Chapter One, Decent

When his parents reveal that he's adopted, they make the decision to send him and his biological father on a trip to bond. Things go awry when the plane begins to crash.

If there's one thing you can never escape, it's your fate. People already have your whole life planned out before you're even born. What you want to be? Doesn't seem to matter. Usually this is fine. You're parents want you to be a doctor, so you become a doctor. I only wish it'd been that easy for me. I only wish my whole twisted ancestry didn't decide to suck me in. Why? Where do I begin? I guess the best part to start would be the beginning. My moment of realization. I opened my door, returning home from the run-of-the-mill day of school. Usually at this point I'd escape from my family to my room as fast as possible, the path from the front door to my room becoming a memorized routine to me. That day, of course, was the one that broke from the shackles of the carbon copy day I was used to. My parents, mother away from her prized garden and father somehow separated from the T.V, sat in the couch with a concerned look on their faces. I ignored their unusual behavior, hoping I could make it to my room in time. Just as my hand reached for the handle the inevitable happened. 

“We have something you should know.” My mother said in an obviously forced calm tone. 

“What?” I asked suspiciously and slightly annoyed. 

“We’re not… well, you’re adopted.” My mom,said. 

“Cool.” I said, again reaching for the handle. 

“Wait? Don't you want to meet your birth parents?” My mom said, again stopping me. 

“Not Really.” I said, entering my room and throwing my backpack onto the bed. I put my back against it, using it as a chair. I began to process the usually ‘life-changing’ news I'd just received. However, I didn't really see the big deal. At the time I didn’t see how it actually change anything for me. This ignorance was short lived, unfortunately. 

It was just a few days later I was alerted of what my parents had gone ahead and done for me. The oasis that was my room was yet again made inaccessible, me being forced to sit in the couch and wait for my parents guest to arrive. With a knock on the door my biological father turned an awkward situation into even more of one. In his face I could see how we were related, both having the same uninterested expression on our faces. On entry he was completely silent. My mother began to try to initiate a conversation, talon about something boring like the weather. I'm not exactly sure, I tuned her out. He vaguely answered whatever she was saying,obviously not listening either. After my mother gave up her attempt to make contact, she turned to me. 

“Your father and I have decided to let you two get some private time on a little vacation. I know this is short notice, but it should be fun! You're going all the way to Colorado! Isn't that great?” She said. I didn't say anything, frozen with disbelief. I couldn't wrap my head around why my parents would send me off with some strange man just because we're technically related. 

“We bought you all new clothes and everything for the trip and it's already in the car. I'll drive you down to the airport and you two can be on your way.” My mom said. 

Before I could even begin to comprehend the turn my life just took I was crammed into an airplane next to a man I knew absolutely nothing about. The plane took off, sentencing me to however long with a man who decided to give me away In the first place. 

“Ace.” He said, the first time he actually addressed me directly. 

“John, right?” I asked him, trying to remember what my mom said. 

He put his hand on shoulder, causing me to squirm under his heavy hand. I assumed he was trying to act patronly, out of regret or something. My body froze, my heart feeling like the only thing moving. I My eyes stared up at my father's blank expression as his hand began to burn my skin. My clothes remained untouched as my flesh began to feel as if it was sizzling. I wanted to seize with pain, the paralysis making it impossible to. He lifted his hand off me, letting me stumble out of my seat and dashing towards the airplane's bathroom. I pulled down my shirt to expose what I thought would surely be a grouse burn, only to reveal no mark of any kind. Fading into my skin came some sort of tattoo in place of an injury. A diamond made of four smaller Diamonds appeared, the bottom one filling itself in black. I stared at it as my breaths became shorter and quicker, questioning the logic of what just happened. A knock onto the bathroom door interrupted my freakout. I swallowed, considering the possibility that the one behind it could be my father. The four walls around me began to feel like they were shrinking around me, too afraid to know they weren't actually. I got the sudden need to escape, opening the door. I almost tried to force myself out without even looking who it was. I stopped myself, looking up to see who it was. At first glance it appeared to be a flight attendant, but her identity became less known at the realization that she was way too young to be one, looking to be about my age. The first thing I noticed was how her expression somehow made her blue eyes and blonde hair menacing. The second thing however was even more chilling. She had my new tattoo just under her collarbone, except hers was upside down. She pushed me against the bathroom wall opposite to the door, walking in herself and closing the door behind her. 

“You're not going anywhere.” She said, smirking. 

I looked down at her hands, the skin shifting into metal. She balled her now metal hands into fists, swinging them at me. I barely was able to dodge it, the fist smashing through the bathroom wall. I threw myself to the other side of the room, body slamming against the door. She swung again, fist going through the thin door. I twisted the handle, causing me to fall over backwards onto the airplane's aisle. The people didn't tract at all, in some sort of mesmerized state. I stumbled to myself feet, glancing over at my father's seat. He was gone. As both of us stood face to face in the plane full of absent minded people, I could hear the wind outside the plane begin to change. It changed yet again, this time explained by the falling of the plane. I desperately reached for a seat to try and save myself, it bursting into flames on contact with my skin. The girl was thrown to the ceiling of the plane from the speed of the falling plane. Her entire skin shifted into metal, using her new strength to propelling herself off of the ceiling to grab a seat. I saw my shot for survival, taking her and accidentally launching both of us at the side of the plane.I knew I could use her metal body as a shield, holding onto her for dear life. She tried to push me off, but I refused to let go no matter what. Her metal body tore through the side of the plane, causing us to fall towards the ground. I could barely hear the insults she was throwing at me as we descended. We impacted, the mere force of the impact making me believe my neck must've snapped. The sound alone mimicked as gunshot, a cloud of dirt erupting from the ground. Fortunately she was on the bottom, her incredibly durable body absorbing most of the force. She somehow had enough strength to push me off of her, standing up. She raised her fists at me, gnarling her teeth in anger. This anger faded however, as did her consciousness. She fell to the ground, metal skin shifting back. Now that her real skin was again revealed the cuts and bruises all over her became evident, and the blood from her head began flowing. My stomach twisted with the realization that every other one of those passengers were dead. I looked off at the fiery wreckage not too far away from us. The situation became only more depressing when I remembered that my only key to answering my current problems, John, was dead. I looked around the almost empty desert-like field we landed in. Off in the distance standing alone was a farm. I looked back at the girl, sighing. I picked her up, barely being able to carry her. I slowly marched towards the farm, arms beginning to ache from her weight. I reached the farm, setting her down in front to knock on the door. I received no answer, looking around the property. I shoved the girl into the back of the truck, pulling open the unlocked door to find the keys lazily thrown onto the seat. I got in, head still cloudy from the plane crash. I shoved the keys in, trying to quickly figure out how to drive. I got the jist of it, running through their fences and towards the city distantly on the skyline. My state began to worsen, being unable to control whether I was conscious of not. I drifted out, car smashing into one of the light posts that began to appear as we approached the city. I climbed out of the car, lying on the road in exhaustion. I looked up at the sky, remembering how I had just been up there. The cool air and cloudless sky began to sooth me. I watched the sun move across the sky, giving me peace for the first time since this trip began. A small whimper from the girl pulled me back into reality. She promptly sat up, still half asleep as she looked at me. She then rushed to her feet as her mind pieced together who I was. 

“You have the nerve to let your guard down around me?!” She asked, “I'm gonna kill you!” 

She held up her fist, staring at it as she expected it to shift into metal. It did not. She grabbed me by the collar and pulled me to my feet. Maybe it was just the concussion, but I was way too tired to deal with any of it. 

“You're not even going to say anything?!” She asked. She finally took the time to look at her surroundings, asking me, “Where are we!?” 

“Plane crashed. Don't you remember?” I asked. 

“Oh yeah? Then where's the wreckage?” She asked. 

“I was trying to get you to a hospital.” I said. 

“Why?” She asked suspiciously, tightening her grip. 

“Oh, I don't know,” I said sarcastically, “so you wouldn't die?” 

“Yeah right, I'm just glad I woke up before you could-” She collapsed again, me having to support her again. 

“I'm not a murderer like you, I don't want any blood on my hands.” I said, “You need to get to a hospital.” 

“Don't patronize me.” She said, pushing off of me. “Don't think I forgot about my mission, I'm still going to kill you!” 

“You can't do anything in your condition.” I said. 

“Wanna bet?” She asked. 

“If you're so determined to die, stay here.” I said, turning away from her towards the city. 

“You think you can get away that easily?” She asked. 

“Come and get me, then.” I said, “I'll be in a hospital.” 

I began to walk away, followed closely by the girl. 

“You crashed the plane, didn't you?” She asked. 

“How would I- why would I do that?” I asked. 

“To kill me, obviously.” She said. 

“So you think I have the power to crash planes now?” I asked, “Speaking of, how the hell do you Change into metal?!” 

“You're joking, right?” She asked. “I'm a Southern Gatekeeper.” 

“Is that supposed to mean something to me?” I asked. 

“How are you this stupid?” She asked. “You don't even know what you are?” 

“Of course I don’t.” I said. 

“Show me your tattoo.” She demanded. “It'll look kinda like this.” She pointed at her own tattoo under her collarbone. 

“This?” I asked, showing her the Diamond shape on my shoulder. 

“Southern, huh?” She asked. 

“Again, I have no clue what that means.” I said. 

“It means you have domain over fire, dumbass.” She said. 

“Sure, whatever.” I said, remembering the airplane seats unexplained combustion.

 The road finally intersected with another as we arrived at the edge of the city. “Well? Where's this hospital?” She asked. 

“How the hell should I know?” I asked. 

“You know, I should kill you.” She said. 

I ignored her threat looking at the small buildings of the small town, the tallest one sticking out like a sore thumb. 

“That's probably a safe bet.” I said, pointing at it. 

On entry the receptionist began her questioning, letting the girl explain her own situation. The girl headed off with the woman, as I sat mindlessly staring at the silent T.V. I moved my eyes over to the door, wondering if I should just leave her here. As I spaced off in my train of thought the thin Colorado air began to thicken, the slight change not being enough to notice at first. The slight breeze inside the building did strike me as strange, however. Suddenly the breeze became much more, the force of the air feeling like an explosion as it launched me against the wall, shattering all the windows. I fell into the pile of glass shards, watching from the ground as the door opened. A boy resembling the girl entered, having the same blond hair as she did. 

“Can my sister do anything right?” He asked, looking down at me.

Author's Note

I would very much appreciate any criticisms you have, so I can improve my writing and move forward better than ever. Thanks for reading.