Refracted

Inversion- my story (original)

When the shades (creepy dementor-looking things that suck life force) start swarming through a giant black rip in the sky, my mind lags for about three seconds. I sit frozen. Dark shapes disperse quickly, heading for the nearest people. More and more keep coming, blotting out the moon and casting the stadium into shadows.
People jumping to their feet and running for the exits spurs me into action. I spring to my feet, holding onto my brothers' wrists, and follow the crowd towards the stairs leading out of the stands. Then the Athena part of my mind springs into action. I start thinking out loud, hoping someone would listen. "We need to get as far away from the opening as possible," I say, running with the crowd.
"Shades aren't tangible; any obstacles or barriers will only hamper us. I need to get over the intercom and let everyone know that abilities won't work against them, using them only hurts each other. Anyone who specializes in defensive magic needs to form a barrier around those who can't and set up the strongest wards they can." Then I notice people are listening. I do a double take, noticing the faces of several confused and terrified faces locking onto me.
I start talking directly to them, giving tentative directions and trying to stay calm. A few run off, I can only assume to take my advice.
Then the head of security gives the order to close the ward around the stadium.
He doesn't alert anyone, but as soon as I see the shimmering walls lowering, I spring for the microphone. I fumble for the button, refusing to let my anxiety creep in. I shout into it that the wards are closing, that anyone close to them needs to leave and go for help. I figure it's better for people to know their situation, and since shades aren't sentient (or at least they shouldn't be), going over the intercoms was something that needed to be done. Everyone at the borders of the ward dives for the exit, and most start running in vain towards the rapidly lowering ward. Most people that were already at the edges get out, but the vast, vast majority of us are trapped inside. I didn't bother running for the exit; I knew I was too far away to make it.
Apparently, people saw me do that, because they start rallying around me. I reach the front of the group and look out, still gripping onto my little brothers' hands. They're unempowered and new to the existence of magic (I'm a 3rd year graviton energetic student at DAMN), so I absolutely have to keep them safe. They only came with me to help me cheer on Huxley, an earth elemental who is one of my best friends at DAMN, in the Elemental and Energetic Games. They have no idea what's going on, but then again, neither does anyone else. They're gone from my mind for an instant, however, and that's all it takes. I spot a group of students out in the open and run out to get them. Once I reach them, I direct them behind the barrier the DMSs have set up.
Once I get back, I remember my brothers and feel terrible for leaving them. I quickly locate them and tell them to stay with me while I find someone with the capability to make wards. I find one and tell him to spread the word and gather those like him. "Those wards are our only defense if the shades can't pass through them. Find as many defensive magic specialists as possible and have them set up small wards in circles around groups of people. Have one in the center making a horizontal one to act as a roof to defend against shades attacking form above. Think Viking shield formations. Then those scattered groups need to move together toward us, so we can combine."
The man stares at me and runs off. I relay the plan to as many people as I can and urge them to spread the word.
I don't really consciously realize I'm giving orders until later, one person runs up and informs me (me!) that a group of shades are approaching from the south and asks what we should do. I realize that these people are relying on me, that I've sort of taken on a leadership role. I push away my nerves and tell them "send four defensive magic specialists to set up wards around any injured. Are they solid?"
"No, not yet."
"Then don't bother using abilities. Focus on running away. Get everyone moving towards the ward," I say, trying not to let my uncertainty show.
I don't know whether to say that's good or bad. A shade only becomes solid, or tangible, when it's consumed enough life force. The sum of it is this: we can only fight them once they've killed enough people. It's become a hunger games, with peoples mindsets being that their survival depends on everyone else's demise.
I order people to look for demons in the crowd and get them to a prominent but hidden place, like underneath the west bleachers. "From there, they can set up a defensible area. Any vampires you see had better be either getting people away from the shades or out there doing what they can to fight them. They're unaffected, so they're almost as important as the demons in protecting these guys." I ask no one in particular to ask around and see if anyone knows if any abilities have an effect on shades. My brothers, who came with me to cheer my friend on, are with me and kind of flabbergasted at my taking charge. I see Soren's face and look at him. "Athena always has a plan, remember?" Then the fact that they're here registers. I can't leave their side, but they have to get somewhere safe. I search for David Shaw, head of werewolf security.
I assume the black wolf running full speed at a group of spectators is David. I run to meet him, letting my problem-solving facade slip when I come face-to-face with the alpha of the Shaw pack.
I look up at him- wow, he's really tall- and ask him to get the people with me to where I've heard a bunch of others have set up in the tunnels underneath the stadium. I tell him about my ward idea, and ask him to get some defensive magic specialists to block the entrance to the tunnels once they're in.
"Kid, are you leading all these people by yourself?" he asks, bemused.
I look surprised, then unsure, then I give him an angry, urgent look. "I- um, I don't know. I guess? It doesn't matter! But no, I just- I need to figure things out. I need to make sure everyone is safe. Can you help me?"
He nods like he understands and takes charge, leading us underground. I breathe a sigh of relief that we now have a real leader, but the problem hasn't gotten any less pressing. At least now I can focus on thinking rather than making decisions for a little bit.
Then Soren spots someone who tripped and fell. He tugs on my sleeve insistently, pointing until I see him curled up on the ground as people thunder past. I yell for someone to grab him, but everyone is too panicked. I curse and change course, running for him with my brothers' hands clutched in mine. I reach him and pull him to his feet, but there's several shades almost upon us, and the last of the people are almost underground.
I realize we're too far away to reach them before the shades reach us. David realizes it too, from the look in his eye.
I shout across the field, "Close the ward! We'll find somewhere else safe!"
I hate myself for putting the boys in this position, but David nods, looking resigned, and directs the DMSs to set up wards blocking the entrance to the tunnels. My brothers and I, now towing the injured man, race to the left, perpendicular to our previous direction.
We don't manage to avoid the shades. One catches up to us, and the injured man is drained of his life force and killed. My brothers and I are crying, but that life made the shade solid enough to hurt. I use my abilities to find a pole supporting a basketball goal, rip it off, and send it through its head. I order my brothers not to look at the fallen shade and drag them on. We have to keep moving.
We finally reach a separate area closed off- the water training area, a small field encased by stone stands. But then I find a wall of water blocking a possible hiding spot. An echoey voice orders us to get lost. I'm furious- how could someone do this?- but I can't show it. I beg the water elemental to let my brothers in. I know I have to appeal to his pride, so I grab my brothers' hands and say, "please. I'm begging you. Let them in, please. They're just children.," I say, almost sobbing. "You don't have to take me, but keep them safe. Please, I'll do anything."
A door opens in the wall of water, and I point the boys towards it. Soren looks back, but I jab my finger fiercely at it with an order to go. He does. "Keep Ben safe!" I call after him.
I turn and make to run through the cloud of oncoming shades, but the echoing voice isn't done. "And where do you think you're going?"
I look back, confused. A tendril of water reaches out from the shield and wraps around my waist, dragging me through the wall and into the water elemental's hiding spot. I pick myself up and hug the boys. Turning reveals that the elemental is none other than Kody. Huxley told me about him, and how he bridged with a humanborn without telling them what it meant and subsequently gaslighted them in an attempt to make it seem like they hadn't been assaulted.
I force myself to grit out, "thank you," to Kody, refusing to meet his eyes.
In crisis mode, I've noticed, I'm very no-nonsense. Where I would normally be compassionate and soft, I tell people to pull themselves together. I'm so focused on figuring things out, on DOING something, that I push my feelings down until the crisis is over and I can deal with them without my fear and horror putting things in jeopardy. My presentation doesn't matter anymore. Showing off or being nice or giving a certain impression goes out the window. I just need to get stuff done. And if that means hiding my anger and pandering to the manipulative, gaslighting, selfish prick that is Kody, even when I know that he assaulted Huxley's friend, that's what I'm going to do. I'm normally unwilling to be trod on, damn the consequences, but I've never been in a crisis like this. But I don't know how deep this mask of serenity goes. No, serenity's not the right word. It's more determination. Anyway, even I'm not sure how far I can be pushed like this before the dam breaks.
I stand in front of my brothers protectively, noticing too late the way Ben peers around my shoulder at Kody. Ben asks him, "why didn't you let us in at first?"
Kody doesn't spare him a glance. He takes a while to answer, finally coming up with the eloquent, "I didn't have to let you in at all."
Ben starts, "you still could have-" Soren grabs his arm, shaking his head emphatically with that noble, you-can't-do-that look I've had turned on me so many times.
"What?" he insists. "In the Revolutionary War, you would have been charged with treason for letting your allies die."
Kody has no response to that. I internally smile, thanking God that for once, my little brother's history nerdiness has shut someone up.
Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Kody turns to me with a sneer. "I'm starting to regret letting your unempowered brethren in. Shut them up, or I'll do it for you."
As much as I want to punch him in his horrible face, I'm still in crisis mode. I nod, not bothering to hide from him how unhappy I am about it, and turn back to my brothers. I kneel down and gesture for them to do the same, and we get as comfortable as we can on the turf that makes up this little cordoned-off area between two granite stands. Kody remains standing, holding up the watery wall.
"Are you going to sit there while I defend you?"
My mouth moves before my brain can catch up with it. "Yes, much like you've been sitting on your ass while people have died."
I immediately regret it, turning to Soren to let him see him my stricken expression. Kody turns to face me, keeping one hand outstretched in the direction of the wall.
"Those are strong words from someone completely at my mercy," he oozes. "Not to mention the two unempowered family members depending on you to keep them safe." His tone is condescending, and his eyes glint with the knowledge of my position.
I force myself to look down, ending my defiant stare. "I'm... sorry."
"Are you?" he says smoothly, clearly enjoying this.
"Yes, I am." My eyes flash up to meet his, and the look in them makes him look a little surprised. "I am sorry that I said that, because it put my brothers and me at risk. Not because of any offense it may have caused to you," I mutter under my breath.
"What was that?" Kody has already turned back to the wall, but his creeping, insidious voice bounces back to us as though he's speaking right next to my ear.
"Nothing!"
He replies, "As I thought," and the urge to kick his teeth in increases by a factor of ten.
I press my lips together and focus on my little brothers.
"However, you may want to lend a hand, dear." There's a note of tension in his voice now.
I choose to ignore the moniker. I jump up and join him at the water wall, and the sight nearly stops my heart.
No less than five shades are heading straight for our hiding place. Making a beeline for it, as if they know exactly where we are. I look at Kody, whose gaze doesn't turn from the monsters. Will he kick us out?
"I'm not going to throw two unempowered humans to the shades," Kody says.
I breathe a sigh of relief.
"But a certain humanborn graviton energetic might stand a little more than a snowball's chance in hell. No disrespect to your contra-fire elemental friend," he sneered.
"Xavier?" I ask, my mind reeling. "What do you know about him? And- wAIT, NO-"
A wave slammed me through the watery shield.
I landed on my butt a couple feet from the hiding place. All five of the shades lock onto me immediately. Even though I can't see their eyes (or even tell if they have them) underneath their tattered hoods, the way their heads snap towards me makes their awareness abundantly clear.
"KODY!"
"Leave, or I drown you right here," says his newly distorted voice. A curl of dark water detaches from the wall and curves threateningly above my head.
I look desperately at Soren and Ben. They look terrified, and Soren is already turning to Kody with a furious expression. If I don't do something fast, he may throw us all out.
Then back to the shades. They're much too close. All it would take is a few seconds before the first of them is upon me.
The decision made for me, I burst into action. I pick up a rock, fling it into the shield, and bound off in the opposite direction, screaming, "IF MY BROTHERS DIE, I'LL HAUNT YOUR ASS!"
Even over the horrendous sucking noises of the shades, I can hear Soren's scandalized gasp.