Kia followed after Skulduggery and Valkyrie as they made their way to the basement of the Sanctuary.
"Here there are lots of gyms where you can practice magic and stuff. It's really fun," Skulduggery said. Valkyrie rolled her eyes and Kia wondered if they were as fun as Skulduggery tried to make them sound.
"Anyway, we won't be training there at all," he continued. "We're just down here to visit the holding cells."
Skulduggery pulled up in front of a large metal door that was glowing with a soft blue light. He placed his hand on it and it swung open. Inside Kia could see many cells each of them with a person in it. None of them looked happy.
"Why are we here?" Kia asked, nervously. The feel that was emananting from inside that dungeon was terrifying.
"I want to visit an old friend of mine," Skulduggery said and as he said it, he tilted his head to the side misceviously. Valkyrie shook her head. She was very critical of Skulduggery but not in a degrading way. It was more in an I'm-embarrassed-for-you way. It was obvious to Kia that Valkyrie really cared about him to an alomst disturbing degree. She moved like him, talked like him, and even her sense of humor was very similar and as far as Kia could tell, she was rarely not at his side. Kia wondered if Skulduggery realized the power of his hold over her. If he asked her to kill her own parents, Kia believed that she might do it.
"Come on, Kia. Come meet Tension."
Kia walked into the holding cell area even though every part of her body told her not to. Maybe it was because she grew up mostly on the streets or maybe it was because of the crazy guys at the dojo but Kia had developed a 6th sense that alerted her to dangerous people and the people in these cells were not exactly girl scouts. Skulduggery was standing in front of the third cell down. Valkyrie stood next to him with a smile on her face. Kia looked into the cell and saw the face of a small boy. She felt her stomach lurch. He couldn't have been older than five and yet he was sitting there, with manacles on his wrists and a sickening grin across his features.
"So, Tension. Are you ready to talk yet?"
Kia shuddered at the cackle that fell from his lips. His body and lips moved but Kia couldn't believe such a sound would come from such a small body.
"I thought I already told you, Detective. I have no intention of speaking at all. No matter how much you torture me."
"I haven't tortured you yet, though I guess sitting in this cell all day can be a form of torture."
"Go away Mr. Detective. I was happy till I saw you."
Skulduggery shrugged and turned to leave.
"Hey, girl," the boy said. Kia felt her heart sink as she realized he was talking to her. She didn't turn to face him.
"Has he poisoned you too? I know you can see it, the way that he poisoned the other girl. If you stick with him, he'll do the same to you. Be careful or you'll end up like her."
Kia closed her eyes for a second and then continued to walk after Skulduggery and Valkyrie. She noticed how neither of them said a word against the boy's accusations and Kia couldn't shake the unsetteling feeling that Tension was telling the truth. Still she had suddenly been plunged into a world she didn't understand and her father was dead. Kia wondered if she should have a funeral but then realized that it wouldn't make sense. There was no body, as far as she knew, and explaining that her father had been killed by vampires didn't seem to make sense either. Also, she wouldn't know who to invite. After all, she didn't know any of her father's friends or even if he had any and her mother wouldn't come.
"Okay, so now we're off to train. I think we should go to my house," Skulduggery said. "Or to China's."
"Ha, remember what happened last time we went to train at China's?" Valkyrie asked.
"Of course, I was almost sure that she would never talk to us again after we destroyed that one book."
"Yeah, well, she's probably getting used to us destroying her books. Remember when I destroyed that bookcase with the scepter? I thought she would kill me right then and there."
"Yes, it would have been awesome if she had."
Valkyrie tried to hit Skulduggery but he was already going faster.
"So, off to your house?"
"To my house," Skulduggery said.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Shockwave 6
"Owwww!" he said through his fingers.
"Sorry!" Kia said.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Valkyrie asked and Kia noticed that she was shaking. The terror of the dream had not yet passed and the guilt that she had managed to forget little by little in the past few months came back to torture her in full swing. For a second, all her emotions came crashing in on her and she fell to her knees. Waves of nausea, dizziness, and pain wracked through her body. Kia slammed her head into her fists and forced herself to breathe again. As she calmed down, she became vaguely aware of Skulduggery standing behind her and Valkyrie's hand on her head. Their voices sounded like they were on the other side of a wall.
"Is she going to be okay?" Valkyrie asked.
"Probably. She's been holding all these emotions back since the house. Now I think they're hitting her full force. Just give her some time."
Kia didn't know how long she spent on the the floor with her head between her knees, gasping for breath. Finally she was able to slowly stand, though the ground felt a bit like it was shaking.
"Are you okay?" Skulduggery asked.
Kia closed her eyes and tried, for the first time in her life, to answer that question honestly.
"I don't know what's going to happen next," she said carefully, "but I know that I have to go through with it. Right?"
Skulduggery nodded.
"I think I'm ready but I don't think I'm okay."
Skulduggery sighed and then smiled.
"To me, it sounds like you're going to be fine."
Kia tried for a smile but from Valkyrie's amused expression was sure that it came out more as a grimace.
"Off to the Sanctuary then," Skulduggery said.
They walked into a creepy-looking building. Inside there were men wearing gray suits with large scythes strapped to their backs. Kia felt an overwhelming weight pressing down on her from the direction of these men. Unconsciously, she shifted her body to a more defensive position and prepared to run.
"Don't bother," Skulduggery said. "These guys are incredible fighters. You wouldn't stand a chance."
Kia shivered but didn't change her position. Skulduggery and Valkyrie seemed pretty calm around the gray suited men and Kia wondered whether it was because they were used to them or because they felt that they were no challenge.
"I'm going to have to keep an eye out for those guys," she thought wondering what she had gotten herself into. The three of them walked through the whole building with no problem. It seemed that they were pretty well known in the Sanctuary and Kia found herself wondering again and again just how much power they had. After about ten minutes of weaving in and out of the maze of hallways that the building was made of, they found themselves in front of an office. Skulduggery and Valkyrie just walked in without even knocking as if they owned the place but the office belong to someone else. He was a small man, not much taller than Kia's 5'2'' and thin but Kia could see from his build and from the way he moved that he was a man to be reckoned with. He was confident in his moves and as a martial artist, Kia could see that in every step he took, every time he reached to grab another paper on his desk it was deliberate and with no extra motion.
"Is everyone here incredibly powerful?" she asked herself.
"Hello, Tiny," Skulduggery said. Kia thought Skulduggery was being very rude but Tiny just nodded a greeting to him. It was hard for her to tell whether it was just because he was a frighteningly calm man or that was actually his name. In the end she decided that even if he was very calm, he would have still said something to Skulduggery albiet calmly. Plus, there were people with names like Skulduggery and Valkyrie so why was Tiny a weird name?
"We have another one," Valkyrie said and she stepped aside so that Tiny could get a better look at her. He walked around the desk and offered his hand to her.
"Hello, my name is Viselius Tiny. I'm the officer here in charge of taking care of the people who are randomly developing new magics. You, of course, fit under my jurisdiction. What is going to happen now is that I'm going to place you into the custody of one of our volunteers who will proceed to take care of you. This person will train you to use your magic more proficiently and will also teach you about the magical world so that you can fit in. Did you get all of that?"
Kia nodded. Even though Mr. Tiny had said a lot, he had said it slowly and clearly. Kia wished her teachers at school talked this way because then she might actually learn something.
"Actually, Tiny, I wanted to talk to you about that. You see, I am offering myself up as her mentor, if that's okay."
Mr. Tiny looked at Skulduggery critically.
"What are your intentions for her?" he asked in such a suspicious manner that Kia began to wonder if these people would be the best people to take care of her.
"Nothing special. I'll hone her skills and teach her stuff and send her out into the world. Simple."
"You don't plan on getting her involved in any of your crazy schemes like you do with Valkyrie right?"
"I'll try my best not to, after all my intention is to protect her not to get her killed."
The look of suspicion still had not left Mr. Tiny's face.
"You must have an interesting power miss..."
"Kia Alexander," she replied automatically.
"Yes, she must," Skulduggery said.
"Wait, you mean that you haven't seen it yet?" Mr. Tiny asked.
"Nope," Skulduggery said. "Well, if all this is okay with you, I'll be taking my leave. Let's go Val, Kia."
Mr. Tiny looked like it wasn't quite okay with him but Skulduggery was out the door before he could say anything. Still, Kia was able to glimpse the expression of satisfaction that flitted across Mr. Tiny's features.
"Sorry!" Kia said.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Valkyrie asked and Kia noticed that she was shaking. The terror of the dream had not yet passed and the guilt that she had managed to forget little by little in the past few months came back to torture her in full swing. For a second, all her emotions came crashing in on her and she fell to her knees. Waves of nausea, dizziness, and pain wracked through her body. Kia slammed her head into her fists and forced herself to breathe again. As she calmed down, she became vaguely aware of Skulduggery standing behind her and Valkyrie's hand on her head. Their voices sounded like they were on the other side of a wall.
"Is she going to be okay?" Valkyrie asked.
"Probably. She's been holding all these emotions back since the house. Now I think they're hitting her full force. Just give her some time."
Kia didn't know how long she spent on the the floor with her head between her knees, gasping for breath. Finally she was able to slowly stand, though the ground felt a bit like it was shaking.
"Are you okay?" Skulduggery asked.
Kia closed her eyes and tried, for the first time in her life, to answer that question honestly.
"I don't know what's going to happen next," she said carefully, "but I know that I have to go through with it. Right?"
Skulduggery nodded.
"I think I'm ready but I don't think I'm okay."
Skulduggery sighed and then smiled.
"To me, it sounds like you're going to be fine."
Kia tried for a smile but from Valkyrie's amused expression was sure that it came out more as a grimace.
"Off to the Sanctuary then," Skulduggery said.
They walked into a creepy-looking building. Inside there were men wearing gray suits with large scythes strapped to their backs. Kia felt an overwhelming weight pressing down on her from the direction of these men. Unconsciously, she shifted her body to a more defensive position and prepared to run.
"Don't bother," Skulduggery said. "These guys are incredible fighters. You wouldn't stand a chance."
Kia shivered but didn't change her position. Skulduggery and Valkyrie seemed pretty calm around the gray suited men and Kia wondered whether it was because they were used to them or because they felt that they were no challenge.
"I'm going to have to keep an eye out for those guys," she thought wondering what she had gotten herself into. The three of them walked through the whole building with no problem. It seemed that they were pretty well known in the Sanctuary and Kia found herself wondering again and again just how much power they had. After about ten minutes of weaving in and out of the maze of hallways that the building was made of, they found themselves in front of an office. Skulduggery and Valkyrie just walked in without even knocking as if they owned the place but the office belong to someone else. He was a small man, not much taller than Kia's 5'2'' and thin but Kia could see from his build and from the way he moved that he was a man to be reckoned with. He was confident in his moves and as a martial artist, Kia could see that in every step he took, every time he reached to grab another paper on his desk it was deliberate and with no extra motion.
"Is everyone here incredibly powerful?" she asked herself.
"Hello, Tiny," Skulduggery said. Kia thought Skulduggery was being very rude but Tiny just nodded a greeting to him. It was hard for her to tell whether it was just because he was a frighteningly calm man or that was actually his name. In the end she decided that even if he was very calm, he would have still said something to Skulduggery albiet calmly. Plus, there were people with names like Skulduggery and Valkyrie so why was Tiny a weird name?
"We have another one," Valkyrie said and she stepped aside so that Tiny could get a better look at her. He walked around the desk and offered his hand to her.
"Hello, my name is Viselius Tiny. I'm the officer here in charge of taking care of the people who are randomly developing new magics. You, of course, fit under my jurisdiction. What is going to happen now is that I'm going to place you into the custody of one of our volunteers who will proceed to take care of you. This person will train you to use your magic more proficiently and will also teach you about the magical world so that you can fit in. Did you get all of that?"
Kia nodded. Even though Mr. Tiny had said a lot, he had said it slowly and clearly. Kia wished her teachers at school talked this way because then she might actually learn something.
"Actually, Tiny, I wanted to talk to you about that. You see, I am offering myself up as her mentor, if that's okay."
Mr. Tiny looked at Skulduggery critically.
"What are your intentions for her?" he asked in such a suspicious manner that Kia began to wonder if these people would be the best people to take care of her.
"Nothing special. I'll hone her skills and teach her stuff and send her out into the world. Simple."
"You don't plan on getting her involved in any of your crazy schemes like you do with Valkyrie right?"
"I'll try my best not to, after all my intention is to protect her not to get her killed."
The look of suspicion still had not left Mr. Tiny's face.
"You must have an interesting power miss..."
"Kia Alexander," she replied automatically.
"Yes, she must," Skulduggery said.
"Wait, you mean that you haven't seen it yet?" Mr. Tiny asked.
"Nope," Skulduggery said. "Well, if all this is okay with you, I'll be taking my leave. Let's go Val, Kia."
Mr. Tiny looked like it wasn't quite okay with him but Skulduggery was out the door before he could say anything. Still, Kia was able to glimpse the expression of satisfaction that flitted across Mr. Tiny's features.
Shockwave 5
Kia sat in the back of Skulduggery's Bently without saying a word. Every so often Valkyrie would look back at her and flash her a worried face. Kia still didn't understand what it was about.
"Will we get attacked by vampires again?" Kia asked.
"Probably not, we were able to kill the ones yesterday so they won't be coming back. Of course, others might still come."
Some anger slipped through her emotions defense.
"I hope they do," Kia said.
"Don't be so eager to fight vampires. They are very strong and fast. Essentially, they are nature's most powerful killing machine."
Kia didn't say anything but her calm defenses were crumbling and more and more anger was flooding in. These vampires had killed her father and now she was alone in the world. Was she just going to live home alone or would Skulduggery take care of her and what would Skulduggery do after having taught her everything? Would he just disappear or would she get to stay with him like Valkyrie? Kia felt a growing amount of desperation and it became harder and harder to breathe as her chest tightened. Just as she was ready to pull open the car door and jump out, she caught herself and began breathing again.
"Mr. Skulduggery?" she said.
"Yes?"
"Where are we going? We've been driving for a long time now."
"Well, you see, the Sanctuary is in a small town a ways out from here called Roarhaven. It is a very nice town as well but anyway it takes a while to get there?"
"Isn't there some sort of magic to speed it up?"
"Well, we used to have a teleporter friend but something happened and we were forced to split up."
For some reason, as he said this he shot an angry glance at Valkyrie, who blushed into the collar of her jacket.
"Anyway, now we have to do it the old fasioned way. Sorry."
Kia shook her head to show that it was fine and relaxed back into the seat cusion still forcing herself to breathe. She didn't know how or when but some time along the way, she fell asleep, probably because of the calming effects. Unfortunately, the calming practices did not work in dreams.
Kia was walking down the street. It was the same street where she had met the guys a few months before. Actually, every detail was the same, including the five guys standing around the small defenseless girl. She must have been eighteen, at most and very pretty. Her soft blond hair fluttered around her shoulders as she hugged her purse to her chest trying to make herself as small as possible. One of the guys was leaning in towards her, his hand on the wall above her head. The other guys surrounded her and they laughed.
"Come on girlie, have some fun with us. It's just one night," the guy in front of her said. His words were echoed by the guys around him.
"Girlie."
"Fun."
"One night.
"Come on, come on."
She somehow managed to make herself even smaller than she was as she said,
"Go away. Please leave me alone."
Her whispered plea was met only with laughter. Kia knew what would happen. She knew that in a second the guy in front of her would try to brush her hair back with his hand and the girl would slap it away. The guy would get mad and try to hit her and without meaning to, Kia's legs would drag her forward and her hand would catch the man's wrist just before his hand hit her cheek. Kia knew that as the guy turned to her angrily, she would punch him and then proceed to lose her mind and beat all the other guys till blood covered her knuckles and sneakers. The five guys would then be taken to the hospital when a passerby found them lying on the ground. Two had broken noses, one had a broken arm, one had three broken fingers, and the last one had a knife wound from when she took his and slashed his arms with it. Kia knew that would all happen and she wanted to stop it but when the guy raised his hand to hit her, she couldn't stop her feet from moving and stopping him. She couldn't stop the fist that flew at him and cleanly broke his nose in one smash and she couldn't stop everything that happened afterwards. This time it was worse though. Instead of only being aware of the anger and not so much her own actions, she was painfully aware of every bone she broke and every time her nails broke skin. She looked down on the scene that she had caused and felt bile rise up in her throat. She felt that she had to run far far away but her feet wouldn't move. Then, one by one the guys that she had knocked down stood up again. Their own blood coated their clothes and their expressions were full of anger and thirst. They took a step forward into better light and Kia saw fangs protruding from their sliced lips. She took a step back and then another. Just as she turned to run, they came at her at once. She felt hands on her back and on her legs and she began to fall. The pavement rushed up towards her face and-- She woke up and punched Skulduggery, who was leaning over her to wake her up in the face.
"Will we get attacked by vampires again?" Kia asked.
"Probably not, we were able to kill the ones yesterday so they won't be coming back. Of course, others might still come."
Some anger slipped through her emotions defense.
"I hope they do," Kia said.
"Don't be so eager to fight vampires. They are very strong and fast. Essentially, they are nature's most powerful killing machine."
Kia didn't say anything but her calm defenses were crumbling and more and more anger was flooding in. These vampires had killed her father and now she was alone in the world. Was she just going to live home alone or would Skulduggery take care of her and what would Skulduggery do after having taught her everything? Would he just disappear or would she get to stay with him like Valkyrie? Kia felt a growing amount of desperation and it became harder and harder to breathe as her chest tightened. Just as she was ready to pull open the car door and jump out, she caught herself and began breathing again.
"Mr. Skulduggery?" she said.
"Yes?"
"Where are we going? We've been driving for a long time now."
"Well, you see, the Sanctuary is in a small town a ways out from here called Roarhaven. It is a very nice town as well but anyway it takes a while to get there?"
"Isn't there some sort of magic to speed it up?"
"Well, we used to have a teleporter friend but something happened and we were forced to split up."
For some reason, as he said this he shot an angry glance at Valkyrie, who blushed into the collar of her jacket.
"Anyway, now we have to do it the old fasioned way. Sorry."
Kia shook her head to show that it was fine and relaxed back into the seat cusion still forcing herself to breathe. She didn't know how or when but some time along the way, she fell asleep, probably because of the calming effects. Unfortunately, the calming practices did not work in dreams.
Kia was walking down the street. It was the same street where she had met the guys a few months before. Actually, every detail was the same, including the five guys standing around the small defenseless girl. She must have been eighteen, at most and very pretty. Her soft blond hair fluttered around her shoulders as she hugged her purse to her chest trying to make herself as small as possible. One of the guys was leaning in towards her, his hand on the wall above her head. The other guys surrounded her and they laughed.
"Come on girlie, have some fun with us. It's just one night," the guy in front of her said. His words were echoed by the guys around him.
"Girlie."
"Fun."
"One night.
"Come on, come on."
She somehow managed to make herself even smaller than she was as she said,
"Go away. Please leave me alone."
Her whispered plea was met only with laughter. Kia knew what would happen. She knew that in a second the guy in front of her would try to brush her hair back with his hand and the girl would slap it away. The guy would get mad and try to hit her and without meaning to, Kia's legs would drag her forward and her hand would catch the man's wrist just before his hand hit her cheek. Kia knew that as the guy turned to her angrily, she would punch him and then proceed to lose her mind and beat all the other guys till blood covered her knuckles and sneakers. The five guys would then be taken to the hospital when a passerby found them lying on the ground. Two had broken noses, one had a broken arm, one had three broken fingers, and the last one had a knife wound from when she took his and slashed his arms with it. Kia knew that would all happen and she wanted to stop it but when the guy raised his hand to hit her, she couldn't stop her feet from moving and stopping him. She couldn't stop the fist that flew at him and cleanly broke his nose in one smash and she couldn't stop everything that happened afterwards. This time it was worse though. Instead of only being aware of the anger and not so much her own actions, she was painfully aware of every bone she broke and every time her nails broke skin. She looked down on the scene that she had caused and felt bile rise up in her throat. She felt that she had to run far far away but her feet wouldn't move. Then, one by one the guys that she had knocked down stood up again. Their own blood coated their clothes and their expressions were full of anger and thirst. They took a step forward into better light and Kia saw fangs protruding from their sliced lips. She took a step back and then another. Just as she turned to run, they came at her at once. She felt hands on her back and on her legs and she began to fall. The pavement rushed up towards her face and-- She woke up and punched Skulduggery, who was leaning over her to wake her up in the face.
Shockwave 4
So the last one was a little cheesy but it is my personal opinion that cheese is good for you in small doses. Anyway, here is more story.
Skulduggery and Valkyrie must have been good enough people to understand that Kia needed some space after they took her father to jail because they didn't come back for the next two days. Or at least that was what Kia thought before finding out what acutally happened. During those two days Kia began to wonder whether she should also practice her magic so that she would not repeat her father's mistake or keep pushing it away as she had been. Which would be the better solution in this case? Kia spent hours getting distracted at school and getting kicked in the face at the gym because she could not stop thinking about it and her father. Just when she had resolved to never think about magic again, Skulduggery and Valkyrie appeared on her doorstep again.
"What do you want?" she asked.
They both stayed silent. That was not a good sign even though Kia had met them only once before it had become very apparent to her that Skulduggery was a man who liked his own voice very much and Valkyrie was not exactly the silent type either.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Your father is dead," Valkyrie said. Her eyes begged her not to freak out. Kia didn't listen.
"You killed him?" she shouted. Skulduggery and Valkyrie stepped past her and Skulduggery shut the door.
"No, we did not. We were on our way to the Sanctuary and we were attacked by vampires."
Kia froze mid thought. She hadn't known what she was going to say but she was sure that it no longer applied.
"Uh...ah...um...vampires?" she asked, not sure whether this was all a bad joke or not and desperately wishing it was.
"Yes, vampires. We were just driving along and we were attacked. It was late last night and vampires, well, they don't really like us so we were attacked and we did your best to defend your dad but there were four of them and that's a lot for us to defend against. Look here we got injuries too and--"
Kia couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Are you insane? There is no way you were attacked by vampires. Vampires don't exist, they aren't real."
Kia was going to keep rambling but she felt something invisible hit her chest and push her up against the wall. She saw Valkyrie with her hand spalyed out in front of her. Skulduggery clicked his fingers and fire appeard in his palm. This wasn't a small flame like the one he had shown her before. This was a roaring inferno.
"Vampires exist. Magic exists and you, you are now in the middle of it. I made a promise to your father to protect you and then he died because I wasn't able to protect him so now I will do everything in my power to make sure that you are safe and happy. Okay? But to do this I need you to believe that everything that is going on is real," Skulduggery's voice was soft but ragged as if he didn't want to be saying what he was saying. He blinked at her twice and then touched his collar bones so that his face melted off and left just a skull. Kia didn't scream. She was too startled to scream. She was too startled to do anything but stare. The skull watched her intently as if waiting to see what she would do. Kia looked back and then began to breathe. A couple months back, she had gotten into a fight with a street gang. She had seen them trying to take a girl somewhere against her will. Kia didn't want to think about what they might have done to her but seeing the girl squirming against their strong grips and their gleeful sneers had made her really, really angry. Kia had proceeded to beat the guys till they had to be sent to the hospital. Afterwards she had felt so guilty that she said she would give up martial arts but her teacher told her that she was being stupid.
"If you get angry enough you will find a way to hurt people and maybe next time instead of using you bare hands, you will use a metal pipe or a broken bottle. To help out the people that you think are in danger, that is an honorable way to fight but to lose yourself in the process is not good. I can teach you to calm your mind so that this will not occur again if you want." Her master had taught her various breathing techniques and thinking patterns so that if she got into a situation like that again, she would be able to react calmly.
Now, staring up into the holes where the skeleton's eyes would have been, she used every single technique he taught her. She forced her breathing to come out in long steady gusts, she forced her thoughts to turn to a calm, slow river, and she forced every muscle in her body to relax. These exercises were focused on taking away the emotions that would have forced her to attack or, in this case, scream until she fainted. In a matter of seconds, her fear, anger and sadness of her father's death seemed to be in the background. Kia looked at everything with a toughtful and analitical eye. There was a skeleton staing in front of her. She was being pressed up against the wall by some invisilble force, she had seen fire spring up into the man's hands with a click of his fingers and two days before, she had seen her father's eyes turn black. Not to mention, her own newly developed powers. If all of this existed, vampires could exist and they could have killed her father.
"Okay, sorry," she said to the skeleton. "I'll believe you."
He touched the marks on his collarbones and the fake face slid back up to cover his bones. He looked relieved that Kia had calmed down but there was something else there. Concern maybe? There was no reason for him to be concerned though. Kia was totally calm.
"What will you teach me?" she asked him still in the totally calm mode.
"I will teach you how to control your powers and about the magical world. I'll make sure that you are safe and protected and that no one around you gets involved."
"Okay," Kia said. She caught the look of confusion that flashed across Valkyrie's features and wondered what about her words had spiked it.
"Well, then okay," Skulduggery said, in the same way you would fill the silence after an awkward coversation. "I'm going to take you to the Sanctuary now."
Kia nodded and followed Skulduggery as he walked out the door. A flash of sadness made its way through the wall of calm she built around her mind and she staggered. Close eyes, deep breath. She was back in control.
Skulduggery and Valkyrie must have been good enough people to understand that Kia needed some space after they took her father to jail because they didn't come back for the next two days. Or at least that was what Kia thought before finding out what acutally happened. During those two days Kia began to wonder whether she should also practice her magic so that she would not repeat her father's mistake or keep pushing it away as she had been. Which would be the better solution in this case? Kia spent hours getting distracted at school and getting kicked in the face at the gym because she could not stop thinking about it and her father. Just when she had resolved to never think about magic again, Skulduggery and Valkyrie appeared on her doorstep again.
"What do you want?" she asked.
They both stayed silent. That was not a good sign even though Kia had met them only once before it had become very apparent to her that Skulduggery was a man who liked his own voice very much and Valkyrie was not exactly the silent type either.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Your father is dead," Valkyrie said. Her eyes begged her not to freak out. Kia didn't listen.
"You killed him?" she shouted. Skulduggery and Valkyrie stepped past her and Skulduggery shut the door.
"No, we did not. We were on our way to the Sanctuary and we were attacked by vampires."
Kia froze mid thought. She hadn't known what she was going to say but she was sure that it no longer applied.
"Uh...ah...um...vampires?" she asked, not sure whether this was all a bad joke or not and desperately wishing it was.
"Yes, vampires. We were just driving along and we were attacked. It was late last night and vampires, well, they don't really like us so we were attacked and we did your best to defend your dad but there were four of them and that's a lot for us to defend against. Look here we got injuries too and--"
Kia couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Are you insane? There is no way you were attacked by vampires. Vampires don't exist, they aren't real."
Kia was going to keep rambling but she felt something invisible hit her chest and push her up against the wall. She saw Valkyrie with her hand spalyed out in front of her. Skulduggery clicked his fingers and fire appeard in his palm. This wasn't a small flame like the one he had shown her before. This was a roaring inferno.
"Vampires exist. Magic exists and you, you are now in the middle of it. I made a promise to your father to protect you and then he died because I wasn't able to protect him so now I will do everything in my power to make sure that you are safe and happy. Okay? But to do this I need you to believe that everything that is going on is real," Skulduggery's voice was soft but ragged as if he didn't want to be saying what he was saying. He blinked at her twice and then touched his collar bones so that his face melted off and left just a skull. Kia didn't scream. She was too startled to scream. She was too startled to do anything but stare. The skull watched her intently as if waiting to see what she would do. Kia looked back and then began to breathe. A couple months back, she had gotten into a fight with a street gang. She had seen them trying to take a girl somewhere against her will. Kia didn't want to think about what they might have done to her but seeing the girl squirming against their strong grips and their gleeful sneers had made her really, really angry. Kia had proceeded to beat the guys till they had to be sent to the hospital. Afterwards she had felt so guilty that she said she would give up martial arts but her teacher told her that she was being stupid.
"If you get angry enough you will find a way to hurt people and maybe next time instead of using you bare hands, you will use a metal pipe or a broken bottle. To help out the people that you think are in danger, that is an honorable way to fight but to lose yourself in the process is not good. I can teach you to calm your mind so that this will not occur again if you want." Her master had taught her various breathing techniques and thinking patterns so that if she got into a situation like that again, she would be able to react calmly.
Now, staring up into the holes where the skeleton's eyes would have been, she used every single technique he taught her. She forced her breathing to come out in long steady gusts, she forced her thoughts to turn to a calm, slow river, and she forced every muscle in her body to relax. These exercises were focused on taking away the emotions that would have forced her to attack or, in this case, scream until she fainted. In a matter of seconds, her fear, anger and sadness of her father's death seemed to be in the background. Kia looked at everything with a toughtful and analitical eye. There was a skeleton staing in front of her. She was being pressed up against the wall by some invisilble force, she had seen fire spring up into the man's hands with a click of his fingers and two days before, she had seen her father's eyes turn black. Not to mention, her own newly developed powers. If all of this existed, vampires could exist and they could have killed her father.
"Okay, sorry," she said to the skeleton. "I'll believe you."
He touched the marks on his collarbones and the fake face slid back up to cover his bones. He looked relieved that Kia had calmed down but there was something else there. Concern maybe? There was no reason for him to be concerned though. Kia was totally calm.
"What will you teach me?" she asked him still in the totally calm mode.
"I will teach you how to control your powers and about the magical world. I'll make sure that you are safe and protected and that no one around you gets involved."
"Okay," Kia said. She caught the look of confusion that flashed across Valkyrie's features and wondered what about her words had spiked it.
"Well, then okay," Skulduggery said, in the same way you would fill the silence after an awkward coversation. "I'm going to take you to the Sanctuary now."
Kia nodded and followed Skulduggery as he walked out the door. A flash of sadness made its way through the wall of calm she built around her mind and she staggered. Close eyes, deep breath. She was back in control.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Shockwave 3
The room fell dead silent at his declaration. What had he just said? Her father was kind and gentle despite his appearance. There was no way what he said was true. Kia began to tremble and she stepped away from her father.
"What?" Skulduggery asked as politely as he could.
"I was scared and I reacted. Some kids walked up to me on the street and tried to mug me. He had a gun and I... I just reacted. I felt this magic in my eyes and I looked at him and I saw his mind and I saw everything he was thinking and I decided that I never wanted him to think again and the next thing I knew he dropped to the ground. I checked his pulse he was dead."
Kia's father dissolved into tears.
"Dad, it was just an accident. You didn't mean to."
Skulduggery looked at Kia gently.
"I'm afraid that I'm going to have to arrest you for that. Even in the magical world, murder is illegal."
"What? No!" Kia shouted. "You can't!"
Kia's father looked at him with calm, clear eyes.
"I will go to jail with you. I know that I deserve it even if I didn't understand my magic back then, I still killed the man and I am guitly."
Skulduggery moved forwards and pulled handcuffs out of his pocket.
"I am arresting you by the power invested in me by the Irish Sanctuary."
"No!" Kia shouted and she jumped in front of her father putting her hands up in front of her like a boxer. "You can't take him away from me."
Her father placed his large hand on her shoulder and stepped around her.
"I'm sorry honey. I'm very, very sorry,"he said and he held his wrists out in front of him and allowed Skulduggery to cuff him.
"Dad!" Kia yelled again but he just turned away.
"I need you to promise me something," he said, looking directly at Skulduggery. "Promise me that you will take care of her and make sure that she doesn't lose control like I did."
Kia looked at her father in desperation but she could see that he had made up his mind. As soon as she realized that, her whole mind cleared and she stood up straight again. This was his decision and he was doing it partly for her sake. It was because of his honor and his pride that he made that decision so she would just let him go. She felt more than saw Skulduggery look at her and he nodded.
"Okay, I promise. I will look after her."
Kia looked at her father again. He looked proud despite the handcuffs on his hands. His green eyes, the only trait Kia had inherited from him, stared anywhere but at her.
"Come home soon," was all that she said before she turned away and walked towards the stairs to her room. As she tried to keep herself from crying, she almost missed the last words she would ever hear him say.
"I love you Kia."
"What?" Skulduggery asked as politely as he could.
"I was scared and I reacted. Some kids walked up to me on the street and tried to mug me. He had a gun and I... I just reacted. I felt this magic in my eyes and I looked at him and I saw his mind and I saw everything he was thinking and I decided that I never wanted him to think again and the next thing I knew he dropped to the ground. I checked his pulse he was dead."
Kia's father dissolved into tears.
"Dad, it was just an accident. You didn't mean to."
Skulduggery looked at Kia gently.
"I'm afraid that I'm going to have to arrest you for that. Even in the magical world, murder is illegal."
"What? No!" Kia shouted. "You can't!"
Kia's father looked at him with calm, clear eyes.
"I will go to jail with you. I know that I deserve it even if I didn't understand my magic back then, I still killed the man and I am guitly."
Skulduggery moved forwards and pulled handcuffs out of his pocket.
"I am arresting you by the power invested in me by the Irish Sanctuary."
"No!" Kia shouted and she jumped in front of her father putting her hands up in front of her like a boxer. "You can't take him away from me."
Her father placed his large hand on her shoulder and stepped around her.
"I'm sorry honey. I'm very, very sorry,"he said and he held his wrists out in front of him and allowed Skulduggery to cuff him.
"Dad!" Kia yelled again but he just turned away.
"I need you to promise me something," he said, looking directly at Skulduggery. "Promise me that you will take care of her and make sure that she doesn't lose control like I did."
Kia looked at her father in desperation but she could see that he had made up his mind. As soon as she realized that, her whole mind cleared and she stood up straight again. This was his decision and he was doing it partly for her sake. It was because of his honor and his pride that he made that decision so she would just let him go. She felt more than saw Skulduggery look at her and he nodded.
"Okay, I promise. I will look after her."
Kia looked at her father again. He looked proud despite the handcuffs on his hands. His green eyes, the only trait Kia had inherited from him, stared anywhere but at her.
"Come home soon," was all that she said before she turned away and walked towards the stairs to her room. As she tried to keep herself from crying, she almost missed the last words she would ever hear him say.
"I love you Kia."
Shockwave 2
Since, I haven't written here in a while so I will continue to write a lot today. Yay!
"Magic?" Kia asked skeptically.
"What's your explanation?" the tall, thin man asked.
Kia fell silent because she had no explanation.
"You are unfortunately part of a recent wave of normal people who randomly developed magical powers. As far as we know this has never ever happened before and we are still trying to find the cause but in the meantime we are trying to teach the people who gained these powers how to control them."
Kia looked at him.
"I don't need your help." Her eyes became steel. "I only used it once and never again. Okay? I don't want it and I won't use it."
The tall man looked at her in surprise. Kia realized, for the first time that his blue eyes were a little unfocused.
"That's funny."
Kia started.
"What do you mean that's funny? I'm serious."
"Oh, I get that, I get that. It's just we've visited tons and tons of other people and to think that out of all of them, the one that would turn down their magic was a teenaged girl. Valkyrie, she is a lot more responsible than you are."
Valkyrie huffed.
"You're forgetting something Skulduggery," Valkyrie said.
"Am I?"
"We have a magical reading for this house that is very recent. There is no way that this girl hasn't been using it. This house is covered in magical leftover. That's how we found her."
"Ah, that's true. So you were lying. You have used your magic recently."
Kia shook her head.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I actually haven't used it in two weeks."
"Do you live alone?"
"No, I live with my dad."
Kia froze.
"Wait, you think my dad can do magic?"
Skulduggery looked at Kia with raised eyebrows.
"Well, I don't know anything," she said. "Please leave."
Skulduggery didn't do anything for a second and then proceeded to walk into her house.
"So, what time will your father be coming home?"
Kia barred his way.
"None of your business. Please get out."
"Well, you see I can't do that. We really do need to make sure your father isn't running amok with his magic so we will wait for him here."
"No, you won't. Get out of my house."
Skulduggery tried to step around Kia and she grabbed his wrist and twisted it quickly so that Skulduggery was forced to his knees. Valkyrie stepped forward to help out but seemed to think better of it.
"Well, I didn't expect that," Skulduggery said as he gently twisted himself out of her grip. He watched with half amused expression as Kia slipped into her martial arts defensive position.
"Look, we really don't want to hurt you," he said. He put his hands out in front of him to show that he had no tricks up his sleeve. Kia took that opportunity and slipped forward, quickly and smoothly, and grabbed his wrist and sent him flying across the room. He hit the other wall and slid down. Valkyrie, deciding that it was up to her to finish the fight, dove at Kia from behind and managed to slip her into a headlock just as a large man's frame filled the doorway.
"Get your hands off of my daughter," the man said and he stepped into the light. Kia's father was an impressive man. He stood about 6' 4", and had a serious face which was now contorted into anger.
"Dad!" Kia called out and grunted as Valkyrie shifted her weight causing Kia's neck to twist at an even stranger angle.
"I don't want to have to repeat myself," Kia's dad said.
"Valkyrie, let her go," Skulduggery said. Valkyrie, seeming to resent it a little, let Kia go.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"
"We are people here from the Irish Sactuary to talk to you about your new abilities."
"It didn't really look like you were talking." Anger filled the man's voice and his eyes turned black. Literally. Not only his normally green irises but even the whites of his eyes had turned black.
"Dad!" Kia shouted as her father raised his hand and pointed at Skulduggery.
"Get out of my house," he yelled.
"Sir, we don't want to hurt you. All we want to do is help you control your powers. Is that so difficult?"
"I-I-I'm sorry," he said and his eyes regained their normal color.
"Dad!" Kia yelled again. She wasn't sure whether she was feeling disappointed or happy that he had let it go. She ran to his side and clutched at his large arm. Standing next to such a big man made her seem a lot younger than sixteen.
"I'm fine," he said. Then turning to Skulduggery. "Can you really teach me how to control my powers?"
"I can teach both of you," he said calmly.
"Both of us? Kia don't tell me you can do the same thing as me."
"Well, not the same thing I don't think. I mean my eyes don't turn black, I think but I can do some magic."
Kia's father lowered his head.
"Will you train her here or what?"
"Well up to this point, we have taken people to the Irish Sactuary for a while so that they can get used to their powers and once they are able to control them, we send them back home. We can change that system though, since both of you use magic and there's no one at the house to hide your powers from."
"Take her and leave me here," Kia's father said.
"What?" Kia shouted, jumping away from her father. "You're sending me away too? You're just like mom."
That last statement seemed to hit Kia's father harshly and his face contorted.
"I killed someone," he shouted and his voice filled the room.
"I killed someone."
"Magic?" Kia asked skeptically.
"What's your explanation?" the tall, thin man asked.
Kia fell silent because she had no explanation.
"You are unfortunately part of a recent wave of normal people who randomly developed magical powers. As far as we know this has never ever happened before and we are still trying to find the cause but in the meantime we are trying to teach the people who gained these powers how to control them."
Kia looked at him.
"I don't need your help." Her eyes became steel. "I only used it once and never again. Okay? I don't want it and I won't use it."
The tall man looked at her in surprise. Kia realized, for the first time that his blue eyes were a little unfocused.
"That's funny."
Kia started.
"What do you mean that's funny? I'm serious."
"Oh, I get that, I get that. It's just we've visited tons and tons of other people and to think that out of all of them, the one that would turn down their magic was a teenaged girl. Valkyrie, she is a lot more responsible than you are."
Valkyrie huffed.
"You're forgetting something Skulduggery," Valkyrie said.
"Am I?"
"We have a magical reading for this house that is very recent. There is no way that this girl hasn't been using it. This house is covered in magical leftover. That's how we found her."
"Ah, that's true. So you were lying. You have used your magic recently."
Kia shook her head.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I actually haven't used it in two weeks."
"Do you live alone?"
"No, I live with my dad."
Kia froze.
"Wait, you think my dad can do magic?"
Skulduggery looked at Kia with raised eyebrows.
"Well, I don't know anything," she said. "Please leave."
Skulduggery didn't do anything for a second and then proceeded to walk into her house.
"So, what time will your father be coming home?"
Kia barred his way.
"None of your business. Please get out."
"Well, you see I can't do that. We really do need to make sure your father isn't running amok with his magic so we will wait for him here."
"No, you won't. Get out of my house."
Skulduggery tried to step around Kia and she grabbed his wrist and twisted it quickly so that Skulduggery was forced to his knees. Valkyrie stepped forward to help out but seemed to think better of it.
"Well, I didn't expect that," Skulduggery said as he gently twisted himself out of her grip. He watched with half amused expression as Kia slipped into her martial arts defensive position.
"Look, we really don't want to hurt you," he said. He put his hands out in front of him to show that he had no tricks up his sleeve. Kia took that opportunity and slipped forward, quickly and smoothly, and grabbed his wrist and sent him flying across the room. He hit the other wall and slid down. Valkyrie, deciding that it was up to her to finish the fight, dove at Kia from behind and managed to slip her into a headlock just as a large man's frame filled the doorway.
"Get your hands off of my daughter," the man said and he stepped into the light. Kia's father was an impressive man. He stood about 6' 4", and had a serious face which was now contorted into anger.
"Dad!" Kia called out and grunted as Valkyrie shifted her weight causing Kia's neck to twist at an even stranger angle.
"I don't want to have to repeat myself," Kia's dad said.
"Valkyrie, let her go," Skulduggery said. Valkyrie, seeming to resent it a little, let Kia go.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"
"We are people here from the Irish Sactuary to talk to you about your new abilities."
"It didn't really look like you were talking." Anger filled the man's voice and his eyes turned black. Literally. Not only his normally green irises but even the whites of his eyes had turned black.
"Dad!" Kia shouted as her father raised his hand and pointed at Skulduggery.
"Get out of my house," he yelled.
"Sir, we don't want to hurt you. All we want to do is help you control your powers. Is that so difficult?"
"I-I-I'm sorry," he said and his eyes regained their normal color.
"Dad!" Kia yelled again. She wasn't sure whether she was feeling disappointed or happy that he had let it go. She ran to his side and clutched at his large arm. Standing next to such a big man made her seem a lot younger than sixteen.
"I'm fine," he said. Then turning to Skulduggery. "Can you really teach me how to control my powers?"
"I can teach both of you," he said calmly.
"Both of us? Kia don't tell me you can do the same thing as me."
"Well, not the same thing I don't think. I mean my eyes don't turn black, I think but I can do some magic."
Kia's father lowered his head.
"Will you train her here or what?"
"Well up to this point, we have taken people to the Irish Sactuary for a while so that they can get used to their powers and once they are able to control them, we send them back home. We can change that system though, since both of you use magic and there's no one at the house to hide your powers from."
"Take her and leave me here," Kia's father said.
"What?" Kia shouted, jumping away from her father. "You're sending me away too? You're just like mom."
That last statement seemed to hit Kia's father harshly and his face contorted.
"I killed someone," he shouted and his voice filled the room.
"I killed someone."
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Shockwave
Hey there world!!! I am now officially starting a new fan-fiction. Like the last one, it will probably suck but that's okay because no one reads this blog anyway. YAY!!! (I just made myself a little sad). I'm actually just writing here on this blog to improve my writing so I actually don't care how bad it is as long as it's better than last time. So here I go. (I apologize beforehand for any typos I may make. I' actually really bad at typing)
PS: Anything in this story that belongs to Derek Landy, does not belong to me because it belongs to him. I am not trying to steal his characters, just trying to use them to move my story along.
Kia was just a normal girl. True, she was a black belt in two different martial arts and was on her way for a third and, yes, she could beat up most of the guys in her grade without getting a scratch but that didn't mean she wasn't normal. Right? No one seemed to think so. She had plenty of friends at school and no one really hated her (as far as she knew) but no one thought she was normal. They would often tease her, that is after they realized that she wouldn't punch them if she did. It did made getting a date a little difficult if the guy thought that she would throw him over her shoulder if he said something wrong but Kia was getting used to that. There were plenty of guys at the martial arts clubs who were more than willing to go out with her. And just to clarify, Kia wouldn't do that. While she could throw them across the room easily, she had just a little more self control than that. Just because she did martial arts didn't mean that she was a violent person. To her it was just a sport like any other. So, while Kia wasn't unpopular at school, she was still not treated like a normal person. People would come up to her and ask her to do things for them like protect them from bullies or dogs and stuff but Kia always turned them down. Just because she was strong didn't meant that she had to protect everyone. Those people should learn to protect themselves. So she did manage to gather a small amount of resentment from the bully victims at school but she didn't mind. They weren't her problem after all. She just wished that they would treat her like any other girl at school. So, that was why, when she gained that new ability, she tried her best to ignore it. She managed well for the first two weeks or so but when the tall, thin man in the hat and the dark eyed girl visited her, there was nothing she could do to ignore it anymore.
She had just been sitting in her living room, eating a mini pizza and watching a TV show about vampires which she could have cared less about. Really, the TV was just on so that the house wouldn't be totally silent. Her mother and father had separated five years back. Kia lived with her father butthe man was always working, leaving the house at 6 and getting back around 9. It's not like they really needed the money. They actually lived more than comfortably in their 4 bedroom house and Kia, at 17 owned her own car. No, they didn't need the money but Kia had the sneaking suspicion that her father couldn't look at her anymore without seeing her mother. So, she was home alone at 8 o'clock when the man and the girl knocked on the door. Since she had gotten home from training at 6:30, her hair was still damp from her shower and she was in her pajamas, a large t-shirt and some boxer shorts. She looked towards the door and sighed irritatedly, pulling on a sweater to seem a little decent. When she opened the door she froze because the first thing she was was a really tall guy in a suspicious-looking overcoat. Immediately all of her defenses went up and as a martial artist that meant that she was ready to beat the hell out of the guy as soon as he tried something funny. Then, Kia caught sight of the dark eyed girl next to him. She was probably only a year older than Kia, dressed from head to toe in black, and she moved in a way that Kia recognized all too well. This girl, whoever she was, knew plenty of martial arts as well.
"Can I do something for you?" Kia asked.
"Yes, we came to investigate something," the tall man said in a velvety voice.
"What?"
"What, what?"
"What did you come to investigate?"
"Oh, you know, just something."
Kia raised her eye brows incredulously.
"Look, sir. I don't know who you are or what you want but can you please leave?"
"She's turning us away," he said to his partner.
"Yes, she is," the girl replied a little dryly as if she didn't really want to play along with this charade.
"Why do you think she's doing that?" he asked.
"She probably thinks that you're a bad guy. You do look really suspicious."
"What about you? You look like an assassin or something."
The girl rolled her eyes and pushed the guy back so that she was standing face to face with Kia.
"We have come to talk to you about that new ability that you recently developed."
Kia froze. She had only used it once, by accident, two weeks before. How did they know about it?
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kia replied, deciding to play dumb.
"She's lying," the tall man said from behind his partner.
"I can see that," she said. "Look we just want to help you."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kia repeated.
"Wow, she's a good liar. I almost believed it that time," the tall man.
"Yeah," the dark eyed girl just watched her.
"Please can you go," Kia said, not sure why she was still trying to be polite.
"We know, okay? We know that you developed a new, strange ability and we want to help you."
Kia shook her head. This wasn't happening. These people were probably in the government. They would probably lock her up and send her off to some lab if they knew about what she could do. Just as Kia was contemplating running, the tall man stepped forward again and snapped his fingers. Kia expected a large number of fully armed guards to burst in from all over the place but instead, a small flame appeared in the man's palm.
"We have strange abilities too. Please, we are just trying to help."
Kia stared at the flame in his palm.
"How?" she asked.
"Magic."
PS: Anything in this story that belongs to Derek Landy, does not belong to me because it belongs to him. I am not trying to steal his characters, just trying to use them to move my story along.
Kia was just a normal girl. True, she was a black belt in two different martial arts and was on her way for a third and, yes, she could beat up most of the guys in her grade without getting a scratch but that didn't mean she wasn't normal. Right? No one seemed to think so. She had plenty of friends at school and no one really hated her (as far as she knew) but no one thought she was normal. They would often tease her, that is after they realized that she wouldn't punch them if she did. It did made getting a date a little difficult if the guy thought that she would throw him over her shoulder if he said something wrong but Kia was getting used to that. There were plenty of guys at the martial arts clubs who were more than willing to go out with her. And just to clarify, Kia wouldn't do that. While she could throw them across the room easily, she had just a little more self control than that. Just because she did martial arts didn't mean that she was a violent person. To her it was just a sport like any other. So, while Kia wasn't unpopular at school, she was still not treated like a normal person. People would come up to her and ask her to do things for them like protect them from bullies or dogs and stuff but Kia always turned them down. Just because she was strong didn't meant that she had to protect everyone. Those people should learn to protect themselves. So she did manage to gather a small amount of resentment from the bully victims at school but she didn't mind. They weren't her problem after all. She just wished that they would treat her like any other girl at school. So, that was why, when she gained that new ability, she tried her best to ignore it. She managed well for the first two weeks or so but when the tall, thin man in the hat and the dark eyed girl visited her, there was nothing she could do to ignore it anymore.
She had just been sitting in her living room, eating a mini pizza and watching a TV show about vampires which she could have cared less about. Really, the TV was just on so that the house wouldn't be totally silent. Her mother and father had separated five years back. Kia lived with her father butthe man was always working, leaving the house at 6 and getting back around 9. It's not like they really needed the money. They actually lived more than comfortably in their 4 bedroom house and Kia, at 17 owned her own car. No, they didn't need the money but Kia had the sneaking suspicion that her father couldn't look at her anymore without seeing her mother. So, she was home alone at 8 o'clock when the man and the girl knocked on the door. Since she had gotten home from training at 6:30, her hair was still damp from her shower and she was in her pajamas, a large t-shirt and some boxer shorts. She looked towards the door and sighed irritatedly, pulling on a sweater to seem a little decent. When she opened the door she froze because the first thing she was was a really tall guy in a suspicious-looking overcoat. Immediately all of her defenses went up and as a martial artist that meant that she was ready to beat the hell out of the guy as soon as he tried something funny. Then, Kia caught sight of the dark eyed girl next to him. She was probably only a year older than Kia, dressed from head to toe in black, and she moved in a way that Kia recognized all too well. This girl, whoever she was, knew plenty of martial arts as well.
"Can I do something for you?" Kia asked.
"Yes, we came to investigate something," the tall man said in a velvety voice.
"What?"
"What, what?"
"What did you come to investigate?"
"Oh, you know, just something."
Kia raised her eye brows incredulously.
"Look, sir. I don't know who you are or what you want but can you please leave?"
"She's turning us away," he said to his partner.
"Yes, she is," the girl replied a little dryly as if she didn't really want to play along with this charade.
"Why do you think she's doing that?" he asked.
"She probably thinks that you're a bad guy. You do look really suspicious."
"What about you? You look like an assassin or something."
The girl rolled her eyes and pushed the guy back so that she was standing face to face with Kia.
"We have come to talk to you about that new ability that you recently developed."
Kia froze. She had only used it once, by accident, two weeks before. How did they know about it?
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kia replied, deciding to play dumb.
"She's lying," the tall man said from behind his partner.
"I can see that," she said. "Look we just want to help you."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kia repeated.
"Wow, she's a good liar. I almost believed it that time," the tall man.
"Yeah," the dark eyed girl just watched her.
"Please can you go," Kia said, not sure why she was still trying to be polite.
"We know, okay? We know that you developed a new, strange ability and we want to help you."
Kia shook her head. This wasn't happening. These people were probably in the government. They would probably lock her up and send her off to some lab if they knew about what she could do. Just as Kia was contemplating running, the tall man stepped forward again and snapped his fingers. Kia expected a large number of fully armed guards to burst in from all over the place but instead, a small flame appeared in the man's palm.
"We have strange abilities too. Please, we are just trying to help."
Kia stared at the flame in his palm.
"How?" she asked.
"Magic."
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