Selection (Book 2 of P.O.E. chronicles)

Chapter 26 This is how I live now

I was starting to get riled up; narrowing my eyes I hurled the coffee table against the wall and it promptly shattered into several pieces with a loud clutter and fell to the ground. I could sense someone trying to sneak through my brain wall and gritting my teeth I followed his brain wave and instead broke through his and gave him a blow that would ensure a headache for the rest of the day.

With that done I created a mind wall all around my mind and one around myself. I was proud that I had enough self-control not to lash out on them despite the fact that they attacked me first. It would not help my current status if they found out I had severely injured several of their members.

“Impressive.” Gerald said as he cast an uncaring glance at his minion who was now clutching his head and groaning. I rolled my eyes; I made sure that it wouldn’t hurt that bad, what a weakling.

“Thank you, now can you leave me alone?” I demanded, crossing my arms and glaring at him. This guy acted like he owned the place but the fact that his surname wasn’t even de Silver spoke otherwise. His uncaring attitude also unnerved me; I made a mental note to avoid this guy as much as possible when I get out.

“Join hands with me.” He said, leaning towards me ignoring my last remark. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw the girl stiffen and deepen her scowl. “We would make a powerful team and with our powers combined the next generation will be unstoppable.”

Blinking rapidly I discreetly pinched myself, my defenses momentarily forgotten as I wondered if this guy in front of me was for real. The sharp pain on my arm told me that this wasn’t a hallucination, or a dream (I doubted I could dream something like this up). This guy whom I just met for ten minutes arrogantly addressed me, attacked me with his posies and now asked me to basically have children with him. Was that just me or was there something seriously wrong with this picture?

“Excuse me.” I said, finally breaking out of my shock and offered him the only explanation I could think of. “Are you high?”

The long haired guy burst out laughing but was quickly silenced by an elbow to the ribs courtesy of the girl next to him. Gerald did not seem at all bothered by the question; in fact, his face was still a mask of calm as he leaned forward even more.

“Think about it.” He said, his eyes so intense that I felt like they were boring holes in my head. “With the powers and the bloodlines the two of us represent, our combination would bring the de Silver family above all others.”

As I continued to stare into his eyes I realized this guy was dead serious. I secretly wondered what would Tom say if he was here with me now; even if we didn’t sort out our feelings for each other, there was no way I would even consider this guy’s offer. “We are people, Gerald.” I sighed, trying to make him see reason. “Not cattle. And this is not a breeding program.”

Before Gerald could answer, the door opened and Lynette walked in with Heather following closely behind, as well as several elderly members. Surprise fluttered across her face when she saw the collection of people in the room and the conversations between them lulled as the rest of her companions observed the scene before them.

“Gerald.” An elderly man stepped forward and frowned, not too bad-naturally at the mentally disabled man, then at the rest of the gang. “Raven, Liam, Sam and Ron; what are you doing in here?”

“We were just getting to know Miss Beckett, grandfather.” He replied gracefully, standing up and bowing slightly to the group, as though he did not just propose to me that we should get married and have children moments before. “I can see that you have business to attend to, I shall leave you to it.”

Before anyone could say anything they piled out of the room so quickly that I was sure this kind of confrontation happened on a daily basis. Gerald’s grandfather shook his head as Heather closed the door behind them before turning his attention back to me.

“Abigail.” Lynette said, stepping towards me and placing a hand on my shoulder.  “I would like you to meet the council members.”

I nodded at them and forced a pleasant smile on my face, praying that they had finally decided that I wasn’t brainwashed to be a spy.

“Let’s have a seat.” Gerald’s grandfather said and gestured for me to sit down. I made sure that they were settled down first before I did. At times like this manners were very important.

“John has told me a lot about you.” Another elderly man with kind blue eyes said to me and I smiled back at him; it was good to know that someone had put in a nice word for me apart from my own grandmother.

“My name is Harold de Silver.” Gerald’s grandfather introduced himself, the kind old man was called Thomas and a woman about Lynette’s age who was dressed in a silk pant suit called Gretel.

“Under the excruciating circumstances that you were found in the forest as an unrecorded member of the de Silver family,” Harold begun, placing his hands together in a manner that was eerily similar to his grandson. “We had to confirm your account. We were finally able to contact Nirmal Ganesh who confirmed your story, and also of your discovery with Nigel Peterson.”

Nigel. A smile tugged on the corner of my mouth as I remembered the eccentric POE. He was truly one of a kind and I wondered how he was doing. My mind begun to drift away from the conversation only to snap out of it at the last minute.

“…we are happy to welcome you to the family.” Harold smiled warmly at me which I returned with a hasty smile, having spaced out on most of his speech. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Lynette nodding approvingly and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her.

“We have assigned temporary living quarters for you.” Harold continued and my ears perked up. “You will be staying at the youth section until further notice.”

One look at Lynette and I knew that this wasn’t what she had wanted, however I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulder. Whether I admitted it or not, the acceptance of my family was important to me. It seemed ridiculous, since I didn’t even know they existed till recently, but they made me feel less alone in this strange world. A world that I lived in now.

------------------------------------------------

Sorryyyy for the long break in update - had the worst writers block (or a case of laziness/brain malfunction)

Anyway just to let you lovely fans know that i am off to voluntering in Greece :P (don't hate me, last summer holiday of my life) for the month. Not that any of you care, but I also managed to get a 2i for my third year in Uni! I thought I was going to get 2ii :S - one more year and I am done with higher education :D

I am excited that I am over my block and the next chapter will be the BIG reveal that would answer A LOT of questions as well as bring up more *evil laugh*

I have created an ask.fm: ask.fm/shadow_cheah

go ahead and ask me questions there!

I am bring my laptop to Greece to cramp in more writing, but I am not sure if I get much wifi however i would try my best to upload whenever i do!

Meanwhile - comment and vote! Let me know what you think of Gerald! (he really isn't a love interest for those of you who are ready to kill me, he's just, well, one-track minded).

And a huge shoutout to my editor Avanish who put up with my irregularity