The Changes

Part 16: An Old Friend

    Kaleiron flashed his charming smile at me and spread his arms out as if he wanted a hug, but I just growled, and raised my rod.

   "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Kaleiron, by the way," he told my friends while grinning devilishly. Marissa nearly let her guard down, but I slapped her arm.

   "It was you?" I asked. I was surprised. "You are the all-powerful mage that wants to reign chaos over the world?"

   "Yes, I know, the idea sounds preposterous. I do think I might be able to succeed though. Maybe if you helped me," he suggested, taking a step closer to me.

   "No way in hell," I growled. He was making me angry. Kaleiron was a childhood friend, you see. Our parents knew each other, so we had met at a young age.

   "Hmm, it would be terrible if something happened to them," he said, raising his arm and opening his palm. Above his raised hand was a blurry image of my family, frozen in time. It was the scene from this morning. My mom was at the kitchen sink and Lacey was eating her toast. It switched to another image of my dad working in his office, talking to his customers, except his mouth wasn't moving. It was wide open, as if he were about to say his next word. "Didn't  you found it suspicious they didn't give you a call?"

   I don't know what my friends saw in the images, but Marissa put her head in her hands. Ethan stared blankly at the images, unable to speak.

      I thought about that. It was really weird that my mom hadn't rung in a while- especially if I had been gone for over a week. I had just assumed my phone was dead. I pulled my black phone out of my pocket. Thirty-two percent. 

   "What did you do to our families?" Amber hollered, her body trembling with rage. Tears spilled out of her eyes. (*I apologize for this) "YOU'RE A MONSTER!" Above us, I heard the sound of thunder stirring in the sky. I felt a few raindrops fall onto the bridge of my nose. 

   "Wait, if they're frozen in time, nothing will happen to them, right?" Barry asked, suspiciously eyeing Kaleiron as if he had just eaten the last cookie from the cookie jar.

   "Oh, yes, but they won't be able to live their full lives. Their hearts have frozen along with the rest of their bodies, and if they stay like this, well, they might just die," Kaleiron shrugged as if it were nothing important.

   "Let them go!" shouted Marissa, through tears. "We're the ones you want."

   "I don't need all of you. One of you will do just fine. I only need one Mage's sacrifice to summon total chaos." 

   "We will never help you," Ethan roared. He threw a knife at Kaleiron, but Kaleiron was quick. He caught it in his hand when it was only a few inches away from his left cheek.

   "Nice try," he said, smiling as if he weren't just a few inches away from death.

   "With a snap of my fingers, your families would die. Then, you could try fighting me." He said nonchalantly.

   "Why would you want to kill our families? I thought you would respect the bond of family after your parents were brutally murdered, and your foster parents died in a car crash?" I asked curiously.

   "Veronica, I am immortal," I chuckled. "I have lived for millennia, and I have lived with so many mortals over the years. Do you think one family matters to me? I only spared your folks because you were a good friend, and your folks were kind to me."

   "You're crazy," Leyna sneered, though she stayed in her place. She very well knew that he could kill our entire families with flick of his wrist.

   "Oh, you are!" Kaleiron piped brightly. "You're wasting your families' precious moments of life!"

   "Hold on, you control time?" Ethan asked.

   "Yes, I am the only mage that possesses this rare power," he said triumphantly, placing his hands on his hips.

   That was his one weakness. His pride. Kaleiron would always boast about his achievements as a young child. He tried to make the neighborhood kids jealous of him and then they'd fight. He loved getting into fights and trouble.

   "I'll go with you," I mumbled reluctantly. This was the only way to save my friends and the world.

   "Oh, wonderful!" Kaleiron cheered, clapping his hands together. "Maybe before I spill your blood, we can have a good time catching up!"

   "What? No! I'll go!" volunteered Amber.

   Soon enough, my friends were fighting to be slaughtered by a teenage boy. This wasn't something you saw everyday, but it was kind of what was happening then.

   "No!" I yelled over the commotion. "I'm going. I want to go." Tears stung my eyes, but I fought the urge to cry.

   I looked at my friends and an understanding passed between us. We weren't giving up this easily. If everybody survived, Kaleiron would still be ruling the world, with chaos as his only tool. Everyone would die either way. The world did not belong to any one person.

   "Bye," Marissa sniffled sadly. She reached out and hugged me. This time, I didn't pull away. This might be the last time I'd ever see her- unless I did something about it.

   I shook Barry's hand, and we did our parting ritual. We'd raise one of our feet and say "pss". A sad smile cracked on Barry's face, and we shook hands. Leyna hugged me, and Amber, Ethan, and Ashton high-fived me. This was it. I had to make my one chance worth something.