by Mary Ting
“Ace in your face!” Nick shouted. Just as Nick said those words, the strength of our light expanded, and at the same time, the lightning impacted on the vultures.
“Get down!” I directed. Nick covered Everett, and I created a shield around us with my light. The vultures exploded, and the intensity of the lights the vultures and we created shot out everywhere. Seeing flames worried me. We’d cause a fire, but right now that was not my main concern. Being that we were free to go, we had to make up for the distance lost. We would take care of the fire later. Although I hated to admit it, it would have been convenient if Poseidon’s descendants were here.
Thunder boomed across the sky, followed by flashes of lightning. It brightened the dark just as long as the duration of the light. When there was no rain, I knew at that moment Mason had caused it. He must have been desperate to use so much power like that. When the smell of burnt wood filled my nose and smoke rose from the air, I got extremely worried. Did Mason cause a fire?
As the vulture that held me captive sidestepped around trees and bushes, the glass lodged in me kept shifting, causing excruciating pain with each movement. Unable to handle the pain, I managed to pull out a long piece of glass that penetrated through my upper arm. With it, I stabbed the vulture’s thigh. The vulture halted from pain, pulled out the piece, and kept on going.
The release of the glass caused the blood to seep out. I could feel the wetness as the liquid streamed down, most likely leaving a trail of my blood behind. With a pool of blood in the palm of my hand, I smeared it into the vulture’s cut, hoping it was enough to turn him into a statue.
Suddenly, it dropped to its knees and released its hold on me. I tumbled to the ground and tried to observe the scenario around me. Seeing lightning bolts from behind gave me a clear view of the icicle darts heading toward me from all different directions.
“Get down!” a voice said out loud.
Hearing the order, I curled myself inward while I watched the vulture—who had turned into stone—get blasted into tiny little pieces that should have splattered on me. When I felt something cold engulf me instead, I looked up to see a bubble of water shielding me.
It was the strangest feeling to be inside something that was created by water. It was hard and cold, like ice, but the shield quickly vanished, leaving me vulnerable again.
Vultures’ horrendous, screeching cries echoed around me, while flashing bolts and icicle spheres darted across my vision. It indicated that this was not over yet. Time seemed to stop as I watched with amazement and horror. Blinded by all of the bright, silver lights, I tried to stay away and keep safe since I had nothing to fight with.
“Sky.” Mason suddenly appeared beside me.
“Don’t touch me.” I panicked, showing the blood on the palm of my hand, then I scurried next to a tree. When I spoke, a cloudy mist puffed out of my mouth from the cold. I had thought my shivering was from being terrified for my friends. Now I knew it was the combination of that and the cold.
“Okay, but I need to help you.” Mason got down on his knees next to me.
“Watch out!” a voice shrieked from the distance and someone landed next to Mason. Nick had stepped on the icy path that had been created by one of Poseidon’s descendants.
“Where the hell did this come from?” Struggling to get up, Nick looked flabbergasted. I could understand why. It was the first time he’d fought alongside them.
“Is everyone okay?” Noah asked, out of breath. Tim stood next to him in much the same condition.
Everett finally let down his sword. “Noah, Tim…this is Nick, our other brother. You didn’t get a chance to meet the last time.”
“Hey.” Noah and Tim nodded in an accord.
“Sorry about that,” Noah said. “These vultures are clumsy on ice.”
“Give us a warning next time. And thanks for being here,” Nick said, rubbing his butt. “Did you guys happen to see the third flashing light near you? It wasn’t from either of us.”
“I don’t know,” Noah replied. “We just assumed it was from one of you.”
“Strange,” Everett mumbled.
“Don’t worry about the fire,” Tim murmured. “We already put it out.”
“Thanks,” Everett said. “I was just about to ask you to do that.”
Mason didn’t seem happy by their appearance. “Were you spying on us again?” His tone was not friendly. “How did you even know?”
“Because I told them to follow my daughter.” Victor stepped out of the shadows.
“Dad?” I whimpered. I was happy to see him yet at the same time I was furious.
“Mr. Rome…I mean, Victor,” Mason started to say with an agitated tone, “we had this under control. You don’t need to have Noah and Tim spying on us.”
“Think of it this way…they came just in time to put out the fire. That was dangerous, what you did. You could have gotten everyone killed. We can talk about it after we get Sky inside,” Victor stated. “And since she’s bleeding, I suggest you all stay away.” He turned to Mason. “Looks like you got some cuts yourself.” Kneeling down to me, my dad brushed the strands of my hair away from my face. “I’m going to pick you up. My blood is your blood. It doesn’t affect me.”
I nodded, since he was the only one that was not affected by my blood, and I had no other choice but to comply.
“I’ve already begun to heal,” I said to my dad, feeling like I had a hold of my body again. The cut on my arm had been extremely painful; that was the biggest gash compared to the rest of them, but it had already started to heal. There were many little ones all along my arms and legs. Although these were small, the shards from the glass were still lodged inside. It felt like pins were pricking all over my body, all at once.
With my dad’s speed, we were back in no time. Nick had asked Amanda to stay with Kayla since he’d knocked her out with his bolt. Kayla was in his bedroom sound asleep. I could imagine Amanda being upset about it since she couldn’t join the action.
“I need to shower,” I said weakly. “I also need to take some glass pieces out of me. Mason and I will be right back.” I don’t know why, but I glanced at my dad when I said this. My words implied that we were going to take a shower together. That was not what I meant, but for some reason, I wanted to make sure my dad knew that, too. A part of me was upset at myself for thinking that way. Why should I care what he thought anyway?
Mason closed his bedroom door behind him after we entered. “Are you okay?” He looked concerned. He lifted his hands to me, wanting to touch me, but placed them down instead. He knew not to touch me.
“I’m okay. I just need to remove some glass pieces from my body. I’ll be right back.” Wobbling, I headed to the dresser to pull out the clothes I needed, and then I proceeded to the bathroom. Closing the door behind me, I could tell how upset Mason was from the look in his eyes. I knew the reason…he couldn’t help me and it was frustrating him.
Pulling my sweater over my head was easy, but the jeans that’d stuck to my legs from blood, water, and dirt were not. Slowly peeling down my pants, I cringed when the pieces of sharp glass shifted. Feeling the cuts deepening, my jaw muscles tightened and I bit my bottom lip from crying out loud. I didn’t want Mason to hear how badly I was hurting. It would make his guilt even worse.
Releasing the deep breath I was holding, I managed to pull out the shards with my trembling hands and throw them into the trashcan. Seeing the blood seep out again made me nauseous, but I had to hold it together and get in the shower.
Under the hot water, I could already feel the aches disappear. After I shampooed and cleansed myself with soap, I felt even better. All of that blood had been washed away and my cuts disappeared, as if I’d never had them. Stepping out of the shower, I quickly got dressed and opened the door to see Mason changed and sitting on the bed, looking drained and lost. And for some strange reason, I could tell he had been thinking about his mom.
Every time Sky was in danger, my mind went back in t
ime to when my mom died. Had I known I had these powers, I would have been able to save her. However, I was young and I didn’t believe Nick’s mom when she’d told us who I was. Now the past would always haunt me. I could clearly remember that day when I saw the vultures for the very first time.
There was a knock on the door. I was expecting some friends to come over, so I turned the knob without thinking. Just as I cracked the door open, it swung so fast that it knocked me to the table that was against the wall. I dropped to the floor and so did the vase, shattering into pieces around me.
It took seconds for me to gather myself from the hit. Seeing those hideous creatures for the first time, not knowing what they were, kept me frozen in place as my heart pounded out of my chest. They were humongous, with ripped muscles…or was it fat? I couldn’t tell. They must have been three times my size. As I rooted my eyes on the one coming toward me, I crawled backward as fast as I could, while dragging my butt on the floor. The other two ran upstairs.
“Mom,” I yelled, but I wasn’t sure if the word escaped my mouth. It took so much effort to breathe, let alone say something, but I had to get up. Mom was in danger.
When I heard her scream, my body jerked to alert. I picked up a shard of glass and somehow managed to get up. Hearing things being broken upstairs, I dashed as fast as I could. I didn’t know if it was my imagination or the adrenaline pumping through me, but I moved pretty fast, faster than I’d ever moved before. What the hell happened? I had no time to think about it. I needed to help my mom.
“Mason!”
“I’m coming, Mom. Just hang on!” Mom couldn’t hear the panic in my voice, but it was there. There was a knot in my stomach, telling me something bad was going to happen. Fear had taken over when I felt heat rush through my body, something I’d never felt before. It burned, flaming, making me feel hot through every inch of me, especially the tips of my fingers.
Knowing that I was being followed, I turned the corner to be out of its view. When its back was turned to me, I jumped on and cut across its neck. Pain ripped through my arm. From the force of using the glass, it had cut through the palm of my hand as well. Black liquid splurged down the creature’s body as it dropped to the floor. With not a moment to waste, I jumped over it and didn’t look back.
“Mom, I’m coming!”
There was no answer, and panic pierced my heart as I ran down the hall. I kicked my mom’s bedroom door open to see her in the arms of one of the creatures. It held her captive, covering her mouth so she couldn’t speak. The other hand wrapped its arm around her waist tightly. My mom’s eyes were wide and full of fear, and tears were streaming down the sides of her face. I wanted to take her away from this awful nightmare, but I couldn’t, because no matter how much I wanted this to be a dream, it wasn’t.
As I looked around for something…anything to fight these monsters, I saw nothing that was worth picking up. There was only the piece of paper that had the directions to Nick’s house and a telephone number. I didn’t know Mom had kept it. I’d seen her pick it up on her way to her bedroom when we first found out from Nick’s mom. I’d thought she would have thrown it away. Mom had asked Nick’s mom to leave our house, thinking she was crazy, but we were the crazy ones not to believe her.
Pictures frames, jewelry boxes, pillows, and whatever Mom could throw at them were on the carpet, scattered in the areas she had struggled for her life. As I wondered where the second one was, the creature that held my mom grunted and gestured with his head. From out of the darkness near the closet, the second one appeared. It seemed like the one holding my mom was the leader.
When the second one jumped in front of me, my reflexes took over. I dodged its swing and jabbed the glass into its chest. The creature growled in anger. Realizing that it had no effect on him, I tumbled over the bed to the other side, unplugged the cord, and threw a lamp at him. With perfect precision, the lamp hit the glass still lodged in its chest and pushed it in deeper. This time, the growl was ear-piercingly loud…so loud, that it was painful to hear.
I managed to weave around when the creature stumbled a few steps, but I wasn’t fast enough. Gripping my arm, it slammed me against the wall. I could hear my mom’s whimpering sounds when I landed, as she struggled to get loose. Out of breath, I used the bedpost as leverage to help me up.
I got up just in time to dodge a fist, which rammed into the bedpost instead of me. As it broke into splinters of wood, I picked up a piece and jabbed it into the creature’s side. This time, when the creature howled in anger and pain, it was so loud that I had to cover my ears. It was trying to find comfort from the wound, but it only kept running into the wall, and then finally through the window.
As I sucked some air into my lungs, I whipped my head around and saw the creature moving toward the door with my mom.
“Hey,” I raised my hands up to show that I was not a threat; whether it understood me or not, I wasn’t sure, but I had to try, “I’m not going to hurt you. Let my mom go and you can leave,” I said softly, in an unthreatening tone. Inching forward, I dragged my feet, trying not to make it obvious that I was moving.
“Mason. Go find Nick’s mom,” Mom said, when the creature released his hand from her mouth.
“No, I’m not leaving you,” I stated sternly. “I’m not going to let it hurt you.” I only said those words to keep us both calm, because at that moment, I needed to hold on to hope. Every fiber in me was telling me it was going to be the last time I saw my mom, and I would do anything to make my premonition wrong.
“Please, baby. Do as I say. Run, before it kills us both,” Mom pleaded in desperation. She knew this wouldn’t end well; I could tell from the look in her eyes. She had given up without trying. I became mad at her for that. If only I had super powers, or if I was stronger…anything to give me an advantage. And Nick’s mom’s words haunted my mind. Come with me. Let me show you what Nick can do. You might be like him. You have the same father. You just need guidance. Unfortunately, I hadn’t believed her. I thought she was crazy. It all sounded nuts. But now….
“No. You can’t make me leave. I won’t leave you.”
I gasped a sharp breath and stopped when it moved its hands to my mom’s neck. At that moment, I lost my breath. Not only that, blazing heat flushed through my body, making me uncomfortable. I felt like I was going to blow up at any second. Feeling frustrated by getting nowhere with this creature, I started moving closer.
What happened next tore my world apart and I was never the same after that. It was quick, yet it felt like it happened in slow motion. “No!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I reached out my hand to stop the creature, but I was too late. It twisted my mom’s neck and dropped her to the floor, just before I collided with it.
Anger flushed through my veins like it had never done before. My body shuddered, flashing hot and cold. Tingling sensations throbbed in my hands at first, then quickly diminished. Then, light flashed out of my palms when it came in contact with the creature’s thick, scaly skin. The light looked like lightning bolts, but it didn’t blind my vision. It was faint and dim. It gave the creature a shock, but that was all. There was no major damage done. Too stunned by whatever was happening to me, I froze for a second…but that second was crucial.
The creature threw me off of him. When I landed next to my mom’s body, reality settled back in. “Mom,” I cried, reaching out to her and cradling her in my arms. Though I felt no pulse, I didn’t want to believe she was dead. Even knowing there was no chance she could have survived that attack, I didn’t want to face it. I had two choices: run or die.
After I made up my mind—promising Mom that I would come back for her, to give her a proper burial—my shaky, scared out-of-my-mind body managed to stand up. The creature growled with anger and gave me the glare of death as it came for me. Seeing my handprint on his chest confirmed what I’d done to him was real. Somehow, a lightning bolt shot out of my hands. It was a weak one, but it was something. Though it was unfathomable, I had to
believe, because that was all I had left, and I needed to get out of there alive.
Recalling how I’d moved fast up the stairs, I knew that was what I needed to do now. Believing that I could do it again, I ran for my life. The creature was in shock as I passed by it in super speed mode. Just before I left, I grabbed the note from Nick’s mom, since that was where I was headed. Hopefully, I had a head start and the creature couldn’t follow me. Oddly, the cut on my hand had disappeared…that had never happened before. Apparently it had healed a while back when I stopped feeling the pain, but I was too distraught to even notice.
“Mason,” I called softly. I didn’t want to see him like this; it was not his fault, but I knew he would blame himself. If I could help it, I would lighten the mood for him. “Here I am. All good and ready.”
Mason stood up just as I reached him. Framing my face with his hands, he pulled me in for a long kiss. Then he unzipped my hooded sweater and checked for the wound on my arm. Since I was wearing a T-shirt underneath, he could clearly see that the wound had completely healed…even though he really didn’t know where the wounds were in the first place. Luckily, seeing the soft smoothness of my intact skin made his frown turn into something of a smile.
Zipping my sweater back up, he exhaled a sigh of relief. “It’s like it never happened! Good.”
“How about you? Are you okay?” I asked. The worried expression on his face finally vanished.
“I’m fine. I’ll take a shower later. Right now, we need to talk to our guests.”
“You’re right.” I was trying to avoid going downstairs, but I knew the faster I got this talk out of the way, the faster my dad would be out of the house.
When I headed downstairs, everyone was seated with a warm mug of some kind of drink, except for my dad. Amanda was talking to Noah, somewhat flirting through her body gestures. As soon as my dad spotted me, he stood up.
