The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural (18 page)

“
S
he
likes to surf
.” Michael
cut in before Lee could laugh
. He
stared blankly out in front of him and spoke as if no one was
around him. “And she’s good at it too. It’s like she knows where
all the right waves are. I could watch her surf all day…” his voice
faded and his body went limp against the couch. His head hit the
wall but all he managed to utter was a careless, “ouch.”

Lee raised her eyebrows then glanced at
the bass player quizzically.

August opened his mouth to answer then
snapped it shut when Michael sat up quickly. “Is that where this
plane is going then?” he asked, “Heleow?”

“
You mean you don’t know?”
questioned Ace.

Michael shook his head, “We
were supposed to be going to Italy, but then I saw that we were
flying over the ocean when we should have gone east. I have no
service up here so I can’t call Dohnatello-” the boy stopped then
stared at the pair with wide eyes. “How do
you
know Dohnatello? I don’t know him
personally, but I know him enough to know he wouldn’t just fly
anyone. Who are you?”

Once again Lee glanced up at
Ace.
"Who's that?" she snapped reflexively
trying to keep their agenda private.

“
Oh, you’re keeping
secrets.” Michael concluded with a sly nod, “no matter, we’ve got a
pair of secrets too.
Right
, Auz?”

“
Don’t drag me into this!”
exclaimed the mocha skinned Australian. “I’m just riding a plane
with a bandmate.”

Michael sucked in an enormous breath,
held it, and then let it out slowly. “Well, what’s next? Recon the
four of us are just gunna have to kill time?”

Lee nodded, “We’ve
still
h
ave
another five hours. Can I ask you some
questions?”

Both rock stars cocked their
eyebrows.

“
It’s just a game we used to
play at the orphanage.” Lee explained, “I’d ask a bunch of silly
questions and we’d-”

“
Orphanage!” exclaimed
August. He tilted his head slightly as he studied Lee. His eyes
scanned every detail of her face and even examined the locket
around her neck scrupulously. Then his eyes darted toward Ace. As
August quickly studied, he managed not to show any expression.
Finally without another word he sat back and removed his eyes from
their faces.

“
Gone off your rocker have
you?” Michael asked sarcastically, “What’s this about?”

“
Nothing,” August snapped
with his eyes glued to the carpet, “Just thought I remembered
something.” He let the moment linger before finally saying,
“Actually I have to make a phone call.”

“
We don’t get service up
here, fruit loop.” Michael pointed out.

August slapped himself in the forehead,
“Right, well never mind then,” he turned back to Lee, “What’s this
about a game?”

Lee grinned, “I’ll just ask a question
and you just answer.”

“
You’re not trying to
interrogate are you?” August asked skeptically.

Lee shook her head, “I’m just trying to
kill time.”

Just then Ace’s stomach growled once
again.

“
Here’s some Oreos.” Michael
announced handing over a half-eaten box.

Ace snatched up the box so eagerly, he
had a cookie in his mouth before he even realized everyone was
staring at him. “What?” he asked as crumbs flung from his mouth.
“Don’t look at me like I’m the only one here who gets excited about
cookies.”

~Larissa had never seen
anything like it before. The sand was so white, and the water was
so
clear
it looked
like liquid topaz. When the gentle ocean breeze rippled through her
hair it brought in the smell of crisp ocean water and smoke from a
nearby tiki-torch. Children ran all around her spraying puffs of
hot fine sand. Giggles and laughter rang through her ears and
melted in with the chirping of seagulls and the crashing of foamy
waves.

Her feet dug into the sand and she felt
each grain tickled between her toes. The sun was high in the sky
now only casting a small amount of shadows beneath the deep green
palm trees. Behind her stood the towering Honolulu Stelter Hotel on
Waikiki Beach. It was the place they would be staying at for the
first couple nights anyway before Cassie’s aunt hooked them up with
a hotel in Heleow. The gang had just arrived and hadn’t even put
their belongings in order before they had jumped into their swim
gear and ran out onto the beach.

Flash!

Larissa turned and wasn’t surprised to
see Cassie sporting her hot pink monokini and the DiAchi Tec.
camera pressed to her eye. “You look adorable!” she squealed, “But
don’t you have a swimsuit?”

Larissa looked down at her almost too
baggy romper. She had never gone swimming before and so the idea of
prancing around nearly naked wasn’t an appealing thought. She was
exposing as much skin as she dared at the moment.

“
What about sunglasses?”
Cassie continued pointing to her own white Ray Bands.

Again no. There was something about
being a supernatural that made intense sunlight
tolerable.

“
Oh, my Latino friend we
need to go shopping!” she exclaimed. Cassie tucked her camera in
her athletic bag then laced her fingers with Larissa’s.

At first Larissa was so
caught off guard that she almost yanked her hand away. Ammon was
the only person
ever
to hold her hand. She didn’t like Cassie’s touch at all, but
at the same time Larissa knew Cassie was only taking her hand
because she was in a bubbly mood. If Larissa withdrew, that might
set off a chain of upset feelings so for now, Larissa let their
hands be intertwined as Cassie lead her to the
waterline.

Out only a little ways away Larissa
could see Josh and Ammon bro-bonding as the ocean water lapped
against their waist. She had never seen so much of Ammon’s skin
before and even from the distance she could count the lines in his
oblique’s and see the curves in his throwing arm as another glop of
wet sand flew Josh’s way. Ammon tossed his wet brown hair out of
his eyes and Larissa could see the droplets of diamonds flinging
back in the ocean. His eyes caught sight of Larissa’s half smile
and he turned to wave.

Larissa couldn’t help but to blush as a
wave crashed over her feet. When the water receded she could feel
herself sinking into the wet sand as grains were dragged over the
top of her foot with an exfoliating sensation. She pulled her hand
away from Cassie to wave back and when she did, a blob of dark sand
splattered against Ammon’s ear.

Josh and Cassie both rolled
their heads back with laughter as Ammon yelped and shot a nasty
glare at the big wrestler. “It’s
in
my ear!” Larissa heard Ammon exclaim which only
made Josh laugh harder.

Larissa shook her head as Ammon ducked
his head under the surface. When he came up his face was clear and
he splashed salty water to clean out his ear.

“
Let’s play chicken!” Cassie
exclaimed.

“
What’s that?” Larissa asked
over the boy’s hoot of agreement.

“
You sit on Ammon’s
shoulders and I’ll sit on Josh’s then we both try and knock each
other off.” She explained.

Larissa took a step back, “I don’t want
to get wet.” She objected as Cassie swung off her athletic bag and
set it on the shore.

“
But it’s fun!” she
insisted, tossing her bag beside the boys still folded towels.
“Trust me.”

“
What’s up?” Josh asked.
Emerging out of the water and shaking his wet hair in Cassie’s
direction just to annoy her.

“
Larissa doesn’t want to get
wet.”

“
How can you come to Hawaii
and not want to get wet?” asked Ammon jogging out of the water.
Silvery water shimmered off his flat pecks and Larissa tried not to
stare.

Larissa took another step back. “I
don’t even have a swimsuit on.” She insisted.

Josh jabbed a thumb over his shoulder
and Larissa saw that he was pointing at a man with jeans and a
straw hat splashing about the ocean. “Neither does he but nothing’s
stopping him.”

“
But still…” Larissa
continued. “Maybe tomorrow when I buy a swimsuit, but not right
now.”

Ammon glanced at Josh. In less than
half a second, Larissa had read their faces and knew what was
coming. Even with her supernatural reflexes she barely had time to
turn away before Josh had grabbed a hold of her ankles. She
wiped-out on the beach with such an oomph that grains of sand fell
in her mouth. Larissa hardly had time to spit before Ammon had
grasped onto her wrists.

“
Let go of me!” she screamed
kicking her legs. At first she fought with all her might and
managed to wriggle a foot free, but Josh was right there to snatch
it back up. Larissa didn’t want to try using her strength again for
a fear that she might accidentally reveal her true capabilities.
Instead she glanced at Cassie for help, but the girl had already
fished out her camera and was snapping away furiously.

“
No!” Larissa roared as the
boys dragged her close to the waves. She felt like a pig being
brought to slaughter and wriggled about to try and free
herself.

“
On the count of three?”
Ammon asked.

“
On the count of three.”
Repeated Josh and they swayed her as if she were a human jump rope.
Her whole body flew back and she screamed something vulgar in
Spanish. The second time they swung her back she had gained even
more momentum. The third swing came around then she was soaring
through the air. She thought about stopping time for a moment, but
the thought soon vanished as she plugged her nose and collided with
an oncoming wave.

She was swirling around the bubbles for
a moment, then her feet found the sandy bottom and her head sprang
out of the ocean. She spat the overwhelming taste of salt from her
lips and glowered up at the boys who were now rejoicing and
exchanging high-fives. Cassie once again hid her camera then
exclaimed, “Chicken time!”

The boys rushed back into the ocean
spraying water as they went and Ammon sank down beside Larissa. “I
know you enjoyed that.” He said with the only thing out of the
water being his head.

Larissa pulled her soaked hair from her
face and when she glanced at him she felt the weight of water on
her lashes. She wanted to say something angry in response, but she
ended up smiling, “I’m just happy you’re back.”

Ammon beamed and beneath the surface
his hands found her waist. “I’ll be here to stay if that’s what you
want.” An oncoming wave rocked their bodies close and for the first
time Larissa’s fingers brushed against the bare skin of his
abdomen.

She didn’t have much time to analyze
how she felt about that because another surge of water was aimed at
their face and when she cast her eyes in that direction she saw
that Cassie had already hopped onto Josh’s shoulders. “Let’s go
lovebirds!” he exclaimed, “Best two out of three. Let’s do
this!”

Ammon swung around and Larissa hopped
up on his shoulders. He waited until Larissa had her balance before
standing up. Then the battle began. In one shove, Larissa had
knocked Cassie off.

“
You suck!” Josh exclaimed
as Cassie wiped the water from her eyes.

“
Shut up Josh!” she
exclaimed, “You just need to hold on to me tighter.”

“
That’s what she
said.”

“
That’s what your mom said
when she’s in bed with a pig!”

Josh stopped and made an utterly
confused face, “What’s that even supposed to mean?”

“
It’s an insult so act
insulted, jeez!” she wailed, “Now pick me up, I need to redeem
myself!”

The second round Larissa made sure to
not shove too hard. She tried to lose on purpose, but even as she
tried, it still took all of Cassie’s strength just to nudge her at
all. Finally Larissa took pity on Cassie’s pathetic attempt and
fell into the water with a fairly believable splash.

“
One
to
one!” Cassie exclaimed
victoriously, “one
to
one!”

“
I know you can do better
than that.” Ammon muttered quietly as Larissa swung her legs around
once more.

Larissa snickered and when the last
battle began, Cassie had tumbled backwards in seconds.

“
Roswell, you suck!” Josh
exclaimed not even bothering to help her up.

“
You’re ugly!”

“
You’re hideous!”

“
I hate you,
Josh!”

“
That never gets old does
it?” asked Ammon sliding Larissa off his shoulders. Sand was
starting to be thrown and Larissa backed away to avoid the volley.
Eventually she and Ammon had backed up all the way to shore.
Larissa didn’t like the way her romper clung to her dripping body
and so she sat on the hot sand and willed the sun to dry
her.

Ammon flopped down bedside her. He was
so close that their hips were touching and as water pooled at the
tips of his hair, they eventually dripped onto Larissa’s shoulder.
They sat there for a moment watching their friends splash and throw
sand-pies. When that wasn’t enough Josh converted to dunking her
repeatedly. Even Larissa had to admit that was kind of funny to
watch. She leaned over and dug through Cassie’s bag for the camera.
After several pictures Ammon finally asked, “How are you,
Larissa?”