" To let love into your heart, is as if to let magic into your soul"

Monday, September 12, 2011

Chapter Seventeen

       "Leave all that rubbish, I just want my damn cupcake," hissed Kallista. The elegant plates of assorted foods flew away from her, and the man serving her clenched his jaw and handed her the cupcake. She started licking off the icing, and looked at the ceiling thoughtfully.
"So. I asked you to get a girl. Was that so hard, Lucium? No, it was not. She is not strong yet, and she was not protected. Now, because of your blunder, she is protected. Yet, she is not protected well. A group of teenagers. They were not particularly powerful, yet now they are. Do you know why, Lucium?"
       Lucium clenched his fists, and spat out,"No."
       Kallista smiled, and Lucium stiffened. She spoke gently,"I think you do, Lucium. I think you know that anyone mortal will be affected by the girl's raw power. They have all been affected, and they will all be graced with magic. There is no turning back now. So now, now that your idiocy has reached new heights, we start from square A. We need to untangle her from the groups protective grasp on her, and now we need to preserve the group, also. Do you know how hard that will be, Lucium?" The man stayed quiet. "I said, do you know how hard?!"
         The man arched his back and screamed, and all the while Kallista sat back in her chair, eating her cupcake. She kept her eyes trained on his face, and blinked. He straightened up, breathing heavily. She smiled again,"That hurt, didn't it? Unless you want that to happen to you again, I suggest you find a way to the girl, and her silly little group. Before anyone else does, mind you."
                              ....
         Vanessa
             
          They all sat around Ivory, watching her grimace and flex her hands. I jumped as vines shot through the ground, and Eziekiel chuckled at my attempts to stop the jumping, and I glared at him. He sobered quickly and the corners of his mouth twitched up in an effort stifle the grin. Savannah had been watching us most of the time, and it made her smile when I laughed with Eziekiel.
            So now they had three magicians in the household, if you could call it a household, and Simon was fitting in wonderfully with the group. I watched him joke around with the Twins, and smile faintly at Jason's sly remarks, and nod along with Savannah. Even Eziekiel laughed with him, but most of my time was spent watching Eziekiel, and feeling the way my heart thudded against my ribs when he smiled at me. But know his attention was not focused on me, but focused on Ivory. She was breathing deeply, and squinting her eyes. I watched closer, and blinked as plants crashed through the floor, but didn't retract immediately. They wrapped around everyone's ankles, and more shot through and wrapped around their wrists. I tried to pull one off, and it tightened and more twisted up my arm. Ivory's eyes snapped open again, and the plants slunk back into the ground, leaving the floor somehow un-blemished.
              Simon's voice shot out, and he whispered,"That is so cool." Ivory cracked a smile, and for a while, everyone seemed happy. That was, until  a pounding sounded from the outside of the clock.
              Everyone froze rather suddenly, and they heard a voice yell out,"Find a way in!" The next moment, there was a clatter, and they all knew the tile had sunk in and fell to the floor. It wouldn't be long before they broke through. I wondered briefly if it was snowing outside, for the noises of dripping could be heard. But my thoughts were broken sharply as Eziekiel grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the couch. The group followed us, and Savannah called out,"Do they want her?" Eziekiel snarled,"Of course they do." I let myself be pulled to down a hallway I had never been through, and into a small hole in the wall. Savannah squeaked,"Oh! It's about to snow out there! Ill get jackets!" Eziekiel gave her a pleading look, and she whipped out of the room. He started ripping away other tiles, and stacking them in a pile. Jason kneeled down and helped him, and soon they had a hole that they cold all fit through, and Savannah was back.
                   I accepted the jacket, and numbly slipped it on. It was fuzzy and think and warm, and it made me sweat. But when Eziekiel pushed me quietly through the hole, I gasped from the burst of freezing wind that greeted me. Once we were all out, Eziekiel creeped to the other side to make sure there were no people, and reached back and plucked my wrist into his hand again. We all ran to he van, and as we were about to reach it, a voice called out,"Oi! There they are!" Eziekiel growled,"Damn." And threw me into the side of the van, and they all jumped in with a scurry. A couple men reached the windows, but Eziekiel stomped on the gas, and they roared forward.

Er.....

Well. I have some news. Is it good news? For me. For you? Not so much.
       
          I have made the random yet helpful decision that third-person, is not how this story should be written in. So, it will from this moment on be written in first-person. That's just how it was destined to be made. So...Er. Blame destiny.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Chapter Sixteen

               Eziekiel
                   He watched Vanessa speak, her eyes closed. He could tell it was against her better nature to be telling them all this story. He tried to put up a tough face, to make this easier on her, but he couldn't help the look of disgust that washed over him. He had never felt the need to scoop someone up and hold them, but he was feeling that now. It shocked him. Never had he felt that way, and now he was feeling it towards this girl he'd only known for 3 days.
                  He didn't know why he had gotten so angry at Jason. It was just the look on her face, the look as if she didn't want to rat him out because she was scared, made him mad. It made him more then mad. He shouldn't feel this way, especially toward a girl who probably didn't feel the same way. Then Jason didn't make it any better, grinning like an idiot...
                  He snapped out of his thoughts and kept his eyes on Vanessa. When she was finished, her eyes opened. He saw fear in them, and guessed it was from them. She was scared that they were going to treat her like a freak, he could see it. Once again, the urge to hold her close was overwhelming, but he fought it.
                 Savannah didn't, though. She squealed,"Oh, sweetheart!" and threw her arms around Vanessa. Their eyes met, and Vanessa's shot down. Crap. His expression probably wasn't helping her. Vanessa was just one of those people that can't do anything without finding trouble. It looked like Eziekiel was going to be saving her a whole lot more.
                    He didn't really mind the idea, though.
                             ...
                   Vanessa
                    Simon watched with awe on his face as he Twins darted down to rabbits, then shot up into giraffes. They found that they could transform into any person, animal, object, or creature. They particularly liked transforming into various Misfits' and teasing them with themselves. Savannah had the idea to get them to practice their magic, so they could understand it more. So when the Twins had finished, Savannah burst into applause, and looked at Jason.
                       He rolled his eyes at her eager expression, and his eyes flickered to Vanessa, who was settled on the sofa next to Eziekiel. She felt Eziekiel growl,"Don't," but Jason just grinned, and splayed his hand. Vanessa whipped off her seat, and onto Jason's lap. He grinned down on her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She squirmed,"Oi." She went to get up, but he splayed his hand again, and she plopped back on top of him.
                        Savannah cut through Eziekiel's growls, and said,"Leave the poor girl alone, Jason." He shrugged, and clenched his fist. Vanessa shot off his lap and neatly onto her original seat. Eziekiel stopped his growling and relaxed, and Vanessa rested her dizzy head on the coach.  Jason made various things zoom towards him, then fly back again. Savannah was just about to clap, when they heard a scream from Ivory's room.
                           Eziekiel shot up and sprinted to her room, and Vanessa chased after him. When he burst through the door and Ivory screamed again, she was surrounded by thick vines. Eziekiel yelled,"Get outta' there!" But Ivory screamed again, to terrified to speak. So Eziekiel charged through the forest and whipped her into his arms, kicking vines out of the way. She tried not to feel bitter at the way Ivory clung to him, but marveled at how he wrapped his arms around her determinedly, chopping his way through the wild bush.
                             When they left the room, Eziekiel dumped Ivory to Savannah, who was waiting behind them nervously. Vanessa's bitterness vanished into a feeling of warm contentment again, and Eziekiel looked at her. She realized how close they were, and all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him, not Jason....
                               But he suddenly walked off into the living room, and Vanessa stood there, frowning.  She walked off in the direction Eziekiel left, her feeling of contentment vanishing. She saw him with Ivory, who was taking rapid breaths.
Savannah spoke in a soothing voice,"What happened, Ivory?"
Ivory took a deep breath and spoke, her voice shaky,"I was angry. I was laying in my bed, and I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, my hands opened. I didn't even feel opening them. They opened, and a million vines shot through the floor, all around my room."
                               No one spoke, and then came the Twin's sulky voice,"No fair. We can turn into things, and she can control plants?" Eziekiel cracked up, and Vanessa couldn't help it. She started laughing to. Maybe it was the plain oddness of that statement, or just Eziekiel, but she couldn't stop laughing. Eziekiel fell onto the couch, shaking with laughter, and she followed suit, tremors coursing through her body. When she stopped laughing, tears were coming from her eyes, and Eziekiel was grinning at her. Something about the way he smiled made her heart pound loudly, and she smiled back.

Chapter Fifteen

           Ivory had arrived. She glared at Vanessa, and whispered,"Your changing everything. Ever since you came, everything is DIFFERENT!" Vanessa stood her ground,"If I hadn't come, where would you be? You would have no idea why this was happening. Even if I hadn't showed up, The Twins and Jason would still be like this!" Everyone gaped at her, except for Simon and Ivory. The Twins recovered first, and they grinned,"Oh hello, stranger!" Everyone whipped around to look at Simon, who was trying to hide in the shadows. He stepped out, and Vanessa got a good look at him. He seemed around Savannah's age, maybe a year older. Eziekiel coughed,"This, is Simon."
          Ivory screamed in rage, and stormed back into her room. Jason narrowed his eyes,"New rule. No more Misfits," he said flatly. Savannah nodded slowly. Even Eziekiel shrugged. Vanessa gave Simon a small smile, and he returned it. Savannah cleared her throat,"We seem to be missing the fact that now 2 of us have magical powers." Vanessa nodded, and said,"I have a feeling it's not just going to be two. What if we're all going to get it?" The Twins looked at her,"That man in the shack...He said you already did magic?"
           Vanessa blushed, but nodded all the same. So they were back to this again. "2 years ago." Savannah peered at her,"What happened?" Vanessa frowned,"I'm not entirely sure. I was in Florida. I was terrified, and when I opened my eyes..." She trailed off, not knowing how to explain it without including the main characters of the story. Savannah smiled kindly at her,"You can tell us. We've all been in bad situations." Vanessa blinked, and took a deep breath. The night she had locked up so well in her mind...She unleashed it, and let it wash over her, trying to remember all the details, and repeated it for them all.
            It had been a hot, muggy night in Florida. It was 9:43 pm, and it wasn't the safest part of town for a 17 year old girl to wander around in. She walked briskly through the streets, walking back to her hotel. She was lost. She didn't know Florida, and now she was all alone in the inky black night, wandering around aimlessly. At least, she thought she was alone. She heard a whistle, and ignored it. She kept walking. Then she heard a voice yell,"Hey, sweetheart. Who you running away from?" That got her. She remembered how her heart had started to pound frantically, and she walked even faster. But she hadn't been paying attention to where she was walking, and almost smacked into a brick wall.
             She spun around, wildly trying to find a way out, but she had walked down a one-way street, and the whistler was waking towards her quickly. Soon, he was right in front of her. She remembered the smell, the smell of smoke and beer. He pressed her into the wall, and she whispered,"I'll scream. I swear I will, and then you'll be arrested." He had laughed, and purred,"There's no one to hear you, darling." She squirmed, and he placed both hands on either arm, trapping her. He grinned, and whispered,"Don't be scared." She had whimpered. She was scared, she had been terrified. But he was stronger than her, stronger and bigger. She didn't have a chance. So she closed her eyes.
               Then, she felt him let go of her. Her eyes snapped open, just in time to see him fly away, yelling curse words. She looked down at her hands, and saw that they were splayed open. The man got up again, and snarled at her. He charged for her, but she closed her eyes again and--CRACK!
               A bolt of lightning shot down and struck him where he stood. She remembered screaming as he fell down, the smell of charred skin in the air. It started to pour, and she watched her hands close. She had ran, ran all the way to the airport. She never had told anyone again what happened, and locked up the memory nice and tight. But now, she opened her eyes, and saw all the horrified faces around her.
               Savannah squealed,"Oh, sweetheart!" And ran to her. She squeezed her in an awkward hug, and Vanessa patted her back hesitantly. She glanced at Eziekiel, who was standing there with a disgusted expression. His eyes met hers, and she quickly looked down again. It felt good to let go of the memory, to know that she wasn't going to be classified a freak, something that should be tested and expiremented with. She almost smiled.

Chapter Fourteen

           Savannah looked up from the couch, and caught Eziekiel's expression. Her eye's flickered to Vanessa, who was frantically trying to pull him back. She flitted up. "What's wrong, Eziekiel?"
 He didn't answer, and walked over to Jason, who raised an eyebrow.
           "You prat!", he hissed. Vanessa whimpered, and could only watch as Jason's eyes went to her. She glared at him in a, this-is-all-your-fault, way. He seemed to understand, because he grinned cockily at Eziekiel. "That's what this is about?" Eziekiel growled, and Jason laughed,"Really? Sorry, but I don't believe you ever said I couldn't kiss your girlfriend." Savannah squealed,"Jason!" And the Twins eyes widened. Ivory was nowhere to be seen. She felt Simon slink into the room hesitantly. That was enough for Eziekiel. He raised his fist, and Jason ducked as Eziekiel swiped at him. He whipped out of his reach, and grinned tauntingly. Savannah whispered,"Please don't fight!" But no one seemed to hear her. Jason leaped back as Eziekiel grabbed for him again, and was forced to hop on the table as he was backed into a corner.
               Eziekiel grabbed a chair and lunged at him, but Jason was fast. Faster than he looked. He jumped off the table and Eziekiel growled in frustration. Vanessa ran in between them, and placed a spread her hands out, so one was on each of their chest's. In comparison with Eziekiel's broad chest, her hand looked miniscule. She widened her eyes pleadingly, but Eziekiel grabbed her and plopped her to the side. She frowned, and watched as Eziekiel lunged at Jason. Jason's elbow whipped up and smacked into Eziekiel's head, and she squealed,"Stop!" But Eziekiel grabbed his arm and launched him into the wall, and Jason groaned. His eyes snapped open as Eziekiel went at him again, and the next second, Eziekiel was flying across the room.
                 Vanessa screamed and ran to him, and Savannah followed her. Vanessa reached down, and tried to pull Eziekiel up, but he was much to heavy for her to carry. Savannah grabbed one arm and she grabbed the other, and together they lifted him up. He snarled at Jason, and Jason stared wildly at his hands. Vanessa gasped, massaging her ribs from lifting Eziekiel up,"How....How did you do that, Jason?" He looked at her, and splayed his hands again. It was as if a rope tied around her middle, and was pulling her to him. She couldn't stop as her body lifted and flew at him. They both toppled to the floor, and Vanessa quickly untangled herself from him. He blinked rapidly, still on the floor, and whispered,"Bloody hell..."
                  He stood, and stared at the dining chair Eziekiel threw. It flew back, and then whipped towards him. After a moment of stunned silence, Jason grinned broadly. He splayed his hands one last time, and Vanessa flew back to the kitchen and back to him over and over again. "Stop.....That!" She screamed. He closed his hands and she fell to the floor in a heap. Eziekiel hurried to her and helped her up. Vanessa murmured,"That was dizzy. I'm seeing three of you." Eziekiel cracked a smile.

Chapter Thirteen

           Vanessa crossed her arms over her chest, and grumbled,"Why couldn't I drive?" Eziekiel grinned over at her,"You can't even reach the wheel." Vanessa glared, and said,"I am perfectly sized. You, my friend, are just a beast." She glanced over her shoulder, and saw Simon lounging in the second row of seats. He smiled at her, and she looked at Eziekiel. "This thing is more of a bus, let alone a car."
            He shrugged, and said,"Hey, you picked it." She pursed her lips, and her stomach rumbled. Eziekiel sighed,"Maybe if you start eating breakfast, you won't be so hungry all the time." She narrowed her eyes at him,"Maybe if you don't light the kitchen on fire, I will." Eziekiel smiled, and grumbled,"It was Jason. Not me." Vanessa scowled at Jason's name, and she felt the blood rush to her cheeks.
            Eziekiel glanced at her, and looked more closely at her scowl. "What's wrong?"
"What? Nothing."
"Something's wrong."
"Nope."
"Yes."
"No!"
"You're a liar."
"And your nosy!"
He grinned, and exclaimed,"Aha! So there is something!" Her scowl turned deeper, and he paused, then said,"What did you do?" It wasn't what she did, more of what Jason did....Eziekiel read her mind. He frowned,"Did he say something?" She almost snorted. He said  a lot of things.....Eziekiel pursed his lips,"Fine, I'll ask him..." She looked at him,"No!" He grinned evilly,"Then tell me." She glared,"I'm telling you, it's nothing." He dropped his grin, and said,"I want to know."
            She glared for another moment, and then faltered. "He came in my room, and explained about Ivory....Thought I should know why she hates me." Eziekiel frowned,"Then why are you acting so weird?" She didn't answer, and he lowered his voice,"What did he do, Vanessa?" She blushed more furiously, and mumbled,"Hekissedme..." Eziekiel frowned,"Excuse me?" She sighed, trying to sound impatient rather then horribly embarrassed. "He kissed me. When I pulled away, he got a little....Over excited.", she said weakly.
              Eziekiel didn't answer, and she risked a peek at his expression. He was staring at the road, and his face was reddening furiously. Simon cleared his throat, and the car was filled with a rather awkward silence. 
               Her cheeks must be brighter than her hair by now, and she stared determinedly at her dirty feet. When he finally stopped the car, Simon got out as quickly as possible. He practically jumped. Eziekiel didn't make to get out of the car, though, so she stayed. He was silent for a moment, then said,"What'd you do?"
                She couldn't believe this was happening. Her whole face must of been crimson by know, and she decided that it would be better to answer, rather for him to get the story from a mutated source. "I pulled away." He hesitated, and looked as though he was deciding whether or not he should ask. He decided he should, because he said,"What'd he do?"
                 Great. Fantastic. What was she supposed to say now? Oh, he went on top of me. If Eziekiel had been angry before, that would get him furious. But he waited for an answer, and she blurted,"He kinda sorta went on top of me, OK? But I rolled away, and told him to get out of my room, and nothing happened!" As she finished her words, she trailed off feeling childish and embarrassed. Eziekiel didn't move for a second, then he kicked the door open and stormed off, stomping towards the clock. Simon turned back to the car, his eye's wide. She stepped out. Oh, god, She thought, and hurried off to Eziekiel. "What are you doing, Eziekiel?" He growled,"Going to punch the lights out of that-" But Vanessa cut him off frantically,"No no, please don't fight. Calm down, Eziekiel, he was just being stupid." But he swung open the door anyway, and she watched miserably as he stomped into the house.
            

Chapter Twelve

"Maybe next time, you won't go off on rescue mission's without telling me."
        Vanessa scowled, and rubbed her shoulder. It felt like the man had ripped it from it's socket. The boy had been quiet the whole time they walked back to the store, and so she looked at him,"What's your name?" She said kindly. He looked up, and said,"Simon. Simon Chance." His eyes darted downwards again, and Vanessa frowned. "Are you OK?" His eyes shot up again, and he nodded,"Yeah. Er...Thanks." Vanessa smiled at him and he looked back down at the floor. Resigned, Vanessa abandoned her attempts at civil conversation. So they walked up to the store in silence.
        Eziekiel was still fuming, so she took over the actual talking part. Drifting towards the counter, she cleared her throat, and the man looked over at her. He smiled wanly, and walked over. "Caused a bit of trouble?" Vanessa blushed, and looked at her hands,"Yeah. But, um, anyways...."
"Car rental?"
"Guessed it."
He smiled, and grabbed a sheet of stapled papers, pushing them to Vanessa. "Fill these out, and we'll try to find a suitable vehicle for your needs." She smiled faintly, and walked back over to Eziekiel, rifling through the papers. Eziekiel went to grab them, but she turned away, and said,"No."
"No?"
"No. You'll break the pen, or something. I'll do it." He shrugged, and leaned back. She looked around, and sat in the chair between him and Simon. She read through the questions.
"'Address?"
What the hell do I put for address? Giant clock?" Vanessa snorted, and Eziekiel looked at her as if she'd gone crazy. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks, and looked down at the paper again. She decided to put her own address, before it burnt down. After scribbling it down on her knee, she answered the other questions, check the right boxes, and signed  her loopy signature.
     She grinned at Eziekiel,"See? No broken pen." He rolled his eyes and didn't reply, so she got up and placed the papers on the counter's again. After looking through them, typing some information on his computer, and grabbing a calculator, the man said,"So, would you like to look at our available vehicles?" Vanessa just nodded, and he smiled. She followed him out the back door, and walked through the Lot with him. He stopped at a dark red van. He looked at her, and said,"The Ford Explorer is great for...." He trailed on, and she numbly listened. After she had finished his speech, she smiled apologetically,"Sorry. I'm not really a car person. I just need something rather fast, and that can hold 7....8 people." She had forgotten about Simon. Was he going to come? Ivory would go ballistic. They couldn't just dump him off at the streets again, for him to be attacked. She firmly decided he was going to come, no matter what Ivory thought.
      The man nodded, and they walked further into the Lot. Finally, he showed her a large black car. It looked big enough. She smiled gratefully at him,"Thanks." He nodded again, and looked down at the price tag. After she handed him the money, he gestured to the car, and said,"Would you like to drive it?" She shrugged, and got in. The seat were comfortable, and the man got in the passenger's seat.
      She rode around the Lot, then pulled up to the front of the store. Eziekiel stepped out, Simon behind him, and grinned crookedly at her. She returned it with one of her own. The man gave a last smile, then walked back into the store.
                ....
       Eziekiel
          As he watched Vanessa follow the man out, he muttered to himself,"Let's see if she can buy a car, without getting attacked..." Simon, who was two seats away from him, smiled a little at this, and said,"If she hadn't done what she did, I'd be dead." Eziekiel looked at him, surprised he was speaking to him, and nodded,"Yeah. I guess." They sat in silence for a few more minutes, then Eziekiel asked,"Who was that, anyway?" Simon looked up from his hands, and stared at the other wall.
"He's known me since I was 18. I guess you could call him a hit man, but he's more of a thug. He met my mother, and...let's just say he isn't known for taking rejections gracefully. So either it was let that bastard push her around whenever he was bored, or get shot."
          Eziekiel nodded slowly, and said,"So she had no choice but to let him push her around...."
Simon's eyes hardened, and he said,"You got it. When I was 19, she had been putting up with his crap for a year. I despised him. He'd come over whenever he wanted, and I'd have to listen to my mother's screams the rest of the night." Eziekiel didn't speak. Living with 5 other children who's parent's sucked, he was used to stories like this. But that didn't make it any less disgusting. He could just imagine Vanessa's expression if she heard this, and was glad she was outside.
         Simon continued,"When I turned 20, I'd had enough. It was a bad neighborhood. It wasn't hard to get a hold of a gun. He came home one night, and I pointed it at his head. But my mother would have rather gotten shot then allowed her son to become a killer, so I didn't kill him. That did scare him away, though. At least, I thought it had."
           Eziekiel glanced at him, and then looked down at his hands. "My friends and I, we all haven't had the best stories. We live together, without parents. I was the first one. I had just run away from my dad. He was an addict, and whenever he was high he would beat the lights outta' me. One day, I snapped, I guess. I hit him back. And I ran." At this, Simon looked up at him. Eziekiel continued,"You could come, if you like. Meet the others..." He trailed off, feeling more awkward by the minute.
            He wasn't good at the sob story stuff. He remembered when Jason came along, and he didn't seem to messed up about it. So he didn't have to worry about it. They both had their issues, an they didn't really talk about it. The, Ivory showed up.
            She was the worst. He couldn't blame her. Her eyes had a look he'd never forget. They were dark, and scared, and they had the look of someone who had felt the terrors of life early, much to early to be fair. Her hair had been long, and curly, and she was pretty, in a weak sort of way. Her arms were like twigs, and her shoulder blades were like wings jutted out of her back. She had had bruises and scars all over her body, mostly on her thighs. It was nauseating. After Savannah came, she had taken care of all the motherly stuff. He was extremely grateful, for he and Jason had no idea how to help Ivory.
             Then the twins came, and he was overcome with how close they became. Without each other, they would all fall apart. Particularly Savannah. Everyone revolved around Savannah, mostly because she treated them with the love they had never gotten as children.
             The Misfits were more then just a group of kids. They were a family.