Young Writers Society

Summary Of The Story So Far

Enter Julian.

Tall, pale man, only nineteen years of age but he has seen far more than most will in their lifetime. He is formidable, intimidating, with blazing blue eyes. And he knows: the boy is far more powerful than anyone realizes. Protecting him is his mission, but, no matter what he does, he fears. For if the darkness reaches the boy, all is lost.

Enter Diego.

Your normal kid. Almost.

A blue streak cuts through his otherwise dark hair. He was orphaned a year ago - his parents died in a car crash. Since then, he's been adopted by three strange guys, barely older than him. They're truly puzzles, with nothing in common. Today is his sixteenth birthday. And things just got weird.

Not only did he catch the three (Damion, Chris, Julian) having an odd conversation outside his bedroom, he caught them talking about him in a way he doesn't understand.

And, as Julian just said, they have to get out of the house. Now. The only question left is: why?

x x x

"What? Why?"

I was confused, to say the least. It was my sixteenth birthday and they wanted to leave. Most people would immediately jump to conclusions - a birthday surprise? Visiting relatives? I knew better. There was a strange look in Julian's eyes that told me this was no joke. I still didn't move, however. I wanted to know what was going on. And, after living with these guys for just over a year, I knew they wouldn't tell me anything unless I pushed them to the edge.

Sometimes, that isn't a great place to be. There's a very fine line between 'pushing for answers' and 'pushing too far.' That's what I've been told, anyway. I've never crossed that line, but I've come close before. You can tell when these guys are close to breaking point. All the warning signs go off, and the only thing to do is back down or comply with their requests. It's a tremor in their hands and a look in their eyes. Only when they reach this stage, and only when their voices are low and calm, do you come to realize just how far you've pushed them.

"Diego, this isn't time for your games. We have to go. Get up," Julian growled at me, narrowing his eyes. I noticed that the other guys had left the room, leaving me alone with the strictest of the three. I still didn't move, staring pointedly at him, silently begging for answers. I knew it was childish to sit and stare, but childish was not new territory for me. If anything, the most important thing I'd learned here was to stop at nothing for information.

Most people would call that bad parenting skills. But what do you expect, from three guys barely older than me?

"Come on," he reached forward and grabbed my arm with more force than I'd ever seen him use before. In seconds I was on my feet, his hand still wrapped around my arm in a death grip. I winced slightly but said nothing. I did deserve this, after all. There was a note of urgency in his voice and I'd chosen to ignore it because of how badly I desired answers. Julian was not the kind of person to aggravate. I'd learned that lesson many times over but still ignored it, and each time it drove him closer to the edge.

We began to walk, as I attempted to free my arm with no avail. He knew me too well. He knew that I would push him over the edge to get answers, and, in the end, not go with him unless he told me everything I wanted to know. Of course, I could always be patient and wait for him to tell me, but patience has never been my strongest attribute. I sighed, giving in and letting my arm relax in his grip as he led me through the house. I couldn't see Damion or Chris anywhere, and it confused me. Where were they? If we were going somewhere so important, why not pack anything?

Well, technically we had something. A car. And the four of us. That's about it. If this were a movie, our odds of living until the end had just dropped by about 50%. But, hey, I had to trust Julian. He knew what he was doing. At least, I hoped he did.

We left the house quickly, me almost tripping down the steps while Julian took them four at a time. Which is pretty good, considering there were only four steps. As I predicted, Chris and Damion were waiting in the car, their eyes fixed on us the entire time. For a brief moment, there was a flicker of sympathy in Chris's eyes, and I almost smiled. I honestly didn't know too much about these guys' pasts, but by the look in his eyes, I could guess that Chris has been in the same position with Julian.

My aching arm was released as I entered the car. With one last withering look cast my way, Julian got in the car as well, this time in the driver's seat. For a moment, I was envious. It was my sixteenth birthday. I should be getting my driver's license in just a day. But, by the looks of things, I wasn't getting anything any time soon. I only rolled my eyes and traded grins with Damion. The car lurched forward, accelerating far faster than it should have been, and I was flung forward with it. This was one of the times that I was grateful for a seatbelt.

One of the second most important things I'd learned living with these guys is to anticipate Julian's driving. He never drives slow, or anywhere near the speed limit. You'd think that he'd get caught by the cops every once and a while, but he doesn't. I don't think I've ever heard him complain about getting a ticket the way the other guys do. It's like he can see what's coming ahead of him, and he slows down right in time, so that the cops have nothing on him. And as soon as they're out of sight, he floors it again.

I sat quietly in the back, knowing they'd eventually forget me or start talking. It's always been this way. Adopted by them or not, they seem to be used to just the three of them, and sometimes it's like I'm not even there. I could just sit and I'd disappear from their world for a short time. Then, suddenly, they'd see me again and I'd be lectured on eavesdropping or they'd drop the subject entirely. More often than not, they go with the latter option. I think they've all learned that their lectures don't do much.

"What did you see?" Chris's whispered voice came from the front. A small smile appeared on my face. I knew they'd start talking eventually. Yet I was still puzzled. 'See'? Julian had just been standing there with a strange look before we'd left. He really hadn't appeared to be seeing anything.

"Danger," came the hushed reply. "It's his sixteenth. You know what this means."

Confusion, again. Something I'd come to expect in this house, but never welcomed. Sure, they'd started talking, but I would have loved it if they'd talked in ways that I would understand. Danger - that was pretty clear. But what did my sixteenth birthday have to do with anything? To normal people, it was one of the biggest birthdays of your youth. It's an important birthday, one that's supposed to be filled with fun and craziness. Unfortunately, it still didn't look like mine was going to turn out anywhere close to that.

"Yes, but there can't be anything after him already. They've waited sixteen years for this day, couldn't they wait another?"

"It's not like we're just going to throw him to them," Damion piped up from beside me. "They'll have to work. I mean, we don't exactly have a reputation for being easy that way."

"You're only half-trained yourself," Julian snapped. Half-trained? Them? Okay, this was getting way over my head. I actually hoped that this would have nothing to do with me. I prayed that they were talking about someone else, because whoever 'they' were, none of this was starting to sound good. But I knew better. It was me, it had to be me that they were discussing. I resisted the urge to yell at them, demand what they meant and what they expected of me, but only barely. There's only so far I can go without asking questions.

The car swerved sharply to the right, forcing me to hold onto the door handle for dear life. Everyone else grabbed for something to hold on to as well, anything to prevent them from falling sideways. As the car leveled again, Chris started to laugh. "Focus on the road, Julian. Speak and drive. You almost hit a pedestrian."

"Yeah," added a still-grinning Damion. "I always thought they had the right of way. Then again, maybe the rules change when you're driving..."

"Enough!" commanded Julian, but I had seen the small smile on his face before it disappeared. "Pedestrian or not, we have to keep going. They're behind us, I can feel it. We need to be on the move, at least until we find somewhere safe enough to lay low."

"It can't be that bad. Not yet."

"It is! I can feel it. They're not going to wait another day or week or year. They're acting now. We have to get the boy out before something happens. We have to leave! There is no time for this!" Julian's voice was shaking, though his eyes remained on the road. I could see his hands on the wheel, knuckles white. There was a look on his face that I'd never seen before, a cross between frustration and confusion. His breath sped up to an alarming rate, and he gripped the steering wheel tighter still. Only then did I realize just how fast we were going. His foot was still on the gas.

"Julian, calm down. You have to calm down." I caught Chris's words before I even registered what was happening. "You have to calm down. Slow down! Slow down! You're going to hit-"

His words were cut short as we swerved to the right. The screeching of tired across asphalt assaulted my ears and blocked out the rest of the sound. Something wasn't right. I was confused, but more than that, I could feel panic rising in the back of my mind. This was bad. This was really, really bad. I closed my eyes shut, blocking out the rest of the world as best as I could. It worked, almost. My eyes flew open at last second, and I lost control of myself and my senses.

"Shit! Julian, slow down!" I broke my silence with this yell, and they all seemed to realize I was there. The car braked suddenly, and all of us lurched forward. My seatbelt restricted my chest painfully but I was grateful nonetheless. If I hadn't had it on, I might have just learned how hard the seat in front of me really was. In the front seat, Julian was shaking. I didn't understand. It didn't make sense. Why did that happen, so suddenly? Why did he lose control?

"Did you see something?" Chris's hand was on Julian's arm. I could tell that he was shaken up. We all were. I don't know what went through Julian's mind, but I can tell you that, if we hadn't stopped last minute, at least one of us would have been severely injured. My hands shook at the thought. My parents had been killed in a car crash... I didn't want to die the same way.

"No. I don't know." His walls were coming down, and I was confused as well as shaken. This wasn't the guy I knew. Julian was the tough one. He might have been the youngest, but he always carried himself with pride. No one messed with Julian Prince, I can tell you that. At least, no one did in this house. No one questioned his judgement or his orders, they just complied. No one... except me.

Did I drive him to the edge? I couldn't help but wonder. It didn't seem possible. He'd been fine earlier, at least if you ignored his strange urgency and rough treatment of my arm. I didn't get it, as much as I wanted to. I wanted to know, I wanted to understand... but it didn't seem like anyone would let me. Sometimes, living with them was like living in a place where you don't belong. You don't always know what's happening and you're expected not to question. When you do, bad things happen. You learn quickly to keep your mouth shut, or you learn ways to put up with the repercussions of your actions.

"Something's not right," his voice dropped an octave and I really had to strain to hear him. "They said this would happen. It always does. I'm reaching that age, Chris. My mind's getting confused. I can't think straight."

"It can't be that bad. Just breathe. Then we need to get the kid to safety. You have time. If you haven't seen anything else, then you must have time."

"Okay, seriously!" I called out from the back seat, growing more and more impatient. "Is anyone going to tell me what's up? I mean, most people don't get forced out of their house to go God knows where with three guys. Especially not on their sixteenth birthday. And especially not without knowing where the hell they're going."

I realized I'd said something wrong the minute I finished speaking. Julian's face switched to a deadly calm as he exchanged a glance with Chris. Beside me, Damion shook his head slightly in a warning that came far too late. I was frustrated. Angry, even. Did they expect me not to say anything? They were talking about me. Right in front of me. If their objective was to confuse me, then they were doing a great job of it.

"What do we tell him?" Damion whispered. I gritted my teeth. Okay, this definitely was no better than before. They began speaking once more, this time keeping their voices lower. I only caught Damion's remarks because he was beside me, but the voices in front of me were nothing more than a dull buzz. Finally, I gave up and just sat back, pointedly ignoring them the way they were ignoring me. Maybe if they saw that I didn't care, they'd talk louder. But I'd already broken my silence. They knew I was there and weren't likely to forget it, not after my outburst.

We were stopped for several minutes, just sitting there, in the middle of the road, before anyone noticed that we'd stopped moving. There had been no debate over who was driving. Despite his 'breakdown', Julian would have refused to give up the driver's wheel, so nobody argued with him or even bothered to suggest he move. I opened my mouth to speak, once again aggravated by the lack of I was given. However, at Damion's look, I quickly closed it. Words could stop them from telling me anything, I knew. But still, I wanted to know what was going on.

I switched my gaze to the rearview mirror. I could see Julian take his eyes off the road to exchange a glance with Chris, and I could have sworn that I felt something change in the air. There was a silent agreement. One that made no sense to me, one that I had no part in but was entitled to know about at the same time. My breath hitched and I held it, silently waiting. They'd say something soon, if I waited...

"Look, Diego?" Finally. The first time anyone had really adressed me in a while. I turned to look straight at Chris, hoping that my gaze would have the same intimidating effect that Julian's did. It didn't. I could see Chris fight a smile at this look, so I just dropped it, eagerly waiting for the information I wanted so badly.

"This is important. Like, really important. Way over your head and mine sort of important. But it's not something we can discuss here."

If I wasn't restrained by the seatbelt, I might have just smacked him. I'd waited... just for that? No information at all. If I knew these guys, they would tell me nothing until I absolutely needed to know. I was irritated, to say the least. When the guys saw my look, I was satisfied with the result. They seemed to realize that I wasn't going to take their bluff. I knew better.

"Oh, come on. I know you're not going to tell me anything," I said slowly, attempting to add to the affect as best as I could. "If it's that important, why not tell me? It can't be that bad if you won't tell me anything. Not life threatening, at least."

I instantly knew that I'd said something wrong... yet again. At my last words, the tension in the air shifted once more. I dropped my exasperated look, preferring to stare out the window. Something I'd said had struck a nerve, and I was pretty sure what it was that had hit the guys so hard. I ran my hand through my hair, playing with the brilliant blue streak in effort to dispel any of the problems I might have just created. Their gazes only followed my hand, stopping at the length of colorful hair as if it was more sacred than anything.

I didn't notice that we were parked until Julian turned around fully, his eyes fixed on my hair and my hand. I turned my head and stared back at the others, confused. It was just hair. What were they so fascinated about? These guys had colored streaks in their hair as well. Me having blue hair was nothing new to them. They'd known I had blue hair since the moment they'd 'adopted' me. I removed my hand from my hair slowly, placing it on my lap, but their gazes still didn't move much.

"We have to tell him soon," Damion whispered, finally locking eyes with me instead of my hair. "He has to know."

"It's too early," Chris argued, shaking his head. "He can't know. Not yet."

"It's too early," echoed Julian. "He must find his way for himself. We can't tell him outright, it'll only confuse him. Don't you remember the confusion yourself, Damion? Don't you remember how confused you were? All of us..."

"But no one was born that way," argued Damion. "He should have known a long time ago. We kept him sheltered. His parents kept him sheltered. He's too sheltered for his own good... He should know, before things begin to happen."

"What things?" I asked, and I was surprised to find my voice shaking. Their hushed tones and deathly calm were definitely having an affect on me. I didn't know what it was, or why, but they seemed to be in their own world again. A world I didn't belong in, or maybe one that they wouldn't let me into. I was sixteen, and this was what I got. Confusion and frustration with the three guys who were all I would have for the next two years of my life!

"Bad things," was the only answer I got. And, by the looks on their faces, it was the only answer I was going to get. As if someone had suddenly hit the 'play' button on my life, things started moving again. Julian drew a deep breath and turned back in the driver's seat. Damion dropped my gaze, and Chris avoided looking at me altogether.

In seconds, we were off again, the car squealing in protest as Julian brought it up to speeds it wasn't made to be going. I held onto the door handle just in case we lost control again. It wasn't just me, though. Chris kept looking at Julian as if he was deathly sick or something, as if he was someone to be feared. This was one thing that I could understand, if only barely. Julian had had a breakdown of some sort. He could have gotten us all killed. Of course it made sense to be watching him closely, just in case.

I turned my head back to the window, going over the day's events in my mind. It was barely noon, and I'd already been woken up, confused, dragged out of the house, confused more, and been through a near-death experience. Great. This must have been the worst sixteenth birthday in the history of the world. I sighed and let my eyes close, allowing myself to ignore the world for a while. If the guys wanted to keep things a secret, fine then, let them. I'd find out sooner or later anyway.

* * *

Author's note: Crossed 40k with this novel today. Thought that was worth sharing. But I still have about 11 or 12 chapters to go.

There's a lot more excitement to come, guys, so get ready. Don't believe me? I've just written one character's death scene and another one's disappearance. There's insanity. There's death. Battles, abilities, all of it and more in Diego's life. Make sure you keep following this, because I'll love you forever if you do!

Reviews are loved. Absolutely.

Edit:

Edited this. Thanks, Uldin!

New list of words I use too much:

-ignorant

-aggravated

*must remember this*