Aqua

  Chapter 4

  I pushed open the door and stepped inside. Mallory led us all to her living room, which had a chaise, a huge couch, a loveseat, and many fluff pillows on the floor. I clutched my necklace and pulled it to my face. The smells I loved flooded my nose; rain and salt-water.

  I looked around the crowded living room. I inhaled another breath of necklace and let it fall to my chest. A tear dripped down my cheek when I looked at Brooke. The weak look in her eyes told me we would need to leave soon to cleanse her.

  Mallory gave Jessie a sharp look. Then she ran to me. “Are you alright?" She demanded looking me over from head to toe. In most ways, I was more maternal than Mallory, except she was fiercely protective over me, like a mama bear.

  I nodded and looked at Brooke again. She was changing like this every day. At times she was so life-like and her beautiful, normal self. Other times she was like this, so energy drained.

  “Guys we need to leave soon. No parents, so we need a plan.” I glanced at everyone one by one, and they all nodded in agreement.

  We let Brooke head home as soon as she was feeling better. We told her to be awake at midnight; that someone would be there soon after.

  After we all talked it over we decided it would be best to bring a bag of stuff with us. It took a lot of convincing, but we talked Jessie into not putting make up on for an escape.

  I grabbed my gray Aeropostle bag and went to my closet. I packed a two pairs of jeans and a pair of shorts, and three shirts, along with a blue one-piece bathing suit. Then I changed out of my PJs and in to a clean outfit. I headed to the kitchen next. I grabbed a Zip Lock bag and went back into my room.

  I put some blue jewelry in just in case I needed extra power. I put that in my bag and headed to my personal bathroom. I shoved in a stick of deodorant, my toothbrush, a hairbrush, a comb, perfume, eyeliner, and lip-gloss. Again I entered my room and grabbed my fifty dollars.

  I put that in my pocket, along with my cell phone. I glanced at the clock; 11:30. I still had half an hour, so I went through all my old purses and found another twenty-five. I put on a watch so I would be sure what time it was while we were gone.

  I slipped on a hoodie on top of all my other stuff. It was 11: 45 now. I went over a checklist in my head and added some hair bows, and blue hair dye. 11:50 now. Time to go. I kissed my mom's, my grandpa's, my grandma's, Will's, and Breanna`s (my other little cousin) foreheads God knows how many times. I left a note explaining about Brooke and the fact we were going to the leader of all Powers. My hands were shaking, so I made many mistakes;

  "Nanny, Pop, Will, Momma, Breanna,

  Brooke as you know is an Earth Protector. The firrst first part of her life where she must free her body of polllutien pollution is here. We are all going to take her to Powera head qurtars headquarters. I love you all so much.

  Love,

  Haley"

  Then I walked out the door, bag in hand. I stumbled down the stairs and texted everyone that I was ready. We met in front of Brooke and Emily’s duplex and whistled five times. She slipped out and joined us. Emily had gone to her house earlier and helped her pack. So we left her in charge of snacks. She was carrying a bag of Oreos, a mini bag of Cheetos, and a box of graham crackers. We made each of them fit in our bags and headed for the back door.

  We journeyed for what seemed like an eternity, though it was only an hour and a half. Mallory was playing dance songs from her iPod to pump us all up. Dylan groaned as she played Florence and the Machine, but the rest of us honestly didn’t care.

  We had made it out of town safely and were in the middle of a little farmhouse (Which happened to be our friend Kyle's house). We stopped and ate some snacks and then made our way to a barn. Ethan talked some horses into letting us hitch a ride.

  I was riding one with Mallory sitting behind me. Jessie was leaning over the neck of one with Brooke riding with her. Ethan had his own. Mikey rode by himself too. Emily sat passenger to Dylan's horse.

  Dylan's cell phone rang and he looked down at it. He muttered some words that shouldn’t have been said and hit Ignore. “Who was that?" I whispered.

  "My dad.” he replied.

  "Oh..." I said, realizing how hard this was going to be on us. He nodded and we continued riding.

  We rode toward the place that you could call "Powera Headquarters", which was in Los Angeles, California. Once we got there we could restore Brooke's power, and then it would be another twenty years before she needed it again. Living in Georgia it was going to take a while to get there, and with many obstacles…

  We got off of our horses about a two hours later and started walking again, but letting Brooke stay on the back of hers.

  At about three in the morning we wandered into a big city. The guys sort of surrounded us, Ethan and Mikey in the back, and Dylan in front of us.

  Three goons jumped in front of us in the middle of the sidewalk, obviously some of the guys who disliked thirteen year olds trying to live on their own. One took off his glasses, which set off a harsh orange glare on the sidewalk. Emily smirked and started to pull off her glasses too. I grabbed her arm and squeezed tightly. She let go of her lenses and put them back on.

  Dylan jumped forward and smoke shot from every hole in his head, even his eyes. It was a bit frightening, but sooner than later we got over it. We heard footsteps behind us and whirled around to see two women and one guy behind us. Water shot from the blue in my eye and into the mouth of a Firea girl. She dropped to her knees, the water drowning her. Once the woman was unconscious I looked over at Jessie.

  Fire shot from her toes in all directions, but the flames swerved around us.

  Mallory’s pearly white hand flashed, and a burst of purple electricity arced from her fingertips and onto the chest of a man, who twitched twice and crumpled to the ground.

  Ethan looked at the sky and whispered some words in Greek. Pigeons rained down and started pecking at one man like he was a target.

  Brooke, who was strong at the moment, covered the fourth with vines.

  Mikey paralyzed the last person in the back, and Dylan blasted smoke in his lungs.

  We all moved to the sidelines and Emily faced off with the Eartheen man. Rocks flew and chunks of concrete zoomed by us. One brick hit Mallory in the back of the head, which made her stagger before painstakingly regaining her composure. I ripped off a piece of my shirt and soaked it, handing it to her. She smiled gratefully and pressed it to the wound.

  After about fifteen minutes Emily came back in our direction. She grabbed Dylan's hand and he kissed her forehead. Two years ago I would have gagged. But after that time I think my stomach had just decided to let it go, though I did still feel disgusted. Mallory groaned and turned away, something that happened often.

  "Are you missing your parents?” I asked after about twenty minutes.

  "No." he muttered.

  "Oh come on Dylan. You’re heartless." I joked.

  "Screw you.” he said and walked away to Emily.

  "Hey! Douche bag! Get back here!” I said and trudged over to both of them. "Stop saying that!” I repeated for about the millionth time in my life.

  "Bitch.” he threw the word at me AGAIN. Salt-water foam started bubbling out of the middle of my hand.

  "Dylan…hey!” Emily started yelling. The water was starting to flood out now with extreme speed. I could feel water beginning to seep out of my toes and fingers. Dylan was refusing to look at me, mouthing the word ‘Fuck.’

  I reached out and touched Dylan's shoulder, and he finally turned around. “Oh My God! Holy shit!” I smiled, but it was turned horrid by the salt water seeping through my teeth. I tried to stop the rage, but it wouldn’t leave, just go down a bit.

  The water was going down to a stream when Dylan turned around to me again. “Why are you so obsessed with making me mad and annoyed?” He screamed.

  "Hey, leave her the fuck alone you little whore!” Mallory cried, balling her fists and glaring bullets at the bla
ck-haired boy. Emily started to walk over, her glasses gone and her eyes glowing an extremely bright orange. Her fingernails were starting to turn to stone.

  "NO!” Ethan screeched and jumped on top of her. She popped her back and shoved him off, but he was able to grab her wrists.

  “Get your hands off of my girlfriend!” Dylan protested loudly.

  "She’ll kill someone!” Ethan shot back, fighting to keep his hold on the struggling Eartheen’s hands.

  “Alright! You’re not a bitch! You aren't one Haley!” Dylan was screaming now. Emily broke free and ran for us. Rocks were flying everywhere.

  The water backed off, but we all knew it would be moments before Emily could control herself enough to stop. I leapt for her glasses and shoved them on her head. I ducked as HUGE chunks of stone rained down on us. I cried out in pain as one hit my kneecap and bounced back, hit it again, and landed on the ground. Mikey crawled over and let me lean on him. The rocks flew for fifteen minutes, so nobody noticed that I was weeping. When it was over Dylan walked to me and helped to get me up.

  "Umm... I’m sorry." He mumbled half-heartedly, saying the last word so quietly I thought for a while that I had completely imagined it. I glared mildly at him, before grabbing his forearm and leading him off into the shadowy woods.

  I stared at the leaves on the forest floor, and at the night sky above the treetops. I could hear a little stream, and if I listened closely enough I could hear my other friends talking and enjoying themselves. "I just can't believe that I'm traveling the length of the country for a girl that I barely know." Dylan admitted. "You always allowed me let my anger out. But Emily just tells me to calm down. That doesn't help me at all, but you know that." I nodded and looked over at him.

  He had jet-black hair with blonde layers at the moment, cut in an emo style. He was wearing a very gory band t-shirt, and black, ripped skinnies. His tennis shoes were black Converse, and he had about three cut marks on his wrist. I grabbed his arm and ran my finger on one of the scars. "You've got to stop...never mind." I murmured. I looked up a few inches into his black eyes.

  "Whatever." Dylan said, putting it bluntly. He looked away, and I just sat there. I looked down at my Converse, loving the fact that they had all of my friend's signatures. I looked at the blank spot where Dylan should have signed two years ago. I tapped his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow questioningly at me.

  I pointed at the spot next to Emily's name. "You never signed it." I answered his unspoken question of 'what’s that supposed to mean?’ He sighed and took a Sharpie from his pocket. I scooted sideways and held out my foot. He wrote Dylan and threw the pen to the ground. "Come on, they're going to notice we are gone soon." I realized and stood. I put my hand on the tree and waited impatiently while he grabbed his backpack and stood.

  We wandered back to the clearing in silence. Dawn was breaking. Our parents would know we were gone soon, and then we would have to be extra careful. As we approached our friends I spotted Mikey in a little clump on the ground, his clothes fried and his hair a toasted color. My jaw dropped and I ran forward. When I got to him he was groaning and trying to freeze himself to stay cool. I pressed my necklace to his so that he would have something to freeze. I glanced around frantically, and saw Mallory with this proud smirk on her face.

  I bounded towards her and knocked her to the ground, a mistake because I got a small shock from the sparks coming from her body. When she got her breath back, and I stopped shaking and she stood. "Why did you do that to him? You could have killed him!" I yelled, feeling my eyes turn that neon shade of blue. Seawater shot from my hands and ears. I aimed my hand at her.