Chapter 1: Bracelet

"Come one, Come All!" "Try Your luck!"

These were just some of the loud voices heard at the annual Edge Fair. Vendors and carnies were trying to sucker young children and impressionable minds to waste their money on rigged games. These taunts and challenges were ignored by Alan, as he walked around the fair looking for something interesting to do. The rides were sub par, and the cotton candy was terrible. Alan was waiting for the scheduled target practice contest to begin that evening.

'Why isnt there anything good to do this year' He thought to himself, remembering when this fair used to bring him hours of enjoyment as a child, but in the past three years, He has found that the only fun he has is challenging others to the shooting contest every year. Alan continued to wander around the fair until he came across a charity booth. He read the sign to see that it was to benefit the children who were stricken with leprosy. They were accepting donations in exchange for bracelets, which were sitting in a jar. Alan decided to be charitible, and rustles through his pocket for a few dollars. He hands the donation to the gentleman at the kiosk and reaches for the jar, only to be stopped by the salesman.

"Oh no, sir. Those are just for show." he said. "Please, take this one instead. It's of better quality. Those are only there for the kids with the sticky fingers."

"Uh, Thanks" Alan responded. Alan was a bit confused, but in the end, he realize it made sense to leave the poor quality bracelets for the thieves. He accepted the bracelet and put it on while walking away. A few seconds after putting it on, the bracelet began to glow a bright blue. Alan raised his arm and saw this in amazement. He turned around to the Kiosk to ask the salesman about it.

"Hey Mister, What's..." He stopped to realize that then kiosk was gone. He continued to look at the glowing bracelet, as its glow began to stop. Alan had no idea what was going on, but after it stopped glowing, he stopped looking at it, and continued on to go and register for the contest.

As the evening came, as did the contestants for the shooting contest. Alan waited for the game to start, and got a look at his competition, or one competitor in particular. Jim Taylor has been the champion for the past three years, and Alan would always come second to him. He finally spotted him in the crowd.

"So, ready to lose that title this year?" Alan said to him from a distance. Jim looked back to him with a smug look.

"Alan Drake," he said back, "I figured you would have finally realized that you can't win and given up by now. How much more humiliation can you bear?"

Jim walked away from Alan right after saying that, which infuriated Alan to no end. He swore to himself that no matter what, he would win this year. The announcer called the six contestants to the range, and the showdown began. Each contestant received a pellet rifle, and was positioned to their range. The announcer walked over to a nearby podium and began talking into a microphone.

"Now the rules of the contest are simple. Six targets will come up for three seconds. Hit as many as you can before they disappear. This will happen three times, and you will be judged by how many you hit, and the accuracy of your shots."

Everyone understood the rules and raised their rifles in preparation. Alan gave one last taunting look to Jim and then looked at his shooting area. Just then, his bracelet began to glow again, only for a mere second or two though. Alan saw this, but ignored it to focus on the contest.

"Ready, Aim, Fire!" shouted the announcer as the targets began to move upward.

Alain saw the targets, but then, coming from nowhere, the motion of the targets seemed to slow down in his eyes, and a strange vision appeared in his eye. Lines appeared at the centre of each target, similar to multiple crosshairs or targeting lights. He was amazed that they were pointing at his targets, so he began to fire. He would hit one, then his arms would shift the rifle to the next closest target, as if he had no control of his movements. All the targets were hit, and the next set of targets came up. They were again targeted by this strange vision, and Alan shot them all down again. The third set was no exception. after the last targets were hit, things seemed to speed back up again. What seemed like several minutes to Alan, was in reality, only ten seconds.

The judges took a close look at each contestants results. and not long after, the announcer returned to the podium with the results.

"We have an astonishing result in this year's contest!" he shouted, "Not only did our winner hit every single target, but he hit the center of each bull's eye as well!"

The audience was shocked, as well as the contestants. Alan was the most shocked because of everything that happened.

"The winner of this year's target practice competition is...Alan Drake!"

The crowd began to cheer as Alan walked up to the podium to receive his trophy. He was applauded for some time as he walked back down again. He was then approached by Jim, who had a reluctantly happy look on his face.

"Well, you won... just don't let it go to your head. I'll get you next year." he said as he walked away.

"Thanks" Alan replied, and then thought to himself while looking down at his new bracelet, 'Now if only i can figure out how I did that...'