"Concentrate!!"

"I'm doing it as much as I can" 

" Look, you are new here so I'm going easy this time. I'm your mentor. You do as I say if you want to live, or you leave this room and never come back. Your choice."

He nodded. Although he hated it, he knew she was right. It was do or die. 

"Good. Now concentrate!! Focus your mind on the task at hand. Think about nothing else. Let's try again."

He did as he was told. He forgot about everything but the task at hand. After a few minutes, it seemed to work. The birds stopped flying, the leaves stopped rustling. Though it was only for a few seconds, he'd finally done it. 

He'd stopped time.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mark was a normal kid. He thought he had the best life ever. He had everything. Loving grandparents who treated him as their own. Friends who were there for him wherever he needed. He never wished for anything more than what he had. He was happy.

All that changed when he met Claire. She was the kinda person who grows on you. She opened the path for him to a life he never knew was destined to have and he discovered that he was so much more than merely normal.

But now his secret is out and his life and the lives of those he loves are in danger. Now he has to choose between his family and his destiny and the fate of the world depends upon his choice.

Timeless Teenagers

 Mark always saw himself as a calm and collected guy. He knew how to mask his emotions, act in ways he didn’t feel and make people believe what they wanted to. It was a hazard of being one of the “popular kids” in school. People were always looking for chunks in your armor, even when you didn’t care nearly as much as they thought you should. At that moment, he didn’t think he could be composed if he tried. 


 Someone had gotten shot at his birthday party, in front of him. A girl he’d been talking to just minutes before. If this wasn’t a nightmare, he didn’t know what was. He ran to her calling her name when he got closer. Her eyes were drooping, but she wasn’t bleeding, which was weird but he was relieved. Maybe the she’d dodged the bullet, literally. She was lying on the ground now, panting but seemingly unharmed. 


“Are you ok? Did you get shot or did I just imagine that?” he breathed out and fell down beside her. 


“I’m fine. Just a little shocked. Gimme a min.” she replied. 


“Take all the minutes you need.” he said. 


By that time, his grandparents had reached them as well. They looked from Claire to Mark, their expressions unreadable to him. They didn’t ask her if she was ok, just sighed. 


“I guess you better come in.” his grandma said. 


“Yes, I will. Mark, you and I need to talk.” she said and got up. 


………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 


It was close to midnight by the time the conversation came to an end. Claire had cleaned up and they’d had dinner too and yet, Mark still couldn’t process what he’d been told. His grandparents had smiled ruefully, told Claire to stay the night and gone to bed. He and Claire were sitting on the ugly yellow couch now. 


“So let me get this straight, you want me to go with you…tomorrow?” he asked. 


“I said as early as possible, preferably tomorrow. You can say goodbye to whoever you want to but just try to be quick about it.” she replied tentatively. 


“But I have a life her, friends and family and school and…and..” he couldn’t continue talking after that. 


“I know that, Mark! But didn’t you see what happened today, WHEN SOMEONE TRIED TO KILL YOU!” she was roaring by the end. 


“Ok. Ok. Just…just give me some time to all process this. We’ll talk about it in the morning, ok?” he said, trying to make peace. 


“Alright.” she said and got up to leave. When she reached the stairs, she turned back and said, “I just want you to know that this is much bigger than just you and me. Your father……he should be an example of how bad things can go. I hope you remember that.” Then she left, leaving him to the mercy of his thoughts.


Chapter 5: The Truth