The Changes

Part 15

    "I feel dizzy," mumbled Barry, as his eyes began to close and he toppled on to the wooden floor.

    "Barry!" Amber shrieked in surprise, rushing over. 

     We all scrambled over, avoiding the dust and debris. "Hey, wake up." I commanded, slapping his cheeks.

   "Stop!" said Leyna, grabbing my wrist. 

   I grinned smugly and mockingly mouthed 'stop!'. Ashton smirked back at me.

   "Be right back," I told my friends. I walked over to the place behind the counter. It was oddly clean, probably because no one bothered to steal a drink. I grabbed a glass cup from a cupboard and filled it with ice cold water from the sink.

   As a walked back to them, Marissa stared at me with wide eyes, shaking her head no. I only smiled in response and put my finger to my lips. 

   I walked up behind Ethan and poured the freezing cold liquid onto Barry's pale face. 

  "VERONICA!" Amber yelled. "What was that for?"

   Suddenly, Barry started to cough. He spit out the cold water, and some of it landed on Ethan's face. I could tell he was irritated, but he didn't say anything and wiped it off with the bottom of his shirt.

   "Did I get a shower?" Barry smiled.

   "No, Veronica just nominated you for the Ice Bucket Challenge without you knowing," Amber responded, rolling her eyes. Though she was trying to look agitated, I could tell that she was relieved. She had known Barry for longer than any of us had. We had only met Amber and Barry in fifth grade.

   I threw my hands up in surrender. "Hey, it worked, right?" I grinned sheepishly.

   "Let's get back to work, guys," Marissa reminded us.

   "In case you haven't noticed, Barry just fainted from having his energy sapped," Ashton said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

   "Wait a sec," said Ethan. He placed his right hand onto Barry's forehead, and suddenly, the color returned to Barry's cheeks and his face seemed fuller.

   "Wow, thanks," said Barry, astonished. He sat up, stretching his arms. His purple shirt was dusty and tattered, but he didn't seem to care.

   Ethan only nodded in response. Ethan, Barry, Marissa, Amber, our friend Gabe, and I used to be a group of friends called 'The Homies'. Yeah, I know, stupid name, but it doesn't matter. We were good friends. Anyway one day the group tore apart, and we remained friends, but never as close. It was kind of weird to spend so much time with Ethan again, since he had separated from us and started to hang out with his 'cool friends'. Though I had known him since fifth grade, he seemed sort of distant. He didn't talk much.

   "Barry, we only showered last night and you're filthy again," complained Marissa, wrinkling her nose.

   "We really should leave," Leyna said, motioning towards the window. I was met with the same scene of chaos as earlier, but this time it was more chaotic.

   "Alright, just give me a sec," I said, dashing back to the stairwell. I grabbed my bag and my metal rod, and we marched out the door together.

----

   Seeing what was happening without a glass surface separating me from it was utterly terrifying. A wolf nearly attacked us once, but I whacked it upside its head with my staff. Of course, Leyna had complained. She had a dog back home, and wolves were part of the canine family. Ashton had to very sarcastically explain that the wolf would've killed us. 

   "Where in the world do we start?" pondered Barry. He was right. There was no starting point.

   "Maybe we should split up?" I suggested.

   "No!" said Marissa, shaking her head. "No way."

    "Alright... Then how are we going to do this?" Leyna challenged.

    "Hey, we should form a circle at the center of the city, just like the Avengers did in the movie! Whatever's out there is bound to come at us. We kind of targets on our backs," I said cheerfully.

   "That's stupid," Barry pointed out.

   "You're stupid," I shot back, sticking my tongue out at him.

   "We don't have a better idea," shrugged Amber, dropping a pound of snow onto a terrorist charging at us.

   "Fine," grumped Barry.

   I smiled at my victory and his expression. "Let's go then!" said Ethan. "We'll eliminate anything in our way. Even wolves." He shot a sympathetic look at Leyna. I knew that he's always wanted a Alaskan husky.

   "Um, if we die, nice knowing you guys," murmured Ashton solemnly. 

   "Yeah, you too," I smiled sadly. What if this really was the last time we'd ever speak to each other?

   We high-fived each other or shook hands and then we headed towards our starting point, eliminating anything in our way, just as Ethan had said.

----

   We reached the town square, where innocent citizens were still being terrorized by packs of wolves and terrorists, oh, and also the Trump supporters. 

   "Hey, we're over here!" shouted Amber. "We're the ones you want."

   I gulped. Now was the time.

   The groups nearest to us started to close in on or little protective circle. The wolves snarled at us, their yellow eyes burning into my soul.

   "Calm your tits!" I exclaimed, my voice trembling. That must've made the wolves angry, since they didn't have any, and they lunged at me. "Whoa!" I smacked the ones I could with my rod, and then morphed into a mountain lion. I roared and then jumped at the canines, knocking them over. I lunged at the herd of terrorists behind the wolves yanking their weapons in different directions, so some of them shot at their own feet. When I saw one of the terrorists farther away from me aim his gun in my direction, I thought of a small rodent with red eyes and a pink tail. He shot at the ground, shocked. I turned into a small prey bird and pecked at the men. A lot of them fainted from shock but many of them stood their ground. I had to give them credit for trying. I felt kind of bad, since I wasn't the violent type, but this was for our country. (FOR 'MURICA!)

   I turned back into a 5'2 girl and filled in the gap of our protection circle. I fought the best I could, but I felt really exhausted. I quickly checked on my teammates. Ethan, who was next to me was doing a great job with the knives, and he was surprisingly agile with his kicks, but I could tell he was getting tired as well. Marissa on the other side of me just kept making human-sicles (if that's a thing), but her face was starting to pale from fatigue. There had to be another way! The waves would never stop if we kept it up like this. 

   Out of the blue, a man appeared in a long overcoat and long white unruly hair. The man seemed to be about nineteen to twenty years old. He wore a white button up shirt and a black tie. His complexion was very pale, as if he hadn't been outside in a while. He wore black slacks and looked just like an average good-looking teen guy, but his eyes ruined the image. I couldn't tell what color they were since the color constantly shifted in the sunlight. His narrow eyes gleamed with malice, and though an evil grin was plastered across his cheeks, they seemed cold. It was like he had never loved, and didn't care for any living being. 

   Behind me, Leyna gasped. 

   "What the hell," grumbled Ashton.

Every single one of my friends had turned that way. Why weren't the mobs attacking? I finally noticed that everything in my view had frozen, as if time was frozen.

   "Kaleiron," I said, gritting my teeth.  I didn't know how I knew, but I did.

   "Yes, Veronica. Did you miss me?"