The Event

Writer's Note

This is a redo of my story called "the event"… the story was kind of doomed from the start with things like crappy sentence formation and lack of general emotion… I mean first chapter Ashley's grandfather or great grandfather (see, I'm not even sure which and I wrote the damn story… sigh) is dying and she doesn't seem to give a crap. If one of my grandparents died, I'd be insanely depressed for months… probably because I look up to my grandparents more than I do my actual parents… I digress.

The story sucked and I lost where it was headed. I had given up and as you may or may not know I've started and stopped like five stories since then… I hadn't thought about the story in months when all of the sudden I heard this song called "Dead Hearts" by Stars. It's depressing, but promising. I say that because it's a girl telling a guy how people she once knew are heartbroken. The seemed relationship between the guy and girl made me jealous of people around me, and I decided that wasn't fair. I'm back to 7th grade tactics… it's bugging you, write a story about it.

So I was wondering what could be the basis of the story while listening to the song – little known factoid, I get most of my story ideas from songs I like (most of them give me that archetype of a guy taking that last breath before charging into an overwhelming force) – and all I could think of Ashley and John right after John returns from seeing Crisis (the bad, devil-like dude) for the first time. They were both depressed as shit, but they had each other. Too bad the story still sucked. So I'm rewriting it in an attempt to fix and finish what I started a long time ago. So here we go…

PS – I'm listening to "dead hearts" right now... so chill…

Chapter 1 – Lonesome As Always

"I spent last night thinking about where to start and came up with sixth grade, so I had transferred to an all-boys school in an attempt to distance myself from the majority of my classmates from my old school." I stopped to take a sip of Jameson before sighing. "I was being constantly bullied at my old school. And I see why now… I didn't fit in at all. I was a socially awkward kid even at ten or so years old.

"Anyways, I got to my new, 'college preparatory' school and was actually academically challenged which was good, but even better I made friends and fit in a group of people. One of the people who was in that group, I called HD, or Hyper Dude. The name was partly because I couldn't remember his name for the first month I knew him but mostly because he was as hyper as a squirrel on espresso. It wasn't until October in the school year that I started calling him Andrew."

"Masters?" Michael asked with a puzzled face.

"Yep," I said, taking another sip.

"I had no idea you met him in Middle School, I thought it was High School."

"We were friends up through the entire time we were at High School," I said. "He got pulled out of school and thrown into public schooling when his dad died in Iraq and his mom and his little brother died at birth. I can't help but wonder if his little brother would have been like Andrew." I shrugged and shook my head. "That was dumb… make note of this, Mike: Don't trouble yourself with what ifs. They're too irritating and they'll never happen. Anyways, I regret I wasn't there for my friend, but I had problems of my own."

"Shit… hang on," Mike said, grabbing a typewriter fixing kit. "My ribbon jammed. I still don't get why you have me using this thing."

"I at least want to make it a pain in the ass for someone to copy these," I said. "It was easy twelve years ago; I bet it's easier now."

"Got it," he said. "Go ahead…"

"Well, I felt alone right after Andrew left. We still kept in touch," I said. "But it wasn't like before because he had move two hours away. So I basically talked to my friends at school, and then went home to my parents. It was always something with them. 'You're grades are too low,' 'You need to talk to us more,' and so on… It just was frustrating. My older sister was away at college, and my younger sister was the baby; I got the shit from my parents.

"I wanted to hang out with friends, couldn't with my parents constantly grounding me… I wanted to leave, couldn't because I wasn't eighteen. What a dumb law by the way and worse so with alcohol. At eighteen you're deemed ready to vote for a leader and die for a country, and yet you can't have a beer? What kind of a law is that?" I took another sip. "Anyways, the one thing I wanted more than anything else was a girlfriend."

Mike snickered.

"I know it's stupid, but I was in High School with 'racing hormones,' as the cliché goes, and only 40 hours of contact with the outside world a week. Not to mention I'm human. I'm still happy Ashley entered the way she did…"

Thirteen years earlier…

My dad gripped my collar tried to drag me. I stood rock still. "Dad," I said. "You don't want to do that, you'll hurt yourself." I felt his knees shaking as he tried to lift me. "I'm a head taller than you and probably in the best shape of my life. You're in your fifties with leg handicaps."

"DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!" My dad said trying to lift me again.

"Enough," I said, gripping my dad's collar. I lifted him and stared at him with the same stone cold face. "Let go before I make you."

I felt his fingers loosen, and he cursed something that I couldn't decipher due to the spit that hit my face.

"I'll be back before midnight," I said and walked past him and my screaming mother to the door. I zipped up my hoodie as the cold, night air hit me. Assholes, I thought.

"You know, for seventeen, you keep your cool pretty well," said a woman's voice behind me.

I practically jumped out of my skin, and turned to face the source of the voice. I hit blue eyes and got no further.

"I'm Ashley Stevens," she said, holding out a hand.

I shook it. "John Arling."

She gestured to keep walking, so we did. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but…"

"It's not eavesdropping when it's screaming and you're within a mile of the house," I interrupted. "And thanks for the compliment."

"I don't mean to pry," Ashley said, "but do you seriously want out of that house."

"The only reason I'm still here and not in the military is I'm a year short of the right age."

"In that case," she said. "I've got a job offer."

I didn't respond.

"It's dangerous, there's no pay, but you do get nice living quarters and to do something people dream of doing."

"What's the catch?" I asked.

"The catch is two-fold. You may never see your friends, family, or anyone else you know for the majority of your life, and once you sign up, there's no turning back."

We came up to my thinking tree. Though my dad was a paratrooper in Vietnam, he never looked up when he was searching for me. I pointed up. "Can you climb?" I asked. She nodded and I started making my way up the oak. When I got to the first branch I pulled myself up and held down a hand for her.

"Thank you," she said.

I pulled her up and we made our way to the last sturdy branches towards the top.

"John," she started. "You're miserable here, and I've only been watching you for three days. You're strong, responsible, and kind for as long as you can be. In other words you have the virtues of a leader. You've-"

"So basically this is a 'Men in Black' sort of recruiting," I said. "Sorry to interrupt, but I get nervous when people compliment me."

"Basically yeah, but without the government," Ashley said.

I shrugged, "Do I need to get anything before we leave?"

"This is a life-changing decision, John," she said. "You may want to think it over."

"I have," I said. "In the three days you watched me, how many nights did I go sit in that chair in my room for an hour or two."

"Every night," she said.

"I've been praying for something to happen, and I'm not particularly religious. An opportunity like this doesn't come by twice. Now, do I need to get anything?"

"We've got clothes at headquarters for you, so you don't need that, but if there are any sentimental items, I suggest you sneak into your room and get them."

Present day…

"I had grabbed the survival knife my grandfather gave me as a memento that not all of my family hated me." I reached down to my right thigh to pull it out of the scabbard. The razor sharp edge was the only thing that seemed new. There were two blood stains from use along parts of the black blade that could only be seen up close. I passed it to Michael.

"It's a little light for my taste," he said, switching from a forward to a backwards grip and back again. "It is balanced though."

"It is light, but it's sturdy, and if I need it, that light weight has it out pretty fast."

He passed it back to me. "Thank you, sir."

"I told you not to sir me, but I figured seeing it would help you explain it better if you wanted to. Anyways, we headed to headquarters, which I can't disclose the location of, not even to you. That was the first time I rode a motorcycle, and it must have been hilarious for Ashley. We were on the road for a while before Ashley stopped us at a diner where we ate and she explained magic to me. I of course didn't believe her and she said to wait. We finished and left, we got to headquarters, I met the teacher as well as the rest of the crew, I changed and headed to bed."

"Can you elaborate on your meeting with the teacher, and explain one more time why you can't say his real name."

"His name is not mine to release. But I guess I can elaborate…"

Thirteen years earlier…

"John, good to see you've arrived," Alaron said as I stepped down the stairs into a large open room with Ashley practically pushing me forward. When you meet Alaron, he won't be surprised that you stare at him. He's been through a lot. He'll be a complete jerk to you for the first few weeks you're with us, Ashley had said to me. Be patient though. Ashley hadn't joked. His glowing gray form was intriguing to say the least.

"Good evening," I said, almost forgetting to respond to his greeting.

"I need to test your potential, so do us a favor and grab a sword off the rack," he said. "I'll explain who we are, and all that later, but for now grab a sword."

"Why swords," I asked. "Wouldn't a modern soldier need to learn how to use a gun?"

"You'll figure out soon enough why we use swords," he said. "Now stop asking stupid questions and grab a weapon."

I complied and walked over to the weapons rack. There were short swords, long swords, two-handers, hand-and-half swords, as well as a huge array of katana-like weapons. I sighed and looked at a few before picking up a hand-and-half sword.

"Logan will spar with you," Alaron said.

A white-blonde haired man in his late twenties stepped towards me and drew a katana. The blade of a katana was folded. That much I knew. I can't take a blow from that directly. Logan waved his hand over the blade and it glowed blue for a moment before he gestured for me to pass him the sword I had picked up. He did the same thing to my blade before handing it back to me.

"It blunts the blade with magic to prevent us from killing each other," Logan whispered. "Don't hold back. I won't be by choice."

"I'll just be careful anyways," I said, thinking it was a cool trick to get the blade to glow like that.

"Opposite ends!" Alaron called.

We walked to opposite ends of the room, and I swung the sword experimentally. It was balanced as far as I could tell.

"Begin!" Alaron called.

I had taken two steps when Logan was on me with a flurry of strikes. I deflected a few strikes before taking a step back. I deflected a few and stepped back, waiting for my chance. Logan drew back, crouching before going for a two-handed strike. If I tried to block it, it would shatter my blade. I stepped left and angled my blade, took the blow, took another step forward, and darted my leg quickly behind and between his. As I anticipated, he stepped back at the last second which caused him to stumble back. I shouldered him, and as he hit the floor I placed my knee on his neck.

"Yield," I said to him.

"Nice moves," he said. "Where'd you learn to fight?"

"My dad taught me hand-to-hand combat when I was in grade school," I said. "And some of my friends enjoy LARP."

"What is LARP?"

"I should probably explain that later."

"Logan, you can use magic now!" Alaron yelled.

"Ok," Logan said.

There was a flash and a crack as I felt the blunted katana slam into my back. I jumped to my feet, scared out of my wits.

"What the hell?" I said.

"Magic," Logan's voice said from everywhere. "That's called a rush. I willed my body to motion around out you, and as I came around, I struck you in the back. Little tip, you have to look where you're going to rush, but you don't have to actually see your destination. I'll teach you it later, but for now."

There was a whoosh as a ribbon of blue light darted to my left. There was a flash as Logan appeared. He delivered the blow; I deflected just in time and went to strike. It was a quick jab, but all I struck was air as he vanished in a flash. I dropped to the floor and felt air rush by my head as the katana just missed. Swung my legs and knocked Logan over. He laughed as I went to put my right knee at his neck. He flashed, and I kicked hard from the ground.

I collided with Logan as he rushed behind me. I elbowed him in the gut as we fell and left him winded. I knocked his blade free as he kneed me in the stomach. We hit the ground and slid. I yanked his head up and rolled, kicking his blade from his hand as I went. A second later, my left arm was bent around his neck and my right hand was on his face.

"I have just broken your neck," I said.

"I yield," Logan chuckled. "That's a first."

I released him and heard clapping around the chamber as the walls vanished, showing forty or so people from ages six to sixty smiling.

"Welcome to our order," they said in unison. "Where the dark is darkest, we bring the light. Where the truth is hidden, we gain the key. Where Madness rises, we bring the hammer down."

Final Notes

I can't tell you guys how much it means to me when I get reviews. If you have the time and the ability, it would be great if you could review this chapter and tell me what you think. It's early enough in the story that I can change some stuff. Oh and one more thing… Merry Christmas (or Happy Hanukah)!