I stood in the hallway, my bedroom door open and the glass knob that I'd broken earlier, was in perfect condition. I looked around, not sure what to feel. I took a couple steps and felt the hard wood underneath my now bare feet. I was dressed in my pj's, the one's I wore when it was warm out. In my room, I saw my mom sitting on my bed. She looked lost in thought, then noticed me. I didn't hesitate, running over to her and hugging her with all I had. I hadn't realized just how much I missed her, and I saw that my hands were no longer a weapon that would hurt her.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" she laughed lightly, hugging me back.
"I...I don't know...there was just so much carnage. I don't know what's going on, but you're okay, right?"
"Did you have a weird dream?" She asked peacefully. "I know your father and I have been in a rush with December 21st coming up, but it won't do you any good to get caught up in nightmares."
Her words barely registered as I felt lost in her arms.. Then I realized what she had said, or, rather, the way she'd sad it. My mom had given up on the comforting phase of my life. She wouldn't even notice my nightmares with the world about to end. I pulled back, looking at her carefully. Her face was softer than I'd ever seen it. She smiled kindly, and I knew something was wrong. I took a step back and she looked at me curiously.
"Everything okay?" She asked gently.
"Who are you?" I asked defensively.
"Kim, I'm your mom" she said smoothly.
"No, you're not" My fingers eased behind my back, to where my knife was suddenly there.
I was back in my torn jeans and blue shirt, and my mom looked like a layer of fog was between us. I grabbed the knife from is sheath and my mom completely disappeared, leaving a humanoid figure of white and mist, standing in the snow. I knew what I had to do, but it almost felt wrong, like I'd actually wished that it really had been my mom. Bu this female figure wasn't her, and I couldn't let my emotions cloud my mind. I cut into my palm and ran at the figure. I wasn't waiting for the crystal to form, not with the hounds behind me. I rammed into the figure and forced my hand over her mouth. It wasn't the most efficient method, but it did the job. Within seconds she cried out and fell to her knees. She was gripping her throat as I stepped back.
Something slammed into my back and I fell forward, with the hound pushing me down into the snow. Blood colored drool fell into the snow next to my head and I watched the female figure return to human skin and clothes. She was tall, maybe a year or 2 older than me, in a white tank-top, black jean jacket and matching jeans. Her brown eyes watched me through long chocolate brown hair.
The hound snarled and I felt claws digging into my shoulder. I bit back a scream of pain, knowing that I needed to remain strong.
The girl did scream, seeing the second creature glowering over her. She jumped back, falling back into the snow.
"Don't run" I warned "They're prepared to attack."
The hound over me growled and I took a steadying breath.
'How dare you!! I want her NOW!!'
The hound stepped back off of my shoulder and I felt the cold of ice covering my back. Its claws had to have done some damage, but I clearly didn't have the time to let them heal right away.
"What's going on?" The girl asked in a light voice, still watching the hound creatures.
"I'll explain as we walk, we're expected."
The hound huffed at her, drool coloring the snow. The girl stood up shakily and I followed suit. I forced me feet to move, still wishing I could have escaped into the dream like place that this girl had somehow created. It stung knowing that Mother had found a weakness in me so easily. I couldn't let her get into my head again, or I could actually crack.
"Who spoke just now?" The girl asked between steps.
"We call her Mother, but only because there's nothing else to call her. She infected us with a parasite. I just cured you from her control. You still have your abilities, but you have your humanity back" I answered while biting back groans of pain.
"And how did you 'cure' me?" She asked defensively.
"My parents made me the cure for those infected. But it's only temporary. So the others are going to have to find me before midnight or we'll all be doomed to being her puppets."
"So, you're the leader of this group only because you can cure us? That sounds like a load of crap" she grumbled.
"Believe what you want, but I'm going to fight this until the end."
She stared at me defiantly.
"And you just let yourself be captured? What kind of leader does that?"
"The kind that knows this is the easiest way to protect the others" I glared back at her. We clearly weren't getting along.
She groaned and glared back at the hounds behind us.
We walked for several minutes, before I saw 2 new figures appear around the corner of buildings and joining out guards. A female figure that looked to be made completely of fire. And the second I couldn't fully see past the wind that blew around it, but it was sure that it was another one of us. I would have to figure out a way to distract the hounds so that I could cure them. My knife was back in its sheath, but I didn't stand a chance of pulling it out without being attacked. They now knew how I was releasing the infected from Mother's control.
"This is such b.s. I can't say that I'd expect a leader to be so weak that she could get caught by the enemy."
"Says the girl whose first reaction is to scream and pull back from the threat."
'Siblings...stop fighting...' The fire girl spoke in our heads. She sounded innocent, like she'd never dealt with any kind of violence before.
"Get out of my head" The girl spat.
"Look, we don't know what to expect, but I'll do anything to keep everyone alive."
He hesitated, a lost look on her face.
"My name is Kim. You?"
She humphed and said "Sadie Jean."
"Alright, Sadie, we're going to be stuck together for a while, so we better find a way that we can get along. Otherwise we might as well have civil war. We need to work together if we want to save what's left of humanity.'
She seemed to look around for the first time. Cars were trashed with blood and remains along the streets. I kept my eyes forward, not allowing myself to truly take in the scenery. I had pointed out how Sadie had created to the danger, though I hadn't been much better. I still felt the lingering warmth of Jake pulling me towards the theater. The warmth of my mom hugging me before I went for a walk. Or the heartbreak of seeing my dad freezing from my ice. But, it was because of them that I was so stubborn in the present fight.
I barely felt the time ticking away as the guard hounds and 2 infected guided us to a building that no NewYorker could mistake. The Empire State Building. It seemed fitting for a place to destroy an army leader. The windows were broken and there were holes in the walls that threatened the structure of the building. Another large humanoid stood at the entrance of the building. A large person of stone that watched us approach with large red eyes. Sadie let out a squeak before regaining her composure.
"Are all of us like that?" She whispered, though I was sure the stone man had heard her.
"We all have some kind of element." I held up my hand "I'm ice. And you're some kind of dream giver or something."
"If I give dreams, then I could just make everyone here think that we're dead, then they won't have any reason to hunt for us." she suggested quietly.
I held back a chuckle "I wish that would work."
The stone man stepped into our path and looked us over. The hounds that were behind us ran off, probably to find their next meal, but the infected that had arrived with us were still standing to our sides. The stone man pointed at me and, I took that as his way of saying to step forward. I took a few steps until I was in front of the doorway. He gestured for me to go inside and I stepped toward the door. The doors burst open and black mist wrapped around me, blinding me and pulling me inside. I fought against the mist to try to see where I was being brought to, but it clouded my eyes completely.
I couldn't tell you how long had passed, though I knew it couldn't have been more than a few minutes, when the fog slowed to a stop and dropped me. I stood in a room that was lit only by the clouded sun coming through a large hole in the corner of the room. Human remains covered the floor, and right in the center of it all, stood Mother. I stared at her, anger flooding my system, mixed with the cold chill of fear.
"Why do you fear me, my child?" She asked icily.
"I don't fear you" I lied "I will kill you."
"But you do fear me" she corrected "otherwise you wouldn't be seeing me right now."
I felt confused by her words. It didn't make sense that it wouldn't only take my fear to bring her to me.
"More than fearing me, you fear yourself" she continued.
Pain shot through me and I fell to my knees, the ice burning through my body. I let out a pained cry, frozen tears falling as I felt the cold climbing up my limbs. Something was wearing the skin on my back, and the unbelievable happened, as wings burst from my shoulder-blades. I collapsed forward, my body giving out under the stress of the rising cold.
"Kim!" I heard Leo's voice call out.
I looked around without moving my head.
"Kim, she's using your fear. She's not actually Mother." He shouted.
I forced my head up, looking around for where Leo was. I was seeking answers, is if finding him would actually save me. I looked in front of me, and Mother was no longer standing in front of me. Instead stood a human figure it what looked like a black cloak, hiding its face and even its gender. My body ached as I got to my feet. Without knowing where to aim, I couldn't handle this figure like I had handled Sadie. I grabbed my knife, as I saw Leo jump down from the hole in the ceiling. The figure looked at him, its attention no longer on me. Justin floated in the air with his black bat-like wings, looking unsure. He probably didn't know how to handle combat yet.
My palm split open, pale skin having yet to resurface. The wound from earlier only healed on the surface. Part of me wanted to slam the figure with so much force that I'd never have to see Mother through it again, but I maintained my control. I grabbed the thin spear and ran at the figure. It turned just in time to see me slam into them, the ice sticking out of its gut. I had only used enough strength for it to break the skin, but I hadn't fully planned on it turning when it did, so it went in at an angle that would easily hurt even us infected. I prayed to whoever was listening that it didn't do any internal damage.
Leo ran to my side and Justin landed next to him, and the three of us watched as the figure lost its cloak and returned to pale skin in black pants and a loose-fitting gray hoodie. The girl now before us had shoulder length black hair, hanging loose around her face, thick eyeliner, and black lipstick that I assumed was just her makeup choice. She looked at us with black eyes, then down at the spot where the spear had entered. She wasn't bleeding, but I was sure that it had been painful. Then she collapsed. Losing consciousness.
"Is she okay?" Leo asked, worriedly.
"I accidentally used too much force, but it doesn't appear to be lethal" I stepped over to her, feeling for a pulse.
Her heart was beating fast, with no clear veins. I'd had to press my palm to her chest, just to be sure.
"I think it was just the shock that hit her."
"Hey...when did you grow wings?" Justin asked nonchalantly.
"Hmm?" I looked over my shoulder. Sure enough the wings were still there, moving slightly with ice feathers that were probably as effective as the ice I shot from my hands. "Mother called me her Ice-Angel...this must be what she meant."
"Do you think you can fly?" Leo asked "We need to help the others.
I looked at him "The others are here?! Let's got there fast. There's 2 more who walked us here and a third at the door."
I reached down and gently eased underneath the girl, moving slowly as I lifted her up.
"There wasn't anybody by the door, but there are 2 just outside." He explained.
I focused my will to my back, knowing that stress was making it more difficult to adjust to the new set of wings on my back. But I had to try.
The wings moved, spreading, then closing repeatedly. The wind moved under the clinking feathers. I put more strength into the movement and my feet eased off of the ground, then grounded again. I sped up the movement, and I lifted back off of the ground, this time remaining airborne.
"That's awesome" Justin said in admiration.
I had to admit, feeling free from the constraints of land, I could now go anywhere I wanted, without any risk of suffering. At least, that was my hope. But I had to prioritize my new responsibilities and end this war once and for all.
"Lead the way" I called, watching Justin rise into the air, holding Leo by his arms.
He moved his wings and angled his body in a turning motion. Rotating himself to aim at the hole, and I followed his motion, my wings working to adjust their aim. I moved them hard and followed Justin through the hole, the feeling of air brushing past me. Justin angled himself in a downward angle, and moved swiftly toward the ground. I imitated him, and felt the full force of the wind holding my wings in the air, in a sharp descent. When the ground was dangerously close to a crash landing, I moved my wings the way I'd seen planes move. In the backwards way, the way it would need to, to have the wind slow my fall. I barely made it in time, to keep both me and the girl. My feet felt heavy, and I regained my bearings.
Ryan was throwing balls of light at the wind person, and Mariah was flinging feathers at the fire girl, who burned through the feathers, not moving from where she stood.
'Please...Siblings...' She pleaded mentally.
I set the girl down and ran to where Sadie was pressed against the wall, fear obvious on her features.
"You okay?" I asked, standing in front of her gaze.
She blinked at me several times before speaking.
"What is going on here?" She spoke barely above a whisper.
"War" I answered and turned my attention to the fighting.
I ran at the wind figure, figuring it would be faster if I went for the more difficult opponent. I made it within a couple feet of the figure, but the wind blew me back, slamming me into the wall next to Sadie.
"Sadie!" I forced her attention to me. "You can't hide from this. We need your help!"
Her face changed from fear to stubbornness. "R-right! What should I do."
"Make the wind person a dream. They need to lower their guard if I want any chance of getting to them."
"What do you do to, um, cure them?"
I pulled my knife from its sheath and once again reopened the cut.
"Do you have to do that every time?" Sadie asked curiously.
"Well, there's a more direct way, but I'd rather not have to make out with everyone of us that I meet."
"Please tell me that you didn't kiss me" She looked disturbed.
I felt almost insulted by her comment, but I didn't have time for that.
"I didn't. Now please distract him."
She nodded and nervously stepped away from the wall. I didn't know what she had to do to create her dreams or illusions, and I didn't have the chance to watch. Instead, I let her get to work and moved over to where Mariah was groaning in frustration at her lack of ability to fight the fire girl.
'Sister...why do you fight me?' the fire girl asked.
I threw a ball of ice at the girl, as a test of what I could do against her. The ball melted within inches of her.
"That doesn't look promising" Mariah sighed.
Leo was thrown from the wind figure, regaining his balance next to the fire girl, who left a nice heat burn on his arm, burning through my dad's jacket. He got away from her and stopped at my side.
"You could always just kiss her."
Leave it to a guy to suggest girls kiss.
"You want me to burn to death?" I asked him credulously.
"Just make it fast." He said and ran back to where Ryan and Justin held off the wind person, while Sadie strained to use her abilities.
"This is gonna suck" I let out a breath.
"You're actually going to do it?" Mariah looked at me in shock.
"No choice" I faked a smile and ran at the girl.
The girl looked at me in what I assumed was hope, opening her arms for me. I met her open arms and held back the scream that was fighting its way through my body. My face met hers and our lips connected painfully. It lasted too long for me and I had to pull back, hoping that it worked. I brushed the flames off of my burning clothes, watching anxiously. At first, nothing happened, and I feared that it might not work. Then the girl doubled over, fighting to stay on her hands and knees. She was hacking, but I didn't have the liberty of helping her. I turned back to the wind guy, whose body was stiff, but the wind was gone from around him. I wasn't going to be patient about how to plan it. Instead, I met him face to face and I kissed him roughly. I heard gasps behind me and I knew that all eyes were on me. The wind swirled over the form and I jumped back, watching the wind flow into the now human man.
A girl that I assumed was the fire girl came up beside me. Her long fire-red hair was tied back and her green eyes were rimmed with red. Her navy blue long-sleeve shirt had burn holes and her blue jeans fit snugly over bright red boots. Her skin had the glow of the fire that she had within her, while the man who was on his knees in front of me was light skinned, with light brown, shoulder-length hair, and silver-gray eyes. He had to be the guy Leo had mentioned that came from the wealthy family, since he wore a top brand outfit. A skin-tight white shirt, under a black dress jacket, and blue jeans. Even his shoes were too fancy for someone who was a living tornado.
He coughed for several seconds, leaving a small pool of blood, then brushed his mouth and stood up, looking around at each of us.
His eyes rested on me "You know, if you wanted to make out, you could have just asked" he winked.
I was taken aback by the way he acted. He looked maybe 19 or so, and he was already leaving a bad impression.
'Um...what's going on?" The red haired girl asked "why is there blood everywhere?"
"Well, um..." I thought of the best way to work this out. "The world has fallen int a slight bit of chaos, by a woman, or, rather, a creature, known as Mother. She wanted revenge on some wrong done to her. So she infected us with a parasite."
"Why us?" A female voice asked from behind us.
I turned to the voice and saw the girl with the black lipstick sitting up and watching us. She stood up, ignoring the blood around her and walked over t us. She couldn't have been much older than me, and I began to see a pattern.
"My parents theorized that it was somehow related to something in our genes. Maybe something that wouldn't even have surfaced if not for the parasite."
"Would it have shown in the future? I mean, like, would the gene pass on to future generations?" She asked.
I thought "I honestly don't know."
"So, you were the one that saved us from, this, 'Mother'?" the man asked.
"My parents made it so that my genetic code works as a temporary cure, but only for Mother's control. We still have our abilities."
"Temporary?" The girl with the lipstick asked.
"My mom's notes indicate that the injection they gave me lasts roughly 24 hours, and it's a good guess that the injections I give, also last about 24 hours."
"So, you have to kiss us?" The red hair girl asked.
"That's just an emergency answer. I prefer just using the crystals of my blood to inject others."
"Is that what you stabbed me with?" the girl asked blankly
"I do owe you an apology. I lost control a bit and used too much force. I was hoping I could examine the area when things calmed down."
"I'm fine. You don't have to worry about that." She looked away.
"So what now?" The man asked.
"Well, we can start with introductions. I'm Kim."
"Name's Leo."
Ryan smiled shyly "I'm Ryan."
"Sadie Jean" She smirked.
"I, um, I'm Amber..." the red haired girl looked down and fidgeted with her hands.
"I'm Mariah, and this is my twin brother-"
"Justin" he finished for her.
"My name is Jason. You may know me from the Hot Teen Magazine." The wind guy looked everyone over.
"I guess it would be easier, knowing everyone's name. I'm Kelsey..." The girl with the black lipstick pulled up her hood. I doubted it was because of the cold.
"I take it you're the one in charge of this group?" Jason asked, looking at me with a smile that probably won the hearts of many girls.
"I am. Though the only plan we have so far is to survive and search for Mother."
"What then?" Amber asked.
"One of us will have to kill her."
Amber squeaked and covered her mouth. She was as innocent as I had expected, and I felt a need to shelter her from the bad stuff. But we didn't have that option.
"Will we even be able to? Do you know where she is?"
"I think we have enough people now" Leo stated "Now we just have to find the bitch and end this once and for all."
"What happens after she's dead?" Kelsey asked.
"I'm fairly certain that we'll never return to how we were before, but we'll find our way around everything when the time comes."