The Crystal by Jones M (ready to read books .TXT) 📖

sunglasses. They all had uneasy smiles, and they looked like they weren't comfortable being in the same room as me. 

That made five of us. 

Ethan and Logan were soon staring at the floor whereas Zane and Liam looked away from me. My eyes blinked to confirm that what I was seeing was real. I thought it was another nightmare. But seeing that I could spot everything around me unlike in dreams, I realized that I was awake.

"Thank God you're okay!" Selena screamed as she came to me. Her hands held my head as her eyes stared into mine. My eyes widened in shock at the way she was acting.

"I'm fine--" I cut myself off when I spotted a figure moving in my peripheral vision. I turned, coming face to face with Harry. He unexpectedly blushed as he moved to stand next to the others. I on the other hand was shocked.

What the--? They were all here? I was surprised I did not see that coming.

"What happened?" I asked again as I turned to my cousin.

"You fainted," Harry replied, making me visibly tense as I willed myself to move away from him.

"You've got to be kidding me," I said as I stared at him and the rest. They stopped looking uncomfortable, but I could sense they were all tense. Much like I was. I turned to face my cousin.

"What are they doing here?"  

Selena went to answer but I turned to direct the question to the boys.

"What are you doing here? It's bad enough you ruined the first high school for me. And you," I said as I turned back to Selena.

"What were you thinking letting them stay here? You should have chased them out the moment I fainted!"

I blushed as soon as the words came out of my mouth.

Oh, my goodness. Why did I have to go and do that?

"I panicked! I didn't know how to treat a person who fainted. Harry here was willing to help you and recommended that you sleep," Selena replied.

As much as I was grateful for Harry helping me after I had fainted, I couldn't stand being near him or the others. I may have gotten over the emotional trauma, but I hadn't gotten through it enough to forgive them for actually causing it. Also, they overheard the emotional confession that I had with Selena. It made things more awkward than they already were.  

"How long was I out?" I decided to focus on something else.

"About an hour, I think," Selena replied, making my eyes widen as they searched for the clock in the cafe. 

Oh, right. Time was still frozen. I summoned my powers as I clenched and unclenched my right fist. Time began to move again as evidenced by the resumed ticking of the clock.

I turned to face the boys again. Ethan had a confused look because the clock started ticking again. The hatred I had for them was still there. I knew my ex-bullies came to me for a reason, but I wasn't keen on staying to hear it. 

To make things complicated, I had to explain to them that they were witches.

The awful memories replayed in my mind, and it fueled my anger and sadness. There was no way I was going to explain to them about magic. It was not going to be my responsibility, and I was adamant in making sure it stayed that way. If they exposed magic to the world,... Eh. Screw 'em. My mind was set, and there was nothing anyone was going to do about it.

"I may not know why you are here, and I could care less. Harry," his eyes turned to face me, "thank you for taking care of me, and I would like it if you would all leave."

"But--" Logan wanted to disagree, but I cut him off.

"No, seriously. Leave." I was not going to give them a chance to talk to me.

"Emery, we wanted to talk to you about high school--" Liam went to speak, but I cut him off.

"LEAVE!" I yelled, just as a fireball landed and exploded on a wall behind me. We all screamed before ducking to the ground. My eyes narrowed as I looked around me. The boys looked frightened. I would have laughed were it not for the erwich in the cafe. I couldn't believe it was capable of exposing witches to humans-- Oh, right. The Ordinary Brothers was a band of witches, and they didn't even know it.

My mind brought out the possible effects that would occur if they were to find out about their status. Or if they were not to find out about theirs, then they would find out about mine and Selena's. Maybe that would be enough to scare them away and to not see them again. A wicked smile formed on my lips at the thought.

My thoughts were disrupted by a fireball that landed right on my shoulder. The impact was strong enough to throw me to the wall behind me. My shoulder had a red burn that throbbed in pain. Moreover, there was an ache spreading in my head due to hitting it when I was thrown.

"Emery!" a collective number of voices shouted. Unfortunately for the magical being, that was not enough to make me lose consciousness. Selena approached my form and helped me up while the others huddled close to us.

"What is going on?" Harry shouted right next to my ear. I winced as I gave him a look.

"Sorry," he apologized. I turned my attention to the being causing havoc in the café, only to realize that it was a female erwich. She had ginger hair like me. Overall, she looked like an ordinary person with a black top and black denim jeans. 

Her looks could fool anyone.

"They need to get out," I told Selena, motioning towards the five individuals who were probably as good as dead. 

Ethan thrust his hands out and a huge fireball formed on his palms. My eyes and Selena's widened in an effort to discourage him from what he would do next. However, he did not pay attention to us. The fireball left his hands and was soaring through the air, landing on the erwich's stomach. It groaned at the impact before exploding into bits. The impact also sent us flying, and I had the displeasure of hitting my head and back on the wall again.

Well, there goes my plan on scaring them away.

"Good job, Ethan," Zane said with a grin, and the others joined in congratulating the lad. I rolled my eyes, realizing that my plan of scaring the boys away was totally in ruins.

Another erwich appeared. She looked the same as the other one, but she had a crossbow and arrows.

"Twins. How lovely," Selena's voice dripped with sarcasm as we stared at the figure.

"Oh crap," Selena muttered beside me. 

I nodded towards the boys, signaling Selena to start moving them out of the cafe. She nodded and urged them to go out with her. Her plan wasn't going to work because an arrow hit a wall, a few centimeters from actually piercing through Liam's skull.

Ugh.

"I am here to kill you," the being said with a very deep voice that sent vibrations across the room. It's pure black eyes scanned the café and stared right at us.

"It speaks," Selena said, and I wanted to hit her for fueling its anger. It took out another arrow and shot it right towards her. Selena screamed as she raised her hands in defense, causing the flying arrow to stop midair and fall on the ground. The erwich then thrust her left arm out and clenched her left fingers into a fist. Selena suddenly began choking on air. The boys had panicked looks just as my cousin was dragged across the wall behind her and her feet were soon above the ground.

With a deep breath, I levitated a few feet off the ground and flew towards the erwich. It was too busy choking Selena to notice me approaching it. My head collided with its chest, sending her flying into a wall and hitting her back on it. I heard Selena fall before coughs filled the air. The boys surrounded her, checking if she was alright.

The erwich quickly stood up and flipped its wrist, sending me flying across the room and onto the boys. We all groaned at the impact.

"Why are we dragging this?" Selena asked through a sore throat. 

Well, that was easy. I wanted the boys to be scared of approaching me ever again.

I stared at the erwich and used my telekinesis power. The room began to shake violently. Selena and the boys dropped to the ground, trying to find their balance. The lights in the cafe blinked on and off as a gust of wind strong enough to blast away a cardboard box blew around the room. The erwich dropped to the ground as it stared at me.

"Crystal," it said before exploding into flames. I guess I used too much power on it because the force also sent us flying back to the same wall we hit when the first erwich used its powers on us. This time, my body connected with something soft. A groan escaped Harry's lips, instantly telling me I landed on him.

 A satisfied smile took over my face. 

The room stopped shaking, and the lights stopped blinking. We all got up, with the boys totally silent.

Selena stared at me in shock, and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What?" I asked. She didn't say anything, but she shook her head sideways.

"Nothing."

"That. Was." Harry started.

"Freaky," Logan finished. I frowned at him.

A black portal began to form in the room, and I instantly knew that something was wrong. Three erwich attacks in one night? Not on my watch. 

I formed a fireball and threw it into the swirling black portal. It exploded into flames that dissipated quickly in the air.

"Something's wrong," Selena said with wide eyes. I had a feeling I wasn't the only one who felt the same way about the attacks. We needed to flee the scene before more trouble came. I didn't want to have to expose magic to the world.

"We need to go," Selena interrupted my thoughts. "I have a feeling more will be coming."

"Where do we go?" Zane asked. "They might even follow us outside if we dare to leave the restaurant." I couldn't believe I was agreeing with what the idiot was saying. The erwiches might have formed an army to get rid of us, and we needed help. 

I sighed, getting another reason to hate the day. Nothing was going my way. There was one place we could go where we would be guaranteed protection against erwiches, and I was angry that Selena and I had to tell the boys about it.

Selena flicked her wrist. Sounds of the café doors and windows closing were heard throughout the room. The guys turned their heads at the sounds, making me realize how little they knew about themselves.

 The lights inside the café were switched off, leaving the outside street lamp to illuminate part of the café.

"We need to leave for Crystalia," Selena said before chanting a portal spell.

"Crys-what?" Ethan asked in confusion. Selena and I didn't bother to answer him. The sooner we got out of the café, the sooner we could avoid other possible incoming erwiches.

Blue stardust appeared and floated midair.

 A lot more was generated as it fell in the form of rain, revealing a reddish-brown wooden door with a golden knob.

"We need to go. Now," Selena said. Her hand reached for the knob and opened it. On the other side of the door was pure darkness.

The boys stood rooted to the ground, unmoving as they stared at the door in shock.

I sighed as I thought about the situation. As much as I did not like it, the boys needed our help. The issues we had would have to be dealt with later. What mattered then was our safety. 

I seriously could not believe the day I was having.

"Guys, save your questions for later. Get in or the next erwich will surely kill us," I stated as a matter of fact. They didn't need much to set them running into the portal.

One by one, they entered the pathway and disappeared into the darkness. Selena and I followed suit, closing the portal behind us. It was totally dark and I couldn't make out the shapes of anyone.

"Is anyone there?" Harry's voice rang through the air. He seemed to be a few feet away from me. The others and Selena shouted "Here!"

"Where is Emery?" Logan asked. I jumped because he was right next to me.

"I'm here," I replied. Suddenly, small amounts of blue stardust appeared in front of me. They shone bright in the darkness as they increased in amount before they spread out to where the rest were and swirled around us. I was finally able to make out the shapes and locations of Selena and the guys. We were all a few feet from each other.

Stardust swirled around everyone, making them disappear one by one. Logan, who was in front of me, was the last one who disappeared. However, I didn't disappear. Crystalia was not in front of me, and I felt scared.

The stardust swirled in the darkness around me as it increased in diameter. There was a mildly strong gust of wind that blew around me. Some of the stardust swirling around