Aspen Heights, Book 1: Chosen

Elita

I ran to the school's front doors and pushed them open forcefully. I was beyond relieved to finally be outside. I breathed in the crisp, cool autumn air. It was a little windy but other than the breeze it was silent. My dress swayed and I gave a little shiver, rubbing my arms. I'm not really sure why I went outside exactly. For one, it was just so stuffy and florescent in there, and I was in fight or flight. But... that wasn't the only reason. A force seemed to be pulling me there.
"Elita, this way!" it seemed to say.
I walked slowly, following the call, not even bothered that Cassie's dress was dragging the ground.
A light appeared in the distance. It was the wooden disk at the front of the school, that I now knew was a Hiat entrance. It was surrounded by candles, I realized as I made my way towards it. They really wanted to give me a warm welcome, I guess. The fire flickered excitedly, as it had been waiting for me.
I stepped onto the entrance, careful not to let my dress catch on fire. I stood in the center, feeling suddenly relaxed. I closed my eyes, and murmured something in a language completely unknown to me. When I opened my eyes the entrance started slowly turning. The candles extinguished one by one. As the flames died, I was engulfed in darkness. I closed my eyes again, allowing the strange peaceful feeling to wash over me. When I reopened them, I found myself in pitch black. Even the light of the moon was gone. A chill suddenly came over me. I was no longer in the courtyard. Suddenly, candles began bursting into flame, one by one. They lined the walls on either side of the mysterious place, some kind of slender room or hall.
I walked forward, keeping pace with the candles, until they came to an end.
A figure came into view, faint and flickering in the candlelight. It seemed to be a man. He was bald and looked pretty old. He was dressed in a long, black cloak. I walked toward him, trying to seem unafraid.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome..." he said in a sly voice, arms outstretched. "You are the one I've been waiting for, for so, so long. They've even been calling you the chosen one, the... Elita."
His voice was whispery and snake-like.
My peaceful state was officially disappearing now. "Who are you?" I asked firmly.
"I forgot, we haven't been formally introduced," he replied. His head was tilted up, his chin ominously lit by the dancing candles, as if he were telling a ghost story around a campfire. "You can call me... Grandpa," he hissed, flashing a devilish smile.
"You're my grandpa?" I replied, not sure if I should be scared or relieved. What did he want from me?
"Is it so shocking?" he asked, raising his thick eyebrows.
"It's just that I made up all these stories in my head about how I would meet my family, and this was not how it went," I explained, my throat dry.
"Well I do apologize child of the moon, perhaps you would be more comfortable if we were speaking under different circumstances. Perhaps all this is just too dramatic for you," he said, nodding as if he understood.
He closed his eyes, sending a wind through the room that caused all the candles to blow out again. My eyes stung from the sudden blast of smoke. I coughed, fanning my face.
When I open my eyes, I was greeted by a bright light. I blinked a couple times to let my eyes adjust. I was standing outside again, on the grass, but it was daytime. There was a bench in front of me, and the guy claiming to be my grandpa was sitting on it. His elbow rested on the bench's arm casually. "Hm, pretty!" he said, nodding his head.
"Where are we?" I asked, taking in my surroundings.
"I don't know. You tell me," he replied, an evil gleam in his eye.
I took a look around, careful not to take my eyes off of him for too long.
"It's the park!" I said, suddenly recognizing our location. "It's the park that I used to walk by on my way home from school."
He scratched his bare head. "Why'd you bring me here?" he asked.
"I didn't," I replied.
"But it's your imagination. This is what you imagined meeting your grandfather would be like, so here we are," he said, shifting on the bench.
"But how did you do this?" I asked. Everything seemed a bit cloudy. My head spun and my stomach churned.
"Maybe you don't know everything there is to know about me. Maybe I am not all bad," he suggested.
"But they told-" he cut me off.
"Who have you been listening to, child of the moon?" he barked, narrowing his eyes.
"Why do you call me child of the moon?" I asked, answering his question with another question.
"You are the child of my daughter, Luna. Luna means moon, in Spanish," he explained,
As if speaking to a 5 year old child.
"But my mother's name was Charlotte," I corrected, staring at him blankly.
"That's just the silly name she gave herself," he scoffed. "It means free man, because she thought she was going to be independent. Speaking of which, what is your name? As your grandfather I think I deserve to know," he said, picking a piece of lint from his cloak with his forefinger and thumb.
"It's... I'm not telling you anything. You're a monster!" I burst out. "Take me back," I demanded, staring him down.
There was a flash of light and we were suddenly back in the black room.
"There you go, you stupid girl," he growled, dropping the kind, grandfatherly act.
"You don't know everything about me, you've been fed lies," he sneered. But I didn't believe that Sophia wouldn't lie to me. I trusted her, for whatever reason.
"No. You've been trying to trick me but I am not naïve. I know everything about you Abadon."
His smile returned, bigger than ever now. "Oh, I see. So you've read a couple of silly little journals and think you know everything there is to know. Have you ever thought that you were on the wrong side this entire time? That perhaps I was the one trying to help you? Not bruising you to make you fear me, but to perhaps, warn you that the people you call friends are really your enemies? Perhaps I was trying to warn you about your destiny. Because you can't run from fate," he said with a chuckle.
"My destiny is to save the Aspens," I replied.
"Oh really? And how do you suppose you do that when you can't manipulate a puny apple? You just expect it to come to you like that Aspen entrance?" he spat.
"How do you know about that? And the journal?" I asked, my voice cracking.
He laughed maniacally. "I've been keeping tabs on you, chosen one. Now, tell me your name," he hissed.
"No," I replied firmly, lifting my chin and crossing my arms defiantly.
"You're going to end up just like your mother!" he seethed.
"My mom?" I asked. I knew almost nothing about the woman.
"Yes, your mother," he replied. "Now that you've clearly chosen your side, why don't you defeat me? Save the Aspens, aye?" he said, smirking.
"I-I, uh," I choked. My eyes blurred with tears and my stomach twisted into a knot.
But I didn't know what other option I had, so I walked towards him, ready to fight to the death, which I knew might come instantly. I only made it a few steps before he lifted his hand and threw me backward. I smacked the ground hard, screaming. And then I slipped into slumber.