Before the Ever Green (BTEG #1) ✔️

Chapter 43

Allison wants me to start a war.
How am I supposed to do something I have only read about? Yes, maybe Allison claims it is in my blood, that is my destiny, that I was born to 'save the world', but how? I know nothing about this. I am not fit to fight a war. How the hell am I supposed to lead one? How does she expect me to start a war?
"Good morning." Brit says, finally waking up, "Let me guess, you've been up for hours."
I wasn't even paying attention to the time. I was too caught up in my thoughts. I look over at the clock, 8:45 a.m. "Yeah." I really don't want to talk about anything. I honestly just want to sleep, but I can't sleep. I am afraid I might die if I sleep.
"What's up? You look...frustrated," She's sitting up, now. Looking at me.
"Nothing, I am perfectly fine." I lie. I give a little laugh, trying to convince her. I smile, "I'm fine, Brit."
She sighs, "I believe you. But, I do have a question: Why do you always wake up early?"
Back to my past, "Um...When I lived back in Placerville, I went to school, but I walked. I's have to get up at 5 and walk practically an hour to school. I spent an hour getting ready, and got to school by 7. Only 20 minutes early."
"You walked?" She asks me, "Didn't take the bus?"
I nod, "It was okay. I like the smells of nature. Plus, who wants to be crammed into a bus with Sara and the rest of the school? I was better off walking."
"Will you ever go back?"
No. "I don't know."
She lays back down, and I go back to my thoughts, until a knock comes to our door. "Come in." I call
Allison walks in with the two boys behind her, "Sorry girls, but we really need to start the day. We have a lot of practicing to do." Her eyes are on mine. It's like she is asking if I told Brit what she'd told me. I slightly shake my head. She mouths, "Okay." and gives a half-smile. "Get up." She says, and claps her hands, before leaving with the two boys.
I can slightly hear her telling Jaeger to go outside, and practice 'channeling his energy'. She is talking to Everett, but I'm not sure what she is saying. He says "okay," to what ever she told him.
My brain isn't working. All I can think about is Forest Green. The man who Allison told me I was supposed to start a war against. The head of everything, everywhere. She told me my duty was to take him down. "Come on, Addilyn. I don't want Allison mad at me, because of you."
I shake my head, "She wouldn't be."
"Either way, I don't want a chance of her hating me."
"Okay." I say, grabbing the light wash jeans and white T-shirt that Allison left out for me. I head to the bathroom, and change into my new clothes, and clean myself. What does Allison have planned for me?
As I am slipping on the jeans, I am realizing they have more elastic through out the leg than all the jeans I own. It's almost like my leggings. The one pair Mom bought me, when I was 14. She said that she'd never buy them again, but never gave an explanation. But, these are also thicker, more durable.
Brit knocks on the door, "Hurry up! I am not going downstairs without you!"
I give a little laugh, more to myself, before grabbing my old clothes, dropping them in the hamper, and then step out of the bathroom. I link arms with Brit, "Won't it be a great day?" I am trying to sound cheerful. A lot more cheerful than I feel.
"When did you have time to eat a million sugar pills?"
"What?" I ask
"You are too...peppy...happy...it's not you."
"Sorry."
I unlink our arms, and walk out the back door, meeting Everett, Jaeger, and Allison. "Good, you decided to join us," Allison says, "Addilyn, Everett is going to help you, today." She gives me a look, the turns to Brit, "Brit. Go join your brother in the field, please. We have a war to prepare for."
"What?" Brit asks
"Just an expression, dear."
"Oh."
If only it were just an expression. Seriously.
"Okay, have you ever done any magic before?" Everett asks me
"Have you?"
"No."
"Well, there's your answer, then."
He huffs, "Okay."
"I have a question: what makes you smart enough to help me train? Why does Allison trust you? And, I don't mean to be mean or anything, but-"
"She knows a lot more than you, it's that simple, Addilyn. She's known me so long. Nothing else."
"She knows your parents?" I ask
He nods, confusion in his eyes.
"So...she knows your parents?" I let my eyes meet his, "Your last name?"
"Yes." His voice has strained.
"Teach me. Go ahead. I need to learn, and if she trusts you...I do, too. So, help me to learn what I need to know."
"Okay."
He keeps trying all these channeling 'tricks', but none of them are working. I still feel like Addilyn. I don't feel any different. I don't feel power surging through me. I don't feel magic in m veins. I don't feel like an 'all powerful human-being'. I don't.
He is getting frustrated, "Are you sure you are focusing?"
"What else do I have to focus on?"
He gives me a look, "Clear your mind of everything. Let it be a babies brain, let is see everything for the first time. Stop thinking. Relax. Calm your heart beat. Slow everything down."
Bam! I look over, and see Jaeger 'channeling his power', maybe to much. Something catches my eye, and I look up. I scream. "No!" I put my hand up instinctively. There are no sparks. No fireworks, but I can feel it in my veins. Bones. Soul. The tree stops mid fall. I throw it far away. I jump back. Everett is laughing, smiling. How can he be happy? A tree almost landed on his head!
It hits me, like a rock, I just used magic for the first time. "I told you could do it!" He is hugging me. I am smiling, now. I did it. I look over to see Brit, Jaeger and Allison. "Well done," Allison says, "I told you, you could move mountains."
"That was fucking amazing!" Jaeger exclaims in awe.
"Not that great. I stopped a tree from falling." I say
"No, you saved a persons life...off of instinct." Brit protests.
"Maybe."
"Well, I know how to teach you, now." Everett says, "I can't believe to think of it. I was trying things that make people angry. That is what makes most people explode, but you...it's fear...love..." He looks so in awe
"Love?" I ask
"Yesterday. That was you." He says, "All you."
"Love is the greatest power." I say.