Legion

I Am Bulletproof

I woke up in a cot made of tarp and my head was on an old, dirty, worn out pillow. I slowly sat up and touched my face, which was clean from the gore that was on it a day ago. I looked to the side table and saw a stack of black clothes, with a note on the top of them.

I stood up, waiting for the white-hot pain to go through my ankle, but surprisingly, it felt normal as if nothing ever happened to it. I shook my head ignoring this strange occurrence and changed into the clothes, throwing my dress onto the cot. 

I picked up the note which read:

Go into the square. The exit out of the house is the white door at the end of the hallway. Go into the middle of the street and you will find me. 

P.S Remember to thank The Mystic for healing your ankle

I pocketed the note and walked out of the room, looking for the white door that the note described. I went to the end of the hallway and found a black door, seeing that there wasn't any white door around I opened it. Behind the door was a brick wall that read:

Show us why you belong here.

"I don't know! I was taken here! I didn't even ask to be here!" I groaned. 

I kicked the wall.

I yelled profanities at it.

I finally punched it breaking the skin on my knuckles and letting my blood drip on the wall, revealing a white door that I could finally walk through. I opened the door sighing to see a street filled with girls and boys looking around 16-18 years old behind the man that carried me here. I took two small steps towards the silent crowd, looking at him in the eyes and my jaw set. 

"Take. Me. Back." I growled.

"We can't," one of the girls, spoke up from among the crowd.

"What do you mean you can't?" I asked angrily.

"They won't take you back. You can either die out in front of the magical border trying to get in, or stay here and become one of us," the man spoke finally and with a tone of finality in his voice, making me choose my fate.

"Fine." I mumbled.

The crowd started walking to the center of the shabby-looking town, and before they disappeared out of sight, the man beckoned me to follow him. I jogged up to catch up to him, and started speed walking right next to him because his strides were longer than mine.

At the heart of the town, four other men stood on the remnants of a small public stage, with their backs turned to the crowd. They wore leather jackets with names imprinted in the leather, and the man that I was walking with got on the stage, standing second to last between them. The names read:  

Destroyer

Mystic

Mourner

Prophet

Deviant

What type of names are these? These rebels don't seem very organized from what I'm seeing here, heck, they don't even seem to be training for anything, how are they supposed to even have the slightest idea of defeating F.E.A.R? These people are crazy.

"Crazy? Maybe. Organized? Not so much. But we all want freedom and everything that we do, from sneaking through the magical barriers for information, to just relaxing once in a while all counts for something," the one labeled Mystic bellowed.

"How did you--" I sputtered, aghast to how he was able to find out what I was thinking.

"I am The Mystic for a reason," He responded, now turning to look at me.

"You're welcome by the way," he teased, the corners of his lips turning up to smile at me.

The rims of his eyes were dark, and his dark hair matched it making him look intimidating, but he smiled warmly at me as if I didn't offend him at all. I lowered my head, taking a sudden interest in my new leather boots.

"WHO ARE WE?" The Destroyer, yelled now turning around with a goofy grin on his face.

"THE LEGION OF THE BLACK," the crowd yelled back, and now the air of seriousness disappeared, everyone started smiling.

"AND WHAT ARE WE?" The Destroyer asked the crowd, loudly again.

"BULLETPROOF" the crowd yelled again, and now I could hear the pride ringing in their voices. 

The rest of the men finally turned around laughing along with the crowd, making me involuntarily grin, getting caught up in the family-like feel of these people. This was unlike my life in the borders of the F.E.A.R compound, I felt a strange sense of belonging which is something that I have never felt in awhile. 

"You're the new girl right?" asked a girl who had walked her way over to me while I stood at the edge of the crowd, not talking to anyone.

"Yeah," I answered quietly.

"I'm Marlene, and I'd like to be your first friend you make here," she replied immediately, with her hand out for me to shake it. 

"I'm Christina, what do you mean by you being 'my first friend here'?" I responded, shaking her hand.

"I saw you smiling along with the rest of us, and before you know it you're going to personally know everyone here," Marlene told me, her eyes brightening as she spoke.

I smiled, a genuine smile at her and proceeded to talk to the other people around me, with their excitable nature infectious. 

I turned from my group conversation to sneak a look at The Prophet again, who was looking at me quizzically.

I shuffled closer, straining to hear their conversation.

"She might be"

"No way. She doesn't see what they are doing like us,"

"That doesn't mean anything,"

"She. Is. Not. The. Chosen. One. Do I make myself clear?" The Prophet then spoke finality in his voice.

I've had enough, I shuffled my way over to them quietly.

"What do you mean I'm not the chosen one?" I asked, interrupting their conversation and causing me to look at me strangely.

"We were talking about," The Prophet answered me slowly, "How Marlene is the true chosen one, and that we are sending her to spy on the F.E.A.R prison,"

"Oh, okay," I whispered.

I put my head down and walked towards my house, not feeling very bulletproof.