They Called Me FIVE

LANCE

"Magnus where are they?" My blood is pumping at my ears.

Magnus fist clench. "I don't know." His voice hardens. "They separated us." He spat.

My body is trembling all over. My eyes traveled at his neck then to his chest. He had the same blue crystal shard sticking out of his chest. And blood pooled down to his torso. He noticed me paling.

"Magnu-" he raised his hands to stop me.

"I'm alright."

"But-"

"This is nothing. I won't die for this. It's the same with you right? Will you die just because an ugly glowing crystal is piercing your arm?"

I shake my head. "Thought so."

I push my body forward. And that made me almost black out. Too glad I was able to balance myself. To hell with the pain. I need to get out of here. I fold my fingers to the crystal and tugged. It won't budge. And each force I exert on taking it out...doubles the blinding pain.

Why would the Blue Man Faeries separate us? Was it because this is already their opportunity to kill us? Because the bracelet of Magnus is not working anymore? Because they knew we are weakened from the recent battles with the Fire hogs? Do they know? About Jesper and his family?

Are they supporting him? Are they working together? I snap my eye shut and take a deep breath. No. This won't do. I got to formulate a plan to get out of here.

Us being vulnerable under their piercing evil faces...they're clearly making light out of all of us.

Its true we are too lenient. We are too trustful - no we are too reliable of our power we're thinking nothing will happen to us. And they took advantage of that.

They arrive unexpectedly. Without warning. The ultra benefit of surprise...

LANCE

He slowly shakes his head.

"Don't be." His body is stiff at my side. His mouth hardened at his words. "You only did me a favor. Killing them. Their acts should be stopped...but instead of stopping them I joined them. I lend them this power."

The blue faint light dance at his finger tips and he raise his arm. The light blasted off him, recocheting through space. The walls, the stairs, the tables, everything inside the house fix itself.

Debris hover in the air and attach itself to scrapes and chips of walls. I watch in amazement. Both Jesper and Sam can fix things. Through the blessing of time, Jesper can revert or flash forward the time of an object or person at his will.

Sam can command any object to move through telekinesis. He can use it as defense and offense. Use it to disarm his enemies...

What about me? What can I do? I've been nothing but an excess baggage to this group. I clench my fist to my side.

This can't go on. I must train. Listen to what Seven said. I should not rely more on my blessings.

As much as I hate it. I'm back to where I was before. Back when my blessing made its presence known to me. Back when Dad used to drill on my skull how to protect myself.

I will seal my power if I have to.

***

At the distance. I heard it. The howling that does not belong in this world. We immediately rush out of the house. Leaving the silent argument Magnus and Seven has. Leaving the dead bodies of Jesper's cannibal family.

He doesn't seem as stricken as I expected him to be. Sure, he's shock. And I think he couldn't possibly forgive me but....so far, from his actions and the stubborn silence he put on...He's struggling inside.

He must be having a hard time convincing himself. That the twisted 'home' he always had is gone. And he has nowhere to go except to come with us.

At the yard, I watch cars driving back to houses. Parking in garage lot. Small kids get off and hop on to their doorsteps. Their mothers greeting them looking a bit haggard and wearing apron. Probably preparing for their snacks...

It took me a moment to realize the sun is already on the other side of the horizon. Pinching through the clouds to shine the house roofs. It's already afternoon.

We left in a hurry. Magnus stopping by to the basement to fetch the thing he forgot. He threw me the duffel bag. Along with new supplies I don't know how he manage to scavenge in seconds.

Ignoring the neighborhood giving us the curious stares, we cross the road. Run in the sidestreet as fast as we could. My lungs barely keeping up to my pace. Magnus sprints beside me. Jesper and Sam behind me. And then Seven.

I can't tell what we're running away from. But I know something is keeping up with our pace. Magnus without blessing was the first to notice it.

The faint echo of the wind whistling in my ears. It was the only sound that I permit to enter my head. And then nothing. One minute. Two minutes. I can't hear anything. Except the pounding of my chest. The deafening roar of my lungs.

I caught a glimpse of a room casted by the sunlight. A living room. The tv is turn on. The woman I see who's always in the news is on. How long has it been since I sat in one of those living rooms worrying nothing except my Dad?

I haven't run that far but the exhaustion is already wearing me down. This has never happened before. I don't get that tired immediately.

At the living room, something passed. My eyes caught a glimpse of it. A zipped of red light. And that brought painful memories, watching Sam dying in front of me, Jesper suffering in front of me.

Me doing nothing except watching them suffer. Me doing nothing except obsessing on to my powers.

Something in me enters. Dissolving the guilt and remorse. An instinct honed from things I can't say. That zipped of red light is not the same one I've seen from Blood Hogs I've fought or the Fire hogs who almost killed Seven and Sam with the demons.

It's different. Something more ancient. Powerful. The harsh reality that our number can't do anything to defeat that...

The realization that it might hold the power to kill all of us. Darkness suddenly cloud my surroundings. My steps falter.

Magnus decided to plunge on but something stops him. A voice. I heard it too. I recognize the richness and softness in it. But I can't fathom why its full of urgency and desperation.

"Seven?" I turn around to look at her.

A sharp ringing in my ears passed and my eyes narrow, my face twists in agony. I don't know what's going on. It all happen so suddenly there's no time for me to react.

Out of nowhere a figure came to strangle Magnus and lift him off his feet. He's a giant.Barely eight foot tall with buffy arms, two big twirling devilish horns, and another set of glowing adorned rings on his biceps, ears, nose, lips, nipples and wrist.

It took me a moment to realize its the same species as the Blue Man I killed earlier.

"Let him go!" I screeched. I did not think twice what I was doing. My feet only knows to move forward. And without thinking. Without truly knowing what I was doing I lunge at the Blue Man and strapped my arms on its thick neck.

Something behind me crash. A glass shattering to million pieces the shard had already pierced me in my back. I gasp.

A scream of shock follows.

My feet landed in the ground. My hands missing from the Blue Man's neck. Magnus is there, standing stiffly. Eyes so wide, he's not breathing because of shock.

When I look around us, I see them. The very sight I'm too scared to see. All around us the world shifted. The asphalt in my feet change into rough block stones. The houses on my sides turn into foul stenching dumps of human bodies rotting for over a month.

If teleportation is real and Sam is behind this then we're pretty much messed up. We end up in a place where death is reeking in every corner. Literally. Every corner.

And if its not Sam... then we're good as dead. My eyes can't travel what's beyond the dark corridors. I can't even see the walls. There's a faint blue orb lights dancing in the ceiling. Like cave crystals I sometimes see in underground sea caves featured in movies. Only these orbs is twice as big as my head. And thrice much brighter than cheap glowsticks.

Blue Man surround us, their sizes rose so high their faces are obscured by the darkness. And I'm straining my neck here just to get a glimpse of their stupid upturned noses.

Looks like I don't have to. From what darkness I see hides their thrones. Each take a turn sitting in their rightful places. Like ancient kings of old.

There are cuts on my cheek and in my forearms I dont know where its from.

My throat is burning. The air is hot. I know its blue. And this place is dark its supposed to be cold and freezing. But it wasn't. My skin feels like a single torch is dip right into its flesh. Grilling me bones deep.

Questions keep raging on my head. Exploding at my temples. With it carries endless shame and regret. Seriously how careless, naive and weak I am?

For all these days I've been thinking of using my blessings, strengthening my powers, sharpening my abilities... I did not even stop to ponder...

What exactly are the strength of my enemies? What are their powers? I only know they make a slave out of humans through their souls. I know there are thirteen races of them.

And that's it. I don't even know what are these Blue Man are. Why are they hideous. Why they suddenly grew so big...

"Lance." I felt Magnus' hand clapped my shoulder. That's when I notice I'm shivering. And that I'm sweating so hard my shirts are soaked through.

I move a muscle to relax my nerves. My arm sent a wave of pain to my brain I almost scream. What was that? I peered down. Something is sticking out of my forearm...a crystal shard from the flowing blue icicles above.

And it's stuck right where my arm is. I swallowed the horror creeping in my throat. Piercing that part is not a coincidence. The Blue Man that strangled Magnus earlier must have done this...

But why my Mark? What's the purpose? I twist my body to look for Sam, Jesper and Seven. They weren't with us.

My body jolted.