World of Sacrifice

Chapter 4 Sweater Weather

My walk home was filled with terror. Never know when something may attack me. When I got to the fork in the road leading to my house, I noticed a man-up ahead. I knew it couldn't have been a neighbor since no one else lived on this dead end besides my family. I took a step back and tripped over a log that wasn't there prior. I sat there in the dirt and contemplated my options. I could run screaming into town and get help, but that also could give me away if he hadn't already noticed me. The only other option I could think of was to just keep on walking home and try to ignore him. Not everyone was a killer, right?

I got up and dusted myself off. A cold knot of panic started growing in my stomach. If I turned to run, I was sure he could catch me with only a few steps. If I was to fight, there was a chance that I could get away. I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better look at the guy. I picked up the log I so gracefully tripped over. I could hit him hard enough with that to get away. Ya right.

My heart rate increased as I passed him. I stayed as far away from him as I could. I turned my head, trying to get a good look at him. He wore his chocolaty brown hair in a military cut with simple looking clothes. A gray sweater and black skinny jeans tucked into black biker boots. He was way too tall and muscular to be called normal. Another man was leaning against one of the huge oak trees. He had black hair that almost reached his shoulders. He wore a crisp white T-shirt with a black leather jacket. He appeared not interested in anything.

The brown hair guy looked at me as I passed him. Our eyes met for a moment and I froze. His brown eyes were bold and unafraid. His eyebrows furrowed tightly together as we stood there looking.

"You don't look dangerous," the brown hair guy admitted, sounding thoughtful, "does she, Marcus?"

He turned his head slightly to the side, never taking his eyes off me. My daze suddenly broke followed by my fiery anger. I squinted my eyes and nearly bit the words at him.

"What did you say? I don't think you have any room to talk sweater weather." Hearing this, he holds his head in confusion. "You don't think I'm dangerous? You just met me, you know nothing about me. What gives you the right to stand there with your hands in your pockets and talk to me in that attitude."

The brown hair guy opened his mouth, but was stopped by the black hair guy, Marcus, grabbing onto his shoulder. I didn't even notice him move from the tree line. Marcus whispered something too low for me to hear. At first glance, he appeared to have a ton of eyeliner on. But when he turned to look at me his blue eyes were just lined with thick dark eyelashes. I shook my head and started walking again.

"Never mind." They were a complete waste of time.

I hadn't taken 20 steps before I heard the crunching of gravel up ahead. I jerked my head up to find Marcus standing in the middle of the road a few paces ahead of me. I turned my head sharply around to find the brown hair guy standing behind me. I jumped away from his sudden closeness. He shrugged his shoulders at my response.

"You just don't look that dangerous. Why is that?"

"How should I know? I don't speak crazy."

I brushed past Marcus, careful not to touch him, quickly gaining speed as they fell into step behind me. I was in full run when I realized I was leading them straight to my house. I stopped dead in my tracks. There was no way I was letting them come near my house. I glanced down at my feet, racking my brain for a way to get rid of them. Marcus kept walking while the brown hair guy paused close to me. I was still looking at my feet when he cleared his throat.

"Who in the hell are you, and why are you following me?"

"I'm your worst nightmare!" At first I thought he was kidding.

I looked up to see his chest puffed out and standing as straight as possible. He reached out with blinding speed and grabbed my wrist, pulling me close to him. Consumed with panic I writhed in terror, but he refused to let go. I wanted to scream for help, but when I looked into his brown eyes, I felt like my soul was being pulled out of me.

"Leave her alone Adam, you know the rules." That one sentence made, Adam, let go of me. When he broke eye contact it felt as if he was no longer pulling me in. All I could do was stand there, afraid to move, afraid not to.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Adam chuckled. "I've always wanted to say that to one of you." I watched as he extended his hand. "My name is Adam and this is Marcus." He nodded slightly to the other guy. "...he's my, well, brother."

"Lies!" I jumped at the voice, it knocked me out of the daze I was slipping into. I slapped his hand away and stumbled backward. Adam smiled wickedly

"We are lairs but so was that thing." Adam sneered, I froze in panic. "The creature has been taken care of. You have nothing to fear, as long as you answer our questions." My glare turned hostile but it didn't waver his confidence.

"What do you want?"

"What do you want?"

"What was that thing?" Adam paused for a moment like the wrong words could set me off.

"It was an old student at your school. He was sent to recruit you."

"Did you kill him?"

"He was already dead if you haven't noticed." He had a point, I folded my arms.

"Do either of you two care to enlighten me on what I'm being recruited for?"

"Well to join the rebellion," Adam smirked.

"Rebellion? What rebellion?"

"The Dark has been planning a rebellion against the Light for a long time. Finally, they advanced on us and now we need new recruits."

"So what do you want with me?"

"Well...I can't answer that question just yet." I looked at Marcus for answers but he never looked in my direction again.

"Why should I join you?"

"Well we've already saved your life and if you don't we might just have to resort to other ways to get your loyalty."

"I'm not joining anything without answers!"

"Calm down Sarah, if you want-"

"How do you know my name?"

"We know a lot more about you than just your name. So do many others. Like I was saying, if you want more information, you'll have to meet us in the barn. You know the one. The one you love to play in."

With one last chuckle, he started walking back to town with Marcus in tow. As Marcus passed me I turned around to watch them. I made the mistake of blinking. When I opened my eyes they were gone. I really didn't want to go back to the old barn, but if I wanted to learn more about this, I guess some sleepless nights were in my future.