Thursday, June 25, 2009

Chapter 4

They called to their powers and formed the circle. They each had powers of their own, but when they were together their powers were exponentially amplified. Together, they could do things that they wouldn’t be able to do on their own. For now, they were content with simply forming the circle and creating a safe haven to discuss how to handle this new and evil presence.

“So, it was this…thing that pushed your dad off of the road?”
“Yeah. I think my father must have pushed the vision onto me right as he was hit. Kind of like a warning, you know?”
“What do we do?” Nick wondered looking at Alex.
“I’m not sure. But we’re all coming to full power soon. My birthday is next week, September 29th. Then you’re next on October 18th, and then Chase is last on October 31st.”
“Let’s assume that this power is going to be as clichéd as it gets and it will attack us on Halloween, which by the way is a full moon this year. We’ll all be at full power and we’ll be that much more able to fight back.”
“I didn’t realize you paid so much attention to the phases of the moon, Chase, but great observation. I think that a Halloween with a full moon would be the perfect time for this thing to take a swipe at us. This time, we’ll be ready,” Alex stated firmly.

****
Faith stepped gingerly around the leaves and twigs on the forest floor, silently willing them to keep quiet. Her mother told her to help Alex out and that’s exactly what she was going to do; however, having secret meetings with the dynamic duo was definitely not going to help out her cause. How dare they try to exclude her yet again? And what exactly did they mean at the table this morning with the whole, “This isn’t anything we can’t handle,” comment? Why did her mother really send her here?

Hiding herself behind a giant oak tree, she once again found herself eavesdropping on another one of her cousin’s conversations.

“How do we prepare ourselves to be ready anyhow?” Nick asked.
“I don’t know. How do you suppose we fight an evil entity, Nick? Maybe we should give the Ghostbusters a call,” Chase answered back testily.
“I just asked because I know that we’re not supposed to use our powers too often. You know what happens when we do. The more we use, the more likely we are to get caught. But you don’t care do you, Chase? I see you using all of the time. Our secret is going to be all over town if you don’t watch yourself.”
“I use, but I don’t abuse. There’s a difference, jackass.”
“Hey! That’s enough you two. We’re supposed to be fighting this thing, not each other. That’s probably what it wants anyhow. It knows that we’re stronger together and it’ll try to separate us.”
“Alright, calm down Alex. Nick and I are calm, right Nick?”
“Yes,” Nick answered back begrudgingly. “But we still haven’t answered my question. How do we prepare?”
“I don’t know just yet, Nick. Too bad we can’t call the Ghostbusters,” Alex added wryly. “For now, maybe we should talk to your mom and Chase’s dad. They might know something that could help us.”
“Good call.”
“So we meet again next Friday. Nick, you tell us what your mom thinks, and Chase you tell us about your dad, ok?”
Their two heads both nodded solemnly.

They closed the circle and headed back towards the house. Faith moved quietly around the tree, making sure that they didn’t catch a glimpse of her. Still peeking towards them she noticed Chase stop and look back toward the circle. She quickly moved her head behind the tree to keep from being seen by him. She held her breath until she finally heard him jog away to meet up with Nick and Alexander.

“Whew, that was close,” she remarked as she stepped towards their circle. Their magic still lingered there the same way a perfume lingered in the air. She could feel it tingling on her skin. It felt like a hand caressing her arms and the back of her neck…tempting her to take hold of it. But she knew better. She’d always known that their magic wasn’t like hers or her mother’s. That instead of being a pure and natural magic it was dark and deviant. But Alex and his friends were good people, even if they were annoying. As long as they used their powers for good, they would stay that way. At least she was pretty sure that’s how it worked, especially if Chase was using as much as Nick alluded to.

With a step of determination she pushed away the cloying remnants of their magic and followed the boys back to the house.

Unbeknownst to Faith a nameless evil skulked behind her. It shimmered on the outside of the closed circle, the power there still enough to keep it at bay; but not for long. Another full moon was coming and this time he could draw enough power to continue on with his plan. It had been foolish to go after the boy’s father. Such a waste of energy, but it was too late to dwell on such things anyhow. His time would come.

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