The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural (19 page)

Larissa turned off the camera and slid
it back in the bag. The couple was still fighting and Josh had
thrown Cassie over his shoulder like a bag of flour. Larissa laid
down on the sand. It was scorching hot and yet it felt wonderfully
good. “Good, I guess. And you?”

Ammon laid on his side and bits of
white sand clung to his damp chest. “I’m alright.”

“
That’s good. I’m glad
you’re yourself again.” She shut her eyes and let the hot sun warm
her cheeks.

“
Is that what you think?” he
inquired.

“
I’m still not going to tell
you my secrets.” She said quickly after she realized that was the
direction their conversation was headed, “You still haven’t proved
to be the Ammon O’Connell I knew, even though you have been making
huge improvements.”

“
I’m not going to force you
to do anything you don’t want to do.” He said, “Just remember that
you promised me.”

Larissa huffed, “I’ll tell you Ammon, I
swear, just… probably not soon.”

“
Why?” he asked.

Larissa nibbled on her salty lip. “I’m
just not ready for it. I mean, I’m still trying to understand
it…”

“
Uh-hu?” Ammon
encouraged.

Larissa sat up and squinted at him.
“You were trying to coax it out of me weren’t you?”

Ammon shrugged, “It was worth a
try.”

“
Well, that’s definitely not
going to happen. Not today. Nor tomorrow…”

Ammon frowned as Larissa laid her head
back down. She scooped up a pile of sand around her head to make
herself an improvised pillow.

“
I knew a guy that used to
say that.” Ammon remarked after he too was comfortable.

“
Say what?”

Ammon put on one of his most
convincing
Jersey
accent and exclaimed, “
Not
today
!”

Larissa giggled. “Why did he say
that?”

Ammon inhaled deeply and let
the sun tan his skin. “He was on the soccer team.” Ammon explained,
“He was the keeper. Every time he stopped a ball it was his thing
to say-” again Ammon put on the accent, “
not today
!”

Larissa shifted on the shore, “I didn’t
know you played soccer.”

Ammon made a draw out laugh, “I don’t.
I dated someone who was on the school’s broadcasting team. She
needed help getting some soccer footage and that’s how I found out
about that keeper.”

Larissa nodded. She loved it when Ammon
told her stories about his high school. She could tell he missed it
badly, but at the same time she knew he was happy where he was at.
“It seems like you dated a lot of girls.”

Ammon scoffed, “Yeah, I’m not going to
lie, I had a bit of a reputation. But after I broke up with Isobel,
it was hard to find another person to fill the void.” He stopped
himself. He had just broken the first rule of dating: never bring
up the ex. But Larissa already knew about Isobel.

She was one of Ammon’s first
girlfriends and by far one of the most amazing people he had ever
acquainted. Girls like Isobel were the reason bands wrote love
ballots. She completely rocked his world and to think that Ammon
was lucky enough to meet her in high school. After dating her for
nine months it was safe to say that he was madly in love with her,
then she told him something. She had never been herself around him
because she had been keeping a secret. She was a
supernatural.

“
Well, no one could fill the
void until now.” he said quickly. The moment lingered then he
rolled back to his side and said. “Listen, Larissa, I’ve only known
you for like six months, but ever since day one I haven’t been able
to get you off my mind. I’ve never told you that, but I guess now’s
a good a time as any.” He frowned again realizing that those words
probably weren’t the best. “For the longest time Isobel was the
center of my thoughts, but I’ve hardly been able to think about her
now that you’re in my life.”

Larissa didn’t know what to say. No one
had even come close to mentioning those things to her. She didn’t
even know if she should open her eyes or just keep them shut.
Instead she pressed her lips in a fine line and waited to think up
something miraculous.

“
You’re killing me Larissa,
say something.”

Finally she decided to sit
up. Sand clung to her still soaked romper as she sat there. “I
don’t know what to say,” She managed to choke out. “Other
than…
I guess I
feel the same about you.”

For some reason, Ammon was astounded to
hear this. “Are you serious?”

Larissa considered, “Yeah, pretty
serious. You mean a lot to me, Ammon. You’re the reason why I’m
free; you’re my only other friend outside of the orphanage. You’re
the only person I can and would be able to come to. For
anything.”

Larissa knew all those things were
true. She felt the truth in her heart as she spoke them. But like
Ammon, neither of them had told the other. Larissa didn’t like that
awkward feeling of having Ammon gawking at her so instead she cast
her eyes out to the crashing ocean.

Ammon sat up too and put his face right
up against hers, “You’re serious?” he asked again.

“
Yeah,” Larissa
repeated.

This time they held eyes and she could
tell by the way he was looking at her that he wanted to kiss. In
all honesty, at that moment, so did she. Larissa leaned in
slightly, then pulled away quickly only to spin her head
around.

Cassie was standing there with her
camera in her hand as Josh watched behind her. “You were so going
to kiss!” she exclaimed.

“
And you were so going to
take a picture of us when we did.” Larissa objected.

Ammon pulled away then climbed to his
feet. “Thanks for crashing the moment.” He said as he pulled
Larissa up.

“
Since when have you two
been all…” Josh hesitated, “kissy-kissy?”

“
Since forever,” Cassie
interjected, “you couldn’t tell?”

Josh shook his head, “Nah, romance is
boring! You know what’s better than dating?” He didn’t give the
group much time to think about his question before he answered,
“Food! Who’s ready to go stuff their faces?”

Cassie beamed.“There’s a luow back at
the hotel and it smells really tasty!”

Without further comment, they trotted
back up the beach and as they went, Larissa’s stomach
grumbled.

~“Wait, one more!” Michael insisted
even though their plane had finally rolled to a stop in the
Honolulu airport.

For the majority of the flight, Lee had
been asking random silly questions ranging from ‘what’s your
favorite movie?’ to ‘If you had a dream about a rhino chasing you,
then you went to a zoo, what would you do?’ Lee enjoyed asking
questions and Michael enjoyed answering. As for Ace and August,
they tended to doze off in between snacking.

“
We’re running late as it
is.” August grumbled from the open door of the aircraft.

“
Aww crap you’re right.”
Michael frowned then sprang from his seat and bounded for the open
door. “Well it was nice meeting you Mini Star.” That was the
nickname he gave her simply because she looked like Lotus.
“Farewell!” he exclaimed then he was springing down the jet’s
stairs right behind August.

“
That was fun. It was nice
to get my mind of Lozey. We should play that game more often.”
Michael mentioned.

“
Hey Michael, focus!” August
snapped as they strolled across the massive airport hanger. A golf
cart snaked its train of luggage across the even concrete and
finally parked inside one of the many garages at the base of the
airport. The last of a jet’s ferocious roar dwindled into silence
as it disappeared into the sky. Michael watched as the plane sailed
over the vast blue ocean of the beach front airport and August had
to snap his fingers to grab the lead singer’s attention. “We need
to be in Italy right now, but we’re stuck on this island! How are
we supposed to get there now?”

Michael grasped onto August’s shoulder.
“I can teleport, mate. How about this, I’ll go to Italy alone this
time. I know it’s far, but I’ve jumped from north pole to south
before so I know I can do it. I just can’t do it carrying luggage.”
He gave August a look, “Besides, didn’t you need to make a call or
something?”

“
Yeah,” August
grumbled.

“
How ‘bout this? I go to
Italy, you make your phone call and just stay here. Ithaca should
be around
. She just bought a house in the
mountains didn't
she?”

August nodded.

“
Right, well then problem
solved. You just stay with her and wait for me to get back.”
Michael patted August’s built shoulder, smiled then disappeared.
There wasn’t a swirling of colors, nor a rushing wind. Michael was
simply there one moment and gone the next.

August sighed as he glanced over his
shoulder at the airport. He needed to be in Italy. Not for
Michael’s reasoning but for his own. Angrily, he pulled out his
phone to give Ithaca a call. Not going to Italy was just one down
fall he needed to talk to her about. The other was that the
assassin she had sent to kill Lee didn’t do a very good
job.

His head swung back around and as he
walked, his phone went to his ear. Ithaca picked up on the second
ring.

“
You’re back.” She said the
moment she answered. Of course he was. Why else would he be calling
her? “I need you in Italy right now.”

“
Yeah, but I’ll get to that
later,” he said briskly, “You know that girl Mirage was trying to
protect? The girl with the platinum hair and green
eyes?”

Ithaca frowned. “It’s not a crime to
say her name, you know.”

August didn’t waver, “She’s
alive.”

The other end of the line was silent.
Then finally Ithaca laughed. Even over the phone her cackle gave
him chills. “Well then Mason is back too isn’t he? It’s been a
while since I’ve seen him and I’m dying to see what he looks like
all grown up.” from the other end of the phone her lips parted into
a devilish smile. “This is turning out to be a better day than I
intended.”

“
What do you want me to do?”
August asked.

Ithaca replied casually, “Don’t worry
about it. I will run into them eventually. As for now, come find
me. I’m on Waikiki Beach and I’ve got a surprise for
you.”

August had just stepped into the shadow
cast by the airport building and he glanced around for a door. “Did
you find your cousin?” he asked.

Ithaca smiled, “I sure did.”

~“This is so much more amazing than I
thought it would be!” exclaimed Lee as they descended the jet
steps. Ace had lugged two duffle bags over his shoulder and was
carrying a suitcase in his hand as Lee clung to her shoulder bag.
“Is this Heleow?”

“
Honolulu,” Ace corrected
then pointed out over the flat beach behind them. Lee could see the
sheets of silver light growing out of the flat blue ocean. “Heleow
is out there.”

Lee spun around and walked backwards
across the pavement. The silver city seemed far too fare to even be
noticed between the different shades of blue. And yet the glass
columns stuck out like a finger print on glass. “That’s so cool,”
she marveled. “I wish we could get a better look at it. From here
the towers look like they are shaped all funny. Are we going
straight there?”

Ace shrugged, “Honestly, I’m
not even sure what to do now. I suppose we could just grab a hotel
and get a feel of Honolulu before we do anything else.
Besides, I don't even know how to get to
Heleow."

Lee nodded as her eyes took
in Hawaii. She had never been out of Tarrillian
City
before so Hawaii was clearly an
amazing sight. As they were coming to a decent in the international
airport, she had glanced out the jet window and was instantly
amazed that they were practically landing on a beach. Even as she
walked under the jet’s wing, she could already see the aquamarine
ocean beckoning her.

Up shore from the waterline
sat the low building that made up the port and she could see the
distant mountains on the island. They were not at all like the
rolling hills of East Side, with piney trees and laired with
buildings. Instead they jetted up sharply into the low grey
overcast almost forming green
volcanoes
. But the clouds there seemed
strange as if there was an invisible barrier keeping them on one
side of the mountains while on her side of the island, there wasn’t
a cloud in the sky.

The flat shoreline allowed for the sea
air to ripple through her hair bringing with it a comfortable
breeze. She had expected Hawaii to be so hot that the moment she
stepped out of the plane; the heat would yank the air from her
lungs. Instead, the weather was pleasantly humid compared to the
smoggy air in Tarrillian, and she figured she’d grow used to it
quickly.

“
You’re okay with that,
right?” asked Ace. Lee had been so caught up in looking around,
that she hadn’t noticed he was holding the airport doors open for
her. Instantly they were swarmed by leisure tourists and rushing
business men.