Black Water

A death devastates the Anderson family, and the tribe. Practices are canceled, funerals are arranged, and Melodie has to deal with Luke, Alex, the death of a dear friend and Christmas.

               

The room was practically destroyed, the door had been kicked down and everything was turned upside down and immediately I thought about Yin. I took at my phone, still wondering who fixed it and how. I saw I had missed a call from Cameron, so I called him back. I asked him if Gerard had gotten paranoid again. Cameron said no, because Gerard and the twins had just come over to apologize for their obnoxious behavior. He told me it was another tribe, who didn’t want me to even exist. They were an anti-war tribe, so when their psychic saw the battle they got mad. Cameron hung up the phone, on his way over. Alex and I were shocked. Neither of us went near the couch, afraid of seeing that painful sight again. Half the window was shattered, the other half was cracked so much a single touch would cause it to shatter like the other side. I smiled.

            “What? Our living room is destroyed and you’re just jolly?” Alex asked, harshly.

            “Luke slept through this whole thing.” I answered, finding the little bit of humor in the situation. Alex didn’t find it all that funny. I hopped over to Luke’s room, him still asleep on his couch. I shook him awake.

            “What?” He groaned. I grabbed his arm silently and tugged him until he got up.

            “What is it?” He yawned as I pulled him quietly into the living room. He dropped his arm.

            “What happened?” He asked, enraged.

            “Cameron thinks it was another tribe.” I mumbled, knowing his aversion to Cameron. I realized then that Luke was totally out of tune with this tribal business. Luke didn’t say another word. Reading his mind, I heard him thinking who was on the couch. I did not want to answer that question. Cameron walked in where the door would be his eyes wide with surprise. He covered his mouth when his eyes glanced across the couch.

            “Never just the Elders.” He whispered to himself.

            “Did the other tribe attack our tribe?” I asked, whispering as quietly as he did. He shook his head, looking down. He came to stand next to my family.

            “Didn’t he see this coming?” I hissed.

            “Didn’t you?” He asked. I shook my head.

            “I wasn’t looking.” I mumbled. Cameron was the only one brave enough to go over to the back of the couch and touch the thing that repelled us. He tried to hide his agony from us, but we could hear it in his voice. I sighed; it was sight to see Cameron heartbroken. I bit my bottom lip. Outside, going perfectly with the mood inside, it started pouring rain.

            We stood there, watching Cameron, for who knows how long. I remained emotionless, not sure how I felt. I felt like smiling, but then again I felt like the world was falling to pieces. The rest of the tribe arrived the next day, saying their last goodbyes. The funeral was quick, an effort for less pain on our part. Practice was canceled that day.

            The next day wasn’t as painful; we were motivated by the tragic event. We wanted to honor the dead. Cameron and I were working really hard to develop a fifth power, which Trevor had really thought was possible.

            “Melodie!” Cameron groaned on the Friday afternoon. Alex had decided to go to his last day of school before Christmas break, so I was at practice alone with the group.

            “I’m sorry! I just don’t know how to do this.” I complained. He was trying to teach me how to control water, but every time I tried I ended up getting frustrated and kicking over the bucket.

            “The last Elder said that it was possible to control the water, you and Alex both agree you can do it, just try a little harder.” He replied. I closed my eyes. I was standing in front of the silver bucket, my hands out in front of me. There was liquid slowly oozing into the already full bucket. I smirked and raised my left hand. The water swirled quickly with it. I kicked over the bucket and the water continued to float under the palm of my hand.

            My eyes snapped open. He looked at me, his blue eyes encouraging. I nodded.

            “See Mel, you can do it.” Cameron told me. I nodded, my mind filled with the feelings that should’ve hit me the day before. I swallowed my pain and went over to the bucket. The rain had already filled it up. It hadn’t stopped raining since the night of the death. I raised my hand above the bucket, just like I had seen in the vision. I wanted to live the vision, I wanted to do it.

            “Don’t bug her, she’s focusing.” I heard Cameron whisper. The water started to turn black. It shot up to my left hand, pausing before it splashed against my palm. It probably didn’t come up to the right because of my burn. I chuckled to myself, and smirked, to fulfill the vision. I kicked the bucket over and spun around, the water invisibly attached to my palm. I spun around and made the water shoot up into the sky, with great force. The wind from it caused my hair to swirl around. Cameron smiled at me, until all the water fell down from the sky and splashed him. The water that fell on him was much harder than the rain, and it soaked him to the bone, turning his white shirt black. I laughed.

            “I did it! Cameron I did it!” I squealed. Cameron hugged me, I pushed him away.

            I smiled a little, my mind still fogged with feelings of grief. I turned back to the bucket and tried to shoot water from my palms back in it. I felt like my brother and I were sharing powers now, because we both have water powers. The water didn’t come out of my palm, it came out of my finger tip, and because I wasn’t expecting it, the water hit me in the face. I laughed.

            “That was great Melodie!” Cameron exclaimed. I smiled at him.

            “We gotta keep training though; get you up to your exact full ability.” Cameron mumbled. I nodded. The group basically didn’t exist that day; it was just Jasmine, Cameron and I alone in the field. The rest of the tribe was grieving over the recent death, and we were the only ones who stayed behind from the tribal blessing. I guess this tribe isn’t as normal as I thought. I thought it was just a mini city, but it’s actually pretty tribal. We had to train until I was fully ready for Gerard. I don’t know why we went about it like I was actually going back to Gerard all of a sudden but inside I’d always know I’d either fight him or die trying.

            “So what should we do now?” I asked, shooting fire with my left hand and water at the flames to extinguish them.

            “I would say telepathy.” Jasmine suggested. I looked at him. He nodded at me, a troubled look on his face. I knew what was crossing his mind, but I didn’t want to make him unhappy by arguing. I picked up the training dummy Timothy had left for us to use. The dummy was nothing more than an over sized human shaped stuffed animal with no face. Cameron used telepathy to knock it out of my hand.

            “Must I use telepathy for everything?” I complained. I didn’t wait for him to answer before I picked in up, with my mind, and threw it against the mountain. I used my left hand to “drown” the dummy and then my right hand to set it on fire. While it was on fire I smacked it against the mountain. Then I lifted a tree to finish it off.

            “Melodie! That was our good dummy!” Cameron complained.

            “At least Gerard is-” I started.

            “But that was amazing.” Cameron commented as if I didn’t say anything.

            “So do you think I’m ready for the eclipse?” I asked. He scoffed.

            “Not even close.”

            “Then what else do I need to do?”

            “This time, I’m going to fight back. I’ll use telepathy on a… new dummy.” Cameron challenged. I looked at my watch, 4:30.

            “Actually Cameron, I really should go, I promised Luke I would be home before him so I can help him clean up that mess.” I reminded him.

            “Oh yeah, right.” Cameron mumbled. I decided to read his mind despite what could happen if he just so happened to be reading mine.

            “If only she didn’t feel guilty for leaving him. He’s so controlling, we really need to practice.” Cameron thought.

            “Dying?” He asked me, sensing I was reading his mind.

            “Nope, I just wanted to know. Feel free to read mine.” I answered.

            “Bye Cameron, see you tomorrow, bright and early.” I thought. He chuckled.

            “See you too Mel.” He laughed.

“Dying?” I asked. He laughed again. I hopped out of the corral and ran back home, yet not in a rush. I got home and everything in the living room was completely and totally fixed, the door was even locked. I opened it with my key and saw Alex sitting on the very same couch we had been so afraid to go near a few days ago.

            “Can you believe it? I got home from school and everything was perfect! It’s like a miracle!” Alex exclaimed, not looking up from the TV. I wasn’t able to answer because my mouth was wide open in shock. The only connection I could make was with my phone and how it was miraculously fixed when no one was looking.

            “How-” I couldn’t think of anymore words, but luckily Alex knew what I meant.

            “I have no idea, but it was so amazing, there’s not even blood on the couch.” Alex was in awe of the whole situation. I stayed standing in the doorway, waiting to wake up from the dream. I pinched myself while Alex was watching, which was a bad move. He laughed while I finally decided it was no dream.

            “No Melodie, it’s real.” Alex smiled. Luke’s car door shut outside, but he didn’t come in for a while. I walked over to the couch and sat next to Alex so that Luke wouldn’t hit me with the door when he walked in. Luke finally knocked on the door, but let himself in cautiously.

            “This is my house right?” He asked. Alex and I smiled.

            “I know right? I have no idea how it happened but it did.” I explained. Luke walked in and felt all the furniture as if checking to see if it was an illusion.

            “How did you guys do this?” Luke asked, shocked. I looked at Alex and smirked; he smirked back, and nodded.

            “We spent the whole day working on it, it took a lot of hard work but we got it done.” Alex lied.

            “Yeah right.” Luke scoffed, full of disbelief.

            “Fine, it was a total mystery to us too.” I spilled.

            “That’s amazing.” Luke whispered.

            “I know, I never expected something like this to happen. I mean who could’ve-” I started.

                “Just incredible.” Luke interrupted, looking up at the high ceiling. I smiled. Luke started to have a coughing fit.

            “You really are sick, why don’t you go to the doctor?” I asked.

            “I’ll get over it Mel, don’t worry.”

            “You sure?”

            “Who are you, my mother?” He snapped, and then he walked into his room. I made a face to myself.

            “Might as well be, I’m more of parent anyway.” I mumbled to myself. Alex hit my shoulder.

            “Well I am!” I argued.

            “Just because you know how to cook.” Alex murmured.

            “Well I cook, I’m the only one who bought Christmas presents and oh my God I sound like a housewife!” I rambled. Alex laughed.

            “You kind of do, just a little bit.” He replied.

            “Fine, then I’m going on strike.” I said flatly. Alex chuckled, and poured more of that delicious candy in his mouth.

            “Can I have some?” I asked, trying to be polite. He looked at my oddly, and poured some in the palm of my hand.

Then he saw it.

            “Melodie! What happened to your hand?” He gasped. I poured the candy in my mouth quickly and hid my hand from him.

            “What’s with all the shouting?” Luke groaned coming in the room.

            “Look at Melodie’s hand!” Alex shouted, grabbing my left wrist with an inescapable grasp and shoving it out for Luke to see. I looked away from the star shaped burn, my bangs covering my face. It felt like Alex was crushing my wrist.

            “Melodie! What happened?” Luke asked loudly. Why was everyone so mad at me for getting hurt? It’s inevitable; does it matter if I didn’t tell them?

            “I was burnt.” I whispered, so quietly I could barely hear myself. Luke ripped my wrist away from Alex viciously, and I fell onto Alex’s lap. It was pretty painful.

            “Why the hell did you get burnt?” Luke was simply enraged.

            “You think I did it on purpose?” I asked, as if he didn’t know anything. My voice was never above a whisper.

            “Why didn’t you tell me?” He growled.

            “This burn means more than just me being stupid, it means I’m a flamethrower.” I whispered. I’m sure Luke wasn’t listening, if he could even hear, but Alex sure understood. His brown eyes watched me carefully.

            “You should’ve told me Melodie!” He argued, sharply.

            “I’m sorry.” That time I couldn’t even hear myself, but I felt my lips moving.

            “We’ve gotta go get that fixed.” Luke sighed, letting my wrist go. I fell on my face on the arm of the couch. I rose up and sat as far away from Alex as possible.

            “Luke, it’s not possible to fix a burn that quickly.” Alex contradicted.

            “We have to do something! I’m taking you to the hospital and that’s that.” Luke told me.

            “Luke! We can’t! I need it!” I argued.

            “You’ll never need a burn!” Luke corrected.

            “I will! Without it I can’t shoot fire.” I replied. He looked at me strangely, then his gaze shifted to Alex. Alex was looking at me strangely.

            “So that’s where it comes from, that makes sense.” Alex commented.

            “You knew about this?” Luke asked.

            “Technically no, I knew she could shoot fire, but I never knew she was burnt.” Alex answered.

            “I don’t want my sister to be scarred for life.” Luke said. He was suddenly calm, speaking in a voice I didn’t even cringe away from.

            “It’s either that, or I get kidnapped and taken away from you forever. I have to beat Gerard and this is one of my strongest powers.” I told Luke.

            “She burnt a chick’s hair off.” Alex added. Luke tried so hard to stifle a laugh, but it still came out.

            “Nice.” He smiled, trying too hard from laughing anymore than that one little outburst. I tugged at my own hair in response.

            “Okay, you’re off the hook for this one.” Luke smiled.

            “Oh by the way I’m on strike. You get to be the parent this week.” I warned Luke. Luke groaned, which made me smile. Then he walked into his room.

                “Merry Christmas!” He added, his hand raised in the world. I laughed. But then the pain kicked in and I clutched my wrist in shock, I didn’t think it could hurt any worse than when it was being held. I grimaced. I could feel Alex’s eyes on me, but I didn’t look at him. He touched my shoulder but I tore away from his hand, even though it hurt my own. I ran upstairs and went to my room. Alex came after me, but I was faster than him. I tried to pull up the ladder but Alex yanked it. Then he climbed up, wanting to talk to me.

            “Go away.” I told him before a word could get out of his mouth.

            “Melodie please, don’t be like this.” Alex begged.

            “What is this? A soap opera? I’m fine, just let me be alone.” I told him.

            “Melodie, I’m really sorry I freaked out like-” He started

            “Go away!” I begged. He laughed and hopped off the ladder with a thud. My wrist was really starting to ache. I flopped on my back on my bed, the blanket acting as a pillow. I fell asleep early that night, when the pain finally did subside. But just before I drifted to sleep Luke came up.

            “When will this girl ever learn?” He whispered to himself. Then he grabbed a blanket that had fallen on the floor and draped it over me. He lifted me up, which was a shock. Who knew he was strong? He turned me sideways so I would be lying in a normal position. He kissed my forehead which was surprisingly surprising. Cameron must do that like twice a day but I don’t remember Luke ever doing that. Then he left my room. Interesting experience. I fell asleep then. When I awoke it was snowing heavily outside, another perfect day. At least it wasn’t raining as it had been since the death. I think the death was so tragic even the clouds were surprised. I threw the blanket off then made my bed. And I thought it was cold under the blanket. I shivered and walked downstairs.

            “Luke!” I yelled. Alex laughed from the couch.

            “Work.” He answered.

            “Did he pay that bill yet?” I asked, hoping over the back of the couch. I sat next to Alex, yet still hovering away from him.  

                “Nope.” Alex answered.

            “Smooth.” I commented. The big window revealed all the snow, which was kind of terrible.

            “So Luke isn’t going to be calling, because the electricity is out, we can finally have fun.” Alex smiled.

            “And get grounded again, yeah totally.”

            “Oh come on Melodie, Luke won’t ground us.”

            “Yeah, let’s see how well that works.”

            “Don’t you like have to get to practice or something?”

            “No? It’s not noon yet smart one.”

            “Well get a head start precious one.”

            “Fine.” Then I shot water at his mocking face. He rolled his eyes.

            “Love you too.” He mumbled.

            “Aw, your words are so touching. Of course I love you!” I smiled.

            “Whatever.” He teased. I ran back upstairs and got dressed in a dark green long sleeve shirt and a light green tank top, with black pants underneath. I straightened my hair and then ran back downstairs.

            “A little early for dressing like a tree Melodie.” Alex told me. I stuck my tongue out at him.

            “Christmas is in 2 days and you’re already letting it affect your style?” He asked.

            “Shut up Alex.” I commented. I grabbed a bowl of cereal and ate it on the couch. I curled up on the couch when I was done, placing the bowl on the floor. Alex watched me cautiously. He’s not really the type of person to care, so it was odd when he finally did. I felt weird being watched, but I tried to ignore it. After of an hour of watching a vampire documentary and silence Alex smiled at me.

            “What?” I asked, peeking up at him through my long bangs. He shook his head.

            “You’re just so fascinating.” He commented. I smiled.

            “Fascinating.” I echoed.

            “Yeah, fascinating. I mean, you may not notice it but you keep tracing over the star on your palm. And every time they say blood you close your eyes and bow your head. It’s fun to watch. And just now you started biting your knees. It’s pretty hilarious.” He answered.

            “Great, it feels amazing to know that I’m an experiment.” I replied, sarcastically.

            “Shouldn’t you be getting to practice anyway?” He asked me. A spark shot up in my head.

            “Oh yeah that’s right! Practice!” I remembered, and then I sprang up and ran upstairs.

            “Practice is down here!” Alex yelled. I was down in a flash, but not as fast as Jasmine would’ve been. I was clutching my phone in my left hand, even though my left wrist didn’t like that idea.

            “I’m not stupid Alex. See you at 5.” I told him, opening the door. Alex held up a hand.

            “Don’t be late, Luke will kill you.” Alex promised.

            “Okay Alex, calm down.” I teased, and then I walked out. It was strikingly cold outside, and I wrapped my arms around my body for warmth. I crunched through iced-over snow. The forest seemed so far way in the ice. The entrance was basically made of ice which was interesting to see. I shot fire at the village sign to defrost it. It worked a little too well.

            “I have to learn to control you.” I whispered, looking at my fire hand. I strolled in the gate and saw my clan waiting for me at the cattle fence. Cameron seemed surprised to see me.

            “What?” I asked.

            “Nothing, I just didn’t think you would come today.” Cameron replied.

            “Why?” I asked.

            “Well, an Elder saw something.” Cameron mumbled.

            “And I didn’t?” I asked.

            “You weren’t looking.” He whispered.

            “Do I die?” I asked. The group laughed, all except for Maxine. Maxine was thinking “I only wish.” Like I knew she would.

            “No, no Melodie. He saw you tripping on ice and getting your shoe stuck in it.” Jasmine answered.

            “I guess I would do that it.” I mumbled. Maxine smirked at me. I closed my eyes.

            I was standing in the forest, and snow was falling from the sky. A boy was standing next to me his face dangerously close to mine. My face was scared, though it didn’t look like he noticed. I didn’t recognize the boy but he knew me. His face was sweet, like he was trying not scare me, and his eyes were curious.

            “Don’t be afraid of my power Melodie. I won’t hurt you.” He told me.

            “I believe you.” I whispered. He kept his eyes locked on my face, but I wouldn’t look at him. I was watching the breath go out of my mouth like little kids do when ever it’s cold enough to see it.

            I snapped my eyes open. Cam was watching me, Maxine and Jasmine were talking.

            “What’d you see?” Cam asked me.

            “That was random.” I concluded.

            “What’d you see!?!” Cameron demanded.

            “I don’t…know.” I replied. Cameron closed his eyes.

            “All I see is practice being canceled tomorrow on account of snow, in the Elder’s mind, that is.” Cameron told us. Then he shrugged.

            “Great. Practice canceled tomorrow!” Cameron yelled to the rest of the group. I giggled. Cameron shot his head back around.

            “What?” He asked.

            “Nothing.” I replied.

            “I know, but we should’ve canceled it today.” Cameron commented, looking up at the thick snow falling from above. The snow stuck to my hair making it white. I was shivering, I had forgotten my jacket.

            “Precious One, are you cold?” A passing villager yelled from the side of the ring.

            “No sir.” I replied. I shot fire at the ground, melting the snow around me.

            “Good, can we focus now? I’ll control the dummy.” Cameron sighed. Using his mind, he picked up the dummy and made it punch me in the face. It hurt. But that was enough to spark my anger. But instead of aiming for the dummy, I completely missed and hit a tree. So, after Cameron made the dummy punch me the second time, I picked up the tree with my mind and smacked the dummy hard on the ground. So Samantha used her ability to turn the dummy into a bug, and then, after making it crawl out from the tree, turned it back into a dummy. So, I shot fire at it. I couldn’t get a good aim on it though, because Samantha turned it into a hamster. I shot water at its eyes, a childish move, and then sped to it, stomping on it with my sneakers. It felt like I was a murderer, but it was the only thing I could think of.

            “Good, but now I know, you are no where near ready for Gerard!” Cameron replied.

            “Thanks.” I mumbled.

            “That was the most messed up fight I’ve ever seen.” Cameron replied. I felt my cheek, and for a dummy he sure punches hard. Blood was running down the side of my face, and no one noticed. So much for precious…

            “Let’s start again.” Cameron sighed, when he concluded that I wasn’t listening.

            “Cameron I…” I started.

            “No, it’s not time yet. 4:30 you leave, it’s only 4. Now do it again.” He ordered.

            Cameron levitated Gerard the Dummy, but before he could try anything I transformed into a bear. The dummy turned into a slightly larger bear. I shot fire out of the bear’s hand, burning the fur as it went. The flames had about the same effect on the other bear, so I knocked it to the ground, with my mind of course. Then I picked up a boulder with my mind and placed it on him, soaking him with the other hand, so he wouldn’t change. I rolled the boulder over the bear, and changed back to human, which was like serious multi-tasking. I never lost my focus, which had the group watching in awe. I broke all the bear’s bones, so he was writhing in pain. I knew if the dummy had really been Gerard, Gerard wouldn’t be able to move, or change back. I had won. To be sure, I burnt the bear alive.

            “Violent.” Cameron whispered. I shrugged.

            “Can I?” I asked. Cameron sighed.

            “Go ahead.” He replied.

            “Thank you so much!” I smiled, wrapping him in a hug.

            The walk home seemed longer than usual. I thought it was because I had forgotten the way but then I saw the gas station in the forest. I saw a group of people standing at the front door, watching me. I wanted to ask them what they were staring at, but I kept walking. I ran my fingers through my hair, to make sure it wasn’t on fire, or covered in leaves or something, but nothing came out. I ignored them, shivering, and walked off. They started to follow, but one of them thought that it was a bad idea right now, so he would hang back. He must’ve been the leader because the others followed his decision immediately.

            When I got home, Alex was in the kitchen, slurping a bowl of soup. Luke was at the store shopping, supposedly. Alex accidently dropped his bowl, getting soup all over the floor when I closed the door loudly.

            “Great move there, bro.” I commented. He rolled his eyes at me.

            “Well aren’t you gonna help me?” He asked.

            “On strike, remember?” I reminded him, walking over to the cupboard.

            “Of course it’s strike.” He groaned. I rolled my eyes.

            “I liked you better when you cared.” He mumbled quietly. I pretended I didn’t hear him. I sat down on the couch after making myself a peanut butter sandwich. The wind was blowing strongly outside the window, turning the seemingly light snow into a blizzard. It made me feel cold, despite the fact that the heating bill still had not been paid. I wrapped my Indian design blanket over myself and watched as the snow began to paint the world white. Alex came over and put his head next to mine.

            “Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light, someday all your troubles will be out of sight.” He sang in my ear. I laughed.

            “That’s the most depressing song! I can just see an emo chick sitting in a windowsill singing that song, looking out at the snow. And then the camera would zoom in on the snow when the song was over.” I commented.

            “Let’s film it, that’s a good idea.”

            “No Alex! I can’t sing, I’m sorry.”

            “You can too!”

            “Can not! Now shut up!” He smiled, holding back a laugh. “Have yourself a merry little Christmas” Is one of my favorite Christmas songs, even though I can picture a whole depressing movie being centered around that song. Luke came in the front door then, carrying several bags in one arm, and a small bag in his mouth. Alex took the bag from his mouth and dropped it on the counter.

            “Goodness, did you want help?” Alex asked.

            “No, I have it Alex, as you can tell.” Luke answered. Luke dropped the rest of the groceries on the counter. I walked up to my room, suddenly tired.

            “Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light…” I started singing. I sang the whole song twice before I felt the eyes on my back.

            “Jasmine!” I gasped.

            “Trevor had said you are a really good singer. I just wanted to hear it for myself. Please, continue.” Jasmine prompted.

            “Jasmine! Get out!” I shrieked. Just like that, she was gone. I rubbed my head for a moment, and then drifted to sleep.

            “Melodie!” A sharp whisper woke me up. I opened my eyes, and sat straight up. I was the only one in my room, you see, so I was quite frightened. I ignored it, and categorized it as a dream. I smelled something delicious downstairs. That’s when I realized I hadn’t eaten dinner last night, when Luke had wanted me to, and I was starving. But Luke was probably the worst cook I’ve ever seen, so who knows what could be down there waiting for me. So I got dressed slowly. Today, being Christmas Eve I decided to dress in my most treasured dress. It was poofy, baby blue, and had red and green sparkles all over it. The only problem is that it’s a tank top, so I have to wear a jacket over it, and being raised by a man, I only have hoodies. Luke hates seeing me in dresses. It makes him feel like he’ll never really relate to me. I slipped on silver ballet flats and climbed down my ladder to the hallway below. Of course, I stumbled and nearly fell. Luckily, my loving brother Alex caught me.

            “Careful.” He whispered in my ear.

            “Who’s cooking down there?” I whispered back, holding on to his elbow as he started to move.

            “No idea. I was just going to find out. I know it’s not Luke. Luke’s probably still asleep. He’s so burnt out lately.” Alex whispered. As he finished the sentence, whistling began downstairs.

            “What are you wearing, Mel?” Alex whispered randomly, almost frozen from going downstairs.

            “A dress?” I whispered back, taking a graceful step ahead. He pulled me back.

            “What if someone broke in?” Alex asked.

            “Yes Alex, a burglar would definitely come in, make breakfast, and whistle like a lunatic! Maybe it’s Cameron.” I hoped.

            “Or Gerard.” He said, in a sour voice. I cringed at the thought. I took another graceful, dance like step forward. Those shoes always make me want to be the picture of grace.

            “Ladies first.” He mumbled, pulling his hand away from my elbow. I rolled my eyes. I peered down the staircase. A man was examining a pan out of the sink, still whistling, and I couldn’t see his face. I stepped slowly down the first step. Alex was watching me carefully. The man turned around.

            “Uncle Thomas!” I squealed. I ran to hug him.

            “Hey there, kiddo, are your brothers beating up on you again sweetie?” My uncle asked. Uncle Thomas was possibly the best uncle a kid could ask for. And he was mine.

            “We are not!” Alex exclaimed from behind.

            “Hey there boy.” Thomas smiled, ruffling Alex’s short hair. I let go of Thomas’s waist.

            “What are you doing here?” I asked.

            “I wanted to see my favorite nephews and niece for Christmas. Speaking of which, when are you ever going to out grow that dress Mel? You’ve had it since you were what, eight?” Thomas asked me.

            “Seven and a half. But now, it actually fits me.” I smiled.

            “Where’s Luke?” Alex asked me after a while of us sitting and talking. Thomas was cooking up pancakes and hash browns for us.

            “Sleeping? It’s not like he’s working on Christmas Eve.” I reminded my sixteen year old brother. He rolled his brown eyes.

            “We should trick him, like your dad and I did when he went through a Star Wars phase.” Thomas suggested.

            “Luke, I am your father.” I laughed. Thomas nodded evilly. Before we actually put the prank into action, Alex told Thomas about the prank we pulled earlier this week. He laughed his face off.

            “Good one Mel.” He smiled. By the time he stopped laughing, I had gone to check to see if Luke was still asleep. He was snoring quietly, but dead asleep.

            “Tom, go.” I whispered, stepping out of the hallway Luke’s room was in. I sat next to Alex at the counter, and reached over to steal some ham off of Tom’s plate. I heard Tom use a deep voice once he got to Luke’s bed.

            “Luke, I am your father.” He boomed. Then he ran.

            “Alex, shut up! I’m trying to sleep here!” Luke yelled. We all burst out laughing.

            “Uncle Tom! Don’t be playing tricks on Luke like that!” I yelled, so Luke could hear.

            “Mel, shut up! Tom isn’t here.” He muttered drowsily.

            “Boy, you’re in a bad mood today mister!” I yelled back.

            “Mel, just shut up and let me sleep before I go out there.” He threatened. I wasn’t afraid of him.

            “Lucas Blessing Anderson! Get your face in here!” Tom yelled. He came stumbling.

            “Open your eyes Luke.” Alex mumbled. He eyes snapped open.

            “Tom? What are you doing here?” Luke asked.

            “Well excuse me for wanting to visit my family this Christmas, I’ll leave.” Tom replied. I closed my eyes to see the future.

            I was sitting on a bench in the medicine man’s hut. The medicine man was rummaging in a cupboard for something. He pulled out an old dusty bottle with syrupy purple liquid sloshing around inside. He tossed it to me, and I levitated it before it could fall on the dirt floor.

            “Take a drink of that, Melodie. It should enhance your visions. Your bag should be around here somewhere. Hold on just a minute, Precious One.” The medicine man told me. He yanked the handle of my bag in another closet.

            “Oh great. The medicine man has my bag.” I sighed. Tom and Luke looked at me strangely, but Alex wasn’t surprised. I sighed again and grabbed a second hoodie off the couch. After I had it on, I turned back.

            “I’ll be back in a little bit.” I told Luke.

            “Where are you going?” Luke asked, in his most parental voice.

            “Luke, relax, practice is canceled today. I just have to grab my bag.” I answered, opening the front door. The air was cold, but there was no snow today. Luke didn’t come after me. It was a long walk to the forest. I splashed water on the sign to wash the frozen snow off of it.

            “Welcome to the Joel Forest tribe of the Snake, beware of newborn babies.” I read aloud. I understand why I should beware. I felt cold and stopped walking to zip up the two jackets I had thrown on. That’s when I realized the second one was Tom’s. Then I started off again. But something caused me to freeze on the ice again.

I heard rustling in the forest. The kind of rustling you hear in movies and know you’re about to die. I gulped. The air was warm on my back, I stood motionless. Through my peripheral vision I saw long claws gripping my left shoulder.

            That’s when everything went black.