Outcasts

Chapter 26

Diego took a deep breath and focused all his energy on making his hands invisible. He felt sweat drip down his face, tickling his cheek.

His hands were slowly turning clear, first the tips of his fingers then his palms, slowly snaking up his forearms. Diego breathed a sigh of happiness and focused on making his entire body invisible. His temple started to throb, and just as he was close to making his head invisible, Diego collapsed onto the soft rubber mat, gulping down huge breaths of air.

He laid on the mat for a moment and stared up at the concrete ceiling. He was frustrated that his body kept giving out just as he was close to transforming, but that small reasonable part of his brain was calmly reassuring him that this kind of thing takes practise, and lots of it. Diego closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly, trying to slow down his heart rate before he jumped up and tried again.

When he opened his eyes he flinched and almost shouted a curse word. Lia was standing over him, her long curly hair hanging around her confused face.

"What are you doing?" She said and cocked her head to the side like a confused puppy. Diego rolled away and got up off the mat.

"Training," he said and Lia nodded. "Can I join?" She asked, "I've been meaning to practise my shapeshifting."

Diego looked at her and considered the request, then nodded. "As long as you don't turn into a tiger and rip my head off." He said with a small smile.

"You should be so lucky it's only a tiger," Lia said proudly. "There's so much more you should be scared of."

Diego rolled his eyes and gave Lia an expression that said 'yeah, right', although his brain wanted him to say 'please don't turn me into alligator dinner'.