The Abnormals: Book One

by Isabelle Sorrells

  “You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry. But your reaction was hilarious!” Alex burst out laughing. Mark stared at Alex dumbfounded. Noticing Mark’s sudden silence and strange expression, Alex stopped laughing and looked at Mark, still wiping tears from his eyes. “What?”

  “You’re… you’re laughing,” Mark stuttered.

  “Yeah? Is something wrong?” His voice was odd and silvery as he spoke.

  “No, it’s just… it’s been a while since I heard you laugh.”

  “Well, it’s not much to laugh about lately. And the same can be said about you.”

  “Well, yeah it’s just..,” Mark trailed off and looked away.

  “Are you coming or what?” Alex asked before jumping to another branch on a different tree.

  “How did you do that?”

  “Come on, slowpoke! You can do it too,” Alex called as he jumped to a lower branch closer to the ground.

  “Are you nuts? I mean, you? Yeah, sure. But me? You are crazy.” Mark looked to the branch Alex jumped on moments before. His stomach turned to goo as he thought over what Alex was asking him to do. “What makes you think I can?”

  “You’re talking nonsense. You did it before you fell off that branch. Just forget about the falling-off part. These are one of those situations where you ‘do’ and don’t ‘think’,” Alex called. Mark sighed when Alex disappeared beneath a branch. “Oh, but don’t do that too often!” Following Alex’s instructions and before he could think twice about it Mark jumped. When he hit the branch he teetered on his feet before crouching to a squatting position and grabbing the branch.

  “I did it! I actually did it!”

  “Yes, I can see that. Now stop gawking over it. The sun is rising and we have to get back before they wake up.” Alex appeared two branches below him. Mark jumped down to Alex. They both exchanged glances before taking off and jumping from one branch to another, making their way to their friends.

  “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Mark shouted as he leapt off another branch.

  “Well, you certainly aren’t dreaming,” Alex smirked. Alex leapt farther and farther ahead of Mark, leaving him behind.

  “I hadn’t realized we went so far,” said Mark once he caught up to Alex. Alex didn’t answer. Mark looked down at Alex, who was now squatting with his hand against the trunk. He showed no signs of moving on. Alex’s silence began to scare Mark and he started to talk.

  “What’s going on? Is there another wolf? Is everything okay? The others are fine, right? Wait, how would you know? You wouldn’t know. Would you know? Probably not.”

  Alex put his fingers to his lips and Mark stopped blabbering. Minutes passed and Mark became antsy. “What are we doing?” Mark asked. Alex shot up to a standing position as a dark, tall, smoky figure appeared then disappeared behind a cluster of trees.

  “Let’s go,” Alex’s voice was sincere. He bounded from one tree to another, not waiting for Mark. Mark struggled to keep up with him and within seconds he was far behind. Alex couldn’t wait for him to catch up or he would lose sight of that thing. This is probably for the best, Alex thought. If this was what Alex thought it was, Mark would better be far out of harm’s way. Alex watched as the strange creature disappeared behind a tree. Alex jumped through some bushes, expecting whatever that thing was to appear, but it was gone.

  Alex, now on the ground, walked back to a tree where Mark sat on a branch a few feet up.

  “Man, how are you so fast?” asked Mark once Alex reached him. Alex ignored the question.

  “The thing got away.”

  “Are you sure there was even anything at all? I didn’t see anything.”

  Alex didn’t have time to argue before a scream filled the air. Mark looked to Alex as if to ask, “what was that?” But he was already up and running through the forest.

  By the time Mark had finally caught up, the creature that Alex had chased was already leaning over them all. Brooke stood frozen to the spot, and David was trying to shake her out of her trance. Nicole stood off farther away with a stick in her hand. She looked as though she were about to throw it, but she was too scared to move.

  “Is that the monster that almost killed Brooke? It has a scar in the same spot you struck it.” Mark pointed out a black smoky scar in the creature’s side as he leapt off the branches and stood by Alex’s side. Alex recognized the creature as a Clandestine Brobdingnagian thanks to his conversations with Jack.

  “Go get them out of danger, I’ll lure the thing away.” Alex ran in between the monster and Brooke and David. Alex pushed them out of the way as the monster’s hand came crashing down. With his sword out and tip pointed up, Alex braced for the impact.

  “Alex!” Nicole shouted.

  The Clandestine Brobdingnagian howled in pain and lifted its hand, revealing a fresh cut where Alex’s sword was lodged and at the end of it, barely hanging on was Alex. Alex gripped the handle of his sword tight, for if he let go he would fall to his death. Alex watched in horror as the hand rose higher and higher into the air. Soon he was far above the trees and there was still a ways to go. Suddenly Alex felt a jolt.

  He looked up in time for another jolt to cause him to fall a few inches. The sword was slowly falling out of the cut. The third jolt was the last, for it was then that his sword dislodged itself. Alex fell through a bed of leaves and continued to fall to his death. Thinking quickly, Alex lunged toward a branch and grabbed it with one hand while his other hand held tightly onto the handle of his sword.

  Alex used his momentum to swing a 360 around the branch and let go, hurtling himself back toward the monster. As he flew, he swung his sword above his head. When Alex came in contact with the ferocious beast, he lodged his sword once again into its smoky exterior. With Alex’s extra weight, the sword slid down its skin revealing a large black hole. Then the sword stopped sliding. The monster swiped wildly, trying to swipe Alex off him, but Alex ducked and the monster was unable to get to him.

  Alex kicked and swung himself onto the edge of his sword, making him able to stand. As the monster’s hand swept past him, Alex, using his sword as leverage, —jumped and landed on its wrist. Suddenly, the wrist zoomed up into the air. Alex used his sword to keep him from falling, and before he knew it he came face-to-face with the Clandestine Brobdingnagian.

  That’s when he saw them. Its eyes. They were a piercing fiery red with no pupils. It looked as if the monster had no soul. Alex ripped his sword out of the beast’s wrist and began to run up its arm. All the while, its other arm hit and swung, desperately trying to knock Alex off. Once he was close enough, he leapt off the arm and plunged his sword into one of its fiery red eyes. The beast let out a deafening scream and fell backwards into a tree. The tree tilited, and if the monster hadn’t gotten up immediately the creature would have fallen over.

  Alex began to make his way toward the other eye, but the monster caught him off guard and slammed it’s palm into Alex, sending him with a crash to the ground. Alex tried to get up, but the monster pinned him down with its hand. It began to push down hard, squeezing the breath out of him. Alex screamed in agony as his ribs began to cave in and air failed to travel through his lungs.

  “Leave him alone!” Brooke shouted from somewhere behind him. Her voice echoed with a strong confidence, and it had so much power within its volume Alex was unable to recognize it as Brooke’s. Alex tilted his head back to look at Brooke as his vision began to be consumed by darkness. His eyes widened at what he saw.

  Brooke was staring intently at the trees and her arms were at her sides. Her palms were opened wide and facing the ground, outlined with a strange light purple line. David had fallen and was sitting and staring up at her in astonishment. Nicole had turned, now facing Brooke, her hands down in front of her, still gripping the stick so tightly that her knuckles were white. Mark had his back against a tree, hardly believing what was happening. A
lex heard a loud crack above him, and he turned his head to look back at the monster.

  Every tree surrounding him and the monster was outlined with a glowing purple, the same color that outlined Brooke’s hands. The roots looked as though they were being ripped out of the ground by an invisible hand. Suddenly, the trees crashed down upon the monster. The monster let out another shriek before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

  TWENTY-TWO

  Alex stared, completely bewildered and too shocked to move, at the felled trees where the giant monster once stood. He took in a relieved breath now that his lungs were free. Alex laid his head on the ground and relaxed, sucking in air greedily. Mark was the first to recover from the shock. Mark pushed himself off the tree he was leaning on and walked over to where David was standing, waiting for him to recover as well so he could help him off the ground. Nicole was the second to recover, standing upright, she walked over to Brooke, who had not moved from her spot. Her shoulders shook slightly, and she stared intently at the ground in front of her. Her hands were closed tightly into fists.

  “Brooke? Are you all right?” asked Nicole. Brooke remained silent. She breathed heavily a few times before looking up at Nicole. Only then did she stop clenching her fists, and her breathing turned normal. After this, David recovered from the shock and pulled himself to his knees. David grabbed for Mark’s hand but missed and tumbled into the dirt. Mark grabbed his hands and yanked him off the ground.

  “What the?” David whispered under his breath, his eyes wide.

  “Is everyone …. okay?” Brooke asked. She had regained her normal posture although her shoulders were still shaking and her mouth was parched.

  “Yeah, we’re all fine, but are you okay? I can’t believe you did that!” replied Mark.

  “I was just a little frightened, that’s all. I’m still confused about what exactly happened,” Brooke said, finding it easier to form words.

  “Wait, where’s Alex?” asked Nicole. Alex raised his hand off the ground and waved it lazily as he groaned.

  “Alex! Dude, you all right?” David asked as they all ran toward the body sprawled across the ground. Alex stood up and scratched his head.

  “Tip-top. Other than that fact that that monster just tried to kill me, but otherwise, tip top. Anyway, let’s get going. The sun has risen, and we do not want to lose any daylight,” Alex declared. “The fight with that… that... Clandestine Brobdingnagian, yeah that’s it, took longer than I thought.” Alex tilted his head back and sniffed the air.

  “What are you doing?” asked David.

  “A storm’s coming,” Alex replied.

  “What?” asked Mark.

  “A storm’s coming,” Alex repeated bluntly. “We should cover as much ground as we can, then find some sort of shelter. I assume you don’t want to sleep in a thunderstorm?” Alex asked, grabbing his backpack and hauling it on his shoulders.

  “He’s right. It smells good,” Nicole observed. “Fresh and... earthly.”

  They had only gotten half a mile before the rain came down.

  “We have to find shelter!” Nicole shouted over the roar of the thunder.

  “I have some tents! And a few oil lamps, I think!” David shouted back. Mark, Nicole, Brooke, and Alex turned around and gave David a cold, surprised stare.

  “You couldn’t have told us this earlier? Oh, I don’t know…when we first opened our eyes to a hot, sandy beach and not a cold, metal ship?” Mark shouted.

  “Sorry! I forgot I had them. I just remembered now!” shouted David. David and the others dashed beneath a large tree and rushed to put up the tents. They were forced to work quickly as the rain grew heavy and strong, causing their final draft to not be the best tent ever built. They managed to create two tents, so that the girls could have one and the boys could have the other. Once they were safe and dry within the folds of the tent, Alex lifted up the flap for the door and peeked out. Even though it was early morning, it was as black as night outside.

  “What are we going to do? It looks like we won’t be going out until tomorrow at this point,” Alex mused as he dropped the flap and turned back to the shadowy figures of the two boys.

  “We could talk or play games until we fall asleep,” suggested David. He pulled out a match out of a match-box and struck it against the side. A small flame sprung from the small stick, casting a dim light across their faces. “There isn’t really much to do in this cramped tent,” David said as he opened the glass door of the oil lamp and carefully dipped the flame on the candle. Once the candle was lit, he withdrew the match and closed the door once again. The tent was immediately filled with a bright light. David flicked his wrist and the match was put out.

  “I guess we could do that,” replied Mark. “Now that I think of it, Alex what did you call that monster again?”

  “Clandestine Brobdingnagian. Why?” By the time Alex had realized what he said, it was too late to take it back.

  “How did you know that’s what it was called?” asked David. Alex started to wander off in thought, pondering about whether he should tell them about Jack or wait like he was told to. He didn’t have enough time to decide before David snapped him out of his thoughtful gaze.

  “Hello? Earth to Alex!” David shouted a little too loudly. Alex gasped and fell on his back, startled by David’s shout.

  “Tone it down a bit, will you? You’re louder than the thunder outside,” Alex said, sitting back up. “I’ll tell you later.” Alex looked at David and Mark. Behind them, a long shadow dashed across the yellow rubber outside. “What was that?” Alex asked quickly.

  “What was what?” Mark asked, turning around and catching a glimpse of the shadow. This time it was his turn to fall backwards, except instead of gasping he screamed.

  “What is wrong with you people? You are such wimps,” David observed. The shadow traveled across the sides of the tent so that it was directly beside David. David jumped and quickly scrambled away, ramming into Mark, sending them both to the ground. Alex stood up and walked outside, curious of what the shadow could have been.

  The heavy rain pelted against Alex’s skin like millions of needles. He shivered against the freezing rain. Alex looked at the side of the tent where the shadow was, expecting to see an animal, but nothing was there. Before Alex could allow himself to be drenched any further, he jumped into the tent and wrapped himself in Mark’s extra sleeping bag to warm his freezing body.

  “There was nothing out there,” Alex said.

  “It was probably just some squirrel. Let me see.” David stood up and walked outside. A minute later, David emerged from the tent flap, soaking wet and shivering. His skin was beet red, and he continued to sneeze repeatedly.

  “Ah! It’s freezing out there!” David sat down and curled up in his sleeping bag as Alex had done.

  “I told you. You didn’t have to go out there,” Alex scolded.

  “Looks painful,” Mark laughed. “Your skin is red!” David and Mark began to laugh but were stopped cold when a bright streak of light flashed across the sky so bright they could see it through the tent, and it temporarily blinded them. Alex, Mark, and David scrambled over one another as they struggled to crawl outside. They all fell out of the tent and into the mud. Once they were out, they noticed Brooke and Nicole had also come out of their tents and were staring at the sky.

  “Did you see that?” David asked, pausing to catch his breath before continuing to untangle himself from the three bodies.

  “Obviously, or they wouldn’t be out here,” Mark stated, rolling his eyes. Suddenly, everything stopped. It seemed as if time itself had stopped and they were the only ones still moving. Even the rain stopped falling. The small droplets of rain sat still in the air, suspended by time. The bunch of tangled boys quickly scrambled to their feet to see the strange phenomenon more clearly.

  “Something weird is definitely going on here,” David
acknowledged.

  “You’re just noticing that now?” Nicole asked. Alex ignored them and raised his hand. Slowly, Alex reached out and with the end of his fingertip touched a raindrop that floated in the air. At that moment, a loud boom shook the earth and then, a streak of blinding light filled the sky. When the light faded away, they looked up to see a tree in the distance come crashing down.

  “Get in the tent! It’s partially made of rubber so the lightning won’t harm it!” shouted David. They all ran back for the tents and jumped in, landing in a dog pile.

  “Hey, what are you guys doing in here?” asked Mark when he saw that the girls had jumped in the boys’ tent as well.

  “Sorry, it was instinct to go where everyone else goes,” Brooke answered.

  “You should be a leader not a follower,” Alex stated. “But it’s probably a good thing. We should stay together. Especially during a storm like this. But I’m tired, and I was up half the night, so good night.” Alex lay on top of the sleeping bag and turned toward the door of the tent, closing his eyes.

  “Are you kidding me? You’re actually suggesting we sleep in this storm?” asked David.

  “Yes,” Alex replied. The sound of his friends’ voices trailed off into silence as he drifted asleep.

  Alex woke up first the next morning. He felt a strange weight against his back, and he turned his head over his shoulder. Piled up on top of one another were, his friends, sleeping soundly as close to him as they could get. Alex stood up, slowly pushing David’s head off his leg, careful not to wake him. Alex listened intently for any sound indicating that the storm was still raging outside but he heard nothing.

  To his surprise, Alex walked outside to see the sun shining through the thick canopy, lighting up the woods entirely. For as long as Alex had spent on this island, he had never seen the sun shine so brightly, let alone through the thick canopy.

  Alex looked around him, expecting to see droplets of water dripping off the leaves and the trunks saturated with water. But there wasn’t a speck of water in sight. The bark was so dried up when Alex touched it, it crumbled into his hands. Alex looked to the ground, surprised to find the dirt as dry as the desert. He knelt down and ran his hand across the dirt, only to jerk it away. It was scorching hot.