All the guys have been surviving the past days pretty well. We found water easily when needed, and for food Dan convinces injured animals to help us survive, which is one of the bonuses of having a mind freak with you.
“Dudes, I am so tired.” Axel says, I turn around and find that he’s half bent over from exhaustion. I laugh a little. “It’s not funny! I’m not fit like you, I might be half-wolf but doesn’t mean I’m buff.” He stands straight and flews to show off his ‘muscles’.
“At least you’re toned. I’m a freaking wimp.” Leo chimes in. He flexes as well. I just laugh at them and continue walking. Those two are pretty much the entertainment of this travel. Dan doesn’t talk much, unless it’s in your mind, and Seth . . . well, no one really likes Seth and he lags behind us all the time.
“So do you think we’ll ever find Skylar? I mean this forest goes on FOREVER!” Leo stretches his arms out to emphasize the size.
“I hope we find her.” Axel mumbles. I think that was just a thought said out loud, and we all heard it.
“Cause lover boy has got to get some sugar, huh?” Leo nudges him with his elbow teasing him. I can hear growling, and it’s obvious right away who it is.
“Shut up guys.” I whisper to them. “You’re not the only one who likes her.” I jab my thumb in Seth’s direction. Both of them look back with fear in their eyes, but Seth just turns and looks the other way. I can tell he’s mad, although we all know he has no chance with her. I kind of felt bead for him, but I also get an evil vibe from him, like he’s not all good. He seems to like her though, but she seems to have no interest in him at all.
“So where are we heading exactly?” Seth speaks up.
“I honestly don’t know. I mean we went without even thinking of a way to communicate with the others.” I stop, and plop down on the ground.
“I hope everyone’s OK.” Axel exhales as he drops down next to me. “Especially you know who.”
“Yeah I know how you feel. I feel the same about Meela.” Leo comes over and stands above us. He looks disappointed which confuses us.
“It’s not like I don’t worry about Kiera, but I keep strong and think positive.” He places a hand on both of our heads. “I transfer my positivity to you both.” Axel and I both just chuckle at him, but it did make us cheer up.
“Jayias.” I look over, my smile fades. It’s Seth. “I have something to talk to you about.” He turns and walks deeper into the woods.
“Man I should’ve given my strength too.” Leo says.
“Not that you have any.” I say as I stand up and walk over to where Seth is. I am honestly a tad scared to meet with him alone, he’s a violent guy. No one knows what he has in mind. When I finally reach him, his cloak is off. This is the first time I’ve ever seen him without it on.
He turns and I see him for the first time. He looks like a young teenager, with shaggy black hair, white streaks, toned, and tall.
“I’m not exactly who you think I am. You may not believe me at first, but I am the President of the Haldrin project. I am the one who granted you your powers.” He’s right I don’t believe him.
“I want proof that you are, and even if you are why would you be telling me?” We stare at each other in the clearing, sizing each other up.
“Jayias Sennet, Shape shifter. Born September 23rd, 2009, obtained September 23rd, 2010. You are now eighteen. Natural black hair, aquamarine eyes, five feet seven inches.” He takes a breath before he continues. “I am telling you this because there has been a group of Haldrins who have the power to overrun and possibly end the Haldrin experiment, and they recently escaped.” I know he’s talking about all of us, but why did he help us escape? “We had decided, right when the first two escaped, they would be the first two eliminated. Those two were you and Meela.” My breathing stops.
“Don’t you dare hurt Meela. You can kill me, but leave her alone.” I say with edge in my voice.
“Oh I’m so sorry, but you have no input on it, and I’m afraid Akaito’s deed has already been taken care of.”
“No, no, no, no!” I quickly shape into a tiger and pounce on him. I bite into his shoulder, I have no clue where this is going to go, but I do know that one of us is not going back to the others. Soon it’s getting tougher to sink my teeth in. I release him and back off, and realize he’s transforming as well.
He starts to grow in size, and black scales sprout all over him. His nails form into long talons, and a tail sprouts from behind him. Soon a full-fledged dragon is looking at me with piercing green eyes. I knew this was getting serious, he meant what he said.
One of us won’t be going back to the others.
I lunge at him once more, but he swats me away like I’m a mere fly. He plants a scaly foot on me and starts to push down. It’s getting harder to breathe, so I transform again.
I’m now a dragon as well. My white scales gleam in the sunlight, and my aqua eyes are filled with anger. His foot no longer crushes me. In fact I take it in my mouth and twist it, till I hear a crack. He lets out a roar in pain. I wonder if the guys back at the camp can hear it. Even if they can, one of us would have won by the time they get here.
He shakes me off, and I go flying into a tree. I peek open my eye and see that he’s limping towards me. If I just lie here, and let him come to me, I could have time to think of a plan. I close out everything around me, and think hard.
I’m brought back by a large swat at my chest. My eye shot open and I put my plan into action, forgetting that there’s blood all over my front side. I grab his neck in my mouth and take off to the sky. I’ll keep inching my way up, and once I get high enough, I’ll release him.
It gets harder to fly, so I decide I’m high enough. I swing my tail, which conveniently has spikes on the end, and sever the leather that creates his wings. As I’m doing this I feel teeth sink in to my front right leg. The bite is so deep, I let go of his neck just to let out a screeching cry. This was a big mistake on my part. It allows him to take advantage. He swerves around so he’s on top of me now.
“Time to say your last goodbye.” He grumbles. He releases my leg, puts his feet on mine, and flaps his wings with great force, pushing him upwards, and me hurdling towards the ground. I spread my wings, and turn so my feet are towards the ground.
Bad idea. My wings start to rip, and holes form in them.
Why bother anymore, I give up on trying, I'm tired of trying, there's no use in it anymore. She’s already gone anyway. I think to myself. I close my eyes, and let myself slowly form back into human. My wounds hurt even worse now, claw marks across my chest, bite mark on my right arm.
I crash trough a couple tree branches, and I know the end is getting closer. I’m waiting to feel the hardness of the ground, but I don’t feel it. I open my eyes. I’m only a few feet from it, but I’m not falling anymore. Am I floating?
“You don’t think we would let you give up that easily?” It’s Dan’s voice. His actual voice, but he never talks. I gain more consciousness and I realize I’m in someone’s arms. Dan’s arms.
He caught me. He wouldn’t let me die. He sets me on the ground.
“Are you OK!? We heard sounds and we came running! Where’s Seth?” Leo comes stumbling out of the mossy trees. “Jayias what happened to you!?”
All I can manage is cough or two, and as I lay here, I’m not in the woods. I’m not surrounded by my friends as I take my final breaths. I’m traveling through my past, living out the memories.
I run through the tall grasses with stubby legs. “Jay! Jay where are you?!” I ignore the frantic calling from my mother and continue running. I come to a clearing and there’s a vast spreading of water in front of me. There’s a small water fall, and cattails spot the place. I inch my way closer, hoping to find something even more fascinating. I finally reach the edge on the mossy rocks. I bend forward catching a glimpse of a couple fish. “Fishy!” I shout with triumph. I start to reach forward to touch one like any other curious toddler would do. Of course, it wasn’t the smartest idea. I slip on the rock and fall in, but instead of yelling and flapping my arms, I swim perfectly. I stay afloat. I can even see and breathe underwater. I swim for a good thirty minutes before my mother finally finds me. She stands there and watches me with a smile of content.
Everything fades into a new scene. I’m standing on a stage looking out at a giant crowd. I bow, and then turn to a white Grand Piano. I sit on the bench perfectly poised with no problem. I place my fingers on the keys, and soon The River Flows in You by Yiruma is playing throughout the whole theater. My parents were always proud of for being able to play like this. All my other brother and sisters just worked on our family farm because that’s all they were good at. My parents expected me to as well when I turned ten, but instead I showed them I was capable of so much more. The song ends, I bow once more, and the theater is now filled with applause. I felt so proud, and my parents were too.
Now, I’m back at home. I flop down at the kitchen table dropping my backpack in the dog’s water bowl. My mom is over putting the finishing touches on a birthday cake. I let out a deep long sigh. She turns and faces me now. She has a slight grin, and her aqua eyes are sparkling like always, “Am I to assume that something is wrong?”
“Yes.” I say, “I’m getting old.”
“Now Jay, we both know that’s absurd. You’re fifteen, and you’ve only been fifteen for six hours.” She tries to stifle a giggle.
“I’m already deep into adulthood.” I say as I sigh once more.
“Is that so? Then may I ask which of your adult responsibilities are troubling you the most?” She says acting like she’s playing along.
I lean back in the chair and stretch my arms behind my head, “Well, It’s more that I see my life changing all the time. I just started high school, so I have to start thinking about collage. In order to get into a good collage, I have to start working on my grades and extra-curricular activities. In a year or so, I’ll be old enough to drive, so I need to take Driver’s Ed. I also need to get a job in order to save up money for a car. Then all of these leads to marriage and children . . .” I stop with a mischievous smile. I know I said that last part just to bother my mother.
“Wait a minute!” It worked, and I laugh. She continues anyway. “You’re not even allowed to think about having children, at least until ten more years!”
“I know mom. Being a teenager isn’t like it use to be though. We have a lot of heavy-duty stuff to think about.” I then lay my head on the table. “It’s just too complicated anymore.”
"Oh, you’re right," his mom said as she laughed a little bit, "Kids have a lot more pressure on them than they did back in 1752. Life was so much easier before the Revolutionary War. I understand what you’re saying."
“Thank you!” I say sitting up. “At least someone does.” I then get up and leave the room. The doorbell rings so I walk over and answer like normal. “Howdy!” I say as I swing it open, but it’s not a pleasant sight on the other side. Men with weapons of all sorts burst into our house. Some head into the kitchen for my mom, the rest up the stairs for the rest of my family. Most of them though, grab hold of me. “Let go of me! I’ve done nothing!”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You’ve done everything required, and perfectly too.” I keep squirming, I won’t give up. They obviously see that and they knock me out.
I gasp for air as I come to. “Jay! Man you’re alive!” Leo rushes over to me. He grabs my hand, “Dude, you need to hang on, we need you with us.”
“I’m . . . sorry, but . . . I can’t anymore.” Tears are streaming from his eyes, Axel comes into view and I see that he has been crying too. I hear more footsteps, but everyone’s here. Seth wouldn’t dare show his face either.
“We’re too late!” I hear Kiera complain as her and Alice rush by my side as well. I feel loved, having everyone worried about me, and I love them too. The people who truly mean something to me though are already gone. Louder footsteps make their way closer, everyone makes way. I struggle to pull in air.
Before me stands Kadaj, with Meela dangling limply in his arms. “I tried to save her man, I really did.” He lays her right next to me. I turn my head to look at her. She looks as beautiful as she did any other day. I reach over and grab her hand.
“Soon . . . I’ll be with . . . all you.” I can hear sniffles all around me, but all I’m focused on is seeing my family and Meela one more time. I will miss everyone I’m leaving behind, but I need this. I need them. “Thank you . . . for everything.” Those are my last words. Right after them, my eyes shut for the last time. But my hand stays tightly clasped around Meela’s.