Russell~

Russell didn't follow Kieran over to where Erin lay on the ground, because after the other boy had turned his back, a massive boulder came hurtling towards his head.

"Dude, what is your problem?" He yelled, teleporting out of the way just in time. Trey's super speeding friend started to chase him, forcing him to zip around the gym while at the same avoiding rocks and punches thrown by the other two. He could feel himself starting to get tired.

I know a way you could defeat them, Russell heard a voice say in his head. He was so startled that he accidentally teleported to the top of Mr. Sok's booth. To the side, he saw Asher shooting dark matter at… his sister? But before he could figure out what was happening, Trey threw another boulder, and the voice spoke again.

The armory isn't that far away… you could be there and back in a flash…

Russell shook his head in an attempt to get rid of the voice, and teleported closer to Keiran, Imogene, Erin, Sariel, and Mara. "A little help?" He said, breathless. Mara stood in front of Erin with a determined look, as though she would protect her, even if she had no physical powers. Keiran smirked and Imogene readied her fists. "Just cover me," Russell said.

Then, with all the energy he had left, he started to teleport extremely fast in a circle around Trey and his friends. Disoriented, Trey threw many stones, which Keiran absorbed with black holes. Finally Russell stopped midair, shouting, "Now!"

Imogene blasted them with water, knocking them off guard. The impact looked like it had left Trey hurt fairly bad. His friends didn't look too great, either. 

His energy spent, Russell's legs gave out from under him, and he fell into the closest thing to him…Keiran. Fortunately, the other boy caught him. "Woah, a simple thank you would've been okay!" He said. Russell felt his eyes closing- he had never teleported so much in such a short amount of time. The last thing he heard before he passed out was the strange voice.

You should've listened to me…

Keiran-

It was incredible, to say the least. Russel burst in and out of sight in a flurry of warped air, leaving Keiran rushing to fill the gaps with black holes. After it was finished, Russel lurched to the side, groaning.

Keiran caught him under the arms. "Doing alright?" he asked. Russel nodded, bleary.

"Good. Let's go." Keiran said. The bell for class rang. Mr. Sok waved them out, scribbling on a notepad.

Russel pitched forward, delirious. Keiran swore. 

"Let go, Frosty…" Russel muttered, trying to wave him off.

Keiran hesitated. Russel's hair was rumpled to one side, and he looked as though he'd pounded one too many down the hatch.

"Look, don't hate me for this, alright?" Keiran sighed.

"Wha-" Russel began. Keiran scooped up the small boy in his arms. Russel yelped and turned pink, glaring up at him.

"I'm going to work on the Forbiddens issue, okay? Want to come?"

Russel crossed his arms. "You're carrying me. Do I have a choice?"

"No." said Keiran, starting down the hall toward the library.

THE NEXT DAY, BECAUSE THE PLOT NEEDS TO GET MOVING:

Keiran clutched the paper in one fist, breathing heavily. It was printed with inked stars and alchemical diagrams. He locked himself in the closet of his and Asher's room and read:

THE RITUAL OF SEVEN STARS: THE LOCK TO NIERAK'S GATE

Keiran began to chant the incantation. A black hole opened at his fingertips, and atop it, white starlight made a funnel. He looked within the funnel and-

It was the future. Keiran was looking into the future. It was him, aged perhaps 15 years older. He stood on a cliff, looking over a yawning black hole. Or he would have been looking, if not for the blindfold over his eyes.

"Think it'll fix itself?" said a voice next to him. It was Russel, an adult now, standing beside future-him.

"No. Definitely not." Future-Keiran said, grimacing. Future-Russel nudged him.

"Let's go home." the teleporter said.

Keiran paused before nodding, reaching blindly next to him. Future-Russel took his hand and led him away, humming softly.

Keiran snapped back to reality. Something pale watched him from the funnel of starlight. A tether formed.

"Thank you." It hissed, grinning with black teeth.

It lunged out and vanished, dissapearing into the back of Keiran's head. Keiran's eyes burned for a moment.

The feeling was gone, replaced by a cold voice.

"You've given us a gateway, Keiran. As soon as I control your body, the others will arrive. The back of your mind is our salvation."

Keiran's face was drenched in cold sweat. He had messed up. How had he messed up? What had made the ritual go wrong?

Keiran ran back into the room, trying to quiet Nierak's voice in his head. It was calling out to the leader, calling out to Elle-

Keiran ran out of the room, ignoring Asher's shout coming after him. The ritual had failed. He needed to get away from everyone.

““““““““““`

A NOTE: Keiran's  occipital lobe is the gateway from the Forbidden's prison to our world, if that wasn't clear. PLEASE POST!

P

Elle~

I practically run to my dorm, Erin trying to catch up without getting glances by the students that have already stopped to stare at me. 

I ignore them and quickly open the door, Erin barely catching it before she walks in herself. 

I plop down on my bed and open the yearbook, carefully examining everything. 

I go to the page I dog eared, and examine it once more before turning to the next one. The pictures in this one move, and it shows the students doing different things, like sports and art and everything. 

“What’s that?” Erin asks, glancing at it. 

“A yearbook,” I reply, my eyes not moving from the page. “From the time our parents were here.”

Erin’s eyebrows raise, and I show her the page with all the individual shots. Her finger traces over it before she stops and smiles at her mom’s picture. “She’s so young…what happened?”

We both start laughing. 

“You’re so mean!” I manage to get our before we gasp and finish laughing. 

She shrugs and lays down on her bed casually, reading her own book. I close the book and decide to take a nap. It’s Sunday. Classes start again tomorrow. 

And I’m more exhausted than I should be. 

~~~~

“Hello?” I ask to the void. My voice echoes throughout the darkness before suddenly, a glowing figure appears. 

“Riona.”*

“What?” I ask without thinking. 

“Riona Eltíhaine Fultrix.”

“No,” I say slowly. “Elle Caitrín Dvotoski.”

The figure starts to come closer, and my eyes begin to adjust. It’s an older man, with short grey hair and a grey beard. He’s fairly tall, and dressed in robes from what would be in fairy tales or something. 

“I do not mistake the people in which I talk to.”

I tilt my head. “Who are you?”

He smiles. “You do not know?”

I shake my head. 

“I am Conlan Damatré Fultrix, leader and creator of the Forbidden. We have those who whisper in the ears of your friends. Those who show in dreams. Those who are still alive.”

I shake my head. “No. Get away from me.”

I take a step back and he takes one forward. 

He clicks his tongue. “Riona, Riona, Riona. I am not the enemy. I am hear to guide you.”

“The last thing I need is your guidance,” I retort. “I’m sure not going to end up like you.”

He chuckles. “You say that-“

“And mean it,” I interrupt. 

He looks at me, almost as if he’s studying and observing me. I shiver slightly before he continues. 

“Your great-great-grandfather was so easy to deal with. Along with his son, and the son after, and then the son after that, who is your father. Why must you be so difficult?” Then he scoffs under his breath, “Females.”

My eyes narrow. “I must be the first one down the line to have some sense.”

Conlan’s eyes harden but he quickly masks it. “You have too much of that Hotchlen blood in you. Marza was a nice girl. But the only reason she ever came near the Fultrix family was because of Damond. Thank goodness she died so she didn’t pass on those rebellious acts to you.”

“Oh, I think that’s it my blood sir. You said it yourself.”

“Yes, I suppose.”

There’s a small silence before he continues. 

“You have so much potential, Riona. Why don’t you use it?”

“My name is Elle,” I say, desperately trying to unclench my teeth. “And I have the power of illusions. Doesn’t seem that special and magnificent and ‘all powerful’ to me. And I hope it stays that way. I don’t want to be used-“

“Ah, but your fight with your adopted brother-“

“My brother,” I interrupt. 

“Your adopted brother-“

“My brother.”

“Asher…showed that your powers have become physical, not just mental. You are slowly learning. Soon you will be as powerful as this entire line was, if not more. That power will destine you for greatness. Then when you become the leader of the Forbidden, your power will exceed all.”

“I don’t want power. I want peace.”

And with that, I force myself to wake up. 

~~~~

My eyes open, and I look towards Erin, who seems to have gone somewhere. Making sure no one else is here, I roll over to my side, pull the covers to my face, and silently start to cry. 

(I've got homework to do, but I really don't want this to die, so…)

Mara~

The rest of the fight passed by quickly. Mara's free period was after that, so she made a beeline for the library.

If there was one place in the world where Mara felt at home, it was in places like this, surrounded by words. She took a deep breath, the scent of old books filling her nose. The Forbidden… where to start looking? Mara figured since she was the only one who could read them, she'd look over the section of books written in ancient languages.

She selected a few off the shelf and then sat down at a nearby table. The library was empty except for a couple older teenagers. When she opened the first book, nothing popped out at her, at least, nothing she already knew. But something extraordinary occured when she turned the first page of the second book.

The ancient symbols, written in ink, began to glow flourescent blue. Then they started to come off the page, and Mara seemed to be surrounded by nothing but a cloud of dark blue- the library was gone from sight.

The symbols started to arranged themselves. "The Forbidden have not been able to speak to you… and neither have we," Mara read aloud. "Touch us," she continued.

She had no idea what was happening, but she reached out a finger to touch the last word. Suddenly, it was like the words were a picture in her head, and this time, their were two slightly raspy voices speaking them.

The Forbidden must not be able to get through to her, a man's voice said. Mara felt her head starting to ache. What was happening?

Or perhaps they choose not to- it's not like she can do much physical harm, a higher pitched voice spoke.

"Can you tell me what is going on?" she exclaimed.

We are here to help the world, to stop the forbidden, the first voice said. We think you might be a valuable resource, because the Forbidden haven't been able to get into your head, somehow.

"Okay… that's good, I guess…" Mara replied. "But how does that help me?"

We believe you can learn to keep the Forbidden out of your fellow descendant's heads. There are ancient texts that could possibly be used by you and only you. The second voice said.

Now that you've touched us, we can keep in contact with you. We can help you learn.

With that, Mara felt a jolt like she had blacked out for a couple seconds, and then she was sitting at the table, like nothing had even happened.

~~~

So, Mara might be able to learn a spell or something to either keep the Forbidden out of the others' thoughts, or to make them go away when they are in their thoughts. 

Asher~

I’ve noticed something controlling others’ actions. Voices in their head. Something telling them what to do. 

But that voice isn’t talking to me. 

I don’t know why. Maybe they’re just waiting for the right time. But emotions that aren’t mine are taking over me. That other day, when I fought Elle and hurt her, that wasn’t me. Well, it was, but I also felt that there was something-someone-else in me, taking out their anger on Elle also. 

I need to get down to the bottom of this. 

Elle still hasn’t spoken to me, which I don’t blame her for, but I need to talk to her. 

Arriving at her dorm, I take a deep breath before knocking on the door crisply. 

There’s a bit of shuffling on the other side, before the knob turns and Elle’s face appears on the other side. Her eyes are red from crying. 

“What do you want?” she asks with a harsh tone.  

“I need to apologise.”

Elle hesitates before letting me in. 

“Where’s Erin?” I ask, walking in and sitting down on a table. 

“I don’t know. Library maybe.”

There’s a small and slightly awkward silence between us before I clear my throat. 

“Elle, the fight the other day, I was being controlled. I was consciously there, but what I guess I’m trying to say is, I didn’t mean to do what I did. I’m sorry.”

She nods slowly and there’s another pause. 

“Forgiven.”

I let out a sigh of relief and then ask her what’s wrong. 

She replies with a shrug. “Bad dream.”

“What happened?”

Elle shakes her head. “Grandfather-well, great great so on grandfather- went to visit me in the dream. I didn’t want anything to do with him, so I somehow woke myself up. But he told me some scary stuff Ash. About how…I would turn into him…lead The Forbidden…essentially kill….” She buries her face in her hands, and I go to sit beside her. 

“Have you been hearing…voices in her head?” I ask. 

“No,” she replies. “But he told me that the Forbidden work in dreams, voices, actions, other stuff. In fact, he told me these things, but he was also telling me things almost telepathically. Maybe I’m just crazy.”

“Well what else did he say?”

“There seemed to be a battle in my head. He began saying each of us in the riddle would be used also to help the Forbidden destroy the students and the world. But a female voice interrupted him and told me that it wouldn’t happen if we all stuck together and tried to work together. We have to help each other, or else the Forbidden will truly get to us individually.”

“Let’s not waste time then,” I say. “Gather the others. We’ll all meet in the nook in the library. I’ll go find Keiran, cause he ran off, but it should be easy for you to find the rest.”

She nods and heads out the door, as I quickly follow her behind. 

I starting jogging towards the direction Keiran ran. Eventually, after going through a few corridors, hallways, and stairs, I reach a general area where a lot of students are usually. But this time, it’s empty, save one younger boy frantically running from the bathroom. 

I catch his arm as he passes me, and he looks up at me with terrified eyes. 

“Hey, what happened in there?”

He shakes his head as he tries to get away. 

“Hey!”

Suddenly he snaps out of it. “There’s a boy in there! He’s going crazy or something. He almost sent me through a black hole!”

I immediately release him and run towards the bathroom. 

“Keiran!” I yell. 

“Leave me alone,” a much deeper growl emits from the corner of the bathroom. I press myself against the wall and peer around the corner, seeing him, with swirling masses of what looks like black holes and stars around him. 

He’s not himself. 

“Keiran,” I say, taking a risky move to show myself to him. 

He looks up violently, his eyes black voids. 

I gulp quickly. “Keiran.” 

I start to let the dark matter emerge to the palms of my hands until one more push, and they’d burst out. 

I slowly walk towards him. 

“Leave me alone,” he says in a more human voice. “Ash, they’re controlling me, I don’t want them to hurt y-“ He’s interrupted by a shout of pain. “G-gateway,” he stutters out. “Using me-“ He writhes on the floor in agony. 

Kieran’s being used as a gateway. For the Forbidden. I desperately think of a way to stop it. 

I let the dark matter flow from my hands until it surrounds Keiran. He looks up like a wild animal caught in a trap. He frantically starts to use his powers to make it disperse, but I counteract every attack. I slowly start to use my dark matter to wedge in between him and the stars he’s created around himself, along with the little black holes. 

“Keiran, work with me!” I yell. 

I implode one star somehow, and work on the next one when Russel comes in. 

“Oh my- Asher, what’s happening?”

“Quick,” I get out, still concentrating. “Teleport Keiran back to the library, along with you. I’ll take care of these things.”

Russel nods quickly, even though he’s a bit confused. 

I thank him with my eyes before the next star implodes. 

Russel uses his powers, and I leave small opening among the dark mass so eventually, he reaches to Keiran, and they both disappear with a flash. 

I’ve got all the stars, but I don’t know where to start with the black holes. 

“C’mon,” I say shortly, twisting the matter among them. Then I have an idea. 

I send the matter on the other side of the hole, and start to seal it from the inside. It’s working. 

I do that for the next few until there’s one more. 

But a figure starts to float from it. Using all my energy, I start to quickly close the hole, while the figure starts to get sucked back in. 

“We hate you!” it screeches. “We’ll kill you and everyone you love!”

“You wouldn’t kill your own leader would you?”

At the mention of Elle, it looks at me with eyes full of horror before disappearing back into where it came. 

Silence. 

As if slowed down, I feel myself falling to the floor, collapsing my head onto the stone. 

Everything goes dark. 

~~~~

I wake up with a snap, and find myself in the library with the others staring at me. I immediately look for Keiran, who’s head is resting on Russel’s. I guess Russel is short enough to be a headrest, and I almost smirk at the idea, before a blinding pain in my head sets it back down on the table. 

“Ash, you okay?” Elle’s voice quietly says. 

“How’d you find me?”

“Russel told us what happened and retrieved you from the bathroom. I floated you down to the library,” she replies. “But I kept you concealed so none of the teachers would notice anything.”

I grunt in thanks before my head turns. I see Mara and give her a smile before forcing my head back up to look towards the others. 

“I told them what happened,” Russel quietly says. 

I nod, but say no more. 

“I also told them about the dream,” Elle adds in. “They know.”

I look at the faces of everyone around the room and nod again. “Okay. Guys, next time the voices come, you need to fight them. Think of what your ancestors would do. If you can, let them into your head to also fight the voices. But don’t give the voices what they want, because if you do…we all might just end up dead.”

~~~~

End post. 

@Bluebird, okay, so I know I said Ash is slightly sociopathic and doesn’t have crushes on people, but the way I’ve been writing his character, I think he’s starting to feel something a bit different towards Mara. What do you think, should we try and ship them?