The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural (42 page)

So Larissa did the only thing she knew how to
do. Time stopped the moment Larissa pulled the door open. A woman’s
curls froze in mid bounce and fortunately the woman had already
opened a separate door wide enough for Larissa to peek into. The
office workers seated before computer screens seemed to swallow
every open space from within the room. As Larissa continued to
search room after room, she was hardly surprised to find the same
result.

It wasn’t until she had rounded the corner at
the end of the hall did she finally notice she was getting
somewhere. The first door she peered into was the vast back stage
of the show which made Larissa pretty confident that the next door
she opened would be a dressing room. And she was right. However,
she hadn’t expected the room to be occupied.

A brown haired boy sat on a stool with his
back to the studio mirror. Even with a magazine covering his nose,
Larissa recognized him in a heartbeat. How could this be? She
hadn’t seen him since the orphanage. In fact, he hadn’t even
crossed her mind until just then. When she finally gasped his name,
time was sent ticking once more.

The boy, after hearing his name, glanced up
from his magazine. His playful green eyes widened with shock the
moment they held onto hers. “Larissa?”

“
Zach!” she wailed once more
feeling hot tears spring to her eyes. She wasn’t sure if she used
supernatural speed, but the next thing she was aware of was her
thin trembling arms around his taller shoulders.

“
My goodness, Larissa,” he
said patting her dirty auburn waves, “I didn’t know you could cry.
Did the mayor send you to some finishing school where they feed you
estrogen like ice cream?”

Through the tears trickling down her cheeks,
Larissa managed to giggle against his collar bone. Zach had grown
nearly half a foot since she last saw him and as she pulled her
arms back to her sides, she didn’t need a second glance to see that
he had filled out as well.

“
What brings you to
Honolulu?” Zach asked. Larissa never realized that when he smiled,
his left cheek dimpled. But then again, they had all been so
scrawny at the orphanage that he never had the cheeks to
dimple.

Larissa wiped her last tear before gawking up
at him. The back of her mind buzzed as she tried to figure where to
even begin. Car chases, supernatural, Ammon, the mayor; she even
forgot to mention Lee until the door behind them burst open.

“
You’re not supposed to be
here!” A man barked before Larissa could even spin around.
“Security!”

“
It’s cool Francis,” Zach
replied with a casual smile. “Larissa’s an old friend. I haven’t
seen her in months.”

“
I’m sorry but no one is
allowed back here without a card!” Francis explained holding up the
laminated square attached to the end of his lanyard. “It’s a
security policy. I’m sure you’d understand.”

Zach glanced down at his blank torso then
pulled off his invisible lanyard only to drape it over Larissa’s
head.

“
Well you’re our guest. You
don’t need a card to be back here.” Francis sputtered just as two
bodyguards cast their shadows in the door way. “Now we only have a
commercial break and the Stelters just got off the stage so please
hurry.” Without another word, the man turned around and squeezed
through the bodyguards.

“
Alright girl,” one of the
big men said advancing to Larissa, “Come with us.”

Before they could come any closer, Zach had
grabbed Larissa by the arm and shoved a pen and paper in her hand.
“Leave me your hotel address and I’ll meet you tomorrow at nine in
the morning.”

Larissa stared at the pen blankly then
blinked back up at her friend, “But I’m not…”

“
And leave your number too.”
Added Zach.

“
But I don’t…”

“
Come on girl.” One of the
guards said as they grabbed onto Larissa’s arm.

“
Hey, knock it off.” Zach
snapped, “She’s no harm to me, big boy, so seriously just back off
for a moment.” Once the men receded by only a step, Zach turned
back to his friend, “Just leave any address and I’ll make sure I
see you tomorrow. My schedule is jammed pack or else I say we have
dinner or something- but I really can’t today.”

“
That’s fine.” Larissa
replied scribbling the first address to pop into her head. “Waikiki
Beach just behind the Stelter Hotel.”

Larissa handed over the note and Zach tucked
the paper in his breast pocket. “Nine o’clock, alright? I know it’s
early but can you at least try to not rip my head off?”

Larissa scoffed. One of the
last memories she had at the orphanage was staying awake all night
then grouching at Zach in the morning. “I’ll see what I can do.”
She grinned just as the guards grabbed her shoulders.
“
Hasta manana.”
She
called over her shoulder.

Zach followed her out the door and gave her a
salute. He couldn’t believe he had just run into one of his
greatest friends, and yet he hadn’t a clue that the other was also
in the same building. As Zach watched the last of Larissa’s hair
disappear around the corner, he hadn’t the faintest idea that
Larissa was the only friend he would see and that this day was the
last day the three of them would ever be under the same roof.

~The small gems of city light swirled in the
soft orange air of sunset just before Ace and Ithaca’s feet slammed
down on the penthouse property. Due to exhaustion, Ace stumbled
around for a moment with his sight sliding to the left as if he had
just finished spinning around with his forehead on a baseball bat.
If it weren’t for Ithaca’s firm grip, he just might have toppled
over into the gleaming turquoise pool.

“
Thanks,” he muttered
grasping her on the elbow for more support.

“
My pleasure.” She replied
as he inhaled deeply to collect his composure.

Just over his head, Ithaca could see into the
large glass wall of the Stelter penthouse. A movie was projected
onto the blank cement wall and both Stelters had fallen asleep on
the furniture. Aside from that, not a single light was on it their
house and Ithaca grinned at the idea of having Ace to herself for
just a moment longer.

When he looked back up at her, streaks of
blue danced across his face from the lights illuminating the
swimming pool. Beside him and clear to the end of the world, the
sun had fallen more than halfway. Pretty soon night would have
swept over Heleow and he would be ending the day and overlooking
the glistening city with Ithaca by his side.

“
No really,” he said again
releasing his touch, “This day has been amazing. You have shown me
how to teleport, you have answered so many questions… well, I still
have a few more for you- but seriously. I couldn’t have asked for a
better day.”

Ithaca kept her hands on his shoulders only
to gaze up at him as the slight breeze sent strands of hair
trailing diagonally across her face. “What other questions do you
have?” she asked finally pulling her touch back and crouching down
to sink her feet into the pool water.

The sun finally disappeared from the sky the
moment Ace joined her by the edge of the pool. As he gathered his
thoughts, he watched the silvery ripples ring out from where they
had dipped their feet. “I want to know more about my past.” He
finally summarized the questions tossing around in the back of his
mind.

Ithaca tossed all her hair to one side of her
shoulder. “What are you talking about Mason? You didn’t believe
what I was telling you on the beach.”

Ace sighed, “I know.” He confessed, “But it’s
been swimming around in my mind for a while now. I guess I just
needed time to let it sink in.”

As their eyes held, Ace tried to figure out
what she was thinking behind that smug expression. She nibbled on
her plump bottom lip and looked at him without seeing him as if she
were arguing with herself. Finally with a drawn out sigh, Ithaca
sank her eyes down to her legs. From beneath the surface, the water
managed to make their skin several shades lighter so they seemed to
be wearing calf-high socks.

“
I wasn’t planning on
telling you this.” She finally began, bobbing her toes on the
surface, “But it would be wrong of me to not leave this option
available.”

Ace glanced at her silhouette against the
pools reflection. Her sunglasses clipped in the center of her
tankini top and her woven hat flopped by her ears from a long day
in the sun. “I’m listening,” he whispered.

“
Humans aren’t the only
thing on this planet with supernatural abilities,” Ithaca began and
before Ace could interrupt, she continued. “The planet is
supernatural as well. Not the whole thing, only some places.
Certain natural water springs, trees, berries, even some rocks;
when consumed by the right person can enhance their powers or even
give them another phenomenal ability.”

“
Your mind control…?” began
Ace.

“
Persuasion,” corrected
Ithaca, “But yes, my uncle made me eat a mix of leaves and berries
and… well Mother Earth gave me more power.”

Ace nodded and added the pieces before Ithaca
could explain, “So you know of some place where to get these
berries for me?”

Ithaca shook her head and glanced back up at
Ace. From over his shoulder, she watched through the glass wall as
the silvery haired Stelter woke up and began climbing the spiral
steps to a bedroom. “Not exactly.” Ithaca continued, pulling her
eyes back to Ace. “Once an element has been consumed, it no longer
works for anyone else. And in my case, these berries didn’t grow
back. But there’s another thing you should know about elements.
They can restart you physically. I knew of a supernatural who was
blind—”

“
Supernatural can go blind?”
Inquired Ace.

“
Not
go
blind,
be
blind. He was born that way, and
then when he became a supernatural—”

“
You
become
a supernatural?” interrupted
Ace once more.

Ithaca glowered, “Yes. No one is just born
supernatural, it’s a reaction. Usually in life threatening
situations, naturals get a huge boost of adrenaline. If you’re a
super, it’s kinda like that adrenaline never goes away. It changes
you and you can never go back- but that is beside the point
Mason.”

Ace chuckled, “Sorry, this is all so new to
me. You were talking about a restart..?”

Ithaca nodded and once more her eyes sailed
past Ace’s ear to glance at the younger Stelter coming back down
the steps with a blanket dragging behind her. “I know of an island
with a small spring of water that can restart you. It’ll give you
back your memory. I can tell you what you want to know, or you can
remember yourself.”

“
That’s amazing!” exclaimed
Ace, “I’m so glad you told me, I want to remember for myself!
Please, you have to take me.”

Ithaca glanced at him with a sort of sorrow
in her eyes. “Mace, eating those elements was the most painful
thing I have ever experienced.”

If her words weren’t enough to retract his
smile, then by far her tone was.

“
You don’t understand.”
Ithaca began, this time her words came out slowly and just thinking
about what she was saying sent her voice growing hoarse. “I would
rather die than go through that again. It was like I was dieing for
an eternity, Mace. I was seeing things that weren’t really there,
feeling things I had never felt before and to this day I cannot
explain. You do not know how to suffer until you consume an
element.”

Ace hesitated for a moment listening to
Ithaca’s words. Could it really be that bad? Ace would sign up for
underground fights just to feel pain. Pain was something that
reminded him he was human. He wasn’t scared to be hurt. The cold
dark life on the streets had taught him that. But suffering? He
wasn’t entirely sure what Ithaca meant by that.

“
Not to mention some super
have been known to die during the process.” Ithaca continued her
voice still a little uneven. “If you go into it hoping for a
certain ability, odds are wont survive the change. The element
gives you what the element wants. When you’re telling your body to
do one thing, but the element says another, the malfunctioning
kills you. Simply because I told you, your risk of not making it
just increased.”

“
But I don’t want an
ability,” Ace answered, “I just want to restart and
remember.”

Once more, Ithaca’s focus had jumped past
Ace’s dark wisps of hair to the glass wall of the penthouse. Lee
was now tucking her sister under the blanket. “Alright.” Ithaca
sighed. “Whenever you’re ready to burn yourself with hellfire let
me know.”

Ace smiled, “I will Ithaca. Thank you.”

Hearing the sincerity in his words Ithaca
refrained from bidding a farewell just to eye him incredulously. By
the pool side, the water illuminated Ace’s face in the areas that
were normally darkened. The wide set of his jaw just before it
sloped to form his beautiful neck only magnified how wide and pink
his lips were. Even when expressionless, Ithaca could see the
slight tug at the corner of his lips and the almost quizzical arch
of his brows as the wind tossed his raven colored hair to the side.
But the greatest trick of the water was the way it turned his eyes
from midnight to daylight and sent the shadows of his lashes
reaching out to magnify the gleam in his eyes.

Even Ithaca couldn’t deny he was handsome,
and a pang of jealousy hit her when she remembered he was not hers.
“Have you wondered what it would be like to do something you would
never do?” she asked.