The Dark Ring

Chapter 3.

When I wake up I take another bite of the bread and drink some water, after that I pick up a sheet of paper and the pen and start to write.

Chapter 2. (The book)

Xavier.

My hand started to burn even though I had these powers, I wasn't completely fireproof. I didn't quit, I couldn't stop, I couldn't fail. They would kill me if I failed. After a second my whole body caught fire and I fell to the ground screaming in pain. I had failed.

Jason.

I see his hand turn red and suddenly it caught fire, after that his whole body caught fire. I ran out of the water. I knew that you could extinguish someone in one way with the opposite force, but I was not trained for it and it is dangerous. I kneel down next to the boy and say: 'Water gods, you have blessed me with the power of water, I ask you a great favor: Give me the power to extinguish fire to save a life.' I feel an icy chill run down my spine and I place my hands on the burning boy. Big waves of ice cold water come out of my hands. I run my hands over Xavier's entire body and that causes the fire to go out. I see that he has just regained consciousness and he tries to get up, but I stop him and gently push him back to the ground. He mumbles something else: "I can't fail, I have to keep going." and then he loses consciousness. Dead to the end for using such a power I sit down next to Xavier and try not to fall asleep and watch the boy.

Xavier.

Fuck, I don't exactly wake up anymore. My body was covered in blisters and my hands were still red from when I used the fire. I had failed and they were coming for me.

I started having a nightmare, another one of those familiar ones, I tried to wake up but I couldn't and I was sucked into the void of my dream....

It was dark and I was all alone, I had had this dream before and I knew what was going to happen just moments from here. I saw my sister running, I tried to stop her when I felt a hand pressed against my throat and my head was pierced by a bullet. I fell to the ground and in my last moments I saw them do the same to my sister. Then I woke up, but still in my dream. I had risen from the dead. That's why they call me The Human Phoenix. The Fire God has resurrected me as one of his trusted servants.

Jason.

I see Xavier moving in his sleep, he has a nightmare and sleeps restlessly. Every now and then he shouts something or murmurs something, but I can't hear exactly what. I placed him on an improvised leaf bed under a nice large chestnut tree. I sit next to him and keep watch, I look at him, so small, vulnerable and alone. Every half hour I feel his forehead, which is burning hot. Towards the morning I take off my T-shirt and wet it with water and dab it over my face. When it is 9:00 am I go to the water and catch a few fish with a sharply cut branch, I prepare the fish to go on the fire and wake Xavier up. "We have to eat, and you have to heal, can you light a fire for me?" I ask nicely.

Xavier.

I lay there and shook my head, I didn't want any food from my enemy. In less than a hundred years, I would help him. I tried to move my fingers but every movement I made made me cringe. Everything burned. I had literally put my whole body into overdrive, of course it hurt, what did I expect? I cursed and lay still on the blanket of leaves I was lying on. I remembered the nightmare clearly and it haunted me even now that I was awake. The wind blew the hair into my face but I couldn't remove it.

When I am done with the second chapter I feel a lot better, but I don't feel good enough yet. I don't want to stop and suffer in my sadness, no, of course I don't want that. I want to stay alive and also FEEL alive. So I pick up another sheet of paper and start to write Chapter 3.