by Kim Cormack
Kayn smiled. Granny Winnie had probably done something to block her grandson from seeing more than he was ready too. Melody was sitting on the dock, dangling her legs in the water. She was listening to their conversation but not participating. People had begun to climb out to sit in the sun.
Caleb swam up to the dock and held on, close to Melody as he enquired, “What about you Mel? What can you do?”
She smiled, for she had the most coveted gift of all but they were all swimming in their underwear. Nobody would have a weapon. Melody questioned, “Does anyone have a knife?”
Stephanie piped in, “I’ve got one.”
Melody laughed, “Of course you do.”
“Where could you possibly be keeping a knife in what you’re wearing?” Zach chuckled from his spot beside Melody on the dock.
Stephanie seductively whispered, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Oh... I definitely want to know,” Zach flirtatiously sparred.
Stephanie grinned as she carefully revealed a small dagger hidden in the lining of her bra.
“I’m so copying that idea,” Melody stated. “That’s absolutely brilliant.”
Stephanie handed the tiny dagger to Melody, who stared at it for a second. “This one is the symbol for Triad, I know that, but what does this other symbol mean? I swear I’ve seen this somewhere before.” Stephanie shrugged, suggesting she had no idea. Mel placed the tip of the blade against the skin on her thigh and sliced into her leg. A thin strip of blood seeped for a split second from the oozing wound. She reached into the water and rinsed it away. Her wound instantaneously closed.
Stephanie was being almost friendly and personable with Melody as she exclaimed, “You’re a Healer. Now that is the coolest gift to have.”
“What about you?” Melody asked as she handed Stephanie her knife.
“I’m whatever I want to be.” Stephanie leapt into the water and a piece of drift wood bobbed to the surface.
Melody whispered, “That is crazy. I was under the mistaken impression that a shape shifter could only shift into another living breathing being?”
The wood began to stretch and distort until Stephanie reappeared in its place. Stephanie hauled herself back up onto the dock in her human form. She smiled as she answered Melody’s question, “I think everyone was under that impression. I’m not even sure, shape shifter is the right name for my ability.”
“Does it hurt?” Zach asked.
Stephanie answered honestly, “Not anymore.”
Zach shimmied up to the edge of the dock and dangled his feet in the water while declaring, “I’d like to play along but I have absolutely no idea what I am. I haven’t been Enlightened yet either.”
“It’s all good Zach, neither have I,” Patrick the gentle eyed Triad said as he moved over to sit beside him. The two boys looked at each other, feeling a connection in the unknown.
Kayn swam over towards Zach and Patrick, feeling kinship to the parts of each clan left behind. They were the underdogs of each clan. She wondered if there would ever be a time in her life or after life when she didn’t feel like she was less than the others. They carried on bonding and goofing off for the entire day, until late afternoon. Kevin and Kayn left the group so they could be alone. If this was the end and the Testing was upon them, there was nowhere she would rather be but right here, with Kevin, lying in their field. She now thought of it as their field. They watched bees and held buttercups to their chins.
Kayn stretched out in the grass as she declared, “Well, your girlfriend seems to have calmed down a touch.”
Kevin rolled over, gazed into her eyes and whispered, “She’s not my girlfriend Kayn.”
Kayn rolled onto her side and whispered back, “You’re sleeping with her. She’s in your clan, isn’t that close enough?”
“In retrospect, it wasn’t my greatest idea,” he whispered while tucking a ringlet behind her ear. There was a moment of silence before he asked, “You actually had feelings for him?”
Kayn knew he was talking about Frost. She answered honestly, “I’m not going to lie to you and say I didn’t.”
Kevin responded, “His motives are always so painfully transparent. He can’t love you like you deserve to be loved.”
“There hasn’t ever been a lineup for the job,” she sparred.
Kevin replied, “There should have been.”
Her eyes blurred with tears, against her will. She didn’t want him to see her reaction to his words so she began plucking grass out of the ground. He was staring at her. She tugged a buttercup out of the dirt and wistfully plucked off its petals. Knowing he was anticipating the eye contact, she kept purposely looking away. She had to keep looking away. She closed her eyes for a brief moment to dispose of her tears and rolled over to look at the clouds. It was almost over. Time was almost up on their vacation from the real world. She had to start shifting reality back to normal.
Kevin whispered, “This week with you, it’s going to stay with me for a long time.”
She turned her head from the calming blue sky and their eyes met. Their fingers were almost touching. She took his hand, lovingly squeezing it as she shifted closer. She kissed his lips and as she forced herself to pull away, she whispered, “It’s going to stay with me too.”
It startled them both as her hand rapidly heated up. Kevin gave her a strange look as he placed his hand on his chest. In an instant, they were both on their feet running side by side to where they were being summoned. One of each of their own was in trouble. They sprinted into the forest, their motion driven by instinct. There was no thought of each other but somehow, they kept an equal pace. Kayn’s heart was in a panic. One of her clan was in trouble. Was it Zach? Was it Melody? She couldn’t tell. Her mind shrieked, help them Kayn! You need to get to them! Instinct moved their feet and chose the direction. They left the trail and raced directly through the bushes with their arms in front of them, shielding the stinging branches from their eyes. The unforgiving branches whipped their skin and sliced their flesh as they powered through and burst into a clearing. Ahead of them was the rodeo grounds. They sprinted towards it, without breaking pace. Kayn could hear the repetitive sound of footsteps, the crunching of grass and shuffling of gravel and dirt. They were not alone. Immortals from all three clans were coming to the rescue of their fallen. She didn’t have to look. She sensed their presence. They glanced at each other mid-stride as they slowed and raised their hands at the closed gate ahead. It flew open to reveal a sight none of them had anticipated.
One For All and All For One
They all stopped cold, to survey what they were getting themselves into. The grounds were surrounded by empty grandstands in every direction. Kayn’s skin vibrated with adrenaline as she stood amidst the other newbie immortals at the gates. On the far side of the open dusty grounds, bound to the furthest wall was one member of each of their clans. They’d been beaten to a bloody pulp and suspended there. It was Patrick, Melody and Leanne. Blocking their path to their wounded clan was a group of ten people, in the middle of the group stood an older vaguely familiar looking man, with an ominous presence even in jeans and a tight gray t-shirt.
He hollered at them from where he stood, “So glad you could join us! I’m sure you’ve all met so introductions won’t be necessary!”
Without fear, they marched towards the group that had taken their people, as they approached the ten strangers they stopped cold. Standing before Kayn was a boy she hadn’t even thought of in ages. Why was he here? How was he here? What was this? She looked at Kevin with wide panicked eyes and whispered, “Kevin, we know the guy in the green shirt. His name is Jesse. He’s from our school. The girl standing in front of you, in the orange is one of your cousins. Her name’s Ana. I’ve seen her in pictures at your house. We all went camping once. What is this?”
Kevin looked at his blood relative with a complete lack of recognition. He said, “It’s a good thing my memory is wiped then, isn’t it?”
Kayn
sensed Zach as she glanced to her other side, he was there. The expression on her fellow Ankh’s face was agonizing. He’d been stricken to his emotional core. She followed his gaze to the boy standing before him that bore a striking resemblance.
Zach met Kayn’s concerned gaze and explained, “My brother is standing right over there. He’s dead… I saw his body... He’s dead.”
They all appeared to be having a similar moment. Kayn was willing to bet that they were all looking at someone pivotal from their mortal lives. Kevin walked ahead of the rest, a fearless leader by birthright. How much he had changed.
Kevin of Triad commanded, “Explain yourself, you have about five seconds.”
She stood slightly behind him with every sense vibrating in unison. Kayn jumped as the giant gate behind them slammed and locked. None of the others looked back. She was the only one startled by the noise. Everyone else seemed powerful and fearless. Kayn reached for Zach’s hand and he took it without hesitating. She whispered her epiphany, “Maybe this is the beginning of the Testing?”
“I’m going to have to fight my dead brother.” Zach commented with cold resolve.
Kayn whispered, “It looks like I’m going to fight Jesse. We had a brief meaningless moment before I got together with Kevin. He’s just a guy from my school. It doesn’t make any sense.” They walked as a united front towards the group of friends and family members until they stood only about ten feet away.
Zach commented, “I have a feeling Melody is safer hanging up there on the wall than we are down here fighting whatever they are. She’ll be healed before this is over.”
The older man’s pupils darkened to onyx orbs. He bulked up, gaining fifty pounds of muscle instantly. His shirt ripped apart. He smiled at them and announced, “We thought it was high time you all had the opportunity to meet the newest of the Abaddon.”
Zach squeezed her hand and whispered, “See, I was right. The Abaddon gets teenagers too. They’re going to kick our asses to next Tuesday.”
“Not mine,” Stephanie boldly stated as she marched up to stand beside Kevin. Her shirt began to bulge and her black stretchy shorts stretched to their limit as she bulked up. She’d grown about three feet in height in a few seconds.
On the inside, Stephanie was not tiny at all. What was she? She’d shown them she was capable of turning into a log. Was she able to copy this man?
Her voice deepened as she growled, “Father! Let them go!”
Kayn had not seen that plot twist coming.
“Well, maybe not her ass,” Zach acknowledged.
The man Stephanie had referred to as her father turned in one swift movement and threw a knife with professional precision at Patrick’s stomach. He cried out in agony as blood sputtered out of his mouth. It was on! Nobody hurts Patrick! They all ran directly at their Abaddon counterparts. Kayn ran at Jesse confused as to why he’d been selected to fight her. He grabbed her, swung her around and tossed her like she was little more than a rag doll. As her body took flight with a surge of whooshing air, she soared a good twenty feet while thinking, this is going to suck. She braced herself for impact, hitting the ground on her back with an echoing thud. The wind was knocked from her lungs. She couldn’t breathe, her chest was on fire. She was stunned but knew there was only a split second to rise. She heard the echo of Lexy’s training in her mind. Her shrill commanding tone repeating the words, Stand up Kayn! Get up! Her nerve endings rang with the intense need to listen, broken bones be damned. Kayn writhed in the dirt and struggled to her knees. While still gasping for breath, she felt a savage blow to her torso as he booted her in the stomach. She crumpled again, choking on her own blood. She spat it on the dirt in front of her. Now! Chloe’s voice screeched, Get up Kayn! Get the hell up! Get off the ground or you’re finished! A fine mist of someone else’s blood sprayed her face and speckled the dirt before her. They were being massacred. Her ears flooded with the sounds of brutality as she struggled to her knees again. Chloe cheered her on in her mind. That’s right Kayn! That’s good! Stand up! Kick his ass! She knew her injuries were serious as her lungs seared with burning fire each time she endeavored to breathe. Her attacker allowed her a moment to recover and she managed to make it to her feet. Her twin’s voice screamed, kick him in the head! Kayn swung her leg around on autopilot, the kick landed its mark with almost expert precision.
Jesse staggered backwards for a second, before regaining his faculties. He sparred, “Is that the best you can do?” The boy from her past grinned and ran at her again. Kayn hauled her hand back and slapped him across the face. Jesse stopped cold and chuckled, “Seriously, I expected more from you. You fight like a little girl.”
She swung again and this time she wasn’t even sure it was her fighting. She felt like her body was operating on its own. She landed a finger breaking punch to his jaw.
He rubbed his jaw and chuckled aloud, “Now, that’s more like it.”
Her peripheral vision was distracting. She saw blood spurting from someone as they were savagely beaten. A fine red mist filled the air and gushed from another person’s throat beside her. Everything was whirling around her so quickly it was impossible to tell friend from foe. All she could see was repetitive red chunky spray and bodies in flight. She would imagine that some of her peers were holding their own, but some were obviously in the same situation she was. The last punch she’d taken had done some serious damage. She was light headed from blood loss. She had to struggle for the shortest breath. She managed to focus in on her assailant. There were like three of him dancing around in front of her. That can’t be good. He swung at her and she managed to dodge it. What was different about him? Hair… Jesse had hair now. He punched her in the stomach again, her legs buckled and she dropped to her knees. She was lost for a second in dust that rose around her. She blinked through the irritation. Her eyes had teared up to battle the sediment in the air. She focused in on him just as another cloud of dust and blood spatter clouded her vision. Jesse flipped her over and sat on her chest, pinning her shoulders to the ground. She heard what he had to say through the confusion created by the rising veil of earth, “Imagine my surprise when after six months of thinking you were dead you texted me back. You told me you were alive and that you were in trouble. You needed me and I came without question like a damn fool without telling anyone where I was going. I met you in the trails behind what used to be your house. You were alive. I couldn’t believe it. I ran to you and we embraced. It took me a second to notice something was off. You stabbed me in the stomach repeatedly, until I lost count. I woke up somewhere I could never have imagined in my worst nightmares. I thought I’d gone to hell. I was told I was only halfway there but there was a chance for redemption, if I killed you.”
Kayn gasped through her labored attempts to breathe, “That wasn’t me. You know that wasn’t me. I’m not evil. The Abaddon are evil.”
With cold resolve Jesse wrapped his hands around her throat and whispered, “If I don’t do this I have to go back. I can’t go back there. From what I understand, you can’t really die. It isn’t permanent. This is my Testing, not yours.” He moved closer, kissed her square on the lips and whispered, “I’ve wanted to do that for years. Sorry, but I’m going to have to kill you now. I don’t have a choice.” He tightened his hands around her throat and pushed his knees down on her broken ribs.
Her mind whispered, brains before brawn just as her vision flickered due to lack of oxygen. She used her last moment of breath to knee him in the groin. He recoiled and she rolled out from under him. Her body was operating by itself again as it gave her a well-timed burst of adrenaline. She thrusted downwards, elbowing him in the neck with the full weight of her body, crushing his larynx. She collapsed on top of him while managing to choke out her final words, “You always have a choice.” She struggled to breathe for a moment longer, but no dice. The world shifted around her. Her vision flickered and the lights went out.
If You Lick Toads You Can Time Travel
Kayn could h
ear the noises of early morning. She embraced the scent of Saturday. She could smell coffee, bacon and perfume? She opened her eyes and found that she was back in her childhood bedroom. Her heart leapt at the sight of the purple walls. There were crumbled sheets on the bed beside her. She looked at her hands, they were smaller. She swung her legs over the side of her bed. They almost touched the floor, but not quite. On the carpet beside her feet were her sheep slippers. She’d been maybe twelve years old when she’d grown out of those slippers. She slipped her feet into them and smiled. No, she was younger than eleven. They were too big for her feet. She knew what this meant. This meant they were all still alive. Kayn padded down past the closet, to her ensuite bathroom. She heard someone shuffling around in there. It was Chloe! She was in there. Kayn held her breath as she pushed open the door. Please be in there Chloe. Please, be in there. She startled her twin. Chloe began to give her crap for it but Kayn didn’t care. She just stood there with tears of joy streaming down her face. She dashed into her twin’s arms and held her close.
“What’s wrong with you?” Chloe laughed, “I can’t breathe, you crazy dork!”
Kayn held onto her for dear life while sobbing, “You died! Mom and dad died! Matty too! You all died!”
Chloe held her. She stroked her hair and said, “You had a bad dream, that’s all. It was just a bad dream.”
Kayn clung to her sister, afraid if she let her go, she’d wake up. She whispered, “How old are we?”
Chloe struggled to get away and said, “How insane are you this morning? You’re choking me. You’re ten going on certifiable and you’re starting to freak me out. That must have been one hell of a dream.”
Kayn took a chance, allowing her sister to struggle free from her strangle hold of an embrace. She exhaled and Chloe was still with her. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She was still chubby. This was the age where she had started to run. She’d started running because she didn’t look exactly like her twin anymore. Someone at school had called her the fat one. She’d never felt equal to her twin after that day. This was the age where the differences between them began to tear their relationship apart. Truth be told, she’d never been Chloe’s equal. Chloe had abilities. As a child, she’d used them on bumble bees before attempting to use them on people. Kayn stared at their duplicate reflections for a moment longer. She wasn’t really fat. She’d always recalled feeling obese. She had ten pounds on her twin, if that. That comment would have never slipped from anyone’s lips if she wasn’t supposed to be the mirror image of somebody else. She hadn’t even told Kevin about being called the fat one. She’d never even let that day cross her mind until now. She’d decided to change. If she was right, it was today that she decided to change it. It was this year that they began to grow apart. She realized for the very first time, that it had been her that had taken that first step away from her sister.