Preternatural (Worlds & Secrets)

by Lloyd Harry-Davis

  “Wait! How bad are they?” Jaden asked shyly.

  “Let’s just say that you wouldn’t want to be alive during their reign,” Tammy blatantly said. I sighed hollowly, now unsettled and anguish easily read from my face.

  “But I don’t get it. What would they want with us?” Jaden asked. At that split second, mum froze and was stopped in her tracks. She looked up at Anne and Tantrus from the corners of her eyes and they returned the shockingly questionable glance.

  “We’re not saying they would want anything with you per-se. We’re just making sure you were aware of the circumstances,” mum shadily replied with doubt interwoven in her words.

  “Again, this is a lot to take in,” Jade repeated.

  “Aden, Jaden, Jade, listen closely: you all need to be careful. As the void expands and tears, it allows more and more to pass through until finally the Barons can get out. But there was something Tammy left out,” we looked at Tammy suspiciously. “Maybe about certain grinning demons.”

  The looks of doubt we gave Tammy made her feel very uneasy. Finally, she gave in with a deep exhalation.

  “I didn’t want to get you too worried, but the void has already been punctured. The Lurkers can now weave their way out and now the void is large enough for them to call Demon Grinners.”

  “Aw no,” Tantrus exhaled. A look of fright swept over everyone but us.

  “Wait, what’s so bad about these Demon Grinners?”

  “There are nine of them; one for each continent on Earth, one for Vernaesce and one for the Barons. Two are now awake,” Robbie answered.

  “They grin because they pride themselves on seeing people in pain,” Jojo said plainly, fiddling with the tips of her hair.

  “So, somehow like a sadist?” I asked. “Something similar to that,” mum started. “But now that you will all start living here and go through changes, you all just have to promise to be careful. Also, none of you must breathe a word of this to anyone.”

  “Why? Not saying that I will; but why?”

  “The rest of Vernaesce thinks it’s a myth,” Jojo said, practically pouncing on me with the answer. Jaden and I looked at each other awkwardly from the corners of our eyes.

  “As in…they don’t believe it’s true?” Jaden asked before I got a chance to.

  “No. As in they actually think it’s a myth. Like Norwegian folklore or Greek mythology. When parents want to tell their small children creepy stories, they talk of ‘the tales of the Nobles’– not knowing they exist! Since all the warriors except dad who fought in the war are dead and since the initial conflicts between them and the current monarchy were confidential, there’s no one to testify that the existence of the Nobles was ever real or to carry on the tales,” Jojo quickly responded.

  “So say a word about this to a Vernaescian and they’ll think you’re crazy,” granddad joked.

  “When has anybody ever thought otherwise?” Jade said to me in a brash tone with a wink and devious smile.

  “That’s ironic,” I mumbled. “How is it ironic?” mum asked with a slight smile.

  “Well, on Earth if we told anybody we were aliens they wouldn’t believe us, and here where everyone has powers and the like, they wouldn’t believe that there are other existing super-beings? That has irony written all over it,” I answered dully. At this point, I felt like I was spinning. I just couldn’t tell what was real anymore. What had started out as a normal week, had gradually evolved into a twisted, warped and more gruesome version of Alice in Wonderland.

  Jade slowly leaned over to Tammy. “What happened to you?” she whispered calmly.

  “I don’t know, what did happen to me?” Tammy repeated to Jade, lost in what Jade was trying to ask.

  “You’re burnt.” Jade looked at Tammy’s arm and then back at her. All attention suddenly turned to the two girls. Tammy had a scar of a bad burn that had tried to heal itself over time but seemed to have rather deformed her skin. It stretched down from her left shoulder to her left hand.

  “Oh, that’s not an actual burn,” she told Jade. “It’s just a cover up for a Vernaescian birth mark. Look, Robbie and Jojo have one too.”

  Robbie’s mark was on his right arm where his armband was. It stretched from his right elbow to his right hand and Jojo had hers on the back of her right and left hands. But I had never seen that burn on Jojo’s hands before until now. It must have been the mirror illusion that allowed us to see each other the way we do now. Since I hadn’t seen my true self this entire time, neither could I see Jojo in hers.

  Robbie waved his left hand over his right arm. I watched, mesmerised at how the mark cleared up only to divulge his smooth brown complexioned skin. Then, a pattern slowly began to emerge as if it were being drawn onto his skin with an invisible marker. From his elbow, intricate, swirl-like Celtic patterns were marking themselves in thick inky black on his right arm until they reached his right hand, just like a tattoo.

  Jojo and Tammy did the same. They waved their hands over the areas which were burnt and revealed the same sorts of complex labyrinthine black patterns.

  “You see, Vernaescians have some strange connection to the ancient Celts. These are Celtic patterns. Our lineage also crosses with Norsemen,” Tammy explained.

  “Oh, that’s so cool! I wish I had one of those,” Jade uttered to herself, biting down on her lip stud. Jojo chuckled.

  “You can’t just get them. They’re naturally attained during childhood. You guys grew up on Earth and therefore didn’t get them. But you’re here now so…”

  Robbie pointed to our arms with his chin and gesticulated for us to look to where he had prompted. Jade, Jaden and I looked at our arms and automatically felt a sudden, deep cold rushing circularly around our arms. On me, the Celtic patterns appeared on my hands, spreading from the fire holes and extending to my elbows on each arm.

  For Jade, her marks wrapped her left arm. They started off at her left shoulder, then went spiralling down to her hand. Finally, they stretched up her palm and wrapped itself around her middle finger. And for Jaden, his patterns appeared as a straight line on his right arm. It went from his left wrist to his forearm’s crease.

  “That is so cool!” I exclaimed quietly, strangely unable to let out a smile due to my astonishment. But as we were watching the outlines being drawn onto our arms, they glowed, reflecting light on our various faces. Jojo’s reflected emerald green light, Robbie had a bright and plain white light, Jade had a purple one, Tammy’s was that of an intense pink that faded into a purple and followed by repetition, Jaden had a golden luminescence and mine was bizarrely multi-coloured; starting off as a blue, fading into a red, eventually changing into a green, then taking form of a yellow, morphing into an azure and finally into a turquoise – and then repeating carefully.

  “What are those colours?” Jaden asked, analysing his arm.

  “At the moment, that’s your ability manifesting itself. But it’s generally just your power,” replied Jojo. Jade looked at her arm, examining it in excitement and curiosity.

  “This is so cool,” she muttered. Suddenly, her patterns shone for a split second and the glass of the armoire instantly shattered, shards exploding in all directions as Jade had her hand outstretched.

  “Sorry,” she muttered, red-faced, whilst Robbie quickly repaired it.

  “You said we were descendants of Celts, from which part of Europe?” Jaden asked.

  “Irish, my ancestors hailed from Celtic Ireland.” I sighed and ran my fingers through my long blue hair, thinking about all the news that was just dumped on me, on us.

  “But we have just been attacked. Do you think it safe for us to go back?” my brother asked, more than worried.

  “You won’t be going back. A couple of years back, I had a house built here on Vernaesce. Tantrus, Anne and Jojo have been living there and will continue to do so,” mum answered with a kind smile as she stroked my blue hair.

  “But will there be enough space?” Jade asked, however smiling at the fact
that she would be with her best friend.

  “You’ll find out soon enough,” Anne answered warmly.

  “And our stuff in London; how are we going to get that back? I’ll admit it, I’m a bit scared to return to that land of the dead,” I said.

  “And aren’t we going to go to school at all tomorrow?” asked Jaden.

  “All in good time boys,” said our grandfather resonantly, who seemed to be getting a tad fed up with the constant quizzing. Robbie scoffed. Jaden, Jade and I looked at him swiftly. He seemed so laid back, rocking on his chair and childishly attempting to play himself in a game of thumb wars blithely.

  “What’s with the attitude?” Tammy asked with a subtle smile. Robbie’s eyes zoomed up to us and his childish smile receded. He lifted both of his arms, having the straps and handles of our suitcases and bags wrapped around them and their heavy contents hanging below.

  “You didn’t?” I exclaimed in astonishment. “How?” I was honestly bewildered at how he had managed to pull that off.

  “You have a lot to learn, little sir.” Little? His jokes were surely taking the wrong turn about me and I could tell they were purely lame due to the fact that Jaden found them funny. I might’ve as well plunged into lava. Calling me a little sir – the cheek. He grew back his restrained smile as he went back to fiddling with his thumbs. Anne slammed her hands on the glass table and stood up.

  “Well, I don’t mean to be rude – but I think it’s time to get a move on. There are some things that need to be sorted out at the Supremacy,” she said with a sigh. On that note, everybody automatically rose from their seats. Jaden, Jade and I stood next to each other, obliged to be open to all the changes that would swiftly occur. It was so overwhelming that the emotion itself was starting to inflict a new feeling on us.

  “Oh, one more thing; Liam, Tammy and Robbie will be attending school with you at Cressile from now on and you’ll be having training lessons here in Vernaesce on how to tame, control and expand your abilities,” said granddad.

  “Yet you still won’t tell me what my ability is –” I snarled to myself through gritted teeth.

  “– wait, who’s Liam?” Jade quickly asked.

  “You’ll see,” granddad exhaled, rolling his eyes in a manner which emphasized how overly annoying I must have been; asking all of those questions. Jaden looked over to Jade with narrowed eyes.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Jade asked our brother as she had her leg on a chair; tightening her knee-high Converses.

  “I’m not going to feel safe around you anymore. You’re always going to be snooping around my head,” Jaden answered, still looking at Jade under his thin black eyebrows.

  “Correction: will snoop around – can’t do it yet.”

  “Oh, so you admit you will,” Jaden retaliated.

  “Jaden, stop being such a drama queen and leave your sister alone. I’ve been in your head an innumerable amount of times. Besides, there’s nothing in there but space, literature, science and more space. It’s like a bloody hard drive,” mum said bluntly as she nudged her way past the quarrelling pair. And, as if she had not said enough, she turned, looked at him and added with that evil smile that always meant embarrassment for whoever it was addressed to “oh, and that globe-big crush that you have on that tall brunette at school, stop thinking about kissing her!” Jaden’s face instantly sunk into a frown as Jade and I began to choke on our laughter.

  “Don’t worry. All will be clear and explained soon,” Tantrus added whilst Jojo disappeared with a flash of green sparks. Tantrus and Anne walked over to us.

  “Okay, hold my hand and whatever happens, do not let go.” Anne came closer to me.

  “Alright,” I replied timidly. I held my breath as my suitcase began to tremble violently, before exploding into green embers that drifted off into the atmosphere. I gasped and swiftly looked at Anne.

  “What was –?” But I had no time to speak. Our surroundings instantly exploded into rushing green and white light that circled us all too rapidly, as if we were spiralling down the middle of a chaotic, life-sized tornado of white light, green time threads and emerald embers. Anne grabbed my arms firmly as we plummeted rapidly whilst the bright spectrums circled the pair of us. I felt like tilting backwards and letting my body twist into grotesque positions like the impact of the teleportation was forcing me to do. As soon as I started leaning back however, Anne strengthened her hold on me.

  “Hang on!” she yelled through the raging vortex of time. We were both suddenly interrupted by the resonating sound of Big Ben’s chiming bells. We looked up and saw what seemed to be the life-sized Queen Elizabeth Tower falling towards us with great momentum. Anne wrapped her arm around me and shot her other hand up towards the colossal monument dropping towards us. It immediately dispersed into millions of green embers.

  “WHAT WAS THAT?!” I yelled.

  “I’m sorry! I must have gotten too close to London. Stay still – WE’RE HERE!” she responded through the raging tornado of light. We were still dropping vertically at an unwitnessed speed. I closed my eyes. Suddenly, just when I expected to crash and disfigure my body, it seemed that the ground had been elevated to stand underneath my feet. My knees bent slightly as green embers suddenly spread out from Anne and me in an explosion. We had arrived.

  I was suddenly imposed with a silence, sweeping over me as I was given time to absorb this very prodigious and phenomenal experience whilst Anne let go of me. Suddenly, at that moment…I think I accepted it. And when I did, I could have sworn that a part inside me clicked, embracing all that I knew I was and possibly becoming. I had something to properly distinguish me from others and apart from always looking different, I finally felt it. And deep down, everyone’s wanted some form of power – and I had it. I just didn’t know what it was yet. It was time to see my new life.

  I opened my eyes.

  CHAPTER 6.

  A New Home

  Anne and I stood in a pathway outlined by tall oak trees, each with their branches towered over us. My suitcase was right next to me. I guess I now know where it had been sent. The house stood there in all its magnificence in front of us, an infusion of a modern house, a mansion and a tree. It was painted in the lightest magnolia, resembling a cube of vanilla with a few rays of light brushing against it. On one part, light leafy-green vines crept to the balcony that surrounded the entire upper section with eyes that were Victorian windows. The roof of dark brown tiles made the house seem as if it was born from the trees surrounding it. It was tucked away in the depths of the tall aisle oaks in a space of misty shadows where green mist and fractions of broken sunlight trickled in front of the house. The other large oaks behind the house made it seem as if the building was midway of being absorbed into them, yet somehow seeming as if the house were the entrance to the thick trees behind it.

  A few metres away from the house to our right, was a circular canopy of trees. The warm-brown branches seemed to curve into themselves and intertwine to form the perfect dome of broad, bright green leaves. The entrance to this hollow canopy, from where I stood, was practically the gaps in between the tall, firm, tree trunks. Since there were only a few minuscule gaps between the wide leaves, sunlight forced its way through them and spilled onto the glade-like shade underneath the wide circle of shade below. This place was, at the least, a magical sanctuary that ought not to be disturbed by my presence. That’s how grand this environment was – so grand that I didn’t feel worthy enough to be standing there.

  I all of a sudden looked back, away from the house and into the distance. The landscape caught my eyes instantly. It was serene and utterly too fictional to believe. When I took time to notice, I realised that we were on top of a mountain with a steep slope.

  “Are we still in Vernaesce? Did I pronounce it right this time; Vernaesce?” I asked Anne as she chuckled slyly.

  “Yes to both your answers.”

  “And is that our house?” I asked again in wonder.

  “Yes.
Beautiful, isn’t it? We decided to get it build up here. The view and area is just so tranquil,” replied Anne, excited to tell me more.

  “I can see why,” I muttered to myself behind a smile.

  Further below, I noticed what seemed to look like endless fields of knee-high apple green grass and on my complete right, not too far away from the house however, was a forest. Frankly, I found it excruciatingly daunting, causing me to take a step back unsteadily after I witnessed it. It was planted of towering trees that stretched down to the horizon. The trees were ridiculously large; a single branch was the size of any ordinary tree, making the entire plant look scarily gargantuan. The roots were entrenched in the ground murderously and the thick barks looked arcane and ancient – despite them being about three metres wide in diameter. Nonetheless, although they looked quite gruesome, they didn’t inflict a sense of mystery or fear. In the dazzling sunlight of this amazing world, it looked like a phenomenal piece of nature, as shades of green were thrown onto the floor from the intense light hitting the leaves.

  This particular side of Vernaesce – wherever we were – had a more normal sky. It was just a mix of azure and violet. It was blended in such a pale way it made it seem like it was daytime. Although we seemed too distant from the cities (seeing as there weren’t many things to notice around here), I could still make out a few people in the far distance flying through the air like darts.

  “Um, Anne, where exactly are we?” I asked.

  “In the region of Porto-Pyro. The people you see flying are Aero-Capers,” she said, pointing at them.

  “See, the Aero-Capes reside on the Earth’s surface, but islands that they claim as theirs hover up in the air. You might like to see it one day,” she added.

  “I’d love to,” I agreed. I just couldn’t stop smiling, so much so that my jaws began to ache.

  “They can breathe in space as well. I used to be jealous of that,” Anne jested. But our conversation was interrupted as I heard a slight gust of air behind me. Anne and I looked back. Jade had just arrived with Tantrus and her red suitcase firmly in hand. To my surprise, and her annoyance, Jade’s hair had elongated again.