by J. J. Melvin
The Four Points
J. J. Melvin
www.JJMelvin.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2014 JJ Melvin
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.
Book cover design and layout by,
Ellie Bockert Augsburger of Creative Digital Studios.
www.CreativeDigitalStudios.com
Cover design features:
Depression Industry: © freshidea / Adobe Stock
Pain Management: © freshidea / Adobe Stock
Editing Services provided by,
Carl Augsburger of Creative Digital Studios.
www.CreativeDigitalStudios.com
CONTENTS
PREFACE
CHAPTER 1. THE FIRST DAY
CHAPTER 2. REALIZATION
CHAPTER 3. SUSPECT
CHAPTER 4. STRANGERS
CHAPTER 5. SPOTLIGHT
CHAPTER 6. HOME SWEET HOME
CHAPTER 7. THE FOUR POINTS
CHAPTER 8. REALLY, BACK TO SCHOOL
CHAPTER 9. SCHOOL CEMETERY
CHAPTER 10. REAL OR FICTION
CHAPTER 11. THE DECISION
CHAPTER 12. THE 4 C'S
CHAPTER 13. TIME TO GO
CHAPTER 14. MY NEW HOME
CHAPTER 15. CASTLE LIFE
CHAPTER 16. TRAINING FOR BATTLE
CHAPTER 17. ACADEMIA
CHAPTER 18. WHERE I BELONG
CHAPTER 19. FIRST DATE
CHAPTER 20. FALLING IN LOVE
CHAPTER 21. JAYSON AND SOFIA
CHAPTER 22. THE PARTY
CHAPTER 23. TRAINING RESUMES
CHAPTER 24. IT'S BEGUN
CHAPTER 25. SABOTAGE
CHAPTER 26. STRATEGY
CHAPTER 27. LIAM OR EREBUS
CHAPTER 28. BATTLE
COMING SOON
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CONNECT WITH J. J. MELVIN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is dedicated to my husband,
my daughter, and my son.
Thank you for being the brightest diamonds in my life.
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop
to look fear in the face.”
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
Preface
Would I have fallen in love if I knew he would leave? Did I believe the saying, “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?”
I should have listened to my own voice telling me to stay away from him, the only voice trying to protect my heart. All men leave… I had learned this from an early age. I tried my best to fight, to keep him at bay, but he broke down my defenses. He was able to make me do something I swore I would never do... fall in love.
He helped show me who I truly was. He helped me recognize my power, realize my potential, and understand my destiny. I was sworn to protect the earth, sworn to be one of its defenders, but the Watchers were right about me, my soul held darkness.
All evidence of the insecure little girl I once was had disappeared. I was ready for war. The windows shattered as my fury grew. The winds blew faster and faster; the tornado was easy to create, but would I be able to control my powers as my wrath became unleashed? I gazed into the moist blue eyes that had on many occasions before promised to love me forever—promised to stay—yet there he was…leaving. I didn’t care whether it was his choice or not; love was being taken away just like it had always been. I could feel my heart turning cold. I was losing myself.
Could I remain on the side of light when I was being enveloped by anger? Did the world deserve my protection when it did not protect me? Staring into the face of the man that became my everything, I knew I could never regret loving him—but would losing him be the end of me, the end of Erika?
Chapter 1
THE FIRST DAY
It was the first day of my junior year. I walked down the crowded hall, clutching my books to my chest with my head down. I kept repeating in my mind, no more, no more, no more. This was a tool I created to help keep the voices out. I didn’t mind listening to my own voice. It was the other voices I hated hearing, the voices that made it through the static wall I created. The ones that were never meant for my ears. I was able to fill my mind with a constant buzz like when you turn the radio to a non-working station, a loud static type of noise. I know it’s weird that I would work so hard and choose to live with this annoying sound, and it was annoying, but it was better than the alternative—hearing people’s thoughts. There are just some things you can never unhear, thoughts that put images in your mind that you can never unsee.
The scene was the same as it had been since my freshman year at Riverton High. On my right, lockers lined the long off-white walls, and to the left of me were the same students walking by in a blur of inaudible noise. As I strategically shuffled through the never-ending stream of bodies, my eyes focused on the same pieces of gum stuck to the same stained marble floor as last year. My concentration was broken when I heard a familiar high screeched annoying laugh. I lifted my head to see where the noise was coming from, and instantly regretted it. My eyes landed straight on Joanne and her groupies. These girls were never alone. If they didn’t travel in a pack, they were always in pairs.
“Hey Erika, where’d you get that outfit from, the baby store, Gymboree?” All of her cronies laughed simultaneously at Joanne’s great wit.
Joanne was my friendly high school tormentor. She and her friends were all cheerleaders, and looked more like they were in their twenties than their teens. As for me, on the other hand… well… I looked like I was twelve.
I put my head down, inhaling their nauseating perfume. I continued my walk, hoping they would leave me alone… but of course that didn’t happen. Valerie, who was also a softball player and resembled a teenage bodybuilder, decided to join in on the fun. Knocking me back with all her weight, my books fell to the floor with a resounding thud. It probably didn’t take much effort on her part; I weighed ninety-five pounds soaking wet.
“Hey Erika, you should really watch where you’re going.” Valerie’s taunt echoed in my pounding ears. I took my now empty hand and rubbed at my throbbing shoulder.
Once again, the group of girls cackled as they continued walking down the hall, reinforcing their admiration for their leaders, Valerie and Joanne.
I just glared after them. What else was I supposed to do?
Valerie used to be my best friend and was a big part of why I made myself stop hearing the thoughts of others. As I bent down to pick up my books I remembered back to a time before the static, when my mind was clear, when I had no barriers in place to keep other’s thoughts out. I was eight years old when I heard and saw what created the Valerie of today. I didn’t mean to hear her thoughts and even though things turned out the way they did, I still wasn’t sorry I’d tried to help. I just hoped that what I’d seen was no longer going on.
Valerie was wearing her new pink-and-white striped pajamas in honor of our first sleepover. We were so excited running around the house giggling all day. We were in the throes of a heated pillow fight when Valerie’s pajama shirt slipped off her shoulder, exposing a large purplish bruise. The discoloration stood out in violent contrast to her soft ivory skin. My mom was the first to point out the mark. Her curiosity was what prompted the t
sunami of sound and images that flooded my mind. I was intruding on secrets that were not intended to be shared. I couldn’t breathe. I gasped for air. I was reliving Valerie’s memory. A combination of feelings washed over me—fear, loathing, love and then—the images rushed in. Valerie’s feet dangled off the ground, her tiny hands furiously clawed at the larger ones clasped around her throat. A gut-wrenching primal scream filled my ears. It came from Valerie’s mom. She pounced and clawed at the man’s face. His skin turned red like the coils on an electric stove burning with fury, his pupils widened. He dropped the small body in his hands and turned his rage on the child’s protector. Guilt overwhelmed Valerie as she lay on the floor gasping for air, helpless, not being able to rescue her mom from taking a beating that she had decided was meant for her. With all the breath Valerie could muster she cried out, “Daddy, please no, Daddy don’t!”
I couldn’t stay silent. I knew I was risking our friendship, but I had to say something. Right there and then in front of Valerie I told my mom what I had seen, what I had read in Valerie’s thoughts. Valerie denied everything, she blamed soccer practice for the bruise. She was shouting, tears brimming her eyes, hatred in her voice. “Ms. Melvin, she’s crazy! She’s a liar!” She pleaded with my mom to take her home. My mom of course obliged, believing that I was making up stories again. Not too long after that incident, and after a few others that continued to alienate me from people, I vowed to make the voices stop.
I was brought back from the past, brought out of my daydream when a gentle hand touched mine to help me with my books. I looked up.
“Hey Robert, I got it. It’s okay, you don’t have to help.”
“You know why they do this to you, don’t you, Erika?”
Robert’s voice was concerned, his green eyes gazed into mine with a look that told me he understood how I felt.
“No Robert, I don’t.” I sighed, rolling my eyes.
“It’s because they’re jealous of you. You don’t have to try to be beautiful, you just are. They all have to try so hard.”
My anger turned to confusion. I didn’t know what to say. No one had ever said I was beautiful before. I could feel my face turning red. Why would he say something like that? Immediately I was aware of how I looked. I moved the hair that had escaped from my loose ponytail and tucked it tightly behind my ears, I quickly grabbed my books and stood up.
“I’m going to be late, Robert.” I was desperate to exit our awkward encounter, barely looking into the disappointed eyes that seemed to search for a different reply.
I started to quickly walk away down the hall until I heard Robert’s voice again.
“Hey Erika.”
I turned to face him, clutching my books tightly against my chest. I stared at Robert, he was tall, with dark hair and green eyes. He had porcelain white skin. I had never noticed how handsome he was. I guess I’d never thought of Robert in any way, especially that way… until then.
“Yes?” I tried to steady the tremble in my voice, my face still feeling hot. I wondered if my coloring gave away how I was feeling.
“Do me a favor, K?” Robert’s eyes peered dauntingly into mine.
“Okay, what?” I replied in a tone that showed my hesitance knowing there had to be a motive behind his words.
“You have to promise me to stay away from the quad at lunch, okay?”
Robert’s request caught me off guard, and I laughed. All the cool kids hung out in the quad, the cheerleaders, the football players… it was not a place for the anti-social.
“Robert, have you ever seen me in the quad?” I didn’t wait for Robert to reply. I turned back around and walked towards my first class.
All through first period—Biology with Mr. Salazar—I thought about my encounter with Robert. Could he have been serious? Does he really think I’m beautiful? And why does he want me to stay away from the quad? Does he have a girlfriend he’s going to eat lunch with in the quad, and he doesn’t want her to know that he was flirting with me? He was flirting with me, right? Was this some sort of reverse psychology? Does he want me to go to the quad? My swirling thoughts were interrupted by the bell for period two—math with Ms. Cunningham. I hated math and of course all through class I couldn’t concentrate. All I could do was think of Robert.
I was sixteen years old and had never had a boyfriend, never been on a date, never been kissed, never even been called pretty… let alone prettier than the prettiest girls in school. How could anyone think that I was prettier than Joanne, Valerie, and their look-alike clones? Was Robert blind? Compared to them I looked like a twelve-year-old boy.
“Erika?” I vaguely heard my name.
“Erika Martin!” I realized Ms. Cunningham was talking to me.
The class stared. Ms. Cunningham was waiting for an answer… but an answer to what?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the question, Ms. Cunningham. Can you please repeat it?” I asked quietly as the sharp pangs of embarrassment filled my body.
“Erika, have you heard anything that I’ve said this whole morning?” Ms. Cunningham’s arms were crossed, her lips tightly pressed, her eyes glaring at me waiting for my reply.
Just then, the bell rang. Thank God! Saved by the bell. I got up to leave gathering my books from my desk, head down, trying to pretend that Ms. Cunningham wasn’t still staring at me.
“Erika, I’d like to see you when you’re done gathering your things.”
“OOOOOHHHH,” I heard echoing from the other students as they walked freely from the room in which I was forced to remain.
I walked up hesitantly to Ms. Cunningham’s desk. She watched me approach, seemingly annoyed that I wasn’t running.
“Yes, Ms. Cunningham?” I asked, dreading the pending conversation.
Ms. Cunningham peered at me through her glasses. Her dark purplish lipstick bled into the deep lines that surrounded her lips as she pursed them together, preparing for her lecture.
“Erika, I know this is the first day, but if you do not focus you are not going to do well in this class. I expect you to participate in class tomorrow. Class participation points are a huge part of your grade.”
“Okay, I will try, Ms. Cunningham.” I strained to sound reassuring and interested, but I hated math. Out of all my subjects, math was my least favorite.
“I hope so. You’re excused, Erika.”
This was not turning out to be a good first day. Next up was period three, the class before lunch, history. I tried to focus and get Robert out of my mind. I didn’t need to get in any more trouble. I really liked my history teacher, Mr. Lapinsky. He was animated and funny. Laughter filled his class. History seemed like it was going to be one of my favorite classes. The only downside was that Valerie was in this class with me. I was glad that we could choose our own seats; I chose one as far from Valerie as I could get.
Mr. Lapinsky’s class was in room fourteen, right across from the quad. Under regular circumstances I would never set foot in the quad; it was always too loud… but Robert’s comments made me curious, and I couldn’t wait to see him again. When the bell rang, I made my way to the quad. Of course, Valerie was in front of me making her way to the unofficial designated cheer table.
The quad was like an island, but instead of sand there was concrete and instead of water there was grass. I found a spot on the grassy area far enough from the crowds and sat cross-legged on the ground. I removed my lunch from my bag, carefully scanning the quad for Robert, but he was nowhere in sight. I picked up my sandwich and was about to take a bite when I heard screaming and loud booming noises. At first they sounded like firecrackers, but as the sounds grew closer I knew they weren’t.
I had never heard a gunshot in real life before, but the noise was unmistakable. In an instant, it was pandemonium. People were screaming and running everywhere. I sat dazed, unable to move. I watched as people whizzed by me, finally snapping out of it when a pair of feet collided with my motionless body. I laid down on my stomach. I could feel the coldness of th
e grass seeping its way through my new first-day- of-school light-blue button-down shirt. My forehead was on the grass, my eyes shut tight, hoping that since I could not see anyone maybe they could not see me. When I realized this was a stupid tactic I slowly lifted my head. I wanted to run, to hide, but it was too late.
All movement stopped, all screams quieted. I worked in vain to silence my breathing but the harder I tried the more rapid my breathing became. My eyes were fixated on the only thing moving. On the concrete stood a large pair of shoes, a long black coat swaying inches above them, both moving slowly forward. I could hear the squeak of the rubber soles as they left red footprints in their wake. I looked ahead to where the black army-type boots and coat seemed to be going. They were headed towards the cheer table, towards Joanne, Valerie, and their group of friends. The girls were huddled together under the metal table that now looked like a caged cell. Screaming and crying filled the silence as the footsteps came closer and closer to the iron enclosure. I glanced back to the boots and the jacket, forcing myself to lift my head a little higher to see who the clothing belonged to. It was a boy in my grade, a junior named Trevor.
Trevor was one of the biggest guys in school. He was six feet tall, and overweight. He got picked on a lot for his size. That was something we shared in common. Trevor was carrying a gun. My eyes focused on the weapon. It was black and looked small against his large hands. He pointed it steadily in front of him, his arm extended like a straight steel bar. He screamed at the cheerleaders to come out from under the table or he would kill them all. They crawled one by one from the confines they thought could protect them. Shaking in front of him stood girls who now appeared their age; gone were the adult-like poses of before and in their place stood frail, scared children.
“How does it feel to know you are all going to die?” Trevor’s tone was steady and calm.
Trevor and I were not friends, but we were acquaintances. We’d talked a few times, and he was always nice to me. We’d had classes together in the past, but... I never saw this side of him. I never knew he had this side of him. The football players tormented Trevor, just as the cheerleaders tormented me, but I knew it was worse for him, worse for a boy. None of my tormentors had ever touched me, I knew this was not the case for Trevor.
