The Gemstones

(c)Copyright 2008 By Elena A. Van Horn

Chapter One

Nicky Rea, Devonshire, Canada

Nicky watched lazily as the ball passed back and forth between her teams two best players, they easily dodged away from the enemy players who tried to get the ball in vain. They were playing E-ball, she hadn't even known such a game existed until she had entered Dilmore's Academy. Even from the beginning she had never been good at it, by now she had all but given up on it. It was an unknown were she came from, it was like soccer except you can use your hands. Nicky was as stocky short girl. She had everyday brown hair and bark brown eyes. Right now she wore deep blue gym pants that reached to her ankles she had a white T-shirt covered with a velvety black vest. Nicky was yanked back into reality when she realized that she was alone in the gym. She hadn't been paying attention again and had been left behind "I mean who daydreams during P.E.?" one of the other girls had commented once.

She heard giggles as she passed the cafeteria, along with losing herself in daydreams she had often been teased that her parents couldn't afford cafeteria lunch. They could barely afford to get me into a good boarding school and have food to eat. My mom didn't have extra money for the fancy lunches that cafeteria served In my school there were three different kinds of people. The Rich people who were categorized as Richies and the really smart people who had scholarship called Scholars or the people who worked at the school to go to it, they were just called Nerds. I was a Nerd. My Mom sent all the money she could spare to pay for it and I worked by taking care of the animals of the grounds. I had been chosen for this because I was good with animals. But having this job had me up at strange hours.
Nicky sighed and tried to ignore the snickering from across the room, she knew that they were ignoring her now but it still hurt to hear the taunting that she often endured. She wished it on no one. In a few minutes Nicky was finished with her lunch. She wearily climbed the stairs to her room but when she got to the top she was blocked. There stood Dallon he was known for tormenting of the younger students. Especially her. “Where ya going runt?” Nicky faced the bully, forcing herself to look him straight in the eye.
“To my room.” trying to keep her fear out of her voice.
“No. Your going to get my books for me.”
“I don't have time for this Dallon.” she said trying to push past him. Just as she thought she was going to get away he grabbed her and slammed her against a locker.
“Now.” he said gripping her shirt and pushing her against the wall harder. Nicole contained he anger at her rough treatment. She clenched her hand, grinding her teeth.
“No. leave me alone before I get one of the teachers.”
He sneered “And how are you going to do that runt?” she didn't wait to tell him she opened her mouth to scream. He put his hand over her mouth. This was the last straw she would not be treated like some frightened timid girl! Nicky pinched her nail deep into Eric arm. “Ow!” he yelped. he let go of her, then she kicked him in the groin.
“You want to treat me like a little timid mouse now!” she did a round house, her kick landing right in his stomach even thought she was almost two heads smaller than him. “You want to bully me now! Well try!” by this time she was yelling at the top of her lungs, Dallon had collapsed on the floor whimpering pathetically. Then she heard a noise, she whirled around. All the girls and boys that had been eating at the cafeteria where in front of her. They jumped back as she turned to face them. At that moment an older teacher pushed her way through the crowd to the front. She took one look at the scene and not waiting for explanations she grabbed Nicole by the arm grabbed Dallon by the arm dragging them both along. She left Dallon at the nurse and continued to drag Nicole on. Nicole had never been in real trouble before so she was nervous but not scared. This was worth the feeling that she could stand up to Dallon and people like him. The teacher took her to the detention room and with out waiting for an explanation left her there. Nicole assumed that she went to go get the principle. Nicole walked over to one of the chairs and sat in it.

That's when the tremors started.. .



Taylor Saxton, Lone Island, Florida

Taylor watched as the last of the buses disappeared around the bend taking all her "friends" with them. She turned around and ignored the two men waiting by the black Ferrarai and walked past them. Taylor had dirty blond hair that reached to her ears. Her eyes were a dark almost black brown and she wore a dark green turtle neck and army boots with camouflage pants.
My father was a famous general in the army and that made life seem like I was walking around with a big bullseye on my back. My father really worried that someone would try to kidnap me so he had men watching me 24/7. It was like being babysat from the moment you were born and it stunk!
Just a week ago I had decided it was Enough! I had gone on strike. I wouldn't take the car with them home or even acknowledge that the guardsmen were even there and it felt great!
Taylor smiled. It was great to act as if you were normal even if were just that, an act. Unfortunately her dad had drawn the line at entering a bus or anything that wasn't driven by one of his men. So every day it was a long walk back home. Of course it would be nice if one of her friends would have wanted to walk home with her. But of course they all had things they had to rush home to. That was another downside to being a famous generals daughter. You always had "friends" but you were never sure whether you had friends.
Her father had come up with a plan that had saved the president when a terrorist organization had been hired to assassinate him. That had been a little over thirteen years ago. A year after this had started she had been born. It had been an accident. Her father had been having enough trouble at the time and then he had found out he was a father.
She barely ever even saw her father with all the business he had to take care of. She saw her mother and the men her father hired to watch her. Then again Bill and Joe, the men who watched her were pretty cool. They had taught her a lot of cool moves. They had tried their best to be the father she never saw. They had worked with her father and told her some cool stories about her father.
Then suddenly Taylor realized something. The men in the car that was following her weren't Bill and Joe. . .



Colin Denton, Nuuk, Greenland

Colin had dirty blond hair that was gelled into spikes, he was 5.9 and you could tell he worked out. He had lose calf length pans on with a white shirt. His eyes were so green that they looked like to emeralds staring out from his eyes. Right now he dozed as the scenery flew by past the bus. Which really wasn't that bad (the scenery not the bus, frankly the bus stunk) except that the person sitting by the window covered most of it. Devon the seventh year boy had all but plastered his face to the window. Colin sighed and closed his eyes completely. He dozed a few more minutes and just as he was about to slip into completely into sleep there was a clatter and a scream. His eyes flew open and he smelled it. Smoke. Colin shot up and pushed by the boy sitting by the window. His eyes widened. As far as he could see in front of him there were only ashes were only this morning his neighborhood had stood. . . .



Isaac Felton, Carterville, Illinois

Isaac raced through the game on his computer beating each level in seconds. Isaac was a very thin boy with light brown hair. He wore a blue t-shirt with jeans and sneakers. He had dark blue eyes.
"Isaac!" Isaac glanced at his door.
"What mom?"
"Did you do your homework?"
"Yes."
"Debug the computer?"
"Yes."
"Clean your room?"
"Yes."
"Isaac."
"What?"
"Have you done anything other than use that computer?"
He stopped typing and looked up. "No."
"Then do something."
He rolled his eyes "Like what?"
"Go to the beach."
He closed his eyes and said "Fine." He stood up and grabbed his laptop and placed it in it's bag and swung the bag on his shoulder and headed down the stairs.
He ran down the stairs and for a moment, watched his mother cook. Unlike him she had bright red frizzled hair that she always piled on top of her head and puffed out the a puffer fish when she cooked. Then Isaac swung past the kitchen and bolted out the apartment door. He raced past the elevator because the old thing took a half an hor to go up the one floor of the apartment building and come down, literally, he had timed it. In less than five minutes he raced down the dirty stairs down to the lobby. He was across it and through the door before the old lady at the front desk could even lift her head. In a few minutes he was on a bus heading towards the gray Carterville beach.
Then he was on the beach. He walked slowly towards a table near the edge of the beach and plooped down on it. the beach was totally deserted. He opened his case and set it his laptop on the table.
A minute later the world around him had disappeared and he was again engulfed in his game. The sky crackled in a far off storm and if Isaac had been looking he would have noticed that the water on the beach was reseeding quickly and if he might had turned down the sound on his head phones a bit he might have noticed the far off sound of sirens and the speakers blaring, but of course his eyes were on his computer and his headphones were up too loud so he didn't notice anything.



Violet Yenara, New York, New York

Violet had as appropriately named violet eyes. The doctors had called it a mutation she had midnight black hair that she had spent all morning making up. Not that she enjoyed it she loathed putting up her hair but the hairstyle the kids at school had named propeller head had been her mothers favorite and unlike her had loved making strange hairstyles. It was all her hair separated into four part with the ends attached back to her head. On the left of her head one pointed up and the other down and on the right one up and one down. She had wires keeping them straight on her head. All her hair had been put up in this way except two strands that hung loose in front of her face. she wore a long sleeved shirt with a black shirt that had a smiley face on it. She wore long green pants with army boots.

Right now I wished that I had just left my hair down. Gangs were normal in New York and I was used to it having lived there all my life. Now I could see the good side to living in a sleepy country town with no gangs, especially with no gangs. I was running as fast as I could but still I could hear them behind me. How was I supposed to know that the boy that had always gotten on my nerves the most about my hair was a gang leaders little brother, especially when his name was Zero? Zero was and average sized kid with electric yellow hair and a bad hair cut. Just a few hours ago she had been eating what the cafeteria ladies called lunch minding her own business when Zero came up behind her and dumped his plate on her.
"Oh I'm sorry!" he said with false surprise"I didn't see you there. I thought that someone had landed a helicopter!" He snickered with his friends and continued. "But you don't have to worry you can just get it off with those propellers of yours." I was ready to give him a black eye but I didn't move. I was ready to retreat once again to the bathrooms. But he wouldn't leave me with that he had to push it in even more. "Come on. Propellerhead start your engine." he said, his face inches from mine. I looked at him and I knew right then that I would never let him bully me again. I had had it!
"No. Go away." For a moment he was too stunned to wolf down on me again. Then he recovered. He grabbed my shirt with a wicked evil look in his eye.
"I said start your engine Propellerhead now buzz!" I pushed him away trying to keep my cool but he wouldn't let go and I had had it. One moment we were there the next he was on the floor, unconscious and my hand was still out were it had knocked over the head after I had punched him in the gut. There was silence. I ran.
I was gone from the school in a second and after that I was just running for I don't know how long until I realized no one had followed. No angry teacher demanding me to come back to the school to meet the principal and no other kids. . . . or so I thought. I had been out there an hour or two when I realized there was someone following me in fact several someones. I glanced back quickly and saw Zero. His eye was black and he was hunched over, but he was there and his eyes were filled with hatred. There with him were several older boys and among them was one I recognized Zero's older brother. Zero was hated and feared by many kids at my school but Zap's reputation at the school made Zero look like a worm. It was clear to me then that I had just stepped on a very big viper and I was just about to pay the price. . . .