started doing this I could feel my soul shift. Don’t ask me how, I could just feel it being tugged out after a few shifts, and just as it was about to be pulled out for good, a hand with a rolled up magazine slapped the guy in the back of the head.

In fact, he hit him so hard Xavier’s chin hit his chest and he stood frozen like that. Quint then grabbed my arm and began to pull me outside.

I turned to look at the Xavier guy, then back to where we were running, catching my footing. “Where are we going?” I called out to Quint.

“To the buses,” he calmly answered.

We ran outside and past my activity bus.

“Hey! That was my bus,” I announced, looking back at it, then found myself running into Quint.

He had stopped and turned around to face me, answering, “You’re not going to your house, you’re going to mine. You’ll be safer there.”

My eyebrow rose at him and my cheeks flushed. I had known Quint for four years and sure we were friendly with each other, but never once was I invited or even told that I was going to his house. I stepped back suddenly questioning why I was going to his house and what did he mean by I’ll be safer there.

“Get in,” he said, motioning me to go through the bus’s doors.

I was rushed to the back of the bus and sat down on the last seat. He pushed me to the window, then practically sat on me! Not that I was complaining…

“I don’t get it,” I said, leaning towards him.

He went to answer me, but stopped. Xavier stepped on the bus and looked at the seats. I urged Quint to continue, but was hushed by him. He put his hand on my knee and motioned me to slouch down a little. I did, keeping my eyes glued on his hand, until something strange happened. Quint put his arm up in front of him and a shield appeared. My jaw dropped at what I was seeing.

“Okay,” he let out, sitting back up after Xavier left the bus.

“What was that?” I asked, “That thing that appeared on your arm- what was that?”

“A soul shield.”

“A what?”

He shook his head, “I’ll explain later.”

I slowly nodded then asked why his hand was still on my leg. He quickly picked it off and apologized. I should’ve kicked myself in the ass after saying that. He could’ve left his hand there. Who cares? Not I.

The ride was pretty silent after that and when we got off at his stop, I demanded answers.

“So- want to tell me what’s up?” I asked, joining him on the pavement.

“Not really but you need to know,” he answered, walking up to his mailbox. “You’ve been in the dark for too long.” He grabbed his mail and walked up to me, “That guy back there was named Xi and he’s after you.” With that he turned away with a small smirk.

“You mean that guy that looked like Xavier?” I asked, rushing after him.

“Xavier?” he let out, suddenly stopping and making me walk into him.

“Stop doing that!” I scolded, “And yes, Xavier. The weird kid who went to school with us? Stared at me and Sarah all the time? Just stopped showing up to school a few days ago-?”

“Oh, him,” he turned back to continue to his house, “So that’s what he calls himself in that form.”

“You know him?”

“I’ve had confrontations with both sides of Xi.” He put his key into the lock and turned to look at me from the corner of his eye, “Ever heard of new and old money?”

“Like if I strike oil I’m rich within hours that makes me new money?”

“Exactly. It’s the same with souls. You have old souls that have lived many lives and then there’s new souls who have only been reborn a few times. You are an old soul, just as Sarah is. Something to drink?” he asked, as we stood in his kitchen. I shook my head and he continued, “And because you are an old soul, Xi is after you.”

“But why? We’re not the only old souls in the universe.”

“True, but you are the only old souls with a certain power. You and Sarah are able to create your own destinies and create new souls. You also have access to the greatest power Xi craves for,” his eyebrows rose in a cheerful manor. “Dru was the same.”

“Dru? You know her?” all my attention was on Quint now.

“Xi knows about her too, that’s why she was taken from this realm.”

“Do you know where she is? How can we get her back?”

“There’s no way to get her back,” he answered, leaning against the counter, “I’m sorry.”

I got angry at hearing this, Xi really did take Dru from us. Sarah and I knew it wasn’t just a normal kidnapping. And what was worse was I couldn’t tell her parents what really happened… They would think I was crazy! After the apology, we stood in silence – an awkward silence. Quint just stared at me, while I stared at the floor, being filled with hatred towards Xi. He stole my best friend and no one was going to get away with that.

Quint finally broke the silence by telling me that after I broke free from my soul chain, Xi found me.

“You saw me project?” I asked.

He smirked, “And heard your soul song. I’m an old soul too, but not nearly as powerful as you.”

“You did that cool shield thing.”

Quint smirked, saying that he gave me that one. He continued to explain that Xi wanted our soul’s power to use his own way. As in making the powers dark and become almost like a ruler of the soul realm. Even though Xi wasn’t as powerful as Sarah and I, he did have Dru’s powers that he was milking. He was a dark soul and one of the most power of his kind. Quint said he could manipulate his powers to become stronger too and this kind of scared me. But Quint added something that made it a little comforting.

“For a while I’ll be your guardian,” he began, “I’ll protect you the best I can, but will mainly teach you how to use your aura and soul to protect yourself.” By this time, we were heading down the hall to his room. “I have a barrier here which blocks you from Xi’s sight. But you can’t stay here forever,” he chuckled, “I was actually waiting for you to break free from that soul chain so I could finally put these things to use.”

“I didn’t mean to break my chain, I thought I-” I stopped myself and shook my head, “Never mind.”

Quint knew what I saw, I could tell by the look on his face. He was standing in his room, off to the side, inviting me in. I walked in and sat down on his bed. He went to his dresser and joined me on the bed, holding two stones: one lavender, the other maroon.

“These guardian stones will protect you from Xi, but not completely,” he began to explain. “Xi doesn’t know about Sarah yet, so I suggest telling her not to leave that chain of hers.”

Quint continued to explain a few things. Supposedly out of Sarah, Dru, and I, I was the strongest. Quint said that Sarah wouldn’t be able to break free from Xi like I did the other day.

“Right now I can’t teach you anything, but I can show you how to create a block with your soul and an energy push. It won’t be till you’re awakened when I can teach you more useful techniques.”

“Awakened?”

“The time where chaos begins,” he chuckled again. “Awakened meaning when your powers are finally released from its resting place. This is something that I hope doesn’t happen.”

He paused and looked across his room, then back at me, telling me to be careful. He handed me the stones, telling me to tell Sarah whatever I wanted, but to warn her of the consequences if she left her chain. I knew her knowing about Xi would freak Sarah out enough that she wouldn’t attempt anything, but knowing that he is behind Dru’s disappearance, she’d be all for confronting Xi.

I went home after dinner, keeping that guardian stone close to my touch. I wanted to know more, I told myself, as I watched television. I wanted to know more about the soul world and what I could do with my aura. I just wanted to know about everything that Quint talked about today.

I talked to Sarah for a while after I got back home. I told her about everything, then yelled at her not to do anything stupid.

Hopefully she’ll listen.

I gave Sarah her guardian stone today at school and came home to grandma’s face. She cooked dinner (spaghetti) then retreated to the recliner to knit and watch 60 Minutes. I went to bed earlier – yes on a Friday night – but was awakened by my cellphone ringing. I looked at the clock before answering it. It was 2AM and it was Quint’s name displayed on the screen.

I groggily answered, “-Ello?”

“Why did Sarah leave her soul chain?” he asked right away.

“Wha-? Quint it’s two o’clock in the morning,” I leaned up on my elbow, “What are you talking about?”

My phone then beeped and I looked to see that it was a text message. I hit the view button and saw that it was Sarah’s text. It read:

Left chain, no sign of Xi or Dru. What now?

“Crap…” I let out, falling onto my pillow.

“What was she thinking? Did you at least give her, her guardian stone?”

I ignored his questions and asked how he found out.

“I have my connections,” he answered, “Now did she get her stone?”

“Of course she did - well Nick did, but I watched him give it to her! Then-” I paused, “Hey, how come you’re not yelling at me about that?”

“Because I told Nick to do that. He was supposed to explain to both of you that he’s in on this too. He’s going to be Sarah’s protector. Do you really think I could protect the two of you at once? Because I already failed if that’s what you’re thinking.”

I let out a groggy laugh, then remembered that the clock did say 2AM. “Quint… it’s two in the morning… I wasn’t expecting a phone call from you yelling at me. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

He laughed, “Sure. I’ll yell more later on, goodnight.”

“Night,” I said, then flipped my phone shut and fell back asleep.

Quint kept his word and called again in the afternoon, apologizing, then asked if I wanted to come over for a while. I agreed to it but before I left, I got a call from Sarah. I didn’t tell her I was going out, I just let her tell me about her little adventure the night before. Apparently she never heard or saw Dru, and Xi wasn’t around. She says she wore her guardian stone the whole time, so she wasn’t completely defenseless. I shrugged at that statement, I didn’t really understand any of it. All I knew was Xi was after our powerful souls and Quint, Nick, and these stones would protect us from the black soul. I also knew that Xi was the reason why my closest friend was gone…

Sheesh, everything pointed at Xi - no wonder why I felt hatred towards him. The only good thing that was coming out of this was Quint and I were becoming closer.

I mean, look! I was just invited over to hang out with him!