The Color of Heather

I woke up some time later in a basement. There were rats crawling in the corners, almost like a dungeon. The ground and walls were a solid concrete, so there was no escaping the metal shackles that bound me in place.

I couldn’t figure out what the hell was happening, until I heard voices outside of the door.

“Myles, calm down, theres nothing she can do when she’s chained up.”

“She’s not the one I’m worried about. She was with Tyler, so if Tyler lives through that lightning bolt, then he’ll just tell John and we’ll be in a world of hurt.”

“So? We’ll hide her, and call the guards. There’s a bounty on his head, if we can turn him in then that’s just a bonus and less of a pain in the rear.”

The door creaked open and the same two guys from the party stepped in. The one with the porcupine on his shirt was in front. The other one stood behind, not as confident and valiant as his brother.

“What do you want?” I asked, annoyed.

“Let’s see, you dead, your dad dead, the throne to be turned over to us. What else would we have kidnapped you for?” the porcupine dude said.

“Payton, this is ridiculous…” The other started to say.

“Shut up Myles… I hear something.” Payton said. We listened, and a slight tapping of footsteps from above was heard.

“Payton, we know you are here.” I heard a familiar voice call out.

“Shoot, Myles grab the girl.” Payton said, as they both ran into the room.

Myles pulled me to my feet and grabbed the nape of my neck. Payton shut the large, metal door as silently as he could before latching it shut. He then proceeded to drag a large metal crate in front of the door, seeming to think whoever or whatever was coming would be blocked by it.

“That’s not going to hold them back.” Myles said acknowledgedly.

“I know that, it’s for us to know when they’re coming.” Payton said, as he dragged a desk in front of us and knocked it on its side. Then he made me sit on Myles, hidden behind the desk.

Suddenly there was a loud bang on the other side of the door, as if a rhino just rammed it. It looked that way too, seeing that there were large dents showing up for every bang… until the door and the crate burst away, almost hitting us.

In the door way, there stood… a rhino. The rhino’s tusk started shrinking and I realized the rhino itself started getting smaller. I looked more closely and watched as the rhino changed into a ginger boy.

Tyler to be more specific.

“Tyler!” I tried to yell, but Myles put his free hand over my mouth.

“Let her go.” Tyler growled, knocking the desk away.

“Make me.” Myles said.

“I won’t,” Tyler smirked, as he bent down almost like he was about to run at us, “but he will.” As Tyler said this last statement he turned into the Rhino and charged at Payton, who ran into another room.

A shadowy figure, draped in a cloud of darkness stepped into the doorway, and Tyler gave him a glance before going after Payton. The figure looked back at us, and Myles took a step back.

“Come one step closer, John, and I will kill her.” Myles’ voice was wavering and his hand gripped around my neck a little more. He was shaking so much it was as if he was a cell phone put on vibrate. The Shadow Killer stopped walking and put what seemed to be his hands in the air, surrendering. “Get rid of that shadow shield.”

Slowly, the darkened cloud that cloaked him went away in whisps, revealing a familiar face.

He wore converses and faded black jeans. His black shirt fit snuggly over his washboard abs and muscular arms, catching every curve of his muscles, even though he looked extremely skinny and frail at first glance. Over that he had a black leather motorcycle jacket with the label Danger Prone on the right chest pocket. From the knuckles of his fingers to past his wrists he wore black banded gloves with silver snaps. Around his neck he wore a black studded, leather kolié(1) that clung tightly but wasn’t choking him. His hair fell infront of his left eye and came down to just past his chin. His lips were filled with black lipstick and a bar ran through the left side of his bottom lip and a hoop on his left ear lobe.

Then there were his eyes, out lined thick with eye liner, which showed no emotion. His eyes were the dark abyss leading to his soul, which was locked tight, and no one knew where the key was.

He was truly a beauty.

Johnathan looked at us, as if nothing mattered. He stuck his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight over to his other leg. Suddenly, before either me or Myles could react, he was between us, smashing into Myles and knocking me off my feet.

I fell down and had enough time before lightning shot past me, barely missing my head, to roll over. My one true fear was getting hit by lightning, because I manipulate water and I would die faster and more painfully than any other way to die.

I tried to move behind the create thing that had smashed into the wall, but my feet were still shackled so I couldn’t move. Myles saw his opportunity, and shot lightning at me. I raise my hands so prepare myself, but Johnathan jumped in the lightning’s path and blocked the attack with a shadow shield.

I looked up at him, and he was struggling. He took a step back away from the force of the lightning, he had one foot in front of him, with all his weight on it, and the other was on the other side of me, so that he was standing directly over me. His brow crinkled as he put more focus on his shield.

One of the metal pieces from the door made a reflection of Myles, and above him was a pipe, dripping water, a drip a second. I couldn’t tell if the pipe was a major pipe, or just a small, useless one that had a leak.

I touched Johnathan’s leg, and I felt the muscles tense up under my fingers. He didn’t look down at me, nor did he budge his position. “Break the pipe.” I said, trying not to sound to scared, even though I was terrified of both boys. I focused my attention on the droplets coming out of the pipe. As one fell, I shaped it into a razor piece of ice, which nailed Myles right in the arm.

He stopped the attack, while he yelped in pain. Johnathan picked up a piece of rubble and threw it with incredible strength to the pipe. It burst apart, surprising Myles. I made the water around him freeze, and he slipped and fell. He smacked his head on a piece of metal, and was knocked out.

Johnathan yanked the key out of Myles’ pocket and knelt beside me. He released me and I half expected him to attack me, but he didn’t. He leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, obviously exhausted.

I noticed a long, sharp piece of metal that had gotten itself torn from the door. I gripped the metal and walked up to an oblivious Johnathan.

His eyes snapped open as I shoved the shard through is chest, to the right of his heart.

He said nothing, he just looked at me. “That was for my mom you son of a gun.” I growled. His eyes showed nothing.

“Retah!” Tyler had come in again, dragging an unconscious Payton behind him. His voice was scared and weary.

He approached, but Johnathan just held a hand up in a fist. Slowly he stood completely up, towering over me. His hands wrapped around mine, which were still griping onto the metal, now impaling him. With my hands in his, he pulled the metal out of him.

I watched in horror as the wound on his chest healed right in front of my eyes. I looked up at him in terror, his eyes were very apologetic. That was right about when I passed out from the shock.

I’ve never had luxury. My father was a poor black smith, and my mother had been a girlfriend from my father’s affair. My Father often referred to my mother as the most beautiful woman on the planet. But when I was four weeks old, she was brutally killed. My father’s wife was found the next day, dead in my room, with every bone in her body broken.

Before she died, my father’s wife had a set of twins. I was very close with the younger of the two, and we were only a year apart. The eldest one always spent his time with our father. He was attached to our father like a puppy to its master.

I was three years old when I was diagnosed with a disease called anthró̱pini̱s asthéneias, or the human disease. I was apart of a dukanian family, yet I hosted the body of a human. My father feared that Mizano, a anti-human and anti-monarchist society would strip him of his only daughter, so he hid me in the house, never to let me leave. Myles, by brother, found a way around this. His best friend—whom we called Johnny-Boy—started coming over when I was five years old. Sometime between then, and my eleventh birthday, I developed a crush on him.

My father had a right to fear Mizano. The leader had survived the mauling of the Mizano society by the king’s army. Mizano had been a secretive army that was formed to over throw the king, who was the current king’s father, and succeeded. King Ryan Yentrok III took the throne after his father died, and wiped out Mizano, scattering the survivors. Their leader, however, survived, and found my father. He black-mailed my father, threatening to kill me if he didn’t coaperate with his plans.

My father led the royal family into a dungeon, where he fought with them. Giant craters dotted the floor, where vats of nothingness dumped you in the midst of space, never to be found. King Ryan was a great leader though, and was not easily defeated. My father almost succeeded too. He was able to kill Queen Meghan, and knocked out the king, but before he could do the foul deed, the son of the executioner, who was our father’s best friend, showed up.

The young boy was a few years older than me. He was also one of the most powerful Dukanians known to live. I was also the one to inform him after over hearing my father’s conversation with the Mizano leader. When my father saw that I had betrayed him, he bellowed in fury, and tried to kill the king and the boy, but was struck first. In his last dying attempt, he drug me down one of the pits along with his body.

That was the day I died.

I’ve spent all of my life living in luxury. I was the only daughter of King Ryan Yentrok III, lord of an alien planet, not 20 light years away from earth. I had tutors from around the galaxy come just for the honor of teaching me. People would bow down to me as I passed by. I never went hungry, thirsty, go without clothes, and there were maids, servants, butlers and random people ready to dress me in the morning, tie my shoes, comb my hair. I never once had to pickup a finger to do something.

It was miserable.

I was always smart and mature for my age mentally, but physically I was behind. I was the size of a 8 year old when I turned 12, and I didn’t develop my full powers until I was 9 years old.

I developed my ability to manipulate water when I was seven years old and fully developed my mind reading powers when I was nine years old. Total I had two suku on my neck and two on my ears.

My father could control the molicular density of himself. So for example, he could be so ‘non-dense’ and walk through walls or be so dense that nothing could put a scratch on him. He had two suku on his ears but only one on his neck.

My mother was also a water manipulator, but she died when I was eleven years old. She was killed by who my father claims is the shadow killer, a boy about my age that could manipulate shadows and darkness.

He was never found.

Chapter 1

Let me explain our calendar system. We have thirteen months. Our month–coincidently–falls directly in line with a human year. Meaning for every year that passes, thirteen human years pass. On the date 1400728—or earth date of July 13^th, 1812—I was born, and in 2020, I turned 16.

It was going just fine when people started showing up. The whole kingdom was there… only because on the 17^th birthday one must marry. And for me, that meant the future King of Dukania.

I wasn’t having that much fun. There were people coming up to me wanting to be my boyfriend, and some girls wanting to be my girlfriends! I would like to note that I do not mind lesbians, but as long as they don’t drag me into it!

I almost gave up on finding a partner, so half way through the party, I tried to be invisible. I hid behind a pillar, focusing on not listening to anyone’s thoughts because when I listen to one, I listen to all, and frankly, some of them I didn’t want to listen to PERIOD.

That’s why when someone tapped me on my shoulder, I didn’t know who it was.

“Hey Retah! Haven’t seen you since your mother’s funeral. How’s it going?” he told me. My mother’s funeral was only for those very dearly close to her, and I didn’t recognize who this was. He had bright red hair that was short and a little spiked on the right side but long on the left. His eyes were blood red—which isn’t that uncommon—and he wore a hoodie with a lion on it, and the sleeves were torn off at the shoulders revealing very toned muscles. On top of that he had two suku, so was actually pretty powerful.

“You have no idea who I am do you?” he said, studying the expression of confusion on my face.

“Nope.” I said bluntly.

“My name’s Tyler Yelhasa.”

“Is your mom Jacquelyn?” I said, remembering Jacquelyn Yelhasa, My mother’s best friend.

“Yes, well was,” he replied, “The person who murdered your mother also killed our parents.”

“Oh so you have siblings? I don’t recall any.” I asked, noticing that he said our.

“Yeah, my older brother, John; he couldn’t be here today.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“He’s been busy, and he highly doubts that you would remember him or that you would appreciate seeing him.” Tyler said, with a weird look on his face.

“Why would he think that?” I asked.

“How ‘bout I just tell you after you allow me to have this next dance?” he asked with a slight bow. Not a bow to a princess, but a bow to a lady.

I giggled. “Sure, why not?” I responded as I flicked a piece of black hair out of my eyes. The left side of the front part of my hair was black, the rest was white.

He took me by the hand and put the other on my waist. He seemed a little timid in his movements, like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be doing this. I gave him an encouraging smile, and he smiled back shyly. When the band switched to a slow song and Tyler stopped.

“How ‘bout we stop dancing.” As he spoke, two guys came up to us.

“We’ll take it from here Tyler.” one of them said. He had a porcupine on his shirt and his hair was spiked up in the back which was light brown, and two suku. The other one had the same colored hair and bright yellow eyes and three suku, which meant he was very powerful.

“Buzz off chicken-butt head.” Tyler said, a little pissed. “No one asked you to butt in.”

“Watch it twerp.” the yellow eyed one said, trying to sound confident, but his voice wavered ever so slightly. That didn’t mean that he couldn’t—and wouldn’t—beat Tyler to a pulp.

“Tyler leave them alone, he’s pretty powerful.” I said, a little worried.

“Don’t worry, they talk big, and he may seem powerful, but he’s just a big chicken.” Tyler bawked just like a chicken… and I could have sworn I saw his hair turn into feathers, but that may have been just my imagination.

“Just because Johnathan is a four point doesn’t mean anything. He can’t come and help you here while she’s here can he?” the porcupine haired one smirked. “Not with what he is.”

“Payton I’m warning you, I will not hold back at all until I kill you.” Tyler growled.

“Tyler, what’s going on, what does he mean by what he is?” I asked. Tyler’s face seemed to show anger, but he was pulsing a panicked aura.

“What he is, is a killer that’s what.” Payton said.

“You know nothing.” Tyler said. “You know absolutely nothing about what happened.”

“Come on, he even killed your parents, and you still believe that he’s innocent?”

“Okay that’s it I’m finding out what you are talking about.” I released my focus and my mind filled with the thoughts around me…

Kyla’s not going to apriciate this…

Johnathan was framed…

Kiddnapp Retah…

Where is Victoria?…

Melody and Mitt’s here…

Florid!…

Johnathan is the shadow killer!!!

I focused again and tried to take in all that I heard.

“Johnathan killed my mom?!” I looked at Tyler. His jaw set.

I stared at him in disbelief and after a short minute, lightning from somewhere behind me hit Tyler square in the chest he went flying over some girls and landed in fruit punch. Tyler started growling really low, and black fur started poking out of his skin. He ran and lept off the table, and when he landed he was a full panther. He bounded at the yellow eyed kid as a cloth with sleeping gas was cupped over my mouth and nose. My knees buckled underneath me and I slumped into the arms of my captor.

By then everything went black.