Written by Eli
We worked on teaching them how to speak for about an hour, but then Maeve told us we could take a short break. I headed down towards the nearby beach. After fifteen minutes of walking I came to some flat rocks on the side of the beach. Something was trying to tell me that I knew this spot, but I ignored it. When I sat down on the rocks something caught my attention. It was a heart with the initials E+C inside it. Then I remembered that this was near the spot where Crystals family was going to build a new house of theirs. I decided to go to it.
I ran as fast as I could to the house. I was out of breath when I reached it. I knocked on the door and her mother answered. I was surprised that she recognized me after so many years. Her name is Summer. Summer said, "Eli, it has been four years since we last saw you. How have you been?" I told her, "I have been traveling with my sisters and our new teacher. I am fine. Just really depressed when I think about Crystal." With a fast, kind of sharp but sweet voice she relied, "Don't be. She didn't like it when you were mad or sad. I notice you are kind of angry now. What is wrong?"
I told her the whole story and she replied with, "Medwin he is back. Well, I have something Crystal wanted to give you herself at Christmas, but she never got around to it. If you know what I mean." After she said that she pulled out a necklace. It was a shining crystal wrapped in some hair of mine and hers with a string tied to it to hold it around your neck. The knot to hold the ends of the string together was tied in a shape of a heart. Then she said, "Crystal said that it was a pendent of true love. She also mentioned that it was supposed to protect you against any harm as long as both lovers were alive." She started to cry, but then finished up, "I would like for you to wear it in her memory. Remember, she hated it when you held your anger in. Even if it might have been that Taylor's fault still apologize. She would have liked it." Then she told me to leave because it was getting late.
I started to walk back to the park. When I got there I saw that they were supposed to be having a feast. But, an uninvited guest had arrived. I thought, 'Medwin. It is now or never. I have to rid us of him once and for all.' I ran as fast as I could towards the group. when I was close enough I saw he was aiming for Taylor. I was about to stop there and let him just kill him, but I remembered Summer's word. I ran as hard as I could. I got between Taylor and the blast, and it hit me. But it didn't hurt. It bounced off of me and right back at Medwin. It hit him hard. He was thrown far back. He looked up and left. All I could think was, she's alive.
Written By Lana
"Eli?" I asked, my voice quivering with fear. "Are you OK?" "Yes, Lana. But the question is, Taylor? Are YOU OK?" "Yeah. I'm fine. Just really shaken." the poor boy replied. "But I also have a question. Who in the name of the Lord was that?" 'Should we tell him?' I asked Maeve telepathically. 'They will find out sooner or later, so I guess it will be OK, as long as you don't get to deep into the story.' she answered.
As Eli, Zirconia, and I told the story of our life, Taylor just stood there, with his eyes as big as saucers. "Oh my Lord! I'm so sorry!" he said, looking like he was going to cry for us. That got me crying, and Zirconia pulled me into a tight hug. She explained that I hadn't known mother and father for long, and that almost every time they're mentioned, I started crying. All of the sudden, I realized just what had happened. "Eli?" I asked. "Yeah Lana?" he said. "How in the world did you repel that blow?" He pulled out a crystal pendent with a few strands of hair wrapped around it. "The jewel explains all." he said, with one of the few smiles that he has ever done, since Crystal had died, or so we thought...
When I woke up the next morning, I didn't recognize my surroundings until I realized where I was. "Hey! Anyone up?" I asked. "Yeah sis! I'm in here!" Eli quietly shouted. "How did I know?" I said, with a goofy grin on my face as I walked into the room were Eli was, absently fingering the Crystal pendent. Eli was known as an early riser in our family. "I can't believe that Crystal is still alive." Eli said, with a happy tone to his voice. "Yeah. I wonder if she will come back." I wondered out loud. "Hey, it could happen." said a voice from behind us. "Hey Caly! Hey Zirconia! You two are up!" I said, looking to check who was behind us. "Yeah. We were awoken by two certain people talking. And I'm not mentioning any names....." Caly said with a funny voice. "Hmm... I wonder who they could be." I said, my smile stretching a mile wide.
Written By Caly
To start off with, everybody was nervous around each other except me. I went on with life as always, but it seemed whenever there was an ‘outsider’ in the room, you could cut the tensity with a knife. So after the ordeal with Taylor and Medwin, the boys had no idea what to think of Eli, seeing as how he first trying to kill Taylor then saving his life the next day. Zirc and Lana were naturally shy, it was in their blood. I knew something had to be done to mix things up a little, or it'd be like this for weeks on end.
An ancient victorian mansion by the sea had been renovated and set aside especially for our little group and its training purposes. During a mid-afternoon break, we were all seven of us sitting in the atrium, which is like an indoor garden. It was utter silence among us, the only sound audible being the gentle burbling water of the stream running through the room. I decided to stir things up a bit.
“Hey Lana, remember that great game we used to play?” Lana wrinkled her nose. “Aww, Caly, I was really little. That game is for babies. I mean, I'm almost twelve.” I expected her to say something like that, but I knew it was our only hope. “Oh come on, for old times sakes? You always loved playing. Besides, what else have we got to do? Sit around the house for hours, and becoming as lifeless as Eli?” I looked over at him as he shot me an evil glance. “Oh, all right,” she relented.
Then Lana took charge of the game, like she used to, and I noticed a twinkle in her eye. “Okay, Eli and Caly, you're the parents because you guys are the oldest,” she said. “You can count me out of your baby game. I'm going to take a walk.” Eli stalked off clutching a small crystal pendant. Lana stuck her tongue out at her older sib as he left. “Okay, Isaac, you're the father and Caly's the mother, Zirc's the maid...” Zirc pouted. “Why do I always have to be the maid?” “Because. I say so. Taylor's the butler..” Taylor began whining as well. “Caly, you said Zac was gonna be the butler this time.” Zirc and Lana gave me a surprised look. “You played our game with them?” Lana asked. “Well, I had to keep Jessie, Avie, and Mackie entertained, and they just kinda got pulled into it,” I replied. Lana shrugged. “And me and Zac are the kids.” I smiled.
“Okay, Zirc and Tay, you heard the lady. Go upstairs and clean my room.” Zirc gave me an evil glare. “Zirc, you and Tay go clean NOW.” I gave her a quick wink. Her face lit up. “C'mon Tay, let's go,” she said, trying to sound depressed. They dragged themselves up the stairs. “Hey Ike, when are you gonna...mmmph...”Zac’s sentence was cut short by Isaac's hand over his mouth. He cleared his throat, and spoke in a deep voice, “Zac, your ‘mother’ and I are going for a walk. You and your sister behave.” With that, Isaac took my hand and led me out through the door.
We walked in silence, enjoying the sounds of the afternoon. A distant sea crashing against the rocks, the robin singing his sweet song of courting, the sound of the wind rustling through the giant maple trees. We reached the bridge, and I leaned over the side, watching the white water rushing past the rocks. I was startled by the sensation of Isaac's body brushing up against my own. He rested his head on my shoulder, letting his arms wraps around my waist. “Getting a little too into this father role, huh Ike?” I commented. “Just getting started,” came the soft reply. I turned around, finding myself 4 inches from his face. I could actually feel his warm breath on my cheek. He looked directly into my eyes, and I could do nothing but gaze right back. “Isaac,” I whispered. “Hmm?” “You have beautiful eyes.” That thought ran through my head. ‘You have beautiful eyes?’ Where did that come from? I must've sounded so stupid.
“Caly, I have to get something off my chest,” he said suddenly. ‘Uh-oh,’ I thought. “Caly, for the past couple of years...Ever since I saw you I...What I mean is...” I had to smile at his nervousness. It was just so cute. I watched him pace around in circles thinking and saying things to himself over and over. “I love you.” I blinked. “What?” “I love you, okay, I love you!!” he almost yelled. I suddenly felt a little light-headed. “Isaac, I'm not feeling too good. Take me home,” I said in a whisper. He put an arm around me and led me back to the house.
I walked into my room where Taylor and Zirc sat talking on the floor. I think I scared them by my facial expression because they stopped talking and stared at me. I stretched out on my bed, and remained there, motionless, for the better part of an hour.
The next day, during a recess from schooling, I wandered into the music room. I plunked out a few keys on the piano. Finally, I got up from my chair and went to the window. I gazed out at the treetops, and noticed a perfect white dove perched on a branch just outside the window. A song came to mind and I let myself go. Oooh...through the night....I’ll be watching over you... Ooh...through the night...I’ll be standing over you...
I continued until the last note faded into the silent room. Then there came a noise and I turned to see Eli hurry from the room. I rushed out after him, calling out “Eli!!” I turned a corner and nearly ran into him. “What do you think you were doing? You know I don't like people listening when I practice, “ I scowled. “I- I'm sorry, okay? It's just...your voice...it. Oh never mind.” He turned to walk away.
“It reminded you of Crystal, didn't it?” He stopped. “You have been trained well,” he replied shortly. “What was that song?” I looked him in the eyes. He truly was entranced by this song. “Just something I wrote one night. No name for it yet.” “Oh, okay.” He left me standing there confused, yet pleased with myself.
Written By Zirconia
I wondered throughout the large mansion, thinking to myself. Caly had been awfully quiet these past two days. So had Isaac. I remembered the look on her face yesterday, when she came into her room when Taylor and I were talking. Her emotions were easily read- bewildered and confused. But over what, I don't know.
Eli hadn't really been himself either. He was being very secluded, or at least more so than normal. And this thing about Crystal was scaring us all. It was weird how just a few days earlier things were nice and normal, but now everything was mixed up and crazy.
I wondered around the corner and bumped into someone, causing them to fall backwards and hit the floor, hard. I knelt down to help them up when I realized it was Taylor. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Taylor!" I exclaimed. I had no idea why i was so embarrassed. I have always been a klutz, and always will be, so normally little things like this don't bother me at all. Taylor shrugged and gave me a smile. "It's ok, really. No big deal."
As I pulled him to his feet, our eyes locked. For a brief moment I was entranced by his sparkling blue eyes. Their color was so deep, it was almost as if I could see right into his soul. He flushed slightly and looked away, and it was then I noticed we were still holding hands. I didn't say anything on the matter; if he didn't care and I certainly didn't, let it be. I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything he spoke first.
"Hey Zirconia, have you talked to Caly recently? Is it just me or is she acting very weird?" he asked me. I eyed our hands in a careful manner, hoping it wasn't too obvious I was enjoying the moment. "No, she's been so out of it these past days. What happened yesterday? She came in the room and it was like, whoa..." I trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished. Then I remembered something. I immediately closed my eyes and concentrated on Caly. Her feelings swirled around me in a whirl of compassion, love, confusion, and loneliness.
"This is odd," I commented. Taylor gave me a strange look. "What is?" he asked. I looked at him with wide eyes. "Did I say that out loud?" He nodded. I looked down at the floor, then back up at him. "I used my powers to sense Caly's feelings," I began. Taylor coughed. "Huh?" I sighed. "Well, she feels love and compassion for someone, but is confused and alone." Taylor shook his head. "How do you know this, though?" I paused for a moment. They weren't supposed to know, at least not yet, but Taylor deserved some type of explanation for this. "It's another power I have. I can sense how another person is feeling, what their emotions are." Taylor dropped his hand from mine and looked me right in the eyes. "Then what am I feeling right now?"
I gazed wordlessly at Taylor, not quite sure how to respond. "Well?" he urged, almost challengingly. I sighed, then closed my eyes and became numb to the world. His emotions rushed into me like torrents of raging water. I could instantly tell he was a very emotional person. Slowly, they became clearer. Everything was amazingly vivid and clear. That was a very rare thing to happen.
One thing I have learned not to do is to talk while I try and accomplish my task. So after I had gathered all his feelings, I opened my eyes and looked right at him. "You are very emotional," I commented. He just stared. "You are feeling unsure of what to do over a task, and know that either way could be a wrong decision. You feel worry for another. And you have a streak of jealousy, mixed in with some anger. I also detect a hint of love." I finished in an even tone.
Taylor was still staring at me wordlessly. "I....geez." he smattered. I just looked at him. At that moment I wasn't really sure what to do myself. Taylor shook his head. "That was awesome." The comment seemed to ease the air of tension surrounding us and, we both laughed. "Thank you." We fell silent, and Taylor allowed his eyes to meet mine again. Then he walked past me down the hall.
Late that afternoon I found myself knocking on Caly's door. "Hey Caly, it's Zirc," I called silently. "It's open," she responded dully. I walked into her room and closed the door behind me. "Hey, I thought you may be in need of some ears right now," I told her with a smile. Caly smiled back, and leaned against the small mound of pillows covering her bed's headboard. "You read me, didn't you?" she asked. I shrugged. "A friend is a friend. Now what's up? You've been walking around like a total zombie lately!"
Caly played with the eyelet lace edging on one of her pillows. "I... I'm confused." I nodded. "About what?" Caly propped herself up on her elbows. "Ok. Nothing we say leaves this room, right? It's between you, me, and the lace on this stupid pillow." I held back a giggle as I agreed.
"Ok. Do you remember yesterday when we played that game? And Ike and I went for a walk?" I nodded again. "Well... he told me.. he told me he loved me." I stared at my friend, not quite sure of how to respond. "Oh. My. That's..." "Weird." Caly supplied. "Right. Weird. So what did you tell him?" Caly scrunched her nose in distaste. "I said I wanted to go home. I couldn't think of anything else to say! I had never expected this!" I gave her a reassuring hug. "Caly, things will work themselves out. They always do. But who you really need to talk to right now is Isaac."
Caly sighed, but nodded her head and stood up. "I'm going now. Wish me luck.," she said. I followed her out of the room, but turned left down the hall instead of going on her quest to find Isaac. On the way Eli asked me to come to his room. 'Odd' I thought to myself. 'Why does he want to talk to me?'
"Hey Zirc," Eli greeted me with a small smile. I smiled back and sat on his bed. "Hey big bro. Long time, no talk!" Eli laughed his agreement. "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. About.... you know." Yeah, I knew all right. Crystal. "Eli, do you really think she's still alive?" I asked softly. His forlornly shook his head. "I don't know. If only there were some way we could find out."
We both fell silent, contemplating the statement. I looked at my brother, then gave him a hug. "What was that for?" he asked in surprise. I shrugged. "Can't I hug my own brother without getting questioned?" He smiled. "Hey Zirc, did you know your eyes are orange?" he said in a sing-song voice. I switched my stare from him to the door. When I looked back, he was laughing. So I ran from the room, fighting the tears that were forming in my eyes.
Chapter Six-Not up yet
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