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pos·ses·sion
pəˈzeSHən/
noun
1.
the state of having, owning, or controlling something.
"are you in possession of any items over $500 in value?"
synonyms:    ownership, control, hands, keeping, care, custody, charge, hold, title, guardianship

2.
an item of property; something belonging to one.
"I was alone with no money or possessions"
synonyms:    belongings, things, property, (worldly) goods, (personal) effects, assets, chattels, movables, valuables;

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"The lawn is pressed by unseen feet, and ghosts return. Gently at twilight, gently go at dawn. The sad intangible who grieve and yearn."

-- T.S. Elliot

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He stumbled through the night, his feet shuffling through the cold grass. Crickets chirped and owls called out into the night. His chest rose and fell as he continued on his way, exhaustion taking over him.

It was like this everyday.

Run, pause, run, pause, run, pause, and so on.

What was he running from, though?

It was a boy, a boy who looked like him. He was young, perhaps five. He scared the hell out of this guy, and he honestly hated how powerful he was.

Why was he chasing him?

Well, souls don't take too kindly to those who possess them, even when they brought that soul to life.

"Ungrateful little-" he muttered under his breath, still panting as he ran. "I gave you life and this is how you repay me? Just wait till I come out, kid, just what." He growled out.

He continued into the darkness of the night, never looking back.

♧•♧•♧

Nathan watched the beautiful gate pass over the wagon as they entered Grieg, the capital of Nahara. Sam grinned at him.

"Dude, we made it!"

He laughed at his friend. "I saw that Sam." Nathan said, attempting to control his widening smile.

Ayden chuckled. "Yeah, it's a pretty nice town, you'll love it."

The pair exchanged smiles that practically showed their whole set of teeth. The Elements looked at each other and smiled slightly.

Nathan looked towards the window and watched the fancy shops roll on by. It seemed too good to be true to him. Perhaps that was only because of his upbringing. No matter the reason, though, he was excited.

He couldn't help but feel the sensations of the city. It was like the excitement of a thousand outsiders as they stepped into the city. However, an uneasiness settled in the pit of his stomach.

Why am I feeling this? What's wrong here? He thought, looking down at his stomach. Suddenly, someone patted his back. "Nathan, it's time to get out, come on! We are getting a hotel and then meeting with the Priest. Are you ready?"

Nathan nodded, but something inside of him was telling him to run. He let out a shaky breath as he followed the others into the hotel.

The man at the desk smiled brightly at the Elements as they checked in. When they asked for six rooms, he frowned and looked at Nathan and Sam before saying there was only one with five.

"It's okay, me and Nathan can share. We've done it before." Sam says, nodded slightly.

Ayden frowned. "You sure? 'Cause I'm sure one of us wouldn't mind-"

"No, we're good, right Sammy?" Nathan said, slinging an arm around his friend.

"Right back at ya', Nate!"

In all honesty Nathan wished he could have his own room, but he allowed himself to be with his friend so the Elements would be more comfortable. They were used to having their own rooms, after all. Sharing was probably not one of their expertises.

Nathan silently chastised himself. He shouldn't assume things, especially since they had been through so much in their lives already. Who knew if they had experienced more?

The group made their way upstairs to the room the man told them to go to. When they got there, Wesley opened the door. Nathan and Sam pushed in first, and stared in amazement as they took in the high ceilings and huge room. It was like being in an open space, yet you were still enclosed in a room. Nathan hadn't seen anything like it before in Hickory. Then again, Hickory was a very small town and wasn't as wealthy as Grieg. The fanciest building they had was the Mayor's office, probably because all the past mayors worked to make their office better instead of improving the town.

Nathan and Sam moved towards one of the doors and opened them to see a bedroom with a single bed. They opened every door, only to see one bed in every room. "Hey, guys? There's only one bed per room." Sam said, looking back at the others.

Ayden frowned. "Are they singles? Twins? Queens? Kings?"

Sam furrowed his brow. "Beds have hierarchy now?"

Wesley looked concerned. "Please tell me you're joking."

"I'm not. I'm honestly confused."

Ashlee walked over and looked in each of the rooms. "They're all twins. Either Nathan and Sam while share a twin bed or one of them can sleep on the couch."

Nathan walked forward. "I'll take the couch."

Sam shook his head. "No, I'll take it Nate. You deserve a nice bed to sleep on."

"Sam, I'm sleeping on the couch and that's final. Go unpack your stuff, I'll find some blankets and a pillow for my makeshift bed."

HIs friend eventually conceded, but it was clear Sam wasn't happy with the decision. The others claimed their rooms and unpacked their stuff while Nathan went in search of blankets.

He thankfully found one and ended up taking one of the many pillows Sam had on his bed. Sam had forced him to, though he'd have slept without a pillow.

"Think of it as payment for letting me sleep on the bed." His friend argued, shoving the pillow in his face.

After Nathan had the blanket and pillow set on the coffee table, he sat on the couch and waited for everyone to join him. The first to come out was Lela.

Lela looked at Nathan, as if judging him simply on how he sat. Nathan fidgeted nervously under her calculating gaze, and waited patiently for anyone else to come.

Wesley came next, and gave Nathan cold scowls as he looked at him. Nathan almost wanted to use his powers to force them to look away, but he knew that wouldn't be good.

Ashlee was next, and she gave each Lela and Wesley a glare plus a scolding when she saw how uncomfortable Nathan seemed. Lela was the first to apologize, though Wesley took some convincing.

When Ayden came out, he sat down next to Ashlee and gave Nathan a reassuring smile. It was still a very awkward silence, and Nathan kept fidgeting. He was itching to run. Something kept telling him being here was not good.

Sam finally came out. He looked to have just washed himself, as his hair was still damp. He wore a silk bathrobe and smelled of soap and other perfumes. Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you get the robe?"

"It was in my closet. Think I'd get in trouble if I kept it? I mean, they just left it for me. Obviously they meant to give this to me."

Wesley pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sam, that is simply to use during the duration of your stay; you can't keep it."

Sam frowned. "Well that seems pointless. What's the point of free stuff if you can't keep it?"

"He does bring up a valid point," Ashlee hummed.

"Well, the hotel does pay for the things they provide customers."

Sam looked at Ayden, who was looking down at his hands after saying that. "Well, it's not as if they don't charge hundreds to thousands of dollars to the people who stay here."

"Exactly. Technically, this stuff isn't free, Sam. We are, after all, paying for it."

Sam looked at Wesley, his eyes wide. "Wait, really? I thought all this was actually free!"

Lela shook her head. "The money we pay them is then in turn used to fund their hotel, so some of the money we used to purchase this room is going to one day be used to buy soaps, perfumes, robes, and other necessities for each room. Nothing in this world is free."

The group sat there, allowing this revelation to sink in. Eventually, Ashlee broke the silence. "Anyways, we came here to see the Priest. We should go meet him soon."

Nathan felt a shiver run down his spine. Why? He had no idea. But whenever he thought about meeting the Priest, fear settled in him. He was scared of this Priest.

Nathan blinked, and suddenly the face of a young man appeared in his head. He had an angular face and tan skin. His eyes were a brilliant blue that seemed to sparkle as he looked around. Nathan could see a little yellowing in the corners of them. An alcoholic, he thought bitterly. His dark brown hair hung around his eyes, but was pulled out of the way with a small ponytail. It was in the very middle of the back of his head. It seemed useless, seeing as it was basically a stub. The man was muscular, and seemed to be healthy, minus the alcohol addiction he appeared to have. At least, that's just what Nathan assumed form the eyes. He wore a loosely hanging blue top, with a deep v neck. In fact, it went all the way to just above his bellybutton, showing off his abs and chest. Nathan could see his chest hair, which was almost black. A black belt was slung just around his hips, but almost seemed to be slipping off, making it completely useless. Nathan couldn't see much else.

He tuned back into reality when he saw everyone staring at him. Sam gave him a worried look form beside him. "Nate? You okay?"

"Y-yeah, just zoned out a bit."

Sam nodded, but kept a close eye on his friend. Lela sighed. "As I was saying, we should go soon."

"Yes, we should. However, I think we should all clean ourselves first. Sam already did that for himself, but he should probably get himself in some clothes and not just a robe. After we are all ready, we'll head out, okay?"

Everyone nodded before getting up. Nathan looked at Sam. "Where's the bathroom?"

"It's in my room. It's private. I'll just get dressed in the bedroom and you can clean yourself up in the bathroom, okay?"

Nathan nodded. He grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Then, he headed into Sam's room and into the bathroom. When he got into the bathroom, he pulled off his shirt, pants, and then his underwear.

He wasn't too fit. He was slightly malnourished, but you couldn't see too much of his ribs. Sam was more fit from doing all his runs for food and other necessities. Nathan could care less how many abs he had. He just wanted to be well enough to live.

Nathan walked to the bathing chamber and stared at the boat like thing sitting there. There was some sort of pipe aiming down towards it, and two knobs. Nathan stepped forward and turned one of the knobs. A rush of water came out of he pipe, nearly giving him a heart attack. Nathan watched in amazement as the water sloshed around, but it wasn't filling up for some reason. Then, Nathan noticed the water swirling around some hole under the pipe. Nathan saw what looked like a cork on the side of the container, so he grabbed it and pushed it inside the hole. Some sort of metal chain was attached to it soot she easy to pull out. The water began to slowly fill up the tub, and when it got close to the top Nathan turned the knob again and it stopped coming out.

He slowly stepped into it and felt a shiver run through him as he felt the heat traveling through his skin. Nathan eventually sat down, and then saw saw something called 'bath salt'. Nathan grabbed the packet and opened it before dumping it in. He watched as the little particles dissolved, and then bubbles formed. Eventually, he was basically floating in a warm, bubbly lake.

Once Nathan got over the wonderful feeling, he bent forward and put his head under the water. When he came up, some of the bubbles were in his hair. He used them to clean his hair. Then, he grabbed the bar of soap sitting on the side and washed his skin off. Dirt began to fill the water, and the bubbles vanished.

Nathan stepped out of the contraption once he was done and pulled on the chain, pulling the cork out. He watched the dirty water swirl down the hole. Once it was empty, he smiled to himself before realizing he hadn't grabbed a towel.

He opened a cabinet to see a few towels, so he grabbed one. Nathan began to dry himself off. Once he was done he moved towards his bag and pulled out his nicest shirt and pants. He got himself dressed and then ran a wire brush through his hair.

Nathan looked at his clean appearance. His hair looked even lighter than normal. His skin seemed to shine under the lights. He was...clean. He was hardly ever clean.

He nodded at his reflection and then smiled slightly. However, something odd happened.

For a moment, another face was there. It was like his own, except their hair was longer and they looked older. The man gave him an odd grin before melting back into Nathan.

Nathan gaped at the mirror for a moment before backing out of the room. He shivered as he walked into the living room.

What could that have possibly been? Who could it have been?

One thing was for sure: Nathan was now more confused than ever about his own existence.

♧•♧•♧

Hey there!

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter of Spirit! What'd you think?

I'm sorry about my long absence. I, as usual, got huge writers block. Then, a day before Christmas Eve, I got flu like symptoms. After not getting better, I went to urgent care the day after Christmas.

Turns out I had an early case of pneumonia. I ended up being sick the rest of the week and missed out on half of my break. I had quite a few breathing treatments, various pills, and almost fainted at one point. Yeah, my break wasn't the best I've ever had.

Anyways, when I got better my dad gave me a 'new' phone. New to me, but a hand me down. It took me a while to get everything set up and I only got Wattpad yesterday. So yeah, that's another reason why I haven't been very active.

Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoyed your holidays! See you all later!

--Paige