Aqua

  Chapter 5

  Mallory

  Oh my god. I hate Dylan and Mikey. I was seriously on the verge of roasting Dylan on a rotating spit when he caused Haley to get hurt. I had started forward, a lightning strike ready for my usage, until Emi grabbed my wrist. The look in her eyes turned my decision. My temper flaring, I folded my arms and clenched my fists. And Mikey did something as dangerous and reckless as lighting a match next to a bomb.

  “Gee, Mallory, getting a little bit of a temper there, huh?”

  I whirled around, my mental concrete casing exploding off my bubbling temper. A loud crack of thunder echoed around, and with a flash of light, Mikey was on the ground, burned to a crisp.

  “MALLORY!” Brooke screamed, horrified. With a satisfied smile, I casually hummed the rhythm to Sunday, Bloody Sunday by Paramore.

  That was when Haley ran in and thwarted my plans. She darted over to Mikey and pressed her necklace to his, her long black hair swaying. Then she attacked me.

  In defense mode, I shocked her. Then I stopped, absolutely disgusted with myself. How could I hurt my gentle, sweet friend? My compassion was not shared.

  “Why did you do that to him? You could have killed him!” Haley shouted. She aimed her hand at me and I closed my eyes. I fluttered my eyelashes to try and stop the tears. I shocked Mikey, and now Haley was going to kill me. Wow, way to be a great friend. I caught Jessie, Emily, and Brooke’s horrified looks and let out a soft sob. So this was it.

  The water crashed into my chest, instantly knocking the breath out of me. I attempted to fight it off, but it only resulted in a chemical reaction. I felt the cool liquid take on a quality like acid, and I tried to scream, but all it resulted in was a low groan.

  My anger took over as I staggered to my feet, with a quiet whimper. I directed a bolt at Haley, and she fell back with a cry of pain. My body slumped forwards, and I sank to my knees.

  What had I done?

  I’d hurt sweet Haley, the first girl who gave me a chance at getting friends. The girl I had hung out with every day since fourth grade. Haley, whose smile could cheer me up on a daily basis? My best friend who I could not live without? What was wrong with me?

  My reddish curls shivered in front of me. Tears began to overflow. I could see my arms shaking, from their place holding me upright, my pale palms pressed into the ground. I was a monster, an absolute monster. That was my only thought as my arm support failed and I collapsed onto the forest floor, dark spots dancing in front of my vision.

  I don’t know when I woke up, but when I did I saw everyone clustered around the limp body of Haley. I curled painfully into a ball and began to silently cry. Through my tears I felt warm arms around me and looked blearily into the eyes of sweet Brooke. I tried to smile, but instead I buried my face into her shoulder and sobbed. She hugged me knowingly, like she understood.

  Haley

  “Haley, are you okay?”

  I woke up lying on the ground; Dylan and Jessie were standing above me. I sat up and smacked the former in the shoulder. "I don’t want you to EVER be the first thing I see when I wake up!"

  Dylan rolled his eyes and walked over to Emily. "She’s awake."

  Emily walked over, her glasses missing. I looked around and saw MORE rocks on the ground. Emily hugged me.

  "You two could have killed yourselves." she insisted. I flinched at a sudden pain in my forehead and noticed Mallory had stood and walked over.

  "Um…I’m sorry." she muttered. I rolled my eyes and let her join the hug. We hugged for a moment but all of the people around us started interrupting us.

  I looked toward Mikey. "What did you do?" I asked. He threw his hands in the air and I raised an eyebrow.

  Mikey glanced at Mallory. "Just forget it OK?" she insisted. I rolled my eyes and looked at everyone else, who was just staring at my forehead.

  "What? What are you staring at?" I demanded them. Could they not just forget that had just happened? Ethan pointed at my forehead, even at the age of thirteen he still acted like he was a crazy seven year old. I reached up and touched my forehead where his finger had skimmed. When MY finger made contact with that bit of skin it burned. "Ouch...” I muttered and looked at my slightly burnt finger.

  "Jessie, give me a mirror." I said, because everyone else was taking action. She handed me a very purple mirror and I grabbed it. When I looked at myself there was a small, but very noticeable lightning bolt on my forehead. "Oh My God!" I screamed. I looked at Mallory, realizing why she had refused to look at my face. "Come here." I grabbed Mallory's wrist and pulled her with me to the now familiar forest. "Pull up your shirt" I told her.

  "What?" Mallory asked, having trouble keeping her temper down.

  "Just do it." I demanded again. She lifted it up and there, right above her bellybutton where I blasted her was a blue mark in the shape of a raindrop. My mouth dropped AGAIN. Mallory looked at me confusedly but then followed my gaze.

  "OH MY GOD!" she cried. "See I'm not the only evil one." she muttered. I turned around and stomped off, realizing I needed Dylan’s scissors. I walked up to him and tapped his shoulder. He whirled around. Then he realized who it was.

  "Yes?" he asked, calming down a bit.

  "Give me a pair of scissors." I said, reaching for his backpack.

  "What makes you think I have scissors?" Dylan asked, and took his bag off of his shoulder.

  "Because you’re emo, now give them before I kill you in your sleep." I answered, locking eyes with him. His gaze shifted to my forehead, and I think he understood this time. He pulled out a pair of scissors and Jessie handed me a mirror.

  I walked into the woods again; walking past Mallory. I hung the mirror on a tree and started cutting my hair. I first cut the length until it was just past my shoulders. I cut the bangs to swing over my eyes, and then styled it to hide Mallory's little mark.

  "Haley!" Mallory cried out behind me. I spun around to see her standing there. "Oh my god..." she murmured and walked over to get a better look.

  "What? You made the mark." I grumbled. I looked in the mirror, realizing I had done a pretty good job. I stood from the tree stump and yanked Jessie's mirror off the tree. I picked up Dylan's scissors and headed back towards the rest of my friends. When I got to the clearing everyone stared, well all but Dylan.

  I shoved Dylan's scissors in his hand, the blade cutting into his skin. He looked at me in anger and I realized what I had done. Ethan flung himself at Dylan and they landed on the ground with a loud thump. My hand went to my mouth as Ethan's leg landed on the blade of the scissors. Ethan was still on top of Dylan, the wolf part of him wanting Dylan's blood. As much as Dylan had done to me over the years, I didn’t want him to be killed by one of his best friends. I couldn't believe I was doing this but I ran over and threw Ethan off of Dylan.

  Ethan snarled at me and jumped for me. I stepped to the side, a mere inch from where he landed. I realized I had just made him angrier. He was infuriated now, spitting slobber like a dog would; yet standing, as a cat would stalk its prey. Behind Ethan I saw Dylan stand, blood covering his face and scratches everywhere. Lightning flashed behind us and I screamed as Mallory electrocuted Ethan.

  While Ethan collapsed his hand reached over and grabbed at Dylan and I. Mallory cried out in anguish and dragged him backwards while he drooled like a dog. She dropped him a little ways away and rushed to me. But it was too late.

  I woke up to see Dylan still unconscious a few feet away, and glanced around. I saw Mallory and Ethan and caught their "conversation". "You worthless piece of shit!" Mallory screamed, punching Ethan in the face. "Dylan I don't care about, but you know that could have killed her you little faggot!" I sat up and glared at Ethan, wanting to jack slap him. Mallory noticed I woke up, threw Ethan the word bitch again, and stepped over to me "Are you OK?" she asked, crouching down beside me.

  Her long curls brushed my face and I nodded. Dylan groaned and I looked over. His hair was covered in blood, and so was his hand where I had
stabbed him. I suddenly noticed that I had started all of this by stabbing him. I crawled over and pushed his bloody hair out of his face. "Emily!" I yelled. She ran over, her eyes a bright orange and her nails little pebbles. She bent down to him and looked over at me.

  "Can you find somewhere for us to wash his hand?" She asked, rubbing his hand.

  "Yeah I can try, but you do realize I have a major headache." I answered and pressed my head to the ground. I could hear a stream, but with my headache it could have been Niagara Falls. I rubbed my temples and groaned at how much it hurt. I suddenly remembered Dylan and I had walked past a creek. I stood up and locked eyes with Emily. "It has minerals and..." I closed my eyes “It’s clean enough to wash him off." I finished.

  Mikey and Ethan, who was scared of Mallory enough to control himself, managed to carry Dylan to the creek. Dylan opened his eyes, and looked up at Emily, who was starting to clean his hand. "Where are we?" he asked, looking at his surroundings. He recognized the stream I guess and sat up a little bit, grimacing when Emily continued to wash his hand.

  I could hear male laughing and glanced around suspiciously. There were only three boys with us and they were all nearby. Jessie stood and raked her crimson across the clearing.

  "I'll go check it out." Ethan muttered, making a large circle away from Mallory. He easily leaped from one stone to another and stepped on the other side. He walked away through the trees. Dylan rolled his eyes and tried to pull his hand away from Emily. She looked up at me, a pleading look in her eyes. I walked over, wondering what kind of a cut could make her look so upset.

  When I reached her I grabbed Dylan's wrist, and uncurled his fingers. My mouth gaped at how deep and wide the cut was. Had I really done that? I ran my thumb over the mark, flinching at how bad it made him wince. I let go of his hand and as my finger was sliding away there was a rustle in the bushes behind me. I turned around to see Ethan riding an elk, and following him were two boys, one with a smug smile on his face and the other looking nervously around with his hands in the pockets of his black jacket.

  The smiling one was tall, probably about as tall as Dylan. His shaggy hair was a soft dark blond, and his eyes were liquid brown. The other was about an inch shorter, just a tad taller than Mallory, the second tallest of all of us. His hair was mahogany colored and kept short, though the front part nearly reached his chin, and his eyes were bright blue.

  Ethan hopped off of his elk and started the introductions. "I'm Ethan. Who are you?" he asked bluntly. I looked at the brown-haired boy as he spoke.

  "Skye Estes.” He mumbled, glancing at Mallory. She raised an eyebrow and smirked at him. She leaned over and whispered in my air, “Best not frighten him. Looks skittish.” I giggled. It seemed this one made another guy she hated.

  The other boy smiled a little, but not a real smile, a smile I’d give Dylan, one that means nothing. "My name's Austin Silvers. Who are you guys?" Where had I heard that last name before?

  "I'm Haley Winn. An Aqua." I murmured, knowing he was some form of Powera solely by the way his brown eyes appeared like molten chocolate, the same liquid tendency as Dylan’s dad’s eyes had.

  "Dylan Ross, Darkness." Dylan said, flexing his cut hand.

  "Brooke Gaddis. I am an Earth Protector." Brooke announced, looking like she was straining to keep up a smile.

  "My name is Jessica Garrett, but most people call me Jessie. Uh, Firea." Jessie placed a hand on her hip and eyed Austin suspiciously.

  "Mikey Poul. An Ice." Mikey muttered, looking at the ground for some reason.

  "Emily Woodall is my name. I’m an Eartheen." Emily explained. She was holding Dylan's uninjured hand with one hand and holding a rock with another.

  "Name’s Wheeler; Mallory Wheeler. But many call me the Weirdo. You’ll find out why soon enough, and I’m an Electress.” Mal introduced herself, staring mockingly at nervous Skye.

  "Sorry, we forgot to mention our powers. I'm a Strength, and Skye here -my best friend- is an Air." Austin replied. "Nice to meet you all. I see you have an Earth Protector. Are you guys heading to Powera Central, because if so I could help you along your way? I've been there many times!"

  "Thank you,” us girls said at once, knowing we needed help. The boys nodded their thanks, and so Skye and Austin walked over. Skye inched over to Mallory, who instantly began interrogating if he was a serial rapist. Austin sat down next to me, judging me intently.

  "We don't exactly have time for sitting, let's just get going." Dylan said, rising from his place beside Emily. Austin stood, and surprisingly held out his hand to help me up. I grabbed it and almost flinched at how he didn't even budge.

  We all walked in silence for a bit, but then Austin caught up to me, and we started talking. "So are you emo?" Austin asked, looking at my hair.

  "What?" I asked, a bit confused. I remembered my hair and reached up, feeling the shape that could be mistaken as scene hair. "No. It’s just that uh," I pushed a little bit of my hair away from my forehead, showing him the 'scar'. "This happened." I finished. He reached up and ran the flat of his thumb across Mallory's lightning bolt. I flinched; I didn't trust people that quickly.

  "Wow." he murmured. Noticing I was feeling touchy, he dropped his hand and his gaze.

  "No, its fine." I said, feeling a bit guilty. He raised his gaze and smiled, not another fake smile but a real smile, a smile I enjoyed seeing. I felt the corners of my mouth pulling upward, my lips revealing my teeth. It was the first time I had smiled in a really long time, since I was twelve when my childish smile left me.

  We approached a small town, one that reminded me of home. My heart ached with homesickness. We walked into a cheap restaurant with a server that looked like a crack head. We all managed to cram into one very long table. To my left was Austin, and to my right was Mallory. Across from me was Emily. Next to Emily was Dylan on one side and Jessie on her right. On Jessie's other side was Brooke. On Mallory's other side there was Skye, who she was arguing to. On Austin's other side sat Mikey, and across from him (next to Dylan) was Ethan.

  At this point, Mallory was yelling at Skye, something that had to do with astronomy.

  “No, you dip-shit! Charon is Pluto’s moon! Not fucking Saturn’s!” Mallory hissed.

  “Yes it is! It’s weird looking! Looks like a rock!”

  “THAT’S FUCKING PHOEBE!”

  “No, it’s not! Wait, isn’t Phoebe a star?”

  “Yeah, it’s one of the Pleiades…”

  “Oh. Ok.”

  “You changed the subject.”

  “You lie.”

  Mallory thought for a long moment. “You are confusing.” She finally said. “You make my brain explode.”

  I chuckled under my breath, while Austin rolled his eyes.

  We all ordered different things. Most of us agreed that what we got was delicious. Ethan was the only one who didn't like it and he had one reason: there was no milk. We sat there eating for a while and talking. I took a sip of my Mountain Dew and sat it down. Emily gave me a grin, pointing at Dylan. I looked over and he was listening to his iPad. I rolled my eyes and reached across the table. I yanked out the earpieces and sat down again, feeling like he got the message.

  He almost flicked me off, but he turned it off and stuck it in his pocket. I looked over at Mallory, seeing that she had stopped speaking long enough to finish her Philly Cheese Steak. I felt my eyes starting to droop and realized that the last time we had sleep was the night before we left. Brooke yawned and tried to get hyped up by drinking the rest of her Coke and a whole refill.

  When it was time to leave the restaurant we all paid for what we ate, so that nobody was cheated out of his or her money. We exited out into the crisp night air, and followed Austin and Skye. Dylan, Emily, and I were standing just behind them. Mallory and Mikey were arguing in hushed tones behind us, and following them was Jessie, Brooke, and Ethan. Ethan was looking at the sky, muttering Greek as we walked. I looked over at a shop that looked to be like an Old Navy or Kohl?
??s. Someone tapped my shoulder and I turned around to see that Austin had let Skye take the lead.

  We stopped and let Emily and Dylan go on ahead. We walked between them and everyone else, because Mikey had dropped back to talk to Ethan, Jessie, and Brooke, and Mallory had ran up ahead to (to more than likely argue with) Skye. I looked up at the sky, wondering why it looked so dark. I had been knocked out twice, but had I really "slept" that long? I looked down at the watch on my wrist, but it hadn't made it through the lightning bolt and landing with Ethan and Dylan. I looked up into Austin's eyes. "What time is it?" I asked, very quietly.

  He looked at his watch and squinted. "Seven thirty. How long have you been traveling?" he asked, looking up at the dark blue sky.

  "Midnight last night." I answered. He looked at me like I had said we hadn't eaten in three years.

  "Where did you guys come from?" Austin asked, and turned away, looking at his watch again.

  "Georgia. Where are we now?" I answered, and asked a question I hadn't been able to ask in a very long time, well, what felt like a very long time.

  "Georgia?" he exclaimed, like I didn't know what state I lived in. "You’re in Colorado! How'd you get here in one night and day on foot?" he exclaimed.

  I shrugged and glanced at his watch. I wasn't the talkative type with people I barely knew, but he kept following me like that, acting like we were lifelong friends, and to be honest he was creeping me out. At this age I was only used to friends and family. I shut the rest of the world out, acted like they weren't there. It was getting extremely dark now. I walked faster than him, picking up my pace until I was in the front. I was a girl who took charge when it was needed, and most listened to me. Dylan, though, didn't take orders from anyone unless he was at such a miserable point it was absolutely needed.

  I looked at Skye and Mallory, who were yelling at each other pretty darn loud. I stepped back a little until I was with Dylan and Emily, who were still holding hands. "Don't you think it's getting pretty dark?" I asked. Dylan nodded. I ran to the front and noticed Austin had been right behind me. I walked towards a patch of woods, feeling a bit uncertain. Everyone followed me though. I sat down on a rock next to an extremely narrow stream. We all just sat there for a while, not knowing what to do. I did get pieces of Mallory and Skies conversation though: "No! Percy Jackson is NOT cool! He’s ugly and stupid!" and, "You lie!" As it got darker the boys built a fire.

  I leaned against a rock, then a tree. I grabbed my bag and laid it on the forest floor. I rested my head on it, and most everyone else did the same. I lay there for a while, listening to the crackling fire. I couldn't fall asleep, even though I knew I needed to. I was pretty sure everyone was asleep so I sat up and stared at the fire. I looked over at where Austin was supposedly sleeping and saw him sit up too.

  He smiled and scooted over. I looked up into his deep brown eyes. That was when Austin leaned down and kissed me.