The Changes

Part 13: A Special Ability

"Wait. Give me a sec," said Barry with a devilish grin oh his face.

"What are y-" I started.

Barry cut me off by lifting his hand and pointing a finger and the frozen spider meat. He summoned a lightning bolt through the hole in the roof and broke the glass, causing the creature in ice to crumble into many pieces. Leyna then set each piece of ice on fire, burning it into a puddle of black, slimy goo.

"There ya go," said Barry with a satisfied look on his face. Despite his happy expression, he looked extremely tired. He was thinner than before and there were some gashes on his cheeks. His raven hair had grown out a few inches and almost went over his eyebrows.

Then, I took out the key and unlocked the door to our room. It was a decent sized room with a low roof and a view to the back of a warehouse. Amber switched on the light and a flickering light entered the room. Barry and Ethan entered last, hauling Marissa with them. There was one queen- sized bed and a pull- out couch.

"I call dibs on the bed!" shouted Ashton immediately, pouncing onto the soft white mattress.

"Get off! You're filthy!" Amber shot back.

"I think Marissa deserves the bed," I said. "She nearly died."

"Fine," grumped Ashton. "I'll take the pull- out couch then."

"Then that means the rest of us will have to sleep on the floor," sighed Leyna.

"I call the closet!" I yelled and ran towards a small set of double doors. When I opened it, a plume of dust rose and I coughed. "Ew."

We spent the next half an hour cleaning up the room, Marissa laying on the bed of course. I called up a couple of pillows and a blanket for my tiny sleeping space, but the poor woman bringing up the stuff refused to go up the stairs. So I had to go out of our room and get the supplies, avoiding the goo and debris. I thanked her and paid her five bucks. I only had ten dollars left now. Lucky we had Amber.

When I came back, Barry and Ashton were chasing each other around with pillows in their hands. "Come here and let me kill you!" yelled Ashton.

"Never! HAHAHAHA," giggled Barry.

Just then, my stomach started to rumble. I realized how hungry I was. "Guys, I'm going to die of hunger."

"Here,"Amber replied, tossing a granola bar at me.

I caught it and unwrapped it, biting a chunk off of it. It felt good to have something in my empty stomach.

"We should still go and eat," said Barry, rubbing his stomach.

"Mhm," said Ethan. His eyes stared blankly at the faded blue paint on the wall probably still surprised about what he had just done. Maybe that was what the Mage had meant by Ethan getting a special power. Not the staring part, the cool healing part.

Amber hauled herself off the couch, unplugging her phone from a socket in the wall. "The internet here sucks," she mumbled.

We all headed downstairs, a very dazed Marissa following behind us.

I was hit by the scent of fresh- smelling bread.

We found a booth for seven and I immediately rested my head in my arms. I sat in between Leyna and Barry and across from Amber. Every time we had a chance to have a break, something would happen. I hated my life. It was sad. About a week ago, I was just having a normal life as an average middle school kid, and now I was on the run with my friends from who knows what? I sighed. I wish I could just see my family again, no matter how annoying they were sometimes.

I sat up again, rubbing my eyes and discovered my friends looking through their paper menus. While they discussed what they were going to order, I noticed Ethan, who was sitting in between Amber and Ashton look down at the wooden table. His eyes were filled with sorrow and sadness. No doubt missing his family as well. He noticed me studying him and I gave him a quick smile, getting a small one in return. Then he turned to his menu. Suddenly he gasped,"Ouch!" We all turned towards him.

He looked at his finger. Ethan had gotten a rather bad paper cut. Right before our eyes, the cut started to disappear, and the bleeding stopped. It only left a thin white line on the tip of his finger.

He turned his hand around in shock and surprise. "Whoa," he mumbled.

"Not only are you able to heal people, but your healing factor's awesome," I remarked. "He's like Deadpool. Or the Wolverine."

"The Flash is still better in many ways," humphed Barry, flashing me a competitive grin.

"So that's what the old man meant," mumbled Amber, scratching her head.

Ethan grinned. "Well, what are you guys ordering?"

"Hmm, I don't know yet," replied Leyna looking through her menu. "Hey, isn't Marissa oddly quiet?"

We all turned to her. Apparently, she was resting on Amber's shoulder, her eyes closed. Amber raised a finger to her lips, motioning us to be quiet.

A waiter stopped by our table and we quickly ordered. I decided to have clam chowder since at the moment I felt so clammy. (Pun intended. Though I apologize for the terrible pun.)

That night, we ate till our stomachs were full and we finally had one peaceful night of sleep. We even had enough time for each of us to have a shower. We washed our clothes in the laundry room and when Marissa woke up, we gave her the food we had put in a to- go box for her. We slept warm and cozy, until we woke up to the sound of gunshots and the smell of smoke.