The Chest of the Lost

Chapter 12: Power

I looked up from where my arms blocked my view and stared at the vehicle.

It had somehow swerved around me and crashed into the stop sign not four feet to my left. That's impossible, I thought. The car was going way too fast to have swerved that far. It should've hit me. I stood up and noticed the people around me staring. They had noticed it too. The driver from the car sat up, looking disoriented, and peeked over the inflated airbag at me. I didn't know why everyone was staring at me. I didn't do that, I thought, how could I have...Then it hit me: Griffin had powers. What if the Dark Crystals gave powers? What if I had created a force in front of me with my hands that made the car bounce off of it and hit the sign instead of me? But that was ridiculous, impossible even. There was no such thing.

I ducked under the gaze of everyone around me, walking quickly toward the forest that lay a few blocks down. I didn't know how having powers was possible, but then again, how had Griffin blown up the entrance to the stone room back on the island. He had some type of powers, what if I did too? I decided to test it once I got to the forest.

I was about two blocks from the entrance when it started to rain and I picked up my pace, ducking under the protection of the forest roof, which shielded me from the pouring rain. Lightning cracked, lighting up the sky.

I walked deeper into the forest, hoping I was going the right way. I couldn't remember which way it was to the island, but I knew if I could recognize a rock or something, I could find my way there.

Suddenly a flash of lightning lit up the dark, damp forest, striking a tree only a few meters ahead of me. The tree caught fire, which rapidly began making it's way through the leaves and down the trunk, turning everything it touched into ash. I decided to test my luck, hoping I could blow out the fire with the force I had used on the car. If I couldn't, the whole forest might burn to the ground. I stuck my hands out in front me and focused my energy toward the burning tree. A flash of blue light formed into a clear ball in front of me, hovering above my hands. Surprised, I stared at the small ball of light which hovered only inches above my hands. I tried to concentrate on the fire and I focused my hands, moving the ball carefully toward the tree.

Seconds later, I had the entire tree contained in the light-blue ball. The fire stopped spreading, suffocating from lack of oxygen. Only moments later, the fire, which had burned a majority of the leaves on the tree and most of the trunk, was completely gone, leaving behind only the ashes and burnt remnants where it had struck.

I took my hands out from in front of me and the ball disappeared. I stood there, stunned, not really believing it myself.

Then I heard voices coming closer to me. Someone must have noticed the fire and called 911. I sprinted away from the burnt tree, not wanting to cause any suspicion about the once flaming tree that had "somehow" been completely put out.

I looked up at the sky through holes in the leaves and realized the rain was too light to have put out the fire, not to mention the fact that the tree had been low enough under the canopy of leaves that it was completely protected from the rainfall. I didn't know what the people might think, but I didn't want to be there when they arrived, just in case they started asking questions.

I began focusing on where I was running, eyeing everything as I passed and looking for something familiar.

I finally recognized where I was going, as I passed familiar rocks and trees I had noticed during the run back from the island. I ran faster, the voices getting closer to me as I ran. Up ahead, I noticed an opening in the trees and realized with relief it was the edge, the beginning of the water where the island was located a mile offshore.

I squinted in the dark as I neared the edge, searching the horizon for the small island. I noticed it a bit to my left and realized with horror that I had forgotten the most important thing: how I was going to get there. I arrived at the edge and my eyes searched the shore for anything that I could use to get across, but there was nothing.

I groaned. How could I have come this far only to realize I had no idea how I was even going to get to the island? I sat down on a rock and put my chin in my hands as I stared out toward the horizon.

It was then that I noticed a coast guard boat heading toward me. The guard aboard was shouting something and I suddenly realized they were yelling at me. The rain and the storm had stopped, having only lasted about five minutes at most. The coast guard came closer to me, yelling at me to freeze where I was, and I obeyed, wondering why. I knew I hadn't done anything wrong, and I wasn't trespassing anywhere.

The small boat hit the shore with a loud thump and the coast guard jumped off the boat, still yelling at me to freeze. I put my hands up and starting backing slowly toward the forest, as he walked toward me.

"Stop!" he shouted.

I froze, then suddenly broke out into a run, sprinting toward him. He cowered back in surprise and lifted his hands to block his face, tripping over backward in the sand. I threw a ball of force on the ground in front of him and jumped onto it and over the surprised guard, into the boat. He had left the keys in the boat, and I started it up, jolting the boat back into the water. The guard stood up, shouting at me to come back, but I kept pursuing toward the island. I didn't have any idea how I would get in or what I would do once I got in, but I kept going.

The boat hit the sand with a thud and I turned it off, killing the noise. The island seemed a lot more creepy than it had during the daytime and I was almost afraid to go in. Silently and reluctantly, I crept along the building, deciding to try my luck with the window we had crawled out of last time.

When I finally found it, it was locked. As a matter of fact, that window and most others had brand new locks, to be sure it wasn't opened from either side. Great, I thought.

I walked slowly around the building, eyes and ears peeled for anything out of the ordinary, or I guess, anything in the ordinary, like a guard patrolling the grounds. If I was caught, Griffin and I would both be in danger, so I had to be careful.

I came to a long drainage pipe that ran down the corner of the building and led off into the ocean. I figured I could climb it to the roof, hoping there may be a way inside from the top. I grasped the pipe tightly with both hands and used of all my upper body strength to pull myself up.

I had climbed about halfway up the pipe, when suddenly a surge of pain flew through me, affecting my stomach much worse than the rest of my body. I grimaced and let go with one hand, grasping my stomach and holding tightly to the pipe with the other. The pain in my stomach grew, and I tried to stay silent as I fought back the urge to scream. Just then, the pain rapidly switched to my head, and I lost control, crying out into the darkness. It reminded me of the first time Griffin's Crystal had acted up on him. Instinctively, both hands flew to my head and I fell, hitting the ground hard on my back. Then it went dark, two shadowy figures hovering over me as I fell unconscious.

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Yeah, I get it, cliffhangers are the WORST!!! So let know what you think about this chapter, cliffhangers and all, in the comments below and by voting if you liked it!!! Also, I LOVE fanfiction, so if you want to send me some, I will post them in the back as extra chapters!