The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural Read online

  Ace yanked out the tool and let the blood pool up on his arm until it overflowed and ran down into Lee’s disgusting gash. Her leg was still bleeding torrentially but even with a few drops of his blood, it was evident that the wound was healing.

  “How in the world…?” DH wondered. “How did you know?”

  “Mirage,” Ace answered, his arm was burning, but he willed himself to stay beside her. “She told me in a note.”

  It had taken several minutes for the hole in Ace’s arm to heal over, but by then Lee’s leg was looking several times better. Finally he took the gauze and patched up her leg tightly. “She’s probably still going to need stitches.” He sighed.

  “What happened?” DH asked his eyes still glued to the blood sopping her pants.

  Ace rolled his shoulders and gave a hesitant sigh. “Someone tried to kill her.”

  “What?” sputtered Rose, her eyes growing to two times their normal size. “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” replied Ace. “All I know is that she isn’t safe here. She can’t stay in Tarrillian City.”

  There was a hesitant moment as DH studied the look on Ace’s face. “I know what you’re thinking.” The tall friend finally said.

  “Enlighten me.” Ace mused.

  “You’re going to take her to Heleow, huh?”

  “Heleow?” Rose chimed, “Hawaii? Ace, you’re going to Hawaii?”

  The boy nodded and took a seat gently at Lee’s feet. Rose and DH got the hint and shared one of the grease stained couches. “I’m sorry Rose, I never told you any of this.”

  “Told you I won the favoritism war.” DH whispered into her curly hair.

  Rose ignored him while still gaping at Ace. “Why would someone kill Lee?”

  “I wish I knew,” replied Ace as he glanced at her recuperating body, “But I have a feeling I’ll get the answer in Heleow.”

  “Why Heleow? That’s so far away!” Rose exclaimed.

  “Mirage gave me a letter that night… back at the opera house. She said there would be answers for me in Hawaii. She also mentioned there was more to being a supernatural than just having power. I can do more.”

  “That’s how you found out about the blood thing?” Rose asked pointing at the sleeping Lee. “I haven’t seen that girl in a month- how is she?”

  Ace couldn’t hide the smile triggered by the mentioning of Lee. “Aside from the fact that someone just tried to murder her, I’d say that she’s doing just fine.”

  “Good!” They said at the same time.

  Rose eyed the unconscious Lee as she raised a hand to stroke DH’s hair. There had once been his fluffy signature afro there, but he had cut it almost down to nothing. She liked it better like that any way. It made him look all grown up. “When are you leaving?” she asked still stroking DH’s short course hair.

  Ace shrugged, “I was planning on leaving before the week goes out. But after what happened…”

  “What? You weren’t going to fly there were you?” she asked.

  Ace made a face and sarcastically replied, “No, I was planning on swimming actually.”

  “I’m not joking!” she exclaimed leaning forward, “Listen, in Tarrillian City your face may not matter, but you have got to be kidding yourself if you think you can just hop on an airplane.”

  “I’ve robed banks without leaving a clue behind, Rose.” Ace remarked, “I think I can get on a plane just fine.”

  “Where’s your ticket?” she asked, “ID? Passport? Yeah, you have none of that.”

  “Alright, I’ll just sneak on board.” Ace concluded, “That was going to be my plan anyway. Come on Rose. I can walk through walls."

  “But Lee’s in the picture now.” DH pointed out.

  There was a defining silence that followed. Ace shifted in his seat and he sent his eyes skyward as he thought of a new plan. “I’m stumped.” He admitted, “I have no clue- do you think Lee would be safe if I left her here?” But even as he suggested it, he knew he would never follow through. DH and Rose just couldn’t offer the protection he could.

  “Lee can’t live with us!” Rose piped and Ace raised in incredulous eyebrow. “I mean, I love the girl and all, but I’m getting married.”

  “What?!” the boys exclaimed in unison. DH had a bit more of a reaction than Ace. He leapt so far out of his seat; he nearly pulled Rose up with him.

  “You were just about to propose weren’t you?” she asked looking up at him. “Or were you going to ask me another question about congress and Japan?”

  “No I- I mean yes. Huh?”

  “I,” Rose began slowly and jabbing a thumb at her chest, “want to be…” she pointed at him, “your wife.”

  DH stared at her blankly then nodded. “Are you serious?”

  Rose rolled her eyes, “You say that like you need me to think twice. You have a ring right?”

  DH slammed a hand in his pocket, “Yes, this time I do.”

  “This time?” Ace questioned.

  “Long story, bro.” DH replied opening the box and showing her the jewel.

  Rose tried it on and it fit perfectly on her left hand. Even in the dim garage lighting, the classic cut diamond and thin gold band managed to sparkle. “DH it’s beautiful. How many kids do you want?”

  At her question, DH couldn’t hold back a startled expression. “You’re asking me this now?”

  Rose nodded. “We’re going to have kids right?”

  “Well yeah,” DH answered, “I was planning on that. But not right away, I want to get out of South Side, and I want to get a job. Maybe got to school. I was planning on getting a solid footing before… kids.”

  Rose beamed, “Aww, you are going to be such a responsible father and husband.” She reached up to kiss him, which was something she hadn’t done often, but wearing the ring made her feel like this was the perfect moment. Yet halfway to his lips she stopped and turned to Ace. “This isn’t too wired for you is it?”

  Ace shook his head. “My best friends are getting married, I can’t think of a finer pair.”

  “Cool,” she mentioned, then closed the distance. They kissed for a moment, then two, then three… Ace finally cleared his throat and they pulled away blushing.

  “That’s not what Lee and I look like, is it?” he asked.

  “You two never kiss.” DH added hastily.

  “Well,” Ace began as he pretended to wipe imaginary sweat from his forehead, “at least we have that image going for us.”

  “Speaking of Lee,” Rose began, “The two of you should at least stay for the wedding. And about that plane, you just need to know the right Krome.”

  Ace grinned, “And I think I do.” he remarked, “Well, ex-Krome.”

  “What do you mean?” asked DH.

  Rose looked at him with a new gleam in her eyes. “We like fast cars. But there are things out there even faster than a Stelter.”

  ~Larissa made sure to put an extra swing to her hips as she paraded past Ammon but the athlete didn’t even look up. She didn’t even hear a tremor in the steady rhythm of his heart as he sat on the soft sofa in the Elite home. Cassie and Josh had gone to their houses to pack for the Hawaii trip, leaving Larissa alone (since she had been an orphan, she had no home to go to) and Ammon to sulk some more.

  This was the third time she had tried to get a response out of him. Her first attempt failed, for she figured she wasn’t exposing enough skin. So she hurried through Cassie’s drawers and pulled on a pair of short shorts. When that didn’t work, she slipped on a tank top and made sure one of her bra straps slid off her shoulder seductively. Again, no response whatsoever.

  By now she was losing her temper and made sure to freeze time before letting out a furious roar and marching across the room to scream in his face. “Ammon O’Connel!!” She bellowed followed by some incredibly vulgar words- both in Spanish and English. She was only inches from his face shouting these things, but obviously he had zero recollection since, to him, Larissa was still standing in the co
rner of the room.

  She had only found out she was a supernatural months ago. But how her powers manifested, she still didn’t know. She wanted to spill her secret to Ammon more than she wanted to live, but his father was murdered by a supernatural and it wasn’t a secret that because of that, he hated her race. But that wasn’t the only truth she was holding from him. The day she realized she had these powers was also the day she realized her best friend was her enemy. But for some reason, she couldn’t even get the words out if she wanted to tell. It was as if her mind got foggy and her tongue was tied every time she even tried to utter them to herself; as if some nightmarish spell was cast on her preventing these things from happening.

  It was aggravating to her that she had to keep two major factors of what she was from the one man she lov- cared about and she let out another roar before marching back to the spot where she had stopped time from. She took several deep calming breaths before letting time tick again. With the best smile she could muster Larissa skipped around to the back of the couch and rubbed her fingers to his shoulder. “Ammon,” she cooed soothingly and gently.

  “Hmm?”

  Really? Thought Larissa Hmm? She had to work harder. Slowly she rubbed her hands down his chest and continued to his hard athletic abs until they came to a stop at his waist. Her head was just poked over his shoulder now and she couldn’t resist the taste of his skin. “Ammon,” she muttered again, tracing his neck with her lips.

  “Stop,” he grumbled pushing her arms away. “I’m not in the mood.”

  Alright so he was utterly miserable. She should have known that the moment she strutted past him the first time. Now what?

  Larissa couldn’t contain her frustration any longer. Swiftly she leaped over the seat and flopped down beside him. “Alright Ammon, start talking.”

  “Hmm?”

  “You’re infuriating me!” she bellowed, “Enough with the sadness. I’m sorry your father is dead, but Ammon, it’s time to move on!”

  He didn’t even look like he had heard her. Larissa was hotter than a volcano now. Not knowing what else to do, Larissa decided to go for the Hail Mary. Without a second thought, she grasped onto his jaw and shoved his lips against hers. Her legs swung around his lap until her hips were pressed squarely into his chest and she had to crane his head up to keep his lips locked to hers. For a moment her mouth danced across his without a response and she was just about to roll off and storm away entirely livid. Then she felt his hands slide up her bare thigh.

  She smiled against his mouth as his hands ran up her back and his breath tangled with hers. Larissa sank her body against his and the next thing she knew she was being shoved against the cushions of the couch.

  “Feeling better?” Larissa asked when Ammon’s lips had slid down her throat.

  He pulled away his heart racing rapidly in his chest. “Much better.”

  Larissa beamed. “Good, now get off me. We need to talk.”

  Ammon gazed at her astounded. “Can we talk later?”

  “No!” she exclaimed then pushed him up. “We are going to talk right now Ammon. Right now.”

  Ammon growled but he sat up anyway.

  “Oh, boo.” Larissa spat, “You didn’t really think I was going to go all the way?”

  “I was hoping for it.” Ammon confessed as Larissa glared at him.

  “And that’s exactly what I wanted to talk about.”

  “Sex?” he guessed.

  “No,” Larissa replied, “You! You have changed so much and definitely not for the better.”

  “My dad’s dead Larissa,” he scowled, “what did you expect me to do? Go skipping in a meadow of flowers?”

  “Hey, look.” She said. “I know life sucks right now. But you need to at least try to move on. It’s been two months and you act like this happened just yesterday. And it’s really starting to make me mad seeing you like this because believe it or not Ammon, I…” her voice faltered. She couldn’t believe she was actually going to say those words, but her voice choked and all she could do was stare up at him.

  Ammon looked at her. “You what Larissa?”

  “I care about you.” She finally said. Her mouth felt funny when she spoke because the only other person she might have repeated those words to was her best friend Lee. “Or at least I cared about the Ammon that was kind, and fun, and easy to talk to. I miss the Ammon that cared about me too.” Larissa couldn’t believe she was saying those words. But they tasted like salt on her tongue, then she realized they were tears.

  She was crying, something she never did. Something invincible people with layers of secrets never did. But a cranky baseball player had pushed her to it.

  Ammon stared at her in bewilderment. For once there wasn’t a hateful glare in his eyes. “Larissa,” he sighed scooting her close. “Larissa, don’t cry. I’m not worth your tears.”

  “Yeah, well, you kinda are.” She sobbed her bottom lip quivering. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much you are. You’re so much more than just a friend to me Ammon, and this is why I hate seeing you like this.”

  Ammon stared down at her face as it grew blotchy with tears. “I… had no idea.” He muttered so softly even with Larissa’s ears it was barely audible.

  She sniffed, “I mean I’ve been able to adapt to the changes in my life so…” She had said those words without meaning to and immediately she shut her mouth then prayed Ammon wouldn’t comprehend what she was talking about.

  Of course Ammon O’Connell noticed. He notices everything. “You’re still keeping secrets from me aren’t you?”

  She sure was. Secrets that would ruin him if he knew- would ruin her- would ruin everything. And there were two of them. For the past six months, Larissa’s closest and best friend had been Ammon. He never pushed her into doing anything, and he was her shoulder to cry on. In many ways he was a second Lee. He wasn’t as sweet and innocent and willing to love as Lee, but he was calm and collective- or he had been. With the past Ammon, Larissa had wanted so desperately to share her secrets. But after all the changes he had been through, there was no way she could.

  Having no one else to turn to was a bit of a struggle at first. But what got her over it, was the realization that all she needed to do was push them off to the side and tackle one day at a time. Eventually she would become strong enough to deal with them, but for now she was perfectly content with keeping her thoughts to herself.

  “Claro,” she grumbled, “but trust me you don’t want to know because I guarantee you would hate me.”

  “I can’t hate you Larissa.”

  “Don’t lie to me, Ammon,” she snapped, “You’ve hated everyone and everything since your dad died and I know I’m not an exception!”

  Her words nailed him in the chest. She was right. He had been bitter for a long time now. To everyone; even to his mother. “I didn’t realize this was hurting you so much.”

  Larissa rolled her auburn eyes. “Now you know.”

  He stared down at her, but her gaze wasn’t meeting his. Slowly he lifted a finger to her chin and pulled her face up to meet his. “I’m sorry.” He said and she could see the sincere truth of it in his eyes. “I’ve been so stupid.”

  Larissa beamed, “Yes, yes you have. Are you going to be happy now?”

  Ammon made a sound between a sigh and a growl. “For you, I will try. But promise me something.”

  Promise- the two syllable P word that was so much more than a scramble of letters. Larissa swallowed then nodded. “What?”

  Ammon leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers. “I’ll go back to myself if you tell me what your secret is. I swear it, only if you keep your end of the deal.”

  “Ammon…” Larissa grumbled, “I’m keeping this a secret to protect you.”

  The boy scoffed, “No, Larissa, you’re keeping secrets to protect you.”

  She glowered up at him and kept her tongue tied to keep from saying anything else. “I only wish you knew.”

  “Then tell me!�
�

  Larissa growled and shoved him aside with a little too much force than she meant to. “Trust me Ammon; you’ll hate me if you knew.”

  “I might be disappointed, but I don’t think I’d hate you.” He retorted rubbing his on-coming bruise. “Ouch Larissa, you’ve got an arm.”

  Not just an arm. She could probably pick up a car with her pinky if she tried. Those were just things that came with being a supernatural.

  ~“I just need to stop by the studio for a moment.” Michael said from the other end of Lotus’s phone as she slid into her blue Stelter Hailstorm convertible.

  “Okay, well I’m on my way to the beach right now.” She replied shutting her door. “See you there.”

  Michael Caster could tell by the tone in her voice that the billion dollar heiress was about to hang up. “Hold on,” he cut in and Lotus nibbled on her nude lips.

  “Yes, Caster, what is it?”

  “I’m sorry about putting you on the spot like that.” He said hesitantly. There was a long pause from his end of the phone before he continued. “I need to talk to you. Face to face. I think if you knew the real me…” Michael’s voice faded once more.

  Lotus sat back in the luxurious cushion of her sports car. With the top down, she could feel the late winter breeze seeping to her hair from between the Heleow skyscrapers. Her head rolled back and her sky colored eyes scaled the towering hotel building she had just emerged from. Even from fifty floors below, she could see the orange beach towel still draped over the railing of her penthouse balcony.

  “Caster…” she moaned. She already knew the ‘real’ him. She had known him for years, what more could he possibly explain to her.

  “But I need to talk to you…”

  Lotus sighed and her inch long lashes panned down the glass and iron hotel tower until she saw a cute curly haired tourist tugging on her mother’s pant leg and pointing at her. “We can talk when we get to the beach, alright?” She hung up before he could respond and swallowed a big breath of air.

  It was sad to think that Michael was one of her very best friends yet right at the moment, she didn’t want to talk to him- she didn’t want to talk to anyone. It had only been an hour since he had pulled the stunt on the Dylan Dade Show and she was still trying to recover.