4
She couldn’t stay in the school that day. There was too much running through her drained brain. Heather didn’t even bother stopping by the nurse’s office. She slowly made her way towards the front door of the school. Finally, Heather had made her way to the exit, and flopped her hand on the door handle. She yawned; she could barely force one foot go in front of the other. She made it outside, the December-Boston air biting at her bare arms. She managed one more step outside before exhaustion overtook her body. She slumped onto the ground, fighting to keep her eyes open and her mind alert. Through half-opened eyes, she saw a shadowy figure running up to her. The person knelt down beside her.
“Oh, no. This is not good. Not good. I knew this would happen!” a British voice said. Henry supported Heather behind her neck, just as she completely blacked out. Henry picked up her limp body and carried her out of sight of Helms High School.
Heather’s eyes slowly fluttered open. Everything was blurry at first. She blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision. A bright fluorescent light shone down on her face, half blinding her. She raised her hand to her eyes, partly to block out the light and partly to rub the sleep out of her eyes, and groaned. Heather squinted, and could discern the outlines of two blurry people standing over her, staring down. Startled, she gasped and jerked, but a protective hand gently held her down.
“Calm down, Heather. You’re alright. You’re safe,” A soothing, accented voice quickly said.
“Jesus Christ, Henry! You scared me half to death!” Heather exclaimed, quickly sitting up.
“Yeah, I guess I kinda do that a lot, don’t I?” Henry responded guiltily.
“Where am I? How long was I asleep? And who are you . . . wait a second, I know you!” Heather rapidly questioned, now fully awake and feeling as if caffeine had just been pumped through her veins. “You’re that guy from my vision! Er, connection . . . or whatever that was!”
The second person looming over Heather was, in fact, the incredibly aged man. Heather could see him more clearly now than ever before. His wispy thin white beard deeply contrasted with his bald head. The crinkles by his striking blue eyes made him look eternally happy. His weathered hand still gripped the same wooden cane, and she could tell he was putting most of his weight on it. He seemed to be everything at once: weak yet strong, old yet young, happy yet sad, superior yet equal. Heather had never seen, nor met, anyone as strange and awe-inspiring as this man. She had the immediate feeling that she wanted to please him, no matter what.
“You’re absolutely right, Ms. Heather. I am ‘that guy from your vision,’” the man chuckled. “But, let me introduce myself formally. I am Damien Kidell, creator of the Kidellians and current leader and coach of all Kidellians. Pleasure to meet you.” He stuck his shaky, withered hand out for Heather to shake.
“Cool.” Heather responded intelligently, and shook his hand. Damien’s skin felt like sand paper, and it was so fragile that Heather felt as if she could snap it in half easily. “So, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but where exactly am I?”
Damien smiled. “You’re in the Kidellian Headquarters, KH for short. But really, it’s an abandoned old warehouse.” Heather stood up and truly inspected the place for the first time since she had arrived. She had seen this place before. It was the same warehouse as in her connection thing. The target, pool, and miscellaneous weapons were still there. She also noticed a table in the corner. There were random objects strewn carelessly around the warehouse, such as bows and arrows, clocks, shoes, and random pieces of paper. On all the walls, there were thousands of photos, some looking a hundred years old and some looking a few days old. From what Heather could tell, all the photos were candid shots of people. She also noticed a race track circling the outermost edges of the room.
“We should hire a housekeeper, shouldn’t we?” Damien joked, seeing Heather survey the warehouse. Heather tore her gaze away from the warehouse and met Damien’s old, wise eyes once again. She faintly smiled, slightly confused by Damien’s quirkiness and humor.
“Sir, should I . . .” Henry began to say, but slowly faded out, implying something that only Damien understood. Damien sighed.
“Oh, I suppose you should. I’ll go get it.” Damien turned around and slowly staggered off. Henry turned around and faced Heather. He had a smirk on his chiseled face.
Heather intently studied his face. “What?” She asked, bewildered by his expression.
“Oh, nothing! This is going to be fun, don’t worry,” Henry laughed, making Heather worry. He quickly turned around and followed Damien to the far wall of the Kidellian Headquarters, leaving Heather to scramble and catch up, yelling, “Hey! Wait!”
Henry carefully took a piece of paper off the wall and slammed it onto the table. The paper looked relatively new. It was normal paper, and the words written on it were clearly typed, and not with a typewriter. Heather squinted at it from the other end of the table.
“This is The Scroll. The piece of paper where Damien has kept an ongoing list of all the Givines that have ever been seen in a Kidellian. The piece of paper that lists some of the most powerful abilities the world has ever seen. The piece of paper that Lykos's army has tried countless times to destroy. The piece of paper that proves to you and everyone else that you truly are a Kidellian.”
Heather picked up The Scroll. “Are you serious? This is the almighty, generation-lasting paper? This looks like it could have been typed up by a fifth grader!”
“Well, it’s not the real one. We typed it up and made photocopies. Duh. We aren’t going to have the actual Scroll just lying around for anyone to damage or take!” Henry replied. Heather just stared at Henry like he wasn’t right in the mind. “Come on,” he continued. “Let’s find your Givine.” Henry whirled around on his heel, and, Scroll in hand, briskly walked over to the area with the target, leaving Heather straggling behind again.
“Sorry, what’s a Givine again?” Heather asked, quickly catching up to Henry.
“Your special power. Every Kidellian has one. We just have to figure out which one is yours,” Henry responded, looking over his shoulder at her. When they reached the target, Henry continued. “We already know that you do not have super strength, you can’t turn invisible, you’re not a shape shifter, and you can’t tell the future. Those are already the Givines of Kidellians in this Hirt. Everything else, though, is fair game. Here, stand right about here.” He positioned her next to the target, and slightly in front of it. Then he turned around and walked a few feet away.
“Why . . .” Heather asked cautiously, as Henry bent down and picked up a bow and an arrow lying nearby.
“We’re going to see if you’re immortal,” Henry said casually as he strung the arrow onto the bow and aimed it towards the target.
“Oh, no. No, no no no no. I can just tell you right here and now that I am one hundred percent, absolutely, not immortal. I got a cut from my cat one time. And he doesn’t even have claws! Oh my God, you’re going to try to kill me!” Heather freaked out, rambling.
Henry lowered his bow and arrow, and momentarily stared at Heather, frustrated. “Heather, I have spent over a year looking for you. And everyone else has searched even longer. Do you really think I’m going to kill you after all that? Now, just put your hand in front of the target.” He restrung his arrow, and took aim once again.
“Yeah, because that’s so much better! I’m just going to let you shoot an arrow at my hand. Do I really look that gullible to you? Well, I’m not! I can tell you that . . . ” Heather froze mid-sentence. As she was lecturing Henry, she was throwing her hands up in exasperation. Henry had released the arrow, and it went straight through Heather’s palm. There was a moment of silence as Henry looked on in anticipation, and Heather slowly turned her gaze toward her hand, mouth agape. The arrow had launched itself into her hand, going completely straight through. The tip came out the back of her hand, and blood leaked out onto the floor. The initial shock almost immediately wore off, and, to put it mildly, Heather freaked out. She screamed, yelling some of the most interesting and unique profanity.
Henry lowered the bow, and smirked at her pain. “Well, she’s not immortal.”
Damien looked on with interest, and laughed. “That’s quite the vocabulary she has.” Heather couldn’t hear him over the sound of her own voice. She was in so much pain that she started yelling out the first word or thought that came to mind. Damien wordlessly limped over to Heather. He reached out his free hand, and touched the palm of Heather’s hand where the arrow had hit. He closed his tired, everlasting eyes. The blood coming out of Heather’s palm slowly seeped back into her skin and disappeared. Heather immediately grew silent and stared in awe. The arrow disintegrated into ashes and fell to the floor beneath her. The gaping hole in the middle of her hand slowly regrew skin and closed up. The immense, unbearable pain that she had felt in her hand slowly crept away. When her hand had been completely healed, Damien slowly opened his eyes and his fingers left her palm. It looked like absolutely nothing had ever happened to her hand.
Heather stared at it, eyes wide. Shakily, she lifted her other hand and touched the skin where the arrow had penetrated. She gasped when she felt absolutely no pain and no scar. She turned her hand over and examined the back of it. “Okay . . . alright . . . okay . . .” Heather stuttered in high-pitched tones, trying to act as if what she just saw was completely normal.
“Alright, keep going,” Damien nonchalantly said to Henry as he slowly walked back to his corner.
“Let’s go,” Henry said with a mischievous smile as he crossed “immortal” off of the Scroll with a pencil. He sauntered over and grabbed Heather’s arm, pulling her over to the next test while she couldn’t take her eyes off of her hand.
Stumbling over her own feet, Heather managed to tear her gaze away from her hand and focus on walking, just as she almost fell into a small pool. It was one of those kiddie pools that was filled to the brim with water. Heather caught herself before she fell in and got completely soaked. She glanced at the pool, then up at Henry for an explanation.
“Another possible Givine could be that you can control the elements. All Kidellians can already control fire, but you could also be able to control air, water and earth. So, try to control the water. Clear your mind, and if it is your Givine, then the rest will come naturally,” Henry explained.
Heather turned back toward the pool. She took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders. She instinctively raised her hands mid-way and directed them towards the pool. Heather closed her eyes and let her mind focus solely on the task in front of her. She felt the energy pulsating through her veins. Suddenly, her eyes opened and she jerked her arms up, hoping the water would follow. It didn’t. She glanced over at Henry.
“Try again,” He said encouragingly.
Heather sighed. She looked back over at the pool. She closed her eyes again, and reset her hands into the same position. The only thought running through her mind was, Focus. Her eyes fluttered open, and she threw her hands sideways. Nothing. She flopped her hands down to her sides and said, “Yeah, I got nothing.” Henry sighed and crossed “control elements” off of the Scroll.
This continued on for a while. Henry tried Heather at different tasks. She tried super speed, mind reading, being able to persuade, making potions, almost everything. None of them were her Givine. About an hour in, Heather was trying weapons.
“One of the most important Givines a Kidellian could have is weapons. They can pick up any weapon, whether they’ve used it before or not, and be professionally skilled with it. This is the last one on the Scroll, so I’m almost positive this is your Givine. Here, try this,” Henry said, picking up a bow and arrow and handing it to Heather. She grasped them out of his hands. Heather’s tongue poked out of the side of her mouth as she attempted to notch the arrow onto the string. After a few minutes of this futile activity, she finally got it and gave a triumphant squeal. She then lifted the bow, notched arrow up and aimed at the target in front of her. She struggled pulling the string back, and she knew that this was definitely not her Givine.
“Yeah, no. This is not it,” Heather said dejectedly, giving up all hope that she had a Givine and seriously starting to believe that she was not a Kidellian. She threw the bow and arrow down onto the concrete ground in frustration. She sighed and sat down, legs crossed. She rested her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.
Henry crossed “weapons” off. He paced back and forth, utterly confused. He pondered all the possibilities. “I don’t know what happened. She’s obviously a Kidellian. And all Kidellians have a Givine. Did we miss one? She’s got to have a Givine!” Henry muttered, mostly to himself, and looked back over the list.
“Henry, stop. Maybe I’m not. Maybe you have the wrong person. What if I’m not a Kidellian, alright? It would explain a lot. I just . . . I just want to go home,” Heather said, tired from all the trials and errors and near tears.
“Wait just a second,” Damien said, reappearing after being absent through all the trials. “So you tried everything, and you didn’t find her Givine?” he asked. Damien looked at Henry. Henry nodded. “Well, you didn’t try them all,” Damien said, staring intently at Henry.
Henry scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. Then he gasped when he realized what Damien was talking about. “No, Sir. You don’t think . . .” Henry whipped around and studied Heather’s piercing green eyes and soft brown hair as she sat staring at them having a vague conversation that completely and utterly confused her.
Damien shrugged. “It’s a long shot, but it’s still a shot. Try it.”
“Yes, Sir,” Henry replied. He rushed over to Heather, and yanked her up. “Come on, we have one more thing to try.”
“But I thought you said we tried all possible Givines!” Heather complained.
“Well, there’s one more. No one in the history of Kidellians has had this Givine before. When the Kidellian who has this Givine comes along, it’s supposed to signal the rise of Lykos and his army. All I can say is that I hope you don’t have this Givine, or else we are all in serious trouble,” Henry quickly explained as he dragged Heather by the wrist to the other side of the warehouse. When they got there, Henry pulled out an old chest that was shoved under the table in front of them. He opened it up and searched through the miscellaneous items before pulling out an analog clock. Henry quickly made sure that it was set to the correct time, then set it down onto the table. He then backed up and stood off to the side. “Alright, now see if you can control the clock by making it stop.”
Henry stared at Heather as she shook her hands and jumped up and down a little, preparing herself. She stared at the clock and tried to clear her mind. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Henry. “Stop staring at me like that! You’re making me nervous,” she exclaimed. Henry rolled his eyes, and threw his arms up in exasperation, but turned around and crossed his arms. Heather focused back on the clock. She stared at the moving seconds hand. Energy throbbed through her body. She focused all of that energy to her brain. Not a single thought was running through her mind; every ounce of energy and strength that she had was being focused on the clock. She became acutely aware of the ticking noise it made every second. At exactly the right moment, Heather instinctively closed her eyes, and opened them, her pupils growing wide. Everything around her had that golden hue to it, familiar from the previous connection. She focused directly on the seconds hand. It began to noticeably slow down, and as it did, everything around Heather slowed down as well. The seconds hand gave one last, slow, deliberate tick before stopping completely between the 11 and 12. Everything was as completely still and silent as the seconds hand. Her right hand, which hung at her side, intuitively started slowly spinning in a circle counter-clockwise. The seconds hand followed along as if she were holding a string connected to it and controlling it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Henry reverse what he had done, in slow motion. He slowly uncrossed his arms and turned back the way he had come, arms going up then down, and rolling his eyes. She saw Damien in the corner walking backwards in slow motion, his cane making loud cracks every time it hit the floor. Heather was controlling time.
She could feel all her energy draining fast. Heather innately knew how to let go of the time. She blinked hard once, and everything slammed back into present time. The seconds hand flew forward to the actual time, and Henry whirled back to how he was standing before, in extreme fast forward. Damien stumbled forward as he was returning to the way he was before Heather turned back time. Heather immediately collapsed from all that energy, with a loud crash! Henry, shocked, spun around, and just stared at Heather.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe it,” Henry exclaimed, looking terrified. Damien froze where he was, his aged, blue eyes going wide.
“Sir, it’s her. You were right. Heather is the Time Bearer!” Henry yelled to Damien. This was the last thing Heather heard before she completely blacked out for the second time that day.