The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural Read online

  “Is everything alright?” the cute curly haired cage worker asked as Ammon stepped out.

  If Ammon had been himself, his reply would have been; “It will be when you give me your number.” But he wasn’t himself and no charming remarks came from his lips as he strolled past her to pick up his phone. He slammed down a wad of $300 too much cash into the girl’s hand and stormed away.

  He never really enjoyed listening to heavy metal, but as he reversed out of the lot in his Mitsubishi Eclipse, he cranked up the volume until his ears throbbed.

  Ammon bombed down East Tarrillian Boulevard and came to a stop next to a Stelter Lambert. Stelter cars were the pride and joy of anyone wealthy enough to own one. He remembered when he used to gawk as the luxurious sports cars whizzed past. By now, the sight of any Stelter- Icyst, Lambert, or Hailstorm made him want to set a bunny on fire.

  As Ammon sat there waiting for the light to turn green, he rolled down his window just so he could spit at the perfectly waxed hood. As the wad of spit landed just short of the glistening gold rims, the just-turned-eighteen kid inside him couldn’t help but to admire its long dark silver body, and wide set of rims. There was something about Lamberts- maybe the structure of the engine flaunted in the back window, or the way the body bowed in along the doors- but they had always been the most appealing to Ammon.

  This on in particular- with its charcoal grey body out lined with dazzling gold grill and a matching gold wipers- this one was just drop dead gorgeous. Especially the way the lights hit it. Not just the city lights, but Stelters had a thing for inserting small bright lights along the car’s perimeter just to really make it pop. By the looks of this one, the driver recently had his car updated because instead of the usual blinding pearls of white light coming from the rims and handles, the glow was red and when that color touched the gold, it set the car on fire. There wasn’t a single flaw on it, and that’s why Ammon wadded another chunk of spit. This time, it hit the Stelter crest on the rims.

  Why did he hate Stelter’s so much? Because the reason why his father was dead was because of a supernatural who drove one- a Stelter Lotus, to be exact.

  The green light sprung up and Ammon slammed on his gas out of teenage despite. But the Stelter caught up and easily left him in the dust. Ammon screamed something at the driver but the angry rock music deafened his profanity.

  He had never been one to swear, but ever since his father died, Ammon hadn’t been himself. Even though that was well over two months ago, he couldn’t let go. Of course, he had avenged his father’s death by slaughtering the man responsible for it. The murderer was a supernatural by the name of Shadow and he had the power to turn different shades of light into puppet strings. But who knew a bullet to the chest would be the one thing to end a supernatural’s life? Ammon should have cried over his father’s death. He should have wept like a baby for he loved his father dearly. However, he had found it in himself to turn the sorrow into rage.

  As he turned onto Hollywood Avenue, he could see the flock of police cars circled around the caution taped house of 2428. He poorly parked in front of a fire hydrant and tossed on a baseball cap on his overgrown wavy brown locks. In several strides if his long athletic legs, he crossed the street and joined the hullabaloo.

  Ammon was a tall character, easily spotted out in large crowds such as that one. That’s probably why Cassie Roswell spotted him immediately and hurried across the vast green lawn, her golden blond hair rippling around her.

  “You look pissed,” she remarked noticing the scowl on his usually charming, chiseled, god-like face.

  “Livid,” he corrected. As he stood there his heavily lashed green eyes scanned the crowd. Vast lawn, huge three floored North Side mansion, police everywhere, concerned neighbors…

  That’s what anyone would see, but Ammon O’Connell spotted so much more. An elderly neighbor stood annoyingly close with a coffee stain on his golf pants and a white Pomeranian on a leash. The animal had previously laid a land mine, from which officer Smith stepped in. Along the long driveway, multiple faded tire stains were laid out by people in the past with an amazing driving talent. A rotting hunk of jack-o-lantern hid in the bushes, and some sunflower seed loving fool had once had a conversation on the sidewalk and left a mess.

  “What happened here?” he snapped ducking under the yellow tape and striding to the front door.

  “Don’t know,” Cassie admitted, her blue eyes scanning the scene. She too had an observant eye but it wasn’t nearly as well as Ammon’s. She looked so small hurrying beside him, and she was, but that also meant her small body contained double the sass. “They only let Josh and Larissa in since they were the first ones here.”

  Just the mentioning of Larissa’s name should have lightened his spirits. Larissa Reyes was once an orphan, but now a member of Ammon’s investigation group. She was added after proving to Ammon she had a scrupulous eye, and still to that day he didn’t know that had all been a lie and that the person he had been falling for wasn’t the person he thought she was.

  “Stop,” ordered a cop on duty by the front door. Ammon disobeyed and continued through.

  Blood. He smelt before he saw it. There was lots of blood and debris littering the fancy tile. Paintings broken, walls caved in, and what appeared to be… metal spikes lodged everywhere.

  “Ammon,” came Josh McGuire’s voice.

  Josh hurried from a hallway, his wide wrestlers shoulders blocking the scene from behind. Ammon was tall, but Josh was huge. Built like an ox and always wearing workout clothes, with a pair of sunglasses pressed to the top of his bunny fluff dark hair. “Wow, you look pissed.” He mentioned.

  “Livid,” Ammon corrected again. “What’s going on?”

  “There was some sort of fight,” Josh explained pointing to the mess everywhere. “With the supernatural.”

  “Supernatural?” Ammon repeated, then looked over Josh’s shoulder, but the cops were already cleaning things up. All he managed to see was a body bag with something big inside.

  “We found some pictures,” Josh explained, “In the living room. It’s our supernatural and that blonde chick. We’re guessing that they lived here, but that guy...” He pointed down the hall, “came to attack them. Shortly after our supernatural killed him, we’re thinking he made the 911 call then fled.”

  “Can’t you track that phone?” Ammon asked.

  Josh nodded, “We can track where the call was made, but we can’t follow that phone. It appears he has some special kind of undetectable technology. It’s probably illegal.”

  “Hmmm… untouchable and undetectable.” Ammon mentioned. He looked past Josh at what would have been a carcass pooled in blood. But the police had already hauled away the body. “So then what are we doing here?” he demanded.

  “Your six month term isn’t over yet, O’Connell.” Marsaun’s voice was so deep it echoed all the way to the high ceiling.

  “It practically is,” Ammon grumbled.

  By the end of February, Ammon and his comrades would have finished out their deal. Then, because they had racked up so much money and Cassie had the connections, they would finish out the rest of the school year in Hawaii before starting college with full ride scholarships in the fall.

  “But it isn’t,” the big bald black commissioner said. He looked so intimidating in his usual suit and tie, dark shades sat over his eyes giving him an ominous sinister look as if to say I can kill you in under a minute in twenty different ways. And he probably could. “In fact, given the circumstances, Mayor Wessington just might have made you stay in Tarrillian. But the mayor is a man of his word, and he has already paid for your… excavation.”

  “But what is there to investigate?” Ammon asked, “The world already knows supernatural exist.”

  After Ammon saw Ace, the two engaged in a car chase that ended up on worldwide news. Ammon had thought that having footage of a human being bounding across rooftops and disappearing through solid brick walls would be enough to convert m
ost into believing in the Legend. Instead, news of the chase had dwindled out rapidly because the city thought it was a viral video. In time they would realize that even in a world where everything seems perfect and glamorous, there are still many unsolved mysteries.

  “What’s going on now?” came Larissa’s voice. She had just descended from the upstairs after a detective had told her to make sure there was no evidence of a brawl beyond the first floor. She was tall for a Latino girl and slender but full of curves. Her thick radiant auburn hair ran in waves down her back. In the winter time, she had lost a small amount of her gold tinted skin, but she was still glowing.

  “What where were you doing up there?” Josh asked.

  “Making sure there’s no evidence of a fight upstairs.” She answered, her hands running along the railing and stumbling across a spear. “It appears all the fighting happened down here.” With a swift jerk she pulled out the spike and examined it closely.

  “How did you do that?” Josh exclaimed. “I’ve been trying to yank one out all day!”

  “You twist and pull.” Larissa remarked casually, though that was a lie. In truth, it was because she had strength that he didn’t. “What are these?” she asked tossing the heavy spike from hand to hand as she made her way to her comrades.

  “Not sure,” Marsaun admitted, “Though we’re pretty sure they came from the dead supernatural.”

  “So you’re going to take them back to that lab of yours?” she asked with a sort of sarcastic care free tone. “Back to the place where you have those other two bodies? I hope you have fun playing mad scientists.”

  Ammon wasn’t the only one to change after that night at the opera house. The once quiet, slightly stubborn Larissa was now a sassy wordy soul who didn’t mind making rude remarks in public. But she had changed even before the opera house. Shortly after the car chase, she had found out that she had the potential to become invincible…

  Just then a cop hurried up to them with a photograph zip locked in a plastic bag. “Excuse me,” he said handing the commissioner the bag. “The mayor wants a conformation. We found this picture in one of the pockets of the suspect.”

  Marsaun took it and the teens gathered around him for a closer look.

  Larissa was standing the farthest away, but her eyes were still the sharpest. Over the glossy sheen of the plastic, she could see the colored picture of a silvery haired girl with a round face and freckles. A giant red X centered over a silver and emerald locket around her neck.

  “Is that the girl with the supernatural?” the officer asked.

  Si, Larissa thought, es mi amiga major.

  Chapter 2 Meet Lotus Stelter

  ~The camera man began the countdown while the crew was still scurrying across the stage. "We are live in ten!" he shouted and the makeup crew finished powdering the last of Lotus's beach tanned cheeks. They gave the last of her long golden hair a fluff then hurried from the set.

  "Five... Four..."

  Lotus batted her thick black lashes and rolled her sky blue eyes around. But there was still a glop of eyeliner swimming in her vision when the camera man signaled that they were live.

  The house audience applauded loudly and the lights on the set illuminated walls of green screen lining the stage. Lotus modeled one of her mother's crème colored summer dress as she sat on the set’s plush sofa. She smiled brilliantly showing off her stainless white teeth and iconic red lips. When she waved at the audience the bracelets on her wrist clanked together.

  Finally the house died down and Lotus turned back toward the TV host.

  "Welcome back to The Dylan Dade Show." Dylan announced to the nearest camera. He beamed a brilliant set of teeth and sat up straight in his seat on the other side of the coffee table.

  This was the third time Lotus had appeared on The Dylan Dade Show and it seemed like the host hadn't aged a day. Dylan pushed up the rectangular spectacles from his nose and turned to Lotus. From her angle Dylan's short brown hair looked as if it evaporated due to the overhead light. "Welcome back, I'm here with singer/songwriter, actress, model and billionaire Lotus Stelter..." the live audience cheered and some even whistled.

  "Thank you for having me." she beamed when the audience died down. "I haven't been on a TV show in a while so this is a great pleasure."

  "I know!" exclaimed the host, "You, my darling have not had your fair share of the limelight!"

  Lotus shrugged, "There's a ton of other celebs who would love to be on your show right now."

  "Exactly! After all I am Dylan Dade." he winked at the audience. That was his iconic signature. Every celebrity seemed to have one. "But we're not here to talk about them are we?"

  "You want to know about my latest single?" she guessed. After all, Freedom had just dropped and was currently the number one song on the billboards.

  Dylan scoffed, "Single? Honey, from what we've been hearing, you are far from that!" The audience chuckled as he went on. "We want to know about your love life!"

  Lotus blushed, of course he did. That's all anyone wanted to know about her ever since Michael Caster had made it public that they were an item. He was the lead singer of the Australian rock band Caring Diaz. He had been one of her best friends for the longest time; ever since he met her at a Grammy award night. Together they had made the latest album for his band. Lotus wasn't going to deny the fact that she fancied him, and the fact that he was Australian added to her attraction. But as their relationship lengthened, she was staring to realize that she loved him, but it was so difficult to be in love with him.

  He had asked her out when they toured in Europe not too long ago, but now that they were back, she hardly ever saw him unless his band was practicing. She couldn’t remember the last time they went on a legitimate date. Sometimes, she would text him and wouldn’t get a single response until days later. Eventually Lotus got used to it, but that was only after after she realized that they would be better off as friends. Once her interview was done, she had planned to go surfing with Michael. With nothing but the waves to sooth her, she knew she wouldn’t feel an ounce of remorse breaking up with him. Besides, he was still a great friend and she needed that more than anything.

  “Um,” Lotus began hesitantly. It wouldn’t be right of her to talk highly about her boyfriend only to break up with him later that day. Fortunately for Lotus, she had a wall of Oscar awards on a shelf in her Heleow penthouse. In other words, she figured that she was skilled enough to improvise a conversation that would lead her away from the topic at hand.

  “Oh, gosh you know what? Michael Caster is great.” Lotus began, “But you know who else is great?” She lowered her voice to captivate the audience and leaned into the host slowly. “You are.” Then she over exaggerated a wink as if she were mimicking Dylan’s familiar gesture and the house audience chuckled.

  Lotus blew a slow sexy kiss at the host to keep the audience entertained then said in her most comically seductive voice. "Come and get me apple candy. I want me some Dylan Dade loven'."

  The whole audience irrupted with laughter. Even the host rolled his head back with amusement. "Actually,” Lotus continued when the house had died down some, “I say those lines in my latest comedy film. It comes out this summer just so you know."

  "You say you want some Dylan Dade loven' in it?" the host inquired.

  "Well the candy apple part." Lotus laughed, mostly to cover up the smile she was giving herself. It had worked! The audience had forgotten about her relationship with Michael Caster and was now more interested in her latest film.

  "What's your movie called?" asked Dylan.

  "Stuck, actually," Lotus hesitated for a moment. The trailer for the film hadn't fully dropped yet so she still had to avoid spoilers. "Basically a group of dorky kids fresh out of high school decide to party at a lake house. But it turns out that all the cool kids rented the house across the lake. Now, I'm not going to spoil anything, but essentially they get stuck at the house with the cool kids for several weeks and the movie is just abo
ut the wars that they have with each other."

  Dylan nodded with a finger pressed to his lip like a goatee. "Now are you one of the cool kids or the nerds?"

  Lotus laughed once more then replied, “I play one of the dorky kids. I find it kind of ironic that I came out on the top twenty ugliest celebrities list and then right after that, the casting crew felt like I would do better as a nerd. Does that say something about me?” She knew the audience saw the humor when they started to laugh and she beamed right back at them before clearing her throat. "But my co-star is quite a looker." continued Lotus, "I think he's adorable even if he's five years younger than me... And we had a kissing scene."

  "Ohh, so it's a romantic-comedy?" inquired the host leaning in.

  Lotus shook her head, "Definitely not. My character lost a bet and I had to kiss his character."

  Dylan raised an eyebrow. "Who is this hot actor child?" he asked scooting toward the edge of the seat.

  "Adorable." Lotus corrected. "Um, surprisingly this is his first film and he’s a lead so yeah; I hope he becomes a rising star after this movie premieres."

  "Ok, you're killing us now Lotus, who is this guy?"

  Lotus pinched the corner of her lip then slid her fingers across her sealed mouth. "Nope, I’m not spilling. But I'll tell you how we met. It’s a very interesting story."

  The host leaned back in his seat then glanced up at the timer to make sure he had time for her tale before the next commercial break.

  "I was just tanning in Honolulu and I saw this crowd. At first I didn't care, but the crowd got bigger, then I noticed they were laughing, so I walked over there to investigate and I'm listening to this kid doing standup comedy right on the beach. I mean, who does that, you know? So I’m listening to him and I realize this kid is really good. Then it dawns on me- I've seen him before. I watched as he stole some bread then lied to the baker, and he was such a good liar! So I knew this kid had some acting talent. I mean, what is acting? To me it’s getting other people to think what you want them to think.