What Lies In Me

Chapter 5

I gape at Tony, look over at Sadie, and then back to Tony. They both seem serious.

"How did I what?" I ask.

"How did you melt the ice?" Sadie asked, repeating Tony's ridiculous question. "I've never seen anything like that!"

"I didn't!" I say. They return blank stares, waiting for me to give in and provide the answer they want. In my confusion, I continue.

"Seriously, I don't know what just happened, or how the ice melted, but I know I didn't do anything special. Think about what you're asking me for a second!"

"Exactly!" Sadie . "But it's not only that. You were talking with the snake the whole time. What did it say? You obviously know more than us, so tell us!" She has a determined glint in her eyes. I feel like I'm being interrogated.

"Alright, I can tell you about that, I guess." I tell them everything from my perspective. I tell them about the snake singling me out, and about how I tried to protect everyone. When I reach the point in my story, , their eyes flit to the dried blood that crusts my collarbone.

"That can't be right," Sadie interrupts. "We're dealing with a... with some sort of ancient evil creature. Do you really think your act could have intimidated it? Not that you weren't trying to be heroic and all, but that was stupid."'

"I agree," Tony says. "What if it stopped because it knew you might melt the ice, and was trying not to make you do that?"

"For the third time, that's ridiculous," I say, quickly coming up with some explanation. "I'm not capable of melting ice. The snake must have melted it to keep me from cutting myself. Then it changed the rest of the ice into snow to keep me from dying."

"Then why? Why did it single you out?" Sadie asks. "There's something that made it focus on you, and both of us saw you melting the ice!"

I shrug, unwilling to perpetuate the argument. "Look, if I could do things like that myself, I would. And I would have no problem telling you both all about it. But I was powerless. I don't know why the snake wanted me, and now that we've escaped, I really don't care. That glow you saw could have been anything, considering that we're dealing with some apocalyptic serpent beast."

They both look dissatisfied, but Tony at least has dropped the confrontational stance. He adjusts his position in the uncomfortable truck bed, looking back towards the school campus and muttering to himself. I almost find myself considering their argument, but despite all the bizarre happenings of the morning, my mind rebels against considering the notion that I could be a freak. I'm simultaneously disturbed and enthralled with the idea.

"Anyways," I say, before any more arguments can be made, "Where do you want us to drop you off, Sadie? I don't know exactly where we're going, but there's no reason to drag you along."

"No," she says.

"I don't know where that is," I reply, determined to have her answer my actual question.

"No, I'm not leaving." As I try to formulate a response, she pushes her long hair back out of her face and continues. "I'm curious, and I think I have every right to be. It may be rude, but I am inviting myself along."

"But-" I start to speak up, but she cuts me off.

"Why shouldn't I come? Don't tell me it's too dangerous. If that's the case, then you should be more worried about your friends. And if you just don't like me... well, I'd have to call you a liar, given your earlier 'advance.'"

Color floods my cheeks as I catch her meaning, but before I can give a retort, Tony jumps back in.

"Don't try to get rid of me either," he says. "I'm sticking around until you're proven wrong. You melted that ice, whether you know it or not."

Throwing my hands up in the air in surrender, I shut my mouth and retreat to the front corner of the truck. I really don't like conflict, especially when it is two against one. As I sit, the cab shielding me from the wind, I settle down and try to think. Tony hates to lose arguments, so I often just ignore his point instead of disputing it, but that creature was definitely after me. It called me 'you with the life water of a god spring.' Just as I have no choice but to accept that the snake exists, I also have no choice but to accept that the snake is after me. These are facts that don't fit my worldview. I can't think correctly about it. My mind just jumps to one word, over and over again. Why?

"So, did you get a good look at that second creature? What was that?" Tony abruptly begins talking again. "I mean, it could have been a phoenix, but it looked more like a giant flaming bat to me."

"I don't think I've seen anything like it – real or mythical," Sadie says. "It could fly, and had wings, yes, but I got a good look at the rest of it. It was majestic. It was terrifying."

"Hm. I wonder why the snake was of a common form. I'm going to google the snake and phoenix together and see if anything comes up that's not from a book series."

"I doubt phoenix would bring up anything relevant. Here, let's try and search for the creature with some descriptive terms we can remember..."

Tony and Sadie continue to speculate about the giant creatures and my involvement in all of this. I let my mind wander again. What if I did melt the ice? What if this accident triggered some latent superpower of mine? It's a far-fetched idea, but what about today isn't? I try to piece together how I could have accidentally triggered the melting, but I come up with nothing. I'm thinking too hard. I need to calm down.

The warm sun heats the dark truck bed. It's beginning to make me sweat. Quite a contrast to the still, sharp cold that had hung in the air over the library. How could a creature control temperature like that on a whim? I imagine that the phoenix could too. But what were they? What legend did they pop out of? I understand Sadie's curiosity. There are too many unanswered questions. Far too many. And, when I get someplace safe, it will be time to try and answer them.