The Chex's

My eyes flashed open. How long had I been asleep, I wondered. It must have been a while. My body was stiff from being still so long. A cool breeze blew into my room from the open window. It felt nice. I got up from my four-poster bed, and tip-toed to the window. It was still dark out, but I could tell it was around five o' clock. The breeze blew through my tossled blonde hair. I climbed the ledge, not wanting to wake my parents, and made the leap to the soft ground below. My feet touched the ground, and then I was running. Again, this felt nice. My aching body welcomed the use of my muscles. I could feel the pulse, pulling me forward. I loved to run like this. To feel the wind whipping around my face. The smell of the cool, wet October ground... And the trees. It was all like a dream. Yet, I would never wake from this dream. For this dream, was reality.

Most didn't know of my powers. We were to keep them a secret. I didn't even know, to what extent, what all I could do. One who did know, was Tom. He hollered at me now, through his telepathy power. "Please, Jack. Slow down!" My feet faltered under his command, but I kept running. Tom had always had superior power over me, despite him only being thirteen. I hated it. I hated being told what to do, or where to go. The sense of freedom, was always short lived. "Jack, please. Stop running!" Again, my feet faltered. This time I slowed down without ever making the conscious decision to do so. I had managed to stop somewhere south of the West River. I could hear it, flowing fast over the rocks. Crashing against it's ground barrier. I focused and listened while I waited for Tom to catch up.

My super senses were tense as he lumbered into view. Like the rest of us, Tom was fast. He was also burly and round, which didn't really fit into his grace. He stared at me. I glared back. What exactly did he want with me at five o' clock in the morning? I wanted to run. To feel free. I didn't want to waste time... "talking."

Tom listened quietly to my rant for a moment. He hated that he had command over Jack. He didn't want to be a leader. Like Jack, Tom wanted to be alone. To be free. I grumbled, "what do you want, Tom?"

"We had an intruder last night," he replied. "We need to be on top of things, and you are our tracker. We need you to take over night shift... so we can be ready the next time he shows up."

I started to turn away. "Now, Jack. You know how much I hate making you obey, but I will take action if need be. I must protect my family, and my home." I growled at him, "Fine. I will take night shift. Just know that I won't do it with a smile."

I turned in a flash, and took off. This is what he woke me up for? An Intruder? What kind of person would dare challenge us anyway? We were the most powerful, most feared, group within a thousand miles. I was the tracker of course. Then you had Tom, the telepathic. Ripley was our runner. He was the fastest of all of us my a margin. Then you had Marcos, who was by far the strongest around. Who could possibly, even dream, of standing a chance against us?

Then it happened. I was so absorbed by my thoughts, the scent caught me off guard. It was strong... pungent. Definitely male. I had just begun releasing these thoughts to Tom, when everything went black.

To be continued...