Opulence | Teen Ink

Opulence MAG

May 1, 2008
By AquaGem SILVER, Kalamazoo, Michigan
AquaGem SILVER, Kalamazoo, Michigan
5 articles 0 photos 50 comments

Favorite Quote:
Nobody will ever win the Battle of the Sexes. There's just too much fraternizing with the enemy. ~Henry Kissinger

Life it too short to let you matter.


I’ve been watching him for days now. When he leaves his house to go to school, I’m the one carefully tailing him, switching cars every day to make myself look less suspicious. If he ever sneaks out of his second-story room, I’ll be the one silently watching from a nearby tree. In class when he turns, feeling eyes on the back of his head, I’m the one who sent the hair on the back of his neck up on end. I am the girl whose shadow is always slightly overlapping his.

Being assigned to watch him almost makes me
feel like I’m not a stalker. Though I’m only 17, I’m a full-fledged member of the organization known as O.P.U.L.E.N.C.E. I’ve been with them since the ­tender age of five. It’s my home. Being an orphan, my office is also my permanent residence, the couch a fold-out bed. There are many others like me: no family. A lot of us are loners and haven’t chosen this route for ourselves.

I’m a tracker. I have been for years and some might say that I am the best at not being the best. In other words, I’m great at being invisible. Or at not being noticed. It’s not as hard as the others in the organization think. Being young and female is good, since most we track are young. Seeing me around younger people – my age, actually – doesn’t raise alarm bells. It helps that I’m cute. With a small frame, light hazel eyes, and short blond hair that curls under my chin, I don’t appear threatening. Of course, my ­organization-funded training doesn’t back that theory.

Soon I won’t be tracking down others with the power. They are finally going to give me an apprentice. After years of mastering everything I’ve been taught, they see my potential. That’s not to say I know everything. Even with my extended life I won’t be able to learn all the things I want to. If only this annoying boy would show the signs. It’s been almost a week. If he doesn’t show soon, they’ll reassign me. That much longer until I get my apprentice.

So here I am, sipping a latté and waiting for the Target to leave for school. I have been put in all of his classes in case something happens there, though I graduated high school years ago. Private tutors sped things up. With no family or personal ties, I had lots of time to devote to my studies. Martial arts black belts. Twelve languages, not including English. Everything a girl needs for a serious career in the agency. Such positions of power are not handed out easily. You must prove yourself many times over.

The Target and I have never spoken, but I know a lot about him. His file told me some, but after watching him for only a few days, I feel confident in saying that I know things no one else does. Not just the obvious, either. He resents his father and is protective of his mother, which makes me suspect the father is less than faithful. He smiles often but doesn’t make a lot of eye contact. He usually only speaks when spoken to. Although he has many friends, he isn’t close with any of them. The Target is observant, a watcher. This leads me to believe we would get along if he shows any promise.

I look down at my watch, then back at his house a few blocks away. The Target is late, which means I’ll be late too. Today my ride is a shiny black sports car, not out of place in this suburb full of midlife-crisis men. I turn on the engine impatiently. I’m fiddling with the radio when I hear something. I don’t feel any immediate danger, and I know to trust those feelings. But I ­also know that something is off.

Just as I am about to get out of the car and pretend to look in the trunk, the passenger door opens. I look up in surprise as the Target slides into the seat next to me. I grin, quite pleased by this turn of events. This is definitely a good sign. Perhaps intuition is strong in him. That would be good for my apprentice to have, complementary. I could handle having to deal with that.

“Hello, Lenna. Why have you been following me for a week now?” the Target asks lightly, conversationally, his first words ever said in my direction.

Ah, one of my many aliases. The organization set it up so that whenever I’m on a case, I get a new name, past, and present. It’s very powerful. The organization can basically do anything it needs; it has people everywhere imaginable. I’m just one of many, though there aren’t that many at the top, as I am. They don’t trust many to be trackers. Or to be apprentices. All of the full members have the power, though we control others to get things done.

My smile deepens as I say in my authoritative, professional voice, “My real name is Jade. I am a witch of the moon and a tracker for the organization known as O.P.U.L.E.N.C.E. You are also a witch. We would like to formally welcome you into the organization as my apprentice. Here is my card for verification.”

Jade Wordsworth
Tracker for O.P.U.L.E.N.C.E
Official Political Understanding Lending ­Everyone ­Navigation for Co-Existing Ethereals
Office hours: 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon-Sat
Phone: 555-5555
Proud league of witches of the sun and moon.
Worldwide.

“What do you mean ‘moon and sun’? Or ‘tracker’?” he asks, still looking at my card like it’s going to ­disappear.

“Types of magic. Moon is all about spells, the sun is more potion-based, though each type of witchcraft involves the other somehow. As a tracker, I find people like you and I bring them to O.P.U.L.E.N.C.E. Every witch must register, train, and become a member by law. In fact, the organization is like a government targeted toward witches,” I explain with a smile, loving the fact that this time I get to teach the newbie.

“Magic? Seriously?” he asks, eyes wide, meeting mine. They are large, yellow, and catlike.

I click a button on my left, automatically locking the doors. I put the car into drive, pulling out onto the road. As an afterthought I add as a courtesy, “I think you had better come with me.” .



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 896 comments.


jandmybirds said...
on Mar. 20 2012 at 10:11 am
jandmybirds, Thayer, Missouri
0 articles 0 photos 5 comments
I like turtles

. said...
on Mar. 6 2012 at 5:21 pm
I thought t was amazing!!!! I like all the details also

NewsJunkie said...
on Mar. 6 2012 at 12:22 pm
NewsJunkie, Wilmington, Delaware
0 articles 0 photos 16 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I'm high maintenance, but I'm worth it."
-Lara Logan

You do a wonderful job of blending the thriller/mystery and fantasy genres! Your writing is detailed and concise with enough details to really satisfy anyone who reads your piece. Awesome job! Please write a sequel:)

on Mar. 6 2012 at 11:51 am
AbigailPalmer BRONZE, London, Other
4 articles 3 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
"sometimes you wake up, sometimes the fall kills you, and sometimes, when you fall, you fly"

~ Neil Gaiman

This is awesome :) It kinda made me wish I was an opulence agent :)

on Feb. 20 2012 at 8:06 pm
CollinS. SILVER, Pinckneyville, Illinois
5 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
You've got to stand for somethin' or you'll fall for anything.
- Aaron Tippin

You should consider making this the start of a full book. It has enough background and possibilities to really be something!

on Feb. 11 2012 at 1:15 pm
TemperanceBrennan SILVER, Winnipeg, Other
7 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Once you understand that the universe is ever expanding wearing stripes with plaid is easy"- Albert Einstein

I really liked the it, it was captured your attention immediatly and it was easy to follow. It was really good, I also hope you extend it into a book. I would totally read it!!!

on Feb. 6 2012 at 10:19 am
OwloftheNight BRONZE, Lawrenceville, Georgia
3 articles 0 photos 2 comments
That was really enjoyable! I love your narrator's voice; it comes across as very strong and self-assured.

on Feb. 1 2012 at 7:35 am
Musicalartist, Xxxxx, Other
0 articles 0 photos 144 comments
LOVE IT! thats all i can say....

on Jan. 22 2012 at 3:36 pm
hunterxonicole, Gowanda, New York
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Some of the greatest things in life are unseen, thats why we close our eyes when we kiss, cry, or dream."

this is wonderful.

on Jan. 22 2012 at 11:31 am
greenpinstripes_erinn SILVER, Fairfield, Connecticut
5 articles 2 photos 7 comments
this story is wonderful! you have a talent, you should do a sequel in the perspective of the target!

on Jan. 22 2012 at 11:24 am
rockyyyyyyyyy SILVER, Lawrenceville, Georgia
9 articles 0 photos 61 comments

Favorite Quote:
dont let people drive u crazy if you know its in walking distance

this is dope!

Dill said...
on Jan. 21 2012 at 11:24 pm
People need to grow up I thought it was an intertaning story

Dill said...
on Jan. 21 2012 at 11:17 pm
You have talent that much is obvious you should write another book I really enjoyed this

vazenitran98 said...
on Jan. 20 2012 at 3:43 pm
vazenitran98, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
0 articles 0 photos 79 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street,I met a man who had no feet."

100% of course!

Joele12 said...
on Jan. 20 2012 at 2:21 pm
Joele12, Orlando, Florida
0 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
I am like the wind, whom none can tell from whence it comes or where it goes. -One Night With the King (taken from John 3:8)

you've got a great talent keep on using it Joele

vazenitran98 said...
on Jan. 19 2012 at 4:22 pm
vazenitran98, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
0 articles 0 photos 79 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street,I met a man who had no feet."

on my poem ofc.

vazenitran98 said...
on Jan. 19 2012 at 4:22 pm
vazenitran98, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
0 articles 0 photos 79 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street,I met a man who had no feet."

Hello!Thanks for your support!

on Jan. 19 2012 at 3:34 pm
Tongue_Blep PLATINUM, ????, Ohio
40 articles 1 photo 769 comments
This was very good and dont listen to anyone who says its not! You are truly gifted with the talent of writing! Great job! :)(:

on Jan. 14 2012 at 3:39 pm
I'm a dude...

Qman48 said...
on Jan. 13 2012 at 10:40 am
Qman48, Oregon, Missouri
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
i thought it to be a intersting story