David Eco and the Beginning of Knowledge

David Eco and the Beginning of Knowledge



                   Chapter 1                              

I cant' remember much about when I was really little. And some of the things I remember, I wish I didn't.  Let's see if I can recall some of them... my parents were divorced when I was 8, I ran away from home, for 6 years having to live on the cold New York streets, pick-pocketing strangers just to afford something to eat. And that's only the start of it.  But I won't bore you with all of the details. You'll probably find out everything sooner or later. 
The only odd thing about me is that I think I have something no one else has.  I've managed to visit the doctor once but all he said was that I just have great eyes.  But I think it's more than that. I'm like a cat.  I can see better in the dark than I can in the daylight.  And as far as I know, I can see really small things that no one else can see.  It's really weird.  I wonder if anyone else can do what I can?
Anyway, if you're wondering where I am now, I don't really know. O.K, if you really want to know how I got here, I guess I'll tell you.  I'm not the best storyteller but here it goes. Well, since I didn't have any money, like I said before, I had to steal all of it.  I stole food from merchants on the streets, money out of passerby pockets and even horses and dogs tied up on the side of the road as transportation and even just company.  I became the best thief in London.  And I got better and better as I got older.  Now all I needed was someplace to hide.  It's kind of hard to hide a bunch of horses and dogs.  I had to get rid of some of them so I took a horse.  The only thing I had to worry about now was shelter. 
I remember my dad and I going on this really cool hiking trip for my 7th Birthday a few miles from here for a week.  There was a petting zoo, a lake for fishing, and you could even rent a boat or canoe.  We did everything.  Beyond the camp were just pure woods.  I bet it went on for miles. Dad and I decided to venture out into it.  We only got about a fourth of a mile through before the forest got so dense, we had to turn back.  Maybe I could try to hide in there.  Clear out the area for a few yards.  No one would find me there.  So I went on my way, hoping I could remember how to get there.
It took me two hours to find my way there, not to mention taking the back ways so no body would catch me.  Then when I finally got there, the woods were just as dense and thick as I remembered.  It took me an hour to find a spot not quite as thick. I spent a lot of time there.  Every once in a while I would pay some homeless person to go into a store and get some food so I wouldn't get caught. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions too much. Maybe they weren't looking for me.  Maybe they couldn't find me so they stopped looking or maybe they just forgot.

                                                                                    

                                       
                                                                               Chapter 2

It was time for me to move out. I had no protection from the downpours of rain. Would it be too risky? I decided I'd rather be in a jail cellar than in a forrest in the middle of nowhere.  Heck, maybe I'd rather be in a jail cellar than out on the streets with nowhere to go. 
Once I got out, I decided to take another risk and went into a deli I saw.  Boy, was I starving. I went up to the register, paid for a muffin and some orange juice, and felt someone tap on my shoulder.  I slowly turned around and the instant I saw the face of a man wearing a police uniform, I dashed to the nearest exit.  I was fast, but he was faster.  He grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me closer so he could get a better grip.  I knew I was done for but I still kept fighting. 
Now this is when I did something I knew I definitely shouldn't have done. I slugged him.  Yep, I slugged him, right in the shoulder. O.K., perhaps that wasn't the most effective spot to choose but hey, I couldn't reach anything higher. Besides, I was terrified.  He showed no reaction at all to the blow.  I've always been pretty strong, but his shoulder must have been pretty hard because my hand hurt.
But I tell you.  He got me back, he got me back hard.  I got punched right in the stomach.  Then I think I passed out.  The last thing Iremember is him carrying me into a car and driving off. 


Chapter 3

When I woke up, I was in some sort of room.  I was tied to a chair with a bright light shinning on me.  I had read some books where these things happened.  Italian mobsters would tie somebody to a chair and question and torture them until they got the information they needed.  Now surely the cops didn't do that too?  I was about to find out.
When my eyes got used to the lighting, which they never really did, I saw a dark figure standing over me.  He kind-a looked like a ghost, standing like that, looking eerie against the light.  I was about to find out what this guy was capable of.  But part of me hoped I didn't. 
He turned the light off and sat down across from me in a chair.  The cop was tall and muscular. Strangely, he wasn't wearing your average cop uniforms.  He wore something that looked like a long dark brown jacket and a black shirt underneath.  He had messy black hair and a handsome well shaven face. There was something familiar about him, like I'd seen him before. I couldn't place it though.
"I must apologize for your treatment earlier, but it was the only way I could gain access to you, by seeing you in the jail. Come on kid, I'm not gonna hurt you.  You can trust me.  I need you, so I won't hurt you."
"What do you mean, 'You need me'? Need me for what?" Now I was starting to get curious. What could he need me for?  Could it be for my eyesight?  Nah, how could he know? I had to be optimistic.
He turned around and turned on some lights revealing a long hallway. On the far side, was a sign that I could clearly see. It had the letter E on it in the center.
He turned back to me and looked me straight in the eye. Weird, he had black eyes that turned silver as they came to the middle.  I don't know why, but I kind-of saw something in his eyes that liked. It was spooky.
"What does that say?" he asked me.
At first I hesitated, but I looked at the sign again and answered with a single letter. "E," I mumbled.
He smiled at me and untied me from the chair. "What," I asked. "You mean you can't see that? I can see it clearly."
"You can see that, but no one else in the world can. Including me. Oh, and my name is ??????. You can call me Nix. And what would you like me to call you?" 
I thought about this for a while. Should I tell him my name? He told me his, so I figured I was safe. "My name is David Eco," I answered, and shook his hand.
He led me out of the room and into a reception area, and started to walk out the exit, but stopped when he noticed I wasn't following. "Come on," he said. "Would you rather come with me or stay here? It's up to you."
I thought about this for a moment.  I wanted to get out of here, but was I willing to put my life into some guys hands that I had only known for 5 minutes? Well I thought, anything was better than here.  I walked out the doors without hesitation and never even realized that I would soon very much prefer to be in a dank and smelly jail .

Thats when I blacked out.




Chapter 4

When I woke up, i found myself in a tiny square room that looked to be about 10 feet by 10 feet. The ceiling was covered with a floreccent light and revealed the plainness of the room. There was absolutely nothing. Just walls and the floor. No bed, no food, no nothing. I steadily got to my feet and tried to remember how I got here. I was with that Nix guy and he got me out of the jailhouse. He must have done something to me and then brought be here. But why would he knock me out? I thought he was taking me somewhere so I would be safe. I guess I was wrong about him. It was then that I heard footsteps aproaching. A door in a corner of the room I hadn't noticed started to open and in popped Mr. Nix.
"I was wondering when you were going to wake up? You've been asleep for over 5 hours." He started to walk near me and I backed away. "Why so frightened young one? Did you actually think that you could trust me? I can have that effect on people if I want to. But dont worry, I have some very special things planned for you." He laughed. I hate it when the bad guys laugh. It means that they know more than they're telling you; that they have some kind of secret.
Two men entered through the metal door next to us and came toward me. Nix nodded and both guys grabbed me by the arms. I tried to fight back but they were to strong and I was slammed against a wall and saw stars. I fell to the floor. Through my blurry eyes I could see the two guys standing over me. One of them kicked me in the gut while the other one withdrew a knife and handed it to Nix who was casually leaning on a wall. He walked toward me with a smile on his face and kneeled down in front of me. He grabbed me by the front of my stolen polo shirt and lifted me into the air. I felt a great upheaval in my stomach as I was thrown across the little room and smashed into a wall. I was suspended there on the wall for a moment because the force of the toss had dented the wall forcing splinters to pierce my back like a porquipine. Then my body freed itself and I fell face first onto the floor and Nix's boot. I tasted the copper taste of blood on my lips and spat it out onto his boot. He cursed and I tried to get back up. I managed to stand on shaky knees but he punched me in the stomach before I could act. I doubbled over and felt my breath be launched from my body. Once again I stood up through gritted teeth and actually tried to kick him. I think he was kind of surprised because I almost hit him until at the last second, he grabbed it and twisted it almost all the way around, and by the pain, I'm sure he broke multiple bones. Nix fingered he knife again and shoved me onto the floor. He cut open my shirt and etched a symbol in my chest. It was like a cross but the top tip was conected with the left tip and bottom tip was conected with the right tip. Then he held the knife above my heart.
"Your time has ended David Eco" he whispered into my ear. He threw up his hand and I prepared for the end.
But just as I closed my eyes, the door behind us was thrown open and Nix went flying across the room. And then I went unconcious.



Chapter 5

It took me awhile to wake up and when i did, things were confusing. Was this death? The last thing I remembered was, well, Nix holding a knife over me.
I was lying on an ice cold table wearing only my boxer shorts (which were also stolen). My sense of touch told me that but everything else was nonsense to me. I felt nausious too. When I tried to sit up, my body parts wouldn't obey me. I thought I heard voices but they sounded far-off and distorted and I could only pick up a word now and then. I tried to speak but it only came out in muffled yells and moans.
"Can you hear me? My god I think he's waking up. David, can you hear me?" Someone was bending over me saying something. He was brittish too. Although I think I heard my name, I couldn't understand anything else he was saying.
"Jail, Nix, dead" I tried to speak, to ask what had happened.
"Let the boy rest. He's going to be like this for a while. Probably until tomorrow morning," another voice was speaking.
It was getting a little easier to understand the voices. My eyes couldn't tell me anything for they were closed and my body wouldn't let them open as if something was holding them shut.
I tried to move and I think I moved a few fingers. Next, I tried opening my eyes. They only opened about halfway and through blurry eyes, I could finally see. There were two people in the room. One hunched over me and another behind a glass office with some tubes and cords.
"Look! He's opening his eyes! Get over here Riley!"
" He's opening his eyes? But he shouldn't be able to move for hours," I heard footsteps as the person I assumed was Riley came next to me.
"Nix," I tried to say again.
"Dont worry about him David. Your going to be okay," the unknown man assured me.
I felt a surge of anger at Nix. What had he done to me? And where was I? i felt so angry that I was pumped with a surge of power and rolled off of the table. Pain seared through my body as I reopened old wounds. I yelled in agony and tried to sit up but the only thing I did was wave my arms around like an idiot
"You get him back on the bed Henry while I clean up this mess. Bernie just had these floors waxed and it'll be my head if he sees this. And now im going to have to rebandage those wounds. Do you know how long it took to bandange him up? I mean I've never seen so much damage," Riley rambled.
"Oh be quiet and the blood can wait. Just help me get him up," I could tell this was Henry, he had a brittish accent.
I felt someone pick me up and pannicked and tried to break free. I heard a crash and a yelp as I think I kicked Riley into something.
"Im going to have to lock him on the bed. Stand back." I heard Henry's voice. And I felt the the cold of the table again as I was hoisted upon it with firm hands and pinned down. I felt more cold go around my wrist, and then my ankles. I tried to fight it but it didn't help.
"Lemme go!" my voice was slured but I could talk in sentences now. "Let me go," I said again, more clearly.
"Not untill you calm down. Now, nod if you can understand me," this was Henry.
I nodded. I started to calm down. By now, all of my senses were alive and pumping. Unforturately, so was pain. My body was like white hot fire.
"Now, Riley here is going to patch up those cuts of yours and then we're going to get rid of those locks and you'll fell much better, okay?
I nodded and hardly noticed as a needle pierced my skin as I drifted off into sleep.




Chapter 6


I'm falling, falling. I look around and all i see are sand walls surrounding me. I look below me and see a midnight tunnel. I'm getting closer every moment and I feel as if my soul is being sucked from my body. I grope desperately, trying to get a hold of something, but there's nothing there. My mind is throbbing as I am being sucked down into the dark abyss.
Then, suddenly, I am released and I land in the middle of who knows where. I collapse to my knees, gasping in pain and horror, as I try to gather in my surroundings. I'm sitting on a cliff, and over the side, is an endless desert. I see a series of rock ridges, passageways, and crevasses beside and behind me.
I stand and start walking and immediately feeling frightened, like someone is watching me.  I start out with a slow jog, and then a run. Now I'm running as fast as I can, trying to find a safe road.
Then, without warning, I feel the same throbbing feeling as before, and I'm in the middle of a pit, suspended in mid air again. My life seems to be slowly slipping away as I scream, but no sound comes out. I'm being devoured by some unexplainable force and there's nothing I can do about it. I close my eyes and let the darkness overwhelm me.

I tried to scream but a hand was clamped hard over my mouth. I tried to swat it away from me but it was to strong. I looked up to see who the hand belonged to and saw who I thought was Henry. I started to calm down and I saw Henry put a finger to his lips to signal me to be quiet and he removed his hand.  I was on a different bed then before. This one was actually comfortable. I was breathing hard and I tried to regain my breath when Henry offered me a glass of water. I accepted gratefully and only after I had drained it did I realize that he could have poisened it. I threw the glass to the floor and clamped a hand over my face. Henry looked at me and laughed.
"There's nothing wrong with it. It's only water. You havent eaten or drunk anything since, erm, nevermind. Well, do you want something to eat?"
Now I had an opportinity to see what he looked like. He looked like he was in his thirtys with dirty blonde hair, slim, and fairly tall though not as tall as Nix. He had a scar coming out of the corner of his mouth, slightly extending his smile. He was wearing a green turtleneck sweater with kahki pants and black combat boots.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"My name is Henry Spade. I am the leader of our little group here which you will learn about later. But that isn't important now. What's important is you getting something to eat. What do you want. I'll bring it to you. We've got a great kitchen downstairs and the chefs can whip you up something."
"I'll go with you," I tried to get out of the bed but I stumbled when I got to my feet and fell to the floor.
"I don't want you tripping all over the place. Your blood has been spilled enough these past few days," he paused for a moment and had an apologetic look on his face."Well, um, why dont I just go. I'll be right back," he turned around and started to exit through a door next to us.
"Wait. What happened to me? Where's Nix?" I wanted answers.
"We can talk about this later. I'll only be five minutes."
"Please, can I just come with you?"
Henry sighed and opened the door.
"Alright, lets go. But the good doctor will have a fit if he sees you out of bed so might need to lie low and be prepared to hide if I tell you to, understood?" He playfully ruffled my hair and picked up a pair of crutches. "These might help," he handed them to me and held the door for me as I limped out into the hallway.




Chapter 7

If I had to describe everything with one word, it would be, cosey. The halls were carpeted with a deep mahogany and swirls of dark greens, blues, and golds. Even the elevators seemed to be made out of glass.
Henry pulled me aside into a little room.
"I dont know if you've noticed, but you cant walk around just wearing those," he said, guesturing to my shorts.
I felt a tinge of embarrasement, not even realizing that I was still wearing just my boxer shorts. I looked around and saw a bunch of shelves with clothes stacked upon them in a rather sloppy fashion.
I fished around and found a pair of baggy kahkies and a black cotton long sleeves shirt. I also got a pair of combat boots like Henry was wearing, and with his help, got dressed. It was painful, but I got through it. As I was putting on my shirt I noticed something on my chest. I couldnt believe I had forgotten about it. It was the mark Nix had put on me before before I was rescued.
"What does this mean?" I asked curiously.
"Erm, that is Nix's symbol. Nix used to be one of us until he decided to use his abilities for evil and he set out to prove that he didnt need us. He has killed many of my men before and all have had that mark on his chest.  The symbol comes from a ancient text, a text so ancient, that no one can read it. We discovered that it was a prophecy of a chosen one. There are other passages about the prophesived chosen one, but little can be gathered. It is said that only the chosen one himself will be able to understand the encripted text," he was obviously enjoying himself. "The chosen one will posess three powers; sight, healing, and strength. By the one hundreth year of the birth of our society, a chosen one will be in our posession. A hundred years have gone by and we have no chosen one and you are the last of our kind. Why Nix has chosen this mystery symbol, no one knows. But we shouldnt dilly dally. Lets go to lunch and I'll tell you more then."
We made our way out and into the elevator next to the room.



Chapter 8
 
"Bad dream?" Henry asked me.
We were in the elevator, on our way down to the kitchen.
"Yeah. Sorry if I woke you up."
"No, no, I was up. My room is next door to yours and I heard you and wanted to check to see if you were okay. Its good I came in when I did or you would have waken up the whole school."
"School? A school for what?"
I heard a beeping sound and the elevator doors slid open to reveal a large room. Large windows lined the walls and fireplaces were scattered about, as were tables and chairs. In the far left corner, was a small cafe'. There were people seated in some of the tables. Some on computes, some burried in books, and others chatting quietly to others while sipping a hot cup of coffee. The floors were carpeted with the same carpeting as the rest of the places I had been.
But as soon as I entered the room, sillence followed. I looked around and everyone was staring at me. I tried to give a polite smile, but I was to confused as to why I had suddenly provoked such a strange change in atmosphere.
Henry came next to me and walked me to the cafe' counter. The casheer was also looking at me.
"What do you want David. The menu is up there," he said, pointing up at a large black board with the menu written in white chalk. I chose a muffin and some hot chocolate.
We went and sat down at a table away from everyone else and the talking gradually resumed, but never as it had before and I kept catching someone glancing in my direction and then they would quickely look away.
"Um Henry, whats going on here?" I finally asked him.
"Okay, I guess I did promise you an explanation. I'll go right out and say it. My family, the Spades, are Druids, as you are. We were born this way. We started to wonder if there was anyone else out there like us too, and there were. Everyone here has some kind of unique ability. So we made a school for them. We train them to fight. Our purpose is to protect the world from evil.  Some Druids have only one power, while others have had as many as five powers. You may only think you have one now, like your keen sight, but you might be able to do so much more if you just learn them. Nix has incredable skills in mind control. If your fighting him, he can make you stiff as a board. Or he can sense where you are if you are near him. He can sense your presense. He is also very strong. He loved his abilities, and he thought he could do so much more that we were letting him do. So he left one night and decided that he would show us that he didnt need us anymore. He made his own army, and started using his powers for evil instead if good. He somehow got word of your name and tried to seek you out before we could to prevent you from getting more powerful."
"Is Nix still alive anyway? I saw him fly off me right before I blacked out."
"Unfortunatey, he managed to escape. I am very sorry David. I wish I could make that man pay for everything he did to you."
"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm better now, and I promise I'll try my best to help you out with whatever you need me to do. I just can't make any promises. I'd rather be here than back on the streets. Oh my gosh! What's up with these people?"
I finalley snapped. I couldnt take all these people glaring over at me.
"It's just that you're the only person in history to survive the mark of Nix. They're actually in awe of you," he laughed and I went back to the elevator to get some rest back in my room.



Chapter 9


"Hayden! Come down here! I need you to run an errand for me!" Mother was making supper in the kitchen. The smell of pancakes wafted through the house. Yes thats right, pancakes. We always had pancakes for supper on Tuesdays, it was a familly tradition. I was upstairs with my older brother, playing chess. I of course, was winning.
"Coming mother," he shouted and started down the stairs.
"Honey dear, I need you to go down to the market and get me some more flour for the pancakes. Be quick now."
He opened the screen door and started running down the street.
"Mum! Can I go too?" I yelled.
"Sure honey, go and catch up to him"
I ran down the stairs and out the door to my brother. When I stepped outside, an explosion of gunfire reached my ears.
"Watch out!"
My brother was next to me, crouched behind some barrels.
"Follow me," he whispered. He started to get up when I heard more gunfire. I heard a yell coming from next to me. I looked over at my brother and saw him on the ground with his hand to his chest.
"Hayden!" I sobbed. I looked up in the direction the shot had been fired in and saw a man across the street. He was tall and was wearing a long brown coat that went down to the ground. his hand was outstretched, and in it, was a gun.
"You! I shouted. I got to my feet and ran towards him. I heard another gun shot as a bullet swam towards me.

I sat bolt upright and whiped at the tears streaming down my face. I groped for my water on the table next to my bed and drank from it as if I hadn't drank in weeks. Now I realized why I had recognized Nix. He was the man who had killed my brother and made my life miserable. If he wouldnt have killed my brother, my parents would probably still be together, and I wouldn't have been forced to run away.
I got out of bed and looked at a clock on the wall across from me. 7:00 AM. My second day here. At least consious anyway. I got dressed in the outfit I had picked out the day before and limped out of the room. I was hoping Henry was awake as I headed to his door, 2 doors from mine. I halted in front of it when I heard voices coming from within and put my ear to the door.
"The tests show that he has significantly improved," Doctor Riley was saying,"it's impossible. He should have died. I think we've found one of his talants."
"Yes, I do believe we have Riley. We should start discovering the others imediately. Jessica, I can trust that you will get right on this," Henry was speaking to someone called Jessica.
"Yes sir. Should I go and wake him now?" Jessica.
I knocked on the door and opened it slowly, "Im already awake."
"Hello David. It's nice to see you. How is everything going?" Henry asked me.
"Um. I'm not sure. I sort-of had another dream. It woke me up."
"I see. Would you like to tell me about it?"
"Nix, he killed my brother didnt he. In my dream, he killed them. I thought there was something familliar about him when I saw him the other day.
I saw everyone exchange glances. They knew something. I could tell. Henry nodded at the two others in the room and they left the room without a sound before he continued.
"Yes David, I'm very sorry. He did kill your brother. Seven years ago, Nix tried to sneak into one of our labs to steal, oh I dont know what he wanted, but our cameras caught him. By the time we got there he was gone and he must have seen the cameras because nothing was stolen. We eventually caught up to him and got into a fight with him and his men. Having your brother as a witness was to dangerous for him so he had to kill your brother. Why he left you, I'm not sure," I think Henry was about to say more but I cut him off.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"If you knew about Nix killing your brother, you would have you would have gone crazy the moment you saw him and gotten yourself killed. You are no match for him alone, but maybe together, we can bring him down. I can not allow for your emotions to take control. This wont be a problem will it?"
"Do you honestly think that I can forget what he did to my brother? You have no idea what my life has been like after it happened. Thanks to Nix, my parents divorced, I ran away, and I got landed with you. I will train with you, do whatever it is you need me to do for you, but believe me, the next time I see Nix, I'm going to give him what he desearves and nothing, not even you will be able to stop me."
it was then that I realized that Doctor Riley had been standing over us and listening to our conversation almost the entire time.