Beyond

Raven

The dance was beautiful. They managed to put it in the field behind the school. It was a clear night and the stars and moonlight sparkle on the sidewalk. According to Skylar, it was nothing new. They set up twinkling lights around the dance floor they had set up where people were actually dancing. All the students were smiling and even the adults didn't seem annoyed.

/ / / / /

After a bit of dancing and Annie even got asked for a dance, Skylar told me she was going to the bathroom. I nodded and sat down at a table. Annie came and sat next to me and asked where she went. I told her. 

Ace walked over to us. I looked at him. He looked uncomfortable. I smiled.

"Hey, guys..." Ace said. "Wheres the others?" 

"Olivia is somewhere with her date,  Skylars in the bathroom, and I have no idea if Theo even came," I tell him.

"And all of you guys..."

"All but Theo," Annie told him.

Something deep in my gut started to churn. That saying having butterflies in your stomach, but more of a bird.  There is no way to explain the feeling. 

"You okay?" Annie asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Guys there is something wrong." I heard Olivia say.

The bird inside me took flight.

/ / / / /

Without a second thought, I had raced out of the gym and down the hallway. There it was. The reason I felt the bird in my stomach. I became very aware of the ring my mother had given to me.

"Oh good. The gangs all here. Ace, Raven, Annie, Skylar, and even Olivia." A tall woman in a black skirt suit and high heels said.

"Get behind me," I whisper to Ace. I look over and see Olivia step in front of Annie.

"Oh look at them. Getting into battle formation." The woman said to her bodyguards. "Don't worry. We are just here to offer you a job."

"What job?" Olivia called.

"Don't play dumb. We know who you are. Or rather, what you are." The woman told us. "With your powers think of everything we could do. People will bow at your feet."

"That's why these powers would be given to people like us. We would know how to use these powers and not hurt people." Theo walked through the herd of shifters and mortals. 

"Fine. Power not your style? What about mercy. All the lives you could save. All the heartbreak you could prevent." the woman told us.

"Think of all the lives we could ruin." Ace stepped forward. I think at that moment he realized why we had kept the secret. Why Theo had said we instead of them. Why all those years ago our parents went into hiding instead of announcing themselves to the world.

"Boys." the woman yells. A sharp squealing noise breaks the air. Annie and Olivia immediately clutch their head. The high-pitched noise hurting the sensitive ears the most. Ace and Theo pull a good act of trying to stand with the noise while Skylar and I wince.

"This device is an old relic. One used for a similar reason years ago. You see. To creatures like you, it causes a painful ringing. For us it's nothing." The woman said. I struggle to keep standing. "You see this was made by a man who wanted peace in the world just like us. Seth Arena. Who is, according to our files, three of your grandfathers."

Annie has started screaming but no one can hear her from the music at the dance.

"Now I will turn this off when you promise to come with us," she said to us. We grit our teeth and bear it. "Fine have it your way."

 Her men force us to our feet and hold us at gunpoint as we walk through the dance. Everyone's head turned as the DJ turned off the music. With the noise still on, and my head feeling like it will split right down the middle, the six of us, doing our best to hold our heads high walked out of the building and into the back of a van. (1/10/19)