Beyond the Iris

One Species

Chase took forever to wake up.

    When she finally did, she immediately turned towards the trash can and puked up the sandwiches she had eaten earlier. The smell almost curdled my stomach, but somehow I didn’t pass out.

    Quickly, I explained the plan to her. She nodded along, following me all the way up to the end.

    “Who’s Isabella?” I blinked at the girl, confused on how she didn’t know who Isabella was. Then, I remembered that we had only met Chase that day; for some reason, I felt like I had known her forever.

    “She’s a person like us. She can see the future,” Trevor said, watching Chase. Chase nodded, seeming to have accepted that people normally had superpowers.

    I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees, looking at Chase intently. “We need you to help us find everyone else, Chase. This may be dangerous. You may see stuff you can never forget. But trust me when I say that this is vital, and so very important.”

    Chase grinned, and said, “That’s why we’re doing it, right? To help out the others of our kind? Because if we weren’t, then it’d be completely pointless and useless to go on death-defying journeys, maybe around the world, to find people who may not even join us.”

    I blinked at Chase, surprised by her abruptness to the topic I had severely wanted to avoid.

    Annabeth looked at me, and asked, “What if they don’t want to join us? What if their life is perfectly fine, and they don’t want to leave it?” Fear rushed through my veins at those words, and I felt my power pulse within me.

Chase flinched, as did Trevor. Annabeth blinked at them, and said, “What’s wrong?” Trevor raised his head, and said shakily, “I heard Karlee’s voice in my mind. It was angry. It said ‘how many of you wish to join me’.”

Chase nodded, fear spiking off of her like spines. I blinked at them, not understanding what was going on, or how they had heard my voice when I didn’t speak or think that message.

Then, numerous voices entered my head, all saying that they were with me. The pain the voices brought banged into my skull like a hammer, over and over as each of the voices spoke. I felt my pupils glowing, and could sense the others’ concern for me as I put my head in my hands.

The voices ceased as suddenly as they appeared, relieving me of my pain. I raised my head, and looked around at everyone. They were patiently waiting for my answer as to what happened, but I was still trying to process it myself.

After a few minutes of silence, I said, “All of them are with us. All of them want out. Now, we just have to figure out how to find them.” Chase and Annabeth nodded, while Trevor leaned closer to me, putting his arm around my shoulders.

Suddenly, a knock resounded through the house. Trevor was up and at the door faster than light, leaving the rest of us to puzzle over who was at the door. Trevor came back, leading Isabella behind him.

I knew it was Isabella by the feel of her mind; it was clustered with images and random words formed a wall around her consciousness. I stood to welcome her, but then a new voice entered my mind, shouting.

We’re here! We’re here! We’re being chased! Help us!

I found myself on the floor the next moment, holding my head as light poured from my eyes. Everyone was around me, helping me to stand. I shook them off, and stood on my own, anger surging fire through my veins.

“Two of them are in trouble. They’re outside. They’re being chased. We need to help them. Help them,” I said. Everyone stood around, confused and hesitant about my commanding tone. “Help them!” I screamed, my anger taking hold of me.