by Slick, Tabi
“No idea,” I replied, “let’s not think about it, okay?”
“Whatever,” he sighed, “so these brothers...were they twins too?”
“No,” I said, “they were close in age, though. The eldest told his brother that he could feel the heartbeats of others like them...do you remember that night we transitioned?”
“Yeah,” he answered.
“I could feel your heartbeat,” I said, “but I couldn’t feel anything else. Did you?”
“No,” he replied.
“I wonder,” I began, “if we had a chance that we could focus and see if we could also hear the others.”
“If there are others still around,” Kain added.
“Yeah,” I agreed, “somewhat of a long shot, but perhaps next time we transition we’ll have a moment to try.”
I readjusted my aching back. Sitting for hours was definitely not my idea of a good time and it most certainly was not easy on the back.
“So, what do you think our powers are?” Kain asked.
“Well, I’m pretty sure you have super strength,” I commented.
“Oh, what gave it away?” Kain asked, sarcastically as he rattled the handcuffs that bound him.
I laughed at the irony, but couldn’t help remembering how the doorknob just bent into the shape of Kain’s hand when he was just trying to open the door.
“You seem stronger in your form, too,” Kain added, “even before the transition you were able to throw that Amadeus across the room.”
“Maybe,” I gave.
“Well, I have one mean growl,” Kain laughed, sounding proud.
“Whatever,” I joked, doing my best to act as if I was throwing fire from my hands despite my restraints, “you’re just jealous of my lovely firepower.”
“We both can do magic with our hands,” he shrugged, as if it didn’t bother him, “remember the knife I conjured?”
Our laughter was followed by silence. We were both somewhat questioning whether it was all real or not. Given our current circumstances you’d think our power would come back sooner rather than later.
“Hey,” I replied, “it seems like we’ve been here for awhile. That means the next full moon has to be right around the corner, right?”
“Sure,” Kain shrugged, “and then I’ll use my super strength to rip that stupid smirk off of Chuck’s face.”
“I’m being serious,” I said.
“So, am I,” he said, his eyes exposing his anger, “I’ve never been more serious.”
“Well, we can’t just leave a trail,” I warned.
“Whatever we do,” he continued, “I’m sure when we are in our forms we will know how to take care of this whole...situation.”
“I wonder,” I whispered, changing the subject, “if anyone has been looking for us.”
“I’m sure at least one person has noticed our absence,” Kain assured.
“What will we tell people?” I asked, “you know, if we get out of here.”
“When we get out of here,” he corrected, “we’ll say we got lost.”
“And what about Lee?” I added, “I abruptly just left with his truck and somehow he just happens to get it back and without a word from me? He just asked me to be his girlfriend!”
“Oh, well, great start,” Kain laughed.
“Shut up,” I replied, rolling my eyes.
“You might have to tell him the truth,” Kain said, “not everything, you can leave out the part about us turning into scary demons, but other than that I’d say spill it.”
“But what if he tells his dad?” I asked, “or anyone else for that matter.”
“Just make sure he doesn’t,” Kain shrugged.
Suddenly, we heard a noise coming from outside the cabin and we immediately got quiet. Was it Chuck or someone else? If it wasn’t Chuck then we should probably shout and call for their attention to help us. But if it was Chuck then we would pay for that outburst. We then heard a couple of children laughing and realized that this could be our only real chance at escaping.
“Help!” we cried, both shouting at the top of our lungs.
We paused for a second, we could hear someone ask if they heard someone shouting. We cried out again, hoping someone would hear us and come and get us. We heard someone come to the door, rattling the doorknob as they tried to enter the cabin.
“Is someone in here?" Asked the voice behind the door, it was a woman’s voice, “are you alright?”
“Help us, please!” I shouted.
“Okay,” the lady said, “we’re going to find a way in.”
“Should we call 911?" Another lady’s voice asked.
“Yeah,” the first replied, “here’s my cell.”
I glanced at Kain, who had the same thought. We couldn’t let the police get to Chuck first before we did. We needed to know exactly who all was involved and how he fit into the puzzle and this was definitely not a battle for the police to fight. This was our fight.
“Just hang in there,” we heard one of them assure us, “help is on the way.”
“Oh my!” A lady’s voice exclaimed.
I glanced up and saw that one of them had found a window with a perfect view of us.
“Jill, come over here,” the lady ordered, “they’ve been here for quite some time.”
I saw the other lady’s head peep around the window frame and the look that overtook her.
“We must look terrible,” Kain chuckled.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
Suddenly, we heard a siren and the ladies quickly headed over to explain the situation from their perspective. We heard the door being pried opened and soon we saw Shane Walker and his partner walk in.
“Kain?” Shane exclaimed in shock, “Izara?”
“You know these two?" The other officer asked.
“Yeah,” Shane replied.
“It’s okay,” the officer said, addressing us, “we’re going to get these chains off, you’re okay now.”
They took the handcuffs off of our wrists and helped us to stand. As I tried to I realized I still couldn’t feel my feet. I glanced down and realized the worst. My feet were gray and I fell back down.
“Get the medic in here,” Shane ordered.
Another guy came in and worked to get circulation back in my feet. They checked on Kain and began bandaging his wounds. I heard the partner talking with the two ladies who had saved us while Shane stayed with us..
“Are you okay?" He asked.
“I’ll live,” Kain replied.
“Are you fine to answer a couple of questions?” Shane asked.
“Sure,” my brother replied.
“Could you tell me in a sentence or two what happened?" He asked.
Kain paused, taking a deep breath as he thought about the events.
“I-I don’t remember exactly how it happened,” Kain said, honestly, “I just remember getting thrown into this trunk and the next thing I knew I was here. My phone was taken. They must’ve seen my last call was to Izzy…”
“Did you get a view of what this person looked like?” Shane asked, gently.
“No,” Kain shook his head, “he wore a mask. I was strapped up in chains and he beat me. I barely even remember Izzy getting here.”
“Okay,” Shane replied, “it’s okay, we’ll take it from here.”
“We’re going to have to take her to the clinic,” the medic informed Shane.
Suddenly, I was being moved and soon was in the ambulance on our way to the hospital in Sulphur. I was rushed in and soon my feet were soaking in lukewarm water. I felt pins and needles in my feet, but that was about it. It hurt, but compared to what I just had to endure this was nothing. I was sure they would eventually amputate and so I prepared myself mentally for losing my toes. This was all Chuck’s fault and I swore to myself that he was going to pay. I was comforted by my plans to torture him for what he did to my brother and to me. I was going to make him wish we had told the police. But prison would be a luxury, a luxury he
didn’t deserve. I suddenly heard a familiar voice and the door into my room soon opened.
“Lee?” I asked.
“Hey, there,” he said.
He came to where I was, taking my hand. His eyes looked horrified when he saw my feet.
“I’m okay,” I whispered.
“Okay?” Lee replied, “Iz, your feet are gray! Who did this to you?”
“I don’t know,” I croaked, my throat still immensely hoarse.
“My dad will find this guy,” he assured, “don’t worry about that.”
I smiled, seeing the concern in his eyes.
“I’m sorry about leaving abruptly,” I said.
“Shh,” he replied, “it’s okay. I just wish you were found sooner.”
“What day is it?” I asked.
“Friday,” Lee answered, “October 22.”
Nearly three weeks. Three weeks Kain and I could never get back. Three weeks of school, drama team meetings practicing for the school play, three weeks of life. A nurse came in, announcing she needed to dry and wrap my feet.
“I’ll be right outside,” he told me.
“Okay,” I replied.
I grimaced as my attention once more focused on my feet. My feet were wrapped and I tried to make myself comfortable, wrapping up in as many blankets as they gave me. Lee came back in once the nurse had completed the task and he took a seat next to me. We mostly sat in silence as I was pretty out of it. Everything seemed to be like a dream. I couldn’t focus on much externally as my insides were screaming and my mind kept returning to planning our revenge. Chuck would be back at the Cabin and he would not find us. This would be the perfect location to torture him. We wouldn’t bother keeping him around for weeks just to try to obtain information as he had done. What a desperate move? We didn’t spill our secrets under the pressure of what he had done and we couldn’t underestimate his determination to retain information. But what he was capable of inflicting onto us was nothing compared to what Kain and I were able to do.
“Are you going to be okay here?” Lee finally asked.
“Yeah,” I whispered, “you should go back, rest.”
“You too,” Lee smiled, “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I replied.
He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before heading out. He was definitely a sweetie and I felt guilty for not telling him the whole truth, but it would definitely be dangerous for him to know the truth. I turned to my side, returning to the plan. I wished I knew where Kain was at so that we could go over this together. Wait, what day did Lee say it was? October 22nd? I needed to get to a phone or laptop. Something that I could search for when the next full moon was.
“Nurse!” I called in my hoarse voice, but no one could hear me.
I rang the bell on the handheld remote and soon a nurse came in.
“Do you have a phone I could use?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, there’s only the one on the wall for emergencies,” the nurse replied.
“I mean, a cell phone?” I asked, “I need to look something up. It’s an emergency.”
The nurse looked at me skeptically, but came over and allowed me to borrow hers.
“This is not usually done,” she said, “but go ahead.”
“Thank you,” I replied.
She handed me her cell after unlocking the screen and I quickly pulled up a search engine, typing in my question. I saw that it pulled up that the next full moon occurred on October 23 at around 1am in the morning and I smiled. Our revenge could take place here soon. I closed the browser and handed the phone back.
“All done?" She asked, her eyebrows still up in skepticism.
“Yep,” I answered, “thanks again.”
“Mmhmm,” she replied, heading back out of the room.
My head raced with the limitless possibilities. We had a few hours before it would be close to midnight and I wondered when the powers actually set in. Did it have to be exactly the time of the full moon? Or was that just when the wings grew? I decided I was going to try. I closed my eyes, attempting to relax all the muscles in my body. I wasn’t sure if this was going to work as I had never attempted anything like it before, but it was worth a shot. I tried to focus only on Kain and the message I wanted to get to him. I felt my whole body suddenly become extremely still. It was unnatural, but it allowed me to focus more on my goal. My mind soon filled with a voice that was no longer my own. But I couldn’t comprehend what it was saying as if it was muffled. It was working! I gasped as the realization set in and the voice immediately disappeared. I needed to focus more. I relaxed my body as I made my second attempt. My muscles once again becoming still as I increasingly focused internally. My thoughts no longer swarmed around noisily as I once more heard the muffled foreign voice in my mind. I listened to the strange buzzing sounds the voice made and I felt it growing stronger.
Izzy.
The voice suddenly whispered in my head and I immediately knew it was Kain.
It’s me. I thought.
How are you doing this? Kain asked.
It’s nearly the full moon. I thought, opening up my memories of the past few minutes to Kain so he could understand.
This means we’ll be transitioning soon. Kain replied.
Yes. I affirmed.
Chuck will pay for this. Kain’s voice painfully growled in my head.
Ouch! Careful! I complained.
Sorry. he replied.
I’ve been thinking about our next steps. I added.
Me, too, he thought, Show me what you’ve got.
I thought back to my plan and brought them to the forefront of my thoughts so that Kain could experience them also. We would find Chuck wherever he was, bring him back to the lodge, and torture him. It wasn’t a very detailed plan, but it was a skeleton of a good idea. Kain would be able to embellish it and add the finishing touches.
Tonight we’ll take care of him, Kain replied.
What about the hospital? I asked, Won’t they notice we’re gone?
I’m sure our transitioned selves will know what to do, he responded, they seem to have a way of taking care of things.
I agreed and returned to my normal state. It was the most freeing experience I had ever endured. I couldn’t wait to practice some of the other abilities. One of them in particular I was curious about was the power of our hands. I was hoping I could use it to heal my feet. The time seemed to tick slowly by, but eventually it was close to the hour of the full moon and I felt my body tense as the darkness returned and made it’s way up my arm. My mind seemed to be spinning as visions flooded through of when we transitioned the first time, of the strange meeting at the castle with the eldest Bartholomew brother, and even stranger visions of a past I didn’t remember.
I felt Kain’s heartbeat beat within my own and soon I felt another and then another. These were the heartbeats of other beings out there like us. I cringed as I felt dark claws piercing through my fingertips and I rolled out of the bed in pain. I fell to the ground immediately as my feet still had no feeling in them. My whole body shook in agony as I felt sharp knives cutting through my shoulder blades. I let out a silent cry as I felt my skin breaking under the pressure. I twisted, fighting the pain but it only grew. My hands burned like fire and I saw as flames erupted in the palm of my hand. I quickly put my hands into fists, but the fire consumed them as well. I was out of breath, but soon the pain subsided and I felt the new extension of my body. My wings filled the room as I tried to lift myself up off of the floor. I put the fire out of my hands and they glowed from the heat as I placed them on the floor to try to push myself up. I tried to stand, but I realized I didn’t know where my feet were. I looked down and saw my gray toes and touched them with my hand. The gray disappeared as circulation returned to my feet and I was able to stand upright. I felt stronger than I had felt before in my ordinary form. My senses were clearer and I knew what I was capable of. I waved my hand towards the bed where my weaker self once lay and suddenly a still
copy of myself was laying in bed sleeping. I turned towards the wall facing the outside and stepped through. I felt the pull of Kain’s heartbeat and I knew where to go. I jumped up into the air and soared through the brisk wind towards the lodges we had once been held captive. The trees passed below me faster than I could have ever imagined before and I swirled in the liberation only flying could give. I felt Kain close by and prepared myself to land. I slowed down and glided towards the ground, landing swiftly next to Kain who was already in full transitioned form.
There you are. Kain’s hiss filled my head.
Patience. I replied. Did you find him?
He isn’t here, obviously. Kain answered.
Do you sense him? I asked.
Faintly, Kain replied, He’s not nearby.
We must find him, I snarled back.
He glared at me, his jaw clenched in frustration. We both knew how much we needed to find Chuck, but we also began to feel the pull. A pull to someone we knew was not Chuck. We had to fight the distraction in order to finish what we had set out to do.
“Come,” Kain said outloud, leaping into the air.
As if I had a choice! Wherever he was I was instinctively pulled, as if we couldn’t use our powers without each other. We soared through the air, the brisk wind seeming to have no effect on us. It felt perfectly fine to us, although if we were in our ordinary form we would have been freezing. If we did get cold I could start a campfire with a wave of my hand. I chuckled to myself just thinking about the endless possibilities.
Focus, Kain snapped, I can’t think strategy with you rambling in my head.
I just rolled my eyes and we continued in silence. We soared over the Arbuckle mountains as the scent of the one we were searching for grew stronger. He had no idea what was coming for him and the thought of it made sneer. We suddenly dove down inches from a river and I reached my hand down gently running my finger on the edge of the water leaving scattered ripples as we flew by. We rose back up into the air to get a new perspective and realized that we were close. I saw the lights of the mansion that we were headed towards and saw that there were lights on.
Someone’s awake, I warned Kain.
I see that, he replied.
