The Once and Gifted King [ON HIATUS]

Chapter Two: Leaving [1,590 Words]

Rhys controls fire, I control... what, exactly? I knew I wasn't hallucinating or whatever; the pain in my shoulder wasn't bad enough to cause that. Unless this whole day was a dream or something. How lame would that be? A whole fantastic, my realistic adventure that turned out to be a simple dream. In my dreams, I never saw detail in people, but I saw every detail in Rhys as I watched him drive with utmost concentration according to my directions. I saw the stubble on his chin; I saw the stark difference between my ultra pale skin and his Mexican tan; I saw beads of sweat dripping from his slightly shaggy brown hair.

Okay, I admit, I was smitten with this boy the moment he stepped into the store.

And somehow, we had already bonded. I felt like we... matched.

I shook my head as he pulled into my driveway. Without preamble I led him to my house. Just like his family, my siblings were at school and my parents at work. I took him to the kitchen where I let him clean my burn. It felt a lot more natural than it should have. I glanced at the clock; 10:30, no one would be home for another four hours.

I wanted to call my best friend, Zeke, but he was at school. He was four years younger than me, but probably a lot smarter. We met a couple years ago, at a small ComiCon-like conference held by some of the major geeks in my town. There were trading card games, table-top battles, video games, comics, costumes, viral vids, ping-pong, and best of all, LARPing, a.k.a. Live Action Role Play. It's acting without a script, to put it simply. The two of us hit it off instantly, and have been best friends ever since.

With my help, Rhys found a roll of cloth bandage that I didn't even know we had. It's a good thing we did because it worked perfectly to protect my shoulder. After it was all taken care of, we moved to the couches in the family room. I sat in the corner of the love seat, leaving Rhys to find a spot on the full sized couch. He spread out in the middle, letting his head fall onto the cushion.

"Nice house," he said, still staring at the ceiling. I didn't bother with a reply. "I wonder if there's anything left of mine." His voice was husky, like he was ready to cry again. I didn't blame him.

"Maybe it's a good thing you came to me."

"Huh?" Rhys asked, lifting his head to look at me.

"Sorry, sometimes I continue old conversations. But see, of all the people you could have sought help from, you happened tot come to one who also has an ability. Whatever this thing is, we're in it together."

Rhys sat up with his elbows on his knees. "What if this means the man will come to your house?"

My pulse quickened. That hadn't occurred to me. "We're not safe here."

"Gwen, calm down. He hasn't shown up yet. We may still be okay."

I tried to listen to him, but his words were hollow. I could tell he didn't believe them himself. "We have to get out of here. Where can we go?" How did I get on the run? It was the same question Rhys had been asking himself half an hour ago. I noticed he looked shorter and glanced at my feet. I was floating again.

"You know this town better than I do," Rhys retorted.

"So? Most of my friends are either in high school or off to college, and I don't have my own apartment. Even if I did, that guy would probably know to look there, too. We have nowhere to run!"

He walked over to me and gripped my shoulders pulling me back to the ground. "Gwen, calm down. Worrying won't do you any good. I have an idea. Do you have any money?"

I wiped tears from my eyes. "Most of it's in my bank account."

"Do you have your card?"

I shook my head. "I left my purse at the store. But my parents keep an emergency stash in their closet."