The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural

by Stefany Valentine Ramirez

  Ace wanted to bellow once more; after all she had just ruined the one thing in his life he could always count on. But it was that phrase now or never. He could chose now to figure out what happened in the past, or never know his childhood. It should have taken him a while to sort out his reasoning. After all, Lee was still the only thing in his life that was worth more than his memories. But what was the point? Lee had just broken up with him and spending an afternoon yelling at Ithaca wouldn’t fix it. Where else was he to go, what else was he to do?

  “Fine!” he finally spat. “You win. Take me to this element. But I’m telling you now, if you think I’ll wake up hating the Stelters, you would have better luck beating my brains out with a rock.”

  Ithaca smirked, “Oh, Mace, you’ll be surprised. But I must ask, why the quick turnaround?”

  The past ten minutes had been such a rollercoaster of emotion. Wanting Lee, then feeling betrayed. Needing to love her, then being rejected. Now here he was, hating Ithaca for the train wreck in his life. A piece of him needed to correct things with Lee. But after seeing how confidently she wanted to rid him from her life, Ace knew there may be no hope at all in getting back together. To Lee this really was the end. But Ace wasn’t ready to quit. If anything, knowing she was no longer his made him want her so much more. In this moment, Ace wasn’t forsaking what had just happened. His logic was that the situation was delicate. Not returning to Lee immediately could help him prepare what needed to be said.

  “I’m not turning around.” Ace replied, “I’m getting what I came to Hawaii for. That seems like an accomplishment to me.”

  Ithaca cocked her head to the side before leaning off the far wall and hesitantly making her way to him. “And what about your darling Haileigh?”

  Hearing her name sent an icepick through his chest but rather than let his expression show, Ace narrowed his eyes at her and said, “Move quickly before I decide to change my mind.”

  At that remark, Ithaca mockingly picked up her pace to a jog until she was standing beside Ace with her hand on his elbow. She said nothing. All there was time for was her smile before the room was turning and then their feet were slamming down on a small remote island.

  The high noon sun illuminated the tuffs of coral beneath the rolling waves as Ace glanced out at the topaz ocean. As he pulled away from Ithaca’s grip to glance around, he finally noticed how thick the wild brush up shore was. The coconut trees climbed at least three stories high and arched over from the years of growing fruits as smaller bushes filled every other space below. The wilderness was so thick; in fact that hardly a patch of white sand could be spotted through the shrubbery.

  “So where is the element?” he asked impatiently.

  Ithaca said nothing. She only turned on the spot and marched over to the bushes. At first she was going to pull back a branch to allow passage but stopped with her arm outstretched. “It’s times like these when I’m grateful to be intangible.” She called over her shoulder then vanished into the brush.

  Ace didn’t hesitate to follow. Literally walking through the bushes felt odd to Ace. He should have been holding his hand up to keep a branch from snapping back into his face, but there was no need. And in no time at all, Ithaca had stopped in a small clearing with nothing but an odd rock formation that looked like a giant princess tiara jutting out of the sand. At the base of the boulder a small cave just big enough for someone to crawl through awaited them.

  Ithaca took the lead but instead of getting on all fours, she walked straight through. Ace followed and soon enough they were standing inside a small cave illuminated by nothing but the hole in the rock and a small pool of water. It was the most bazaar thing he had ever seen. The pool was hardly the size of a manhole, but he couldn’t tell how deep it went. Instead, the entire liquid seemed to be glowing as if it were made from glow sticks.

  “That doesn’t look natural.” Ace said as he watched it sit motionlessly and undisturbed.

  Ithaca rolled her eyes, “Just take a sip Mason. I’ll be back for you in the morning.”

  Morning? Ace’s head snapped up as Ithaca began to walk away. “What?”

  Ithaca stopped walking to repeat slowly, “I will be back…”

  “But in the morning?” he sputtered.

  “It’s no picnic, Mason. Element is the most painful thing I have ever felt and one reason is because it takes so long to change you.” She said, “I thought I already explained this.”

  Ace frowned and glanced back at the glowing water. “It takes half a day to change?”

  Ithaca shrugged. “If you’re lucky it might take an afternoon. It took me an entire twenty four hours…” she shivered thinking back. “Whatever. But if by some magical reason, you finish transforming before I get back, here.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Ace had been too busy staring at the glowing pool of water that he nearly missed catching the phone when Ithaca threw it his way. “My number is programed in.”

  Ace hadn’t noticed how long he had been without a cell phone until he was staring awkwardly at the sleek black device in his hand. It almost fumbled from his grasp as he remembered that phones belong in his front pocket.

  “Well, if that’s all, Mason,” Ithaca said taking a step back, “I’ll see you when I see you.”

  This time Ace didn’t bother to stop her from leaving the cave. Once Ithaca had reached the other side of the rock, Ace heard the slight gust of wind accompanied with teleporting. That’s when he knew he was left stranded on the island.

  He watched the ominous element sitting there peacefully. Just one sip of foreign glowing water was supposed to make him remember everything. As he knelt down beside the pool, Ace realized he had two choices. Spend a majority of the day delaying the change, or do it right away. Without the reassurance of having Lee in his life, Ace could honestly say that he felt incomplete and empty. The change would make him feel again. Besides, Lee hated him now. What could possibly hurt more than that?

  Without a second thought, Ace plunged his hand into the pool and scooped up a handful of glowing water. The moment his flesh penetrated its surface, the light vanished and he was thrown into darkness. Ace wasn’t sure if that was supposed to happen, but he tilted his head back and let the element slip into him mouth. The moment it touched his tongue, Ace was out like a light, and the memories of his childhood were buzzing around his mind.

  ~Beneath the black leather seats, the car’s tires crunched against the loose gravel.

  It was all a daze. Mason blinked.

  Across from him sat Ithaca looking young and innocent. Her cheeks were rounded and dimpled when she smiled. For a moment her grown up face flashed before his eyes. But the hard angular bones and blazing hazel eyes vanished at her youthful voice. “We’re here!”

  The limousine came to a halt and Mason felt his small body press against the slippery seats before the side door was thrown open by a chauffeur. Light from the outside flooded in as he watched Ithaca gaze out. Her hair was a lighter brown in the past. Even a strip of highlighted hair ran down the front of her dress as if it were a natural golden blonde. What’s going on? Ace wanted to ask but nothing came from his throat.

  Ithaca was the first to slide out, followed by Mason. Once his expensive leather shoes touched down on the loose gravel driveway, he was immediately aware of how large everything seemed around him. First and foremost was the enormous mansion that seemed to loom over him like a medieval castle with its towers and spires climbing to the sky. Stone blocks stacked atop each other like stormy grey clouds building into a thunderstorm as large tinted windows reflected back the clear sunny day. Vines, bushes and all sorts of shrubbery accented the property in crisp green lines, paving out the rounded driveway like leafy fences.

  Ace had been here before; he remembered the scene from several visits in his past. Yet this time, everything around him seemed to have an ominous glow as if he were dreaming. But nothing could be further from the truth. This was a piece of his memory lost a
nd forgotten by some supernatural force. At that recognition Ace wanted to shout, to scream with joy, to wonder around the place and stuff his mind full of everything he had forgotten. But this was a memory. His twelve-year-old self was in control and all he could do was let this event unfold.

  Behind him, the limousine door shut and began to drive off. When he glanced back to watch it drive off, a wall of trees and a gated fence were the only things he could see that allowed anything to come in or out. They had just been dropped off at the Stelter Mansion. His father was already there probably playing golf with Mr. Stelter.

  As the sleek limousine vanished into a cavern of trees, Mason felt Ithaca’s small cold hand grasp onto his. When he whirled around she was already pulling him up the steps. Together, they pounded on the large wooden door eager to spend the day playing with Grace. As Mason waited for the large wooden door to be thrown open, he remembered the first time they had been introduced to Haileigh Grace Stelter. She had been so shy that she didn’t want them to know her real name. For the longest time they called her Grace and even when they finally realized what her real name was, they continued to call her Grace.

  Shortly after Mason knocked, she was there to greet them. A pang in Ace’s chest swelled when he saw her so young and standing there so eager and excited. For the daughter of a billionaire, Grace sure didn’t dress like one. Unlike Mason and Ithaca’s expensive suit and dress, Grace’s clothes looked like they came from a thrift store. Her yellow shirt clashed horribly with her crimson corduroy shorts and the older Ace couldn’t help but to smile at this. Lee was always asking the ginger twins for help with dressing, and now he knew that mismatched clothing had always been the way she was.

  “Mason!” she screamed.

  Her green eyes looked a million times wider on her boney face as well as the freckles dotting her nose. If possible, her skin seemed pinker but when her pretzel-stick arms were thrown into the air with excitement, thin blue veins ran like spider webs beneath her skin. At that age she was taller than Mason by nearly half a head. Come to think of it, so was Ithaca and he felt overwhelmed when she threw her arms around them for a hug.

  “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever!” she exclaimed stepping back to let them in. Ace couldn’t help but note how odd she looked as a child. The corduroy shorts exposed her bony knees and her slender arms seemed to make her head look abnormally large against her tall lanky frame.

  Ithaca smiled beside her and that’s when Ace realized that unlike Lee, Ithaca had always been a beautiful girl. Her dress fit perfectly against her well-proportioned physique and even as a child, her face could have been prettier than most models’. “We saw you last month.” She said. This was odd for Ace to listen to considering there was nothing but innocents behind her words. “and the month before that. And the month before that!”

  Grace only continued to smile before ushering them in and slamming the door so that it echoed to the endless ceiling above. From the wooden dome above hung an enormous chandelier. The kind of chandelier a princess would have at her ball. “Oh that reminds me,” she began, “Did you know last month Lotus got nominated for a Grammy?!”

  “No, I didn’t.” Mason confessed. At that moment, he really didn’t care. Nor did he know what the award was for. All he wanted to do was play with his best friends and the Stelter Mansion was so huge there was an infinite amount of running around they could do. Before him was a gaping set of marble stairs wide enough to send an elephant up to the veranda over their heads. The rails were made of a polished wood and just begged to be slid down. None of the Stelter’s maids were around. If he hurried now, there would be no one to yell at him.

  "Since so many people like that song she wrote,” Grace continued, oblivious to Mason itching for some fun. “she gets to wear a really pretty dress and meet other singers! Mom is making her dress right now in the art veranda." she exclaimed pointing up the massive stairs behind her.

  Though Mason had visited the home several times in the past, his eyes still followed her finger up the marble stairs. An endless amount of expensive paintings covered the wooden walls from top to bottom. Mason never failed to notice a new painting. But this time just as he was about to set his eyes back to Grace, he caught sight of a familiar face pained over in oil. Her eyes were the exact midnight as his; serious and outlined with thick black lashes. But a smile stretched across her lips; a familiar one that he wasn’t sure if he had seen it in a mirror or if it was just a figment of his past. Estelle was the name that came to his mind. But he had once called her another name. Mom.

  A sudden rush of hatred filled his heart as Mason turned away to gaze at his friends. How could Estelle have left him when he was only a child and how could the Stelter’s honor her by hanging her face on an expensive frame? Mason clenched his fists and turned back to his friends to keep his mother out of his thoughts.

  "What games do you want to play?" Grace's ecstatic voice chimed, catching Mason’s attention immediately.

  “Do you want to play secret agents again?” Ithaca asked.

  Memories of previous games ran around Mason’s head and this was one of the games they had made up years ago. The object of the game was to start at one end of the home and work your way to the other while picking up specific items along the way. But there was a catch; they weren’t allowed to run into each other. If they did, the first one to shoot the other- in other words, throw a pencil and hit the opponent- would get to stay in the room while the other had to go back to start.

  “I love that game!” Grace exclaimed. “But let’s stay down on the first floor. I don’t want to bug mom.” As she spoke, her bare feet lead the way across the wood floor to the gaping library just beside the stairs.

  Instantly the musky odor of pages that hadn’t been turned in years raked through Mason’s nose. Along one side of the walls, tall windows climbed up against the shelves of books and after Mason’s eyes adjusted to the brightness, he was able to see the gravel driveway in the front yard. In the ray of sunlight spotlighting the rug, specks of dust drifted gracefully around in the air. Several desks lined the walls with computers and lamps resting atop their wooden surface and as Lee made her way to the nearest one, he and Ithaca leaned against one of the cozy couches.

  There had been several play dates in the past when the three would build forts by pushing the furniture together. They had been so young and innocent they had even slept on the rugs and Ace’s favorite part was staring up at the vast ceiling high above his head. The most epic piece of art coated the ceiling. It was a beautiful collage of storybook characters and places. Everything from Little Red Riding-Hood to Moby Dick, from Narnia to Hogwarts, ranged against the ceiling. He had even discovered Spiderman in one of his childhood games of I-Spy.

  The drawer rattled when Grace pulled open the first desk and found a new box of unsharpened pencils. “Perfect!” she exclaimed pulling out sheets of paper as well. “Look it’s the old list of items from the last time we played!” she said holding the crumpled and written on paper out for her friends to see. “Do you want do just go by this list or do you want to make up a new one?”

  “New one!” Mason and Ithaca said in unison and instantly Grace was making her way to raid another desk for something to write with.

  A single red marker was the first thing she spotted in the drawer and instantly laid down on the giant rug as she began to write the newest items of their game. Things like blue book, sock, and fork came to their minds quickly as Grace wrote the list. When there were five items thought out, Grace made sure to copy them all down on separate sheets to give to her friends. “Alright,” Grace began standing up. “We start here and go all the way down the hall to the kitchen alright?”

  Ithaca and Mason climbed to their feet each with a set of pencils in their pockets and the folded list in their hands. “On your mark,” began Mason and instantly the girls crouched at the ready. “Get set…” There was just enough time to catch Ithaca glancing at a blue book on the corner
of a desk before Mason shouted, “Go!”

  Simultaneously, Mason and Ithaca bolted for the same item as Grace ran the other direction. Mason was the first to snatch up the small paperback, but just as he was turning to head for the entryway, Ithaca snatched it from his hands. She was the only player who had yet to lose at this game and the reason was always because she was so sly and quick. Mason lunged at her hands but she was too fast. There was just enough time to get a face full of her skirt before he tripped over the couch then she was out on the entryway rushing to find the next item.

  Grace leapt over him with a giggle and a blue magazine rolled up in her hands. Mason rolled up to his feet just in time to watch her head for the small archway tucked into a dark corner beside the shelves of books. It was in the complete other direction as the entryway Ithaca had bolted into, and considering it was Ithaca that had gone that way, it was safer to follow Grace than it was to try going into the same rooms as Ithaca.

  A blue book sat on the shelf just beside the small archway and Ace pulled it out before following Grace. He had completely forgotten about that small hallway until it had spit him out into a narrow hallway with only one other door against the opposite wall before leading to the main hall. If he remembered correctly, it lead to an office and one of the supplies on his list was a mouse pad. Instinctively he pulled a pencil from his back pocket and held it up for throwing. There had been too many instances where he would walk into a room only to have an opponent ready to shoot him.

  He wasn’t sure if Grace had decided to go down the hall instead of go for the mouse pad, but he would rather be safe than sorry. Without thinking twice, he burst into the room. He had expected Grace’s silvery hair to quickly duck around a cabinet or the desk, but the room was completely empty. Nothing was there but the cabinets lining the wooden walls and a single desk facing the door. But just in case there was someone hiding, Ace didn’t drop the pencil. With the blue book still in his hand, he made his way across the clean carpet rug over to the desk. Sure enough, the mouse pad was still there and he quickly snatched it up and stuck it within the pages of his book to carry it better.