"Children,
were are you?"
"Right here Uncle," the
children said in unison. Their uncle entered the room finding both of
them dressed in their ceremonial greens.
"It's time for the ceremony
to start, are you ready?" Just as they started out of the room
they heard a scream of terror coming from their parents room. Their
uncle ran to see what was going on. As he got nearer to the door he
could see the blood that had once circulated through his brother and sister-made's
veins.
***
As usual, Pete's was crowded this
Saturday. Pete's was known as a weekend hang out for the school kids.
Pete was busy taking orders and keeping the peace. He looked forward
to these days. The kids were his favorite customers. They always
had neat stories to tell. Today's gossip was mostly about the new kid
at the high school and the fight that took place at lunch on Friday.
It was easy to see who had been in the fight; Scott hat a black eye and Jack's
arm was in a sling. Neither of them remembered the fight only what happened
once they got to the nurses office.
Darlyne, Marnie, Liz, Becca, and
Jessie were at their usual table in the corner. Being a group of teenage
girls, the main topic of the table was Krys. It seemed to Jessie that
almost all the girls in school, or at least the popular ones, had a crush
on him. This is getting ridiculous, she thought. She could
just see it now, Krys running from a mob of girls who were chasing him like
he was a famous movie star. Jessie giggled and Darlyne turned to look
at her.
"What are you thinking about, Jessie?"
she asked while putting down her ice cream Sunday. Her choice of cloths
today was absolutely gaudy. Then again it was Darlyne; known wide and
far for her clothing choice. The clothing trends went by what she decided
was in. If she went to school wearing slacks hiked up to her waist with
suspenders, a plaid T-shirt, and thick plastic framed glasses to school, the
next day everyone would be wearing the same thing. Now that would be
a sight to see. Jessie had decided that making her own cloths was a
lot more fun than having to go with what the stores decided to sell.
She had actually made the outfit that Darlyne was wearing, though it wasn't
suppose to go together like that. She had taken the top from
a hot pink shirt and skirt combination and the skirt of the neon orange outfit
identical to the pink one. Under the skirt she wore knee length black
spandex. The belt she wore was a black one that Jessie had goofed around
with the design. The outfit wasn't all that bad together but is was
extremely gaudy. If it was attention she was trying to get it
was working. Jessie smiled slightly before she answered Darlyne's question.
"Nothing of importance to you,"
Jessie was still trying not to break out laughing at her image of Krys being
chased. The whole clothing thing with Darlyne had been enough to make
her want to laugh and now this.
"Jessie, you know everything is
of importance to a gossip," Liz said while trying to avoid the elbow to her
side from Darlyne. Jessie just couldn't resist laughing now. Darlyne
had looked so aghast at being called a gossip even though that was exactly
what she was. The rest of the table broke out laughing as soon as Jessie
did. It took Darlyne a minute to figure out what was so funny.
Becca finally had to tell her so that she didn't think they were laughing
at her. Well, they were, but as soon as Darlyne figured it out they
were laughing with her instead. Joe came over when he heard all the
laughing and put his hands on Darlyne's shoulders and asked what was going
on. Darlyne told him and he joined in on the laughter. Everyone
calmed down after a minute. It is weird how one simple little thing,
like looking innocent when everyone knows your guilty, can start a laughing
fit that just doesn't end. Finally the talk changed to hair and make
up, something Jessie had absolutely no interest in. She toldevery one
that she was going to go over and talk with Billy. Marnie, who never
believed that Jessie and Billy were just friends, gave her a wink. Jessie
rolled her eyes in response. She stood up and walked over to the other
side of the room where Billy was sitting with Scott and Jack talking about
sports.
"Hey Jessie," Billy said as he offered
her the seat next to him. She guessed he had decided not to brush his
hair this morning and that was why he was wearing a hat. He hardly ever
wore hats. Jessie liked his hair. It was black and wavy like her
father's, and his green eyes went with it even better than her father's blue.
No wonder people had thought he was her brother when they saw the whole troop
together. It would be great if he was her brother. It wouldn't
really change the way they acted toward each other except they might get in
a few more fights.
"I'm sorry about the way I acted
last night. I was being a jerk." Jessie didn't want Billy mad
at her and decided to take the first step. He smiled at her and accepted
her apology and apologized for making her upset. Now that all was forgiven
she felt better and could feel the sigh of relief that came from Billy.
Scott and Jack just had blank looks on their face. They had no idea
what just happened and were trying to figure it out.
"So, how has your day been?" Billy
said for lack of a better question. Jessie thought about Billy's question
for a while. She ran her fingers though her hair as she thought.
"Well, they have already ran out
of topics and have gone onto the endlessly boring one of hair and makeup.
Every few minutes Krys's name is mentioned and they start all over again about
how cute he is. I feel sorry for the poor guy. As for me, I didn't
get much sleep last night and am extremely tired. Could you come over
tonight so we can talk?" It was time to figure these darn dreams out.
She had written everything she could remember in a notebook when she woke
up. Maybe Billy could figure it out.
"What time should I come over?"
He asked knowing that dinner started at 6 p.m. sharp and he wasn't sure if
she wanted to talk before or after dinner. His concern was written plainly
on his face, or at least Jessie thought it was. None of the other people
around seamed to notice. Jack and Scott hadn't noticed. They had
started their own conversation giving up on Billy and Jessie's.
"We can talk after dinner.
If you father is sober he can come too." Billy nodded knowing the usual
routine well. His dad was not likely to be sober tonight seeing as he
wouldn't have to work in the morning.
"Then I will be there at my usual
time. Are you going to be okay until then?" he asked showing even more
concern. If she finally decided she needed help then he was going to
be there to help her and he didn't want to give her time to change her mind.
"Yes, I'll be fine. Well,
I have to go to the library, so I'll see you later." Billy gave her
a warm smile as she turned to leave. Jessie turned her head and returned
the smile then started for the door again.
***
It was a nice day out so Jessie
decided to take the scenic rout to the library through the woods. The
path that lead through the woods was covered with the dead leaves of Fall.
The leaves that were left on the trees were of a gold, brown, or red color.
It was too late in the Fall for any of them to still be green, but with the
variety of colors it was a breath taking scene.
As Jessie continued to walk along
the path she heard some one coming from the opposite direction as her.
She stepped into the brush and hid herself because she didn't want to talk
to anyone and ruin the peaceful serenity on the woods. As the sound
came closer she was able to see the outline of the person. Whoever it
was, he was male and carrying a full backpack. Jessie stayed crouched
down as he came even closer. When he turned the corner to the straightway
that she had been on, she was able to see that it was the new kid, Krys.
Krys didn't get all the way to Jessie's
hiding spot before he stopped and looked around. When he saw that nobody
was watching he turned off the path and went into the woods. Jessie
was confused by this. Who would want to go there? All that
is back there is the meadow. The meadow was a place that nobody went to.
Jessie didn't exactly know why but she knew that it was dangerous and not
a place to be, especially in the Fall and Winter. She decided it was
her duty to follow him and make sure he didn't get hurt. I'm just making
up excesses to follow him again, Idiot. He can take care of himself.
It's not like he is a little child that needs to be protected. Jessie
decided to follow him anyway.
She slowly got up and went to where
he had departed from the path. There was barely a trail that showed
where he had gone. Most people would have trampled over a few bushes
or broken some branches. He hadn't left that sort of a trail at all.
Jessie didn't care that there wasn't an easy trail to follow and headed out
into the vast woods. She was not nearly as nondestructive as Krys was.
It was easy to see her back trail which would come in handy on her way back.
Jessie reached the edge of the meadow
a minute or so after Krys. Krys was already standing in the middle of
the meadow taking his backpack off. Jessie hid herself behind one of
the bordering trees. As she watched on, Krys set his bag on the ground
and it started moving like there was something in it.
Krys kneeled down next to his bag
and slowly unzipped it. When he had it open all the way something shoot
into the air. As Jessie slowed her heart beat and regained control of
herself she realized that it was a large bird of some sort. Why would he
have a bird in his backpack? Jessie continued watching out of curiosity.
Krys was already back on his feet and bearing a leather arm guard on one arm.
He raised his arm into to the air and the bird came in for a smooth landing.
The bird, apparently some sort of falcon, looked at Krys and ruffled its feathers.
The falcon then stretched its wings and legs.
"How are you this evening, Radon?"
Krys said while smiling at the falcon.
'Better than I was in that stuffy
bag. Why do I have to travel in there?' Jessie heard the falcon
say, or at least she thought she did. She didn't hear it as if someone
had spoken to her but rather heard it in her mind like she hears her own thoughts.
Jessie shook her head trying to get the voice out. She took a few steps
back and fell over a log hitting her head on a rock. Krys launched Radon
into the air and ran to Jessie's rescue.
When Jessie regained consciousness
a few moments later, Krys had her slightly propped up. She slowly opened
her eyes to see Krys' face. He had the same color of eyes that she had.
With in them, she could see the concern he had for her welfare. Jessie
lifted a hand to her head and was able to feel the bump where she hit the
rock. When she pressed slightly on it, it sent a shock of pain through
her that made her wince.
"You should be more careful when
spying on people," Krys said while helping her to sit up all the way.
"Why were you spying on me?"
"I wasn't spying," she started to
protest. He gave her a stern look of disapproval. Something in
that made her want to tell him the truth; so she did. "Okay, okay, so
I was. I was just curious. You remind me of somebody but I don't
know who." Jessie rubbed the bump on her head sending another shock
of pain causing her to wince again. She looked up into his eyes.
"I just wanted to find out who you reminded me of, that's all, but when that
bird started talking . . ."
"You heard Radon!?!" Krys gasped.
He had an extremely serious look on his face at he moment and Jessie had no
clue why. Well, maybe it is because I just heard a bird talk.
How stupid could I be; talking birds. But still, he should have
had a surprised look not serious. Nobody would take hearing a bird talk
seriously.
"Yes, I heard the bird talk," she
said just as seriously as he had asked. Krys stood up and started pacing.
"Do you hear him talk?" May as well ask. Maybe it isn't just
me. Krys stopped pacing and looked at her.
"Of course I hear him talk.
He is my Culled, but nobody else is suppose to hear him." Krys started
his pacing again. Jessie looked down at her hands realizing she was
playing with her bracelet again. Is he crazy or am I just dreaming
all this up? I don't think that dreams hurt this much though,
she though while rubbing her sore head.
"What is Culled?" Jessie asked
just for the sake of keeping a conversation going. Maybe if I get
enough information from him I could tell who he reminds me of. Jessie
started to get up slowly. Krys offered her his hand when he saw
that she was having trouble supporting herself. Jessie felt a small
shock when she took Krys' hand. He looked as if nothing had happened.
"Culled means Chosen. We have
a strong bond with each other that includes telepathy. Do you have a
Culled?" He really is crazy. It sounds like he is trying to say "do
you have a cold?" with a stuffed up nose. But he seems so serious.
"No, I am not Culled. Where
do you come from? I have never heard of anyone having a telepathic bond
with an animal before. If anyone did it would have been on the news
or something." Jessie was starting to get nerves. I'm in the middle
of the woods with a guy who has obviously lost it. No matter how cute
he may be, this is getting too weird. Krys looked down at Jessie's
wrist as she played with the beads on her bracelet.
"Where did you get that bracelet?"
he asked while grabbing her arm gently and examining the bracelet closer.
"I have always had it. Why?"
Krys let go of her arm and looked up into the trees. Jessie followed
his gaze and spotted Radon a few feet up a tree. She returned her attention
to Krys to realize that he had disappeared. Jessie looked around for
him but couldn't see him. She looked up into the tree where Radon had
been and discovered that he had disappeared also. This must be a
dream. If it is, than where did I fall asleep and why can I think so
clearly. I better wake up. That didn't work. She was
still on the edge of the meadow. After a few pinches on her arm she
gave up and followed her trail back to the main trail.
Most of the day had passed and there
wasn't time to go to the library and make it home for dinner. Jessie
turned back onto the main trail and continued the way she had been going.
Her mind was racing with a thousand questions that needed to be answered.
Who was Krys really? Why could she hear his bird talk? What the
heck is Culled anyway?
***
"So you wanted to talk?"
Billy shut the door of Jessie's room behind him. He had gotten scarred
when she hadn't shown up to dinner on time. The last time she was late
it was because she had passed out and broken her arm. The call from
the hospital saying that she had been hurt sent the everyone dashing for the
car. This time she said she had become absorbed in a book that she was
reading at the library and had lost track of time. It wasn't as if that
was the first time she had been late for something because she was reading.
It still worried him.
"I wrote down as much of the dream
as I could remember. I am starting to remember more and more every night."
Jessie handed him the notebook she kept under the bed. He took it and
flipped trough to this morning's entry.
"To start another day off with
a headache, what fun. Anyway, here is what I remember from last night.
I think the palace is definaltely alive. I keep seeing the walls shift
slightly. The children are very young - around 3 or 4. They are definately
twins. There is this guy who watches over them a lot. I think that he
is their guardian, brother, uncle or somebody close like that. He isn't
old enough to be their father. In last night's dream two people died.
I believe they were the children's parents but I'm not sure, could have been
an aunt and uncle. Oh, I almost forgot. The children are
dressed in green and are going to some sort of ceramony. One is male
and the other female. I can't tell any thing else. I wish
I could remember more but I can't. Write more tomorrow.
- Jessie"
Billy put the notebook down and
tried to figure out what to say. "Why don't we make a list of people
and events?" Billy grabbed the notebook again and flipped to the back
page. Jessie just looked on speechless. "So there are five people
in the dream from last night. Correct?" Jessie nodded. "The
dream you had a few nights ago suggests there is a sixth person who helps
out." Billy flipped to the front of the notebook. He quickly scanned
each entry. "Okay, there are the two children, the guardian or so we
will call him, the couple that get murdered and are never seen, and our mystery
man that helps the guardian get the kids to the portal thingy." Jessie
just stared at him for a moment. What did he think he was doing?
It was her dream not his.
"Are you going to help at all?
You just keep staring at me. Jessie, this is serious. We need
to understand your dream better to be able to help get rid of it." That
finally got through to her. She shook her head to clear it and then
set it on the task before them.
I need to remember as much of
the dream as I can. Why did Krys talk to a bird? Why could I hear
the bird? Why does my mind keep wandering to Krys? There is a
task before me and Billy is really trying to help me but I can't stop thinking
about Krys. Oh, Mother help me. Mother? That's it!!!
They kept talking about the Mother, like some sort of religious figure.
"The Mother," Jessie said returning
to reality. "They prayed to the Mother. They begged her to watch
over the children during the war. The war. That's right, there
is a war going on. The couple was killed because of this war.
The children were taken to the portal thingy to get them away from the war.
The mystery-man guy was hurt while escaping from the palace. Him and
the little girl went through the portal. The boy and guardian never
made it through." Jessie gasped for air realizing that she had said
all of that without breathing. Now it was Billy's turn to stare in amazement
for a moment. Jessie tried to remember more but she couldn't.
Billy quickly made a note of all
that Jessie had said as the next entry in the notebook. He then flipped
to his page in the back. He drew a line down the middle of the page
and headed each section. The section on the left was titled "People"
and the other section was "Events." Under "People" he wrote "Twins:
Girl", "Boy" leaving space between each for any information that might come
up about either of them. Skipping a few more spaces he wrote "Guardian"
following it with "Mystery Man", and "Dead Couple." He filled in as
much information about each that he could obtain. He did the same with
the "Events" section including information about the war, portal, murder,
and the palace (for lack of a better place to put it). Billy figured
that was all they could do for one night so he said goodnight to Jessie and
went home.
That night Jessie didn't have her
usual dreams, instead she dreamt about Krys and his bird Radon. They
were hunting in a giant forest. Krys was wearing strange cloths.
Jessie had never seen that type of clothing that she could remember.
He wore a dark green tunic that went down to mid thigh, and a brown leather
vest over it. His leggings were made of the same material as the vest
and they fit tightly but comfortably. Around his waist he wore a belt
that wrapped around his tunic. It was also made of the same material
as the vest and leggings. On the side of the belt was a pouch to carry
things in. Krys' hair was now long and had feathers in it. He
ran through the woods under the watchful eye of Radon. Radon flew up
above the trees and seemed to know exactly where they were going. When
they neared the meadow Radon broke through the trees and went down to Krys'
level. Krys kept running until he came to the edge of the meadow.
Once there he stopped and crouched in the bushes. Radon watched from
a earby tree. Krys wasn't out of breath even though he had run almost
two miles. In the middle of the field Jessie finally saw what Krys and
Radon were hunting.
The strangest animal was grazing
on the grass in the meadow. It wasn't a deer but it closely resembled
one. It had two horns that twisted skyward from the sides of its head.
When it looked up in between bites of grass it revealed a white star on its
forehead. The star stood out against the blacks and browns of the rest
of its body. Jessie didn't understand what Krys had in mind to do.
He had no gun nor bow and arrow. How did he plan on killing it?
Jessie's answer came in the next instant. He wasn't trying to kill it,
he was trying to keep if from being killed.
Some hunter had shot an arrow at
it and with a blink of an eye the arrow was no longer there. Krys was
already at the hunter's side with a knife to the guys throat. There
was a horror stricken look in the guys eyes as Krys told him something and
pushed the guy out of the way. As soon as the hunter was free from Krys
he ran as fast as he could away from the meadow and Krys.
Krys just stood there for a moment
and then walked out into the meadow with the creature. It just lifted
its head and nodded its thanks then went back to grazing. With another
blink of the eye, the arrow the hunter had shot appeared in Krys' hand.
He broke it in half and put it into his pouch. Krys continued walking
up to the creature until he was next to it. He laid his hand on its
back and stroked it for a minute. Then he knelt down and examined the
ground under it. Curled up under its mother's protective body was a
small baby. Krys reached down and picked it up. It was the size
of a small puppy and about just as cute. The mother stopped her grazing
and watched Krys carefully. The baby lifted its head up and licked Krys
on the cheek. Krys smiled and his eyes sparkled. The baby, unlike
its mother, had a solid white streak that ran from his temple all the way
down to his nose. His ears were too big for him and had a tendency to
flop over instead of stand up straight. Krys kissed the little guyon
the top of the head and set him back down. Krys patted the mother on
the shoulder and walked off in the direction he had originally come from.
End Chapter 2
Go Back to
Chapter 1
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Home - Griff's
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