Gifted With Curses

Chapter 1

My mum was trying to hide us out while she waited to take her big strike on Tasmania so I'd been growing up in Australia since I was about 4 years old. Xenus said it was good to hide right in front of the witch-hunters, where they wouldn't expect any terrorist who knew about them to be. Even with that in mind though, Xenus would go to a different country each time she attacked, so she wouldn't give away her spot. At the moment she kept going to a country called Serbia in Europe to do her dirty work, making detectives sure she lived there. Seriously, they could be fooled way too easily these days.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out two white sets of air pods, putting one in each ear. Reaching into my blazer I withdrew my phone and began to play music, going through my usual routine of walking to school. The music blared in my ears, drowning out all the sounds of life hurrying around me or any thoughts. I liked this part of the day. It was like an escape from the world where I could just listen to a good beat.

A strand of my curly brown hair fell on my face as I blew it away, looking ahead to my school. It was quite a nice school, Oceanview college. It was one of those pretty big private schools for catholic children that Xenus could only pay for because of the money she stole. I collected my thoughts and tried to clear my mind. Now I was just a simple Coral Woodlock. I was not a witch, had no power and as far as everyone knew, I was just a regular boy in middle school.

My green eyes lit up as I saw a figure ahead. One too familiar for me to pass. "Hey, Harvey!" I called, running up to my mate.

Running was one of the things I was really good at. When I was little, I used to sprint so much that my mother thought my power was superspeed and tried training me in that. But as I darted towards my friend now, I could tell something was wrong, the number of people crowding around him, all their faces creased with worry. The teachers approached with students talking worriedly beside them. And then I saw something else that filled me with rage. Two of the year eleven boys that always picked on year seven's were standing to the side, looking smug and pleased with themselves.

I'll be with you in a second Harvey, I thought to myself. Just let me deal with these jerks first, I won't let them raise a hand on you one more time.

I casually walked up to the year elevens, trying to hide the anger boiling up inside of me. "Hey-" I began to say but one of the two dudes grabbed my arm and swung me behind a dumpster where we wouldn't be seen.

Perfect, I thought. Let them think they can beat me up in private.

The two big guys slowly advanced up to me, trying to seem as threatening as possible.

"Wow," I said sarcastically. "I am quivering with fear. You guys look like two big frogs trying to seem scary, what are you - a Thanos wannabe?"

That seemed to get on their nerves. One of them ran up to me, his fist ready to smack me right in the face. But the next thing that happened is what I like to call the Uno reverse card.

Just as his fist was about to make contact with my face I ducked to the side and grabbed his arm. In one fluid movement, I had his arm twisted behind his back, kicking him in the spine so that he fell to the ground.

"Little devil," I heard the other guy murmur before he tackled me to the ground, pressing my face into the dirt.

Quickly, I rolled over so he was against the ground and elbowed him in the ribs. He let out a low groan as I stood up and surveyed the area. No one had seemed to notice what I'd done and anyway, I didn't beat the guys up too bad - they wouldn't even have to go to the hospital. But I sure as hell had taught them a lesson.

"And just for the record," I said, squatting down next to them. "No one picks on my friends, okay?"

The two seniors just nodded, fear evident in their eyes.

"Cool," I dusted off my hands. "I guess we're done here. See you around."

With that I got to my feet and ran to Harvey as fast as I could, barging through the crowd of school kids that surrounded him. A few people shot me dirty looks but I just ignored them, my only focus was trying to get to him.

As I caught up to him my heart beat faster, thumping hard. Harvey looked back at me, but not the Harvey I knew.

Blood flowed freely from his face, dripping to the ground. His eyes were glazed over with pain and he lay on the ground like a rag doll. He looked hopeless, far different from the friend I had. Now I wish I might just have punched those seniors just one more time, it would be nothing compared to this.

God, I told him not to tease those boys too much! What's he gotten himself into?

Before I could even think I was by his side, my hands lightly touched his chest. At that moment I couldn't think, my brain was clogged up with worry for him that I didn't even stop to think about what this would mean. What a big mistake I was making.

Harvey's blue eyes began to brighten again, his short blonde hair no longer stained red. He suddenly looked just as he always had. That tall, athletic boy. My heart stopped as I realised my mistake too late. People might mistake me as a witch-hunter, a person with two powers - gifts. But if they figured out I had a third I would be dead, a known witch to the world. My heart beat thumped in my ears, louder than it ever had as a sleek black car pulled around the curb, carrying a symbol I knew all too well. A symbol I was meant to stay away from. Of course, they had watchers everywhere looking for people with powers, especially in schools. What had I done?

I watched as the car door opened, revealing a girl in a camouflage outfit. She looked quite young - around twenty with long red hair and pale skin. Freckles scattered across her cheeks, only emphasising her bright green eyes. She wore a black leather belt, the sun reflected on the glistening metal of various weapons peeking underneath it, looking deadly and newly sharpened. She confidently strode toward me from across the road, her chin held high. I glanced around. There was no way out. The streets were full of kids going to school, some standing there gawking at me. I would get caught before I could escape.

When I looked back, the girl was already standing in front of me. She smiled thinly, looking more intimidating than ever up close as she towered over me, her shadow engulfing me. Her height seemed unfair compared to mine since I'd never been very tall compared to others my age.

"I'm Jade," she said matter of factly. "I'm here to take you to the cadets' training squad for the military. The train's on the way to take you to Tasmania already so don't bother trying to pack." Jade stuck her hand out for me to shake it. "Welcome to the group, soldier."

I took a deep breath before reluctantly shaking her hand, my heart thumping. The whole soldier thing was an obvious lie, deceiving the public of what was actually happening. Who were the citizens of Tasmania, actually? And if I went there, I might as well count myself to be dead within a day. Or nearly. It would be just a matter of time before they figured it all out.