Eleven- Ray

Chapter 11

Ray

The middle of your eyes
black
But what I see there, the soul
the very fabric of time
and the dark night
The Impossible Color

Excerpt from “The Impossible Color” by Sophie Lynch

Immediately I know who he is, what he is. He's evil, one of Malum's minions. And he's here to kill us all. I look into his eyes and I know all his secrets, as if I was a flashlight in a dark room, revealing the monsters to be bathrobes, but in this case, a teenager to be a monster. But in the last few moments of eye contact, something changes I don't know what it is, but it makes me not scream and knee him in the nuts.

“Ah! I'm in such a good mood I'm gonna hug everyone!” I say, lapsing into my bubbly personality, I pull him to me for his hug. I whisper in his ear, “Try anything and my knee will be in your crotch and you'll be outed faster than you can clutch your balls and fall to the ground.”

“I understand.” He whispers back. Now, I am obligated to hug everyone, and that is the opposite of what I feel like doing. But I go over to Bry for her hug, but Jasper intercepts me and He holds me there while I try to wriggle free. When we were kids, and boys weren't good for anything but getting rid of bullies and killing spiders, he'd do this a lot, and then noogie me. I avoid the noogie and hug everyone else.

“So what have we been doing? Sorry I was late my parents made me clean my room.” I roll my eyes.

“We were just demonstrating what we could all do, you missed some pretty impressive stuff from Nox.” Airborne pipes up.

“Why don't you give it a go?” Jasper suggests.

“Erm, well, what I've discovered isn't very impressive...” I say, and focus on turning on my light. I feel the tingling start in my fingers and I know my fingers are five rays of sunlight. Then my skin tingles and I know light pours out of my pores. I open my eyes and my hair is glowing and the tips send off the strands of light. I know my eyes are piercing and bright. I know I look like an angel.

Jasper looks at me, gaping.

“She looks like an angel.” Ash whispers to Air.

“Ugh, turn it off, I can't see.” Nox grumbles.

“Crotch.” I chide him quietly, so only he can hear. But I comply. “You know that sunset the other night, well-”

“Oh my gosh that was gorgeous! Did anyone else see it?” Bry gasps. Jasper nods.

“-yeah, well, I made that. It was boring and I remembered from science that light bounces off things in different wavelengths, so color has to do with light, and I changed it.”

“Great, so we can glow, which will just let the Fire Beasts and Malum know where we are, and turn things different colors. You're not very helpful are you?” Nox smirks lopsidedly.

“Hey, I'm not an expert, but I think I can do other stuff, I just don't know how.” I retort.

“Hey, aren't Yin and Yang supposed to represent balance?” Ash says to Airborne. She laughs and replies, “Balance in what? Insults? Sarcasm?”

“Okay!” Bry breaks us up, “I can't believe I'm saying this, but since you're so similar, Nox, you're going to have to train Ray.”

“Similar?” I scoff.

“Deal with it. You have to take orders from me.” He taunts.

“We are not in second grade! Nox, you might be able to learn something from Ray!”

“Yeah Nox! Shut your mouth!” I stick out my tongue. The others watch this, barely able to suppress their laughter.

“Anyway, Nox, you're training Ray and Airborne, since your powers seem to be the most similar. Um, so that leaves me with Jasper and Ash.” She turns away and leaves me standing between the idiot who is in love with me and the one who wants to kill me.

Great.

“Okay, so Ray, I'll start with you, because you have to most to learn, and more I can teach you.” He seems to be going into professional trainer mode, not sarcastic-murderous-guy-who-wants-to-kill-me guy.

“So, you can probably do this,” He gestures toward the forest and column of shadow emerges, “but while mine suffocates and crushes, I don't know what yours does. Try it, just picture a pillar of light coming, you don't need to take it from the forest though. Picture it as though it was heaven or something.” I face the sun, which I can look directly into, and do the same motion he does, and I picture the shaft pointing toward the ground. It appears.

“Jasper, would you mind being the test subject?”

“Okay, but if I die, it's your fault, Nox.” I bring the light to him, and immediately he screams and I take it away. What it leaves shocks me. I have never seen a more red, blistering sunburn that the one on his skin. He can't even move, for the blisters will all pop. Briar-Rose looks over and rushes towards us.

“I wish whoever was water was here, they probably have healing, Ash, see if you can take the heat from his skin!” She waves Ash to Jasper, who stands, grimacing in pain, and then crying out when the blisters on his face pop from the movement.

I stand with my hands clapped over my mouth in the classic, “oh s**t” face. I watch as fire follows Ash's hands away form Jasper's body. Ash extinguishes it. The blisters are still there, but the redness and the smell of burning flesh seem to be gone. Nox takes a thinner version of the column he summoned, “This might help, and don't worry, it won't crush you.” Jasper sighs as the cool air, like of the night, flows over him, Airborne makes a gentle breeze.

“There may be an herb I can get that would help, but we have to chew it and spit it on him.” We all look at Bry like she's nuts.

“Please.” Jasper begs. Bry closes her eyes and soon a plant sprouts up at her feet. She strips the leaves off and pops them into her mouth chewing thoroughly, we do the same. She spits it into her hand and we follow suit. We then rub it on Jasper who sighs. We continue this disgusting process until he's covered in in the pulp. Bry leads him inside to run a cold bath for him and instructs us to continue.

“Something useful, finally.” Nox says.

“Should I introduce my knee to your balls?” I retort, this could a be a nice threat.

“Go ahead, I have balls of steel.” He says and starts laughing hysterically at the same time I do. Then we remember we hate each other and go back to our stand off.

“Anyway,” he chuckles, his lopsided smile still on his face, “can you dissipate?”

“Bry thinks I can, but I haven't tried.”

“Scared or lazy?”

“Scared. Fear is the bravery to admit you are afraid, courage is facing the fear, and fearlessness is hiding your emotions, no one is fearless.” This was my quote in the yearbook last year.

“Huh, anyway, just picture yourself turning into a cloud, practice there while I train these guys.” He turns away and addresses Airborne. She launches herself into the air as I close my eyes. A cloud... I don't want to be a cloud, but I have to. So I picture my face turning into white and grey swirls, puffing around me. Suddenly I feel my face disappearing and my eyes open, just in time for them to become a cloud. Soon I'm completely white smoke.

“Whoa.” I say, it comes out like a whistle. Parts of me are starting to wisp away, my foot is gonna reform in the ocean or something. I start to reform.

“No! Don't!” Nox cries. But it's too late.

“Why?” I ask, my body is still forming, but my face is developed.

“Clothes don't reform. And you're probably about to throw up.” I look down at my naked body and then my stomach reforms inside me and it churns. I vomit my breakfast onto the grass below.

“Yup.” I say, wiping my mouth.

“Airborne? Could you help me?” I say before I retch again.

“Yeah, follow me, Bry will let you borrow some clothes.”

“That was by favorite bra.” I mutter.

“I hate when that happens!” She sympathizes, even though she's never turned into white smoke, reformed naked and then threw up.

Jasper is wrapped up in a towel, lying on the couch, sleeping. Bry sit in a love seat near him, watching.

“Two down, four to go.” Airborne jokes.

“So you dissipated-”

“I'm gonna throw up again!” I interrupt. Bry points to the bathroom, I run and vomit a third time into the toilet.

“Did a naked girl just run across the living room?” Jasper says groggily in the other room.

Author's Note

reviews please!

Reviews

[Sylvana]

“Try anything and my knee will be in your crotch and you'll be outed faster than you can clutch your balls and fall to the ground.” *cannot contain laughter*

Ahhh, well then. I looove this story. So much. You add a balanced amount of humor as well as.... seriousness? yeah.. well then. not much to say. WRITE MORE. :D

[MandaBear]

WRITE MORE. :D

[Abbie]

Good chapter! Love how this story is coming out! Next chapter Please! :D