Angels in Disguise

VIII- Isla

The next few weeks pass without incident. We hang out with Kira a lot, we're both failing P. E. and I'm failing math.

Kira runs up to us one Wednesday, clutching her books to her chest.

"Guys," she says excitedly, "Do you wanna go to the beach this weekend? I just thought of it, and I don't think you guys have been since you just moved here."

I glance at Margaret, knowing that while we, Margaret and Isla, had been to the beach, our alter-egos Millie and Tiffany haven't.

I give her a look, and she gives the tiniest of shrugs. We'd always been good at silent communication, and it seemed that hadn't changed in death.

"We're in," I say, grinning.

"Yay!" Kira squeals. "Meet at the pier on Saturday!"

•••

Sunday arrives and I'm going through the swimsuits we'd shopped for yesterday.

"Should I wear pink or yellow or white and flowers?" I call to Margaret, who's already decided and was changing into a light teal swimsuit.

"I don't care, but I'm kinda busy right now!" She calls back, her voice sounding strained.

I end up doing the age-old game of eeny-meeny-miney-mo to decide. I land on the white with flowers.

I step into the bathroom, knowing Margaret's putting hers on in the bedroom.

The fresh fabric of a never-before worn swimsuit slides across my skin like butter, pulling up just right with the little ruffles on the sleeves.

On top of it, I put on my matching cover-up we also bought yesterday. It goes with it well, being a pretty purple color.

Once satisfied with my appearance, I rap three times on the bedroom door.

"You ready?" I call, waiting for her to respond before opening the door.

"Oh my gosh, you look gorgeous!" She squeals when she sees me, running over with one hand on a half pulled back ponytail. She looks stunning as well, the purple and teal creating a galaxy-like effect.

"Let's do this!" She cries, grabbing our things and leading the way to the bus stop that'd take us all the way down to the beach.

•••

We get off the bus and walk down the pier, lugging our stuff behind us until we see the dark brown, nearly black hair of Kira waving us over to her dark blue towel.

"Welcome to Brighroy Beach!" she cries, spreading her arms wide. "Famed for its soft sand and beautiful waters." She says sarcastically.

I share a grin with Margaret. The sands are anything but soft, and the water is a dirty brown-blue-green combination. Still, it's a great place to hang out.

We sit down, and Kira offers us some of her fancy tea.

"My mom made me bring snacks and drinks. I don't go out with friends much," she explains as Margaret and I each take a cup. I take a sip and smile. It's surprisingly delicious, and might change my mind on my opinion of tea.

We chat for a bit about school, strangers and a few other students mingling on the beach around us. At one point I see a little girl in an adorable pink swimsuit running down the beach with her dad chasing her, waving what looked like a phone in her hand.

Our section of the beach slowly clears, though we don't notice it. We continue talking, the subject now being Kira's hobbies.

Unbeknownst to us, the water just offshore begins to swirl and froth, creating a whirlpool and a whole lot of noise. We finally look up and I yelp in surprise as a terrifying winged creature bursts from the water.

"Isla and Margaret..." it says, in a horrible scratchy voice. "The dead are not meant to come back and disrupt the Powerful One's plan..."

Kira stares at us in shock as I glance at Margaret and we share a glance of terror. We've only been back a few weeks, how have the demons the High Angel spoke of found us?

Margaret finds her voice and yells to the being, "We aren't scared of you!"

It chuckles. "You should be." It then dive-bombs toward Margaret, seconds away from taking her away from me.

My bracelet seems to warm against my wrist and I act on instinct. I feel the pull of the water and it listens to my command, rising above the ocean and knocking the demon out of the sky. It falls back a bit, and I feel the heat of the sand beneath my feet. Maybe...

I gather the warmth and shoot it directly at the demons head, using nearly all my energy to do so. It falls to the water and disappears into the whirlpool, leaving me winded on the beach.

I prop myself up and see Margaret, lying in a ball and clutching her head.

"Margaret!" Despite my exhaustion, I scramble over. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

"I think... I think we found out what the bracelets do," she says grimly.

Kira just looks between the two of us, mouth agape. The entire interaction with the demon lasted no more than thirty seconds, but it had clearly been enough to give Kira a major shock.

"What- how- why-," she stutters. "You controlled water! And fire! And Margaret is... feeling others pain?"

I nod and glance at Margaret. I'd figured out that she felt others pain when I'd found her clutching her head, right where I'd hit the demon. Speaking of the demon...

"How do you think it found us?" I ask, my voice quivering.

"I... don't know. But we need to be extra careful," Margaret says. "I'm feeling better now, but we can't let a situation like that happen again. And Kira, we'll explain everything. But not right now, we need to get to somewhere safe. No offense Isla, but your victory was probably a fluke. We can't take on more of them."

"None taken, I'm not even sure how I did it," I respond. "But we do need to go somewhere else. Kira, can we go to your place, our apartment is really small. We'll explain all of this there, I promise."

Kira nods. "Ok, I'll call my driver. He can pick us up at the start of the pier."