Young Writers Society

**While all the fun is going on upstairs**

~Erica~

I laughed into the droplets made their way down my face. My hair is stuck to my neck and face and I'm completly soaked. The little kid in me urges me to continue dancing with the rain, but the scared teenager part of me reminds me that I have to watch the door soon.

Sighing, both happy and sad at the same time, I walk into the door. I wring out my hair.

"It's wet out there," I tell Dusty and Caleb blissfully, then I froze. "Haven, when'd you get down here?"

"Just got down here. Couldn't sleep." He said, blinking away whatever emotion had been in his eyes. I looked from Dusty to Caleb, confused. They were looking at Haven in shock.

"It does feel a bit strange to sleep." I said, embarressed that he'd seen me all wet like this.

I was going to wait for Maybe, but I’ll post now.

Jaden-

I needed to go check on the girls before we all went to sleep. I walked out and saw Erica dancing in the rain and everyone staring at her. For a minute all I could do was smile and remember the days when I danced in the rain and was carefree. Shaking myself out of my thoughts I went back up to the room. I turned and closed the door and was grateful that the candle didn’t blow out. My bed looked really pleasing right now.

“Jaden.” I froze. What the heck.

“Jaden.”

I turned around and opened the door. Everyone was too busy watching Erica to have called me. I heard a whooshing behind me and spun around to see the last person I had wanted to see.

“Sarnom.”

“Jaden, I am glad you remembered me.” He sat on my bed as casually as if we had been talking like old friends.

“What do you want?” I hissed.

“Is that anyway to treat and old friend?”

“Friend? You dare call yourself a friend?”

“And you dare show your face here. Interesting, we’re both daredevils.”

My hands balled into fists. “Get out,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Well I see that you are not welcoming formality so I’ll get right to the point. You seem to be a kidnapper in the minds of children.”

I tried to think fast. He had already found out about everyone. I needed an excuse. “And they should. They’re refugees from a burnt village and we are taking them west. Seeing as they’re parents have died and we haven’t explained much, they probably do see us as kidnappers.”

“Us? Oh yes, you and Sam. I would have never thought to see you two as a couple.”

“We are not, and leave him out of this.”

“Why? It’s both of you that I’m after. You two hold all of the elements and I want them.”

“Then why aren’t you killing me now?”

“I wish to do the job at a better time…”

“Or is it because this is just and illusion and you can’t hurt me here.”

“I my not be able to physically hurt you, but Sam is asleep right now. I should go and say hello.” And with that he vanished.

I stared at the blank bed in horror. Sam!

Thaaaank you, Jaden. I would've posted last night, but my internet decided it didn't agree with my computer anymore, so it wouldn't let me on for any reason.

Sam

You know that comforting feeling you get when something bad is about to happen, but you know it's just a dream? And nothing can hurt you? That nothing is real?

Yeah. My mind decided to skip that whole part and go right to the feeling that something bad was about to happen. It never got the message that nothing could actually hurt me and that it wasn't real.

So, needless to say, as soon as the velvet smooth, all-too-familiar voice spoke behind me, my body stiffened in fear. There was a small chuckle of amusement that sent a shudder from my toes to the top of my head and my hands clenched involuntarily.

"Good to see you again, Sam. It's been a long time."

"Not long enough," I managed to grind out, overpowering my fear with the help of pure hatred. I turned to see him sitting casually in a chair that had appeared. I didn't even bother to look around at my surroundings, my eyes instead locked on Sarnom's calm form.

A frown marred his features. "You're not happy to see an old friend?" he asked, his voice sounding almost sincere.

"You're no friend of mine. Not after what you did to the rest of us."

"Oh, you can't still be lingering over that, Sam. It was years ago. Didn't you even learn to let go of the past and move forward?"

"Not when the man - no, beast! - who killed most of my friends and very nearly succeeded in killing me still lives! And lives like a spoiled, sloppy-"

"You dare insult me?" he asked, his voice rising to a dull roar. There was a terrible screeching sound as the chair was pushed back against the ground and he stood to his full height, towering over me. Despite myself, I took a cautionary step back, eyes darting fearfully to the side.

He smirked. "And even with all your big words, Sam, you're still scared of me."

I forcefully brought my eyes back up to his, staring at him with all the hatred I could muster. "Everyone is scared of you, Sarnom. And with good reason. But that still doesn't stop some of us from doing what we feel is right. You will be stopped. And you will pay for your past actions."

He chuckled again, not seeming at all fazed. "Oh, look, the big, bad pacifist is threatening me, the current ruler of Eniyth. Seems a bit, I dunno, ironic, don't you think? And don't worry, I will be stopped. Once I have all the new elementals, and you and Jaden are dead and out of my way, I'll stop terrorizing people."

"You're lying."

He seemed to stop and think for a moment, before shrugging. "No, not really. Just about stopping."

"You even go as far as touch a hair on their head and I will track you down and kill you myself," I threatened, meaning every word I said. Dimly, I could hear the sound of someone calling my name, but I ignored it.

He smiled again, sending another shudder down my spine. "It seems someone is trying to get your attention, Sam."

"I don't care," I said, the lie sliding off my tongue smoothly. "What are you trying to prove, coming here? What do you want?"

"I want them. And I'm coming for them."

---

*Okay, sorry for the long post. And sorry if it's not everything it needed to be. I think I covered everything...oh, and sorry if I spelled Eniyth wrong. >.< Hope this works.*

~~Twili~~

"Stop it, Jaden." Sam said laughingly "No, really, stop you're teasing Sarnom too much. It's really not fair."

There was a pause, as if Sam was expecting an answer.

Sam laughed again, "Well, that just won't happen. Nobody would betray us. Least of all, Sarnom."

There was a pause and then, Sam spoke.

"Where's Jaden? She must've run off. I'll go look for her."

Silence. Suddenly, Sam spoke again. The words tumbled on top of each other. The sentences spat out with anger.

"What happened, Sarnom? Were we attacked? Why are you holding that knife? What's happening, Sarnom?" And, sounding so alone, Sam whispered, "Why did you do this?"

Sam breathed out and I knew, finally, that he was fast asleep. He wouldn't be talking anymore. I lay back down and silence surrounded me. I would have no idea what to say to everybody else. I wasn't even sure if I had heard everything right. I was definitely not looking forward to the morning.

I woke up, alert. It was still dark outside and it was freezing. Why did I wake up? And then, I heard Sam.

As I turned toward him, he said, almost shouted, "Everyone is scared of you, Sarnom. And with good reason. But that still doesn't stop some of us from doing what we feel is right. You will be stopped. And you will pay for your past actions."

Sam sat against the wall scared to death of something I couldn't see. This was getting scary. "You're lying." Sam was almost screaming. "You even go as far as touch a hair on their head and I will track you down and kill you myself!"

I admit, I was getting hysterical, too. I started yelling at Sam, telling him to wake up.

“I don't care. What are you trying to prove, coming here? What do you want?"

I couldn't wake Sam up. And I was ready to start banging his head against something. Then, I realized that Jaden had knelt beside me. She was shaking, but she quietly spoke Sam's name. This was just great. I had been whacking him over the head and he hadn't woken up. But, enter Jaden, and miraculously, he's conscious again.

*Sorry for the amazingly huge post. I'm so glad I got to witness Sam's sleep talking.*

*That was sweet*

Jaden-

"Sam, wake up."

Sam shot up, panting heavily and looked at me. It turned to Twili. "Thank you for being with him."

Twili looked a little awkward. "Sure, no problem... Is he alright?"

"I don't know."

Sam's breathing came back to normal and he looked at both of us.

"He had the nerve... to come and... and..."

"I know Sam, just calm down."

"He threatened..."

"I know."

~Erica~

I heard some comotion from upstairs and all of us looked at the ceiling. Figuring it was my turn to watch, I looked at everyone around me.

"You guys go ahead. Somethings up." I said, wringing out my dripping hair. They had to get up there and fast; something had happened, and I had a feeling it was Sam.

Haven
~~~~

Dusty and Caleb ran up the stairs quickly, but I hesitated.

"Haven?" I heard Erica say behind me. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, turning around to face her. "If something has happened with Sam, I doubt I'd be a very productive help...seeing as how we're at odds or whatever."

She looked at me, turning her head to the side, reminding me of a cockerspaniel. "I thought you were mad at Jaden, not Sam."

I sighed and sat down on the bench beside her. "I'm mad at both of them. I mean, how could they do this?" I said, banging my fist against my leg. "I don't understand how they expect a bunch of teenagers to do something that they can't."

Erica said nothing, but I noticed that when I began to get angry, she started to rub at her palm. A wave of raw guilt washed over me.

"Erica...I'm so sorry about your hand. I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay." she said, smiling. "It doesn't hurt, really."

I could tell she was lying.

"Maybe...maybe there's some way to fix it." I said, and reached for her hand. She hesitated for a moment, and then placed her hand in mine, palm up.

I held onto her hand, lacing my fingers with hers, and trying to draw on whatever magical energy that I had used before. I sat there with my eyes closed, feeling like an idiot.

Nothing worked. No magic, no nothing. I opened my eyes and cursed softly under my breath.

"It's useless. I guess I'm only good for causing pain, not healing it."

Erica shook her head. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say."

I shrugged and looked away. We heard a banging noise again, and both of us looked up.

"I hope Sam's alright." Erica said. "I think Jaden would go crazy if something happened to him."

I grinned. "I think they've got a thing." I said. Erica nodded, giggling.

"Young love," she said, making her voice sound like an old woman's. "Ah, how beautiful love is."

I smiled at her, and laughed at how cute she was.

We sat there in comfortable silence for a long time, listening to the rain, not even realizing we were still holding hands.

~~~~

Sorry for the long post, and for not going up there with the rest of the peeps and helping further the plot. I figured someone needed to stay and keep Erica safe in case of monsters!!! (Yeah, sure. That can be Haven's excuse...)

And sorry for manipulating Erica so much, Risa. I just can't resist! (Did I tell you how much I love writing lovesick Haven?)

~Erica~

I looked out into the rain. I was still soaking and shivered a bit. Thoughts ran through my head, then one seemed to pop out at me. I sighed.

"What?" Haven asked me. I shrugged.

"I just...well...I miss my family. My big brother, my little sister, mom..." I started to choke up, "My dad." Then, desperate to stop thinking about my dad, I looked at Haven. "Do you have anyone, you know, on earth?"

Haven fell silent, staring off into a place that it seemed only he could see. Worry surfaced and washed over any other emotion.

"You okay?"

*****

That was quite epic! And it's no prob, it was what Erica would've done/said anyways.

Gregory-

I sat next to the door of the room trying to hear what the Haven was saying in the lobby. It was a hobby of mine to try-to-figure-out and analyze peoples personalities. At school I had a book filled with what I had found out about every kid in our school, except the new ones of course, like Haven. Luckily I had gotten into the habit of always carrying a notepad and pen with me. Here's what I jotted down about Haven.

Haven- Has a thing for Erica. (unfortunately affirmative) Has a bit of a temper. (experienced first hand) Either sincere and pathetic, or really good at manipulating people, or even a little bit of both. (as of now I'm leaning toward a little bit of both, though I don't like it) I suspect something hurt him and his family in the past. Uncertain of what happened. (If anything happened)

Suddenly I realized there was somebody racing down the hall. I quickly stuffed the notebook back in my pack just before Twili appeared.

"Everybody, downstairs, quickly," he said in a rush.

Haven
~~~~
I sighed softly. I knew that question would come.

"Do you have anyone? You know, on earth?"

Allie's sweet little face came unbidden to my mind and I choked down the tears. I saw her dancing, spinning, to a song in her favorite movie. Labyrinth, it had been. She had always said, when she grew up, she was gonna wear a dress to prom just like the Labyrinth girl's.

She never got that far. And it was all my fault.

I heard Erica's voice. "You okay?"

I answered her previous question instead of this newest one, because I knew the answer would be no, I was defenitly not okay.

"I did. Have somebody, I mean. She was beautiful, and sweet, and her name was-"

I was cut off by everyone rushing downstairs and crowding the room. Erica and I were pushed apart as people squeezed between us. Looking over the tops of heads, I saw Erica looking at me with a mix of confusion and...hurt? I barely had time to wonder why, before Twili began to speak.
~~~

Risa, wouldn't it be cool if both our characters got jealous of each other's siblings? (That is, if you still want Erica to have a 'thing' for Haven...

~Erica~

I felt my heart drop. He loved this girl. That was easy to see. To her, I had to be nothing. Forcing a smile on my face, I tried to accept that. Haven would still be a really great friend. That...could be enough.

I caught Haven's eyes for a second just as Twili began to speak.


~~~~~
Yikes! It's so short.

Tee hee, and I adore that idea. Isn't it fun to torture our characters?

By the way, Labyrinth powns.

Letting my thoughts fade away, I listened to Twili's words.

Jaden -

They all rushed up to the room and found Twili and I sitting next to Sam.

"What happened?" Caleb asked.

I shook my head. This was something that needed to be done. "Everyone please go downstairs, I need to speak with all of you."

Twili nodded and went downstairs ahead of everyone. I knew he would tell them all about what he had heard, there was no question about that.

..................
Now its up to dancing sprite.

Jaden -

They all rushed up to the room and found Twili and I sitting next to Sam.

"What happened?" Caleb asked.

I shook my head. This was something that needed to be done. "Everyone please go downstairs, I need to speak with all of you."

Twili nodded and went downstairs ahead of everyone. I knew he would tell them all about what he had heard, there was no question about that.

"Sam, are you able to stand?"

"I-I don't know. What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to give them a test. There is no point training them if they are not willing to be here and learn."

"We weren't like that."

"Nowadays everyone on Earth is paranoid and distrustful. I'm going to talk with them."

I left Sam in the room and went downstairs. Everyone was standing around Twili. He must've finished his story.

"You were friends with Sarnom?" Lillith asked.

I nodded sadly.

"And you want us to fight him," said Gregory.

I nodded again. "We lost our powers in order to save the elements from his hands. We sent them to earth where all the past elementals had come from. We did not know who the elements chose, only that they were in New York. Many of you, if not all, are angry for what Sam and I did to bring you here where you are needed. And I do realise that we cannot keep you against your will."

I turned to one of the posts and lit it up with a fake illusion so that it looked like a shining door. "If you want to go home, walk through here. I will not stop you."

~Twili~

Oh, great, I was obviously supposed to say something, give a speech about what Sam had said, and I really only knew half of it.

“Do you remember how we were going to listen to Sam sleep talk?" Everybody nodded. "Well, I listened to Sam sleep talk." I paused, hoping the ground would swallow me, "He had this really weird dream. He was talking about Sarnom like.... Well, like a friend would. And he was talking about Jaden, too. She got lost or something. And then the last part of his dream, Sarnom was in the dream and I think he killed somebody."

"What was the commotion upstairs?" Haven asked

"Well, Sam was having this really angry conversation with someone in his dream. He started writhing on the floor like he was having a seizure or something. Jaden came in behind me.

"You were friends with Sarnom?"

"And you want us to fight him."

"We lost our powers in order to save the elements from his hands." As Jaden talked, a door appeared.

As Jaden stopped talking, I made a decision. "I'm not going. We were kidnapped because these people think we have something to do up here. I don't know if they're crazy or what, but I do know that those kids that Lillith and Erica played with have a right to live freely without all that empty sadness stuff. If I can make that happen, great. But, I think, if you have anyone that needs you, or loves you, you should go back to earth."

*Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to give you guys an idea of what you heard. Poor Twili has inadequate speaking skills.*

Haven
~~~~~

I stood in front of the door, staring. I knew what my decision would be. I just didn't want to speak it. The finality would be too much.

I looked to Erica, who was staring at the door like me. If she went, I would follow. I knew it. And I would hate to leave.

I didn't want to go back to earth. I had realised that as soon as I landed in this new world.
I had nothing back home. This place was so much...better. I felt like I belonged.

And if I could help more kids, like those that we had seen, then I would be happy. Maybe that could be some sort of...atonement. For what I did to Allie.

I took a deep breath, and steeling myself, I said:

"I'm not going."

~~~~