Shadows are chasing me. Darkness is all around me. The world is black. My urge to kill is so strong that my body struggles to function. I continue to run with nowhere to hide until I hear a roar that shakes me to my very soul. I freeze. I can't move and my heart is pounding. I feel breathing on the back on my neck. With huge difficulty, I slowly turn my head to see what awaits me.

*BANG*

I wake up in a cold sweat with the sunlight burning my eyes. After all, I haven't seen light in months. I quickly shut my eyes to stop the pain, what was that dream? I can barely remember it.

“Oh, my boy, you're awake! Had me worried there for a bit. Another month and I would have pulled you out myself - even 7 months was too long. Any aftereffects? Did you manage to see KI? Come on, boy, speak to me,” Andrew hurriedly spoke.

“Old man, give me a moment. This light is killing me! No aftereffects that I know of, and honestly I can't remember anything after the first few weeks except waking up and being able to sense KI. Give me a moment and let me see if I still can,” I say.

I calm my mind and slowly open my eyes. I see the world around me with white specs, but after making a mental note to ignore them, my vision goes back to normal.

“Old man, I can see and sense KI-” before I finish speaking Andrew interrupts.

“You can see KI? Boy, are you sure? I have never heard of that before,” Andrew asks worriedly.

“Yeah, I can. There are little white specs filling the world. What do you feel when you sense KI?” I anxiously ask.

“I feel little orbs of power. As I can't see them, I can't specify the color, but white is pure so it makes sense that they would look like that, I suppose,” he mumbles out as if thinking-out-loud.

Andrew suddenly snaps out of his thoughts and looks at me seriously, “you have passed all your exams. The last thing for you to do is get the Immortal King's blessing! I warn you, this is the most dangerous part. If he finds you unworthy or takes too much of an interest in you, things can get messy. Anyway, these are problems for another day. You need plenty of sleep, food, and time to relax before you complete the final step. Find me when you're ready."

I watch Andrew leave and lay back down. As I am about to fall back asleep there is a knocking on the door. “Come in," I shout.

Jess walks in with a big smile on her face and excitedly says, “little brat, I'm glad you're okay. I was so worried when grandpa told me what you were doing. You are so reckless for one so young! What's your big rush, anyway? You are so smart and have all the time in the world! Why are you doing such crazy things now?” She ends up shouting the last part and breaks down in tears.

I feel my heart pull at me when I hear her say all this. That's when I notice that she thinks of me as family while I've been treating everyone like strangers. I don't want to fall back into my old patterns of being alone. Jess practically raised me. I sit up and do something I never thought I would do: I hug Jess out of my own free will.

“Jess, what I am about to tell you is a secret. When I was born, I was given a mission by the Immortal King, which is why time is an issue,” I lie to her. I want to tell the truth, but I also don't want her to think I'm crazy. I'll tell her when I'm older and can explain it better.

“You're a chosen one,” Jess shouts and looks at me in shock.

Why do I feel like my lie has made things worse? Eugh!

“What is a chosen one, Jess? And please, keep your voice down! I haven't told anyone,” I hiss at her.

“Sometimes, I forget how young you are and how little knowledge you have of the outside world. Well, a chosen one is someone the Immortal King has chosen to complete a task on the mortal planes. There are never more than 3 chosens every 1000 years. They all become immortals because the Immortal King guides them. However, there's always some backlash from the heavens since chosens defy the mortal world. So, for each new chosen there's an increasingly devastating punishment from the heavens,” Jess looks at me worried as she tells me everything she knows.

Wait, might I really be a chosen? My soul was changed and reborn by the Immortal King. The only difference is that he hasn't asked me to do anything. Wait, yes he did! He said something about gathering information. Hold on, there were 7 of us, but if all 7 of us have been reborn, then that's 7 chosens, not even including the 3 every 100 years. Oh no, this can't end well!

I quickly distract myself from all thoughts regarding this and play dumb before I have a major panic attack.

“So, are chosens viewed as bad or good?” I asked worriedly.

“Chosens are viewed as geniuses to most, but some would kill them before their power grows to stop heaven's wrath. It's safer if you don't tell anyone else about being chosen,” Jess tells me.

Jess gets ups and walks towards the door. “Get some rest,” she says as she leaves.

I lay back down and my thoughts are all over the place. Yet, because my mind is so mentally burnt-out due to the past few months, I quickly fall asleep.

All I see are shadows……………..