Eyes of White

Chapter 16: Overboard

Penelope felt really strange. Her sister wasn't talking to her, Zania was out of her mind with paranoia, and she had no memory of getting in the old, rust-red car she now sat in.

Zania drove distractedly, occasionally muttering things like "It's coming from the east" or "It's too strong".

Eventually Penelope couldn't take it any more. She opened the door, her hair suddenly seeping into her eyes, nose and mouth, and dove into the pouring rain, being careful to shut the door and curl into a ball in preparation for a roll. She got up and ran, her hair no longer whipping in the wind but instead hanging limply with rain, her feet thudding on the pavement. The rain pounded in a fast rhythm and her feet kept the beat.

She could hear the tyres crunching over the tar on the road and looked desperately around for any exit at all. Eventually she found an open sewer across the road.

Sprint.

Sprint.

Slide.

Climb.

Duck.

Sprint.

These actions were done as she slipped into the slime of the sewer system.

Persephone watched in horror as her sister dove out of the moving car. "Zania!" she shrieked. "Zania!"

Zania braked hard and began to reverse. Penelope had obviously heard or seen this, because she ran around to a conveniently open manhole and dove down into the underground pipe. The manhole cover lifted itself up and clattered on top of the hole, sealing Penelope inside.

Penelope heard the clunk of the manhole cover over the open pipe, but the cracks in the pipes gave her enough light for her to see her way. Also, two specks of light hovered at the end of the tunnel.

++Troubletwister.++

Penelope smiled. "I read your book."

++That wasn't ours. That was Miss Regina Cantaloupe's. Who, by the way, is right here, along with Iris Chalk, Cassia Haillet, Tammy Chandler and Coco Kettler. All were once troubletwisters, now all are with us.++

The end of the pipe lit up, showing four women huddled on the ground, stroking rats, dogs and birds. Each smiled raggedly at Penelope.

A brown-skinned, brown-haired, grey-eyed woman spoke. "You read my book." Her voice was tattered and croaky. She must have been Regina.

A woman in a brown suede-leather jacket and grey-blue jeans was staring at her, and Penelope noticed that the woman looked a lot like her grandmother. She had shiny dark purple hair with natural gold streaks and silver boots covered her feet. Her face was shaped a lot like Zania's and her lips were the same size, her eyes the same grey, her nose the same ski-jump dotted with freckles.

"You're Cashmere's kid?" the woman, who the voice had introduced as Coco, asked. "My niece?"

"My aunt? But mum never had a sister..."

"Correction. Your mum never told you she had a sister. I'm Coco. You know, I think there's always one in the set of twins that become Wardens. The others take the correct path, to The Evil."

++We have a long history to prove your point, Coco. Many famous people had a twin who disappeared as a child. We took them for our own. Now, Penelope, would you like to know your Gifts?++

Penelope watched the other women sit forward expectantly. She felt something diving into her head, and she let it dive deep into her subconscious.

++Oh! There is Storm and Shapeshift, but we will add another that we have taken from other troubletwisters who have defied us. What would you like? Name any power and we will give it to you.++

Penelope didn't even have to think about it. "Darkness."

++Ah! A true Storm! It is yours.++

**Hey, fans/readers/cat-aliens!

I hope you are voting, following, and most of all enjoying this book!

Sorry about the late post. I haven't had any access to the Internet AT ALL, but here it is, as well as 15.

I appreciate all of your support and voting!

P.S: I also want to recommend a book called 'Gifted' by 'ThisLovelyJourney'. It's really good, and if you like 'Eyes of White' you're sure to love it. Its sequels are 'Wicked' and 'Twisted'.

Thanks!

- the anonymous cat-alien from Xylon, currently stationed on Earth**