The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural (11 page)

“
That’s me,” the woman said
with a blinding smile.

“
Avery,” he continued with
the elfish looking child, “You are already acquainted with Aaron?”
he stated rather than asked.

Again yes. The crowd continued to
diminish as Dohnatello’s black eyes studied Ace from head to toe.
“Well,” he continued when his gaze finally locked onto Ace’s. “It’s
nice to finally meet another one of our own.”

Ace stared at the man dumbfounded.
“You’re a…?”

“
Supernatural,” the
tall
elfish looking one
finished. “We both are.”

“
I’m a Natural.” Informed
Alma. Surprisingly, for her looks Ace had imagined she spoke with
an angelic gentle voice. Instead her words came out ragged and
raspy, as if her throat were coated in ash.

“
Hasn’t it ever occurred to
you that there are more of us?” asked Dohnatello his slim pierced
brow arched, “Or are you simply that ignorant?”

“
Not at all,” Ace spat. “I
know there are more of my kind. I just never saw reason in seeking
them out.”

“
Until now,” Avery
added.

Ace glanced past Dohnatello’s slick
mane and locked eyes with the child. How could he have known? Ace
never recalled speaking to this child in his life but it was as if
he could read Ace’s mind. He still had a plump roundness to his
cheeks which reminded Ace of his young friend Ditto. Yet, Ditto had
never had a bad case of acne, and he never grew past five’ five”.
Avery, however, neared the six feet range and even though the
greasy sandy hair hung at his shoulders, the boy reeked of
youth.

“
What’s your ability?” asked
Ace though he had a solid conjecture. Who knew- besides his
immediate friends- what things could possibly be on his
mind?

“
I can’t read minds,” Avery
said throwing off Ace’s assumption, “I know the things that make
you feel. It comes in handy when sorting out the liars.” His deep
brown eyes fell on Lee. “I can tell she makes you happy, along with
the fact that your best friends just got married. But at the same
time you’re confused and worried and you’re desperate for answers.
Someone told you something?”

“
It was a letter.” Ace
answered though the boy never asked a question. “My friend left me
a letter before she passed. She answered several of my most secret
questions wile leaving me just as clueless.”

“
That’s why you need to go
to Heleow.” Dohnatello added.

Ace narrowed his eyes. How could the
leader of the High Krome; a man Ace had never even spoken to, know
about Heleow?

“
I can help you with that.”
Dohnatello explained. “Rose spoke to Aaron about helping you get
there and Aaron came to me. I am more than willing to help you,
Ace.”

Ace found it very discomforting that
the leader knew his name. That was one of the reasons he found it
hard to trust this man’s offer. “What’s your ability?” Ace finally
asked after nibbling on his lip for a wile.

Dohnatello smirked, “I can control
machinery. It’s perfect for ruling a gang of car
thieves.”

Ace nodded. He had never met anyone
with that particular skill before. It seemed like an outward one,
whereas intangibility, dark-portaling, foresight, and Avery’s
empathy were much more internal.

“
We don’t just steal cars
you know,” continued the leader. “I have a variety of jets I am
willing to let you board. Tomorrow I can arrange for you to fly
privately. There will be no pilot, but I assure you the plane will
operate perfectly.”

Ace’s jaw dropped as he gawked at the
leader. “Thank you,” he finally sputtered, “Thank you so
much.”

“
Don’t mention it.” There
was something sinister about the way Dohnatello voiced that, as if
it was a threat. “I will have one of my shoufwers escort you to the
correct wing. Expect to be boarded by dawn.” And with that he left
the room; the pair of High members trailing after him.

~What better place to hold a gang
wedding reception than the penthouse of a luxurious South Side
Stelter hotel? Night had just kissed dusk and from the towering
view, anyone could watch the sun set in the slivers between
skyscrapers. The fiery ball of light slowly sank to the last of its
orange glory, taking with it the comforting pinks and purples
painted across the sky. There wasn't a cloud to decorate the
endlessly black canvass above. Not even a star twinkled nor did the
moon make an appearance.

The guests had all changed from there
pale traditional attire to the more comfortable party dress. Lots
of legs and bare backs were exposed as the woman scurried across
the roof top in their meter tall heels. None of them made a comment
about the icy breeze slightly rocking the tower. They only
continued to jabber about their latest car working and foreign acts
of thievery as they snacked on refreshments.

Paper lanterns and splotches of blue
and gold decorated the spacious root top. Elegant Christmas lights
were streamed along the protective glass fencing the perimeter. In
the very center of the reception sat a spacious round pool. Themed
candles in glass bowls drifted across the surface as the wind
tossed them around. On the other side of the pool stood an enormous
tented pavilion from which the gests were to feast once the wedded
had arrived.

The problem was that Rose and DH hadn't
shown up yet, and a crowd of close friends awaited them with
bottles of Champaign. It was tradition to shower the newly weds
with alcohol as they walked into the reception. Then they would
jump in a pool in front of the whole gang regardless of how
freezing the water was.

Ace glanced at the silver watch beneath
his white cuff. He and Lee were supposed to remain in their white
gowns since they were the second most honored individuals. Rose and
DH might have stayed in their gowns except for the fact that they
were about to be showered in sticky beverages. After all, that was
the point in being showered by Champaign. It was still an elegant
event, so the married couple couldn't just show up in sweatpants
and a t-shirt. They had to look nice, but at the same time, they
couldn't wear expensive things since they were intentionally
getting them stained. So, traditionally, they wore something old
fashioned.

The small crowd was mashed up by the
blue glass elevator doors. From the inside the elevator, every inch
was tinted so the people from within wouldn't be able to see a
thing outside and at the same time allowed all eyes from the out to
see the people in ward.

A small flock of chit-chatters stood
guard on the ledge of the rooftop under a grove of paper lanterns.
Occasionally their eyes fell to the front doors eighty floors
below, watching for the bride and groom. But when no one appeared
they went right back to talking and rubbing their freezing
arms.

Lee waited beside Ace at the very front
of the Champaign spraying crowd. The bottle of brown fluid had
grown warm in her hands but like the rest of the crowd she too was
cold.

Ace flung his coat around her shoulders
at the sight of her slight shivering and she smiled with gratitude.
"What's taking so long?" she finally asked.

Ace shrugged and glanced back down at
his wrist. "Maybe they got lost coming back from the photo shoot?"
he suggested.

Right after the chapel, DH and Rose had
driven off to Garden Park for their wedding pictures. After
conversing with the High Krome, Ace and Lee managed to meet up with
them just in time to be added to the last of their
pictures.

Shortly after the session was over,
Rose had announced that she and her husband were going to change
into their more-than-willing-to-be-drenched-in-alcohol outfits.
Since Ace and Lee didn't have to change, they would head straight
for the reception and the newly-weds would arrive half an hour
later. But it was starting to grow to an hour and there was still
no sign of them.

For the fourth time one of the
champagne holding Krome members had suggested they call them. But
before any one else could make a rude comment, a light blinked from
atop the elevator indicating that someone was ascending. All around
the crowd grew silent save for a rowdy person shouting, "I thought
you were supposed to be on look out!"

"We have been watching!" the girl with
an up turned nose and an annoyingly naggy voice objected. She was
standing with a group of her friends not too far away peering down
at the hotel’s entrance. "It's just so cold up here!"

"Maybe you shouldn't have been wearing
that skank of an outfit, Chelsea." the guy in the crowd yelled
back.

Chelsea had hollered something vulgar
in response, but all eyes were glued to the tinted elevator as DH's
head first slid into view. He was looking down at his wife probably
mentioning how old fashioned she looked in that velvet and lace
dress of hers.

Rose wore a 1990's inspired black
velvet gown with a humongous white collar. It was so big, it looked
like a miniature cape as it hung about her shoulders. An equally
enormous creme colored bow sat on the back of her head. The
material looked like something made of half plastic and half silk.
Ace couldn’t help but to snicker at her sight. She looked like she
was about to attend a funeral and go study in a private school all
at the same time.

DH, on the other hand, actually didn't
look too bad. It was evident that his flavor was in the same era as
his wife's, yet it was just a suit and tie. It was the material
that made it look old. The coat of his outfit looked as if it had
been speckled with random shades of grey and looked wooly- not
smooth and silky like his blue tie and even lighter blue button
up.

The elevator arrived with a ding now
and the doors slid open. Ace popped off the lid of his champagne
bottle. He was among the first to spray his comrades and joined the
crowd between shouts of, "What took you so long?!" and "We've been
waiting up here all night!"

By the time Ace had downed the bottle,
he had managed to get half of his shirt soaked and sticky before
wiggling his way out of the crowd and setting the empty bottle in a
trash can. When he looked back, Rose and DH had already made it to
the bright blue pool with the flock of foam- spraying gangsters
surrounding them.

Rose looked up at DH and wiped away a
clump of alcohol from her eyes. Her scarlet hair clung to her face
with stickiness. She hopped into DH's arms and he cradled her there
like a baby. When the last bottle was used to drench DH's coat, he
leapt into the pool.

Rose let out a startled shriek before
they both hit the water with an enormous splash. Fortunately, the
hotel managers had kept the pool heated, so it was like jumping
into a large warm bath tub.

The crowd cheered and slowly began to
fade into the party as DH kissed his bride all the way to the edge
of the pool. Aaron was waiting for them there with a matching pair
of towels. "You done?" he asked over their tangle of lips and wet
limbs.

"Yes," Rose gasped pulling away and
gazing up at her husband. "For now anyway." she glanced up at Aaron
noticing him for the first time. "Are those for us?" she asked
eyeing the towels in his hands as water clung to her heavily
mascaraed lashes.

"This is the only present I bought you
so, I hope you like it." replied Aaron.

"Love it!" DH exclaimed as Aaron
extended a hand to lift Rose out of the water.

Just then Malachi Sarzanouski rushed by
and shoved the High Krome in the back. With a gigantic splash,
Aaron crumpled into the warm chlorinated water- towels and all. He
stood up in the meter deep water sputtering, and caught the last
sight of Malachi's fare blond hair vanishing into the
crowd.

"Well that sucks," Aaron muttered
glancing down at his drenched white attire. His dragon tattoo bled
through the sleeves of his white shirt. "At least I know I can win
a wet t-shirt contest."

Aside from the laughter of the crowd,
there was another one that was much closer and heading their way.
Aaron glanced up to see Ace approaching with his hands jammed into
his damp silvery pockets. "I shouldn't be laughing, but you had to
admit, that was pretty funny."

"Do you guys need a towel?" asked Lee
as she arrived on the scene. She was running a damp rag along her
fare arms and trying to wash away as much champagne from her hair
as she could. "One of the hotel workers gave me this
one."

Rose nodded, "If you don't mind Lee.
I'd just hate to have to drip dry."

"Not at all," she glanced at Ace, "I
think I'll bring one for you, just incase you get pushed in
too."

"I won't get pushed in." Ace
vowed.

Aaron laughed, "That's what I
thought."

Lee walked away giggling and Ace took a
cross-legged seat by the waters edge. "How does it feel to be
married?" be asked as DH and Rose locked fingers under the
water.

"Like a dream come true." DH answered
though his eyes were locked to his wife.

"I never thought I could be this
happy." replied Rose.

Aaron cooed then splashed them
playfully. "I can't tell you how overjoyed I am for you Rose. And I
wish you the best of luck."