by Dexx Peay
I sat up and everybody was laughing at me.
“How does Monica sleep with you snoring like that,” Hudson asked.
“He’s right bro, you woke us all up from down here,” Quen laughed.
“Now let me help you with this slob.” Hudson ran his thumb across the end of my lips and I smacked his hand away as he did.
“Leave me alone Hudson,” I screamed.
They all laughed at us. Hudson was like an annoying little brother at times and he was older than me. I went upstairs, showered and got myself together for the day. I wasn’t hungry but Mr. Elliot said that we all needed to eat to make sure we had energy for later. Julius wanted to go over what the plan would be so we all went outside at the foot of the beach.
We formed a circle.
“Little Foot will be here,” Julius said.
He knelt down and put an “X” in the middle of the circle. We all stood around with either our hands on our hips or flexed behind our heads.
“Marcus will be here hidden behind a bush. Iceman and Benny will be on air support. Now if we can get them all in front of Sitting Bull, then Benny can get this tornado going and I’ll blast them from behind and everyone can take on their counterparts.”
Julius stood up and brushed the sand off his jeans. Everyone nodded and went back inside. I grabbed water out the fridge and flew on top of the roof. I laid away from the sun and stretched my arms to the sides. I heard footsteps and turned around. It was Mr. Elliot.
“You mind if I join?” he asked.
“Not at all.”
“I’m ready to bring my baby girl home.”
“How is Trey doing?” I got lost into the clouds.
“Killing everybody on the field just like in high school.”
“One of these days, I’m going to watch one of his games on TV.”
“Maybe when our lives calm down, we can all drive down and watch one.”
“Or we could fly,” I said. I felt his eyes crawl on the side of my neck. “On a plane...will our lives ever go back to normal?”
“I don’t know what normal is to you, but your life will never be dull.”
“Why did you guys hide everything from Trey? How did you guys hide it from Trey?”
“I love my son but we both know Trey is not the most observant person in the world, besides, we did what we had to do to protect him. He wouldn’t have lived the life he did if he knew about us. If it wasn’t for him secretly knowing about you, I wasn’t sure how he would have reacted when I told him.”
“I was scared when he found out. I had just found out myself and didn’t want anybody else to know. I like that I have people to talk to about it.”
We both stayed on the roof and chatted about what to expect when I get older and decide to start a family. He said having people after you nonstop is more stressful on the family than us since they have to worry about their own lives and ours.
Us vs. Them
It was time.
The sky transitioned from blue and orange to black without a star in sight. The temperature dropped and the ocean calmed. We all changed into whatever we felt comfortable in. I had on a pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt. We left the house and into the air just a few miles up the street to the empty lot. Hudson landed. Julius flew off, and Benny and Quen went up.
I hovered above Hudson.
“What did you say to get everyone here?” I asked.
“Meet me at this location if your aren’t scared, and bring the crew you ice cube,” Hudson's eyes widened and his words trembled.
“I’m sure he will be here.”
I flew off to the solo bush Julius talked about, and buried myself into the moist sand granules.
My eyes never left Hudson for a second the whole time we waited. I had bugs and other unknown creatures creep and crawl on places of my body that were only for Monica to touch. An hour had passed and I was getting tired. I exhaled and released the tension in my neck. My head fell to the sand but popped up when I heard a crash. It was Dylan standing a couple yards in front of Hudson who stood with his hands in his pockets. Four more crashes followed Dylan and they were all lined up in front of Hudson. One wrong move and they would easily kill him. I tried to control my breathing that gone haywire while peeping through the tiny branches and leaves of the bush.
“Nice of you to show up,” Hudson yelled.
Dylan took one step forward and broke the horizon.
“Are you trying to commit suicide?” Dylan’s voice echoed.
The girls behind him never moved or said a word. They all just stood still like mannequins. Hudson took a step back and I opened my mouth to let the air I had built up escape. Shallow breathes and the beat of my own heart racing started to drown out their conversation. I gripped the sand only to feel my own hands and closed my eyes. I was more scared than Hudson was. I opened them—calmed.
“You really want to do this Hudson?” Dylan said.
Hudson didn’t answer he just looked up into the sky. Dylan looked up and the girls mimicked him. Time slowed. Hudson turned around and started to run. His heavy feet were like quicksand, hindering his speed. A massive cyclone raced down from the sky to the space between Hudson and the others. They all flinched and covered their eyes, as sand and water particles from the Atlantic Ocean splattered mud everywhere. Hudson stopped and pointed both hands to the water and started to create a colossal tornado. At the same time, two bolts of lighting raced from behind the line and struck Imani and Jessica in the back. Their bodies rose on their tippy toes, as they got shocked. They both fell to their knees.
The tornado Hudson created moved from the ocean to the sand and danced around the one Mr. Elliot had formed causing more damage. Jessica’s body got sucked into the vortex and tossed away. The water tornado started to changed properties from a liquid to a muddy mix. I waited behind the bush until it was my turn. Ice shards began to spit from the liquid vortex. I got off my stomach and repositioned to all fours. Above the tornadoes was Quen launching ice from his hands. Dylan bounced the shards away before they could reach him.
I stuck my hand in front of me and knocked away all the shards that tried to kill me. The sky started to turn purple and lightning congregated in the sky before generating a storm. They started to strike the ground. Quen and Mr. Elliot lost concentration as they tried to dodge all the strikes. The tornadoes started to die and bolts of lighting attacked the ground forming craters in the space between Hudson and the line.
Crystal walked up with her long red hair floating in the air from the static. She took a step in front of Dylan and bought time for her team to recuperate. This was Hudson's enemy and my turn to intervene. The simultaneous strikes started to die and both her hands rendezvoused in front of her. Energy formed at her feet, ran up her body and redirected at her hands until a bolt raced towards Hudson. I stood up and put a force field around Hudson.
“Hudson let’s go!” I screamed.
He moved and water left the ocean forming three swirling rings around him as his body lifted into the air. He raced towards Crystal and tackled her. I started hurling fireball after fireball at the three of them. I wasn’t too worried about aim. Some hit the sand and water and a few hit them. Dylan started walking towards me and I focused all my attacks on him. The remaining two flew off and the fight started.
I continued to throw fireballs at Dylan as we walked towards each other. His hands were moving as fast as mine were as he deflected them. The last one I sent came flying back to my face. I waved my hand to move it out my way and when I did, Dylan was off the ground coming at me. My body tensed up as he tackled me to the ground. Our bodies tumbled in the sand that started to get in my mouth.
Our bodies separated and ached at the same time. He looked over at me, holding my shoulder, squinting and grinding my teeth trying to ease the pain. He got up and I quickly masked the pain to meet him before he got one up on me. As he approached, I right-hooked him. My fist froze right before I connected with his jaw. I trie
d and tried but couldn’t move. He right-hooked me and my body unfroze as I stumbled, losing balance. I felt the bruise forming.
His hands formed into a fist and ice covered them. His body quivered and I started to get my balance back.
“Don’t worry brother,” he said walking around me.
I turned my body to keep an eye on him.
“You will be with us soon and all this will be over. No more pain, no more rules, just freedom. You are meant to be a king Marcus and together we can rule the world.”
He walked up to me and I froze in slight fear. This king and queen stuff was really scaring me. He punched me in the stomach and placed his hand on my shoulder as my body fell onto his fist.
“Just tell me you want the pain to stop so we can end this now and you can join us,” he whispered in my ear.
The battle screams and man-made storms just made me want a normal life. I pictured Monica’s smile and laugh in my head. I pictured her flipping her curly hair and speaking Spanish to me.
“Never,” I whispered through the pain.
“Your choice,” he whispered back in my ear.
He leaned away and struck me again in the face.
I face planted into the sand.
He backed away.
“Marcus you will come with me. You have no choice. You see this?” He spun around admiring the destruction. “We are winning because we have no rules. Death does not scare us. We are not humans so what is humanity to us?”
He put both hands together and pulled them slowly apart. In the middle, a dagger of ice had formed as he started walking back to me. Sand grains started to slowly lift up a few at time. The ground started to shake and a wall of sand shot into the sky creating a barrier between us. It pushed away from me and trailed the beach taking Dylan with it.
I started to breath sand into my nose and mouth as I laid on the ground trying to figure out what happened. My eyes started to blink and it was painful to open them back each time. I closed them to rest and that's all I remember.
At first I didn’t recognize where I was.
Tried to move out the bed but pain paralyzed me.
I was shirtless with gauze wrapped around my chest.
I moaned but that hurt too.
Lifted my sore and heavy arms to touch my face and that hurt too. I couldn’t move. I laid on the bed and tears started to roll down from my eyes to the pillow.
Seemed like I was in a hotel. From what I could tell, it was quite fancy. My eyes shifted to the right and Monica was curled up on a chair with a blanket next to her. Wanted to get her attention. I could barely move, so I used my powers. The blanket slid off her body and her hair started to twirl in the air. Her hand brushed her hair back down. One shoe flew off her foot into a wall. Wasn’t my initial intention but it woke her up. Our eyes connected. I think. My face was so swollen I wasn’t sure if she was able to see mine. She jumped out the chair and ran around the bed to my side.
She bent down and ran her hand on the blanket until it met mine.
I hissed.
“I’m sorry,” she cried.
I tried to smile when I saw her face, but I failed. Tears formed and ran down her face. They floated off before they could hit the ground. It was my personal way of drying her face off. I didn’t want her to see me like this.
A notepad and pen flew out from the desk that had a lamp and travel guide on it. It floated to my face.
How long was I out?
She looked at her watch. “About thirty hours,” she said.
Where am I? Where are the others?
“Cliffside Park in Jersey. Hudson and Sam are a few rooms down. Julius paid for us to live here. He said going back to your dorm would be too dangerous.”
The pen and paper fell to the bed. I closed my eyes and went to sleep.
Every day for a week I would wake and write messages to Monica. She would give me something to drink through a straw hanging out the side of my mouth. I didn’t have much of an appetite probably because I was avoiding the pain. Sam would come over and sit with me when Hudson and Monica went to class. He would give me a shot and that temporarily replaced the pain with haze and tiredness.
I slept most of the days away. The times when I was awake, I watched cartoons and tried not to laugh. Sam told me they got a location on the chip. I asked him if he knew what happened. Hudson told him that he believed I created some kind of psychic blast that knocked everybody out. Hudson said when they woke, Dylan and the others were retreating, but before they left, Dylan tried to take my body. He was unable to because there was an invisible barrier protecting me.
I couldn’t believe we failed.
My plan didn’t work and I almost got myself killed in the process. I knew Monica was flipping out inside. I couldn’t keep putting her through this.
After a little over a week of bed rest, I could finally move without having Sam inject me. The three of them stood around the bed. I wanted to hug Monica so bad but I was still in pain. My body floated off the bed and into the bathroom. I didn’t recognize myself. Half my face was still puffy and every color of the rainbow. One eye was almost swollen shut. I tried to lift my arms but that didn’t go so well. I walked out of the bathroom to get acclimated with walking again. I opened the door and they were all standing there. I limped out with my arm wrapped around my body where the gauze was.
They all backed up as I walked.
“I gotta get to class,” I said.
Hudson walked to me and lifted my arm to rest on his shoulder.
“I got you buddy,” he said. I hissed. “Sorry!”
“Where is Quen?” I asked.
Monica started to tear up.
“I’ll be alright babe,” I assured her. “You mind giving me a few minutes with Sam and Hudson?”
“Here is the key to our room.”
Hudson handed her the key card from his pocket. She left in tears.
“We have got to end this guys,” I murmured.
I walked over to the sofa and eased my way down.
“Marcus what are we going to do? You’re in no condition to get back out their fighting,” Hudson said.
“I… DON’T….CARE,” I forced out my swollen mouth. “I'm not losing Dylan to this. I’m not losing any of them.”
“Marcus, I have to agree with Hudson, you're pretty banged up this time. If your psychic abilities didn’t kick in, you might not have made it out alive,” Sam said.
“Or worst,” Hudson added. “You might have been turned into one of them.”
They were crazy to think I was going to let some fight scare me off. All I needed was some time to heal and I would be as good as new.
“So what do you guys suggest?” I exhaled.
I had no interest in hearing what they had to say if it didn’t involve getting back into the fight.
“The GPS location is traced back to DC,” Sam said. “That makes sense now, on how Quen was taken since he lives there.”
“Does he know?” I asked.
“We already warned him. He moved out his family in with some relatives. He said he wasn’t going to tell us where he was just in case one of us gets taken,” Sam said.
“Fair,” I said. “What about Julius and Mr. Elliot, where are they?”
“Back home, trying to come up with another plan of action,” Sam said.
Weakness began set in, and I got tired of listening to their non-plans.
“I think I'm getting tired, I'm going back to bed.” I floated off the floor and back to the bed.
The following week was better. I could walk and I started to look more like myself again. My face was still a few colors other than brown but I knew who I was when I looked into the mirror. I moved back into my room and Monica tried to stay with me but I told her she needed to focus more on school. The real reason was that I didn’t want her to be around if Dylan showed back up.
Everybody had a thousand questions about my face and once again, where is Dylan? I couldn’t walk around camp
us without people whispering or wanting to talk to see if I was fine. I got caught up on all my make-up work. It was a good thing I had a good relationship with my professors.
Soon enough, I could fully extend my arms without having to take painkillers. My body was still sore all over but it was tolerable. I didn’t carry more than one book at a time, or a bag so I wouldn’t have any strain on my back. After class I would just go back to my dorm. I didn’t teach any study sessions. I was broke since it had been a couple of weeks since I had a session. I was back to being the old Marcus—broke and lonely, sitting in a room staring at dirty white walls.
Thanks Dylan.
I pulled my books out and started reading to get ready for a test I had the next day. I sat at my desk and pulled out my notes from class, reviewing what my professor went over while taking more from the text.
My phone started to ring but the sound was muffled. I tried to turn around in the chair but my body wasn’t healed enough for that. My jacket floated off the floor and into my hands. I pulled out the phone.
The caller was unexpected.
So unexpected.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Hi.”
That was it.
We both held the phones to our ears and didn’t say a word after that, until I broke the awkward silence.
“How are you?” I asked.
“Fine. Heard about your car accident, are you okay?” Delilah said.
