The Fifth Element

Chapter 5

As soon as we had all sped out of the gym and away from Coach Harris (AKA creepy mutant b-baller dude), Nathan set me back onto my feet and the other students stopped running...until we heard an ear-splitting noise that made me want to punch a baby right then and there.

"Evacuation," Peri sighed, leaning against a wall. "Can't a girl catch her breath?"

"Let's just get out of here," Winnie shivered. "I don't want to be that Nightmorph's next meal."

Our group filed out of the school, joining the other students and teachers who seemed to be familiar with this drill. Ugh, being the new kid sucked.

"What was that?" I asked Nathan, who was standing next to me.

"Nightmorphs. They're creatures, humans who tried to have powers like us but went haywire instead. They can shapeshift and they all have different forms and abilities. They wait for the right moment to slip into someone else's role, like they did with Coach, who's probably sick at home or something." Nathan's brow furrowed.

"But it's been three years since they've infiltrated the school." Sam added. "Something must have triggered their return."

"What Brainboy said," Peri agreed, looking nervous and pensive.

"So how do they get rid of them?" I questioned.

"They off 'em," Santiago explained in his oh-so-eloquent way of speaking.

"In other words," Lex shot Santiago a look. "They exterminate them. Put the school on lockdown for the day and release a certain chemical that's only lethal to Nightmorphs."

"Ah," I replied, barely understanding all of this. I mean, why were some random creepy experiments-gone-wrong invading our school and trying to kill us? I'm sure being superhuman kids had nothing to do with it.

"So where the heck do we go? The dorms are on lockdown too," Farron frowned.

"If I may have your attention please," a short, petite older woman interrupted. "As most of you know, I am Headmistress Strauss. I'd like to let all of you know that arrangements will be made for you to stay at the Doubletree Hotel tonight. You will be taken there via bus, so as not to draw too much attention from...outsiders. You will be leaving in about an hour. A few teachers will try to get as many of your possesions from the dorms as possible." She ended her little speech and checked her watch briefly.

"ERMERGERD!" Lex shouted. "That's the place with the free cookies!!"

"Fatty," Santiago joked (knowing Lex was nowhere near fat). Lex kicked him in the balls, 'cause she's extreme like that, and began blabbering to me about how amazing Doubletree cookies were. I almost felt sorry for Santiago, who was trying to not cry out in pain.

The buses had finally arrived and I sat down in an empty seat in the middle-back area. Nathan was about to sit down next to me, but Lex beat him to the punch, noisily scooting in beside me. I raised an eyebrow at her. So first she's fine with us hugging and suddenly she's all up in arms about us sitting next to each other. There are some days when i just don't understand my best friend, even if we can communicate through facial expressions.

"Lex," I began.

"Hm?"

"Why?"

"Shhh."

"Ugh!"

Did I mention that we also tend to have one-word conversations? It's a regular thing now.

We rode..make that bounced...along in the bus dangerously as the shady-looking bus driver made illegal cut-offs and turns on the freeway. I felt like I had been stuck in a drier. Like yeah, just rolling around in the back seat. No big deal...You can imagine how grateful I was that we had arrived (ALIVE) at the hotel...uh, make that motel...

"No free cookies?" Lex looked like she was about to have an emotional breakdown. I patted her on the shoulder.

"Uh, I don't think this is right..." Aisha said slowly. But we had already piled out of the bus and the driver had sped off.

The 'O' sputtered and it's neon light flashed urgently, like some kind of warning. Well, this looked pretty safe. I glanced around. No drug deals, no gun fights, no dead bodies...not bad for a motel. The flickering letter 'O' died out.

"Welcome to the 'Mtel'," Talia stated, carrying her tote bag with her as she strode toward the door.

I followed after her and the others looked at as doubtfully.

"Um, do we have reservations here?" I asked the blonde, big-haired receptionist.

"That depends. What's your party's name, daarrlin'?" She inquired in a thick country accent.

"Uhhh..." I looked back at my classmates. "The Elementals?"

She faced contorted into a confused wince and she searched through the computer's reservation's list. A look of surprise appeared on her face. "Um, yes, it looks like y'all have a reservation up in the suite. Suite 101." She blinked at me and handed me the key. "Is this some kind of field trip?" she asked.

"Yeah," I lied. "Headed to LA tomorrow."

"Uh-huh," she nodded. "Well, enjoy your stay."

"Thanks," I replied, flashing her a smile and turning back to meet up with the others.

"Looks like we're all sharing a suite," I shrugged.

"Sweet," Farron grinned.

"You're so punny," I replied and the two of us burst out laughing.

"Ugh, I am NOT sharing a room with him!" Lex jabbed a thumb at Santiago.

"Don't lie, you love me," he retorted. Lex scoffed and the rest of us cracked up. Even Jem chuckled. Yeah, those two totally had a thing for each other.

It was midnight and after all of us had settled down, we crawled into our makeshift beds. Some slept on the floor, others on the couch, and the younger, smaller ones slept on the bed. I snuggled under my blanket on the floor and faced Nathan. The others had fallen asleep, except Lex, who was showering...again.

"So who do you think reserved the motel for us?" he asked me as he turned in my direction.

"The creepy bus driver?" I guessed.

Nathan chuckled. "It's possible."

"I seriously have no clue," I shrugged under my blanket. "But something seems really wrong." I shivered. "Sheesh, it's cold."

Nathan caterpillar-wiggled over to me, still wrapped in his own blanket. He snuggled in across from me so that our knees touched. "I'm not being a creeper, am I?"

"Maybe a little," I giggled. "

He brushed a stray strand of hair from my face, smiled, and suddenly turned over to his other side, his back facing me. "Goodnight, Sky," he laughed, leaving me feeling very confused. This guy was seriously messing with my head. Why were boys so weird? Come to think of it, everything that had happened this week had been pretty weird. And I had a feeling things weren't about to get any normaler. If 'normaler' was even a real word.

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O hai dere! Yeah, I changed the name to Nightmorphs cause it sounded cooler. I swear this story will make so much sense soon! I'll try to keep up with my updates, which should be easier now that I'm quitting my job (ugh, it used to be fun, but I hated hearing my coworkers talk bad about other people). Ermergerd! Nerf guns are so freaking FUN! I seriously recommend having a nerf gun fight with your friends if you've never done it before. Lol, school is so random lately, so I'm kind of adding random things that happen there into my story, but, you know, only snippets. Enjoy, and keep the votes coming! Mwua! Adios amigos!