Aaron pulled back his arrow and let it fly.
“Six” the announcer yelled out. “That’s the final score for Clan Respect 4 D dead. Putting them in the number one spot in Archery this season. Congratulations to Clan Pink for second place, and Clan I Love Jesus in third.” The crowds all dispersed from the archery range, everyone except Clan Eileen. Despite their forced name change they were determined to call themselves that. It was their secret society. Once they were alone in silence they gathered around each other and formed a circle. “Are we going to do this?” Jeremy questioned. “We’ll have to come back.” Max looked at the others for input. “I can get Father Sal to bless the water to dip the arrow heads in.” Rodney stated. “I never skip mass, and if what Pastor Manning said is true then he knows anyway and wont think it’s strange.” “If we go into town with this people will think we’re crazy.” Mandy looked at her bow. Jeremy laughed, “People in town think we’re crazy anyway.” “We’ll now they’ll have proof!” Mandy snapped back. “It doesn’t matter what they think.” Rodney intervened. “All that matters is it works. They can think all that they want to. They do it anyway. We have a job to do, we carry it out, we go home.” “And don’t get distracted.” Max said. “From this point on we’re not kids anymore, we’re soldiers.” “Warriors.” Jeremy added. “And it is a war. It’s us against them.” Max pointed outward. “So I have to say this, if you want out… Get out now. Tomorrow camp ends, we already won the celebration weekend so we can relax. But the week after that we start training, and it’s a life of secrecy and illusion. We’ll never be the same again, this will never be the same again.” “I’m in.”Aaron set his hand out to the center of the circle. “I’m defiantly killing some vampires.” Jeremy stuck his hand in. Rodney stuck his hand in, “I always believed I have a higher purpose, and I think this is it.” “For Eileen, and all the Eileens like her.” Mandy put her hand in. Max looked at Evan. “I forgot to pray about it.” Evan sulked. “So pray now!” Mandy screamed in a shrill voice as if he was holding up a train. Evan walked away from the group and looked into the sky, into the clouds that would never dissipate in his lifetime. “God what should I do?” he waited and waited. He felt nothing, he heard nothing. He never did. He glanced over at his friends standing there, waiting for him. He felt like an outcast, like the only who didn’t hear God’s voice. Mandy’s pleading look had turned into a warning glare. Evan looked again at the sky, at the word that never came. He stuck his hand in, and glanced at Mandy’s pleased face. “Well that’s all of us.” Max put his hand in. A strong wind began to blow from the East to the West. Clan Eileen began to pray for strength and grasped each others hands closing the circle. Slowly the whole group, Evan included, felt at peace with their choice. Empowerment began to fill them. Jesse walked up to the archery range to gather the wayward teens only to see them praying in a circle. ‘How good is God’s Grace.’ she thought to herself and left them be.Imagination Avolation
