Young Writers Society

I walked up to the front door hesitantly, and stopped in my tracks. I wasn't sure I was ready to do this. Memories of my old life lay here, in every corner of this house. It hurt to step inside once again, and know that I would never be able to call this place home. My emotions were starting to run wild again, control yourself Derek, or you'll never be able to have peace.

The door wasn't locked, I stepped inside, and instantly the silence overwhelmed me. My kids weren't there running up to me for a hug, Sparks, my golden retriever, wasn't there barking at my feet, my wife wasn't there hugging me and planting kisses on my cheeks. Instinct kicked in, and I found myself in my bedroom. The bed looked like it hadn't been slept in for weeks, dust had started collecting on the bedpost and side table.

I walked on through the whole house, nothing seemed to have changed since I left. I suppose my family immediately fled to the tower once I had been arrested. I decided to pack, since I wouldn't be back here for a long time. I took my rucksack, threw a few cans of food in, a torchlight, medical supplies, map, radio, and a GPS device. Basic survival stuff, other than that I planned to find as I went along. I didn't need a gun, which made it less of a hassle.

I grabbed my car keys, and then realized I had no idea where the garage keys were. I was slightly hesitant to vaporize the garage, but I suppose it didn't matter. It was easy enough to accomplish without destroying my car too.

I started driving, not knowing exactly where to go. I had planned initially to travel overseas, probably to China or Japan. I wouldn't exactly fit in but no one would know me there. Only thing was I had no way of getting out of America without being caught, I was trying to figure out a way to escape when my car jolted suddenly, and then it stopped.

My foot was still on the accelerator, and there was no reason the engine would die on me like that. Then I saw blank tendrils creeping up the back of my car from the mirror. Some hooded figure was standing there, and it seemed that the tendrils came from his palms too. I'm not alone, I realized. But, I didn't know if he was a friend or foe. Now that would prove a little complicated seeing what he had done.

I stepped out of my car, unsure of what to do. I caught his eye, and he immediately released his hold on my car. He seemed to be waiting for me to say something, and I did.

“Who are you?” It was all I could manage at this point.

“No one you need to know, but I should tell you this. Escaping won't exactly help you, we can still track you down.” He replied, his voice was like that of a snake, slippery and full of viciousness.

“And who might that “we” be?”

“The people I work with,” he laughed. “And I think you've figured out by now you aren't the only Gifted out there.”

“Is that what you call yourselves, Gifted? Seems that you're pretty experienced doing this.”

“Exactly. You should know that I could kill you right now, but I won't. You'll prove yourself useful to us...”

“No, I'm not gonna work with anyone. Don't underestimate me either, I'm pretty good at this myself.”

“Oh, are you? It seems that the only thing you've managed to do is kill some mere man. Pathetic, you need much more than that to survive now.”

He knows. He saw me at the tower, he knows what I'm capable of, I shouldn't try my luck with this guy.

“That's much better than most beginners actually,” someone said. “Most Gifted can't even control themselves.”

I spun round, but this time there was no hooded figure. It was a man, probably in his sixties. He was bald, and had a beard, those kind that reminded me of Dumbledore from Harry Potter. He looked weird alright, but he seemed like on of the good guys instead.

“Arthur, how nice to see you. I see you've managed to make yourself a pest to me again.” The hooded guy said.

“I can't say I'm too pleased to see you though, Rye. You're making a mistake here, Derek is much more than what you think he is.” Arthur said.

“Oh really? Well, I'm here still, so that means, I'll have to make sure you don't mess up my plans.”

Arthur moved fast, for a man who looked sixty, he had the agility of a teen, maybe much more. He caught Rye by his neck and smashed his head into the road. Sparks flew from his arms and Rye's body surged with electricity. Rye himself was pretty strong, and he shook free of Arthur's grasp. He backed away from Arthur, his body still recovering from the shock.

“You caught me surprise there, Arthur, got lucky. But it won't be the same the next time we meet. I'll make you suffer then.”

“I look forward to it Rye. Just remember, I was your mentor after all, I know how you fight. Besides, you shouldn't have betrayed our cause, it was a wrong choice. I hope you realise that one day.”

Rye said nothing, but he glared at me, his lips were curled into a smirk that made me shiver. “I'll see you again Derek, just you wait.” Black smoke engulfed his body, then he was gone.

Arthur looked at me, he wore a smile on his face, which was comforting, seeing as no one had done that to me in quite a long while.

“We should leave, Derek. I don't like staying out in the open like this, and besides, we have quite a lot of things to talk about.”

He laid his hand on my shoulder, and then everything was bright, it blinded my eyes, then just as fast as it happened, it faded to nothing, and I fell into unconsciousness.