PAUSED

CHAPTER 1 : The Maiores

KATE

o1|The Maiores

     I cannot believe it. No, no. This is not happening. I ain't the only one. I can't be!

     I woke up sweating. Thankfully, it was just a dream. But the chances of my dream being true? The thought ran a chill down my back. I sat up and stared at the darkness. My body was trembling. Clenching my blanket, I tried to recall what had just happened. My dream went like this --- It was pitch black all around me. The only light came from a street lamp, at some distance. I had no idea where I was. So, I began walking. But as I walked, I started to think about the possibility of being alone. It went downhill from there. The more I  walked, the more I  freaked out.

     Of course, I knew that I wasn't completely alone in the world. In fact, even in my dream there were people, cars moving and all that other drama. However, being around people doesn't mean you're any less lonely.

     Let me explain. I have this power. I can stop time in its tracks. It's like I am a remote that can pause and play the world as I like. But like any person would --- or rather, should --- be, I am afraid that I am the only one on this planet with a power. That's where the panic of being alone came from. I've never come across anyone like myself, so I have no reason to believe otherwise. To refrain from being called a freak, I've had to hide my incredible power from the world. I haven't even told my parents. Or my sister. But to be fair, Ava's a bigmouth.

    Since the past week, my dreams have been getting worse. My dreams that were once normal and innocent --- well, as normal and innocent as a seveenten year old's dreams can get --- had been turning into horrible nightmares.

     To top it off, I almost fell asleep while practicing driving two days ago. It was a good thing my dad was the one teaching me, and immediately steered us back on track. No doubt, my mum would've just screamed till my eardrums shot and we crashed. With all this lack of sleep, I'm gonna become an insomniac by the end of the month. Fun way to spend summer, right? Not.

    Anyway, I tried not to think much about it. And soon enough, I fell asleep. Little did I know, my life would never be the same . . .

    I woke up with a peculiar feeling I had overslept. My alarm hadn't rung, which was weird. I drew my curtains --- it was dawn. Great! Hardly sleep at night and wake up early. Now that's rest! As I begun to draw the curtains to a close, I notice something. A black figure in the middle of the sky. I strained my eyes, only to notice it had wings. A crow. It is motionless. Of course! I stopped time in my sleep. Silly me. I used to do this all the time as a kid.

     I tried undoing it. But it was of no use. I glanced at my wristwatch and it wasn't working. Neither was my alarm clock or my cell. What was happening? I pinched myself to check if I am dreaming.

     Ouch.

     Fish!

     My first intention is to leave home and explore. So I open my bedroom door and enter the passage. Only, I ain't in my house anymore.

     Ahead, is a long, creepy corridor. Like the kind in movies, where the audience would say, "Don't go that way!" But what choice do I have? My door has disappeared behind me. It ain't really 'creepy', as it is old, stranded and weirdly beautiful. There are drapes all over the walls and golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There are also carvings on the walls, ceiling and on the beige-golden pillars in a language I don't understand. Greek, maybe?

    I walk and walk, till I reach a huge dome-resembling door. The whole place screams out one word --- ancient. I push open the door, and a gentleman greets me. He says his name is Russell Winston. He adds it is lovely to meet me and that I look beautiful. I'm willing to bet it is his job to say be polite. Because my hair ain't brushed and I am wearing my pajamas with my flip flops. Yet, I smile at him. Though the smile drifts away within moments, as I am absolutely astounded by what lies ahead of me.

     Three individuals sit on velvet red thrones with golden borders. A woman is seated in the centre, with two men on either side. Each of them have strange eye colors. Yellow, black and red. They are elegantly dressed. Their thrones are placed at the same distance from each other.

     The room is breathtaking too. On the walls, there are red velvet curtains, though there are no windows. As mentioned before, the place looked ancient. We could be underground for all I know.

     I was beginning to absorb everything, when I notice something strange. Behind the woman's chair, there appeared to be another one, a few metres away. It is dusty, like it hadn't been sat on in, well, a while.

     The woman then speaks loudly in a Greek-ish accent, startling me and bringing me out of my dazed state, "Kathryn Doyle! We've been waiting."

     Ugh. The woman called me 'Kathryn'. I dislike that name with a passion. See, I'm adopted. I might be living in Manhattan, but my accent's definitely British. I have no idea who my birth parents are. I don't even know my birth name. All I know is that I was dumped in an orphanage the day after I was born. Four years later, Evelyn and Scott Doyle were vacationing in Britain. They visited my orphanage, thought I was cute and adopted me. That's when I came to New York. Six years later, they had another kid, my adorable sister --- Ava. I don't remember much from my time at the orphanage. What I do remember, however, is the matron, with her weird grin, who always watched me like a hawk. How was it my fault if I drew on the walls, ran away a bunch of times and broke stuff? Maybe it was the ADHD. Maybe it was my rebellious genes. But, I was four and there was no reason to scare the schist out of me by always saying, "You've been bad, Kathryn. It's time to be punished." Thankfully, I don't remember what she would say after that or ever being punished, for that matter. But just the matron's voice was enough to scar me for life. Needless to say, I prefer being called 'Kate'.

     "It's Kate", I mumbled. I figured the consequences of back answering couldn't be great. "Do you know who we are, Kathryn?" the woman --- who I now loath --- asked. What a stupid question! She knows I don't. "I'm Eisa. And this is Hamen and Zefran." She gestured to the guys on either side of her. "And we, my dear", she continued, "are the Maiores."

Mai-who? Never heard of them, I thought to myself.

"Great! So . . . " I tried to keep my cool as much as possible, "What does that make me?" You can't blame me for my bad mood. They used my own power on me --- I should figure out how --- , made me walk their creepy corridors by myself and then called me 'Kathryn'. I mean, really? "You, love, are one of a few amissum", the buff, dark guy with yellow eyes, who Eisa called Hamen, said.

     Maiores and amissums. I don't know what those words mean. At least I picked up on one thing. These guys, the Maiores, we're probably incharge of the amissums.

     It suddenly occurred to me that I didn't know who amissums are. Did all of us have powers? How many of us are there? Why do we have powers? Too late I realized I had rattled off these questions. The Maiores were staring at me in amusement. Hamen and Zefran answered few of my questions in their Greek-ish accents --- or was it Latin? Like, there ain't many amisums in the world. Every amissum has a power. Some are born with two. Apparently, this is a rare case and I'd likely never come across one such individual. Fortunately or unfortunately, they let out no details. But the expressions on their faces showed they were definitely withholding something. What and why? No clue.

     One fact was clear, though. The thing about soulmates was pretty cool.

     They told me they had been around a long time. And when they said long, they meant long. They were the first to gain powers. I presume that means their parents were human? But how could they stop aging? They were approximately in their late twenties or early thirty's. And what is going on with their eyes? I was probably staring at them. Because they had an amused look on their faces. What else would make them look at me that way? My hairdo wasn't that bad!

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Hey people! Hope you guys like the story. I plan on publishing it. In print I mean. Oh and BTW, this is my first ever post. So be gentle with the comments.

PEACE OUT!!

RACHEL...

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