He tossed a throwing star at Ruby. I tried to catch the star but it passed through my hand and struck Ruby in the chest. Grabbing her chest, Ruby fell to the ground.
“What did you do to her?” I demanded.
Aunt Mika came to Ruby’s side. Putting a hand on Ruby’s head she said, “She’s burning up!”
“Let me guess,” Ruby coughed, “there is a phantom ninja here and he hit me with some sort of phantom weapon.”
“Yes, how did you know that?”
Smiling Ruby pointed to her brain. “I read a lot.”
“I tried to catch it, but it passed right through me,” I told her.
Ruby sighed, “You have to use your own mental energies…”
The ninja somersaulted over the car. “Do not believe the doomed girl. She talks nonsense!” the ninja insisted.
I spun towards the ninja. “How could you do that to her? She’s my best friend!”
“Oh, how nice,” Ruby whispered.
I swiped at the phantom ninja and my claws passed through him.
“I have no physical substance in this world yet. You can’t harm me!” he said. “I can harm you, but I do not wish to. We want you to join us because you will make us stronger.”
“Not going to happen!” I said.
The phantom ninja shrugged. “If you join us, I will save your friend…”
Now that was something I hadn’t been expecting. I didn’t really want to be a phantom ninja...but I couldn’t let Ruby die.
I looked at Ruby. She coughed and said, “You can fight this thing.”
“I’m not a thing! I’m a phantom ninja!” the ninja insisted.
“Fight this thing!” Ruby repeated. “You just need to use mental energy, not physical energy. You can’t just punch and claw your way out of everything!”
“Yes, yes you can!” the ninja insisted. “The world is for the strong, the weak are nothing!”
“I thought you protected the weak?” Aunt Mika said.
The ninja nodded. “We do, but there may be a slight charge or cost involved. I tend to lie a lot. I am bad.”
I locked my eyes and my mind on the throwing star in Ruby. I sensed that the damage it was causing was more mental than physical. I reached for the star...but with my thoughts, not my hands. At first, I couldn't get a mental grip on it, but I didn't give up or waver. I kept my mind and eyes glued to the star. I felt a connection. It felt amazing. It felt like the throwing star was now a hand of a finger that I could control. I pulled the throwing star back using nothing but my thoughts. The star rose out of Ruby. Ruby smiled.
“Her temp is returning to normal,” Aunt Mika called out.
I turned towards the ninja as I pulled the star with my mind. The throwing star shot into the ninja’s chest. He took a step back. His eyes popped open. “Now, I did not see that happening.”
The phantom ninja shivered as he faded into nothingness.
“Now that’s using your head. Literally!” Ruby said springing to her feet.
I rushed forward and hugged Ruby, lifting her off the ground. “Ruby! Are you alright?” I cried.
“Yep, I’m fine.” Pointing at her blouse she said, “Not even a rip or a tear.”
“What did we learn from all this?” Aunt Mika asked as we walked into the house.
“Ruby is super smart and I probably shouldn’t put her to sleep just cause I am in a bad mood,” I said.
“We also learned that Nina is at least as mentally strong as she is physically strong, if not stronger!” Ruby said. “Oh and that we can’t trust phantom ninjas.” A slight pause... “But we really should have known that anyhow.”
“Good point!” I said with a smile.
Walking towards the house I said, “I’m kind of surprised Mom didn’t sense what was wrong and come out to help us.”
Nina Note: I am very glad that I am great friends with Ruby. Funny, when I first met her I thought I would be her protector, as being a normal human she couldn’t be as strong as me. And in a way I was right, she’s not as strong as me. But that doesn't mean she still can't really help me out. She analyses situations and she really knows her stuff. In fact, it's like she can eat up information and become a walking living Google. Yes, I am very lucky to have her as my best friend and my equal.
Chapter 9: Home Chaos
Reaching for the doorknob to enter our house I quickly noticed it was missing.
“Right, we have gremlins,” I sighed.
“You guys lead the most interest lives!” Ruby gushed.
“I could use a little boring,” I sighed.
The door opened for us. Mom stood there holding another unconscious gremlin in her hands. “I just caught this little bugger,” Mom said.
She tossed the gremlin into an electric cage on the kitchen table. Mom smiled. “Your dad made a cage that they can’t escape from.” Rubbing her hands together excitedly, Mom said, “Gremlins always travel in packs of seven. We have six of them. Once we catch them all we can get the last one to talk!”
“How do we catch the last one?” I asked.
Mom sat down at the table. She kicked her feet up. She took a sip from a cup of coffee. She put the cup down. The plate holding it disappeared. “I’m glad you asked,” Mom said with a smile. “How was your day?”
“It was terrible!” I moaned. “Let me put it this way...our house being invaded by gremlins was far from the worst thing to happen to me today! The ultimate mean girl, some girl named Sasha, is giving Ruby and I a hard time about being in the Science Fair.”
Mom shook her head. “You kids take this Science Fair much too seriously. I'm sure even your dad would agree.“ Mom took another sip, savoring it. Then asked, “What else?”
I knew I had to choose my words carefully here. “There is a boy and I thought he liked me. But it turns out, he doesn’t…” I sighed.
“Now, Nina you can’t be sure of that,” Ruby told me.
“Well boys can be pains,” Mom said. “It’s good that you are learning that now.”
“Hey, I can hear all of this over the intercom system,” Dad said. “Some boys are nice! I was a nice boy and a science geek growing up. And no, you can't take science too seriously.” A pause. “But science should also be fun. It's not always easy, but that adds to the fun. When are you girls coming down to work on your science project?”
“After they help me, dear,” Mom said. She pointed at the intercom and turned it off. Mom turned back to me. “And what else happened, Nixy?”
“A phantom ninja appeared and told me that they want me to become one of them,” I groaned.
“Hmmm, that can’t be good. I don’t know a lot about phantom ninjas but I know they aren’t good news,” Mom said.
“Then when I wouldn’t join them, he attacked poor Ruby!”
Ruby nodded. “He did.”
“You’d be proud of her,” Aunt Mika said. “She saved Ruby and got rid of the phantom ninja.”
“Great job!” Mom was impressed. “And it’s pretty warm out today too. Right?”
“Yes,” I said, not sure what she was getting at.
“Perfect,” Mom said. Pointing to the table she said. “Take your shoes off and point your feet at the cage!”
“I’ll be leaving the room now. I want to stay mostly dead, not become totally dead. No offense, Nina.”
“Just a little taken,” I said, though I knew that my feet probably did stink right now. I looked at Mom and said, “I can’t take my shoes off with Ruby nearby. I’ve already put her to sleep once today.”
Mom gazed at Ruby. “Ruby dear, head down to Franklin's lab, the room is equipped with air filters so you should be fine.”
Ruby looked at me. “I’m sure your feet can’t be that bad.”
“To be on the safe side you’d better go!“ I informed her. It had been a long terrible day and my feet smelled of working sweat, worried sweat and anger sweat...I was pretty certain my feet could be classified as a deadly weapon.
“Y
ou can start work on the project, honey,” Mom smiled to Ruby as she left. Turning back to me, Mom said, “Point your feet at the cage and remove your shoes.”
“Mom, isn’t that kind of a cruel thing to do, even to gremlins?”
“Trust me, honey, gremlins love foot odor. That’s why so many socks go missing. Gremlins steal them and bring them to their lairs and sniff them.”
“Oh gross!” I said.
Mom shook her head. “Nope, just different.”
Actually, it had been such a lousy, terrible day; I kind of liked the idea of blasting these gremlins with my stinky feet. Placing my legs up on the table I kicked my shoes off, sticking my toes right next to the cage.
The gremlins in the cage all rushed towards my toes.
“Me first!” one yelled.
“No me!” another yelled.
“Me, me, me!” a third said.
“Don’t worry, her feet aren’t going anywhere,” Mom told them.
The first gremlin pushed his round furry head towards my toes. He took a deep breath. He pulled back, his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He smiled and then fell over.
Another pushed against the side of the cage and did exactly the same thing. The rest followed. Soon all six captured gremlins lay unconscious in the cage. They all had silly grins on their faces.
“How does this help us?” I asked Mom. “Knocked out gremlins can’t talk.”
“True,” Mom said. “Put your shoes back on, please.”
I started to slide my feet back into my sneakers.
“No!” an invisible voice cried. “My turn. My turn! I want my turn. I insist on my turn! I need that amazing stench!”
“Show yourself!” Mom ordered.
A little blue Gremlin appeared. “I am GooGoo, leader of this pack! I demand a whiff of those socks!”
“Keep your shoes on,” Mom told me.
GooGoo’s face dropped. “But why? You gladly let the others have a sniff!”
“Tell me who summoned you to us!” Mom demanded. “And then I’ll allow Nina to give you a good whiff.”
“Can we take her socks with us when the others wake up?” GooGoo asked.
“Sure!” Mom said.
“Wait, what?” I said. “I love these socks.”
“Honey your sweat is pretty much-burning holes in those socks. They won't last much longer,” Mom told me.
“Fine!” I said.
GooGoo waved towards the table. “Now put your feet up and let me have it!”
“First the name,” Mom said. “I’m going to make them pay.”
“Her name is Jasmine. Pretty, but a scary lady!” GooGoo actually sounded seriously scared.
“Do you know her?” I asked Mom.
“Yes and so do you,” Mom said. “You just know her as Grandma Jasmine.”
“What! Your mom cursed us with gremlins?” I said. “Why?”
Mom pointed to GooGoo, “We’ll ask her right after you knock this guy out.”
I popped my feet out of my shoes again and plopped them onto the table. Wiggling my toes I aimed my feet at a happy GooGoo. He leaned in and waved his fingers over my toes engulfing him in the scent. He smiled and fell back to the table. He lay there twitching but smiling.
“Mother! Get here now!” my mom ordered.
Mom walked over to one of the kitchen windows and opened them.
“Airing out the room?” I asked.
“Well, that and providing a way in for your grandma, she is very old school.”
A brown bat flew into through the window. The bat landed on the floor. The bat transformed into my grandma. Grandma Jasmine had to be five-hundred-years old, but she didn’t look much older than Mom. In fact, the two of them could easily pass as sisters.
“I see the gremlins ratted me out huh?” Grandma Jasmine said. “You can never trust those little imps. Actually, imps you can trust because you can bind them to you. But gremlins…”
“Mother!” my mom shouted. “I haven't seen you in over five years! Why did you put the curse of gremlins on us? Why?”
“Right,” Grandma Jasmine said. She pointed at me and smiled. “You are becoming quite lovely, you look just like me,” Grand Q told me. Turning to my mom, she said, “I guess adding weretiger DNA to our line wasn't THAT bad.”
“Thanks, Mom, but why did you curse us?” my mom repeated.
“Don’t yell at your mother!” Grandma Jasmine said, glaring at Mom.
Mom froze in her place.
“There now, that’s better,” Grandma Jasmine said. “This is between you and me!” she told me.
My other grandma appeared between us. “Now, Jasmine you leave this dear girl alone!” Grandma T said.
“I hate people who don’t know enough to just stay dead,” Grandma Jasmine said. She pointed at Grandma, Dad’s mother. Grandma dissolved.
“Grandma Jasmine!” I said.
“She’s not any deader than she was,” Grandma Jasmine told me. “Just quieter for now.”
“Grandma Jasmine, what’s this about?” I demanded.
“Please, honey. You’re a big girl now. Just call me Jasmine.”
“I’m not sure I can,” I said.
“Grandma makes me sound so old. I don’t like sounding old,” Grandma Jasmine said.
“Fine, Jasmine, what is this all about?”
“You, Nina. I’ve tapped into your house gnome; I know what you did with your powers!”
Shaking my head and biting my lips I fought back the urge to scream. “Grandma Jasmine, yes I used my powers in public, but nobody besides my friends saw me.”
“I don't care who saw you!” Grandma Jasmine insisted. “I care that you're used your powers to help out an old lady when you didn't need to. That's a waste of powers!”
“Grandma Jasmine, helping others is not a waste of power!” I insisted.
“Drop the ‘grandma’, please!”
“I said grandma on purpose because you are frustrating me. You won’t listen to what I am saying!” I yelled.
“Honey, you weren’t around in the old days when the humans really hated us. Back before movies and TV made us glamorous. I don’t think we should ever help humans,” Grandma said.
I held my ground. “I totally disagree! They are scared of us because of what some of us have done in the past. But that’s long over. I want humans and vampires to learn to coexist someday.”
“Ain’t going to happen. Humans can’t handle our power. They either want it or are scared of it.” Grandma Jasmine said.
I leaned into her. My claws slipped out. “I see the world differently. People are changing and so should we. Change is good.”
“You have spunk, girl,” Grandma Jasmine said.
“Thanks!”
Grandma Jasmine shook her head. “Not a compliment. I don’t like spunk. I prefer minions who just do what I order when I order it. I love being bowed down to.”
“I don’t bow easily,” I said.
Grandma Jasmine took a step backward. “You are brave, and I do like that. But I still don’t trust humans.”
We heard a knock at the door. There stood Frank knocking away.
“Hey, the door is weird,” Frank said.
“I picked up a doorknob that now sat on the kitchen table. I placed the knob on the door and opened it. Frank walked in covered with sweat. He saw the out cold Gremlins.
“Did I do any of that?” he asked.
“Nope, that was all me!” I admitted.
“Cool,” Frank said. Frank finally noticed Grandma Jasmine.
“Jasmine! So nice of your to visit!” Frank gushed.
I couldn’t believe that Frank was making her feel so welcome. “She is the one who cursed us with gremlins,” I told him.
Grandma Jasmine came over and gave Frank a hug lifting him off the ground. “How is my huge little boy?”
“Great!” Frank said. “But why did you send the gremlins?”
Grandma Jasmine lowered Frank to the ground. Tilti
ng her head upward so she could look at him, she said, “Because Nixy used her powers to help a human.”
Without even a thought Frank replied, “But Grandma Jasmine, I’m human.”
It’s true. Since Vampires can somehow only have one child, Mom and Dad were forced to use other means to have a second child. Dad literally made Frank in a lab.
“But honeykins, your dad used all the best of human DNA to make you,” Grandma Jasmine said.
“Still all 101% human,” Frank said.
Obviously, dad did not use his own brilliant brain DNA when making Frank. Of course, he had his own unique wisdom, I guess.
Grandma Jasmine nodded her head. “Yes, what a huge boy you are.” She took a deep breath. She snapped her fingers. “I remove my curse of gremlins on you.”
“Thanks, Grandma,” Frank said.
“Yes, Jasmine thank you,” I added.
Jasmine shook her head. “No. Thank you, kids. For forcing a mature but still beautiful lady to open her eyes a bit more.” She flapped her arms, turned into a bat and flew out the window she came in. The gremlins on the table disappeared.
Mom started to move again. “I hate it when she does that!”
Mom walked over and threw her arms around Frank and me. “I love both of you.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I said, patting her on the back.
I headed up to my room to shower before joining Dad and Ruby in the lab.
Nina Note: Wow, for all the weirdness in my life such as using my stinky feet to get Gremlins to talk, I'm still amazed at how sometimes Frank's pure goodness saves the days. My bro is really amazing, of course, he was built to be.
Chapter 10: The Letter
On the way up to our rooms Frank stopped and of course, I bumped into him.
“What gives bro?” I asked.
“Me. I need to give you the letter,” he said. “From Jimmy,” he whispered and winked.
Frank reached into his back pocket and pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper. He handed it to me. “I tried not to fart on it,” he said.
“Thanks, I appreciate the effort,” I told him.
“What does it say?” I asked.
Frank shrugged. “No idea. Not my letter,” he said. “I’m guessing from the sad look on his face that he misses you or something like that.” Frank smiled. “Now I really need to hit the showers before we work on our Science Fair project.”
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