by M. Street
My old home was considered compromised, extremely dangerous, and in the hands of the Arbitri. Although I was cautious, everyone, especially Dev, would throw a fit if they knew I was back in Oak Creek. My love slept nestled in the heart of the redwoods on the edge of the West Coast, unconscious of my dangerous deeds. Even through the thickness of our masks, his heart beat with touching closeness.
The only thing that had been keeping me away from Charlie and all that I loved was knowing that my presence would thrust them into clear and present danger. In my mind, my mask bent the rules. I rose into the rising opaque zone created by a collection of trees and pines, listening closely, feeling confidently sneaky. Charlie’s resting heartbeat and sleep snorts wonderfully tugged on my whisker webs extending toward the house.
Zipping tree to tree, I tacked to the entrance of the forest. I gasped upon seeing the house. Everything seemed smaller. Our street was expectedly tranquil in the waking morning. Rob was blank, snoring loudly as if my ear were next to his nose. I wondered if my absence had affected him. It had me. The time, distance, and experiences had tempered my feelings over my infant dad. I understood the strength of love he had possessed for Mom and why he used anything to fill the aching, bottomless pit in his heart. Losing her so prematurely and unexpectedly permanently slammed him off course.
Before I could fly across the street, something wonderful called out. A happy welling emerged from the butterflies congregating in my chest. I had missed my infant life more than the pain led on. Although they were at the lakefront, Josh’s and Lisa’s resonances rang happy, like a favorite song. Josh came in his characteristically loud and defined self. His pink for Lisa felt like shaken soda bubbles, tugging me toward the lake. Lisa chimed in sweet, clear, and near. I had to see the person I missed so dearly. With so many sights and my eyes sore, the buffet of possibilities brought back carefree feelings, inducing a smile of gratitude for forever friends. Keeping incognito, I fine-tooth scanned for any activity before blurring over to Charlie’s window faster than a finger snap.
My heart raced taking in his changed and dirty face, sleeping in his clothes under soiled blankets. Charlie’s tiny room was a pigsty, fermenting ripe odors. Although I felt him through the separation of space, seeing him again after so long fast-tracked my racing emotions. The pair of trifecta gems randomly changed positions inside the mesh sack, suppressing my surges. The months apart felt like decades, pitting my stomach. Not only did his nose and ears grow, but his light had worn dull and down, tarnished with grays and pastels.
The chain of my mask began to glow dense, negating my conflicting emotions. My heart bucked, wanting to apologize for leaving without explanation. I needed to let him know I was still alive and that he was not alone. I wanted to reassure him everything was going to be ok even though it wasn’t. A sharp instinct to mother him broke loose inside, piercing my soul without resistance.
I had always taken care of my baby brother, even before my infant mom died, but a new kind of protectiveness sprang from my intuition. Before I broke down and woke him, I took to the sky. I ran down to the lake, like I had so many times before, to think. Somehow, I had to let Charlie know I was ok without putting him at risk.
Safe had repeatedly told me to exercise patience, especially when it came to matters with big consequences. He warned I was too heart-centric, making me impulsive. I had a tendency to act before my reasoning had fully accounted my senses. My Guardian brother’s ongoing quietness weighted heavy. His void drew on my light. Weaving on the ground between clusters of trees, staying as stealthy as a Vampacoti, I slinked down to the lake to mull over my options.
Moving like an animal thrilled me just as much as flying. Dev was amazed at how seamlessly I could move like a cat in human form. As I matured, an animalistic state was emerging from my subconscious. I jumped like a dark spark in the morning shadows, surfing on sun showers down to Grant Park. I made giant strides, studiously surveying my surroundings. Every infant was to be considered a masked Arbitri operative, ready to call a fleet of Guardians and my dictator brother before startle could hit.
Creeping close to the ground clover, I gusted into the forest down the Seven Bridges trail before going airborne. I came to a velvet stop atop a yellow birch tree where I felt Lisa and Josh. They were taking in the undeniable beauty of the sunrise over Lake Michigan. Amazingly, the white tree trunks sported amethyst Afro auras dense enough to block mature eyes. In a purple haze, I coalesced my plethora of active sights into a single focus to mindfully take in the scene.
As always, my first love wonderfully hit me. Having been on the run, I saw sights that were way beyond the outer limits of imagination, but the lakefront would always invoke a primal wonder. The halos of the sun rose into the starry morning, arcing across the blue-green sweet waters like metallic rainbows. The aura of the calm waters magnified the morning rays like a looking glass, casting yellow and orange prisms from the wavy, mirrored surface. The fruitfulness of the solstice season caused my body to involuntarily gush. Heated blood rushed, coloring my skin rose, raising the lines of my fingertips. Far west, Dev’s heart accelerated, matching pitch to my elevated vitals. Thankfully, the transitory jump didn’t wake him.
I was still changing, maturing in unpredictable ways. I would never get used to it, but recognizing the spurts lessened the associated apprehension of the unexpected. This particular adolescence felt more physical. My body annoyingly stayed a decade older, keeping curved and plump.
My attentions raced to Lisa. I welled, seeing what I had missed for so long. Her aura was more refined, crossing the cusp into adult life. She radiated sweet, like a watermelon bellini. Pink unfurled far around her, fuzzing her light soft in the cresting rays. Seeing my bestie in love was reassuring, easing the giant hole of our missing friendship. Lisa had been my world for so long. No matter what came and went in our lives, she would always be my best friend. Hurt rippled through me knowing my disappearance caused her pain.
I almost fell out of the air when I glanced at Josh. The unbelievable and very notable difference in his aura took me by storm. Without question, I realized why my wonderful friend since junior high had been so easy to pick up. The reason for his loudness when I meditated became clear, but what it meant was completely unknown to me.
Emitting from his seven chakras, metallic rays of undiscernible color burst from his infant aura. He clanged like a car dragging chimes. Amidst the chaos, something big was happening to my dear friend. My lack of mature knowledge really bothered me. I needed Luja. I sighed, perplexed. The Avians were the last camp Dev would want to step in, especially after the Congo disaster. Caking complications thickened my thoughts.
“So you’re really coming?” Lisa asked with a vulnerability I had never seen in her before. True love had tamed her fierceness.
“Yes. I’ll tell you as many times as you need to hear.” Josh kissed her lips with pink. “I’ll work for a while until we get on our feet,” Josh replied, sweetly serious. “Then I’ll start college.”
Lisa curled into Josh, using the morning chill to dive into the feelings of security. Josh shined.
A park ranger strutted below me, braking my cycling mind and building impulses. She easily missed me, focusing full-forward toward Josh and Lisa. My intuition growled, flipping me into Canite mode. Keeping keen and quiet, I watched, sniffing wildly. The woman appeared deadpan infant, but perfumed strongly of lilies of the valley. It was weird to see a ranger walking through the woods alone. They usually traveled in pairs down by the lake. My scrambling jury came to rest on a ruby bracelet of incredible value. Not only did it stick out against her bland green pantsuit, but it didn’t make sense to wear something so precious while romping through the woods.
My nerves charged my body and protectiveness. I slowly moved between the full leaves to keep an unobstructed view, studying the ranger for her intentions. My insides flooded with adrenaline watching the ranger levitate across a stream. She was an Arbitri Guardian.
I scarce
ly held onto the passiveness of observing. Taking her out quietly and without anyone knowing wasn’t the issue. My necklace heated, cocking gambits of silver Vampacoti spells when the fake ranger suddenly stopped. She pulled a flashing crystal from her pocket. A small tap projected in front of her two holographic gentlemen wearing uptight suits.
“The boy continues to mature. He has at least a month before showing,” the woman said drawn out, like she was doing something beneath her. I recorded her every word for replay, knowing she was talking about Josh but not understanding what she meant. “That should make Eli happy.”
“Continue to observe,” the man on her right said sternly with pinning inflection.
“What about the infant boy?” the other man asked about Charlie.
“What about it?” she asked, like my precious family was an insect.
“When was the last time you monitored him?” The question held expectation of a precise response. The air around my hands heated, aiming with competitive concentration. My little brother was in danger.
“The kid doesn’t do anything but stray through the grove,” she complained. “Over and over and over.”
“That is irrelevant. Keep your eyes on him.” The man on the right grew bright with agitation.
“Yes, of course,” she answered, falling in line, sensing their displeasure in her cavalier attitude.
“Report all changes in either subject, especially in the infant brother’s mood,” the man on the left instructed clinically before they both flashed away, hanging up on her.
The Arbitri woman sighed in a high pitch, shifting around into a comfortable stance several steps in the air. She took a couple long, narrow gazes at Josh and Lisa before using her crystal to display countless screens round her. Like surfing the web, she flipped around various screens quickly, completely engrossed in the overflow of data.
Like a loud call, I felt Charlie wandering through the woods.
Blinking goodbye tears to Lisa and Josh, I slowly sailed away in the lake breeze, keeping my aim on the Arbitri woman. I had precious little time remaining in my visit before Dev woke, plus I was uncontrollably leaving my scent with each breath. I kicked off a new branch of thought, figuring over Josh. My heart and mind churned a worrying hypothesis, knowing my loved ones were under a dangerous microscope. I needed Dev, Safe, and the always elusive miracle. Conflict reigned supreme. My head told me to leap back to Dev, but my heart refused. I had to see Charlie one more time. I blitzed inland, making my way to the woods to where Charlie was woefully wandering.
I angled up ahead of his path, perching midair between the pines. My eyes filled seeing my slightly taller, older, and more awkward little brother strolling through the woods, looking around as if he’d lost something. Sweating in my effort to keep silent, I watched him pass under me. His gravity felt giant. Touching the outskirts of his dull blue aura grated my heartstrings, breaking them altogether under the burden of the impossible situation. An aged dolefulness dithered from his being, going dejectedly unanswered. I had a hard time watching anything struggle, let alone a loved one. The aching and aging in his aura was too much to take in the magic of the summer woods.
Purposefully not thinking, I sank to the path behind him.
“Charlie,” I said, taking a well-connected bite on a hook perfectly bated with chance. He spun around so fast he stumbled out of a fall.
Wholly dumbfounded, Charlie wobbled, tilting his head and furrowing his eyebrows. His aura and heart alarmingly froze for an extended second.
“Piper?” he asked, not believing what he was seeing.
“Oh!” I blurted out, remembering I appeared over a decade older. Weirdly it took enormous concentration to will myself back to the age of seventeen. Charlie jumped, growing bright in astonishment. “It’s really me.” I smiled through happy tears.
Charlie’s eyes and light spun wildly. Like a racehorse launching out of the gate, Charlie sprinted toward me, leaving a blizzard of white flakes of light. He slammed into me, holding on with white knuckles. Torrents of lost innocence dragged me over red-hot regrets.
“Relax. Everything is ok.” I held him strongly back.
“Where have you been?” he demanded through a cry, doping his exploding white with a bruised red. Charlie was growing brighter, generating too many waves. His excitement clanged like crashing cars. My cracking heart penetrated my focus, gridlocking plausible excuses to his raw hurt. The fractional exertion and my heavy soul slipped my appearance back to the older, current home state.
“Are you my sister?” Charlie asked, questioning the believability of my age fluctuations.
“Technically, no,” the Arbitri woman disguised as a park ranger barked spitefully. Unmasking, she launched into the air, blasting an arrogant excitement. Reformatting her uniform into the clothes of a queen, she ripped out her crystal and filled her platinum banks to cast the alarm.
Sobering seriousness blasted through every pathway in my body, waking Dev instantly. With the quickness of a fall, my move had injected a true innocent into a deadly battle. Before the Arbitri woman could make the call, I removed my mask, ramping into last-chance brightness. I lowered my shield, grabbing Charlie to leap. Instead of rising into a getaway, I was tripped into an exposed pause. For some bizarre reason, Charlie was impossible to hold. Unable to muster the strength, I dropped him helplessly.
I pushed hard for a second chance against my rising panic, borrowing time I couldn’t pay back. My eyes dilated, building swarms of light from the trees. In seconds, fatal bolts, lethal spells, and impregnable domes were going to be flying at me from every direction.
Before I could muster up the charge, I detected two massive discharges from behind me. Shifting into a protective stance, I armed an impregnable shield around Charlie and me. With ribbons of light and brown-bear ferocity, I moved my baby brother behind me, preparing to deflect the onslaught. Charlie bordered on shock. Desperately, I grasped for a way out of an end I started.
29
Forever Changing Me
E
instein was right and wrong. Traveling at the speed of light was impossible under the current infant paradigms. Moving faster than the colossal rate of time couldn’t be done under propulsion theories. Only through the ability to vibrate unthinkably fast was it possible to cut through the next dimension. Only Guardians had evolved to breach the space-time barrier. I was something more than a Guardian. New abilities caused me to question everything, but at this moment, my eighty-nine-pound preteen brother weighed more than the moon. For some unexpected, unknown, and unfortunate reason, leaping his white, pure, and young infant light required enormous concentration and charge. At the worst possible time, I could not play my biggest card.
There was more than one way to travel without the restriction of time. The ability was available to all, but the gift required a humble understanding of selflessness which made it elusive. Real love transcended through all time-spaces. Pink shined past, present, and future. Dev, feeling my fatal mess thousands of miles away on the coast, writhed with helplessness. His shattering fear ruptured beneath my chest, feeling my unfiltered, chaotic rushes.
Things were coming up bad in Oak Creek faster than I could act. Guttural protectiveness over Charlie erupted out of every pore, electrifying my brain. I stuffed my guilt and regret away for a later time that might not come. Moving at the speed of thought, I thrust Charlie away from the high-potency spells searing past his head with ropes of light. He flipped out, moving without touch. I prepared for battle to rain down hard when some potential good hit my processing possibilities.
The sledgehammer spells thundering through the air were not meant for either Charlie or me. Before the lavishly dressed Guardian could tap her crystal and summon an armada, Avian gold and Canite copper rounds impaled her heart and head chakras, sending her flying. She came to an uncomfortable stop, stuck like a trashed and tangled marionette in a thorn tree. Although the spells were not being held, the combined force rendered her unconsci
ous. Unbeknownst to me, guardian angels had been watching.
I slipped on my mask, going empty. Still high from the fright, I opened up my many senses for friend or foe. Charlie held my arm tightly with both hands, transferring his hard-hitting worry, not over himself, but for me.
A black blur screamed through the woods, flinging shredded leaves and branches in its wake. Flying like an arrow sandwiched in the morning sun shower, a white smear banked precisely, slowing down from sonic speeds as to not cause a boom. Ozwald circled once before quickening into a landing. The dinosaur-sized white kite with intense amber eyes and flared war wings skirted around, shredding a clearing for himself with talons as sharp as freshly cut steel. I could feel the condescending lecture from behind his ring of blue topaz, masking his golden deliberation.
A shimmering blackness barreled out of the thick brush, skidding and formulating into Raven. She was also masked and undercover, appearing older. Gray laced through her inky black hair. She lowered her head, showing respect, making me feel awkward. Despite the cloaking frequencies of the sapphires, Raven’s sizable fear boiled through their effects. Her faithful guard, Haruz, was disconcertingly absent, still incapacitated from the Congo fight.
Dev, unmasked, screamed out for my return with all his silver might. His fear had spun to anger, feeling my bona fide regret and remorse flowing through my mask.
“What the …” Charlie blurted out, too confused to complete the question. Although his fear kept his heart and breathing fast, his obliviousness of the danger allowed his curiosity of the supernatural to poke through.
