Fire and Metal: Chapter 1

Omelettes and Omens: Lance's POV
I woke up today with a rush of anticipation without remembering why. Struggling to clear my mind, I lay in bed. ''It's my birthday today... Mother promised she would tell me and my sister something important. ''I got up, stretching, and went to the kitchen. Mom was making omelettes, which was me and Felicia's favorite. It was one of the few things we shared in common. Just as I thought of her, she came bounding out of her room, grinning. "Good morning Mom! So what's this profound secret you were going to tell us?"

"Happy Birthday Lance, Felicia. Eat breakfast, I need to give you two something." ''Gifts? ''I thought, puzzled. Money was always hard to come by, mother rarely gave us much. Don't get me wrong, she was very kind and hard-working, but every since father died, we have been rather poor and didn't have the ability to buy many non-essential items. And so we complied with our mother's wishes and dug in ravenously.

After we had finished, Mom came back with two metallic objects in one hand and a worried expression on her face. She handed me a dark, gold Swiss Army Knife, and gave Felicia a beautiful gold necklace with a cross pendant attached. "Keep these with you, and they will keep you safe. You will understand in time," she murmured, appearing troubled.

She took a deep breath, "I had a dream a week ago. I was told your father was alive, and some friends of his would be sent to get you soon.  I...I don't know why, but I feel as if it were true, and that it's urgent.  I felt like I had to let you go, lest some horrible doom befall you.  What's more, these two objects appeared on my bedside table when I woke up, and I knew which one was intended for which of you two."

After recovering from the shock, I laughed nervously, "What are we to do?"

"If someone shows up at the door and asks to take you somewhere, go with him. Just promise... Promise me you'll leave a note to me, and call me when you can."

Nodding, both of us began examining the gifts.

My sister though, being the ADHD girl she was, could not fiddle with her pendat necklace for very long. Tucking it under her shirt, she came over to me and said, "What do you think about this madness? If it is true, what do you think actually happened to Dad?"

"How am I supposed to know?" I muttered. At this Felicia smirked, as if she knew something I didn't, but the smirk vanished as quickly as a appeared, leaving a worried expression. "I don't understand, how is a little pocket knife supposed to keep me safe from something that is as dangerous as Mom makes it out to be?"

"Don't complain, at least yours is a weapon," Felicia retorted jokingly. I smiled involuntarily, Felicia could always cheer me up.

Soon, we had boarded the school bus and were heading to school. Our first period of the day was Chemistry. We were doing a flame test to detect the presence of copper in a solution. We were each supposed to light our own fires with flint and steel, but none of us could get the hang of it. Except Felicia. When our teacher noticed, he asked her to demonstrate. Felicia struck the steel, and a spark appeared to jump from her fingertips.

After class, I asked her, "How did you do that?" Once again grinning devilishly, she replied, "That's for me to know and you to find out!" Gritting my teeth, I went off to my next class.

After school, my sister went home while I went to soccer practice. It was by far my favorite sport, and it always helped me clear my mind after thinking hard for the entire school day. We drilled for a bit, and then started scrimmaging. Barely halfway through practice, I saw my sister jump out of a car I did not recognize, and run toward me.

"Come with us! Quickly!"