Fire & Ice

ch. 7

JAMIE

I woke up to a pounding pain in my head and a burning sensation in my hand. I realized pretty quickly that I was tied to a chair and there was tape over my mouth.

"Wake up, Jamie," said someone in an extremely creepy voice as I came to. "It's time for your close up." 

I moaned in response, and right after, the tape was yanked from my mouth. I squinted to focus on the eyes of the person standing in front of me, and it was...Jordan Keel? 

Behind him, there was someone lying in a pool of blood. 

"What are you doing?" I murmured weakly, watching him approach with a huge camera pointed straight at me. Then he grabbed a white rag from off of his desk.

"You hurt your head during your exam," he told me. "Maybe you should've used your gun." 

I flinched as he pressed the damp rag to my head wound, beyond confused. "I didn't need it," I whispered, unable to say more. 

He stopped with the rag, looking straight at me. As he did, I couldn't help but stare into those beautiful eyes I'd been gushing over for most of my life. He was cleaning my wound...but I was tied down. Was he helping me? Or was he keeping me from helping myself?

"All you have to do is cooperate, Jamie." I watched him step back towards the camera and press a button. A red light flashed on and off as he started to record. 

"My name is Jordan Keel," he started, stepping behind me and talking to the camera. "And this is Jamie Morgan, who belongs to one of the oldest founding families in ELITE history." 

My consciousness was slipping in and out, and I could barely focus on his words. My hand was still burning like crazy. 

"Much of ELITE history was destroyed about ten years ago by your current ELITE president, my father Stanley." He gestured to the body behind him. 

"I recently rediscovered that history, and I immediately realized that ELITE had been hiding many powerful things. All of the founding families of ELITE possessed special objects that would give us certain superpowers. But after an accident 10 years ago, in which one founding family was unable to control their powers, all of these objects were deemed forbidden, and all were ordered to be destroyed by my father. So we became the ELITE organization that you all know today, a police force that is unable to live up to its full potential and access its most intense powers." 

I struggled against my binds, not understanding anything that he was saying. "That's not true. No one has ever told--" 

"Exactly, Jamie," Jordan interjected. "No one speaks of this buried history because it was deemed secret. But I knew that despite my father's order, the founding families would never truly destroy their sacred powers. No power like that could ever be destroyed, but it could be hidden. 

Jordan turned to me, and that was when I noticed the knife in his hand. "In order to enhance the future of ELITE," he announced, "I intend to uncover all of this power, right here and now, starting with the Morgan family line. Their power resides...in stones." 

No. 

The burning in my hand intensified. I fought to keep my facial expression from changing. He knew. He knew about the rings, and he wanted them bad. He was even willing...to kill.

"Now tell me, Jamie," Jordan circled my chair, then came to kneel in front of me. "Have your mother and father ever told you about the Morgan Stones?" 

I kept my mouth shut, lowering my head like I was about to pass out. 

With quick, hot rage, Jordan grabbed the back of my chair, tilting me backward to place the knife to my throat. The sudden movement made me dizzy, and I gasped as I felt the cold blade at my neck.