THE GIFTED

CHAPTER 1

PAIN

Alexis

They say that light can shine through the darkness, but what if there was no light, to begin with. Be prepared for love and loss, good and evil, trust and betrayal and beyond all something epic, because this is our story.

Amber eyes peer into my soul and my body writhes in pain. Suddenly a strange and overwhelming numbness hits me, I scream in pain and agony.

Then it changes into something else, a thousand people, no, more than that. A Black army surges toward me. They radiate pure grade 'A' evil, I feel it in my teeth. Something Grandma Lillian used to say before she died. The worst thing is that I am right in their way, to my luck they seem to be far away but fast maybe too fast. The pain returns and I scream for the second time.

I gasp and open my eyes to see another pair of blue eyes looking at me with concern that was starting to become more and more familiar. My mother strokes my forehead lovingly, which has a soothing effect on me. Instinctively I search for my brother and sister.

A few rays of sunlight stream through the windows. It is probably around five-thirty in the morning. I sit up and motion for the jug beside my bed. It isn't there, but a small shard of my ceramic jug, fallen a couple of meters away catches my eye. When did my jug break?

"More dreams, huh?"

"I don't think you can call something that scares the crap out of you and leaves you in shock a dream!" I reply back to my one and only twin brother Andy.

I get out of bed and head to the bath to wash away the rest of my sleepiness. The muscles on my backache due to a restless night. I look in the mirror. I still look like myself but only the people who know me very well can tell that there is something wrong.

My eyes say it all.

I reach for my favourite, worn-out cosy jeans, sneakers and tank top. The sound of birds outside brings me back to reality. I head to the kitchen, where everyone is having breakfast. The room falls into an awkward silence; dad looks at me and gives me a warm smile that I love and invites me to sit down.

My younger sister Mia looks at me with her beautiful brown doe-like eyes. Both she and my brother inherited those warm and soulful eyes from my dad.

Nobody asks me about my nightmare, partly because they know what it is and partly because they don't want me to think about it all over again.

Dad goes to work at the shop, Mia heads to school, mom goes to work at the bakery and Andy and I run to catch the train to the capital, Omega, where we work as servants for the upper Asions – the Lords, Duchess and Dukes, and of course the royal family of Oridian.

We brisk walk to the train station, passing Mia's school. Meriden, my town, is not very popular like the other seven towns and cities that make up the entire of Oridian. But I have grown to love its natural beauty: the hills, valleys and waterfalls. It is one of the few places in the country that holds natural treasures as such.

When we were able to afford it, my dad used to take us hiking in the mountain paths, but those memories are slowly fading as the country's economic, political and social systems start to collapse. There are rumours that another kingdom is trying to invade Oridian. The once able army is now nothing more than a group of ten thousand weaklings.

My family often discusses what we should do in case of an attack, dad is one to be cautious, but he is right in being so. What do we do if there is an attack?

We enter the express train meant 'only for Orion's' like me and my brother. As the scenery flies by, I think back to the nightmare I had in the morning. The past seven days since my 16th birthday have all consisted of me dreaming the same dream, but still waking up in shock.