Pestilence Plagues | ONC 2021

08 | Famed Five

"Victims of the mutant attack in the wee hours of Valentine's Day confirmed the identity of one of the five Vindex Academy students who launched this unprecedented attack," The news anchor reported smoothly, her eyes trained on the camera. The five of us were gathered around the television in the small apartment we rented upon arriving in London.

"Betcha it's Clarke," Lukas scoffed as he headed into the kitchen, in search of more snacks to consume. I really hoped not.

"Victims claimed to have felt a sudden dryness in the air while witnessing the rapid formation of an ice igloo covered in green stalks before some of them suffered a blackout." The small television screen made way for a live footage of the 'crime scene' shot in the wee hours of the morning. The video displayed a pair of neighbourhood police officers in neon yellow vests speaking to a man in black suit with black sunglasses, probably the MI6 agent. The white and blue tape barricaded the mess of jagged icicles and withered veins that we left behind. Half of the frozen dome was surprisingly intact with crisp brown shrubs draped haphazardly over it.

I squinted harder at the television, trying to find —

"There it is!" Jelani exclaimed excitedly as he bounced. The sofa he was jumping up and down on thumped, sending Thomas into the air slightly at irregular intervals. Jelani had his finger pointed at a single spot on the television, his outstretched arm surprisingly steady despite his big movements.

Jelani was right. It was there! The pointy ice structure encasing the bullet was somehow still standing. The structure stood tall and proud, twinkling brightly as light rays bounced off the crystal-like surface of it. 

"It's beautiful," Ellen murmured, sending heat rushing to my face. Her whisper was so soft that I only heard it because we were sitting next to each other. She had this sparkle in her eyes as she stared at the screen, entranced by the solid ice I created in the heat of the moment.

"Not bad, Clarke," Lukas called out from the kitchen.

"That looks awesome!" Jelani cried out, as he moved closer to the screen. The camera zoomed in onto the clear structure.

"Nicely done." Thomas grinned and added, "Chips are in the bottom cabinet. Get the barbeque flavoured ones." Lukas yelled out a quick 'thanks', which was followed by the loud slam of the fridge door.

It has been about three days since that night's incident. The five of us have tried to talk about what had happened. Keyword: tried. The supposed debrief session turned into awkward silence followed by a hyper focus onto our abilities. This included Jelani's powerful mind abilities, Ellen's beautiful vines and my control over water and ice. Needless to say, the attempt at a kind of therapy session was very much unsuccessful.

It has been a sleepless few nights as nightmares plagued my sleep. I often woke up completely drenched in sweat, with the last image of the dream being a gun pressed against my forehead. The cocking sound of the gun ringing in my ears as I got out of bed. I have tried going back to sleep on the first night, tossing and turning, willing my mind to shut down, but ultimately failed to fall back asleep. I would head into the living room of the 2 bedroom apartment we rented in London, only to see Lukas up and about, rummaging for midnight snacks or doing some form of workouts. Neither of us needed to speak to understand our reasons for getting up early, so we went about doing our things in silence. Sometimes at the crack of dawn, we'd see Jelani enter the apartment after some late night stroll. 

On the bright side of this whole situation, things have been uneventful since we left the campsite, with the exception of the media outrage. It would also seem like Lukas took my advice from the campsite and worked out the misgivings with Thomas. The siblings were now behaving like friends, and this has tremendously improved the environment around us. .