by Peay, Dexx
I released one fireball and quickly released the other. They each hit a leg knocking him to his stomach. He lay there, grunting and pounding the dirt.
A bolt of lightning crashed from the clouds to the ground with each pound until there was a total of four bolts circling around him.
My knees knocked against one another; the frantic rise and fall of my chest distracted me from the situation at hand.
The lightning guy waved a hand, commanding a bolt to zip past me. The static air brought life to the hairs on my arms. My eyes followed the bolt, wondering why when he could have easily taken me out. I turned around and two massive bolts were gliding across the ground, ripping into the earth towards Hachi.
I screamed out for Hachi, distracting her from battle. Mouth agape, she threw her hands up in a defensive stance before being whisked away by the two bolts.
These guys were strong; they’ve been training just like we have. A feeling of hopelessness came over me as I looked around — the twins mangled bodies in the mud, Monica clawing the tree in tears, and Dylan’s unconscious body resting near the building. Legs stinging in pain, I forced myself up to continue the fight. I looked down at the marking on my arm and remembered everything I learned from the twins, the journals, and my dad. The marking on my arm was a symbol of hope and strength.
I swished the bloody residue around in my mouth before I spat it out. My bones and muscled ached as I held myself up. The two guys began walking towards me with darkness in their eyes. After a few failed attempts, a small spark of fire combusted in my hand.
Iceman held his hand and shot me down with a flurry. I grabbed my arm where I was hit, hissed, and quickly removed it from the bruise that was so cold it burned.
I turned over on my back and realized something with my body didn’t feel right — something somewhere was broken. As I twisted my body in pain, I noticed water form a small puddle. I tilted my head back to see the feet of both guys getting closer to me.
I forced myself up again but was too weak to hold steady. The two guys powered up and I failed to light a fire. Behind the two goons was Hudson. His eyes were sealed tight, his teeth clenched, his face a circus of wrinkles. The shirt on his body was shredded, exposing his godly physique; his hand was forced into a fist, his knuckles white.
Hudson whispered something to himself before he howled, unleashing a water attack at Iceman’s chest. The attack encased his body in water then entered his nose and mouth, causing his stomach, arms, and legs to swell. He fell to his knees, a stream of fluid coming out of his eyes like tears before his face hit the dirt.
Storm clouds moved in. Lighting sparkled in the sky. Thunder crashed in the distance. A small funnel raced down where Jessica was buried and freed her.
As she climbed from the debris, the lightning guy stood over me laughing mockingly. I looked up to his menacing smile as he held a sparky hand over my face.
As the energy in his hand sparked a few times before collecting to kill me, water spurted up around his hands; his body seized and blood leaked from his ears before he collapsed. Hudson stood behind him.
“No more games, Marcus. This ends now!” Jessica yelled. Her walk shifted to a run that ended with her flying towards me. Hazardous winds protected her. I shuffled back. I caught glimpse of Monica, who was still holding on to the tree, and told her goodbye with my eyes.
Jessica held a hand out, summoning winds that gently tossed me around. She held another hand out that conjured a twister that followed her, then, she froze. She looked around in confusion, the twister faded into thin air.
“Hurry, Marc! I can’t hold her much longer,” Dylan’s tight voice cried out.
He was using the side of the building to hold himself up, his free hand aimed at Jessica.
I ignored the pain and found the strength to stand. Fire grew in my palm and I punched her across the jaw, knocking her out of the sky.
She stood and went after Dylan. The first two fireballs I hurled missed but the third one hit her shoulder; she slid across the mud. She flipped over, looked into the sky, and then shot up into the air. I looked to Dylan then went after her.
“Time to die, Macchiato,” she said from behind.
My body got warm and flames sprouted through my jeans and shirt. We rushed each other and our hands locked to the other's forearms. A gust of wind came from behind her. A flame burst from my arms and traveled down to my hands. Her screams were a beautiful symphony.
“It’s Marcus,” I said and tossed her back down.
I landed and the flames died, leaving me almost naked.
I checked on Monica first. I had some explaining to do. Hachi was the closest to Monica. I helped her to her feet and positioned her next to Monica. I wobbled over to Dylan next.
“You saved the day, bro,” I said to him, putting his arm around my shoulder as I moved him towards Hachi and Monica.
“It was all you, Marc. You never quit.” He spoke with his eyes close almost like he was sleep talking.
“It was all of us.” I looked around. “We’re a team. Look down, bro.”
Dylan opened one eye and looked down at his arm. “Finally.”
“We finally fit in. I guess you’re Xarponian after all.”
Hachi walked off. “You guys go home before this place gets flooded with police and reporters.”
I staggered over to the goons. Hudson really did a number on them.
I wasn’t sure where Jessica landed, but I'm sure she didn’t survive that.
“Guess we have some explaining to do,” Dylan said to Monica.
“Save it for a rainy day,” she said. “Marcus, you’re my hero.”
It was that moment when she wrapped her arms around me that everything I've ever felt for her came rushing back in a giant wave, and the physical pain temporary evaporated.
Chapter 26
Eighteen Years of Lies
The minor injuries were easy to bounce back from. It was the broken bones and nasty bruises that would take longer. On second thought, I wasn’t too sure since I was still figuring out what our bodies could do. Hudson and Hachi rested at a nearby hotel in Poughkeepsie for a few days before returning to Jersey. It must be nice to have a family of Xarponians and not have to lie about battle wounds and not coming home for days. Marcus and I’s lie: football. They believed me, Marcus, not so much.
Dalton was being a good little helper by making me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in bed. Mom pried on the fact I wore long sleeve shirts around the house all day. Not that heat really affected me, but I wasn’t going to show her my cool new tattoo that I wasn’t used to yet. It started at my wrist and spiked angelically up the forearm approximately three inches. Marcus’ went up just a bit higher.
Ten days passed since the battle. After my forth sandwich for the day before noon, I left the house for the first time to meet Monica and Marcus at the park.
“Hey, Dylan.” She sounded calm like she saw people move objects with their mind and shoot fire from their hands on a daily basis.
Marcus was next to her on the bench and it was obvious I interrupted something.
“Hey, bro,” Marcus said smoothly. His right arm was in a sling, wearing a cut-off shirt, his brand glistening from the sun and body lotion.
“Nice tattoo,” I said. He smiled and took a second to admire it. I exhaled as I took a seat next to Monica. “So I guess you figured out our big dark secret.”
“Yeah … I’m not afraid or anything, but at the same time, you don’t see this everyday. I’m honestly just relieved to be alive. But, you guys do have some explaining to do.” Her head shifted between the two of us as she spoke. Marcus and I both looked past her to each other.
“Do you want to tell her or should I?” I asked. Marcus nodded his head and began talking.
“About a year ago, Dylan and I started to go through, well … changes.”
“What kind of changes?” Monica gripped the bench between her legs like she didn’t know where the story was going to
lead.
“Things would get hot and sometimes set on fire around me.”
“And my eyes were turning blue,” I added.
“I knew I saw you with blue eyes that day in the hallway.” She bumped me with a smile of certainty on her face. My ribs ached slightly.
“So basically, Dylan has these ice powers, and I have these fire powers,” Marcus continued.
“But why — how?” Monica asked.
“That’s what we wanted to find out. A little after my eighteenth birthday I decided to find my birth parents but instead, I found the family secret. A secret that revealed to us the story of our powers and the reason why we were being attacked.”
I jumped to my feet and cut Marcus off. I knew he was going to talk all day if we let him. “So what he’s trying to say is that we’re descendants of some ancient alien race of people who are still fighting some thousands of years old war here on Earth.” I bounced around, waving my hands wildly as I spoke.
“I was trying to put it in a way that wouldn’t scare her off, Dylan,” Marcus said, his eyes telling me to be seated.
I took a seat. “Oops.”
Monica laughed at our stupidity. “I'm not scared, guys, don’t worry. I still see you two as the same old Marcus and Dylan. Now, can you explain to me the psychopathic Jessica and her henchmen?”
“Well—” Marcus started before I jumped in again.
“Jessica’s dad was killed by Marcus’ dad and she wanted revenge by taking his head off,” I said.
He sucked his teeth and shook his head. “I thought we agreed that I would talk?”
“Go ahead.” I waved the floor to him.
“My dad killed her dad and she was looking for revenge.”
“Eh, same thing I just said, Marc.”
She giggled then asked, “Does anybody else know about you guys?”
“Trey,” Marcus said.
“Correction, Trey knows about your powers. Mine are still a secret,” I said.
“Well, if you guys are worried about me telling, don’t be,” Monica said.
“Thanks, Monica,” Marcus said, reaching for her hand. I don’t think he really noticed how tight he was holding on to her. She looked up at him and smiled, but he didn’t notice that either.
“Well, guys, let’s hope this is all over.” Monica stood up; Marcus followed. “I need to get back home and get some rest.”
Monica walked off and Marcus and I headed to his house.
“Hey, Elias,” I said as we walked into the house.
“Hey. Sup.” He walked right past us and out the front door. My eyes followed him in disbelief.
“Ignore him,” Marcus said. “Elias thinks he’s cool now that he’s in high school.”
“He’s not cooler than me, eh, eh?” I smiled, hoping to get a reaction out of Marcus.
It was a fail.
“Funny.” His stoic tone and raspy voice were a bad blend. He grabbed us some sodas and we headed out for a seat in the backyard.
“So can you answer me this question?” I asked, slowly stroking my chin.
“Riddle me,” Marcus replied, looking off into the sky.
“I still can’t seem to put together why I can do this.” The soda floated from his hand to mine.
He looked at me, and I handed him the soda back.
“I don’t know, Dylan. Maybe we’ll find the answers for that later in the years to come. It was smart of you to call Hudson and Hachi to meet us there. Pretty sure we’d be dead without them.”
“Well, we were supposed to have more help. Imani promised me she would be there.”
“You know you can’t rely on her when it comes to battles that aren’t hers.”
“Yeah, well, we could have really used her help out there.”
“What did she say when you asked her about it?”
“I haven’t talked to her since that day. She won’t answer my phone calls or text messages. But moving on, how’s Delilah doing?”
“She’s doing good. Back in London. We’ve been communicating by E-mail mostly.”
I fought the grin that slowly formed.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he said.
“Nothing.” I flung my head up.
He sighed. “Let’s hear it.”
“Sparks flaring back up between you and Monica?”
“Mind your business.”
“Dude, you’re my bro, you can tell me. You know all my secrets.”
Not really all…
“I think I want to be … I know I want to be with Monica, but I also want to be with Delilah. I’ve never had so much fun with anyone like I have with Delilah. She’s so spontaneous and witty and that accent is…”
“Sexy.” I finished.
“Sexy. And Monica, well she just has the biggest, purest heart. I've never met anyone so caring, and the feeling I get when I'm around her is indescribable.”
“Sounds like you need to make a choice, and fast, or feelings will get hurt.”
His head dropped. “Someone’s feelings are already going to be hurt.”
“That’s why you have the summer to figure this all out.” I stood. “I'm going home to spend some time with my family.” I started for the back door when he called out—
“Hey, bro,” I turned around to him smiling. “Remember how we wished for a college adventure?”
“Yeah.”
“We gotta be more careful what we wish for.”
When I got home, there were still a few things I needed to move out of my car. I popped the trunk and grabbed the duffels, book bag, and a small box. I sat everything down and turned around to close the trunk when I noticed something stuck under the jumper cables. I reached in and pulled out one of Marcus’ journals. It must have fallen out his satchel when I dropped his things off.
I pulled my phone out, scrolled for his number, but stopped before I made the call. I stared curiously at the screen with his name on it. I shoved the phone back into my pocket, picked my things up, and walked into the house.
“Need some help with that?” Dalton asked when I walked inside.
“No, I got it.” I went straight to my room, dropped everything, and closed the door.
My fingers brushed the smooth edges of the leather journal that Marcus would never let me read alone. The condition was neat which led me to believe it was one of the newer ones.
I cracked it open and flipped through the pages one good time. It had the woodsy scent of Marcus’ dorm room. The book was about half full and the beginning was in another language. I stopped on one the pages towards the end that was written in English.
This will be my last entry. The world is after me so I know what I am doing is the right thing. I still can’t believe myself for this situation. I didn’t have a choice to do what I did but it was the only way. Katiana would kill me if she knew what I did but it’s already done. Not a soul on Earth knows but her, him, the nun, and me. I wish I had time to get to know him but I had to let him go. My sweet innocent first born, take care Dylan. Daddy loves you move than you will EVER know. ~Ferrari~
I inhaled, shut the book, and threw it away from me. This couldn’t be right. That couldn’t be me he was talking about. No way. Mixed emotions were going on inside and I was sick to my stomach at the thought of all the lies I’ve potentially been told.
If this was correct. If what was in that book was correct. If I’m that same Dylan on the pages, then Marcus was really…
My brother.
r>
