Powers

Chapter 4: Prickles and Party-Crashers

Panic, Panic, Panic, Panic, Panic Panic. 

The woods grew dark as I chased the thief who has stolen my spiritual object. It could get broken! And then I would be mortal! That could not happen.  Liz and Alex were behind me. Alex is a fast runner, and she got ahead of me and looked in the darkness for the criminal. Liz was still eating shrimp. "Liz!" I exclaimed. "What?" she said innocently. I rolled my eyes. Liz could be soo annoying sometimes. Here we are running in the woods and she is eating shrimp. I was almost to tears now. My necklace was stolen! What if we couldn't find it??  I see a rustling in a nearby bush and I  quickly take off one of my Chanel high heels and chuck them in that direction. "Ow!" yelled a muffled voice. "Yes!" I say under my breath and we run in pursuit. My dress is getting dirty and it's very cold since now I'm hobbling with one shoe on in the snow. 

Liz stops and takes out of her spiritual object that is  a dark red ring with spikes on top. She puts the ring on and concentrates with her eyes closed. Alex and I are still running when we hear cries of painful howling. It's the hoodlum! He's crawling on the ground and Liz's porcupine is with him! The thief looks about our age and he has dark black hair, cropped short, and prickles in his face and body, blood shining in the moonlight. The porcupine has something in her mouth. It's my necklace! Frulu plops it on the snow, and I pick it up. No damage. My heart beat slows. OH MY GOSH, that was a rush. I pant and mutter, "thank you" to Frulu, who has now scuttles over to Liz. Liz starts praising Frulu and feeding her shrimp. Oy.          

Alex helps me put on the necklace and we examine the crook. He's not very tall, and he starts trying to move the prickles. Every time he tries to, they stay in and he cries in agony. "Please,"he pleads. "Help me." Liz is the only one who can remove the prickles, for they're enchanted. Liz groans, pops the last of the shrimp into her mouth, checks her phone for a few seconds  and walks over to the criminal. Liz yanks the prickles out of his skin and throws them on the ground. The thief bows in agony for two minutes then sits up. He surveys us and I ask, "Who are you, thief?" He answers "Lorry" and attempts to stand. Alex pushes him back onto the ground. He stares at Alex and says, "Let me up. I'm just doing my job." Liz glares more and replies, "No." Lorry furrows his brow and reaches into his pocket. What did he mean, just doing his job? I thought.  He suddenly pulls out a black ball  and slams it onto the forest floor.  Black smoke erupts from the ball, and with that, Lorry makes his getaway. We can't follow him as we cough and stand up. He's disappeared into the night. On the tree, there is red paint and black ash, in a form of a mountain with the red paint surrounding it in a square. Oh no. It's the Mark of Darkness.

We walk back to the house because theres wifi there. The party hasn't stopped, and I feel drained of energy. Tom comes over. "Whoah, are you ok?" he asked, looking at our dirty dresses and me, with still one shoe. "I think we'll go home" I said. "Thanks for the party" Alex added and we all leave.  After we are outside, I call Mom. Ten minutes later, she pulls up to the house. I told her everything and as we hop into the car, she asks a million questions.

"Are you hurt?"

"How was the party?"

"Why was Liz eating shrimp?"

"Wait till your father hears!"

I didn't bother going back to the party. What was the point? So I went home, told my parents about what happened and drank some hot chocolate. My friends were worried about me, but I told them I would be fine. "Are you sure?" Liz asks, as I am combing my hair in the bathroom. We're talking on the phone. "Yeah, Im ok here" I reply and I wash my face. "Im with Frulu now. Wasn't she great?" Liz answers. "Yeah she was awesome!" I said."Without her my necklace would've been gone!" "Yes, why did that guy steal your necklace if he's in the Dark Side?" Liz asks me. Wow. That stumps me. "I don't know...maybe to burn it so I would have no powers? Maybe they know about my vision?" I answer. What would they do with it? "Ok, I gotta get dinner." Liz says. I forget the thief for a second. "Didn't you have enough shrimp at the party?" I joke. "Bad food. Didn't even have lobster" Liz replies, and hangs up. She's right. no lobster is lousy. That's what Tom's party shows for. Lame. I see a few new messages on my IPhone.  I scrolled through some new texts on my phone as I sat down on my couch. 

NEW MESSAGE FROM: nerdylake23

Hope u liked the party heres some footage

VIDEO

Oh My Gosh! This is perfect! How fabulous!  I clicked on the video and realized maybe I could see what the thief was doing! Maybe I'd see who the thief was! The party showed people dancing, me and my friends...and OH! The thief! He slipped through the door we exited, and started serving the people on the food line for the buffet. I looked at him closer. He had dark skin, hair and eyes. He went to the back of the room with a large cooler. What the heck? Now it showed him taking LOBSTERS and putting them in the cooler. Why on earth was he taking lobsters? Did he want them to himself?? But they hadn't been cooked yet...Hmmm. The footage switched to more people dancing, and I panic. Wait! Where did the guy go?? A minute later I see him re-enter as  Lizzy, Alex and I go to get food after dancing... God, I look good. So does Liz. Alex's bra is showing...The footage stops at Tom's face. The plot thickens. I thought as I sent the video to my parents.  Now we're getting somewhere... The next step was to get ready for ATS.