Midnight Metamorphosis

by Deborah E. Kehoe

  Summer sat up from her lounging position and nodded her head at Cole. “Cool, that he’s your Guardian, Aves, but he can’t be with you every moment of the day.” She looked at Ana, who nodded back at her. “We’ll all keep an eye out and help when Cole’s not around.” Ben nodded and slung his arm around Summers shoulders giving her hair a tug in approval.

  Ana, who had been quiet up to that point, asked the question: “So, this guy in the store belongs to some group that wants to hurt you?”

  “Well, we don’t really know.” I answered, looking at Cole to see if he had any information to add. During our conversation, I had noticed that Cole, even as he contributed to the discussion, was scanning the area. He normally had his hands in the pockets of his hoodie— todays hoodie was red and black with the school’s logo over the chest—but his hands were out of his pockets, in preparation for action, I guess. I glanced around but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Well, more extraordinary, anyway, I thought.

  Cole gave the group a serious look. “I think we can expect trouble. Avery’s powers are supposed to kick in on her birthday.” He looked at me in question.

  “In two weeks,” I said, “on Halloween.”

  Ana gasped, her freckles whirling madly, and her skin changed to the color of the tree’s bark that she was leaning against. “Samhain!”

  Summer looked at her curiously, “I’m not liking the sound of that gasp, Sugar. Why don’t you fill us in?”

  Cole spoke before Ana could, “it’s the longest day of the year, and the one day of the year that the veil between our world and another is really thin.” Ana nodded in agreement. “But in addition to that, legend has it that a couple hundred years ago a pair of evil Other Spell Casters named Atticus and Gaea cast a spell at 12:01 a.m. on Samhain, trying to bring forth the Daïmon Avdar into our dimension. No one knows why they were trying to summon him, but when they did, they were not able to hold him and he escaped into our world.”

  “Dude, what happened to him?” Ben asked, his horrified look interrupted by one of Summers french fries flying into his mouth.

  “Well, if that legend is true, then he is still loose in our world. When he was summoned, they stole his power.” Cole shrugged and stretched the fingers of his hands out, knuckles lightly popping. “No one has seen him since. But you guys, there is a second part to the prophecy. Remember the first part says that the child from the union of a Seer and Elemental will have tremendous power unheard of before, but the second part said that that child would have the power to vanquish the Daïmon Avdar.”

  Surprised, I looked around at my friends, wondering, just as they were, I’m sure, if I was actually that person. I mean, I didn’t feel like I had some kind of incredible power that could strike against a Daïmon. I hope I’m not this prophesied person, I thought to myself, because if I am, I need to up my game. A lot!

  I ran backwards keeping pace with the girl dribbling the ball towards me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see another girl wearing a blue jersey moving into an open space between two of our defenders. As her leg went back for the kick to her teammate, I changed direction, moving forward and into the lane to intercept her pass. Running forward, I tapped the ball with the outside of my foot, ran around a blue jersey, and glanced across the field looking for red and black jerseys. Summer was being covered by two players, but I knew she’d free herself up for the pass. The girl defending my advance was the same girl I had just stripped the ball from the moment before and saw she was looking at me in intense concentration, like she had something to prove. As my toe hit the ball to send a pass across the field to Summer, the other player slid through the grass in a tackle that should’ve taken me down, but without a thought, I gestured towards her and her slide stopped abruptly, like she had hit a wall. Her body crumpled up into a standing position, with her face pressed to the side against that invisible wall, and then falling backwards into a heap on the ground. As I stood there, pins and needles gathered in my hand and then dissipated. I looked at my hand and shook it out, wondering if I’d had anything to do with that move. I heard my teammates yelling, Summer had just put us in the lead, taking my pass, and with one tap placing it in the goal.

  The player on the ground stirred and looked over at a spot on the ground, and I looked too! We were both searching for the reason that her tackle stopped abruptly. That could NOT have been me, could it? I looked at my hand in horror. It seemed the same. I looked back at the player and noticed that she had shrugged it off and was limping over to the sideline, where she was subbed out of the game.

  I ran over to Summer to congratulate her and saw Cole, Ben, and Ana standing on the sidelines. They were wearing their black and red jerseys, as the boys’ varsity team had played the game before ours. I saw Cole was staring at the spot on the other side of the field, but Ben, as if he knew I had created that invisible wall, was looking directly at me and smiled, “That was lit, Avery!” I looked at my hand, caught his wink and waved it at him, with a smirk on my face.

  As Summer and I approached the side of the soccer field, the referee blew his whistle, signaling the end of the game. Cole, Ben, and Ana congratulated us with pats on the back. As we headed towards the locker room, Cole asked if we all wanted to meet up at Gino’s Pizza to celebrate.

  “I could use a slice,” Summer said, and I agreed, my stomach rumbling at the thought. We had gotten into the habit over the last couple of weeks to go for pizza after a game. Summer was always starving and could usually finish a Meat Lovers pizza by herself. The first time I had seen her finish one off, I went home feeling a little ill. Now, it just seemed normal. Really weird, but for Summer, normal. We all agreed to meet up at Gino’s and Summer and I walked off towards the locker room.

  As the two of us entered the locker room, I glanced up at a sign posted to the wall inside the door. Dover High Sadie Hawkins Dance, it read. The sign had a couple dressed up in Elvis and Priscilla Presley costumes, dancing under a full moon. There were jack-o-lanterns decorating each corner of the poster, and there was the image of a witch on a broomstick flying across the front of the moon. “Are you and Ben going to the Dance?” I asked Summer, nodding towards the sign as we passed it. This year the dance fell on October 30 and was being treated as more of a Halloween party, but the tradition of the girl asking the boy still applied.

  “I asked him today at lunch and he said he’d like to go. He mentioned doubling with you and Cole. What do you think?” She laughingly looked my way. Ana, Summer, and I had gone shopping the other day and I had fished around for information on Cole. I thought I’d been pretty casual about it, but apparently I hadn’t been casual enough.

  I shrugged, feeling that awkward flush head up my neck again. I wasn’t sure how I felt about asking him to the dance and said as much to Summer. I thought initially there had been a little bit of chemistry between Cole and me, but since his Guardian secret was out, I wasn’t sure if hanging out with me wasn’t just a job.

  “I’m not sure I should,” I answered. “Maybe he’s not allowed. I mean, it’s not like he’s hanging out with me because he likes me. He kind of has to, you know?” I pulled my towel out of my locker and started going through my gym bag looking for my clean clothes.

  “Ben wouldn’t have suggested it if he’d thought Cole wouldn’t go for it. I know Cole takes this Guardian job seriously, but I think there’s more to him than just that. Since I’ve known him, he’s never shown any interest in a girl, and he’s had plenty of chances.” Summer grabbed her entire bag and headed towards the shower but threw a comment over her shoulder on the way out of the room, “You’ll never know unless you ask him!” True, I thought. My stomach rumbled with hunger, but it was now accompanied by a burn of panic.

  Chapter 6

  Cole

  As I ran down the field, keeping an eye on Eric, a teammate with the ball at midfield, I felt the air currents change. The grass was whispering to me that someone was tracking my steps. Ahead, Eric looked to his right and le
ft, trapped by two opponents. I flicked my fingers out slightly and a chunk of dirt exploded out of the ground in front of one of his opponents, surprising him slightly so that he mis-stepped, creating an opening that Eric passed the ball through. Hearing a breath, I tapped the ball to the left and spun after it, turning to view the player behind me. He was three steps back and I recognized that he was drawing power. I had just enough time to maneuver away and swing my leg back giving a solid kick to the ball before he could strike, delivering it neatly beyond their goalkeeper’s fingertips and swooshing against the back of the net. Goal!

  I grinned wildly, teeth clenched in triumph, turned, and headed back to midfield, bumping chests with Eric, who had run over to celebrate our goal. I glanced back at Ben, who was yelling wildly for the defense to set up. Our coach was yelling that there were only a couple of seconds left in the game. The other team raced with the ball to midfield, trying to get the game started and catch us off guard. They tapped the ball forward and the referee blew the whistle three times signaling the end of the game. I heard the crowd yelling and the members of our team calling out to each other to celebrate our win.

  “Awesome!” Ben flung an arm over my shoulder. “That kick soared, dude!”

  I grinned and shrugged his arm off my shoulder. “Come on let’s check out how the girls’ game is going.” We shook the hand of the other team goalie and headed over to our bags on the side of the field. Ben grabbed his things as well and we started walking over to the field adjacent to ours.

  As we walked, I pulled the barbell, usually attached to my eyebrow, out of the side pocket of my bag and hooked it back into my piercing, as it connected it gave my skin a little jolt. Ben laughed, “Coach should just let you keep it in.”

  “Nah, it’s cool.” I said. Coach was a stickler for not having any kind of jewelry on the field, giving an opponent an opportunity to grab onto something. A lot of the guys had earrings or nose piercings that they had to take out before the game.

  As we got near the girls’ game, I could see Ana standing on the sidelines, her hands gripped in front of her. Ben and I walked up and joined her just as Avery came dribbling the ball up the sideline.

  “Uh-oh, she’s going to get squashed!” Ana whispered to Ben, her freckles swirling in agitation. The opponent started her slide tackle and Avery flicked out a hand and the girl, well, just stopped! Recognizing that she used Air to create a shield, I stared in surprise. Avery looked surprised at what she’d done, but still drilled the ball towards Summer, who took it down the field for a goal.

  “Awesome!” Ben and I yelled and clapped each other on the back.

  Ana quietly smiled and clapped her hands together. A few minutes later the game ended, with our school getting the win. Summer and Ana walked towards us and Ben spoke first, “Cool play, Avery!”

  I noticed a couple of girls from the other team helping their teammate walk off the field toward the parking lot, one of them speaking to a dark-haired man in a white button-down shirt and black sunglasses. His head turned in our direction and we made eye contact. He turned his head and looked down the sideline and I followed his gaze.

  “What the hell?” I nudged Ben and jerked my head towards the other side of the field. There was a group of men, all dressed similarly in white button-downs, dark slacks, sunglasses, and gloves spaced about three feet apart from each other staring across the field at us. Ana, Summer, and Avery were already heading to the locker room to change clothes so they could meet us out for pizza.

  “Bruh, this is weird. What do you think that’s all about?” Ben flanked my left side.

  “I’m not sure, but I think we should find out.” I said. Feeling the energy start to course through my hands as I gathered it from the Earth. We walked across the field most of the players, their friends, and families had already started to head toward either the parking lot or the locker room, so it was Ben and me and those six men.

  One of them stepped forward, and then suddenly the other five were arranged behind him in pyramid formation. As they stood next to each other, I realized that not only were they dressed similarly, but they all looked exactly alike. I stepped forward to meet the man in front, my hands loose at my sides. The wind picked up slightly.

  As I got closer, the man in the lead shook his arms and flexed his hands. I stopped Ben, worried for his safety. “Why don’t you wait here? I’m going to see what he wants.”

  “Man, this doesn’t look like it’s going to be friendly. All the same to you, I’m coming too.” Ben’s skin started to take on a green sheen, emitting a wet fragrance, and as he took a large breath of air his body started expanding and growing bigger. I stepped away from him slightly. I didn’t want to touch his skin, even by accident. Ben’s touch would numb that area, making it impossible to move even a finger. He was my friend, but I knew his instinctive reaction to a predator was to use his best defense, his toxic skin. Friend or no, if he touched me, it would not be good. His tongue flicked out and grabbed the glasses off one of the guys to the right, flinging them to the ground. The man blinked and his eyes glowed red.

  “Shit. Daïmonids.” I said to Ben, a chill running up my back. Mentally, I ran through some of my training. I curled a finger and started a whirlwind to the right of the lead Daïmonid, holding it steady in place. Daïmonids were used primarily for small disturbances and skirmishes. Even though they were lower class, they were still really dangerous. We needed to get a handle on this and quick!

  Fire shot out of the Daïmonid’s red eyes, burning a line along the ground towards Ben. Ben bent his knees and leaped over the Daïmonid and its fire line. Coming up behind him, he grabbed him around the neck, making the Daïmonid shriek with pain. It popped, disappearing, and leaving a dark streak on the ground and scorching Ben’s jersey and shorts, with smoke lingering behind.

  I focused my attention on the leader. “What do you want?” I said. No answer, instead the Daïmonid launched himself towards me. I flung my arm, hitting him solidly in the side with the whirlwind, sending energy and wind into it so that it took on greater size, ripping out pieces of earth and flinging them into the face of the Daïmonid.

  “No small talk? All right, let’s do it!” I grimaced feeling the force of my power.

  I noticed one of the Daïmonids trying to circle around my back and I turned slightly to the right, keeping my whirlwind in sight, using it to hit the other Daïmonid, and eyeing the new one. I reached up and touched the barbell in my eye, giving my body a jolt, then pointed at the Daïmonid, a purple bolt of electricity arcing from my finger directly into his chest. The Daïmonid exploded and black smoke curled up from the ground.

  I could hear Ben engaging with one of the other Daïmonids, taunting him and spitting into its face. The spit spattered as it landed, and the Daïmonid’s yell was interrupted when its body disintegrated. I paused in admiration. Venom? I hadn’t a clue that Ben had anything other than strength, agility and toxic skin. I’m glad he’s on my side, I thought, as I focused my gaze on the leader.

  He was struggling against the wind and debris, so I thought quickly. We were now 3 to 2. Not horrible odds. Ben seemed to be holding his own even though he wasn’t trained for this type of battle, and I wanted to quickly end it. I arched my back, splaying my arms out to my sides while my power sizzled within me, looking at the sky, I gave a yell and flung my hand down ripping the ground open under our enemy. Two of them fell into the earth, leaving only the leader to face me down.

  “Back where you belong, Daïmonid!” I snarled in the leader’s face and focused my mind towards a sprinkler on the right. Remembering from my training that they could be destroyed by water. I sent the wind into the earth to rip it free and wrapped the pipe around the leader, slowly pushing him back toward the gaping chasm with the force of my wind. Small cuts from flying grass littered his face, as he shoved against my power. Water was shooting into the air where the sprinkler had come free, the spray dampening the streaks of fire scorched into the soccer field and
sizzling on the Daïmonids skin.

  “The prophecy will not come true!” the Daïmonid screamed at me as my wind storm pushed him into the earth. I clapped my hands and the ground moved back together, making what looked to be a grave over where the Daïmonids had entered the earth.

  I pushed my now-wet hair off my forehead and checked out my hands for any cuts that needed tending. Not too bad, I thought. Looking over at Ben who was now shrinking back towards his normal size and the green cast to his skin was starting to fade. “Thanks, Ben, for watching my back,” I said, turning towards him and after another glance at his color, flinging my arm around his shoulders. I gave him a quick squeeze. “So, you said your dad’s family was from South America?” At his nod, I continued. “Dart frog, right?”

  Ben grinned and answered, “Yeah.”

  I looked around in regret at the mess we’d made of the soccer field. “You still up for pizza?” I waved a hand out and sent power to smooth out the field, pushing a little energy into the earth making the grass grow an inch. All signs of our battle gone.

  “Absolutely!” He grinned and flicked a tongue out, snatching a bug out of the air in front of him and yanking it into his mouth. “I’m starving!” We turned around and walked towards the locker room, Ben chewing slightly. “You are eventually going to tell me what’s going on, aren’t you?” Ben asked.

  “Yeah, as soon as I figure it out myself,” I replied back.

  Chapter 7

  Avery

  As we entered Gino’s, I spotted our friends at a booth in the corner where Cole was pouring some soda from a pitcher into several glasses on the table. As we walked towards them, people reached out to pat Summer and me, calling out “Good game!” I felt a flush of pleasure as I followed Summer as she strolled through the tables smiling at everyone, her blonde hair glinting in the lights. We turned down several invitations to sit with teammates and headed toward the back booth. All of this attention made me a little uncomfortable but it was nice to belong. I waved at a couple of our teammates sitting across the room. Summer ate it up.