CHAPTER 7:

Hot water rushed over my body as I stood in the shower. I looked at my knuckles, stretching out my fingers and clasping them into a fist. They were still slightly red from earlier at Skeeps. Luckily I hadn’t punched the boy in the mouth so my knuckles weren’t split open. I rolled my neck and turned off the shower, the water going from a comforting cascade to a sudden halt. Stepping out, I enveloped myself in a soft towel, feeling the stark contrast of the cool air against my warm skin. I took a deep breath, reflecting on the night's events, and felt a mix of excitement and lingering adrenaline. I went through my nightly routine and slipped into sweatpants and a t shirt. Walking into my room, I turned on my computer and opened Discord. It seemed Derek was sitting in a lobby by himself with his camera on, waiting for people to join.

“Sup bro,” I said, settling into my chair and turning on my camera. “Guess what happened to me at the bar just now.”

“Sup,” Derek responded, sounding tired. He almost always sounded tired or sad, even when speaking to him in person. “What happened?”

“I got in a fight with some kid,” I smiled. “Beat his ass.”

Derek was quite into MMA as well so I knew he would be interested. He was a lot better than me at jiujitsu, having trained for much longer, and almost always tapped me out with chokes when we had trained together in the past. He had also been training in Muay Thai for the past year, but recently hadn’t gone after getting a girlfriend about two months ago.

“Really? Why?” He chuckled, sounding slightly more awake.

I explained to him the situation and the fight that followed. Derek nodded along with a few ‘uh huh’s and ‘okay’s.

“Might’ve broken dude’s nose,” I said smugly. “Who knows.”

“Didn’t seem like he knew how to fight though,” Derek snickered. “Sounds like you just beat up some dude.”

“Well he asked for it,” I retorted, a hint of defensiveness in my tone. “He pushed me first too.”

“I mean, I guess,” Derek shook his head, laughing.

Before Derek could get in another word I heard the ‘blip’ of someone joining the lobby. Looking at the names I noticed Jack had joined.

“Sup losers,” Jack sighed, turning on his camera.

“Shut up, Jack,” Derek yawned. “You’re the biggest loser buddy.”

“De--rek, mumbling and sad as usual,” Jack laughed. “You high right now?”

“No,” Derek replied. “I haven’t hit the pen in like… four hours.”

“Wow, good for you bro,” Jack laughed. “Anyways, Atti, look at what Alex Jones just posted on Twitter. This one’s called, ‘The Government is Hiding the Apocalypse from us!’”

“Alright,” I responded, intrigued.

Clicking into Jack’s screen share, Alex Jones was featured sitting in his high end studio. His intro music was playing as he straightened some papers on his desk.

“Guys, we’re in for the big enchilada tonight. This is an extreme emergency,” Alex Jones started, staring into the camera. “This one’s pretty damn crazy. According to a few of my insider sources, high level guys by the way, the government believes an apocalypse is coming in less than a few weeks from now. And no, it’s not gonna be China sending nukes.

“What’s Alex Jones talking about now?” Jack chuckled. “There’s no way the apocalypse is coming in February.”

“Shh, let me listen,” I shushed Jack. “Why would he lie about something so big.”

“According to my sources, God… yes God itself, has begun to select people on Earth to be something called Chosen Ones,” Alex Jones continued. “These Chosen Ones have been granted increased physical capabilities and in some cases supernatural powers. I know, it sounds crazy, but this is what I’ve heard and this is what the government believes.”

“Bruh,” Derek laughed, “Alex Jones is saying there are people with superpowers now. I think the demons in his head are talking to him.”

“He can’t be serious!” Jack broke into laughter. “Alex Jones off the deep end again!”

“Holy shit,” I thought to myself. “Alex Jones is right. I guess it has been a little over a week since people have been started being selected. Over 10% of the world have been chosen now, it makes sense the government would have found out.”

“Supposedly, these Chosen Ones have all said the same thing. They say that they have been selected in order to defend the world by entering dimensional rifts that are going to start opening on February 12th,” Alex Jones shook his head. “They also said that by February 12th, fifty percent of the human population will be selected as a Chosen One. I promise you this is the truth, at least this is what the government believes and they’re planning for this apocalypse as we speak. Guys, if this is true it will likely put a stop to world war three. If this is true, we’ll have to come together as a planet to defend ourselves from this apocalypse.”

“Wait, so there’s a fifty percent chance I get superpowers?” Derek chuckled. “Okay!”

“There’s no way you would be a Chosen One,” Jack laughed. “Imagine.”

A slight laugh escaped me. “Guys, I am a Chosen One.”

“Ooh, Atti’s a Chosen One!” Derek giggled. “This is perfect for your middle school syndrome.”

“Whatever,” I shrugged, a slight grin on my face. “Don’t believe me, I’ll just kill you with my new superpowers next time I see you.”

Derek laughed, shaking his head. “No, I’m gonna kill you with my superpowers because I’m a Chosen One.”

“Alright, shut up idiots, listen up!” Jack interjected, rewinding the video to where we left off.

“Okay guys, if you thought it couldn’t get darker it can,” Alex Jones continued, clearing his throat. “The government has taken a few hundred of these Chosen Ones and put them in labs. Supposedly they are running all kinds of tests on them, going as far as using torture. If I were one of these Chosen Ones, I would not want to let these psychopaths in the government find out about me. Alright, take care everyone and stay safe. Remember, February 12th is doomsday.”

With that, the video ended. I felt my spine tingle as I recounted my actions from the days I had messed around with telekinesis. As far as I could tell, I had been doing things pretty covertly, though it wasn’t worth taking any more chances. Getting put in a lab and tortured scared me, and I shuddered at the thought. I let out a sigh and stretched my arms behind my back, trying to calm down. Taking a deep breath I opened my phone and looked at the date. It was January 22nd, 9 days had passed since I had become a Chosen One. I still had 21 days before the apocalypse, I had better focus on getting stronger.

“Hard to take Alex Jones seriously sometimes,” Jack said, turning off his stream. “It is fun to listen to him go completely nuclear though.”

“Yeah, quite the conspiracy this time,” Derek replied, biting his fingernail.

“But what if he’s telling the truth?” I replied, sitting forward in my chair. “What if there really is an apocalypse coming February 12th.”

“I mean, I could see it as a possibility if world war three were to happen,” Jack sighed. “But all this about God and superpowers is just crazy.”

“Yeah, I guess you never believed in a higher power, did you,” I responded.

“No,” Jack said firmly. “I don’t.”

I shook my head and laid back against my chair. Jack often seemed to be a realist when it came to ideas such as God, or even government conspiracies laid out by Alex Jones. But he still liked them. Then an idea struck me, maybe I could speak to Jack’s soul to hear his true thoughts on things. I paused for a second.

“But Jack is thousands of miles away back in LA, as of now I’d only tried talking to souls of people I could see,” I thought to myself. “It was worth a shot though.”

Focusing on Jack in his camera on Discord, I tried pulling his soul out of his body. I closed my eyes and looked around. Nothing.

“Hmm, let me try something else,” I pondered. “When I was working with the souls earlier it seemed visualization and focus was key to my control.”

I closed my eyes and envisioned Jack’s face in my mind. I imagined his dark blue soul forming in front of me.

“Huh, am I dreaming?” I heard Jack's voice in my head. “I swear I was just on the computer, there’s no way I would have fallen asleep. Wait, is that Atti? What the fuck?”

Closing my eyes I noticed Jack’s soul was floating just outside my window. He floated inside, flinching as he went through the window. It was funny seeing the little man look around in awe, exploring my room.

“No way, it actually worked,” I thought to myself, chuckling as a window popped up in front of me.

Skill Updated: Soul Manipulation Level 2

“Wait, what worked? Holy shit am I floating?” Jack’s soul said, floating up to the right corner of my room. “Wait, Atti, are you a Chosen One? Holy shit, Alex Jones was being serious?”

I looked back at my computer, Jack mumbled something as he typed furiously on his keyboard. I grinned, a sense of grandeur flowing through me.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Yes, I’m a Chosen One,” I said in my head. “You’re your soul right now. One of my skills is the ability to manipulate souls.”

“Woah, that’s insane,” Jack’s soul responded. “Wait… this changes everything, though. My view of the world, of reality..."

“I know, now do you believe there’s something up there, something like God?” I grinned, feeling satisfied that I had just blown Jack’s mind.

“I mean, I guess,” Jack’s soul paused as he floated down next to me. “But, there’s got to be some sort of scientific explanation for this though.”

“Really bro,” I shook my head.

“Yeah, maybe not,” Jack’s soul replied, looking at my screen. “Hey, you gotta convince me that the everything Alex Jones said was true. I gotta prepare for the apocalypse.”

“There’s no way you would believe me,” I responded. “What’s the point.”

“Hmm,” Jack’s soul floated up to the corner of my room again. “I guess not.”

“I could do this though,” A slight smile peeled back my lips as I severed the connection with Jack’s soul.

I was pretty sure I could trust these guys, I had known them for years.

I opened my eyes and spoke out loud. “Hey, Jack, I bet I can read your mind.”

He paused his typing. “Uh, no you can’t bro.”

“Think about something and keep repeating it in your head,” I put my hands behind my head, leaning back in my chair. “Watch this.”

“Alright,” he said, staring at me through the screen. “I’m thinking of something… now.”

I closed my eyes and imagined Jack’s soul appearing before me.

“What are you thinking right now,” I said in my head.

“Oh, this is funny,” Jack’s soul replied, cracking up. “I’m gonna be so confused! I was just thinking about playing League of Legends.”

“You were thinking about playing League,” I opened my eyes, talking out loud.

Jack laughed, “There’s no way bro. Okay, I was thinking about playing League. But I bet you just guessed that since it’s something I would be thinking about.”

“Jack would be thinking about League,” Derek laughed.

“Alright, I’ll do it again,” I responded, putting Jack’s soul back in his body. “Start thinking about something else.”

Jack’s eyes looked up toward his forehead as he tried thinking of something else. “Okay, read my mind.”

I closed my eyes, once more imagining Jack’s soul appearing before me.

“I was thinking about the dinner I just ate, Fat Sal’s,” his soul said, looking at my screen.

“You were thinking about the Fat Sal's you just had for dinner,” I smirked, opening my eyes.

“What the fuck!” Jack yelled, laughing. “Ain’t no way. How did you do that?”

“Wait, he got it right?” Derek’s eyes were wide open.

“Yes, he got it right!” Jack rocked back and forth in his chair. “What the fuck?”

“I told you, I’m a Chosen One,” I grinned. “Don’t go telling the government about me though, I’m not tryna get put in a lab.”

“Yeah right, bro,” Jack laughed. “How the hell did you do that?”

“Atti’s a Chosen One, bro,” Derek chuckled. “He can read your mind, oo-!”

“I’m telling you, I’m a Chosen One,” my smug grin was still plastered on my face. “Look. If either of you guys becomes a Chosen One, you know you can trust me.”

“Wait, are you being for real?” Jack rubbed his chin. “It seems like you’re being honest right now but I can’t tell with that smile on your face.”

I sighed, glancing around my room. I paused for a moment, deciding whether or not to show them my telekinesis. I realized what I was doing would potentially put me at risk, but I was pretty sure I could trust them and I would be helping them by giving them time to prepare for the apocalypse.

“Alright, I’ll prove it to you,” I said, grabbing my glasses off my desk. “But seriously guys, you cannot tell anyone about this. I really don’t want to get caught up with the government.”

“You really think I would tell on you to the government,” Derek chuckled.

“Yeah, we’re not gonna tell anybody shit,” Jack said, watching his screen closely. “What are you gonna do with those glasses, break them?”

“Promise me,” I said in a serious tone.

“Alright, I promise,” Jack replied.

“Yeah, I promise,” Derek said, leaning in toward his screen.

“Okay,” I said, focusing on the glasses slowly lifting into the air.

As my glasses lifted into the air I opened them up and spun them around.

“Holy shit!” Derek exclaimed, eyes widening. “You have the power to make things levitate?”

“Hold on, hold on,” Jack said, brows furrowed. “He’s probably just using a string or something, it’s gotta be a trick. I’ve seen shit like this on Instagram.”

“Alright, that not enough for you?” I said, standing up and walking a few steps back into my room. “How about this?”

My drawers and closet opened and clothes quickly floated out of them, hanging in mid air around me. They then started folding unfolding and folding themselves as I grinned at my screen.

“Wait, what the fuck?” Jack yelled, standing up out of his chair. “No fucking way, bro.”

“Yooo!” Derek laughed. “Atti is actually a Chosen One.”

“Believe me now, Jack,” I chuckled nervously, realizing there was now no going back.

“Yes bro,” Jack laughed. He then paused for a second and collected himself, sitting back in his chair. “Holy shit… Alex Jones was telling the truth… Does this mean our world is coming to an end?”

“I’m not sure, but I was told by the System that an apocalypse is coming,” I responded, telekinetically putting my clothes back where they belonged.

“Dude, you can’t tell anybody about this,” Jack rubbed his temples. “If everything Alex Jones said was true, you can’t let the government find out about you.”

“I know, that’s why you guys need to promise to not tell anybody about this,” I responded firmly, sitting back down in my chair. “But I wanted you guys to know that this is all actually real and give you a chance to prepare. No one will believe you, at least not until maybe another week or so goes by and more people become Chosen Ones. I’m sure by then the news will be mainstream, there’s no way they’ll be able to hide it.”

“Holy shit this is bad,” Derek said, holding his head between his hands as reality set in. “What about the other boys, we should tell them. You should show them your powers and they’ll believe us.”

I sat in my chair for a second, thinking about whether or not I should let the rest of our friends know. I was pretty sure I could trust the rest of my friends, and I did want them to also have the chance to prepare. However, there was also the fact that the more people that knew about me the more word would spread.

I sighed. “I’m not sure if we should tell them, I’m worried word might start spreading if more people know about me.”

“That’s true,” Jack responded. “Maybe we should keep this secret, at least until everything breaks mainstream media.”

“Yeah, it’s probably better that way,” I said.

We sat in silence for a few moments, the two of them taking in the situation and everything they had just learned. Derek shook his head, pinching the space between his eyebrows and Jack leaned back in his chair, letting out a deep breath. Suddenly, there was a ‘blip’ and someone else joined our lobby. My eyes widened in surprise, what inopportune timing.

“What’s up guys,” I heard Michael say as his camera turned on.

Michael was one of my oldest friends from middle school. We had become friends in 7th grade and were close all throughout highschool. He had run Division 3 track and cross country in college, the same school as Jeff actually, and was now was in a master’s program at U Penn for computer science, living in an apartment somewhere in Philly. He had grown up a lot since I’d known him and was much more mature than he was in highschool.

No one said anything and seconds passed in quiet.

“Uh, guys, I know you’re there,” Michael said, raising an eyebrow. “I can literally see you guys on camera.”

“Should we tell him?” Jack finally broke the silence.

“I mean, Michael’s probably trustworthy,” I sighed, stretching my arms to relieve some stress.

“Tell me what?” Michael responded, “Should I just leave?”

“Michael, the apocalypse is coming and God is selecting Chosen Ones to defend earth,” Derek said, speaking quickly. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true.”

Michael sat back in his chair, mouth slightly ajar, a look of shock on his face.

“Normally I wouldn’t believe you,” He started twitching slightly. “But one of my friends said the exact same thing a few days ago. He passed out when we were at dinner and woke up saying the craziest things about the apocalypse and how he had been chosen.”

“Holy shit, really?” Derek said.

“Yeah,” Michael continued. “I mean, all of us thought he was having some kind of mental breakdown, so we checked him into the hospital. Like, none of us believed him but... Wait how do you guys know about this?”

“Well, Michael, if you want to know, you can’t tell anyone,” I told him. “Like seriously, no one can know since the government is trying to find Chosen Ones and put them into labs.”

“Okay, I won’t tell anyone,” Michael said, rubbing his temples. “Oh man, what Reed was saying is real?”

“Can I trust you, Michael,” I said, studying him.

“Yes, you can trust me,” Michael replied. He still seemed frightened. “Think about how long we’ve been friends.”

“Okay, you’re right, I trust you,” I said, letting out a deep breath. I then grabbed my glasses and levitated them a few inches above my hand. “I am a Chosen One.”

“What the hell,” Michael squinted his eyes for a second, leaning in closer to his screen. “You have super powers?”

“Yes, Atti has freaking super powers now,” Derek groaned. “Of all people, Atti got super powers.”

“I always knew God was real,” Michael said, his hands shaking slightly as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Fuck, I gotta tell everyone what Reed was saying is true,”

“No, Michael, you can’t tell anyone,” I said, seriously.

“I’m sorry, Atti, I have to, I can’t just be the only one that knows this,” Michael said, typing furiously on his phone. “I won’t use your name though, I promise.”

“Bro,” I scowled, “Are you serious?”

“Yes, bro, those are my friends!” Michael said, a worried look on his face. “What am I supposed to do, just leave them to die?”

“Well as far as we know, this news will eventually go mainstream,” I responded, gritting my teeth. “You have to calm down, there’s no way to know what’s actually going to happen on February 12th.”

“February 12th? That’s like… less than three weeks from now,” Michael exclaimed, eyes widening. “Dude, we have to tell everyone, why have you kept this a secret? Holy shit, I need to call my parents.”

Derek and Jack started to look uneasy as well, squirming in their seats. It seemed Michael was feeding them the reality they didn’t need to hear.

“Michael, calm down,” I commanded. “If you tell everyone, it might cause panic. And remember, the government is watching. If they find out, they will come after me.”

Michael took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. “But my family, my friends... I can't just sit back and do nothing.”

“We all feel the same way, Michael,” Jack said, regaining his composure. “I think the best plan of action is to start stockpiling nonperishables. Once news breaks, people are going to empty out the grocery stores.”

“And don’t forget,” I nodded. “50% of people on Earth are going to become Chosen Ones, we have the ability to fight back against this apocalypse. In all likelihood, even one of you guys are going to get selected.”

“Wait really, 50% of people will get super powers?” Michael let out a deep breath. “Wait what kind of apocalypse is this?”

“I’m not sure,” I responded. “All I know is that on February 12th, dimensional rifts are going to start opening and the Chosen Ones will have to enter them to defend Earth.”

“What?” Michael raised his eyebrow, seeming settling down a bit. “What is this, an anime?”

The four of us talked for the next hour, trying to figure out a plan for the apocalypse. Ultimately, we decided it made sense to stockpile food and water and to tell our families and the rest of our friends to do the same. The best way, we figured, was to only talk to people through phone call, just in case the government could somehow track messages. I reluctantly agreed to this plan, still paranoid that the government would somehow find out about me. We still had three weeks to prepare, and there was no telling what would happen during that time.