Hunter
“This does not look good.” Jenny whispers staring at the ruins of Le Café. The fire completely destroyed the whole first floor. Luckily the firefighters put it out before it reached the second floor. The only ones who got hurt were Jake and Rose. Only Rose was really hurt. She’s fine now though. Now all the tables are just black. Some of the walls are demolished and our once brightly colored restaurant is all black. “What are we gonna do?” I ask. “Do we have some type of insurance?” Mute asks B.B. Even though B.B was the one who created Le Café he doesn’t seem at all phased by the fire. “No. But we can rebuild it on our own.” He states confidently. “Are you kidding?” Drew asks shocked. B.B shakes his head. “We can use the profits made to get material and we can fix things up.” He says casually. “You can use some of my tips.” I offer happily. “Yeah . . . you mean the two dollars you got the one day you didn’t spend the entire day roughhousing?” Krys asks. I nod and smile. “Yep.”
The next day, when I arrive at Le Café, I see everyone hard at work. John is painting the walls with neon colors and glitter. Rose is repainting the sign. Steve, Mute and B.B are trying desperately to recover B.B’s huge computer. Everything smells like paint and other fumes. I step out the back door. I take a huge breath of fresh, cool air. A warm breeze blows my hair back and I see little flowers peeking out of the soil. It finally feels like spring. I look in the flowers and something black and shiny catches my eyes. I lean over and pick it up. I study it. I gasp and almost drop it. It’s a lighter! The kind you use to start fires! I burst through the backdoor. “The fire wasn’t an accident!” My voice booms. Everyone turns and looks at me with puzzled expressions. I hold out the lighter. “I found this outside!” I cry. B.B rushes over to me and examines the lighter. He presses down a button and a little flame sits on the end of the lighter. “Interesting.” He mumbles. “Who would intentionally sabotage Le Café?” Rose asks. I look at her. “I think I’ve got a good idea.”
If school wasn’t still closed, I’d confront Nick, Joe and Matt there. But now I don’t where to find them. B.B’s computer is still being repaired so I can’t use the map. But maybe they’re at the warehouse. “Who wants to come with me to the warehouse to get some payback on our fire-starters?” I ask confidently. “I’d come but I need to finish painting.” John explains. “Same here.” Rose says. She thinks for a moment. “But for what it’s worth, I think I saw Nick, Joe and Matt running away before I jumped out the window.” She adds eagerly. “I’ll come with you.” Krys agrees. “Me too!” Jenny cheers running out of the kitchen. I grin. “If you need us, we’ll be at the warehouse.” I say pulling out my gem. Krys, Jenny and I touch our gems together and transform. “Good luck.” Jake calls out. “Be careful.” Drew warns. “Kay.” I say starting out the front door. We all run out into the warm air.
We run to the warehouse and all three of us burst in the doors at once. We see Nick, Joe and Matt sitting in a circle on the floor. They all jump. “You biscuits!” Jenny shouts sounding both angry and playful. “What are you talking about?” Nick asks innocently. “Nice try! We know you started that fire!” I thunder. “Where’s your proof?” Joe asks standing up. Nick and Matt stand too. “We found this match!” Krys says showing them the black match. “What makes you think that’s ours?” Joe points out. Matt looks at Krys and they hold eye contact for a few seconds. “Who else would set Le Café on fire?” I ask annoyed. Nick shrugs. “What does it matter if we did it or not?” he asks. Krys, Jenny and I exchange glances. “I guess it doesn’t. It’s just another reason to beat the shit out of you.” I growl. Joe laughs. He pulls out his gun. For a moment I stare at it frozen. I think of Katy but I shake that thought away. I shoot him with an orange beam. He falls on his butt.
I laugh but stop suddenly when a knife hits the wall right next to me. I gasp and look at Nick who scowls at me. “Rose saw you guys running away you know.” Krys adds. They shrug. “So what? We did start the fire. The only problem is that you assholes survived.” Nick growls. I lower my eyebrows and lunge at him. He flings me into the wall and kicks my chest. I slump to the ground. I look up at him. He towers over me. He’s really tall. He has broad shoulders and zits all over. It looks like hormones threw up all over him. He kicks me hard in my stomach. I grab my sides and cough. “Leave him alone!” Jenny squeaks. He turns to her and laughs. Her voice always goes higher when she’s angry and she can’t control how she sounds. He punches her in the face. She falls to the ground. “What the hell is the matter with you?” Krys snaps. I start to rise slowly but Joe kicks my head. Out of the corner of my eyes I see Matt slowly inching toward the warehouse door.
I see Nick start beating Krys and Jenny. He yells something at Matt I can’t hear since my heart is pounding in my head and blood rushes in my ears. Joe keeps kicking my head. He curses a few times but not at me I don’t think. “Stop.” I moan. I weakly raise my hand and try to find the energy to shoot another orange bolt at him. I don’t see him lift his foot but next thing I know it slams into my hand. My wrist burns with the pressure. I yank my hand away and cradle my wrist. Colored specks dance around my vision and I feel like I’m looking through two black circles. Why the hell are they being so hard on us? Is it Rob and Scotch’s influence? Finally the kicking and cursing stops. Joe steps back. I look to see Krys and Jenny also on the floor bleeding. White scratch marks are all over them. I notice Matt’s gone. “Let’s go.” Nick murmurs opening a portal. He and Joe teleport away leaving me, Krys and Jenny. I stand up and so do my friends.
“What was that all about?” Jenny asks dizzily. “I dunno what came over them,” Krys says annoyed. “But they totally lost it.” She adds fiercely. She’s mad. But I don’t think she’s mad at Nick, Joe and Matt. “Maybe they had a little ‘pep-talk’ from their murderous commanders.” I suggest. “Probably.” Jenny agrees. The three of us limp back to Le Café and weakly open the doors. We must look pretty bad because everyone gasps in horror when they see us. “What happened to you guys?” Rose asks. “You look awful.” John marvels. “Thanks.” Krys mutters sarcastically. “Sorry. I mean . . . well you know what I meant.” He mumbles. “Nick, Joe and Matt beat the sugar out of us.” Jenny explains. I giggle a little and pain throbs in my gut. “Matt didn’t do anything.” Krys says quickly. Everyone looks at her knowingly. John quickly changes the subject. “At least you guys are okay.” Krys smiles and nods. “Well we should probably get B.B to get you some medicine.” Mute offers. I nod still wondering what possessed Nick and Joe to hurt us like that.
