The Goings On Of Alex Anderson

Chapter 01

Corners. Too many corners for my liking. What remained of the lights were scattered far from each other, and they offered virtually no light at all. Shadows crept from corners as I swhooshed past them, skidding at corners and falling over, but never slowing down. The alternative was unthinkable. I just kept going, kept going, corner after corner flying by, up one set of stairs, down another, the sound of something scurrying after me never slowing, as if it had all the energy in the world. I was quickly running out of energy as I stumbled across a courtyard with Ivy creeping all the way to the stars. I started climbing, climbing to freedom, as I heard the thing chasing me enter the courtyard. I didn't look back as I kept climbing, and the chaser kept following me, barely breaking its stride, only sighing for a second. "Come down from there," the voice said. "You can't escape just by strength against significantly better opponents," it continued, now sounding like a bored boy's voice. Another person entered the courtyard, and this time I stopped and looked down. A girl now stood down on the ground, with a scowl on her face as she called my pursuer down. I took this as a cue to keep going, and had almost reached the top when I felt a hand on the neck of my t-shirt. I looked behind me, and saw the girl. "Oh shi", I began, but I never finished as she pulled me down to the ground, slamming my body into the ground before landing gracefully next to me. "You were so close this time Alex", the girl ,Marlene, said. "Really, it was the best you've done so far."

"Still didn't escape," the boy, Jack, countered. "And your refusal to use even the most basic of your powers still eludes me. You could have made it out but no, you won't use it. The amount of trouble you get in with teachers... " he continued.

"Yeah yeah, you're just jealous that even though he doesn't use his powers he still stayed ahead of you for a solid few hours." Marlene shot back. I was still trying to gain my breath, and after a few minutes I rolled over and said "I believe in winning on my own merit, not using my power to bully others. And anyway, I do use some when I'm THROWN ON THE GROUND from a high distance, or when I absolutely have to", I said, glaring at Marlene. "Honestly, it is like you are trying to kill me!"

"Well I'M sorry," Marlene retorted. "I didn't realise I had to be gentle with his Highness".

Jack stifled some laughter, and ended up snorting. "Mar mar, leave his highness alone" he said, in between snorts of laughter. Marlene spun around to face him, her face slowly getting redder. "WHAT did you call me?" she yelled, voice full of malice. She hated when people called her Mar mar, because it was on a Christmas card from her mother a few years ago that Jack had opened, and she said that it was a "weak nick-name" that she wanted to eradicate because it made her seem "weak". It didn't, and everyone was dead afraid of her anyway, but she hated it. She had zero tolerance on its usage, especially from her friends, so she walked up to Jack and punched him so hard he went flying backwards into the wall behind him. "Let's get back to the centre. You were the last one, so you had all of us searching for you."