CHRONICLES OF THE FOURTH HORSEMAN

JINX

I jolted up from my bed.I couldn't tell why but I had lost time for a bit.Maybe I finally turned human and I could sleep?It is impossible, but there is always a first time for everything.A weary feeling had startled me back to my senses.I could feel something was wrong all about me.I got up and took a quick tour round the planet before going back to bed.There was nothing out of place, nothing unusual.Yet I could still smell it, feel it and I most certainly knew it.Something old, something evil.Something I had not felt for hundreds of years.I had a lot of memories from throughout time.It was hard to bring a specific one to the front.It took me a while to understand that I could not see nor hold the new enemy on the horizon, which made even the more harder to hold or tame or even kill it.I looked at my watch and it was just a few minutes to 4:00 in the morning.A little bit too early to wake the rest who were sleeping peaceful in their bedrooms.The bunker was warm and cozy.Having people around had given it its life back.The very magic that held it together had clicked back to life and we no longer needed the generator or the stolen power.

The others had no idea that the bunker was a living, fully functioning being that lived on the will of the people living in it.Some sort of symbiotic relationship.The peoples will of living to keep it going, the bunker gives its will back by providing lighting, air among other things.I had to make sure the people around kept their hopes up since that was my agreement with the bunker.Sooner or later they would discover the secret as the bunker was yet to be fully awakened, and then I would have to tell them of one of my own skeletons.All the thinking and the planning was wearing me down and the only person I could confide in was Ophie.He knew me, my good and bad deeds, most of my secrets too.But there were some I never told even him.Some I didn't know how.Now I felt something else.Something that made me know for sure that my deeds would soon resurface.

As I walked up and down the halls with my wings out, I wondered what to do about all that.I was still wondering when I heard the all too familiar flapping sound in the hall.I half walked half ren there.I knew I wasn't the only one who had felt the certain change."Michael, what a...surprising, surprise...," I stammered.Michael was the most fierce most feared of all the Angels.His presence meant a wrong had been committed that couldn't be corrected, or a war was on.I hoped for neither but I knew his visit could not be for nothing.Standing there, looking at him with all his glory and beauty made my eyes loose focus.I never went near him and I was not hoping to do it any time soon.

"Sister, I come in peace.I appreciate the job you have been doing down here.I even helped you a little, but you can't tell.I am here to warn you.A very powerful magic is back.I know there is nothing you can do about it but you can keep it under control and away from the human's knowledge.I will help whenever I can, but you can never call me directly, I will give you a way to communicate as soon as I find one.I have not much time but find a way to deal with it.I believe in you sister," He said before disappearing back home.

There was something about him that didn't feel like him.Michael for all I knew was more orders and less congratulations and begs.He lived to fight for heaven and the humans down below.He never nosed any business that was not his.Today however he sounded soft.He was a little bit scared.What on earth could have caused such a reaction from heavens finest? If he was scared,what reaction was I supposed to make.

"Thought I had mans voice out here,"

"Oh my goodness Ophie you startled me,"

The conversation has woken up the others and they all came to the hall.I had no answer for them and for that I lied.Something I never liked to.It was still pretty early but non of them was going to go back to sleep.They all had training to attend to in about half an hour.I needed some alone time to go through everything myself and their training session gave me just that.Tom and Ophie as usual went to the kitchen while John and Duke were left arguing over John's broken mirror back in his bedroom.He strongly believed Duke did it and he thought he could prove it.I had an answer to their argument but I was not willing to give it yet.

Squishy made it towards a chair but hit his toe on the table before he could reach it.He feel forwards with his arms open and pulled back John who pulled down Duke with him.The two fell over each other with a deep thud just just in time to watch Squishy fall forwards hitting the chair with his head and the heavy chair flew mid air and hit Geo's head before falling on miss Griffin's leg.Miss Griffin let out a shout which woke Alice who was the only one still in bed at the moment.She got out running and bumped on Miss Griffin who was jumping around holding his toe.The bump sent them both down .Alice then hit on Tom's leg as he was walking across the hall to the pantry to fetch something when all the commotion started and he stopped to watch.He was still drinking his usual early morning warm water.He fell and dropped the cup which hit levitated me me on the head.I got startled too and fell on the ground on my butt, I invoruntarily took out my wings and flapped in an attempt to seek balance and I had no time to control the force.Within a few moments things were flying around in turns.A chain reaction that was more weird than it was painful that happened too quickly to even understand.

Everything cooled down as first as it started.All the small stuff suspended in the air by the somewhat strong wind produced by my wings came raining down on us.You should have watched us getting up.Everyone holding a part of their body where they had gotten hurt.Everything had happened soo first that no one could even explain.Alice was holding her head where she hit Miss Griffin with as she was running.Miss Griffin was holding his leg.Tom was holding his butt as he had fallen on it.Geo had his hands on his bleeding nose.Squishy was too confused to know where he was hurt and instead he was holding his eyes.John and Duke were holding each other as they were trying to wake stand up before each other.I was holding my wet head trying to stop the water from going into my eyes while Ophie was standing by the kitchen door with his hands over his mouth.He had seen all of but he was lucky to be away from the hall.

A moment of arguments followed.Everybody blaming everybody before all turning to Squishy.Ophie finally came through and stopped them while I just stood there trying to make sense of the "accident".Something was not right.Everybody however cooled down eventually and they all carefuly sat on the chairs.The place was still a hot mess but no one made a move to correct it as they feared to trigger another chain.Tom went on to the pantry and Ophie went back to the kitchen, i went back to my sitting position.The bunker fell silent for a while and it would have remained that way were it not for the bunker itself.The damn building went out laughing and shaking.The crazy adrenaline rush earlier had sent it to full power and now it was awake.It witnessed all the drama and it concluded that laughing was the only reasonable course of action.Damn building!

"Okey great...now i have to explain you too," i rushed out."Anyone else feeling completely unlucky today...by the show of hands...anyone...no one, right," i found myself talking non stop.The morning had started out soo bad and i felt like the current situation was a little bit worse."what the hell...I will explain about the bunker.After all I don't think it gets any worse than this,"I started, completely aware of the mixed reaction faces on the rest of them.Even Ophie and Tom came from the kitchen to listen to what I had to say.

"Well you are all wondering where the laugh came from...it is the bunker.I know I should have told you about it earlier but it was still asleep and I didn't know how to explain to you.As much as its true that I made the bunker myself, back then I couldn't figure a way to pump air or water or even power the damn thing.A fairy however offered me some magic to keep it running and seeing to it I had no better choice I took the offer.The price was simple and harmless.I get all what the bunker needed and in change the fairys magic lived inside the walls depending on the will of the people living in it to stay awake.I saw no harm in that and the deal was sealed.Until you all came there was not enough juice to keep it awake, but now that you are all here the bunker is up and running.That is the reason why we have not been using the generator for the last few days," I explained.It was not all that hard after all, even though I left out some details about the agreement.

"Is it who you were talking with earlier?," Ophie asked before I could answer, the bunker went on ahead and said it was the one.It had lied to cover up for me.That was not a bad call but I also wondered figured the next time it would lie to me.However,at the moment I was just glad I wouldn't have to explain about Michael's visit to the boys.As I was still waiting to tell if the boys were satisfied,the bunker moved a bit and I fell on my butt, again.Everybody laughed at me."Today is really not my day,is it?," I thought to myself.

Breakfast was a little different today.The group now knew that they were living inside a living , seeing bunker.The were trying soo hard to not do something that would put them in its raider that they ended up behaving completely different.I knew John broke his own mirror while sleep walking the last night but I had waited him to blame it on Duke so that the two would later bond even more as they deed after every fight.By then they could have been fighting and arguing and in the process making funny remarks about each other.But they were quiet.Way too quiet.Alice would have been asking all these weird questions and Squishy would be lying to her and all of us would laugh but she wouldn't get it.Instead she was eating silently at some point stopping to rub the huge bump on her face, acquired earlier in the fall.

We ate in silence and afterwards they all left to go train.Now they had two teachers.Geo had his experience in the military and he was proving to a very good trainer.Together with Ophie they were doing an excellent job even with Squishy who had two left legs.I liked the progress even though I had to stay away while they were training.Apparently my presence affected Tom's performance and Ophie had to keep me away during the training session.I was therefore left alone in the hall to clean the utensils and for a day like today put everything back on order and clean the wet floor.I never complained.

I was on with my business but there were things that I couldn't understand.At a certain point I went to the kitchen to find all the utensils clean and so was the kitchen area.I thought maybe I had done it since I had been absent minded for the best part of the morning.I walked out ready to clean the hall but it was all clean and sparkly.Everything was where it was supposed to be.Even the books that were scattered all over the place.I knew the bunker had done it." I never knew you could do stuff," I said l.It answered by explaining everything it was capable of and I was amazed.

" Hey what are you going to do about the earlier conversation with Michael.You know I can feel it too, a new evil magic in the air and I bet it was a big part of whatever happened with you and your friends earlier," the bunker said.My greatest worry was confirmed.There was something about the earlier occurrence that didn't feel normal.

However, I had no specific answer to the question nor did I have a definitive prove to the magical side of it.I only new there was a new magic in the air that didn't feel right at all.I was glad that Michael was willing to help,but I had no idea what his angle or motive was.Maybe he was helping me so I could fight alongside him in the final battle.There was only one way to find out and that was by asking him.But then I feared him more than I could ever admit, I also didn't have a secure way to communicate with him so far and he had asked me to wait.All I knew was that I planned not to let the last battle happen.I had already taken a side.I would fight for the world.That meant I was caught up in the middle of the two sides but I didn't care.If the world ended, I would end with it, there was no way I could seat around and wait for that to happen.

The bunker promised to help us with everything we needed help with.The sort of magic that dwelt in it was ancient and thus carried much more knowledge than any of us could guess.It would sure come in handy some day.I had a feeling that day was very close.I could smell the smoke from a far.The fire was near and not even i could help it.

The boys finished their traing and came back to the hall.It was just minites to seven and we had some back to school stuff to do.I also had a double shift that day as it was a sunday and someone always had to decide to take a sick day or quit.In just a couple of hours I would be at work dealing with people and their craziness.Sometimes it was too much but other times like today it was a perfect distraction.Listening to them whine about the food or the coffee or a late order or even their lives gave me a thrill I could never understand or even explain.It made my days smaller.I was looking forward to working this sunday.I however had no idea what was coming my way.