《52 stories》Week 20: The secret
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''Can you keep a secret?'' Luka asks to his friend. They are sitting under one of the large metal slide of the park. Luka is nervously pulling at the sleeves of his shirt. His friend gives him a concerned look and says ''Of course. You know you can tell me anything." Luka looks nervously around, making sure nobody is paying attention to them. He gives his sleeves one last pull, takes a deep breath and says in a whisper ''I think I might have powers.'' His friend stares at him in shock ''Are you sure?'' Luka only shrugs his shoulders, not able to talk. He thought telling his best friend his secret would help him feel better and figure it all out, but now he's only more confused. His friend puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder ''We will find a way to figure this all out. And you can trust me, I won't tell anyone!'' Luke gives him a small smile ''Thanks.'' The two young men stays under the slide for a while in silence. They both think Luka's secret is safe between them, but unfortunatly, a young child that was about to go down the slide heard everything and they are running toward their parents to tell them what they heard.
Some people all over the World are developing powers for unknown reasons. To put it simply, the Governments of all the Nations doesn't really enjoy all this new powers so they went on a world wide Power Hunt. Great rewards are given to those who would tell them the names of the Threats, that how they call the one with Powers. Because of that, the parents of the little child don't hesitate to go to the nearest authorities to tell everything about this young Threat hanging around in the park. The Hunters rush to the park as soon as they hear the news, only to miss Luka by a few minutes. He is already on his way back home, but someone saw him walk away and they show the Hunters the way. They goes on the direction they were just told and finally catch up to Luka ''Stop right there!'' One of them scream to him. Luka turns around to face them and when he sees the white and silver uniforms, he runs away a fast as he can. He doesn't want to get caught. He doesn't even know if he actually have power. He only gets a weird feeling from time to time, like the time is going really slow for him but normal for everyone else. But it must only be an impression, right? He can hear them chasing him in the smal streets, people are getting off of his way, staring at him curiously. He wishes someone would help him, but he knows that's not going to happen, he is being Hunted right now, nobody is going to save him. Luka feel a sharp pain in his back and he falls on the ground, the pain is so unbearable, he can't even move. He closes his eyes and wish he would be back home, with his loving parents, living is normal life. Why did he have to be special? He finally gather enough strenght to turn around and face the Hunters, only to see how slowly they are walking toward him. 'It must be the adrenaline' he thinks. He tries to move, to run away from them, but his limbs won't obey him.
Just as one of the Hunters is about to grab him, a hand slowly reach in front of him, punching the Hunter's hand away from Luka. That is when the time goes back to normal. Someone is now in front of him, shielding him from the Hunters. They are wearing all black clothing and their hood is up on their head. They throw something at the Hunters and a big burst of light and smoke explode in front of them. Luka can feel that they are grabbing him, helping him to stand up. When they notice how weak Luka is, they whisper in his ear ''I'm going to give you a kiss on the cheek now, don't move!''
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''Wha...'' And the stranger kiss him. Luka can feel all the pain leaving is body. He takes a deep breath and stare at the stranger. He only have time to see them putting their mask back on their face ''Follow me!'' And they start to run while holding Luka's hand.
Luka doesn't have much choice but to follow them. They run across the streets and through some random building until they finally stop in front of a small mobile home. The stranger push the door open and close it as soon as they get inside. They face Luka and pull down their hood and mask ''Catch your breath,we are safe here. I'm Rose by the way.'' She says while holding her hand out for Luka to shake ''Huh, Luka. Thanks, I guess?'' Rose tells him that they don't have much time here so if he wants to write a little something to his family, now is the time to do it. After that she will bring him to a safer place. Luka asks what is happening, but Rose only say ''More writing, less talking. We will have all the time to explain everything when we will be back to the Lair.'' Luka sigh loudly, but take the time to write a letter to his parents. He tells them that he is sorry to get them in trouble, that he doesn't know what is going on, but someone saved him from the Hunters and that he doesn't know when or if he is going to see them again. He doesn't want them to get in more trouble that they already are so... Once he is done, he carefully folds the piece of paper and give it to Rose. She puts it in one of her pant's pocket and gesture him to follow her. She opens a small trap hidden in floor of the house and she tells him to jump in. He looks down and doesn't see anything so he instinctively step back. She looks at him ''If you don't jump on your own, I'm going to push you over, so just go!''Luka takes a deep breath and jump without a second thought. he falls for not really long before hitting the ground. It's a small tunnel digged in the earth under the house. A few seconds later, Rose lands beside him, she lights up a small lamp and she starts to walk in the tunnel. Luka not wanting to be left alone in the dark, follows her without a word.
After a while she simply tells him ''We are almost there.''
''Where are we going?''
''The Lair, I told you.'' And she doesn't say another word after that. Once they finally reach the end of the earthy tunnel, she tells him to close his eyes for a second, which he does. He can hear her shuffling around and then suddenly a big burst of light hit his closed lids. Even with his eyes closed, it still hurts his eyes ''You can open them once you are aclimated to the light.'' It takes Luka a few more seconds to brace himself before he opens his eyes and when he does... He is in complete shock. They are in a really luxurious looking hall, all made of white marble. There is a small fountain in the middle and there is tall pillars all around the room, supporting a really high roof. Luka can't help but look in awe at the scene. Where is he? How did they travel from a small mobile home to this...Castle? He goes in front of the fountain and touch the water, making sure it is real ''Not exactly the Lair you were expecting, right?''Luka only shakes his head ''Where are we?''
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''Welcome to the secret lair of The Invisibles, my dear Luka!'' She say in an overly dramatical way. He shoots her a side glance. The Invisibles? They are real? He heard about this group of Threats that are supposed to save other Threats, helping them getting away from the Hunters. But he thought they weren't real, only fairy tales to give people with powers hope... He looks at Rose straight in the eyes and tells her ''If you are an Invisible, then what is your power?'' Rose laugh a bit while shaking her head ''Really, you didn't figure it out already?'' Luka furrows his brows, he doesn't understand. How could he knows her power if it's the first time he ever saw her? When Rose notice how Luka doesn't understand what she meant, she rolls her eyes and explains ''I can heal myself and other people! What do you think happened when I gave you a kiss? It wasn't because I like you, dumbass!'' Luka can feel his cheeks going bright red. Of course. It was so obvious now that she told him. He is about to apologie when two other people step in the room.
Two young men step in the room, one tall and the other smaller. They both have an obsidian skin and the small one look like an almost replicate of the tall one, 'brothers' Luka thinks. The smaller one jumps his way to Luka and Rose with a bright smile, he talks to Rose first ''You found him! You are amazing!''Rose only bows her head and goes to stand next to the taller one. He then get his attention back to Luka ''I'm the Seeker, and I'm so glad you made it here in one piece!'' Luka stares back and forth between the three people in the room with him ''What? I don't... I can't... I was in the park enjoying this warm afternoon with my friend and then... this happen? I...'' Luka is visibly struggling with his breathing. The taller brother comes closer to him and gesture him to sit on the edge of the fountain. He crouch in front of Luka and raise a hand in front of him. Making it slowly going up and down ''Follow my breathing, okay?'' Luka stares at the hand and tries to follow. Inhale....exhale... Inhale... It's not working, he shakes his head frenetically, but the one in front of him keeps moving his hand up and down. He tries to focus back on it. Inhale... exhale... inhale... Luka feels like a small protective bubble is slowly rising around him. It helps him to calm down a bit. After what looks like an eternity, Luka is now calm enough to breath on his own. The Seeker asks Rose if she can bring Luka to his room so he can relax. They can talk about everything tomorrow. It was a hard day after all.
Luka follows Rose obediently, he is too weak emotionally to protest about anything. As they make their way across the Lair, they see two other people, a young man and a young lady about Luka's age. They both looked at him with an almost angry face, but Luka couldn't care less at the moment. He needed sleep and maybe some food before that. They finally reach a wooden door that Rose open ''There is food right there and water in the small bathroom over there. I'm going to find you here tomorrow when you feel better. If you need anything, I'm in the room right in front of yours. Good night.'' And she closes the door without waiting for an answer. Luka looks around the room. It is huge, bigger than the whole living room of his parent's house. He goes to take an apple and then goes to the bathroom. He needs to take a shower, maybe it will wash off everything that happened today? He hopes it will, but at the same time, he knows that is not happening. His life just completly changed in an instant. In a sentence he said a few hours ago. A stupid one. He doesn't really understand how or why. But this is his life now... As a Threat... An Invisible... The last thought Luka has before going to sleep is 'I hope I really am a Threat... So all of this won't be for nothing...'
The next morning, Luka is already up and ready when he hears a small knock on his door. When he opens it, Rose stand in front of him. He simply nods and follows her around the Lair. They stop in a really vast living room with a incredible amount of couches and pillows all around the room. There is four people sitting all around the room, they all stare at him when they enter the room, making Luka a bit unconfortable. Rose gives him a small pat on the back and goes to sit on one of the couches. Luka settle for a confortable bean bag near the door and look at everyone. The tall young man that helped him to calm down yesterday stands up and says ''Welcome, Luka. Were are the Invisibles. Let's introduce ourselves first. I am the Aura, one of the Leader of this society.''
''Like I told you yesterday, I'm the Seeker and I'm the other Leader! Nice to meet you!''
''Dash.'' The young man that looked at him weird yesterday says. He has short blond hair and blue eyes. He looks like a rich boy that doesn't know how to share and think that everything is about him.
''I'm Storm.'' The lady that was with Dash yesterday says. Her bright and warm green eyes clash with the icy cold tone she used to talk to Luka.
''And I'm the Mender.'' Rose says while staring at him, silently telling him that he better call her that way and not Rose from now on. He takes a mental note to ask her why when they will be alone together. The Aura then begins to explain why they decided to bring Luka here. Why they think he would be anamazing Invisible. And as The Aura speaks, Luka can see how Dash and Storm are getting annoyed and mad. Dash gets so visible angry that, out of nowhere, he storms out of the room at an incredible speed. Storm follows a bit after. The Aura sigh loudly and keep on with his explaination like nothing happen, but Luka can feel the tention in the room. He is going to have a lot of questions to ask to Rose...
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