Hello one and all! I have been forgetting to put author notes on the first few chapters...hehehe. Anyways, this is the third chapter of Cherish the Inevitable and I hope you guys like it. Please review and tell me what you like so far! Constructive Criticism and suggestions are all helpful and appreciated! Thanks, Giggles!
Somewhere down in Australia, an elderly man wakes with a start. He looked around quickly hoping to find the perpetrator who was screaming in his ears. There was no perpetrator just a hysterical 16 year old who thinks she has gone insane. That 16 year old would be me.
"Oh my god. I can't breathe. The light, I see the light. It's calling my name. 'Chloe' it says! 'Come to me Chloe!'" I say to nobody in particular. I feel very skittish, like someone's going to jump out at me. This, now that I think about it, might happen. I peer into the bushes that line the sidewalk I'm walking on. "I'm not going insane. Am I?" I crazily ask the bushes. I see a woman out for a jog and go up to her. "Do you think I'm going insane?"
She must be scared because she shakes her head and runs off. I start to laugh and continue to walk. I can't believe this is happening to me. My sister and father both attempt to kill me, I get these weird powers, my mother is dead, and I have nowhere to live. Life just couldn't get any better. I feel some weird presence and stop where I am. I feel a tap on my shoulder and shriek for the umpteenth time today. Turning, I see my gymnastics coach.
"Are you okay Chloe? You're a mess. And what happened to your clothes?" Her green eyes look concerned. She takes me by the shoulder and gives me a hug. "Why don't we go back to my house and you can take a shower and you can tell me what's going on. That sound good?" She says. I am a bit reluctant to answer, because I feel as though I won't be able to trust anyone anymore. But something inside me screams at me for even thinking about saying no, so I say yes.
She guides me to her house, which is right across the street (isn't that convenient?), and I take a long luxurious shower. I was in there for a good 45 minutes; I had washed up in about 20 minutes but then I just stood there letting my sorrows drain down the gutter and thought about what I was going to do. When I did finish my shower (because I didn't want to bring her water bill up), I saw that she had laid some clothes out. Luckily we're the same size. I walk down the staircase and walk into her kitchen and see her making coffee.
"Hey Chloe, how are you?" She asks while pouring me a cup o' joe. In front of me is a cinnamon bun. I look out her French doors and see that she has an amazing view at…another house. Welcome to Suburbia. "Hello? Chloe? You there?"
"Oh sorry. Hahahah. My mind kinda went off there. I'm doing…eh…I don't even know anymore. So much has happened over the past 12 hours, I just. Ugh. I'm sorry. I can't talk about it right now; I don't know what to believe anymore. I'm sorry to barge in on your house, Coach Stetson. I'll just be leaving now." I say. Maybe if I don't say anything, she won't remember that I'm wearing her clothes.
"Chloe." She says. Shit, she realized it. I open my mouth to apologize for attempting to steal her clothes, but she talks. "Does this have to do with the Dekson?" I turn abruptly and stare at her in disbelief. She's one of them. She's my sister or one of those demonic things. I back against the wall knowing my face is flushed and slowly shake my head in doubt. I look around for some kind of weapon and see something I can use.
"Chloe, don't worry. I'm here to help. You can trust me."
"That's what my sister said the day she tried to kill me!" I shriek as I run at her holding a chair in front of me, like a lion tamer. Stop. My body stops without my control. Whoa, that's not my inner voice, nor is it the voice of the nameless spirit. I look at Coach Stetson and see that she is slumped in her chair holding her head.
"Sit. Please, can you do that?" I feel bad for her, so I decide to obey her request. "Chloe, I have a few things to tell you. Everything you dreamt last night is the truth. You are a Keeper of a Gem, your sister is the Guide of the Dekson, and you contain the powers of one of the most amazing spirits in the world, that of the spirit of the moon." She rubs her temples and asks for a glass of water.
I get one for her and sit down across from her. "I never usually enter someone's mind and control their body unless it is for the best. I am on the Council of the Sesdor, and we hold one of the most powerful forces in the universe. The Force of the Inevitable." She takes a sip of her water and looks at me with wise eyes. "You are the holder of the Gem of Hope, the Moonstone. Chloe, it is your destiny."
"I don't believe in destinies." I huff and cross my arms. "Besides, who said I even wanted this destiny?" I know I'm acting like a Prima Donna, but how would you react with all this stuff happening to you within a few hours?
"You have to do this, whether you like it or not. Have you ever had weird dreams at night? Have you ever felt a connection to the moon? Why do you think the bruises are there?" She says pointing toward the spot where my dad grabbed me the night before. Her vibrant green eyes become hazy and she looks completely out of it. I wave my arms in front of her to get some kind of movement or reaction, but don't get any.
I take this as a moment to exit her house. "Nice to see you again coach. I think I'm going to go now." Please don't let me trip. I get out of the chair quietly and go to walk out of the room, but of course, being me, I walk into the wall with "Oof." I look behind me hoping that she hasn't gotten out of her little spell, but sadly, she has.
"Chloe! We have to leave now." She stands up, knocking a chair over, and runs to the hall closet and grabs a duffel bag, backpack, and purse. "Take this" she says while handing me a pen the size of Montana.
"What's this for?" I ask while she drags me out of her Victorian house. "Hey, where are we going? What's going on?"
"Kid, stop asking questions." She says and jumps into her convertible. I mentally jump for joy in my head as I get into the front passenger seat. A convertible, this is going to be such fun! She sighs heavily, "Sorry for blowing up like that but we have to leave. Do you know those orc's you fought in the dream last night?" I nod. "How did you defeat them?" When I didn't respond, she continues, "You did defeat them didn't you?"
"Uhh." I respond and look the other way sheepishly. Coach punches the horn on the steering wheel and swears loudly. She continues to drive at around 95 miles per hour, blasting through stop signs and red lights. I look around wildly for the police who would surely catch us, considering the fact that we just passed the Police Station, but there are none. Where's all the authorities around here? I look ahead and see a black mass in the heat. Their figures are distorted but I think I know what they are. People are standing in the street, but why? "I haven't heard of any parade that's going to be happening today…" I say, letting my voice fade for her opinion.
"This ain't no parade, sweetie. This is an ambush; I saw the attack in my vision just in time. They were just about to attack the house. Thank goodness I had a bad feeling this morning and packed my bags." I look at her in shock and see that her gears are whirring in her mind. I look ahead once more and see that it's the entire town standing in front of us, hoping to stop us. They probably would, if we had slowed down. She must have read my mind because she responds, "The town has been taken over by the Dekson, their minds have been corrupted, this is the beginning of the end as we know it. An entire town tainted with evil, they mean business. We aren't going to stop for these mindless zombies. I'm sorry Chloe, but we have to keep going or else they might capture us, which would be very bad."
I sit there with a dropped jaw and watch as she continues to drive the car, not caring that she's running over people. I am crazy enough to look behind us and see that the people we ran over get up, snapping their joints back into place as if it is nothing. I turn and see that Becca has jumped onto the hood of the car with a 'Y' shape sword. She is wearing her costume from last Halloween, her Xena: Warrior Princess Outfit. "Chloe, you know the metal cylinder I gave you? Take it out and hit your palm with it." Coach says while punching a zombie in the face and driving at the same time.
"'Kay." I say while grabbing it off the ground. I whap it on my palm, like she told me, and it opens up into a gun-like object. "What the hell?" I say while peering into the barrel. I look at it and see that it comes with directions, how handy. Directions for use: Point at any villain, bad-doer, orc, or any who become tainted with evil. They will be forced to go to a cell at the Prison of Wadonet. "What's the Prison of—" I couldn't continue my question because coach slapped her hand over my mouth. I took that as a time to just shoot the freakin' gun. I took aim at Becca and her 'Y' sword and mouthed sorry before shooting the gun. A red bubble surrounded my friend, or should I say ex-friend, and she floated in the air and blasted off into the air.
"Yeah. It's a pretty cool device." Coach says while continuing to drive the now mashed up convertible. The other zombies have run off, probably because of the gun. Once she was out of hearing range, she explained to me what the Prison of Wadonet is. "The Prison of Wadonet is a place where all who are bad go to. It's out in space and is where evil people from all around the universe go to. Orcs are…hmm…how to explain. They're like minions, I guess. I'm sorry you had to attack your friend. There's no going back for her though."
"Uhhm. Yeah. How'd you know she was my friend? And what do you mean 'you had a vision this morning'?" I ask, obviously dazed and confused. It feels as though it should seem obvious but, well, I'm not in the mood to use my brain just now.
She looks at me with a weird expression while merging onto the highway. When I look at her expecting an answer, she sighs. "I…am…psychic. I can read people's minds at will and see into the future at random moments. I can also control people's bodies, but it hurts my mind and so I can't really do much after that."
"Oh. You mean like when I saw you this morning? Yeah. I don't really want you to read my mind anymore, if you don't mind." I hold my hands over my forehead, as if that will stop her from reading my mind.
"Don't worry about it. I already know more about you than you will ever know about yourself." She looks at me with her dirty blonde hair in front of her eyes. "We're going to Betgona. It's where I live over the school year. You'll get to live there as well. It'll be fun with you there, I'm sure you'll like it."
"Don't read my mind!" I retort. "Betgona, eh? Sounds like a nice town. Will I be living with you there?" She starts laughing with me (or is it at me?) and I become confused…again. As we drive down the Idaho highway, our hair whipping behind us in the wind and the radio blasting, I begin to think to myself about everything. Next thing I know, I fall into a deep slumber.
.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.
"Chloe! Come on! We're going to be late!" I wake up in my bed and see that everything is the same. I look around my room and see that my gray walls are the same with the same posters hanging, books in the bookshelf, backpack in the same dusty corner, same window seat; same everything. My beagle, Riley, jumps up on the bed and curls in my lap. At the door way, my sister stands there in a bikini top, shorts, and flip-flops. "There's not going to be enough boys at the pool if you sleep all day. And if you give me some bullshit about Ryan, girl, I'm going to kick your ass. Get in your swimsuit, grab a book or two, and get your beach stuff. I'll be waiting downstairs." Her blonde locks fall down to her mid back and she turns out of my room. She stops in the middle of the hallway, putting her sunglasses over her eyes, and says, "And I mean it young lady."
I laugh as I get out of bed. I look in the mirror and see that I look exactly the same as I did before last night. Was it a dream? The house is here, Cassandra is perky, and Riley is alive. The only thing is that my eyes are red and my face is blotchy. Why did Cassie bring Ryan up? He was forever ago, so why would I be crying about him? Whatever, all I know is that the entire thing last night was a dream. I get into my favorite bikini, with a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, and grab my pool gear. I run downstairs, grab an apple, and run out to the Porsche, where my sister awaits.
"That's all they really want/Some fun/When the working day is done/Girls—they want to have fun/Oh girls just want to have fun/they want to have fun/they want to have fun!" Our voices echo throughout the town as we sing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" out the windows on our way to the pool. Combine our voices with our screams and you've got two insane teenagers who just got their licenses driving 40 down a 25 mph zone. Why haven't we been pulled over yet? Don't care, no clue, no worries.
We pull up to the pool and see that there are a ton of hot guys. "Perfect for you to get over Ryan, Chloe!" Cassie says as she strut's her stuff over to a guy. I stand there shaking my head at her and watch as she pulls a perfect swan dive into the pool, making the guys pretty happy. I am not one to let my sister be the only one they watch. I throw my bag on a chair and take off my shorts and tank top. I walk over to the diving board and watch my sister get out of the pool. Hmm, I wonder where all the other girls are. Usually this place is swarming with girls and guys; it's where half the breakups and hookups occur. So why are Cassie and I the only girls here? I shrug off this thought, but I can't shrug off the weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I climb the ladder and, without having to look down, I know all the guys are watching me. It's taking a while to get up to the top, but then again, it is the high dive. I finally get to the top of the diving board and look down, almost screaming. I am so high up; I have to be about 3 stories up. I am terrified of heights, they just aren't for me. I sit down and start to crawl over to the ladder and see that the ladder prongs have fallen off. The whole weird feeling in my stomach thing? Yeah, that's stuck in my throat now. Okay, the only way I'm going to get down is if I dive.
I've made my choice of diving off the diving board and shakily stand up to do so. Please don't let me fall, please. I hang-ten on the edge of the diving board and faintly hear "Go! Go! Go! Go!" from the guys. I look at my sister down below and see her smile mischievously. What's going on? I shake my head and jump off into the water. I feel pretty confident on my way down and do a few flips and turns. I open my eyes after a bit and see that there is no water in the pool. It's now boiling, green acid. Uh-oh.
.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.
I awake with a start in the passenger seat of the car and see that we are still driving. I look at the car clock and see that it is 2:39 a.m. "How was your nap?" I look over at Coach Stetson and see that she is pretty tired. Well, if I'm not dreaming of this nightmare I call my life, I might as well semi-embrace it.
"It was okay. Not really a big fan of diving into a pool of acid. You look tired. You want me to drive?"
"That's illegal, Chloe. I can't let you do that…not without a proper fake ID." She points to the center council and I open it. In it is a fake ID that looks exactly like me except she's about 21. "If I find out you go into a bar with that ID, you are in a lot of trouble missy."