Slayers: Book One

Calling All Slayers (1)

Just breathe. Everything will be fine.

I tried to calm my racing heart as I looked up at the sign up sheet. The talent show was in a couple weeks and these were the last of the sign ups before the auditions. My palms felt clammy as I grasped the pen attached to the board. Maybe they'd actually come.

The whole idea made my stomach flutter with even more nerves. I was practically invisible. To my family, teachers, and just about everyone else. If someone were to ask, 'Hey, do you know Stevie?' the person would indefinitely say no. And while it sounded like a normal high school kid cliche movie script, it really couldn't be more truthful.

"Hey, watch where you're going." I fell forward into the locker, a huge football player had just slammed into me on his way to practice. Jerks. The whole of them.

Feeling tired of being unseen, I stepped forward before I could change my mind.

Stevie Jones

I signed my name on the one remaining line and felt my heart beat double time. This wasn't going to go well, I just knew it deep down. Something felt wrong but I couldn't place my finger on it. Maybe it was the realization that I suffer from your more than average case of stage fright. The chattering of students behind me dulled into a eerie silence. I turned to face everyone only to find a group of kids walking down the halls.

They were all really tall, except for one little red head at the back of the group. There were eleven of them, all having similar features. Ever since they had arrived a month ago, they had been the talk of the town. Not that Decatur was really that big of a town, and Colorado not really that big of a state.

They walked past me, drawing a chill around me and I shivered. The whole group just screamed dangerous as they walked past. There was this air of superiority surrounding them, screaming 'Get back or I'll make you wish you were dead!'.

There was the smallest red head, I thought her name was Elle or Ellie, something similar to that. There was a tall guy with dark brown hair and the features of a movie star. I'd heard some girls giggling and calling him Ryan. Other names floated through my head. Missy, the perky blonde with a wide white smile. Daniel, the boy with the straight nose and buff shoulders. Covet, the small medium sized girl with black hair and even blacker eyes. Shawn, the boy with a swimmer's body and blonde hair. Eliza, the girl who wears nothing but Rolling Stones t-shirts. Leo, the short guy with wiry muscles. Britt, the ballerina type girl. Michael with the beautiful green eyes. Finally, the leader with midnight colored hair and ice colored eyes, Gaven.

I stood completely still as the last little red head passed me. She tossed me a knowing wink and I was frozen, unsure if I'd even witnessed that. In fact, the whole group seemed to have turned their head to glance at me as they walked by. I heard some cheerleaders make some rude remarks about their apparent interest in me. I was sure they were just wondering why I was wide eyed and scared.

Once the group of people had turned the corner, I let out a gust of air and ran to my next class.

What the hell was that all about?

The rest of the day passed quickly and as I walked out of the school into the parking lot, the same eleven kids stood around three cars. They were watching the entrance to the school silently, as if waiting for something. I hunkered down into my jacket and thundered down the steps. The kids watched my every move.

XXXXXX

I woke up the next morning to a stinging pain on the inside of my left wrist. It burned like someone was drawing on me with a red hot poker. I clutched it to my chest and hissed lowly.