40 Steps to Fate (19Steps)

by Steven in Illinois

19 Steps

            Her name was Angela.

            She took a walk with me, which I had originally declined politely, but she choked me in the water. She was a sassy one, alright, and I didn’t think it easy for Justin and Bruce to adjust to such attitude. As she talked to me about her regular life, I found her eerily similar to Jamie. It seemed so strange, a tingling feeling deep inside of me as she said something that matched Jamie perfectly.

            What was she doing here? Actually, I didn’t want to know. In fact, it was too crazy for me, because I had never wanted to do something like this: be the counselor for the new girl at school. However, I responded with my own story, and even got a handful of laughs out of her. Eventually, I tracked down where Justin was, and met up with him. Bruce was by his side, and both of them wore the same expression…and I could easily read it.

            They were in love.

            Angela, apparently, could also read them, because she practically hid behind me, and I realized she thought me the most trustworthy. I held my hands up to head level. “Alright, you two, this is Angela, and don’t really make her feel uncomfortable, or you have me to answer to, okay?” I muttered. Justin gave me a death glare. “Who are you to give me orders?” he bellowed. I faced his eyes calmly. “Calm down, I’m only saying you should leave her alone for a little…” I began, but I realized what Justin was doing. He was literally creating a meteorite targeted right at me. I swore under my breath, and then managed to conjure up another humongous tornado. At just the right moment, the meteorite and tornado would collide, and the sand inside would become glass. However, Justin sensed my tactic. He completely destroyed the meteorite, and replaced it with raining bolts. Was it lightning falling towards the Earth? Perhaps, only at a much slower speed, and that was when Angela seized an opportunity.

            She lifted her hand up towards the bolts, and released something: A small ball of water that seemed to be compressed with thousands of pounds of force. The ball shot up, then hit one bolt. All of a sudden, the water shattered; expanding into some huge figure I couldn’t quite see. The water enveloped all the bolts, and they soon became stationary. Angela faced my shocked face with a smile, which I quickly hid. However, Justin and Bruce made no attempt at such a tactic. I smiled. “See, she isn’t just a pretty girl, Justin. Now, can you lay off her for a handful of seconds before she kills you?” I asked. He grunted, which I assumed was an agreement. I told them I was heading back to my home. Right before I left though, I noticed something peculiar.

            Angela, staring directly at my ring, with the most complicated expression I’d ever seen.

When I met up with Jamie, I found the atmosphere bustling with excitement. The party was tomorrow, and yet, I found this party a cursed one. Because of this party, Matt had died. I wasn’t going to forget that soon. But as I hugged Jamie, I suddenly realized that the only real thing left in the world was parties. Beyond that, this world had become something close to a crazy deception, with Angela, Justin, and Bruce. Then there was the fact that Jamie held some crazy secret she still would not say to me. She wasn’t in school when I got there, so I searched for her. Eventually, I located Jamie among a huge group of other girls, who were admiring her ring. They were whispering stuff about how their boyfriend never got stuff like that, or anything of the sort. It was their problem; I was sure I was single at the same time as them. I approached Jamie. “Wanna talk?” I asked.  Seizing my hand, we walked down the hall. I told her that I’d discovered a water elemental, and that they had a lot of similarities between them. Jamie frowned at that. “Are you saying that if I were to leave you, you’d just replace me with her?” I laughed. “Of course not, because first of all, you’re not allowed to leave me, and second, I don’t like her.” She smiled, and then kissed me. Her kisses were different now, purely passion, and devotion to me. I could tell she loved who I was, and wasn’t going to let go of that. It was exactly what I loved so much of her: her slight stubbornness. I gently returned the kiss, and we hung there for a while, the young couple with a bright future, making out in the middle of the hallway. Something felt weird then, like somebody was watching us…not just anybody. Slowly, I broke apart from her and glanced around. My eyes caught Angela, who suddenly disappeared afterward. Jamie saw my confusion. “Is something wrong?” she asked. I looked her in the eye, and saw that secret she was keeping inside had something to do with all of this…something inhuman was hidden inside of her, and as much as I hated to admit it, I’d have to find a way to get it out of her…before I was consumed by mystery. Right then, my decision was made up: I’d have to get the truth out of her, if it meant chasing her to the end of the Earth.

            “Jamie,” I whispered urgently. She locked my eyes.

            “What?” she whispered. She could feel the urgency, and was nervous…maybe even frightened.

            “I think it’s time you tell me your secret,” I whispered. She looked away then, a different person. Her face went pink, as she whispered, “I can’t.” I felt strangely impatient, so I pressed on.

            “I believe you can tell me, if anybody in the world…” I began, but she cut me off. “It’s something that isn’t what you should know.” She muttered. I stared at her eyes then, and searched deeply for what it was she was hiding.

            I couldn’t find it, but then she spoke.

            “If you knew my secret, you and I would be no more.” She whispered. I stared at her eyes directly. “Did you cheat on me?” I asked. She laughed. “Of course not…

            “It’s just that I have to wait for the right time, or everything could fall apart, and both of us could die.”