Preternatural (Worlds & Secrets) (21 page)

What I thought was the end to my new life
was his clawed hand rushing towards my chest; my heart. But at that
specific
moment, with the sharpest gasp, my eyes and hair turned blue once more. The vicious and aggressive deluge that poured from the sky came flooding in through the long glass wall with the impact of an incredible tidal wave. When the water made contact with me, I was smacked onto the opposite wall with a violent flip and I gurgled as the pressure of the water overlapped me. As for the Grinner, well I didn’t know what had happened to him. But when the water ceased to invade the room, I coughed out water as I was left dishevelled on the flooded floor. I noticed that it was still pouring outside.

It was a struggle for me
to get up after water had just shot up my nose to my brain. I quickly peeked into the classroom and saw the Grinner, hurtled into the tables. He dizzily stood up as he tried
to eject his wings through the flooded classroom. But that was enough for me. As soon as I saw he was stunned, I ran for my useless life and headed towards the hole in the glass wall.

The Grinner had seen me and did everything to suddenly get back on his feet again. I stopped midway of my escape.
I was such an idiot!
I had just realised I should have gone through the doors where I could be in public. But then again, if he was sent to kill me, he wouldn’t care about exposure of our preternatural existence. And also, if any teacher saw me in this state with my uniform drenched, I would immediately be sentenced to detention.

Do I choose death or detention; death or detention?
I couldn’t believe I was arguing about this at such a time. I didn’t have time to change course and so continued sprinting away into the distance, over the hill and through the shrubs. The Grinner was finally loose again. He flapped his wings and flew towards me in low altitude.

I
darted around the hedges and bushes, nearly going around the school building. But the worst part was that I was behind the buildings and nobody ever ventured to that area of the school. However, the science lab was positioned there.

The blistering rain and weather was stil
l intact but it affected me less; I was determined to outrun this lunatic. I wasn’t pulling
anyone
out of the ground anytime soon. I sprinted as fast as I could through the inundation, but simultaneously having to dodge blasts of purple-black flames as well as thorny bushes and trying to avoid the teachers. This was too much for one rookie alien to handle.

I was overcome by
a wall-sized hedge that stood ahead and I gasped. But no matter what, I had
to attempt something. As soon as I was a couple of paces away from it, I bound my legs together and jumped – almost as if I were diving. To my amazement, the earth boosted me, pushing me high off the ground and over the hedge. But I didn’t come down as soon as I expected. I seemed to have been moving but I wasn’t descending from the jump-dive yet.

Suddenly, three life-
sized balls of dark flames were hurled towards me. I pushed my body lower and my body did the rest. I began descending with momentum. My head came inches away from the ground, at which point I tucked and rolled away, continuing to sprint for my life. I was almost there – the back of the school. I turned into the alley that led to the back. He wasn’t close enough yet so I had barely a minute.

I was faced with three dustbins. I
thought about jumping into one, but that would be obvious. I hesitated as my time ran out. Next to the bins was a door. I quickly headed through it and found myself in the science lab. There was a small square window on the top of the wall. Through it I saw the Grinner descending in the back. I quickly scanned the room and saw a wide apparatus cupboard on my right with its side near the wall. I wedged myself into the gap between the wall and the cupboard and waited silently for this inevitable confrontation I had been running away from.

I heard him finally give up
searching the dustbins as I breathed heavier and heavier. Suddenly, the door creaked open. The soles of his heels knocked on the floor ever so gently. I was so wrapped in panic and fear that my heart thudded with every
‘knock’
. I couldn’t take it anymore; I needed
to inhale deeply. My teeth chattered and my bottom lip trembled. It was becoming too difficult to keep my thrashing and beating heart in my chest.

And then…silence…

Not even the slightest breath. One thud of a heel sounded as I
knew
he attempted to find me. I quickly rushed my hands to my mouth, covering the sound of my progressively loud breath. I blinked hard and opened them in shock. If only I knew how to control my abilities at that moment. All Tantrus had told me was that I could control the four elements. Nothing more on how to
use
them. At times I hated adults, always half completing their sentences. Now all I was thinking of was my imminent death
.

I didn
’t know what he was planning but I did not like it one bit. I turned my head to my side and noticed a slight gap between the back of the cupboard and the wall. I could see him, but his head was turned…

H
e had been watching me the whole time.

I watch
ed with widened eyes as he stared directly at me with those black holes of his that he called eyes. I gasped sharply and with a strong, unprecedented force, I jumped out of the gap as he obliterated the cupboard. I hopped onto one of the tables and jumped to another as he attempted to shoot me down with rays of flames. But, without prior notice, my head was directed to the bottle of hydrochloric acid on a desk ahead.

Sure it was diluted, but I knew the one thing I could do when I
was scared was make things boil – literally
.
I hopped on over as he swiftly chased after me. He grabbed a hold of my collar as I was inches away from the table.

I grabbed the large, thick-glassed bottle of acid and squeezed it. My fear manifested into heat and the hydrochloric acid instantly began to bubble
with simmering steam encircling my hands and the jar. I turned around, scared, yet overcome with raging anger, and smashed it onto his face. He screeched in agony as his face sizzled. He instantly dropped me and rushed his hands to his flesh-rotting face.

I sprinted off to the corner and rushed for the sink in the corner immediately. What I didn
’t understand was why I never made a move out of here. He was delayed. But I just felt so compelled to confront him.

Whilst he howled in pain, I unnervingly searched the sink. All I saw were empty vials, beakers
, glass bottles and plenty of aerosol cans. They were probably for an experiment or project Mr Swade, the chemistry teacher, had started with his students. But finally, something caught my attention: another specific large
glass jar, emitting frost from the lid. I carefully lifted it and looked for the label – liquid nitrogen.

I grew a devious smile a
nd turned around to the Grinner, boldly lifting the glass jar above my head. I looked at him piercingly as he slowly turned around. I was stunned at what I saw when I didn’t have the
time
to be.

His
fleshy face began emitting black smoke and instantly renewed itself. I grimaced at him and angrily threw the bottle at his feet. His eyes opened in shock as his legs suddenly became soaked in the volatile, frost-emitting liquid.

I didn
’t know how it worked but I used my instincts. Knowing I could also control air, I took in a large breath and blew. The impact was too strong for me to withstand and I was sent jolting backwards to the wall, but at least the liquid nitrogen instantly solidified into some sort of ice-like substance, abnormally creeping up and binding his legs and upper waist. The chemicals alone couldn’t have done all of that – it was good to know my powers were manifesting in one way or another. I just needed more time.

Suddenly, my hands began burning. I tried hard to ignore the slight sensation. I lifted t
hem up to my face and noticed the air around my hands and holes in my palms vibrating vigorously. I didn’t know what it was, but after I smelt its strong and quite intolerable smell, I knew it was gas
.
I had no time to notice things, but at the same time I didn’t want to escape. Something was
pushing
me to oppose him.

I searched frantically around the sink for matches as the Grinner struggled to break free of his
icy prison. The icy substance began to crack and he squirmed more.

“
Matches; where are the matches?” I pressurised myself. I quickly found them. I lit one out of frustration and dropped it on my left palm. Before I knew it my hand was viciously ignited with fire. The ice chinked and began to rupture more and more.

“
YOU’RE DEAD, BOY!” he yelled at me. I nervously raided the sink for the empty aerosol cans. I sprayed many but they were all empty.

“
Come on,
come on!
” I suffered. The ice was almost cracked. I picked up a bottle in the back and sprayed it. It was empty. I shook it madly and sprayed again. The Grinner flexed his wings around him and screamed out sadistically as he forced himself out of his ice-bound prison. I sprayed it in the air once more and miraculously, it worked. If I was right, I conjured alien fire. I was just
hoping
that it meant it was stronger than the flames known to man.

Suddenly, without warning, a long and thick ray of purple fire – still connected to his hand – was shot out at me. I quickly turned around and ducked, spraying the aerosol can upwards as the blaze of fire shot over me. The shot of fire instantly
redirected upwards as I sprayed, obliterating the roof above us.

The Grinner
’s face sharpened in disappointment. I swiftly stood up as he stopped the ray and retracted his hand. Instantly, he shot his hand out again, letting out his purple fury with more intensity – but I simultaneously pointed my ignited left hand towards him and sprayed the aerosol can behind it.

At that point, we clashed – m
e, the awkward, alien boy in the uniform, against the devil’s minion.

The impact of the two fires colliding was so strong, it sent out a force through
out the room; shattering and breaking all glass objects.  It was hard to support. I released a full blast of red-orange conflagration against his black-purple blaze. It felt as if we had hands interlocked and were wrestling. My blazer and tie were billowing behind me in the raging wind and I couldn’t help but keep my disguises down. My head instantly turned red with luminous hair and my eyes glistened like heated rubies. Along with that, the burnt skin marks dissolved away and my Vernaescian Celt marks showed, shining a brilliant red.

I could feel him applying more force
. I sprayed but intensified my muscles to at least
stand
a chance. He suddenly inhaled deeply and broadened his chest. He sharply leaned towards me and I was suddenly sent exploding away from the part of the building I was in. I waved my hands in frenzy as I tried to slow down my landing. I crashed through the wall, thrown into the air and through the night-disguised sky.

With a thud I landed in the rain
on the grass. I winced as I found it hard to get up. I heard loud gusts of air behind me (which should have been his wings) and he had landed. But I felt too weak – I had to give up. What had I done?

My ankle was suddenly grabbed and he dragged me
away. I stretched out my arms and dug my fingers into the soil as he pulled me. I screamed and yelled loudly as my ever pouring tears mixed with the rain whilst he pulled me along.

My hair quickly darkened to brown and my eyes became emerald green. I squirmed more and more as the
Demon Grinner dragged me ruthlessly. But unintentionally, vines and roots whipped and snapped out of the trails my fingers had left in the soil and murderously rushed to him. He quickly dropped me as the thick roots and sharp vines bound him. I speedily treaded back through the rain, staring at him. I clenched my jaws and the roots and vines suddenly ejected sharp thorns. I heard him wheeze for air as the thorns pierced his throat. I quickly got up and ran away towards the front of the school.

But it wasn’t just him.
I quickly attempted to halt as I eerily saw an army of people dressed in black with void-black eyes marching towards me. I slipped and skidded, trying to stop by digging my hands into the ground. But nothing worked. I closed my eyes as I was about to skid right into them. Nothing. I opened my eyes and they were nowhere to be found.

I had no time to think about
that, I had to escape. But the crisis was over; my heart thumped in excitement and joy as I saw the others run up ahead. I saw Liam angrily take off his blazer whilst my heart flooded with warmth as I reunited with the others, people who were stronger than me and could help protect me.

“
GET DOWN!” Liam yelled. My reflexes promptly made me drop to the floor. The ground quaked reverberatingly as thunder struck the Earth around the trees in the compound. Inside, we could hear the children and staff screaming as lightning struck the school’s roofs and stole its power. All I knew was that I never wanted to get on Liam’s bad side. His hands became a shocking blue and writhed with electricity. The black sky began to lighten and dissolve to grey as nets of forked lightning formed in the heavens. The dull, but somewhat lit, area of Richmond upon Thames became a mass of darkness as the street lamps exploded and the power went out for miles to go. The Grinner choked and his face stared at the skies in horror. Liam’s eyes were exploding with a blue that ached my eyes to look at and his fair complexion began to turn ashen as electricity surged through his veins and skin. His grunt became a loud yell and the nets of lightning gathered in the sky above his head. The wind was a tornado around us beneath a sheer mass of blackness. Liam launched his hand to the Grinner with a sadistic cry and we were all sent jolting back as the static from the sky fell to Liam in an Earthquake whilst he channelled it to my attacker. We huddled on the ground, clasping each other’s uniforms and grasping our arms as we stayed on the ground in fear. Liam’s beam of fantastic electricity was a metre thick and displaying unimaginable light as it tortured the Grinner. Liam’s pale grey flesh seemed to be sizzling. Smoke wafted from his eyes and hair and also from his skin. Finally, he let go and the static began to diminish as we saw the Grinner ascending away from the crater left in the earth as he turned into black smoke. Liam was drained, barely standing upright and swaying unsteadily like a weak piece of rubber. He was sizzling and his now jewelled, static-ridden, magnificent blue eyes contrasted with his dead skin. I hugged the others tightly as he gently swayed towards us.