The Changes

Part 6

  I ran to the side as the psycho "puppet- master" possessing Marissa was trying to kill me. My friends had scrambled in different directions and were trying to knock Marissa to the ground without hurting her. It wasn't working. The Puppet Master was making her too strong. Then, a part of Marissa came through. Suddenly, she stopped and stared at her hands. She looked confused.
"Guys, what's going on?" she asked. Worry lines crossed her face as once again, her eyes became unfocused and the Puppet Master controlled her body again.
  "She's fighting it!" Amber cried over the noise, scrambling out of the way as Marissa shot tendrils of ice out of her fingertips.
  "We have to remind her of who she is!" I yelled. I had a crazy idea, but it might just work. "Keep her busy!"
  "I think we already are," replied Leyna while unfreezing Barry's foot with her fire.
  I rushed towards the woods back to camp. I ran towards Amber's backpack. She always carried a bunch of tech stuff with her. Then, I found what I was looking for. Amber had recently bought a mini handheld holographic projector and it was pretty cool because you could just connect your phone with it and it would show you what was displayed on your device.
I rummaged through my backpack and looked for my phone. Just then, Ethan walked over.
"What are you doing?" He asked, obviously puzzled. "Aren't you supposed to be looking for Marissa?"
"Marissa's in trouble," I explained. "I've got a plan to help her."
"What?" He demanded. "Marissa's in trouble?"
    "Be quiet! I'm trying to do something here," I said. This guy was asking too many questions.
     If I could here him roll his eyes, I'm pretty sure I did. I found my phone. Ten percent left. It should have to do. I rushed to the scene of Marissa- ness and carried the holographic   thingy with me. Then, I heard footfalls behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Ethan following me. Ooh, somebody's in love. I almost snickered, but I stopped behind a tree hidden from my Marissa's sight and scrolled through my phone's photos and videos. I found the one I was video I was searching for. I was a video of us on the last day of fifth grade. We recorded ourselves by placing a phone in the center of our circle an then putting our hands on top of each others' hands. Then we waited for the bell to ring. Funny thing was, we forgot that it was a minimum day and we waited for five whole minutes. Soon, Amber reminded us that it was a minimum day and we started roaring with laughter. We all raised our hands to the sky and yelled, "SIXTH GRADE!"
A smile formed on my face. Ethan, whom I forgot was still standing next to me, poked me and pointed to what was happening. He mouthed "Hurry up!" I looked behind us. I could tell my friends were getting weary and they weren't getting anywhere.
Once I knew I was ready, I jumped out of my hiding spot and yelled, "Hey Marissa! Over here!" She glared at me. She raised her arm, ready to freeze me, but I yelled,"Wait! I have something for you."
I switched on the projector and the scenes burst into the sky. Pictures of us on Amber's birthday, the last day of school, and short DubSmashes.
Suddenly, Marissa wavered and fell to the ground. Now the Puppet Master was clearly visible. "You have pulled me out of the weakling's body. I'm impressed. But now, I am free to take on somebody else's spirit." It bared it's fangs at us. Now that I could see it, I'm can say that it was hideous. Absolutely grotesque. And I'm not going to describe it because I think I might spew.
"Leyna! Amber! " I cried. "Take her to safety. Barry and I can handle this."
"No way am I leaving you two!" Amber responded.
" They aren't alone! Get her back to camp," Ethan said suddenly appearing from behind his hiding spot.
Leyna and Amber reluctantly dragged Marissa back to camp. The three of us turned towards the Puppet Master. "Catch me if you can!" it shrieked with its high pitched voice.
Suddenly, I imagined myself as a cheetah, with it's golden coats and dark spots. A cheetah with long legs and dark eyes. I shrunk and ran towards the Puppet Master. I grabbed it's long dark cloak in my teeth and pulled it, ripping the cloth. I was just about to sink my teeth into it's wrinkly green flesh, when it disappeared and reappeared right behind Ethan.
I raced towards it as fast as I could, but I was too late. It turned translucent and disappeared into Ethan's body. He lurched forward then stabilized. He drew his knife, his eyes unfocused. "Let's make this quick!" he roared.
I ran at him and knocked him to the ground. Barry shot some lighting at him. He froze and stared at the sky. I morphed back into a human.
"Barry! You might've killed him!" I raged.
"He's not dead," he reassured me. "I controlled my lightning so just enough would enter his body to knock him unconscious."
I wasn't sure, but we had to worry about Ethan later.
"Then where did The Puppet Master go?" I was afraid he might possess one of us next.
Next to me, Barry gulped. "Look." He pointed.
On the trunk of a tree, I saw an engraving. It read, I await you. At the foot of the tree sat a map and one of Marissa's earrings.