{~Chapter One~}


"Pick up order number seventeen!" Reece called out to the customers, who were all waiting for their food to get done.
"That's me!" A man called, who was wearing a tie and suit that looked a size too small for him. He walked over to the pick up area and grabbed his food and walked out the too crowded small restaurant.
The Small Town Restaurant was owned by Reece and her older brother Brian, who took over the business for their parents after they died tragically in a plane accident visiting their family in California. But for some reason, police think that the plane crash wasn't by accident, and they have been trying to find out who would have done that for twelve years now. But so far, the police here in the small town of can't do anything other then have a gut feeling about it.
Reece and her brother think about it all the time, and Reece has always thought that the tragic incident wasn't an accident like the police thought, but Brian thought differently.
Now that Reece was eighteen, and Brian was twenty-three, they owned and ran the Small Town Restaurant down the block from their little blue and white house with two floors, with only three rooms that they have been living in since they were little toddlers and still are now. Now they don't even go into their parents' bedroom since the incident had happened, and everything was left where as it was when they left for a trip to California two years ago.
Now that they both owned the restaurant, Reece is the one who really works and manages the place because ever since their parents died, Brian took to drinking and her and Brian became strangers living in the same house since it had happened. So basically, Brian didn't really own the place with Reece.
"Hey, Monika, can you help me?" Reece called down the walk way in the back, where it was just as busy and crowded as in the front where everyone wanted their food and to go on to whatever they were doing before they came here to get some grub.
Monika rushed up to Reece, willing to help her with everything and anything that Reece threw at her. "What can I do for you, boss?"
Monika was one of the best employees that Reece had and she was glad for that because if she didn't have her to help out and keep everyone else in line and at work, then she would have to sell the place and the house because she couldn't even pay for anything unless she had the restaurant.
"I want you to go and stock some more hamburger buns and hot dog buns on the shelf where the buns usually go and then prepare the meat to be cooked, okay?" Reece ordered, watching a smile cross Monika's face.
"All right boss! Be right back!" Monika said and jogged off to go do what Reece had told her to do. Reece laughed and went back to ordering people's food for them.
A small girl that reminded Reece of herself was standing next in line waiting for Reece to ask her what she wanted.
"Hello, can I help you? What would you like?" Reece asked in her nicest voice that she only used for small children.
The small girl blushed and looked at her mother, making Reece's smile fade slowly when she thought about how she would go places as small child with her mother. She remember one night, Reece and her mother were out, shopping when she had gotten sick from eating ice cream from a fast food place out of town that ironically shut down from salmonella poisoning a month after she had gotten sick, and her mother held her in a bathroom stall over a toilet that was so dirty, she didn't think that no matter how much you cleaned it, that it wouldn't get clean, holding her and trying to calm her down while she upchucked her meals from that day and the ice cream.
"Hello?" the mother in line said, waving her hand in front of Reece's face.
"Oh, what? I'm sorry, I was side tracked. How can I help you?" Reece said, snapping out of her day dream.
"I asked for a small orange float with a small all meal," the woman said.
"All right, that will be five dollars and fifty-seven cents. Will you be paying with cash or our special credit?" Reece asked.
"No special credit today, I will be paying with cash," she said, handing her the exact change for the meal for her daughter.
"Thank you, please wait over there, you will be order number eighteen," Reece said, pointing to the waiting area, which was still crowded from people waiting for their food.
"Okay. Thanks," she said, taking her daughter to the waiting area.
"Next!" Reece called, really wanting to go home now that she had seen a small girl that reminded her of her mother.
The next person walked up, and Reece took their orders one after another until there was only one person left. She took his order and he left with a smile on his face like Reece saw ever single day.
But today, after seeing that girl, a smile on people's face didn't cheer her up at all.
Reece sighed, wiping sweat from her face, calling Monika over to her.
"Yes?" Monika asked, setting a wash cloth on the counter next to her.
"I want you to close up and have everyone clean up before they all go home."
"What about you? You look really pale," Monika asked, worried.
"I'm fine. I just need a break. Just have everyone clean up then send them home and lock up afterwards."
"Okay, but I still think that you don't look so good,
Monika said, walking away because she knew not to argue with her boss when she wasn't in a good mood.
Reece walked over to the back room where she had her office, and she hadn't seen it since she got to the place this morning. Her office had a small TV, but she only used it when there wasn't all that much people buying food. Reece only used it usually in the winter. She also had a couch just in case she had to sleep there, but she never uses it.
She sighed again and took off her apron with her restaurant logo on it, and threw it onto her couch and grabbed her jacket and her purse, shutting her office door and locked it.
"Monika? I'm leaving now, don't forget to lock up and clean up!" She called, seeing Monika's head pop into view.
"Okay, I won't!" she said back, holding a thumbs up.
"Okay, good. See you on Thursday!" Reece said, walking out the back door to her blue mustang.
Reece unlocked her car doors with a push of a button on her key pad and stepped into her car, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Oh, honey. I thought I lost you!" a familiar voice said, coming from behind Reece, making her quite crying instantly.
"Who's there?" Reece asked, wiping her tears off her face so that they couldn't see that she had been crying.
"Its me!"
"Mom?" Reece asked, looking behind her in the back seat.
"Of course it me! But not really," her mother said, frowning.
"Huh? That makes no sense," Reece said.
"Listen, sweetie. You need to help your brother, or he will lose you and you will lose him. He is all you have left. If you don't then you will lose him. Help him. Go! Before it is too late!"
Her mother disappeared and Reece was left all alone.
"That couldn't have been real! Mom is dead!" Reece said to herself, crying even harder than she did when her mother was in the car. "I just need some sleep and then forget what happened today. None of this is real. I'm just tired and why am I talking to myself?" Reece asked herself, shoving her keys in the ignition and starting the car, making a screeching noise with her tires as she backed up and drove to her house, which she didn't even want to go home because she would have to deal with her brother Brian who was probably drinking again. But, like always, she would have to go home and deal with him.
Just thinking about Brian and his drinking made her cry harder than she had today, but she stopped as she pulled into her driveway, so Brian didn't have to see her like that and want to start a fight.
She stepped out of her car and noticed that the lights were off inside. That probably meant that Brian had crashed on the couch instead of going to bed, which means that he didn't drink today. Reece let out a sigh of relief.
As she opened her front door, a creepy feeling crept up her spine, a feeling that she was being watched. Reece shrugged it off and stepped into her house and closed the door behind her, locking the door like she did every night.
"Brian! I'm home!" she called. "Do you want to have something to eat? Brian?!" Reece looked into the living room and found that Brian wasn't in the living room. She looked into the kitchen, but he wasn't there either.
"This is odd. And strange. Brian is usually-" Reece was cut off by a man screaming from upstairs.
"Brian!" Reece raced upstairs to see Brian laying on the floor, blood gashing from his chest. "Brian! No! What happened?" she screamed, grabbing Brian's shoulders and resting him in her arms. "Who did this to you?" she asked.
Brian looked up at his younger sister, panic, confusion in his bright blue eyes. "They did this to me."
"Who?" Reece asked, holding him closer, wanting to know who had done this horrible thing to him.
"They did this to me. They did this to me. They said that they are coming for you and something about draining you from the inside out."
"What does that mean?" Reece asked.
"I have no idea, but they also told me to tell you that they will be coming for you. Soon. You must leave! Go!" Brian said, grabbing onto her shirt and pulling her so close to him that she could smell the salty blood on him.
"Where would I go?" Reece asked. "I can't just leave everything behind! The restaurant! I can't!" she said, shaking her head no.
"Yes! You have to! You have no choice! I should have told you about this long ago! Now go! In my room under the floor is things that will help you get through this. I planned to tell you long ago, but I was too fixed on drinking because of the accident! I should have never went that far. You are way stronger than you think. And you have more power than you can imagine. If you don't stop them, they will kill you and everyone you love. Find the man that will help you and guide you..." Brian trailed off, closing his eyes slowly, a single tear falling from his eye onto Reece's arm where she was holding him and seeped into her arm, making Reece gasp.
The shock of losing another person in her family was too much and came only seconds after her brother died, still gripping her shirt.
Reece unlocked his fingers from her shirt and took her phone out of her pocket and dialed 911, and the police soon showed up, gasping at the sight that laid in before them.
"What happened in here?" an officer named Greg asked, so shocked by it all. He had never in his whole life and career seen such a brutal sight in front of him.
"I don't know, I just came home after working at my restaurant and I came home and found Brian screaming on the floor and I ran up to him and-" Reece abruptly stopped talking because she didn't want to tell the police about what Brian had told her. Her house was a crime scene and she couldn't let them look in his room, but they had too to find anything that might help them catch his killers.
"And what?" the officer pushed on.
"And he said that they did it. But he didn't know who. So I think that they are more than one person. What are we going to do?" Reece asked, as the police and crime scene investigators brought in the more people to take pictures of Brian, who still lay on the hard wood floor, blood that was already dried, Brian who had shed it.
"Okay, can you tell me anything else?" Greg asked.
"Well, when I was pulling into my driveway, I noticed that all the lights were off and Brian never leaves them off, even when he is sleeping, so I thought that was strange. And then when I was opening my door, I felt like someone was watching me, but I didn't think anything of it," Reece said.
"That's okay," Officer Greg said with a sigh. He shook his head and closed his eyes, thinking about how this could have happened.
"Where will I go? I mean, just until things are...cleared out. I can't stay here when everyone is in my house. I mean, look around. This place is a crime scene!" Reece said, no longer willing to hold her tears in.
"Ma'am, just calm down. You will be put in a hotel where you will stay until we get this mess cleaned up."
"Mess? Your calling this a mess? My brother is not a mess! The blood shed from those bastard murderers is the mess! And if you are just going to stand around and let them get away, then there is nothing that you can do!" Reece screamed, pounding her fists on Greg, who stood there, letting her. "Do something!"
"Ma'am. We are doing the best that we can do. You just need to get a good nights sleep and get something to eat," he insisted.
"No! Find them! Whoever they are! Please!" Reece begged, resting her head on his chest. "Please."
"We are trying. Come meet Macbeth. She will take you to your hotel. I had someone call and explain the situation, so you don't have to pay for the room, now matter how long you stay. Okay, Reece?" Officer Greg asked.
Reece nodded, knowing that she couldn't do anymore until everyone left, hoping that no one would find whatever was in his room under the floor.
"Wait. Before I go to the hotel, can I go and get a few things from my room?" Reece asked.
"Well, we don't want you to contaminate the crime scene, so..." Officer Greg replied.
"Contaminate?! Is that what you think that I am going to do? The rooms aren't even the crime scene! I have every right to go to my room and get a few things! Please," Reece begged.
Officer Greg looked at Reece, who was practically bawling. "Fine, fine. Just be careful. and only take clothes and some personal belongings."
Oh, you have no idea that I will be taking some personal items, Reece thought.
"Thank you. Just let me get to my room," Reece said, thinking about how she will get to Brian's room and get to the things that he had told her about.
"Alright, but try not to move anything around. And write everything down that you take so that we know what you took. Okay?"
Reece nodded, walking past the hallway where her brother lay, dead in a pool of dried blood and walked to her room, where Greg stood outside her door and gave her some privacy while she grabbed her things.
But that wasn't what Reece did when she closed and locked the door behind her. She threw some clothes into a bag laying on the floor and opened the door slowly to her brothers bedroom that was connected to hers. She always kept it locked and always thought of the door as part of the wall and had a poster there ever since her brother thought it would be cool to share a room with a door, between them, but today, it came in handy. She just hoped that Brian's room wasn't full of crime investigators.
Thankfully, when she opened the door, there wasn't anyone in the room, so Reece had to act fast. She first grabbed his throw rug and tossed it to the side, where she saw a small spot on the floor that had a dent in it and Reece ran over to it and saw that it had to be the spot that Brian had told her about right before he died. She grabbed at the flooring and pulled until the floor board actually came off, showing a small hole inside the floor and inside the hole, there was a small box, the shape of a square that looked really old. It wasn't very heavy when she picked it up, and underneath it was a key, probably for the box. She took it and sat it onto her brother's bed, then put the rug back in its place and grabbed the box and slipped back into her room, closing the door behind her. She quickly wrote down the things that she took out of her room, leaving out that she took something from her brother's room. Then she left her own room and bumped into Officer Greg on her way out of her room.
"Okay, did you write everything down that you took?" He asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Yes, here you go. Everything is written down."
"Hmm..." he said, looking over the list. "Something seems off."
"What?" Reece asked, her heart beating harder by the second. "Nothing is off. Your just being silly, Officer Greg."
"Why don't you let me take a look in the bag of yours, Ma'am."
A woman walked over to them and said, "Look, Greg, you know better than that! She is just a child! I have known Reece since she was born and I know that she would always tell the truth about things such as this! And if you think that she is hiding something in that bag, then you are so wrong. Now go on with your duties or I will be calling your mother, and I don't think that you want me to do that!" Reece recognized the woman as the Macbeth lady, who was going to be taking her to a hotel. They would have to out of town for a hotel because here in the small town, there wasn't even a mall.
Officer Greg looked at Macbeth and then at Reece, and left with a huff.
When Greg was out of sight, Reece sighed, not realizing that she had been holding her breath. "Thanks, Macbeth, right?"
"Yes, I want to talk to you about what you were doing in your brother's room while you should have been packing some clothes and things that you will be needing!" she whispered. "And I know exactly what you are and what you are is not good."
Reece gasped, her eyes wide.
"What are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean."
"Oh, I think you do. But not quite. We can talk more in the hotel where there isn't going to be anyone around, okay?" Macbeth said, grabbing Reece's arm so hard, that it hurt.
Reece nodded and followed Macbeth.
"How did you get him to go away? I mean you said that you have known me since I was born, but I don't know you!" Reece said.
"I have been protecting you, like your mother asked. So I do know you. Stop asking questions here."
Again, she nodded and followed her until they were in a car, where Macbeth drove off and didn't talk until they were checked into the hotel and safely behind the door of her hotel room.
"So, what is going on?" Reece asked, feeling like crying again. So much has happened to Reece in the past two years like her parents dying, then having to take over her parents' restaurant and that was no easy task, then her only brother just died in her arms.
"Let me get this straight, you don't know what you are?" Macbeth asked.
"No, I have no idea. Just tell me what is going on!" Reece yelled, falling to her knees, crying.
"Okay, first of all, you don't have to act like a two year old. You are a full grown woman and if your going to help us, then you need to act like the leader that you are going to be. Now shut up and stop crying like a baby and sit down on the bed so that I can tell you what is going on. Okay?" Macbeth said so harshly that Reece stood up and wiped her tears off her face and sat on the bed and didn't say anything, but she just looked up at Macbeth, who had closed her eyes and put her hands to her temples, rubbing them as if they hurt.
"Now, are you going to cry anymore?" she asked, standing in front of Reece, who shrugged because she really didn't know if she was going to cry again. She felt like crying again, but she knew that she shouldn't in front of Macbeth, who seemed like she had a stone heart in her and could take anything.
"Well, then. If you are going to cry again, then do it when I'm not around."
"Well, I wouldn't cry if I still had my parents and my brother here!" Reece yelled.
"Actually, your parents are not your real parents."
"What?" Reece whispered, confused. "What do you mean?"
"I will tell you everything that I know, but you must not tell anyone else alright?" Macbeth asked, pacing back and forth.
Reece nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
"When your brother was born, he was gifted with powers that no human or anyone could ever imagine. One person with an ability gave up their powers so that he could have them. Then the same thing happened to you. But when the Skincrawlers and the Firewillers found out that the prophecy was coming true, they tried to kill you first. And they had succeeded too. But somehow, you just got up a day later after being pronounced dead and acted just like you had the day before. When the Skincrawlers and Firewillers killed you, they had stabbed you right in the center of your heart with a knife of poison for good measure, and when you woke up the next day, there was no poison and no knife in you at all. There wasn't even a mark on you. Of course, the Skincrawlers and the Firewillers didn't know that, and they thought you had died, so they went after your brother when you turned five. But they didn't get far because you and your brother was playing in your old sand box out back in your house and you had seen them first, but you stopped them by lightening."
"Lightening?! Are you insane?" Reece yelled out loud by accident.
"Calm down child. Like I said, you accidentally sent a lightening bolt out of your hands and the bolt hit one of the Skincrawlers in the chest, killing him. Then you just went back to playing like nothing happened. They left, taking the dead Skincrawler with them, knowing that you were still alive. I think that they might be planning something, and when I was right, I had to do something because I knew that just because your real parents sent you away for protection, mortal humans couldn't stand a chance against Skincrawlers and Firewillers. So I put a protective spell on you and told your brother what I am telling you today when he turned fifteen. He also wanted to protect you, so he didn't tell you about any of this. I know he should have and I kept telling him that he should have told you a long time ago. He should have because if he did, then none of this would have happened. Your brother knew that your parents that you know now were not your real parents and it drove him insane knowing that he had to keep such a big secret from you.
"You know when he started drinking right after your fake parents died? Well, that was an excuse just to get his problems out on drinking. He loved you and just wanted to protect you from them, but he knew that he couldn't. That was another reason why he began drinking. He knew that he was hurting you, but he couldn't stop. For years, he was running from the Skincrawlers and Firewillers, and he had to make an excuse for you so that you wouldn't think something was up, so he told you that he had to go on a business trip some place around the world.
"But he couldn't keep it from you for long. He had to tell you one of these days, so he came to me about a week ago and told me that he couldn't hold all the secrets in, so he said he had to tell you. He was going to tell you tonight. But, the Skincrawlers and Firewillers found out about our meeting a week ago and made a plan to kill him, because they thought that he would be stronger than you, but they were wrong, so they killed Brian and left, thinking that you would go after them and they couldn't risk you finding their lair. But instead, you found your brother, still alive, but barely. And that is all I know," Macbeth said with a sigh.
"So, what exactly are Skincrawlers and Firewillers?" Reece asked, starting to believe that this could actually be real. Reece knew that somehow it had to be because there really wasn't another reason for someone wanting to kill Brian because here in a small town, everyone knew each other and everyone was always so nice to each other.
"Skincrawlers are a cruel creatures that can literally jump into you body and eat you from the inside out if they can get in reaching distance of you. And Firewillers are creatures that are basically humans with the abilities to will and use fire without the fire hurting them or burning them. Its like they can touch fire and not be effected by it. You have that ability. But not the Skincrawlers ability. They refused to even help you."
"If the Firewillers gave me some of their powers when I was born, then why do they want me and Brian dead? Well, me dead, anyways."
"Well, that is a good question. One day, the Skincrawlers thought that the Firewillers were the second strongest compared to them, and like always, they thought that they were the strongest creatures on earth, so they came to the lair of the Firewillers and told them that if the Firewillers joined them, then they would rule along side the Skincrawlers once they took over the world, but only half of the Firewillers really believed them, so the other half was killed right in front of the Firewillers that were on the Skincrawlers side."
"Wow, that must have been tough."
"It was. Now that all the Firewillers that didn't want to join the Skincrawlers were dead, there wasn't really anything that could stop them except for you and your brother."
"So, I'm in danger of being killed by creatures named Skincrawlers and Firewillers? My God! What's going to happen to me?" Reece asked, feeling a headache coming on.
"That I have no idea. But that is why you need to go into hiding until your full powers kick in."
"My powers? If people gave me powers, then what do I have?" Reece asked.
"Well, there was said to be Sightseers, who gave you powers, who can read someone's mind and kind of control the mind, making anyone do whatever the controller tells you to do. Then there is Skywalkers, who can control the ability to fly and control the weather. There is Necromancers, who can see and communicate with the dead. Oh, and remember, you have a Firewiller ability in you, too. And you can control water and breath under water too!
"There is a bunch more, but I can never remember. Sorry," Macbeth replied.
"Wow, so I can fly, talk to the dead, control fire, control people's minds, and control water and I never knew about it?" Reece asked, standing up, instantly regretting it when she felt dizzy. She sat back down and looked at her hands.
She didn't know why she believed her, but for some reason, she did. Reece had never been submerged in water before, and she surely didn't know how to swim.
"Yes, I know that it must be a bit much, but you need to know that I will be here for you. I think that I know some people that can help you learn some of your powers, but I don't know if they would help because everyone is scared of the Skincrawlers because they are always being watched by them so that you don't show up and ask them for help. But I think that I can find a way around that. So for tonight, you should get a good nights sleep."
"But I have so many questions!" Reece said, grabbing Macbeth's arm when she tried to get up.
"That can all be answered in the morning. I know that I shouldn't have been so mean to you when you just lost the closest thing to you."
"But I think that I saw my mother. Not my real mother, but the ones I know now. I was in my car, crying after work and she just appeared and said that she thought she lost me," Reece said, hoping it would get Macbeth's attention, and she had.
"You what? Tell me everything that happened," Macbeth said, sitting back down on the bed next to Reece.
"Okay, so I was in my car crying and my mom appeared and she looked so real. Then she said something like she thought that she lost me. Then I said what, then she said something like she was her, but not really. Then she told me to help my brother because he needed help and that I needed to help him fast or I would lose him and then she disappeared."
"Hmm, sounds like you were seeing your dead mother trying to tell you about what was going on at your house. She wanted you to save him from the Skincrawlers before he died."
"Oh, I thought she was talking about his drinking problem!" Reece said, shocked that she didn't see that one coming.
"Hmm...not likely. Spirits wouldn't try and make that much contact with someone unless it was really important to you and them."
"Really?" Reece asked.
"Yes, but you took it wrong because you still had a small amount of your brother's spell left in you. But once the person that put the spell on you, and they die, then it wears off in a day or so. But for you, since you have more powers than most people, it wears off much, much faster."
"Is that why I remember everything magical that had happened to me before? I mean, I remember the day that the Skincrawlers came to kill Brian, and I remember how ugly they are. They had really sharp teeth and large gums that stuck out like shark's teeth and gums. And they were all dressed in black and red. Why?" Reece asked, picturing the moment face to face with them in her back yard.
"They worship the devil. But, the Firewillers don't believe in anything, so that's why only half of them went with the Skincrawlers and the other half thought it would be a waist of time because that's all the Skincrawlers do is worship the devil."
"They worship the devil? Okay, I have heard some pretty crazy things tonight, but that must be the worst!" Reece said, shaking her head.
"Yes, I don't like the Skincrawlers at all. We need to contact the Castle of the Sightseers because they can help us. For now, you need to get a good nights sleep and don't open the door to anyone. Don't order any room service even when you get hungry. I will be back in the morning to bring you some food. Okay?" Macbeth said.
"Okay, anything else I should know about?" Reece asked.
"As I said, don't open the door to anyone and don't open the curtains and don't answer the phone to anyone. Just stay here and try and keep the TV down low enough. If you need anything, just call this number with this phone," Macbeth said, handing Reece a black cell phone and a number on a piece of scratch paper.
"Okay, but what if someone I don't know wants to talk or something?"
"Ignore them and hide. And if they get in here, jump out the window. There should be a fire escape out the window. And it isn't far from the ground anyways. Its only a story high."
"That's still really high!" Reece said, her meal from lunch wanting to come up.
"I know, but I trust that you can make it out alive. If you do have to leave this room, meet me a this address, okay? I trust that you know where it is. Go to it and don't leave it. If I find the room a mess and you not here, then I know that you have gone there."
"Okay. Is this address safe?" Reece asked, knowing that it was because it was almost out of town where no one really goes unless they were going out of town.
"Yes, I have been there many times and no one has used the old shack since it had opened a long time ago," Macbeth said firmly.
"Okay, see you in the morning then."
"Alright, I am off now to go and find someone to help us and find some food," Macbeth said, walking to the door and opening it, stopping to take another look at Reece. "Don't forget what I said. And don't try and use your powers for anything. Your not trained yet, okay?"
Reece nodded and stood up as Macbeth closed the door behind her.
Reece thought that she should take a shower because she probably didn't know when the next time she would be taking one the way Macbeth was talking.
So Reece opened the bathroom door to see a rack of towels and a nice fluffy robe that looked like it would suit Reece. Reece felt strange in a hotel room all alone, because she had never been in one alone, so she closed the door behind her had slowly turned the water on to take a shower. She always had turned the water on before she got into the shower because she hated the feeling of cold water on her. Before Reece got into the shower, she looked at herself in the mirror and saw that she had been far worse than she imagined. She had blood stains from when Brian had grabbed her shirt and jacket when he had told her those things. She also had dried blood at the bottom of her hair from bending down, when she held Brian.
Once the water was the temperature she wanted, she stripped her jacket off and stuck it on a hook on the other side of the door and took her clothes off and sat them on the floor where they couldn't get wet even though she would put a clean pair on.
Reece stepped into the unfamiliar tub and closed the scratchy shower curtain as she let the hot water run down her naked body.


{~Chapter two~}


Once Reece had taken her shower, she felt much cleaner than she had before she had taken one. Reece had been so beat by everything that happened to her today, she started thinking that her brother wasn't her real brother, just as the man and the woman she had known her whole life wasn't her real parents.
Right after she took a shower, she climbed under the scratchy covers and turned the TV on, watching the news because she knew that her brother's murder would probably be on it.
She was right of course, because when she turned to a news station, she saw her house on the screen with hundreds of people, neighbors, police, FBI and many other people that Reece had never seen before.
The reporter began talking, saying, "Welcome to a special news report coming live from your Small Town where there has been a terrible tragedy. Brian Wilberg, local resident of Small Town died tonight. Police are ruling it a homicide, but so far, they have no clues or ideas to whom would have done something like this. Brian Wilberg age twenty-three was at home tonight and his younger sister Reece Wilberg came home after a hard day at her restaurant called Small Town to find her older brother dead."
Reece couldn't look at the screen any longer. She couldn't look at the reporter's face because it was so unemotional. She shut the TV off and wept until she fell asleep.


Reece jolted awake, hearing something from the door.
Maybe it was Macbeth, back with some food, Reece thought, hearing her stomach growl from hunger. She knew she should have picked something up from her restaurant before she left, but she was too upset.
Reece looked at the clock on the bedside table and saw that it was past two o' clock in the morning. Reece also noticed that she was wearing her clothes to bed because she hadn't thought about bringing some PJ's.
Reece got out of bed and went to the door and saw a man waving at the peep hole on the door.
"Wake up, sleepy head! I know your in there!" The man said, a evil grin replacing his smile.
Reece backed up, her heart beating.
What am I to do? Reece thought.
Reece looked around and saw her bags on the other bed, everything thrown around like someone rummaged in it.
Reece grabbed it and shuffled through it, making sure that the box was still there. Reece sighed when she saw it under her clothes and grabbed it. She didn't care about her clothes, but she did care about this.
The man outside her door banged on the door again. "I can smell your blood pumping through your skin, little piggy. If you don't come out now, then I'll have to huff and puff and blow the door down. Or I can just kick in the door, whichever you want to do!" he said, making Reece's heart stop for what seemed like minutes.
Reece grabbed the phone that Macbeth had given her and dialed the number on the phone key pad, letting it ring and ring, until Macbeth finally answered.
"Hello? Is that you, Reece?"
"Yes," Reece whispered. "There is a man at the door and he said that he will kick in the door if I don't go with him!"
"What? Okay, get your things, no wait. Scratch that. Take the box and key that you got from your brother's room and take the phone and get out of there! Go to the place I told you to go! Now!" Macbeth hissed into the phone.
"Okay, I'm going to hang up now," Reece said.
"Okay, be careful. Call me when you get to the address I gave you," Macbeth said.
They both hanged up and Reece grabbed the box and slipped the key into her pocket just as the man banged on the door again, this time, Reece didn't know if the door would hold him again.
Reece ran to the window and yanked the window open, where she put one foot out, just as the man kicked the door in, stopping in the doorway when he saw Reece trying to leave.
"Oh, no you don't!" he yelled, showing sharp teeth that made Reece wanted to vomit. He ran over to her awkwardly like he didn't know how to run.
Reece flipped the other foot outside, but the man grabbed it, holding onto her ankle.
"Let go, creep!" Reece said, remembering that Macbeth said that if Skincrawlers got in reaching distance, that they could literally jump into your body and eat you from the inside out. Reece kicked with her un-free ankle, shaking it until she managed to smack him in the face with her foot, forcing him to let go. Reece sighed and threw her foot out the other side of the window and didn't look back as she climbed down, but soon regretted it when she could smell him as if he was right behind her, and when she did turn around, he was right behind her.
"I will get you!" he growled at her, sticking his arm out so that he could grab her, but Reece threw her body out of the way, landing the next story down on the fire escape ladder, dropping the box on the ground below her.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! No!" Reece yelled, jumping down to the ground to pick up the box. When she had the box in her hands, she turned around, just as she was pushed down to the wet ground.
"Now I have you! I can now kill you just like I killed your stupid brother," the Skincrawler said, bending over Reece, who's heart was beating the hardest that it had ever done in her life.
"What do you want from me?" Reece asked, whimpering.
"You life. I want you dead. And your going to die. From the inside out!" he said, showing four rows of sets teeth.
The Skincrawler leaned over Reece, who was trying to back up from him to make sure that he didn't touch her again because she was sure that if he did touch her again, she wouldn't be so lucky like she was when he had first grabbed her by the ankle.
"Get back here, you stupid mortal!" The Skincrawler yelled, grabbing her shoe. Reece didn't care if he touched her shoe because it wasn't skin to skin contact.
"My brother is not stupid!" Reece yelled, kicking him in the jaw, making him scream in pain.
From what Macbeth had told her, Skincrawlers were smart, but this one acted like a dummy. He didn't even try!
Just as Reece's rage came on, a fierce wind started, blowing right at the Skincrawler and Reece, her hair blowing in her face, causing her not to see anything. "Like I said, my brother is not stupid!" Reece didn't care if he was a Skincrawler or that he can jump into someone's skin and eat you from the inside out. Reece grabbed his shirt and pulled him close, shooting lightening by accident into his chest, just as Reece let go and jumped up to run, but stopped when she saw that the Skincrawler was on the ground dead, she didn't care if he was trying to kill her.
"Oh, my God. I just killed a person!" Reece said out loud.
Reece panicked and ran as fast as she could but not until she took one last look at the lifeless body laying on the cold hard ground behind her before taking off to the little shack on the outskirts of town.


Reece ran and ran until she made it to the shack, not even out of wind, which was good because she needed the air to cry after killing the Skincrawler.
What would the police say when they found the Skincrawler dead near the hotel that Reece was staying at? Would they think she did it? And if they did, will they think that she had killed her brother too?
Reece looked around to make sure that no one had followed her to the shack and slowly opened the old door that looked like it needed to be torn down. She peeked in and saw that it was pitch dark inside.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" Reece whispered, hoping that nothing would answer her back, stepping inside the dark shack.
When no one answered her, she sighed with relief and felt around on the walls to see if there was a light switch, but found none. She walked forward, running into what felt like a spiderweb and screamed, but stifled it with a slap of her hand over her mouth. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that she hadn't run into a spider web, she had run into a light switch. She took hold of the string and pulled, light flooding the small shack.
Reece looked around and saw that Macbeth was right. No one has used it for a really long time. There was some crates full of something that Reece probably didn't want to know about and there was a table and a couple chairs that looked like if you sat something on them, they would crush under the weight. There was a few tools hanging on the wall and a old lawn mower that was taken apart.
Reece looked around again, but found nothing interesting about the place. So she sat down where she was in the dirt and pulled her knees up to her chin and cried. Well, more like bawled after she sat her brother's box down because she had no idea how to open it.
She cried because she didn't have a mother or a father or a brother to help her and all she had was a mean old lady to help her. Now she was in a dirty old shack crying her eyes out because she would rather be at her house, sleeping or listening to the sound of her brother snore from the other side of the wall in her room.
Suddenly, Reece lifted her head up, hearing something crunch. And again. And again.
Reece slowly got up and grabbed a shovel that was leaning against a crate and held it so tight, her knuckles turned white.
"Who's there?" Reece asked. "I am armed and I can hurt you if I wanted to!"
Reece held the shovel and spun around to see if someone was behind her.
"Who are you?" an unfamiliar male voice said from somewhere in the shack.
"I asked you first," Reece said, hoping it wasn't another Skincrawler.
"Well, I'll tell you, if you tell me first," he said.
Reece looked around, knowing that she shouldn't say anything to him.
"Fine," Reece said, knowing that Macbeth will be mad at her for even talking to a male that she didn't even know or even see for that matter. "my name is Reece. Now tell me what yours is."
"My name is Griffen. What are you doing in my house?"
"Why don't you come out and actually give me your real name like I did?" Reece asked.
"Griffen is my real name. And if you wish to see me, then you have to swear that you will not tell anyone that I live here, alright?" he asked.
"Fine, I swear on my brother who just died last night and the Skincrawler that I just killed," Reece said, not thinking about what she had just said. "Oops. I didn't say that. I mean, I swear on my dead brother. Yeah, that could work."
"You said Skincrawler. You killed one? How? I have tried so many times to kill one of those creatures, and it is very hard to kill one. How did you do it?" Griffen said.
"Show yourself!" Reece said.
"Alright," Griffen said, dropping from the ceiling. Reece didn't even think to look up, she was too busy looking around her.
Griffen was a tall large muscled man about Reece's age who had long shiny black hair.
"So, your Griffen. Nice to meet you."
"Well, it would be nicer if you didn't have that shovel in my face," he replied with a smile.
"I am not moving this from your face until I know your not going to kill me, Griffen, " Reece said.
Griffen laughed loudly. "You think that a shovel will hurt me?"
"Yes!" Reece replied.
"Well, it won't. I need to ask you how you know about Skincrawlers and how you managed to kill one," he said, seriously.
"How do you know about them?" Reece asked, avoiding his question.
"I am a Firewiller. I think I would know. Who are you? What is your clan?" he asked, circling her. "You smell of all of them."
"I smell of all of what?"
"All the clans except Skincrawlers."
"Huh, well if you want to know, I want to know that your not going to try and kill me."
"I don't like killing anyone unless I know that I am in danger or if I have a grudge against them, and I can promise you, I do not have a grudge against you because I just met you. And the only other thing I kill is my meals and Skincrawlers."
Reece could see that he was telling the truth.
"Okay. I'm not sure what I am. This old lady named Macbeth told me that when I was born everyone with powers gave them to me and my brother and now I have to save the world or something like that."
"Your the girl from the prophecy? Where is your brother then?"
"He died last night. Skincrawlers killed him. I came home and found him just barely alive and he gave me this," Reece said, picking up the box.
"Hmm. So now your the only one that can help the world?" he asked, catching on to everything that she was telling him.
"I think. But I don't even know how to use my powers or anything. And I was sleeping in a hotel when a Skincrawler came to my door and almost killed me."
"Do you know what they can do to you if they touch you?"
"Yes. And he did touch me. He had my ankle when I was trying to get out the window and he didn't do what I thought he was going to do. He acted so stupid and he acted like he didn't even know what to do."
"Yes, they have become so intoxicated by themselves thinking they were higher than anyone else, that they have become so...not what they used to be."
"Really? Because Macbeth told me that they were more dangerous than anything on this planet. They worship the devil," Reece hissed, bringing the shovel down so it wasn't in Griffen's face anymore.
"No, they do not anymore. They think that the devil betrayed them. They only worship themselves. Now, who is this Macbeth lady you keep talking about?"
"I really don't know. She just appeared in my house while the cops were there and drove me to a hotel and told me to stay there unless someone was trying to get in. That's why I'm here. But she never said anything about a Firewiller in here."
"I have been here a while, but not long. I have seen this Macbeth person. Does she have gray hair and a mole on her cheek?" Griffen asked, leaning against a crate.
"Yes. Do you know her?"
"No, but I saw her here when I first moved here."
"So, why are you here?" Reece asked.
"I am here because I am wanted by the Skincrawlers."
"Why?"
"I was the only living resister when the other Firewillers and Skincrawlers joined together. I was the only survivor among the other half of the Firewillers that didn't want to join them. I was just a baby when my mother hid me, but I remember everything."
"I never thought of it that way. I'm sorry."
"I know. I can see it in your eyes."
"I didn't know that you were in hiding. I guess we both kind of are in hiding."
"Yes, well, I did not expect someone else to be here. You will not tell anyone or I will kill you even if you are the girl in the prophecy!" Griffen warned.
"Look, I don't care about you being here. And plus, I am not the kind of person to go around telling people that a Firewiller is in a dirty old shack." Griffen smiled, looking at his feet. "Now can you tell me what you mean by 'clans'?"
"The clans are what you are. Like Skincrawlers are a clan, or Firewillers, Skywalkers. Those kinds of things. You get it? I was trying to figure out what you are."
"Oh, I get it. There is just so much that I don't know about. I just lost my brother last night and two years ago my parents were killed in a plane crash. And I just found out that they weren't even my real parents. I've been through a lot since last night."
"So you had no idea what you are? Not even a clue?" Griffen asked, shocked, unfolding his arms.
Reece shook her head. "I had no idea. My brother didn't tell me anything until he was stabbed or something like that. And I don't even know what the box has to do with anything. I can't open it. Macbeth said that the key wouldn't open it. Only I could."
"What key?" Griffen asked, taking the box out of Reece's hand when she held it out for him to look at.
"This one. I don't know what to do with it. I tried to put it into the key hole here, but it wouldn't fit. Maybe you can help me?"
"Well, I can tell you that this does take something to open, but I don't think that it is a key though that will open it."
"What then?" Reece asked.
"I'm not sure. I said I was a Firewiller, not a psychic. It looks like it needs something in the shape of a heart or something like that," Griffen said.
"Wait!" Reece said, remembering that her mother had given her a necklace on her tenth birthday in the shape of a heart. "I think that I know what it is that can open it!" Reece pulled the heart shaped necklace out from underneath her shirt and took it off, showing it to Griffen. "My fake mother gave it to me on my tenth birthday and told me that it would be a great importance to me in the long run. Maybe she meant that I would need it for this!" Reece said, jumping up and down.
"Well, try it out," Griffen said, watching Reece, who was still jumping.
Reece walked over to Griffen and took the box from him, noticing that he had beautiful golden eyes. "Thanks, Griffen."
"For what?" He asked, also noticing her eyes, which were a bright blue color.
"Not killing me."
"Why would I do that? I told you-"
"I know, I know. You only kill someone if they are a Skincrawler or you have a grudge against them. I just wanted to say thanks, even though we just met."
"Okay, then. Your welcome."
Reece laughed and put the heart shape necklace to the spot on the front side of the red and gold box.
It snapped open, revealing nothing inside the box.
"What? But my brother said that inside the box was things that would help me get through this. He lied," Reece said.
"Why would he tell you that when there wasn't anything in it?" Griffen asked.
"I don't know."
"Wait, did you hear that?" Griffen asked, tensing up.
"What?" Reece asked, whispering, looking around.
"I heard something like someone was outside."
"You heard that?" Reece asked.
"I trained myself to hear past things so that I could learn to adapt to other things around me."
"Wow, that's cool."
"Shh...I think its a female."
"How do you know?"
"I know because I just saw a bush of long hair. I can tell the difference between female hair and male hair. Males don't really use conditioner on their hair. But females do."
"Okay, little creepy, but okay."
"I think that it might be your Macbeth lady. I'm going to hide, so don't give me away, okay? Don't tell her that I am here."
Reece nodded and sat the box down, closing the lid, watching Griffen jump up onto the crates and swing himself onto a beam holding the ceiling up.
"Reece? Are you in there?" Reece heard Macbeth whisper from behind her.
"Yes, I am. In here!" Reece said, going to the door.
Macbeth appeared into view and gasped at the sight of her.
"Do I look that bad?" Reece asked, hugging her back.
"No, your fine. You just need a few stitches on your forehead. And your arm and everywhere else," Macbeth said with a smile, letting Reece know that she was kidding. "But seriously, you do need a few stitches on your forehead."
"Okay, I don't think that I will be getting them for a while though," Reece said, sarcastically.
"Your probably right, though," Macbeth said with a sigh. "So, your box was empty, huh?"
"What? I never told you that. What makes you so sure that the box was empty?" Reece asked, getting suspicious.
"What? Oh, umm. I saw the lid up and there was nothing in it."
"No, because I had shut the lid before you even came in here!" Reece said, catching her lying again. "You couldn't possibly know that it was empty unless...you took the stuff out!" Reece pointed her finger at Macbeth.
"Okay, you got me. I did open it when you were sleeping. I just wanted to see what was in there. That's all I did."
"Prove it," Reece said, kicking herself for even trusting Macbeth. Reece didn't even know her! "I want you to prove to me that your not lying! I trusted you, and now I don't think its there anymore! You had to have taken something out of there because my brother said that everything that is in that box will help me! He would have told me if there wasn't anything in it! And he wouldn't have lied to me when he was dying!" Reece moved to the box, grabbing it so that Macbeth couldn't get to it.
Macbeth moved closer to Reece, who backed up away from her. Macbeth didn't look like the nice old lady who would set you straight if you did something wrong, she looked like an insane woman. You could practically see the red flames burning in her eyes, making Reece gasp.
"What are you doing?" Reece asked, backing up into the other side of the wall.
"You want the truth? Well, here it is: I did get into the box when you were sleeping and I did take everything in it. Every paper that told you about your real parents and all about your so called powers that you don't even use or know how to use for that matter! And you know what I did with them?"
"What did you do with them?!" Reece asked angrily.
"I hid them. So that you could never find them. Well, you won't anyways because I'm going to kill you."
Reece gasped, still against the wall as Macbeth reached for her neck with her hands.
"Before you kill me, I just want to know why," Reece said, closing her eyes, still clutching the box, gripping it tighter as if Macbeth could get to it if she loosened her grip on it.
"Because I wanted to be the chosen one from the prophecy. Not you. I was supposed to be the one, but I was banned from my powers!"
Reece opened her eyes, surprised by what she just said. "What do you mean you were supposed to be the girl from the prophecy?"
"I mean, I had a brother who was supposed to be the other half of the prophecy, but then he turned to the Skincrawlers for God knows why and the Main Clan's House banned me because they thought I was going to join the Skincrawlers too! And now that I can't be that person, I won't let you!"
"No," Reece said.
"'No'? What do you mean 'no'?" Macbeth hissed, cracking her neck to the side.
"I mean, you may kill me, but that's not going to mean anything. Its not going to bring the prophecy back to you. It won't bring anything to you. I mean, look at you! Your just as much a Skincrawler as your brother!"
"Don't talk about my brother like that! You don't know him!" Macbeth said, hissing again, grabbing Reece's throat.
"Look," Reece said, struggling to talk. "I know that you must hate me, but let me go and I will just forget this ever happened and I won't fulfill the prophecy or whatever."
Macbeth's grip on her throat loosened, but only for a second. "No! I don't care anymore! I'm going to kill you so that the prophecy doesn't come true! Because it wouldn't matter if I let you go, you would have to go and fulfill it anyways. Its your destiny! But not for long!" Macbeth screamed, her grip on Reece's neck.
"Hey, Macbeth," Reece said in a whispered, scratchy voice. "Why don't you look up?" Reece spotted Griffen standing right above Macbeth, fire coming from his hands.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Macbeth asked, looking around, her grip not getting lighter.
Griffen pounced right when Macbeth saw him right above him and threw a fire ball at her, hitting her in the stomach as she turned around, letting go of her neck.
Reece gasped, holding her neck with one hand, holding the empty box with the other.
"Reece! Look out!" Griffen yelled just as Reece looked up to see that Macbeth had dodged a fireball and it was heading straight for Reece.
Reece jumped out of the way just in time. She landed on the dirty ground, coughing from inhaling it. Reece stood up, leaving the box on the ground and looked up to see Macbeth on top of Griffen, grabbing his neck at the same time he was holding hers with fire all around both of them, but mostly on her neck as Griffen let the fire seep out of his hands and onto Macbeth's neck.
"Die! Why won't you die?!" Griffen yelled, gripping her neck tighter, as Macbeth spit in his face to distract him, but found it didn't work.
"Griffen!" Reece yelled, rushing over to him and grabbed Macbeth by her long hair and tried to yank her off of Griffen who coughed as she let go, grabbing at her roots, trying to get Reece to stop.
"Its over, Macbeth. I can't believe that I even trusted you when I didn't even know you," Reece said, yanking at her hair again when she tried to claw at Reece with her long fingernails.
Griffen caught his breath and stood up, grabbing a rope that as on the floor, untangling it. He knelt down to where Macbeth was and tied the rope around her arms and hands, making Macbeth scream.
After the rope was all tied around Macbeth, he stood again and sighed. "So, what do you want to do with her? I mean, we could kill her since she tried to kill you."
"Who is this? A Firewiller?" Macbeth said, as Griffen leaned down and took duct tape out of his large jacket pocket and slapped a piece over her mouth, making Macbeth scream with rage.
"Yes, this is Griffen. He lives here. He help me figure out how to open the box.
"Why would you want to kill me? I mean, I did nothing wrong to you. I trusted you and thought that someone actually wanted to help me get through this! But like always, I was wrong and too trusting of people and I told you everything! Everything. I feel like a total idiot because I have no idea what I am or what I am capable of or anything! and I let myself think that you were going to help me and get me through this without any trouble or anything. But no, I was wrong again. I am never going to trust anyone ever again!" Reece said, having no care for someone who tried to kill her.
Macbeth tried to say something, but Reece just leaned down and spit in her face as she had done to Griffen.
"That's for spitting in Griffen's face," Reece said. "And this is for trying to kill me!" she said, spitting in her face again.
"What are we going to do with her?" Griffen asked, a small smile on his face.
"I don't know," Reece said, closing her eyes, rubbing her temples.
"You okay?" Griffen asked, setting his hand on her shoulder for comfort, but Reece just moved out of the way, putting her hands to her wet eyes. "Look, I know we just met and all, but I want to help you. You are a great fighter and I think that we could use each other. If you want to stick around."
Reece ignored him, feeling dizzy. Reece sat down on the dirty ground, and leaned against the wall. "I just...I don't know what I want to do. I have no idea where to go now that Macbeth isn't who I thought she was. She had known what I was and told me what I should do and I did. But I don't know what to do now."
Reece opened her eyes and gasped.
"What?" Griffen asked, looking at the wall Reece was looking at.
"I see someone."
"I don't who is it?" Griffen asked, tensing up.
"Its my dead brother. Macbeth had told me that I can see the dead. But I wasn't sure because I had seen my mother and she was dead."
"What's he want?" Griffen asked.
"I don't know," Reece said, getting up.
Reece saw that her brother had went behind some crates on the other side of the room and she followed, her heart bursting with pain and sorrow.
"Reece?" Griffen asked, reaching out to her, but she just waved his hand away.
"Brian? Is that you? Are you trying to tell me something?" Reece asked, walking behind the crates.
Reece saw her brother standing next to an open crate, where there was a scroll inside the crate. Reece picked it up and unrolled it, seeing that there was some type of writing on it that she didn't know of. Reece didn't understand.
"I'm not clicking on what your trying to tell me, Brian. Why won't you talk to me?" Reece asked, holding back more tears.
Brian just shrugged and shook his head.
Reece looked at the old torn-up scroll one more time and called Griffen to take a look at it.
"Hey, what's up?" Griffen asked.
"I found this and I think it might be important. What do you think?" Reece asked, still looking at it.
"I don't know. It looks old. Here, let me take a look at it."
Griffen took the scroll and went back to the front of the small shack where he could keep an eye out for Macbeth.
Just thinking about Macbeth made Reece lift her hand up to her neck where there was still red hand prints from when she was trying to choke her to death.
"Thanks, Brian," Reece whispered, so badly wanting to hug him.
Brian nodded, disappearing from her sight.
Reece stood there, looking at the spot that Brian had been until her eyes watered from not blinking. She walked to the front of the shack and sat down on one of the rotten chairs without realizing she had sat down, wanting to cry.
Suddenly, she heard a creak coming from something near her and just as she was going to look around, the chair she was sitting on crushed underneath her. She sat on the broken chair and cried in front of Griffen and Macbeth, who were both watching her cry.
"You sure your okay?" Griffen asked, seriously.
"No! I'm not okay! I just want everything to be back the way it was before my parents died two years ago. I just don't want any of this to be real!" Reece said, crying even harder.
"You know that your sitting on a broken chair, right?" Griffen asked, trying to lighten the mood, but failing miserably.
"Yes!" Reece sobbed. "I have no one to help me through any of this! I can't trust anyone!"
"Not even me?" Griffen asked.
"I'm sorry, but I can't. Not after what Macbeth did to me," Reece said, wiping her tears, her voice still shaking.
"I'm sorry. I really am. Maybe I can help. I know some people," Griffen offered.
"I don't know, Griffen. Like I said, I can't really trust anyone. And I just met you. I just need to think stuff through. Okay?"
"Alright, but you know that you don't have to trust me," Griffen said, sighing. "I just want to help you. You know that right?"
Griffen only wanted to keep her safe from harm. If she was really the girl from the prophecy, then he had to protect her, no matter what the consequences were to him or anyone else for that matter. And not only did he want to help her, he wanted to help in anyway he could. He had never felt something like this about someone in his whole entire life and he surely didn't want something bad to happen to her. It made him mad to think that someone actually was let in by Reece then turned out to be someone who was jealous and wanted to kill her over such a stupid thing like that.
Griffen had grown up, memories haunting him over the death of his parents right in front of him. He knew exactly what Reece was going through.
"Look, Reece. I may not know you all that much, but I know exactly what you are going through. I lost my parents too. They were murdered right in front of me, while my parents kept me safe, hidden from the Skincrawlers. I know just how you feel. I want to help you. No, I need to help you. You came here for a reason, and not because Macbeth had told you to or whatever. You came here because fate knew that we would meet and need each other's help."
Reece looked up at Griffen, surprised that he had said that. "But-" Reece cut herself off because she knew that he was right because he had gone through the same thing she had gone through. She didn't know what else to say but thank you. "Thank you, Griffen. For saving my life. I thought you were going to let her kill me for a minute there," she choked back some more tears that were about to burst the barrier holding them back.
"I would never have done that. I was just waiting for the right moment to attack her," Griffen whispered, setting the scroll down on the rotten table in front of Reece, who ignored it.
From behind Griffen, Macbeth made a hissing sound behind the tape on her mouth, thinking that they were just a bunch of sissies.
"Thanks," Reece said again.
"Your welcome," he replied, looking away from her so that she couldn't see his expression. "You know, I did say that you didn't have to trust me. But I do know some people that could help you. I could help you train and learn your powers if you want. But, you don't have to trust me if you don't want to."
"You said that already," Reece whispered, not fighting the tiredness inside of her. "I-I just don't know what to do. I don't even know what powers I have or how to use them or why I have them. Why do I have to be the girl from the prophecy? Why not someone else? I mean, my brother didn't tell me anything, and he totally trusted Macbeth, who turned out to be a crazy person raging with jealousness and who probably lied to me about everything and probably killed Brian."
"Wow, and I thought my life was screwed up," Griffen said to himself.
"What? What did you just say?" Reece asked, her blood boiling inside of her. "Did you just say what I thought you said?"
Griffen backed up, shocked that Reece had heard him say that. He didn't mean to say that, it kind of slipped out, even though it was true. It seemed like her life was way more worse than his, even though he had spent most of his life haunted by the memory.
"I swear, I didn't mean to say that. It just came out," Griffen said, almost tripping over Macbeth, who screamed in pain and fell over from the impact.
"Why did you say that?" Reece asked, grabbing Griffen's t-shirt which was dirty from rolling around on the ground.
Griffen held his hands up, pleading in his head for her not to do anything, especially when she didn't know how to control her powers, and he surely didn't know what kind of powers she had.
"I really, truly didn't mean to say that, Reece. You know that I am not lying."
Reece knew that he was right and let him go, sighing.
"I'm sorry. I have been through a lot these two days," Reece apologized.
"Its okay. I didn't mean to say that. Please, forgive me."
"I do. But do you forgive me for trying to hurt you?" Reece asked.
"Yes, of course."
"Can you tell me about these people that can help me? I'm not saying that I trust anyone or anything, but I just want to know what powers that I hold and if I can control them."
"I thought you might want to go and interrogate Macbeth and see where she might have hidden the papers that were in the box."
"Okay, but right after, then we see what we can do about my powers and stuff, okay?"
Griffen walked to Macbeth, who's eyes widened when she saw fire start to form on his hands.
"Now, can you tell me where you hid the papers?" Griffen asked, holding his hands by her already burnt neck. She shook her head, her eyes widening even more. "Oh, you don't know? Well, I think that you do know and are going to tell me sooner or later. And if you don't tell me where you hid the papers, then I guess you can die and we can just go ask someone else that knows or we can just go look for them. Which would you rather us do?"
Macbeth shrugged, knowing that she probably would die anyways even if she told us where the papers were.
"Look, Macbeth, if that's even your name, just tell us where they are and we will let you go. How does that sound?" Reece asked, knowing that it was a mistake to say something like letting her go because she knew that she would never let someone who had tried to kill her go free because she could try and kill again. When Macbeth just ignored her, Reece said, "Just take the tape off her mouth, Griffen."
Griffen did what she said and ripped the tape off her mouth, causing her to scream at the top of her lungs.
"Tell us now, and you go," Griffen said.
"No! I'd rather die than tell you where I hid the papers!"
"That can be arranged," Reece said, feeling guilty for even thinking about it.
Macbeth just laughed, mocking them. "Never. No matter what you do to me, I will not tell."
"Don't you want to see your family again? I don't think that you would want to die when you would just go to hell," Reece replied.
"I haven't had a family in over a hundred years, and I was the one who killed them when I was your age. Its in our blood to kill. Even if your on the good side, you still have to fight the will to want to kill. Even ask your little boyfriend Griffen!" Macbeth hissed, laughing again.
"We just met, Macbeth," Reece said, ignoring the fact that she had said that about them.
Griffen looked away from Macbeth, knowing that she knows how he feels about Reece even though they had just met that same night. It was like love at first sight, but he had no idea if Reece felt the same way.
"Its true though. But not the way she thinks to kill. I do want to kill, but I want to kill every last Skincrawler there is on this planet," Griffen admitted to mostly himself.
"What? I already knew that you wanted to kill them because they killed your parents in front of you!" Reece said.
Macbeth kept laughing. "You know nothing of the sort!" She said.
"What are you talking about?" Reece said, getting madder by the second.
Reece grabbed Macbeth by her shirt and felt rage pouring out of her.
Macbeth laughed as a fierce wind started, almost knocking Griffen over. Lightening was everywhere, hitting Reece, but she felt nothing.
"What the hell?" Macbeth asked, the color draining from her face and her eyes almost popped out of her head.
"Tell me now where the papers are or else!" Reece screamed, seeing lightening fly everywhere, still hitting her, but she didn't care.
"Ha, you think a little lightening is going to scare me?" Macbeth asked, even though both Reece and Griffen could see she was terrified.
"Yes, and I think a little fire wouldn't be so bad either!" Reece said, letting a warm feeling take her body over as fire raised from under her skin and flowed onto her hands which were still gripping Macbeth's shirt.
"Alright! Just don't kill me! I'll tell you!" Macbeth screamed, blowing at the fire on her shirt and shoulders. "Let me go!"
"Not until you tell me where they are!" Reece yelled, as Griffen watched from in front of them, a shocked look on his face as he watched as lightening and fire collided and hit one another and landed on Reece who wasn't affected one bit by it.
"Okay, they are still at your house! I took them from you when you were sleeping in the hotel room and I put them back there!" Macbeth yelled, screaming in pain.
Reece didn't let go.
"Reece! Let her go! She told you where they are! Reece!" Griffen yelled over the wind and lightening and fire roars.
"Did you kill my brother?!" Reece yelled, needing to know.
"No! I swear! It really was Skincrawlers!" Macbeth said, crying in pain.
Reece let go of her, the wind, lightening, and fire instantly ending.
"Oh, my God. Did I just do that all at once?" Reece whispered, looking at the damage she made to the small shack that Griffen has called home for a while now.
Macbeth was almost dead, no longer wanting to sit up straight, she fell over, her hands and feet still tied. She looked like she was set on fire. All of her hair was gone and most of her skin.
"Reece?" Griffen was a distance away from her, afraid that she would do the same thing to him as she did to Macbeth.
Reece looked at her hands, knowing that she had done this because she was mad and wanted the truth.
Reece had never done anything this bad in her life. The worst thing she had done in her whole entire life was accidentally punch her brother in the nose when they were smaller when she was acting like she was punching someone, and Brian had ran outside right into her fist. She had cried for weeks until his nose was all healed, but she thought that she was going to hell for doing that to him.
"You okay?" Griffen asked, holding her shoulders.
"No, I think I could have killed her. I didn't know what I was doing. I just felt like I had to do it or else," Reece whispered, leaning her head against Griffen's chest, sighing.
"Macbeth was right. It is in our blood to kill. And since you have all the Clan's powers, you have the feeling ten times as worse then anyone."
Reece nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
"I know that you were scared and so was I, but that is all behind us now. We know where the papers are and we can see what you can really do. Okay?" Griffen asked, lifting Reece's head off his chest and forcing her to look at him.
"I don't think that I can go on, knowing that I just almost killed someone, even though she tried to kill me. The worst thing that I have ever done was accidentally punch my brother in the nose. I felt so bad, but Brian kept telling me that it was by accident."
Griffen laughed, swaying back and forth with Reece, trying to calm her down.
"How is that funny?" Reece asked, both crying and laughing with him. Reece always laughed when she cried, especially when someone was trying to get her to laugh.
"Oh, it is funny."
"Maybe you should check on Macbeth and see if she's still alive. Because If she died from that, then police might think it was suspicious because of all the lightening marks and fire everywhere and all," Reece said, wiping her tears.
Griffen let go of Reece even though he didn't want to and checked to see if Macbeth was breathing, but she wasn't.
"She's gone," Griffen said.
"What? I killed her?" Reece asked.
"But you didn't mean to do it, Reece!" Griffen reassured her, failing.
"Yes, I did, if I had just let go a few minutes before, she would still be alive!" Reece said, crying. "I didn't mean to!"
"Its okay, Reece. She was the one wanting to kill you! You did the right thing! It was amazing to see how you made lightening come to you! And the fire! Your so much better than I am at using fire! I can't even make that much fire come to me, no matter how much I want it to! Your a natural!" Griffen said, hugging her, swaying.
Reece lifted her head and looked at Griffen and saw the truth in his eyes. "Really? You think that?"
"Of course! Your an amazing person, and I wouldn't want you to change," he said.
"Really?" she repeated.
"Yes. So why don't we go and look for those papers of yours?" Griffen asked, putting his arm around her shoulder.
"Lets take the scroll. Where did you leave it?" Reece asked, looking around.
"I left it-" Griffen stopped, gasped as he looked at the burnt dust on the rotten table that was also burnt to a pulp.
"Oh, no. Did I do that?" Reece asked, putting her hand on the scroll that was now a dust pile.
"It was an accident. I don't think it was important though," Griffen said, pulling Reece to the door.
"No, it was important! If Brian showed it to me, then it had to have been important!" Reece said.
"We can figure out all of this later. Lets just get your papers and go find those people that can help us, okay?" Griffen asked, looking into Reece's eyes.
Reece nodded, knowing that he was right.


{~Chapter three~}


It was chaos at her house by the time they got there when it was dark. Police were still there, trying to find answers and get the nosey neighbors to leave.
"This is your house?" Griffen asked, thinking it was a nice home for this town. This town usually had small, one story houses, but this one had two floor with what looked like four bedrooms.
"Yes, I don't think that we should have came so soon. The police are still trying to find the people that killed Brian, my brother," Reece replied, remembering the smell of blood coming from Brian, who had laid on the hard wood floor, barely alive, seeping blood from his chest.
Reece shivered, a chill climbing up her spine.
"You alright?" Griffen asked, grabbing Reece's hands.
"Not really. Do you think that the cops found those papers? Or do you think that Macbeth was lying about the whole thing. I mean, she did say that she didn't care if she died and that she wouldn't tell even if we killed her."
"I could see the truth in her, didn't you?" Griffen asked.
"I don't know. I was too distracted."
"I know."
"Oh, my God!" Reece said, remembering something.
"What is it?" Griffen asked, jumping when he heard one of the police say something loudly into the microphone about go away and that the police were doing everything that they could.
"We look like we just killed someone. What will the police say when they see us like this? We didn't even think this through. We can't just ask to go in and grab whatever we want. And if the police see our marks and clothes, they might think that we did something to earn us life in prison!" Reece whispered, bringing Griffen to a bush across the street.
"Your right. I have a plan. How about I distract them and tell them that I saw something and get them talking to me and you can run in there and look for the papers."
"But there is going to be people inside the house! What do I do then?" Reece asked.
"Well, if you have all the powers from all the Clans, then you should be able to make them think your not there. Like what Sightseers do."
"But I don't know how," Reece explained, frowning.
"Try it on me!" Griffen said, smiling.
"What? No way!"
"Come on, why not?" Griffen asked.
"Because I don't do that kind of thing!" Reece said, annoyed that he even offered to let her practice something on him that she didn't even know that she could do a few days ago.
"Oh, who cares?" Griffen said, waving the thought away before it was even something.
"I care! I don't want you getting hurt!" Reece said.
"Who said anything about getting hurt?" Griffen asked, grinning.
"How can you think something like that?" Reece asked, thinking about how she lost control when she had a grip on Macbeth and had killed her. "I mean, I think I lost control when I had killed that Skincrawler and then I lost even more control when I killed Macbeth, and that time, I didn't even mean to! What if I do something to you? I mean, you have been so nice to me ever since we met and I haven't made a very good impression for you."
"You didn't need to. I knew that you were different, but I didn't know how different until I saw what I saw. And I think its fine if you want to just leave and never see me again, but I would rather you not leave. I like having you around. And I think that it is just fine if you use me as a target because you need to get in there and find out who and what you are and what powers you possess and who your real parents are. And I am not just saying that to just make you feel better. I am saying it because it is true. You are the most unique person that I have ever met. And let me tell you, I have met a lot of people," Griffen said with a half smile, feeling embarrassed.
"Wow, no has ever said that to me before. You know, one day, when all of this is over, I think I want you to come and see my restaurant. You would love it!" Reece said, meaning every word she spoke.
"You have a restaurant?" Griffen asked, surprised.
"Well, I took over after my parents died. They left everything to me and my brother. But I was the one who wanted to really work at Small Town Restaurant. Brian went off and would drink. He did that ever since my parents died. But Macbeth said he didn't drink because of that," Reece whispered, looking at her hands while they knelt behind the bush, waiting.
"Wow, that must have been a handful for you, huh?" Griffen asked, looking above the bush to see what was going on.
"It is. It was harder when Brian didn't want to help. Then I would come home after work and find Brian either drunk or passed out on the floor or wherever he wanted. And then I would have to get up in the morning to clean his vomit up. It is tough, and some times I wish that I could get away from it all, but not like this!" Reece said waving her hands and arms around at her house where people were still at, waiting for an answer to who could have killed her brother.
"Oh, I see your point. But I don't care if you try it on me, I have taken worse than someone controlling my mind," Griffen reassured her.
"Fine, but if something bad happens to you, I'll say I told you so," Reece said, frowning when she agreed.
"Ha, okay. You can say that. So go on, say something."
"Say something? What do you mean?"
"I mean, make me do something or whatever. I was once under the control of someone and she had to say something to make me do it. Like she said to roll on the ground, and I rolled on the ground. Like that, okay?" Griffen explained, hoping that Reece did know what she was doing, even though he was sure she didn't.
"Okay. Say peanut butter," Reece said, giggling at that because peanut butter always made her laugh when she said that.
Griffen just sat on the ground, looking bored. "Are you going to make me do something, or what?" Griffen asked, grinning.
"I'm trying! I don't know what to do!" Reece said, annoyed.
"Why don't you try clearing your mind and then thinking me saying or something like that?" Griffen suggested.
"Okay. Hold on," Reece said, trying to clear her mind of everything but a picture in her head of Griffen jumping up and down like a monkey. "Jump up and down and make monkey noises like a fool, Griffen," Reece said, holding back a fit of giggles that we already escaping her mouth.
When Reece heard Griffen making monkey noises, she burst out laughing, rolling on the ground, as she watched Griffen jump up and down like a monkey.
"Please, stop!" Griffen begged, laughing with her. "I don't like this! Its worse than getting tortured! And I know what that is!"
Reece just kept laughing, holding her stomach as she laughed.
"Please!" Griffen pleaded.
Reece stopped laughing and stood up, regretting standing up because she had always got dizzy when she cried or laughed too much. "Okay, stop jumping up and down and making monkey noises," she said, giggling as he dropped to his knees, hiding a smile. "It worked!"
Reece hugged Griffen so quickly, she surprised him, but then he leaned into her and hugged her back, loving the feeling of having her in his arms.
"Okay, so we need a change of clothing. My friend lives close by and she has a older brother who can let you have some of his clothes," Reece said, untangling herself from Griffen who seemed to not want to let go.
"Oh, okay, lets go then," He replied, making a fake cough.
Reece raised her eyebrows at him, but ignored it, standing up to see which house her friends were at. When she spotted Monika, she grabbed Griffen's arm and pulled him along to Monika's yellow tiny house on the corner of Springpatch Road.
Monika loved to make gardens in the spring, and she believed that if you watered your plants in the night, then they would grow big and large, so she was outside, watering her plants of zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, and other vegetables and fruits.
Monika heard the gravel in her driveway crunching, as Griffen and Reece walked on it, and she raised her head above the water still on, spilling and flooding all over the plants.
"Reece! Where have you been?" Monika asked, rushing to her side where she was embraced in a bear hug. "I thought someone had killed you and I kept calling your cell phone, but it just kept going to your voice mail. I thought that those people that had killed your brother had gotten to you too! The police over at your house kept saying that you were safe and in a hotel! I searched all the hotels and found the one you were staying at, but you weren't in your room. Everything looked like a mess and all your stuff was there. I waited there for a whole day and you didn't show, so I thought the worst!"
"Well, now you know that I am safe. But I need a favor from you," Reece said, eyeing Griffen who looked a little too shy to be himself.
"Okay, what do you need? Anything. I am so sorry about your brother. I know how much of a mess he was in, but I had no idea! The police were telling me that he was murdered and you came home and found him and called 911! And right after your parents died too!" Monika babbled, shaking her head, opening her front door and waving for them to come in.
Reece had been in Monika's house before, but only briefly because she was just picking something up for the restaurant.
The house was small like on the outside and had what looked like only three rooms. One for Monika, one for her brother, and probably the other is a guest room.
The living room was as small as the kitchen.
"So, how are you doing?" Monika asked, when she saw that Reece had a sad look on her face.
"I'm doing fine, I guess. I have to face the facts that my brother and parents are gone now and I have to learn that I have to live without them. Its a part of life. But murdering someone isn't part of life. And I want to personally kill whoever killed my brother, but I can't," Reece said, knowing she could kill Skincrawlers with lightening like she did at the hotel.
"Okay, I didn't think that you would act like this. Especially since you bawled your eyes out for a whole month when your parents died. But people change, right?" Monika said, walking into the kitchen and grabbed three cups out of the cupboard.
Reece looked away, catching Griffen looking at her with a smile. "What?" she mouthed to him and he just shrugged, a smile growing larger.
"So, who wants tea? Or do you prefer cocoa?" Monika asked, glancing at Reece and Griffen.
"Oh, hot chocolate!" Reece said in synch with Griffen, making them burst out laughing.
"Okay...you just lost your brother and all your doing is laughing?" Monika asked.
"Well, what do you want me to do about it? Cry for myself because my brother is gone? I know he is gone, but I can't do anything about it, and crying isn't something that will help, either," Reece said, knowing that that is what she needed to do was cry over everything that happened to her, but she had cried enough last night and today.
"Well, I guess your right about that. When my dog died when I was twelve, I didn't cry because I couldn't. Nothing would come out of my eyes, no matter how hard I tried to make myself cry," She replied.
"Its not good to make yourself cry on purpose," Griffen said.
"And who is this, may I ask, Reece?" Monika asked, busying herself with the drinks.
"This is Griffen. One of my old friends."
"I have been one of your friends since I began working at your place, and that has been what, seven years? Well, anyways, I think I would have at least seen him around here. This town isn't very big, you know. Who is he really?" Monika knew Reece so well, she saw straight through her lies, even when she tried to keep her lies looking like they weren't lies, but she always failed around Monika. "Who is he, Reece?"
"Monika, I am going to tell you that I am so sorry, but I have to do this," Reece said, closing her eyes, clearing her mind of everything but an image of Monika walking down the hallway to her room and getting clothes for her and Griffen.
"What? What are you talking about? I just wanted to know who he really was!" Monika said, offended.
"I want you to go to your room and get some clean clothes for me and Griffen, then come back and hand them to us and when we leave, you will not remember anything, okay?" Reece asked, still picturing the same thing over and over again even when she opened her eyes and saw Monika walking to the back rooms.
"Every time you do that, it freaks me out. Every time," Griffen whispered, watching Monika walk back into the kitchen, holding two plastic bags full of clothes and she handed them to Reece, who grabbed Griffen's hand and pulled him out the door, closing it behind him.
"I cannot believe that I actually did that! But I had to do it because she was getting too nosey about who you were," Reece said once they were back at the bush they were previously hiding behind.
"That's okay, I could have handled it, saying that I was an ex-boyfriend that happened to have dumped you and you never wanted to talk to again!" Griffen said, smiling.
"Griffen! She would totally see through the lies. I had always had to be honest with her and if I wasn't, then she knew, so it wouldn't have helped. My way was way easier," Reece said, a matter of fact.
"Okay...whatever. Want to change here?" Griffen asked, hoping she would say yes.
"No, I don't. People could be watching us! We can go to my restaurant and have some food before we come back here and, you know, sneak in to my own house."
"Alright! A little B and E!" Griffen said, acting like he was punching something.
"B and E? What is that?" Reece asked, feeling silly.
"Breaking and entering. You have never heard that before?" Griffen asked, shocked.
"No, I have never because I have never broken and entered into anything!" Reece said, feeling even more silly for not knowing what B and E was.
"Girl, you need to get out more than just this town!" Griffen said, acting silly, making Reece laugh, which was what he wanted to do.
"Stop, my stomach already hurts from laughing at you when I made you monkey around, so lets just save that for some other time, okay?" Reece asked, walking in the direction of her restaurant, as Griffen followed her on her left side.
"Alright, I intend to keep that one on you! I'm going to make you laugh, but not right now, because the girl from the prophecy said so!" Griffen teased, Reece taking it the wrong way.
"Its not funny, Griffen. I don't want to be that girl that saves everyone," Reece whispered, not looking at him.
"I didn't mean it. I was just trying to make you...laugh," Griffen said, instantly feeling bad.
"Its okay, you and your bad mouth can shut up now, though."
"Okay," Griffen said, shutting up, as he kicked a rock.
The silence was too much for Griffen, but he sucked it up so that Reece could think as they walked down a street with a few houses and a bunch of shops with knick-knacks and a bakery on the right side of Reece, who didn't seem to see them there.
"Griffen?" Reece said, not looking up from the ground.
"Yes?" Griffen said.
"Do you think that I am the girl from the prophecy?" She whispered.
"I do. I mean, who else could it be? You are so amazing, and you don't even realize it. The way your hair would fly around when you got angry at me when I accidentally said that one thing and how you could will so much fire without even knowing it. Same with the lightening. It was so amazing the way the lightening would shape to the shape of your body and still hit you, but you acted like it didn't even hurt. Did it hurt?" Griffen asked.
"I didn't feel anything. Do you think that I am also a Skywalker? Because Macbeth said that Skywalkers can will anything from the sky, and isn't lightening from the sky?" Reece asked, not looking at him.
"I believe so. Your so unique," Griffen said, looking at her with such adoration, that Reece could feel it on her skin.
"Do you think I am a freak?" Reece asked, purposely not looking at him.
"No! Of course not. Why would you think that?"
"Well, I don't know. But someone who can kill a Skincrawler with her hands sounds like a freak to me," she replied.
"Well, Skincrawlers are more the freaks than we are or you are. You are normal compared to them. Skincrawlers are disgusting creatures that need to be killed off before they kill humans off."
"Yes, I suppose your right," Reece said with a heavy sigh, not believing anything he was trying to get stuck in her head.
"You don't believe me, do you?" he asked.
Reece shook her head as they came to an end of the road. "Here we are. This is my restaurant, Griffen."
Reece waved her hands at her place she was working at even before her parents died.
"Wow, I have never been in one before," Griffen said, smiling at how it looked like a place he once knew, but long wanted to forget.
"Cool, so now I have to give you a tour," Reece said, smiling too.
"I have heard many things about a restaurant, but I never have been in one."
"How come?" Reece asked, bending down in front of the door. She stuck her hand in a rock and pulled a key out. "Spare key. Just in case of emergencies such as this one!"
"How did you do that?" Griffen asked, belittled.
"Oh, you mean the key? Well, its a trick rock. You can get them at prank stores. It looks like a rock, but you can put things in it if you wanted to. That's what I did. No one has ever tried to break into here, but you never know. They might go looking for a key because everyone keeps one outside somewhere hidden, so if they looked near the rock, they would see just a rock," she explained. "Pretty cool, huh?"
"Yeah, that is pretty cool. For someone who doesn't know a lot about things sure knows how to keep things hidden!" Griffen said, complimenting her.
"Thanks, lets go in. There is two bathrooms in the back, one for us ladies and one for you guys. I have my own office. Just knock on the door when your done and I'll make you something to eat, okay?" Reece said, already walking to her office.
"You mean make us something to eat," Griffen corrected her, smiling.
"Right, us," Reece said, agreeing.
Even though Reece told herself that she wouldn't trust anyone, Griffen seemed like someone she could trust, but she wasn't so sure yet. She had a feeling that he liked her, and even though there wasn't anything wrong with him liking her, she just didn't feel anything more than a friendship between them.
Reece sighed as she went to her office and closed the door behind her, sliding to the floor.
Reece really didn't know what to do with her life anymore, and she surely didn't want to save the world. She could barely keep people in order on a slow day here! And she surely didn't know what to do about Griffen, who seemed to like her more and more every second.
But on the other hand, Griffen felt like he was lighter than a feather around her. And even though he had just met Reece, he felt so comfortable around her and like he had known her his whole life.
And he didn't know if Reece felt the same way about him because her face was so hard to read unless she was frightened. Then she was easy to read. But other times, she just acted like a friend more than anything. Nothing more. And other times, she acted like she needed him more than just a friend, but he wasn't sure.
Reece got dressed in the large clothes that she forced Monika to give her and Griffen, feeling all itchy from so much guilt. But she had no other choice earlier.
Is everything in my life going to be like this from now on? Reece thought, sighing from a loss of words for her question, that she hoped she could solve, but found she couldn't, mo matter how hard she tried to answer it.
Reece wasn't used to so much drama in her life. Would she go to Hell for killing two people in two days? She hoped not. She was only defending herself from the Skincrawler and she was not in her own control when she had killed Macbeth.
Reece was so into her thoughts, she almost didn't hear Griffen knocking on the door of her office.
Reece opened the door and saw Griffen standing in front of her, dressed in boys clothes just his size.
"Wow, didn't think you would look good in Monika's brother's clothes," Reece said, making fun of the clothes he was wearing.
"Well, your no picnic either," Griffen said, pointing to her top which was a sweater vest that was made for Christmas.
"Ha, ha," Reece said sarcastically, flopping on her couch, which made her cough from the dust all over it. Maybe when she got enough time to actually have a normal life, she would come in and vacuum the place, because she had to admit, it wasn't very clean. All her paperwork was thrown on the floor and in the trash, wadded up or bundled.
"Can I come in?" Griffen asked, looking around the room.
"If you dare," Reece said, trying to lighten the mood up, which worked.
"Alright, I will challenge your dare! I am in your office!" Griffen said, pretending to hold his breath as he stepping on foot at a time. He let his imaginary breath he was holding out and flopped down on the couch next to Reece, who giggled as more dust flew in their faces, making them gasp and cough, making them laugh even harder.
As they stopped laughing, Griffen yawned and put his arm around Reece, who's face burned with embarrassment.
"Griffen, please," she said.
Griffen took his arm away from her, feeling rejected.
"Sorry, I just thought..." Griffen started, but stopped himself.
"I know. But lets just see how this goes, okay?" Reece said, hoping that what she said would make up for forcing his arm away.
"Okay," Griffen said, his mood lightening from low to higher than it was a second ago because he might get a shot at something that might be something, but he wasn't sure, but he would take anything he got just to be near her.
"So, what do you want to eat? I have everything in this place. Whatever you want, doesn't matter. Neither does the amount. We are here to eat and we are starving, so lets go to the kitchen!" Reece said, rising from the dusty couch, Griffen not far from her.
Reece hopped into the kitchen and started opening the drawers and the freezer doors, cupboard doors, and many other places that contained food. "So, what do you want?" Reece asked.
"Hmm...so hard to choose from. How about hamburgers? I haven't had one of those in a long time," Griffen replied with a smile on his face.
"Works for me. I've been making these things as long as I can remember, and it always makes my customers smile, so I am sure that they are good," Reece said.
"You mean you have never had one of your own hamburgers? Haven't you had one of parents' before?" Griffen asked.
"Well, yes, but not one of mine. I usually don't eat my food from here. But there is always a first time for everything!" Reece said, walking over to the fridge and pulled out a fresh pack of meat that Monika had put there that morning and unwrapped it from the package.
"Don't you freeze your food?" Griffen asked.
"Oh, goodness no! We make everything fresh every single day! And if we have something left over from that day the next day, we give it to the customers for half off."
"How much do you make a day?"
"Like two to three thousand a day. But its nothing really because our rent is outlandish! My rent is like four hundred dollars per month. Then there is the insurance. God, that is the highest. It changes every month. Sometimes its less, and most times, its more. I have like a property damage insurance thingy and then a bunch more that I can never remember," Reece said, as she turned on the flat stove and began to cook the hamburger patties. "What do you want on it?"
"How about a nice slice of cheddar cheese and some lettuce and pickles? Oh, and don't forget the tomato! I love a good tomato!" Griffen said, making a fake accent, making Reece laugh until she almost choked, making Griffen laugh even harder when he saw her coughing up nothing.
"Its not funny!" Reece said, turning back to her hamburger, which had burnt. "Now look what you did to it! You made it burn! Your going to be eating this one!" Reece slapped the patty on a sesame bun and topped it off with the toppings Griffen wanted and handed it to him, saying, "Order up, number one!"
"That would be me!" Griffen said, waving his hands at Reece, who pretended to ignore him, pushing the sandwich to him.
"Mine is almost ready, so you can eat while I make mine, your probably just as hungry as I am. What did you eat in that shack?" She asked.
"Uh, mostly just burnt road kill. I'm the worst at catching animals, even if they are already dead," he replied, taking a huge bite out of the most delicious hamburger he had ever tasted.
"So where were you before you came here?" Reece asked, making conversation as he ate, waiting for hers to get done so that she could eat it too.
"I was all over the place. I would hunt down Skincrawlers, and kill them if I had the chance, but that was rare. They can be quick suckers. I still don't know how you even got in reaching distance to kill one! I have a really hard time finding one, and when I do, I either lose sight of him or they end up trying to kill me instead!" Griffen huffed and took another bite out of his already almost gone hamburger.
Reece smiled to herself when she thought he wasn't looking and finished cooking her patty.
When she was done putting the toppings on hers, she sat down in one of the soft fast food chairs and ate hers, kicking herself for not eating one sooner than this.
"I loved it, best thing that I have ever tasted!" Griffen said, full from the large hamburger.
"Good, because I love it too, and if you didn't then there really is something wrong with you. I am not bragging, but this has to be the best thing I have ever tasted."
Reece took another bite out of her hamburger.
"So, did you kill any more Skincrawlers?" Reece asked once she swallowed a bite.
"Well, I have only killed three, but all of them was by luck. The first one I was tracking, seeing where he was going, but I thought I had lost him, but it turns out, he knew I was there the whole entire time, so he crept up on me and tried to grab me, but I moved out of the way just in time and landed in a pond. We fought underwater until we were so tired and Skincrawlers can't jump into anyone's skin while underwater, so I had that advantage. Then the Skincrawler had me by the neck and I was choking to death underwater, and not being able to breath underwater didn't help either. But it turns out, there was people in the park that night, so the Skincrawler couldn't kill me there. He got out of the water and tried to leave, but I grabbed his ankle and sliced his neck when he fell. Good thing that no one was around at the second to see that. I left the body hidden in between some bushes," Griffen said, obviously liking the fact that Reece was wanting to know these things.
"What happened to the second one?" Reece asked, finishing her hamburger.
"Well, it was sort of the same thing. I was also following another, seeing that he was just feeding off of innocent humans, so I snuck up behind him and burned him. Same thing happened to the third one."
"Wow. That must have been tough for you to do," Reece said, taking the dirty dishes from Griffen and took them to the sink, where she washed them and dried them, seating them in the spot that she had found them. Then she went to cleaning the counters and flat stove while Griffen finished talking about when he had killed Skincrawlers.
"What was it like?" Griffen asked. "I mean, it must have been a rush to kill one. It was for me."
"What? Are you asking if I enjoyed killing a Skincrawler?" Reece asked, surprised, but more shocked than surprised.
"Yeah," he said. "Was it?"
"No, it felt like someone had ripped my heart right out of my chest after all that shock thrusted itself at me. I don't like to kill anything, even if it was trying to kill me. I didn't want to, and I surely didn't want to kill Macbeth even though I was mad at her for betraying me. But I can't do anything about it now can I?" Reece said in a whisper.
"I guess not, but I think your a natural at this kinds of things. Which just tells everyone that you are the girl from the prophecy."
"I don't know. I just think it would be kind of weird to be the girl from the prophecy because I didn't even know that I was someone with powers. I don't even know what the prophecy is, do you?"
"Yes. Do you want to hear it?" Reece nodded and finished cleaning the counter so that no one would know that she and Griffen was there that night. "Okay, so there is said to be a girl and a boy that is born and they are gifted with every power that there ever can be on Earth. Those two had to be blood brother and sisters and they would fight all the evil in the world and save us from total darkness."
"That's it?" Reece asked when Griffen stopped talking and raised her eyebrows.
"Yes. I don't think that it was a well put together prophecy, do you?"
"Not really. And plus, maybe I am not the person from the prophecy because my brother died."
"Do you want to be the person from the prophecy? I would totally be that person if I could."
"No, I don't because if I wasn't then my mother and my father and my brother would still be alive and well, and they wouldn't have to worry about being stalked by the Skincrawlers or having to take a huge responsibility of saving the world when they were the ones who are practically the ones who are going to kill us all off one of these days from whatever reason that they would."
"What are you babbling about?" Griffen asked, snorting with laughter.
"What do you think I'm talking about?"
"I have no idea. All I know is that you don't want to be the girl from the prophecy. The other stuff that you were talking about made no sense to me."
"That's okay, sometimes nothing makes any sense to me too," Reece said, knowing that he might have insulted her, but she let it go. She was tired of having to fight with people and running for her life even though she didn't even know she had any powers until two days ago.
"So, you ready to B and E into your own house, then?" Griffen asked.
"You bet! I hope no one is there. I thought that by the time we came there that no one would be there and everything would be cleared out and taken care of."
"Yeah, I didn't think that there was going to be anyone there either. We sure didn't even think this through enough, did we?" Griffen asked, wiping his hands on his pants.
Reece smiled and looked at Griffen as he pushed his long black hair out of his face and look down at the floor when he saw her looking at him.
"You know, tonight has been really fun, considering everything else. Its seems like this was the only real thing that had happened to me or you, huh?" Reece whispered, walking around the back to face Griffen.
"Yeah, it has been fun. And I think that this has been the most human normal thing that we have done since meeting each other."
"Yeah. But that can't all last, now can it?" Reece asked, knowing what he was going to say.
"No, it can't. Even though I would like to have everything back to normal, that can't happen. Nothing in my life is normal. Nothing in your life is normal."
"Not anymore, anyways," Reece whispered so low, that Griffen almost didn't hear it.
"I'm sorry, Reece. I know that you just want your life back, but we both know that it probably won't go back to the way it was," Griffen said, trying to make her see that nothing in her life would ever go back to the way it had been when her parents were still alive and her brother too.
"If only there was something that I could do to make everything back to normal. But I don't think that there is anything that can be done," she said, sorrow filling her heart as she thought about her parents and her brother.
Reece and her brother were closer than she was to her parents and she had a special place just for him in her heart. No matter what he had done to make her mad or to make her cry or sad, she always forgave him no matter what. And when he died, she felt like that special place in her heart for him had died along with him.
"Well, remember when we first met? And I told you that I know some people? Well, if you want to, after we go and find those papers you need, maybe we can go and find them and see what they can do for you," Griffen offered.
Reece thought about it for a minute, but she still wasn't sure about Griffen yet, and she surely didn't want to meet anymore people that had powers. But then again, she did need the help.
"Okay, but only if you don't tell them that I am the girl from the prophecy. Well, if I'm the girl from the prophecy."
"You are, and don't you forget it."
"How can I? And you don't know if I am the person from the prophecy," Reece said, denying that who she was.
"Well, you have me on that one, but I feel ninety percent sure that you are the girl from the prophecy," Griffen said a matter of fact.
"Really? Because I sure don't know what to think about any of this besides that I think this is all just a crazy dream."
Griffen laughed, then sighed. "You sure know how to make someone laugh, don't you?"
"I wasn't trying to be funny," Reece huffed, frowning.
"Okay, whatever you say. Lets go whenever your ready to leave, okay?" Griffen asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Okay. I'm going to go get some things from my office," Reece said, walking away from Griffen and she opened her office door and stopped right before she went in, gasping out loud.
Griffen heard her gasp and ran to see what was going on.
"What's wrong?"
"My brother is here. Right there to be exact," Reece said, not taking her eyes off of him.
"Man, I wish I could see the dead."
"No, you don't. I'm glad that I just started because I don't think I would have liked seeing the dead as a child."
Reece's brother walked around the room, looking at each different thing that was piled on her desk, or thrown on the floor or into the trash until he stopped right in front of an old filing cabinet that Reece hasn't used for years. She hasn't even looked in it for almost a year when this room became her office.
Reece walked over to it and opened it up, seeing that everything she had previously set or put in there had been taken out and replaced by a single yellow faded folder with Brian's name on the front.
Reece took it out slowly and opened it like she thought something was going to pop out any second if she opened it.
"What is it?" Griffen asked, looking over her shoulder, sending a chill up her spine.
"I'm not sure."
"It looks like a will to me. Yeah, it is. It says that it is right here," Griffen said, pointing to where it said last will and testament of Brian Wilberg.
"Oh," was all Reece could say as she read what Brian had left to her.


I, Brian Jonathan Wilberg don't think that this is a very good will, but I wan to leave everything to my younger sister, Reece Magnitha Wilberg. I leave the house and restaurant and my car to her. All my money too.
Like I said, everything to my younger sister.


At the bottom was a bunch of small numbers and below that it said: These numbers are to my bank account in case you need some money. There is over what you probably need, but in case you do, I thought this would help you. I will always be looking out for you even in death.
Love you sis; Brian

"Yeah, that wasn't a very good will, but at least you know he had one to give you. Right, Reece?" Griffen asked, looking at Reece who wouldn't look up from the will. "Reece?"
"Huh?" Reece asked, snapping out of it.
"Never mind. You okay?" He asked.
"I don't know. I don't know what to say. Brian was right, it wasn't a very good will and I don't think that I will need the money."
"Why not?"
Reece shrugged, taking another look at the will. "You know, it seems like Brian knew he was going to die. Look here, it says: I will always be looking out for you even in death. He couldn't have written this as he was dead, so do you think he knew he was going to die?" Reece asked.
"I don't know, it could be possible. But we really should be getting back to your house right?" Griffen replied, looking behind him.
"Hold on," Reece said, walking up to her brother, who looked so real. She reached out and touched his wrist, and gasped when her hand didn't go through her. "Not possible!" she whispered.
Brian shrugged and held his arms out for her to hug her. Reece embraced him in a hug. Whenever she had hugged Brian when he was still alive, he always had a certain smell to his clothes, and now hugging him, there was no smell to him.
Brian, still hugging her, leaned to her ear and whispered something that only Reece could hear. She let go and saw a single tear drop on his cheek and she wiped it off right before he disappeared.
"What was that? An air hug?" Griffen asked, creeped from seeing her hug nothing.
Reece turned to him, shocked. "I just hugged him. And it felt real. Like he was actually here."
"What did he say?" Griffen asked.
"Nothing," Reece said, still trying to grasp what he had told her.
"Okay, lets go, I'm getting creeped out here."
"Have you ever noticed that Brian always comes when we need him the most?" Reece said out loud to mostly herself.
"Not really."
"I wonder what that old scroll was all about when we were back at the shack."
"I don't know, but I couldn't read it, that's for sure. Maybe the people that I am going to find and ask them to help us can tell us."
"Yeah, maybe. Lets go," Reece said, grabbing a coat that was dusty, sitting on the back of the couch.
Griffen turned to walk out the door, Reece following him.


{~Chapter four~}


Reece and Griffen were heading to Reece's house on her street when she got a feeling of being followed. The last time that happened, her brother died.
"Griffen, something's not right," Reece said, grabbing his arm so tight, Griffen lost feeling in his arm down to his hand.
"What? How can you tell?" Griffen asked, trying to loosen her grip, but she held it.
"I just feel like someone is watching us, and the last time that I had that feeling, my brother died."
Griffen's heart skipped a beat as she said that. Griffen knew that she just didn't freak out for nothing, and this had to be something.
"Like what do you mean, following you?"
"You know that feeling when someone is looking at you, but you can't see them, well I have that feeling right now." Griffen looked around, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
"I don't see anything," Griffen said, still looking around.
"I really don't want anyone else to die," Reece whispered.
"I don't either, and I really can't see anything out of the ordinary, Reece. I think you might be over reacting."
Reece stopped in the middle of the street and looked at Griffen. "What? Nothing out of the ordinary? I know you haven't known me long, but I can surely tell you that something is wrong!"
"Okay, if you say so," Griffen said, giving up the argument that was nothing.
"Just keep your eyes and ears peeled, okay?" Reece asked.
"Sure," Griffen said, doing as she had asked.
Reece looked up the whole time on the way to her house and she almost tripped over a tree root, so she stopped just for a second underneath a tree.
"Look out!" Griffen yelled, throwing a fireball into the tree.
"What are you doing?" Reece said. "That tree has been there for over a hundred years!"
"There is a Skincrawler. I think that the tree would rather have it set on fire than have a Skincrawler up there!" Griffen said, jumping onto a really low branch, then another and another until her reached the top, where the fire had spread everywhere.
"I can't see any-" Reece was cut off by a scream that escaped her mouth when she saw three Skincrawlers in front of her.
"Reece? You okay?" Griffen yelled down to her, followed by a grunt and what sounded like a punch.
"Umm..." Reece tried to say, but she stopped and backed up when one of the Skincrawlers took a step towards her.
"Hello, little piggy. We are not here to kill you. We want to talk to you," one of them said, making the other two smile, showing their four rows of teeth and oversized gums.
"W-what do you want?" Reece stuttered, still backing up.
"We want to know something," the middle one said
"What do you want to know?" Reece asked.
"Where is your parents, Princess?"
"They died in a plane accident two years ago," Reece whispered, grabbing a branch from the tree so she wouldn't fall over.
"Reece?!" Griffen yelled to her.
Reece didn't look up, but she called to him. "What? I'm talking!"
"To who?" Griffen asked.
"Don't answer him, okay, Princess?" the middle one said.
"Quite calling me princess," Reece hissed, remembering what Brian had whispered in her ear.
"We want to know where your real parents are, Princess," he hissed, ignoring what Reece had said.
"I don't know! Just leave me alone!" Reece said, breaking the branch she was holding. She ran up to Skincrawler that she was talking to and whacked him in the face with the branch. She watched the force of her hit as he skidded backwards, hitting one of the Skincrawlers that was on his left, knocking them both to the ground while the Skincrawler on the right of the middle one lunged himself at her.
Reece threw herself to the ground, the Skincrawler barely missing her while the other Skincrawlers got up and tried to jump on top of her, but she rolled out of the way, grabbing the branch that she had thrown at the leader.
"Griffen, help!" Reece screamed, looking to her right, where she saw a light on in a house.
Reece rolled to her right on the dewy grass and was thankful that the branch had snapped in a sharp way, stabbing one of the Skincrawlers in the stomach, blood gushing out all over her face, the Skincrawler landing on top of her, making her gag to the side.
"Griffen! Help! I'm stuck underneath one!" Reece said, trying to roll him off of her. When she finally rolled the dead Skincrawler off of her, she stood up slowly.
Reece looked around and saw that the other Skincrawlers were backing up.
"Its not possible!" The one that looked like the leader yelled.
Reece looked up in the tree and saw Griffen on a thick branch right above a Skincrawler.
Reece ran straight at the leader, yelling as she ran. She jumped on top of the Skincrawler, immediately regretting it. The Skincrawler had a hold of her and was trying to jump into her skin. Reece's skin was burning and she could feel the Skincrawler jump into her body. Reece rolled on the ground and thrashed around, trying to get him out of her before he ate her from the inside out. She could hear Griffen yelling something, but she was too busy trying to get him out. She could feel him gnawing at her insides.
Griffen grabbed her shoulders and punched her in the stomach as hard as he could. He punched her stomach again until the Skincrawler screamed and jumped out of her body, falling onto the ground a few feet away from Reece who rolled over farther away from him.
Reece gasped, grabbing her stomach, when she rolled.
"Griffen..." she whispered.
"I had to do that. I'm so sorry, Reece."
Reece grabbed her stomach and stood up, feeling the pain inside her. The Skincrawler that had been inside her was on the ground, huffing.
Griffen grabbed his by his jacket and pulled his up, being careful to not touch his skin.
"No one, and I mean no one touches her unless she wants to be!" he said, and punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.
The final one ran up to Reece and almost grabbed her, but Griffen saw him coming before she did and leaped over her, his hands full of fire and threw a fireball out of his hand, mid-air at the final Skincrawler's face, burning his face, making him scream in pain.
Reece backed away and let Griffen finish him off. She looked down at the out cold Skincrawler and saw a strange mark on the side of his neck. It was like three slashes like someone had scratched him, and she knew that it wasn't fresh because they were scars.
Reece looked at the other dead one that she had stabbed and saw the same thing on the same side of his neck, which sent a chill up her spine.
Griffen finished killing the other Skincrawler and stood up, walking over to Reece, who was still grabbing her stomach from the pain.
"I'm so sorry I had to do that."
"Is that how someone would get one out?" Reece asked, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Its the only way. I wish I didn't have to do that, but I couldn't stand around and watch you thrash around on the ground in pain. It pained me just watching you roll on the ground, trying to get him out."
"Its okay, I would have done the same thing for you."
"Really?" Griffen asked, surprised.
"Yeah, you are my friend, right?" Reece asked, lifting her head so that she could look around to make sure that no one had seen the fight. "You know, this town is always being nosey, so I don't know why anyone hadn't seen this or heard it."
"Well, I don't have an answer for that one. But I think that someone had seen it, and you know her," Griffen replied and pointed to Monika's house, where when Monika saw Reece looking, she closed the curtains quickly and turned the lights out.
Reece groaned and let her head drop to Griffen's shoulder again. "Maybe I can force her to forget."
"You can't. Even if you can make people do whatever you want, you cannot make anyone forget anything, no matter how hard you try, and you can't make them lie or fall in love with whoever you want them to. That's the only thing a Sightseer can't do."
"That's so stupid. Then there wouldn't be any point in being one," Reece said, groaning again. Griffen laughed and put his arms around Reece, who slipped hers around his waist. "I want to go home now."
"Okay, lets go. Its over there," Griffen said, leading Reece to her house.
"What are we going to do about Monika? I mean, I can't just tell her everything."
"Maybe you can, but we can talk about this later."
"Okay," Reece said, nodding.
They walked up to the door and found that it was unlocked, even though there was caution tape all over her door. She was thankful that everyone had left and all seemed the way it had been before Brian had died.
Reece opened the door slowly and winched when she heard the too familiar creak of the door when someone opened it. She entered her house and saw that everything was just how she had left it.
Reece spotted her purse, remembering that she tossed it onto the counter when she heard Brian scream from upstairs.
Reece grabbed it and looked through it and found her cell phone with ninety-seven messages on it.
"Geez, I wonder who had called me," Reece said, flipping though the missed calls.
"Wow, almost a hundred people called you," Griffen said, looking over her shoulder.
Reece skipped over the ones she didn't want hear at the moment and looked to see one was from the police. She held the phone up to her ear and heard what the police had left her: "Hey, this is Officer Greg, and I just wanted to call and let you know that we didn't go through every room, but we had everything from the crime scene cleaned up and we will be back in the morning to check up on you and get your full story and all that kind of stuff. Some detectives want to question you too, so if you want to come down to the station when your ready, that would be great. Otherwise, everything should be back to the way it was, and please, stay away from your house because we still have to go through everything else in your house for clues and that kind of stuff, so see you tomorrow! Bye."
Reece heard it click and she took the phone away from her ear, and she flipped through the rest, seeing that Monika had texted her, asking where she was.
"What did he want?" Griffen asked, looking around her house.
"Just to tell me that he still has to go through my house and look for some clues is all. I don't even want to check the rest, because it looks like the whole town had contacted me," Reece said.
Griffen nodded, pacing back and forth, still looking at her house.
"Lets go and find those papers now," Reece said, not knowing where to look first.
"I'll check down here, if that's okay with you," Griffen said.
"Okay, just make sure that everything goes back in the place it went so that the cops don't think someone had messed anything up," Reece said, walking upstairs slowly.
Reece's heart raced harder and harder with each step she took, knowing that there probably would be a stain of dried blood on the floor in the shape of her brother when he had died.
She stopped at the top of the stairs and saw exactly what she didn't want to see: her brother lying on the floor dead. She blinked, realizing that she was seeing nothing.
She walked around the dried blood stain that looked like the Crime Scene Investigators had tried to clean it up, but didn't finish cleaning it and walked to her room, where she saw most of her clothes thrown everywhere.
Suddenly, her brother appeared right in front of her face, scaring her. She slapped a hand over her mouth so she wouldn't scream.
"Brian, you scared me," Reece said.
"I know, but I just wanted to come and see what you were doing," he said, his voice sounding distant.
"Not that I don't like you being here, because I do, but aren't you supposed to be in Heaven?" Reece asked, sitting on her bed.
"No, I cannot go to Heaven."
"Why not?" Reece asked, feeling sleepy.
"Because He won't let me cross over."
` "What do you mean?" Reece asked, not understanding.
"He said that I cannot cross over until I help you find your way. He said he will when I do. Its as simple as that," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Do you know where those papers are? And what was the old scroll that you showed me in the small shack?" Reece asked.
"The old scroll had all the names of everyone in every Clan. The Sightseers, Skincrawlers, Firewillers, Necromancers, Watermakers and Skywalkers were all in their own Clan and each Clan with each name of every person in the Clans. I just wanted you to know that our real mother and father are the leaders of all the Clans, and that is why you have all the powers now. Not only are you the girl from the prophecy, your parents are the leaders of the Six Clans. You need to find them."
"But what about the papers?" Reece asked, remembering that Brian had whispered in her ear that she was the Princess of the Clans.
"You don't need the papers, and plus, Macbeth destroyed them and told you that they were here to throw you off. And now you know what you are and I know that I should have told you about this a long time ago, but I just didn't know how to tell you. Macbeth was right about one thing though: I was going to tell you the other night, but the Skincrawlers got to me. I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you. I never meant to spend my entire life like this."
"You don't have to apologize to me, you know. I know how sorry you are."
"I have to go for now, but you really need to find our real parents."
"Wait! What do they look like?" Reece asked. "Our parents, what do they look like?" Reece stood up as she watched Brian walk over to the window. "What? Is someone out there?"
"No, there is a secret compartment in the window. I have been researching them for three years, and I found a picture of them. I have to go now. Goodbye for now," Brian said and disappeared.
Reece stood there, looking at the spot that Brian had disappeared and still couldn't believe that he was dead.
She snapped out of her self-pity and looked around at the window. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but then she saw a small knot in the wood that she had seen before and stuck her finger in it, pushing the knot out. A piece of the wood came off and she saw a small hole inside of the wall, revealing a rolled up picture. She pulled it out with her two fingers that she could fit in it and unrolled it to see a woman and a man that looked just like her and Brian, but older.
The woman was standing behind the man who was sitting in a tall chair and she had her hands on his shoulders, both of them smiling.
They both wore something that looked like something royal people, Reece remembering how her brother said that they were both royal and she was a Princess and he was a Prince. But that totally seemed strange to Reece considering everything that happened. But maybe Brian was right about them being royal because he said that their parents were the leaders of all the Clans.
Reece sighed and looked at the picture again, seeing that she had gotten her father's nose and her mother's eyes.
That made her smile in spite of herself and she knew that she would find them, even if she had to kill more Skincrawlers to get to them.
Reece didn't know that Griffen was standing in the door way until he coughed on purpose and Reece looked up.
"I, uh, heard you talking to someone," Griffen said.
"Yeah, I was talking to Brian. He showed me a picture of our real parents."
"May I look at it?" Griffen asked, stepping into the room.
"Sure," Reece said, and handed him the photo.
"Wow, you look just like them. I can see that you have your father's nose and your mother's eyes," Griffen replied.
"That's what I was thinking too. Now that I think about it, my fake parents didn't look anything like me or Brian, and when I was younger, I always thought that we looked like twins me and mom I mean."
"Huh, well I haven't met your fake parents, but I saw some pictures in the living room of them and you, and I could see that you didn't look like them," Griffen said.
"Yeah, I was silly back then."
"Why would you think that?" Griffen asked, handing the photo back to her.
"Because, I should have realized that I had powers that no one else had and I should have done something to help my brother and I didn't," Reece said, feeling guilty.
"It wasn't your fault. Your brother had decided to not tell you and that was his fault for not telling you. If he would have told you sooner, then you could have done something for yourself. But he decided to not tell you, and now he knows that your paying for it."
"Yeah, I know. I don't want to have to pay for it, but your right. If he would have told me earlier, then maybe I could have trained myself our something that could have helped us, and he wouldn't be dead right now," Reece whispered.
"Why don't we go see if we can find those people that can help us?" Griffen asked, changing the subject.
"Sure," Reece said, turning to the window, looking at the sun as it rose in the sky.
"You know, I just need to say one thing to you."
Reece turned back to Griffen. "What would that be?"
"Everything will turn out just fine."
"But how do you know that?" Reece asked, clutching her real parents photo in her hand.
"I don't, but I'm going to make sure that everything is going to be all right, no matter how far we have to go to find out what you are and what you have to do and all that kinds of things. Okay?" Griffen said, bringing her into a hug.
"Is Griffen really your name?" Reece asked out of the blue.
"I don't know what my real name is. One day, someone asked me what my name was and I said Griffen and it stuck ever since. My parents didn't really name me."
"How do you know that they didn't name you?" Reece asked.
"I don't. but you would think that since they hid me, they would at least leave something to tell me what my real name is. But they didn't, so that's okay with me, because I like my name. It makes me sound tough," Griffen said, laughing.
Reece smiled, feeling his chest rise up and down.
"Can we just be honest with each other from now on? I mean, you totally could have told me that you didn't have a real name instead of saying that Griffen was your real name. I think that if we are going to be friends, we should tell each other everything no matter how much it might hurt us. As long as its true. How does that sound?" Reece asked.
Reece has never had a friend like Griffen. In fact, the only person close enough to be called a friend was Monika, but she was just someone to talk to and tell her to get back to work. Reece was always a girl who wanted to be left alone because no one wanted to talk to her because everyone told her that she didn't fit in with them.
"I guess I was never a person to fit in with anyone," Reece said, not knowing she said it out loud.
"Huh?" Griffen asked, confused.
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking."
"I agree with you about that."
"You do?" Reece asked, lifting her head from his chest.
"Yeah, and to start our new lie-free friendship off, I want to ask you something."
"Okay, shoot."
"Do you like me?" He asked, letting her go so that he could look at her.
"Of course I do," Reece said.
"No, I mean, do you like me more than a friend?"
"Honestly?"
"Yes. Honestly."
"I like you as a friend, and I never really thought about liking you more than a friend, but..." Reece trailed off.
"Yeah, I get it. You need time to think about it. And plus, we did just meet like two days ago, right?" Griffen replied, knowing that she might like him, but she needed more time to think things through.
"Yeah, exactly. I'm just not sure about anything right now. Do you like me? I mean more than a friend?" Reece asked. Griffen looked at her and didn't say anything for a minute. Was right now a good time to tell her that he did like her, even if they just met two days ago?
"Uh, well...I...well..." Griffen stuttered, not sure how to tell her.
"Come on, now, you promised to tell me everything! I already know, just tell me!" Reece said, lightly punching his shoulder.
"You know?" Griffen asked, feeling his cheeks getting hot.
"Yes, I do know," Reece said, shaking her head, rolling her eyes at him.
"Okay, I do like you, but I don't want you to take it the wrong way, okay?" Griffen said, taking a step back to get a full view of Reece's expression.
Reece hid her expression well, because Griffen couldn't get anything out of it. "Well?"
"Well what?" Griffen asked.
"Are we going, or what?" she asked, wanting to leave before this conversation got too far out of hand.
"Oh, right, sorry," Griffen said.
Reece moved past Griffen, grabbing her stomach, which still hurt from Griffen punching her over and over to get the Skincrawler out.
"Is your stomach okay?" Griffen asked, turning to Reece, who was walking out her bedroom door.
"No, it still hurts. But that's okay. I would rather have it hurt really badly then have a creepy Skincrawler in me. It sounds too gross, huh?" Reece asked, stepping over the blood stain in the hallway as Griffen followed her downstairs.
"Yeah, it does," Griffen said, almost tripping over Reece who had stopped to look at a picture of her and her brother with their arms around each other at a beach, the wind in their faces.
"I remember that day. It was my birthday and I turned twelve years old. My mom and dad didn't know what they wanted to do for me, so they asked me, and I told them that I wanted to go to a beach in California, so we went and stayed for a whole week. We weren't going to stay that long, but my parents liked it so much, we ended up staying in a hotel for a week."
"I bet you had a lot of fun, right?" Griffen asked, looking at a twelve year old Reece, who had hair so short, it looked like a by cut.
Reece saw Griffen's expression when he looked at her hair and laughed. "I used to think that I was going to be a hair stylist, so I decided to cut my own hair and it turned out terrible, so my dad took me to a salon and had them fix it before I went to school that same day. Dad had a thing about appearances for some reason."
"That must have been bad for you."
"Not really, I really liked having short hair because my hair was always in my face. It used to be past my knees before I cut it," Reece said, surprising Griffen.
"That actually is really funny when you think about it," Griffen said, trying not to laugh.
"Its okay, you can laugh. My whole family laughed when they saw what I did to my hair. Brian was laughing the hardest. He was on the floor holding his gut and he had tears streaming down his face when he saw my hair," Reece said, smiling despite herself.
Griffen let himself laugh until he got tired of laughing.
"So, where are we going?" Reece asked once she thought Griffen was fine.
"I thought that we were going to go and try to talk to Monika or whatever her name is," Griffen said.
"That's right. But I meant right after that. How are you going to find those people that can help us?" Reece asked. "Do you have a public library here in this town?" Griffen asked.
"Yeah, why?" Reece asked, confused.
"I can find him if I can get to a library."
"The library doesn't open till one o' clock," Reece replied, moving from the stairs to the kitchen.
"Oh, well, I need to get to a library," his mood lowering.
"Well, your going to have to wait till one o' clock. I can show you the town while we are waiting, if you want me to."
"Sure. I don't know this town very well like I do with most of the other towns that I went to before I came here."
"Odd," Reece said to herself so low that Griffen didn't hear her.
Reece took a look around her house, knowing that this probably would be the last time that she ever saw it again.
"Do you think that I will ever be the same again?" Reece asked Griffen, picking up a picture of her and her parents at a museum.
"I can tell you that you won't be the same, and I don't think that anything is going back to the way it was."
Reece sighed dramatically. "I figured that you were going to say that. Lets go and talk to Monika if we are going to then."
"Okay," Griffen said and walked to the front door, opening it to see Monika standing outside. "Oh, we were just going to come and talk to you."
Reece looked up from the picture that she was looking at and saw Monika standing in the doorway.
"Monika!" Reece said, shocked.
"Can we talk?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest.
"Okay...how about at your house?" She asked, grabbing Griffen's arm and pulled him out the door before Monika could say anything.
"I know what you did to me. I know that you were at my house earlier yesterday and I know you somehow forced me to give you and whoever this guy is clothes. Can you tell me what is going on? I thought that we are friends and I thought that you could tell me anything. What did you do to me?" Monika asked, pointing her finger at her as they walked over to her house.
"Look, can we talk where there isn't any people around to hear us?" Reece asked, putting her hand in Monika's face to make her stop talking.
Monika shut up and looked at her feet as she walked.
Once they were at Monika's house, she opened the door and they all walked into her house.
Monika closed the door as Griffen entered. "What is going on? I saw you fighting some weird bald creepy things and you killed them. What were those?" She asked, the minute that she closed the door.
Reece looked at Griffen, knowing that he was thinking the same thing that Monika knew more than they had thought she knew.
"Do you really want to know? You might be in danger if I tell you," Reece said.
"Yes, I want to know. We are friends and you shouldn't keep things from me," Monika said, nodding firmly.
"Okay, but if we tell you, then we might have to kill you," Griffen said, sarcastically.
"Griffen!" Reece said, giving him a mean look that made Griffen back up from her. Reece turned back to Monika and said, "He didn't mean that. He was just kidding. But are you really sure you want to know?"
"I have to know. The way you killed those things was way unnatural. Not human. I saw everything that Griffen did. I have no idea how he can do that stuff with fire, but it scared me. A lot," Monika said, her color from he dark face draining.
"Okay, but if you don't believe me, then that's your choice," Reece said, still hoping she didn't have to tell her anything, but she knew that Monika wasn't about to back down.
"I saw something that no human would believe, and I know everything that happened was real. So I think that I would believe everything that you tell me. So just tell me and stop trying to make me back out because I won't. There is no way that I will back out or back down."
Reece sighed and sat down on Monika's torn-up couch. "You should sit down too. I had to sit down too."
Monika sat down and looked at Reece, who really didn't know where to start.
"Okay, so I am a Princess. My parents are leaders of different clans with different powers. There is the Skincrawlers who you saw us fighting. The Skincrawlers can literally jump into your skin if they touch your skin and they will eat you form the inside out. Its not run to have one inside you because I had one inside me. Griffen told me that the only way to get them out is if you punch the victim in the stomach until you get them out.
"Then there is Sightseers. They can kind of control your mind and sort of see into the future, but only images. They can also tell if your lying or not," Reece said, sighing, remembering when Macbeth had told her all of this.
"That explains why I never got away with anything," Monika replied.
"Yes, and then there is Skywalkers, who can control anything in the sky including the weather. Too bad that I haven't learned to fly yet."
"You can fly?" Monika asked, her eyes practically popping out of her head. "What's it like?"
"I don't know, I never tried. I just learned that I had powers not even three days ago.
"Anyways, then there is Firewillers, and that is what Griffen is. He can will fire in an instant if he wanted."
"So that was what I saw," Monika said, looking up at Griffen, who was pacing back and forth around the living room.
"Yes. And you can't tell anyone about this."
"I know, I know..." Monika said, waving he comment away.
"Anyways, then there is Watermakers, who can will water and make stuff out of water like a water ball or something like that. I'm not really sure about that one. So far the only things that I can do is shoot lightening out of my hands and control the wind and fire and stuff."
"Wow, I wish I had what you have. How did you get the powers?" Monika asked.
"Oh, before I tell you how I got my powers, there also is Necromancers, who can talk and communicate with the dead. Not those stupid physics that think they can talk to the dead, because they can't. They just think they can. When Brian died, he told me that when he and I were born, we were given every power from every clan and sent here to be protected until we were old enough to fulfill the prophecy."
"What prophecy?" Monika asked.
"I think that Griffen can tell you about it," Reece said, looking up at Griffen, who stopped pacing when he heard his name.
"What? I was thinking. I wasn't even listening," Griffen said, frowning.
"Tell her about the prophecy."
"You told her everything else?" Griffen asked, surprised.
"Well, all that I could think of so far," Reece replied.
"Oh. So you want to know about the prophecy? Well, it was said that one day, a brother and a sister would be born and they would be gifted with every ability from every clan, which is at least six or seven, I can never remember. Anyways, once they were gifted with the powers, they would be protected until they could come and save the clans from destroying everyone and everything. And if Reece doesn't, then we will be doomed and the Skincrawlers and the Firewillers will take over and kill everyone off, even the leaders of the clans who look after the clans."
"Wait, aren't you a Firewiller?" Monika asked.
"Yes, I am, but I was the half that didn't join the Skincrawlers. I was the only survivor."
"Hold on," Reece said, remembering something that the Skincrawlers had asked her outside near the tree.
"What?" Griffen and Monika asked at the same time.
"The leader of the three Skincrawlers that were attacking us in the road near that one tree asked me where my real parents were, and I told them I didn't know, which I don't know where they are. So does that mean that they don't know where my real parents are? Do you think that they are hiding?" Reece asked, her heart racing as Griffen looked at her like she just figured out something that they needed to know.
"You right, there is no other reason why they would ask that unless they were trying to find them. They have to be in hiding from them because they knew that the Skincrawlers would come after them! And if they asked for both of your real parents, then that means that both of your parents have to be alive!" Griffen said, grabbing Monika and Reece's shoulder.
"I'm not understanding this. I thought that your real parents died in a freak airplane accident," Monika said, putting a finger to her lip, thinking.
"Those were my fake parents who were only here to protect me. But I think that the Skincrawlers and Firewillers must have gotten to them while they were on the plane ride home because I remember asking how it happened, and they said that a fire broke out and the plane just crashed into the water," Reece replied.
"Your right," Griffen said. "What time is it?"
"Umm, only ten twenty-three, why?" Monika asked.
"We need to get to a library because Griffen needs to look something up," Reece explained to her.
"You can go right now while no one is there. I have a key to get in! I volunteer when I have the time and I work when its closed!" Monika said excitedly.
"Really? I didn't know that," Reece said, wishing that she had known that.
"Yeah, I told you a ton of times and you just let it go in one ear and out the other," she replied, sighing.
"Really?" Reece said, knowing that Monika meant to have what she said make her wince. "I'm sorry I never talked to you like I am right now. You know me, I'm always busy and stuff like that."
"Don't give me that bull shit, Reece. I know you heard me, but you just didn't want to talk to me probably because you probably don't even want anything to do with me, right?" Monika asked.
"Honestly? I have no idea. But I will promise that any time that you want to talk to me, you just call me up okay?" Reece said, hoping that would get Monika to drop the conversation that was making Griffen really uncomfortable.
Monika frowned but then she thought, why not? If she's willing to talk to me whenever, then that's fine with me!
"Okay, but if you don't want to talk that's okay. I just wish that there wasn't so much tenseness between us. I mean, look at you!" Monika said, motioning to Reece who looked down at herself, not understanding what she was getting at.
"What do you mean?" Reece asked, frowning.
"I mean, we aren't this tense at your restaurant. Why are you so tense talking now?" She asked.
"I don't know, maybe its because I have to tell you something that I didn't want anyone knowing unless I really needed to tell them."
Monika's eyes went wide from what Reece had just said. She was shocked. Reece had never talked to her like that before.
"You mean that? You really think that you can't tell me because you have trust issues or something?" Monika asked, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Reece shook her head. "No, that's not what I meant at all. What I meant was that I just think someone shouldn't know something that they weren't meant to know. And I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but you really don't need to know about all this."
"I don't understand. I want to be your friend and I can be useful! I am trying to be your friend, and all your doing is pushing me away. Maybe you don't need my help after all," Monika said, standing up from the soft couch. She walked up to her fireplace and had her back to Reece and Griffen, who were both staring at her.
"What have I done?" Reece asked Monika.
"Oh, I don't know..." Monika said as she turned to look Reece in the face. "maybe you did something like, oh, I don't know, push everyone that cares for you and wants to help you and just be friends with you away so that you can be friends with a total stranger?"
Reece creased her eyebrows and frowned. "Maybe if someone was trying to be friends with me, then they should forgive them for whatever they did even though they can't figure out what they did wrong and forget that the fight ever happened, but I guess that someone can't do that for the other person, can she?" Reece asked, her fists clenching into balls over and over again.
"What are you saying?" Monika asked, narrowing her dark eyes, her arms crossed over her chest.
"I'm saying just because I never listen to you, doesn't mean that I don't want to be your friend. I do want to be your friend, and I do admit that I never listen to anyone. I just learned that I have these powers that I never even believed in until three days ago and I have changed so much, that I don't even know who I am anymore, even if I look in the mirror and I see myself, but I am not the same. I just don't want to have you get hurt. There are bad, bad people after me, and your just human. And if you got to close to them, they will kill you and you wouldn't be able to do anything. I am just trying to protect someone that I've known for a long time who works had at her work place and is always happy to do something for someone who busts her ass off just to pay bills and keep what was left of her life in line. And I don't even have a life anymore. I don't know what I will do now that my whole family is dead. I have to find my real parents, or their world and possibly yours will die because of them," Reece said in one long breath, making her gasp for air once she stopped talking.
Monika looked at the floor, knowing that Reece had to be right. "I never thought of it that way," she said in a whisper, salty tears falling onto the floor.
Reece got up from the couch and grabbed Monika, wrapping her in her arms and let her cry. She didn't know what else to do but let her cry there.
Reece knew that she hadn't listened to her about anything or listened to anyone, so she was sure that Monika had to be mad at her for that. She never listened to anything anyone asked her or told her or anything. Even when she was at her restaurant, the only thing she paid any attention to was either customers orders or things that she needed to do around the restaurant.
"I'm sorry, Monika. And I promise, that if things go back to normal, then I will listen to you, no matter how boring it is, okay?" Reece said, smiling.
Monika looked up and laughed softly through her tears and nodded. "Okay. That seems fair to me."
Griffen sighed and looked down at his shoes, examining them just to pass time. "Uh, not to bother you both in this very emotional moment, but can we get to the library? I really need to look some things up."
Reece and Monika looked at him. "Really? Your worrying about that right now? We have all day!" Reece said, but knew that they probably didn't have all day to sit around and cry and talk about keeping friends safe.
"No, he's right. I've been really selfish about things and I shouldn't have been and I'm sorry too. I just thought that maybe I could help you and stuff. I don't want to be left out because all my life, I was the smallest and my older siblings always laughed at me and left me out of everything that we did. So now that I know what you guys are, I don't want to be left out. That's all I ever wanted: to be in whatever someone else was in."
"Okay, but right now, your in it with us or whatever, and we need to get to the library before everyone else goes there," Griffen said, waiting impatiently for Reece and Monika to stop talking and get on with it.
Monika sniffed and wiped her tears off her face and walked over to Griffen and hugged him
Griffen was surprised by her hugging him, but he slipped his arms around her waist, looking at Reece like help me!
Reece knew that Griffen was looking at her for help, but she was enjoying him suffer. He needed a hug anyways, Reece thought. She smiled at him and shook her head. Griffen frowned and tried to let go of Monika, but she held on.
"Okay, now, Monika. You can let go now."
"Oh, sorry. I was so caught up in your abs. They are some fiiiiiine abs," Monika said, taking a step back to take a good look at his abs, which were hidden by Monika's brother's shirt.
"Well, I do work out, but not like regular guys, that's for sure," Griffen said, flattered, his face reddening.
"Well, you must have a great work out, because you sure are working those abs of yours," Monika said, smiling from ear to ear as she lifted up his shirt to get a better look at them.
"Okay, enough about my super cool abs," Griffen said, flipping his hair out of his face after he shoved his shirt back down.
"Well, fine, then!" Monika said, snorting with laughter.
Reece sighed and shook her head to herself. Monika was right. Griffen does have great abs, Reece thought. No! I can't be distracted by his abs! I need to concentrate on finding my real parents. Not be sidetracked by his abs!
Right before Griffen put his shirt down, he saw for just a minute that Reece had taken a peek at his abs.
"Okay, then about the library. When does it open?" Griffen asked, slowly taking his eyes off of Reece, who looked away quickly when she saw he had seen her looking at him.
"Oh, right," Monika said, remembering that she was getting sidetracked. "Well, it doesn't open till one o' clock and no one comes there until its open."
"What about other workers?" Griffen asked, serious.
"There is no other workers. Its just me until it opens. I'm in charge of fixing the place up for the visitors. Than once the place is open, I just sit behind the desk and check stuff out for them."
"You do this every day?" Reece asked, wondering how she got to work on time every single day on time.
"Not everyday. Only when I have to. Those are the days I always ask you for a day off."
"Really? I give you days off?" Reece asked, not remembering giving her days off.
"Yeah. You just say stuff like, 'okay, have fun', or 'just remember to wash your hands before going!'."
"I said those things? Hmm. Maybe I should pay more attention to things around me, huh?" Reece asked, giving them a shy smile.
"You think?" Monika asked, smiling.
"Okay, lets go then," Griffen said, slapping his hands together.
"Do we have to go right now?" Monika asked. "Its only like six in the morning. I like my beauty sleep you know."
"Now isn't the time to be worrying about your sleep, Monika. And plus, I thought that you wanted to help us," Griffen pointed out.
"I can still help out and still get my beauty sleep. I can just give you the keys to the building!" Monika said, smiling.
"That works," Griffen said, surprised.
Monika handed the keys to the library to Griffen and explained which one was what. "The bronze key goes to the bathroom door, and the silver one is the main one. The multicolored one is for the computer room. The rest you don't really need to know about. And if you and Reece need some books, well, you don't need a key for that," Monika explained with a laugh.
"Actually, I think I need to research some things alone without Reece," Griffen said, opening the front door before anyone could stop him.
"What?" both Reece and Monika said, both shocked.
"Why?" Reece asked, a bit hurt.
"Well, I will explain it to you when I'm done. Why don't you stay here and keep Monika company? Like she said, she needs her beauty sleep." Griffen said, making the words sound like a pest.
"I do, but something tells me that Reece doesn't care what she looks like right now," Monika pointed out.
"Hey! I do to care about what I look like right now!" Reece said, offended.
"Well, you might want to look at yourself in the mirror, honey, because you don't look very good," Monika said, nodding, putting her hands and her hips.
"Never mind how I look, Monika. Why don't you want me to go with you, Griffen?" Reece asked.
Griffen couldn't look at her. He just couldn't. "I have some things to look up and I just don't want to be bothered, okay?"
"And you think that I will bother you? Is that it?" Reece asked, her feelings hurt even more than they had been.
"I'm sorry, Reece," Griffen said, as he walked out the door and shut it behind him.


{~Chapter five~}


Reece looked out the window and watched as Griffen jogged to the library at the end of the road.
Griffen had acted suspiciously when he tried to scoot around the truth about why he wasn't taking Reece with him. Reece knew that he wouldn't take Monika with him, but she thought that he would want to take her with him, but he hadn't.
"Its okay. I know that you like him, Reece. He's no good for you," Monika said to her as Reece turned to look at her.
"Says the girl who was checking his abs out!" Reece said, blushing. She really didn't know if she liked him, but she knew that she does like him as a friend. "And I don't think I like him like that I mean, I do, but not more than a friend."
"Riiiiight...." Monika said, smiling to herself. "Your just saying that."
"I bet you like him," Reece said.
"I bet I do," Monika said, not even bothering to deny it. "He does have some great abs."
"Well, then. You should tell him that you like him," Reece said, remembering when Griffen had admitted that he likes her.
"Why would I do that? I think that he likes you. He kept looking at you while we were having a small fight. You didn't even notice. But I saw the way he looks at you. He might not be good for you, but he is one good looking hunk if I do say so myself!" Monika said a matter of fact.
Reece laughed. "Wow, you seem like your into him more than he's into me!"
Monika wave her comment away. "Nah, just a puppy crush. I wouldn't try and get him even if he didn't like you. Its not right to go after your friends' crushes."
"What? Oh, right. Friend's rule, huh?" Reece asked.
"Right. I don't want to stop true love when I see it!" she said as if she just saved the world.
Which made Reece think of what she must really look like right now.
"Can I use your bathroom? I do think that I need a shower, don't you?" Reece asked, turning away from the window where she had seen Griffen jogging from.
"Yes, you do. You look horrid! You can use whatever you need, then once your done, we can have something to eat!" Monika said excitedly as if she was having a sleep over.
"Monika, I just want you to know that I do like being your friend, but sometimes, you might be taking the friendship of ours to far," Reece said, not trying to hurt her feelings.
"Oh, right. I haven't had anyone over since the last guy that I dated, and that didn't go so well. Your right. I do need to calm down. After all, we have known each other for a long while, huh?" Monika said, understanding that she needed to back off before she went to far.
"Right," Reece said, really wanting to get to the bathroom faster now. "So, the bathroom?"
"Oh, right. Its down the hallway to the left. First door. If you need a towel then there is one in the closet inside bathroom."
"Thanks. I wish I had my hair brush though. Do you have a spare one?" Reece asked. "And a toothbrush?"
"No, but I can go to your house and get you one if you want me to," Monika said.
"Sure, that would be great," Reece said, even though she didn't want to have anyone in her house. "My tooth brush, tooth paste, and hair brush are in the bathroom on the first floor. If you see anything else that you think that I will need, then you can bring them over, but I don't think that I will be needing anything else, so just get me my stuff."
"Okay, anything to help!" Monika said. "So the bathroom down stairs?"
"Oh, right. When you walk into the house through the front door, you will see the living room, then go straight until you see a red door, that's the bathroom. You can't miss it. Its the only red door that I have in my house."
Monika nodded, understanding that Reece didn't want her going anywhere else in her house.
"Oh, and Monika?" Reece asked.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Please, try not to move things around. The police would think that I came in or something and took stuff. I'm not even supposed to be in my house because of, well, you know," Reece said, not daring to say what her and Monika knew she was talking about.
"You can trust me. I won't go anywhere else except in the bathroom and I won't touch anything else but the things you want me to get. I get it," she said.
"Thanks," Reece said, sighing with relief that she understood that Reece didn't want her in her house at all, but she had to. Reece really needed a shower, and she really didn't want to go outside again and go into her house. She saw to much of her house anyways. Hopefully, Monika would get the hint not to go upstairs to look at the crime scene.
For some reason, she felt like her words would be looked past, and Monika would go and look at the crime scene. But what did it matter? The crime was already done, and all that was left was dried blood stains.
Reece shook the thought out of her head and walked to the bathroom that Monika had said was on the left, which it was. Inside the bathroom, she saw that it looked similar to the rest of her house: with her sink right in the middle of the counter and all her hair products lined up just so that if someone didn't know Monika walked in and would think that she was a clean freak.
The shower curtain was no better. It was so flat, there wasn't a wrinkle in sight, even when you took a closer look, you wouldn't see a single wrinkle. The shower curtain was plain, just a large white curtain on it.
Reece closed the door, locking it, just in case. She didn't know why she was locking the door, but she felt it would be right.
She stripped the clothes that she forced Monika to give her off her body and folded them nicely and sat them on the toilet lid so that she could wear them again once she was done.
She really should have asked Monika to get her some of her own clothes, but she never even thought about it.
She sighed and stepped into the shower, forgetting to check the water temperature before stepping into freezing cold water.
The tub was plugged, but she didn't realize that until she slipped on some soap that had spilled previously and she fell in the tub.
The tub was filling with freezing cold water, and it was filling fast. But something was stopping Reece. She wasn't, and she felt like something was stopping her from getting up.
She screamed, but nothing came out.
Oh, God. I'm going to die! I'm going to die! Reece thought as her life flashed before her eyes.
Reece struggled, knowing she shouldn't because that only killed her even faster.
The water was already above half of her body, which only meant that she had at least two minutes before the water was above her nose.
Reece tried to scream again, but like the first time, nothing came out.
Reece looked around the area of the tub and saw a shadowed figure standing outside the curtain, but she wasn't sure if she was seeing things.
The water was almost up to her chin now, and she knew it was only a few more seconds left till she wasn't on the planet anymore.
Reece tried to scream once again, but nothing came out but a squeak. Nothing that anyone would hear. She looked around, to see if the shadowed thing was there, but it was gone when she blinked her wet eyes.
Her tears came when the water was above her chin and she could feel it seeping into her nose now, making her accidentally sniff some up her nose, which made her nose and mouth sting.
She thought about how her life wasn't really all that great. Monika was right. She didn't pay any attention to anything at all. She also thought about Griffen, who didn't know that he would never see her again.
She knew he liked her, and she still wasn't sure if she liked him. But something told her she didn't. She did like him, but only as a friend, and if she ever lived this, which she was sure she wouldn't, she would never, ever think of Griffen as more than a friend because that's all he was is a friend to her. A great friend that helped her out when she really needed him.
The water was passed her nose, and humans can only hold their breath up to three minutes, if Reece remembered. And the only people that can hold their breath for three minutes is the people who practice that.
But Reece didn't care about dying anymore. Because she thought about her parents and brother. She knew that they would love to see her, and she wouldn't have to worry about saving the world.
But then again, if she didn't save the world, well, who knows what will happen to it. Maybe world slavery. Or the Skincrawlers probably would just kill them all off. Who knows?
Suddenly, Reece didn't want to die. She wanted to see her family, but she knew she had to stay on this earth a while longer. Just long enough to save the world from those creepy Skincrawlers. She knew that she would see her family one day, but that was not today.
Reece was so weak from lack of oxygen, but she gathered what strength she had and knew what she had to do.


Griffen knew he had hurt Reece's feelings, but he really didn't want her to know what he was looking for. He was looking for many things, actually.
One thing he was looking for was his parents. He had been searching for them in previous towns, but he had gotten nowhere. He didn't even know why he even tried to look for them when he remembered them being killed by two people: a Skincrawler named Roney, and a Firewiller named Erone. The only reason he knew the names was because right when his parents were asking for mercy, they had asked them by their names. This was all he remembered besides his mother setting him inside some bushes so thick, the only way to see out of them, you had to look really closely.
Griffen wanted them all dead. Especially Roney and Erone. They had killed his parents in front of him without realizing it, and gotten away with it. His parents would have rather have died then join the Skincrawlers. So they did. Willingly.
Griffen tightened his grip on the keys as he jogged to the library he had seen when Reece and him had gone to her house to look for some papers that they didn't even get.
Another thing that he was looking for was Reece's parents. He knew now what they looked like, and he was curtain that they were alive. They had to be. Reece had that look on her face when they realized it and she just knew that they weren't dead. So if he could get internet connection, he knew that he could find them on the internet if he scanned the picture he had in his pocket.
He reached into his pocket and pulled it out and looked at it. Like he had said yesterday, Reece did have her father's nose and her mother's eyes. He liked her eyes. It reminded him of his ex-girlfriend who was also a Firewiller who had survived, but she was hunted down just a year into their relationship and was killed.
It took Griffen almost two years to get over the death of his first love, and he still thinks about her all the time.
"I wish you were with me, Meg," Griffen said to himself, knowing that it was weird to talk to himself to his dead girlfriend that probably didn't want to contact him to tell him that she was in a better place and all that kind of stuff.
Once his ex-girlfriend died, his heart hardened and he promised that he would never fall for anyone else ever again. But he did. He fell hard for Reece. He fell for her at the moment she had a shovel pointed at his face.
Griffen smiled to himself despite his mood. Everything about Reece made his heart melt and want him to break down and kiss her on her soft lips, but he held it in every time that he thought about, which was all the time he was around her.
For some unexplained reason, Griffen thought that fate had sent her to him and had given him another chance at love, but he had no idea if she liked him that way. Meg, his first love looked similar to Reece, and that was probably the reason that he fell so hard for Reece because she reminded him of Meg.
Griffen stuffed Reece's parents' picture back into his pocket as he approached the doors of the library.
He took the silver key and unlocked the door, making sure that he locked the door behind him so that no one got in without him knowing. He then looked for the closed and open sign and found it, taking it.
He took a pen out and wrote: Closed for the day; open tomorrow. He just didn't want to have to deal with people coming in and wondering why the library was closed, so he thought and wrote: sorry for the inconvenience about our renovation.
"That should do it," Griffen said to himself and looked out the window to make sure that no one had seen him writing that on the open and closed sign. He put the sign in the window and made sure that it was showing what he had written and when it was just right, he found the directory and looked to see that the computer and electronic rooms were upstairs on the third and last floor, so he dashed up the stairs three at a time, almost tripping a few times over them until he was on the third floor, looking right at the computers who were facing him.
Griffen got to work on finding what he needed.
Another thing that he was looking for was the guy he knew and trusted with his life. William Ried.
William Ried was his best friend who he had met in Las Vegas when he was looking for some Skincrawlers who were reported on the news, but of course, no human would believe that there was a creature that would jump inside your body and eat you from the inside out. The humans thought that it was a wild animal loose in Las Vegas, but Griffen knew better than that to think it was a wild animal loose in Las Vegas.
He had met William in a grocery store, when he accidentally bumped into him while he had some money to get something decent, which at the time was a bag of potato chips. He was down the potato chip isle and saw someone suspicious and he went to check it out. Like the Skincrawlers, he was a bald man, about in his thirties who was looking at William from a distance.
Griffen knew that there was no camera's in this store, so he could use his fire if he had to use it to protect an innocent person from that kind of pain and suffering. Griffen followed him down an isle and saw that the guy was following William up and down every isle that he went down. Griffen knew that he was going to spring any second, so he acted fast. He yelled for William, who he didn't know his name at the time of course, but he yelled for him to move, and William looked at him like he was crazy and just kept looking at some dried fruit or something like that.
The guy who was tracking him turned around to see who had said that and instantly knew that he was a Firewiller. He lunged, missing him as Griffen dodged him, falling onto a shelf that fell to the ground, causing a reaction with all the other shelves, making the all fall over to.
William looked like he peed his pants, and he ran to the front of the store to tell the owner that his store was under attack, but the owner was in deep sleep and didn't even hear him say anything, so William ran behind the counter.
At the same time that William jumped behind the counter to hide, Griffen got up from falling on top of the shelves and grabbed the Skincrawler's shirt to make sure he didn't have skin to skin contact and with his free hand, he sliced the Skincrawler's neck, his head falling off his surprised body.
Griffen never told this one to Reece because even he thought it was too gross.
Griffen had grabbed the head once he was sure he was dead and held it in one hand, the blood dripping on the tiled floor and all over his arm and he dragged the bottom half with his other hand, which was harder than he thought.
He realized that he had to take the body and burn it, or people would be suspicious. So he dragged the body until he made it to the counter and dropped it, looking over the counter where he had quickly seen the guy jump over the counter and hid for protection.
"Hey, dude! Get up!" Griffen had said. The owner of the small store stirred in his sleep, but he didn't wake up.
William got up slowly and had said, "Are you going to kill me?"
"No, I just saved your ass, so your going to help me with it."
"What is that thing?" William had asked.
"I'll tell you later. What's your name?" Griffen had asked.
"My name? Why do you want to know my name?" He had asked, looking both frightened and confused.
"Just tell me your name," Griffen said, hoping that no one would walk in and see the body on the floor.
"William. William Ried. What do you want from me?" he had asked.
"I don't want anything from you. This thing did. He was going to eat you, now help me get his to an alley so that I can burn him."
"Dude, I don't want to know what they heck is going on, and I'm calling the cops, man!" William said, taking his cell phone out of his pocket. He didn't even get to dial the nine because Griffen yanked it out of his hand even before he realized that it wasn't in his hands anymore. "Hey! Give it back!"
"No," Griffen said and crushed it in his hand, the pieces falling to the floor like confetti. "I will explain what just happened if you help me get this to an alley!"
William looked like he was going to barf, but he did what he was told and grabbed the head as Griffen dragged the rest of the Skincrawler outside, where thank God, it was dead outside with no people.
"Over here," Griffen said once he saw the closest alleyway. He dragged it over into the dark and lit his hands with fire.
"What the hell?" William asked, taking a step back.
"Dude, its okay. What tried to attack you was a Skincrawler. They eat humans. If they touch your skin, they can literally jump into your skin and eat you from the inside out. I don't think that you would have liked that. If he had gotten inside you, then I would have to have punched him out of you. I'm not going to eat you or burn you or whatever. Just calm down. Now, do you believe me or not?" Griffen asked, throwing a fireball at the body. "Are you going to let go of that head?"
William realized that he was still holding the Skincrawler's head and he quickly threw it into the already burning pile.
"I don't understand what's going on!" William asked.
"You don't have to. But all you need to know is that I just saved your life and you should be grateful." Griffen didn't even need to tell him to not tell anyone else because no one would ever believe him, no matter what.
"Thanks. I owe you one. Who are you?" William asked, relaxing a little.
"I am Griffen."
"No last name?" he had asked.
"Nope. I didn't really know my parents. I just gave myself a name."
"Huh. What are you, exactly?" William asked, now really interested in what he was seeing.
Griffen had explained everything to him and told him that he was a Firewiller and that he was only part human.
Once everything was explained to him, William had asked Griffen to come over to his apartment and have a beer with him, and Griffen, who had never heard of a beer before or what it was, went with him and soon found out it wasn't something that enjoyed.
"Whazz thiz stuff I'nm dwinking?" Griffen asked, drunk after having six beers.
"Your drinking beer. You know, alcohol."
"Alcohol? I hate this stuff!" Griffen said, laughing hysterically.
William laughed with him until they were both passed out on the couch in William's apartment.

Once they woke up, like always, they had a hang over and Griffen was barfing nonstop and so was William.
They had been best friends ever since. Once Griffen was better and had a clear mind he asked for William's phone number, just in case he ever needed a favor. He gave it of course.


Griffen smiled when he thought about when he had gotten drunk for the first time. It was his last time.
He had tried to call William one day for a favor, but it said that it had been disconnected.
So now he typed the phone number into the bar on Google and saw that the number popped up William's name and current address.


{~Chapter Six~}


Monika walked over to Reece's house, feeling like she had done something that she would never have done in her whole life. And she has never gone against someone's word, especially her boss' words. She was going to go see where Reece's brother had died. She knew it was bad, but she just couldn't help it.
Monika opened the front door to Reece's house slowly and peeked inside. There was the living room right in front of her like Reece had said, and she saw the red door as she moved into the house and closed the door behind her, trying to not make any noise.
Then she remembered from watching too many Law and Order shows, they could get fingerprints from the crime scene and she had just opened the door, and now her finger prints were all over the door handle and the wall she had touched.
"Oh, shit. The cops will come after me if they found out that I was touching her stuff!" Monika said to herself.
She looked around the house and saw nothing that looked like a crime scene, and she remembered that Reece had told her basically not to go upstairs, so she knew the crime scene had to be upstairs. She walked over to the door that she thought led to upstairs, and she opened it, finding that she was right about the door leading to the second floor. She took a step onto the stairs and winced when the first one made a creak as she went up the rest of them.
She made it to the top of the stairs and gasped when she saw blood stains all over the floor. There, on the floor was a large blood stain the size of a man. And it was in the shape of a man and Monika knew that this is where he died.
She thought that it was very odd that the blood dripped perfectly into a shape of a man, but she just let it go because she knew that he had died from something that no human would even think would exist.
She took another look at the scene before her and turned to leave when she ran right into someone-or something-that she really didn't want to run into ever in her life.
She let a ear piercing scream out of her mouth, but it was covered up by the Skincrawler.
"Shut up, you little piggy. I'm not going to kill you. I don't believe in killing anyone unless they are already dead."
Monika's eyes were so wide, she thought that they would pop out of her head any second.
"Now, I am going to let go of your mouth, and if you scream again, I will kill you, okay?" The Skincrawler asked.
Monika shook her head, even though she planned on screaming again.
"Your lying. I can see it in your eyes. Now, please, I only want to talk to you. Please," the Skincrawler was practically begging her not to scream.
She nodded again and he slowly let go of her mouth. She pressed her lips together tight so she wouldn't.
"I only want to talk to you. I want to talk to you about how I became like this."
"Why?" Monika managed to spit out. "Why should I listen to someone like you who goes around eating humans?" she asked, total disgust in her words.
"Because I can help you. I can help your friends. I know that you want to help them. But if they saw me like this, then they wouldn't want my help. They would kill me right on the spot. But I only came to you because I knew that you can't stand a chance against me."
"Okaaaaay.....what does this have to do with me?" She asked, not following him.
"I was bitten by a Skincrawler. That is why I am like this. And I think that your friend that had one in her will end up like me. I can't be too sure, though," The Skincrawler said, thinking.
"Wha-what? What do you mean? She did have one in her, but Grif-I mean Roger got him out."
"You don't need to lie to me about what his name is. I know who Griffen is. I know your friend's name is Reece and I know that yours is Monika. But your only human, which I am surprised by that. I have been watching Griffen for a while now and he doesn't seem like the type to want human's help. No offense," he said quickly.
"None taken. But I'm still not understanding why you want to help me or why your telling me about how you became a Skincrawler," Monika said, looking around with her eyes to see if there was an exit she could take just in case he decided to attack her, but only found the bedroom doors.
"I want to help Reece. I don't want the same thing to happen to her like it did to me. I really don't know how its possible to end up like something you got bitten from, but it happened to me. I was a human until one came up to me and bit me, out of the blue."
"What happened after that?" Monika asked, her heart racing from anticipation.
"Well, long story short, I was turned into this somehow, and let me tell you, it wasn't painless. Then he took me to where he said his Clan lives. And I know that Reece and Griffen want to get rid of them, and I do to because of what they did to me. You know what its like to eat humans? So gross. I try not to, though. I eat animals more than I do humans.
"Anyways, I know how they can kill them off. But I need you to get this message to them..."
Monika smiled and knew this was all a gimmick.


Griffen finally finished searching for the three things he was wanting and he headed back to Monika's place, where he saw the door was ajar. He didn't think that was good, so he began to run until he kicked the door open the rest of the way, calling Reece's name out loud.
"In here!" Reece yelled from somewhere in the back area of the house.
"Where?" Griffen yelled. "Where's Monika?"
"I'm in the bathroom! I can't move!" Reece called, and Griffen could hear her teeth chattering really, really hard.
Griffen ran to the back area and opened the first door that he saw, which was the right one, but it was only a room which looked like Monika's brother's room. He closed the door quickly and tried to open the left one, but it was locked. He backed up and kicked the door in, finding Reece rolled up in a ball, covered only by an extra large fluffy black towel on the floor by the toilet, her whole body from what he could see was blue and purple from being so cold.
Griffen rushed to her side and grabbed her in his arms. "What happened?" he asked, rocking back and forth.
"I-I was-s i-in the sh-h-ower a-and I-I sl-lipped and f-fell a-and couldn-n't g-get up," she said, her teeth still clinking together.
"Shh...just stop talking and you can tell me when your not freezing, okay?" Griffen said, picking her up, thankful she was wrapped in a towel.
He stepped on top of the kicked in door and took her to a bedroom, where he laid her on top of the bed and covered her whole body with at least ten blankets he could find in the closet in the room.
Instantly, Reece's teeth slowed to a stop and she began to warm up and she could talk better.
Griffen looked disturbed by what he saw.
"I can breath underwater, Griffen."
"That's what you did? You tried to drowned yourself just to see if you can breath underwater?" Griffen said. "What's the matter with you?"
"No, that's not what I meant. I was dirty, so I asked Monika if I could use the shower, and she said yes and went to get my hair brush and my tooth brush so that I could freshen up. And I stepped into the shower before I could get the water to the right temperature and I slipped and fell and something was holding me down. I guess that the tub had been plugged up because water was filling in the tub and it was really, really, freezing water."
"Oh, my God. What did you do?" Griffen asked, grabbing his temples and rubbed them, closing his eyes.
"Nothing. I just thought about how it would be to not be on the planet any more and I wasn't afraid to die. Then I thought about-" Reece stopped talking and thought about how she had thought she would never ever like Griffen more than a friend because she knew that it would be a distraction from what she really was going to do and she just really wanted to be friends with him anyways.
Griffen opened his eyes when Reece stopped explaining what happened. "So, what happened when you were thinking?"
"Well, the water was already passed my nose and mouth, and I knew that humans could only breath underwater so long, but I had stayed underwater longer than any normal human could, so I knew that something was different. And all of a sudden when I was thinking, I knew that I didn't want to die and I knew that I had to live through this no matter what, so I gathered what strength I had and I tried to move. But I couldn't so I thought: If I have powers that the Watermakers gave me, then I must be able to use water some how. So I put my hands palm up and closed my eyes."
Griffen was looking at her like a little kid would be looking at a person reading a child’s book to them as she talked about how she made it out of the tub. "What happened then?"
"When I opened my eyes, I had made all the water in the tub into a large water ball that was floating in mid-air right above me. And then I could move. It was weird. I was so freezing as I got out and I barely made it to the small closet in the bathroom to get a towel and I just lost all my strength and I just laid there until you came and got me."
"So, your telling me that you can make water into a ball like I can with fire?" Griffen asked, amazed.
"Yeah. I wish I knew about it before I was in a tub full of freezing water."
"But how did you figure out that you can breath underwater?" Griffen asked, sitting on the edge of the bed where her feet were still trying to get the feeling back in.
"I told you. I was in the tub underwater for like ten minutes before I could get my strength and try to get out. What does that tell you?" Reece asked, the color in her lips finally coming back to her normal color of a light pink and red.
"Oh, right. How though?"
"Well, come over here and look. While I was on the floor waiting for someone to come and get me, I felt my neck and I found this," Reece said, moving her long hair out of the way for Griffen to see.
"Oh, my God. Is that even possible?" Griffen asked, running his fingers over four lines of skin flaps in a row on her neck. "Are these what I think they are?"
"Yeah, gills. I think they just came in."
"You should have had them before today, don't you think?" Griffen asked, looking at the other side of her neck to see if the same marks were there.
"No because I have never been submerged underwater before. I don't know how to swim, Griffen. Silly, huh?" she asked, her face turning red.
"No, not at all. I didn't know how to swim until I was twelve years old. Usually people learn to swim when they are babies."
Reece giggled at how silly she felt.
Griffen was still looking at her neck, and he wasn't just looking at her new found gills. He took his eyes off her neck and moved closed to her, looking deeply into her beautiful eyes. He leaned in closer to her and kissed her before she could react.
Reece was surprised by the kiss, and she didn't even feel anything between them. The kiss still made her heart race, but she didn't feel anything other than her heart beating fast. He was kissing her with such desperation that it kind of scared Reece.
She pulled away from him, seeing the look in Griffen's eyes.
"When I was in the tub, thinking I was going to die, I told myself that if I ever made it out of there alive, I wouldn't get distracted by anyone or anything. And that means a relationship."
"But I thought you said that you would see how things went?" Griffen said, feeling rejected again like he had been when he tried to put his arm around her when they were sitting in her office at the restaurant.
"I know how much you like me, and I do like you, and I think your a smoking’ hot guy, but I don't think that we are right for each other. I do like you, don't get me wrong. But if we are going to be friends, I really don't want to mess that up by having a relationship with you," Reece said, not knowing how else to put it.
Griffen knew she was right. And he shouldn't have kissed her even if he desperately wanted to kiss her. He couldn't lose her like he had with Meg, and he almost did today, but she didn't and he didn't want to lose her.
"I have to tell you something, Reece. And I know that you don't feel the same way."
"Okay, tell me."
"I'm in love with you, Reece. I have been ever since we met. I fell in love with you when you had that shovel in my face," Griffen said, smiling when he thought about when they had first met. "And I also have to tell you that I had an ex-girlfriend named Meg. She was hunted by Skincrawlers and was murdered. She was the only thing that I cared about other than hunting Skincrawlers and killing them. When she died, I told myself that I would never care about anything else other than getting rid of Skincrawlers. Then I met you and you melted my heart into tar. I wasn’t supposed to fall for you, and I tried not to, but I can't help it. I think I really like you because you remind me of Meg. But your so much better.
"I need you. I can't stay away from you," Griffen said, not taking his eyes off of her the whole time he told her.
Reece didn't know what to think. No one has ever told her that before. But she knew in her heart, that she didn't love Griffen, even if she thought he had great abs. She so badly wanted to be friends with him, and she wouldn't know what to do without him as a friend.
"You understand what I'm getting at, don't you?" Griffen asked as Reece thought about what to say next.
Reece nodded and leaned over to him and kissed him lightly on the cheeks, telling him that this would be the last kiss he would get from her.
She pulled away from his slowly and said, "I hope you'll forgive me and still be friends with me, Griffen. That's all I want. If you love me enough, then you'll just be friends with me, okay?" Reece whispered.
"I understand. I want to be your friend too. Your right. And I shouldn't have kissed you like that."
"Its fine, just promise that we are going to tell each other these things any time. Because if we don't then that just means that we can't trust each other. I thought we had gotten to that in my house," Reece said, pulling the covers up to her neck to get them warm.
"I know. And I should have. Can we change the subject?" Griffen asked, still feeling like she hated him.
"Sure. How was your researching at the library?" Reece asked, thankful that he wanted to change the subject.
"I found something that you might find interesting. I found the people I was looking for, and I found where your parents are. But it could be hard for you to get there."
Reece sat up straighter as he said this, because she really wanted to find her parents more than she wanted to get away from Skincrawlers.
"I don't know the exact place where they are, but their not in America, that's for sure. I think that they are in Australia in an area that isn't being used. I found a photo scanner in the electronic room in the library and I scanned the photo of your parents, and it took me to a bunch more pictures of them. it looked like they are somewhere in Australia from the other photo's that I looked at and the only reason that I think they are in Australia, is because when I looked at one of the pictures, I saw a flag and I looked the flag up and it showed that it was an Australian flag.
"And I found where my friend lives too. We can go and visit him if you still want his help. I called him too. Well, when I found his number. And let me tell you, it was really, really hard to find his number."
"Its a him?" Reece asked, groaning.
"Why? What's the matter with guys?" Griffen asked, not sure why she was groaning.
"He's a guy. Your a guy. I'm a girl. Feelings. Duh!" Reece said. "What if the same thing happens to him that happened to you?"
"What do you mean? Oh," Griffen said, finally understanding.
"Yes! What if he likes me too?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't because she didn't think she could handle another love sick friend helping her.
"I don't think he will. The last time that I saw and talked to him, he was married and happily in love. But that was like a long time ago, so I have no idea."
"What's your friend's name?" Reece asked, sighing with relief.
"His name is William Reid. I saved him from a Skincrawler that was tracking him in the middle of a small store with a owner who wouldn't even wake up because he was in a deep sleep or something like that. We've been friends ever since I saved him."
"You never told me that you saved someone from a Skincrawler. I thought we were supposed to tell each other everything," Reece said.
"Well, I'm telling you right now, aren't I?" Griffen asked.
"Okay, fine."
"Anyways, the last time I talked to him, he made a group that hunts Skincrawlers. He said it was because I saved him that he was inspired to make a group that hunts Skincrawlers. He knows his stuff, and let me tell you, he knows probably more than I do right now."
"Is he all human?" Reece asked.
"Yes."
Suddenly, Monika burst through the door, her eyes wide with fright and her face showed it all.
Griffen got up and walked over to her. "What's the matter?"
"You'll probably want to sit down. When I went over to your house, Reece, I thought I was going to get attacked by a Skincrawler, but it turns out, he was turned into a Skincrawler!" Monika said excitedly.
"What?" Both Reece and Griffen said at the same time, both shocked.
"How is that even possible?" Griffen asked.
"He said that he was bitten by one once and he just turned into one, one day and the Skincrawler that bit him brought him to his Clan where they live," Monika said in a rush.
"Oh, my God!" Reece said, almost getting out of the bed, but forgot that the only thing she had on was a towel, which she took off and had stuffed under the covers when she was under them. "You mean, this Skincrawler was once a human and had gotten bit by one and then shown him the place they live? What else did he tell you? Why did he tell you?"
"He just came up to me and was all like, 'I won't kill you, its gross' and then he told me that he wanted to help you, Reece because he saw that a Skincrawler had gotten inside of you. Did that thing bite you?" Monika asked.
Reece looked down, and pulled the covers over her more better because she was naked and nodded. "I think he did. What does it mean?"
"The Skincrawler said that he thinks you will end up like him if you don't get help. He wants to help you, but he thinks you won't trust him."
"Why would he come to you, then, Monika?" Griffen asked, trying not to see that Reece was losing her color in her face again.
"See, I asked him that too, and he said because I was only human and that he didn't think that you guys would believe him and that you would try to kill him."
"A Skincrawler was in my house. Oh, my God," Reece squeaked out. "In my house."
"Well, he really isn't a Skincrawler though, Reece," Monika said, sitting on the edge of the bed next the Reece, setting a hand on hers.
"I don't care. I don't want anyone in my house!"
Monika finally realized that she wasn't dressed. "Why didn't you get dressed?" Monika asked, looking at Griffen, who turned around so she wouldn't see him blush.
"I'll tell you later," Reece said, grabbing the damp cold towel from underneath the covers.
"Oh, I see. Did you have to in my room?" Monika asked, taking it totally wrong.
"What?" Reece said, snapping out of her thinking. "We were not doing what you think we were doing. I was in shock because I almost died in the bathroom and Griffen found me in there with a towel around me and brought me into here because he knew I needed to be warm. That's all that happened," Reece said, not about to tell her that they kissed, twice.
"Okay I thought it was something more. But okay. I'll let it slid. Hey, what's this?" Monika asked, moving her hair out of the way to see what was on Reece's neck.
"Umm, I can breath underwater. These are gills," Reece explained.
"No way! Is that even possible?" Monika asked.
"It is," Griffen said.
"Cool! How did you get them?" Monika asked, looking at the gills that had formed on her neck.
"I don't know," Reece said.
"Can we talk about something more important right now?" Griffen asked.
"Okay, finish telling me about William," Reece said, glad he wanted to change the subject.
"Who's William?" Monika asked.
"Someone that is going to help us," Griffen said, not really wanting to answer her questions.
"Huh? I thought that I was helping you guys!" Monika huffed.
That was the last straw for Griffen. "Look, we really don't want your help, okay? Your just getting in the way and we really don't need your help or even want it for that matter. In fact, I can't stand you!" Griffen screamed in her face.
Monika was shocked. "What? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you wouldn't listen to us in the first place because you wee too caught up in the fact that no one wants to be your friend!" Griffen yelled, shaking his head at her.
"Oh, I see," Monika whispered, looking at her hands in her lap. "I guess your right. You never even wanted me."
"Yes! I've been trying to tell you that for the past ten years it seems like! So, if your going to leave us, then just walk out the door and don't come back," Griffen said.
Monika looked up from her lap and said, "I don't have to leave if I don't want to. This is my house, and I will leave when I feel like it. And I don't have to if Reece doesn't want me to, and she doesn't right, Reece?" Monika said, pointing her finger at Griffen, making him back up a step. Reece didn't answer. She couldn't. "Reece?" Monika turned to look at Reece, who wouldn't look at her in the face or eyes. "You agree with him?"
She still didn't say anything, she just kept looking at her lap, tears falling onto the covers she was still covered by.
"No. You just said all of that to make me quite crying earlier today, weren't you?" Monika asked, getting red on her dark face. Reece barely got out a "yes". "I cannot believe what I am hearing right now. I tried and I am trying to help you, and you don't even want my help. I guess you don't want to know where the Skincrawlers lair is do you? Because the Skincrawler that talked to me told me where it was and now that you don't want or need my help, then I guess you'll just have to figure it out on your own, now won't you?"
Reece looked up at Monika for the first time that Griffen even brought it up and narrowed her eyes at her. "I don't really give a fugging deal where their layer is. I can find out by anyone if I want to. All that I am trying to do right now is find my real parents and figure out what to do after that. I just want a normal life, without any people with powers or anything like that. And I have to agree with Griffen that-even though I do like you as a friend, Monika-I think that you are getting in the way. You don't understand what is going on, and you surely don't know what we are going though," Reece said, holding back tears that wanted to escape her eyes again.
Monika didn't know what to say. She didn't think that she was getting in the way, but as she thought about it, she was getting in the way, and she sure didn't know much about them or what they are, even if Reece and Griffen had explained it to her.
"Your right. I am getting in the way, and I don't know much about what's going on. So, if this is your choice, I won't stop you from choosing. But if you choose to not have my help, then I am going to have to ask you to leave," Monika said, not looking at them as she motioned to the door.
Reece knew that this would be the last time she talked to Monika face to face because she didn't think that her life would ever go back to the way it was, because she knew it wouldn't.
Griffen looked at Reece, then at Monika and back at Reece again. "So..."
"I think that we need to leave, Griffen," Reece whispered, shifting uncomfortably in the bed, remembering that she was naked and she couldn't get out of the bed until they left and let her. "And I have to ask you, Monika, did you get the things I asked for?"
Monika nodded. "Yes, the things are in the bathroom, where I thought you were, but you weren't in there, and I found you in here, talking or whatever to Griffen. I'll get them, because I can see you can't get out of my bed without showing some things I don't think you want to especially in front of him," she said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder at Griffen, who coughed uncomfortably and looked away from both of them.
"Yeah, your right. Oh, and Monika?" Reece asked before Monika could walk out the door.
"Yes?" Monika asked, turning around, hoping that Reece would change her mind about her help.
"Thanks. For everything," Reece said in an almost whisper.
Monika nodded, knowing once she handed over Reece's things, that she wouldn't be needed anymore.
A few minutes later, Monika walked back into her room and handed the things she had asked for. "I saw some clothes that I thought you would want. So here you go."
Reece said thank you just as Griffen excused himself out of the room while she got dressed and Monika left a few seconds later after Griffen had and closed the door behind her.
Once the door was closed, Reece cried softly so that no one could hear her and she got dressed and brushed her hair in the full bodied mirror hanging on the wall.
When she was done fixing herself up, she gathered her things and went to open the door, but found a piece of paper and a pen sitting next to the door frame on a small desk. She got an idea and sat her stuff down next to the table and began writing a letter to Monika.


Griffen was shaking, but he had no reason to be shaking. Maybe it was because of the conversation they had before Monika barged in and interrupted them.
"You okay?" Monika asked, not knowing why she was asking him when he obviously hated her. Why should she care?
"Fine," Griffen said, looking out the window. "What time is it?"
Monika looked at her watch and saw that it was almost time for her to get going to the library and open up. "Its almost twelve-thirty. Why? Got somewhere to go?"
"Yes, actually. Away from here," Griffen replied.
Monika narrowed her eyes at him and asked, "Why do you hate me so much? I haven't even done nothing to you!"
"Its not the fact that your human or that you haven't done nothing wrong to me. Its the fact that you just reek of desperation. And I don't like people who need someone. You see, I grew up with no one. I had to grow up when I was old enough. You grew up with someone. You grew up with a family and friends, while I was on the road hiding and hunting the same people that wanted me dead. And you think that your life is bad? I watched my parents get murdered by the same species that talked to you just a few minutes ago in Reece's house and you think that he was a good guy? Well, think again," Griffen said, folding his arms over his chest.
"What does that mean? He was telling the truth. he wants to help you and Reece. Reece could turn into a Skincrawler just like he did. It wasn't his fault. And plus, if he wanted to kill me, he would have done that while I was standing on the stairs in her house. But he didn't. I could see the truth in his eyes and knew he didn't want to kill anyone."
"I don't think so. He wanted you to think that. No Skincrawler is good. No matter if they got bit or not."
Monika knew she wouldn't win the argument, so she just shut her mouth, even though she wanted to spit in his face and yell that he was wrong.
Just as their fight ended, Reece walked out into the living room and said, "I fixed your room up as best as I could and I made your bed. Sorry, its still wet though."
"Its okay. Thanks. You should go now before I hurt Griffen," Monika said.
"What? You can't hurt him!' Reece said at the same time that Griffen said, "Like hell you can."
"He pissed me off, and I want him out of my house. I don't ever want to see either of you again," Monika said, shoving both of them out the door, but not before she gave Griffen a mean look.
Reece thought that was kind of weird of her because she had acted so mature about them not wanting her help.
Once they were at least a block away from Monika’s house, Reece asked, "What did you say to her?"
"I didn't really say anything to her. All I said was I grew up worse then her and she got mad at me for just saying that."
Reece didn't say anything because she knew he was right. She and Griffen were kind of trying to learn how to adapt to not having anyone around be themselves to protect but Griffen had more practice to live without parents from the beginning. "Is it hard for you?"
Griffen didn't look at her when she asked that. "All the time. But we need to talk about something else."
"Okay...what?" Reece asked.
"We didn't finish talking about William. I found a number for him and I called it and we set a meeting up and he wants to help. We need to find him though. He didn't want to tell me, well, because he still has trust issues with people."
"I thought you guys were like best friends or something because you saved him or something like that. Or was that a lie?"
"No, I did save him, and he trusts me, but he doesn't trust..." he stopped talking and looked away from Reece, who understood completely.
"Oh, I see. He doesn't trust me because he doesn't know me right?" Reece asked, not even mad because she probably wouldn't trust him either.
"Right. Your not mad?" Griffen asked, surprised.
"Nope. I totally understand why he would be the way he is being. Does he know that I am the girl from the prophecy?" Reece asked.
"Well, sort of. I told him that you are really important to me and everyone else in the world and all that kind of stuff, and he set up a meeting for us to meet. How does that sound?"
"Where are we meeting him?" Reece asked.
"You know how I told you that I saved his life in Las Vegas?" Griffen asked.
"You told me that you saved him, but you didn't tell me where. Why were you in Las Vegas?" Reece asked, giggling as she thought about Griffen gambling at a casino.
"What's so funny about Las Vegas?" Griffen asked, smiling.
"Nothing. I was giggling because I pictured you gambling in a casino. Continue with the story," Reece said, giggling again.
"Anyways, the day that I saved him, well, he wanted to make it up to me and he brought me to his apartment and we had a few beers. That doesn't matter though, but before we went over to his place, he showed me a place he always goes and he said that this is where he always comes. So since he never told me where we were meeting him, I knew that he was meeting us there."
"So we're going to Las Vegas?" Reece asked, excited. Reece has never been out of the state, and she was looking forward to leaving it. She's been in this state since she was born. Well, ever since she was sent here to be protected, anyways.
"Yeah. I just don't know how to get there, though. We have no money, or food or transportation to get there."
Reece's heart sank. "When do we have to meet him?"
"Tomorrow."
"Oh," Reece said, her heart sinking even lower.
"Yeah," Griffen said, feeling like he let Reece down, which he basically did.
Suddenly, Reece remembered something. "Wait. We do have money. Well, I have money."
Griffen looked up at Reece who had stopped in the middle of the road and jumped in front of Griffen, grabbing his shoulders. "Where?"
"In the Small Town Restaurant! Our safe!"
"But that's your money. You can't use it for this!" Griffen said.
"Its my money. I'll use it for whatever I want to use it for. Lets go!" Reece said, jumping up and down as she pulled Griffen along with her.


{~Chapter seven~}


Right after Monika slammed the door in Griffen and Reece's face, she smiled to herself. She knew what she was, and what she was is not a human like Griffen thinks.
When she first met him, she knew that he was a Firewiller. She didn't need to ask him once she smelled him.
When she had gone to Reece's house, she knew that the Skincrawler was going to come. She acted like she didn't know anything, but she knows that the newer Skincrawlers can bite someone and turn them into one, just like vampires can, but vampires don't exist anymore because the Skincrawlers killed all of them off just like they are going to kill off the humans and then the rest of those stupid Clans that Reece's parents think they can fix up and control.
But, Monika thought, if I am going to destroy Reece and her stupid little boyfriend, then I'll just have to wait until they get where I want them. I will kill them both. And then I'll kill her parents and the Skincrawlers and the other Firewillers can take over!
Monika laughed and took her phone out, dialing the number she was supposed to when The Plan was set. And it had been.
She let the phone ring four times before a male voice answered the phone.
"Hello?" the man asked on the other side of the line.
"Its me," Monika replied.
"Did you do what I asked you to do?"
"Yes, its set. They don't have a clue what's coming their way, Monika said, smiling to herself.
The man on the other end of the phone line sighed with relief. "I've been waiting for this for so long!"
"You mean we have been waiting for this for so long."
"Right. Just call me again when the other part of the plan is done."
"Okay, Boss," Monika said, about to hang up the phone. "Oh, and tell Creon that he did well. You know how he hates me," he said, and hung up before Monika could say anything else.
"Right, I'll tell him that," She said to herself.
"Tell who what?" asked a familiar voice, coming from the hallway. "Is it about me?"
Monika turned to see Creon standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall.
"Our boss told me to tell you that you did a good job because he was too chicken to tell you in the first place," Monika said, not even knowing why her boss was so afraid of him.
Creon walked over to Monika, kissing her on the lips, making Monika sigh.
"Its almost time. I need rest though," Creon said.
"Yes, you almost killed Reece, and if you had, then our plan would have went down the drain, you know."
Creon laughed. "Not really. I just thought I would try and see if she could get out of my hold on her in the bathroom. And she thought she did, but she didn't. She wasn't any fun to play with. She kept thinking that it was okay to die or something like that," he said, walking around her living room, looking at the fake family pictures on the walls and fireplace.
"I hate that you can do everything that Reece can. I'm am really surprised that she didn't even suspect that I had anything to do with this!" Monika said, laughing out loud.
"Well, that's why I love you so much," Creon said. "You always can make people believe in you. When is our next move?"
"Soon. We just need Reece and that stupid Firewiller to find her parents and we can make our next move."
"I wish they would hurry up and find them soon because I am getting impatient," Creon said.
Monika looked at her husband. "I know, honey, but we must be. Good things come to those who wait, remember?"
Creon looked at his wife and sighed. How did he get so lucky?
Well, he had gotten lucky when Monika first found out about Skincrawlers and the rest of the Clans when one night Reece had let Monika come to her house with her and Reece had went to her second floor and accidentally bumped Monika, who fell off the balcony and fell to her death. Reece didn't know what to do and she panicked, leaving her house. She left her house, thinking that what had happened was all just a dream, but in fact, it was real and Creon had seen the whole thing.
Once Reece panicked and left her house, he ran up to Monika, who was bloody and dead and he brought her to life.
Now, you must be wondering how it is possible for a Skincrawler to bring back someone from the dead, but Creon was different from all the rest of the Skincrawlers. He was a Skincrawler with every power from every Clan there is, with some bonus powers that only he possessed.
He had gotten his powers from his creators, Roney and Erone, who wanted to make a new world with creatures that not even the King or Queen of the Clans could think to exist. So they did, and Creon was the first one.
When he was created, he hated his creators, but soon grew to love why they had done what they had done.
His creators wanted him to watch over Reece to make sure that she didn't find out what had happened to Monika.
They had met one day when he was watching Reece at her restaurant, and had sat down at a booth. Monika walked up to him and asked what he wanted to order, so he ordered some food and fell for her instantly.
But when Reece had invited Monika over to her house one night because it was her birthday, she had fallen from the balcony and died in front of Creon's eyes.
When Reece had panicked and left, he rushed to her side and brought her back to life and told her everything that had happened to her and how he felt about her. She believed him of course and they made The Plan to get revenge on her for what she had done to her and Creon and everyone else. But the hate to Reece grew more and more over the years.
But once Reece came back home and found Monika sitting on the couch, obviously not dead, she felt much better and walked right into Creon, who took the memory of Monika dead and left before Reece could come around to figuring out what had just happened. When Reece asked Monika what had happened, she just said, "I didn't see anything. You must be tired."
She had said that so nicely, but on the inside, she wanted to kill her.
"Yes, I know dear. I must wait. And I will, but I don't want to," Creon said, grunting.
Monika looked at her husband, dreading how she was going to tell him what she had been wanting to tell him for days now, but was afraid about how he would react.
"Creon, honey. I have to tell you something very important. But I don't want you to get mad at me, okay?" Monika said, grabbing Creon's arm and pulled him down to the couch. Creon looked puzzled, not sure what she was going to say. "I don't know how this will affect The Plan, but...I'm..."
"What? Spit it out!" Creon demanded, trying not to get angry as she stalled.
"I'm pregnant," Monika squeaked out in a whisper.


Reece looked through her safe until she found the money that she had kept in there for emergencies only. And she felt that this was an emergency.
"Got some?" Griffen asked.
"Yeah, here, hold it for me while I get something else, okay?" Reece asked, not even bothering to question her decision to make Griffen hold the money while she grabbed some things out of it.
"I thought that you had trust issues?" Griffen asked, smirking as he took the large stack of money. When he looked at it, he said, "Whoa! How much did you grab?"
"Almost half a million. We might need it," Reece said, still moving some stuff around in the safe, finding the matching necklace that went with the one that had opened the box Brian had given her.
"Half a million?" Griffen squeaked out a little to loudly.
"Shh!" Reece said, standing up as she slammed the safe closed, locking it.
"Don't you think someone would know about it?" Griffen asked, frowning as he handed the money back to Reece, who stuffed it into her pocket, making it bulge out on her side. "And don't you think that someone would think that its suspicious that you have half a million dollars stuffed in your pocket?"
Reece frowned and thought about it. "Yeah, your right. Didn't think of that. But we might need it. What if we needed to stay somewhere like a hotel or something? Or some food and water? Or a cab?"
"Well, you got me there, but how are we going to hide the money? And can I ask how long you've been saving that much up?" Griffen asked, pointing to her stuffed pocket.
"I've been saving it since five years ago. I've been putting money in the safe here and there, which came in handy because I've never touched it till now. No one even knows this safe is here, not even Monika. I just thought that I should have one with me just in case I needed more money for the house or something. But I don't think I will be seeing the house anymore," Reece said, thinking about how Officer Greg would be coming by today. Or was that yesterday? "Oh, Griffen. The police are coming by my house today, so we need to stay clear of it, okay?"
Griffen nodded, still thinking about how to hide the half a million dollars.
"Wait, what if you gave me half of the half million and I'll hide it on me!"
"That's a terrible idea, even if I trust you, Griffen," Reece said, smiling as she raised her eyebrows at him, who scoffed and said, "Well, I thought it was a good idea!"
Reece shook her head and looked around her office to see if there was anything to hide to money in.
Suddenly, Brian appeared.
"Oh, hey Brian. What's up?" Reece asked, still not believing that she was talking to a ghost.
"I need to talk to you," he said, looking at Griffen, who was staring at Reece with a look. "Alone."
"Its okay, he can't hear you," Reece reassured him.
Brian took another look at him and smiled. "Of course he can't, Sis. Just a minute, though, will you?"
Reece nodded and watched Brian disappear and reappear in front of Griffen, who's expression changed from Reece-is-talking-to-a-ghost-guy to I-think-someone-or-something-is-right-in-front-of-me-and-I-can't-see-them-because-the-guy-in-front-of-me-is-a-ghost-maybe-I-don't-know.
Brian grabbed Griffen's face in his hands and shook him, causing Griffen to freak out and yell, "Reece! If this is your brother doing this to me, I don't like it!" Griffen back up, but that didn't help anything.
Reece looked at him and half smiled, knowing that this was the old Brian she knew. "He wants you to leave so that we can talk in private, Griffen, so just go out and watch for anyone, okay?"
Griffen nodded, eyes wide and left without saying anything then closed the door behind him.
"What was that all about?" Reece asked, hugging Brian, who seemed distracted by something else.
"I have to tell you something."
"Sure, what?" Reece asked, seeing the worried look on his face, telling her that something was bad.
"I learned something that I think you'll want to hear."
"Well, tell me," Reece said.
"I was looking for our parents, when I came by another ghost, who said that she was killed by a Skincrawler who has the same powers as you, but more. You know how Sightseers or anyone in the world for that matter can't make people forget stuff? Well, this one can."
Reece couldn't believe her ears. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"See, I asked her the same thing, and she said that when she was captured, she was taken to the Skincrawler's House, you know, their Layer, and was bitten. She said there was tons of those kinds of Skincrawlers."
"So, your saying that there is a new brand of Skincrawlers, better than the old ones?" Reece asked.
"Yes. She also told me that while the new and improved Skincrawlers had her locked up, she heard some of the new Skincrawlers talking about something called The Plan. She said that they are going to kill off all the old Clans after they get rid of our parents and that would start a new world. She also told me that they were going to kill off all of the humans so that they don't get into the way while they are trying to make new ones. You have to stop them, Reece."
Reece couldn't believe what she was hearing. She just found out that she had powers that could stop them, and now they have newer and better ones that overpowered her. And she didn't have Brian with her anymore except in ghost form, and he really wasn't any use except to tell her things like what he was telling her right now.
"What am I supposed to do?" Reece asked finally understanding that she had to save the world soon or the whole planet would be slaves to them.
"I don't know. How are you doing on the whole thing? How far are to finding our parents?" Brian asked.
"You know, if your a ghost or something, you should be able to go to where they are and find them and stuff, but you don't do you?" Reece asked, not answering his question.
"I can't," Brian said, frowning.
"Why not?" Reece asked, confused. She always thought ghosts could do anything they wanted to do.
"Because I am stuck here with you. I cannot leave your side. I might not show myself all the time, but I can only go, like, a hundred miles away from you."
"Why?"
"Because, sister. I'm a ghost that can't cross over until I help out whoever He chooses. And he chose you for me to help. At least I didn't get someone that I didn't know. But once I help you, then I can cross over. Until then, I'm stuck with you even if I don't show up often."
Reece sighed, looking around her office. "Do you have anything that I can hide this money in?"
Brian looked at where Reece had said, seeing a big wad of money in her jean pocket sticking out like she had shoved a whole head in.
"I don't know. Why do you have so much money in your pocket?" Brian asked, laughing.
"Well, Griffen set a meeting up with his old friend, who hunts Skincrawlers and he thinks they can help. I don't even really remember why we have to meet him," Reece said, then remembered that she was to train with someone. "Maybe he will teach me to train or something. I don't really remember why. Seems like I've been forgetting stuff, huh?" she smiled, but it faded when she thought about how Monika had acted towards her.
"Well, why don't you put the money onto a credit card?" Brian suggested.
Reece shook her head. "I don't think that will work because I don't want anyone knowing that I have that much money. But we need it because we might need food and water and a cab or a hotel or something that we need for certain. So I have to take this much because I don't want to be left on a sidewalk stranded or something."
Brian nodded, understanding where she was getting at.
Reece shook her head, sighing, at loss. She didn't know what to do. Griffen would be upset when he finds out about the new and improved Skincrawlers. "Wait, did the other ghost you were talking to say anything about newer Firewillers?"
Brian frowned, thinking. "I'm think she said something about the Skincrawlers are going to just kill them off because they are a nuisance to them or something like that."
"Oh, Griffen won't be very happy when he hears this. I just don't know what to do," Reece said, remembering when she was in the bath tub. Reece looked up at Brian. "Oh! I forgot to tell you something! I almost died today!"
Brian looked worried when she said that excitedly. "How is that good? Your happy you almost died?"
"No, you don't understand. Okay, so I was at Monika's place and I had asked to take a shower, and you know how I like to stand outside the shower until the water is the right temperature? Well, I was so tired, I forgot about that and I stepped into the tub and slipped and fell. And I didn't even notice that the tub plug was plugged, and the tub was filling up with freezing cold water and I couldn't move. So I thought about how it would be nice to not be on the planet anymore, and I didn't care if I died or not, but then I thought that I needed to live, so I somehow made a water ball in mid-air above me and I could move again. It was weird. And I found out that I can breath underwater. See, I have gills," Reece said in one breath, moving her hair out of the way for her brother to take a look at. Brian looked at the gills on her kneck, then smiled.
"I have some too. We have to same powers, remember?" Brian asked, still looking at the gills. "I still should have told you long ago. How long were you under the water for?"
"Almost ten minutes or something like that. I wasn't really counting. I should have learned to swim years ago. I still don't know how," Reece said, frowning.
"Yeah, we have made some mistakes in our lives, huh?" Brian asked.
"Yeah, we have. But we can't go back in time and change that, no can we?" Reece asked, knowing what he would say.
"Nope, we can't. But listen. I have to leave again, but I will be back so that I can keep an update of things going on, okay?" Brian said, fading from her sight.
"Wait, Brian!" Reece said, trying to grab his wrist, but her hand just went through his.
"Yes?" he asked, the fading stopped.
"When I was in the bathroom, I saw a shadowed figure, and I think it was a man. Do you think you could look for him?" Reece asked.
"You saw a man in the bathroom?" Brian asked, confused.
"Not exactly. I saw something tall and large, but it was only a shadow. I don't really know what it was or if it was a person. I'm not really sure," Reece said, trying to describe it, but couldn't really.
Brian nodded, trying to picture what Reece had described to him, but he couldn't.
"I have to go now, Reece, but if you need me, you know how to find me, after all, you are the one from the prophecy," Brian said, smiling as he disappeared.
Reece sighed. She had no idea what he had meant by if she needed him, that he would be there or something like that. She didn't even know how she was going to tell Griffen about what Brian had told her.
She opened the office door and Griffen walked back in. "So, what's going on?" he asked.
Reece sighed and looked away from him, not even sure how to tell him. He probably wouldn't believe her.
"I have to tell you something, Griffen. And I don't think that you will like what I'm going to tell you. So, before I tell you, why don't we get a cab and head to Las Vegas?" Reece asked, not wanting to tell him right now.
"Just tell me now, Reece. What's going on?" Griffen asked, knowing that she wasn't about to tell him now. It had to be something really bad.
"No, lets get a cab. Then I'll tell you. How far is it to Las Vegas?" Reece asked, changing the subject as she pulled Griffen out the door, making him close the door behind him.
"I don't know. Maybe three or four hours. Why?"
"Just wondering. Lets go," Reece said, feeling at loss. She hardly could control her powers, so what made her brother think that she could save the world? She can't. That's how.
Griffen looked at Reece who had shoved Griffen out the door of her restaurant and locked it, throwing the key back into the rock that hid it well. She seemed distracted, which only told Griffen that it was something bad that Brian had told her, and she didn't want to tell him because she thought he would be mad at her over it.
Griffen knew he would never get mad at her over nothing. But she thought differently. She just needed to learn to trust him, and he thought she didn't trust him as much as he would like her to. She did trust him, but not enough. She still had trust issues.
"You okay, Reece?" Griffen asked.
"I don't know. You'll say the same thing to me when you find out what I found out," Reece said, walking past Griffen towards the street.
Griffen ran to catch up to her. "Is it that bad?" he asked.
Reece nodded, not trusting herself to say anything.
Griffen didn't even bother to ask what it was about because he knew she wouldn't tell him yet.
Reece looked up at Griffen as they walked to the main street to get a cab with a look on her face that Griffen couldn't identify.
"Reece?" Griffen whispered, still trying to make out her look on her face.
"Hmm?" she asked, looking away from him so that he wouldn't see her tears, but it was already too late.
"I want to tell you that you can tell me anything, no matter how it will make me feel, okay?" he said, not sure what else to say.
Reece nodded, knowing he was right. She looked back up at him, thinking. "Why are you here, Griffen?"
"Why am I here?" Griffen asked, not sure how to answer her.
"Yeah, why are you here? I mean, I haven't been very nice to you and I don't even know why your helping me by asking your friend that I don't even know to help me to. I just don't get it."
Griffen thought about what she had asked, not sure what she meant. She knew how he felt about her, and it was really hard just telling her that to her face.
"You know how I feel about you. What else is there to say besides the fact that I am friends with the girl from the prophecy," Griffen said, sort of feeling uncomfortable talking about this.
Reece didn't talk until they reached the end of the road and stopped. She looked up at him and stared into his eyes.
"No, Griffen. We are best friends. Even if you like me more than that, you are the only friend that I really had or have. I never had someone that would kill to save me from a freakish creature that wanted to eat your guts out. I never had someone to talk to. I have always been the kind that hides in the back of the classroom so that no one would even look my way or pick on me to be their science partner. I was always the one that got picked on when I dared to sit on the swings that was owned by the bigger kids.
"I don't want to be that girl anymore. I want to save the world and I want to be the one who everyone knows and wants to be my friend. I am so tired of hiding in the background until someone that I don't know comes to my rescue and takes me off to some land that doesn't exist. I'm tired of living like a regular person. I just want to be me," Reece said, knowing that it was true. She did want to be herself, and she was tired of hiding. She needed, wanted, to be the person that she was meant to be.
Griffen looked at her as she pulled back from him when she had yelled at him a second ago.
"Oh," was all Griffen could get out.
"Griffen, from now on, I am taking charge, and no one is going to stop me. Not even you. Lets get a taxi and get to Las Vegas so that William can help us and teach me to control my powers. I don't know why you can't though."
"I told you. I cannot help you with that kind of things because I don't know all the things you can do. William knows way more than me because he knows more people with powers in his group that keep him updated about things. I think he would be better at helping you than me," Griffen said, frowning as Reece walked past him and whistled so loudly, that his ears rang for a few minutes.
A cab pulled up and a woman stepped out of the cab, opening the door.
Reece put a foot in the car and nodded to the woman. Griffen followed her and went to the other side of the cab and opened the door, sitting himself in the seat that had so many rips in it, that he couldn't believe it was still sit-able. He closed the door after Reece had and the woman got into the cab drivers seat and waited for Reece to give her directions.
"Where to, Reece?" The woman asked.
Reece looked at Griffen for the answer. "Las Vegas. I want you to take us to Las Vegas."
"Seriously?" the woman said, raising her eyebrows.
"Yes. The Black bar to be exact. I don't know the address, Ma'am, sorry," Griffen said.
The woman nodded, mad that she had to punch in The Black Bar into her GPS system.
Griffen leaned over to Reece, who was as far as she could get away from him and asked, "Do you know her?"
She nodded, whispering, "She was once my babysitter until my brother was old enough to watch me."
The woman looked into the mirror and said, "I'm sorry to hear about your brother, he was a good man, Reece."
Reece nodded, and resumed looking out the window, telling her and Griffen that she wasn't going to talk, but Griffen wanted to know what Brian had told her.
"Hey, aren't you going to tell me what happened?" Griffen asked, shifting uncomfortably in the seat.
"Not till we get to Las Vegas."
"But-" he started to say, but she gave him a look that told him to shut up.
She didn't want to tell him yet. And she wasn't going to. Not yet. Not while her old babysitter Mary was in the cab. She didn't even think about it, but it was too late now. "Just wait till we get there. For now, just sleep. You look terrible, Griffen."
She rested her head on the window as they drove out of town.
Griffen didn't know where this all of a sudden attitude had come from, but he didn't like it.
"Reece, what's with you?" he whispered, shutting the window separating them and the cab driver so that she couldn't hear what they were talking about.
Reece looked up at Griffen who was waiting for an answer.
"I told you, Griffen," Reece hissed in a whisper, "I am not going to hold back on who I really am. I don't want to. And I'm not going to. If the Skincrawlers want a fight, they are going to get one hell of a fight from me. And if you don't like it, then I can just stop the car and you can get out right now. I still like having you with me for help and all, but I need you to help lead this. You in?"
Griffen thought about it, knowing he would stay even if he didn't like the new Reece who had suddenly popped out from under her skin.
"I'll stay, but I want to tell you that I really don't like the new you. Your not the person that I fell for," he said, looking out the window to see that they had made it to the outskirts of town, watching as the small shack where he had met Reece in was in ruins from when Reece had set the place on fire.
The cab lady looked at it, frowning. "I wonder what happened there. Probably some stupid teenagers thinking it would be funny to set something that’s been there for ever on fire just for spite," she said, opening the small window in-between the to tell them that, then closing it again.
"Your staying?" Reece asked in a whisper when the cab driver closed the small window. "I didn't think you would."
For a second, Griffen saw the old Reece he had fallen for, but then it disappeared again as she looked out the window, making his heart sink to his stomach because he had a feeling it wouldn't show up anymore after this.
"Reece," Griffen said, not sure what he was going to say to her.
She looked back at him, seeing that he had a loss of words. "Yes?"
"I just want to tell you that even if your not the same person anymore, I will fight next to you and for you no matter what. I will fight till I die," he said, knowing it was true. He would fight till the end even if he was dead.
Reece didn't know how to respond to him. No one has ever said anything to her like that. He was the only one who has stuck by her side even at the bad times.
"I will to, Griffen," Reece said, scooting closer to him as she laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes as she fell asleep.
Griffen could feel her breathing deeply in and out as she slept, and it felt so natural to him. But he knew that it wouldn't last long. She didn't feel the same way he did about her, even if she said she liked him. She didn't like him all that much except as a friend. And he was her only friend really.
Griffen couldn't sleep even though he knew he was tired and needed the sleep. He just kept thinking about Reece's parents. He found out that her parents were in Australia because he found a picture of them with a flag behind them and he looked the flag up and it was an Australian flag.
He didn't even remember why Reece and him were going to see his friend, but she was right about one thing. She needed to learn to control her powers.
Griffen had to learn to control his all on his own, and it had taken him more than five years. When he had first found out that he could will fire, he would always accidentally set things on fire.
Griffen smiled to himself when he thought about his first time he set a house on fire. Good thing that no one was in the house when he had set it on fire.
He didn't know how long it would take to get to Las Vegas, so he asked the cab driver.
"Oh, about two more hours or so. And my name isn't Cab Driver. Its Mary. Who are you anyways? I have known Reece since she was in diapers, and I have never seen you around," Mary said, frowning as she looked at him in the mirror when she saw Reece's head on his shoulder, sleeping.
"I'm an old friend of her brother. We're really close," Griffen said, not bothering to care about lying.
Mary frowned again. "I also know her brother, Brian and he really doesn't have any friends. Your lying. Who are you really?" she asked, turning to wheel down another curve on the road.
"Its none of your business who I am. Just drive!" Griffen said, as Reece mumbled something in her sleep.
Griffen was glad that she hadn't slept at the other side of the cab away from him.
Mary gave Griffen a dirty look as he pushed the privacy window closed so he didn't have to see or hear her talk about how she's known them.
Reece stirred in her sleep, saying something about her brother.
She must really miss him, even if he comes to see her all the time, Griffen thought.
Griffen suddenly felt so tired, he leaned his head against the window slowly to make sure he didn't wake Reece up and fell asleep almost instantly.


"Hey!" someone was yelling, causing Griffen to bult awake.
"What? What time is it?" he asked, rubbing his stiff neck.
Reece was already awake, looking out the window until Mary started to yell.
"We are in Las Vegas now, so pay up and get out," Mary said a little too rudely.
Reece smiled to herself, remembering how Mary was always like this even as a teenager when she had to baby sit Reece. She pulled a wad of money out of her pocket and handed it to Mary, who smiled when she saw the large amount of money.
"Keep the change, Mary. It was nice seeing you," Reece said just to make Mary feel good about herself, even if it wasn't nice seeing her at all.
Mary counted the money, finding over the amount she wanted or needed for the ride.
"This is The Black Bar?" Griffen asked, nothing around them familiar as he stepped out of the cab, slamming the door shut.
Reece looked around. She has always wanted to visit Las Vegas and maybe go to a casino and spend a large amount of money on the slot machines, but she knew she couldn't now. And plus, she was under age to be able to use the slot machines.
Las Vegas was just how she pictured it: lots of people and places to go shopping and to party and get drunk. But she didn't want all of that. She just liked to be around people freakier that her.
Griffen walked around the cab and asked, "So, is it just how you thought it would be?"
Reece nodded. She walked up to the curb and looked up to see that she was looking at The Black Bar.
"I think we are here, Griffen. This is your Black Bar you were talking about. Let go in."
Griffen grabbed her wrist as she reached for the door handle. Reece turned to look at him. "We can't go in right now. Its closed. Can't you read?" he smiled as he thought about how it would be not to be able to read.
"Oh, I didn't see the sign, Griffen. What are we going to do till it opens? When does it open anyways?" Reece looked around the windows until she saw a sign that said open seven days a week one o' clock to one in the morning. "It opens at one, Griffen," she said, answering her own question.
Griffen nodded as he watched Mary and the cab drive away with a scream of the tires.
"Oh! Lets go to that one hotel that has that water spray thingy!" Reece said, jumping up and down, her old self coming out of her shell.
Griffen smiled to himself. "We can't That's too far to walk and its almost one in the evening anyways," he said leaning against the wall of the bar.
Reece stomped her foot and frowned. "That sucks. I really wanted to go."
"Maybe we can when we are done talking to William."
Reece let her frown go and smiled. "Okay, we can stay there too if you want! We could get a five star room and order room service and-"
"Someone looking for me?" an unfamiliar voice said. Griffen looked up, surprised to see William so early. William usually didn't come to the bar when it wasn't open yet.
"William!" Griffen said, embracing him in a hug. "Its been to long, my friend."
"You too, man. I thought you said that a girl was coming with you. I don't see anyone," William said, looking around the corner and spotted her. "Oh, geez. Your right. She is beautiful. Where did you find her?"
"I'll tell you later. She has some weird mood swings, so watch out," he said, sarcastically, walking over to Reece who was looking at a poster on the window of the bar. "Reece, this is William. I told you about him."
Reece looked at the guy named William. He was much more built than Griffen and had short black hair that anyone could tell he cut himself. It wasn't a bad hair cut, but she still could tell. He was much more handsomer than Griffen is, Reece noticed.
She held her hand out for him to shake. He took her hand and kissed it lightly, not taking his eyes off of her. When his lips touched her hand, it sent a tingly feeling up her arm, making her heart race. "Nice to meet you, William. I'm Reece."
"Griffen told me about you. In fact, he wouldn't stop talking about how much your eyes shined in the light, and let me tell you, he was right. They do, and so does everything else about you," William said, smiling.
Griffen frowned. He didn't like how William was looking at her like that. "Okay, so I guess we have to wait till the bar opens, right?" he asked, trying to distract Reece who was blushing as she giggled when William complimented her eyes.
William looked at Griffen and said, "I own the bar now. I use it for things like what we are going to do now."
Reece smiled. "I own my own place, too."
William looked at her smiling at her. "You own a bar too? So you must know your drinks, am I right?" he asked, unlocking the front door.
"Oh, no. I own a restaurant. But its kind of the same thing anyways, right?" Reece asked, feeling embarrassed that she even mentioned it. She looked over at Griffen who was frowning at the way William and her were flirting with each other. Reece had promised that she wouldn't like him, and Griffen could already see that she liked him.
"That is cool. You must cook some very great things, no?" William asked, holding his hand out for Reece to take as she sat down at one of the booths at the counter.
"Yes, I do. Even ask Griffen. He's had one of my famous hamburgers one day when we went to my restaurant," Reece said, looking at Griffen who's good mood flushed down the toilet.
William walked around the counter and began to poor them some drinks.
Reece looked at the bottle that he was pouring a clear liquid out into three glasses. She knew that it was vodka and she knew she was underage to be drinking. "Oh, I'm sorry, William. I can't drink. I'm only nineteen."
William just smiled and kept pouring. "No one will know but us, right? This is my place. And if I say you can drink here, you can."
Reece frowned, knowing that she shouldn't drink.
"I don't really want any, but thanks anyways," she said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. She looked over at Griffen who slightly shook his head so that William couldn't see it but Reece did.
William laughed, sliding a glass of vodka over to her, where she looked down at it. She didn't like this at all.
Suddenly, she was mad. She didn't like how he wanted her to drink, so she decided to show him that she could even though she didn't like to drink that kind of stuff.
Reece stood up and reached over the counter and grabbed the vodka bottle out of William's hand and chugged it all down until it was all gone in three big gulps.
"Whoa, little lady. Drink much?" William asked, laughing.
"Yeah, you shouldn't have done that, Reece. Your going to get drunk," Griffen said, walking over to her to help her balance her, but she was perfectly fine. She shoved him out of the way and walked behind the counter, putting her arm around William.
"How was that?" Reece asked, feeling perfectly fine even though she just drank almost a full bottle of vodka.
"Fine with me! Your probably going to get drunk."
"How long does it take?" Reece asked.
"Not very long. You should be drunk right about now. Question is: Why are you not?"
Reece shrugged her shoulders and grabbed the glass that William had slid to her and dumped the vodka onto the counter.
"Reece, why did you just do that?" Griffen asked, reaching for a rag on the counter William had previously used to wipe the counter on.
Reece held her hand out, not realizing that she had accidentally shoved Griffen into the wall. She was concentrating on the vodka that was floating in mid-air. William looked at her with wide eyes as he helped Griffen up off the ground and watched as the Vodka transformed into a ball of liquid and it fell back into the glass without even touching or getting anything wet.
"What the hell was that?" an unfamiliar voice said.
Everyone turned to look to see who it was.
William smiled, looking down at the counter. "Everyone, this is my ex-girlfriend, who I thought I was married to but it turns out, we were illegally married and it wasn't working out anyways, so we split and are just friends now," William said, waving his hand over to the woman, who didn't even look William's way.
The woman walked over to Reece, popping a bubble in her face with her chewing bubble gum. "Hi, I'm Evernime Muno. Your Reece, right?"
Reece nodded and looked at the red-haired woman standing before her. She was tall and looked as if she didn't even eat anything. Her red hair went way past her knees. She had bright green eyes and had a smile that would make anyone smile right back at her.
"Hi, your right. I am Reece. I like your name. Its unique. I like unique people," Reece said, feeling stupid for saying that.
"Your not stupid for saying that. I like unique people too," Evernime said, smiling.
Reece dropped Evernime's hand and gasped. "Did you just do what I think you just did?"
Evernime smiled again and said, "Yes, I did. I read your mind. Well, I didn't mean to, but that's who I am. Everything anyone around me in a hundred miles I can hear everything that they are thinking about. It was hard at first because I thought that I was going insane, but turns out, I wasn't. William told me that you can do just about everything. So why can't you hear people's thoughts?"
William walked around the counter and put an arm around Reece, looking at Evernime. "I think she hasn't because she hasn't fully developed."
Reece nodded. "I think he is right because I really just started figuring out that I have powers like three or four days ago."
Evernime looked surprised. "Really? And William told me that you are the girl from the prophecy. I don't see how you are because there is supposed to be another. 'A brother of another', I do believe is what the prophecy said."
"How do you know what the prophecy says?" Reece asked.
"I have read it and memorized it, trying to find the two from the prophecy. But it looks like you found me. Well, that is if you are the one from the prophecy. Where is the other?" Evernime said, looking around. "Please tell me that it isn't Griffen."
Reece and William laughed, looking at Griffen who looked up from a glass of water he had gotten himself. "What? What did I miss?" he asked.
"Nothing. Evernime thinks your the other half of the prophecy."
"No, I am not. Not even close. Her brother is. Why would you think that I am?" Griffen asked, smirking as he swigged some water.
They all laughed. "I can't see you as the other one from the prophecy, Griffen," William said.
Reece and Evernime nodded in agreement. "I agree. I can't see you as someone who could save the world."
Griffen slammed the glass of water he was drinking, water going everywhere on the surface of the counter. "I don't even know who you people are anymore. Who are you? Am I the only one who hasn't changed?"
"What are you talking about, Griffen? None of us have changed," William said. Everyone's smile had faded.
"How would you know? Your too caught up in Reece, who you have just met. I have known her longer than you have and she has never shown me what she's been showing you and she just met you not even a hour ago. Your acting like you've all been best friends since the beginning of time, and you haven't. You've all changed," Griffen said, pointing his finger at all three of them, who were standing by the door, trying to figure out why he was acting like this. Griffen looked at Reece. "And you, Reece. You said that you wouldn't get involved with anyone, and look at you right now! Your practically in his arms right now!" Reece looked at William and blushed, pulling away from him, who coughed nervously to himself.
"What are you saying?" Reece asked, her heart aching. She needed him here, and she was afraid he would leave. She had promised Griffen that she wouldn't get involved with anyone, and she had been flirting with William, who had been flirting back with her.
"I'm saying that I don't want to be near people that I don't know," Griffen said, standing up and pushed past the three.
"Where are you going?" Reece asked, tears rolling down her face as she grabbed his arm. He turned back to look at her, searching for something that he had seen in her eyes when he first met her, but he didn't see or find it.
"I'm leaving. I brought you here to help you, and I have. You don't need me anymore. They can help you now."
Reece loosened her grip on him, but didn't let go. She couldn't believe that he was just leaving after everything that they had gone though together. "Don't go, I need you here still."
Griffen shook his head, pulling away from Reece. "If you needed me here, you would have said it a long time ago, and you didn't. I can see where this is going, and I don't want to be around when-" he stopped talking. He couldn't say anymore. Reece had promised him something that he thought she would keep, and he believed her because he believed in her, but now that was all fading away.
"But what?" Reece asked, holding her breath.
"Never mind. Just leave me alone. I got you to where you were meant to be, and I hope your happy," Griffen said, turning again to the door.
Reece had to say something to get him to stay, but she didn't know what to say. "What about all those things you said to me when you brought me into Monika's room when I almost died. What about what happened in there, huh? Does that not matter to you anymore?" She whispered, making Griffen stop just for a second to say: "Not anymore."
Griffen walked out the door without another word, and Reece just let him go, tears falling down her cheeks and onto her shirt.
"Reece?" William asked, grabbing her face in his hands. His hands were so warm. "Its going to be okay. He will come back, you know it."
Reece nodded, not sure if she should believe him.
Evernime grabbed Reece's arms and pulled her into a hug. "Don't listen to William. I know he doesn't believe what he said. But let me tell you something, Reece. He loves you and he let you go. That's his own problem to pity himself. I do admit that it wasn't very nice to say he couldn't save the world, but it was true, and he is very sensitive about things. He always was and still is. He just needs to cool off, alright?"
Reece nodded, wiping the tears off her face. "I don't think he will come back though. I haven't been very nice to him since I met him. He kissed me once and I told him basically that I didn't like it. I told him that I just wanted to be friends with him. I shouldn't have. I do need him, and he was right. I should have been nicer to him, but I wasn't."
"Its alright, Reece. You didn't do anything wrong. You followed your heart. He needs to find his now. And he will, but not for a while longer. He will come back I can promise you that," Evernime said, cradling Reece in her arms.
"Why are you being so nice to me, you guys?" Reece asked, slightly pulling away from Evernime, who was still holding Reece in a hug.
"Have you seen what you can do?" William asked.
"I guess. Its stuff that people can do," Reece said, not following him.
"You don't understand. You have so much power, that you don't even realize it. You may not have all of them right now, but once you hit your full potential, then you will be almost immortal, but not really. If that makes any sense," William said.
Reece suddenly felt better. "I guess your right. I just wish Griffen was still here. In a way, I do love him, but not the way he wants me to."
William scoffed, looking away.
"He doesn't care, sweetie," Evernime said.
Reece laughed, putting a hand on William's cheek. "I know he doesn't."
William blushed and looked at his feet.
"So, I take it that Griffen wants me to train you to protect yourself and all that good stuff, and I right?" Evernime asked, looking at Reece.
"I think so, but he didn't really say. When we first met, he told me that he knew some people, who I think are you and he said that you would be able to help me. That's all I really know. I just assumed that you were someone who could help me train," Reece said, sitting back in her seat, which had gone cold.
She looked over at the spot Griffen had sat in, and a chill ran up her spine as she pictured him slamming down the cup of water on the counter.
She should never said what she had said. But then again, ever since she met William, he had been acting like someone she didn't know: distant and shy and quiet. That wasn't him either, and he thought that she had changed?
Evernime put a hand on her shoulder for comfort. "Its going to be fine. William and I can teach you how to protect yourself from them."
"I don't really need to know I don't think. I have killed two Skincrawlers and an old woman," Reece said, looking at the bottles of different alcohol.
"No shit?" William asked, not believing her.
"Yeah, its true. The first one I killed I was in a hotel sleeping when I woke up to see a Skincrawler at my door and I tried to get out the window and long story short, I killed him when we reached the ground. The second one I killed was trying to get me to tell him where my really parents where. I was next to a tree, so I grabbed a large branch and I yanked it off the tree and stabbed him with it. Then the old lady was crazy because she thought she was the one from the prophecy, not me. She thought I was taking her place, but I wasn't. I accidentally killed her. She was the one who told me that I was who I am. I trusted her, and she lied to me and betrayed me. Then I met Griffen in an old shack on the outskirts of my town," Reece said.
Evernime gasped, making Reece and William look at her.
"What is it?" William asked.
"I read Reece's mind and saw everything. She isn't lying when she said that she's killed them. How is that even possible to cast wind, fire and lightening at the same time?"
"It just is. I guess I really am the girl from the prophecy. But I wish my brother wasn't dead," Reece said, hoping her would appear in front of her, but he didn't.
"Your brother is dead?" Evernime and William asked at the same time.
"Yeah," Reece said, nodding as she lowered her head, holding back another round of tears. "Skincrawlers killed him. But that's okay, because I can talk to him."
"You are a Necromancer?" Evernime asked, shocked.
"Yeah, I am. I haven't talked to any other ghosts but my brother," Reece replied.
"This is worse then I thought, but then again, it isn't. The prophecy states that there will be two leaders, a girl and a boy. They never said that they had to be related. But then again, they also said 'a brother of another'. So it might be someone else's brother that is the other half. So we just have to find him. But there is another breed of Skincrawlers called Clan Fighters because they believe that they can fight off the other clans and rule after they do. But if we find the other one to the prophecy, then we might be able to stop them," Evernime said excitedly.
"Might?" Reece asked, sighing. "I might be able to stop them? What if I don't?"
She shrugged. "Look, Reece. You have so much in you that you don't even know you have. You have powers beyond anything possible. When I walked in here, I saw you levitating that vodka. Normal people cannot do that."
"So your saying that I have telekinesis?" Reece asked.
"Yes, I think you do. You would not have been able to do that unless you did. I think it is amazing," Evernime said.
Reece smiled weakly. "Why does my powers pop out of nowhere?"
"We think its because of the energy waves in a certain area. If there is more, than your powers come faster, stronger, easier. But if there is less..."
"Then its slower and not as easy?" Reece finished her sentence.
"Yes, that is exactly it," William said.
"So, do you guys know anything about my parents?" Reece asked. "Or anything that can help me?"
"Well," Evernime said, looking at William with a concerned look on her face. "We know a lot about your real parents, but your not going to like it. Mostly everything that you think you know is wrong. For one, your brother, Brian, he did die, but he crossed over. He isn't even related to you. When you were born, you were sent to the place that you know of now and protected by your fake parents and brother."
"Then who have I been talking to? I mean, he comes to see me all the time and he told me-" Reece stopped when Evernime put her hand up.
"You were deceived, Reece. Nothing in your life is the right answer for you," Evernime said, sighing. She couldn't believe that Reece actually believed everything that she heard and told. Evernime just had to touch Reece on the hand or the shoulder, and she knew everything she needed to know to set Reece straight. And Evernime didn't think that Reece would like what she was going to tell her about her real parents. She had once met Reece's parents, but at the time, she was very young and didn't know who they were.
"What do you mean?" Reece asked, confused. "So, my brother isn't even related to me like my parents aren't? Has my whole life been a lie, then?" she scoffed as she thought about how she always thought she was her parents' daughter or her brother's sister.
"I am sorry, Reece. But I know everything about you. I know everything about everyone or anything. I can't help it, and you need to know the truth."
"We are sorry, Reece. About everything," William said, putting a hand on her shoulder for comfort.
"I know you are. Its really weird, though. I hardly know any of you guys and Griffen was right about me acting like someone from another place. I don't usually act like this. What's happening to me?" Reece asked, looking up at them.
"When you first get your powers, they start to take over and you act differently. It happened to me and it surely happened to Griffen. We've known him a long while. We are all changing in a way. But that doesn't always happen," Evernime said.
"So, my powers take over me?" Reece asked in horror.
"Yes, they are. But once you start to control them, then you'll be just fine. I think yours are starting to take you over, but I cannot be too sure. Mine started after I got my second ability."
Reece looked over at her new friends and frowned. "I want to know everything. Start with my really parents and who they are," she said, reaching in her pocket and pulled out the picture of them and handed it to Evernime. "This is a picture of my real parents."
"This is not your parents. Did you happen to find this in a window sill?" Evernime said as she felt the picture.
"Yes, how did you know?" Reece asked.
"I can feel who put it there. Your fake father put it there."
"Why would he do that if these are not my real parents?" Reece asked, really confused. None of this made any sense.
"Your fake parents and brother, they wanted you to not find your real parents. So they plotted this whole thing and now you are on a wild goose chase over nothing. Your real parents don't even want to know who you are."
"Why? I thought that my real parents would want to meet me," Reece asked.
"No, they don't. They are too afraid of what might happen if the prophecy was to come true," Evernime replied, sighing, wishing that Reece would understand.
"How do you know all of this? What if your wrong?" Reece asked.
"I am never wrong. I told you when we first met. I can hear people's thoughts. And if I was to touch someone, I see the truth about everything in their lives. I can see everything that they don't want me to see," Evernime said.
"She never lies, Reece. You need to believe her about everything she tells you," William said.
Reece nodded. "I do, but nothing she says makes any sense."
"If I told you from the start, would it make more sense to you?" Evernime asked, sitting down next to Reece in one of the bar stools.
Again, she nodded, looking down at her reflection on the counter top.
"Alright then. I will start from the beginning..."


Griffen didn't even know who Reece is anymore. He knew that her powers were taking over her, but he couldn't do anything about it either. He had to do something about it, but he didn't know what to do. He didn't know what her powers would do to her considering how she has so many powers and it probably wouldn't be the last one she gets.
He shouldn't have stopped in front of the door when Reece had said what she had said. He didn't know what had made her say that, but something told him that she has feelings for him but not enough. But he had stopped to listen to what she said, and he had left anyways. He should have stayed. He should have grabbed her and never let go, but he had, and he didn't want to go back now because he didn't want to look like a fool. He has known William and Evernime for a long time, and when he had said that they had changed, he meant it. He didn't even know Reece because she was acting like she always knew them, when she had just met them. She didn't know anything about them.
But then again, she might have thought that since Griffen trusted them, that she should too. Griffen knew that Reece trusted him completely. So maybe since he brought her here to Las Vegas to meet Evernime and William, then she should just trust them like he did.
That's what Griffen kept telling himself, anyways.
He really didn't know what Reece was thinking. Griffen knew that he was stupid for bringing Reece here to meet them. He knew that he might lose Reece when Evernime sent him a telepathic message to his mind, telling him that she knew he loved Reece and that if he didn't do something about it, William would take his place.
She also said that there was a chance that Griffen and Reece would end up together, but he needed to do something about it, or he would lose her to William. He couldn't stand to think about William kissing her and holding her at night, Reece mumbling his name in her sleep. He just couldn't.
When Evernime sent the telepathic message, he lost it, and left. He was stupid because now he knew he would lose Reece to William.


Monika looked at her husband. "Honey, what are you doing?"
Creon looked at his wife and smiled to her. "I am pacing, what does it look like I am doing?"
"I know what you are doing, but what I really want to know is what are you thinking about?" She asked, smiling back at him.
"I got a call from my boss. Our plan has to change. But I don't know what to do about that. You have any ideas?" Creon asked, kissing Monika on the lips.
"We really can't do anything about it with the baby coming," Monika said, setting her hand on her stomach where a little boy or girl was. "What did our boss want us to do?"
"Well, he told me that Reece and her friend Griffen were finding out things that they shouldn't be finding out. So now we have to drop our plan and totally forget it. We can just go and attack her before she fully develops. Because if she does, then we are going to die."
"I don't understand, Creon."
"What do you not understand?" Creon asked, frowning.
"Everything. How does Reece find out these things so easily?"
"I don't know," Creon asked, still frowning.
"Why are we even doing this? Why can't we just ditch our boss and have a normal life?" Monika asked.
"I wish that we can have a normal life too, Monika. I do."
Suddenly, Creon got an idea. He knew what he had to do, but he had to find someone he knew could help him find Griffen and Reece. He had to find them.
He grabbed his phone and dialed his creators number in a dash and told his boss that he wanted to know where they were so he could find them. He couldn't tell his creators what he was doing.
"Well," his boss said, "I can find out where they are, just give me a few minutes."
His boss clicked the phone off, dialing another number. He talked on the phone for a few more minutes and then he was back on the line with Creon. "They are in Las Vegas," his boss said and hanged up.
"Honey, I am going to Las Vegas."


Reece finally understood everything. She wasn't a princess or the daughter of the leaders of the clans that were once all one clan.
The clans at one time had been one whole clan, different people in one place living in peace and harmony but had gotten jealous of each other and split. They started a war that turned into a prophecy that was just a legend. It wasn't real. Reece and her brother were not even real.
Evernime couldn't even believe what she was telling Reece herself. She had just learned the truth. All she needed to do was touch someone that was created by the first leaders of time and she knew everything. Everything was so real to her. She saw when the world was first being created. She saw the world develop into what it is today and she saw how it was going to die too, but she didn't tell anyone that either because it was coming in their time no matter what anyone did to try and stop it.
"I cannot believe that everything I thought I knew about all this was a lie," Reece said, shaking her head.
"Yes, well, neither can I," Evernime said.
"So there really wasn't even a prophecy at all? I thought that you said there is one. You told me that you studied it and memorized it at one point," Reece said.
"I did because that is what I thought was the truth. But some how touching you hand or your shoulder, I saw the truth. I don't really know how I saw everything else that didn't have to do with you, but I did. The prophecy was just a legend that never was but grew into what people believed in."
William had gotten tired and went to sleep in his office on his small foldout bed when the light outside in the sky started to darken. For some reason, Reece missed him even though he was right nest to her in a different room.
"Nothing is even real to me. I have been living a lie, and so has everyone else. The Skincrawlers especially. They are the ones who had no idea about anything and then they believed in the prophecy and turned against everyone else because they believed in it so much," Reece said, shaking her head. "Just like they started to believe in the Devil, but then turned against him to because they only believed in the prophecy."
Evernime nodded, agreeing. "We need to go and tell them that. Somehow, we need to let them know that they have been living on a legend that doesn't even exist."
"Right, but how?" Reece asked herself more than she was Evernime.
Reece thought about how the Skincrawlers had so badly wanted to know where her real parents were and they were willing to kill her to find out. All they wanted to do is change fate, even though it was never going to happen anyways. They so badly wanted to get rid of the prophecy because they didn't know it was just a legend.
"I have no idea," Evernime said.
"But if the prophecy is just a legend, then how do you know everything it says? I mean, you said that you studied it for so long. Is there a paper or something?" Reece asked, as she saw through a small window to his office William stand up and yawn. He walked out of his room and smiled when he saw Reece looking at him as he turned to sink on and slug some water down without even getting a glass to put the water in.
"Hi," William said as he wiped the water off his face.
Reece's heart raced as she said, "Hi, have a good catnap?"
William laughed. "Sort of. I kept having a really weird dream over and over."
Evernime took a sip of the glass of water she had gotten when her throat was dry from talking so much to Reece and sat it back down, ignoring William. "Well, I am not really sure how there came to be a scroll of the legend, but one point in time, there was one."
"Where is it?" William asked, sitting next to Reece, who's heart was racing so fast and hard, she thought everyone in the room could hear it.
"The last time I read it, it was in a museum being moved. I honestly don't know at this point. I only see the truth, remember?" Evernime said, rolling her eyes at him.
He keeps thinking of you, Reece. Evernime sent a telepathic message to Reece.
Reece didn't look up from her reflection on the counter. She had heard what Evernime sent to her in her head.
What are you talking about? Reece asked, finally looking up at her.
Just like I said, he can't stop thinking about you. He lied when he said he had a weird dream. I saw what he dreamed about, and it wasn't what he said he dreamed about. He likes you, and I know how hard your heart is beating for him right now. Evernime said, smiling at her.
Reece looked away as she stood up and walked past Evernime. I don't know what your talking about, Evernime.
Evernime scoffed, smiling. "Its no use hiding it from anyone, Reece."
William looked at Evernime and frowned. "What am I missing here?"
"Nothing," Evernime and Reece said at the same time.
"No, your both lying. You were doing that weird telepathic thingy, aren't you?" William asked Evernime, who looked away so he wouldn't see her smiling.
Reece opened the front door of the Black Bar and stepped outside to feel the cool breeze.
The breeze wasn't as cool as she thought it would be. It was a warm breeze. Warmer than her town usually is at this time of the summer. It was late summer, and in her town, it would be starting to cool down for the fall and where the leaves would start to fall and turn beautiful colors of red, yellow, orange.
Reece had always wanted to come here and stay at the Bellagio, a hotel with a light and water show and synchronized music.
Reece turned around to see William standing behind her.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" He asked, standing next to her.
"Yes, it is. I have always wanted to come here. My town is so small, but it does have its moments like this. Even in the dark," Reece said, trying hard not to look at William, who was also trying not to look at her.
"What's your town called?" William asked in a whisper.
"Small Town."
"No shit?" William asked, laughing. "I have never heard of it before. And I do get around alot."
"Yes, it is true. Our mayor wanted to call it something that it was, and our town is small, so we called it Small Town. Its very pretty there in the late summer right now and when the sun goes down, its like a clash of different beautiful colors in the sky raining down on you," Reece said, feeling stupid for describing a sunset.
William smiled, finally looking at her.
"I can show you a really beautiful place tomorrow if you want me to. It will take your breath away," William said, scooting closer to her as they stood in front of the bar and looked at the street.
"That would be wonderful. Why isn't there many people driving or walking by?" Reece asked. "I always thought that Las Vegas would be busy on every street and corner."
"Well, its a week day, so its not as busy today. And when some places down here are closed, like mine is, people don't come down here. They like to come when things are open, not closed."
"Ah, I get it," Reece said, a small smile crossing her face.
"I'm glad Griffen brought you here," William said, not noticing that he took her hand in his, entangled his fingers with hers.
Reece did notice, though. And it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
"I am too, but I do miss him though. I wonder where he is. I wonder if he thinks of us in any way."
"I have no idea."
They were silent for a few minutes. Reece broke the silence.
"So, when did you start a group for your hunting the Skincrawlers?" Reece asked.
"Did Griffen ever tell you about how we met?" William asked.
"Yes, he did. He said that he saved you from a Skincrawler."
"Right. He did. About three months later, I thought about him and called him up. At the time, I didn't know who Evernime was. We talked about how we have been and Griffen had made a joke about something that I don't even remember and it gave me an idea to help stop them from taking over because Griffen had said that that is what he thinks they would do. So I made a website for people with his type of abilities and Evernime emailed me and we met and started to date."
Reece knew he would eventually tell her about how he met Evernime, but she didn't think it would be this soon.
"So you just met Evernime, and you started to date?" Reece asked.
"Not exactly. We met and she told me about herself and I already knew Judo and Ju Jitsu and Karate, so I taught her to fight because she had once came face to face with one before. So I taught her every single day of the week except for Sunday, which we always went out and did something to keep our minds off of what we really had been doing. We got to know each other and became friends, which eventually turned into something more."
"When did you ask her to marry you?" Reece asked.
"I wasn't the one who asked to marry. She asked me. Well, more like told me I should marry her."
"And you did?" Reece asked, surprised.
"No. I told her if she wanted to get married, she had to prove that it was more than what she was showing. She did, or so I thought, and we went to a church and got married. But our relationship went down the drain once we settled down. We would fight over the dumbest things and so we divorced not even two months into the marriage. We became friends after that. A month after we just became friends, we got a letter saying that we had been illegally married," William said, shaking his head. He looked at Reece and watched her hair blow gently in the wind. "And I'm glad that Evernime and I didn't stay together."
Reece looked at William when he said that. "What are you saying?" She squeezed his hand.
William just looked at her. He was going to say something, but then someone from in front of them stopped.
Reece looked into the street to see a Skincrawler right in front of them, staring right at them. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the Little Piggy and the Player?"
William grabbed Reece's arm and pulled her behind him, tensing.
"What do you want, Skincrawler?" William asked.
"Just dropping by to say hello. And to kill you both!" The Skincrawler lunged at William, screaming as he ran at him.
William shoved Reece back as the Skincrawler hit him full force in the chest, Reece falling into the door, glass shattering on and around her. She was cut on the arm and her leg, but she still got up and ran inside.
Evernime was in the office, sleeping. She probably decided to get some sleep and give her and William some privacy outside. "Evernime! Help! William is being attacked by a Skincrawler!" she yelled.
Evernime yanked the door to the office open and ran past Reece, who followed her to the broken front door.
When they got there, the Skincrawler was tied up on the ground.
"How-" Reece was going to say, how did you do that so fast? but she remembered that he told her that he learned self-defense.
"What do you want, Skincrawler?" William asked, grabbing his shirt.
The Skincrawler smiled and spat in William's face. He wiped it off.
"Evernime, you can have him now," William said, shoving the Skincrawler back on the ground. Evernime smiled at William and grabbed his shirt in the same spot that William had and dragged him into the bar and flung him across the room as if he was nothing and landed with a THUD! against the wall. He slid to the floor.
"Who are you?" Evernime asked.
"I tell you nothing!" He spat.
"I am a Mindreader, and I think your going to tell me, or I will read your mind and see the truth!" Evernime said just as scary-like as the Skincrawler had.
"You lie!" he yelled, struggling to move, but he couldn't. William had grabbed a rope that had been tied on the door handle and tied it around the hands of the Skincrawler without touching him.
"I never lie. I cannot lie. If I do, then I die. Do you think that I would want to lose my life just to lie to a disgusting creature like you?" Evernime asked, both William and Reece knowing that it was part true and part lie. She couldn't lie, but it was possible to lie. She was just bending the truth. She would eventually die from telling lies and the more she lied, the quicker she died.
The Skincrawler went even more whiter than his usual skin color of gray as she said that.
"I was told to come here. I was told to kill the girl and if I couldn't, then I was to swipe her mind so that she didn't know who she was," the Skincrawler said, shaking with fear as Evernime and William picked him up.
"Wait!" Reece said. She didn't want to see another person die, even if it was a Skincrawler. "What are you going to do with him?"
"Kill him of course!" Evernime said with a smile. She truly hated Skincrawlers.
"No, I don't want you to kill him," Reece said, grabbing both Evernime and William's shoulders.
"What?" William and Evernime asked at the same time.
"I said don't kill him. I want to know what he meant by swipe my mind so that I wouldn't remember anything," Reece said, still standing in the same position as she had been.
"She's right. We need to know what he meant," William said, taking his hands off of the Skincrawlers leather jacket.
They all sat the Skincrawler down on the floor and stood over him.
"What is your name?" Reece asked.
"Why do you want to know my name?" He asked.
"Just because. So I don't have to keep calling you a Skincrawler, okay?" Reece said, rolling her eyes.
"Creon. My name is Creon."
"Well, then, Creon. Let my ask you this. Why do you believe in this prophecy?"
"Because. I just do."
"Just tell me, your probably going to die in the end, anyways, so go ahead, tell us," Reece said, knowing that she wasn't going to kill him.
Creon looked up at them with wide eyes. He was not expecting this. He didn't think that they would be this far with their abilities. He really didn't want to die now that he knew his wife was going to have their first child.
Reece looked at him closely, seeing something that she had never seen in a Skincrawler's eyes. "Hey, you look familiar, Creon."
"What are you talking about?" Creon asked, confused, then remembered that he had swiped her memory when she accidentally killed Monika.
"I see something in your eyes that I have never seen with any of the other Skincrawlers that I have come across with that in their eyes. It looks like..." Reece looked deeper into his eyes and saw something that made her gasp. "That's impossible!"
William and Evernime looked back and forth between Creon and Reece.
"What do you see?" William asked.
Reece shook her head. This couldn't be. She didn't think that Skincrawlers were even possible to do what she saw. "Its...its...love. I see love in his eyes. How is that even possible?"
William looked at Reece. "That can't be right, can it?"
Evernime shrugged, not knowing. "I have no idea. I don't see anything." She bent down to look, but like she said, she didn't see anything.
"Well, I do. I can see it plainly. Who is it that your in love with?" Reece asked Creon, who was still frowning at the way William and Evernime were trying to look into his eyes.
"My wife, if you must know."
Reece was surprised. "You have a wife?"
"Yes, and you killed her!" Creon said.
Suddenly, Reece saw something. She saw herself in her house at the top balcony with Monika and she had accidentally pushed her off the edge and killed her.
Reece staggered back, gasping for air.
"Reece? What's wrong?" William asked, rushing to her side.
"I...killed her. I had killed Monika!" Reece looked at Creon, who was smiling. "How is that possible? I saw myself accidentally push her off the edge of the balcony and she died. How is she still alive? I saw the blood and I saw..."
"Yes, you did kill her, but I brought her back to life. And I married her. I love her," Creon's eyes weren't looking at either of them, but they were imagining Monika standing there with him. "We are having a child together," he said, but more to himself then to them.
"A child?" Reece asked, catching her breath. "Monika is pregnant?"
"Who's Monika?" William asked, confused.
"She's one of my friends. Well, I thought she was one of my friends."
"She was never one of your friends!" Creon spat. "She wanted to be at first, but you just toyed with her until she lost it and accidentally lost her balance on that balcony and fell to her death because of you!" Creon moved closer to Reece.
Reece shook her head and backed away. "I never meant to! I have never had a friend before! You cannot blame me for something that was an accident! She is alive, so what does it matter?"
"It matters. I love her and I told myself that if anything happened to her, I would kill whoever did what they did to her. And I was going to kill you, but your boyfriend there stopped me."
"Why do you think that killing solves anything?" Reece whispered, sitting in front of him but not in reaching distance.
"I don't think it solves anything."
"Then why did you swear that you would kill me because of what I accidentally did?" Reece asked, looking at him.
Creon sighed. "I really don't like to kill at all. I was just saying that because I was mad. I don't want to even be in this at all, but I have to."
"Be in what?" Reece asked.
"This," Creon said, waving his hands as best he could around him. "I just wanted a normal life with Monika and forget that I was even what I am."
Reece suddenly felt sorry for him. "I'm sorry. I bet that your boss or whoever told you to do all of this."
Creon nodded. "Yes, its true. I always did what my creators told me to do. But that has to change. I needed to talk to Reece alone."
"I don't think so. You might try something we don't want you to try," William said, trying to get in front of Creon and Reece.
Reece pushed William's legs away from her so she could see Creon clearly.
"I think we should let them talk alone, William. I mean, Reece told me that she has killed a few before, and we can trust her, right?" Evernime said to William, who frowned when she actually agreed with Reece to leave her alone with Creon.
"I don't think that that is such a good idea, Evernime," William said, not moving from the spot he was at when Evernime tried to grab his arm and pull him along.
"Well, she can take care of herself, and he is tied up. Let them talk!" Evernime said, grabbing him by the waist and picked him up and took him into his office in the back where she closed the door behind the her when he tried to get past her.
"Tell me quickly. I want to know what is going on," Reece said.
"I need your help. I know we are supposed to be enemies, but I don't want to fight anymore. I just want to have a normal life with Monika and have our child together. That's all I want now."
"How am I supposed to help? And how am I supposed to believe you?" Reece asked, not sure what to believe. "Evernime said that Skincrawlers will try anything to get into people's minds."
"Not really. Us Skincrawlers just want to mess with people. In truth, they are just very weak creatures that think their stuff doesn't stink. I don't even care about the prophecy anymore. Like I said, I just want a life for me and my family," Creon said, looking down. Reece could see tears falling from his eyes. Even if he is a Skincrawler, she had never seen a male cry except her fake brother when their parents died in the plane accident.
Reece looked around and finally found what she was looking for. She used her telekinesis to pull a tissue out of the box and brought it up to Creon's eyes and wiped the tears off his cheeks and eyes. He looked up at her and searched for something.
"Why are you doing this for me?" he asked.
"I cannot stand to see someone crying, even if you are supposed to be my enemy."
"Oh," he said and took the tissue in his hands.
"There is no prophecy, you know. Its all just a legend," Reece said.
Creon looked up at her quickly. "What? Of course there is! The whole Skincrawler clan thinks of nothing else!"
"There isn't. Evernime can see the truth in everything, and she says that it was just made up and every clan decided to go through with it, even though it would never happen. Everyone was lied to, even the Skincrawlers."
Creon could see she was telling the truth. "Oh, my God. What have we done?"
"Killed millions of innocent people and other creatures is what you've all done. We all have been fighting over nothing. There never was a prophecy and never will be. We were duped. Deceived. And any other word that you can think of that basically says we were lied to," Reece says standing up. She knew that Creon would not hurt her.
She stepped over him and untied him.
"What are you doing?" Creon asked, standing up.
"Letting you go. You do not deserve this. None of us do. We have been living a lie that started a feud between all the clans. I don't know what else to say to you other than that," Reece said, tossing the rope on the floor.
Suddenly, William burst out of the office and jumped on Creon.
"What are you doing, William?!" Reece yelled, grabbing him, trying to get him off Creon.
"You let him go! Why would you do that?" William asked, holding Creon's arms behind his back.
"He doesn't want to hurt any of us! He just wants a normal life like we do! Now let him go!" Reece said, tensing, hoping William wouldn't do anything stupid.
Evernime raced into the room, stopping when she saw William and Reece standing face to face.
"No! I will not! I need something to tie him back up with!" William said, ignoring Reece.
"If Reece said to let him go, William, you let go," Evernime said.
Creon didn't even try to struggle in William's arms.
"LET HIM GO. NOW," Reece said, lifting both Creon and William into the air using her telekinesis.
William's eyes went wide and let go of Creon. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.
"He doesn't want any of this, William, and your just making it worse for all of us. He is not the enemy here!" Reece said, bringing both of them back to the solid tiled floor.
Creon gasped for air. He had been holding his breath the whole time.
"He could have killed you, Reece! Don't you see? He was going to kill you!" William said, trying to get Reece to see what he was talking about.
Reece shook her head. "No, William. YOU don't understand. He is not here to fight or hurt or kill any of us!"
Evernime looked back and forth between the three of them without saying anything. This was not her fight. It was theirs.
"It is true. I do not wish to hurt any of you," Creon said.
"Evernime!" William said, grabbing Evernime's wrist and pulled her to Creon. "Tell me that he is lying."
Evernime touched Creon on the hand and shook her head. "Reece is right. He does not wish to hurt us in any way. He just wants a normal life like we do. Now calm down and let it set in. Because if you touch this man again, I will hurt you instead of Reece. And I don't think that you would want Reece to hurt you, do you? Because I know how you feel about her. She feels the same way, and I don't think she wants to hurt you at all."
Reece blushed and looked down.
William looked at Reece. "Is that true?" he asked.
Reece looked up at him. "Yes, its true."
William sighed with relief. He slowly walked over to Reece and grabbed her face in his hands.
Reece looked deep into his eyes. Everyone around them disappeared and all she saw was him.
He kissed her lightly on the lips, slowly at first, but faster and firmer. His lips were so warm on hers and she didn't even care if Creon or Evernime was watching.
This kiss wasn't like the one she had with Griffen. The one with Griffen was cold and hard and desperate. This one was soft and warm and it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
"Uh, guys?" Evernime said, but they ignored them and kept kissing, Reece's hands in his soft black hair and his hands on her hips, pulling her closer to him as they kissed.
To Reece, William lips tasted like oranges. He must have been eating one.
"Guys?" Evernime asked again.
They finally pulled apart from each other, both of their hearts beating fast and their faces red beet.
"Yes, Evernime?" William asked.
"I thought you were going to suck at each other's faces all night. We were in the middle of a conversation here," Evernime said, making Creon chuckle with laughter.
"Jealous much?" William asked with a smile.
"Not really. I've had enough of you for a long time. No offense, William," Evernime said, turning away from them as they all laughed at what she said.
"None taken," William said, kissing Reece on the hand as he looked up at her in the eyes.
Reece blushed and looked down.
"That is exactly what I have, Reece, William," Creon said.
They all looked at Creon and Reece smiled. She knew how he felt. He was in love, just as she was with William the moment she met him.
"Okay, Romeo and Juliet, lets hope you don't kill yourself if one of you dies tragically," Evernime said smirking.
"You have a problem, Evernime?" Reece asked, turning to face her.
"Not really. I just don't think that it is very lady like to kiss someone that they were once married to in front of the ex-wife," Evernime said, turning to look at Reece.
"Sounds like your jealous, Evernime. We never were married, remember?" William said, putting his hand around Reece's waist.
Reece leaned in closer to him. He smelled of fresh apples. He smiled down at her.
This is not a good idea, Reece. You shouldn't let a relationship get in the way of what we really need to be doing! Evernime said to Reece through a telepathic message.
Reece didn't even care if Creon or William heard her. "I don't care if this is not a good idea, Evernime. I love William from the moment that I met him and he does too. You cannot stop something that you knew would eventually happen. And this relationship is not getting in the way of anything from what I can see!"
William looked at her, confused, then thought Evernime must have sent her a message in her head.
"I am sorry to stop your conversation, Reece, but I think she might be right about one thing. It might get in the way," Creon said, nodding towards Evernime.
Reece and William turned to look at Creon, standing behind them.
"What are you talking about?" Reece asked. "Aren't you the one that was asking for my help to straighten this all out so that you could be with your love of your life? Surely you would know how we feel."
Creon sighed and looked at his feet. "I do know how you feel. I do feel the same about Monika, but I think that we should put all that behind until we can straighten everything out, then once we do that, we can kiss our partners all we want to."
Reece considered what he was saying. He didn't want to tear them apart, he just wanted to have a normal life with his love like she now did with William.
"I think he might be right, William. We should put this behind us right now, but once we do get everything settled, we can live normally I think he is trying to say, right Creon?" Reece asked, looking at Evernime, who nodded in agreement.
William groaned, knowing that they were right. "Alright. What are we going to do about the other Skincrawlers?"
"I think I might know," Creon said, raising his hand to get everyone's attention.


Monika sat on her couch, rubbing stretch mark cream on her belly so that once she had the bundle growing in her stomach she wouldn't have stretch marks all over her stomach and sighed to herself.
She missed Creon. She wondered how he was doing.
Creon had explained to her his plan, and she didn't like it until he explained it some more. She no longer lived to hate Reece for pushing her off of the balcony or to get revenge on her. She did want what Creon wanted. They just wanted to have a life for their child and where they didn't have to deal with anyone or anything trying to kill their enemies off over a stupid prophecy.
Suddenly, a knock came at the door. Her heart began to race as she stood up to see who it was.
She looked through the peep hole in the door, but it was covered in morning dew and she couldn't see anything but a figure. She didn't know if it was a man or a woman.
She slowly opened the door and peeked out. "Hello?"
She saw a man standing outside her doorway and he shoved his way into the house, Monika falling to the floor on her back. She grabbed her stomach to make sure that the baby inside of her was okay.
"Where is he?" The man asked after he came back from looking in every room in the house top to bottom.
"Who are you talking about?" Monika asked, trying to get up, but couldn't. She reached for her phone and accidentally pushed the record button.
"You know who I am talking about. Your stupid husband that knocked you up. Where is he? If you don't talk I will kill both of you, you and your little pig inside of you!"
"I don't know where he is, honestly! He didn't tell me anything! he just told me to-" Monika stopped talking, seeing who she was talking to. "Oh, my God. Your Erone, aren't you?"
He smiled. "Why yes I am. I was the one who created your husband, and I will get rid of him just as easy as I brought him into this world if you don't tell me where he is!"
"Where is your brother, Roney?" Monika asked, grabbing the arm fo her couch and pulled herself up to look at him better.
"He is here, looking around your property to make sure he isn't trying to escape us. Now, stop talking about us. Where is he?" Erone asked, grabbing her neck.
"I cannot tell you if your choking me!" Monika sputtered.
Erone let go of her and she fell to the floor again like she had when he had first pushed past her to look in the house.
"Now, be a good wife and tell me where he is, and you will be spared," Erone said, leaning over her.
"Never!" Monika said, spitting in his face. She backed up as he slowly wiped the spit out of his face and she stood up against the wall, breathing heavily.
She was right next to the door and it was still open. She ran out the door, Erone right behind her.
"Get back here, Bitch!" he yelled, almost grabbing her sweatshirt that had been tied on her waist as it flapped in the wind as she ran down the stairs. "Roney! Get her!"
Suddenly, as Monika was turning to the neighbors house she saw another man which she assumed was Roney running right into her. She fell to the ground, grabbing her stomach to protect it, but it didn't help.
Erone finally caught up to her and leaned over her, smiling.
"I will give you one more chance to tell me where Creon is," Erone said.
Monika gasped for air as Roney grabbed her arm so tightly, she thought he would rip it off. "Never. Its too late, you son of a bitches!" She spat in their faces.
Erone didn't even try to wipe the spit off of his face. "Kill her. She is no need anymore."
Roney reached to his side and pulled a large jagged knife and held it to her neck.
"You sure that you don't want to tell us now?" Roney asked.
Monika shook her head, not speaking. This was her last breath she would take because Roney smiled just as Erone had and sliced her neck, killing her instantly.
Her blood dripped into the grass just as it had when she had first died that day she slipped off of Reece's balcony.


Griffen knew something was wrong. He just knew it. Something was wrong with Reece. Every time that something was bad, he would get a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach and it was never wrong.
Griffen was at the Bellagio where Reece had always wnted to go when he got the feeling in his stomach.
The moment that the strange feeling started, he packed whatever he could find, which wasn't much and checked out, faces and eyes staring at him, whispering questions like, 'why is he leaving such a wonderful place when he just got here?' and 'why is he leaving?'
He ran as fast as his legs could take him and he made it to the small bar after two o' clock in the evening.
He looked at what was in front of him. The front glass doors to the bar were broken and shattered.
He opened the door slowly and saw the whole place was a mess. It looked as if someone had struggled in there. Someone must have slammed a body into the wall because there was a large indent of a body on the far wall in the bar area.
"Hello?" Griffen asked, looking around the bar, seeing nothing that would help him find Reece and the others.
He walked over to the counter and walked around it, seeing that they didn't clean up the spot where Reece had telepathically shoved him against.
Then his eyes spotted something. A note on the counter. he picked it up, thinking it was a ransom note from the Skincrawlers or something.
It read: Dear Griffen,
By the time you read this, I will be long gone with William and Evernime, followed by a man named Creon, who is a Skincrawler with great powers, but he does not want to hurt us. I will explain everything to you when/if you want to find us. We going to a place called the California Pizza or something like that. Well, that's what William said. He should know. He lives here. Lol. So, if you are still wanting to be with us, then come find us. We probably will be there for a few hours and right now its past twelve o' clock, so...just come find us if you want. If you get this note after today, then we are heading to the Skincrawlers layer to fix things. I miss you, Griffen please come find us.
I have a lot to tell you about us.
♥Reece

Griffen sighed, thinking about what Reece had wrote about 'us'. Does he mean her and him together? Or...he didn't really know what to think of it.
He knew where the California Pizza was. He past by it on the way to the Bellagio.
Griffen waded the note up and threw it on the floor, running out the door. He would be there in twenty minutes or less if he ran as fast as he could.
But what if they already left? He didn't know what to do if they had already left.


Seventeen minutes later, he made it to the pizza place and jogged in, stopping instantly, the door hitting him in the butt.
He saw something that made his emotions go wild.
William and Reece were kissing. She hadn't been talking about him and her, she had been talking about those two together. It made him made, and also sad to know he lost her. He should have known when Evernime sent that telepathic message to him saying that he would lose her to William if he didn't try. And that was when he left, so it was his own fault.
He slowly walked over to their table once he saw William get up to go to the bathroom, standing right in front of them.
"Hello, Reece," Griffen said, sitting at the only other empty table.
Reece looked up from her plate and stared at him like he wasn't there. "Is it really you?"
Griffen nodded.
"Where have you been? Do you know how worried I have been about you?" Reece asked.
"No, I haven't. Didn't know it was your business to worry about me. I thought you would be more worried about your boyfriend over there in he bathroom," Griffen said.
Reece's face went white. "How did you know?" she whispered, looking down at her pizza.
"When I walked in and saw you sucking his face," Griffen said a little too rudely.
Reece's head snapped up from her food. "You jealous, Griffen?"
"A little," he said.
"Well, get over it. There is nothing you can do. Evernime told me that you had your chance, and William took it because you left because you were pitying yourself," Reece said, taking a bite of her pizza.
"I don't understand you, Reece. Why didn't you give me a chance when you know me more and longer than you do William? You just met him yesterday," Griffen asked, knowing what she would say.
"Because I fell in love with him. If that's okay with you. Oh, wait. Its probably not," Reece said, smirking.
Evernime smiled to herself. Reece was right though. Griffen had his chance, but he blew it and left, so William took his chance and won her over. Evernime knew that this how it would end up, anyways.
"Okay, young ones, why don't we stop talking about this. We all now know that Reece is dating William. Now get on with it before I lose my mind!" Evernime said.
"On the other hand, if William hadn't been here when Griffen left, he would have ended up with Reece, but he probably was to fixated on self-pity," Creon said, taking a bite out of his pizza slice.
Griffen looked over at Evernime and Creon. He hadn't even noticed that they were there until now. He had been fixated on Reece.
"Who is this?" Griffen asked.
"This is Creon. He is a Skincrawler," Reece said, thankful to change the subject.
Griffen stood up as fast as he could and was on Creon before anyone in the place could stop him.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
Creon grunted.
Reece stood, looking around, glad that there was only a few people. None of the people in there even bothered to look their way. Maybe they see this all the time. The cooks weren't looking either, so that was a good thing too. "Griffen!" She hissed in his ear. "Let him go right now, or I will kill you!"
Griffen knew she would if she had to, so he let Creon go and sat back down in the chair he had been sitting in when he got there.
"What the hell man?" Creon asked, fixing himself.
"Why is he here? Who is he?" Griffen asked.
"This man, that you just attacked is not on the Skincrawlers side. He is on ours. He wants a normal life with his wife, Monika. They are having a child together and he is going to help us fight the other Skincrawlers if we have to. We are going to try and explain things to them. There is no prophecy and he is going to try and explain that to them. But if they don't like it, then we will fight them till death," Reece said.
"What? Are you crazy?" Griffen asked, looking around for William. Thank goodness he wasn't out of the bathroom yet. "Monika? He is married to Monika and they have a child together?"
"Yes! They love each other very much, and I could see it when I met him. Now you should know about love unless you only think of yourself anymore," Reece said, sitting down, her appetite gone.
"I do love you Reece and you know it. Don't even think twice about that. I cannot even believe that you think I only think of myself. When I left, all I thought about was you,' Griffen said.
"I don't believe you, Griffen. I might trust you with my life, but I do not believe you one bit. If you cared about me, then you would never have left. All you were thinking about was yourself and you know it!" Reece said, pointing her finger at him. "If you really cared about me, you wouldn't care how much I kissed William or not. You would have kept you mouth shut and not say a word, but you didn't. If you still care about me, then your going to have to prove it to me, or you can walk out that door right now and never come back again and you can just pity yourself!"
Tears fell from Reece's eyes and she stood up and ran to the bathroom. She stopped at the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked at her eyes and saw that they had puffed out, telling her that she really had cried.
She sighed and stepped into a stall to cry some more. She couldn't believe that Griffen had actually showed up and yelled at her for being with William. He should have known that that would happen if he left, but he left anyways because all he could think of was himself.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the bathroom stall door. "Its me, Reece. Let me in. We still need to talk about this."
It was Griffen of course. Still wanting to talk about something Reece didn't want to talk about.
"Go away, Griffen! I told you, I am in love with William and you had your chance and you blew it so now I am with someone else and your just going to have to deal with it," she said trying not to cry anymore.
"Please, Reece. Come out and we can talk about it, okay?" Griffen said, sighing deeply.
"Why won't you get it, Griffen? I told you at the table. If you cared about anyone else other than you, you wouldn't have done what you did. I'm sorry, but I think that you should leave," Reece whispered.
Griffen didn't say anything but just stood in front of the girl's bathroom stall and sighed again. He knew she was right, but he didn't want to admit it.
Reece waited until she heard Griffen's heavy footsteps and the door close behind him as he left the bathroom.
She opened the door and slowly looked around to make sure that he was gone. He was, so she left the bathroom after looking in the mirror quickly.
She walked over to the table they had sat at. Griffen wasn't there. He had left like Reece asked him to. He had proven to her that he did love her.
"Hey, you okay?" Evernime asked, standing up. She turned to Reece and put an arm around her shoulder for comfort.
"Where is William?" Reece asked, looking around. "He should have came out of the bathroom a long time ago."
"He did. He just went to go and pay for the pizza," Creon said, standing as he wiped the crumbs off of himself.
Reece looked at the register and saw William handing some money to the cash lady. He turned to look at the table and saw Reece there and smiled at her.
Once he got a slip from the lad, he walked over to her and grabbed her hand. "What took you so long?"
Reece smiled weakly. "Griffen came here while you were in the bathroom. We got into a fight and I told him to leave, so he did."
"That was your decision to tell him that. But I thought you would want him here when we go to the Skincrawler's layer," William said.
Reece nodded, not really listening to anyone talking to and around her. She just wanted to go home and sleep, but she knew she couldn't do that.
"Reece?" Evernime was looking at Reece, a worried look on her face.
Reece looked up. "Hmm?"
"You don't really look so good. You okay?" Evernime asked, stepping closer to her just in case she passed out or something like that.
"I'm fine, why?"
Creon looked over at her. He agreed with Evernime that she didn't look so good.
Suddenly, Reece felt sick.
William saw it all over her face. "You guys are right, she doesn't look too good. Lets get her out of here and hide somewhere."
Reece shook her head, unable to speak. She didn't want to vomit in front of a bunch of random people she didn't know.
They all helped walk her out of the place and they walked down the block right to the Bellagio, stopping in front of the area where the light, water and music show would start up when it got dark.
William grabbed Reece's arm and pulled her along. "Do you want to go in here and stay?" Creon and Evernime followed Reece and William as they made their way to the hotel entrance.
Right when they made it to the entrance doors, a bell man was standing to the right and another to the left, and both looked at Reece, who was loosing her color in her face fast.
The bell man at the left stepped near Reece and asked if she was all right. Reece nodded, but she knew she was wrong. Something was terribly wrong, and she knew it, but kept denying it.
William told the bell man that she was just not used to the Las Vegas air and was getting sick because of it, then told Evernime to check them in two rooms that connected with a door in between each other.
Reece barely made it into the elevator before she collapsed in William's arms.


Reece woke up to see William staring at her from the edge of the bed.
"Reece? You awake?" William asked, taking her hand in his.
Reece sat up slowly, but regretted it because she was in pain. She groaned and laid back down. "I am now. What's going on?"
"I think your powers are trying to take over. I have never actually seen it, but that's what Evernime said. She also said that we shouldn't be in here because at first your going to be in pain, and then your powers will go out of control and then it will seem like your going crazy. But that was what happened to her, so we really don't know what is going to happen to you. So, I think that we shouldn't have come here. We should have went back to my place."
"But if Evernime is right, then I would probably destroy your place and I don't want to do that to your place, William. We can go to a back alley or something," Reece said, not able to talk louder than a small whisper because it hurt too much.
William could see that she was in pain. He didn't like it.
"Reece, what happened between you and Griffen? I mean, I can see that you do care a great amount about him, so..."
Reece smiled and squeezed his hand. "Yes, I do care about him. He was my very first real friend. I never had friends. He was the only one before you that actually stood by me and listened to my problems. I never had someone like that. We became friends the minute that we met."
"I cannot see you not having friends, Reece. Your too beautiful to not have friends," William whispered.
Reece looked up at him. She might have just met him two or three days ago or how many days ago, but she loved him. She's never had someone to look at her like he does. Griffen might look at her like he likes her, but not the way William does.
"Same to you too, William," Reece said, chuckling.
William smiled and kissed her forehead. "I am going to stand by you through it all. And if I can't then that means I died trying."
"What are you talking about?" Reece asked, lifting her head.
"If something doesn't go the way we want it to when we do go to the Skincrawlers layer, I'm going to fight till death beside you."
"You know, that's what Griffen said, then he left the next day because he was only thinking of himself," Reece said.
"But I'm not Griffen, Reece. I will never leave you. Nothing is going to stop me from trying everything in my power, which isn't very much considering that I don't really have powers to help save you. No one will lay a hand on you without your word," William said, standing up.
"Where is Evernime and Creon?" Reece asked, looking around the large room.
"In the other room," William said, pointing to a closed door on the far wall.
"What are they doing?" Reece asked, slowly sitting up even though she was in pain.
"Trying to make a plan for when we get to the Skincrawler's layer."
"We don't even know where the Skincrawler's layer is. But I think I do know someone who does," Reece said.
"Yeah, Creon does."
Reece slapped her forehead. She forgot that he is a Skincrawler. "Oh, right. I forgot. Bring them in, if you want them to."
William knocked on the door and opened it when he heard Evernime say it was okay. "Reece wants to see you both I think."
A few seconds later, Evernime and Creon came into the room, smiles on both of their faces.
"Hey, sleepy head. How are you doing?" Evernime asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Fine I guess. I just woke up I think. How long was I asleep?" Reece asked, smiling.
"Only a few hours. Your powers can make you tired. At least your color in your face is coming back. Mine didn't come back for a whole week. I cannot believe how well you are taking this!" Evernime said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"What do you mean?" Reece asked, confused.
"Your powers like to take there time taking over your body. Usually someone would take a whole week maybe more to fully develop their powers. But your recovering so much faster than I had. I didn't get my color back until a few hours after I got my full powers."
"You mean that all my powers are going to be fully developed?" Reece asked, her heart racing from excitement.
"Yes. And you might get more powers than you need or want to get. So like I was telling William and Creon, I don't think that we should be here. If you accidentally destroy something in this room, then we will have to pay for it or go to jail."
Reece thought about the word accident. She had an accident once. She had killed someone that worked for her at her restaurant. Her name is Monika.
Reece looked up and frowned. "I should call Monika and say I am sorry for accidentally killing her that one time, shouldn't I, Creon?"
Creon smiled. "She got over that a long time ago. Well, not all that long ago. You can if you want. She's at home right now probably peeing for the hundredth time today because of the baby inside her."
Everyone laughed and Evernime handed Reece the phone that came with the room.
Reece didn't know Monika's number, so she asked Creon and he gave it to her. She dialed it and let it ring for what seemed like forever.
"You know who I am talking about. Your stupid husband that knocked you up. Where is he? If you don't talk I will kill both of you, you and your little pig inside of you!" A male voice said sounding distant. Then the line went dead, the phone beeping.
Reece hanged the phone up and looked right at Creon, who had been looking out the window. "Creon."
Creon turned to Reece, knowing that her voice was shaking, which told him something that he probably didn't want to hear.
"What?" Creon asked, his heart racing. He really hoped that nothing was wrong.
"Dial the number again and listen closely to it," Reece said, not daring to say anything else.
Creon grabbed the phone from Reece's lap and dialed Monika's cell phone number. He listened to what Reece had heard and dropped the phone.
"Oh, my God..." Creon looked up at Evernime, William and Reece, who were still looking at the phone that dropped onto the rugged floor.
"What happened?" Evernime asked, picking the phone up.
"I think that was Erone talking. He said that if Monika didn't tell him where I was, he would kill her. I have to go and see if she's fine!" Creon said, grabbing his coat.
"Creon, there is no need to be rational. That could just be some recording that Erone wanted to put there so he could find you!" Evernime said, grabbing Creon's wrist.
Creon's face began to turn a deep red with anger. "If you do not let go of me right now, I will do what all the other Skincrawlers do when they get hungry."
"Who's Erone?" William asked.
The name sounded familiar to Reece, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Erone is my creator, and I know that he didn't put that on her phone. Erone isn't like that. He will kill Monika if she doesn't tell him where I am. She will die no matter what she does. Roney must be with him too. They never go anywhere without each other!" Creon said.
"Who are they?" William asked.
"They claim to be the first leaders of the Skincrawlers before the King and Queen. They do not take mercy from anyone. They will kill her if they don't get what they want. They believe that they carry the Devil inside them! If they do anything to Monika, I will give them more Hell on Earth then they can make in a year!" Creon started looking around the room.
"Creon, what are you looking for?" Reece asked, throwing her feet off the side of the large soft fuzzy bed.
"I need some money. I need to get back to our house and see if she's fine!" Creon said, throwing drawers on the floor.
"Creon," Reece said. She grabbed his shoulder. Creon stopped and looked at her tears in his eyes. "We are going with you. Everything is going to be fine, just call a cab and I will pay for it. Its okay."
Creon looked around blindly and nodded. "Okay. I just really need to see if she and the baby is okay. I just have to!"
William went to the front of the room where a small fridge was and grabbed everything that was in it, which was just the left over pizza that Evernime had grabbed on the way out of the pizza place.
"But Reece cannot go anywhere! Her powers are still trying to take over her!" Evernime said, stepping in front of Reece, who was thankfully all dressed in the clothes she had worn the same day.
"I am fine now. This is important to him, and I think since he is going to help us, we need to help him. You cannot stop us from leaving," Reece said, lifting Evernime into the air and moved her out of the way so she could look at Creon. She sat her down on the other side of the room.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Evernime asked angrily.
Reece turned around to look at her, giving her a look that shut her up and Evernime couldn't keep looking at Reece. Reece used to have bluish eyes, but now they were a reddish color.
"Reece...your eyes," Evernime whispered.
Reece rubbed her eyes. They didn't feel any different to her.
"What's wrong with them?" Reece asked, standing up to look in the small mirror that was on the wall next to the bed.
She gasped when she saw the color of her eyes. "William! What's wrong with my eyes?"
William leaned over the bed to take a better look and gasped as she had when she saw them. "I don't know. They're red instead of your usual color. Do you know what's going on with her eyes, Creon?" William asked, looking at Reece with a worried look.
Reece rubbed her eyes again and blinked a few times before giving up. She sighed and flopped down onto the bed a little too hard, causing the bed to collapse underneath her.
Everyone laughed.
Reece got up quickly and gasped at what she had done. "Oh, my gosh! What did I just do?"
Evernime laughed out loud, her laugh filling the empty walls.
"I think you just broke the bed, smart one!" Evernime said.
Reece looked at Evernime with wide eyes. "But how? All I did was flop onto the bed!"
Evernime thought about it. "I've got it! You have super strength!" Evernime jumped up and down.
"Super-what?" Reece had heard her, but didn't think she heard her right. "Did you just say I have super strength?"
William and Creon were standing next to Reece who was pacing back and forth trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Try it out, Reece," William said, shrugging.
Reece looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you insane?"
William shrugged again. "Maybe. But what if Evernime is right?"
"We don't really need to worry if I have super strength or not right now. We need to get back to Monika's place and see if she is okay!" Reece said, frustrated.
"But wait. We need to be careful about what you do, Reece. I don't really know what is going on with your powers r how your acting fine so fast, but we don't need someone to end up dead just because you want to leave so quickly," Evernime said, leaning against the wall.
Reece looked at her. "You think I would kill anyone of you?" Her anger boiled higher and higher as she looked at Evernime, who was still leaning against the wall as if she never said anything.
"What? Why is everyone looking at me like that?" Evernime asked, unfolding her arms off of her chest.
"I would never get in touching range to hurt any of you. You guys are my only friends, and I'm still not sure about Creon," Reece said, turning to Creon. "No offense, Creon."
"None taken. But she is right, Evernime," Creon said, looking at Evernime who had a weird look on her face.
"I didn't really mean that she would purposely kill anyone. I just think that if she lost her temper like she's about to right now, she could hurt one of us accidentally," Evernime said, holding her hands out in front of her.
Reece looked at her and knew that that possibly could happen. "I shouldn't have gotten mad at you, Evernime. I'm sorry, and I know your right. I should watch out while my powers are acting up like this."
Suddenly, Reece's whole body was feeling tingly and warm. She looked down at herself and saw that her whole body was glowing a bright greenish color.
"Wh-what's happening to me?" Reece squealed.
"Your powers! This is the last stage! I have never seen someone with a green glow! That's impossible!" Evernime said with wide eyes.
William looked at Reece, then at Creon then finally at Evernime. "What's a green color mean?" he asked Evernime.
"I don't know," Evernime said truthfully, shaking her head. "But I think I know who can help us. Well, not just one who, but two who's."
Everyone looked at Evernime, confused. "What are you talking about?" Reece asked, sitting down on the broken bed.
"I know a couple people that know about these kinds of things. They can tell us what's going on with your powers and your body, Reece."
"Well, who are they?" William asked.
"Killian and Kyle Rodgers. They can help her, William," Evernime said, pushing her body off of the wall with her back.
She walked over to Reece, looking over her.
William groaned. "Oh, no. Not those two! Those two are idiots! They know nothing!"
"You know Killian and Kyle?" Creon asked.
"Yes, I do. They are under covers for us and live with the Skincrawlers. They pose as orphans that needed a place to stay and happened to pass by the Skincrawlers layer, which I have no idea where it is. Those two will not tell me. I trust them with my life, though. They contact us once a month to give us an update on them to make sure of curtain things. Did you know that? They really are part of our group that William and I made," Evernime said.
"No, I did not know that. Can they help us?" Creon asked, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Well, William doesn't think they can, but I do. They used to live with those new kinds of Skincrawlers. They have seen many other kinds that these two guys that I have never heard of created them or something like that. They know a great deal of things that happened to them."
"Who is 'them'?" Reece asked, not sure she wanted to meet these two boys.
"Different kinds of creatures and people like us mostly. A few strange Skincrawlers most likely," Evernime said, shrugging.
"I know those two boys," Creon said.
Everyone looked at him. "How?"
"When I was created, they were there to help me. I do not think that they have been giving either of you the right amount of information," Creon said.
"And why would they give us false information?" Evernime asked. "I trust them with my life. They would never give me false information. They are my right hand men, well, boys, anyways."
"When I was created, they showed me around and told me how to use my powers. I didn't even want them at first, but then they showed me things that made me change my mind about things. They are working with my creators Erone and Roney. And when I was created, those two boys were so kind to me, but after a few years, they started to change, and last I talked and saw them, they were so changed, I did not recognize them at all. Even their appearances didn't look the same. Their attitude towards everyone was just like Erone and Roney's: cruel and uncaring. They are long gone."
"But that does not mean that they were giving us the wrong information," Evernime said defensively.
"Why do you think they wouldn't tell you where the layer of the Skincrawlers are?" Creon asked, raising his eyebrows.
Evernime was silent for a heart beat before she turned and walked into the small kitchen to get a glass of water. She chugged it down in a second.
In her heart, she thought that Killian and Kyle were the trustworthy boys who believed in her, but in her mind, Creon was right. Being at the Skincrawlers layer with all those horrid creatures could put a dent in their life, affecting them in ways that she could only imagine.
"I am sorry, but I really need to go and see if Monika is okay," Creon whispered.
Reece nodded. They didn't need to waste anymore time then they already did. She can figure out what was going on with her later.
"Lets go. Did you call a cab, Creon?" Reece asked, looking at Evernime, who was drinking her fifth glass of water.
"No, I will right now, though," Creon said, opening his cell phone to dial a cab's number.
"Evernime, don't you think you shouldn't drink that much water?" Reece asked, grabbing the empty glass out of her hand.
"Hey! Give it back!" Evernime said, still wanting, needing water. She didn't want to talk anymore. There was no hard drinks in the place, so she had to pretend that the water was.
"No. Your going to drown yourself out by drinking so much," Reece said, throwing the glass in the sink so hard, it shattered into a million pieces. "Oops. I didn't mean to do that. I think you were right when you said that I might have super strength."
Evernime looked at her. "The green glow is gone, which probably means that your done with the last stage of the whole thing. I wonder why your powers didn't go crazy and out of control."
Reece looked at herself and saw that Evernime was right. The glow was gone. "I wonder if I got different powers now that I am fully developed."
"It is possible. You don't get different powers because you have always had them, you just didn't know it. They are kind of like dormant until your fully developed," Evernime said, not making eye contact with Reece.
"I just called someone for a cab and they said that they would be here in ten minutes if the traffic isn't too bad, twenty at the most," Creon said, shoving his phone in his pocket.
"Alright, lets grab whatever we brought here and get going," William said, entering the other room to grab his coat.
Reece sighed. She wanted so badly to go home, but now that they were going back there, she wasn't so sure that she wanted to. She didn't want to have to face the cops when she got there because they would be wondering why she left so urgently.
William emerged from the other room with a bag that she never saw before.
"Where did you get that bag, William?" Reece asked, looking at it. The bag wasn't very big, but it looked like it could hold a ton if it wanted to.
William shrugged, looking at it. "I found it on the way here. There wasn't anything in it, and I thought we could use it."
"You didn't even think to buy one, did you?" Reece said, shaking her head. The bag was so dirty, she didn't even know what color it was.
William laughed, kissing Reece on the cheek. "Another thing I love about you, Reece."
Reece wrinkled her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"Never mind. Lets go," William said, opening the door.
Creon was the first one out the door, followed by Evernime, then Reece then William, who locked it behind him for no reason at all.


{~Chapter eight~}


Creon was so impatient. He needed to see if his wife is okay. For every mile that the cab driver went, a pain in the pit of hi stomach hurt him more and more, telling him that something was not right about that phone call he had made.
He had plainly heard Erone talking to her, and he was sure that if Erone's brother Roney was there, she surely wouldn't survive.
He had held back tears so many times today, and he didn't think that he could if he saw something that was wrong.
He even prayed to God asking him to forgive him and to please let his wife and unborn child be alive. But he didn't think that He would listen to him because he didn't know if he believed in Him or not.
His kind used to worship the Devil, but that didn't last long because the Devil didn't want anything to do with anything living, so the Skincrawlers started to worship their own kind instead.
He had to tell Reece and the others that they have to stop Erone and Roney before they got to insane. They were already insane enough, and Creon feared that they would go totally insane one day and he knew they would.
Reece was sleeping, her head on William's shoulder, who was also asleep just as Evernime was. They hadn't had any sleep since they arrived at the Bellagio Hotel because they were too afraid to leave Reece in a room all by herself with her powers acting up like they thought they would, but didn't.
Creon swallowed his air and coughed it up, making Reece lift her head up with fright.
"What's going on?" she asked, sleepily.
"Nothing," Creon whispered.
The cab driver was a man this time. He looked in the mirror and looked right at Reece, who looked away when she saw him looking at her. She probably looked different now that she had her full powers.
"Hey, aren't you the girl from that town called Small Town or something like that who ran away and now cops are saying that you killed your own brother and is on the run from the cops or something like that?" The cab driver asked, still looking at her through the mirror.
Reece cussed under her breath. "No, I am not that girl from where ever your talking about," she said quickly.
"Then why are you having me drive you there, if I may ask?"
"Because I heard about and thought I would go and see it with my friends. If that's okay with you," Reece said rudely.
The cab driver looked away, obviously mad that she wasn't talking.
William kept his eyes closed, but he could hear everything that the cab driver was talking about to Reece. This is bad. What if she really killed her own brother?
He didn't think she could do something like that. He knew that the police would say anything to get people to look for her.
"Reece," William whispered.
Reece looked at William. He was awake, and Reece knew it, but didn't want to say anything.
"What?" Reece whispered back.
"Never mind. I was just wondering if you are awake," William said, opening his eyes. He loved to open his eyes and see Reece looking at him. Even when his eyes were closed, all he saw is Reece and she was always in his dreams no matter what. She was always on his mind, no matter what.
"I am awake. Did you want to say something else other than that?" Reece asked, chuckling softly so not to disturb the others.
William leaned in to kiss her on the lips. Her lips were just as soft as when he first kissed her. It felt the same as when he first kissed her and he loved the feeling. It sent a tingly sensation to every nerve in his body.
Reece felt the tingly sensation that William does. This is what every man and woman dreamed of having.
Reece had always dreamed of a life with someone she loved, but never thought it would happen. And now that it was, Reece couldn't get enough of it. She loved to be around William. She loved everything about him.
They broke apart as the cab stopped. "What's going on?"
"We are here. That will be two hundred and seven dollars," The cab driver said, holding his hand out.
Reece reached into her pocket and pulled the amount that she needed and handed it to him and opened the door.
She took a step outside and smelled the evening air. It was wonderful, better than Nevada's air. This air was more moist as the Nevada's air was more dense than this air. She loved it more.
William and Creon stepped out of the doors of the cab at the same time, followed by Evernime, who was rubbing her eyes from sleeping.
"We here already?" Evernime asked, looking around. "I thought it would take longer."
"So did I," William said, looking around.
"Nope, only a few hours from Las Vegas. This is my home town, everyone," Reece said, moving in a circle as the cab driver left, dust flying in their faces.
William looked around. He had tried to picture where Reece lived, but never could.
"So, which one is your house?" William asked, looking down the street.
"At the end of the street. We are not here to look for my house, we are here to see if Monika is all right, right Creon?" Reece asked, turning to Creon who was pacing back and forth.
He looked up and nodded. "Lets go," he said.
Creon took off in the direction of his wife's house, his heart beating faster and faster with each step he took.
He stopped when he got to her house, falling to his knees when he saw what was in front of him.
"NO!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. He grabbed his lifeless wife and cradled her in his arms, crying, letting all his tears fall from his eyes.
Reece and William ran up to him, stopping. They looked at what Creon was holding, gasping.
"Oh, my God. Monika," Reece said, bending down to take a look at what laid before them. "Who did this?"
Creon looked at her through his tears. "I know who did this to her, and when I find them, I will kill them and give them a living Hell on Earth. I want them to suffer the way I am."
William shook his head and looked to see that Evernime ws huffing as she ran up to them.
"What did I miss?" She asked, bending over to catch her breath.
"Monika was murdered," Reece said, shaking her head as she sat on her knees, wiping the tears that were escaping her eyes. She couldn't look at the bloody body that Creon cradled in his arms as he cried any longer, so she looked away.
William sat on his knees and grabbed Reece, holding her. She buried her head in his chest and cried.
Even Evernime cried. She didn't mean to, but the tears fell onto her emotionless face. She tried to hide them, but everyone saw the tears.
"How could someone not see this?" Reece asked, sobbing.
William shook his head. "I don't know. This town seems to quite to not have heard anything."
Reece wiped the tears with her sleeve out of her eyes and dared to look at the body still in Creon's arms. He was holding her against his chest and was rocking her over and over again, sobbing.
"This isn't fair!" Creon yelled.
Evernime stepped closer to Creon and put a hand on his shoulder. "We can bury her, if you want."
Creon stopped, then looked at Evernime. "Really?"
Reece and William stood. "It would only be right. I know the perfect place to bury her if you want."
Creon stood up, holding Monika as if she was asleep and followed Reece, who had grabbed William's hand and began to walk to the cliff on the edge of town, taking the back way where not many people goes.
Once they made it to the edge of the town, she stopped and looked at the lake in front of her. This would be the perfect place to bury her.
"She always told me that she loved it here, Creon. She will like it here, looking out at the lake when the sun sets," Reece said, leaning over the edge.
"Don't lean to much over, or you'll fall, Reece," William said, gripping her hand tighter.
"Its fine, William," Reece said, letting go of his hand. She sat on the edge of the cliff and scooted on the edge, looking at the lake that she never went in because she was afraid to even dunk her head underneath water.
Reece got up after a few minutes and stood in front of Creon, who was moving a piece of Monika's hair out of her face.
Monika died from a single slice to her neck. She never had a chance and everyone knew it.
"Let bury her here," Reece said, pointing to a leveled spot on the ground.
Creon nodded, tears falling slowly this time instead of fast.
Reece, using her telekinesis to dig a hole in the ground large enough for Monika to fit in and laid her in there gently, piling the dirt over top of her as Creon cried out her name.
Everyone was crying, even William.
"Does anyone want to say a few words to her?" Reece whispered.
Creon stepped forward and whispered something to her so quietly that no one heard him.
Once he was done, Reece, William, and Evernime said something too low enough for only Monika to hear them.
Once everyone was done, Reece looked over the edge and jumped over the edge of the cliff.
"Reece!" William yelled, reaching for her, but missed her by an inch.
Reece went into a diving position and put her hands in front of her and was engulfed by the cold water.
She saw only bubbles and stayed under the water, thinking about how many times she just waved Monika away when she tried to talk to Reece. She had done so many things to hurt Monika and hadn't even noticed it until now. Did someone have to die to see the truth?
She looked around and saw someone splash in the water next to her.
"Hi, William," Reece said, bubbles leaving her mouth as she talked under water.
William's eyes went wide as he looked at her neck. There was gills on her neck. He gagged, rushing to the surface, coughing for air.
Reece followed him and laughed. "I thought you knew!"
William looked at her, still coughing. "I never thought that you could breath underwater! Why didn't you tell me before you jumped off a three hundred cliff into raging water? You could have died!" he reached her and grabbed her.
"I just needed to do something like that. I needed to. Why did you jump off the cliff? You could have died!" Reece said, laughing.
William frowned. "I jumped in to see if you were all right. You were under the water a long time and I thought you hit your head and died or something. I don't know what I would do if I lost you to something so stupid as what you did!"
"Well, I didn't die, now did I?" Reece said, smiling as she kissed him on the lips.
"No, I guess not. Just don't do that again, please. You scared the hell out of me," William said in between kisses.
Reece laughed against his lips. "I won't. Let get out of here. I'm freezing. Brings back to many memories that I don't want to think about again," Reece said, swimming to the shore.
"So, you can breath underwater and you have super strength and a bunch of other things. I just don't get it," William said, shaking his head as he followed Reece to the shore.
"What don't you get?" Reece asked, turning around in the water to look at William, who was wading in the water.
"Never mind. What else can you do?" William swam up to her, grabbing her waist.
"I don't know. Macbeth told me that I am a Skywalker, but I don't know if I believe her. She tried to kill me," Reece said, thinking.
"Well, what can Skywalkers do?"
"Hmm...I think control everything in the sky. I think flying too."
"You can fly?" William asked, raising his eyebrows.
"I don't know. I've never tried it before," Reece said, frowning as she thought about it. It seemed silly to think that she could fly.
"Try then," William said as they stepped onto the sand on the shore.
"What? What if I can't?" Reece asked.
"Have you seen what you can do? And your asking if you can't?" William said, twisting around.
Reece didn't laugh at his sarcasm. She didn't think it was funny at all.
"Oh, you were serious?" William asked.
Reece nodded.
"Try it! I really want to see if you can fly. I think it would be beautiful to see someone like you flying," William said.
Reece took a step back and looked at William. He really wanted to see her fly, she could tell by the way he was looking at her.
"I don't know how," she whispered, looking down at her sandy feet.
"Try. I just want to see if you can!" William said.
Reece ignored him and jumped back into the murky water, gulping water in as it came out of her gills.
She swam till she made it to the middle of the lake, where it was the deepest. She swam down until she touched the bottom, then looked up. She was really far down, she noticed.
Reece's heart was beating fast like it had been every time she kissed William. She kept looking at the surface above her and closed her eyes.
She felt herself rising up, into the air at a speed of over a hundred miles per hour.
She opened her eyes to see that she was spinning at supersonic speed in the middle of a waterspout that she had made.
She could hear William yelling something to her. She tried to see through the water that was still spinning, but all she could see was the water spinning around her. She closed her eyes and stopped spinning, the water falling back to the lake.
She was still in mid-air when she opened her eyes. She looked down at the shore and saw that William was waving at her and jumping up and down.
"Yeah!" William yelled loudly, but sounded like an echo to Reece, who wobbled in the air and let herself fall into the lake.
She opened her eyes as she splashed into the water and began to swim to the shore. In an instant she was at the shore.
She gasped for air and she laid on the sand, laughing.
William rushed to her side and landed next to her. "Wow, that was so amazing! You literally jumped out of the lake at like a hundred miles per hour causing the water to make a waterspout! I had never seen anything like that in my life!"
William laughed and leaned in to kiss Reece.
Reece laughed. She felt giddy and happy and everything in between that.
"You are the most amazing person I have ever met, Reece," William said, kissing her neck, entangling himself with her.
"William," Reece said, butterflies in her stomach.
"Yes?" William asked, kissing her.
"I think I love you from the moment that I met you," Reece whispered into his ear. He stopped kissing her and looked at her newly colored eyes.
"I think I love you from the moment that I met you too, Reece," William said. "And I want to marry you."
Reece sat up and looked at him. "Your joking right?"
William wasn't. "No. I want to marry you, Reece."
"But what about when you got married to Evernime? What about her?" Reece asked.
"I don't care about Evernime, Reece. I told you before that it didn't even work out. When Evernime and I first met, it was just a stupid crush that didn't go anywhere. I have never felt like this about anyone before in my life. Your all I see when I close my eyes and your in my dreams. I can't get you out of my head, Reece. I don't care about anyone but you," William said, kissing her on the hand.
Reece didn't know what to say. She didn't think she would get married ever. She never even dreamed of getting married because she didn't think that a real love would happen for her.
But now that it had, she thought about it. What if they did get married? She knew she couldn't until they stopped the Skincrawlers from trying to kill the human race off.
"What if we got married after all of this?" Reece asked, looking at the sun that had begun to dip beyond the lake.
William smiled, glad. "So, is that a yes?" He kissed her neck.
Reece sighed as the tingly feeling she so loved sent a good chill up her spine. "Yes, it is."
William looked at her then kissed her on the lips, slowly at first then faster as they entangled themselves together, kissing until the sun was gone and the stars had shown up.
They kissed until Evernime and Creon decided to find a way down to shore that led to the spot that Reece and William were at.
"You going to suck each other's face till tomorrow, or what?" Evernime asked, laughing.
Reece and William pulled apart, laughing with her.
"How long were you standing there?" William asked, helping Reece up off the sand. They both were covered with sand from head to toe. They would need a change of clothes.
"Not long. Just long enough to see something that I didn't want to see. I think you permanently scarred me," Evernime said with a smile.
"Oh, ha ha, Evernime. Like you've never seen people making out," Reece said, catching her breath. She felt her cheeks and noticed that they were really warm. She blushed and buried her face in William's chest.
Evernime frowned. She was over William, but she didn't like how Reece would kiss him in front of her when she knew that Evernime had been with him before her.
Reece wouldn't look at Evernime or Creon.
"So, how are you doing, Creon?" Reece asked, rubbing her neck, sand falling from her neck when she was lying on the sand.
"Doing okay, I guess. I stayed up there even when you and William jumped off the edge. Then Evernime went and looked around the town to give me privacy with Monika," Creon said, close to tears again. "We were going to name the baby Rose if it was a girl and John if it was a boy."
Reece hugged Creon, who cried again. "I'm so sorry, Creon. And I promise that when we find whoever did this to them will be punished for doing such a cruel thing. And I will let you do whatever you want to do to them if you want to."
Reece let him go. She still wasn't sure if Creon would turn on them, even if he claimed to be on their side. She didn't want him to jump into her.
Just thinking of when a Skincrawler was in her body freaked her out and sent a chill down her spine.
She backed up and leaned into William's arms, which were warm and comforting.
Evernime looked at Creon, who hadn't wiped the tears off his face.
"You really love her, don't you?" Evernime asked, feeling sorry for him.
"Yes, I did," Creon said, bowing his head.
"Can't you bring her back like you did when she first died?" Reece asked.
Creon just shook his head. "That's not how those things work. Once just brings them back from the dead, but once they die again, you can't bring them back. Its just how life works. If I was to bring her back after she's been dead for at least a day, then she wouldn't be the same. She would be sad and lonely on the planet, longing."
"How do you know?" Reece asked in a whisper, a tear falling from her eye.
"I have done that before," was all he could manage to get out. He didn't want to tell them the story of how he brought someone to life twice. It was unbearable to look at someone who had been brought back to life twice.
No one pried him of anything else. He looked like he was going to pass out any second.
"Creon, maybe you should stay at her place until your better," Evernime said, as they all walked up the hill to the top of the cliff.
Reece was so tired and she didn't want to climb anymore, so she flew up to the top and watched as everyone else had to climb up.
When William's head was in view at the top, Reece smiled. "What took you so long, slow-poke?" She smiled as she kissed him.
William laughed. "You cheated, you know. We all had to walk up that steep thing and you got to fly up here. Lucky," he said, laughing some more.
Evernime finally made it to the top. "Phew! What a hike!"
"Where's Creon?" Reece asked, looking at the trail, but saw nothing.
Evernime looked behind her. "He was right behind me, I swear. Maybe he stopped to take a breather. Who knows?"
Reece frowned as she looked down the path again and sighed with relief when she saw his head bobbing up and down with each step he took.
"Creon?" Reece asked, watching his every step.
Creon's head slowly looked up from the ground as he walked. He looked like he had been crying again. He probably had been.
"You okay, man?" William asked, holding Reece closer to him.
Creon nodded, but everyone knew he wasn't. He had lost the love of his life and his unborn child that he just found out about. She had been killed by the hands of his creators and he wanted them to pay just like he had.
He couldn't believe that everything he had done for Erone and Roney just killed his wife to get to him. He knew that Monika wouldn't tell them where he was because he had told her not to no matter what. He had no idea that Erone and Roney would even go through this, but then again, they are two brother's who would do anything to rule the planet for themselves.
"We should go before the police find me and want to talk about why I left town," Reece said, turning to look at the town in front of her where she had grown up in and lived.
"What day is it?" William asked. "I mean like the date."
"I don't know. Why?" Reece asked, shrugging as they headed into town.
"I do believe that it is the tenth. Why?" Evernime asked, looking at her phone's calendar.
Reece stopped. "Oh, my gosh!"
"What is it?" William asked.
"My birthday was yesterday," Reece laughed out loud. She had forgot her own birthday and didn't even realize it.
"No shit?" William asked, smiling. "Then happy birthday, Reece."
Reece laughed. "You mean happy late birthday, right?"
"We need to get you a present, don't we?" William asked, looking at Evernime, who frowned. William never got her a present when it was her birthday.
"No, don't. I don't want anything. Well, I do, but you can't get it for me. No one can. It already happened, and it cannot be undone," Reece said, looking away from William.
Everyone knew what she wanted. She wanted everything to be like it had been before all of this.
"But the thing is, is if everything was the same as it had been, then I would never have met you, William, or you Evernime. You guys are the best things that have happened to me in my whole life," Reece said, smiling up at William and Evernime.
Evernime smiled back at her. She did like Reece, but she didn't like how she was always telling them what to do. She didn't like to be told what to do, even if she knew that that is what was going to happen when she first joined William's group.
"Aww, Reece. I like you too!" Evernime said, laughing.
Everyone laughed for a few seconds because it felt good to laugh instead of cry.
Reece looked back to see Creon still standing behind them. He was staring at Monika's grave.
"Creon? We are leaving now," Reece said, stopping so that he could catch up with them.
Creon said something quickly to her grave and then turned to leave.
Suddenly, Reece saw a figure out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see what it was and saw Monika standing next to Creon.
"Monika?" Reece asked.
William looked at her, then where Reece was looking, but saw nothing but Creon moping.
Creon looked up when he heard Reece say his wife's name.
"Hi, Reece!" Monika said and ran up to her, hugging her.
William stood, grounded to the spot he was standing on, confused. Reece had just hugged nothing.
"Monika, I am so sorry for what happened to you. Who did this to you? And why?" Reece asked.
Monika sighed heavily. "It was Erone and Roney. You know, Creon's creators. They were looking for Creon and I told them that I wasn't going to tell them anything, so they killed me. Now they are after Creon because Creon betrayed them. I'm the one who should be sorry. I hated you so much after what you did to me, but now I don't because I know that it was an accident. You didn't mean to. I wanted revenge because of you."
"I'm sorry. We shouldn't have been on that balcony then. But we cannot change what has already happened. I wish you were still here. Creon misses you every second."
Monika nodded and looked at Creon. "I wish I can show myself to him, but only Necromancers can see me, no matter what I do to make him see me. I want you to tell him that we were going to have a little girl."
Reece smiled and looked at Creon, who was breathing heavily as he watched Reece talk to nothing.
"Creon, Monika told me to tell you that you were both going to have a little girl," Reece said, still smiling at him.
William put his hand behind his head and said, "Are you talking to someone, Reece?"
Reece turned to him and smiled. "Didn't you know that I am a Necromancer?"
William blinked a few times. "I wish you would tell me these things before they happen, Reece. You scare me sometimes."
Reece laughed and looked back at Monika, who was also laughing. "He's cute. Where did you get him, Reece?"
"Las Vegas," Reece said. She leaned over to Monika and whispered in her ear, "We are going to marry once all of this is over."
Monika pulled back and squealed. "Oh, my goodness! I wish I was alive right now. We should have had this talk a long time ago."
Reece sighed. "I'm so sorry that I never did before. I know I ignored you, and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."
"You don't need to keep apologizing. I know how sorry you are. I don't plan on leaving anytime soon, so if you want, we can hang out some time when your not trying to get rid of those brother's Erone and Roney," Monika said, putting her hands on Reece's shoulder.
They laughed for a minute or so, then quieted down. "Well, I will let you get on your way, after all, you still have to save the world from those two. Oh, and one more thing. You might want to watch out for a couple of teenagers named Killian and Kyle Rodgers. They are like Erone and Roney's right hand men. They can trick you into doing whatever they want you to do, so watch out, Reece."
Reece nodded and hugged her again, watching as Monika disappeared.
Creon slowly walked up to Reece, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Did she say anything else?"
Reece looked at him and shook her head.
"Nothing else?" Creon asked, bowing his head.
Reece shook her head, feeling sorry for him. "No, sorry, Creon. She didn't say anything else other than to watch out for Killian and Kyle."
"That's what I was trying to tell Evernime, but she wouldn't listen. I wish she was here right now," Creon said.
"She is. She is," Reece said, taking William's hand as she walked into town.
"Wait," Creon said.
Reece turned. "What?"
"I know where the Skincrawlers layer is, so do you want to go like we planned?" Creon asked.
Reece and William exchanged a look between each other.
"Yes, I think we do. We should get this over with. What do you think, Evernime?" Reece asked, twisting around to look at Evernime.
She looked up at Reece. "I agree. I want to get this over and done with. If we don't get it over and done with now, those maniacs could do something to us and then we won't be able to save anything."
Everyone agreed.
"So where is it?" Reece asked, waving her arms around her.
"In Texas. Out in the middle of nowhere. Its so well hidden that only Skincrawlers can get into it. The only reason that Killian and Kyle got into it was because a Skincrawler showed them the way. At first, they told me they wanted to get out, but didn't know how, but then a month or so later, they totally changed and then they didn't want to get out. I think that Erone and Roney changed them somehow," Creon said.
"Texas?" Evernime asked. "How many different places are we going to in one day?" She held her hands up in the air and groaned.
"We can't help it. We are basically on the run right now. If I don't leave here, then the cops will bring me in and ask me a bunch of questions that I know I cannot answer. They would put me in a padded cell if I told them the truth," Reece said.
"Can't we stop for at least a day and just sleep? Ever since you came here, everything has been do this and do that and don't disobey Reece. I am tired and I want to sleep. That's all I want to do," Evernime said.
"The only reason you don't want to do anything is because you can't stand to see me and Reece together, can you, Evernime?" William asked, pointing his finger in her face. She backed up a foot and frowned.
"William. Please. I don't want to lose another friend. Fighting solves nothing. We can stop for the night somewhere and sleep. I know that we all are tired and need some sleep. I know that I haven't been a very good guest when I first came here. Its the least I can do to help out," Reece said, her hand on William's shoulder, letting him know that he needed to back up.
William did, sighing. "Your right. We do need some sleep. But where are we going to stay? I mean, we probably couldn't stay at your place. Police are probably all over it and if we mess anything up, then they would think that you did it. And I don't want you to have to keep paying for a hotel that we don't even stay in, so..."
Reece thought about what he was saying. He was right. The cops would hunt her down until they found her and brought her in for questioning. And they shouldn't stay in a hotel because they had to keep leaving.
Then she got an idea. "There is a small shack outside of the other end of town we can go to. Its where I met Griffen. I don't think that the cops know where it is or that its even there. Its burnt, but it will keep us safe."
"I don't see why not," William said, waiting for Evernime and Creon to agree.
"Okay, but if there is anything that will make us have to move again, then I am leaving," Evernime said, shaking her head. They probably would have to move anyways again.
"Creon? You up for a nights sleep?" William asked.
Creon nodded and walked past them. He did want to sleep. He needed to think about what he was doing. He didn't want to give up the exact location of the Skincrawlers' layer, but he knew that if he didn't, then the world would be doomed. He just hoped that if they talked to them, they would listen to them and give up. But he knew that Erone and Roney would never give up. They are to fixated on doing what they think is best for them and the world. If Erone and Roney succeeded, then the world would be more than doomed.
Erone and Roney are not the type to give in. They would rather die than give up to a group of silly people head-strong people with supernatural powers. They would fight till death, and they would probably win, too.
The four walked the whole town. They walked around while Reece told them who lived where and where her restaurant was and the library Griffen had been to. The sign outside of the library still said closed for the day, and it probably would still say that until someone else came by and opened the place back up.
They finally reached the small shack, which looked as if someone had burned it. It had warped downwards on the roof, making the front of it look like an evil frown looking down upon them.
"Well, this is it," Reece said, opening the door. She winced when the door squeaked and moaned. "I think that I should go in there before you guys."
"Why? I'm tired, Reece!" Evernime wined.
"Just because. Hold on for just a minute. I'll be right back," Reece said, letting go of William's hand reluctantly. She walked in and closed the squeaky door that was barely on the hinges and looked around. It looked like everything had been changed around.
"What the hell?" a familiar voice said.
"Griffen?" Reece asked, peeking around a corner. She saw Griffen laying on a bed, his shirt off, eating Chinese food.
"Reece?" Griffen looked up from him food and smiled. "I knew that you would show up back here. You can't stay away from this place, can you?"
"Yeah, right," Reece said sarcastically. "Why are you back here?"
"I have no where to go, so where was I supposed to go? You have some place to live, so why are you here?" Griffen asked, the smile fading from his face.
"For your information, I do not have a place to live. If I was to go to my house, then the police would be on my tail in an instant. I cannot go back there. I have no where to go."
"Why didn't you just use your money from your safe to buy a new one?" Griffen asked, scoffing.
Reece frowned, her eyebrows winkling. "Griffen, what's wrong with you? The only reason that I came back here is because everyone thought that something was wrong with Monika, and it turns out that she was murdered! That is the only reason that I am back."
"Let me guess: William is with you, right?" Griffen said, throwing his unfinished food onto the floor next to some other food.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Reece asked, her hands clenching and unclenching.
Griffen grinned. "Oh, nothing. But he sure likes to follow you around all the time though. I'm surprised that he hasn't asked you to marry him."
Reece's face turned red with anger. "You are a cruel person. I don't even know you anymore!"
Griffen looked at her. "Oh, my God. He did, didn't he?"
Reece didn't answer, but looked away.
Griffen laughed out loud. "I cannot believe that he asked you. What did you say? Wait, don't tell me. You said yes."
Reece couldn't look at him.
Griffen stood up from his bed that he had put in the small shack and walked over to Reece.
"Why, Reece? We could of had it all," Griffen said, whispering in her ear.
Reece shook her head. "No, I don't think so. All you care about is yourself. You don't care about me. You just care about what benefits you. You might have been a great friend, but nothing more. I love William and you know it. Why do you keep making this worse for both of us?"
Griffen scoffed again and turned to her other ear. "I don't think you understand. Once you told me to leave when you were hiding in the girls bathroom like a little girl I did leave. I came back here and fixed the place up a bit and buried the old lady you killed because you were mad at her. I thought to myself, why am I so fixated on someone who doesn't even want me?"
"Because your an obsessed friend?" Reece guessed.
"Wrong. I was so fixated on you because I knew we belonged together. We are made for each other, Reece! Why can't you see that? You came here for a reason and I knew instantly that we belonged together. I have seen the way you look at me when you think I don't notice."
Reece shook her head, backing up into the wall. "I will admit that I did like you for a while, but you became more like a friend to me than anything else. That's all I want to be, Griffen! Why can't you see that?"
Griffen was staring at her like she was his prey and he was the predator.
"I knew it! You do like me!" Griffen said, pointing his finger at Reece, who moved her head out of the way of his finger.
Suddenly, the door burst open and William, Evernime, and Creon walked in.
"Leave her alone, Griffen. Your scaring her!" Evernime said.
Griffen laughed and slowly took a step towards Reece, who closed her eyes so she didn't have to look at Griffen. She waited for what seemed like minutes, and nothing happened, so she opened her eyes to see Griffen looking at her.
Griffen stopped and looked at her eyes. "Your eyes...they are not the color I remember. What did you do to them?" Griffen asked, turning to look at William, who was tense and ready to attack Griffen at an moment.
William held his hands up in the air. "Hey, I did not do anything to them. They changed on their own! Now, would you please just step away from Reece?"
Griffen laughed and shook his head. "No. She is going to come with me!"
"What the hell, Griffen?" Reece asked, stepping closer to him. Griffen turned to look at him and frowned.
When she first met him, he had a look in his eyes of gratitude, but now that was gone. All she saw was insaneness.
"I am not going anywhere with you. Your going insane, Griffen. You need help," Reece said.
Evernime and Creon backed up to the door and exchanged a glance between each other.
"Yes, you are. You said you wanted to go with me. That's why you came back here. To find me and go away with me! You said so yourself!" Griffen grabbed Reece's shoulders and yanked her to the side. William took another step forward and grabbed Griffen, accidentally shoving Reece back into the wall. She gasped and watched as Griffen and William rolled on the ground.
Reece looked around and slowly made her way over to Evernime, who grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, as if to protect her.
"Creon. I have an idea," Reece whispered.
Creon looked at her and then back at Griffen and William, who were throwing punches at each other.
"What?" Creon said, moving closer to her so he could hear her better.
Reece whispered her plan into his ear, and when she was done telling him, he looked at her and smiled. He waved his finger at her. "I always thought you had good ideas. It just might work."
"William!" Reece yelled out as Griffen punched him in the face.
"You can not have her, William! She's mine and she knows it!" Griffen yelled, grunting as he was rolled underneath of William, who punched him back.
"Yes, Reece?" William asked, as he grabbed Griffen's wrists. "Kind of busy here!"
"Just keep Griffen pinned down! Creon will take care of the rest," Reece said, wanting to help, but didn't know what to do.
William looked at Reece, confused, which gave Griffen just a split second to roll William over and had him pinned.
Reece's heart pounded when she saw Griffen pinning William onto the ground.
She had to do something to stop Griffen.
"I'm going to kill you for taking her from me! She was mine first and still is!" Griffen yelled, reaching into his pocket and pulled a knife out of his pocket as he kicked William in the ribs. One of his ribs cracked
"William!" Reece yelled. She concentrated on her telekinesis and lifted Griffen into the air, causing him to drop his knife on the ground.
Evernime ran and grabbed the knife and backed up into the wall away from Griffen, who was screaming at the top of his lungs to let him down as he lit his hands up with fire, flinging the fire everywhere.
Reece was getting teary-eyed as she shook her head. She swallowed. "I'm sorry, Griffen. I am not going to let you down. You are going crazy and you need help. Creon is going to help you. I'm sorry."
Creon walked closer to Griffen and grabbed his wrist.
"Hey! Let me go, you freak! If you do anything to me, I will kill you! You hear me! I will...I...will...kill you..." Griffen's head flopped down as if he fell asleep in mid-air.
"What happened?" Evernime asked, looking around. William was on the ground, wiping his bloody nose.
Reece slowly brought Griffen down to the ground and put him on the bed he brought into the shack and let go of him.
Creon fell to the ground, huffing. "I just wiped him memory so that he didn't know who we are when he wakes. We should move him some place else so that when he does wake up, he doesn't ask who we are."
Reece wiped her tears off her cheeks and helped pick William off the dirty ground. He grunted and grabbed his sides.
"You okay, William? Did he break anything?" Reece asked.
William nodded, bending back down.
"What? What did he break? One of your ribs?" Reece asked, panicking.
"Yeah. Hurts like hell," William said, smiling weakly.
Reece held onto William as he sat down next to the sleeping Griffen. She sat next to him.
"What can we do?" Reece asked.
William shook his head. "I don't know. This is the first broken anything I've had."
"I might be able to help," Evernime said, taking her sweatshirt off. She threw it to Reece, who grabbed it in as it landed in her lap, confused about how a sweatshirt could help William's broken rib.
William moaned. "How is that going to help me?"
Evernime grabbed the sweatshirt from Reece's grip and began to rip it into strips.
"What are you doing?" Reece asked.
"Ripping my sweatshirt. Creon. Your a Skincrawler. Can you wrap this around his ribs?" Evernime asked.
Creon stood and looked at Evernime like she was insane.
"Yes, I can. But I would have to..." Creon stopped talking and swallowed.
Reece gasped. "No. I won't let him do that! You can't! There must be another way!"
William looked at Reece, confused. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Evernime wants Creon to jump into you to fix you! I won't let him do it!" Reece shook her head and clenched her fists.
William looked at Reece. "What do you mean? What's so bad about that?"
"You have no idea what its like to have a Skincrawler inside of you. Its like a piranha inside of you, eating at your flesh. Its not painless, either," Reece explained, her bottom lip quivering.
Creon shook his head. "It won't work. Just wrap it around his chest and he should be fine in a few weeks or so. Skincrawlers don't jump into people just to wrap a ripped up sweatshirt on his rib. Its too complicated. Once a Skincrawler is inside someone, their natural instincts kick in."
Evernime frowned. She didn't know that. "Oops. I didn't know that. Sorry."
"Its okay. So who is going to fix my rib?" William asked. "And how long will it take to heal?"
"I'm not sure," Creon said, shaking his head. "I think it might be at least six weeks."
"Six weeks?" William asked, then cried out in pain.
"Here, William. Lift your shirt up so I can see how badly it is," Reece said.
William removed his hands from his broken ribs and let Reece pull his shirt carefully off. She gasped when she saw how badly it was. He had a huge lump sticking out of his chest that was turning a deep black and blue.
Reece touched it gently, causing William to gasp in pain. "Sorry. Its bad. But at least it isn't sticking out of your skin, right?"
William nodded. "Yeah, I guess. Griffen did more damage to me then I did to him."
"Yes, well, I should get him out of here. He should be waking up soon," Creon said, picking Griffen up off the bed.
Reece nodded and sighed. She didn't know what to do about William's broken rib.
William looked at Reece as he held his ribs. "Its going to be fine Reece. I'll be okay. Don't you worry about me, alright?"
Reece nodded, but she felt like crying anyways. If she hadn't done something to stop Griffen sooner, he wouldn't have gotten a broken rib that looked like a giant lump sticking out of his lower chest.
She groaned and hid her face in her hands, tears wetting her hands.
William put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him as much as he could without crying out in pain.
"I told you, its going to be fine. I'll be perfectly well in at least six weeks and then I'll be back to normal," William said, rubbing her back.
Reece shook her head. "But its all my fault! If I had done something earlier before Griffen had kicked you in the ribs, then you wouldn't have a broken rib right now. I'm sorry, William."
Reece leaned her head on William's shoulder and sighed. "Its fine, Reece. You didn't do anything wrong. This was his and my fight, not yours. Please, Reece, stop blaming yourself for something that you didn't do."
Reece nodded then looked over at Evernime who had sat down on the floor against the wall and fell asleep. Reece chuckled as she watched Evernime snore.
"Wow, she really can snore," Reece said, smiling as Evernime mumbled something in her sleep about doughnuts.
William laughed then cried out in pain. Reece looked back at William as he grabbed his side more.
He coughed, then cried out in pain some more. "Ouch. That really hurt."
Reece stood up and took another look at William's broken rib. The lump on his lower part of his chest was getting blacker and bigger.
"Oh, this could turn out bad, William. This could have been prevented, but it hadn't," Reece said, laying two fingers on the lump carefully.
"No it couldn't have been, Reece and you know it," William said, looking at Reece as she felt the lump. "Hey, what are you doing?"
Reece didn't even know what she was doing. Her fingers felt like a million tiny prickly things poking at her fingertips. Her fingers began to glow a bright reddish color. Not just her fingers were glowing, but her hands and then her arms.
"What's going on?" Reece asked, not moving her fingers from William.
William shook his head, wide-eyed. "I don't know! What are you doing?"
"I don't know!" Reece said.
Suddenly, the glow shot out of her fingertips and shot right into William's wound.
William cried out in pain, grabbing the wound. Reece backed up and gasped. The red glow was gone from her fingertips and so was the prickly feeling.
"Your wound! Its gone, William!" Reece said, pointing to where the lump should have been.
William looked down at the spot where his broken rib had been, but it was gone. "Reece...you healed me."
Reece wasn't listening to him. She was still looking at the wound that wasn't even there anymore.
"I don't get it," Reece whispered, shaking her head.
"What don't you get, Reece? You healed me!" William said, jumping up from the small bed that Griffen had brought in.
Suddenly, the door swung open and Creon walked in. "I heard someone say that they healed you?"
"Yes, Reece healed me!" William said, kissing Reece on the forehead.
"I-I healed you? How is that even possible?" Reece asked.
"Who cares!" William said, putting his hands up in the air. "You healed me is all that matters!"
"What's going on?" Evernime asked, standing up as she rubbed her tired eyes.
"Reece healed me!" William said, grabbing Reece, kissing her.
"I did, didn't I?" Reece said smiling.
"Yes you did!" William said, grinning. He picked Reece up and spun her around.
"How did you do it?" Creon asked.
"Well, I'm not really sure. I was touching William's wound and then I was thinking if it was possible to heal someone, and then my fingers started to glow and then he was healed!" Reece said, laughing. "I healed you, William!"
Evernime chuckled, smiling to herself as she shook her head in disbelief. Reece was coming out with more and more powers that she didn't even know about.
"So, you can heal people? What else can you do?" Evernime asked, putting a hand on her shoulder, laughing.
William stopped spinning Reece around in circles and sat her down on the bed.
"I don't know. New powers keep emerging every now and then. I don't even know how to use half the ones that I already have!" Reece said.
Evernime chuckled again and sat next to Reece, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Reece, I may not like how your with William, but each person in this room likes you just the way you are. And so do I. You have extraordinary powers no on else in the world would ever dream of having. Your like a wand full of powers walking around like nothing. I just don't get how you can, but I always thought that your powers are more stronger when you believe in yourself. Well, that and the wave patterns in the air. You are a wonderful, beautiful woman. And I think that's why everyone likes you so much, Reece."
Reece looked up at her and smiled. "Really?"
Evernime nodded and hugged her. "Your a great friend, Reece, and I know that I get jealous sometimes, but I do like you and don't you get me wrong."
"Why are you telling me this now? Everyone already knows that you get jealous. Its okay though. Your a great friend too, Evernime."
"Please, call me Ever," She said, waving her hand.
William looked at Evernime. She never let just anyone call her that. He was holding his breath without noticing and suddenly began to cough.
Reece and Evernime looked up. "You okay there, William?" Evernime asked.
William coughed again, shaking his head. "I'm fine. I was just holding my breath. Evernime doesn't just let anyone call her that, you know, Reece."
"No, I didn't know that. But I'm honored. Did you get your sleep that you wanted, Ever?" Reece asked, grinning.
Evernime laughed. "Not really. Who needs sleep anyways when they are on the run with a supernatural chick that doesn't even know all her powers and a freaky Skincrawler who was madly in love with his wife and an almost-ex-husband?"
Everyone laughed a few minutes, but went silent after a few. The sky was turning a bright pink outside.
"So, when are we going to the Skincrawlers layer?" Reece asked, looking out the dusty window.
Creon sighed and lowered his head.
He still didn't want to tell them where the layer was, even though he told them that it was in Texas, which it is, he didn't want them to know where the exact location is.
"Look you guys, I know that you've made a plan and all to go to the Skincrawler's layer and all, but I don't think that I can. I mean, I would be a traitor. They would hate me if I ratted out where the live. I mean, they can be civilized if they wanted to be!" Creon said.
"Creon. We've been over this so many times!" Reece said. "We don't want to hurt them, even if they are savage creatures that only think of themselves. We just want to talk to them. Nothing more than that. We are only going to try and talk to them about a truce so that we don't have to worry about them anymore."
"I still am not so sure about that. They will still hate me for it," Creon said, closing his eyes.
"I am sorry, Creon, but if you won't tell me, then I will have to ask Monika because she knows where it is," Reece said, standing up. She walked over to Creon and put a hand on his shoulder as she past him.
Suddenly, Monika appeared. "Hi, Reece! You call?"
"Sort of. Your husband doesn't want to tell me where the Skincrawlers layer is. You know where it is, don't you?" Reece asked, looking towards Creon, who wasn't looking at anyone.
"I figured out how to show myself to anyone else now! I will talk to him if that's what you want me to do. He just doesn't want to betray his own kind is all. But I know that you would never!" Monika said, floating over to Creon, who shook as he felt a draft.
Monika showed herself to Creon, who gasped and fell to his knees.
"Monika..." Creon breathed.
"Yes, its me. I want to tell you that you are not being very fair to them. All they are trying to do is save the human race. And they want to do it in the most civilized way. But your just not being very fair about it!" Monika said, shaking her finger at him.
Creon nodded, still on his knees. He looked as if he was praying.
"I will. I will!" Creon said, nodding.
"So you are going to tell them where it is, or I will!" Monika said.
Creon nodded about a million times until Monika said she loved him and disappeared.
"Wow, that gets freakier every time I see it," William said, shaking his head.
Reece laughed. "So, Creon. Where is it?"
Creon sighed and stood up slowly. "In Texas."
"We already know that, Creon. Just tell us, please," Evernime said.
"Okay, fine. Its around the Alpine area. You can find it from there," Creon said, feeling like he betrayed his clan. But he already had once he quite eating humans and married a human and had a child with her, so it really didn't matter.
"The Alpine area? What is that supposed to mean?" Evernime asked, confused.
"That's where it is, now please, just don't ask me again. I think I need to leave," Creon said, pushing the door open.
"Wait, Creon. We need you still. If your not there, then they might think that we are just trying something silly! Please! If your there, they might actually believe us!" Reece said, pleading him to stay.
Creon stopped at the door and turned back. "Fine, but if they don't want to the first time, then I will fight with them, not you. I will fight with them because I am a Skincrawler, nothing more. And I belong with them, not you."
"Then why did you come to us asking for help?" Reece asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
Creon was about to say something, but stopped, knowing she was right. He had come to them for help because he had no reason to stay with the Skincrawlers.
He sighed and closed the door. "Your right. I need to start acting like the person that I am."
"That's right, you should. Now, lets call a cab," Reece said, taking William's cell phone out of his pocket.


{~Chapter nine~}


Reece was jolted awake. The cab driver had run over a large bump in the road.
"Uh, Cab driver? How far till we get there?" Reece asked.
"We are just about there. All ya'll have been sleeping the whole way here. Ah, here ya'll are!"
Reece shook everyone awake.
"We're here!" Reece said, excitedly.
William rubbed his eyes, smiling when he saw Reece looking at him.
"What? Already?" William asked, planting a kiss on Reece's lips.
She smiled and returned the kiss. "We are."
Evernime and Creon woke up a few seconds later.
"So, this is it?" the cab driver asked. "The middle of nowhere?"
"Yup! This is it!" Reece replied, jumping out of the car followed by everyone else.
"So how much do we owe you?" William asked, handing him a wade of money.
The cab driver smiled and said, "This should do it. Thanks."
Once everyone was out of the cab, he drove away, dry dirt flying in their faces.
"So, Creon. Where is it? I don't see anything," Reece said, looking around. She grabbed William's hand and started walking.
"Its over there. I wish you could see it, but only Skincrawlers can," Creon said, shaking his head.
"Well, lead us to the layer!" William said, putting a fist to the air.
Creon sighed and began walking to the layer of the Skincrawlers.


They were walking so long and everyone even Creon was getting tired of walking.
"When are we going to get there?" Evernime wined.
"Yeah, when?" William asked, wiping sweat off his face.
"We are almost there. Just hold on a few more minutes. We could have asked the cab driver to drive us over here," Creon said, pointing to the layer entrance. "but no...none of you wanted to."
"Well, we didn't know where it is!" Reece said.
Creon sighed. He had been thinking about something ever since they began to walk to the layer. What if he just went into the layer and asked them to forget about the prophecy. Or he could wipe everyone's memories. One or the other.
"Creon?" Reece asked, stopping in front of Creon who had stopped walking.
Creon looked up at her, frowning. "I've been thinking, Reece. Since none of you are Skincrawlers and they only like Skincrawlers to enter, why don't I just go in myself?"
Reece frowned. Some how she just knew that he would say something like that.
"I don't know. I don't think you could take on Erone and Roney even if you tried. We are all in this together, and you know it, Creon," Reece said.
"You talking about us?" a voice said from behind them.
Reece, William, Evernime and Creon turned to look at who had said that and saw that there was two men standing behind them.
They both looked like twins and had the same clothes on and everything.
"We should have known that you would show up here, Creon."
"Erone. I'm going to kill you!" Creon said, running at Erone, who moved out of the way.
"No!" Reece yelled, using her telekinesis to lift all three into the air. "This ends tonight!"
Erone and Roney didn't even seem scared that she had lifted them into the air. Roney even laughed at her.
"You think this ends tonight? Well, look behind you. There is thousands of Skincrawlers right behind you. They will follow us as long as we are alive," Erone said, shoving Reece to the ground using his telekinesis.
Reece skidded to the ground and looked up. She had lost her concentration with them and they had fallen to the ground.
"I will kill you both then," Reece growled.
"You can't take them on by yourself, Reece!" Evernime said.
"No, I can't. But we can!" Reece lifted William and Evernime into the air using her super strength and tossed them to the side, hitting Erone and Roney smack in the face. They all landed in a heaping pile on one another.
Erone and Roney stood up in synch and smiled. They were too good for someone like Reece.
Suddenly, Reece's fingers started to tingle like they did when she had healed William. She held her fingers out at Erone and Roney, who suddenly both went white in the face.
"That's not even possible! There is none of those left!"
Reece frowned, confused. "What are you talking about?" She asked, her fingers growing brighter with every second that past. "Talk now. What are you talking about?"
"When the Earth was just a new planet, aliens came to earth and created man. They had the powers that you are using right now," Erone said, bowing to her.
Reece didn't even know what the heck he was talking about. She was an alien?
"I'm an alien? Is that what your saying?" Reece asked, lowering her hands slightly.
"No, Reece! Don't let them trick you!" William yelled.
Reece looked over at everyone around her. They were all standing a great distance away from where Reece and the brothers were. Even the other Skincrawlers that had exited their layer to see what was going on were just standing there, looking stupid.
"No, shut up for a minute, William. I want to know what is going on. Creon said that all they believe in is the prophecy and we came here to tell them that it doesn't even exist."
Roney and Erone looked up from the ground. They had both fell to their knees and bowed at her feet, even when Reece had her hands at their faces, ready to kill them at any moment.
"You are the last..." Erone said, bowing his head again. "You are from a planet called Tele and you have the Elder's powers."
"How do you know?" Reece asked, stepping closer to them.
"Because we are from that planet. It was destroyed long ago and now we live here on earth. The only reason that we believed in the prophecy is because we thought that it had to do with the one who holds the Elder's only power. We created all of this just to find you. We never wanted to hurt any of you and we wouldn't if possible."
"You lie!" Reece said. "You have killed so many people. Why should I believe you?"
"We only killed for you!" Erone said, bowing his head lower.
"Kill them!" William yelled.
Reece didn't know what to do. She surely thought that they should die, but then again, she wanted to know more about what they were talking about. She didn't know if they were lying or not, but she could see that they did believe in what they were saying. She could easily kill them if she wanted to.
William couldn't stand to see that Reece was actually believing this, so he lunged, hitting Erone and Roney, who were caught by surprise and fell to the ground.
"William! What are you doing?" Reece cried, firing the glow out of her fingers. The light hit Erone in the chest, killing him instantly.
She had to finish this even if she wanted to know more about who she was. If she was to find out, she would have to ask other people who knew about it. She ran at William, knocking him out of the way.
William grunted, falling to the ground, unconscious.
Roney stood up, wiping blood from his mouth, smiling.
"You all are such silly children, are you not?" Roney said, stepping towards Reece, who was on the ground.
"Erone was always stupid about things. But he is my brother and I will always stand by his side no matter what. But now that he dead, then I can do whatever I want to do! So, will you join me and I can tell you about your life and who you really are," Roney said, holding his hand out to Reece.
"No. You have killed so many people that I love. Even if they were not related to me or not, they were my family. Then you made me think that I was a stupid princess and a bunch of other things, so what do you think my answer is?" Reece asked, lifting Roney into the air. She spun him around threw him across the area, landing in the middle of a dust pile.
Reece ran up to him and grabbed him by the throat. "You lie about everything that I am. So now you are going to pay. I'm not going to show you mercy. This, this is revenge."
Reece squeezed him neck and his head popped off, blood gushing everywhere. His head fell to the ground, rolling as it fell.
Reece let the rest of the body go. She wasn't going to listen to anything anyone she didn't trust anymore. She was done being the girl who always needing someone to depend on.
Evernime and Creon ran up to her and helped her up off the ground.
"You okay, Reece?" Evernime asked, helping her wipe dust off of her.
Reece nodded and walked over to William. She leaned down next to him and smacked him in the face lightly till he came around.
"Hey, you awake?" Reece asked, smiling down at him.
William nodded. "What happened?"
Reece looked around her. All of the Skincrawlers that had came out of their layer were bowing at the sight of Reece.
"They are all bowing to you, Reece!" Creon said. "Your their new leaders. I don't think your going to have to deal with them anymore."
"What?" Reece asked, the wind blowing her hair around.
William got up and looked around, amazed. "I don't get it. What happened?"
"Reece killed Erone and Roney as if they were nothing. They overestimated Reece and so they died because of it."
"So, its all over?" William asked, putting a hand over his eyes to block out the sun.
Reece shook her head, leaning against William. "No. Its not even close to being over."
Reece, William, Evernime and Creon all watched in amazement as thousands of Skincrawlers bowed to Reece and the others, the wind blowing in their faces.
Reece smiled. It wasn't over and she knew it, but for now she could live her life in peace with her friends and her love of her life William.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 01.09.2011

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