Chosen (23 page)

I punched her in the arm.  “That’s not funny!”

“You always need some humor to lighten up a serious moment,” she told me.

I didn’t know what she meant.  Then I noticed, seated around the fire, three very distinctive human shapes that I would have recognized anywhere.  There was Eve, the girl who protested so strongly against bringing Liz to the clinic; Ashley, who I didn’t know at all but had taken some sort of perverse interest in me; and Madison, the only one out of the three who was friendly toward me. 

“What is this?” I asked Liz.  I had a sinking feeling that it could only be bad.  “If this is some type of hazing thing…”

“No, no! Nothing like that,” Liz assured me.  She shot me a quick smile, but it looked a little forced.  “Come on.  We’re almost there.”

Liz linked her arm through mine, and, giving me a reassuring pat on the shoulder, started forward.  Madison was the first to notice us.  When we were halfway down the incline, she gave a small wave that she quickly suppressed.  For some reason, I thought she looked nervous.

“Girls,” Liz announced as we came up to the fire, “Tracy is here.”  The heat of the flame raged against my face.  I wondered why the three girls were sitting so close.

Eve looked up at me for the first time, gave a condescending snort, and turned back to stare at the fire.  Ashley, the dark-haired raven, didn’t even so much as glance my way.  Madison was the only one who stood up and came over to embrace me.  “I’m glad you came,” she whispered in my ear.  When I tried to catch her arm to ask
what
it was I came for, she slipped away.  The fire cackled loudly in front of us.  There was a palpable tension in the air. 

“What’s going on?” I asked, directing my question at Liz but including the other girls as well.  Eve didn’t look my way.  Ashley squinted at me, as if I were some sort of threat to her.  I met her gaze, though, and saw that the area around her eyes was lined and creased, as if she hadn’t had any sleep for days.  Why was she looking at me with such apprehension?  Only Madison smiled, and nodded tightly to Liz.  “Liz?” I asked again.  “What’s going on?  What is this place?  And isn’t it dangerous to have a fire going out here?”  The timber around us was dry, and a single spark could ignite the whole forest.  It hadn’t rained on Traven Island since I arrived.

Ashley scoffed, and stared daggers at me.  “You shouldn’t have brought her here, Liz.”  Her voice was serious.

“That’s not for
you
to decide,” Liz said with just as much gravity.

“I have just as much a say in this as you!”

“No,” Liz shook her head.  “That’s not true.”

Ashley snorted, and crossed her arms.  “Why don’t we let the
group
decide, then, as we’ve done every time in the past?”

“The decision’s already been made, Ashley.”

“But that doesn’t mean it’s the right one!”  Ashley looked at Eve, and Madison.  “I invoke my right to call into question the necessity, no, the
legitimacy
, of this action.”

Liz sighed.  “We’ve done this before, Ashley.”

“Not under
my
rights,” she said defiantly.

“Could somebody tell me what’s going on?” I asked.

“Fine,” Liz exhaled.  “We’ll have the vote again, this time under
your
rights.  But this is the last time!  We can only go in circles for so long.”

“Fine,” Ashley said, grinning like a Cheshire cat.  “This time, I’ve had the chance to give my arguments to the other girls.”

“Overruled,” Liz said.  “You know it’s a violation of our standing regulations to lobby for your position without all members present.”

“They’re the same concerns I raised to you.”

Liz rolled her eyes.  “Fine.  In this case, since I was the one absent, I’ll allow the vote to go on.”

“What is going
on
?” I asked again.

“Great,” Ashley said smugly.  “So.  Given that we’ve all heard the evidence for and against, I’ll simply raise my concern to the group: I believe it a terrible, damaging, and completely irreversible proposition to reveal to this…” she glanced at me, “…this
outsider
the secrets that should be guarded with our lives.  So, I say we dismiss the current procedure, following proper protocol of course, and return Tracy to her insignificant, little life.  Everybody for?”

Her own hand shot up, as did Eve’s.  I looked at Liz, who was struggling to keep her composure.  Both her hands, however, remained firmly at her sides.  Ashley looked expectantly at Madison, who seemed to be in conflict.  Her eyes darted from me and Liz to Ashley and Eve.  She looked struck by indecision.  Her hands, which both rested on her knees, were both still.  After another long second, her eyes settled on Ashley, and she started moving her left hand.  Ashley smiled in victory. 

But, Madison didn’t raise her hand.  Instead, she moved it to the side, and thrust it firmly underneath her legs.  She shook her head defiantly at Ashley, and then looked at me and cast me another tight smile.  I wasn’t dumb enough to misunderstand the implication: a stalemate.  You could cut the tension with a knife.

Ashley’s victorious smile quickly turned into a frown, and she gritted her teeth.  “Everybody against?” she said in a tight, controlled voice.

This time, Madison’s hand went way up, as did Liz’s. 

“A draw,” Ashley mumbled.

“Not a draw,” Liz corrected, “since my vote is weighed more so than yours.”

“But mine more than Madison’s!” Ashley exclaimed.

“Yes, and Madison’s more than Eve’s,” Liz reminded.  “Remember, the highest-power members on either side are matched up against one another.”

“Humph!”  Ashley sat back, crossing her arms.  She may have just been defeated, but the way she sat there, her back perfectly straight, said that she would fight to the bitter end.

“Would somebody
please
tell me what’s going on?” I demanded, more loudly than before.  “Liz?  Madison?”

“A vote,” Liz said plainly, as if I hadn’t just seen that, “on whether or not we should allow you in.”

“Allow me into
what
?”

“Our group,”

“What do you
mean
?” I asked again.  “What is your group?  How do you know I even want to be a part of it?”

“You said you wanted to know what happened that night at the party.”

“I— what?”

“At the party,” Liz repeated, “when you found me in that room.  I heard you were asking about what happened.”

“Yes, but I don’t see how—”

“We don’t have to tell her
everything
!” Eve exclaimed over me.  Liz glared at her.

“Were you not just here for the result of the vote?” Liz demanded.  “We’ve followed all protocol.  Bringing her into this was the group’s decision!”

“She could endanger all our secrets!”

“What secrets?” I asked.  “Who’s secrets?  Why should I threaten these secrets you’re all talking about?!”  As before, I was ignored.

“She’s not like that,” Liz stressed.

“But she’s an
outsider
, Liz,” Ashley said indignantly.   “Why should we let her in?”  It seemed the vote did little to deter her initial position.

“Because she’s the one we
need
.”  Liz flashed me a tight smile.  To me, all this sounded like a fight they’d had before.

“She took you away for an entire night!”  It sounded like a cardinal sin.

“She didn’t know any better.  Besides, Madison was the only one with enough sense to come with her.  I heard all about your reaction that night, Eve.”

“It seemed like the better option,” Eve said stiffly.

“Well, had they done it your way, it could have turned out much worse!” Liz exploded.  The girls stared, flabbergasted.  Liz took a deep breath, composing herself.  “Anyway,” she said tightly, “the vote’s been taken –
twice
now – and, each time, the outcome’s been the same.  We can’t waste any more time arguing.  Everyone’s had a chance to voice her concerns before the vote, according to protocol, and this post-decision bickering won’t amount to anything.  The choice has been made, and each of you—” she looked at Eve and Ashley only “—will have to learn to live with it.”  She turned to look at me, and added in a gentler voice, “Don’t worry, this’ll all make sense soon.  Girls?”

Grumbling, Eve stood up, and stalked over toward us.  She dug a hand in one pocket, emerged with a clenched fist, and then deposited the contents onto Liz’s open hand.  I caught a flicker of light, and wondered what it was.

“Come, sit down, Tracy,” Liz said, walking around the fire to sit between Eve and Madison.  She scooted over a little, increasing the gap between her and Madison.  I sat between them warily.  The five of us made a semi-circle around the flames, with Ashley and Madison at either end.  Ashley continued to stare defiantly at me, while Eve looked blankly into the flames.  Madison gave my knee a little squeeze.

“Are you finally going to tell me what’s going on?” I asked, shifting uncomfortably.  The mixture of Ashley’s venomous stare, the blaring heat of the tall fire, and the obvious tension between the girls made me very uneasy. 

“Yes.”  She put her hand out in front of her, and opened it to reveal the object that Eve had given her.  I could see now why I had caught that flicker of light before.  The object was a small crystal, about the length of my pinky, slender and elegant.  It had a slight bluish tint to it.  The hard edges all scattered the light of the fire around us, and I could see my own tiny reflection, along with reflections of all the girls, in the faces of the rock.  I thought it must be very precious, to be of such a unique color and expertly-crafted shape, but other than that, I had no idea why it was being shown to me.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Just a crystal,” Liz replied.  “Open your hand like mine.”

I did, and Liz dropped the crystal onto my palm.  “I just want you to look at it, Tracy.  Pick it up.  Touch it; examine it.  And tell us what you feel.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Just try it,” Liz said, closing my finger gently over the crystal.  “Do you… feel anything?”

I frowned.  “No.  What do you—”

Suddenly, my eyes went wide.  My hand felt as if it was on fire.  The crystal had been cool when it first touched my skin.  Now, it burned with the intensity of the sun.  I thought it would scorch through my fingers, melt my skin and turn my bones to ash.  I wanted to throw it away, to scream in agony, to run and hide from the torrent of heat and energy that the crystal was emitting.  I wanted to— nothing.  The sensation disappeared just as quickly as it came.  For a second I thought I’d imagined it.

Liz’s response, however, told me I definitely had not.  She practically squealed with delight.  “See? See? I told you she could do it!” Liz exclaimed happily, bouncing in her seat.  This was the Liz I knew from before.

“Do what?” I asked, not understanding what had just happened.

“I’m so happy! Liz was right!” Madison bubbled, wrapping her arms around me in a hug.  She kissed both my cheeks.  Her eyes glistened in the flames.  “We’ve been waiting a long time for you.”

Even Eve, who had been so standoffish toward me the entire time, had to smile. “Congratulations,” she said tightly, looking up at me.

Only Ashley, who looked shocked beyond words, failed to congratulate me.  Instead, she got up and stormed off.

Chapter Sixteen – Oblivion

“So I didn’t imagine that?” I asked one more time.

Liz shook her head.  Her eyes shone with excitement.  The other two girls – even Eve, to my surprise – seemed to share in her delight.  “No.  That was real, and is about the strongest reaction one can incite.  Tell us again what happened.”

I repeated, for what must have been the seventh time, what I felt for that brief moment with the crystal in my hand.  I didn’t understand exactly what it was, or why the girls seemed to be so thrilled about it, but that’s just how things were.  I was still holding the crystal, but it was now nothing more than a useless lump of rock.  There was one difference, though: the bluish tint had faded, leaving the rock totally transparent.

As I told them what I felt, the girls oohed and aahed at my story.  Eve even laughed at the part where I said I wanted to run and hide.

“I’ll admit, I was wrong about you, Tracy,” she told me when I had finished.  Glancing sheepishly at Liz, she added, “I shouldn’t have doubted you, Liz.”

Liz waved the apology away.  “You were only looking out for the best interests of the group.”

“I guess,” Eve said.  “Still, it doesn’t feel right—”

“Excuse me?” I interrupted.  “I know all of you are happy about… something… Would somebody please tell me
what
it was that just happened?  And why it was so important?”  After a moment’s thought, I added, “And what this group of yours really is?”