Flicker

XII

In case you haven't already figured this out, I was not used to New York City. I woke up at 10:00am, rolled over, looked at the floor-to-ceiling window in our room to have a mini heart attack. I had forgotten we were 30 floors off the ground.

I dressed and roamed into the kitchen that was open to the rest of the living space, only to be met by a peeved Diamond. I met his frown with a scowl of my own, ignoring him as he said, "Did you forget we were supposed to train an hour ago?"

"Did you forget that even though we're in the city that never sleeps, some of us still need to sleep?" I countered, settling for some Greek yogurt I found stashed in the fridge. I plopped down on the sofa next to Reuben, who was typing away on his computer. "Whatcha doing?" I asked, getting lost in the extensive code covering his dashboard. I got the unsettling feeling that maybe I didn't really want to know.

"Hacking into the security at Stuyvesant High School," he said simply, as if this were absolutely no big deal and completely normal.

"Um, why?" I asked. "Didn't Gar and Izzy start this morning?"

"Yes," he said, eyes still glued to his computer. "But cameras can reveal a lot too."

"Ah," I said, not really understanding at all. Computers were an absolute foreign language to me. "Well, I'm going to go explore. It's not every day we're in the Big Apple."

"You can't go by yourself," Diamond said, and I rolled my eyes.

"I swear, Diamond, you're such a freaking killjoy," I huffed, but Sophie volunteered to come anyways so we headed out into the city.

"Let's blow some money. We've got money to blow, right? Isn't Izzy's family loaded?" I asked as we strolled down the busy street. I was basically having to yell at Sophie for her to hear me.

"Well, yeah they are loaded, but the business is really all Izzy's doing." Sophie, being as quiet as she was, was screaming back at me.

I frowned. "So Izzy basically owns her own company?"

Sophie shrugged. "Yeah, I mean her parents manage it but she's the one raking in the dough. You know how you've never really heard of them before now? It's because they're gem suppliers, not jewelry makers."

"Where do they get the gems from?" I asked curiously. I mean logically they had to own some mines up north somewhere or overseas, but it seemed crazy that Izzy was still the one who stared up such a business.

"Come on, Amber, think. Izzy can literally manipulate the earth, so why can't she just pop out a few diamonds too?"

My jaw dropped. "You're telling me Izzy can make diamonds?" I hissed through my teeth. "That's how she's so rich?"

Sophie nervously looked around, took my arm and started walking faster. "Keep your voice down! You can't just yell stuff like that here, or we'll get jumped. But yes, that's how."

It honestly had never occurred to me that some powers were actually profitable. I mean, its not like people went around paying for someone to light stuff on fire. But having the ability to make gems? In ultra high demand. For some reason, it still felt very wrong to me.

"Shouldn't she have like bodyguards 24/7? Her own personal security detail? At least a hidden ninja following her every move?" I asked.

"Would you like someone following you around all the time?" Sophie got me there. I didn't really know how to respond to that. I honestly couldn't imagine never having any privacy. "Besides, Izzy can handle herself pretty well."

The first place that caught my eye was a Dylan's Candy Bar. What can I say, for such a salty girl I sure do love sweets.

It was a sugar wonderland. I was like a kid in a candy store- no wait, I was the kid in the candy store. Out of all the delicacies I tried, by far my favorite was the gummy bears. Seriously, nothing beats ripping the heads off of teeny tiny chewy little teddies. It warmed my heart.

Sophie, with her slightly more refined taste, settled for one of those Vanilla Cupcake with Sprinkles candy bars. While we were eating, Sophie glanced at the doorway, eyes wide. "Don't look back, but we need to leave now."

She started dragging me to the back of the store, towards a door clearly marked 'employees only'. I allowed myself to be hauled to the back, but I went ahead and turned back towards the front of the store. "Sophie, what is going on-"

I froze. Two shadowy figures stood at the front of the store, and even though they were dressed in all black and I couldn't see their faces, I knew exactly who they were.

"Oh, hell no!" I cried, digging my heels into the ground. I managed to reclaim my arm from Sophie's grasp, and started marching up to the front of the store. "I ran last time, but this time they're getting a piece of my mind."

I felt my anger build up with every step, so much that when I grabbed the closest guy's shoulder to get him to face me, his leather jacket sizzled at my touch. I wound back, prepared to land a solid one straight to his face, but before my fists of fury could be unleashed, he caught my hand with his own and then proceeded to knee me straight in the gut.

I wheezed in a breath and straightened up the best I could, but the second guy managed to get me from behind and wrap his arm around my neck. I gripped the arm he had around me, and focused all of my energy on it. I'm not sure what material his jacket was made of, but it started shriveling in my hands, and he pulled away. The fact that it didn't catch on fire kinda took me by surprise, which gave guy #1 the perfect chance to land a hard blow to my head. I hit the floor with my vision blurry, and a throbbing pain in my head. Sophie was calling my name but I couldn't focus on what she wanted. Everything was moving sluggishly, like trying to wade through maple syrup.

Another sharp pain erupted in my upper shoulder, and I tentatively brushed the wound with my fingertips. They came back a dark, deep scarlet, fueling my fire even more. I made a wild attempt to grab the ankle of the guy closest to me, searing my hands into his leg like a cattle brand. He screamed in pain, kicking me away from him. I heard Sophie calling my name again, and when I turned towards her, I saw her plunge her hand desperately in the direction of the traumatized cashier, who was already white and pale but straight up passed out at the sight of the cash register coming to life before her eyes. Sophie's face contorted with focus, and the cash register wasted no time in firing out coins like some sort of machine gun. Sophie hit the floor, and we both covered out heads while the cash register pelted out coins in every direction. When it ran out, it let out some sort of large squeak, like the machine equivalent of a sigh, and promptly returned to being inanimate. We slowly rose, my shoulder still bleeding profusely, and surveyed the damage. Between my blood on the floor, coins everywhere, fiery scorch marks, two black-clad figures who were sprawled out on the ground, and the cashier who was still unconscious, it definitely looked like some sort of crime scene.

"Amber, we need to get out of here, but first you need to cauterize this wound," Sophie said, gesturing to my red shoulder. I bit my lip. I knew that I could burn myself if I really wanted to, but it would take a lot of mental willpower to allow myself to hurt me. I inhaled a deep breath, closed my eyes, and felt the heat surging through my finger tips. Then in a violent gesture, I grabbed my shoulder hard, and immediately started crying out in pain. When I managed to rip my hand away, the flesh was singed and black at the edges, and a terrible aroma filled my nostrils. I clutched my stomach, turned and immediately puked my guts out. I stood there for a second, leaning over with my hands on my knees, trying to regain my senses. I had killed someone. I just knew those two mysterious figures were dead, and then I had to cauterize my own skin. I felt myself on the edge of a breakdown.

"Come on, let's go," Sophie said softly, leading me by my arm towards the exit at the back of the store. We slipped out into an alleyway, and then headed towards the street. Unfortunately for us, we never even made it to the street before we were ambushed for the second time that day.