Kidnapped part 4 The Split

"You’re a mage Twyla." Caleb said bluntly.

"What?!" I squeaked once again. I would have burst into tears if I had not already been crying. Marc walked in as Caleb said that. "Um...I’ll be right back..." He turned and left again. "Your eyes are not glowing anymore. That’s good." Tye said encouragingly. "Thanks, that makes me feel sooo much better." I said sarcastically. "Good job Tye! You got a whole sentence out of her!" "Can it guys." Caleb said. They shut up. "Has anything like this ever happened to you before?" Caleb asked seriously. "No. Never." "H..." He trailed off as John walked in with Marc. Marc saw my tear streaked face and walked over. He walked over and wiped away the tears with the sleeve of his shirt. John did not look happy. For some reason I felt safe even though my life was probably at stake.

"What happened here?" He demanded. "She came out to get to know some of us." Tye said with a gesture at the others. "We watched some TV, we teased her a little. We were all laughing when Caleb came up. He stayed and watched wipeout with us then the room slowly got darker." Tye was quiet so James continued for him. "We thought it was Caleb but he said that he was not doing it. We do not know where Matt is but he was nowhere nearby. Then her eyes started glowing! When Tye told her she freaked out and all of the light disappeared. The TV was on but we could not see it. All we could see was her eyes. Then Caleb started talking to her. I don’t know what he said but eventually the darkness went away and there she was, crying on Caleb’s shoulder." There was a minute of silence. "Caleb’s shoulder?! Why?" That was Jake. "No offense!" He added when he got a glare from Caleb. "She is a mage John, you cannot kill her. She is one of us!" Marc said urgently.

"I don’t see why not." Said a cool voice from the doorway. It was Nick. "You know the rules Nick, I cannot ignore them. Caleb, I would like to speak with you in my office." John turned and walked away. Caleb stood and followed him out without a word. "What’s going to happen now?" I asked. "John’s probably going to go over things with Caleb then they will come back and say what they have decided to do." Nick snorted then left. The room was silent for a minute then Jake asked "Twyla?" "Yes?" "Why Caleb?" "What do you mean?" He shook his head. "Why did you cry on his shoulder? No one knows him; we don’t know anything about him." "He helped me." I said defensively. Jake just laughed. A guy with red hair whose name I could not remember poked his head in the room and said "James, Tye. John wants to talk to you guys." He left. "See you later Twy." Tye said as he left. James just nodded as he got up and left.

"Twy?" I asked after they left. Marc grinned. "I guess you have a nickname now." "Great." I muttered sarcastically. I hate waiting. My future was on the line and I had to sit and wait. I was restless; I would look around then shift my weight then cross my legs and uncross them. Eventually I could not take it anymore, I stood up and tensed. How many people were in that office discussing my future? Why was I not included? What was going to happen?

"It’s going to be okay." Marc said softly. "They can’t kill you; they can’t even use you anymore." I opened my mouth several times before something came out. "I’m sure they can think of plenty other things. I bet locking me out is still an option." Other worse things swirled around my brain. What is they ignored their rules and killed me anyway? "Even if it was, I would go with you. I know that there are several of us on your side now. Stop worrying and sit down." I took a deep breath. "Right, okay...It’s okay, I’m okay." I said to myself more than to Marc. The guy with flaming red hair poked his head in again. "Marc, Jack, Jake, Ryan...Office. John says come immediately. The girl stays here." "I have a name." I muttered crossly. He was gone before the words were out of my lips.

I was alone. After about half an hour of watching TV I wondered how I was supposed to work my talents. "I freaked out. There has to be a better way to do this." I muttered to myself. I tried to do it again but all I managed to do was to get myself sweaty. The front door banged open when I gave up. "I got your bloody chocolate milk! Now will you quit nagging me?" The new arrival called through the hall. He kicked his shoes off and walked into the main room cursing. He was carrying an armful of groceries. This must be Chris. I realized. His curly blonde hair was matted and wet, he glared around the room. I flinched when his silver eyes met mine. "What are you doing out here?" He asked coldly. I did not reply. "Where the hell is everyone?!" He almost shouted. "They are having a meeting in John’s office." I said quietly.

"Put these away." He demanded pushing the groceries at me. "Put them away yourself." I retorted. He glared daggers at me then said it again. "Put. Them. Away." He ground out between his teeth. I felt dizzy at the sudden pressure in my head. It felt like someone was digging in my brain with a stick. "No. Get the hell away." I was angry. I snapped the stick that was probing my mind and threw it away. Chris’s eyes grew wide and he ran out of the house and kept going.

What just happened? I wondered. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the window. I still looked pissed off but my eyes were no longer purple. They were now glowing light silver, the silver was so light a shade that it was almost white. "Ahhh!" I jumped back from my reflection with a surprised shout. What the hell? My eyes are supposed to be purple not silver! I sat back down on the couch. I have had more than my fair share of weirdness for the day.

Chris came back in about ten minutes. He was panting. "You look nothing like a spirit mage! How did you do that to me!?" I opened my mouth to say something but he jumped back. "No! Don’t say anything! Stay away from me! I’m leaving!" He ran through the door and I heard him thundering up the stairs. Soon they were all shouting up there. I sat farther from the door when the shouting got louder. They were all yelling at each other, I could not understand anything they said. Soon they were all pounding down the stairs and all sixteen of them spilled into the room, arguing with each other.

Caleb ran to me and picked me up. He kept running for the front door. Marc was right beside him. I held on tight as they ran into the forest that surrounded the house. I peeked over Caleb’s shoulder. There were six other guys running with us not counting Caleb and Marc. There were eight others chasing us, shooting ice at us. The wind picked up and dirt got in our eyes. The only light we had came from Marc and Jakes fire and Ryan whose hands were glowing as he ran with us. We had to stay close together to see where we were going. A huge ball of ice came hurdling at Caleb. I screamed and held out my hands as if I could catch it or deflect it.

Fire streamed from my palms and the huge ball of ice turned to mist. "Caleb!" I screamed in his ear as our pursuers got closer. "They’re catching up! Hurry!" I managed to vaporize a few other ice chunks that would have otherwise killed me and Caleb. We eventually outran them. We were in the middle of the cold and dark forest. I clung to Caleb and pretended that this whole thing was just a dream. "Marc, start a fire, Twyla is freezing! Jake, Make sure no one got to us. Ryan, do you think you could make us a shelter?" Once Caleb got things sorted out he set me down. "Stay here, I’ll be back soon." He ran into the forest. I shivered and looked around.

Marc had also gone into the forest in search of firewood. Jake was scouting the area to be sure that we were safe and Ryan had gone out in search of a clearing that we could use to make a shelter in. I sat down and hugged my knees into my chest. I was cold. John, James, Jack and Tye were also with us. James had left with Ryan in search of shelter. Tye and Jack had gone to find food and water and John had joined Jake on the watch to keep us all safe. I leaned back against a nearby tree and shivered again. This had all happened all so fast. Everything had changed fast.

My whole life had changed in less than a day. If I had just stayed with my mother after the accident, none of this would have happened. If I stayed, I would be at home curled up on my chair beside the window in my bedroom reading a good book with my cat. Did my parents put up any missing person posters? I hugged my knees in closer as I imagined everyone’s reaction. Kira would be frantic. She always followed me everywhere. She did everything I did. Kira had been my mini me since I was eight years old. My father would be angry. He would assume that I was being careless (I was) but search for me anyway. Mom would be so freaked that she would be unable to function. She would probably have to call in the aunties, uncles, grandparents and family friends to keep her relatively calm. I felt sorry for mom. She would not stop worrying until I was safe at home. Then I would have to be under her watch for a good month. Mom’s boyfriend would not care. We hate each other. No matter how dysfunctional and odd my family was, I really missed them right now. I would gladly listen to all of my father’s worried lectures if I ever got home.

"Twyla? Ryan and James made us a nice shelter. Everyone is already there and we have a fire ready for you." I looked up at the new voice. It was Caleb. "Twyla? Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He asked, worried. I looked down. I could not say anything. Would he even care if I did tell him? No, I doubt it. I decided to lie. Kidnappers could not possibly care about homesickness or loneliness. "No, I’m fine, just cold." He nodded to himself. "Stay close. This way." I stood up and followed him silently. He stopped when we got to a small clearing. "This is it." He announced. "What is? I don’t see anything!" "That is because it is all underground. You will not be able to see the entrance until it is right in front of you."

The grass in the clearing was as high as my waist. Caleb held his arm out in front of me once we got close to the middle of the field. "The entrance in here." He pointed at the hole that was in the ground in front of me. "How am I supposed to get in?" There were no stairs, nor was there a ladder. "You just step in. It is not that far a drop. I could go in first and catch you if you are scared." I glared up at him. "I can get in fine!" I stepped forward and held my dress in place as I fell. There was a small pile of dead grass and leaves under the hole as padding for my landing. It was a good thing too because as soon as I landed on my feet, I lost my balance and fell on my butt. "Ow." There was a muffled chuckle from above. I moved out of the way. Caleb dropped in and landed perfectly.

I hope you liked it :)