The Fifth Element

Chapter 6

I was awakened by Farron's snores. Ugh, sleeping on the floor always made me feel like someone had twisted my spine into a pretzel. Yawning lightly, I squinted into the gray-blue room. It must have been around eight in the morning. I shivered and rubbed my hands over my arms.

"Skkyyy," Lex whispered loudly, poking her head out fom the partial-kitchen. "We're hungryyyy." I noticed Peri's red hair and saw her give me a puppy dog pout.

Nathan strode out of the kitchen and plopped down next to me. "Erm, I don't have any food guys," I shrugged. "Sorry."

"Then we'll just have to begin our lives as cannibals," Nathan wiggled his eyebrows at me and leaned over, pretending to take a bite out of my arm. "Omp!"

"Ew!" I squeal-laughed, leaning away from him. Peri and Lex gave each other a knowing look and shook their heads at Nathan.

"Nathan's not your average human being," I heard Jem say. "I think he's only half-human."

"He can talk?" Lex whispered to Peri.

"Are you referring to my Japanese blood?" Nathan asked in mock-offense, placing a hand on his chest. This earned a grin from Jem.

"So, you guys wanna find a Starbucks or something?" I inquired. Lex cheered and ran over to hug me.

"Girl, you are a GENIUS!" she said.

Jem glanced down at the map in his hand. "So...."

"The closest Starbucks is a couple blocks away. So I guess we'll just walk," Peri interjected. The four of us nodded.

When we had arrived, I ordered a hot cocoa (my hands were freeezing!) and a blueberry muffin. The cute blonde guy behind the counter took my order. "That'll be $7.85!" He announced cheerfully. I dug into my pocket and fished out a ten dollar bill, smoothing it out and handing it to him. I was about to leave and rejoin the others when I saw the guy beginning to transform. His eyes turned cat-like, and I swear he sprouted whiskers....no, not like a mustache, Ears sprouted from his head, pushing through his shaggy hair and he twitched his nose as he grinned. More Nightmorphs, huh? He didn't look so intimidating. I could take him. Lifting my fists in front of me, I snarled at him. That's right, SNARLED.

"Sky!" Peri called out from behind me. The others were pushing customers out of the way to reach me.

The boy lunged at me and I ducked quickly. Unfortunately, his cat-like reflexes allowed him to land on his feet. This guy must be just like Lex. He smirked and leaped toward me, pinning me to the floor. I glared at him and kneed him, biting his arm when he refused to let go. He howled in pain and I swung at him, my fist colliding with his cheekbone. He howled in pain. Have fun with those bruises, Catboy. He swatted at me and his claws raked across my cheek.

Suddenly, Peri was on top of the boy, slapping him silly, while Jem grabbed his arms, twisting them behind his back. Nathan pinched his neck lightly and the boy slumped to the floor. His shirt was pulled up slightly under his uniform apron. I noticed a black triangle etched into his side.

"It's their mark," Peri explained as Nathan helped me up, dabbing at my bleeding cheek with his sleeve.

"All Nightmorphs have the mark to identify them from us," Nathan added.

"Holy fajitas!" Lex shrieked, pushing Nathan out of the way to examine my face. Nathan frowned and I giggled. "I'm fine, Lex. It's just like dealing with you when I have to wake you up early in the morning." Lex stuck her tongue out at me and it was Nathan's turn to laugh.

"Guys," Peri interrupted and I looked around at all of the shocked faces of the "normal" people of the planet who had just witnessed a cinema-worthy fight while trying to get their morning cups of joe.

"Nothing to see here," I smiled. "We're, uh, just practicing for a shool play. Y'know, theater class, being as realistic as possible and whatnot." And then we high-tailed it out of there, back to our room.

"We're back, kids!" Nathan sang in a falsetto tone as we entered the room.

"Ah, crap!" Lex exclaimed. The windows were wide open. No Sam or Farron or Winnie or any other superkid in sight...or earshot. Their bags were torn open and many items were missing, the remaining contents spilling out like the entrails of a pinata (to make it less gruesome). Droplets of blood were spattered on the carpet by Santiago's bed. Peri cursed and grabbed her head in frustration, looking as if she was about to cry. Instead, she violently kicked a cellphone that had fallen out of Paris's backpack.

I could only stare at the scene in shock. Oh, jeez! What were we supposed to do? We'd be convicted of murder if we just bailed and the housekeeping found the blood. Nathan swallowed and began picking up the remaining items that littered the floor and tossed it into a few backpacks, handing one to me and Jem and slidding one onto his own back. He grabbed Peri's arm and sat her down on Farron's bed. She complied.

Nathan took my hand and led me to the bathroom, sitting me down on the edge of the sink, grabbing a hand towel, and soaping it up, adding water to it, and dabbing my cheek..

"What are we gonna do?" I whispered, keeping my voice low so that the other three couldn't hear.

"You know what we're gonna do," he answered, holding the blood-drizzled towel in mid-air and looking me in the eyes.

"Buddy, I could beat you in a staring contest any day," I grinned. After a few seconds of intimidating staring, he looked away.

"I can't help it!" he laughed. "You just look so menacing!"

"Are you suggesting that we go after them?" I inquired carefully.

"Uhhhh....duh," he replied, waving the towel over his head. "They're in trouble!" I poked my head out to see Lex staring at the carpet near Santiago's blood, tears forming in her eyes.

"You're right," I sighed.

"Of course I am," he grinned widely. I socked him in the arm and we began to break out into laughter.

"You know, that kitty scratch makes you look even scarier," Nathan pointed out.

"Rawrr," I said unenthusiastically, flicking a hand at him.

"C'mon, let's go get the others," he said, leading the way out. I hopped off of the edge of the sink to follow him. I passed by Lex and hugged her tightly from behind.

She bursts into tears. "That idiot might be dead!" she wailed. I squeezed tighter.

"The love of your life isn't dead," I soothed her. Her head whipped around.

"As if..." she began. "Okay, whatever, I miss that jerk!"

Suddenly, her tattoo began glowing (from underneath her shirt, of course), followed by mine. Nathan's lit up too and Peri's and Jem's followed suit. My violet light and symbol blended with Nathan's red flame, Lex's grass green leaf, Peri's light blue icicle, and Jem's dark blue wave. They combined before us and the lights immediately went out.

"What...was that?" Jem's voice sounded out after a few minutes.

"I...don't...know," Nathan answered.

"Think it means we should bail?" I offered.

"Yes!!" everyone yelled out.

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Hey guys! Sorry for the late update (heehee, that rhymes). I've been busy doing important...um, kind-of important stuff, being sick, going to the mall, and beach, etc. I do actually have a life. :) So tomorrow's lab day at school (AKA talk and act stupid and do no work day) and it's also NERD DAY, which is totally stereotypical, but whatevs, I'm still dressing up for it. I also have the Ren Fest and Homecoming Game soon so I'll be a bit busy. But I only work one day a week and I switched into regular government so I have extra time now! ^_^

If you keep up, lemme know! I wanna see what ya'll think of this story! K, hope you guys have a good one. Poptarts are the bodies of Nyan cat! NYANYANYANYAN!! >.<