My Sister, Skylar

Sixteen

Six and Leigh spent the night in the park. They were both exhausted after a long day of searching and collapsed against each other at some point. Six was warm - an awfully nice heat source. They were awoken a few hours later by a homeless man who kept asking them for drugs. They left after that. 

"How will we find them?" Leigh muttered to herself, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and following Six along the sidewalk towards a small café. He glanced backwards. 

"I think I might be able to find someone who can help. He's got a Twist that could track them down - well, make them come to us."

"What do you mean?" 

"He's a beacon. Literally. If we tell him about the people we're looking for, he can locate them with his mind and summon them. They won't be able to resist the pull. It's like a magnet," Six explained as he took a sharp left into an alleyway. His gait didn't slow down. 

Before she knew it, they had come to an abandoned subway or something of that sort. Graffiti took up space on the wall, giving it a loud atmosphere. A couple of high teenagers grinned at them, but the pair ignored them. Bottles and trash littered the ground and the odd sound of crunching glass beneath their sneakers scared her occasionally. Six led her into the darker corners. 

"How do you know all these people? And where they're at?" Asked Leigh, wrinkling her nose at the bitter smell of alcohol. 

"I escaped with a few of them. And also the Twist kids have their own network. Kids leave signs on the wall all the time - " he pointed at a black circle on the wall - "so other's know there's a safe spot with other Twist's here. That's what I was looking for, yesterday. Of course, it depends on who you get yourself mixed in with..." Six didn't elaborate on that, and Leigh didn't ask.

Finally, the rounded the corner, coming upon a group of young boys, passing around a joint. One of them turned around, grinning cheekily. 

"Well, well, well. Six. I see you've brought a little something." His cocky smirk was unbearable, and Leigh crossed her arms in irritation. 

"Excuse you," She huffed. He laughed then, passing the joint to his freckle-faced friend who looked like he was about to keel over and die.

"Indeed. Excuse you," Six agreed, imitating Leigh by crossing his arms. "We need your help. Put the joint away, Twelve." 

Twelve rolled his eyes, brushing his dark curls out of his face. 

"Who?" His question was sharp and irritated. "You know I won't do it for free, right?" 

"What do you want? We need to find Leigh's friends, and fast." Six sounded unnaturally calm. Leigh wondered how he managed that when this boy was so infuriating. Twelve's grin was cheeky as he turned to Leigh. 

"What do I want..." She scowled at him, clearly displeased. 

"You lay a hand on me you bastard, and I'll chop your dick off and make you eat it. Just like a salted peanut. Not much difference in size either, I'm sure." They howled with laughter in response. 

"Come on sweetheart. It's just one kiss," Twelve smiled. Leigh was about to answer him, but Six cut her off angrily. 

"Not in a million years, perv." Six's hand twitched, a tic she realized happened when he was about to use his fire. Twelve scowled for the first time. It made him look ugly, but also like scowling was something like a default for him - when he wasn't smirking. 

"What is she to you anyway? Just another charity case?" He mocked. A few stray sparks flew out of Six's fingertips. 

"Watch your mouth, kid. She's like a sister to me, and you will treat her like so. With respect," he spat. Leigh observed him for a second. 

Is it true? Am I like a sister to you? The thought filled her with pride. She liked that idea.

"Whatever, man. I would still bang her if she's your sister or not." 

Then Six was gone. Just gone. He ran forward with such speed and intensity, Leigh wasn't sure what had happened. Fire scorched the walls, melting graffiti and making a quick-burning snake towards Twelve's ankle. 

"What the hell man?!" Twelve squawked. 

"Never talk about Leigh like that again, bastard!" Six roared. His face was contorted into pure anger. 

"Six!" Leigh cried, pulling on his arm. The fire was hot but didn't appear to be burning her. He looked at her, then back at Twelve. With disgust, he let go of Twelve's shirt.

"Help us. Or god forbid, I will kill you," Six said, his voice hoarse. 

"Jesus. Fine." Twelve turned to her, his face wiped clean of any sarcasm. 

"Tell me who you want to find. Describe them, as best as you can. Looks, personality, gender, the whole nine yards." He sounded defensive.

It occurred to her that she could probably imitate whatever Twist he had, but she wasn't sure how it worked. Fire, telekinesis, elemental - that all came easily to her. But that was straightforward. An unusual twist like this... she could feel it pricking at her, like a needle poking the back of her brain, but it just felt so unfamiliar and - wrong, almost. Slimy and gross, like it was something that definitely didn't belong to her. Like a friend's journal. Maybe because it was a rare Twist, she wasn't sure. She would have to ask Six later. Either way, she didn't like the way it made her stomach roil, so she was going to let Twelve take over this. After all, it was his power. 

"Madelaine, Ash, and Oliver," Leigh started, then described them. Twelve regarded her with a cold demeanour, but she could feel the anger bubbling underneath. And cockiness. 

When she was finished, Twelve closed his eyes, scrunching his forehead together in concentration. He muttered GPS coordinates under his breath. 

"Found them!" He exclaimed after a moment of silence. He stuck his hand out, bending his middle and index finger in a hook-like image, drawing it towards him as if he were drawing a person nearer. 

He opened his eyes and nodded. "Done. They're on their way. Should be here in a few hours."

Relief broke Leigh's sombre mood, bringing a smile to her face. 

"Thank you!" She smiled. 

Twelve looked at her for a minute, an odd expression coming across his face. 

"You're welcome," he muttered, almost like he forgot the words. "I, um, need to go up with you. They'll be drawn to me, not you, because of the Twist," he explained. Six nodded once. 

"Don't try anything funny." 

For some reason, that made Leigh laugh, loud and clear. Twelve smirked. 

"Not making any promises, but we'll see." 

The three of them left his friends behind, travelling past the other people hidden away here. Twelve stood a little too close to her, and Leigh inched away. He smelled like weed anyway. Finally, they broke the surface, Twelve leading them towards the park. 

"I'll lead them here," he called over his shoulder. The other two followed, having nothing else to do. 

Six smiled down at her, a certain light making his scared grey eyes shine. And Leigh smiled back. Because she could. Because she would. And also because he was holding a Twix bar that had come out of his sleeve. And that made a great pun. 

"Got some Twix up your sleeve, eh?" She cracked. He laughed. 

"Always."