Chapter 4: The One

Kennedi's POV 

I walked to the little wooden stand and grabbed a coloring book and crayons. I walked to an empty table and sat down. The seat was cold and so was the table, but I soon adjusted to the temperature. 

I flipped to a random page in the book & began coloring to my heart's desire. In the midst of my coloring, a boy walked up to me. He looked to be around thirteen or fourteen. His dark blonde hair slightly covered his brows; his eyes were gray, but they depicted everything but voidness. 

"So you're the one, huh?" he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Nothing. You're a newbie. I run things here so I'll give you the rundown. You share your food with me and me only; Half of your food goes directly to me and I mean immediately! Secondly, don't ever try to disobey me. Thirdly, do as I say and you'll survive. My name is Jacob and you'd be better off if you complied with my rules," he said.

I was silent after his rant.

"Newbie scared of me, eh? That's expected; I mean, I am the king of things around here," he boasted.

"No. Nothing of the sort. I was just thinking about how you expected me to obey you. I'm not a weakling; if not for my current situation, I'd take you down right here, right now. You don't own me so I have no reason to do as you say. What you can do is get out of my face, Jacob," I said.

He was stunned but anger masked his face immediately afterward.

"What did you just say!? I'll give you five seconds to recant that statement," he started counting, "One!"

"Two, three, four, five! I'm not scared of you and I meant what I said. You're not the boss of me. Now get out of my face!"

He was taken aback and so were the other kids. Some kids stood up and rebelled against him; I had just incited a mutiny. 

Seeing what was unfolding right before his very own eyes, he clenched his fists and his eyes flashed a warning sign of red. Most of the rebels immediately sat down, leaving only a few rebels siding with me.

They quickly walked over to me, standing beside me and behind me for comfort. I'd have to say I admired these rebels; they just sided with me and this is their first day meeting me. They don’t even know my name.

Seeing them come to my aide, Jacob's eyes tinged crimson. 

"What is this? You little ingrates decided to pick someone else's side? You'll pay for that, all of you!" His fists clenched tighter and his face paled, but his eyes darkened and so did his cheeks. My aides were slightly trembling, but I wasn't. There was nothing to be afraid of. 

In the blink of an eye, Jacob was in front of my eyes, showing me a devilish smirk while he licked his lips. His fangs came into view and that's when my instincts kicked in. 

I was about to take him down, but before I could, someone had Jacob by the throat. I looked up to see Valkon holding Jacob by the throat, squeezing him until he turned pink and red from deprived oxygen.

"Let's see how long you last," Valkon said to Jacob.

All the kids gasped and that's when I noticed the teenagers sitting in the corner giving their disapproval with a shake of their heads.

"I'm sorry about that, Kennedi. He won't ever harm you again. Isn't that right, Jacob boy?" Valkon said.

Jacob clawed at Valkon's hand, vigorously nodding. When Jacob was just on the brink of fainting, Valkon let go, which earned a loud thud from Jacob hitting the concrete ground below us. He gasped for air immediately, choking on what little air he did have left.

Jacob's servants eyed me curiously and bowed their heads in respect for Valkon.

Valkon said, "Now, if I find anyone else making trouble for my pri— I mean, Kennedi, then I will personally snap your neck and drain you dry of your blood, then toss you to my hell hounds. Now apologize quickly to her before you become my prime example, Jacob!"

"But, father! I.."—

Valkon eyed him icily and Jacob quickly shut his trap.

Still gasping for air, Jacob quickly composed the words, "I'm sorry. It won't happen again," he choked again.

"That's much better!" Valkon clapped his hands, "Why can't you all just play nice? No one is allowed to touch Kennedi. Does everyone understand?"

Everyone nodded, even the teenagers hiding in the corner. I almost wanted to nod myself due to the authoritative aura Valkon exuded. 

He clapped, "Great! Now, Kennedi, would you like to join me shortly for a meal? Of course you would! I'll be back in about ten minutes. Don't die until then, okay? Ok." He answered all of the questions that he had asked me, as if they were rhetorical questions, and then patted my head, taking long strides to the steel door and leaving the commotion to us.

"Wow!" a girl said.

"Wow is right," someone else said.

"So you really are the one!" a boy said.

Jacob wiped his lips and spoke, "Pft, like she's gonna help you all escape. I'm on the brink of actually figuring this place out. We've been here together way longer, but you all decided to side with her the instant she steps on the scene? Not only are you stupid, you're hopeless! She won't help you— she can't help you! She’s just a human. If you want to escape, you should just join me again."

One of what I thought to be his aides stood from the table & spoke up, "Oh, Jacob, shut it! You've been saying those same words for quite some time now! How long has it been? You still haven't busted us out of here. Be honest with yourself! If we ally ourselves with you, the only thing we'll receive is death and shame."

Another young girl with gray hair said, "We should already be ashamed! We've allied ourselves with him countless times already and he just dared to call Lord Valkon his father! What a disgrace!" 

"Hmph," said a boy who had black hair with blue streaks.

The rebels began to shout in mutinous spirits, as if they were protesting and stood so their voices could all be heard.

"We're not sharing our food with you anymore!"

"Yeah!"

"You don't own us!"

"Yeah!"

"You'll all see!" Jacob screamed amidst the mutiny.

"We won't see anything!" said the girl who spoke up first.

Jacob asked, "How are you on my side when you're talking back? You're only tough now because we're outside, but once we're inside, who's going to protect you from me, huh?"

The girl was stunned and was rendered speechless.

"Exactly!" Jacob's lips curved into an evil grin and he slowly walked up to me.

His hands went for my hair and I instinctively tried to smack his hand away, only for him to catch my wrist. The people were silent now, their breaths hitching as they watched the scene in front of them. 

My rebels at my side were quiet and in shock, too. I could smell the fear they were emitting even without my powers. 

"Let go," I demanded.

"What if I don't want to?" 

"Then I'll tell Valkon," I said.

"What if you're dead by then?" He teased.

"You wouldn't.." I said.

"You're right. I wouldn't," he leaned into my left side, smelling my hair along the way, and whispered his last words of his sentence into my ear, "I wouldn't dare to kill you in front of all these witnesses," he said. 

I was shaken to my core by his maliciousness. What an evil kid!

But I was a force to be reckoned with.