The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural Read online

  “Well what can I say,” began Jacob snapping Lee’s attention back to his shady smile, “I’m a scary guy.”

  Lee never thought of him as that. But she was thirteen when she had known Jacob and she was too naive to know any better. Now in her legal adult state, Lee could see that he was right- or at least to some degree. There was something different about Jacob, something menacing. From the way he talked to the way he smirked. Even his swagger seemed shady. But they had all been friends. The four of them. The quartet of orphans always causing trouble. Humorous Zach, stubborn Larissa, innocent Lee, and sinister Jacob. He was the one who lead the four in most of their adventures. That was until he miraculously escaped the orphanage.

  To that day, Lee couldn’t figure out how he had done it. And as the times changed again in her dream, she tried to push that thought from her mind. Her visions morphed and so did the time. She was alone in Garden Park in the late summer. Even in the dream world, she knew what moment she was about to relive. At that time, she had sat on the edge of a glass and steel fountain staring at the chrome band no longer on her wrist and wondered how Ace had managed to get it off without damaging it.

  Her eyes flickered open and she was back in bed. The warm sun had just begun to float above the city’s towering horizon and was preparing to melt the snow off a blistering winter. Lee sat up in bed and glanced at the clock.

  Ace had said he would come over first thing in the morning, but he probably wouldn’t be there for another half hour so Lee decided to climb out of bed and make some breakfast. As her footsteps sounded down the spiral staircase, the walls of glass automatically began to lessen their tint and allowed sunlight to illuminate the entire home.

  She slumped down the hall and rubbed a fist against her eye before crossing through the large dining room. As she walked past the massive oak table, she though she saw someone standing in the corner. Startled, she lowered her hand and took a second glance. Nothing.

  It was just a trick of the eye. At first Lee thought maybe she had seen Ace, and that he was using his abilities to play a joke on her. But that wasn’t Ace’s style. He was more of a ring-the-door-bell-and-surprise-with-flowers kind of guy and definitely not a lurk-in-the-shadows-and-scare-playfully person. With Jacob fresh in her mind, Lee thought about him as she continued into the kitchen to turn on the radio. Lotus Stelter’s newest single featuring Michael Caster rang through the house.

  Lee squealed and spun on the spot. She loved that song. Not just because it was titled Freedom, which was the one thing she daily wished for at the orphanage, but because the lyrics matched her love story with Ace. He had freed her from the orphanage but wouldn’t allow himself to fall for her. But eventually he did because he couldn’t be contained inside his fears. She also liked the song because it had a nice beat.

  “Louder!” She commanded the radio and the volume increased.

  She twirled around the kitchen until she ran into the fridge then thrust the door open. Milk, eggs… and maybe some leftover Chinese takeout. There was some bread on the counter she could toast just in case Ace showed up early. Lee kicked the door close and skipped over to the stove. Ace had taught her a shortcut in making scrambled eggs in the microwave, but she preferred a skillet.

  The chorus beat through the speakers and Lee sang along hitting every note with perfection. Not only did Ace mention that she sang like Lotus Stelter, but in a way she resembled the billion dollar heiress. However Lee’s eyes were green, Lotus’s were blue, and their hair colors were off a shade, but there was something about the bone structure that was similar.

  Just as the chorus neared the end, something shattered from the dining room. Lee almost didn’t hear it over the music, but she spun around and glanced down the hall. “Quiet.” She muttered and the music came to a decrescendo. “Ace?” she called.

  Rule number one in cooking: never leave the stove unwatched, but Lee had to see if what she heard was real. Sure enough, as her eyes scanned across the dining room, a vase that had once held flowers on the table had been thrown across the room. The pieces of glass laid there in a glistening mess. She would have scurried over to clean it, but she could feel eyes staring at the back of her head.

  There was a vile laughter behind and slowly Lee turned.

  “Let’s play a game.” Said the huge man. As he leaned against the fridge, his eyes glued to her hungrily. “You run, and I’ll come kill you.”

  Everything about that man read murderer. From the long black trench coat to the row of metal spikes sprouting from his spine. There were even spears the size of knives protruding unnaturally from his shoulders, fingers, and a metal cluster seemed to grow over his brow. At that sight, she knew three things; he was a supernatural, he was going to slaughter her, and her chances of escape were next to none.

  A terrified scream sprang from Lee’s throat and she bolted down the hall before she even registered that the scream was hers. By the time she reached the front door, his demonic physique was right there to greet her. “Strike one.” He announced as a playful grin spread across his blood colored lips.

  She turned and bolted for the back door. But the moment she spun around, he was right there to meet her. “Oh, come on sweetheart, you’re going to have to do better than that.” He teased.

  Lee didn’t wait for him to say anything else. She sprinted for the kitchen knowing that if she couldn’t out run him; she could at least defend herself and the first thing she saw was the pan on the stove. Without thinking twice, she hurtled it at the intruder. The flat heated part collided with his cheek and sizzled before clattering to the floor.

  An excited smile gleamed across his face as he kicked the skillet across the floor. “Much better.” He hissed, “Now we can have some fun.”

  Lee fumbled trough the drawers for something else, but she wasn’t fast enough. The man had spun her around and pinned one of her arms in a J to her back. He held her so tightly she could feel one of his horns pressing against her shoulder. Tears sprang to her eyes as he tugged on her fragile limb. “This is only going to hurt a lot.” The intruder smiled as he spoke.

  He jerked on her arm and with a pop, pain exploded from her shoulder. An agonized scream ripped through her teeth as the sensation shot down her body. She felt as if her entire back was on fire and for a moment the lights left her eyes. “That’s strike two.” He hissed in her ear.

  When he let go, Lee crumpled to the ground landing hard on her knees. Another pain shot up her joints, but nothing compared to the blaze in her shoulder. She couldn’t move her entire arm. Even if she could, she wouldn’t have been fast enough to shield her face from colliding into the floor cupboard.

  “Alright, I’ll let you recuperate.” He insisted as he snatched up a small apple from a neighboring fruit basket. “I haven’t had my fun yet.”

  Lee laid on the floor feeling like her entire left side was paralyzed. Her shoulder had turned into a violent throbbing pain, and she gasped several times to regain her composure. “Why… are you doing this?” she wheezed. “I’m not even one of you.”

  The man shrugged as he bit into the fruit. “Eh, might as well tell you since today is the day you die.”

  Lee had managed to crawl up into a sitting position and rested her back against the cupboard. She glanced at her arm as she cradled it on her lap. Already she could see bits of black and blue from the man’s clutches.

  Without another word a five inch spike shot form his finger and lodged into Lee’s thigh. Her scream was deafening, and it was music to his ears. “I’m going to kill you because it was his Majesty’s order.” He said crouching on the floor in front of her as blood pooled around her leg. “Fun stuff, huh?”

  Lee’s fingers wrapped around the spike watching it stain her hands red. Her eyes began to fuzz up. The sight of something the size of a coloring marker lodged inside her flesh was incomprehensible and she was instantly relieved that her pajama pants covered the sight of her penetrated skin. As she sat there with her leg ignited in tortu
re, she couldn’t help but wonder if she should pull it out and bleed to death. There was no point in resisting and surely that would be a whole lot less suffering. With a swift tug, Lee yanked the spike out. An involuntary groan escaped her clenched teeth, but the pain didn’t subside.

  “Well look at you!” The man said clicking his tongue. He watched as hot blood gushed from her leg pint by pint. It stained her pants as the crimson liquid pooled beside her. Already Lee was beginning to feel woozy and when she glanced back down, she saw that the metal barb had pierced down to her bone. The sight of every muscle and torn hunk of flesh was so sickening; she almost passed out on the spot.

  “Let me speed things up for you a bit.” He said with a sneer. Lee closed her eyes, but not before she saw the man aim a spear between her brows. Do it, she willed, kill me. I can’t fight back anyway…

  What should have been the sound of a barb being launched her way was replaced by a startled yelp and then a crash. When Lee’s eyes fluttered open, Ace stood in the intruder’s place with his fists clenched, jaw taught and an infuriated look in his eyes.

  “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” the man inquired. He had collided into the refrigerator which was now bowed in and pieces of egg laid cracked around him. He climbed to his feet, and as he did so, his skin seemed to be eaten up by an army of spikes. By the time he stood up, he had transformed into a hideous thing drenched in so many barbs they began to rip through his trench coat.

  “I think this party just got started.” The assassin had said that hoping Ace would retaliate. Yet he couldn’t hide the startled expression when the boy turned around and crouched beside Lee.

  “Ace,” she muttered. She had only been bleeding for a moment but already her voice was growing hoarse.

  Ace couldn’t lift his eyes to meet hers. His fingers trembled as he gazed down the gash and the pool of blood quickly flooding to the scene. He opened his mouth to say something just as a metal horn sailed through his hair. Ace didn’t bother to look up. He had grabbed a rag and was tying it to the wound as gently as he could.

  More horns fired and some were even aimed at Lee, but they sailed right through. Lee knew he couldn’t keep her intangible for too long. Using supernatural powers on Naturals was an exhausting thing. It was a sort of law she knew all too well, and apparently so did the intruder.

  “Well,” he huffed hopping onto the counter and continuing with his apple. “I’ve never been a patient fellow, but I can wait for this one.” He banged his feet on the cupboards below, “You know the moment you turn her tangible, I’m just going to kill her?” he remarked taking aim with his arm to prove a point. “And don’t try running away with her. She won’t be able to tolerate the speed and you’ll finish my job for me.”

  Ace finished tying a knot around her thigh then stroked Lee’s cheek even though his fingers were stained with her blood. He pressed his lips to her cold trembling blue ones and at the sight, the man on the counter rolled his head back with laughter.

  That was just the distraction Ace needed. Swiftly he grabbed the bloodstained horn Lee had pulled out and hurtled it back at the man.

  Startled, the invader brought his arm around to shield. Another distraction which gave Ace just enough time to land an uppercut to the jaw. The horned demon flew off the counter and smashed through the kitchen wall to land in the dining room. The table collapsed on impact and he just had enough time to roll out of the way before Ace’s foot landed where his face had been. Desperate, the man launched an army of spikes in Lee’s direction, and while his attention was torn, Ace managed to land another punch. But this time, it was unlike hitting human flesh. Metal spikes were sprouted in mountains across his face and Ace had just sent his fist sailing at supernatural speed into them.

  The man tossed his head back with a rage of laughter as Ace glanced down at his damaged knuckles. Already he could see his skin growing over the exposed bone, but it was still tender.

  “Guess I’m gunna have to knock you out of the picture before I can finish this job.” The invader confessed.

  “Don’t count on it.” Answered Ace then his foot collided into the center of the demon’s chest and the man went soaring down the hall before smashing into a painting.

  He was back on his feet sputtering as blood trickled down his razor spiked lip. Instinctively, he slashed his arm in an arch. A cascade of horns rocketed down the hall and sailed right through Ace. “Alright,” said the man spitting blood. “Now you’re just pissing me off.”

  Ace ignored his comment and walked toward him hesitantly with his hands up in half surrender. “I don’t want to have to kill you. If you leave now, I won’t even look at the damage you’ve done.” Of course he wouldn’t. Lee was bleeding to death in the next room and he needed to get her out.

  “Ha,” the demon snickered, “Well then, it’s a shame you’re on my hit list.” Then he charged.

  If Ace wanted to, he could have let the monster tackle right through him. Instead, he grasped onto a pair of his glistening horns and made to throw him to the ground. But the intruder was heavier than Ace had expected and instead he was knocked to the floor. One of the metal spears had just managed to pierce through Ace’s chest when he kicked the monster off. As the man sailed back once more, he managed to send another attack of spines.

  With incomprehensible speed, Ace whirled around to catch one and just as the man collapsed against the wall, Ace hurtled it with exact precision right in the center of his chest.

  The monster coughed up blood. He barely had time to yank out the red stained horn when Ace jabbed him in the eyes. The creature let out a howl of pain and blindly launched as many metal horns into the air. Every single one of them sailed right through Ace.

  “Last chance.” Ace warned. Blood had begun pooling against his own chest but it was nothing like the downpour staining the intruder’s trench coat.

  At the sound of Ace’s voice, the creature sprung his hands toward Ace’s throat. The boy dove out of the way and managed to swivel behind the man. With his hand intangible, he jammed it inside the creature’s chest, right where his heart would be. The man felt nothing of course, that’s why this was going to be painless. Before the intruder could utter a vile remark, Ace willed his limb to solidify once more.

  At that moment, the man was dead. Where Ace’s arm had been was a perfect mold of his hand and he could feel the warmth and stickiness of flesh as he yanked his fist back. Blood sprang up on the scene as Ace gazed down at another man he had killed. His sleeve was stained in blood, but Ace let himself become indefinable just long enough so all the warm salty fluid cold drip through and join the puddle at his feet.

  He remained emotionless and without a second look back, Ace hurried back to the kitchen. But it was too late. Lee’s head had slumped to the floor from the loss of blood. Her emerald eyes now a pale green and rolled to the back of her head. He crouched down beside her and could hear her heart throb weakly.

  This couldn’t be happening. Two months ago he had watched the mayor pull the trigger as it was pressed to her skull. It had been Mirage who had taken the bullet then, disguised as Lee, but even as he listened to Lee’s failing heartbeat, he couldn’t push away the memories of his worst fear. And right then, he was reliving it like a hellish Deja vu.

  Those feelings had swelled up so powerfully inside him, his mind went fuzzy and he almost forgot something Mirage had left him in the letter. It was a curious line about how supernatural blood had remarkable healing abilities. Even on Naturals.

  He yanked the cloth through her leg and grabbed onto the closest sharp thing he could find; a spike. With a slash across the palm of his hand, a river of blood sprung up. Already he could feel the wound healing, but he managed to get several drops of his blood into Lee’s wound. The last of his drops fell, and nothing was left on his hand but a slightly pink scar. Desperate, he moved to his wrist and slashed again and again.

  He wasn’t even sure if this would work. And maybe kneeling beside her uncons
cious body was the stupidest thing. But he hadn’t known that becoming tangible inside another solid being would replace space. He had only guessed it from reading Mirage’s letter and he had been restless to try it out.

  By the third time his wound sealed over, he could see the gash in Lee’s thigh closing over. Fascination and relief flowed down his joints. But he cut his wrist one last time before patching her still vicious wound with a set of clean rags.

  Gently, he scoped her into his arms and headed for the garage. By now the neighbors, if they could hear, would be wondering what all the ruckus was. Some might have even called the cops. He laid Lee down in the back seat of Cherry’s old Toyota and was relieved to see color already returning to her blue lips. But just to make sure that the cops were on their way, he whipped out his cell phone and dialed 911. The operator picked up on the second ring, and then Ace hung up.

  Without opening the garage door, Ace reversed down the long stretch of driveway then sped off toward South Side.

  ~If Ammon O’Connell hadn’t been in a batting cage, that swing would have been his 47th consecutive hit. Normally, his batting streak averaged about 35, but he was in an exceptionally miserable mood which only meant he had more power and more energy to swing away.

  Crack! That was 48, but from his pants pocket, his phone rang for the third time. Frustrated, Ammon threw the bat up against the net and whipped off his helmet. “What?” he demanded.

  “O’Connell?” came commissioner Marsaun’s deep voice.

  “Yes, sir?” he asked not bothering to keep the poison from his tone.

  “2428 Hollywood Avenue North Side. Now.” and he hung up.

  Ammon let out a frustrated scream then his phone went sailing through a hole in the net and collided against a wall outside the cage. What did it matter? After all the walls his phone had smashed into lately, it was safe to deem that thing indestructible.