The List 66-70

Traps, Playing the Melody, Hero, Annoyance, 67%

#66 Traps

            "That way!"

            The small group of young men ran after her. Jynx did not look back, but she could sense there was at least seven of them. Seven-to-one was an odd she had never been faced with. Five-to-one yes, but never seven-to-one.

            Skidding to a stop, she saw three of them standing at the foot of a ledge. When she turned around, she found the other four encircling her. Each one of them wore the same smug smirk. She considered fighting and taking her chances, but then she got a whiff of the air around her.

            "You think she'd really one of them?"

            Jynx kept turning her head, trying to keep an eye on all seven of them.

            "Well, there's one way to find out for sure. Let's see the tattoo, girl."

            She turned to face the one who spoke. It took her a moment, but she reluctantly lifted her shirt slightly to reveal the Norothein tattoo. It encircled her wait in a thin line right below her belly button. The boys' smirks grew.

            "We caught one. We actually caught one."

            Jynx quickly lowered her shirt, growling softly. One of them began to whistling at her.

            "Come here, girl. Come on, be a good dog. Come here."

            The others joined in, calling and whistling for Jynx to come and to be a good girl.

            Up on the ledge, a twig snapped. The boys grew quiet as a low growl met their ears. The growl grew louder and came from every direction. Shadows stepped out of the trees, some on the ledge and others on the ground. There had been seven young men surrounding Jynx. Now there was at least a dozen Norothein males surrounding them. Their smiles vanished.

            One of the Norotheins stepped into the center of the circle and took Jynx's hand.

            "B***h." one of the boys cursed. "She knew."

            From behind them, the growls grew louder still.

            "Run." Jynx said.

            Each one of the boys turned pale."

            "Run." she repeated.

            Backing away slowly, they did as they were told. A minute after they were gone, the Norotheins looked to Jynx.

            "Get 'em."

            As the boys ran, a howl sounded through the trees.

 

 

#67 Playing the Melody

            Becky lay on the sand with her head in Sashi's lap. Sashi ran her fingers through her friend's hair as she stared off into the flames before her. The boys had been asleep for a while already. Everything was quiet, save for the gentle crashing of the waves and the crackling of the fire.

            It was calming in a way, being in that place. After everything they had gone through and everything that had yet to happen, it was calming.

            Dogan rolled over and moaned softly. Both Sashi and Becky's eyes looked over to see him toss again. For the next few minutes, he moaned and shook. He finally woke with a start, mumbling something under his breath. His breathing was slightly heavier than normal.

            "Bad dream?" Sashi asked.

            Dogan nodded, only half away. Sashi motioned him to come over. He laid down on her other side and put his head in her lap as well. Just as she had been doing with Becky, Sashi ran her fingers through Dogan's hair. On contact, he instantly began to calm back calm.

            "What's going on?" Sora groaned.

            "Sh," Sashi hushed, "go back to sleep."

            Becky was seconds away from falling asleep. Riku rolled over and snored.

            "I can't fall back asleep." Dogan groaned.

            "Me either." Sora said.

            Sashi hushed them again, smiling. She closed her eyes, continuing to run her fingers through Becky and Dogan's hair. Just before she fell completely asleep, Becky heard Sashi begin to hum their lullaby. Then she was gone, smiling as she allowed herself to render unconscious. the tune played in her dreams.

            Dogan and Sora listened to the melody, felling its instant calming affects. Sora adjusted himself on the sand. The melody had a strange soothing power over the two boys. They felt themselves drifting away to places they had never been before, but in a way they felt safe.

            Within a few minutes, both Sora and Dogan were fast asleep again. Unable to open her eyes, Sashi let her head hang low. Mid-melody, she slipped into a deep sleep.

 

 

#68 Hero

            It was only her second day of classes in her new school and she had already walking into a pile of s**t. Clutching the ID badge that hung around her neck for no particular reason, Jenna walked into the girls' bathroom by the locker room. As soon as she entered, she heard two voices. One was another girl, who sounded scared, and the was a man's voice. Jenna was the kind of girl who avoided trouble at all costs, but she kept walking in anyway.

            On the other side of the stalls, she saw a boy she had seen in the hallways holding the girl up against the wall by her throat. She stopped immediately, but he heard her nonetheless. Jenna noticed the girl was crying.

            "What are you looking at?" he barked.

            "I... uh..." Jenna stammered.

            "Get out."

            "Please." the other girl begged.

            "Shut up b***h." he snapped, slapping her hard across the face.

            Jenna did not move. Her head told her to bolt, but her legs were not responding.

            "What are you still doing here, girl? I said get out."

            She took a step back and he returned his attention to the other girl. He slammed her hard against the wall, saying something about not getting his money. Jenna could hardly breathe let alone move. The girl continued to cry and beg, which only got worse when he pulled out a knife.

            Without knowing why or how, Jenna felt her legs take her forward. You should know that is utterly out of character for her. Still unaware of what she was doing exactly, she found herself jumping on the boy's back and tightening her arms around his throat. The boy flailed about, shouting for her to get the hell off. In a panic, the other girl ran from the bathroom, screaming for help.

            By the time help came, the boy ran from the bathroom and out of the school. Two teachers followed him while the principal, dean, and a security guard entered the girl's bathroom.

            Jenna's funeral was held three days later.

            "How am I supposed to live with that?" the girl sobbed. "To know that, for no reason whatsoever, she chose to save me."

 

 

#69 Annoyance

            "I'm bored." Charlie moaned after belly flopping onto one of the beds.

            "We know." Piper groaned in reply, still hanging upside down in the chair.

            Charlie kept quiet for a moment before sighing loudly.

            "It's been two weeks-"

            "Shut up." Kim grunted, half asleep, and turned over onto her other side.

            "But I'm going crazy."

            Piper tilted her head on the roughly carpeted floor to look at Raina.

            "It's funny how she thinks she's the only one who isn't enjoying being cooped up in a dingy little motel room."

            The dog licked her face.

            "Oh piss off, Piper." Charlie snapped.

            Piper snorted, making a funny face at Raina.

            "She's so silly." she said in a babyish tone. She brought her arms over her head and scratched being Raina's ears. "Yes she is. She thinks she being tough. Silly."

            "Shut it." Charlie demanded, lifting herself up and looking over at Piper.

            "Make me." she replied, not bothering to make eye-contact with Charlie.

            "Fine then."

            Charlie got up from the bed and stood before Piper. Raina moved onto the bed.

            "Get up." she snapped.

            Piper looked up at her, snorting again.

            "You must be joking."

            "I am so sick of your bitching and sarcasm-"

            Piper rolled on her side and quickly got to her feet.

            "My bitching!? For the last two weeks, you've done nothing but annoy the s**t-"

            "Well maybe if you'd quit being such a smartass."

            The two continued yelling at each other simultaneously. Soon, it became difficult for Kin to actually tell what they were saying. It was all one big blur of loud. Before long, Raina jumped off the bed and began barking at them.

            Finally fed up with all the nonsense, Kim threw the covers off and got up from the bed. She strode over to Piper and Charlie. Without a word, she grabbed Piper's ear and started pulling her across the room.

            "Ow, ow, ow." Piper said as she was dragged over to a corner.

            "Sit." Kim demanded.

            Piper obeyed without question. Charlie did not even wait until for Kim to yell at her and quickly sat down in the corner on the other side of the room. When all was quiet, Kim made her way back into the bed. A few minutes passed.

            "How-"
            "Shush." Kim snapped and the room fell silent again.

 

 

#70 67%

            Kia sat on the floor with her head in Sawyer's lap while he sat in the recliner beside her. Toby lay on the bed with one arm around Nydia and the other around Peyton. Mitch sat on the floor with his back again the foot of the bed, slouching a great deal.

            At first it had only been one or two of them, but now they were all feeling it: the slow drain on not only their already limited power, but on their still mortal lives as well. And the draining grew stronger with each passing day.

            For eight months they had searched for Brendan, and for eight months the Legionaires had been one step ahead of them. It was hard for them to comprehend how humans could be outsmarting them each time.

            "Perhaps they've been getting help." Kia said quietly.

            "Help from an immortal?" Mitch ask. "That's not allowed."  

            "The gods and goddesses aren't supposed to get involved. It's against the rules." Sawyer added.

            "Rules that they made up." Peyton said. "Who's to say they wouldn't break them?"

            "That would explain a lot." Nydia sighed, now beyond the point of being exhausted.

            No one spoke for a while. For the time being, speaking took too much energy out of them. It would still take them a few more hours to build up enough strength to return to their normal selves.

            Sawyer began running his fingers through Kia's hair. Peyton, Nydia, and Toby closed their eyes.

            "It's never been this painful before." Mitch said, almost whispering.

            "We've never been this close before." Toby said.

            The drain pulled on them still. It was true. they had never been so close to finding everyone before since their banishment from the heavens. Brendan was the last to completing them. Until they found him, the collective would still be broken. None of them would be complete. They would continue to feel a part of their very essence missing. They wouldn't be whole again without Brendan.

            Lust continued to run his fingers through Envy's hair. Pride slowly made his way from the floor onto the arm of the large recliner where Lust sat. Greed and Wrath fell asleep in Gluttony's arms.

            Miles away in a small church on the coast, Brendan lay in a bed doubled over and clutching his stomach. He couldn't explain this exhaustion that had gradually been taking over him. At long last, Sloth gave into the drain and fell asleep, moaning.