The Chosen

The following is a complete work of fiction.

Any resemblance between the characters and any real life person is completely coincidental. Please do not copy or distribute the story without the author's permission.

Disclaimer:

The following story may contain erotic situations. If it is illegal for you to read this please leave now. Also expect blood, gore, incredibly funny scenes and super-powered teenagers with a destiny to save the world. If you're not a fan of any of these plus strong cursing and violence than this is not your type of story.

Chapter 2

I snapped the phone closed and looked around with so many emotions warring within my chest. I didn't know how to feel at the moment. I couldn't pinpoint one emotion that was more extreme than any other. I hoped the guys were taking it better than I was. I knew I was always the more dramatic of the four of us. I owned up to it proudly.

Eight months of peace.

I wish it had been longer.

I closed my eyes. I didn't have to search for it. Behind my eyes, within my minds eye, I could see it – that spark of light, bright and eternal, floated in an ocean of black. Mentally I grasped at it and it immersed me within its energy.

I felt more than saw my clothes shift, changing form, growing lighter and heavier at the same time. I opened my eyes and looked within the mirror that covered the closet door.

I was now clothed in a black bodysuit that looked like the uniforms of the X-Men from the films. It was made of a material that was similar to Kevlar thread, but a hundred times stronger, and more akin to nano-carbon tube fibers. A billowing, black cloak hung around my shoulders with the cape trailing behind my back, down to my ankles. The same weave of the suit was also incorporated into the cape as well, making it just as tough. The hood, or cowl as Ryan kept reminding me to call it, covered my head obscuring parts of my face in shadow. Everything above my mouth was hidden in the shadows the hood created, and only my eyes in the upper half of my face could be seen, piercing and bright, in the dense darkness.

A pendent, resting on my collarbone, had been fixed onto the cloak, like a clasp, securing it in place. I ran my fingers over the smooth surface of the pendent. I bit my bottom lip. Was I ready for this? I had to be. I was born for this after all. I had no choice.

I hoped Mom didn't get the bright idea to check on me tonight. I didn't need to be asked questions that I wasn't ready to answer. There was no need to think about the consequences. People were dying now. I had to go.

I opened the window and instantly the cool fall breeze hit me in the face. I closed my eyes briefly and I focused on being determined. It had been away since I had to go play hero. I straightened my back and let it fill me up. Time to go.

"Angels above me, Clouds circling thee. Lend me your wings, So I can jump higher Than the tallest tree."

I clapped my hands and thrust them toward the carpet, letting the final portion of the spell activate with a push of will and magic.

"Leap of faith!"

At my ankles wings appeared in a burst of white sparkles. A pair of white wings with downy feathers, so soft at the touch were pinned at both of my ankles. Like Hermes my winged boots would carry me with the swiftness of the wind and with the flight of gods. I jumped out of the window without hesitation. How often had I done this? Too many times too count.

I faintly registered touching the ground before I was bounding back up through the air, faster than a breeze, and higher than a building. My feet touched the roof of a house and I was in the air again, leaping miles within a single bound. I roof-hopped my way across the city appearing as no more than a blur, as with each leap I gained more speed and momentum for longer and more powerful jumps. Powered by magic and backed by the wings of the god of messengers, this mode of transportation took me to my destination within minutes.

I landed perfectly, thank God, on the roof adjacent to the Metropolitan Museum of Arts. I was getting better at not making with the klutz attacks. The area surrounding the building was barricaded by the police and squad cars with their glowing sirens lighting the air in whirling colors of blue and red. Behind the barricades reporters and civilians clamored, and moved against each other in anxiety, as they watched the police pull away their wounded, and regroup behind squad cars. SWAT gathered near an armored truck preparing and planning to move in and bring this to an end.

It would end all right. It would end in a bloodbath. Whatever was in that building was something that mortals had no hope of facing. If they did then the Chosen wouldn't exist. We protect them when they can't protect themselves.

Man. I was doing some intense brooding. All I needed was a tape recorder and a smoking Christian Slater and I could go all Interview of a Vampire. Subtract Vampire and add Chosen, of course.

I heard a piercing whistle and an accompanying boom that echoed through the night. I knew that familiar sound. That noise was pressure waves, aka sound waves, piled up on top of each other. The object creating them was moving faster than the speed of sound. There was only one person I knew that could break the sound barrier. I whipped around and barely caught Omega landing a dozen feet in front of me.

"Hey, love," said Omega, walking to my side.

I grabbed his hand and squeezed. "Hey." I gestured down at the scene below us. "It's a mess down there." I looked at the chaotic street with its panicking people. "Looks almost like a Saturday night at Killian's house."

A giant globe of orange light settled down on the rooftop near us. It burst apart in an explosion of sparkles leaving the Executioner and Solaris standing in the afterglow. Solaris leveled me with a challenging look. I couldn't see his eyes behind the dark shades but I knew he was glaring at me. It made me smile and I was sure my eyes were twinkling, which just increased the scowl on his face.

"What was that, Warlock?" he asked.

I shrugged, smiling brightly. "Just a casual observation."

The Executioner cleared his throat. "If I may interrupt the pissing contest, I think we're needed."

Good old Ryan. Always pointing us toward our mission. Get'cha head in the game, Summers. I moved to edge of the roof and peered down. "As far as I can see the police are about to regroup and move in for round two-"

"Of getting their ass kicked," said Solaris, needlessly.

Idiot. I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, we have to get down there before they go back in that building otherwise they will have another massacre."

Omega nodded. "You're right. Guns just aren't enough to stop more preternatural beings."

"Do we even know what type of creatures we're dealing with, and why are they here of all places?" asked the Executioner thoughtfully.

We all quieted. It was a good question. Creatures of the dark didn't usually go for big attacks that could get them exposed like this. This was very out of character for the usual creatures that we have gone up against before. I shook my head. We didn't have time to ponder. We had to act. Lives were at stake.

"Come on, guys," I said. "We have to stop the cops from going in. We have to go down there and make them see we have things under control."

Omega frowned. "You want us to expose ourselves?"

I shrugged. "If that what it takes. But most of the city suspect we exist anyway. This will just be confirmation." I smiled grimly. "If this is our big debut then let's not disappoint. Let's drop down there and show `em who the Chosen really are." And we damn sure ain't Centennial's Heroic Quartet. Which was still a lame ass name.

Three answering grins was all the affirmation I needed to my orders. We fell from the roof that had to be over a dozen and half stories. I did a flip in mid air, as the ground rushed ever closer, and my descent slowed enough for my cloak to catch wind. I hit the pavement at a crouch landing before the steps of the museum. I noticed out of my peripheral vision the others landing in similar ways. The Executioner and Solaris flanked my left side and Omega stayed close at my right. Not too close since I was right handed and it was hand I favored when casting spells. My boyfriend knew me well.

The police immediately aimed their guns at us and I gulped. Oh boy. Let's hope we could convince them that we had things under control. Okay. This was going to take some massive show of force or we were going to be spitting bullets.

"Freeze!" yelled a myriad of voices. I heard multiple guns being cocked and I was glad I had my hood on or my pale face would have shown how scared as fuck I was. "Don't move!"

Time to act like the leader that I was. "We're here to help," I said loudly, my voice carrying through the air.

Camera flashes almost blinded me after that. News cameras turned our way and reports talked rapidly into microphones. I noticed all this with a sort of detachment. They weren't important. The guys with the guns were.

"Put your hands up and slowly get on the ground," a voice commanded through a megaphone.

I sighed. I glanced first at my left and then at my right. The guys nodded. We slowly raised our hands. I focused on my power and silently sent tendrils of magic into the electrons that filled the air. Immediately the sky blazed with the sight of numerous lighting strikes, disturbing the peaceful night sky.

I was sure my eyes glowed blue and bright the same color as the lightning. Solaris stood tall with both hands above his head holding an orb of powerful white energy. The Executioner was at his side crouched down in a fighting stance that screamed danger. Animus Gladius was out, ominously glowing in the night, casting a shadow on Omega's dark expression.

A collective gasp went through the crowd and I inwardly cheered. I guess we made a very intimidating picture. The cops were a mix of pale faced, confused, amazed, horrified, and unsure. They were being slapped in the face with the metaphysical and I was impressed that not one of them fainted.

"Like I said," I began again forcefully. "We're here to help. We have things from here. What's in there you can't fight. But we can."

They didn't stop us this time as we reigned in our power and turned around to charge up the stairs to the museum. I was tempted the blast open the doors, but I thought that might be a bit overkill. Who says that Chad Summers couldn't be covert? I was learning.

We entered the building and it was surprisingly quiet. I took care to ignore the blood stained surfaces and the body parts that dotted the floor. Don't throw up. Don't throw up. Swallow. There we go.

"It's too quiet," the Executioner muttered.

The silence was maddening. I almost wanted to burst out into song. Already a song from High School Musical skirted across the edge of my thoughts. I mentally slapped myself. Focus Chad!

I took point and cautiously peered around a corner. Nothing. Only the undisturbed display cases and hanging paintings occupied the dimly lit hall. I signaled the others that the way was clear. We quietly moved through the hall keeping up our guard. A deafening noise suddenly echoed through the entire building. I reflexively ducked and checked for the source, but only the sound of screaming filled the air.

"People are still alive!" I said, surprised. "Let's go guys!"

We raced forward toward where the sound originated from. Left. Right. Straight. Man. This place was like a maze. The last time I had even been here was for an Art class in Middle School. And that was a disaster. Kevin had the museum guide angry as a woman in labor, because he wouldn't stop asking questions. There is only so many times a person can hear "So why..." or "How come..." before going postal. Poor, "just call me Lacey". I hope she didn't get fired for cussing our class out in her Kevin induced rage.

We braked as we neared the shrill screams. We came upon an exhibit of what looked like Viking artifacts. A woman lay on the ground screaming her head off and clutching her bleeding arm, while men, totaling six, tore the room apart around her. Glass shattered, armor was thrown, statues were knocked over, and paintings were slashed. What the hell? I shared a look with the others and they mirrored my confused expression. I don't understand. This wasn't right. Where were the `evil creatures of the night'?

The guys were so into their demolishment of the exhibit that they hadn't even noticed us standing there. They wore typical clothes and looked like regular, normal people. This wasn't our forte. We didn't fight against normal people. Normal people- One of the guys turned and finally saw us gaping at them – Normal people's eyes didn't look fucking reptilian!

He blinked and his reptilian irises turned a normal, murky brown. Oh hell no. Human my ass! What were they? The guy stopped and the other men noticed his lack of movement and they too paused in their actions.

I put on a brave face and adopted a teasing tone. "You boys want to put all the nice stuff back? If not..." I smiled dangerously. "...then let the ass kicking begin."

I hoped they weren't demons. Demons that could perfectly mimic human form, like they were doing, were known to be tremendously powerful. It took a lot of strength to completely change form into a creature with a soul. So if these guys weren't demons then it would be a plus for us. But if they weren't then the question was what were they?

"Help me!" screamed the woman, desperately scrambling toward us. One of the men kicked her in the ribs and she fell over moaning wounded.

"Quiet," said the attacker gruffly, glaring at her. He looked at us and said in that same scratchy tone. "You are interfering in our work."

I didn't know whether to laugh in his face or clap for pointing out the obvious. Instead, I stood tall and pointed my finger at him dramatically. I do love my flair.

"Listen up corpse fuckers! Tonight we're handing out lollipops and asswhoopings and I'm all outta lollipops!"

"Nice one, muttered Solaris sarcastically.

Bitch! I made a noise in my throat and shot him a glare. "Shut your face," I hissed.

I was too busy glaring at Solaris that I didn't see the attackers move. If I had been paying attention I wouldn't have seen much. They simply blurred from sight. My eyes couldn't even follow their lightning quick movements. I tensed preparing for attack. Something hard struck me on the side of my head and my whole body was thrown to the side sharply. I screamed as my shoulder hit the wall first and my body crashed to the ground a beat later.

Stars exploded behind my eyes and I vaguely heard the sounds of fighting taking place, since a loud, painful ringing rushed through my head. It felt like a giant hammer had been smacked across my skull. It hurt to even think. A hand wrapped my neck and I gasped and choked as I was lifted into the air without warning.

Glittering, brown eyes beneath a set of thick brows met mine. "I know what you are and you will not interfere."

"Fuuuccckk," I wheezed with great difficulty. "Yoooouuu!"

I summoned my power and it reacted. Without words or intent to give it shape it lashed out in bright tendrils of light that twisted and writhed around my glowing body. The man was blasted backward and I fell to my feet panting and dizzy from the lack of oxygen and sudden influx of power. The glow faded from my body as I reined my magic in.

Surveying my surroundings I found only chaos. Lights flared through the hall as both Omega and Solaris rained down attacks on the men, things, creatures, or whatever the fuck they were. The Executioner weaved between the men swinging a sleek, black axe, the likes I had never seen. It literally made a faint-almost musical noise as it sliced through the air. I guess he found a replacement for his broken staff. Kudos to him.

Whoever these guys were they were supernaturally fast and strong. Stronger and definitely faster than us, maybe even faster than the Executioner. And he was like Captain America on steroids. Fuck. This was going to be a problem later, I could feel it.

Let's see if these fuckers were as Billy badass as they seemed. Flexing my hand I gathered my magic. I willed it to take shape and yelled out the focusing incantation, ""Elios, keeper of dreams. Help me defeat this enemy. Twilight Ray!"

The gold beam cut the air and slammed into the forehead of the man nearest me. He staggered forward a step, another, another, and then stopped. He fell to the floor, gushing blood from the hole in his head. The other men stared at the body then looked at me, rising hatred lurking in their gazes.

I waved cheekily and said smugly, "One down."

They cursed in fury and one of the men rushed at me and smacked me hard to the ground. My jaw exploded in mind numbing agony. I pushed back the pain and rolled to my feet. The fight began again in earnest. There were five men left and dammit if they weren't holding their own. The Executioner had his axe caught in the back of one of the men, but the fucker wasn't even down. He was fighting the Executioner in hand to hand, and I winced at the strength behind the blows. They could easily punch through solid concrete.

Omega and Solaris fought against three, back to back and they were a sight as they worked together to effectively counter and repel whatever the men threw at them. Were those spells the attackers were using?

"Fuck!"

I had split my focus too much and the bastard landed a solid hit to my gut. I staggered back winded and feeling momentarily nauseous as my dinner threatened to come back up to greet me. Don't throw up. Don't throw up. I couldn't wuss out now.

I took a moment to glance at my friends. The men were slowly losing. Thank God. Where they had advantages over us we were clearly more powerful. A feminine scream broke my gazing. The man I had been fighting had the female hostage and was dragging her away from the hall and into an elevator. Damn! Why hadn't I been paying more attention? I took off after them and just missed the elevator's doors closing in my face. Double damn!

I had to save her. I looked around searching for another route. The stairwell sign caught my eye like beacon. Before I even registered what was happening my feet took me tearing through the door and up the stairs. Suddenly, a door floors above me banged open screaming accompanied noise. I pushed myself to go faster. He had to be headed to the roof. It was the way he could get out of the building.

I heard a door open and I willed my legs to go faster. I rounded a stairwell and caught flailing legs being dragged through the door. I threw open the door right on their tracks. It was jarring being out on the roof suddenly under the nighttime sky. I felt like a Power Ranger as I chased the man to the ledge, his victim's screams cutting at my heart like steel edge knives. She was going to be fine. I just had to keep telling myself that otherwise I think I was going to freak out from an anxiety attack.

"Let her go!" I yelled.

The man stepped back teetering on the ledge of the rooftop. He stared at me as if I was a bug beneath his shoes. Ah gee. I felt all warm inside. I met his stare, clenching my fists and willing my magic to the surface. I was sure with my power so close at my slightest beckon that it was leaking from my eyes, making them glow electric blue. The woman's nonstop, panicked pleas broke the quietness of the stare down.

"Stay back Chosen or I will break the woman's neck."

I brightened uncontrollably. "You've heard of us?"

The man's head tilted and his tone came out as mocking. "All in the know of the true ways are familiar of you. You are the oldest of legends. Atlantis' Avenging Angels."

"Well we're back," I said hoping I could keep him talking. The more information I could get out of him the better.

The man nodded. "So the rumors were right. But even the Chosen shall not stand between..." he clammed up realizing he might have said too much.

I rolled my eyes. I hated when the henchman got smart. "Cat got your tongue?"

A growing smirk was his answer and suddenly the woman was flung from the roof and the man was gone in a blur of movement. Fuck! I sprinted forward and jumped over the ledge. The woman fell at an impressive rate. I fought the wind resistance and threw my arms forward.

"Champion Whip!"

A length of rope made of blazing gold light materialized in the air and wrapped around the woman's waist. I grabbed the end of the rope and grunted as I yanked her to my side. My cloak caught wind and slowed the descent. But it wasn't enough. The crowd below screamed as the concrete came ever closer. I wrapped one hand tightly around the woman and pointed my free arm toward the ground.

I willed my magic into a tangible force of energy that surrounded us like a cocoon of warm blue light. The light covered us with a snap and I pumped pure power into its effects. The energy behind the feat was enough to probably power a whole city block. The energy was also enough to counter the flow of gravity. Gravity repelled against our bodies, like the effect of two magnets encountering one another. I would have grinned if my face wasn't tight with concentration in directing us safely to the ground.

"Whoa now, I got you."

The woman cried in relief and then just stared at me clearly baffled, as the fact that we weren't kissing asphalt finally sunk in. "H-How? But who has you?"

I just smiled at her.

I suddenly noticed the silence. It was eerie. The street had suddenly gone still and silent, which was a complete transformation from the chaos of earlier. Hundred pairs of eyes stared at us as we descended. The crowd was filled with awed disbelief and rampant confusion. Even the police and reporters lapsed in their jobs, as they watched us lower to the ground. Finally our feet touched concrete and I wanted to quip hadn't they ever seen a flying man before, but I refrained. I was finally learning tact. Thanks Adam. I was learning real good!

Instead, I let of the go of the woman and smiled at her. "You're safe now."

She shakily left my arms sill staring in wide eyed wonder. I stepped back and turned just as the doors to the museum opened and the other Chosen rushed out. I smiled and nodded my head silently answering their questioning stares.

"It's safe to go in there," I told the stunned police officers. "We took care of it."

I didn't know what happened next but the crowd was suddenly knocked out from the silent stupor. I guess it was the sound of my voice that did the trick. But they unexpectedly went wild, breaking into excited cheering. They whistled, clapped, and screamed their exuberance. Amazed, I hesitantly raised my hand in a wave. The others were equally just as surprised as me. Although Solaris was a little too into the crowds cheers, with his ever bright grin and shifting, posing stances. Ass clown.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Hey Zoolander, get us out of here."

"Buzz killer," he muttered, raising his arms. "Sun Rise!"

The world turned orange and we were lifted up inside the bubble of hardened photons. The crowd cheered even louder at the display of power as we lifted off into the sky.

"Well that was different," said Omega, slipping his arm around my waist.

I leaned into his side. "You can say that again."

"It freaking was great!" said Solaris grinning widely. He was almost bouncing. "Did you see the crowd? They thought we were awesome!"

The Executioner bit his lip and looked thoughtfully at Solaris. "I like you like this you're all... bouncy."

I raised my eyebrow. "Clearly, he's an attention whore."

Solaris fixed Omega with an annoyed look. "Either you get a muzzle for him or I will."

"Now, now boys," said Omega slowly smiling. "The more you fight the more I will suspect you really do care for each other."

Frowning, I turned to Omega and asked, "You're still on this `Killian and I as potential friends theory', aren't you?"

He nodded proudly. I inched away from him eyeing him suspiciously. I wasn't too fond of this new plan. I shared a look with Killian and he watched me with the same intense scrutiny I was weighing him with. Did we really want to be buddy buddy, fun fun? We did used to be friends a long time ago, in this life and the last. I looked at the ground thinking, and then glanced back at him. I swallowed and looked at Solaris just as he mouthed, Hell no.

I agreed 100 percent.

"Should we go Nathaniel's and update him and try and figure who were those guys?" asked the Executioner watching the passing landscape below us.

I shook my head. "I snuck out of my house and we have school in the morning. A meeting now would take up too much time. How about after school tomorrow?"

"That sounds good to me," agreed the Executioner.

Solaris sighed and I sneered at his dreamy expression. "I hope we're in the news."

Like I said earlier, attention whore.

First period was bright and early in the morning right at eight thirty. Usually I was half asleep waiting for the Mr. Hamilton to drone on about civil liberties and government conspiracies. He was a child of the seventies and felt that the curriculum needed to cover the "real issues" regardless of the fact that he taught Physics. Instead, today's conversation was centered on "Centennial's Heroic Quartet". Theories were thrown back and forth and everyone raved, gushed, or deliberated the reality of people with super powers. And I swear if I had to hear that stupid name one more time-

"So I think I Centennial's Heroic Quartet are just so cool-"

"Maybe their name isn't Centennial's Heroic Quartet," I said loudly with an irritated tone. Everyone snapped toward me and I flushed, realizing that I said that out loud. Oops. "...or so I hear..." I backtracked nervously, with a lame chuckle.

Mr. Hamilton cocked his head, confused. "That's their name in the news and I'm inclined to believe it's a good a name as any."

"Too bad it sounds dumb as hell," I muttered contemptuously.

"What was that Mr. Summers?" asked Mr. Hamilton, as he erased the board free of the `clever' theories he developed that speculated on the source of power the Chosen used.

I faked a sunny smile and amended, "Did I hear the sound of the bell?"

Mr. Hamilton frowned thoughtfully. "No... We still have thirty minutes left in class. Perhaps you should get your hearing checked."

I nodded with a serious expression, sighing inwardly that he didn't hear me. I so didn't need to go to the office for foul language. The other members of the Student Council would shove a demerit down my throat or probably make me listen to New Kids on the Block over and over. I grimaced at that picture.

I looked around at my over excited classmates and shook my head at all the enthusiasm they showed toward last nights events. For the most part the existence of the Chosen was being denounced as an elaborate viral marking campaign, or even just a plain old hoax, but some, mostly young people, were willing to believe that we were genuine. I took that as a good sign.

The classroom door opened and everyone looked up at the person who entered. It was a girl with vibrant red hair, the ends curling slightly, and warm green eyes. Her outfit was that look of tattered jeans, that cost more than should legally be allowed, and a green top that brought out her eyes. It was probably the reason she wore it.

The guys in the room stared at her like hungry predators and I was thankfully not one of those guys. None of them were even kind of subtle about it. Freaking idiots. I would like to believe that I didn't oogle guys like that. Well except for Chance Randall that sat next to me with his tight jeans and sleeveless shirts looking like he saw "Rebel Without a Cause" one too many times. He was totally rocking the James Dean look. I looked at his carefully gelled hair and narrowed my eyes. Although, maybe rocking it a little well. He was cute and all but I'm sensing an intervention in his future.

"Class," said Mr. Hamilton reading off a paper that the girl handed him. "This is Isabella Graison. She just transferred here. Please take the empty seat by the window."

Graison. Graison. Where did I know that name? Wait. Didn't Ian say he had a sister? Was this her? It had to be. They had almost identical features. She took the seat near me and I didn't want to talk to her. I had an urge to call her out for having a dick for a brother, but that wasn't her fault.

But I was still going to give her the typical cold shoulder just on principle. Isabella looked up, catching me in my staring. She met my eye and gave me a friendly smile. I blinked. Well that was unexpected. I was for sure she would have rolled her eyes or shot the finger. Hmmm... Maybe I would like this Graison. The brother however was still on my list. That conceited jerkoff.

"So what did the guys who killed all those people try and take from the museum?" asked Samantha Tabalt.

Mr. Hamilton shrugged. "Who knows. But nothing has been reported as missing."

I almost gasped but I controlled it. I couldn't do the stereotypical `gay gasp'. No one goes to the trouble of breaking into something not to come away with anything. So what were they doing besides acting like typical comic book villains? Why break in to just destroy everything in sight. It didn't make sense, because that's not all that happened I realized with a sudden clarity. Finally my marathon CSI watching was finally playing off. Thank you, Horatio Caine.

I thought back to last night and played it again in my mind, thinking carefully to what I didn't notice at the time. They hadn't been randomly inflicting destruction to everything in sight. No. It was more than that. They had been looking for something, searching and then disregarding whatever they investigated. I was sure of it. It made so much more sense. The question now was:

What were they searching for?

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • I hope this was a good chapter. I'm trying to get them out as quick as possible. This arc will probably be my favorite in terms of what will be coming up. I definitely have some surprises in store. Next Chapter: A clue, a realization, more Kevin, and the typical past life dreams.

I have created a message board in light of missing emails. If you want to post a comment or drop a line you can copy and paste this link into your browser. http://www.quicktopic.com/39/H/fXmyJ3NcYt7Z or if you want to email me you can do so at Batmanhater@aol.com