The Chosen

Chapter Five (Poor Ollie)

 MAYA STERLING

I burst through the front door, my heart pounding so loud it drowned out everything else. My thoughts were a whirlwind—Zayne's warnings, Wilder's threats, the revelation that I was somehow at the center of all this chaos. It felt like I was unraveling with every step I took.

Elara and Felix were waiting for me in the living room. I barely registered their worried faces; my mind was too busy trying to piece together the mess of half-truths and lies that had defined my entire life. Elara looked frazzled, a rare sight for someone who always kept herself so put-together, while Felix was pacing, his eyes heavy with a guilt I wasn't ready to accept.

"Maya," Elara started, her voice edged with panic. "Where have you been? We were worried—"

"I don't want to hear it." My voice came out sharper than I intended, but I couldn't help it. "You've been lying to me about everything. About my parents, the prophecy, the powers—how could you hide all of this from me?"

Felix stopped pacing, turning to face me with a pained expression. "Maya, we were just trying to protect you. Your parents—"

"Stop it!" I snapped, my eyes stinging with unshed tears. "I'm so sick of hearing that excuse! Protect me from what? From the truth? From knowing that I'm some kind of pawn in your games? You've been hiding things from me my whole life, and now you want to act like this is for my own good?"

Felix's shoulders slumped, and he looked down, unable to meet my gaze. "I'm sorry, Maya. We never wanted it to come to this. Sending you to the clearing tonight—I thought if you saw it for yourself, maybe you'd understand. But I didn't want to put you in danger."

Elara stepped closer, her eyes filled with tears. "Your parents made us promise to keep you away from all of this, to hide you from the elites who wanted to control the prophecy. We thought we were doing the right thing."

My anger flared hotter, a strange heat building inside me. "The right thing? I don't even remember them! Or this town! Or any of this! How am I supposed to trust you now when you've been lying to me from the start?"

Before I could stop it, the kitchen sink behind me gurgled ominously, water swirling up and out, floating in the air like it was weightless. The lights flickered, casting strange, dancing shadows across the room. I felt it—the energy, raw and uncontainable, coursing through my veins. It was like a dam had burst inside me, and I couldn't pull it back.

Felix took a cautious step back, eyes wide. "Maya, you need to calm down. Your powers—"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" I yelled, my voice echoing unnaturally in the confined space. Water droplets hung suspended in the air, catching the flickering light like shards of glass. "I'm not your puppet and I'm not here to play out some stupid prophecy! I want the truth, now!"

A loud crash interrupted me, and I turned to see Ollie standing in the hallway, his face a mix of shock, anger, and hurt. I didn't even realise he'd been listening in. "So it's true?" Ollie's voice cracked, and he looked like he was about to cry. "All of it? The powers, the prophecy, everything? It's not just some story?"

"Ollie—" I started, reaching out to him, but he pulled back, his face twisted with betrayal.

"You knew, didn't you?" Ollie's voice shook as he pointed at Elara and Felix. "You both knew something was up, and none of you told me! You're my parents, and you've been lying to me! And Zayne—he's been in on it, too, hasn't he?"

Elara tried to step toward him, but Ollie held up a hand, stopping her in her tracks. "We were trying to protect you," she said weakly, her voice breaking. "Both of you."